The Numeric Ice

"Can you keep it up?" Anasthasia eyed sideways, noticing how Michael carried the books that towered.

"Not a problem," Michael responded with a calm tone in his voice as though he wasn't affected by such.

'Each of those books is as thick as my fist.' She thought as she did her best to suppress her giggles.

"I can take more if you like."

"Hold up, strong guy. Hands off, for I can do this perfectly fine."

Michael hummed, asserting her claims and rested his case.

'We have more or less the same number of books, even if I use magic, he still made it look easy. What monstrous strength.'

"Why do you need this, though? There's public—"

"Isn't that one of the reasons I wanted to take the magician's license?"

"What about the royal insignia I gave—"

"No!" Feeling repulsed, Anasthasia creased her brows, glaring at him. "I don't want that. I want to show what I'm capable of."

"Suit yourself."

Took a couple of minutes for them to arrive at the destination.

Once the door opened, Anasthasia wasn't a stranger of the luminescence as she welcomed it wholeheartedly, but that was the least of her concern—Lucy dashed forth with arms spread so wide. Lucy crashing onto her, with great momentum, was imminent.

Lucy squealed, "Sister Ana! Welcome back home!"

Liam screamed out of fright, "Lucy, they are carrying lots of books!"

Anasthasia widened her eyes as she drew closer. She tapped her finger against the hard leather book cover, and a gust of wind, coming through the door wide open, wrapped her body. Lucy bumped like a pebble on a putty.

She reached her arm towards Lucy, who staggered from her position. "Be careful."

Lucy tittered for a while, ignoring the fact she almost tripped from her energized self. Hence, Anasthasia's lips curled up with warmth.

"I'm home."

Her blue eyes gazed to the back, noticing the twins who approached with relief etched on their faces. Levi took her share while Liam took Michael's. They all moved towards the coffee table and placed the books that toppled one another.

Sensing the fresh smell of the sandalwood, Anasthasia couldn't help but shift her head and asked, "Is this brand new table?"

The twins looked at each other with their lips pressed thin, and Lucy gazed downward, blush to bloom her face as she fidgeted her fingers.

Anasthasia put her hands on her hips, tilting her head as she quipped, "Is there something I'm not well aware of?"

"Sister Ana…"

With Lucy's voice trailing off, she got the gist of what happened. She shook her head and called, "Lucy, I hope you don't mind telling me the truth."

"Sister Ana, it's nothing you should worry about; I was, you know, the dauntless girl that I am, practicing ice magic whenever I had the free time at hand."

"I thought I'd be your teacher from now on. I think it's a little unwarranted for you to be reckless and do things that are deemed uncalled for."

Dropping her voice to a whisper, she muttered, "I'm sorry." Then, Anasthasia gave a pat on her head; this lit up her face.

"That's something trivial; what I wanted to know is why the surroundings turned a little warm and humid."

Her sharp intuition brought a subtle flinch from the siblings, which garnered nothing but a slight ache on her forehead. She sparingly kneaded as she thought to herself, 'I'm not sure what this is, but I hope I'm not mistaken.'

"Well, for that matter, Ana…" Liam scratched his nape, unable to look directly to her eyes. "It seemed like the powers of Lucy evolved so strangely."

"Shall I demonstrate it, Sister Ana—?"

"No, you don't have to." Anasthasia shoved her palm, clicking her tongue. "It would be unwise if you do that right now."

Lucy slumped back her shoulders; her eyelids drooped the way her head moved. Lips parted, trembling, for a hot minute. She took a deep breath before she started, "I was using my powers. The ice magic, as usual, grew erratic as time continued to tick but there found a sudden shift when…" She shuddered as soon as she tried to recall the series of events.

Anasthasia lowered herself, rubbing Lucy's back with tender care. "Take it easy; I'm just here."

Her eyes seemed glossy from the tears that overcrowded the corners as she didn't want the urge to burst out. She gulped several times but as soon as she spoke, she croaked, "...Hot ice…"

Anasthasia's eyelids turned saggy from her remarks, mumbling quietly in her stead, "Hot Ice…" Though Anasthasia's eyes burned with enthusiasm, she leaned forward and grabbed her shoulders as she noticed what it was, blurting, "Did you say 'hot ice'?!"

"Yes…"

"Unbelievable!" Anasthasia had her mouth agape. She couldn't believe that things had developed thus far.

"I don't know, Sister Ana, is it a curse—?"

"No!" Anasthasia blurted out of irritation, quite evident for her high pitched tone, which startled their attention. This bounced back to her of the same reaction, looking around and sighed.

"That isn't a curse, but instead, Lucy, you must rejoice from this matter."

"Rejoice?" They all mused in unison.

Anasthasia nodded and stood up. She extended her hand and revealed the frigid air that converged near her palm. The cold front built up the towering ice crystals, leaving them stuck in awe. She only danced her fingers, and all of a sudden, the ice shrank at a visible rate. Witnessing into a blue orb, she glanced at Lucy, who gawked with marvel.

"Sister Ana! That's just like how it happened earlier!" Anasthasia hopped jovially in her place, squealing, "It is! Big brothers, look!"

"Ana, it's more or less the same as what Lucy did." Levi, this time, removed his glasses and wiped off with a clean cloth and slid it back on his nose, "But that's... I'm very impressed, and it's a lot sophisticated."

With his compliments, Anasthasia smiled. "This isn't an easy feat. It requires finesse and immense control." Which, in turn, had her eyes shut, speaking, "You're well aware of your problem, Lucy, but how were you able to control it?"

Anasthasia snapped her fingers, with a ball of compressed air surrounding the ice, and then a crackling sound emerged within. Her palms clenched to a tight fist, vanishing the magic into thin air.

"I…I'm not sure myself. I just thought about how things will turn out for the worst if I'm not careful. I should've learned my lesson the other day when you saved me, but I can't seem to resist my desire to learn."

'She's like me when I was in my early awakening years.' Anasthasia bent down once more and cooed her.

"Would you believe me that I was the same as you back then?"

Lucy arched her neck as she was unable to comprehend her question. "Sister Ana?"

"You heard it loud and clear. My life back then wasn't all rainbows and sparkles; I had my fair share of struggles." Her eyes flickered as she took a pause. "I didn't get to where I'm now without my desires to succeed."

"Then—" Lucy's lips sealed with a prod of Anasthasia's finger.

"Tell me, what are your reasons for doing this?" There she let go as her eyes gleamed with passion.

"I wanted to be the best version of myself where I can protect those people I care and not a burden or cursed—"

Anasthasia hushed her, making her fall to silence. "You are not a cursed child, and I can vouch for that."

Levi clenched his teeth before he began, "Ana, thank you so much." That said, he bowed, followed by Liam, they retained their positions for quite some time. When they stood once more, Liam added alongside him.

"No words could further express how much we're incredibly thankful to you, Ana."

"We haven't started yet. But I tell you, with that additional power of Lucy, it will be a tough road ahead of her." She then eyed Lucy, "I hope you're pretty much prepared."

"Yes, Sister Ana." Lucy rocked her feet as she brushed off her tears, smiling. "May I ask what kind of power is this?"

"That time, we called it 'The Numeric Ice.'"

"'The Numeric Ice?'" Michael chimed in as it piqued his interest.

"Indeed, Ice is generally cold. But when you apply a large amount of pressure, even that could become the hottest." Her eyes gleamed with wisdom as soon as she prattled on it, "But let's start with basics first, we shall start tomorrow." Anasthasia shifted her sight towards Lucy.

"Is that allowed, Sister Ana? You don't have a license yet—"

"You think what you're doing is any better?" She crossed her arms, stumping her.

"Noted, Sister Ana—" Saved by the bell, her stomach grumbled, "I think it's time for us to eat?"

All of them let out a hearty laugh.

"Sure, Lucy. But first, let me place the books in the room."