Names

Gisa

With one last flurry of attacks on the punching back at the gym Gisa finally sat down to take a water break. Jamison was too busy to be her sparring partner, and the bag just wasn't the same. She guzzled some more water, setting it down with a thunk.

She spied Lucy using a stair climber machine and made her way over. "Hey Lucy."

Lucy took an earbud from one ear and glanced at Gisa, not stopping her workout. "Hey."

"I didn't see you at lab the other day, are you doing okay?"

Lucy shrugged. "I think mom is purposefully scheduling appointments and stuff during the magic classes. She was really upset when I got cleared to take the classes without her prior permission. But she would have said no, so I did what I had to."

Gisa knew that Lucy was young, but she was hoping that she just might be a key to stopping Audenzitios. Lucy's mom had been so powerful at one point she likely could have gotten in a fight with Audenzitios and walked away from it. If Lucy had power like her mom did… "Are you enjoying the magic classes?"

"I am." Lucy seemed to lighten a little at that question. "I can't believe I've been living without them."

"That's how I felt when I left the island." Gisa smiled. It wasn't fake. "My magic is a part of me."

Lucy nodded. "You're an enchantress so your magic manifests differently from mine. I'm technically a fairy so I need something to channel my magic like a wand."

Gisa nodded. She'd learned about that in the first week of classes. "You look good wielding a wand though." She smiled.

To her surprise, Lucy smiled too. "It feels pretty good. Lab is unlike anything I have ever experienced. To be in the room with the most powerful people of our generation is something else entirely. We could level the earth and raize it to the ground if we wanted to." Lucy slowed down, and put a hand on her wand. Fairies and those who needed items like wands never kept them far from their person. As if in emphasis, she ran a finger down the side of it. "It feels cool to be, I don't know, strong and important. Before this I was the headmistress's daughter. I want to make my own name."

Gisa flashed back to that conversation they'd had at the beginning of her time at school. They both wanted to make a name for themselves. Maybe Lucy would want to help after all. To be a hero like her mother. Maybe even greater.

As insurmountable as her mother's threats and impending attacks were, some part of Gisa was ready to stand and fight for the family and for the friends she'd found here.

"Well it was good to see you." Gisa said. "Keep practicing, you'll be really good someday."

Gisa left with a feeling of… lightness in her heart. She didn't want to sound too pompous, but she seemed to have sparked a change in Lucy. Even if it had been ill-intended originally. Lucy would have stayed the cowed, average, bullied little girl. She was different now.

Gisa walked out of the gym wondering who else in the magic classes might be of assistance. It was possible that Lucy could be powerful enough to do it herself, but Gisa knew better than to put all of her eggs in one basket.

Gisa passed a mirror as she pushed the door open and paused for a moment. She didn't know what her mother looked like when she was young, but Gisa imagined it was a lot like the young woman staring back at her from the glassy surface. Her mouth was formed into a thin line and her shoulders were back— proud. Gisa's mother's downfall would be her own prodigy.