The Lightning Mage

66 | The End, For Real Now

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Three months later...

Lyn and Irene knocked on the door. There were some scuffling sounds before the door swung open, revealing a grinning Millie in a brand new apartment.

"Hey, Millie!" they exclaimed.

"Congrats on your new house," Irene added.

Millie nodded her head vigorously as she gestured for them to enter. They each gave her a quick hug before heading into the living room and settling their bags of beer on the dining table.

"Where's Raph?" Lyn asked.

Millie pointed to the kitchen and motioned a little more with her hands. Lyn was not yet well-versed in sign language, but Irene had seemed to pick it up faster than her.

"Oh, you guys made cookies," Irene translated, her eyes lighting up.

Lyn snorted. "Of course you'd be excited about that," she teased, only to earn herself a hard punch in the arm.

As they sat down at the table, Millie took out her handy notebook and began scribbling.

"How are you???" read the rushed handwriting. Millie wrote in large, cursive strokes that were still easy to read despite the haste. The words disappeared right after they read it, allowing Millie to write more. "How's your new job, Lyn? How's your new team, Irene? :)"

Millie bounced on her seat as she awaited their responses, with her large, sincere smile and her glowing, brown eyes. She was as cute as ever, but this jabbed at Lyn's heart. It did not feel right to not hear her voice. It did not feel... complete.

Irene and Lyn exchanged glances before Irene decided to start.

"Well, it's alright. Working with Emily is actually pretty awesome. She's way more organized than you, Lyn, like way more. Like I didn't even realize how much of a mess you are till I started working with her."

Lyn raised her eyebrows as Millie chuckled silently on the side. "Geez, way to break my heart. Why couldn't you get along this well with her when I was going out with her?"

Irene punched Lyn on the arm again. "It's because you made it unbearable, idiot!"

"Ow! Why is it my fault now?"

"Of course it's your fault." Irene rolled her eyes as she opened a can of beer. Taking a few sips, she added, "But don't get me wrong. I still miss you around, Lyn."

"Yeah, yeah. It's fine, I get it." Lyn let out a small laugh while cracking open a can of beer for herself too.

Ever since the last mission in the castle, Lyn had given up her questing license. She had to do it because she had led a dangerous mission that was not sanctioned by any organization, but she was wanting to do it anyway. She needed to change her career, to change to a job that allowed her to take extended time off whenever she needed it.

The team disbanded afterward, with Irene being the only one remaining in the questing career. She returned to Dawn Avengers under Emily's recommendation, and it seemed that they were working well together.

"How's your work, then?" Irene asked. "Training up the next generation of questers and stuff. Liking it so far?"

"Honestly? It's kinda tough."

Lyn had thought it would be easy helping a bunch of high school kids harness their magic and apply to quester programs—after all, the process had been easy for her. It finally occurred to her that her experiences were not at all universal.