Itadaki no Hecate Second

Day of Festivity

The next couple of days flew by without incident. The classes would continue their tasks from morning until night, and the school gradually took shape into a place that truly looked like a festival ground.

And on the afternoon before the day of the festival, after everyone had gone home, Yuji and Hecate went down to the riverbank near the bridge—the same place the Priestess had summoned Sereiden together with Bel Peol months ago. But they were not the only ones there; Shana had followed them wordlessly and observed their training while sitting on the steps leading up from the shore to the road.

"Are you sure you don't mind having her here?" Yuji asked the Priestess who had assumed her true form, to which she did not respond in an ambiguous silence. He interpreted that as an "I don't really care" from her. "Anyway, think I can pull it off? We haven't had much time to practice the past few days."

Hecate nodded.

"But you sure seemed to have fun," Yuji said, smiling warmly at the Priestess, and she let the happiness show on her face as she recalled their time with their friends.

"I look forward to tomorrow," she said.

"Yeah."

They did not cast a Fuzetsu for this training session, for today Yuji was not about to perform feats of battle, but one with a more mundane use in the world he now lived in. He took a few steps towards the water.

"Let the Power of Existence flow throughout your body and shift them in the desired direction all at once without expelling it," Hecate reminded him. "Power of Existence is the fundamental energy of reality, and thus should alter the truth about you. Change yourself from a groundless mortal, and as you had once learned to walk, gradually lift yourself up and become more confident as you move."

"Alright, well, I guess it's time to see if our training the past week has finally paid off."

Feeling the warm azure flame from his core leak all throughout his torso and limb, he focused; not dissimilarly to the time he had learned to condense the same energy, but unlike that time, instead of the power gathering towards a singular point, it all pushed upwards.

Slowly, the Mystes lifted off the ground and floated higher into the air. Behind him, the Supreme Throne observed him proudly, while the Flaming-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter watched with mild surprise.

After reaching twenty feet off the ground, Yuji looked downwards in delight. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it Hecate!" He wobbled when he lost his balance for a moment.

"Just keep practicing," Hecate said with a pleased expression. "Soon, flight will become second nature to you."

The Mystes laughed with absolute joy and directed his energy horizontally. He zipped over the Mana River faster than he expected to go, but he was not afraid. He was no longer grounded to the two dimensions he once walked as a human; and with that thought, he soared even higher.

With glee, he flew in circles over the river. He lost track of time from his excitement, and when he had finally begun to calm down, he headed towards the top of one of the great A-shaped arches of the Misaki Bridge, where Hecate was waiting for him. It was that same place where he had once been unable to reach her when she was in the pit of despair.

He alighted just in front of her, although he nearly crashed right into her after misjudging his own inertia. Back on his own feet, he lost balance and fell forward, and the white-mantled girl caught him in her arms.

"Now you can fly with me," she told him happily, and they both flushed.

"Yeah, now I can follow you anywhere."