And for the first time in my life, I'm sleepless, tired, and frustrated toward someone – my saviour. I haven't felt like ripping someone for invading my mind tirelessly. Ever since that night of meeting her cold, intimidating beauty facade, I can't focus on anything. Even sleep hasn't come till dawn. But ever since sleep has no plan on visiting me, I have found myself at the training ground. Somehow, it does some tricks, calming me, but aside from it, I was hoping to cross her again and demand an explanation for what she had left hanging inside my mind.
Yet again, I'm bothered.
My anger flared, "You made me sleepless," I muttered, grabbing the same wooden sword I had before, not caring if some knights saw me, bowing at me respectfully. I just smiled in acknowledgement and left myself alone after their training. But me, I'm pissed. "You might be attractively beautiful, but you're starting to annoy me, saviour."
I harshly swung my wooden sword with frustration. I haven't felt this way before. I am quiet, timid, a bookworm, weak, and unable to speak what has been bothering me, but her, those nights of our encounter in my bedroom up to this training area, hit differently now. I felt so hot and bothered, like I wanted to smash things like The Hulk would do. Luckily, I didn't turn green or become a huge woman with enormous muscles.
"ARGH! SO ANNOYING!" I groaned, swinging the wooden sword with force. However, recalling the moment when my wooden sword collided with hers, everything seems to stop. There was a strange pull and power swirling that moment, familiarity and acknowledgement which was new to me – this frustration was new to me. "I've never been so frustrated or annoyed with someone's presence until she came. She's so…ARGH! WHATEVER!"
I kept swinging the wooden sword with sharpness but recklessness until a gentle breeze passed by. I softened, and my bat, Reaper, appeared. It grabbed a wooden sword, too. At first, I am confused, but when it swings the sword, challenging me, my temper lessens. Reaper is being adorable.
"Seriously, you want to fight me?" Amused, I chuckled at my bat's attempt and gave it a shot.
As my frustration drifted, I swung my wooden sword calmly and took my bat seriously. I remembered that night. That certain night when I felt that odd but familiar sensation crawling under my skin, making me swing my wooden sword with sharp precision. At each swing, I felt the same power begin radiating once more. I don't know how to explain it, but whenever I was deeply focused, I sped up. My reflexes were high, my flexibility was on point, and almost giving my bat a fatal hit if Reaper didn't scatter himself into tiny bats.
"That's cheating," I complained teasingly, but we went on.
I was enjoying our moment, focusing on each other, when my bat halted, making me frown, and I stopped too. I carefully studied Reaper, who looked guarded, staring deeply at the entrance of the training hall as if somebody was watching us.
"Sensed something?" I asked, scanning the area as I walked closer to my bat. But instead of giving me some hints or gestures, Reaper multiplied himself again into small bats, swirling protectively around me. It's a confusing gesture. But noticing how the bats flew protectively around me with sharpness and readiness, I concluded a threat was heading to my spot. I sighed, whispering a determination, "I'm ready."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, stabilizing my breathing like I usually do, before clenching the wooden sword tightly as if my life depended on it. Sensing my readiness, the bats stopped swirling and immediately scattered away, giving me the opportunity to swing my sword with full force. The swing has power, and each contact went heavy. The impact against another wooden sword had a strong wave that vibrated around the area, making the glass windows near shattered, and the walls received cracks down to the ground. However, with one swing from each wooden sword, one breaks and the ground cracks badly, it was dug. It snapped me from my deep concentration, gasping in the process.
"What the…" I reacted surprisingly, but my lungs tightened, and my breathing became shallow. Even my knees buckled, making me fall on the ground, coughing. I clenched my chest, trying to catch my breath, but it was no use. It was tight, and I'm not having a panic attack, but I hate this. "What…just…happened…to…me…"
This was not a relapse, but it has the same aftereffect on my body. I trembled and was panting badly; luckily, Almira was here and gently helped me.
"Take a deep breath." With a worried tone, Almira said, before instructing me, "Inhale, exhale…inhale, hold it, then exhale slowly." She has been counting each instruction as I obeyed while she rubbed my back. It was working, but it was still tight, and my body was still trembling, forcing Almira to call for backup, shouting demandingly, "MIKYLE! BRING YOUR ASS HERE! BERNILA NEEDS HELP!"
In just a few seconds, her brother, Mikyle, appeared beside me, annoyed but worried as well, asking while tending me, "Why every time I've got a call about you, you're always in the bridge of death?"
With a humor I had no idea existed in me, I commented, stuttering in the process, "I'm y-your unique p-patient for sure."
He shook his head while injecting me with a calming serum to help me manage my shortened breathing, which did its trick. In a few seconds, my breathing and heart rate normalized, making me relaxed at Almira's support.
Mikyle turned to his sister, asking seriously, "What happened?"
"We're just sparring, intense, but when she noticed she defeated me, she started losing her breath like it was new to her," Almira answered, still rubbing my back.
"Well, it's new," I admitted weakly, making them look before sighing. I made them worry, which I sincerely apologize for: "Sorry, I made you worry."
"None taken. We're family now." Almira smiled genuinely, welcoming me into their family warmly.
"That's true, but Bernila, tell me honestly, does anything like this happen before, like whenever you're too engrossed over something or trying to do some physical endurance?" Mikyle gently asked while checking my pulse.
"Hm, I think when I tried to do a backflip, and Talia made fun of me when my face landed on the tree instead of my feet." I honestly answered, thinking how clumsy I was back then. "Does clumsiness count?"
"You're an idiot." Almira sighed teasingly, but Mikyle already noticed something.
"Bernila, focus." Mikyle insisted, making me sigh, thinking carefully if it had occurred before.
"Aside from being clumsy and funny around Talia's light training, there was a comment that she told me before…" I said seriously, trying to remember the exact words Talia told me before, saying, "Your meditation is paying off. Your sensitivity is high, but not showing in your figure. At first, I don't believe her, but when she sneaks up on me, I quickly pin down the most skilled and powerful she-alpha in our pack. But what comes after that is my consciousness. I fainted."
Mikyle went silent, and whenever he frowned, it only meant he was thinking deeply before voicing a question as if he had something on his mind, "Almira, how does Bernila look when you crossed swords with her?"
"Hm, she looked different, a fighter. No, erase that. She's a gamma or maybe even more. I can't clearly say, but there's a guarantee that she'll be stronger than me." She answered, and I don't believe her. She was definitely talking about a different person, but even though I denied it, the way she answered her brother seriously, maybe she was right. I couldn't deny that something had shifted in me. Then she added, concluding, "Perhaps could be matched up with grandpa if mature enough."
He nodded, smirking a little before saying, "Coming from the second strongest knight of the family, then there's something going on with you, Bernila."
"Okay, I'm confused," I admitted honestly, since I truly don't clearly get what they were trying to say.
"Based on what I've heard, I concluded that you're in the process of changing, and it had started through your heightened senses." He answered, sharing his conclusion like an observant doctor, making me listen attentively, then he continued, saying, "Whenever you're in deep focus, your senses go high. You've become highly sensitive to your surroundings and cautious around people's intentions. And based on the output around here and Almira's comment, you had combat skills, but you need proper physical training to enhance them, so it won't hurt you..." I'm speechless, but I don't fancy any physical endurance, and before I could deny it, Mikyle began speaking firmly, "And as your doctor, I'll come up with something so your body won't experience this again. Are we clear on that?"
I wanted to argue, deny what they thought about me, or decline the offer, but the worry and hopeful look on their faces made me give up. "If you say so, I don't have any comment on that." Though I still could not believe it - it is so unbelievable. "Is it true I started to change?"
"Okay, now that you're doing fine…" Mikyle sighed, but the change in his tone made me gulp before continuing firmly, "The last time I checked, you weren't allowed to train here yet, so why are you here again?"
"Ahm, I'm easing my mind…" I answered honestly, not sharing entirely my reason, before adding a half lie, "I'm nervous about my wedding later."
"Oh, having cold feet?" Almira teasingly asked while wiggling her neatly trimmed brows.
"No, I'm just nervous, that's all," I responded as Mikyle helped me stand up again.
"Don't worry, she's not going to bite, but extremely intimidatingly cold," Mikyle assured me, and somehow those words alone reminded me of my saviour.
"But I haven't seen her, and it's unfair if she does already," I admitted, sighing, making the siblings chuckle.
"Well, she's everywhere," Almira said teasingly as we head back inside the mansion.
Mikyle prepared my training manual, which was supervised by Almira. It was thoughtful of them to teach me basic strengthening from jogging to running to workouts to using equipment before we do basic physical combat. But I'm not a fan of it - meaning, I easily whined and got tired.
"You're adorable when you whine. My sister would love it." Almira teased, as we called it for the day. I frowned because I hadn't seen her sister personally.
***
As the week passed, my body was down, drowsy as I paced around my bedroom, yawning for I'm not sure how many times I did while waiting for the dawn to break. I am acting like a restless woman in her chosen simple wedding gown. My gown was a palette of pearl white with little shimmering moonlight thread over the embroidered rose petals cascading in flowing motion from the left chest down to the hem of the gown. It was simple but sophisticated enough to give an edge and power to the one who was wearing them. And for the first time, it was a kind of dress that caught my attention, and I wore it.
But having a wedding at three in the morning was something I hadn't expected to attend, and I haven't fully slept yet. However, I can't deny the nerve crawling around my stomach. I'm nervous. I have never met my fiancée even once.
"Mirxalyn…you're good at hiding…" Annoyed and nervous, I muttered softly before yawning for the tenth time, making me sit by the edge of my bed, sighing. I tried to calm down, trying to be strong and get the wedding done for the sake of my health and growth. "Calm down, it's just a wedding…" I muttered, chanting, and was about to put my veil when I felt the air had shifted, followed by a ghostly touch, making my temple burn a little. "You're here."
Instead of hearing a response, I heard soft and gentle giggles from my saviour. Her presence alone was enough to calm me down, making me savour the moment until a whisper pressed onto my ears.
"See you at the altar."
I shivered. I froze, and when I turned around, she was not there. I sighed, muttering, "Why does everyone tend to leave like that after appearing?" I rolled my eyes, covering my entire face with my wedding veil when something clicked in my mind, wondering, "Is my saviour my fiancée?"