For Her Hand

Chapter Fifty-Three

Seth's mind raced as he recalled the previous night's events. During the battle with Enzo, he'd experienced a sudden power spike that he couldn't really explain. He knew he was growing stronger the more he trained his aura, but the upsurge he experienced was beyond what he'd been able to do up until now. Not only that, but Pawniard-after evolving-was noticeably stronger and not just because he'd finally become a Bisharp after such a lengthy amount of time being with Seth.

The mass of red energy that Seth saw indeed had the shape of a Bisharp, save for the fact that normal Bisharp didn't have any armaments for limbs, save their own claws. What he saw was undoubtedly a spear and a shield. Through all that aura, Seth could just make out what he was truly looking at. There was no mistaking that form. After the battle, the power seemed to vanish completely, and Bisharp returned to his normal status.

Stranger still, Seth felt as though he and Bisharp were on the same wavelength, as if their thoughts were one in the same. Just when he thought life couldn't get any stranger, reality struck yet again, reminding him that neither he, nor his life, were normal. Looking down at his hands, he could feel aura rushing through every part of his body. It wasn't an abnormal feeling as he'd learned to tap into it more regularly now.

What wasn't normal was the fact that he could feel it through the specially made armor Mathilde had created for him to wear as a sort of training weight for his aura. The more he concentrated on it, the more it responded. Light flickered in his palm and a small, glowing sphere of energy began rotating in his palm. Remembering he was in public, Seth extinguished it immediately. Taking in a deep breath, he stood up from the bench he'd been sitting on and began to walk toward Le Yeah, where his mother was working the midday shift.

As he approached the entrance, he stopped a few paces shy of the entry and smiled.

"I had a feeling you'd show up eventually," Seth said aloud.

A giggle reached his ears as he heard footsteps approach his left side. Glancing over, he saw the platinum locks of his teacher. Her icy blue eyes looked down into his. She was smiling from ear to ear, and Seth had a feeling he knew why.

"Did you think I was going to ignore that growth spurt you had last night?" Mathilde laughed, placing a hand on Seth's head and gently ruffling his hair. "My little protege is all grown up. I'm so proud."

Seth rolled his eyes and removed her hand from his head.

"You're not that much taller than me, you know that don't you?"

Mathilde grinned and placed a hand on her hip. She had always enjoyed teasing her student. It was something that would never change no matter how old he got.

"Still the same as ever are we?" Mathilde replied. "Well... I shouldn't say you're exactly the same. I mean... you were just on a three day excursion with your bride to be."

"My what?" Seth replied hastily, his eyes widening at the remark Mathilde had just made.

"Oh I'm sorry, need me to say it again?" Mathilde taunted with a chesire grin.

"Just because I took her to dinner, doesn't mean anything. It was part of the competition, I had to," Seth defended.

"That is true, I read the rules of the competition myself. And it does say that on the third and final day, you are to take the princess on a date to a place of your choosing. So tell me-he who has little sense of how women work-was it just by sheer dumb luck that you took her to her favorite restaurant, or did you finally gain a little sense for the romantic and decide to sweep her off her feet?"

Seth went to speak and then went silent.

Hook, line and sucker...

"It would appear that she outwitted you m'lord," Cerise spoke up, doing her best to hold in a giggle of her own.