Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol. 1- Novus Magus

[Revised/Edited] Episode 71: Nightmare

"Oh, great one, you who rises above us. You who have watched over us, your people, your faithful followers. Come on and transmit your radiance through this world, oh, great one. Give us the force to continue on fighting. Oh, great one, you who have appeared before my people, provide us with food and warmth. Protect us from evil, and keep our hearts on fire for you." I danced around in circles. "Keep us in your heart, the sacred heart of all. You who birthed the creators, you who is the mother of all beings. Provide us your light, provide us your grace. Here and now, this humble woman beseeches thou to protect her from the darkness within her heart. Come on now and-"

I stopped as I heard light steps behind me. Standing by the door was a shocked Lei.

"Wow..." Lei said. He stared at the yard, his hand on his chest. Daisies had covered the once emerald green pasture.

I lowered my head. "Did I wake you up? Or, isn't it that you're feeling unwell?"

He let go of his chest. "I was feeling a little pained, but seeing you has relieved me. I didn't think you had changed this much, but you truly have become the High Priestess of Xian. Well, I'm going back to sleep." He stopped and turned around. "Wait, why are you awake?"

Holding my hands together, I said, "I couldn't sleep..." I shook my head. "I can't lie to you. I had a dream involving some of the things I saw in my vision from a few days ago."

Lei frowned. "Those visions, they're not going to come true, are they?"

I lowered my hands. "I'm not sure. I can barely decipher what they mean. Most of the people I saw I don't even know."

'However, of those people I know five of them, six if you count me.'

He smiled radiantly and raised a fist toward the sky. "Don't worry, I'll change the future. I'll make sure that whatever things you're seeing in your visions don't happen. Now, come in, you're going to get a cold if you stay out here. At least wear something thicker."

My heart skipped a beat, and my face turned nearly as pink as my hair. I ran after him. "Thank you."

He laughed. "What for?"

I didn't respond, I just took in the moment.

***

I woke up early the next day to refill Lan's food dish with some grains I had bought the day prior. "Eat up, little guy." I touched his soft nose and laughed as he rubbed his soft fur against my hand as if thanking me.

"Adela!" Xue whispered through the door. I opened the door. Her face was pale, well paler than usual.

"Did something happen?" I asked.

"I'm going to be in big trouble."

"What's wrong?"

"I washed An's clothes using the laundry machine yesterday and left them out to dry, but they shrunk.

I opened the dresser I had stored my stuff in, and pulled out a box. I pulled Xue out of the room quietly so that the others wouldn't hear. "Let's talk in the laundry room. Show me his clothes."

She led me to the laundry room. Spread across a table were An's clothes which had shrunk to fit a ten-year-old rather than a fifthteen-year-old.

"This is leather, don't tell me you used warm water?" I said.

"Yes," Xue said. "I thought it'd work. I've only ever dealt with cotton and silk, and the former I washed in the river."

I touched the leather. "They're still wet. It'll take a while for them to stretch out again. In the meantime we need to figure out how to get An to not realize that his clothes are missing. By the way, how did you take them?"

"An left them out so I just grabbed them and quickly ran over to wash them while he went to get his uniform."

I patted her back. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. An seems like a forgiving person. I'm sure he'll forgive you if you tell him what happened."

Xue kicked the table. "That idiot didn't even notice that he left his clothes out and that they vanished, do you think he'll really understand my intentions right away?"

"Yes, I do." For the next hour, Xue and I patted An's clothes with rags to absorb the excess water. Xue jumped as soon as we heard the door upstairs open.

"That could be him," I suggested.

"I'm going to go wash them... Uh, can you teach me how to wash them, Ms. Key?" we heard An say.

"Sure. I keep forgetting that Aief is very isolated from today's modern conveniences. You're lucky you have me as a teacher. I'll also teach you how to fix these modern conveniences should they break down," Ms. Key responded.

Xue stepped back and hid behind me as the knob turned. This was a side of her that I hadn't expected her to have. I snickered mentally. It was kind of cute. Although, would An really be mad at her? He seemed like a laid back guy. As long as she told him her intent, he was sure to forgive her. Right?

**Solar Note: Thanks for reading. The moment that you've all been waiting for is upon us! Hope that you look forward to what I have in store for you guys :3**