Chapter 127 Sing for me part 1 – Arianna

  “Finally!”

  Arianna felt like shouting. The faint plant mana dissolved when she did, but she didn’t care. She and Joseph had finally managed it.

  Joseph stood across from her with a big smile plastered on his face. They had finally succeeded in mingling their elemental mana inside a non-elemental mana bubble. Sure, it wasn’t stable by any means, but they now had proof that it was possible. Before, they had only guessed that it should theoretically work. Now they knew.

  All they needed was more practice.

  “Let’s try again,” Joseph said eagerly.

  His mana control had improved tremendously since reaching E-rank, but Arianna also knew he had practised like mad to achieve it.

  Arianna nodded. Carefully, she formed another non-elemental mana bubble in front of them. It was designed to allow water and earth mana in, but not let anything escape. Slowly, she and Joseph began adding their own mana into the bubble. The trick was to release it evenly. Neither of them could overpower the other. There had to be balance.

  After five seconds, Arianna and Joseph carefully commanded their mana to mingle. They filled the bubble with more and more energy, which gradually combined into plant mana.

  Through Arianna’s mana sight, it was beautiful. Her own water mana sparkled blue, while Joseph’s earth mana, brown with yellowish undertones, felt solid and grounded. But together they became something different: more flexible, more alive.

  When the bubble was filled with green plant mana, Arianna carefully guided it toward one of the seeds on the ground. Then she created a small opening in the bubble right beside the seed.

  It sucked up the plant mana in seconds and sprouted instantly.

  Roots pushed into the soil, and the tomato seed grew to nearly half a meter in seconds, leaves unfurling as the stem strengthened. The plant stood firm on its own, needing no stick to support it. It shone with vitality.

  “It worked!”

  Joseph’s joy rang clearly in those two words alone. The man truly loved working with plants.

  Arianna was happy too, yet somehow she couldn’t feel the same enthusiasm anymore. She didn’t know why. Everything felt strangely muted.

  Still, she smiled. They had worked so hard for this. Of course, she was happy.

  Maybe she was just tired.

  That had to be it.

  Motivated by their success, Joseph made a suggestion. “I think we can try infusing the seed directly?”

  It sounded more like a question, but Arianna also wanted to know whether they could manage it now.

  They tried, and as expected, the seed exploded the first time.

  Arianna had anticipated that. This wasn’t the first time they had failed like this, after all. That was why they had kept the seed on the ground, and why Arianna had been ready to put up a water barrier around it at any second. So neither of them got hurt.

  She hoped this hadn’t dampened Joseph’s enthusiasm, but she needn’t have worried. He simply nodded at her to try again.

  The next two attempts also exploded, but on the fourth try, they actually managed to infuse plant mana into the seed. They were both so startled that their concentration slipped, their mana flow becoming unbalanced, and the sprouted seed exploded as well. Arianna was ready with her water barrier again.

  But now they knew what to do.

  Without much fuss, they tried a fifth seed. Carefully, they pushed in their mana and watched as it grew into another healthy tomato plant. But they didn’t stop there. They kept pouring more mana into it.

  The plant quickly reached its full height, brimming with strength. Even its fruits began to ripen. Still, they continued feeding it mana. The tomatoes became full and red, then the plant began decaying, turning brown and crumbling until it suddenly broke apart, leaving only the tomatoes scattered in the grass.

  Arianna and Joseph looked at each other in shock.

  They had just witnessed the full life cycle of a plant in mere seconds.

  Joseph was the first to collapse. Breathing heavily, he let himself fall into the grass from his crouched position and then lay flat on his back.

  “Okay, that was incredible,” he said between breaths. “But now I’m exhausted. That took pretty much all of my mana.”

  Arianna checked her own reserves. Since she was constantly meditating and maintaining her mana pattern over half her body, she was fine, but Joseph was right. That had been quite the drain. Nearly half her mana was gone.

  She sat down beside him and picked up one of the tomatoes. Were they safe to eat?

  She examined it with her mana sight but could only detect a healthy plant. The only difference from a normal tomato was that it practically glowed with mana. Strangely enough, there wasn’t just plant mana inside but also non-elemental mana. Where had that come from?

  Arianna shrugged and bit into the tomato.

  She spat it out immediately.

  It tasted terrible.

  Joseph looked at her questioningly, but she only gestured for him to try one himself. She couldn’t be the only one tasting that.

  He looked at her suspiciously, but curiosity won. He took a bite. Arianna saw the exact moment the taste hit him. He clearly wanted to spit it out, but for some reason forced himself to swallow.

  “Why did you actually eat it?” Arianna asked.

  Joseph grimaced. “Just to see if you can eat it or if it’s poisonous. Now is the time to test it, since I’ve got a healer here with me.”

  Arianna nodded. That made sense. She looked at her half-eaten tomato. Should she also…?

  No. It was enough that Joseph had sacrificed himself.

  When nothing happened to him, even five minutes later, they concluded the plant was edible, though terrible tasting.

  “It could be because we forced it to grow too much,” Arianna theorised. “We should have stopped just before it produced fruit, then let it grow naturally.”

  Joseph agreed. “Yeah, that could be it. We’ll have to experiment again. Tomorrow morning?”

  Arianna nodded. That was a good idea.

  Joseph pushed himself up into a sitting position and then asked, “Are you okay now?”

  Arianna narrowed her eyes. She knew exactly what he meant.

  Everyone knew she had been kidnapped. Cassis had told the guild members after she returned. Before, it had been too dangerous for anyone to know, but afterward Cassis wanted everyone to be careful around her. She still resented him a little for that. She didn’t need anyone treating her differently.

  But seeing Joseph so worried, she simply said, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t think so. Molly used to say she was fine in that tone, too. Let me tell you a secret, she never was fine then.”

  Arianna smiled faintly. Joseph’s deceased wife sounded like such a lively person, and with how often he spoke about her, he clearly still loved her even after all these years.

  “Well, I’ll be fine soon,” Arianna said. “Just a bit shaky for now.”

  Joseph nodded. “That’s good. It must have been scary. But Cassis took you to that doctor. What did he say?”

  Arianna rolled her eyes. It was nice having family and friends, but they were terribly nosy about her affairs.

  “Young lady, don’t you roll your eyes at me. Just answer the question.”

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  Arianna snickered. He still talked like such an old man, even though he now looked barely in his early forties. It was strange.

  But she answered truthfully. “He told me to get a hobby.”

  Before he could ask more, she added, “I chose singing.”

  Joseph grinned. “That’s a nice hobby.” Then his expression brightened further. “Do you want to sing for the plants? It helps them grow.”

  Arianna looked at him suspiciously. Was he messing with her?

  Joseph laughed. “I’m serious. I don’t know why, but plants grow better when someone sings to them. Molly used to do that.” He smiled fondly. “But I’m no good at singing, so I read to them instead.”

  Arianna tilted her head. “What do you read to them?”

  Joseph suddenly looked uncomfortable. Was he blushing? Then he said very seriously, “Well… love poems have the best effect.”

  Arianna didn’t know whether to laugh or match his seriousness. In the end, she burst out laughing. The image of grumpy old Joseph sitting in his garden reading love poems to his plants was hilarious.

  Joseph grumbled and shushed her. “Alright, alright, I get it. But it works. Try it and sing.”

  After calming down, Arianna shrugged. “What should I sing?”

  Joseph thought for a moment. “Any love song about a growing love.”

  Arianna couldn’t really think of a good song. “Sorry, nothing feels right,” she said apologetically to Joseph.

  He sighed, then pulled a piece of paper from his jacket. “Then maybe you’ll get some inspiration from this.”

  Curiously, Arianna took the paper. On it was a text in the form of a poem. She quickly read it:

  “My love, my life; we’ve been through peace, through strife.

  The cold ground couldn’t freeze us, the hot sun couldn’t melt us.

  We grew together.

  The rain was strong, the wind a howling song.

  And still nothing could stop us, nothing could hurt us.

  Now and forever, my love, my life.”

  Arianna felt her heart squeeze when she read those few lines. She looked at Joseph. He was definitely blushing now.

  “Is that…?”

  He nodded. “I wrote poetry for Molly when we were younger. And now, I still do.” He looked sad at that, full of longing. “I read the poems to the plants because Molly will definitely listen while I’m here in the garden. She loved this place.”

  Then he added cockily, “She loved it almost as much as me.”

  Arianna had been about to cry, but then she snorted. Joseph certainly didn’t suffer from low self-esteem.

  Then he surprised her. “Maybe you could sing this?”

  Arianna didn’t know what to say, but… she found she wanted to. She took another look at the poem, and a simple melody suddenly appeared in her head. She hummed the notes quietly, trying out the harmonies and the flow of the song. Then she sang.

  It wasn’t a long song, just a short verse, but she was very satisfied with her creation. When she looked up from the text again, Joseph had tears in his eyes.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly.

  After that heavy emotional moment, Arianna needed a walk. She had said goodbye to Joseph, who also wasn’t in any shape to continue talking, and was now aimlessly wandering through their neighbourhood.

  She somehow felt close to tears but also exhausted. That short song had pulled so many different feelings out of her. So now she walked to clear her head. Soon she would have lunch with Cassis. She didn’t need him to see her like this. He’d worry. And she didn’t want to worry him.

  He didn’t even touch her anymore. Not romantically, not even casually. She didn’t know why. Did he not like her anymore?

  They had never been extremely romantic before, but they had held hands while sitting next to each other. Sometimes she had put her feet in his lap or leaned on him. He often liked to take naps with his head in her lap. But right now, he was avoiding her.

  No casual brushing of her hand, no little touch on her shoulder or back. He didn’t even do that side hug he was so fond of. And every time she tried to initiate something, he dodged. It was getting on her nerves, but it also made her sad. Was he tired of her because she wasn’t okay anymore? Or because she had let Keith touch her? Sure, nothing more than a kiss had happened, but she still felt sickened by it. Just the memory made her stomach queasy.

  “Arianna.”

  She looked up and realized she had stopped walking. Janice stood in front of her.

  She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t been aware of her surroundings. She inwardly berated herself. How could she leave herself so defenceless? She knew damn well what could happen.

  But outwardly, she smiled at Janice. “Hey. Sorry, I was lost in thought.”

  Janice looked at her with worry. Only then did Arianna realise she was soothingly rubbing her stomach. She stopped immediately and smiled again.

  Janice didn’t smile back. She only frowned. “Do you need something from Helen?”

  Arianna shook her head. Just her luck that she had stopped in front of Helen’s house and been seen by Janice.

  “Then do you want to have a drink with me? I’d like to talk to you about something.”

  Janice looked worried about that something. Immediately, Arianna felt her feelings shift. She had first assumed Janice was worried about her, but Janice herself didn’t seem to be doing okay.

  What was wrong?

  “Sure, let’s go in.”

  Janice looked relieved and led her inside, up the stairs, and into her room. Then she closed the door. It had to be something private if she didn’t want her family to know, otherwise they could have talked in the living room.

  Janice gestured for Arianna to sit on her bed, then asked what she wanted to drink. She left and quickly returned with two glasses of water. Then she sat down next to Arianna and handed her one.

  Arianna asked, “So, what is it?”

  Janice didn’t look up. She seemed tense, then sighed. “Well, I…” She closed her eyes. “I have trouble sleeping. Because of… you know.”

  Arianna nodded. She could imagine why Janice had trouble sleeping.

  Janice continued quickly, so quickly that Arianna almost couldn’t follow. “That… that incident my brothers interrupted wasn’t the first time my uncle and his friends crossed a line.”

  She still didn’t look at Arianna.

  “They’d been trying to touch me inappropriately for some time. And once my uncle even came into my room while I was asleep.” Janice hugged herself, then continued. “I got him to leave, but it was so scary. And now sometimes I wake up and think he’s in the room.”

  Her eyes were still closed, though Arianna could hear the shame in her voice. She was ashamed of being scared.

  Arianna didn’t say anything. Because what could be said? She had experienced it herself. She knew what Janice was going through. Just this morning she had woken up with a water barrier around herself, and she knew she had dreamed of Keith. What had scared her most was that she had used her mana in her sleep. What if she had hurt Cassis?

  Maybe she should sleep separately until she got a grip again.

  But for now, Janice was more important.

  “Have you told this to anyone?” Arianna asked.

  Janice nodded. “I’m also seeing Dr. Makimovich. Helen insisted.”

  Arianna nodded. That was sensible. As annoyed as she was with him, he seemed good at his job. He had certainly helped Cassis.

  “And what did he say?”

  Janice looked at her, then smiled slightly. “You’re seriously not going to comfort me first?”

  Arianna shrugged. “I don’t think you need comfort from me.”

  Janice grinned. “You’re right. So, Dr. Makimovich told me to talk to someone who isn’t a doctor, to find a friend I can talk to about this. But… I couldn’t bring myself to tell others I was still scared even now.”

  Arianna sighed. She knew the feeling. The danger was already over, so why was she still so scared? She knew logically that it was a typical trauma response, but that didn’t make it easier.

  “I know it’s hard,” Arianna said quietly. “I find this hard to talk about myself.”

  Janice smiled at her. “Yeah. So don’t get me wrong, I hate that it happened to you too. But now I feel like you can understand me.”

  Arianna slowly put her hand on Janice’s shoulder and rubbed it. “Yeah, I think I understand you better now.”

  Then she allowed the anger she tried so hard to hide to surface.

  “If I ever see that man again, I’ll kill him. Slowly. Violently.”

  She smiled, perhaps a little too bloodthirsty, then quickly softened her expression, worried she had scared Janice.

  But Janice was grinning. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to kill them. But I want to beat them up really badly.”

  Janice was still such a good kid. Only seventeen years old.

  “But for that, I need to be strong. I want to be strong like you.”

  Arianna now realised what Janice was asking for: training.

  Shaking her head, she said, “I’m not the right person to teach you. I’m still learning about fighting myself. Helen is much better suited for this.”

  Janice sighed. “I know. But… Helen is, like, perfect. She’s smart, strong, and understanding. I don’t want her to see me so scared.”

  Arianna rubbed Janice’s shoulder again. “That’s because Helen has experienced a lot more than you or me. She probably had to go through some scary things as well. Then she got over them and became stronger.”

  Janice sighed again. “You’re right. What do you do when you get scared?”

  Arianna considered lying, but she owed Janice honesty. She was ten years older; she needed to step up.

  “Just last night I dreamed of him,” she admitted. “I woke up with a water barrier tightly wrapped around myself.”

  She felt a little ashamed saying it. It felt like such an overreaction.

  Janice looked at her in awe. “You used mana while asleep?”

  Arianna nodded.

  “That’s totally badass.”

  Arianna smiled, finding Janice quite cute in her enthusiasm. Then she told her, “Thanks, but think about what you’ll be able to do once Helen has trained you thoroughly.”

  Janice nodded, a spark lighting up her eyes. Then her expression turned curious. “What did Dr. Makimovich advise you to do?”

  Arianna groaned. She had to ask, didn’t she? But Janice had opened up to her, so Arianna would return the favour.

  “He told me to get a hobby.”

  Janice laughed. “You don’t have hobbies? Seriously, maybe I don’t want to grow up.”

  She said it jokingly, but Arianna knew there was truth in her words. Then she snickered.

  “Yeah, I was also surprised at first. Then I chose singing.” Her smile stayed on her face. “I actually like it a lot. But I feel annoyed that the doctor told me to do it.”

  Arianna knew she sounded like a toddler, but to hell with it. They were being honest here.

  Janice laughed again. Then she asked, “Sing something for me?”

  As she spoke, she gave Arianna puppy eyes.

  Arianna found herself wondering if this was what having a little sister would feel like. Then she gave in. She randomly sang a song that popped into her head.

  I stay out too late

  Got nothing in my brain

  That′s what people say, mm-mm

  That's what people say, mm-mm

  …

  Arianna liked the song. When she finished, Janice looked at her with even more awe than before.

  “Your singing is great,” she said breathlessly. “And that song, who sang that? I don’t know it.”

  Arianna felt a flicker of nervousness. Of course, Janice wouldn’t know it. Taylor Swift didn’t exist in this world.

  She only shrugged. “It’s something I heard on the radio before the system arrived.” It wasn’t a lie, after all.

  Janice pouted for a moment, clearly dissatisfied with the vague answer, but soon her curiosity shifted elsewhere. Her expression brightened again.

  “Well, then you’ll have to sing more for me.” She grabbed her phone and quickly tapped the screen. A melody began to play from the small speakers. “Here, that’s my favourite band.”

  She fiddled with the device a little longer before handing it to Arianna. “And those are the lyrics. Try to sing that.”

  Arianna glanced at the screen, quickly scanning the words while listening to the tune. The rhythm was unfamiliar, but simple enough. After humming the melody once under her breath to get a feel for it, she began to sing.

  Her voice was soft at first, careful, testing the flow of the foreign song. Then it grew steadier, warmer, the notes settling naturally in her throat. The unfamiliar words rolled off her tongue with surprising ease, carried by the music rather than meaning.

  Janice watched her with shining eyes, barely blinking.

  Arianna finished the song and lowered the phone again. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

  Then Janice let out a small, stunned laugh. “That was even better than the original.”

  Arianna snorted. “Impossible.”

  “I’m serious!” Janice insisted, clutching her sleeve. “You make it sound… lighter. Like everything’s going to be okay.”

  Arianna didn’t know what to say to that. She only handed the phone back and looked away, suddenly embarrassed by the praise.

  But inside, something felt a little less heavy.