Chapter 19 - Training

Chapter 19

~Melanie~

I woke up feeling dozy and warm. As soon as I yawned and attempted to stretch, I realised why. I bumped into something firm and warm. A body. Someone was in the bed with me.

I bolted upright and snatched for my flute, thinking Riku was trying to get fresh with me, and suddenly found my hand pinned behind my back. "Let go of me you per-" I hissed. Yuffie interrupted me with "It's me, you idiot! The other beds were all full. And you snore."

"Oh," I said sheepishly. It was true (I'm not talking about the snoring here). Riku, who was sitting on the side of his bed to put his shoes on, smiled. "You'd better get used to it, Yuffie. With Mogruko coming along, we'll all be sharing bunks."

"He's coming?" I asked. Three heads nodded. "We decided last night, but we didn't want to wake you; you just look so precious when you're asleep," Yuffie grinned.

"Gee, thanks," I retorted.

Riku, who was definitely having problems hiding his amusement, added, "Moogles are well known for thier healing abilities, and his record keeping could be quite useful. Besides that, his telepathy is stronger than ours, so he can help us stay in touch."

"Great! We have all our supplies, and the crew's been decided, so we can finally leave," I got up off the bed, only to be pulled back down by Yuffie. "Hold your chocobos, girl. You've done pretty well for a beginner, but if you dont get some serious training you'll be heartless fodder in no time."

Although I resented it with every fiber of my being, I knew she was right. Finally, I sighed and nodded. "So, what do we do about that?"

"I hear that one of the Raganorok's crew is an instructor in the martial arts," Riku stated.

I nodded. "Quistis Trepe. She's one of the best, on her world anyway. She trains a variety of students, but I don't know if she's ever seen a floutist before." I ran my hands over the flute, smiling wryly.

"I guess we'll just have to find out, huh?" Yuffie put her hands over mine, stopping thier nervous movement.

"Yup." With that, we left the hotel.

~*~*~*~


"A flute?" Quistis inquired skeptically

"Yes" I replied, feeling uncomfortable. I was standing in the middle of Second Districl, in front of the fountain, where Quistins had determined there would be enoughroom for practice sparring. Riku and Yuffie watched from the sidelines.

"I suppose," Quistis said thoughtfully, "It could be used like a short staff." She eyed my weapon again. "A very short staff. But considering your strengh ('Or lack thereof,' I thought) and the type of weapon, you'd be better off using magic."

"Magic?" I was intrigued.

"Yes. It is an energy source found in every living thing, even the very earth beneath your feet. You'll have to learn how to draw it to use it."

"Draw?" It seemed all I could do was ask questions.

"Taking it from it's source. Sort of like sucking it out of things, you know."

"Right," Finally, I understood something.

"I guess that's where we'll start then. Let's see if you can draw fire; it's a pretty basic spell."

"Okay, how do I do that?"

"Well, you have to find the fire first. Think of the fires down in the planets core, underground. Pull them up into you."

I closed my eyes and imagined the rivers of lava miles below me, imagined the heat, imagined fire.

"Got it? Now, choose a target."

"There aren't any heartless around," I pointed out.

"Then I'll stand in."

"You?! But I don't want to hurt you!" I protested

"Don't worry, I've done this plenty of times," she reassured me. "You probably won't be able to hurt me very badly anyway." Seeing my look of doubt, she added, "Just pretend I'm a heartless."

I gave her a small smile. "Okay." Then I closed my eyes, and drew fire again. The magic filled me up, starting from my toes and traveling up to my head. It felt like tingling static moving over my body. My muscles contracted. I continued until I could hold no more and my body was vibrating with the power. I opened my eyes, focused on Quistis, pointed my flute at her and shouted, "Fire!"

The resulting explosion threw us both backwards. Somewhere in the backgroud I heard Yuffie screech in surprise. Stunned, I opened my eyes to find I was sitting on my backside (which was very sore). Quistis was getting shakily to her feet. After recovering her blacance she took a potion.

"Well, that was a bit more powerful than I expected," she understated. "Apperently your flute amplifies magic you've drawn, or you just overdrew."

"I think I overdrew," I said sheepishly, but inside I was wondering about the flute. Surely that blast had been more than beginners luck?

"That can be very dangerous," warned Quistis. "If you try to handle too much magic at once, it can consume you. We need to work on your self controll. You know what that means."

"More practice," I sighed.

~*~*~*~
Over the next few weeks, that was exactly what I did. I learned to handle magic more effectively, as well as being able to draw a number of usefull spells. Not that my physical education was neglected. I lerned to use my flute as a short staff, and had regular sparring matches with Quistis, and my companions. Mogruko stood by to heal us, but I was still feeling extremely sore and bruised by the end of each day.

Soon it would be time to leave. Our first stop would be Gaia, where I aimed to unravel more of the mystery surrounding my flute. Quistis said she had never seen anyone pick up on magic so quickly before, but I knew I couldn't just be me doing all the work. There was definitely something special about this weapon.

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