Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 154: Grace: Arcana (I)

Lyre waits until I’m calm again, her chin still resting in her palm as she watches me.

"I don’t get it," I finally admit, scrubbing my hands over my face again. It’s not that I’m trying to hide, but just... the pressure and darkness helps me feel a little better. A little less dizzy and lost with the information thrown at me.

Anchors. Divinity. Gods. Fate...

"What don’t you get?"

"Everything. I understand what you’re saying, it just... doesn’t feel real." Like Lyre’s making up a story.

"Hmm." Her fingers tap against the table again. "Well, it’s understandable. You’ll come to know more with time, but it’s against us at the moment. More importantly, Grace, there are things you need to do, now that Chaos has opened your door."

Somehow, I know I’m not going to like whatever she has to say.

"What things?"

"Well." Cool fingers touch the back of my hands, and I pull them away from my face to blink at the rainbow-haired woman in front of me. Lyre smiles faintly. "First, you need to learn to harness your power. I hear you can see arcana now?"

I nod.

"It’s a bit fast, but I suppose I should thank Chaos for this gift, at least. Can you see it at will? Or only when you’re in the middle of your..." Her index finger swirls in the air. "...shenanigans?"

I blush.

"Only when I touch Caine. They look like golden threads."

the tapping as she frowns. "Can you touch

really... stop it. I tried to squeeze it, and it worked a little." We just won’t tell her about

to see the light of

does it feel

back. "Warm. Almost like a wiggling rope and water at the same time, but sometimes I can’t feel it

again. "It sounds

at

blood running through your body. It’s in every inch of your skin. Everything in this world is made of arcana. If you want to control it, you need to manipulate it from its basest form. Don’t think of it as water, or air, or even a rock. Base arcana is most similar to a gas." She makes a fist with a wry smile. "No matter how much you try to hold onto it, it will always escape

makes some sense. I nod. "So how do I

everywhere. Either disperse the density of it, or absorb more. Give it roads and direction, and it will follow

taking a sledgehammer to a

out both hands. "When I’m pulling arcana, I’m not yanking it out of its proper existence. It comes to me on my order. I absorb it, and therefore it’s mine." Slowly, a faint, fuzzy ball of golden light appears in her hand. "Try to call it to

my hands, palms facing upward, the awkwardness making my fingers tremble slightly. The ball of golden light hovers between Lyre’s

Nothing.

with frustration. Last night with Caine, I’d seen those golden threads

asks, her

head, feeling more defeated than I probably should. I’m a beginner. This is all new to me. It would make sense to fail. And yet I

on them to keep me safe.

thought... after last night with Caine, I

I’m some mythical being called an Anchor, capable of influencing gods, and I can’t even see magic right in front

but then I feel a little guilty for

moves her hands forward until they’re beneath mine.

palms press against the underside of mine, and the warm orb of light transfers between us. As she slowly pulls her hands away, the golden

"Oh!"

emits is something beyond a surface-level temperature. It tingles, starting at my