"I'll try," Mec said with a small laugh. He watched Shallan leave the room, a small smile on his lips as he watched in a reverie. A small part of him wished to spend more time with Shallan, to just chat the night away together, but he also did not want her to miss out on things they both knew she would enjoy. Besides, she seemed to be enjoying her time with the Misfits, and... Well, it probably helped her keep her mind off what she had to leave behind back home.
Mec frowned, finally pulling his gaze away from the door and sitting up firmly on the edge of his bed. His strength had come back to him after recovering from the light of the lanterns, and there was still some practicing to be done. Obviously it was nearly impossible to train his magic in the traditional sense, destroying the room but summoning plants or balls of flame was hardly discrete, but Mec knew there was something that he had long overlooked. The mage vividly remembered the vision he had when he attacked Olenna's doll in order to defend Shallan. At that time, he was driven by the fear of losing his friend at the hands of someone who just displayed their willingness and ability to kill in just in an instant. Maybe after all of this practice, such excitement would not be necessary to shine the same light on the world again. To see the world as it truly is, covered in the power that he wished to master.
It was not too difficult to see glimpses of it. In fact, he saw them more and more as he practiced. Stray threads, connecting someone or something to the environment around them. They always appeared so taught, on the verge of snapping given the gentlest touch, but they never seemed to regardless of the movement around them. Mec recalled how familiar the Anima surrounding Shallan was when he used them to win the little game Midir put them up to. Would he be able to find that same familiar energy again, perhaps?
Before long, Mec had kicked off his shoes and moved to sit at the foot of his bed. He pressed his bare feet into the wooden floorboards beneath him as he drew a long breath through his nose, and then gently let that breath go. He watched, trying to note a change to the air in front of him as he breathed out, but he saw nothing. He repeated the long breaths again, this time closing his eyes as he tried to feel the presence of the Anima again. It was not long before he could feel it, the gentle tugging of the world through the strings that were made up of the earth's very soul. Mec did not open his eyes to see it though, instead, he focused on trying to feel what he could through this new sensation.
One side of his lips curled into a smile once he was able to feel Shallan's presence. It was distant, but it was familiar. Not being someone who actively used magic, the magical energy around Shallan always felt small, but it seemed even more difficult to actively monitor it. Mec wondered if the lamps down below were influencing the ability to observe the Anima down below, in the same way it made it difficult to interact with it.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking the room back into focus. He gasped, nearly audibly, at what he could now see. It was not as brilliant as his incident with Olenna, but it was unmistakable how different the room had become. The cobwebs of light seemed to bind everything together at the same time, yet everything passed through them with no restriction. He wondered if Olenna could see the world like this through the help of her dolls, or if maybe the Anima provoked an entirely different sensation for her.
The bewildered mage stood, pacing the room silently, waving his hand through strings of light as he passed by. When he wanted to, he could feel the things those strands were connected to. Most of them seemed to lead to the earth below, but some may connect to a person, animal, or tree. Mec could not see those things necessarily, but he could tell at least what they were somehow. Eventually, he would settle back onto his bed, finally laying down on it completely. His eyes grew too tired of taking in the beautiful light around him, so he would close them to let them rest for a time. After a while, he could hear others enter the room, retiring to their beds, but he gave them no mind. He wondered if the traffic into the room meant Shallan might be returning soon.
The man awoke to the sound of a loud snore, before the source of the disturbingly loud noise shuffled in their bed and resumed a normal breathing pattern as they slept. Mec sat up, looking around the room that was now suddenly full of others from his new travel group, all sleeping away carelessly. The visible Anima was gone, and the old world, darkened both because of the lack of visible strands of light and the heavy curtains over the windows, was all that remained. He looked over to his travel partner, who was sleeping in the bed next to him. He could not help but watch her for a small moment, her face peaceful as she breathed gently, and her chest rising and falling with each breath.
After a while, he finally noticed the small platter that rest on the small table next to his bed. Judging by the selection of food, it was the more bland food that Shallan had mentioned would pass as a meal for someone with an upset stomach. Mec was hungry after the long fast, so he quickly munched down on the slightly stale food. Upon taking his last bite of a piece of cheese, he used his feet to pull his shoes closer to himself and put them on. He arose and carried the platter downstairs, deciding it would not be a bad idea to find some water as well.
A short while passed while Mec was near the entrance of the inn, drinking from a tall cup of water that he had acquired from one of the servers. The creaking of the front door caught his attention as it swung open, and in marched Clair, Godrich, and Ella. The trio looked like they were made of flames, Mec thought, with the way Clair's blonde hair contrasted with the dark reds of the other two senior misfits.
Godrich was the first to acknowledge Mec, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Hello Mec. I trust you're feeling better."
"I had no idea you would be such a handful," Clair teased as she walked passed. "Godrich, once I fetch everyone can you and some of the boys pack up what we left in the back last night?" She gave a knowing nod to Godrich before rushing up the stairs, Ella following her without speaking to Mec at all.
"Might as well get a head start, right friend?" Godrich laughed as he gave Mec's shoulder a pat.
Upon reaching the upper floor, Clair would visit the couple of rooms that housed the Misfits and wake the lot with a sharp whistle. "C'mon you smelly lot," she would say teasingly. "The baths won't stay warm for long!"
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