11 Discovery and Departure (2/2)
Seeing that Will had more time to train, he had increased his flames output by two more hours. He had gone to a clearing in the woods every night to make as big a flame as he could and formed it into a ball of condensed flame. Now that he had four hours of training time, Will almost constantly had his ruby fire present, taking a permanent spot a foot above his head. To keep him occupied, he changed the density of the flames to the maximum as well as decreased the output. No matter what he seemed to do with them, the time had always matched the cool down of the ability.
Now that he had been taking it easy, the twin flames danced a foot above his head, rotating and circling as if he had a dancing fire above him. Will barely noticed when the flames dissipated now, he would just feel a pull within his aura when his time was done. An hour later, when the aura's strength returned, he would feel a fullness within himself that told him it was ready once more.
Having finished with the preparations, Maya went to Will who had just finished packing up his camp besides his sleeping bag. Without words, they looked at the cottage. Maya had never truly left without her parents before, but since they were no longer with her, she had to make the trip and carry out the deal in memory of everything they had done for her. Will ensured that he was as strong as he could be for the journey, he had no Idea of what kind of dangers they could be in for. The most he could do was train and hope it would be enough for any trial they might face along the way.
”We will wait at least until dusk,” Maya said as she finished tying up the wagon. ”You shouldn't train tonight William, you will need all of your strength for tomorrow I'm sure.” She said with a smile on her face. As she raced back to her cottage, Will couldn't help but watch her as she opened the door to enter. He had been with her for at least four months, and it would be a lie to say he didn't have feelings for her. 'It's not like I'm cheating on you,' his thoughts turned to Bianca, 'but it's starting to feel like it's going to be a while before I get back.' It could be a long time before Will found Michael and moved on to the next stage of his training. It could take months, or it could take years. Will didn't know how long he had to wait for Bianca. His phone had died a month ago, with it's death came a new peace inside Will. He wished her the best, but he couldn't hold out for her if there wasn't any way for her to be with him.
Will had been thinking a lot about Maya and how they got along together. She had always been cheerful towards him since he met her. She had always been kind and generous. He couldn't find a reason why he shouldn't open up his heart to her, but every time he would try, the memory of Bianca would get in his way.
Sitting on his sleeping bag, Will couldn't help but think what life could have been like if he was born in Crystallia. Would he have known Maya? What would his mother truly be like? Would he have even known who Jonathan was? Will stopped himself at that thought, if his mother had stayed in Crystallia, he wouldn't have even been born.
As Will sat in his thoughts, he didn't even notice when Maya sat on the grass next to him. She had noticed his expression almost instantaneously and decided it was time for her to say something. ”You know you're not alone right?” She asked, trying hard to get him out of his usual thoughts. ”I've been here for you from the beginning, and you know I'm not going anywhere right?” Will looked at Maya as if he'd never seen her before. Her concerned expression didn't match that of what a friend would make. He frowned slightly as he tried hard to make his thoughts go away. As he did, he noticed that his flames had already taken the form of the people he had been thinking of. Without him realizing, all of the faces shifted to the face of one person, the one that was sitting next to him.
Maya looked at the many reflections of herself, not knowing what to make of it. She had seen the faces of his loved ones in the fire many times, but never once did it actually depict her. She looked at each and every one of them, most of them had her smile, others had her crying. All of them showed the concern Will must have felt for her. She looked from the flames to Will, his face was completely unreadable as he stared at her.
”Maya,” Will said quietly, ”If I were to accept you in the way you wish, I'd be saying goodbye to the one I care about back in my world.” He looked down, Maya could see the confusion building up in him. ”I would have to give her up, I don't know if I'm ready to do that.”
Maya watched him for a moment, a moment in which was long enough to see a tear fall from his eye. In that instant she pulled him into an embrace. ”I'm not looking for anything else besides you realizing that you have a place in this world as well.” She said as she cradled his head in her arms. ”I'll always be here should you ever find yourself lost William.” With that, she laid him in his sleeping bag. She couldn't bring herself to leave him, so she instead brought him close as she laid down next to him. Will had fallen asleep with Maya holding him in her arms. ”I'm always going to be here for you,” She said softly as she felt his breath even.
Enveloped in darkness, the mercy of his dreamless sleep, Will cuddled up close to Maya. The first true feeling of belonging had finally set in with him. He felt that as long as Maya was with him, he never truly had to be alone. Within his dreamless sleep, a face appeared. One that he knew all too well. Bianca was there with him as clear as day, but the more he held on to Maya, the more the image of Bianca faded away. 'It's time to let you go.' he thought to himself one final time before he allowed the darkness to take over.