Chapter 364: Racing the Weather
Thirty minutes later, Elder Loujt and Liam are back in the kitchen. Both of them ready. Both of them focused entirely on winning.
So focused, in fact, that neither of them notices the change in the room.
In the thirty minutes they were gone, the two Light mages and the three Earth mages have settled into something warmer and more comfortable than anyone could have reasonably expected. Sonia and Maeve look like they have known each other for years. The Earth mages are not quite there yet, but the stiffness between them is largely gone.
"Are you both ready?" Theo asks.
They nod. Enthusiastically.
"Good. Who wants to go first?"
"I will." They both say at exactly the same time.
Theo smiles to himself. Really. Two boys competing over the same toy.
"Since Mr. Loujt is our guest, he can goes first."
Elder Loujt steps forward, visibly pleased. "Thank you, Ms. Montrose. How do we proceed?"
Sonia leans toward Maeve and murmurs, "Look at him. He seems to have forgotten he is in his forties."
They stifle their laughter.
"Let us go outside to the patio. We will be closer to the snow." Theo says.
Everyone moves efficiently toward the large back patio. Including Linus. This would be his first time seeing magic used in person. And he can’t help but feel excited.
"Alright, Mr. Loujt. You will be leading your attempt. I hope you have been practicing what I showed you."
Elder Loujt nods. "Yes, Ms. Montrose. Break the snow from its core, separate and group the elements, purify, then release the purified mana gradually back into the environment."
"Good. You remembered correctly." Theo looks around at the group. "What he just described is the full process. You have all practiced it individually. What you did alone on a single snowflake, today you are going to do together, at scale, across an entire city. I will walk you through each step as we go. Close your eyes."
Everyone does. Even Liam.
"Feel the snow. All of it. Sense how far it extends, how it covers the whole of Solarys. Spread your awareness as wide as you can, like casting a net over everything beneath you. Do not force it. Do not stretch yourself thin. Let it expand naturally."
Theo watches them. Some are frowning slightly with the effort. Others are more settled, their faces gradually softening as they find the reach.
"Good. Now, Lights and Earths. Begin linking your magic and your mana with your partner. Join your senses together so the net widens further than any of you could manage alone."
Sonia and Maeve find each other’s hands without opening their eyes. The three Earth mages do the same.
Theo watches the tension ease from their faces as the individual strain of reaching dissolves into something shared and steadier.
"Good. You can feel the difference. Hold that. Move as one unit now, not as individuals. Excellent."
He cannot feel what they are experiencing. But he knows the process well enough to read it in their bodies, in the loosening of shoulders, the steadying of breath, the stillness that comes when something clicks into place.
"Next step. We now have three separate groups. Water, Light, and Earth. I want each group to begin functioning as a single unit within the net. Stop acting as individuals and start acting as one. Within the net, begin identifying and separating the elements, drawing each into its own group."
He moves to stand beside Alicia, who has been watching the others patiently. She knows her turn is coming. He murmurs quietly.
"Alicia. Your turn. Cast your own net. Wind is flexible and wide by nature, so yours will cover more ground and sit above the others naturally. Just like you practiced. Think of it as a bird’s eye view of everything happening below. You are the supervisor. If you see any element drifting out of its group or going somewhere it should not, guide it back. That is your job today."
Alicia nods, visibly glad it is finally her turn. Theo has given her a separate set of things to practice for exactly this role. She is ready.
She closes her eyes and gets to work.
After a few minutes of concentrated silence, Theo speaks again. "Do not worry too much if some elements drift from their group. Alicia is Wind. She will guide them back."
A wave of quietly relieved exhales moves through the patio.
Theo steps over to Linus. "Can you sense anything, Uncle?" He keeps his voice low.
Linus nods slowly. "I can feel something. Like breeze-like waves coming off of them. Pulses. I cannot see it, but I can feel it. It makes no logical sense and yet I cannot deny it because it is there."
Theo smiles. "I am fairly certain you are Light, Uncle. You are unusually sensitive." Before Linus can respond, Theo is already walking back to the group.
"Alright. Next step. This is where it becomes difficult. Each of you has done this part individually, but never as a group. Water and Earth, push your elements toward the Lights. Light, receive them and begin purification. All of it."
It takes less than two seconds for the air to shift. Even Theo can feel it. The snow that has been falling gently now begins to move differently, almost as if it is resisting. Pushing back.
Theo smiles.
Around him, the mages are frowning. Their breathing is losing its rhythm.
"What is the matter? The snow is pushing back? You are feeling resistance?"
"Yes." Elder Loujt answers.
"That is normal. If this were easy, we would not need to do it this way. What you are feeling is a bottleneck. The Lights are not purifying fast enough, and the elements that have already been purified have nowhere to go because the rest of you are still herding more toward them. Yes?"
"Yes!" He gets the answer unanimously.
"Trust your partners to do their job. Earth, you can assign one of you to slowly release the purified elements. Mr. Loujt, you have to multitask. Alicia can also help with the release."
All six mages are working through Theo’s instructions.
For a while, things seem to be working.
Then Theo feels the wind in the garden pick up. The snow falls harder. The sky darkens.
The unnatural snow is fighting back. It has no intention of going quietly. The temperature begins to drop steadily and quickly.
Linus gets to his feet and disappears inside the guesthouse without a word.
A few minutes later he is back on the patio, wearing Liam’s navy blue winter coat and carrying a black coat over his arm. He holds the black one out to Theo.
"Thank you, Uncle." Theo pulls it on.
The temperature keeps dropping.
"Alicia, redirect the wind away from the patio if you can. The wind is making the cold worse." Theo calls to her.
"I did not bring coats for the others. Is that alright?" Linus asks quietly.
"They will be fine. Mages run warmer than the rest of us." Theo nods. Linus had suspected as much. He does not go back to his corner. He stays beside Theo. Something about the air in the back garden has shifted and he does not like it.
"Everyone else." Theo raises his voice above the wind. "Increase your pace. Whatever you are doing, do it faster."
"We are racing the weather now."
Damn it. I did not think it would escalate this quickly. This confirms it. I really did summon that rain. Liam’s snow has only been suppressing it all along. We need his mana signature in this or it is going to get away from us.
But Theo also knows Elder Loujt will not concede without proving the point himself first. He needs to learn it the hard way. That some things are not simply a matter of who is stronger.
The wind does not die down. It increases. Steadily, relentlessly.
Alicia is sweating despite the cold, her face tight with effort. She is holding the wind back alone and it is too much for one person.
Sonia and Maeve are purifying as fast as they can, but the angry wind is pulling the separated elements out of formation before they can reach them. Their rhythm is breaking down.
Julian, Dae, and Huri can no longer maintain their link. The snow cores are no longer cooperating and the three of them are starting to feel it, their connection fraying at the edges, their unity dissolving back into three separate people.
Elder Loujt is taking the worst of it. Water is the dominant element in the snow and it is the one rebelling hardest. He is losing his grip on it.
"Do not let go!" Theo yells. "Hold it!"
He moves quickly to Liam and puts a hand on his shoulder, dropping his voice low.
"I need you to step in. You called the snow. It will listen to you. You need to do it now, before this transforms into something none of us can control."
Liam nods without opening his eyes. He can already feel what Theo is describing. He takes a slow breath and spreads his mana outward toward the snow.
"Do not try to force them." Theo says quietly beside him. "Remember how you called them the first time. Do that again."
