Viola sat on her seat in a carriage heading to Fiore. Ramiro has been a bit restless in the carriage with her. It seems he is looking forward to seeing his master again. After the school year ended, she returned home only to find out that her sister is still in Fiore. Since the beginning of the school year, she received letters from Amy that are either incoherent, nonsensical and of varying length. She kept most of Amy's condition a secret. The concern from everyone made her compel to keep this even more. But the last few months, her writing seems to have gone back to normal. Everyone at Team Sun has been worried about her. Her condition was serious as described by her letters, but she found out the rest from her parents that it took a while for her to calm down and that her trip to Fiore has been helpful to her mental health.
After she arrived, the first thing that caught her eye was the magnificent garden. According to what she has heard, Amy has taken an interest in gardening but...
Viola is in shock at the state of the flowers. They are in this state by magic and give off a strange yet calming presence.
Just what is she up to?
After getting off the carriage, she immediately felt the presence that she hasn't felt all year and ran towards it, seeing the familiar braided, indigo hair but she skids to a stop after noticing the drastic change to her magic. It was overwhelmingly strong. It seems that she has been training quite a bit.
Amy turned around and smiled upon noticing Viola.
The sister went for tight hug. The was a pregnant pause between them as they just decide not to talk and take in the moment.
*
"How did you get so strong, Amy? Just what happened while I was gone? Are you Alright?" Viola asked after finally breaking the hug.
Amy chuckled for a bit and saw down on a nearby bench. Ramiro happily flew back to her side, and she petted him for a bit. She appears to be mildly surprised to see that the raven has grown quite a bit.
"My magic grew quite strong while I was sick. It wasn't quite easy. The whole ordeal was so painful. I almost killed myself a few times." She says nonchalantly.
"YOU WHAT???!!!"
"Do not worry, Viola. The whole thing is over now. I'm cured." Amy assured her before returning back to the conversation, "I learned a couple of things throughout the year. I decide to train and make improvements on myself while I recover."
"Like what?"
"Well... It's easier to show you." Amy grabbed a strange looking bow and arrow and watched her use it, but it didn't even last a second before she drew the bow and let go. It happened so quickly that Viola is quite shocked, but she can see the improvement. She was working on her speed, precision and stealth. If she aimed that arrow on her, she might have trouble dodging it even with her sixth sense.
Amy then rolled her wrist, "I was focusing on my flexibility and muscle control. As you can see, the arrow is faster, silent and precise. I made some improvements on my imperfections. It took me a couple months, but it helped me quite a bit"
"That's amazing, Amy. And the garden? I noticed that it has been affected by magic. You are the only magician capable. How did you do it?"
"I don't know. I was sleepwalking when I did that."
"You used magic when sleepwalking?" Viola replied.
"Yeah, I never figured it out. I knew it was magic, so I've been doing some research about that." Amy said then got a towel to wipe her sweat, "Enough about me, tell me what happened with you and the others."
Viola sighed, "I knew you are curious, but a lot of stuff happened while you are gone. Now that everyone knows that Leon is a student at the magic academy, there were more students than any other year." She said in a wary voice, "Obviously, there are more girls that enrolled this year than the guys."
"And they all passed the entrance exams?"
She nodded, "There are far more applicants, but the academy continued to set the limit. I already explained in my letters that Leon remained indifferent, and his pranks turn crueler towards the first years that he called brownnosers."
Amy nodded, she had expected this.
"So many people have quit. There were three times more students than last year and almost none of them are taking classes seriously or even have the motivation. It was annoying." She ranted. "By the time the new school year comes, I bet the kids that actually came to learn magic would remain."
Amy nodded again. "What about the others at Team Sun?"
"Hm, Melissa has gotten stronger. Her healing ability has begun healing nerve damage and severed limbs now."
That is quite interesting. Amy thought.
"Other than Leon's pranks, he is pretty much the same although he has been training in secret. We saw the fruits of his labor at the tournament but because of the severity, he was disqualified."
Amy can't help but scoff at this. This is of no surprise. It is his nature to go all out.
"Rufus was concerning. He got along far less with the first years than even Leon. He didn't like the girls this year. That doesn't mean he is like that with anyone. It's just with them."
Amy was confused. At first when she heard about this, she thought that his aggressiveness stems from his powers affecting his mind, but it looks like last year's students are the reason. Leon hates nobles so what does that make Rufus?
"His power is quite overwhelming too. His magic is still the strongest among us."
"I'm not surprised. His strengths surpass mine after all." Amy said attentively.
"Then there is Nate. He's gotten quite better at his powers. Theseus told me that he made something up. I don't remember the name, but it had something to do with condensing power only to the necessary part."
The Magical Thread Theory! Amy thought. "That's quite interesting. Nathaniel is always talented and strong."
"Yeah, he has gotten more muscle from the physical training. I forgot to mention in the letter, but he was in the semifinals in the tournament."
"Really? He's that strong?" Amy was a bit surprised to hear this. Nathaniel was always physically active but not to the point of matching her in strength.
"Yeah, he wanted to follow in your footsteps. He followed the training regimen that you wrote for me."
"I could've gotten him his own." She murmured, though secretly happy that someone is following her advice out of admiration.
"Theseus made it in the quarter finals. Of course, he didn't take the loss well."
Theseus is always open with his emotions. He is the most positive out of all of them. If she would make a comparison, he is like a puppy. Sweet but also wary in the right moments.
"Sabina's brother Salvador enrolled in the academy."
"But he's the heir to the White Earldom. He should be in the Royal Academy."
"I thought so too but he passed the ridiculously difficult Dragon Test."
"Seriously?" Amy was shocked to hear that. That means that Salvador has the privilege of a graduate. "I didn't think he would pass it this quickly."
"Heh, you'd be surprised. Sabina was even more shocked when she heard. She has gotten interest in knifework. She has been throwing knives a lot since she started practicing. She said that you inspired her."
Amy nervously laughed. Sabina's signature fighting style, in the original story, are knives. She carries knives on her for throwing and for close combat.
"What about you?"
Viola grabbed Amy's bow and a nearby arrow, drew it and it flew into the target, without her looking at said target.
"I have been improving on my martial arts and my archery."
Amy felt so much pride and joy for her twin.
"Also, my purification power has improved a lot too." She said and let out her power to clean Amy out of the sweat on her body. She doesn't even feel sticky anymore.
"Wow, you really did improve." Amy said in amazement, "in such a short amount of time."
Viola smiled in response.
"Let's head back inside. Grandpa Ole will be happy to see you."
"Oh, that's right." Viola remarked. She had forgotten about her great grandpa.
*
By the time the school year starts, both sisters left together.