Training begins

After getting her new clothes, Mina met up with everyone for a hearty lunch (some of the food tasted like chicken to Mina, which Mina expressed aloud, forcing her to explain what a chicken actually was, and everyone else was appalled by the idea of there being birds that could not fly), and then it was finally time to learn about her powers. Mina was eager, giddy even, to learn exactly what she was capable of. In the stories, normally chosen ones learned what their power was pretty quick, but for her she’d been so overwhelmed by everything happening that she hadn’t even had time to learn if she actually had powers, never mind what they were.

“Alright Mina.” Lefteris began as he and Agapi lined up some targets. “Let’s see exactly what you can do. As the chosen one of Uraina, who is the goddess of the skies, you should have some degree of weather control, and with that control over things like wind and lightning.”

“Ok, so, how do I do that?” Mina asked. “Is there some kind of magic spell you’re going to teach me?”

“While there is magic capable of replicating the power of Uraina, for now I think it would be best that you try to tap into her raw power. Using proper magic to begin might lead you to become reliant on it and thus make you unable to use her power properly.” Lefteris explained.

“Ok… that dosent exactly tell me what I should do though.” Mina pointed out.

“True…” Lefteris said in agreement. He then looked to Agapi for sugestions, but she just gave him a helpless shrug. So, after thinking for a moment, he turned to Mina with a helpless look of his own. “I guess just… try?”

The dry stare Mina gave him in response expressed exactly how impressed she was with his suggestion. But, with nothing better, Mina did exactly that.

She pulled back her hands then pushed forwards, trying to will the air forwards. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened. She then looked at Lefteris and Agapi again, but they still gave her that same unsure look, so she tried again. And again. And one more time, but nothing happened.

“Maybe we’re going at this from the wrong direction.” Agapi then said. “If I’m reading you correctly, you’re trying to make wind blow. But, while wind can be part of the sky, it’s not directly part of the sky. Maybe instead you can try making rain fall instead?”

“Ok. And how do I do that?” Mina asked.

“… try?” Agapi said helplessly, earning her the exact same glare.

But, Mina did as asked. She tried her best to will rain to form, pointing her hands up to the sky then pulling them down, as if she was trying to pull rain down from the sky and onto the ground. But it didn’t work. No matter what weird pose or motion she did, nothing worked. She cycled through all sorts of different things. Attempting to make lightning strike by punching downwards, attempting to make tornadoes by spinning her arms around and then her whole body around, even attempting to make it hotter by glaring at Lefteris. While Lefteris certainly was made more uncomfortable by the glare, nothing actually worked to make weather happen. Mina even tried copying some hand signs and movements from the different shows she’s seen, but nothing worked. To make it even more annoying, Lefteris and Agapi insisted that she should keep trying to do this without knowing any magic, no matter how much she pestered them.

After something like an hour, Mina was covered in sweat and feeling like a total idiot from all the dumb flailing that she was doing, and was one step away from screaming in anger from all the failure. That was when Agapi decided to approach her.

“Alright, why don’t we take a break for now.” Agapi said, placing a hand on Mina’s shoulder. “This is ancient godly magic we’re dealing with, maybe you need a day or two before the goddess’s power properly manifests. Why don’t we try something else for now. I can teach you how to use a bow and arrow if you want?”

Mina, her face scrunched up in anger, turned to Agapi with the full intention of yelling at her, telling her to stop coddling her, that she can do this, but she stopped.

‘Bow and arrow’ She thought. That was something she could try.

Straightening herself up, she looked towards the targets once more and focused. She thought back to all those times her mom took her to the nearby reserve back home, where some of the elders would teach her traditional hunting techniques at her mom’s request. Most notably in this case being how to wield a bow. She raised her hands up, closing her eyes as she imagined a bow within her hands. She breathed, let nature surround her as she tried to remember everything she was taught. She reached back, pulled an arrow from the imaginary quiver on her back, and knocked it on the string.

Lefteris and Agapi watched curiously as Mina moved, and though it was hard to tell, they could vaguely see the air distorting and shimmering around Mina’s hands into the form of a bow and arrow. Both of them held their breath, doing their best not to make a single sound or disrupt Mina’s concentration. The shimmering air slowly began to solidify, taking on almost a glass like appearance in Mina’s hands, becoming that of a translucent bow decorated with feathers. Then, with a single breath, Mina opened her eyes, released the string on the bow and fired her arrow straight into the straw bales behind the target, blowing a big hole in them.

“Incredible.” Agapi exclaimed.

“So this is the power of the goddess.” Lefteris said.

‘I missed the target, but I actually shot something.’ Mina thought in amazement.

“I actually am a chosen one.” She said aloud.

“That you are Mina, that you are.” Lefteris said. “And with your help, we can save our kingdom.”