A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Back in the bedroom of Erik's old home, Emma was sitting cross-legged on Elora's sigil. Around her stood Erik, Elora, and Emily as they stared at her with various expressions.

Elora looked curious with a hint of anticipation; Erik looked calm yet with a glint of excitement, and Emily looked mostly just concerned.

After Emma had declared her intention to go through with the test, Elora had instructed her to sit on top of the sigil.

Then, the fairy made some hand movements to activate it, and Emma's eyes dulled as she stared ahead into nothing.

Now, they had been standing there, looking at Emma for the past ten minutes, and Emily was getting anxious.

She turned her gaze toward Erik, putting far more trust in him than in Elora, and asked with an anxious tone, "Can you tell me what's happening to her, Boss?"

With a thoughtful nod, Erik explained what he knew of this sigil, "The Heartfire sigil will identify the weakest parts of her psyche and start to poke at it, to see if it will cause her to give up her conviction, or love, or whatever the sigil is intended to test."

Emily paled a little when she heard that. "So… like, traumas? Like- Like what I did to her?"

Erik responded, "Most likely, yes. When I went through this, the sigil tried to use the sight of Frostvik getting wiped out through Edda's betrayal to make me give up my feelings for Elora."

He turned to Elora with a smile, "Naturally, it failed," causing Elora to look back at him with a similar smile.

When she heard his response, fury passed across Emily's face as she thought about Elora and Erik letting Emma step into such a crucible. "You let her enter that thing despite knowing that?! She has already done through more than enough in the past few years!"

Ever ready to call bullshit, Elora scoffed. "And who's fault was that exactly?"

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Emily's face quickly fell and distorted into shame and pain as she remembered she was the very cause of that trauma.

Seeing that, Erik took a step closer, put a hand on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes. "It'll be fine," he said in a soothing tone. "The Heartfire sigil can actually aid in overcoming trauma as well. Have some faith in your little sister, she's far more resilient than you might think."

Surprised by his gesture, Emily trembled a little, as if thinking about escape, but then looked up at him and gave a determined nod.

Suddenly, Erik felt something, causing his gaze to lock onto Emma and the faint light that had appeared under her maid outfit. His eyes shone as excitement filled his expression. "She passed," he mumbled.

Meanwhile, inside Emma's mind, a loving smile had appeared on Emma's face as more and more darkness began to be pushed back by the increasingly brighter light.

She didn't know how or why, but she could feel a connection being formed between her and Erik, filling her with warmth and love.

A glint passed through her eyes as she seemed to go through a realization when the memories of just before the test started returned to her.

Her smile turned from loving to bright and excited as she whispered, "I'm coming, Sir," just before the darkness completely collapsed and the young woman disappeared.

Outside her mind, Emma blinked a few times to reacclimate to her surroundings and met the various gazes of the people around her.

Elora had a strangely excited smile on her face as a somewhat crazed glint passed through her eyes. 'That's one! It won't be long before there's a whole group of them, and my plan comes to fruition!'

Emily looked at her little sister with parts concern and parts relief that she appeared to be fine. That said, she also felt a little complicated since she wasn't sure how to feel about Emma passing the test and becoming bound to Erik.

As for Erik himself, he had a confident smile and a happy glint in his eyes before opening his arms as an invitation.

When Emma locked eyes with Erik's amber gaze and saw his inviting arms, she immediately jumped up and buried her face in his chest. "I- I did it!" she whispered excitedly.

Erik chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "Yes, you did, Emma. I never doubted it." That might not be entirely true, but he certainly suspected.

He caressed her hair with one hand and grabbed her chin with the other before he planted a deep kiss on her lips, causing Emma to tremble and moan.

At the same time, she was suddenly hit with an influx of foreign emotions, making her eyes widen in surprise.

What she felt from that influx was mostly happiness and care, and somehow, she instinctively knew it was coming from Erik.

She looked up at him with surprise, "Sir? W- What's happening?"

Erik smiled, and suddenly, Emma heard his voice in her head while his mouth remained closed. "That's our new bond. We can talk to each other like this and feel each other's emotions, so long as we remain within a certain range. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

What Erik currently felt from Emma was a combination of excitement, love, confusion, and surprise.

Emma's eyes widened, and her smile brightened. "Really?! How do I respond?" she said out loud, under Emily's confused gaze.

Erik quickly explained the process to her, and soon, she had it figured out.

They let go of each other and turned toward the other two people in the room. Erik looked calm and confident, although both Elora and Emma could feel his happiness. As for Emma, her happy excitement was plain for all to see.

"Are you… alright, little Em?" Emily asked, a little hesitantly. She was afraid whatever that sigil might have shown her had reignited Emma's fear and anxiety regarding her.

But she sighed in relief when Emma nodded enthusiastically. "I'm fine." It appeared like Emma had not only made it through that sigil none the worse for wear but also with their relationship still intact.

Next, Elora stepped forward with an uncharacteristically kind smile before taking Emma into a hug. "Welcome to the family, Emma. I'm happy to have you."