“Checkmate!”
Cozy Glow exclaimed, tumbling her opponent’s king while most of her pieces were still standing.
She watched as Thorn Thistle groaned, retorted, clenched his fists, slammed the board repeatedly, and then slumped backward.
“What a tragic match,” Thorn sighed.
Cozy Glow, however, grinned as she basked in her triumph.
“Speak for yourself, I think it went amazing!”
“…”
“Best out of seven?”
Cozy watched intently as Thorn grumbled and looked away with a frown. There were only so many times he could lose to a twelve-year-old without losing his cool. And she knew it.
She also knew that he knew that she knew she would pester him if he refused her challenge, so it was no surprise to her when he started placing the pieces in their respective square.
As they rearranged the pieces on the board, they promptly heard a loud explosion, which diverted their attention from their battle of the mind to the outside world.
“What was that!?” Cozy Glow asked, and Thorn shrugged.
Heading outside, they saw nothing for a long while, and quickly assumed that whatever it was, it was over.
But as they were about to turn around, a second explosion was heard, and a rainbow-colored beam shot through the sky in the distance.
It swirled and swirled over itself several times, and Cozy Glow watched every second of it, gaping at the strength and the invigorating energy the beam radiated as it ultimately collapsed into the ground.
As it settled down, she could faintly feel the expansive wave that came with the crash. The energy sent goosebumps all over her body with what felt like only a fraction of the power it was truly capable of.
The seconds passed and the reflection of the beam left Cozy’s widened eyes as the rainbow pillar faded away into obscurity.
Cozy blinked repeatedly, taking in everything that she had just witnessed.
And then turned away promptly.
“Well, anyway, I’m going back inside. It’s kinda cold out here.”
Vaguely hearing her, Thorn nodded slightly, but Cozy was already back at the chess board. He, however, remained outside a few seconds longer.