Oh my god I've been so busy irl, you wouldn't believe. I went like a month being busy with something every day, be it traveling or social events or work, before finally getting a much-needed day to relax. I spent it writing a new story instead of this one. Sorry? It's another self-insert, but it works MUCH differently than this one. It's also very…strange. It's also been actually updating, which is more than I can say for this story. (Sorry.) It's an SAO story called Game Sync if you're interested!

The traveling I mentioned was a three day trip to Iowa. I went there to go to a wedding (which was the reason we drove up there), which meant wearing nice clothes in 25° F and below weather. Nice clothes being a dress, no leggings, and open-toed shoes. Even Merra was better prepared for the cold than I was! Despite the freezing temperature though there was very, very little snow. It was more of a light dusting of frost then anything. There wasn't even any ice to slide on! Color this Texan disappointed.

As of early February (the Iowa trip was in December) (gosh it's been way too long since I updated, sorry about that) I've been sick as a dog. It sucks. I'm so tired of getting sick, man. Stupid customers coming to the store sick :/ I also forgot my morning medicine on top of that, meaning I slept through an entire day. An ENTIRE DAY. WHAT THE HECK. Had some vivid dreams at least. Most of them not good though. Actually they all really sucked.

In March (I'msosorryaboutthewaitpleasedon'tkillme) I helped one of my friends move. I had to leave in the middle to work, but after my shift I took a b12 and went straight back to helping them. Turns out you can't sleep for nine hours after taking those! So I stayed up for a full 24 hours driving and working. Then I got five hours of sleep before my next work shift, so that sucked. At least I got fourteen hours after that one.

Last thing before we get to the second half of the last chapter—or maybe the second third?—I am officially off all social media. With the new pokemon generation coming out soon, I want to go in completely blind. I don't want to know anything about it until I discover it for myself when I get the game. I figured I should let everyone here know that I won't be able to post anything on tumblr until then, since that means no more new writing or art up there.

Chapter 25: Magic

We didn't spend much time in the armor shop, as it turned out. I ended up getting some bracers and a leather chest piece thing that gave some support as well as protection. Outfitted in my new gear, I was all set for the next battle. Hopefully there would be some time to rest before that happened, however.

Predictably, on the walk back to the palace the topic of boys (or men, I supposed. We were all adults here.) came up. I stayed quiet, hoping to keep the attention off of me. I noticed Olivia doing the same thing. Sully, surprisingly, joined in the conversation, speaking of Gaius with a fondness I hadn't expected. Sully was so gruff normally, even in she and Gaius's supports; I hadn't known they were far enough along in their relationship for her to have softer feelings for him. It made me wonder how accurate (or not) the game really was in portraying this world.

Inevitably, Lissa brought the conversation to me and Robin. I sighed. "Are we really so interesting to talk about?"

"So you don't deny it! There's something going on between you two!" Lissa hooted triumphantly.

"Wait, there is?" Olivia asked softly. "I thought they were just really close."

"You mean you haven't seen the way they look at each other? And how much they trust and worry for each other?" Sumia went on. "It's so romantic. I wish Chrom would do that with me…"

I buried my face in my hands, mortified. Wait. 'Each other?' As in, it went both ways?

"Not to mention how touchy-feely they are," Sully put in her two cents. We all looked at her, not expecting her to pick up on something like someone else's romance. "What? I'm not completely hopeless you know! I may not be very ladylike, but I'm not some oblivious man."

That got a laugh out of everyone. I was relieved the attention had lessened on me in favor of Sully.

Lissa couldn't let that stand, of course. "It's a wonder how neither of you have said anything to each other," she brought the topic back to me.

"I could say the same about you and Stahl," I deflected. I thought back to their supports. "Has he asked you to dinner yet?"

"What?" Lissa turned bright red. Ha! Served her right. "No. Is that something you know from your psychic friend?"

I wondered if I should tell her that my "friend" was actually just a form of computer, since I told everyone about modern technology. Eh, what could it hurt?

"I may have," I cleared my throat, "lied about the whole psychic friend business. Remember those computers I told you about? I learned about this world and y'all's stories through them."

I saw Olivia mouth "y'all?" In utter confusion. Poor soul.

"Don't let Frederick hear you say that," Sumia warned. "He's only just starting to trust you. Telling him you lied—even if he already suspected that one—would ruin that."

"You've been spending more time with him, right? Any particular reason?" I slyly pointed out.

Now it was Sumia's turn to turn red. "He's a lot nicer than everyone makes him out to be!" She defended. "He lets me help keep everything in order for Chrom."

At last, the conversation was off me entirely. Thank gods. I was happy to have discovered that this thing I had with Robin went both ways, but that didn't mean I wanted to talk about it. Or participate in this subject of conversation much at all, really. To be honest, I'd never actually liked anyone before. People liked me, and I'd try to reciprocate, but oftentimes just ended up friend-zoning them or we'd go our separate ways as life moved on. This could even be said of Aaron; I had kept our relationship pretty platonic, though I was sure there was something there. We were close, at least. Everyone thought we were dating before we actually were. That counted for something, right?

Even if it did, though, here I was in Ylisse, so it no longer mattered.

Long story short, this meant I never had anything to talk about when romantic gossip came up. Now that I could finally participate, I didn't really know how. Plus, gossiping was rude. Poking fun at Lissa and Sumia had been mean of me.

Eager to change the subject, I interrupted, "Anyone want to hear how we breathe underwater in my world?"

Needless to say, the men of the Shepherds became the last thing on our minds after that.

I talked about my scuba diving adventures all the way back to the Feroxi Palace. The ladies were such avid listeners that I didn't even notice the time go by. They got me to promise to draw some of the things I had seen before all going their separate ways to get ready for dinner, leaving me wandering the castle trying to get back to my room.

Which way was it back to my room…? My sense of direction was average at best, but it took me some time to learn new places. Especially when I went from having a guide to being on my own. Like now.

I took a guess and went right, finding Miriel with her nose in a journal. Perfect! Hopefully I could understand her enough to get some help.

"Hey, um, Miriel?" I got her attention.

"Hm?"

"Could you point me to my room? Sorry," I tacked on.

"Of course," Miriel adjusted her glasses. I reached to adjust mine, monkey see monkey do, before realizing that they had broken way back on the first night I got here. Right. "Your quarters are adjacent to my own. This way." She turned and began walking back the way she came.

Hurrying to catch up, I fell into step beside her.

"You wish to consult with me over magic." It wasn't stated as a question.

"How did you know?" I had indeed been thinking about asking the fire mage about magic, and how it worked. She'd hardly even looked at me. Was I that obvious?

"You're walking beside me," she explained. "When lost, you tend to follow behind your guide. There are not many reasons to divert from this behavior. The most likely reason is that you wish to speak with me. However, since we are merely acquaintances, this means you require my assistance in particular. While my scientific endeavors have been enlightening, you hold much of that knowledge already. Being from a world more technologically advanced and yet lacking magic, there is little else you could be asking about."

"I could just be trying to be friendly," I muttered, embarrassed. I knew Miriel was smart, but I hadn't thought I'd been that transparent.

"Unlikely. Though a kind individual, you keep to yourself without outside intervention, interacting only when necessary."

Did I?

"This only became more true with the change in hue of your skin. That, coupled with the fact that other Shepherds tend to avoid the unsociable, like me, leads me to believe that you want something from me."

"Sorry," I apologized sheepishly. "But yeah, you're right. I was wondering how one starts learning magic. Is it in a different language? I remember trying to read Robin's tome when I first got here and not being able to make sense of it, but then when I was reading tactics books with him at the barracks I could understand the words just fine. Also, how long does it take to learn? Is there a way to tell quickly if I'd be able to do it at all?" I stopped before I could overwhelm her with any more questions.

"Testing your magic potential is simple enough, as is learning to cast. The true difficulty lies in control and understanding. Magic theory takes much studying, but is not required to be able to cast standard spells. That is where one would need to learn the language of magic.

"We could test your potential now if you'd like. I have a starter spellbook with me for research purposes. A basic light spell should suffice." She handed me a brown tome. "Just imagine the spell at work and say 'light.' It should produce a ray of light from your palm."

I eyed the open book in my hand skeptically. "That's it? Light?"

A dull light emanated from my hand not clutching the tome. I almost jumped at the sight, but got ahold of myself. I was doing magic! This was great! Focusing on the faint energy traveling from the tome to my opposite hand, I managed to brighten the light enough to be annoying to the eyes. Oh my gods, I had control! In my excitement I lost my handle on the flow of energy, and, much like a faulty lightbulb, it went blindingly bright before going out entirely.

Blinking spots out of my eyes, I closed the tome. "That was awesome!" I almost hugged Miriel in my excitement but managed to stop myself, making due with just bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Yes, well," Miriel held her hand out for the tome and I returned it to her. "You need to learn control, but it seems you have potential."

"Yes!" I did a fist pump. "Do you think we could sit down and study the language sometime? Magic theory sounds fascinating, and imagine being able to make my own spells!" If I could get the hang of the language, maybe I could make a water tome to try out. If not for fighting, then at least for a shower.

Miriel thought for a moment. "It would be useful to have new ideas in my research, and in return, you teach me the science from your world."

"Sounds good!" I was still riding the high of performing magic for the first time; little did I realize what exactly I had agreed to.

Dinner came with entertainment in the form of Olivia showing off some of her dances. The occasion was moderately formal, so I wore the best-looking clothes I had out of the ones we had just bought. They were some of Sumia's picks. In a way, it was too little, too late, as my skin was still redder than the wine being served. Ah well. I tried.

Conversations floated around the table, but anytime someone tried to get Chrom to join in his eyes would slide back over to Olivia, and he'd be lost to words once again. It was actually pretty amusing. He was like a puppy.

At the sight of the prince watching her Olivia went almost as red as me, but miraculously she did not misstep as I would have under such pressure.

Basilio nudged Chrom with his elbow. "Like what you see, boy?"

Chrom blinked and turned to the West-Khan, turning a red to match the dancer. "I thought we were done with the whole 'boy' business," he tried to change the subject.

"Not until you stop acting like one!" Basilio guffawed. "Actually, she's been talking about wanting to join your Shepherds. Think you can handle that?"

Chrom sputtered, trying to cover it by taking a drink. This, of course, only made things worse. He barely managed to not spill wine on himself. Basilio laughed at the prince's reaction, but left him alone. He had done enough teasing, for now.

"Oh, so you like the pretty ones, huh?" Lissa picked up where the West-Khan left off.

"Lissa—" Chrom's voice was strangled.

"It's good to take an interest in girls at your age. Past time, actually," Emmeryn commented.

"Emm, please," Chrom wheezed.

Seeing no one else was going to do it, I came to Chrom's rescue. "Come on, guys, leave him alone. He's almost as red as me now." Okay, so maybe I wanted to tease a bit too. Sue me.

Basilio laughed loudly, Lissa snickered and Emmeryn even giggled. Flavia just rolled her eyes.

And like magic, Chrom's eyes slid back over to a blushing Olivia, and he was lost.

The next day I met Miriel, Ricken, and Robin for magic tutoring. Despite being a sage able to use tomes, Emmeryn was unable to join us due to being in a meeting with Chrom and the Khans.

I hadn't been aware that anyone would be joining us at all, but who was I to complain? More people meant more input, right? With all the information that was being shared, everyone here was likely to learn something.

"Looks like the hex is wearing off," Robin commented.

It was true. Overnight my skin had gone from a dark blood-red to a lighter cherry red. It was better than looking like I had been skinned alive or bathed in blood, but still disconcerting to look at. Now it looked a bit like I'd been cooked. On the bright side, at least if it was lightening up it meant it was going away.

"Awesome," was all I had to say to that. I was more excited about the magic theory I'd be learning today than the hex wearing off. The hex was annoying, but only an aesthetic change. Magic theory, though? That was knowledge. I could do something with that.

Miriel had just finished setting things up. We were gathered in one of the many training rooms scattered across the Feroxi palace. (Ferox really liked their fights, that was for sure.) Someone had brought in a table to study on, and I saw quills, ink, and some empty journals laid out for each of us. I'd have to pay Miriel back for the journals somehow; they were likely from her collection. It made sense she would have extra for future experiments, and I did not believe she had enough time to go to the market to get more.

All in all, I had a feeling I was getting my first (and perhaps, being in Ylisse now, only) college experience. I hoped she wasn't taking grades or I was likely to revert to my unstable, anxiety-ridden high school self.

"We'll start with the basics," Miriel began once we got settled in, "by deciphering the meaning of each rune in the light tome." She held up the brown-bound book. It looked like the early pages had been burned away; had I done that? Oops.

Rather than giving instruction on a board like classes I was used to, as there was no board to write on in the training room, Miriel sat at the opposite side of the table from us "students" and explained each rune as we copied them into our journals.

Even in the most basic of spells, there was a lot to learn. There was the main purpose of the spell, in this case to emit light, and then there were the details, such as where the light emits from, whether it would cast for a set time, at a certain brightness, use only a certain amount of power, or whether those things were up to the caster. Each modifier had a rune or set of runes, and each needed to be placed in a certain order to make the spell work in the intended way. Magic was a lot like programming in that way; I had a feeling I'd be quick to learn how it worked.

After a quick break for lunch, we continued, this time tasked with writing our own light spell as if our journals were tomes. Done right, we'd be able to use the spell without destroying our improvised tomes or ourselves.

That last bit sounded worrying, and Ricken's gulp did nothing to reassure me. Was that why you couldn't use spells above your skill level? Was there some kind of consequence? I was going to ask Robin, but he looked as confused as I was. Despite being a tactical genius, I suppose magic theory wasn't something anyone'd bothered to teach him, or maybe the knowledge was gone with the rest of his memories before waking up in Ylisse. Either way, we were both in the dark.

"Should I get Lissa…?" I hesitantly asked.

Miriel didn't answer.

"I'll go," Ricken volunteered.

A few hours later it was time to test our spells.

"What are your parameters?" Miriel asked me.

"Three seconds of light, brightness controlled by the caster," I informed her.

"Proceed."

This felt way too formal. Leave it to Miriel to make a dry environment out of something as awesome as magic. Regardless, I said the word I had set to activate the spell, "light." True to my words, the spell lasted exactly three seconds while I was able to adjust the brightness at will.

"Marvelous!" She complimented, before moving on. "Your parameters?" She asked Robin.

Robin's spell went flawlessly, leaving Ricken to test his. He started without saying his parameters, eager to measure up to his elders' successful attempts. Light shined from his open hand, starting dim but growing brighter by the second. And brighter. And brighter.

"Ricken," I started nervously, "How long is the spell supposed to last?"

Ricken's eyes widened and he uttered a rather obscene curse I hadn't expected from him. "I forgot to set a limit oh my gods—" he closed his hand into a fist, but the light still streamed from between his fingers as if he was holding a star. "Miriel, what do I do?!"

Miriel, of course, was taking notes on the development. It was Lissa who came to Ricken's rescue. "Close the tome, dummy! That should cut off the magic. Do it before the whole thing burns!"

"R-right!" He snapped the journal shut and the blinding light went out. Thank the gods.

Miriel finished whatever she was writing. "Had the spell continued, your tome would have been incinerated. With no way to stop the spell, your magic reserves would deplete until you burned as well. This is why limiting your spell is of grave importance."

"Yes Miriel," Ricken hung his head, ears red with shame.

"Well, that didn't happen, at least. Even if it had, we have Lissa here. Don't be too hard on yourself." Robin tried to cheer up the lad.

'The lad?' What the hell?

Deciding to ignore the strangeness of my own vernacular, I tried to reassure Ricken as well. "As far as I know, it's not an uncommon mistake. When I was programming computers back home I'd sometimes make infinite loops by accident. Almost crashed my computer once."

"You were driving it?" He asked, confused my use of the term.

I laughed. "No, by crashing it I meant that I confused it so badly with contradicting commands that it stopped working. It's a consequence not unlike what just almost happened."

"Nonetheless, this is an important lesson." Miriel capitalized on this opportunity to teach. "When practicing spell-crafting, or even when obtaining a new tome, always double and triple-check the spell writing. An infinite spell is a quick path to defeat."

"Sounds complicated," Lissa commented.

"A little bit," I agreed. It would be a steep learning curve, but I thought I had the hang of it. Didn't Lissa have the ability to become a sage? "Would you like to try mine?"

Her eyes lit up. "Of course! I haven't gotten to practice with a light tome in ages!"

I handed over my journal. She opened it, only to discover that the page I had created the spell on was gone. "Aw, you only wrote one?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, sorry." Tome pages were used with every spell that was cast, burning away harmlessly as they were used up. I could see why tomes were so expensive; imagine having to write the same spell fifty times! I wondered if there was a way to circumvent that with the right spell-crafting. Was there a way to use the power of a hammerne staff in spell form?

Goodness. My first day learning magic theory, and already I was brimming with ideas.

A/N: Yeah, to that one guest I mentioned a bit ago, Chrom's totally marrying Olivia. It's just too great not to do, and I already set up the relationships I had in my game to make that possible.

I did my best with Miriel, but didn't actually get out a thesaurus or anything so her dialog is nothing spectacular. Forgive me?

So, my original idea was that Merra was going to be illiterate in Ylisse because their written language is different from ours, but I had a momentary lapse in memory and bungled that up way back in…chapter six I think? I'm not bad at learning languages, so I figured it would be no big deal for Merra, but this might be for the best. After all, it would be a little weird if the tomes were written in the same language as everything else. Where would the magic come from then? But maybe I'm overthinking this.

My best friend suggested just sort of…not including every single child unit. Tbh, I only actually recruited one besides Lucina before I stopped playing, and there's a lot of work to do if I want to include them all. Setting up relationships is tough. I've got a few of them started plainly enough, but in order to introduce all the children the amount of sudden couples would be staggering. And, well, there's a lot of characters to keep up with already. How would you feel if a few (or, more likely, a bunch) were left out?