WORK DEADLINES GOT ME LIKE O.o: So, I sorta-kinda procrastinated on my actual work to give you guys a new chapter. But only because I have to go out of town for work next week so there will definitely not be an update. Hopefully this longer chapter helps tide you over!
"First of all, don't get mad at me," Kyoko had only just walked into the laboratory and Ren prefaced his next sentence carefully. "But, I made a few changes to your draft."
"Did I do something wrong?" she sounded legitimately concerned. "Please tell me so I know better for the future."
"No, not at all, it was perfect. Well, other than the height issue," he allowed a slight chuckle. "All I did was put in an additional feature. I think you'll like it."
"Additional feature?"
He motioned for her to join him next to the mannequin. She put down her bag on her work table and walked over to where he stood. The face the mannequin currently wore was different from the ones she had placed the day before. And yet, somehow it was similar; she could not precisely identify why. Looking at him expectantly, she saw him smile and place a single finger in the air and swiped it in a short, downwards motion. Kyoko furrowed her brow at him and he used the same finger to point innocently back towards the mannequin.
Looking back at the mannequin's face, she saw the features shift until they were fully those of her friend, Kanae. Her jaw dropped in astonishment and she looked again at Ren. He grinned sheepishly and casually shrugged at her.
"I added a blending feature to the transparency modification," he explained. "I figured it might come in handy if they ever need to pass someone off as a relative of someone else."
"This is incredible!" she marveled.
"It was the least I could do," he rubbed at the back of his neck. "I wanted to contribute something to this."
"It's perfect! Is there anything else we need to do to have this ready for the Grand Archweaver?"
"We still need to decide how we want to package up the draft for use by non-Weavers."
"Oh, you're right. Any suggestions?"
"I imagine something wearable would be the best item so that it is inconspicuous as to its actual use."
"So, perhaps a bracelet?" she wondered aloud then gasped. "No, a ring! It's small, easily blends in and people fiddle with their rings all the time. There'd be no way of telling if it's just a nervous habit or if they're activating a draft."
"Brilliant, as always," he beamed at her, noticing the blush that stole onto her cheeks. "And I know just the place to get them."
"You mean, we won't fabricate them ourselves?"
"We could, but just because we can draft a serviceable piece of jewelry from a stone doesn't mean we have the craftsmanship and artistic eye of a Framer," he reasoned, then a wry smile came over his face. "Besides, Yukihito still owes me a favor for getting me sick. I'll tell him to arrange for us to pay his friend, Miss Woods, a visit."
Ren jotted down a quick note and sent it via the spell on the bookshelf. While they waited, he told Kyoko that Jelly Woods is a well-respected Framer who specializes in making jewelry. As they did not have time, or funding, to commission a custom piece, they would visit her studio to pick out a couple basic pieces to use. They were debating whether the rings should be stone or wood when a response appeared on the shelf.
"She will expect us in her studio within the hour," he said aloud as he finished reading the note and placed it on his desk.
They decided to take one of the Guild's private transports to the studio as it was located just outside of the fashion district and would be too far to walk. It was smaller than Kyoko was accustomed to using as it only accommodated a maximum of four people. She sat quietly beside Ren and looked out the window as they zipped along the rails towards the northeast end of the city. The last time she had travelled in this direction was during her cross-training with the Framers. She found herself looking forward to admiring the stylish buildings and brightly colored decor again.
The studio in question was located in a cozy corner loft. While mostly utilitarian, it featured two small display cabinets on the wall opposite a fully equipped workbench surrounded by shelves. The furnishings and sparse decorations complimented each other in an airy, calming theme of pale aqua, cream and gold. A petite lady with long curly hair framing wide eyes and a tiny nose and mouth rose from her workbench to greet them when they entered. She dusted her hands off on her pale yellow Framer smock and gestured towards them both with a smile.
"Good morning Maven Woods," Ren bowed in greeting.
"Oh, Ren, you know you don't have to be so formal with me," she chided him lightly.
"Of course. I assume Yukihito let you know why we're here?"
"He did, but aren't you going to introduce me to your pretty companion here?" she grinned excitedly at Kyoko.
"Ah yes, Maven Framer Jelly Woods," he pointed to the woman standing before them. "This is my partner, Class 1 Weaver Kyoko Mogami."
"It is an honor to meet a Maven Framer," she bowed respectfully.
"Partner, huh? It's rare for you to have one of those. This one must be something special," she winked at Ren. "Oh, and please call me Ten, everyone does. Yuki told me you were cute but I don't think that's the correct word," Kyoko frowned at her. "No, not cute at all. You're beautiful!"
"Thank you," Kyoko murmured with amaranthine cheeks. She looked at Ren as if asking him to help her out of her awkward situation.
"If you do not mind, we are a bit pressed for time as we have a meeting with Grand Archweaver Takarada this afternoon."
"Yes, yes, of course. Right this way!" she led them over to the display cabinets.
Kyoko could easily see why this woman was highly regarded in her field. Her creations ranged from simpler, more contemporary designs to those reminiscent of the intricately elaborate jewelry of old. Skilled with metal, stone and wood, she created amazingly unique jewelry out of any material. Each piece was more stunning than the last and her eyes glittered in wonder as she stared into the cabinet.
"That's a lovely stone you have in your amulet, Kyoko," Jelly looked thoughtfully at it. "Is that a piece of dichroite?"
"I actually do not know the proper name. It was something given to me when I was a child."
"If it is, that is incredible. I've never actually seen one in person before as it is not native to our country," the woman was clearly in awe of the stone.
"Oh. I suppose that would explain why no one else has one like mine," Kyoko said thoughtfully, still looking at her amulet.
"Indeed, that would be very rare. Well, you couldn't have picked a better amulet stone."
"Why do you say that?"
"This stone is said to bond with it's enchanter. Mages in other countries are known to use them almost exclusively as their ability is amplified by that bond," Jelly explained. "It's a sort of symbiotic relationship, or so I've heard. For some reason, the stone feeds off of the emotional energy of the user."
"Really? I had no idea," Kyoko marveled at the stone hanging around her neck.
"Now, I don't know if all that is true, but it makes for an interesting story doesn't it?" she was about to ask Kyoko if she could touch the stone when Ren cleared his throat beside them.
"I believe we agreed on stone rings, did we not?"
"Oh, yes. Have you selected one?" Kyoko was roused from her reverie.
He pointed to several simple, yellow jasper bands, cut strategically to showcase the variegated banding of the mineral, and looked to her for approval. It did not escape him how she looked wistfully at the pink and grey bracelet displayed beside them. With the decisive nod of her head signaling her agreement, he asked Jelly to give him four of them. Once the rings were carefully wrapped in soft fabric and paper, they were given to Kyoko for safekeeping on the trip back to the Main Edifice. She slipped the small packet into her bag.
"Thank you, Maven Woods. Please send over an invoice and I will ensure prompt payment."
"Anytime, Ren. Maybe the next time you come here you'll have a personal project for me?" she subtly pointed her chin towards Kyoko and raised an eyebrow. "Or at least let me make you a nicer setting for that amulet of yours. Whatever you're hiding under there can't be that ugly."
"Perhaps another time. Thank you again," he offered with a curt nod before ushering Kyoko out of the studio.
On the way back to the Main Edifice, Kyoko looked thoughtfully at her amulet and pondered Jelly's words. Could there really be some sort of bond between her and the stone? Perhaps that would explain why it would change color at seemingly random moments. On the other hand, she disliked the fact that her skill could be augmented by it. She worked so hard to progress as far as she had, the last thing she needed was to learn that it was only due to the help of an innocuous piece of rock. Her mood darkened at this.
"She said herself that she was unsure as to whether or not any of it was true, Kyoko," Ren said softly. Could he read her thoughts? Perhaps her face was doing that thing again that Kanae would always warn her about. "I wouldn't worry too much about it."
She smiled gratefully at him and nodded.
Back in the laboratory, the pair worked to transfer the disguising draft to the rings. Kyoko used an engraving draft to carve a minuscule symbol onto the inside wall of the band. Passing the engraved ring on to Ren, he transmitted the draft to the symbol on each ring. The draft was sealed in by marking through the symbol with an additional line. That way, the draft could not be extracted from the object by anyone other than the original creator. After completing the fourth ring, he turned to see her looking pensively out the window.
"Ready for life to return to normal after all of this?" he asked.
She let out a brief laugh, "I was actually just thinking about how much I'm going to miss it."
"Well, since you're such a glutton for punishment," his lips shifted into a sardonic smile. "I'll have to have you assigned to as many of these as possible. At that rate, you'd be a Master in no time."
"Don't tempt me," she warned. "But, as much I'd love to gain my Master designation, I still enjoy getting posted in different parts of the country and working with the Provisionals."
"You know that won't change once you gain a new rank. You get to do all of those same things, but you also get privilege of being more selective about it," he said with a shrug. "Not everyone is boring and stuffy like me and hangs around the Main Edifice all the time."
"You're not boring and stuffy at all," she protested earnestly.
"Try telling that to Takarada," he scoffed, but smiled. "He always likes to remind me how long it's been since I was last posted outside of the city and threatens to send me away to some outskirt post. One of these days, I think he's going to make good on that," he added with a shudder.
"Don't you like to travel and see other places?"
"I do and I did quite a bit of it when I was around your rank but I've found that I really enjoy the research I do here," he smirked, then continued looking pointedly at her. "Especially when I have access to a wonderful and talented partner."
"Oh, well I suppose that makes sense," Kyoko completely missed the compliment he paid her. "It's important to be able to do what you love."
Ren's hand was a mere twitch away from smacking fully into his forehead when the campus clocktower chimed the hour, each pound of the bell echoing loudly against the stone buildings. They sat in silence until the last bell subsided. She looked at him with a small smile.
"I suppose it's time for our date with destiny," she pointed to the door.
"So far, it's been better than a number of dates I've experienced," he joked, she rolled her eyes. "Well, come on then, date. Let's go."
The meeting with Lory went fairly quickly and informally, much to Kyoko's relief. For some reason, she was expecting something much more serious than casual conversation over cups of tea. However, she was curious as to why no representative from the Defenders was present. Surely they would want someone to inspect the finished item. Her curiosity got the better of her when she opened her mouth.
"If you do not mind my asking, sir, why did no one from the Defenders come here for this meeting?"
Lory looked at them over the top of his clasped hands with a self-satisfied grin, "Very astute observation, Kyoko. The reasoning for that is related to the second part of your assignment."
"Second part?" Ren fought valiantly to hide a groan and lost. The man sitting across from them was up to something.
"As you say, these projects usually end with the receiving party being present for the closing meeting. However, the Defenders have taken very extreme measures to avoid the implication that our guild is connected to this," he explained. "Even the request was delivered to us by convoluted means."
"So what does this have to do with our assignment?" Kyoko prompted; the man beside her nodded in agreement hoping they would get to the point soon.
"Since confidentiality requires us to not involve any further people in this, you two will be delivering the rings to the Defenders' outpost near our country's shared border with Altria," when he paused for dramatic effect, Ren rolled his eyes. "In disguise."
"What?! Why?" Kyoko panicked while Ren's fingers pinched aggressively at the bridge of his nose. "We are Spellweavers, not spies. How do they expect us to pull this off?"
"It was to be a test, of sorts, of the effectiveness of what you two designed. If you cannot make it to the outpost using the rings you created then they have no business using them if they are not properly vetted."
"Are you saying that this could potentially be dangerous?" Ren raised an irritated eyebrow.
"Most things involving the Defenders is," Lory shrugged. "This whole matter has been dangerous from the minute that request arrived on my desk. Had the content of that letter gotten into the wrong hands, all of our lives could have been in danger."
"That would have been nice to know earlier," Ren mumbled darkly.
"Our relations with Altria are fractious, at best, and this is a very important tool for the guild that helps keep our country safe. The more information we can safely gather about them the better we can understand their intentions. I chose you because you are the best we have, Ren. And you, in turn, chose Kyoko because she is the best. I work with the other guilds and provide the best I can so that they can do their best for this country," he placed his hands on his desk and looked at each of them seriously. "I'm not just trying to flatter you so you will acquiesce to my wish. I just want you both to be aware of how important this is."
"I understand, Grand Archweaver," Kyoko chimed in solemnly, her partner looked at her with surprise. "Please let us know how to proceed so I can help."
"Are you sure about this?" his voice sounded strained beside her.
"I cannot see where we really have a choice here," she admitted, a pained look of defeat crossed over her face.
"I see your point," Ren said finally, then turned back towards Lory. "When will we be traveling?"
"You leave tomorrow evening by train. I will give you the information you need to make contact with the Defenders once you arrived. Also, I have arranged with Yukihito to have him prepare travel documents for your identities. You will meet with him shortly."
"Very well," Ren rose from his seat with Kyoko following closely behind. "I suppose we should head there now."
"Good luck you two," his lips were pursed and his face stern. "And please be careful."
A young woman with pitch black shoulder length hair to match her dress and a horrid scowl sat beside a taller brunet gentleman in a tailored grey suit in a private cabin on the train the following evening. He gave her a placid smile after standing up to secure their luggage in the overhead racks. Her frown deepened and she averted her eyes to look out the window beside her. Settling himself beside her once more, he joined her in looking out the window.
"This is ridiculous," the girl griped.
"But we get to be someone different for a couple days," he said quietly but cheerfully. "It could be fun."
"Easy for you to say K—" she was interrupted by his raised hand.
"Ah-ah, you must address me properly," he chided.
"Fine, Professor," she grumbled. "But tell me again…"
"Yes?"
"Why did I have to be the girl?!"
SEE YOU IN TWO-ISH WEEKS: I tried to lighten things up a bit at the end there since it felt it was getting a little heavy. That's probably a result of me having to put my youngest cat to sleep on Monday (RIP, little buddy), but writing has helped me feel a lot less sad. Anywho, I'm halfway done with Chapter 8 and hope to be on 9 by the time of my next update. I hope you have fun in my absence, my darlings. And, as always, be sure to leave a message after the beep!
AUTHOR OUT!
P.S. Dichroite is an older name for the stone/mineral iolite(cordierite), which the SB wiki says is the proper name for the stone Corn is made out of. Today I learned.