"I'm sorry, Mr. familiar. Good grief, I definitely see how this is the same...person from the other day." Zerbst says, trying to calm herself.
Sasuke was watching her, but not with his full attention.
"You've no one but yourself to blame. Maybe watch who you run your mouth off to!" Louise shouted. "Are you ok to move?" She looked worryingly into Sasuke's eyes.
"I'm fine. This curse mark is just inconvenient." Sasuke wondered why his progress with the seal seemed to revert, and why it compelled him to be offended on Louise's behalf.
The two walk away from anyone else. Sasuke is lost in thought, when Louise starts glaring at him.
"Am I going to have to worry about you going crazy?" Just when I thought this could work smoothly.
Sasuke's frown wasn't telling me much.
"I can't explain what just happened. Colbert explained that normal familiar runes allow for some mental links, so I expected something, just not that." Was he blaming me? My face was telling. "I was angry she insulted you. I shouldn't of been, I really couldn't of cared less, so why would I almost..." His eyes widened, likely realizing his brutal honesty.
I should be bothered, disrespected, but really, what else could I expect? He didn't choose to be here. But his statement lent credit to his thoughts. He doesn't care about me, why would his curse care about me? No, this was a result of the familiar runes. I shake my head, giving him a weak smile.
"Don't worry about it. What is your curse normally like." Sasuke goes back to his normal expression.
"Insidious. At first it was also painful, it still hurts, but it's far more bearable now, or atleast, it was. It drove me to power, to cruelty, and to be goal oriented. I suppose two of those are still true. But the power drive is apparently replaced with loyalty to you, almost like a zealot. The desire for power might still be in there, but didn't get it's chance to shine earlier." That sounds horrible!
"How did you get your curse?"
"That isn't important. What matters, is that I need to know the ppl that could trigger the curse." Sasuke looks in my eyes, as if he knew the answer.
"Everyone, or atleast, all of the students. With the rare exception." He looked annoyed.
"Fucking dead last."
Damn it. I'm not thinking straight and the curse isn't even activated. Those feelings were too intense. Louise looked shocked, sad, then pissed.
"How dare..." I swiftly cut her off.
"My friend was our classes dead last. That's it. Which reminds me of your explosion problem. Let's get further away, over there by the trees. You can show me your magic." She bites her tongue, clearly still mad, yet unable to refuse help. Desperate.
This should be a simple demonstration.
"Louise, pay attention." These trees seem pretty standard, when you exclude their lack of chakra. Am I going to have to be careful about strange plants? Should question Louise about that later. Surely she'd mention if this tree was of note.
"That's cool and all, but what does you walking on a tree have to do with explosions?" Just be patient, brat.
"Right now, I'm putting a tiny, but stable amount of my power into keeping up this type of connection to the tree. I can strengthen the connection, to where I wouldn't be able to easily move my feet or easily get knocked of the tree. But if I strengthen that connection improperly, if I just force the issue, try to force the connection..." the tree bark explodes and I land on the ground.
I gasp and move to protect my head, in case of any splinters. This familiar will be the death of me.
"I would of appreciated a warning! But I see now. Your control allows you to walk on the tree without blowing it up, but you said you could strengthen the connection to stick harder, so I'm assuming some people would have an issue of not sticking at all?" Sasuke nods.
"It's a mixture of control and power. You need enough power to get the job done, but not too much to ruin the whole thing. Show me a basic technique. So I can try to figure out how "all" of your attempts at magic end with an explosion." His expecting eyes force me to get a bit nervous.
There are sticks and branches on the ground, so maybe I should try to levitate one of them. I point my wand.
"Levitate!" The stick explodes into dust. Sasuke sighs, and before I can explain, he is already talking.
"What did that feel like." Uh?
"What do you mean?"
"The magic. Your power. You wanted the stick to float, but instead, your magic made it explode. So what did it feel like? Think about it and try to feel it. Do it again, try not to explode it."
I know what it feels like, but how to describe it? I cast levitate again. Trying to imagine a subtle lift. Gentle. BOOM. No luck. Sasuke is waiting.
"My magic flowed from me. Like normal. It touched the stick. That's, basically it."
"You can't be lazy with the explanation. I need to know how your magic felt while leaving you."
What does he expect from me?
"This is hopeless. There is nothing more to explain! Sitting here blowing up sticks isn't going to fix me!" Can't he see this is a waste of time?
Sasuke glared.
"You're going to quit? Not even an hour of effort and you just accept that you'll always be a zero? You are hopeless." And he walked away. Leaving me speechless.
That jerk! What did he know? Who was he to call me hopeless? To look down on me? I tried! I've tried this spell a hundred, NO a thousand times! I study harder than anyone else. I practice more diligently than anyone else. He can't just tell me to try what I've already tried and expect a new result.
"Stupid familiar." I can't do anything right. Not even a little bit. What type of noble, can perform zero magic?
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