Considering that you have an entire scaled-down house to ready for transport, you're strongly inclined to head back to your room.
Then you have a better idea.
"Hey, Briar?"
"Yes?"
"If I provide you with an Unseen Servant to do the heavy lifting, would you mind overseeing the packing of my things and your new house?"
"I wouldn't mind at all, actually."
When the Shuzen maid doesn't say anything to this, you take it as an indication that you're free to proceed. You do so, augmenting the Spell of the Unseen Servant for greater range, at the cost of its normal duration - after all, you don't need the thing to be hanging around for the next ten hours. Even an hour is probably pushing it, but better safe than sorry.
The spell goes off without a hitch, its magical signature suppressed into insignificant background noise by your precise control over your mana. The conjured Servant hangs in the air before you, silent, invisible, and motionless, yet somehow distinctly THERE.
"Follow the fairy, and obey her commands as you would my own," you tell it simply.
The Servant makes no sign of comprehension or even acknowledgement of your words, but when Briar lifts off from your shoulder and flies towards your room, you sense the invisible presence following in her wake.
Satisfied, you turn back to the maid. "Now then, could you tell me where I might find Mrs. Arisawa?"
"Right this way, Master Harris," the maid replies with a bow, before leading you in a different direction. You've taken all of five steps when the maid looks over her shoulder, her expression less servant-formal and more normal-nervous, and says, "Pardon my speaking out of turn, sir, but I was wondering...?"
"Yes?"
"That spell you just cast. 'Unseen Servant,' was it?"
"Yes."
"How effective is it?" The maid pauses, frowning at her own words. "What I mean is... could it replace a person?"
You suspect that the woman is a bit concerned about her livelihood.
"Only for very simple tasks," you reply honestly. "Lifting, carrying, simple cleaning and mending, that sort of thing. It can't cook or perform other jobs that require two or more separate actions together, unless someone's right there to issue orders, and it's very physically weak, so there are plenty of tasks it can't do even in its basic roles."
Granted, there are more advanced and powerful spells derived from the simple Unseen Servant, but there comes a point when doing something by magic is frankly less efficient than just hiring skilled help. Most of those "Improved Servant" spells would be too energy-intensive for most spellcasters other than yourself to perform when they had a genuine need for them, let alone every time they WANTED to be waited on.
"Ah, I see." The maid smiles, clearly relieved, but then ducks her head. "Thank you for clarifying that, Master Harris. And my apologies if I came across as rude."
Is there anything particular you want to say to her?
As you follow the maid up to the second floor, your ears catch the muffled sound of singing coming from one of the nearby rooms. It sounds like two voices, both female, and both familiar: one is Akkiko's; the other, Lucia's.
The maid walks up to the door and knocks, three times.
After a few seconds in which the singing continues unabated, she frowns and knocks again, with greater force.
The singing keeps going.
"Oh, for Heaven's sake," the maid sighs. She reaches for the doorknob.
That mischievous impulse from earlier has come back. Perhaps you could assist this helpful serving-girl in some manner?
You acknowledge and accept the maid's apology in the simplest manner that comes to mind. She seems to appreciate your succinct response, and leads you on without another word.
Considering how she reacted to a simple Unseen Servant spell, you decide not to offer to use magic to interfere with the maid's performance of her duties.
Besides, based on the singing - which is rather nice, actually, if a bit hard to make out - you're probably going to need your mana to sober Akkiko up if you expect to have any kind of productive discussion with her.
While you've been thinking, the maid has gone ahead and opened the door.
Akkiko and Lucia are sitting side-by-side on one of the couches, the sake jug within easy reach on the table before them, and saucers of alcohol waving around dangerously in their hands as they sing. In English, somewhat surprisingly.
"'-one thing ye can be sure of, it's Charlie's beer-'"
"Excuse me, Mrs. Arisawa? Mrs. Drake?"
"'-they sell. So all ye lads and lasses-'"
"Ladies?" the maid tries again.
"'-at eleven o'clock, ye stop, for f-'"
"FOR GOODNESS'S SAKE, LADIES!" the maid bursts out.
"-fffuuuuaaaa!"
Apparently not having noticed the door's opening or the previous calls, your escort's sudden LOUD interruption causes both of the jubilant women to nearly fall off their seats. Impressively - for a given value of the word - neither of them appears to spill so much as a drop of their drinks.
"The HELL was that for?" Akkiko bursts out.
"You have a guest!" the maid snaps back. "And he's underage, so please, control yourselves!"
There is a moment of silence, and then Akkiko and Lucia lean sideways - Akkiko to your right, Lucia to your left - so that they're able to look around the maid - whose presence has all but filled the doorway since she first shouted at them - and see you.
For lack of a more appropriate response coming to mind, you wave.
"Good afternoon, Alexander," Lucia says with a nod and a cheerful smile.
"Hey, Boyo," Akkiko adds, saluting you with her drink. "What brings you by? Well, aside from this mood-killer?" She gestures at the servant.
"Ah, well, after what happened this morning-"
"What happened this morning?" Lucia inquires, looking from you, to Akkiko, and back again.
"Shush, hon," Akkiko answers, waving the other woman off. "Tell you later. Go on, Boyo."
You cough. "Um, yeah. So, I was wondering how to properly secure a shrine so stuff like that doesn't happen, or at least can't happen as easily as it did."
"No, seriously," Lucia insists. "What happened?"
"Hush, Lucy-"
"Don't call me 'Lucy'-"
"-or I'll take away the booze."
"-you devil woman!"
Oh, boy.
"Ladies," you say, raising your voice slightly to cut through the impending argument. "Please don't make me completely kill your buzz, because I DO have a spell for that, and I WILL use it if I really have to."
Akkiko and Lucia turn to you, blinking in shock.
"Devil boy!" Lucia pronounces a moment later, pointing accusingly at you. "Don't even joke about that!"
"I don't think he was joking, Lu," Akkiko admits. "Not entirely, anyway."
"That just makes it worse!" Lucia regards you with teary eyes. "And you seemed like such a nice boy, Alex..."
"I'm perfectly nice," you protest mildly. "I just have some fairly important questions and a deadline not much more than an hour away."
Lucia frowns and waggles one finger in a scolding manner. "You know, Alex, you really shouldn't leave important things until the last minute."
"In my defense, I've only known that I needed to ask about this stuff for a few hours."
"Yes. Well. Even so." Lucia pauses. "But seriously, what are we talking about?"
"Stuff involving gods and demons and faith," Akkiko replies.
"Ah. In other words, Work." There is a distinct tone of distaste on the last word.
"Sad to say."
"Very well. I shall excuse myself and leave you to your labors." Lucia rises gracefully from the couch, apparently unimpeded by however much she's had to drink. "And I believe I shall take my new friend here along as well," she adds, reaching for the sake jug.
"Oh you WILL, will you?" Akkiko says with a scowl.
"Of course. As the good maid reminded us, it would not do to leave alcohol simply sitting around in the presence of a minor, now would it?"
Akkiko looks back and forth between the other two adults in the room, puts on a sulky expression, and sighs. "Fine. But don't wander too far; I'll probably need another drink after this."
You're not certain if you should take pride or offense at that remark.
A beaming Lucia merely nods, gathers up the jug, and sweeps towards the door, taking the maid with her as she passes you.
"Come along now, miss. I am in need of new temporary accomodations, our friends require their privacy, and you, my dear, are in need of a drink."
"I BEG your pardon?" the maid protests.
The door closes behind them before you can hear Lucia's response.
"Come in already, Boyo," Akkiko says, gesturing around at the couch next to her, and the empty chairs at either end of it. "Take a load off."
You do so.
Akkiko regards you for a minute before draining the last of her saucer of sake. "So," she says, setting the clay vessel down on the table with a dull clink. "You want to know how to make a shrine."
It's not a question, but you nod anyway.
"Tell me, are you SERIOUSLY considering setting up a GENUINE place of worship on the Hellmouth? Or is this just going to be another convenient spot for you to make ritual inquiries of the divine?"
"Not ON the Hellmouth, no," you admit. "And not anywhere in Sunnydale proper, or even right on the outskirts of town. I was thinking of some place farther-removed."
Exactly HOW far would depend on a number of factors: how long it takes you to find a site that's naturally attuned to the essences of the three Goddesses, and where that location lies; whether someone or something else has a territorial claim on the place; how easy it would be to reach by non-magical means; and so on.
Not to mention that you're still waiting on those books of holy writ. They'd almost HAVE to have a few things to say on the matter of how to properly-consecrate a place of worship, and what sorts of architecture and landscaping are most pleasing to the Golden Goddesses.
Maybe you should mention that to Akkiko? It's one thing if she thinks you're a kid just groping around in the dark to find a "proper" means of expressing your person beliefs, but if she knows there's an actual organized faith with guidelines for you to work to...
"And yeah, I'm aiming to make this a permanent site of worship," you add. "The first of its kind dedicated to the Goddesses in a new world that has basically never heard of them." You smile. "Sounds very American, doesn't it?"
Akkiko quirks an eyebrow at you. "This may surprise you, Boyo, but I actually know a bit about American history. Some pretty ugly sh-stuff went down in the name of 'civilizing' the native population, especially where religion was concerned. You sure that's the kind of example you want to follow?"
Er. "...I was planning to learn from the mistakes of the past?" you offer.
Akkiko snorts and reaches for her drink - then stops, scowling at the empty saucer.
XANDER QUEST THIRD BIRTHDAY OMAKE SPECIAL, PART ONE (AND TWO?)
DIN, NAYRU, AND FARORE / RAIDEN
"Well," Farore mused, as the dust settled. "That was mildly disgusting."
A soul less-experienced with the Goddess of Nature might have goggled at her remark, especially in light of her current appearance, and the circumstances that had led to both.
The divinity's favored avatar was that of an almost childlike young woman clad in emerald cloth, cut in such a way as to give the impression that her entire outfit was cultivated from oversized flowers. It was, quite frankly, adorable, which made for a positively chilling contrast with the black bile and scarlet gore currently spattered across her face and form. Her hands made for a particularly horrific sight, coated in the mess as they were, clear up to the elbows.
Then again, ripping whatever organ a creature uses in place of a heart out of its chest with your bare hands can't help but be messy work. Especially when the creature in question is a demon. They tend to be exponentially more disgusting than mortal creatures like that.
"Only mildly?" Nayru inquired from a short distance away.
For her part, the Goddess of Wisdom's appearance was largely unmarred. Oh, her hair was mussed, and her dress and jewelry out of place, but none of that really detracted from her appeal—certainly nowhere near to the extent that her sister's bloodstained hands and garments did. This made perfect sense when one considered that, if pushed to personal combat, the blue-haired goddess preferred to use her divine powers in a manner echoing the sorcery of mortals, typically at range—temporally as well as spatially—and with numerous personal defenses.
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not like there were so many of them that I had to use my teeth or something," Farore replied with a dismissive wave, scattering some of the filth caking her hands over the remnants of the brief battle and spattering a handful of easily three dozen demonic corpses that lay half-hidden by the swirling mists. "Which is always a plus, because believe you me, demons? Taste horrible."
Some of the demonic ichor had hit Nayru's still-active barriers and sizzled out of existence, but the goddess didn't even notice it, too busy sighing and shaking her head.
"Sometimes, Farore, you worry me," she admitted.
"What's to worry about?" the green-haired goddess inquired, blinking in honest confusion. "It's not like I'd EAT them, and I always clean my mouth out afterwards. You never know where guys like that have been."
"Never mind," Nayru groaned, glancing around as she cast about for a safe change of subject. "Did you see where Din got off to?"
Farore snickered. "No, but it's not like she's hard to track."
One grisly finger indicated a trail of still-molten rock that had been ploughed through the divine realm, leaving a smouldering scar that ran off into the mist-wreathed distance. Smoke hung thick over the trail of destruction, and lesser flames burned steadily around it, slowly consuming a bunch of the corpses. All in all, it made for quite an impressive display of violence.
It became even more so when one considered that, until Din had stormed through the area bent on great vengeance and furious anger, there hadn't BEEN any visible ground of any kind in the area. She'd just sort of spontaneously created it, because she liked to have a solid surface to beat things against when they provoked her to that level of wrath.
That the surface in question had been volcanic was just the Goddess of Earth and Fire thing coming to the fore.
"Right. Whatever was I thinking." Nayru rubbed her right temple. "Well, I suppose we had better go after her, before we end up in a holy war after all."
"Yeah, it would kind of suck after all the trouble we've gone to trying to play nice," Farore admit. "Hey, can I get some water over here, before this gunk hardens?"
Nayru spared her sister a sidelong glance, and then smiled brightly. "Of course, Farore. You have only to ask."
"Wait, I know that smirk, what are yo-WHARRGARBL!"
The littlest of the Golden Goddesses was drowned out, almost literally, by the high-pressure jets of water suddenly blasting her from all sides, including straight in the face.
"Now, now," Nayru chided playfully, "you got some of that horrible mess in your hair, too, I have to be sure to get it all~."
"BAAARGHAFLBL!" Farore protested, as she struggled in vain to shield herself.
"The more you struggle, the longer it'll take for you to get clean~," Nayru sang.
From not too far away, there came the sound of someone clearing his throat, followed by a slightly raspy male voice asking, "Is this a bad time?"
The water cut off instantly, as Nayru whirled about, once again all proper and ladylike and just a touch embarrassed. "Why, not at all, Raiden. How can we help you?"
"I was hoping we could have a talk," the God of Thunder and Lightning replied easily. "Just the four of us, no... distractions." He glanced distastefully at the infernal remains, eyes flashing briefly amidst an ageless face.
"You," Farore interrupted, pointing a dripping but now essentially clean finger at her sister's face. "I will remember this, Water Bug. You will pay."
"Worth it," Nayru murmured.
"And you," the waterlogged Nature Goddess continued, turning to the Protector of the Realm of Earth, "first of all, thank you for the lightning. Even if we DID have the situation well in hand, watching the troublemakers go flying around on pillars of skyfire was awesome."
Raiden smirked and gave a small half-bow.
"Now, that being said..." Farore paused, apparently searching for the right words, before she finally threw her hands up in a fit of frustration. "What the HELL kind of show are you people RUNNING in this neck of Creation?! That was a PRIVATE CONVERSATION, damn it! And yet not ONLY did we have half a hundred holier-than-thou celestials trying to muck it up-"
"In complete abrogation of divine agreements," Nayru added, "let alone simple good manners."
"-we ALSO got jumped by enough major demons to provide an ACTUAL DISTRACTION to a freaking CREATRIX TRINITY!"
"That is one of the things I was hoping to discuss," Raiden admitted. "Would you mind if we walked while we talked?" He gestured in the direction Din had gone.
"...fair enough."
The three gods set out.
"Allow me to begin with a question," Raiden said, sounding like one of the monks his chosen form so resembled. "What do you ladies know of Mortal Kombat?"
Nayru and Farore traded glances, then turned back to the Thunder God.
"Assume we know nothing," Nayru suggest.
"Words I never thought to hear HER say," Farore quipped, earning a swat to the back of her soggy head.
Politely ignoring the sibling byplay, Raiden proceeded to describe the origins and long history of the sacred tournament between the Realms, the rules enforced by the Elder Gods, and the great prize that awaited the ultimate victor. He went into some detail, touching on aspects of the Kombat that extended far beyond the mere fighting tournament that mortals perceived and were permitted to know about, getting into the cosmic forces that were brought into play each time the walls between the worlds grew thin.
It was a fairly lengthy discussion, and they didn't have all that far to travel before "catching up" to Din. In addition to the slowly-cooling trail of destruction, the Goddess of Power had also left the bodies of half again as many fallen opponents as her sisters had dealt with combined laying in her wake. And that wasn't counting however many of the fallen had been consumed by her volcanic landscaping efforts, where they weren't just destroyed outright by the sheer force of her blows—or the pile of bodies, not all of them entirely dead yet, that marked the end of her rampage.
Din was half-seated, half-standing at the top of the heap, looking quite pleased with herself, when she noticed her sisters' approach, and their company.
"What kept you two?" she called down, before pausing, squinting, and adding, "And why do you look like a half-drowned rat, Farore?"
"Somebody" - the green-clad goddess cut a sidelong glance at her blue-haired sister - "was feeling playful."
"Huh." After a moment, Din turned to Raiden. "So. Come to explain, come to fight, or come for a bit of both?"
"While I wouldn't entirely say no to a match," Raiden replied, "I am in the middle of explaining recent events to your sisters. If you'd care to join us...?"
Din considered it, and then shrugged. "Sure, why not? I can always kick your teeth in later. Oh, but before I forget - catch!"
Standing up, she yanked one of the bodies she'd been sitting on off the top of the heap, and threw it down. Raiden actually blinked in surprise at that, but Nayru and Farore—familiar with their sister's mercurial moods—conjured up a combined blast of air and space-time magic, catching the rather large demon, preventing any further damage to it from the fall, and guiding it neatly to Raiden's waiting grasp.
A red-and-gold meteor flashed past the descending body and hit the ground with a dull boom, after which Din rose from her perfect three-point landing and stood tall, gesturing at the incoming body.
"Ugly here seemed to be one of the ones in charge," she explained. "I thought taking him in one piece might be helpful."
Raiden's relatively slender avatar held the heavily-muscled bulk of the demonic warrior easily as he studied its appearance. Its broad, monstrous face would have been quite intimidating to humans, but now—swollen with developing bruises and blackened by relatively mild burns, several tusk-like teeth snapped off short or missing entirely, and nose broken in at least three places—the demon looked more than a little pitiable. Whether taken alone or in their entirety, the wounds Din had dealt were unlikely to prove fatal to a being of this caliber, but they did make it a bit tricky to determine the unfortunate demon's identity—or would have, if not for the very broken but still recognizable ring of drums anchored to the creature's broad waist.
Raiden smiled. It was not a very nice expression. "Well, well, well. Hello again, Raijin. It's been too long."
Groaning, the semi-conscious demon lifted his head and stared blearily at the Thunder God. More precisely, he stared at a point about ten centimeters to the right of and three meters behind Raiden's white-haired head. The Thunder Demon tried to mumble something through his broken fangs, but Raiden shook his head and shushed his counterpart.
"We'll talk later, cousin. We have SO much catching up to do, and I'm sure it'll be... enlightening."
Farore snickered.
"But in the meantime, why don't you take a nap while I talk with the nice ladies? Alright? Alright."
With that, Raiden released his hold, and Raijin hit the foggy ground with barely a whimper.
"That thing is your cousin?" Din inquired.
"Cousin, officially 'redeemed' infernal counterpart, alternate incarnation - the exact definition is a bit muddled."
"That seems to be a theme with this world," Nayru noted.
"And there is a good reason for that," Raiden replied, not missing a beat. "Ten generations ago, the Realm of Earth came under siege by the forces of an immortal known as Shao Khan, the conqueror-ruler of the Realm of Outworld. For millennia, Shao Khan has exploited the rules of Mortal Kombat to his own advantage, invading world after world, defeating their greatest champions, and tearing down their defenses so that their essence blends into his domain, granting him more resources, more slaves, and more power to extend and maintain his rule. His first foray to Earthrealm was thwarted by the warrior Kung Lao, who defeated Khan's chosen champion, the sorcerer Shang Tsung, and held the boundaries against Outworld for a generation. Then, in the following Kombat, Kung Lao was slain by Goro, Prince of the Shokan, and the order of guardians he had built to serve as Earth's representatives for the tournament was scattered by Shang Tsung."
"Resurrected, or just not killed?" Din inquired.
"The latter." Raiden bowed his head. "Lao was gracious and merciful in victory. The sorcerer was... ungrateful." He sighed. "With the collapse of Kung Lao's order, Shang Tsung gradually positioned himself to take over as representative for Earthrealm in future Kombats. Other candidates for the position died, withdrew from consideration, or were brought under Shang's sway; within three generations, he was firmly established as Grandmaster, and he has held that title ever since. He choses the warriors, selects their battlegrounds, and arranges the matches."
"And a few accidents along the way, no doubt," Nayru said with a scowl.
"There have been a number of questionable incidents over the years, yes," Raiden agreed grimly. "Never anything so overt as to violate the letter of the rules or draw the ire of the Elder Gods, but enough to tip the scales against Earth's champions - as if Goro were not already advantage enough."
"That's bad, and all," Farore said, her tone a mixture of sympathy and steel, "but I'm still not hearing how it explains this world being so screwed up."
"Heh. Well... to make a long metaphysical lecture short, in order to claim absolute victory and incorporate Earthrealm into Outworld, Shao Khan's warriors must win ten straight victories in Mortal Kombat." Raiden paused. "They have won nine. And with each victory, Earthrealm's barriers have weakened. The darkness cast out in the Time Before Time has crept back in, old Powers bound in sleep or thought lost for eternity have begun to waken, and beings from the other realms have found it easier and easier to survive, and thrive, in a world that would have been inhospitable for them just a few centuries ago. This has weakened the influence and authority of we who are charged with the safety of the realm, and turned some who we previously counted as allies into 'neutral parties,' or even outright adversaries."
Two of the Golden Goddesses considered that. The third, gifted as she was with guardianship and an innate understanding of space, time, and aspects of Law, reached a conclusion well ahead of her sisters, and cursed.
"Sis!" Farore looked scandalized, and also delighted. "Language!"
"Never mind that," Nayru said, turning to Raiden. "How many timelines have collapsed?"
"Wait, WHAT?"
"Millions," Raiden replied grimly. "At this point, the 'Earth' that has drawn your attention is a fusion of perhaps twenty major continuities and easily ten times as many minor ones, all running in tandem. Divergent histories have blended back together, ones that were meant to be parallel are now in contact, and more often in conflict, and each of a thousand pasts, presents, and futures is struggling to assert itself over the rest. And there are hundreds more shadows of Earth besides, all with their timelines just as tangled and confused. The next Mortal Kombat will either see them all released to begin moving back into their original places in the timestream, or else brought together as one - at which point, Shao Khan will invade."
"Conquering each and every last temporal incarnation of the planet with one invasion," Nayru concluded. "Efficient." She made the word sound like another profanity. Then her eyes widened. "And it's not just Earth, is it? By pulling that many timelines together in one spot, you'd draw in outlying continuums that were completely unrelat- oh, Chaos take it!"
Farore turned to Din. "Are you as lost as I am?"
"Yes."
"Oh good. I didn't want to feel left behind."
"Don't you two get it?" Nayru exclaimed as she whirled to face her sisters. "This is WHY! The boy! The reason!"
Straightening up abruptly, Din reached out, caught her sister by the shoulders, and gave her a very intent, more than slightly dangerous look.
"Nayru. What. Does. This. Have. To. Do. With. My. Chosen?"
"He's a nexus," Nayru explained quickly. "All those timelines where Ganondorf is a central figure, not just in ONE era but at MULTIPLE points down through the ages? That gave him... let's call it mass. Gravity. But in a temporal sense, not the physical. And what's happening in the Earthrealm is increasing ITS temporal mass, or more focusing what was already there. Each event had enough pull to affect the other, even across the distances and dimensions involved, but the boy is one soul - his history doesn't BEGIN to approach the temporal mass of an entire WORLD. The Earthrealm had the greater gravity, it caught him, and it tore him OUT of our world, to fall into this one."
Din pondered this, and after a moment, she released her hold. "You're sure about this?" she asked.
"Reasonably sure," Nayru replied, as she adjusted the sleeves of her dress. "I'd prefer to go back and run some divinations-"
Din nodded. "You're sure." She turned immediately to Raiden. "Shao Khan, was it?"
"...yes," the Thunder God ventured cautiously.
Again, the Goddess of Power nodded—and then she grinned, slowly, fiercely, and utterly without humor.
"Well. At least NOW I know who to blame."
"If it makes any difference," you offer, "I've been able to get into contact with the world the Goddesses come from. They have followers and an actual organized faith there, and I've been negotiating to get copies of their holy books."
Akkiko regards you blankly. "So what do you need my help for, then? Just wait until you have the books, and then use whatever's written in them."
"Two problems with that," you state. "One, what happened this morning has me more than a little nervous, and I'd sort of like to cover all my bases in making sure it doesn't happen again."
Akkiko nods. "Understandable."
"And two," you continue, "I was kind of hoping to learn how to properly consecrate a site, so that I could perform an upcoming ritual with less concern about it being tainted or interrupted by demonic intervention."
"What kind of ritual?" the woman asks slowly.
You explain your plan to form a proper familiar bond with Briar, mentioning in passing the details you're still trying to nail down - such as the actual location, which is pending input from Ambrose - and the complications you'll need to deal with - including, but not limited to, Dracula's association with, and influence upon, the upcoming eclipse.
"Huh."
That's all Akkiko says, and for a moment, you're tempted to press for details. Her thoughtful expression makes you wait, however - one minute, then two - and finally, she nods to herself.
"Alright, Boyo; you convinced me." She leans forward. "Now, we don't have nearly enough time for me to get you up to speed on how my family does wards and such, and I wouldn't do that anyway unless you married into the clan - and no offense, but I don't think Tatsuki likes you that much-"
"No offense taken."
"-but if you're willing to make me a fair trade, I can get you a scroll that'll handle all the fiddly bits of laying a ward for you. You'll just have to provide the juice. And if you happen to pick up some tips from watching that, well..." She shrugs, and then pauses. "So, interested?"
"That would be perfect," you begin.
"However...?" Akkiko says, having caught the note of hesitance.
"I'm on fairly thin ice with Lu-sensei after the whole 'getting stabbed by a skeleton' thing," you admit. "And I'm still not sure how he's going to tell my parents about that. So. Whatever it is you'd want in exchange for this scroll, you should keep in mind that I may need to get permission from my teacher and/or my parents before I can go get it."
Akkiko considers that, and once again, starts to raise her bowl from the table, only to break off and set it down with an annoyed scowl.
"That does make a couple of the things I was tempted to ask for problematic," she admits, drumming the fingers of one hand against the side of her head. "Let me think..."
You sit quietly for a minute or so, until Akkiko's hand stops tapping a tattoo off her temple.
"Alright, let's try keeping it simple. I'm giving you a single, one-use-only example of my family's magic. Think you could reciprocate?"
"An enspelled scroll for an enspelled scroll?" you venture.
"Or whatever form your magical tradition uses to store spells for later use," Akkiko answers with a wave. "Scroll, carved bones, stone tablets - as long as they're not the face-melting, 'death to the heretic and burn the witch' kind - whatever."
Gained Haggling E
So, she's offering one divine spell of probably-Abjuration, in return for a sorcerous spell of Abjuration of the equivalent level of power and complexity? That sounds pretty fair. Of course, exactly WHICH spell you put down would depend on just how powerful the spell Akkiko decides to send to you is - if it works out to a fifth-circle spell, for example, you'd be best-served by "paying" in kind.
Then again, there's nothing stopping you from inscribing several spells onto a single scroll. Perhaps Akkiko would prefer a broader look at your style of spellcasting, over the example of a single spell with no references to other schools?
What's your counter-offer?
XANDER QUEST THIRD BIRTHDAY OMAKE SPECIAL, PART TWO (OR THREE)
RICHARD WILKINS
In his remarkably-extensive tenure as mayor of the nice little town down the coast from L.A. known as Sunnydale, Richard Wilkins—First, Second, and Third of that name—had long ago made it a policy to take a few minutes out of his schedule a few times every day, in order to set aside the business of running his little town on the coast and, as the saying went, stop and smell the roses.
Not that he kept roses or other flowers in his office. Leave dead and decaying things to stand around in the open, where they could slowly rot in plain sight? Goodness, no. Sent all kinds of messages he didn't want associated with Sunnydale, and he much preferred his blossoms alive and uncut anyway.
Besides, pollen indoors without a proper airflow was murder on the old sinuses.
Sometimes His Honor just kicked back in his office and enjoyed a Jelly Baby. Others, he'd take a stroll around City Hall, checking in on his people and things to get a better feel for what was going on in the building and the town. And every once in a while, when the weather was nice - as it had been today - he went for a vigorous constitutional around the block, letting himself see and be seen by the constituents, lending a few minutes of his time to hear and address their concerns in person. No press releases, no publicity agents, no coached or rehearsed sound bytes, just a good old fashioned man-to-man talk - or man-to-woman; let it not be said that Richard Wilkins wasn't PC!
It was the little things like that, Richard had found, which always made the difference. The less often people saw their elected leader, the more they got to thinking, "What sort of man HAVE we entrusted the future of our town to? Is he REALLY putting our tax money to its best use? Are we anything more than names on a ballot box to him? If I know his schedule well enough, can I assassinate him and take over?"
And that sort of thinking never ended neatly. Community groups got organized, the press got pushy, people started poking their noses into things better left alone, and new bodies had to be squirreled away without anybody noticing, or disturbing the old ones in the process.
Terribly inconvenient, that.
Hard on the janitorial staff, too. Getting blood out of the walls and carpets was such a hassle - there was a REASON he ordered that plastic wrap in bulk for when he needed to do a sacrifice, but there was never time to lay that stuff out when the latest pretender to his quiet little throne made their move.
Really, people could be so inconsiderately self-centered sometimes.
As a case in point: last month's explosion of holy magic just outside town.
Holy. Magic. Not just an invocation of this or that higher or lower Power, and not merely a higher-order magical ritual, but actual HOLY energy being drawn down and channeled through a mortal vessel for some purpose that had yet to be revealed. Even with the distance involved, half the Hellmouth had felt the blast, and it was still the talk of the water-cooler weeks later, despite any lack of hard evidence as to who or what was responsible - and for good reason.
Divine power was one thing. Gods, like men, could be upstanding, moral, community-minded souls, or they could be absolute monsters, distinct from demons only in their origins and the side they went to bat for. Even among the righteous set, there were plenty that kept demons on the payroll for some of the dirtier jobs that still needed doing. Consequently, a lot of modern demons were at least passingly familiar with the feel of divinity. It was powerful, and it was sure as shooting dangerous, but it was a familiar threat. That took some of the old-time edge off.
Actual HOLY power, though? That was a heck of a lot rarer, and demons who ran into it once often didn't come back from the experience. Younger or less-powerful demons, when faced with holy energy, had a nasty tendency to lose what little sense they'd normally have and either charge out to meet it - moths to the flame, with much the same result - or run screaming for the hills. Even the older and steadier demons got worked up something fierce by the presence of true holiness, feeling in their blood and bones that here was an ENEMY, a CHALLENGE, that needed to be overcome.
And for something like that to hit the Hellmouth, the absolute LAST place in the world anyone with knowledge of such things would expect it to appear?
Richard half-suspected that the only reason Sunnydale's nocturnally-focused population hadn't started a riot over what they'd sensed that day was sheer shock. Even then, he'd had his hands full keeping things on an even keel - and there were still a couple dozen vampires and a scattering of more significant demons who'd ended up as so much dust in the wind before the community calmed down and accepted that the local powers were looking into the matter, and had a handle on things.
The best lies always did have an element of truth to them, Richard reflected, as he turned a corner and waved to Missus Fernell, who was sweeping away the dust from the entry to her store. Delightful woman, baked the finest croissants in Sunnydale, and anyone who cared to could quote him on that. Shame about what happened to her late husband, but then, a man who gambles with demons, cheats, and STILL loses is just asking for it. And the deal the Missus struck with the debt collectors let her keep the shop in good order. Good head for business, that one.
Where was he again? Oh, yes. Holy magic.
The investigation had actually happened - was ongoing, in fact - but as far as "having a handle on things" went? No, that part was political maneuvering at its finest. True, there'd been no further outbursts of purity in or near to Sunnydale, but that was none of City Hall's doing, just a good turn of luck. They were still debating as to who'd been responsible for the flare-up.
On the face of it, young Alex Harris was the top suspect, as he was magically-gifted, and his family owned the cabin where the holy power had been centered. Case closed, right? Only, there was one HECK of a gap between sorcery and holiness: neither required the other; neither typically LED to the other; and finding the two existing in the same vessel was just about as unlikely as... oh, something completely outlandish, like a vampire with a soul.
Richard had met the Harris boy in person, and got a fair read on his capabilities. Magic by the bucketload, but holiness? Not a whiff. And he just could not get his head around the idea that a boy of eight years could go from that state to wielding gods-given purifying power sufficient to put the denizens of the Hellmouth on edge. The mayor had done a couple of quick-and-dirty divinations to see if young Alex had, in fact, struck up an association with one of the few gods still able and willing to lend holy power to mortals, but the answers had been inconclusive, at best.
But who else was there? Monitoring of the Harris clan and their holdings hadn't turned up any other candidates. Nobody had showed up at the cabin since the original surge, let alone tried to call on a god there. Wilkins had tried one greater divination, going for a straight answer as to the identity of his mystery miracle-worker, and gotten nothing for his trouble but a pressing need to completely renovate his scrying chamber.
Richard shivered at the memory of all that fire. That was about as clear and blatant a "no peeking" sign as he'd ever encountered. If THAT was representative of the kind of opposition he was up against, well... he was going to have to move carefully indeed.
But that was fine. He was good at careful.
Looking around at the town he'd built from nothing and nurtured through ninety years of life and death atop the Hellmouth, Richard Wilkins smiled.
Ten more years.
Althrough a straight trade of Abjuration for Abjuration would be simplest, you decide to sweeten the pot a bit by giving Akkiko a choice in what you repay her with. You have your fingers in a dozen different schools of magic, all of them at least to the third tier of mastery, so why restrict a trade like this to a single level of a single school?
"That's a tempting offer, Boyo," Akkiko replies, grinning. "Very, VERY tempting indeed." Her grin widens. "I'll take it. If I have the way you organize your magic down, I think a Spell of Abjuration, a Spell of Elementalism, and a Spell of Necromancy would be good. What do you think?"
What you think is that if you're going to trade three spells for one, the magic you give up is going to be lower-level than that which you receive. How to express that in terms Akkiko will understand, though?
"For the sake of argument," you say, "let's say you end up giving me a scroll with a spell that I'd classify as fourth-circle."
"With you so far," Akkiko replies.
"In exchange for that spell, I'd be willing to provide you with a scroll containing one second-circle spell, and two first-circle spells."
Akkiko laughs. "Nice try, Boyo, but no way."
"It seems like a perfectly fair exchange to me-"
"'Fair,' says the kid who's trying to rob me blind!"
"-four levels' worth of spells, for four levels' worth of spells-"
"We both know that the more advanced spells have a lot more value than entry-level stuff," Akkiko retorts in a louder tone. "No way could I accept anything less than two third-circle spells."
"The heck you say!" you burst out. "Two second-circle spells I could see, MAYBE, but third-circle?"
"Kid, anybody can figure out the basics from scratch-"
"-if they're willing to spend DECADES on it," you snipe.
"-but the advanced stuff? That's the work of generations!"
"And so is this! Do you think the spells I've learned HAVEN'T been picked over by masters a few hundred times?"
"Are you suggesting my stuff - my FAMILY's work - HASN'T?!"
"That isn't what I said!"
"Oi, just for that, I ought to hit you - but I'll be nice. No WAY am I taking anything less than a third-circle spell, though."
"Like fun you aren't! Three second-circle spells, and not a level more!"
"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" a voice thunders from the door, almost scaring you out of your skin.
Akkiko, for her part, almost falls off the couch. "Buddha on a bicycle, woman," she growls at Gyokuro. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"
"Don't tempt me," the vampire matriarch hisses back, before folding her arms and looking back and forth between the two of you. One of her feet begins to tap. "Well? I'm waiting."
"What's the big deal?" Akkiko wonders. "Boyo and me were just dealing."
"'Dealing,'" Gyokuro repeats, as she looks at you.
"Yes, Mrs. Shuzen. You know, haggling?"
"Negotiating," Akkiko adds.
Gained Haggling E (Plus)
One of Gyokuro's eyebrows quirks up menacingly. "And this required the two of you to shout at each other loudly enough to be heard upstairs?"
You and Akkiko exchange glances.
As the word leaves your lips, your ears pick up a distinctly feminine echo, and you turn to regard Akkiko.
She grins.
Gyokuro stares at the two of you for a moment, and then facepalms.
Huh. You weren't even trying, that time.
Gained Trolling C
Feeling a bit bad about your unintentional bit of wise-crackery, you try to apologize to the lady of the house.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I didn't think to ward the room-"
"Stop," Gyokuro sighs wearily, waving one hand. "First of all, Alexander - don't apologize for something as ridiculous as not thinking to soundproof a room before you have an argument there. Even if it is within your power to do so, it's simply... too absurd for words."
"...okay?"
"And secondly, both of you..." Gyokuro hesitates. "Just... try to keep it down, alright?"
"I will," you agree.
"Sure," Akkiko says easily.
Nodding a bit woodenly, Gyokuro leaves the room, door swinging shut behind her.
You and Akkiko sit in silence for a minute, rather puzzled by Gyokuro's sudden one-eighty in attitude.
"Guess she must be feeling the pressure of the last few days more than I thought," Akkiko muses. Then she turns to you. "Three second-circle spells, you said?"
"I did," you reply simply. There's a passing impulse to offer a fourth second-circle spell, just to "break even" with the relative cost of a fourth-circle spell, as it were, but you suppress that.
In magical terms, you're paying about three-quarters of what Akkiko's spell is truly worth. Monetarily - you do some quick mental math - you're paying fifty percent more than its open market value.
If it were just about money, you'd be on the losing end of this deal for certain, but an honest chance to get a look at Ancient Family Secrets would be cheap at ten times the price.
Akkiko nods absently, musing over the numbers. "I think I like that. One thing, though - what if I don't send you a fourth-circle spell? Will you still be paying proportionately to this offer?"
"You mean, if you send me a scroll with a fifth-circle spell, I repay you with three third-circle spells? Or three fourth-circle spells, if I get a sixth-circle spell? Or - just for the sake of argument - three first-circle spells for a single third-circle spell?"
"Yeah."
You consider that.
"You should probably stick with sending me a fourth-circle spell," you tell Akkiko. "It'll be less trouble that way."
She smirks. "Not a big fan of math, I take it?"
"Actually, I don't really have a problem with math. It's just that if I need spell components and ritual reagents, I either have to gather them myself or pay for them out of my own pocket."
"Ahhh," she says, in the tone of dawning realization.
"Yeah. Besides," you go on, "all financial considerations aside, there is a limit to my ability to understand and invoke divine power. Fourth-circle isn't it, but it's close enough that I wouldn't be comfortable pushing too much further."
"Fair enough." Akkiko leans forward and extends her right hand. "Do we have a bargain, then?"
You reach out and take her hand. "We do."
The two of you shake once.
...and for the record, there is no sudden flash of lightning or rumble of thunder in the distance. That would just be silly.
"Well, with that done," Akkiko says, as she releases her grip and stands up, "I think I'm going to go rescue my sake from Lucia. Unless there was something else I can do for you...?"
You ignore Akkiko's teasing tone as you consider her question.
Is there anything more you want from her?
Perhaps twenty minutes later, you're standing in the front hall of Castle Shuzen, Briar on your shoulder and Lu-sensei at your side - or maybe more precisely, you at his - making your farewells to your hosts and fellow guests, while members of the staff carry your luggage out to a waiting vehicle. Briar's new house - all the furniture removed and carefully packed away into boxes full of protective padding - draws most eyes as it is maneuvered out the door by two men, but aside from a squeal of delight from Kokoa, there are no comments.
"Well, Master Lu, Mister Harris, Miss Briar," Issa says. "It has been... interesting having you."
"Thank you for your hospitality, Lord Shuzen," Lu-sensei says with a formal bow.
"And again, I'm sorry about... well, everything that went less-than-ideally," you add, neatly summing up all the trouble you experienced.
"Indeed. And you have our apologies as well, for the failings in our security. Rest assured, should you find yourself our guest again in the future, they will have been corrected."
"I have no doubt they will."
After that, it's mostly nodding, waving, and a round of "see you," "write me," and "don't abandon me to all these girls!"
At last, you're facing Kahlua.
"Thank you for coming to my birthday party, Alex," she says. "It wouldn't have been the same without you."
You have no doubt of that.
Is there any particular final touch you want to add to your farewell?
You hesitate for a moment, wondering if what you feel like doing is the appropriate move in this situation, but then you decide to set aside your adult-like manners for once and be a kid.
And where you come from, it's perfectly okay for kids to say their good-byes with hugs.
Incidentally, your arms almost go around Kahlua twice.
For her part, Kahlua gives a start of surprise, but quickly returns the hug.
Looking over her shoulder, you can see Akasha silently making the sort of face people do when saying, "aw, how cute!" Gyokuro doesn't appear quite as overcome by warm fuzzy feelings, but she IS smiling in a way that isn't scary, so you'll take that as a win.
Speaking of smiles, Issa's expression has taken on a sickly cast. His left eye is twitching.
You take this as a sign that it's probably a good time to get your hands off his daughter.
"Take it easy, Kahlua."
"I-I will, Alex," she replies, slowly and uncertain at first, but soon with more confidence. "You do the same - and be sure to write!"
"Will do."
With that, you turn and leave the building, following Lu-sensei to the waiting car.
"Do you have everything?" your master inquires, before getting in the vehicle.
You think carefully. Clothes? Check. Fairy companion? Check. Fairy house? Check. Fairy house furnishings? Also check. List of possible ritual sites from Ambrose?
You mentally "pat" your dimensional pocket, where the half-dozen sheets of paper the wizard handed to you a moment ago now rest.
Check.
Gained Ambrose's List of Familiar Binding Ritual Sites
Mental list of Things To Do regarding the Fifth Grail War? Yet again, check.
"I'm good, Sensei."
Your teacher nods, and you get in the car.
As you pull away from Castle Shuzen and begin the drive to the border of the demiplane, you look out the rear window of the limo. The castle is just as eerie and threatening on departure as it was on approach, but as you consider your feelings, you find that - while perfectly content to be going home - you'll kind of miss the place.
Then you turn around and settle in your seat. "I neglected to ask before now, sir, but - where are we going, anyway?"
"The airport, first, to drop off the luggage," Lu-sensei replies. "After that... well, I am going to visit someone I had intended on seeing back during the tournament, before things started exploding and made that quite impossible. I suppose I shall have to drag you along, in the hope of keeping you out of trouble - the only other alternative is leaving you on the plane for a couple of hours."
What's your response to this?
You muse upon your options.
Given everything that's happened over the last few days, you have... reservations... about staying at the airport by yourself while Lu-sensei goes elsewhere. For some reason, images of a plane and hangar reduced to flaming wreckage keep flashing before your mind's eye.
Evidently even your own subconscious doubts your ability to stay out of trouble when you're left alone for a few hours.
Traitor.
The idea of using this opportunity to visit a friend who lives in Japan - say, Kagome - or to attend to business like seeking out a few further reagents also comes to mind, but runs into the same problem of leaving you by yourself. Moreover, you'd be on your own in a big city you know very, very little about, which would bring all kinds of purely mundane complications.
All in all, you'd rather stick with your teacher for the time being.
You say as much, and Lu-sensei simply nods and tells you to settle in. You've got a fair bit of travel ahead of you.
You take your master's advice, but once you're physically-comfortable, you decide to try and make the trip a productive one. Opening up your senses, you begin a methodical, detailed examination of the vehicle in which you're riding, thinking to study its structure, its mechanisms, and its various little embellishments, to add to your knowledge of motor vehicle design.
The Shuzens' car proves to be a very complex piece of work, and not just in the technological sense. Now that you're examining the car itself, you can pick up subtle wards worked into the frame, anchor-points for various Spells of Abjuration. Nothing exceedingly powerful, mind you: the most potent spell has a structure that resembles the Spell of Nondetection, an obvious means of ensuring privacy; and everything else seems geared towards enhancing and preserving the physical integrity of the machine and its passengers.
On a whim, you try enhancing your body with mental energy, to see if it has any effect on your focus. After a few minutes, you switch the enhancement off and compare the results you're getting NOW with those you were previously. There doesn't seem to be any appreciable difference. You toggle the enhancement a couple more times, before deciding to just leave it on. It's not helping as far as you can tell, but it's not hurting anything, either.
Gained Mental Enhancement F (Plus)
The drive back to the city is quiet. You consider asking Lu-sensei who you're going to meet, but since you're going to find that out regardless, you decide not to bother. A couple other questions present themselves - one regarding an observation your teacher made about the effect of your Maximum Power technique on vampiric youki, another to see if he had any plans during the upcoming eclipse - but you leave those unasked as well.
One thing you DO take a moment to investigate is the state of your ears. You've actually heard the voices of the Goddesses, now, and according to Hylian lore, people who can do that have pointed ears. But when you glance at your reflection in the car window, you don't see that distinguishing elf-like tip. Your ears are as rounded as ever.
Maybe it was just your imagination?
That settled, you pass the rest of the drive in silence, meditating on your condition. Your spirit is largely healed from the damage your various adventures resulted in, with only a faint sense of "tightness" where the wound was - sort of like scar tissue, you suppose. The level of corruption in your system hasn't changed since your explosive purification at the Hakuba Shrine; it's lower than it's been for some time, but still probably fairly high by the standards of anyone that doesn't live on the Hellmouth.
Gained Meditation C
When next you open your eyes, you're back at the airport. While a waiting pair of porters handle moving your luggage onto the plane, Lu-sensei speaks with an attendant, confirming that the craft, like the car, has been placed at your disposal for the next 24 hours - more than enough time to complete your teacher's errand and fly back to California.
Late-afternoon Tokyo gridlock does its best to slow you down, but the Shuzens' driver knows his business, and may or may not have used a couple supernatural after-market add-ons to the car to find - or make - clear roads for you to follow. In less than half an hour, your ride rolls to a stop in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The yards are smaller, the architectural details are a bit different - instead of the proverbial white picket fence, for example, there's a low stone wall surrounding most of the homes - and of course, the faces you glimpse are rather different, but all in all, this could be somewhere in Sunnydale.
Except for the absolute lack of demonic energy in the environment, of course, but that's a given.
"Come along, Alex," Lu-sensei says, as he unbuckles his seatbelt and exits the car.
"Yes, Lu-sensei."
As you follow your master down the street, you're struck by the sheer normalcy of this neighborhood. It's all modern homes as far as the eye can see, with one convenience store back the way you came, a playground just up ahead, and maybe a bit of parkland for color. There's not a traditional building in sight, or even a converted storefront like Lu-sensei uses.
Reining in your paranoia survival instincts, you decide to place your trust in Lu-sensei. He wouldn't lead you into a dangerous situation without warning you about it first.
Well, probably not.
Not unless he had a really good reason, anyway.
Shaking your head at your own thoughts, you notice that Lu-sensei has stopped in front of the gate of one of the houses. At first glance, there's nothing to distinguish it from any of the other places along this street, except for the different characters on the name-plate worked into the wall. Upon closer inspection...
...nope, it still looks completely ordinary and alike to the rest of these homes.
And yet, your teacher is hesitating at the entrance.
After a moment's pause, Lu-sensei reaches out to push the gate open-
*FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S ENLIGHTENMENT!*
-and immediately, a broom handle sweeps down from out of NOWHERE, striking your master across the top of his balding head and sending him to the sidewalk in a heap.
The Sweeping Implement of Doom is held in the hand of a woman you would venture to be about your mother's age. Small, dark-haired, and dark-eyed like many Japanese people you've seen, she's dressed in a style that makes you think "housewife" and is a little too mature to be called pretty, a little too broad across the shoulders to be considered petite, and entirely too cheerful for someone who just flattened a martial arts master with a single surprise attack.
"Hello, Yumi," Lu-sensei groans.
"Hello, Uncle," the woman replies in a bright, happy tone. "How good of you to visit, and for the third time this decade. Such a shame you could not have called ahead, isn't it?"
"Yes," your master answers carefully, giving his head a discrete rub. "Very unfortunate, that. In my defense, I did send a letter..."
"I received it," Yumi answers. "Be glad of that, Uncle, or I would be cross with you right now."
Lu-sensei pales in a way you never thought you'd see.
"Now," the rather alarming woman continues, and OH DIN SHE'S LOOKING AT YOU! "Who is this young boy you have brought to my door completely unannounced, Uncle?"
The subtle emphasis she puts on the words 'completely unannounced' is... unsettling.
You immediately make a respectful bow.
"My name is Alexander Harris, ma'am. I'm one of Lu-sensei's students in the School of Five Elements."
"I see. You would be from California, then, Alexander?"
"Yes, ma'am," you reply promptly. "The town of Sunnydale, to be precise."
"I have heard of it." Yumi glances at her uncle. "In letters, and during previous visits." She shakes her head. "Well, you seem a well-mannered young man. I suppose that shows that my troublesome uncle is still maintaining his standards, at least."
"Speaking of manners," Lu-sensei ventures, "may my student and I come in, Yumi? Or are you going to leave us on the sidewalk?"
"Do not tempt me, Uncle." Despite her warning tone, the woman backs away from the gate, turns, and heads for the house. After a moment to sort out who will go first, you and Lu-sensei follow, more or less side-by-side.
"Anything I should know here, Sensei?" you inquire in a low voice.
"Just keep on with the good behavior and you should be fine," he answers.
That's not the most detailed plan ever, but you suppose if you want to avoid Enlightenment... actually, speaking of which...
You glance at the lady of the house, ki senses opened. Her aura is that of a fit, healthy, but otherwise fairly ordinary middle-aged woman. If she practices martial arts, it's either purely for the fitness benefits, or else she's a master-level combatant who has focused on aura concealment and body control to the point where she can fool your senses.
You decide to let this particular dragon lie undisturbed - at least for the time being - and follow your master and his niece into the house, being extra-careful to remove your shoes as you do so.
Yumi ushers you into the living room, which is small but receives a sense of greater space due to the large window, and then disappears for a few minutes to busy herself in the kitchen. When she returns, it is with a tray of tea, rice crackers, and two little bowls of creamy... stuff. One's colored orange, the other is green, and they could be almost anything.
Yumi serves her uncle a cup of tea, and then gives you one. You take a drink, and find it to be... well, tea. Hot but not uncomfortably so, with a kind of herbal tang...
Look, you don't drink a lot of this stuff. You prefer your caffeine carbonated. Still, you give your hostess a nod of gratitude.
Lu-sensei and his niece begin to talk then. At first, it's just the formal courtesies: thank you for allowing us in, despite that attack upon my person; you are most weclome, even though I think I should have hit you harder; this tea is excellent, and will you stop glaring like you expect me to steal the china; you are too kind, Uncle, and not a chance; and so on.
After a couple minutes of that, however, they begin talking more earnestly. Names you don't recognize are bandied about, inquiries made of health and employment and the other minutiae of life, and references made to events and locations that mean nothing to you. What you take away from it is that Yumi is married and has two children, a son and a daughter - by the sound of it, both are in junior high school at least - that her life is pleasantly normal, and that she is less-than-pleased with Lu-sensei for some reason that never gets brought up. They're both well-aware of it, both appear to have differing opinions on the topic, and both seem to have accepted - if grudgingly - that they're not going to change the other's mind any time soon.
For all the suspicious looks and unspoken disapproval, you never get the sense that Yumi's behavior is born out of actual hostility towards Lu-sensei. Annoyance, certainly. Disapproval, by the truckload. But nothing... spiteful.
"So, Uncle," Yumi says, as she refills his cup. "You have never brought one of your students to my door before. Is this a special occasion?"
"Somewhat," Lu-sensei replies. "Alexander had a social obligation on this side of the Pacific, and I accompanied him as a chaperone. We will be returning to California this evening, but it would have been irresponsible of me to leave him to his own devices until then."
"Hmmm."
"I don't think she buys that," Briar notes.
That was your feeling, as well.
You're a stranger in this woman's home, you're an outsider witnessing what is clearly an old family argument, you're a kid caught between a couple of adults, AND you're a student whose behavior reflects upon your teacher, who's already operating at something of a disadvantage in this conversation
Rather than open your mouth and risk inserting your foot, you opt to keep quiet and sip your tea. And have a rice cracker or two.
*Crunch*
They're pretty bland, but you're leery of trying either of the sauces. The green stuff reminds you of the wasabi sauce that pinged your Spell to Detect Poison, back at the World Tournament, and the orange stuff... well, it almost certainly ISN'T the melted Cheez Whiz it resembles.
As Lu-sensei and his niece continue to talk, you quietly open up your various senses to the limits of what you can conceal, trying to read the mood and correlate what you sense with the body language and vocal tone your more mundane senses are picking up.
You don't pick up a thing that you hadn't already noticed. Ki-wise, spiritually, magically, psychically - her slightly-elevated physical fitness and life-force aside, Lu-sensei's niece seems to be a perfectly ordinary woman. Which means, among other things, she doesn't react to any of the subtle shifts in your aura. This is actually pretty helpful, since it gives you a fair idea of what a vanilla human looks like when she is feeling the emotions that Yumi is. You've been a little sparse on this kind of information when it comes to "normal" people, and it helps round out your experience.
Gained Sign Language D
Lu-sensei gives you a quick, mildly curious glance after you switch on your ki senses, but doesn't comment on it.
Gained Mental Concealment F (Plus)
The uncomfortable conversation goes on for perhaps an hour, and only really ends when one of Yumi's children - her son Sanosuke - finally comes home from school. The teenager looks about as ordinary as his mother, with a similar level of physical fitness to distinguish him from the masses of boringly average Japanese middle-school boys. He's visibly surprised by the presence of his Great-Uncle, and seems quite frankly ASTONISHED by your presence, if the way he stares at you is any indication, but he catches himself before he reaches the point of rudeness.
"I suppose I should get dinner started," Yumi says aloud, as her son hustles his backpack up to his room. "Will you and your student be joining us, Uncle?"
"Ah," Lu-sensei hesitates. "It is generous of you to offer, Yumi..."
You get the impression he's going to decline.
Is that okay with you?
"Um, actually...?" you raise your voice slightly.
Lu-sensei and Yumi both turn at the interruption.
"I was sort of hoping to visit Kagome before we left, Sensei," you say. "Since we're in town and all."
"I see," you teacher replies. "And is Miss Higurashi aware of this impending visit? More importantly, is her mother?"
That'd be a no, on both counts.
"I could call them?" you offer. Then you turn to Yumi. "If you don't mind me using your phone, ma'am?"
"You passed it in the hall," she replies, nodding in that direction with what you take to be approval. You get up and leave the living room.
The phone is right out in plain sight, on a small table near the foot of the stairs. Picking up the receiver, you pull the card with Kagome's address and phone number out of your dimensional pocket, refresh your memory, and then dial.
One ring.
Two rings.
Three-
"This is Higurashi Shrine," Mama Higurashi's voice answers. "How can I help you?"
"Hello, Mrs. Higurashi. This is Alex Harris. You might not remember me-"
"Oh, the American boy with the fairy?"
-and then again, she might.
And why is it that being addressed as "the boy with the fairy" irritates you?
"Yeah, that's me," you reply, shaking off the odd feeling of annoyance. "My teacher and I were in the area, and I was wondering if it would be okay with you if we stopped by for a brief visit?"
"That would be fine, dear. Will you be joining us for dinner? I was just about to get started cooking, and we always have room for guests."
"Uh..."
"Let me ask Lu-sensei," you reply, before setting the receiver - which isn't one of the newer cordless models, for whatever reason - down on the table and turning back to the living room.
It occurs to you that telling your master you've been invited to dinner RIGHT after he turned down the same offer from his niece would probably not go over well at all. Especially not when Mama Higurashi didn't even know you were in the country, much less considering a visit, until AFTER Yumi had extended her invitation.
Looking around quickly to confirm that nobody else is in view, you cast the Spell of Message, and aim it at Lu-sensei.
"Sensei, we've been invited to dinner at the Higurashis," you inform him in a whisper, as you step into view. "Signal me yes or no."
In middle of saying something to his niece about travel "at his age," Lu-sensei makes a subtle brushing-off gesture.
That'll be a no, then.
Aloud, you inform Lu-sensei and Yumi that Mrs. Higurashi is fine with you visiting.
"Then we should be moving along," Lu-sensei says, "so as not to make nuisances of ourselves."
Yumi's answer to that is a muted, "Hmmph."
You step back out into the hall, pick up the phone, and politely turn down Mama's invitation.
"Oh dear. You're sure you won't join us? It really won't be any trouble."
The matter of your invitation to the Higurashi Shrine settled, you say a temporary goodbye to Mama, hang up the phone, and then join Lu-sensei in making a more enduring farewell to the lady of the house you're currently in. And also thanking her for the tea.
Yumi appears to appreciate your thanks, even if you are an adjunct to her uncle, and the two of you - plus Briar - exit the house with no issue.
As the front door closes behind you, Lu-sensei lets out a sigh. "Well, that's over with. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Alex."
"You're welcome, Lu-sensei."
You're tempted to ask what the deal is between him and his relatives. On the other hand, your teacher looks a bit weary after the recent encounter. Perhaps you should just let your curiosity lie for now?
"I appreciate the offer, Mrs. Higurashi, but we'll have to decline."
"Well, all right then," Mama replies. She doesn't sound upset, just a touch regretful. From your previous meeting, you DID get the impression that Mrs. Higurashi is the sort to take her role as a hostess rather seriously.
"Kagome is out at a lesson at the moment," she says then, "but she should be home in another ten or fifteen minutes. Dinner will be in about an hour - I hope that won't be a problem."
"It's fine, ma'am. Sensei and I will try to be out of your way before then."
"I appreciate that, Alexander. When should I expect you?"
"...that's a good question, actually," you admit. "I'm not entirely sure where we ARE, in relation to the Shrine, so it may be a few minutes, or it might be longer. I don't think it'll take us longer than twenty minutes or so. Half an hour at most."
And if it looks like it's going to take that long, whether due to distance or Tokyo gridlock, you're just going to have to break out the teleportation.
Recognizing your master's less-than-chatty mood, you opt for silence. It's simple courtesy, and an admission of the fact that Lu-sensei's family affairs are not really any of your business.
Besides, if you keep your peace, he might be impressed enough by your forebearance to shed some light on this mystery. It's not so much reverse-psychology as an extended demonstration of the self-control and awareness your teacher has been training you in.
But it's ALSO totally reverse-psychology.
Lu-sensei is just shy of the gate-
BANG!
-when it suddenly slams open, allowing the entrance of a girl a couple years younger than Yumi's son Sanosuke, but still a few years older than you. She comes barrelling into the yard, and you're far enough back to see her expression shift from haste to shock as she barrels straight towards Lu-sensei.
"Whooooaaaa-!" the girl cries out, arms pinwheeling crazily as she struggles against her own momentum in a futile attempt to stop.
Once again showing a distinct lack of the ridiculous speed you know that he's capable of, your teacher sidesteps the incoming human projectile, half-catches the girl as she passes him, and ends up doing the better part of three full rotations to bleed off the energy of the impact.
"-dizzy," the girl moans. A moment later, she shakes her head and backs away from Lu-sensei, bowing frantically. "I am so, SO sorry, mister! It was an accident! I swear, I didn't see you there!"
"It's fine, Yumiko," Lu-sensei tells her. "No harm, no foul, as the Americans say."
"Heh, I haven't heard that one before- wait, how do you know my name?" She squints at Lu-sensei.
"Um..."
"...you look kind of familiar, mister," she muses. "Have we met?"
You don't miss your teacher's wince.
Keeping your head down and speaking only when spoken to has served you well so far during this foray into familial awkwardness, and you have no reason to change tactics now.
You do, however, take the opportunity to give Lu-sensei's... great-niece?... the same quick assessment that you did Yumi, first visually, then mystically.
At first glance, Yumiko is very much a younger version of her mother: small; dark-haired; dark-eyed; pretty more due to her youth and enthusiasm than any special quality of her face; and with signs of a higher-than-average level of physical activity. Of course, she's dressed like a teenage girl rather than a middle-aged housewife, and her attitude is completely different, but leaving those details aside, the family resemblance is clear.
It's when you switch over and begin examining the girl's aura that you get a surprise. Several surprises, actually. Yumiko has more ki than you would have expected to see in someone of her age who practices martial arts purely as a hobby or for personal fitness, and it's actually pretty well controlled. Not to the level of performing a ki technique, from what you can tell, but she could learn much quicker than most people. Her spiritual presence is almost as strong, but considerably less stable, the emanations of the girl's soul dancing about this way and that.
And then there's the magic. Where Lu-sensei is little more than a softly-glowing shadow to your mage sight, Yumiko shines as a small, bright star of untapped magical potential. Given Yumi's almost complete lack of sorcerous talent, you have to assume that her daughter's natural aptitude comes from the other side of the family tree - either that, or Yumiko is one of those people that just won the magical lottery. Sort of like you, but not to the same degree, and hopefully not with the attached past-life issues.
While you've been taking mental notes, Lu-sensei has recovered from his moment of awkwardness and introduced himself as "no one important," and "just an old friend of your late grandmother's," with an addendum that, "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."
On a side note, it's pretty depressing to see how bad at the family thing your teacher is. He's usually a lot better with kids and teenagers.
Regardless, Yumiko appears to accept Lu-sensei's explanation. After taking a couple minutes to ask about "Granny Li," she realizes she's holding Lu-sensei up, squawks another frantic apology for that - and then apologizes AGAIN for almost running him down - then wishes him well and hurries to her house.
As she goes, Yumiko calls out over her shoulder, "'Bye, weird quiet guy!"
...now that's just uncalled for.
"'Bye, little fairy!"
Wait, what?!
"'Bye, Yumiko!" Briar calls back.
Oh, for crying out- "Briar!"
"What? I'm just being polite!"
Your poor master, meanwhile, looks like he's about to have a heart attack.
Sighing at Briar's antics, you focus your attention on your teacher.
"Are you alright, Lu-sensei?"
"I have been better," he admits, watching his fairy-seeing great-niece as she kicks off her shoes. Perhaps sensing the attention, Yumiko turns around - and Lu-sensei promptly dons a harmless old man smile and waves at her. Sensing from Briar's shift of position on your shoulder that she, too, is waving, you sigh and follow suit.
Yumiko blinks, smiles, and waves back.
"Would this be a bad time to mention that she has some reasonable magical potential?" you ask quietly.
"Define 'reasonable,'" Lu-sensei murmurs back, before letting his hand fall as Yumiko turns to open the door.
"In terms of raw power, she's closer to my end of the scale than she is to Amy's, or she would be with proper training."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Lu-sensei wonders aloud, as Yumiko goes inside.
There is a pause.
"...did you, uh, want me to start poking my nose into your family business and trying to help?" you say into the silence.
"Thank you, Alex, but no," Lu-sensei says firmly. "This is something I'll need to deal with myself. I DO have plans in place for such a development, I just hoped I'd never need to use them."
"Good to know. Just... don't wait too long to do whatever you're going to do." At Lu-sensei's sharp look, you nod towards the house, and the untrained magical girl inside. "She's got a fair amount of spiritual potential, too, and it's completely uncontrolled. Somebody or something is bound to notice that or the magic eventually, if they haven't already."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Lu-sensei delays a moment longer, then shakes his head and turns to the gate. "Come along now, Alex. We have another appointment, and it wouldn't do to be late."
"Yes, Sensei."
Twenty minutes and some mildly alarming driving later, you step out of the Shuzens' car in the neighborhood where the Higurashi Shrine stands. You can easily pick out the hilltop shrine, though it's still about a block away. You think back to how Lu-sensei asked the driver to park the car a fair distance from his niece's house, and how he's basically done the same thing here, and decide that your master isn't trying to HIDE the addresses of the people he and you are visiting from the Shuzens, so much as he is invoking a veil of privacy and security. Since the driver has not been asked to take you directly to your destinations this night, he can honestly claim that he doesn't know where you were going - and his employers can do the same. Similarly, the people you speak with won't know that you arrived in a top-of-the-line luxury car, or have any reason to ask where you acquired it.
Speaking of the car, as Lu-sensei gets out, he asks you if you'd rather drive back to the airport, use your magic, or perhaps engage in a bit of training.
Lu-sensei accepts your answer with a brief nod and informs the driver of your decision. He then leads the way to the Higurashi Shrine.
As you begin the mildly-laborious task of climbing the stairs, you extend your senses to examine the aura of the place. The last time you did this, the peaceful aura of the ancient Sacred Tree nearly put you to sleep on your feet, but not only are you expecting the soporific effect this time, your Ki Sense has significantly improved since your previous visit all of...
...was it really just a couple months ago? It feels longer, somehow.
Shaking off your puzzlement at your inconsistent perception of Time, you focus on the Shrine's aura.
...
"Huh."
"What was that?" Lu-sensei inquires.
"The Shrine feels a bit different than the last time," you report. "The energies are flowing more smoothly, and they feel... cleaner, somehow."
"Yeah," Briar sighs, before taking a deep breath and then letting it go. "Isn't it great?"
"Any idea what could cause such an effect?" Lu-sensei asks.
"Oh, that's easy," Briar replies. "This is the difference between a holy site that hasn't had a proper spiritual attendant for a while, and that same site with a new keeper." She pauses, and adds, "A REALLY new keeper, mind you, who's still figuring out their abilities and responsibilities."
"Kagome?" you venture.
"Almost certainly," your fairy companion says. Then she gives you a congratulatory thump on the shoulder. "Nicely done, Alex. All that sticking your nose into complete strangers' business actually had a positive result."
"Your approval means the world to me, Briar."
As you near the top of the stairs, you catch the sound of a bristles sweeping across stone, to the accompaniment of someone young muttering dire imprecations. Clearing the top steps, you see Souta Higurashi manhandling a broom around the paved plaza, radiating an air of childish protest.
Chores, obviously.
Sensing your arrival, the boy looks up from the work, expression momentarily hopeful before it instantly falls.
"Oh no. Not YOU again."
What do you do?
No sooner has the word "training" reached your ears than a fire ignites in your soul.
"What's this about training?" you ask immediately.
Lu-sensei laughs to himself. "You'll find out in a bit."
He knocks lightly on the forward passenger-side window, which rolls down a moment later.
"Yes, sir?" the driver asks, leaning forward.
"My student and I will be making our own way back to the airport after this," Lu-sensei says. "We will not be requiring your services again this evening."
"You're certain, Master Lu?"
"I am. You have my thanks, and please extend them to your employers."
"I will, sir. Have a good evening, then."
"And you as well."
The window rolls up, and the car pulls away slowly.
"Hello to you too, Souta," you reply easily. "How have you been?"
The younger boy blinks, apparently caught off-guard by your perfectly normal and reasonable greeting.
"Um... fine, I guess. And, uh, you?"
You consider everything you've been through since your previous visit to the Higurashi Shrine.
"Busy," you answer succinctly. "Very busy."
There is a pause. You take the opportunity to slip in an examination of the younger Higurashi sibling, and you're not terribly surprised when you pick up a hint of spiritual potential that you didn't notice during your previous visit. Whether it's because your sensory skills have improved, or because Souta himself has grown since you last met, is up in the air - it could easily be both. Magically and physically, however, the boy is unchanged.
"So why are you here?" Souta asks, breaking the silence.
"I was in the area, and I had the thought that I should stop by and see how your sister was doing with, well, everything that we talked about last time. Letters only tell you so much, after all, especially when I've only gotten two of them from her."
"Oh." Souta shrugs. "Well, Kagome's inside, if you want to talk to her."
"I think Kagome will keep for a few minutes," you reply. "Right now, I'm curious about you."
Souta pauses in his sweeping to give you a suspicious look. "...why?"
You consider it. "Honestly, two reasons. One, I just spent the better part of three days SURROUNDED by girls, and for most of that time, there was only ONE other guy my age around."
Souta stares at you in something akin to horrified pity.
"Exactly," you say, pointing at his expression. "So, while I DO want to talk to your sister, I'm not in QUITE as much of a hurry to do so as I could be."
"I get it," Souta says. "She's... pushy, sometimes."
You'll take his word for it. "As for the other reason... well, I'll come right out and ask: were you aware that you had some spiritual potential of your own?"
There is a clatter as Souta gives a sudden, wide-eyed start and drops his broom.
"...is that a yes, or a no?" you wonder.
"You- what- I don't- I'm not- that's just crazy-"
Okay, you'll make that a tentative "yes," with a side order of freaking out.
"You didn't think that your sister was the only one in the family with that kind of talent, did you?" you inquire. "You're from the same bloodline, the same legacy, and you grew up in the same place - how could you not have SOME power?"
As you speak, you take a closer look at Souta with your spiritual senses, to see if there's something going on that you're missing. What you're telling him is true, so then why is it that he appeared to have no talent the last time you visited?
Your examination turns up nothing out of the ordinary. No indications of a seal, no signs of spiritual predation - and by the same token, no evidence that Souta's experienced a sudden increase in his potential any time in the last few months.
Thinking back, you begin to suspect that the difference you're seeing here has nothing to do with Souta himself, and everything to do with your own abilities. You WERE quite new to sensing spiritual power on your last visit, and the Higurashi Shrine has multiple sources of strong spiritual power. It's quite likely that the reason you missed Souta is that you just weren't skilled enough to see through the glare of Kagome's potential or the aura of the Sacred Tree to glimpse the boy's more modest capacity.
Before you can speak further, the door to the Higurashi home opens up, revealing an old man in the attire of a priest on the other side. His mostly-grey hair is pulled back in a topknot, and he has a long mustache and short beard.
"Souta," the man who must be his grandfather calls. "It's time to come inside and clean- oh, hello there. I didn't realize we had a visitor." The priest smiles brightly at you, and bows in polite greeting to Lu-sensei. "Welcome to the Higurashi Shrine. How may we be of assistance to you this fine evening?"
"Uh, Grandpa?" the still somewhat shaken Souta says. "This is Kagome's friend Alex, and his teacher."
"Oh, yes, your mother mentioned- wait, Alex? Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Kagome's penpal?" Souta reminds his grandfather. "From America?"
"Oh, the one who encouraged Kagome to pursue her training?" He seems pleased by that. "The martial artist? And you're his teacher, sir?"
"Yes, I am. Lu Tze, of the School of Five Elements."
"Daichi Higurashi, of the Higurashi Shrine. Come in, come in, both of you. I understand you're only visiting briefly?"
"Yes, it was rather spur-of-the-moment," Lu-sensei says as he ushers you and Souta towards the house ahead of him. "Still, we were in the area, and we have time before our plane departs, so Alexander suggested stopping by."
"Ah. Well, Kagome is up in her room - Souta, would you let her know she has a visitor?"
"Sure, Grandpa." Having kicked off his shoes, Souta heads up the stairs.
After he's gone, Grandpa turns to you. "Before my granddaughter joins us, I'd like to thank you, young sir. Her interest in the spiritual arts rose dramatically after your previous visit, and she's demonstrated such talent for it..." He takes a moment to sigh happily.
"I just pointed out that Kagome had a lot of potential, sir," you reply. "Even if I hadn't said anything, I'm sure she would have realized it eventually."
"Maybe so, maybe so," Grandpa replies. "But if there's one thing the spiritual arts have in common with the martial arts, it's that the sooner you start practicing seriously, the better. There's just so much to learn, and so little time... that's what I'm thanking you for, young sir. The early start."
Well, when he puts it that way...
"You're welcome, Mr. Higurashi. And while we're on that subject-"
You're interrupted by a sudden rapid-fire thumping of feet in the upstairs hall. An instant later, Kagome bursts into view at the top of the stairs.
"Alex! Briar!" Kagome calls out, waving down to you with a smile. "Hi! And hello, Mister Lu."
You notice that Kagome isn't wearing shrine clothes today. Instead, she's dressed in a pale blue t-shirt and a pair of pink overalls.
"Hello, Kagome," you reply for your group. "How have you been?"
"I'm good. How about you? What brings you back to Japan?"
"To the former, pretty good. As to the latter, I got invited to a friend's birthday party."
Kagome blinks. "And you flew over to visit?"
You can see the wheels of her mind turning.
"Well, yeah, but that's because my friend, Kahlua, was able to arrange a flight and everything."
Kagome blinks. "Are you saying that your friend just... flew in her friends from overseas? For her birthday?"
"Some of us, anyway," you admit. "I'm actually not entirely sure what the travel arrangements were like for the other guests. They didn't tell, I didn't ask."
The young shrine maiden just nods, slowly, looking very distracted - probably by the notion of somebody your age being able to afford purchasing inter-continental flight tickets as merely part and parcel of inviting somebody to their birthday. You have to admit, it's a concept that takes some doing to get your head around. You at least have the advantage of being able to perform a similar feat, even if the magical power you'd use to fuel a trans-oceanic teleport is entirely different from the financial power Kahlua wielded to put that plane at your disposal. You're pretty sure Kagome isn't that far along in her studies, if spiritual power even ALLOWS for such a thing.
Your idle train of thought ends as Kagome shakes her head.
"Well, however you got here, I'm glad to see you again. Mama said you weren't staying for dinner...?"
"I'm afraid we've had a long day, Miss Higurashi," Lu-sensei apologizes. "And we still have the flight home ahead of us."
Kagome nods. "I see. Well, then, we'd better not waste any time, should we?" She smiles. "Grandpa, has Mama said how much longer she'll be cooking for?"
"Oh, half an hour or so," the old priest answers. "She'll probably let you chat a little longer than that, but I think a quarter after five would be the limit. Can't let dinner get cold."
You glance at a nearby clock. It's four twenty-eight right now. Your driver made good time.
"Alright, we'll be in my room. Come on, Alex! Briar!"
With a quick glance at Lu-sensei - who makes a brief "shoo, shoo" gesture with one hand before turning to Grandpa - you follow Kagome up to her room.
It proves to be fairly girly. Not to the extent of being entirely pink and white, with ribbons and frills and creepy little dolls everywhere, but the color scheme is decidedly on the soft side, the comforter pulled over the bed is covered in cutsey cats, and a glance at the shelves reveals several volumes of comic books - sorry, MANGA - whose titles and what you can see of their cover pages suggest the contents are aimed at girls. Contrasting this are the heavy-looking books taking up most of the remaining space on the shelves, and the desk over by one wall. A few of them all but radiate a sense of age, and unless your eyes deceive you, that is a rack of scrolls next to the desk.
As it happens, Kagome does have a couple of stuffed animals sitting near the head of her bed - wait, no, that one's an actual cat. A young calico, not much more than a kitten, who opens one pale blue eye and regards you with a mix of annoyance and idle curiosity for your interruption of its early evening nap.
Said curiosity becomes considerably LESS idle when the cat's gaze slides towards Briar. Its other eye immediately opens wide as the animal sits up.
On your shoulder, you feel your fairy companion tense.
"Don't even think about it, fuzzball," Briar warns.
The cat meows innocently.
"Huh?" Kagome looks from her cat to Briar and back again. "Oh! No, Buyo. Leave Briar alone."
Buyo purrs.
"I mean it!"
Perhaps you should do something here?
The young cat doesn't appear to be inclined to heed Kagome's warning, and is, if anything, even LESS put off by Briar's. As a conscientious companion to a fairy, this concerns you; you feel obligated to make sure the message takes.
As such, you cast the Spell to Speak With Animals.
"Buyo, right?"
The cat starts violently. "Talking human!"
"Yeah, hi. Listen: do not touch the fairy."
"But small flying thing! Chasing is fun!"
"No."
Buyo rolls onto one side, and from there onto his back, pawing at the air. "Talking human let chase? Let you worship me."
Tempting, but- "No. No chasing."
Buyo rolls back onto his stomach, ears flat with disgust. "Dog person."
"Big dog person," you correct.
"Ew!"
"With big hands that have petted and scritched a big dog," you add, reaching out with both hands, fingers curled semi-menacingly.
With a yelp of fright, Buyo leaps off the bed and hides under it.
"Alex, you are the BEST Human Ever," Briar says.
"Thank you, Briar. I try."
Kagome has been watching all of this with slow back-and-forth movements of her head and increasingly wide eyes. Finally, after Buyo has taken shelter beneath her bed, she turns to you.
"Can you teach me how to do that, Alex?"
Somehow, you just knew she was going to ask that.
You think back to your last visit. You actually didn't get around to probing Kagome's capabilities, due to the less-developed state of your sensory powers and all the interference coming from the Sacred Tree, the Bone-Eater's Well, and the shrine in general, but Briar mentioned at one point that Kagome didn't have any magical power - spiritual, yes, but nothing arcane.
Just to be sure, you take a quick look at your friend.
Nope, no real magic. Spiritual potential by the truckload, decent if unremarkable ki for a ten-year-old girl, but nothing in the way of an affinity for sorcery.
It's actually a bit jarring to your sensibilities. You're used to thinking of spiritually-powerful people as being like the Sages of Hyrule, who were both holy people and master magicians - at least of their respective elements - and meeting Akkiko didn't do anything to dissuade you of that notion. But here is Kagome, living proof that on Earth, at least, spiritual potency and elemental affinity don't automatically go hand-in-hand.
As for her question...
"Probably not, no," you admit in an apologetic tone.
"Aw. Why not?"
You offer a brief explanation of Kagome's lack of the necessary magical talent to work even the entry-level Spell to Speak With Animals.
"There might be a spiritual equivalent for that," you add, "but if there is, I have no idea how it works. What about you, Briar?"
"I suppose I could TRY to teach her," the fairy says, "but the way I talk to animals is at least partly magical, too."
Kagome briefly makes a pouty face, then sighs. "Alright, never mind." Then she dons a smile. "So. What did you want to talk about?"
You express your interest in hearing what Kagome's been up to since your last meeting. You're tempted to add an inquiry about casting a spell to learn more about the shrine's spiritual history, but the most effective spell in your repertoire for such purposes would be Legend Lore, which you currently lack the material reagents necessary to cast. Nor will your current talents in spellcasting allow you to make up the difference with extra mana.
Honestly, if you were dead-set on performing the Divination ritual, you could use the Gold Incense you've been carting around in your dimensional pocket. That would still leave you with the problem of the ivory the magic calls for, which you don't have on hand and simply can't make up for. Nor do you truly expect to find anything suitable in the Higurashi Shrine. Though you suppose you could ask...
You decide not to say anything about conducting a magical investigation of the history of the Higurashi Shrine. You don't really have the time or the resources to hand for such a thing; better to wait a bit, gather everything you need to do the job RIGHT, and then arrange to come back later.
It's not like the Shrine is going anywhere.
With that settled, you borrow Kagome's desk chair and settle in to listen as she talks about what she's been up to.
She has a fair bit to say. Some of it's excited rambling, and some of it's interesting trivia, but among the bits and pieces of mostly-irrelevant chatter, you pick out some details about the abilities, training, and responsibilities of a miko. It tallies up fairly well with what you've worked out for yourself about spiritual power, whether via independent study or from listening in on the Hakubas and Akkiko Arisawa. Nothing ground-breaking, just confirmation of stuff you already knew or strongly suspected.
It's a bit disappointing, but then, ridiculous potential or no, Kagome HAS only been learning about this stuff for a few months.
Given the spiritual focus of the conversation, you're not too surprised when Kagome makes mention of the souls of the departed, and how she's supposed to behave towards them. You can tell from her tone - neither fully accepting nor entirely disbelieving - that she hasn't had an encounter with a ghost or other spectral entity as yet, but at least she's not dismissing the possibility that they exist. You don't learn anything revolutionary here, either, but hearing the basics of how another faith prefers to deal with the unquiet spirits of its ancestors is still fairly educational.
Gained Necrology F (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Parazoology D
Kagome mentions youkai as well, but once again, says nothing about them that you didn't already know. Actually, all she says is that she's apparently supposed to purify any that she meets.
"That seems kind of... mean, though," she adds, frowning. "At least after what happened to that youkai bone they wanted me to practice on."
"What happened?" you inquire.
"It, uh... kind of... caught on fire. WhenItouchedit. Andthenburnedtoash."
You take a moment to parse that.
Then you think about your monster friends and acquaintances, and what might happen if Kagome met them and did as her tutors apparently expect her to.
Gained Guarded C (Plus)
You manage to suppress your urge to wince.
Maybe you'd better tell Kagome to be a bit more... selective... about who and what she purifies? How to explain it, though...
You're glad to hear that Kagome has doubts about the "purify them all and let the gods sort them out" mentality her instructors appear to be encouraging. Not just because you have a number of friends and acquaintances who would qualify as targets, but also because of the danger that adopting such a way of thinking would put Kagome in. It doesn't matter how powerful she is, NOBODY is invincible. There's always a bigger fish, a blade in the dark, or a Light Arrow you don't see coming.
Doubt alone isn't enough, though. You want to be sure that Kagome understands that youkai are people, too. Some are good and some are bad, just like humans. Some need to be purified, and some like playing with dolls - which is CREEPY, but no cause to annihilate them, unless they're using other people AS dolls or something ugly like that. What Kagome needs to do is learn how to read the intent of any supernatural beings she meets, so she can figure out which ones are genuinely evil, and which ones are just different.
Though you also need to make sure she understands that youkai of any sort can be dangerous, even leaving aside the fact that most of them are more powerful than humans.
The best way you can think of to accomplish your goal is to tell Kagome about your experiences in the Moonlit World to date. Not just the ones that paint vampires, part-oni, and semi-aquatic shapeshifters in a good light, but also the ones that illustrate how aggression, competitiveness, and violence aren't unique to monsters or humans, and even the ones that show how - even when they're behaving themselves by the standards of high society - youkai are still youkai, and prone to behaviors that seem odd, eerie, or alarming to most humans.
Kagome listens closely as you speak, stopping you every now and then to ask a question, like do vampires REALLY drink blood, did either of the Arisawas ever appear to be wearing tigerskin clothes, and could she see Briar's new house?
You only have about fifteen, twenty minutes to recount your encounters with the denizens of the Moonlit World, but by and large, Kagome seems relieved that you share her doubts about the policy of purifying first and asking questions later.
Your tales are interrupted by a knock on the door. Looking up, you see Mama Higurashi.
"Sorry to interrupt," she apologizes, "but dinner is ready."
You glance at Kagome's bedside clock. Ten after five?
"Looks like it's time for us to go, Kagome," you say, getting up from the chair.
"Do you have to?" Kagome asks.
"They have a flight to catch, dear," Mama chides.
"Well, alright."
You all head downstairs, to find Lu-sensei waiting near the door, talking quietly with Kagome's grandfather. Words are exchanged - Lu-sensei thanks the Higurashis for their hospitality, Mama replies that it was no trouble while hinting that a little more warning in the future would be appreciated - goodbyes said, and in short order, you, your master, and Briar are making your way back down the stairs.
"You said something earlier about training, Sensei?" you ask.
"Yes, I did. Though I have a couple of different ideas about WHAT to work on... tell me your thoughts."
Taking this opportunity to work on your ki seems like the most productive use of your time. Any wisdom Lu-sensei decides to impart on the matter of improving the power or efficiency of your life-force manipulation will benefit all of your ki techniques, including Ki Enhancement, through which you can at least temporarily improve all of your physical parameters.
You state your request, along with this reasoning, as you descend the stairs of the Higurashi Shrine, and your master nods.
"Very well, then." His posture shifts in a way you've come to think of as 'Lu-sensei's Lecture Pose.' "Based on everything I've observed recently, your control over your ki is excellent, and won't improve further without extended and intensive training, so we're not going to worry about that. Not tonight, anyway. Instead, we'll focus on your power and recovery."
Jackpot! you think to yourself.
"Now, building up one's ki is not unlike building physical muscle. If you wish to increase your raw power, you focus on intensity of effort - high output, maintained for short periods. If you wish to increase your endurance, you focus on extension of effort - lower output, maintained for long periods."
"And which will we be doing tonight, Sensei?"
"A bit of both. First, though, tell me; which of your ki techniques currently uses the most energy?"
"Body Flicker," you reply. "Although Ki Enhancement isn't too far behind."
"We'll use Ki Enhancement," Lu-sensei says after a moment's consideration, looking down at the street. "Can't have you running blindly into traffic, after all."
Your gaze follows your master's to the road, where a couple of cars are going by, not terribly fast - fifteen, maybe twenty miles per hour, tops - but with the inertia of hundreds of pounds of metal, plastic, upholstery, and passengers.
Your imagination helpfully offers up an image of what might happen if you were to dash into even this kind of lazy traffic at Body Flicker speeds.
You wince.
Yeah, that would be bad.
"When you perform the technique, don't worry about efficiency. Let it soak up as much of your ki as it can hold, and then push even more energy into it than that, until you feel like you're about to lose the technique entirely. Then activate it, and hold it at that level for as long as you can. When it runs out, restore it using the same method you did the first time, and keep doing that until your reserves are depleted to half of your maximum." He pauses to give you a considering glance, and adds, "Or maybe two-fifths of your maximum. And if you accidentally activate Ki Enhancement at a normal level of performance, disable it and start over."
You follow your teacher's instructions, or try to. You've never really considered overloading a ki technique before - quite to the contrary, you've always been focused on conserving as much energy as possible. NOT doing that proves a hard habit to break, and going to the OTHER extreme is even harder. Normally, you can gather your ki, focus it just so, and trigger Ki Enhancement in less than a second. This? You spend the better part of fifteen minutes walking along beside your teacher, struggling to overcome your trained reflexes.
Eventually, you get it to work - partially, at least. You don't quite manage to reach the level of ki saturation you think Lu-sensei was aiming for, but when your Ki Enhancement triggers, it's using 10% of your ki, rather than the almost 7% it requires - or the 4% and change that you normally manage to bring that down to.
Gained Ki Overload F
This has an interesting effect on the technique itself. You feel stronger, faster, tougher, and in all respects more powerful than you normally would under Ki Enhancement, but there's also a sense of creeping weakness. The excess ki is straining the limits of your skill and trying to bleed away into the environment, and as it escapes, the enhancement degrades back to its normal level of performance.
There's also another consequence. As the "waste" ki escapes your body, it generates heat, pressure, and the pale white light you're more used to seeing in strictly external ki techniques.
"Uh, Alex?" Briar says. "You're glowing."
"I noticed, thanks."
"You might want to do something about that," Lu-sensei says idly, with a glance at the early evening sky. "We've still got a good couple hours of sunlight left, but even so, you're not completely unnoticeable."
If you're going to do this ki-building exercise, you're going to do it right, which means no shorting on personal effort. That said, you really do need to do something about your latest personal aura.
Keeping your output up and as steady as you can, you try to alter how your ki expresses itself as it escapes into the environment. Can you concentrate it in one place?
You focus your will, and bear down on your energy in a manner not completely dissimilar to how you'd build power for a ki blast. As a result, the glow around your hands intensifies, while elsewhere, it appears to fade.
Since you obviously can't see your back, you ask, "Am I glowing anywhere else?"
Survey says no.
So that approach kind of works, except that the light pouring from your hands is significantly brighter than the previous dispersed aura. Not really what you were hoping for.
Letting the aura go back to its previous state, your next attempt is to force the light outside the visible spectrum.
It doesn't appear to work. At the very least, the dim aura doesn't grow any weaker. And really, if you WERE radiating light that was undetectable to the human eye, how would you even know?
Your next attempt is to have your ki express itself as physical pressure. This goes more easily than you were expecting, as your personal nimbus vanishes almost instantly-
"Waaah!"
-though in the same instant, Briar yelps in surprise and begins to beat her wings against the sudden wind.
"Sorry!" you blurt out, killing the breeze and letting your aura snap back to its prior state. "Sorry! I didn't think it would be THAT forceful."
The fairy gives you a brief glare, then sighs. "It wasn't really that strong," she admits. "Just... surprising."
"Speaking of surprises," Lu-sensei interrupts, "we're coming up on a crowd, Alex."
Right. Enough experimenting, then. Time to go with something you know will work.
You cast a minor Spell of Illusion, tuning it to hide the betraying light of your aura.
In the next moment, Lu-sensei nods. "I was wondering when you were going to get around to that. As useful as your magic is for hiding evidence of supernatural activity, though, I DO expect you to eventually master using this skill without the aura."
"Yessir."
After fiddling around a bit with your ability to generate heat - which works about as well as concentrating your aura, but isn't strong enough to serve any practical purpose at your current level - you spend the next twenty minutes working with your ki in the manner Lu-sensei described. You lose your Ki Enhancement technique several times, each time much sooner than it normally would have lasted, before you finally get the hang of the basic "overload." Lu-sensei offers a few pointers about how to hold your ki so that an overloaded technique doesn't fall apart on you, but mostly he keeps quiet, letting you work it out for yourself while leaving one hand on your fairy-less shoulder to steer you past oncoming foot traffic without incident.
Gained Ki Overload F (Plus) (Plus)
Eventually, you've succeeded in depleting you ki to two-fifths of your maximum, just as Lu-sensei instructed. And lo and behold, you do feel something akin to the ache of a muscle after a good workout - only dispersed across your entire body, and as much in the mind and spirit as the physique.
Gained Ki Power E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
It occurs to you that you could keep going. In fact, with Briar's ability to replenish your ki, you could keep going for quite a while.
When in doubt, check with a handy authority figure.
Lu-sensei hears out your thoughts of using Briar's healing dust as a shortcut in the training process, and looks thoughtful.
"To be honest, I have no idea whether that would work or not," he admits. "I suppose it would depend entirely on what Briar's magic is actually DOING when she uses it to heal you. Can either of you tell me that?"
You have to shake your head. You've taken a gander at the process in the past, but your senses weren't so good back then, and it's HARD to take an objective, analytical view of something when you're on the inside looking in. If that makes sense.
"Magically, sure," Briar replies. "Even spiritually, to some extent. But not so much from the point of view of a martial artist or mortal medical practitioner, which I think is what you're really interested in."
You consider her words, and what you know of magical healing. It's true that, for some types of healing magic, you don't REALLY need to know all the fiddly bits of biology that people go to medical school to learn. Which is a good thing as far as hedge wizards, fairies, and other sorts are concerned, because they generally don't have the time, the resources, or the temperament to spent half a lifetime learning such things.
What a magical healer DOES need to know is how to tie their magic into that aspect of a being that KNOWS - not consciously, not even UNconsciously, but on a fundamental level - what overall shape it's supposed to have, where everything ought to fit inside that shape, and what it's all meant to do.
"Probably best if we leave that option aside for now, then," Lu-sensei says. "At least until somebody here has a better idea of what's involved, and can explain it using small words. Also, there is a reason why I told you to stop around two-fifths of your maximum, and that's because it's where the second part of the training comes in."
Oh.
"What you've been working on since we left the Shrine is how to focus and build power," your teacher explains. "This next bit is how you give your endurance a kick in the pants. What you want to do is use a small amount of ki - just enough so that you don't outpace your body's natural rate of recovery - and keep doing that for as long as possible, so that your ki stays more or less at its current level. The reason for doing this with your reserves in a state of partial depletion is that the less ki you have, the slower you're recovering normally, and the smaller the amount of ki you have to use becomes. It helps keep your ki closer to a constant level, rather than wavering back and forth by as much as a twentieth or even a tenth of your maximum reserves, which tricks the body into thinking it's in a state of rest. It eventually gets accustomed to recuperating in shorter periods of time than normal, and from there, you just keep shortening the time required."
Huh.
"As time goes on," Lu-sensei adds, "you'll have to train this skill in more and more intense states of ki depletion, using smaller and smaller quantities of ki. The closer you bring your level of ki expenditure to your level of ki production, the more stable you can keep your energies while practicing the technique, and the less rest the body needs to start recharging. As a bonus, doing things this way allows you to cross-train with the Overload technique, so you can work on power and endurance together."
Guided by your master's words, you take hold of a small amount of your ki, literally just one percent of your maximum reserves, and cycle it through your body in the weakest possible form of Ki Enhancement you can manage. And you keep doing that for as long as possible, trying to draw out your expenditure of ki so that it almost - almost - synchs up with your body's production of ki.
Time passes.
Gained Ki Recovery E (Plus)
Is there anything in particular you want to talk to Briar and/or Lu-sensei about while you work on your current skill?
As you work with your newest technique, it occurs to you that this same skill, applied to the component energies of ki or to your magic, would be Extremely Useful. You inquire of Lu-sensei if the same process works with those different vital (and not-so-vital) powers.
"Unfortunately, no," Lu-sensei replies. "Remember that for all the similarities that crop up, ki is a composite form of energy, and so doesn't behave quite like any of its components do in their pure states. If you want to improve your physical endurance, there's nothing for it but exercise. Increasing one's spiritual recovery is... well, somewhat hazardous of an undertaking. I know how it's done in theory, but your parents would be well within their rights to shoot me for allowing you to undertake that kind of training." He pauses. "Depending on the circumstances, I might even forget to dodge. As for that psychic and magical business, I've no idea, but I would tend to doubt it. If only because the universe tends towards maximum frustration in that regard."
"I thought that was 'maximum perversity,'" Briar notes.
"Which is something else an old man could get shot at for speaking of around impressionable youngsters."
Ganondorf's experiences would tend to bear that out... the part about maximum frustration, you mean. Stupid puzzle-locks...
With that settled, however disappointingly, you take some time between navigating traffic and maintaining your exercise to talk with your master about how to safely investigate what Briar's healing does. Having already seen your Spell of Prying Eyes in operation on the flight over from California, Lu-sensei has no real objection to your plan to use the same spell to monitor the effects of fairy dust.
When you start talking about using the same spell to explore the workings of your Power techniques, Lu-sensei says it sounds like a good idea, but also advises you to finish one study before starting in on another, even if it's just the theorywork.
Having exhausted the topics of conversation at hand, you spend the next twenty minutes or so walking, exercising your ki, and doing little else except observe as whichever burough of Tokyo you're currently in undergoes its end-of-the-day, beginning-of-the-night routine.
Finally, you give in and ask the age-old question: "How much longer?"
"Back to the airport, you mean?" Lu-sensei considers the sky, then your surroundings. "Mmmm... I'd give it another half-hour at this pace."
Since you've still got plenty of time before you reach the hangar, you figure you might as well pass some of it in conversation.
"So, Briar," you begin.
"So, Alex," she replies.
"I've been thinking about home, lately."
"Okay..."
"Specifically, I've been thinking about how my parents are going to react when they see a three-inch scar across my side."
"Ah."
"And I was wondering-" you start.
"-if there was a way to remove the scar so you wouldn't get into QUITE as much trouble?" Briar finishes.
"Well, yes."
"Certainly."
There is a pause, during which you mentally juggle walking, exercising your ki, and waiting patiently.
Gained Ki Recovery E (Plus) (Plus)
Eventually, your patience runs out.
"Could you tell me about them?"
"I could, but it wouldn't do you any good," Briar replies. "Spells like that are relatively advanced Transformation. You have to be able to make the effect PERMANENT, preferably the kind of permanency that can't be dispelled, or otherwise, what's the point? I can't do anything nearly that powerful, and neither can you - yet." She pauses. "You're not too far from it, but it's a hurdle you're just not going to clear before we get back to Sunnydale."
"Not even with a ritual?" you press.
"Sorry, but no."
Well, that's disappointing. You spend the next couple of minutes in a mildly-depressed silence.
"So, Lu-sensei-"
"Oh, this should be good," Briar notes.
"-on a completely unrelated topic," you continue, sparing Briar a baleful glance, "do you have plans on August 11th?"
"I will have to check my appointment calendar at home to be absolutely sure," your master replies in a slow, careful tone. "But off the top of my head, I do not believe so." He pauses. "Do I dare to ask why?"
You explain about the upcoming solar eclipse, and your plan to use it as part of the ritual to formally and officially bind Briar as your familiar.
"You weren't planning on doing this ritual in Sunnydale, were you?" Lu-sensei asks.
"Not even close," Briar answers.
"Yeah, and considering my track record with leaving the Hellmouth, having someone along to serve as a witness and guard sounded like a good idea."
"Indeed." Lu-sensei strokes his beard. "Well, assuming for the moment that you can get your parents' permission for this excursion, and I have no desperately pressing engagements... where would we be going?"
"Somewhere in Britain," you answer.
Lu-sensei just looks at you.
"I got a list of locations from Ambrose before we left the Shuzens'," you tell him. "I still need to go through it, pick out a good spot, and make sure nobody else has staked a claim to it for the eclipse."
"Do I dare ask about the travel arrangements?" your master finally ventures.
"Teleportation," you reply.
"You can carry three people that distance and back safely?"
"The Spell of Greater Teleportation is really convenient that way," you admit. "There's no real range limit, as long as you're staying on the same planet, no chance of arriving off target, and you don't even need to have seen the destination - although in that case, you DO need a reasonable description of it, or else you end up staying where you are when you try to teleport." You pat one of your pants pockets. "Fortunately, thanks to Ambrose, I have a list of such descriptions."
Lu-sensei looks honestly impressed.
"Well, I suppose as long as we steer clear of customs agents and don't linger overlong... and provided that you have your parents' permission, and I don't have any urgent appointments to keep... then I would see no problem with accompanying you."
So that's one one hurdle overcome. Now you just have to hope that nothing comes up that demands your master's attention that day... and also work on some means of getting your parents to okay this trip.
Easier said than done, you muse, shifting your side.
Your group returns to the airfield without further incident, though rather than the half-hour Lu-sensei predicted, it takes you closer to fifty minutes. Late afternoon/early evening Tokyo traffic is NOT helpful. The flight crew are all present, albeit in the middle of an extended break, so it only takes them about ten minutes to go through all the pre-flight checks. You get the impression they could go faster if need be, but you're in no pressing hurry, so why rush?
Shortly thereafter, you're back in the air, winging your way eastward - and from a certain point of view, westward - into the deepening night. You wait until the pilot has advised you that the plane has achieved a cruising altitude and that you may now unbuckle your seatbelts before getting on with the previously-planned observation of how Briar's healing dust affects your body's ability to generate ki.
You think back to the modified Spell of Prying Eyes that you put together on the flight over from Los Angeles, when you were examining how your reserves of magic behaved. Another such Eye, with the ability to see magical and spiritual energy, would be ideal for your current purposes, and Lu-sensei could sit in to provide an extra opinion on the process, at least from the point of view of a ki user.
Recalling the trouble you had imbuing more than two types of supernatural sight into the conjured Eyes, you decide to modify your plan a bit and create multiple eyes, each with one different flavor of sight-enhancement built into it. You have no problems with the Eyes for observing magical or spiritual energy, and the one designed to monitor your physical CONDITION will work just fine - thank Din for the combat-heavy focus of Hyrulean magic - but you're not entirely sure about the ones meant to monitor pure mental energy, or the one for ki.
Your own means of sensing mental energy and ki are both based on USING those types of energy, which is kind of impossible for your magically-created Eyes, as they lack both entirely. You've got a magical workaround for seeing ki, but it's a touch lacklustre compared to proper Ki Sight - just as well, then, that Lu-sensei's on hand to catch anything that particular Eye might miss. As for "seeing" mental energy... well, you're not very good at that even the normal way, let alone with a magical kludge. You'll just have to see what you can see.
As you finish up with this phase of your spellcasting and watch the last of the Prying Eyes phase into being, a thought occurs.
"I may have been coming at removing my scar all wrong," you say aloud.
"Oh, Goddesses," Briar groans. "What now?"
"Couldn't I just summon something that could remove it for me?"
There is a pause as Briar thinks.
"Technically, that could work," she admits, a great sense of reluctance in her tone. "But just off the top of my head, I can't think of a being that actually HAS that capability AND is within your power to summon - and Alex, if you suggest summoning a Hylian healer to carve the scar off your side, so help me, I will ask Lu Tze to ENLIGHTEN you. REPEATEDLY. We are NOT doing home surgery hour with a Hylian sawbones ON A PLANE."
"Alright, alright. But what if I leave it up to the Goddesses, then?"
"...you mean, cast the strongest divine summoning spell you can, and pray for divine intervention?"
"...basically, yes."
"Fine. But!" And Briar emphasizes this part by flying close enough to your face that you can see her finger raised in warning. "If nothing happens, or the Goddesses send someone who tells you 'no,' we are DROPPING this whole line of thought. Clear?"
"Clear."
"Good!"
As you begin the ritual to cast the strongest summoning spell you can, you wonder why Briar is so touchy about the idea of getting rid of your scar. It's almost like she WANTS you to keep the mark for some reason.
Dismissing your puzzlement, you cast the spell.
For a moment, nothing happens.
And then, with a burst of - dare you say it? - heavenly song, a small bird with vividly-colored plumage appears in mid-air before you, wings extended as it floats slowly to the floor of the cabin. Its colors are mostly the familiar hues of fire, red, white, and gold mixing in various degrees, but you catch brief flashes of blue, green, and purple in the mix, almost as if the creature's feathers are shifting through the spectrum.
"A phoenix?" you murmur, as the summoned avian touches down and folds its wings. It's about three feet tall when standing, that from the top of its head - not counting the plume - to its neatly-trimmed talons.
The bird cocks its head and glances up at you, and then in excellent Japanese, says, "Goodness, no, sir. Do I look Egyptian to you?"
Um. "Uh... no?"
"Indeed not. I am merely a humble firebird, young sorcerer, nothing so grand as the Soul of the Sun, the Vermillion Lord of the South, or the Most Gracious and August Lady Fenghuang." It, or rather, HE bows. "I am called Ro."
"Pleased to meet you." You make a quick round of introductions.
"A pleasure, all," Ro replies. "Now, I understand from the Gentle Lady of the Woods and Skies that there is a matter of an abiding personal injury in need of treatment?" He looks around.
"Um, yeah. That would be me."
"May I inspect the wound?"
With a shrug, you pull up your shirt and lift your arm so Ro can see your side.
"Oh, that does look unpleasant. If I might be forgiven a moment's curiosity, what was the cause?"
"A goblin skeleton with a sword," Briar replies.
Beaks should not be flexible enough to scowl, but Ro gives it a good try. Certainly, he has the glare down. "Vile things," he mutters. "I do hope it was destroyed?"
"Oh yes."
"Good, good. Now, as to you, young sir..."
Ro extends his wings and raises one leg, claws curled in a very precise manner. You sense magic moving, and quickly raise your Mage Sight to see what's happening.
A moment later, there's a flash of soothing green-white light. Conjuration, benign Necromancy, magic of flesh and soul interacting... the effect is familiar, bearing a strong resemble to the Spell of Lesser Restoration that Briar has taught you, only considerably more potent. That would probably make it a proper Spell of Restoration (no prefixes), a divine healing magic which you currently can't cast, if only due to the expensive material reagents required.
As it takes effect, your side feels better. Less tight about where the scar... was? Glancing down, you confirm that you were using the correct tense - mostly. The ragged three-inch patch of off-color scar tissue is now much shorter, thinner, and darker-toned than before. Make it half an inch long, at best. Still a scar, but it looks more like where a housecat clawed you than, say, a tiger.
"Blast," Ro mutters. "I thought I had that entirely. My apologies, Young Master Harris, but are you by any chance part-demon? I mean no disparagement, it's just that my brand of magic is rather holy in nature, and doesn't always play well with the more... hmmm... unenlightened forces."
"I'm not a demon," you reply, rolling your shirt back down. "But I do live on a Hellmouth."
Ro squawks in alarm. "At your age?! With MAGIC?! What in the Name of Heaven are you thinking?!"
You wonder if you ought to reply.
"Hey, it's not like I CHOSE to live in Sunnydale," you say in response to Ro's alarmed outburst. "I was born there, and my family didn't know about magic, so they didn't realize how risky it can be to be a magic-user on the Hellmouth." You pause. "Also, I'm eight. I don't know what that means in firebird terms, but in human ones, I don't exactly have much say in where I live yet."
"We're more or less born as functional adults," Ro admits distractedly. He's quiet for a moment. Then he says, "Someone actually built a human community on the Hellmouth?"
You nod.
"And they called it 'Sunnydale?'"
You nod again.
"...I don't know who was responsible for that, but they were an ASS."
The responsible party would be Mayor Richard Wilkins the First, if your history class is to be believed. As to whether or not he knew about the Hellmouth... well, who knows? Certainly not you.
Anything else that you might want to say will have to wait for another time, as Ro's body is beginning to sparkle and fade out in the way that your summons do when the magic keeping them in this world lapses. The firebird glances at his glowier-than-normal feathers.
"Well, it appears my task and time here are done," Ro says in his normal, semi-formal tone. "Do take care of yourself in the future, Young Master Harris, and if circumstances conspire against you, I hope you'll keep me in mind."
"I will," you assure him.
Ro nods, then pauses. "Just... don't summon me ON the Hellmouth, if it's all the same to you. Outside of a serious emergency, at least."
"I won't."
He nods, bows, and vanishes with a Dopplering, "Farewell!"
There is a brief silence.
"Well, that was interesting," Briar says. "So, where were we again, before you got distracted?"
"We were just about to have you scatter fairy dust over me to see how it restored my ki," you note, before taking a moment to consider your reserves. The magic Ro used doesn't appear to have directly affected your ki, though you suspect that clearing up as much of the scar as he did will have a small beneficial effect on your energies going forward.
As a side note, you're rather happy that you had your Prying Eyes active before you summoned the firebird. It took only a moment's thought on your part to have them all paying VERY close attention to what Ro was doing, and that's going to make for a NICE bonus in all of this.
Leaving that aside, you get on with the planned experiment. You sit back in your chair, Eyes and Lu-sensei in position, and Briar hovers above you, shedding the sparkling cloud of dust. Although you obviously can't see when the first glittering grains hit your head, you FEEL it all the same, as your ki responds to the healing energies - first like a small pool rippling after the impact of a single raindrop, then several drops, and then a brief downpour, which incidentally fills the pool to the brink of overflowing.
And then it stops, and you're back at full charge.
"Well," Lu-sensei says. "That was quite interesting, even if I could only see the effects of the spell. And you can do that how often, Briar?"
"Twice per day," she replies, as she settles on your shoulder once again. "Assuming that nothing happens to ruin my supply of fairy dust, like an unplanned swim or a really specifically-tuned dispelling."
As your companions speak, you're casting several spells of mental enhancement, raising your ki to boost your thought processes, and chaneling your mental energy. Then, one by one, you call the free-floating Eyes scattered about the cabin to your hand, where you "download" their contents. They only have about ten minutes of footage each, so it takes only a fraction of a second, but you're careful to thoroughly review each burst of information in turn, before moving on to the next one. Once you have assimilated everything the Eyes saw, you begin pondering what it means.
"Any conclusions, Alex?" Briar asks after a good long pause.
"It's not a Cure Wounds spell," you reply. "Or at least, it's not JUST that. There's a fairly strong Necromantic component to the magic that Cure spells don't have. I don't think it's a Heal spell, either. It's lacking the aspects of Abjuration, Enchantment, and Transformation I'd expect to see in that case, and it's only as strong as a fifth-circle spell, not a sixth-circle one."
"Is that a fifth-circle spell for YOU, or...?"
"No, that's for a normal divine caster. I'd need to cast this as a seventh-circle spell, which means a ritual."
Lu-sensei looks back and forth between you and Briar. "So you understand how it works, then?"
There really is no point in being dishonest with your master on this subject. As such, you admit that your understanding of Briar's ability is still largely theoretical, and even then, it's not wholly complete. If you had the opportunity to cast a ritualized form of the power she invoked, you could claim a greater - and more practical - comprehension of what the healing magic actually does, but that would require asking Briar to use up her second and currently ONLY remaining charge of fairy dust.
You're a bit leery of doing that right now. It's still a long way back to Sunnydale, after all, and you haven't forgotten that you technically left L.A. with somebody sending luxury cars and magical probes after you. Or after the Shuzens' plane and employees. Either way, there's a non-zero chance that you may end up NEEDING that stored heal in the near future. Best to keep it available.
While you've been considering all this, Lu-sensei has accepted your answer with a nod.
"Very well, then. For the time being, at least, I believe it would be safest for you not to use Briar's healing to supplement your training." He looks from you to the fairy and back. "Agreed?"
"Agreed," Briar says, easily enough.
With the current Magical Science Experiment over for the time being, is there anything else you want to do on this flight?
"But I do want to test Briar's healing power more in the near future," you add.
"That is fine by me, Alex," Lu-sensei says. "As long as you keep me advised of whatever you learn."
Briar's response is a bit more hesitant. "What exactly are these 'tests' going to involve?"
You smile.
"I don't like that expression, Alex. What are you plotting? Alex?"
Still grinning, you kick back in your chair, hands locked behind your head, and close your eyes.
"Oh, come on!"
You do have various ideas for how you could pass the flight back to the States, but you decide not to pursue any of them right now. For one thing, it would spoil the fun you're having at Briar's expense. For another, you're a touch reluctant to start messing around with Power-based techniques on the plane - not so much because you're worried about blowing a hole through the hull, as because you'd prefer to make any discoveries you make regarding your super-secret-special-skill somewhere that the employees of your friendly vampire acquaintances won't be in a position to overhear.
Besides, by your personal clock, it's around six-thirty in the evening, and will be something like two or three in the morning when the plane touches down in L.A. If you're going to be up before the sun, and in territory that was just a touch unfriendly the last time you passed through, you'd kind of like to be well-rested.
So you cast a minor Spell of Sleep and let yourself drift off...
The next rising of the sun finds you, Briar, and Lu-sensei speeding down the California highway in a previously very nice but now very battered car that does not belong to any of you in the slightest, except perhaps by right of conquest. AC/DC is on the radio, barely audible over the sound of wind roaring past the shattered rear windshield, proclaiming that they're on the Highway to Hell.
Suffice it to say, it's been a busy morning.
You glance over your shoulder. "I think that's the last of them, Sensei."
"Good." Your master glances at the displays on the dashboard. Some of the lights are blinking, or glowing steadily - most of these are red. "Because I have to say, I don't think this car is going to get us to Sunnydale."
"I could always try a spell to repair it," you offer.
"...let me pull over, first," the old man replies.
"Please do," Briar says.
Showing a calm, practiced control that you really wouldn't have associated with little old martial arts masters, Lu-sensei begins slowing your stolen vehicle down and steering towards the shoulder of the highway. Gravel begins to crunch under the wheels, and one or two pieces go spanging off the frame before your velocity falls off. Finally, the car comes to a complete stop, something under the hood shuddering ominously before Lu-sensei turns the key and kills the engine.
Possibly literally.
Again, it's been a BUSY morning.
Unbuckling your seatbelt, you wrench the battered door open and step outside, where you begin a slow walk-around of the car. The frame is gouged, holed in a couple of places, and rather heavily singed - part of the roof appears to have partially-melted. All of the crumple zones have lived up to their name, the passenger's side of the front windshield is spiderwebbed, and the rear windshield - as previously noted - is gone, leaving shards of glass scattered across the back seat and what remains of the trunk.
You'd be worried about your luggage, if you hadn't stowed it in your dimensional pocket when things started getting difficult.
You can't seem to get the hood to pop, which leaves you in the dark about the state of the engine. You don't THINK it took any damage, but that sound it made when Lu-sensei stopped the car is worrying.
"I am having second thoughts about even TRYING to repair this poor thing," you admit aloud.
"I don't blame you in the slightest," Lu-sensei says, giving the battered vehicle a once-over. "I would have preferred we take a car a bit less..."
"Totaled?"
"Indeed. Unfortunately, hotwiring vehicles is not a skill I've ever needed to cultivate, and this was the one young Mr. Shirogane and his friends were able to secure for us. Besides," the old man adds, "we really did need to get out of town before those unfriendly gentlemen got a good look at us."
"Yeah. Just from Ambrose's notes, I would have thought Wolfram and Hart were bad news. Seeing the lengths they were willing to go to just to find out who the Shuzens were bussing around..."
"REALLY bad news," Briar says. "Kind of incompetent, though, if the quality of their mooks was any indication."
"Be fair," you chide her. "They were up against a wizard, a mini-ninja, and a guy built like a Darknut. And those are just the folks we SAW." You shake your head. "So, Sensei. Upon careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it might be better for us to run up into the hills as sneakily as we can, under a couple of anti-detection spells, and then - once we're far enough that the magic signature won't be picked up by anybody who comes looking for the car - teleport nearer to Sunnydale."
Your master nods. "I could live happily with that course of action. How's your luggage?"
You check your pocket, which you had to expand to accommodate your suitcase and its contents. That's another five percent of your maximum reserves gone, but fortunately, it'll only be until you get home.
"Doing as well as can be expected."
"Good. Shall we be off, then?"
"Just let me make with the magic - oh, by the way, should we leave the car as-is, or wreck it to remove the evidence?"
Lu-sensei considers that. "The latter would probably be wise, if only to account for fingerprints, loose hairs, and the like."
He's barely spoken when a sudden thumping and muted yelling comes from what remains of the trunk.
"Oi! No blowing up the car with me inside! Let me out!"
You stare at the back end of the car, which bears a certain resemblance to an accordion, and then turn to Lu-sensei, who seems honestly as surprised as you are.
"Why's it gone all quiet?" the voice asks, in tones of increasing panic. "What's going on? Somebody? ANYBODY?"
Well. What do you do?
You bring up your senses and begin trying to probe the contents of the trunk. You have no idea who or even WHAT is in there, and you're not keen on letting out someone or something who might be working with Wolfram and Hart.
The crumpled state of the vehicle works against you, however. Under normal circumstances, a focused probe could punch through the lid of a car trunk - unless it was lined with lead for some reason - and give you a good idea of what you were dealing with. Given the way the back end of the vehicle before has crumpled, however, you're left trying to scan through enough metal to seriously interfere with your probes. The only ones that provide you any useful data in this situation are your highly-developed senses for magic and ki, and even those two aren't telling you much.
You ARE picking up a moderate aura of demonic power, as well as a faint hint of human ki.
"Oh, God," the guy in the trunk groans. "What did I do to deserve this? If I'd known... woulda picked a different car to hide in..."
The sounds of a strong but ineffectual struggle come from inside the trunk for a moment, then end with a sigh.
"If you're still there, will you PLEASE let me out before you kill me? I'd at least like to die with my nose clear of the smell of burning gasoline and... gah, whatever the hell this stuff on the floor is..."
"Give us a minute," Lu-sensei calls. "The trunk appears to be rather... jammed."
There's a snort. "Do tell."
Your master glances at you, one eyebrow raised inquisitively.
"Half-demon, I think," you answer quietly.
"Half-Brachen, to be precise," the voice corrects you. "Hope that's not going to be an issue."
Evidently, you need to speak quieter. As for Brachens - that's the same species as the guy Cordelia beat at the tournament. You've done some reading up on them and the other supernatural types you saw, and Brachens, at least, aren't bad people. Prone to drinking heavily, but by and large, they don't go around killing folks, trying to end the world, or doing other capital-E Evil things for kicks, unlike some other demons.
Just to be sure, you snap off a Spell of Clairvoyance, which has no trouble penetrating the trunk and giving you a reasonable, slightly-shadowed look at your unexpected passenger.
The poor lighting in the trunk makes color indeterminate, but the guy does have the arrangement of face-spikes you recall seeing on the brother of Cordy's opponent. He also looks fairly young - a good decade older than you, but probably not even twenty, unless there's some kind of weird demon age thing going on. Which isn't impossible. You're also able to tell why he hasn't simply torn himself free of the trunk; he had to curl up a bit to fit in the trunk, and when your stolen car got rear-ended, the crumpled portion ended up pinning his legs. He can't really get good leverage on the trunk like that, at least not enough to overcome the whole thing being jammed shut like it is.
Your passenger's demonic lineage is one of the "non-evil" ones, he hasn't done anything (yet) to make it seem like he's a spy or otherwise bad news, and you're not picking up any indications of magic on or near his person. With all that and his likely age taken into account, you're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt - at least enough of it to let him out of the trunk without giving him a scare.
It takes a few well-aimed Cantrips of Mending and some elbow grease from you and Lu-sensei, but you manage to pop the trunk. The Brachen inside blinks his red eyes several times, getting used to the increased light, then raises one hand in a half-hearted wave.
"Hey."
"Hey, yourself," you return, looking him over. "Can you get your legs out of there, now that you've got some space?"
"Not sure. Gimme a sec..."
He proceeds to shift about several times, muttering broken lines like, "wedged in pretty good," "pinches something fierce," and "how was I not pulverized...?" Eventually, however, he does manage to drag himself out of the mangled compartment - sprawling face-first on the dirt as he falls out of the car.
"Oh, sweet freedom," he groans.
"Alright down there, young man?" Lu-sensei inquires.
"Yessir! Just... really very happy to be out of the small, dark, pinchy place. And in one piece." With an effort that betrays a certain wobbliness in the legs, the half-demon rises to his feet, dusts himself off, and turns to face you and your master. "Thanks for that."
"You're welcome."
There is a pause. After looking between you and Lu-sensei - and apparently missing Briar - the Brachen speaks.
"So, I don't know what the heck happened this morning, but given the all-comers-welcome street brawl, the ninja, the high-speed car chase, and the shooting, I'm guessing it's the kind of thing I'd be a lot happier not knowing."
"That's a distinct possibility," Lu-sensei agrees easily.
"How's the idea grab you of no names, no descriptions, I was out cold in the boot and never heard or saw a thing?"
What's your feeling on this suggestion?
"That sounds fine by me," you reply, even as visions of memory-modification spells, binding geases, and critical existence failures flash before your mind's eye. Shaking off those less-than-pleasant impulses, you turn to Lu-sensei. "Does that sound fine to you, sir?"
Your master regards the half-Brachen for a long moment, until the demon-descendant starts to sweat.
Then the old man nods. "I believe that would be acceptable."
Your former passenger lets out a breath of relief.
"Right, then," you say. "That just leaves the car... oh, I know..."
You'd considered casting a Spell of Disintegration, but while you have the raw capacity for such magic, you're not so certain about your knowledge. However, there IS a spell in your repertoire that, with some modification, should provide a similar effect. You look around quickly, to make sure no vehicles are around - the early hour helps - and upon seeing that the coast is clear, you begin to cast.
Mana thrums in the air about you as you point towards the car and utter a single word, naming both the spell and the result you desire:
"Break."
From the half-wrecked car, there comes a brief, ear-wrenching metallic groan.
A moment later, the vehicle implodes.
It's not like in video games, where a miniature black hole sucks the unlucky object or person inside and compresses them down into a ball, or even wipes them from existence entirely. It's more like every nut and bolt and screw that was holding the various parts of the car together popped out all at once, while in the same instant, about a million previously-invisible stress fractures decided to make themselves known in grand fashion. Bits of glass, metal, and plastic are scattered everywhere, and even the upholstery has come apart.
You look over the resulting heap of junk. It's not the "turned to dust" effect you know is supposed to be the end result of a successful Spell of Disintegration, but the largest bit of the former car you can see that's still in one piece is about as big as your thumb-print.
Behind you, there is a dull *whump.* You turn, and blink.
The Brachen has fainted.
"I guess he doesn't have a lot of experience with magic," Briar says lightly.
"I remember what that's like," Lu-sensei muses, before shaking his head. "Well, then. Are we finished, here?"
"I think so, Sensei," you reply. "Just let me cast the spells we need to hide, and we'll be off."
You proceed to make some more magic, warding yourself, Briar, and Lu-sensei to not leave a trail in the physical, spiritual, or magical senses. As you perform the needed rituals, you glance at the unconscious Brachen demon and wonder if you ought to make a quick round-trip teleport to drop him off in the city. If he were to wake up on (hopefully) familiar streets, with no hunted strangers or wrecked vehicles in sight, he might be inclined to think he'd dreamed up everything he saw - or didn't see, as the case may be.
Then you recall the wizard in glasses who seemed to be the leader of the Shuzens' local... troubleshooters, maybe?... and how he cautioned you against using your magic until you were beyond the city limits, so that you wouldn't leave a trail for your would-be pursuers to track. The handful of spells you cast out here, fifteen minutes and change from the city by fast-moving car, ought to be in the clear. Even if Wolfram and Hart's hirelings knew exactly which way you were headed when you drove out of town - and considering that you didn't see or sense any pursuit since well before you passed the "You are now leaving Los Angeles" sign, you doubt this - there's a whole lot of space for them to cover before they even find the heap that used to be your stolen car. That's assuming that THEY don't assume that you took some circuitous route to throw off pursuit...
You pause, wondering why Lu-sensei didn't do that. Then you mentally shrug and ask him.
"Well, for one thing, I don't know the streets of Los Angeles all that well," he admits. "Especially not from the perspective that comes with being behind the wheel of a stolen and half-wrecked car. Trying to throw off pursuit doesn't work so well if the enemy knows the terrain better than you do, especially not if the authorities pull you over. In our case, getting out of town as fast as possible was the best recourse. Besides," he adds, "with all the trouble that young man and his cohorts were giving them, I seriously doubt that any of our pursuers would believe that we just took the first exit home."
You nod.
Getting back to your original train of thought, teleporting what's-his-name back into L.A. is probably a bad idea. You'd be blazing a trail through the astral that any competent mage back-track, once they hunted down your landing point - and then you'd have to get back OUT of the city. No, it's unfortunate, but your accidental stowaway is just going to have to walk home with the knowledge that he did, in fact, get hijacked and dumped outside the city.
Completing the last of your spells - a general-purpose dispelling, to scrub as much of your lingering magical energy from the area as possible - you tell Lu-sensei you're good to go.
With that, you're off.
After a long run that you will describe in hindsight as "pleasantly uneventful" but which got pretty darned dull at the time, you, Briar, and Lu-sensei end up... well, somewhere. L.A. is just a smudge on the horizon, the highway isn't even visible, and there's basically nothing remotely interesting around. Getting here was a good workout, for your ki as well as your physical body - particularly when you tried to mix up normal long-distance running with some Parkour. You didn't end up kissing the turf, but it was a close thing a couple of times.
Gained Ki Concealment D (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Ki Recovery E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Ki Step E (Plus)
Gained Parkour F (Plus) (Plus)
You spend maybe fifteen minutes in that unremarkable place, resting and waiting to see if anyone pops out of thin air or any magical sensors glance your way. Once it's clear that nothing of the sort is going to happen, you prepare a ritual teleport, remembering to cast a Magic Circle Against Evil over your party to screen out the otherworldly essence of the Hellmouth. That done, you invoke the greater magic-
-flying/falling/sinking through a strange space/medium/awareness filled with familiar shapes/alien geometries and faint/loud chorus/discordance and a near/distant green energy/presence-
-and then you're standing behind that pile of rocks outside the Sunnydale city limits, which you've previously used as a loading and unloading zone for this kind of magic.
Gained Summoning B
"Everyone still in one piece?" Briar inquires, looking around. "Mentally, as well as physically?"
"I believe so," Lu-sensei replies. "Was that the 'green' Cordelia was so upset by, that one time?"
"It was."
"I see." Your master pauses, mutters something to himself about 'training her weirdness threshold,' and then shakes his head. "Well, then, Alex. Let's get you back to your family."
You make your way back into Sunnydale. It's mid-morning, and the hustle and bustle that helps maintain the illusion of small-town American normalcy is in full swing. Several people pass you and your master on the sidewalk with barely a glance; a few others exchange nods of acknowledgement or quick greetings; and one or two-
"Hey, Alex!"
-call you out for more involved meetings.
"Hey, Larry," you greet your only local male friend. "Good to see you."
"Likewise. So how was the trip, and did you bring me anything?"
"In order," you reply, "the trip was good, and no, I didn't bring you anything." You try to look apologetic. "Sorry, but it honestly slipped my mind."
"Bah." Larry scowls and waves dismissively. "Not like I asked for anything, right?"
Well, no, but as they say, it's the thought that counts.
Then Larry looks up at Lu-sensei, and half-bows. "Welcome back, sir."
"Thank you, Larry. How have things been since we left?"
"Quiet," comes the answer. "A few more people left town on vacation, some of the stores are closed 'cause they're not getting enough business, the number of funerals is down far enough that they don't have to book nights..." Larry trails off with a shrug. "Pretty typical Sunnydale summer, according to Grandma."
That's... good?
Larry accompanies you back to your house, where you are greeted by an enthusiastic Zelda and Moblin, and a slightly more restrained mother. Your father is at the garage. Lu-sensei tries to excuse himself, but your mom somehow drags him inside for lemonade and burnt sugar cookies.
She's not much of a baker, your mom, but something about the blackened, too-hard treats just says, "Home."
Of course, your mother and sister insist on hearing about the party and how it went. You answer truthfully for the most part, editing out some of the uncomfortable details, like the part where you very messily cut a monster in half while "adventuring on the grounds," how you got slashed in the side by a skeleton, or when some intruders took control of the security system and tried to kill you with magical death-rays and gargoyles. You also don't say a word about the Holy Grail, Servants, or Wars involving the two.
Lu-sensei says nothing to contradict you.
During your narrative, Zelda tilts her head to one side.
"If Alex'th friend and her family are vampireth," she says thoughtfully, "do they know Dracula?"
Um.
"Kind of?" you reply uncertainly. "Miss Akasha was the only one who actually knew Dracula personally, from what I understand, and she didn't seem to like to talk about him."
"Who'th Mith Akatha?" Zelda inquires curiously.
You start to reply, and then stop, wondering how, exactly, to describe the living arrangements maintained by the Shuzens. What IS the official term for Akasha's relationship to Issa, exactly? Second wife? Mistress? Consort? Concubine? Ganondorf's memories provide a number of titles you probably wouldn't otherwise know - as well as the technical distinctions between them, which you suspect would ordinarily require some very specific research to determine - but you don't think that bringing this up in conversation with your little sister is something your mother will be happy with.
What do you say?
"How do you even know the name 'Dracula,' anyway?"
Zelda regards you strangely. "From the TV, of courthe."
Ah, yes, silly you. How many kid's shows have you seen with a 'Dracula' guest-star? Or even in a central role?
"Well, just remember what Dad said about what you see on TV not always being true. From what I heard, the real Dracula isn't nearly as friendly as Count von Count."
"Duh," Zelda replies. "He wath a Bad Guy."
Yes. Yes, he was. Although if somebody as nice as Miss Akasha was once his servant or vassal or whatever, he can't ALWAYS have been ENTIRELY bad. Probably. Maybe.
Once you've drunk most of a tall glass of lemonade, scarfed down a couple of carbonized cookies, and endured a number of hugs, hair-ruffles, and otherwise embarrassing displays of parental affection, you announce that you're going to go unpack your stuff, including a big surprise gift. Zelda is immediately intensely interested, and your mother looks curious herself.
"I believe I will take this opportunity to excuse myself," Lu-sensei says, before giving you and Larry a look. "Boys, I'll see you both for class on Monday."
"Sure thing, Sensei," Larry replies.
And you?
Not really wanting to get into the complexities of Issa's marital arrangements, you simply state that Akasha is an older member of the Shuzen family.
"Like a grandma?" Zelda asks innocently.
Lu-sensei inhales some of his lemonade, and begins coughing.
In your mind's eye, you see Akasha wilting in despair if that line is ever repeated in her hearing.
In your mind's ear, you hear Gyokuro laughing.
"Maybe I could stop by tomorrow, Sensei?" you inquire of your master. "For that research we had planned?"
You take a moment to reflect on how convenient it is that you don't need to use euphemisms and double-speak to cover for the supernatural side of your training when you're around your parents.
Before Lu-sensei replies, Larry speaks up with a frown. "Weren't you coming over to my Grandma's tomorrow, Alex?"
...oh, yeah. You DID want to do that, didn't you?
Man, with all the excitement of the party, it had completely slipped your mind that Grandma Blaisdell was going to show you how to shoot.
"Miss Akasha is more like an aunt," you reply. After a brief pause, you add, "One who's hundreds of years old, and yet only looks like she's in her twenties - but she's definitely NOT a grandmother."
Zelda, your mother, and Larry all give you confused looks at this, and you shrug.
"It's a vampire thing."
None of them appear to have anything to say to that.
"Ith thhe pretty?"
At least until Zelda speaks up.
"Yes," you answer honestly. "She is."
Your little sister nods in satisfaction. "Definitely NOT a grandma, then."
...you have the feeling that it's a very good thing none of the grandmothers you know are present.
"Zelda!" your mother scolds.
You turn to Lu-sensei. "Forget what I was saying, Sensei. I really should keep my promise."
Your master nods. "I will see you on Monday, then. Try not to put any holes in Mrs. Blaisdell's house."
And with that, he's off.
"I swear, there are times when it seems like he's got no confidence in me," you grumble.
"Please," Briar says. "He has EVERY confidence in you - especially your ability to get into trouble."
"Quiet, you."
You proceed up to your room, where you pull your luggage out of stuff-space and drop the suitcase on your bed for the time being. Then you look around, trying to decide where you should put Briar's new house. It IS pretty large, after all.
There's also the matter of elevation. Leaving Briar's house on the floor is always a possibility, of course, but it did look nice on that low square table the Shuzens had it set up on. You don't recall having any spare furniture laying around that would be large enough to hold up the house, but also small enough that they wouldn't rob you of a huge chunk of space. Then again, you could always grab some wood that isn't serving any other useful purpose, drag it into your magic mirror room, and transform it into a suitable table - or maybe just a box.
You look around your room with senses beyond the normal five, observing how the different energies flow - or don't - both in and of themselves and in relation to the rest of the house, or the world outside.
Then it occurs to you that you know basically NOTHING about the practice of Feng Shui. Is it a good thing or a bad one, how that swirl of faintly elementally-charged air comes in through your window, only to dissipate in a hundred different whirling eddies? The build-up of Hellmouth contamination on the outer face of the outside wall isn't what you'd consider GOOD, but it's by far the BETTER option to having that same crud flowing freely into your room, right? Residual ki in your clothes, bedding, and even the floor and walls is entirely natural and completely harmless, isn't it?
Still, you give it a go, calling upon scraps of half-remembered commentary overheard at various points in the past.
The color of Briar's front door is white. That means... you want it facing south-west, right? You're pretty sure you heard that somewhere. And you don't want obstructions between the window and the door - that's just common sense, it would interrupt the air-flow. So you can't put Briar's house at the foot of your bed like you were considering; instead, you'll put it next to the headrest, on the...
"What do you think, Briar?" you ask, while standing at the foot of your bed and gesturing to the wall behind it. "Put the house on the left side, or the right?"
"Hmmm. I think nearer the window would be best. And elevated, if you can find something to do the job."
Gained Feng Shui F
"Alex?" your mother inquires from the doorway, while giving you an odd look. "What are you doing?"
"Just planning to redecorate a bit, Mom," you say. Then you push past her, your sister, and Larry, with a quick, "Excuse me for a minute."
"Where are-"
"Just need to get something downstairs. Be right back!"
You hurry down to the basement, where you cast the Spell of Mirror Hideaway upon the waiting face of your appropriated security mirror. Stepping through the glass, you enter the pocket dimension with its reflective walls and proceed to cast an empowered Spell of Minor Creation. As the magic moves through you, you focus on the idea of wood - not a desk or a table, merely a simple wooden box whose topmost face covers the same area as the bottom of Briar's new domicile. The object slowly takes shape before, mana slowly condensing, darkening, solidifying...
A minute later, there is a faint "pop" as you end the spell, leaving a solid-looking box of the appropriate dimensions on the reflective floor before you. You probe it with your senses, and can immediately tell that, while the box will not be disappearing on you of its own volition, it's also not entirely stable. A good dispelling would unmake it, and if it were smashed physically, the pieces would probably dissipate back into the ether.
Better make sure there is no violence or unwanted magic in your room any time soon, hmmm?
Gained Conjuration C (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Elementalism C (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Wood Elementalism E
Gained Woodworking F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Picking up the box - which is little more than a hollow frame, and so quite light despite its size - you walk back through the eerie wall-of-freezing-razors portal, then dismiss your Mirror Hideaway and haul the box upstairs. Larry is still hanging out at the door to your room, and does a double-take when he sees what you're carrying, before stepping out of your path. As you pass him, you're greeted by a sight that forces you to stop and sigh.
"I was GOING to unpack that in a minute, Mom."
"And now, you don't have to," your mother says, as she finishes emptying out your suitcase. Your kimono - which you never wore - and your spidersilk suit have been neatly hung up in your closet, but everything else that was in there and falls under the category of "clothing" has been dropped into a waiting hamper, regardless of how clean or dirty it actually is.
Moms. Yeesh.
"What do you need the boxth for, Alexth?" Zelda inquires, looking up from where she and Briar have apparently been talking by the window.
"A foundation."
Your sister frowns. "I don't get it."
"You will."
You step past your mother and sister, turning slowly so as not to send the wooden crate in your arms into something or someONE fragile. Then you set the box down on the floor, repositioning it a couple of times until you're satisified with both its physical and mystical location.
Then you mentally reach into your dimensional pocket, and take out Briar's new house.
"What the-?!" your mother exclaims.
"Is that a-?" Larry asks, sounding like he's about to burst out laughing.
"THITH ITH AWETHOME!" Zelda squeals in delight. An instant later, there is a Little Sister-grade limpet attached to your arm. "Can I play with it, Alexth? Pleathe? Pretty pleathe with thprinkleth and a cherry on top?"
"It's Briar's house, Zelda," you reply, while trying to shake off the Little Sister Eyes - and the Little Sister Glomp. "You'll have to ask her."
"It IS?!" Zelda whirls to face the fairy in question.
"It is." Briar is positively preening. "It's a gift from Kahlua's little sister, Kokoa."
"Thhe giveth GOOD prethentth," Zelda says.
"She does, doesn't she?"
"But wait," your sister continues, frowning. "Why wath thhe giving out prethentth at all? It wath her thithter'th birthday, tho...?"
"It's kind of a tradition when you're dealing with really old families," Briar explains. "Alex and I gave the girls' parents a small gift to show that we were grateful for being invited over to visit and given a place to stay for a few days. Kokoa's gift is kind of the other side of that, a way of, uh-" Briar briefly hesitates here "-thanking a guest for being on their best behavior."
Zelda doesn't appear to notice the delay.
Neither does Larry - or at least, if he does, he doesn't think anything of it.
Your mother, as ever, can't see Briar or hear a word she's saying.
"Tho thhe gave you a HOUTHE, jutht to thay THANK YOU?" Zelda exclaims.
"Well, she may have been showing off JUST a bit, too," Briar admits. "It's a REALLY nice house. It's fully-furnished, and it's got lights, heat, and even running water."
Zelda goes still.
"It'th a MAGIC dollhouthe?"
...why do you suddenly feel like a bomb is about to go off?
Sensing an impending explosion of little-sisterly glee, you speak quickly.
"It's a magic FAIRY house, Zelda. It was made from a dollhouse, but I don't think a doll would really care if their house had heat or running water, since they don't drink or sleep. Briar DOES, which is why it's for her and not for your dolls. Okay?"
On cue, Zelda's face falls. "Awww..."
"Hey, squirt," Briar says. "If you promise to be careful, you can help me set up the furniture."
And just like that, she brightens anew. "There'th furniture?"
"Ah-ah-ah," Briar chides. "Promise first."
"Okay, okay. I promithe to be careful."
Briar regards your sister for a moment, and then nods. "Right. Alex, you can put down the boxes."
You do so, laying several dozen small boxes down on your bed, and in the process allowing your dimensional pocket to return to its usual size. You make a point of separating the tiny containers that are marked "fragile" or "sharp" from the rest. Not that anything here is what you'd really consider durable, but as long as Zelda is careful and has somebody looking over her shoulder, stuff like the tiny bed and scaled-down couches won't easily break in a little girl's hands. The mirrors, the fairy-sized plates and glasses, and the collection of tiny clay flowerpots and vases are not so resilient - and you just don't want Zelda handling knives, no matter how small they are.
Your mother watches all of this with a bemused expression, at least until the little cardboard boxes and shipping crates whose contents are potentially-hazardous to little girls start piling up. Then she moves the hamper aside and positions herself to interfere if Zelda so much as glances towards the "fragile" and "sharp" stuff.
"Why don't I lend you a hand, Zelda," she says, in a way that isn't a question.
"Thure, Mama!"
You take the opportunity to back up a step. It's getting a little crowded around Briar's house, and there's a decided air of girliness taking over, so perhaps this would be a good time for you, Larry, and Moblin to withdraw?
With the ladies' attention occupied, you glance at Larry, press one finger to your lips, and then make a "walking" gesture and point at the door.
He nods, silently, and backs out of the room without so much as a creak of shifting floorboards. You follow in equal - if not greater - silence, and the pair of you make your way down the hall and then to the ground floor.
Once you've cleared the bottom of the stairs, Larry casts one last, cautious look towards the second floor, and then turns to you, grinning.
"Dude, seriously. A dollhouse?"
"It was a gift."
"From a little girl," he notes.
"To Briar," you point out.
"That YOU put in YOUR room."
"...shut up."
Naturally, he doesn't. "Alex has a dollhouse, Alex has a dollhouse.~"
Foregoing silence, you let out a roar and chase Larry out the back door, a gleefully-barking Moblin hot on your heels.
Despite justifiable provocation, you don't kill Larry, and he doesn't flee for his life. Instead, he hangs around until an hour or so after lunch, catching you up on the finer details of what has and hasn't happened in town in your brief absence. It basically amounts to nothing - you know from personal experience that Sunnydale is boring in summer, and this year it seems to be making an extra effort in that direction.
It's a good thing, then, that you have plans that will take you out of town, isn't it?
Larry departs around two in the afternoon with a parting, "See you tomorrow," and your father gets home towards five. He's glad to see you, and another recounting of your visit with the vampires is provided - once again, with certain details left out.
You can see that your parents aren't entirely thrilled with the knowledge that you sparred with vampires. The fact that you WON those spars, on the other hand... well, your Dad likes that. Your mother would probably be happier if you weren't fighting so much.
The question is posed of whether this visiting your friends in foreign countries thing is going to be a one-time deal, or a recurring event. You consider that.
The next day, you rise a bit later than your preferred time, and spare a moment to wonder whether it's due to jet lag or just the fact that you slept in your own bed again. A bit of both, probably. Still, between a long day of minimal energy-use and an uninterrupted night's sleep, you're back at full power across the board.
You take a moment to relish the sensation. No spiritual wound, no bottomed-out reserves struggling back to normal, and a corruption level that's lower than it's been in years.
It's a GOOD feeling.
You have breakfast, chase Zelda out of your room, have a shower, and get dressed. A glance at the clock shows it to be quarter after eight; you're not expected at Larry's until nine or so, and will be walking to his grandmother's place after that.
"Well, I'm off to the garage," your father announces. "Do you want a ride to Larry's place, Alex?"
Knowing what you do about Sunnydale traffic, you can't see it taking longer than ten minutes to get to the Blaisdell residence - and THAT's assuming it's a really slow morning, or your father takes the scenic route, such as it is.
All things considered, you had a good time at Kahlua's. You caught up with several of your friends and made new ones, you met all sorts of interesting people, you had a fair amount of fun, and Important Things happened that probably wouldn't have gone down if you hadn't been there to kick them off. Yes, you got slashed by the walking dead, attacked by a home security system hacked by the bad guys, and had to deal with some unwanted attention on your way home, but all in all, you figure these inconveniences were just the price of admission.
So it is without hesitation that you admit to your folks that you'll probably be traveling abroad again in the future.
You don't miss how they both appear troubled by your response.
Maybe you should reassure them? Somehow?
Yeah, it's still too soon for you to head over to the Blaisdell place. You say as much to your father, and then add, "Maybe I could visit the garage for a while first?"
He turns that over in his head, then shrugs. "Sure. Just be careful not to get in the way while we work, or to get anything on you."
"No problem."
You say goodbye to your mother, Zelda, and Moblin and pile into the car.
The drive is short and uneventful, and Uncle Rory's garage is not busy in the slightest when you arrive. There's only a single car in the shop at the moment, and nobody's actually working on it, even though your uncle and two of his employees are present. Rory's doing some paperwork in his office, one of the other guys is seated in the waiting area normally reserved for customers, reading a magazine, and the last fellow is hunched over one of the work benches in the garage proper, fiddling with something you can't see.
"Morning, Tony," Rory greets his brother. "Hey, Alex. Welcome back from Japan. How was the party?"
"It was pretty good, thanks Uncle."
"A party in Japan?" the guy with the magazine says, looking up from his reading. "You serious, Rory?"
"Yeah, some girl Alex met in that tournament this spring invited him to her birthday. Well-off family, old school manners, spooky as hell servants making mail deliveries..." He shivers, clearly recalling the Mothman.
The guy considers that. "Is she cute?"
"John, she's Alex's age."
"Which is why I'm asking him if HE thinks she's cute," John replies easily. "Never too early for a boy to think about his future, right?" Then he looks at you. "So, Alex. Is she cute?"
For some reason you can't quite pin down, you feel hesitant about answering.
"The good news is, travel expenses won't be a problem."
"How do you figure?" your father inquires.
"I know a spell that can take me pretty much anywhere in the world, as long as I have a good picture of the place to aim at."
Your parents visibly start at this.
"You mean like... flying?" your mother guesses.
"No, it's teleportation."
"Like in Star Trek?" That's your father, and he's frowning.
Considering some of the rather horrible transporter accidents the writers have come up with over the years, both in the original series and The Next Generation, you can guess what he's worried about. You hasten to reassure him.
"Kind of, but there's zero chance of getting your molecules scrambled across half the galaxy, or however Dr. McCoy put it," you clarify. "The spell's designed so that it either works perfectly, or you don't go anywhere."
You decide to leave out the fact that you're talking about the Spell of Greater Teleportation, and that the "lesser" form does indeed carry a small but non-zero risk of Bad Things happening due to poor aim on the part of the teleporter. Not to mention the less-severe and rather more likely inconvenience of ending up somewhere dozens or even hundreds of miles away from your intended destination.
"...anywhere in the world, huh?" your father muses.
"Is that legal?" your mother questions.
Um.
The words are no sooner out of your mouth than John gets this broad, somehow disturbing grin.
"Good answer, kid. Keep that up, the ladies love the flattery."
"You can stop giving my eight-year-old son dating advice any time now, John," Tony says dryly.
John raises his hands in a gesture of surrender - but doesn't stop smiling.
You spend the next half-hour or so kicking around the garage. A good portion of that time is spent in a question-and-answer session out back, where your Dad and Uncle Rory continue your education in the ways of the grease monkey. It's not the most detailed lesson ever, and it's cut short when a paying customer arrives with engine trouble, but you still learn a few things.
Gained Mechanical Knowledge (Cars) E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
This feels like as good a time as any for you to head over to Larry's, and so you call a farewell to your father - getting a brief goodbye in return - and leave the garage.
Briar, who'd been fairly quiet for the duration of your visit, takes this opportunity to speak.
"So, Alex. What's it worth to you for me to NOT let Kahlua know that you think she's pretty?"
You consider your mother's question.
"Well, there are no laws AGAINST using magic to cross international borders... that I know of... and I was planning to keep my passport on me and up-to-date, just in case. So there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Your mother regards you in silence, and then shakes her head.
"Something about that argument makes me want to smack you, Tony," Jessica mutters.
Your father does a double-take. "Why do you want to hit ME for something Alex said?"
"Because it's clearly YOUR influence talking."
Tony opens his mouth to speak, one finger raised in protest... and then he pauses, ponders what's been said, and closes his mouth and lowers his finger, nodding.
"Fair point."
The discussion pretty much ends there.
On the positive side, you haven't been banned from using teleportation to visit other countries. But you get the feeling you should probably clear any travel plans with your parents first, just in case.
"Ha! Trick question!" you exclaim. "I already told Kahlua she was pretty back at the tournament."
"Wait, what?"
You recount the words you exchanged with Kahlua after your match - words that Briar was not present to hear.
You're not quite sure, but you think you hear the fairy grumbling about, "Spoiling my fun with your blunt honesty and thoughtless charm..."
"What was that?" you ask.
"Nothing. Let's get to Larry's."
Shrugging, you carry on as you began.
As you traverse the streets of Sunnydale, you take note of the Independence Day decorations that have appeared in your absence. Given your eventful trip overseas and the confusion of the International Date Line, it kind of crept up on you - even though half the reason Larry invited you over to his Grandmother's today is that she celebrates the Fourth of July with a proverbial and literal BANG.
It's about a quarter past nine when you arrive at the Blaisdell house. Larry's sitting out on the front porch, and hops to his feet, waving, the moment he sees you. After taking a second to call inside that "Alex is here" and "we're leaving," your best guy friend joins you. A conversation is struck up, and soon, ventures onto the topic of the day at hand, and what each of you is most looking forward to about it.
"Definitely the fireworks," you answer.
Food is one thing, but you can get good barbeque at times OTHER than the Fourth of July. Not often, given your family budget, but it IS possible. And while Mayor Wilkins certainly goes all-out each year in a stirring display of patriotism, delivering the kind of speeches that hold even a child's short attention span and fire their hearts with admiration for boring old history, your recently-gained knowledge of what the man gets up to the other 364 days of the year really sucks the enjoyment out of the annual spectacle.
Fireworks, now... magical or not, there's something about explosions that is just awesome.
The light.
The sound.
Gained Thunder Affinity F
The FEELING.
The knowledge that if you were to swipe some of the pyrotechnics, you could put a big hole in something...
Ahem.
Speaking of fireworks, when you reach Lily Blaisdell's place, out by the edge of town, you find the old lady herself setting up rockets in her expansive front yard.
"Larry! Alex!" She waves from beside - and almost beneath - a heavy-looking metal frame. "Good timing, boys. Give a girl a hand and help me straighten this thing out, will you?"
Larry hurries over to his grandmother, grabbing the opposite side of the pole she's trying to wrestle upright. You take a moment to examine the set-up. Lily's dug a bunch of small holes in her lawn, most of which have had tubes of various colors and sizes planted into them like seedlings. The piece that currently has her attention looks like it's meant to hold a Catherine wheel, and there are at least two others of this sort lying half-unpacked on the lawn, awaiting placement.
"It's like a field of bomb flowers," Briar mutters.
Is there anything in particular you'd like to ask Grandma Blaisdell while you help her set up for this evening's show?
Presented with a field of explosives, you find you can't resist the temptation to ask questions. How are they made? How are the different colors produced? Why are they placed the way they are, with some of the fireworks widely spaced out and others grouped (relatively) close together?
Larry's grandmother answers your questions as she works, not seeming the least bit distracted.
Although she says that she doesn't make fireworks herself, instead buying all the ones she uses from a couple of stores in Los Angeles, Lily Blaisdell proves to have some fairly extensive knowledge on how it's done. She credits this to her late father, who was a professional pyrotechnician, and drilled proper safety into all his children from an early age - and then went a bit further with the ones who showed interest in the art, like Lily and her little brother James.
Larry's Great-Grandpa also owned a lot of guns, knew how to use and maintain them, and was perfectly capable of making ammunition for them - another set of skills he passed down to his progeny, and part of the reason why Lily Kent met and ultimately ended up married to Jake Blaisdell.
Perhaps because she's talking to a couple of eight-year-olds, Lily doesn't go into too much technical detail about How To Make Fireworks. She focuses more on the history of pyrotechnics and their link to early gunpowder - but she does mention that the different colors are the results of different chemicals being added to the mix.
Gained Knowledge (Pyrotechnics) F (Plus)
Gained Thunder Affinity F (Plus)
When it comes to setting up fireworks, however, Lily waxes eloquent. Each type has its own requirements, both for the sake of safety and for the sake of putting on a good show, and Mrs. Blaisdell knows them well. She was her father's assistant in her younger years, and she kept in practice even after getting married.
"You should have seen the display my Daddy set up for my wedding day," she reminisces. "It went on for half an hour, and got him banned from attending services for a year. I swear, when the stained-glass window blew out, I thought Father Andrews was going to have a heart attack - I just wasn't sure if it'd be before or after he choked the life out of Daddy."
You glance at Larry. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you have AWESOME grandparents."
Larry grins and nods, not contesting the point in the slightest.
"So, Mrs. Blaisdell...?"
"Yes, Alex?"
"Does wind have a big effect on how you set up fireworks? Or only when you're launching them?"
"Oh, it's definitely important. It's one of the reasons why you always triple-check EVERYTHING, and then check it again if you leave it alone for any length of time. You never know when a strong wind is going to push a rocket just slightly off, or when a stray bit of damp litter is going to get blown into the fuses and ruin something..."
With you and Larry lending support, it takes Lily about twenty minutes to finish setting up.
"Right, that's enough for now. I can set up the fuses later." She turns to you. "So, if I understand correctly, I have you boys until after lunch. Whatever shall we do first...?"
As interesting as fireworks are, it's really no contest. You came here for the guns.
Given how Larry's grandmother was willing to go into some detail about safety procedures when handling fireworks, how she DIDN'T go into detail about what actually makes them go boom, and what she said about her own father teaching Safety First, you suspect it'll go easier if you ask to learn about guns FIRST, and THEN ask about firing one of them later.
This proves to be a good decision on your part.
Larry, as it turns out, has already received the Blaisdell Gun Safety Lecture - several times, in fact. And if he can't recite it from heart, he demonstrates enough of a grasp on the essential material that his grandmother is comfortable allowing him to handle an unloaded shotgun and work on his maintenance skills.
You, on the other hand, have not received the Lecture. Lily quizzes you up and down about what you know about guns-
Gained Knowledge (Firearms) F (Plus)
-which honestly isn't much. That shotgun you pulled out of the ether for your magic mirror-created alter ego was summoned, not conjured; it actually came from somewhere, and went right back when your spell ended. Similarly, the automatic proficiency with the weapon that you imbued into Xander's mind and body via Enchantment wasn't drawn from your own experience, for you have none; you got that from somewhere else, too, and it didn't stick around. Heck, thinking back, it never really took hold for you, maybe because you weren't holding the shotgun correctly, or maybe because you'd been planning to call up the weapon specifically to arm Xander, and the intent bled over into your spell.
Whatever the case, you know very little about the proper handling of firearms, even if you likely DO have a much better handle on the danger they pose as deadly weapons just by sheer dint of all your encounters with violence.
Lily proceeds to illuminate you.
She has quite a lot to say on the subject. The salient points include, but are by no means limited to:
A gun is a deadly weapon, and must always be treated as such.
Ignore everything you see on TV or in the movies.
Always treat a gun as if it's loaded.
Never aim a gun at anyone.
Never handle a gun without permission and supervision from an adult.
A gun is a deadly weapon, and must always be treated as such.
"You already said that," you point out.
"It bears repeating," Lily replies.
Larry finishes up the cleaning job he was doing maybe two-thirds of the way into the Lecture. He doesn't interrupt his grandmother, instead wordlessly handing the shotgun back to her - barrel aimed at the floor and away from everybody in the room, you note - and she takes it and puts it back in its box, which she locks.
Then she opens up another box, and gets out a different shotgun, this one looking like it's been used a lot more.
"Now for the next bit," she declares. "Range safety. Follow me, boys."
You do, and she leads you through the house and out the back door. Lily's backyard is even larger than the front lawn - actually, you're not even sure it can be CALLED a yard. There's no fence, no obvious marking of where the property ends, just a wide swathe of green turf and low-lying bushes with a couple trees and a big rock for flavor, all well back from the house. A large section of the grass is cut noticeably lower than the rest, and the end nearest to you has a shed built to one side, with some kind of mechanical device and a big wooden bin sitting neatly against the wall.
Larry scoots over to the shed, unlocks the door, and disappears inside. When he returns a minute later, he's got three sets of ear protectors on his person, one already hanging around his neck. He hands the second set over to his grandmother, and then gives the third to you.
Right in the middle of that action, Larry's eyes widen and dart from you to the heavy-duty headset in his hands and then to Briar.
This... may be a bit of a problem.
Your first resort for dealing with the problem at hand is to turn to magic. A Spell of Silence - scaled down to conserve mana and so that it only affects one little person, rather than a wide area - would stop all sound waves cold, leaving Briar completely unharmed until it wore off. It would also render her functionally deaf, which doesn't appeal - not to mention that the basic Spell of Silence only lasts for a few seconds, and you're probably going to be out here for a while.
What you need isn't outright silence, but rather, protection against harmful noise. The idea of casting a Spell of Resistance to Energy attuned to the Thunder Element occurs to you, but that spell is focused more on preventing gross physical harm - lethal damage, like ruptured internal organs, rather than painful and debilitating but ultimately non-lethal injury, such as a blown eardrum.
So you modify the spell, fine-tuning its defensive properties to cover all degrees of sound-induced trauma. This requires you to pour some additional mana into the matrix, but under the circumstances, it's a trade you're perfectly willing to make.
You cover the visual casting of the spell by reaching out and accepting the heavy ear protectors from Larry, brushing Briar with the back of your hand as you lift the strap about your neck. The spell takes effect, radiating no excess mana thanks to your reflexive urge to minimize your energy signature while on the Hellmouth.
Gained Mana Concealment C (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
Lily Blaisdell doesn't appear to notice anything odd. She proceeds to drill you in range safety:
A gun is a deadly weapon, and must always be treated as such.
Some of the range equipment can be dangerous, so always treat it with respect.
Ignore everything you see on TV or in the movies.
Always make sure the range is clear before you start launching skeet or firing.
Always treat a gun as if it's loaded.
Never aim a gun at anyone.
Never handle a gun or use the range without permission and supervision from an adult.
A gun is a deadly weapon, and must always be treated as such.
...she's REALLY intent on hammering the Lecture home, isn't she?
Gained Knowledge (Firearms) F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
While she explains the Rules of the Range, Lily Blaisdell pulls the tarp off the machine next to the shack, unlocks the adjacent wooden bin, and takes out some clay discs, which she feeds into the machine.
Then, once she's finished, she puts on her earmuffs, waits for you and Larry to do the same, and turns the machine on and shows you how to shoot some skeet.
THUNK.
One.
BLAM.
THUNK.
Two.
BLAM.
THUNK.
Three.
BLAM.
THUNK.
Four.
THUNK.
Five!
BLAM.
BLAM.
Some of the flying targets, Lily blows out of the air as soon as they enter her field of vision. Others, she lets fly across the field, some to the point where they're grazing the grass, before blowing them out of the air.
She doesn't hurry.
She doesn't break her pace.
She doesn't miss.
You are... suitably impressed.
Gained Firearms F (Plus)
After that more-than-slightly intimidating display of marksmanship, what will you do next?
"Those ones are always good for a show," Lily says in response to your inquiry. "Unfortunately, I've been running low on reloads for a while. I'd like to hang on to the ones I've got left, at least until I can order some fresh ones."
"They're not common in Sunnydale, then?" you venture.
"Not hardly. I have to order them special, from out of state, and there's a ton of paperwork involved." She pauses. "Plus, the last time I placed an order, two rather rude young fellows from the ATF came around to ask a few questions. I haven't really been in a hurry to see them again, or any of their co-workers."
"The who?"
"The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms," Lily clarifies. "A branch of the government that monitors the sale of... well, alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. They try to make sure that stuff isn't ending up in the wrong hands - and if it is, to put a stop to it." And then she shrugs. "Evidently a woman in her sixties ordering up a hundred rounds of pyrotechnical shells was something they found 'out of the ordinary' enough to warrant a visit." Her voice drops. "Never mind that Jake used to order the same amount every year, for the better part of three decades, and never got so much as a phonecall about it..."
Lily trails off, shaking her head in clear annoyance at some people.
Gained Knowledge (Bureaucracy) F
As she switches off her skeet-shooter and throws the tarp back over it, Lily gives you a quiz on her previous Lecture. You try to paraphrase it, but even though it's been less than an hour, you've only heard the safety discourse the one time - twice, if you count the Range Safety Lecture as a repeat of the basic one. You haven't FORGETTEN what Lily said, you just haven't internalized it well enough to satisfy her yet.
You resolve to do better in the future. Your ability to practice with firearms is almost certainly dependent upon it.
Lunch is a bit early, and quite uneventful. Since there's a big party and lots of food in your near future, Lily keeps this meal small and simple, whipping up a few peanut butter sandwiches, pouring two tall glasses of milk, and keeping some homemade chocolate chip cookies in reserve for desert.
Her cookies, at least, are better than your mom's, even if they are from the jar rather than fresh from the oven.
After eating, you help to clean up, and thank Lily for an educational morning. Then you head out.
Incidentally, Lily tells you to say "Hi" to Lu Tze for her when you see him tomorrow.
Well, what she ACTUALLY said was, "Remind that shiny-headed old Chinaman that he's missed three of the last five poker nights, and he owes the rest of us a forfeit."
You can't help but stop and stare at Lily.
"...who's 'us?'" you manage to get out.
"Oh, just some of the old folks from around town," Lily replies with a dismissive wave. "Myself, Lu, Sammy O'Toole, a few others. We get together once or twice a week to grumble about you young people, reminisce about the old days, that kind of thing."
"...and play poker?"
Lily shrugs. "The boys needed something to do to occupy their hands."
An image passes through your mind of Lu-sensei playing cards, shuffling, dealing, and discarding at blue-shifting speeds.
You shake your head to dislodge it.
"Well, we'll be sure to tell him," you reply.
"Yeah, no problem, Grandma," Larry says.
"Thank you, boys."
And then you're off.
Down the street from Lily's place, you glance at Larry. "But seriously, poker?"
"This is the first I've heard of it, man."
"Old people have lives too, you know," Briar chides.
You smirk at that. "I guess you'd know."
There is a small impact on your arm. "Brat."
Even though it's just after lunch on a weekend, traffic in the Dale proves to be pretty heavy. While waiting on the third street corner in a row for the passing motorists to either yield the right of way or just thin out enough for your group to hurry across, you ponder what to do now.
"So, Larry," you say.
"So, Alex," he replies.
"So, Briar," the fairy adds.
"I don't think I got around to asking yesterday," you continue, ignoring the fey commentary, "but have you heard from Cordelia since I left?"
"Nope. Neither had Amy, at least as of two days ago."
"...come on, it was a LITTLE funny."
You frown. "What happened two days ago?"
"Nothing big." Larry shrugs. "Her mom just packed her up for a trip to some cheerleading training camp."
"Is that normal?" Briar asks.
"I don't know if 'normal' is the right word," you admit, dropping your little game of I Can't Hear You, Briar. "It's the kind of thing I'd expect Mrs. Madison to do, at least."
"Amy was grumbling to me about it before they left," Larry notes. "Apparently, her mom's been trying to get her in since she turned six, which is the earliest the place accepts new trainees. But she never met their standards until this year - and Amy was pretty sure that those 'standards' had nothing to do with her physical abilities. She sounded pretty ticked off, to be honest."
"Did she know what they DID want?" you wonder.
"Yeah, actually; they were trying to get Cordelia. It would have been worth MAJOR bragging rights for them to have a finalist from that tournament attending. But her parents took her out of the country, so the camp went with another girl from the same school and same training class as their first pick."
"Ouch," Briar hisses.
Yeah, that definitely explains why Amy was pissed. Hopefully it won't be an issue between her and Cordelia...
"So, in a complete change of topic, where do you want to go next? Your place? Or Sensei's?"
Larry considers it. "My folks were going to run some errands after we left, so they might not be home yet. On the other hand, Lu-sensei's place is usually closed on weekends and holidays... tough call."
He ponders the options for a minute, then shrugs. "How about we stop by the park, and see how the festival preparations are going?"
Though the allure of experimenting with magic is there, it's matched by the nice weather and the promise of barbeque and fireworks. You find yourself agreeing with Larry, and heading off to the park.
From prior years, you're aware that Sunnydale foregoes the big morning parades that are semi-traditional for Fourth of July celebrations. This is in deference to the fact that half the population tends to skip town for the summer. Instead, the Mayor's office focuses all that effort and funding into the afternoon and evening phase of the celebration, which tend to be a bit... disproportionate to the size of the town.
You arrive at the park to find a fair-sized crowd already there ahead of you. Booths containing various games have been set up, as have a number of small tents (all in red, white, and blue, of course), and even a couple of rides. A merry-go-round stands near the heart of the miniature fairground, a nearby street has been shut down to make room for a go-kart track, and there's even a small Ferris wheel. A stage has been set up near the entrance for Mayor Wilkins to give one of his well-known speeches from, and the Sunnydale High marching band is going through a somewhat ear-jarring warm-up not far off.
As you look over the crowd, it occurs to you that there may be another reason why Sunnydale focuses its patriotism into the later hours. Some of the workers putting last-minute touches on the attractions have distinctive features. That guy's skin is a little too grey for him to be a living human, that one over there has facial ridges like something out of Star Trek - except he doesn't match to any species you can call to mind - and someone wearing a heavy, concealing shroud just ducked out of one of the tents to fetch a box off the back of a truck.
Apparently, some of the local demons like to celebrate Independence Day too.
Who knew?
Gained Local Knowledge (Sunnydale) E (Plus) (Plus)
You do find yourself glad that you were putting extra effort into suppressing your power. Truly, it isn't paranoia when there are demons walking around in broad daylight.
Gained Mental Concealment F (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Spiritual Concealment D (Plus)
"Alex," Larry says guardedly, "are my eyes playing tricks on me, or...?"
"I see them, too."
"Oh, good." He pauses. "Actually, no. Not good."
You're looking at a mixed crowd of demons and humans, working together in order to finish setting up for the Independence Day festival. On the face of it, this is a good thing: people of different cultures, race, and even species, united in common cause to celebrate the birth of a nation whose founding credo is, "Liberty and Justice for All." Is this not what America is all about? Is it not another example of how humanity can come together with other species in relative harmony, just as the World Martial Arts Tournament and Kahlua's birthday party were? Have you not personally had strongly positive, entirely non-predatory interactions with beings that traditionally feed on your species?
When you consider the violence that ensued on those two occasions, as well as the way Kahlua was visibly tempted by the sight and scent of your blood, the argument loses some of its patriotic impact. And THEN you remember that you're on the Hellmouth, which has an annual mortality rate competitive with some of your country's larger cities - and which is actively avoided by the monsters you're on personal speaking terms with.
Such statistics are suggestive of a distinct difference between monsters and demons - especially the kind of demons who live in Sunnydale.
That in and of itself isn't QUITE enough to tip the scales of your judgement against going down there and mingling. Even if nine out of ten demons are violent and cruel by human and even monsters standards, there's always some that aren't - and you have reason to know that human and monster standards can be pretty broad. A lot of normal people would probably regard you as a dangerous lunatic, had they any idea of what you're capable of, and you KNOW your abilities have surprised a lot of monsters of late. On top of that, making contact with Sunnydale's inhuman population would give you names, faces, and places to check out, in order to start getting a handle on what goes on in this town after dark and underground.
No, it's when you glance at Larry, and see how tense he is even at this distance from the workers, that you decide you're better off leaving.
Information gathering about the darker side of life on the Hellmouth can wait. The safety of your friends and family comes first.
"Yeah, we should go," you say aloud, if quietly. "Before we're noticed."
Gained King of Men C (Plus) (Plus)
Larry mutely nods, and leads the way away from the park.
"I think I might skip the fair this year," he says, once the location in question is half a block behind you, and out of sight around a corner.
"I think I will, too," you agree. "At least, assuming that I can convince the folks to stay home."
"And if you can't?"
You consider it, and then shrug. "Then I'll probably go anyway. Have to look out for the family, right?"
Larry doesn't argue with your words.
"Well, then," Briar says. "Since visiting the park turned out to be a bust, what are we going to do now? Stop by the old man's place, or head back to the house?"
"I could go for visiting Lu-sensei," Larry admits. "The idea of doing an hour or so of really intense drills until I'm too tired to think about demons is pretty appealing right now."
Thinking on it, you can see the attraction of that idea yourself. Still, Lu-sensei's IS closed on Sundays and holidays, and today happens to be both of those. Then again, he IS your master, and leaving a door open for when his students need counsel is kind of a thing he's supposed to do...
Or you could back to your place and do Magical Kung Fu Science regarding Briar's fairy dust, with or without Larry's assistance. Or perhaps you could try to talk your parents out of going to the festival this year? Or you could just wander about the house and the yard like a vaguely normal eight year old, doing whatever looks like fun at the moment.
What will you do?
Ten minutes after leaving the park, you, Larry, and Briar are standing before the door of the School of Five Elements. It's shut, with the sign proclaimed CLOSED clearly visible in the window, along with the usual hours of business. Even leaning up against the glass and peering inside, you cannot make out anyone moving around within the dojo proper.
Rather than knock, you close your eyes and slowly, carefully reach out with your ki, probing the wards for a hint of whether your master is in or not. At first, you register nothing but absolute normalcy...
Gained Ki Sense C (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)
...but after a minute of constant effort, a haze that you weren't even aware of clears up, like fog rolling back under a gentle breeze.
A moment later, you realize that Lu-sensei's familiar ki signature is up on the roof.
You also realize that, even now that you're sensing THROUGH the wards on the dojo, you still can't sense the wards THEMSELVES.
That's some damn good work, whoever did it.
While you're reflecting on the elusive magical signature of the wards, your teacher's presence gives off a slight twitch, registering your probe. If there's an air of "of gods, what NOW?" to it... well, you figure Lu-sensei is entitled to a moment of grumbling in his own mind. You ARE dropping by unannounced, after all, and on a day when the dojo is supposed to be closed, besides.
The old man's head appears over the edge of the roof.
"Hello Alex," he calls down, before blinking in surprise and adding, "Larry. What brings you by this afternoon?"
"We should probably talk about that inside, Sensei," you answer. "If that's okay."
"Certainly. If you'll give me a minute..."
Whether due to the other pedestrians moving up and down the street, or because he just doesn't feel like hurrying, Lu-sensei takes the requested minute to come downstairs and unlock his door. He ushers your group inside, greeting Briar in passing, and then gives you that Look that says, "Well?"
You quickly explain about your discovery of demons among the work crew setting up for the festival, and the mutual decision between yourself and Larry to vacate the area.
Lu-sensei nods. "That's something you'll have to keep in mind in the future," he cautions all of you. "Demons make for a cheap source of hard labor - most breeds can simply do more, and for longer, than humans can - so it's quite common for them to be employed behind the scenes in Sunnydale and other places with high levels of supernatural activity." He frowns and strokes his beard thoughtfully. "It IS rather unusual for them to be out in the open like you're describing, though. I wonder what brought on the change...?"
A good question, but not one you have any answers for just now. Lu-sensei appears to share your thoughts, as he shakes his head and inquires what you were planning to do, after getting his counsel about this matter.
"Well, Larry suggested-" you start, then stop. "Actually, wait. First of all, before we left her house after lunch, Larry's grandmother asked us to tell you that you owe your poker group a forfeit."
Lu-sensei's left eyebrow rises, Spock-like, towards his long-receded hairline. "Did she, now?"
You nod.
"And after we bailed on the park," you continue, "Larry mentioned that the idea of doing an hour or so of really intense drills until he was too tired to think about demons was pretty appealing."
Larry nods.
"I see." Lu-sensei regard you. "And yourself, Alex?"
"I was hoping to do some of that research we talked about on the flight home," you admit.
Your master just nods at your words, completely unsurprised.
"Well, as long as you're here and you keep the magic within the limits of my wards, I see no issue with that. I'll be busy with Larry, however. Is that alright with you?"
What Lu-sensei gets up to in his private time isn't really any of your business. You decide to leave the opening to inquire about the Sunnydale Awesome Elders' Poker Nights unexploited.
At least for now.
"Could I spar with Larry for a while, and research later?" you inquire. "I mean, I WAS kind of hoping for some masterly input when I make with the magic... oh, and Larry could take part in the research. If he wants."
Lu-sensei and Larry trade glances.
"What kind of 'research' are you talking about, exactly?" Larry ventures cautiously.
You briefly explain your intention to study exactly HOW Briar's fairy dust heals injuries, and then elaborate a bit that having a second test subject person to observe the effects on, someone who DOESN'T have magic of their own to affect the healing or your readings of it, would be useful.
Your friend considers what you've said, and again, glances sidelong at Lu-sensei.
"Would I need to actually be injured for this to work?" he says. "Because that'd be a deal-breaker right there."
"Actually, no," you reply. "I'd learn almost as much from studying how the fairy dust eases physical fatigue, like the kind you get from a hard workout."
Larry perks up at this. "Okay, then, I'm in."
The two of you kick off your shoes and assume your places on the mats.
Sparring ensues.
Compared to most of the kids you've been fighting with recently, Larry isn't enough of a challenge to really push your raw physical power or speed, let alone your supernatural abilities. However, partnering with him makes for a very good refresher course in dealing with normal people, allowing you to brush up on your skills in close-quarters and your self-control.
Gained Battle Awareness D (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Grappling E (Plus)
Gained Hand-to-Hand (Five Elements Style) D (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Strength Control D (Plus) (Plus)
You also slip in a little bit of ki use - nothing aggressive, just your standard senses, your Ki Armor, and your Ki Step. By reading Larry's ki, you gain a better idea of where and how he's going to move; your immaterial armor lets you take those blows you don't wish to dodge, without experiencing any real harm; and the last skill makes you harder for him to push back or knock down. All in all, they make you that much closer to the kind of opponent Larry can expect to NEED his skills against in Sunnydale - without overwhelming him right out of the gate - and also the sort of sparring partner he can cut loose against without worry.
Larry expresses his appreciation by punching you a lot.
You reciprocate.
Lu-sensei occasionally interrupts when a potentially restricted or just plain dangerous move is employed, but otherwise lets the two of you get it out of your systems.
Briar just mutters something about, "Boys."
After about half an hour of this, you're starting to feel the burn, while Larry is well on his way to looking worn out. There's something else, though, something you've glimpsed through the lens of your Ki Sight. The way Larry's aura is behaving right now, with his body and mind nearing the ragged edge of exhaustion, and his spirit still shining with the determination to go forward...
...he's right on the verge of tapping into his ki.
If you were to push him just right...
If your friend is right on the verge of unlocking his ki, why NOT give him the push he needs to do it? Especially when he lives in a place like Sunnydale, where the ability to harness - and weaponize - your life-force can only help to improve your chances of survival?
You gather your ki-
!
-and immediately let your energy flow freely once more, as Lu-sensei turns sharply in your direction and makes a slashing motion through the air, his eyes suddenly intent - almost glaring.
Sensing a slip in your focus, Larry takes the opportunity to punch you in the face.
Or more precisely, he tries to.
You're not so distracted as he might have wished, however, and field the attack, if not CASUALLY, then without an excess of effort. And with your ki raised to augment your defenses, you barely even feel the blow as it connects with your guard.
Gained Ki Armor E (Plus) (Plus)
"Enough!" Lu-sensei commands.
You and Larry separate, lower your guards - and in your case, your ki - and then bow to signify the end of the spar.
"How do you feel, Larry?" your master inquires.
"Tired," the boy admits. "Though... also kind of energized, you know? That was a GOOD spar. Thanks, Alex."
"You're welcome."
"Five kata as cooldown, and then get a drink and wash up," Lu-sensei advises.
Larry nods, and slides into one of the practice forms.
You follow suit, but midway through the second set, you look to your teacher and quietly murmur, "So, Sensei. About what just happened..."
"Yes?"
"It seemed to me like Larry was about to tap into his ki," you say softly. "I was considering giving him a little push, until you, uh, 'encouraged' me to do otherwise."
"I noticed, yes. Thank you for heeding my 'encouragement.'"
"You're welcome. But... was I doing something wrong?"
Lu-sensei hums at that. "Yes and no. I can explain in more detail later, but for the moment, I'll just say that awakening someone's ki in a fight is the sort of thing that should only be done by a master, or if someone's life is in danger. Oh, and don't mention it to Larry just yet."
You nod at that, and focus on your fourth round of cooldown exercises.
A few minutes later, you and Larry have recovered from the exertion of your extended spar. Which is to say, you look only a bit ruffled compared to when you entered the dojo, while Larry actually looks like he's been through a workout.
Active ki is a heck of a benefits package, even when you're not actively using it.
"Now then," Lu-sensei says. "I believe something was said earlier about magic?"
Experiment time!
How many times are you going to ask Briar to use her fairy dust?
And who is Briar going to heal? (Pick two, or pick one twice, if using two heals.)
Are there any special measures you want to take while observing Briar's fairy dust at work?
You were unwilling to use up both available doses of Briar's healing powder on the plane ride home, due to uncertainty about whether or not you or someone else would need an emergency healing. The potential need for such magic hasn't diminished now that you're back in Sunnydale - rather the opposite, really - so why would you change your strategy?
Although you do have quite a good sense of what any given form of magic is doing when it targets you, your own power is significant enough that it can't help but obscure some of the finer details, even when you're suppressing your energies as much as you can. It doesn't help that virtually all spells meant to analyze magic are designed with the assumption that the caster will be using his eyes to study his target. Your use of conjured crystalline eyes to look where the eyes in your head can't possibly see makes up for that much, at least, but it's just so much more convenient when you can LOOK at who- or whatever you want to examine, without resorting to additional spells or time-consuming rituals.
And since it's easiest to observe magic at work on another person who doesn't have magic to interfere with the readings, it's most convenient that you have such a person on-hand today. True, you were planning to use Lu-sensei as your test subject, but waiting one more day for that is no real hardship - and aren't extra data points a good thing in research?
Gained Science F
You think back to the spells and various sensory-enhancing powers you were using to observe yourself when Briar (and the firebird Ro) healed you on the plane. Most of them won't strain Lu-sensei's wards, especially if you take the time to cast them ritual-fashion. The only exception is the Spell of Prying Eyes, or the variant you worked up for Eyes with built-in extrasensory powers - the wards on your master's dojo only conceal spells up to the fourth circle, after all.
So it's just as well that you're going to be observing the effects of Briar's magic on another person.
With that in mind, you start gathering mana and weaving the first of the ritual spells you'll be using today.
"All set?" Briar inquires a few minutes later.
"I am. Larry? Sensei?"
"Let's do this," Larry says.
"You may proceed, Alex."
And you do. Briar flies over to Larry and begins whirling about him in a rapidly-elevating spiral, trailing sparkling motes. You watch closely as those faintly-glowing particles settle upon Larry - who raises his arm and regards the little points of light in his skin with mingled interest and trepidation - and begin their curious work. Physical restoration, spiritual replenishment, and even some mental recovery take place.
And then the magic fades, its energy spent. This magic is fleeting, yet powerful.
Rather like fairies themselves, really.
"Wow." Larry takes a deep breath, and then punches the air a couple of times. "I feel GOOD. Like I didn't just spend the last half-hour and change constantly sparring."
He even LOOKS better than he did just a few seconds ago. Some of it's posture and bearing, but Larry's clothes don't seem so rumpled now. And then, of course, there's everything you saw in the mystical spectrum - evidence for any with the means to see it that Lary is indeed in better condition now.
Speaking of what you saw...
"Still not enough?" Briar guesses, after a look at your face.
"Not quite," you admit. "I could probably cast the ritual right now, but only on Larry, or somebody else who didn't have magic and hadn't tapped into their ki. I'll need to see how your magic affects people who DO have abilities like that, other than myself."
"So we'll do this with the old guy tomorrow, and then with Amy, whenever she gets back from cheer boot camp?" the fairy guesses.
"That's what I was thinking," you admit, before glancing at your master. "If that's okay with you, Sensei."
"That should be fine," Lu-sensei replies. "But make sure you get Miss Madison's permission BEFORE you throw fairy dust at her, alright?"
Well, of course.
A glance at the clock shows it to be around two in the afternoon. If you want to head your parents off before they go to the fair, you should probably get going.
Is there anything else you want to talk to Lu-sensei about, while you're here?
"Hey, Larry?"
"Yeah, Alex?"
"Listen, I'm going to hang back and talk with Lu-sensei about ki stuff for a bit, and then go home to talk my folks out of visiting the fair this year. So unless you really want to hang around..."
Larry shakes his head. "Nah, I'd better get home and try to catch my folks before THEY leave for the fair. But hey, thanks for hanging out with me today, Alex. It's been way more interesting than the rest of the summer."
"No problem, man."
The bell above the door rings as Larry departs.
"So, Sensei. About awakening ki..."
From the ensuing discussion, you learn the following:
The circumstances in which a person first touches their ki have an impact on how they will best be able to access and use their ki in the future. It's possible to awaken one's vital energies through meditation, but this is the slow path, and tends to produce ki adepts of an introspective, philosophical nature - not that these are bad traits, by any means, but they're far better suited for life in a monastery or hermitage than life on the Hellmouth. In addition, those who first learn to channel their ki through meditation usually need TO meditate in order to properly access it, at least until they've gained a great deal more experience. They're the priests and ritual masters of the martial arts world, capable of some truly esoteric manipulations of life-energy, but they're naturally given to patience, ceremony, and contemplation before action.
When you're living in Sunnydale, and a situation comes up where you genuinely NEED your ki, you are almost NEVER going to have the time to meditate beforehand. And when something tries to eat your face, the correct response is to kick it in the teeth, not ponder how the road of life has led you both to such a situation.
That said, waking your ki up through violence - even the controlled violence of the dojo - is risky. A master's control is required to ensure that just enough power is used to quicken the student's ki to life for a single instant, but not so strongly that he damages himself. It's exactly like the natural limiters that prevent your muscles from using their full potential power - because if they did, they'd tear themselves apart. In times of great stress and danger, those limiters can be overridden, because injury and even maiming are generally preferable to immediate death. But the dojo is not the battlefield. The threats there are not mortal, the need is not truly dire, and injury - or worse - are not acceptable.
Thus, control. Patience. A steady progression, master pushing the student closer and closer to their limits - mental as well as physical - without overstepping them, until the pupil is truly ready for the final push into the next level of combat.
"As good as your control is for your age, Alex," Lu-sensei says seriously, "it's not good enough for something like this. Not yet. Not unless someone's life is already on the line, and there's genuinely no time for any other approach. Understood?"
"Yes, Lu-sensei."
Gained Knowledge (Ki) E
"While we're on the subject, Sensei," you add. "Would you happen to have any scrolls or books about ki that I could borrow? From an academic perspective, I mean."
Lu-sensei considers that, signals for you to wait a moment, and disappears into the back room where he usually keeps his sword and other items. When he returns, he has a single book in his hands. It's fairly large, but not too thick - you'd guess it to be a couple hundred pages, no more - and when he hands it over, you look at the cover.
"'The Fifth Element,'" you read off. "'A Collection of the Teachings of Grandmaster Wen.'" You look up. "No author?"
Lu-sensei shakes his head. "The original copy of the work was assembled by the Founder's first disciples. They decided not to put their names on it, out of respect for their teacher, and he refused to take credit for the authorship. And I quote: 'I never wrote any of this stuff, and I don't remember saying half of it. Are you boys sure you weren't drinking again?'"
You blink.
Lu-sensei's expression is innocent.
Briar snickers.
You pocket the book.
Gained "The Fifth Element"
With that settled, you say good-bye to your master, leave the dojo, and head home. As you traverse the sidewalks and streets of Sunnydale, you consider how to best convince your parents to skip this year's Independence Day Festival.
"See you then," Larry agrees, before turning to the others in the room. "Lu-sensei. Briar."
Lu-sensei nods.
"Take it easy, Larry," Briar says.
"I'll do my best."
And with that, Larry turns to leave.
You go over what you want to say to your folks a few times, trying to pick the best words to make your case, and the best way to present them.
The idea comes to mind of offering to create some illusory fireworks, so that your family can stay indoors without missing the highlight of the evening. As you think it over, you realize that if you were to ritually cast a Spell of Major Image while indoors, you'd likely be able to prevent anyone outside the house from noticing the spell. And as long as you paid attention to what you were doing once the spell was active, you could put on a show almost like the real thing.
It's something to keep in mind.
You reach your house without incident, but as you come up the street, you notice that the driveway is still empty. Looks like your father isn't back from the garage yet.
"Welcome home, Alex," your mother greets you. "How has your day been so far?"
"This morning was a lot of fun," you admit. "Larry's grandmother is really cool."
"I suppose that's one way of putting it, yes," your mother sighs. "Has she rigged her lawn to explode again this year?"
"Yup! Speaking of which-"
"No, Alex, you may not buy fireworks," comes the immediate reply. "Not for a few more years yet."
"...okay," you say slowly. "But that's not what I was hoping to talk about."
Your mother blinks. "Oh. Ah. Sorry, dear. It's just that every boy I've ever known around your age seems to want to play with fireworks after seeing one of Lily Blaisdell's displays. Reflex."
...and now you kind of want to suggest going up to Lily's place to watch the show.
You shake your head. "Anyway, while we're on the subject of fireworks..."
"Yes?"
"I was thinking maybe we ought to stay in this evening."
Your mother blinks. "What, and not go to the festival?"
"Yeah. You see, Larry and I swung by the park earlier, and, well... we saw some demons helping to set everything up."
"...what."
"Yeah, it was... weird. And as much as seeing humans and non-humans working together in peace might be taken as a sign of peace and brotherhood and everything... it just seemed like a bad idea to go walking around where I KNOW demons are hanging around."
"Um. Yes, that... that would seem like a bad idea." Your mother gives you a searching look. "You aren't making this up by any chance, are you, Alex?"
"No ma'am," you say smartly. "I promise. You can even ask Lu-sensei. Larry and I stopped by his place after we left the park, and he said that it isn't too unusual to find demons working behind the scenes around town."
"Oh. That's... good then. That you're telling the truth, I mean. Not about the demons, and not that I thought you were lying, it's just..." She stops, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"I get what you mean, Mom," you assure her.
"I'm glad one of us does."
"And if we're not going to the fair, I was thinking we might go to Mrs. Blaisdell's place-"
"No, I think we'll be staying in this year," comes the quick reply. In a lower voice, your mother adds, "And possibly every year that comes after..."
Hmmm. On the one hand, success! Demon-haunted festival avoided. And on the other, no fireworks. Bummer.
Since visiting Lily's seems to be out, you have an alternative.
"What would you say to us staying in and watching an illusion of fireworks?" you suggest to your mother.
"...I'm not sure I follow you, Alex," she admits.
"I can show you. Just give me a minute..."
You make sure to close the curtains on the living room window before ritually-casting the Spell of Minor Image. The room around you and your mother seems to dissolve into a panoramic view of the night sky, except for the floor and the doors, which you leave looking the same as always. This has the disconcerting effect of there being two doors standing in what appears to be empty air, and the illusion around them and the floor is weakened slightly as a result, gaining a faint translucency that "solidifies" into the projected image after a couple of inches. Even with that weakness, though, you're quite satisfied with the stability of your casting.
...though perhaps not its fine details, you admit, frowning at the illusory sky. The stars are twinkling properly, and the Big Dipper is where it should be, but the rest of the sky doesn't look right - not for Southern California in the middle of summer. Not for Hyrule, either.
Maybe you need to study the heavens more closely?
Gained Astronomy F
"Oh, my," your mother murmurs, as she looks around. She seems untroubled by the lack of astronomical accuracy, and you give her a moment to take it all in, before adding "the rockets' red glare" and "bombs bursting in air," though all of it happens in silence.
"Oh, wow!"
That wasn't your mother. Looking to the doorway that leads to the kitchen, you see Zelda and Moblin standing just outside the room-turned-nightscape, both of them staring at the "ceiling."
"Thith ith neat, Alexth!" Pulling her attention away from the fake fireworks, Zelda faces you. "How long have you been able to do thith?"
Something about the way she asks that makes you cautious, but you reply, "A while."
"Ith it hard to do?"
That feeling? Getting stronger.
Little Sister WANTS something.
"It isn't very hard for me to do now," you say, emphasizing the last word. "But it took me a long time to get as good as I am right now, and it still requires a lot of concentration. This" - you gesture around at the image of indoor night - "isn't something that someone starts off being able to do."
That undisguised eagerness you saw in Zelda's expression doesn't diminish in the slightest at your subtle warnings about the time and effort required to learn magic - which makes you wonder if maybe you misread her intentions a bit.
"Out with it, Zelda. What do you want?"
"I want Alexth to do thtuff like thith" - and in an echo of your previous action, she waves at the illusion-filled room - "when it'th time for my bedtime thtorieth!"
...
Yeah, you probably should have seen that coming.
"Now, Zelda," your mother begins - and is it your imagination, or is she trying not to laugh? "Your brother did this for a special occasion-"
"Bedtime'th a thpecial occathion!"
"-and because there's a problem with the show we were planning to go to tonight-"
"Wait, what?"
"-so instead of going out to see the fireworks, Alex thought he'd bring the fireworks in to us." Your mother pauses. "Do I have that right, Alex?"
"Yeah, Mom. That's about it."
Zelda looks torn between her gleeful admiration of your magic, and being upset about not getting to go out tonight.
"I'd be happy to do so once a week or so," you reply.
"YAY!"
"BUT," you state, one hand raised along with your voice in order to pierce the noise of Little Sisterly Glee and make sure she's paying attention to you. "Only once a week, and only if Mom says you've earned it."
To emphasize your statement, you let the illusion of the night sky fade back to the reality of the living room walls and ceiling.
Zelda stands up straight, shoulder back and arms at her sides, like she's trying to stand at attention. The effect is almost completely ruined by the way she's screwed her face up into a "serious" expression.
"I'll be good!"
Gained Elder King E (Plus) (Plus)
...why is she so adorable? You don't remember any other girls of your acquaintance being this cute when they were Zelda's age...
"We'll see," your mother muses.
After the bit with the "indoor nighttime," Zelda attaches herself to you for the rest of the afternoon. Previous experience has shown that your little sister does not like the way into your Mirror Hideaway - nobody who's followed you in there yet has, and honestly, you're not fond of it yourself - so that leaves you with a couple hours to kill until your father gets home.
There really is no other acceptable choice.
You spend the rest of the afternoon playing with your sister and your dog, alternating between tag, hide-and-seek, fetch, and games of pretend as circumstances and childish whims dictate.
Gained Big Brother E (Plus)
It's not quite four when your dad pulls into the front yard, looking tired but satisfied. As he explains, there were a couple "emergency jobs" dropped on the garage today: one RV, belonging to a family who were planning to leave Sunnydale First Thing Tomorrow Morning, and had Reservations and a Schedule and Absolutely Could Not Be Late; and an out-of-town delivery truck dropping off goods for the fair had a breakdown after lunch. It was hard work, and your father says he doesn't envy his brother, having to deal directly with such annoying customers - but the holiday overtime was worth it.
"Especially since I got out in time for a family outing to the fair," he finishes with a grin.
You feel kind of bad for what you're about to tell him.
Not that this STOPS you from telling him.
Your father is not happy to hear about demons being involved in the Fourth of July celebration. In fact, he tries to argue that maybe you saw something else - the term "carnies" comes up - but the protest is feeble, seeming more reflexive in nature than something your old man genuinely believes. And he admits as much a minute later, apologizing for making it sound like he doubts your honesty.
"I'm just upset. I mean, it's the Fourth of July! I've been going to this fair since I was younger than you, and now I find out that monsters are mixed up in it - and probably have been the entire time! God, is nothing sacred?"
You're tempted to make a joke about holy water, blessed swords, and other such things, but you suspect that wouldn't go over well.
In any event, Tony agrees to your suggestion to stay in for the night. He makes a quick call to Rory's, to advise the same, and appears both disgruntled and amused when he gets the answering machine.
"He did say he had a date," your father explains, as he hangs up the phone after leaving a brief message for his brother.
"He always does," your mother notes.
To that, Tony merely shrugs.
The evening passes uneventfully. You have the barbeque that was planned, although since you're not going out to the fair with its many greasy snack foods, your folks go ahead and cook more than they'd originally planned to. The TV is switched on to PBS, which is playing an Independence Day Special on loop, so you get to watch a fireworks display from Washington, to musical accompaniment - some of it classical and kind of boring, some of it modern and at least recognizeable, though even that varies from entertaining to "meh."
The finale involves cannons, though, so that's pretty awesome.
The sun goes down, and you start to hear the distant crack and pop of Sunnydale's own fireworks display. You take that as your cue and - after a quick glance at the night sky, the image of which you try and fix in your mind - you begin your ritual casting of the Spell of Major Image.
Gained Astronomy F (Plus)
"Holy-!"
"Tony!"
"-moly?"
Zelda's commentary is mostly "Oooh," "Aaah," and "More exthplothionth!"
Maybe it's the magic, or the sheer novelty - or it could be the ideas you "borrowed" from the broadcast - but all in all, your home fireworks display seems to go over well.
And then it's done.
As you head to bed that evening, you review your mental list of Things To Do, and wonder which you ought to attend to first. You have Ambrose's list of ritual sites to review - possibly with personal visits, or at least scrying - a selection of reagents to finalize, an upcoming visit from the wizard himself to prepare for...
You're probably forgetting a few things in there.
As you go through your regular morning exercises the next day, you review your mental checklist of Things To Do.
It's currently July 5th, and the eclipse you've chosen to perform the Familiar Binding Ritual on is August 11th - so you've got a bit more than a month left to work out the remaining details of where you'll be performing the ritual, and what you'll be using as reagents.
Now, you could get started on that today - you don't have anything on the table until this afternoon, when you're expected for class at Lu-sensei's, and the sooner you have the details of the ritual worked out, the better. However, it occurs to you that there's another matter, quite unrelated to the ritual, that you might want to get out of the way first.
Namely, the issue of your mother's small but very real potential for magic.
You consider how, and when, to broach the subject with her.
Most days in the Harris household, it's either you or your mother that gets up first. Zelda occasionally beats you both to it, but most days, she sleeps until seven or later. Briar is up with the sun most days, which can put her slightly ahead of you or significantly behind, depending on the time of year, and your father is consistently the last one to rise and shine, with the latter condition requiring at least two cups of coffee to bring about. Moblin is never the first to awaken, though he's often been the second - as soon as someone comes downstairs, the dog rouses himself from his bed of old blankets in the laundry room and comes looking for morning scritches and breakfast.
From the sound of things, today is going to be a normal day. You can hear your mother's tread in the hall, passing your room to check on Zelda before she heads downstairs. If you wanted to, you could probably get in twenty, thirty minutes of discussion with her before your sister or father made their presence known.
On the other hand, it's only... you pause to glance at your clock. Yeah, it's not even six in the morning yet. This discussion might go better if you give your mom a chance to finish waking up first. Which of course leads to the question of how long you should wait before approaching her. Do you hold off until breakfast, and make this a matter for the entire family? Or do you wait until Dad's out of the house, so you and your Mom can talk about the matter with a measure of privacy, letting her bring it up with him at her convenience?
For that matter, what about Zelda? Do you want to let her listen in, and extract a promise not to talk about what she hears? Or wait until she's down for her usual after-lunch nap?
You categorically refuse to consider casting spells of sleep or mind-influence on your little sister.
What you want to talk about with your mother isn't the sort of topic that should be rushed, or broached while one or both sides are still half-asleep - and you definitely don't want anybody listening in on it, when they might not be old enough to really grasp the importance of keeping secrets.
With that in mind, you decide you'll approach your mother about her magical potential later in the day, after Zelda's been put down for her nap. That'll give you the time, the privacy, and the right frame of mind to have this discussion properly.
That settled, you finish your morning exercises, and get on with your day.
You pass part of the morning reading up on Ambrose's list of ritual sites, getting an idea of how many places he suggested and how he organized them. You have seven pages of moderately-dense but perfectly legible handwriting, wherein the wizard has described ten locations in what appears to be descending order of mystical potency - or perhaps ascending order of availability.
As Ambrose notes a few times, "the good spots are always the most likely to get claimed first."
You only spend an hour or so after breakfast reading, before Zelda barges in and hauls you out of your "boring not-thchool thtuff," insistent on having someone to play with. And also watch TV with. Other than Moblin, that is.
And then it's lunchtime. You eat quickly and volunteer to handle the dishes afterwards, so that your mother will be able to focus on coaxing Zelda to sleep.
"Alright, Alex," Briar says. "What are you up to?"
"What makes you think I'm up to something?"
"Are you saying you're not?"
"Well, no." You proceed to catch your companion up on your plan.
Briar sighs. "Alex, did we or did we not already decide that you had too much on your plate right now to take on another project as big as teaching someone to use magic from scratch?"
Thinking back, yes, you did make such a decision. Before leaving for Kahlua's party, Briar pointed out that you had 'at least six irons in the fire as it stands, what with the kung fu lessons, the mental defense lessons with yours truly, the writing to people all over the world, the convincing your folks to let you go to the vampire princess's upcoming birthday bash, plus getting a proper gift for said scary little girl, and wherever we stand with those plans on the familiar ritual.'
And while you can scratch everything related to Kahlua's party off that list, the rest of it still applies. Not to mention that, as Briar ALSO noted at the time, you'll be going back to school in a couple of months, and your mother has plans in place to return to work full-time, now that Zelda's old enough for daycare.
But still...