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You're awakened by the sound of a page turning.
Quickly, you sit up in bed. The sun peers through the window, and shines in your eyes.

"Good morning, Louise!" Alicot, the head maid, sits by your bed in a chair. "Are you feeling better?"

"Alicot?!" You feel a little embarrassed, "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Well." She adjusts her glasses, "Charlotte thought you may have caught something, but you seem okay to me. You've just been asleep for a full day."

>W-WHAT?!
>A whole day?!
>..What was real or a dream? Is this a dream? I don't know anymore.
>Okay, great.
>Wake up and find Kayda.
>>Where did Jack go? I want to show him a neat trick!
>Okay, I guess I'll just doze for a few more minutes and wake up, then.
>Other?

>>1190122
>Get up and find Kayda
>>Know where Jack is? Wanna show him a neat trick!
>...I did do a neat trick right? It wasn't just a dream?

Also, hiya announcer, how ya doing?

>>1190143
Pretty good! But I'm feeling as tired as Louise right now.
Also, I can see light flashing outside the window as that storm approaches. So I hope I can last another couple of hours!

>>1190150
Ah, hope it works out.
Wouldn't want your computer to get damaged by the storm.

>>1190122
>W-WHAT?!
>A whole day?!
>..What was real or a dream? Is this a dream? I don't know anymore.
>Too much zapping?

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"W-WHAT?!" You nearly jump, "A whole day?!"
"A whole day." Alicot closes the book she was reading, "I guess you overdid it, defending the castle by yourself."

Your jaw drops.
"Wait, I remember being awake. Was I awake, or was that some kind of dream?"

"You were awake a couple of times." Alicot clears her voice.
"Then why didn't anyone wake me up?" You seem almost a little offended! "Everyone just let me sleep for two days?"

"Everyone decided that you needed it. You were woken up once or twice." Alicot smiles, "The night of the incident, you woke up for a short while. Then you fell asleep and Kayda had to carry you back. After that, Atsuko came and woke you up, but you just fell back asleep and no one wanted to disturb you. I think everyone who heard what you went through agreed that you needed your beauty sleep."

"There's beauty sleep and letting me turn into a tree." You pout, and then hop out of bed. "Where is Jack and Kayda, anyway?"
"Jack had something to investigate, and left this morning with Cody. Kayda was eating, the last I checked. That was a few hours, though."

You sniffle, and quickly start trying to make the bed back up. It's a habit, and you're having problems breaking it.
"If you're awake, I can leave so you may change. I'll let Charlotte know that you're doing fine." She smiles warmly before heading to the exit.

"Thank you, Alicot." You search blindly for wherever your clothes fell after you discarded them for bed the second time.

You manage to locate your barrier jacket, socks, and pants neatly folded on the dresser. Quickly, you change into the clothes you're going to face the day in.

You step into the hallway, and notice that pretty much everything has gone back to normal. The guards patrol the hallways with a look of boredom on their faces, and the maids continue mulling around in an attempt to look busy.
That's good! You're glad to see business as usual.

Walking downstairs, you stop real quick to see if Kayda is in her room.
Phooey, she's not.

You're going to guess that it's about 10 o'clock in the morning right now. That means Kayda is probably done eating and is either taking a nap somewhere or training.

You walk out into the training yard, and notice that it's basically empty. The massive black scorches from a few days ago still remain.
Then, a disturbing question dawns on you.

"I DID fight a bunch of monsters and zap them, right?" Your hand moves to your hair. Sure enough, there's still a blue feather entangled in your golden strands. "That wasn't some kind of dream, too, was it? I remember something about a bird, and Kayda, and-"


>Stay here practice some.
>Try to find Kayda. You want to talk to her about what happened.
>Maybe you could go find Jack. You might have an easier time with it now that you can do this.
>Find Charlotte, let her know that you're doing fine.
>Find food, you haven't eaten in over a day and you can feel it.
>Other?

>Image uploading is dead

Well!
That's good enough for me!
We will pause here and continue tomorrow.

I hope to see you soon! Take care, and keep the thread going!

>>1190968
>Maybe you could go find Jack. You might have an easier time with it now that you can do this.

>>1190968
>Maybe you could go find Jack. You might have an easier time with it now that you can do this.
>Find food, you haven't eaten in over a day and you can feel it.

>>1190968
>Try to find Kayda. You want to talk to her about what happened.
>Find food, you haven't eaten in over a day and you can feel it.
>Maybe you could go find Jack. You might have an easier time with it now that you can do this.

>>1190968
>>Try to find Kayda. You want to talk to her about what happened.
>>Find food, you haven't eaten in over a day and you can feel it.
>>Maybe you could go find Jack. You might have an easier time with it now that you can do this.

Folks, I am home, but I am slightly ill.

Writing!

>>1193775
Hope it's nothing too bad...

>>1193950
I think I overdid it, I was in an all-day meeting kind of thing.

>>1192874
>>>Try to find Kayda. You want to talk to her about what happened.

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-And you're certain all of that craziness was real. You aren't creative enough to make something like that up.

You don't really have time to sit around and try the 'teleport' thing again. It has already drained you of your energy, and you don't want to be back in bed for another day.
So instead, you're going to go try and find Jack.

--

"Oh, you want to see Jack?" Fritelli seems to be drawing lots of dots on a big map, "Jack went to investigate something with that dragon girl. He'll be back this evening."

Darn! You didn't even get to show him your wonderful lightning Louise strike!

"If you're bored, you can go play with Keiko. Atsuko hasn't been letting her stay at the shrine after the attack. So she's been staying at the castle, and I can tell she's been having trouble adjusting."

That just makes you feel bad. It's not Keiko's fault that there was an attack.
You pout, and then focus on the task at hand.
"If Jack's not around, then where's Kayda?"

"She went upstairs to find Keiko. I think she's in the guest hallway?"

Good, you hope Kayda has been keeping her company.

You step out of the armory and make your way upstairs. The guest hallway is swarming with maids, as usual. You're not really surprised by the state, but you are surprised that the castle has seemingly bounced back after so little time after a monster invasion.

What is even more surprising, is one particular door which is just hanging open.

Two voices are having a serious conversation inside.

"You hear them, still?"
A black-haired girl nods.

"You must have.. When did you start hearing them?" A familiar voice quizzes the black-haired girl.
"I- I don't remember, maybe a few years ago?"

This sounds like a strange conversation.

"-Do they tell you to like... do stuff?"
"No, nothing like that."

You walk around the corner, and give a great big totally-not-eavesdropping smile!

"HELLO!"

The two girls sitting on the bed immediately notice you.

"Louise? You're awake?" Kayda stands up, and walks over. "Are you hurt?! You had me so worried!"
"She was hurt?" Elise, the black-haired girl rescued from Gallete's dungeon, regards you with worry.

>I'm fine you two.
>C-can we talk about voices? What voices?
>Nope, don't let them know that you were eavesdropping.
>Wanna go shopping?
>Where's Keiko?
>How are YOU feeling? You were the one who was attacked by monsters!
>Other?

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Okay.
That was harder to do than it looked.
I need to sleep now, talk to you tomorrow.

>>1194399
>C-can we talk about voices? What voices?

>>1194399
>I'm fine you two.
>>i was just really exhausted
>How are YOU feeling? You were the one who was attacked by monsters!
>C-can we talk about voices? What voices?

>>1194399
>>C-can we talk about voices? What voices?

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"I'm fine, you two." You gently nudge Kayda off of you. "I was just really, really exhausted."

"But why?!" Kayda still seems worried. "I heard Atsuko tell me something about some new attack you have, but nothing she was saying made any sense!"
"Oh, OH, right. That. I can show you that a little bit later." You try to compose yourself to ask the more important question hanging in the air. "Right now, though- I want to know how you're feeling. You were attacked by monsters, after all."

"Then you know how I felt after you went to sleep and didn't wake up for a full day." Kayda pouts, and then wraps her arms back around you. "You can't just pretend that you're the only one who's allowed to be worried."

"Um." Elise awkwardly raises her hand, "I'm glad to see you're both okay. I was worried."

Oh, that's right. Elise is still here.
"Thank you for your concern." Kayda steps back.
"Elise-"

"Esther. I want to be called Esther." She snaps back. "I don't know why people call me Elise, but I wish they would stop."

Oh, right. She's having brain problems. Charlotte told you that she doesn't seem to remember a lot of things.

"-Right, Esther. Quick question. What do you mean you're hearing 'Voices'?"

Elise- ergh, Esther blinks. She's acting like that is the strangest question anyone has ever asked her.
"What? You mean you don't? Kayda said she hears them-"

Kayda immediately puts her finger to her mouth.
"USED to! I used to hear them! I don't anymore!"
"Why not?"

"Esther." You feel your hand rub against your forehead, "Hearing voices isn't normal! How long were you just expecting to hear voices?"
"I don't know, forever? I can't really remember not hearing them."

This is getting a little bit sad.
"Either ways, Esther. I think you should go talk to someone about this. There's a priestess staying at the castle, and she made my voices go away." Kayda rubs Esther's shoulder.

"What if I don't want them to go away?"

That gives you pause for thought.
"Why not?!" Kayda immediately responds.
"They're.. sort of like my friends! When I'm alone, I just listen to them talk back and forth. It's not like they're making me do anything."

"You don't know that, Esther. What if that changes and they do start-"
"What do they sound like?" You interject.

"Oh, they're always talking about where they're going or what they're doing. Things like 'number ten to number nine, going to the bar' or 'number six to eight, goi-'"
"Don't you understand?! They're not your friends! Those people are using you!" Kayda seems awfully defensive about this.

>Okay, settle down.
>Take Kayda aside and let her know that you'll get Atsuko on it.
>No, this is serious. Go get Atsuko right now.
>This isn't really your problem. Have Fritelli look into it, because she is the one who somehow solved it the last time.
>Other?

Yes, I'm still feeling sick. I may need to sleep soon.
Sorry that this happened this week. I just wanted to have a Louise thread, too.

>>1197798
>>Okay, settle down.
>>Consider getting Atsuko and Fritelli involved?

>>1197798
>Okay, settle down.
>Take Kayda aside and let her know that you'll get Atsuko on it.

>>1197798
>No, this is serious. Go get Atsuko right now.

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"Okay, okay, you two." You try to keep Kayda from jumping down Esther's throat any more than what has already happened. "Settle down."
"But-" Kayda is clearly going to start arguing with you.
"-Kayda, could we talk?"

You pull the clearly-confused Kayda out of the room.

It's not obvious because of her tanned skin, but she's flustered right now. You can tell that interruption has put her in a bad mood.

"Louise, what are you doing?!" Kayda immediately snaps at you.
"Kayda, this doesn't have to be solved right now. We should go get the adults and have them look at her, first."

"What do you mean this doesn't have to be solved right now?! Don't you remember what happened not even a few weeks ago?!"
"I know you're upset." You put your hand on her shoulder, "-But she clearly doesn't mind the voices. If we push this too hard now, then she may resist when the adults come to check on her."

"I don't think we should just walk away!"
"We're not walking away, we're just calling the experts! That's all!"

You peek back into Elise's room, and give her a few words of comfort.
"Hey, Esther. We're gonna go shopping, but I think Atsuko may want to talk to you later. Nothing serious!"

She seems more worried now than before.
"Really? Because I heard you two talking about the adults and having the adults look at me. Am I sick?"

Oh right, you forgot. Just because you're talking to Kayda doesn't mean that your voice is silent. Next time, you should take Kayda elsewhere to talk to her instead of right outside the door.

"-No! No, I don't think you're sick. It's just I think Atsuko may want to perform a check-up. That's all!"
You smile at her with a big, toothy grin.

Then you slowly usher Kayda down the stairs and far away from earshot.
"-I'm not trying to downplay it, really!"
"It feels like you are." Kayda frowns.
"I just think, we're the wrong people to be tackling this. We need to get the adults to do it."

You poke your head inside of the armory and tell Fritelli what you found about Elise. She says she'll get to it, and to tell Atsuko when you get the chance.

Thankfully, Atsuko was just coming back from town to pick up Keiko.
"Atsuko?"
"Oh! You're awake!" Atsuko surprises you with a great, big hug!

"A-ah."
She's fuzzy, and it's making your nose itch.

"I was SO WORRIED. What were you thinking fighting a demon by yourself?!" Atsuko suddenly seems a little more irritated than usual. "..-but thank you for doing it, because I don't know what would have happened to Keiko without you." She pulls you in for another squeeze.

>T-too much hug, too much fuzz.
>Grab her tail until the hug stops.
>You're welcome? I guess? I'm sorry? I don't know what you want, here!
>Never mind that, something has come up!
>It was easy, really! I kind of found it fun!
>Other?

>>1198060
>T-too much hug, too much fuzz.
>Sneeze
>You're welcome? I guess? I'm sorry? I don't know what you want, here!
>Just had to do it, I guess.

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Okay.
This wasn't very long but my head is stinging. I think it's time for me to go to bed.
I will continue tomorrow, hopefully. I'm not sure. I have to travel then.

Wish me luck.
Thanks for participating all this time, by the way. I know it must be hard checking back every night to see if I've decided to make a post, and I am really grateful that you've stuck with my up until now.

Thank you to all my readers both live and archive.

>>1198197
I'll always be here, man.
Really like this quest, even if I have to deal with /qst/ shit.

>>1198060
>>T-too much hug, too much fuzz.
>>Sneeze
>>You're welcome? I guess? I'm sorry? I don't know what you want, here!
>>Just had to do it, I guess.

>>1198060
>T-too much hug, too much fuzz.
>Sneeze
>You're welcome? I guess? I'm sorry? I don't know what you want, here!
>I had to protect Kayda and the others.
>Never mind that, something has come up!

Hi.
This week has been terrible for a thread.

Okay, writing.

>>1201805
Yeah seems to have been bad timing.

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"-It's bad enough she has to stay at that dark shrine in the woods all by herself when I'm out. I am so thankful that she has a-"

Too much hug..
Too much fuzz!

Atsuko continues to keep you in her death grip. The whole time she's reciting an almost planned speech about how thankful she is that you're Keiko's friend.
Ah.

The whole time, her tail continues to swish.

Ah-!

Not to mention her outfit has quite a bit of fuzz on it already.

"-ACHOO!"

The sudden outburst is what finally allows you to escape the fuzzy vices of Atsuko.
"Oh, sorry." She steps back, allowing you to breathe.

"I-it's fine." You wheeze, "Just- give me a moment."

You regain your composure, and try to address her without gasps or whispers.

"Y-you're welcome? I guess? I'm sorry? I just had to do it. I had to protect Kayda and the others, because I was the only one who could. I don't think I need gratitude for that. Anyone else would have done it, if they could."

"Don't be so sure." Atsuko pats your head, and has a rather dour look on her face.
"What does that mean?"

"It just means there are people out there who wouldn't have done even half of what you did." She frowns, "-but enough about them. You said you had a question for me?"

"Right, Atsuko! You and Fritelli need to go look at Elise. She.. claims she's hearing voices."

Atsuko gasps.
"Voices..?"

"That was my reaction, too." Kayda frowns.

"I thought I should tell you, because you found the ring and also you're an adult." You cross your arms.

She sighs, "I'm not exactly an expert, though. That would be Camille. But- I'll have a look at her. In the meantime, can you find Keiko and keep her preoccupied?"

>Sure! We'll go shopping.
>Sure, we'll get lunch
>Sure, but I'm not sure what to do.
>Actually, I think I need to do something first..
>Other?

>>1202224
>Sure, we'll get lunch

>>1202224
>Sure, we'll get lunch

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"Sure, we'll go get lunch."

"Wait, that's it?" Kayda seems unamused, "You're going to just look at her? Don't you have like.. priestess magic or something you can use?"

"Kayda, please. Let the adults do their thing, and then we'll panic!"
"I don't like that idea, at all." She still seems disappointed.

"You two, let me look at her first. It may just be another ring, and Tuile did such a good job removing the last one."

"Fiiine." Kayda seems unhappy, but you think this is for the best.

You lead Kayda out of the room before she decides to start arguing with Atsuko again. In exchange, you go back to the main room to see Keiko boredly admiring her toenails.

"Louise?!"
"Hi Keiko, I'm awake. Listen could-"

Oh no!
Now she's hugging you!

She's not as fuzzy, but she can pack a mean hug!

"K-Keiko, really, that's enough."
"You had me SO WORRIED you big jerk!" Keiko keeps the death-grip firm, and mighty!

"It's fine, really!" You gently pry her off of you, "I'm fine, Kayda's fine, you're fine, what's the problem?!"

"I thought you caught whatever curse Kayda had! I seriously expected monsters to come looking for YOU!"
"That's silly, Keiko!"

"That is NOT SILLY!"

She grabs you back into a hug.
"..want to get something to eat?" You use your free arm to gently scratch at her head.

"..I do."

--

You find one of the many outdoor restaurants in Biscotti. It's an amazing place that serves dumplings at lunch.
You like dumplings.

Kayda mostly eats in silence, while Keiko tries to fill you in on what happened the day you were asleep.
"-so then I asked Jack where Yuuki went and he said she was coming back to Biscotti by cart."
"..Cart? Like, pulled by a horse?"
"I don't know what that is, but yeah!" Keiko hits the table with her palm. "Can you believe it? She can fly back in the airship, but wants to walk! How lame is that?"

"Mm, I agree." You take another sip of tea.

"By the way, Louise!" Keiko gets that spark in her eyes, "Can you teach me how to do that 'Bzzt- Boom! Krkrkrkckack!' thing?" She does lots of motions with her hands. "I want to be able to zap around like you were doing when you were fighting that monster!"

>I- I don't know if I can teach you how.
>Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure how I'm doing it myself.
>Can you even use magic? I've never seen you do it before.
>M-maybe later.
>Try to change the subject!
>Other?

>>1205928
>Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure how I'm doing it myself.
>Can you even use magic? I've never seen you do it before.

>>1205928
>I- I don't know if I can teach you how.
>Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure how I'm doing it myself.
>Can you even use magic? I've never seen you do it before.

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"I, uh, I don't know if I can teach you how."

Keiko pouts, "Is it some kind of secret you're holding back?"

"No! No. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how I'm doing it myself."

This seems to put Keiko off even more.
"Are you saying you're doing amazing every time you throw lightning and you don't even know how you're doing it?"

"Yes!"

She pouts, "I find that kind of hard to believe."

"I know it sounds silly, but it's the truth!"

"I always thought magic was like this really brainy thing that only really smart people knew." She frowns.

Hey! You feel almost insulted!
"I-I don't know about that, but it just feels like second nature to me. It doesn't feel like something I can just-"

Then, something dawns on you.
"Don't you know magic, too?"

"Oh, well I do. But- It's more like priestess magic. Like signing spells, casting them, I can't write anything on my own yet, but I'm getting better!"
Keiko, as a demonstration, puts a strange mark on a napkin.

Suddenly, the napkin jumps up! It's like a little puppet, dancing on the table!

"Ooh." Kayda snaps out of her thoughts.
"That's neat!" You gasp, "That's way better than 'buzzt-bang!'."

"I don't think so." Keiko frowns. "Aligot told me once that I had the potential to be really strong. Maybe the strongest priestess in Biscotti. After the other night, I don't feel that way."

>Well! It's a process!
>I think that's really cool! Can you do that with anything?
>Do you have anything else?
>What's your element?
>Change the subject, this is getting awkward!
>Other?

>>1207262
>Well! It's a process!
>Priestess stuff is better for different things anyway. I think? What is it for?
>Do you have anything else?

>>1207262
>Well! It's a process!
>I think that's really cool! Can you do that with anything?

>>1207262
>Change the subject, this is getting awkward!
>What's your element?

>>1207262
>>Well! It's a process!
>>I think that's really cool! Can you do that with anything?

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"Well! It's not instant! It's a process, just like all learning!"
"I've been learning for years and it doesn't feel like I'm any more powerful at all." Keiko mopes.

"Priestess stuff is probably better for different things, anyway! What do you usually use it for?"

"Usually just rituals, signing, creating seals, applying seals. When Jack was summoned, I did the ritual because Atsuko isn't too good at that stuff."

"Really?" You blink.
She nods her head, "Atsuko is kind of bad at it, but she tries really hard! That's what matters, right?"

You want to say yes, but only to be nice to Atsuko.

"Well I think it's really cool! Can you do that on anything?"
"Sure, if I can put a seal on it." Keiko picks up the dancing napkin and folds it inside out to show the seal she drew on the inside. "-I haven't tried it, though. I don't know what would happen."

"You should really try that on other things." Kayda seems to push this line of reasoning. "Just picture if you could put it on a pile of rocks and make a giant out of it!"

"That doesn't seem very useful." Keiko frowns.

"Having your personal giant would be the most useful thing, Keiko. Just think! You could have it do all the shrinework, maybe even build another shrine!" Kayda really seems to be getting into this idea.

"But I don't need another shrine, and I like doing housework." Keiko pouts.

"-Do you have a magic element, Keiko?" You try to change the subject a bit.
"I never selected one." She frowns, "Atsuko told me that it's not as useful at hunting demons as it seems because they're really strong against the elements."

Why didn't someone tell you that sooner?!

You get back to drinking tea, and pondering Keiko's applications of her magical abilities.
It certainly sounds strong, but you just don't really know of how it works at all.

Summoning magic servants seems more useful than frying everything to a crisp with lightning. Maybe you just don't get it.

"-All of them?"
"Yeah, all of them. I'm worried about the children."

Your ears suddenly perk up. In the haze of ignoring the idle chattering of Keiko; you almost missed out on a very interesting conversation.

Your head turns to notice a pair of knights whom you are familiar with. The black-haired one is.. Bennet, and the brown haired one you know as Pomelo.
What are they discussing?

"-I'm worried as well, but our hands are tied here."
"I just can't believe they would let almost all of them out." Pomelo idly stirs sugar into her tea until it's more sugar than tea. "I can see maybe letting half, or even a few out. But the dungeon is almost empty, now. What do they think is going to happen?"

"I know Tuile is mad, but she pretty much told me the same thing." Bennet sighs, "'Can't hold foreign prisoners more than two months without a trial, etc, etc.'"

>Go ask them what this conversation is about.
>Ignore them, back to Keiko's magic.
>Try to piece together what few parts of that talk you were privvy to.
>Try not to think about it.
>Other?

>>1210984
>Ignore them, back to Keiko's magic.

>>1210984
>Ignore them, back to Keiko's magic.

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Those adults seem to be talking about something important. Something regarding a problem that you may have to worry about in the near future.
You should probably go ask what's wrong.

-Or, you could ignore them and get back to Keiko and her magic.
That seems good, too.

You take another sip of tea, and join in on questioning Keiko about other things she can do.

"You can seal things, right? What is that like? What kind of things can you seal?" Kayda asks a question before you have a chance to think it.
"Well, I was going to seal the demons who attacked the shrine, but I wasn't fast enough writing one." Keiko crosses her arms. "-But essentially, sealing something is like putting something in jail."

"So it's like, you're arresting them?" You ask, cautiously.
"Sort-of. It's more like you're taking something away from them." Keiko's tail slowly sways behind her, "-Atsuko told me that seals work on anything, but it's not 'ethnical' or something to seal living things. So I guess it's not just demons that it works on. The napkin just now was a seal."

"Oh! Can you show us something else?" This seems really interesting!

"Um, I can-"
Keiko puts her cup of tea aside, and then draws something on another napkin.

Gently, she dips it inside of the teacup, and then pulls it out.
She unfurls the paper cloth, and lots of tiny green specks fall out!

"Tea leaves?" You blink.
"I sealed them away in the napkin." Keiko idly dusts them off the table.

You stand up and look in her teacup. It's just a tiny cup filled with warm water!

"That's amazing, Keiko!"
"I don't think so, how am I supposed to use that to beat demons?"

"I'm sure we can think of something! That's really quite amazing."

"Thank you, but I wish it felt amazing." Keiko pours herself some more tea.

"I feel the same way sometimes." Oh no, Kayda. Not you too! "All I can do is throw fire everywhere. I'm afraid to practice it seriously 'cause I keep thinking I'll start a forest fire."

>H-hey! Quit it!
>Both of your abilities are amazing!
>Don't say anything.
>Why didn't you tell me this sooner, Kayda?
>Is there something about your ability you're afraid of?
>The knights are leaving, anything you want to say to them before they wander off?
>Other?

>>1214216
>Why didn't you tell me this sooner, Kayda?
>Is there something about your ability you're afraid of?

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"Why didn't you tell me this sooner, Kayda." You pout.
"I'm just not very good at it. Everyone else is getting so strong that it's probably not necessary for me to practice it anymore." She huffs, and drinks another sip of tea.

That's when a question dawns on you. One that you probably would have the better mind not to ask if you were not all chatty.

"Is there something about your ability that you're afraid of?"

Kayda coughs, she nearly spills her tea all over herself!
Oh no, was this something you shouldn't have asked?

"Are you okay?!"
"I'm f-fine!" Kayda chokes, and tries drinking some more.

"Is everything okay?" Keiko has picked up on the obvious tension in the atmosphere.
"No, I'm just fine!" Kayda continues to deflect.

"S-so, as I was asking. Is there something about your ability that you're afraid-"
"Nope!" Kayda adjusts her voice, "I am perfectly comfortable with it in all ways! I don't know why you would think such a thing, Louise."

Kayda starts nervously laughing as she stuffs a crumpet in her face.
"Uh, if you're comfortable with it, then why did you just pour tea on your face when you did that?"

It's true, Kayda forgot the part that usually follows before eating. Which is 'put the teacup down before trying to eat'.

"Oh." Kayda stands, and tries to dry herself off. Thankfully, the cup was mostly empty when it happened.

"Kayda." Keiko nervously folds a napkin in front of her. "Do you not like your element?"
"No, no no nono. I do like it. I like magic, too!"

"Then." You think about her element, "Is there something you don't like with fire?"

She gives you a long, very blank stare.
"No." She says, no hint of emotion. "I like fire. Can we talk about something else?"

>Is something wrong with fire?
>Are you worried about starting one?
>No, tell us what's wrong.
>Okay, change the subject.
>This seems important, push her a little further.
>Other?

>>1214762
>Are you worried about starting one?
>If you practiced enough with it, maybe you could put fires out?
>No, tell us what's wrong.

>>1214762
>No, tell us what's wrong.
>Are you worried about starting one?
>If you practiced enough with it, maybe you could put fires out?

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"No." You say sternly to your friend. "Tell us what's wrong."
"I don't want to right now." Kayda immediately takes a sip of tea.

"Are you worried about starting a fire?" You blink.
"Well, maybe a little." Kayda adjusts her voice, and regains her composure.

"Kayda, are you afraid of fire?" Keiko asks a rather simple question. Immediately, Kayda loses her composure again in a coughing fit.

"No! Of course not!" Kayda puts on that defensive look.
"Kayda.. are you afraid of your own power?"

"NO." She pouts, "That is all. I am NOT afraid of fire!"

"Okay, what about burning yourself?"
"That's crazy, Keiko." Kayda leans back in her chair, "Why would I be worried about burning myself?"

"Is there something else about your power that you're afraid of?"
"No!"
"I think there is." You cross your arms.

"Stop this, you two." Kayda stands up. "There's nothing with my power that I'm afraid of, and I don't know why you would say that there is."

"Why have I never seen you practice it, then?"

"Because, Becau-se I'm worried about starting a fire, that's right." She smiles.

"Maybe if you got good enough with it, you could put fires out?"

"That's silly, Louise. You can't use fire to put fires out."
"You haven't tried! What if your power is control over fire? Then you could do anything you wanted with it."

"Well I'm not going to find out." Kayda starts walking back toward the castle.
"Why not?!"

"I don't want to, okay?"

"Louise, just- Let's go to the field, and try a few fire spells, okay? I want to see how good you are with it!"

Kayda tries slinking away, but notices Keiko eying her eagerly, as well.
"If I do this, will you let me alone about it?"
"Fine, I will." You smile sincerely.
It's not very sincere, but it counts.

--

Kayda extends her hand toward the open field.
There's a buzzing sound, and then a tiny flame erupts from her hand! It sparks and clatters, before fizzing out of existence.

"There, can we leave now?" Kayda states, plainly.
"That was nothing!" Keiko pouts.
"Uh, Kayda, why not try throwing a big fireball? You know, like I saw you do that one day."

"That was differen-!" Kayda catches herself in the outburst, "I mean, That was an emergency. I don't want to just throw fire around if I don't have to."
"Just one ball, okay?"

"No!"
"Plllleeeeeasssee?" Keiko helps pressure her.

"OKAY!" She stomps her foot, and then puts her hand out once more.

There's that buzzing sound again, but with a much greater urgency to it.
You look at Kayda's face, and notice that she's shut her eyes tightly.

With a flash, a tiny ball of fire erupts from her hand and dissipates in the wind.

"There, I'm going home."

>Wait!
>What was that about?!
>..You're really afraid of it, aren't you?
>Don't say anything.
>Throw a bolt of lightning to demonstrate what she should be able to do
>Other?

>>1217244
>Wait!
>If you don't get good at it now, it might be dangerous when it's an emergency and you have to. It might go wrong or just not be good enough to save someone.
>Throw a bolt of lightning to demonstrate what she should be able to do

>>1217244
>..You're really afraid of it, aren't you?
>Throw a bolt of lightning to demonstrate what she should be able to do

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You feel a tingle run up your face.
Oh no, you hope that you don't smile. You don't want Kayda to be even more insulted than she might already be.

"..You're really afraid of it, aren't you?"

"I'M NOT AFRAID!" She yells, "I'm just not comfortable with it, okay?! I've never really had to use it before except for a couple of times!"

"I thought you liked fire, Kayda." Keiko isn't helping the matter. "Did something happen? I've seen you use it several times."

"That was when I was really angry and also before I nearly burned the castle down when I became a big torch!" Kayda retorts. "I'm just not at ease with it anymore, is that so wrong?!"

"It's not wrong, Kayda. It's just that you're a hero and you should be doing amazing things with your element! You shouldn't be scared of it."
"I am NOT SCARED!" She stomps her foot. "I'm going home!"

She turns to walk away, and you feel that you need to do something quickly in order to keep her from leaving.

"Kayda, wait." You put your hand on her shoulder, "If you don't get good at it now, it might be dangerous when it's an emergency and you have to. Something might go wrong, or you may not know it well enough to save someone!"
"So? What has a raging inferno ever done to save anyone?" She seems genuinely angry. "I'll just use it for campfires and be happy."

"It can do lots of things! Watch."

You grab a particularly straight stick from the ground. With some concentration, you turn it into a glowing spear!

With a throw, it sails across the field and lands square against a log! The log fizzles before exploding with a massive bang!

Keiko claps happily, but Kayda has a look that borders between disgust and fear.
"I just don't want to. Okay?"

"I think you can, and that you should." You put a hand on her shoulder.

She grumbles, "No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a hero OR if I wanted to use fire."

You respond by taking your ring off of your finger. Immediately, your barrier jacket disappears.
"Louise! Your clothes!" Keiko exclaims. She quickly searches around to notice that you're basically completely alone in this field.

Kayda seems confused, "What are you doing?"
"Wanna trade?" You smile at her.

"What?"

"You don't like fire, right? I don't want you to be without an element. If you want to swap to lightning. Just tell me, and we can trade."

Kayda blinks, and for a minute she seems to have a genuine expression of concern on her face.
"Louise, put your clothes back on, please. I don't want to trade." She sighs.
"Then, what are you going to do?" You slip the ring back on your finger, and your barrier jacket re-materializes over your body.

"..I'll give fire a chance. I don't know where to start, but I'll try it." She seems almost defeated.

>That's great!
>We can talk about it later.
>Nope! You're giving it a chance, let's go try it right now!
>And I know just the place to try it!
>On some evil guys!
>On the training field!
>Other?!

>>1217813
>Nope! You're giving it a chance, let's go try it right now!
>And I know just the place to try it!
>On the training field!
>With a few buckets of water at the ready, to keep it extra safe!

>>1217813
>That's great!
>And I know just the place to try it!
>On the training field!
>With Jack! (Maybe)

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"Great!" You happily clap your hands together. "We can get started right away, then!"

"Right away? I thought we were gonna-"

"Nope! No excuses." You grab her by the hand. "We start soon and then you can get better even faster! That's how it works, right?"

"Hold on, don't you want to wait for Jack or any of the adults to get back before we start experimenting with magic?!"
"Absolutely not. The adults would just slow us down! Also, you agreed to it and I want to take you up on the offer before you change your mind."

"Don't you want Jack there, at least?!"

Kayda is right. While you would like Jack to be in attendance; he is also busy with that stupid dragon-lady thing that Atsuko told you about.

Phooey, adults always miss the cool stuff.

"How are we even going to do this?" Kayda weakly pulls at your arm in an attempt to escape.
"The training field, of course! I mean, I already turned it to ash once, so where's the harm in doing it twice?"

"I- I don't know."
"I'll get some water, and Keiko will have her priestess magic at the ready. Isn't that right?!"
"Yes! Yes, I certainly will."

"Come on, let's go get that fear of fire out of you." You tug at Kayda's arm.
"It's not a fear, I'm just-"

--

Kayda huffs, and watches as the fireball she summoned blinks out of sight.
"Okay.." She pants, "Okay, you're right. I'm afraid of my own fire."

"Why?" You take her hands, and pour water over the ashes on her skin.
"It burns!" She exclaims in a pitch much higher than you're accustomed to. "It burns and it smells and it's always loud, and I NEVER expect it when the fire starts. It just sort of happens and I'm never ready."

Kayda frowns, and looks at you with pleading eyes.
"Can we just forget this whole magic business? I have a perfectly good rifle, and it's done way better than I ever did with fire."

"Kayda. That rifle is nothing compared to your fire." You try to cheer her up.

"What do I even do to get better, then?"

>Start by burning this entire yard to cinders
>Let's start on some fireballs.
>I don't know. Why is it burning you?
>I-I suddenly realize that I don't know much about fire.
>Other?

>>1218274
>try burning something easy without throwing a flame?
>try again with something hard to burn, feel how it evolves?
>try to cook something without turning it into charcoal with magic?
>try to revert the steps and cancel burns?
>call the n°1 magic expert, Aligot?

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You decide that instead of throwing massive balls of fire around; you will instead start off small and work your way up.

Quickly, you take some of the spare lumber around the training field and assemble a small bonfire with it.
"Kayda, I want you to light this on fire."
She gives you a strange stare.

"It's not that I can't use fire. I just don't want to throw fireballs."
"Just trust me!"

Gently, she sets the pyre alight with no effort or cringing.

"Now, we're going to work on something a little harder to burn, like-"

You pick up a rock.
"This stone!"

"Stones can't burn, Louise."

"Anything can burn, though!"

"I don't think so."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

You huff, and then give Kayda another challenge.
"Okay, try undoing the fire on the bonfire, then."

"I can't really 'undo' fire."
"Just try!"

She puts her hands out, and then slowly concentrates.
The flames start to subside, and what remains are the ash-covered boards you assembled.

"Oh, I thought it would undo the fire damage."
"Why would you think that?"

"Well, let's try one more thing."

You try to get Kayda to focus on not burning herself when casting fire. It's apparently harder than it looks! Flames leap and dance across her skin as she casts, and they tend to come back and bite her when she leasts expects it.

"Darn." You frown, "Okay, let's go get Aligot and-"
"Oh, uh, another thing." Keiko grabs your attention. "Aligot is out of the country at the moment. He's traveling back to Biscotti with Yuuki and Dorje."

..
So Jack's busy with whatever, Yuuki and Dorje are taking a cart ride, and you're left alone to figure out this element that you know nothing about?

Typical adults. They're so inconsiderate, and lazy!

>Thread Pause/End?

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Okay, thread pause/end for the night because I am not sure if I am going to have time tomorrow to run.

If I have time tomorrow and the thread isn't archived, then we can continue this thread.

Anyways, thanks for playing everyone! Until next time.

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I will say, I plan for next thread to be a regular thread but the thread after that I was planning to be the recap thread to catch up anyone who wants to read along after 136 threads.

That recap thread will answer any question we have covered up until now and hopefully cover every major plot point. Minor ones may not be covered because I may have forgotten about them as well.

Either ways, I look forward to seeing you!

>>1218522
So you'll be writing a timeline for everything? That should hopefully help

>>1224708
That's right! I'll also be writing a recollection of major events and characters. Which will also include some things I may not have revealed about some characters that I may not get the chance to otherwise!

This will also hopefully include a pastebin update, as well.


I hope this solves the confusion a lot of people were having coming and looking it back up.