[She snorts in agreement. Really, to use an excuse like that--she'd think that would've been a last resort for Jade. Right?
Anyway, at Natsuno's question, she readily nods. Maybe talking about whatever feelings are involved would be a more difficult ask, but the simple fact that her mother's been gone for almost as long as she can remember? That's not really a touchy subject.]
Yeah. He must've shown up...I guess not that long after she died, but before Marget stepped in.
[And since it's Natsuno...even bringing up Marget doesn't feel so awkward. No, all the awkwardness here is over Jade inserting himself into a parental role...]
[Maybe it's not a big deal to Rita, but Natsuno is still sad for the young girl she was. Wandering around alone and unkempt... she deserved better than someone like Marget, better than a memory of Jade inserting himself into her life.]
Yeah. For...it was so long ago, I can't remember if it was a few weeks, or a few months...
[Even after trying to think back and remember how Jade had acted, the details are so far back that they're fuzzy.]
I mean, that had to be at least a decade ago, so... But I think...there was probably a reason. It's hard to remember, but most likely...I didn't want to leave my mom's house, or Aspio...
[A hope of reconnecting with her mother, somehow... Those are some of the few things she's been able to recall, after re-examining her memories, and considering Theodora's origins. Even though it had been an impossible desire--childish and unrealistic.]
[So the place in Rita's memory was her mother's house. Natsuno's not surprised she decided to stay in a familiar place, but he finds it odd that she was even allowed to make the choice so young - especially since every adult there sounds like a treacherous jerk. Then again, Rita is a genius, so maybe exceptions were made for someone so special.]
...yeah, I get it. And you started doing research soon after, right? Was your mother a scientist too?
[In retrospect, it's possible that Marget had arranged for that exception... It's frustrating, that someone who turned on her still did so much for her benefit, too. But--it doesn't matter. Like she said in that memory...it's not worth wasting her time wondering about.
So, she gives Natsuno a little nod.]
Yeah, she was. I don't know precisely what her field was, but she did study blastia. Actually...Theodora was a blastia she left behind, so...
[So Rita had started using that one too, once she had learned enough. Even before that, she'd started wearing it.]
[So Theodora was her mother's blastia. That explains why Rita is so attached to it. Her obsession came from a grieving, lonely child's desire to reconnect with the only person who couldn't betray her, because she was already gone...]
No wonder she's so important, then.[...] Any progress on waking her up?
[Natsuno takes her hand again, feeling bad for bringing down the mood. His heart still aches for the young Rita - it's not fair that Theodora is still broken.]
[She laces her fingers with his, shaking her head. It's not his fault. And even if it's technically Jade's, she can't really blame him, either, not under the circumstances. It does...feel odd, to admit that Theodora's repair might be beyond her at this point. Of course, she has people dear to her now--ones she knows she can trust--but it still feels like...an ending, of sorts.
...But she still has Natsuno, and that counts for so much more than she could ever express.]
I think we can agree everything about that Halloween thing sucked. [Natsuno, especially, spent so much time in the Nothing... A pause, and then she continues-] When we were in that labyrinth...I was afraid you were--gone, because of that Sparkles, or...back in the Nothing. So, you know...I'm just glad you're still here.
[She can be happy about that, right? Even if she does feel a little guilty about how Clarke must be feeling now...]
I'm glad too. I had no idea what was happening, trapped in that room... I should've been there with you.
[He knows it's not his fault, but he's upset all the same, knowing Rita and the others were on the other side of the door worried sick. Sparkles used him, just like the ghost in Halloween.
He leans to plant a kiss on the top of Rita's head.]
I didn't mean to bring down the mood. Wanna do something fun?
[Neither being trapped in the maze--alone, again, he shouldn't have had to face anything like that alone--nor for the drop in mood. She leans up to kiss his cheek, because despite everything, she is going to be happy he's here and well.]
Something fun, huh... [Really, just being with him again is nice, even if they're just sitting and enjoying each other's company... But an idea does come to her.] Say, have you tried shaping your sun magic?
Not yet. I'm still trying to get it to move more than a few inches.
[But he might as well try! The little sun spheres felt most natural, but maybe a different shape will be easier to manipulate.
He holds out both palms, automatically forming a sphere. Natsuno tsks and frowns in concentration, trying to will it into a flat disc. The glowing sphere flickers and trembles as he moves his hands carefully, palms facing each other like it'll help him visualize squishing the sphere. It changes into an oval -
And immediately explodes in a bright flash right in Natsuno's face. He yelps and stumbles back, eyes screwed shut and forearms raised in a useless shielding gesture.]
[She steps back to give him a bit of space to try, watching curiously. Just as she's thinking that it looks like considerable effort is needed to warp the spherical shape-
Rita likewise yelps and holds up an arm as dazzling light leaves spots in her vision--but Natsuno took it point blank-]
[Natsuno is doubled over covering him face. The blinding flash leaves him with a massive headache and his face feels like one giant sunburn. In fact, when he finally removes his hands to blink owlishly at Rita (or what he hopes is Rita, he's still seeing spots), his face is red like he did get a bad sunburn. The skin on his nose is even peeling.
[She rushes over to him, a hand immediately going for his arm, squinting around the bright spots in her vision--not that the squinting actually helps--but she can see well enough to check him over.]
Geez...
[She lets out a worried breath. It does look painful, but more immediately, she's just relieved he didn't accidentally blow himself up (again).]
Alright, I guess...shaping it's off the table for now. Can you see?
[She couldn't quite tell from the way he was blinking at her...]
[In other circumstances, an eyebrowless Rita would be a funny mental image. Now it's just painful and embarrassing, he's lucky the glowing sphere wasn't more powerful.]
Good thing I heal quickly, then. [...] Can you show me a light-based spell? I think I'll do better with a reference.
Well...I didn't have your amplified senses either, so it was more embarrassing than painful...
[Good thing those mage cloaks have such low, face-obscuring hoods. It's like they're practically designed to hide any eyebrow-singing...which they just might be, considering how common magic accidents could be in Aspio...
She makes a thoughtful hum at his question, lightly rubbing her thumb against his upper arm.]
Light magic was... I could use a little with my blastia--I could probably recreate something with a sigil. What you're using, though--it's more than just light, it's also fire... You said it was sun magic, right? Does that mean it can only function as a sphere, like a sun or planet?
[Oh, that's nice. Natsuno will not move his arm so she'll keep doing that.]
Light and fire - you know, I haven't thought about it like that. [That's a genius mage for you! He's so glad to have her here, to help him figure it out.] A sphere shape makes sense, but I'm not it's the only option. I tried a disc, but... what about straight lines? Like beams.
[And she will keep it up while he looks like he's still recovering. And maybe continue even after that...]
Yeah, I mean--the composition of the sun isn't something we knew exactly in Aspio, but I think it'd make sense for it to have both light and fire magic aspects.
Anyway, beams--yeah, that should be doable. Let's see... How do you form the sphere?
[Which... burns?? Natsuno has no idea, but what Rita says makes sense. He can try that direction without researching the sun's composition.]
How...? [He frowns, looking slightly sheepish. Unlike Rita's spells and formulae, the Sun El became part of his body. It's hard to describe how he does it, but he'll try.] I focus on condensing it in my hand and then push it out.
[She nods, interested. It does partly make sense--hydrogen is flammable--but to sustain an entire sun, it still feels like there's something missing. (Nuclear fusion is quite unknown on Terca Lumireis, after all.)
Still, what's of more immediate importance is how it works for Natsuno. She gives him the time to consider how to explain, knowing it will be more qualitative than quantitative. And--she nods. If she considers that, then...]
Hm...I see... So in that form it's most stable, right? In that case, if you induce some instability, but...directional...
[So far she's kind of muttering to herself more than explaining, but now she looks up at him.]
It just might work if you recreate that explosion, just more...controlled. [And, with a flash of inspiration, she adds-] Like a gun or cannon barrel.
[She may be muttering to herself, but Natsuno is still listening attentively. He loves to hear Rita think out loud, connecting dots and putting her brilliant mind to work. There's always something new to learn from her.]
Okay. I'll try that.
[He holds his arm straight, palm turned outward. It feels silly, like he's posing for a bad superhero movie, but if it works... when the light starts to form in his hand, Natsuno imagines pulling a trigger to shoot it away like he would a bullet.
The magic still looks like a sphere rather than beam, but it does fly off his palm... for about 10 inches, before it explodes again.]
[She believes in him, after all--his sharpness, his tenacity... Plus there's just something so interesting about magic, even when the magic system is different from her own world's! So she's pretty curious to learn more from Natsuno about what it's like, now that he's made the power his own...
Or--well, he's working on it. Another flashbomb has her shielding her eyes and squinting in his direction.]
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[She snorts in agreement. Really, to use an excuse like that--she'd think that would've been a last resort for Jade. Right?
Anyway, at Natsuno's question, she readily nods. Maybe talking about whatever feelings are involved would be a more difficult ask, but the simple fact that her mother's been gone for almost as long as she can remember? That's not really a touchy subject.]
Yeah. He must've shown up...I guess not that long after she died, but before Marget stepped in.
[And since it's Natsuno...even bringing up Marget doesn't feel so awkward. No, all the awkwardness here is over Jade inserting himself into a parental role...]
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[Maybe it's not a big deal to Rita, but Natsuno is still sad for the young girl she was. Wandering around alone and unkempt... she deserved better than someone like Marget, better than a memory of Jade inserting himself into her life.]
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[Even after trying to think back and remember how Jade had acted, the details are so far back that they're fuzzy.]
I mean, that had to be at least a decade ago, so... But I think...there was probably a reason. It's hard to remember, but most likely...I didn't want to leave my mom's house, or Aspio...
[A hope of reconnecting with her mother, somehow... Those are some of the few things she's been able to recall, after re-examining her memories, and considering Theodora's origins. Even though it had been an impossible desire--childish and unrealistic.]
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...yeah, I get it. And you started doing research soon after, right? Was your mother a scientist too?
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So, she gives Natsuno a little nod.]
Yeah, she was. I don't know precisely what her field was, but she did study blastia. Actually...Theodora was a blastia she left behind, so...
[So Rita had started using that one too, once she had learned enough. Even before that, she'd started wearing it.]
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No wonder she's so important, then.[...] Any progress on waking her up?
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Not...recently. I did get her diagnostics to start up briefly, but...it didn't stick.
...Maybe it's too much for her...
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[Natsuno takes her hand again, feeling bad for bringing down the mood. His heart still aches for the young Rita - it's not fair that Theodora is still broken.]
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...But she still has Natsuno, and that counts for so much more than she could ever express.]
I think we can agree everything about that Halloween thing sucked. [Natsuno, especially, spent so much time in the Nothing... A pause, and then she continues-] When we were in that labyrinth...I was afraid you were--gone, because of that Sparkles, or...back in the Nothing. So, you know...I'm just glad you're still here.
[She can be happy about that, right? Even if she does feel a little guilty about how Clarke must be feeling now...]
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[He knows it's not his fault, but he's upset all the same, knowing Rita and the others were on the other side of the door worried sick. Sparkles used him, just like the ghost in Halloween.
He leans to plant a kiss on the top of Rita's head.]
I didn't mean to bring down the mood. Wanna do something fun?
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[Neither being trapped in the maze--alone, again, he shouldn't have had to face anything like that alone--nor for the drop in mood. She leans up to kiss his cheek, because despite everything, she is going to be happy he's here and well.]
Something fun, huh... [Really, just being with him again is nice, even if they're just sitting and enjoying each other's company... But an idea does come to her.] Say, have you tried shaping your sun magic?
rng says 4
[But he might as well try! The little sun spheres felt most natural, but maybe a different shape will be easier to manipulate.
He holds out both palms, automatically forming a sphere. Natsuno tsks and frowns in concentration, trying to will it into a flat disc. The glowing sphere flickers and trembles as he moves his hands carefully, palms facing each other like it'll help him visualize squishing the sphere. It changes into an oval -
And immediately explodes in a bright flash right in Natsuno's face. He yelps and stumbles back, eyes screwed shut and forearms raised in a useless shielding gesture.]
rng loves violence
Rita likewise yelps and holds up an arm as dazzling light leaves spots in her vision--but Natsuno took it point blank-]
Natsuno! Hey, are you-?
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[Natsuno is doubled over covering him face. The blinding flash leaves him with a massive headache and his face feels like one giant sunburn. In fact, when he finally removes his hands to blink owlishly at Rita (or what he hopes is Rita, he's still seeing spots), his face is red like he did get a bad sunburn. The skin on his nose is even peeling.
It'll fade away soon, but it still hurts.]
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Geez...
[She lets out a worried breath. It does look painful, but more immediately, she's just relieved he didn't accidentally blow himself up (again).]
Alright, I guess...shaping it's off the table for now. Can you see?
[She couldn't quite tell from the way he was blinking at her...]
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[He rubs his eyes, wincing at the feel of healing sunburns against his palm.]
Is that how it is, when you try to figure magic out? It explodes in your face?
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Well...sometimes, yeah, since it can go wrong pretty spectularly.
...I think I've singed my eyebrows off once or twice before.
[Something she's only admitting because it's Natsuno. And maybe talking about it will give him something to focus on instead of the pain.]
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Good thing I heal quickly, then. [...] Can you show me a light-based spell? I think I'll do better with a reference.
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[Good thing those mage cloaks have such low, face-obscuring hoods. It's like they're practically designed to hide any eyebrow-singing...which they just might be, considering how common magic accidents could be in Aspio...
She makes a thoughtful hum at his question, lightly rubbing her thumb against his upper arm.]
Light magic was... I could use a little with my blastia--I could probably recreate something with a sigil. What you're using, though--it's more than just light, it's also fire... You said it was sun magic, right? Does that mean it can only function as a sphere, like a sun or planet?
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Light and fire - you know, I haven't thought about it like that. [That's a genius mage for you! He's so glad to have her here, to help him figure it out.] A sphere shape makes sense, but I'm not it's the only option. I tried a disc, but... what about straight lines? Like beams.
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Yeah, I mean--the composition of the sun isn't something we knew exactly in Aspio, but I think it'd make sense for it to have both light and fire magic aspects.
Anyway, beams--yeah, that should be doable. Let's see... How do you form the sphere?
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[Which... burns?? Natsuno has no idea, but what Rita says makes sense. He can try that direction without researching the sun's composition.]
How...? [He frowns, looking slightly sheepish. Unlike Rita's spells and formulae, the Sun El became part of his body. It's hard to describe how he does it, but he'll try.] I focus on condensing it in my hand and then push it out.
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[She nods, interested. It does partly make sense--hydrogen is flammable--but to sustain an entire sun, it still feels like there's something missing. (Nuclear fusion is quite unknown on Terca Lumireis, after all.)
Still, what's of more immediate importance is how it works for Natsuno. She gives him the time to consider how to explain, knowing it will be more qualitative than quantitative. And--she nods. If she considers that, then...]
Hm...I see... So in that form it's most stable, right? In that case, if you induce some instability, but...directional...
[So far she's kind of muttering to herself more than explaining, but now she looks up at him.]
It just might work if you recreate that explosion, just more...controlled. [And, with a flash of inspiration, she adds-] Like a gun or cannon barrel.
rolled 6 rip
Okay. I'll try that.
[He holds his arm straight, palm turned outward. It feels silly, like he's posing for a bad superhero movie, but if it works... when the light starts to form in his hand, Natsuno imagines pulling a trigger to shoot it away like he would a bullet.
The magic still looks like a sphere rather than beam, but it does fly off his palm... for about 10 inches, before it explodes again.]
more magic slapstick for the tracker
[She believes in him, after all--his sharpness, his tenacity... Plus there's just something so interesting about magic, even when the magic system is different from her own world's! So she's pretty curious to learn more from Natsuno about what it's like, now that he's made the power his own...
Or--well, he's working on it. Another flashbomb has her shielding her eyes and squinting in his direction.]
W--with some practice... You okay?
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