"She knows I hurt people, I told her that in the dome during the invasion. It's just... telling her I've got a evil seed in my head and that removing it might mess with me in unknown ways is going to ruin the feeling of her family remembering her."
"Hmmm, maybe Fi is right though. I'll sit in the back" Vai evacuates the front seat to sit next to her new harp. On the ride back, Vai is strumming her hand delicately across the whole range of strings, delighted at the sounds. A true music amateur.
"And that sounds exactly like the line of thinking my brother uses when he doesn't want to tell me something. For my own good, of course," she added with a grimace. "And I can't tell you how much self-control it takes not to tell him what he already knows; that some tragedies might have been stopped if he'd kept less secrets. But rehashing the past doesn't change it, and unfortunately i doubt he'll ever really trust me. It does tend to put a bit of distance in the relationship."
"That's how bad it is between siblings. Now imagine how hurt and angry Kitty is going to be if you keep this from her. You know how they say that every cloud has a silver lining? Well, Kitty could see the silver lining in a hurricane. She can handle it."
"That's my advice anyways."
"She'd kill me." He says simply. "Or lecture me. Or worry. I'm not sure which is worse. I'd rather go back to getting bullied."
"Honesty is usually the best policy. Especially in a romantic relationship. If you want to continue being in a romantic relationship at least."
"Any chance you've got some way to tell me where she is right now? It's kind of hard asking people if they've seen someone with ninja skills lately. I can't even hear her footsteps when she's right next to me."
Aananda walked over to the display of screens showing views of the school. "System: Search 'Kitty Tanaka'"
One of the screens zoomed in on the teleportation room and Kitty hugging her family members as they prepared to return home.
"There you go."
"Thanks. I'll, um, take a more direct route since you now I can anyway. Thanks for the beetle." Once outside the lab, Michael steps into the stone walls and heads for the teleportation room, stepping out next to the doors.
""Hey, Kitty." He says, unconsciously waving the arm with the beetle. "Hello again, Tanaka clan. Goodbye might be better though, since you seem to be leaving?"
"As terrifying as that thought is, I'll visit. I'll just have to check the floor for traps with a pole as I go." Michael replies cooly, not even close to joking. "Or just float along and watch for wires."
Vai finally brings the last of the bags up to her room. It had been an exhausting day so far, and the bed was looking very comfortable. Vai putals the bags down and fwumps ungracefully into bed, though she doesn't quite fall asleep.
"I look forward to curing any poisons you can think of using then."
"See ya next time," Nanami said with a wave as she helped Obaa-sama onto the platform.
After a chorus of farewells, the others followed after.
Kitty sighed. "It's too bad they couldn't stay for the talent show after all, but Obaa-sama got a message from my aunt about trouble brewing with a rival group, so they had to go home early. But Okaa-san brought me a whole trunk full of clothes, and there was a really cute yukata. I'm going to wear it for my cooking demonstration," she said with a smile.
Ephebe comes back to the room carrying so many bags that she can barely see over the top of the pile.
"Hey, I'm back. I, uh, bought a few things."
"I just figured out how to use 'san' and 'sama' and now you're throwing in more words to learn." Michael says with a mock grimace, which goes away at the mention of Kitty's part in the talent show. "I'm sure you'll fantastic. Either way, a trip into town for seafood might not be a bad idea."
"No, that's not the problem. I know what a mind is supposed to look like. But the thing that got put in his head is really powerful and getting it completely out without damaging his psyche may be more difficult than I can handle. I'm scared I'll mess up." She sniffled. "The person who did this was better at this than me. Heck, one of their underlings put a geas on me that would have completely wiped out all of my memories if I had revealed their identity. And that was an underling. Well, okay, they were totally using this guy's power, but still. I have no idea what kind of traps might be attached to this thing."
"Ok, so I'm no good at encouragement...
Listen, I know 2 things: 1, you are a very smart cookie, you know what you're doing. 2, you got away from it. Whatever badness was done, you got out of it. You may have had help, but maybe that's all this kid needs too, is your help. Just help him beat it."
"Hi honey. Umm, while you were out I had some free time, so I had this made for you..."
He goes to his desk and retrieves the serum.
"Razule made this. He said drink some before every meal, and it will help with the nausea."
"I just figured out how to use 'san' and 'sama' and now you're throwing in more words to learn." Michael says with a mock grimace, which goes away at the mention of Kitty's part in the talent show. "I'm sure you'll fantastic. Either way, a trip into town for seafood might not be a bad idea."
"Okay, sounds good," she said cheerfully. "As long as we're back in plenty of time. A yukata takes a little while to put on."
"No, that's not the problem. I know what a mind is supposed to look like. But the thing that got put in his head is really powerful and getting it completely out without damaging his psyche may be more difficult than I can handle. I'm scared I'll mess up." She sniffled. "The person who did this was better at this than me. Heck, one of their underlings put a geas on me that would have completely wiped out all of my memories if I had revealed their identity. And that was an underling. Well, okay, they were totally using this guy's power, but still. I have no idea what kind of traps might be attached to this thing.""Ok, so I'm no good at encouragement...
Listen, I know 2 things: 1, you are a very smart cookie, you know what you're doing. 2, you got away from it. Whatever badness was done, you got out of it. You may have had help, but maybe that's all this kid needs too, is your help. Just help him beat it."
*sniffle*
"thanks," she mumbled. "I'll try."
"Hi honey. Umm, while you were out I had some free time, so I had this made for you..."
He goes to his desk and retrieves the serum.
"Razule made this. He said drink some before every meal, and it will help with the nausea."
"Ooh, awesome! I'd hate to have to eat nothing but saltines for the next few months. And I don't want any more repeats of this morning if I can help it," she added with a grimace.
"Speaking of which, I'm starving. This seems like a good time to test it out," she said with a grin.
Vai sits up, staring at the unnatural brightness, which somehow doesn't hurt her eyes despite the luminesence. The light is forming into a figure.... a man? A woman? Vai can't tell. She looks around and back to the figure. It wasn't just a trick of the light. "Hello?"
An image of Nasima flahses through Vai's mind. "Yes. What are you?"
All the infirmary staff has been acting slightly irritable as the day wears on, almost like people act when they have persistent toothache, or when they are stuck in a room with an old computer monitor that has been left on.
When making her rounds, one of the nurses notices that there is a ripple pulsing through the spikes from one end of the Phaezeriel-Cocoon to the other. She also realizes that there is a tension to the air like right before the first flash of a lightning storm, and that the tension in the air seems to quiver with each pulse across the cocoon.
Vai looked at the figure incredulously. She had heard stories of demons and devils trapping their victims with offers of help. "What are you going to do?"
*sniffle*"thanks," she mumbled. "I'll try."
He will go to put his arm around her, then stop, remembering she didn't like contact so much, but wipes a tear away instead.
"That's all anyone can ask of you. If it helps any, I'll be cheering for you." he says with a smile."So what would you like for dinner? I happen to know a very fast person who can get boxed dinners from the cafeteria..."
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"Hi honey. Umm, while you were out I had some free time, so I had this made for you..."
He goes to his desk and retrieves the serum.
"Razule made this. He said drink some before every meal, and it will help with the nausea.""Ooh, awesome! I'd hate to have to eat nothing but saltines for the next few months. And I don't want any more repeats of this morning if I can help it," she added with a grimace.
"Speaking of which, I'm starving. This seems like a good time to test it out," she said with a grin.
"Good! Let's go eat, then." he looks over his shoulder at the pile of bags.
"Umm...did you at least leave the well in town so they can have water?"
Finishes checking out books in the library about Agartha, and heads back to his room.
"If I have to be trapped here, I might as well know as much as I can..." The thought gets cut off as his stomach growls.
"How long have I been in...well I guess it's on to the cafeteria again before study time."
*sniffle*"thanks," she mumbled. "I'll try."
He will go to put his arm around her, then stop, remembering she didn't like contact so much, but wipes a tear away instead.
"That's all anyone can ask of you. If it helps any, I'll be cheering for you." he says with a smile.
"So what would you like for dinner? I happen to know a very fast person who can get boxed dinners from the cafeteria..."
She smiled through her tears. "Well, maybe some salmon if they have it."
"Hi honey. Umm, while you were out I had some free time, so I had this made for you..."
He goes to his desk and retrieves the serum.
"Razule made this. He said drink some before every meal, and it will help with the nausea.""Ooh, awesome! I'd hate to have to eat nothing but saltines for the next few months. And I don't want any more repeats of this morning if I can help it," she added with a grimace.
"Speaking of which, I'm starving. This seems like a good time to test it out," she said with a grin.
"Good! Let's go eat, then." he looks over his shoulder at the pile of bags.
"Umm...did you at least leave the well in town so they can have water?"
She rolled her eyes. "Very funny. This is what happens when I go shopping with Fi. It's always just one more thing," She giggled. "But I got lots of clothes that should be nice and loose around the waistline."
Give you power of light.You can help.
You keep light powerful. Be strong champion. Is all Lumos asks of you.
Do you accept?
The figure flickered again and was suddenly standing on the other side of her.
Vai turned. ME? A Champion?! Like Ephebe and Krays? Nasima had said Ryleh was gathering the champions to help against Khoda. Here was her chance to help. But why had Light chosen HER? Surely there must be others... stronger, more powerful... but she had promised Nasima she would find a way to help. And now there was a way.
Vai nods slowly. "Yes, I accept."
Vai fell back onto her bed. She glanced at the mirror. Looked the same. She tried her voice. She didn't sound different either. It was strange, thinking on it now, that she had expected to look different. Ephebe didn't look like a Champion. However, Vai felt as though she could... sense the light in the room. Almost like it was a part of her. She focused on that sensation and the light in the room increased very slightly. It felt almost like flexing a muscle. "How do I help Nasima then?" she almost called to the room, but then she noticed the aschen there... it definitely had not been there during her conversation with Light. Vai felt she had to tell SOMEONE about it. She got up off the bed and teleported down to Ephebe's room, knocking.
When Ephebe opens the door, Vai looks a little concerned, but doesn't say anything right away.
[blink, blink]
"Oh. Um, well, we were going to go get some food....but I guess it can wait for another few minutes. Come on in. You've got that bewildered my-patron-doesn't-tell-me-anything-what-do-I-do-now look. I'm guessing you're here for the tutorial?" ^.^
Vai smiles at the joke. Ephebe always knew how to calm her down. "Thank you Ephebe. Hey Krays... um, of you're really hungry we can go now. I know you didn't have a good breakfast."
"Are you sure? I'm sooo hungry," she said pitifully. "But I'm not going to desert you when you need me. I can explain while we eat if you like," she said hopefully.
"I know better than to get between you and a dinner plate. Let's go get some food before the cafeteria gets super busy. I'm sorry, I just didn't know who else to talk to. I thought about going to talk to Mom, but I think I would've just freaked her out." Vai describes her encounter with her.. patron, while they walk down to the cafeteria.
"It sounds like Lumos is one of the ones who aren't very good at relating to mortals. Some of them are better at it than others. Actually I think your patron might take the prize as the worst of all of them at communicating with people. As far as abilities, you'll figure those out pretty soon. they'll start manifesting over the next few days on the outside. There is a way to hide your Champion aura, but it's difficult and only other Champions can see it anyways, so you don't need to worry about that just yet. And we'll be happy to answer any other questions you can think of."
"You're right about that. I thought she was a demon or something at first trying to trick me. But..." At this point, the three at seated at the table, Vai has a pair of sandwiches. She takes a bite from one of them, chews and swallows before continuing. "Why would Lumos choose me? I'm sure there's others who are way stronger than me in here."