Victoria focused on her Craft Rune, consolidating her gains from crafting Chris's new bow. She was right on the edge of her second Advancement, so she only needed a bit more experience to tip her over, plus a few points spent to solidify her skills. At this point she had a fairly solid understanding of what a Rune needed to Advance. The main component was of course an understanding of what you were doing and what you were trying to accomplish. For example, her Design Rune taught her how to take various elements and combine them into a coherent plan that could be effectively communicated and carried out. Therefore, the Design Rune had given her the ability to create a design space to create the plan, the ability to create illusions and directly implant information in others minds to communicate her plan, and now she could design and implant actions, allowing her illusions to move or directing others as they carried out her plans.
However, once you had this understanding, you still needed a certain level of mastery to actually Advance the Rune. Or at least, you needed to spend a certain amount of time making effective use of the abilities granted by the Rune, which was basically the same thing. As Horace would say, it was all about infusing your energy with the Rune's intent. The better you understood the Rune and the more effectively and appropriately you made use of the abilities, the faster this process would go, so right now she was focusing on getting better at using the ability her Craft Rune had given her, which allowed her to use her Qi mist to manipulate materials in various ways, like heating or cooling them, filtering out impurities, binding similar materials together as if they were one, and so on.
Once she finished meditating, Victoria made her way to her rooms, where she found Beatrice waiting. “Hey you.” Beatrice greeted her as she walked in, patting the spot next to her on the couch. “Care to join me?”
Victoria smiled, sliding onto the couch and curling up next to her. “How was your day?”
“Well, you know how I've been struggling with my Clean Rune, because we live in the domain of a mad god who keeps track of every single speck of dust?” Beatrice began, Victoria snorting in amusement. “Well, I decided to go into town and see what I could clean. The roads were filthy, but there wasn't much I could do about it besides shoveling the larger piles of muck out of the way. Then I checked the bridge, also filthy, so I went to get some water from the river to wipe down the railings, and in the process I checked the water… Do you have any idea how much filth is in a river?!? It's disgusting! People bathe in that water! But how do I clean water? Water is how you clean! So there I was, wondering how I was supposed to remove the filth from the water so I could remove the filth from the bridge, when it suddenly became so clear. I realized that cleaning is all about removing what shouldn't be there, and my Rune Advanced!”
“Congratulations!” Victoria exclaimed, giving her a hug. “Did you figure out your new ability yet?”
Beatrice nodded. “My Qi can now attract and repel filth, in addition to sensing it. I can infuse it into a bucket of water and gather all the filth into a ball so I can scoop it out, or I can put it into a cloth and give it a shake, and all the filth will just fall off!”
“What counts as filth?” Victoria wondered. “Like, if a cloth is just wet, could you infuse it with your Qi and give it a shake to make it instantly dry?”
“Maybe?” Beatrice cocked her head. “If the water shouldn't be in the cloth, then it's filth, and it has to be removed.”
“Then what if the cloth is supposed to be wet?” Victoria asked.
“Then… it wouldn't be filth?” Beatrice frowned.
“So is there some absolute definition of filth that your ability abides by, or is your perspective on what's filth and what's not more important?” Victoria muttered thoughtfully. “We should test this.”
Beatrice rolled her eyes. “Of course we should. But first, how was your day?”
“Eh? I just made Chris a new bow and meditated.” Victoria shrugged. “Not very exciting.”
“Mhmm. And what about the rest of you?” Beatrice countered, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, in Beast World we're still mostly just hunting and getting stronger. We're talking with Long about good ways to integrate our abilities with the World, but since he's been ignoring it for the last few millennia, he's still working on getting caught up enough to have an opinion. Mage World is pretty much the same, since we're kinda stuck on this random planet and no one is really doing anything yet, or at least nothing that isn't easily solved by just killing the asshole causing the problems. Maze World is calming down, kind of. There are no obvious problems at the moment, but the system is spreading and Greg is starting to get chummy with the Dragons which… concerns me. And then System World is just leveling, spreading the system, and liberating the captives from the monstrous races, though we aren't exactly sure what to do with them all yet… you know, besides keep them in Chris's world.” Victoria listed off.
“Mhmm. And your relationships?” Beatrice added.
Victoria grimaced. “Is that really important?”
Beatrice sighed. “Victoria, we discussed this. I don't care if you're with other people, but I need to know how your relationships are going. We don't hide things from each other, remember? If you're dealing with something, I want to be there for you, good or bad.”
“And I've told you that it isn't really me dealing with it.” Victoria retorted. “There's a certain level of separation between the me's in different Worlds, and all I get is the memory of being with someone.”
“And again, that doesn't mean you'd be any less devastated if something bad happened to them, or any less excited when something good happens.” Beatrice countered. “Even Chris perked up when he got married in another World. Even if it's just a memory, it's still something I want to share with you, just like your memories of Jessica.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Victoria flinched slightly. “I just don't think it's a good idea to make our relationship about anyone but me and you.” She grumbled.
Beatrice shook her head. “Your other relationships are a part of you.”
Victoria sighed. They'd had this argument at least once a week since she'd explained everything to Beatrice, and this was always where they ended up. Victoria saw the other relationships as something separate, while Beatrice saw everything she went through as something important that they needed to talk about. The truth was probably somewhere in the middle, certain important events needing to be discussed, while the day to day could largely be ignored, but neither of them were backing down. At least, not in the argument. “It doesn't particularly matter anyway. I'm still just with Annie in System World, and it still isn't particularly serious.”
Beatrice huffed. “I'm beginning to think you aren't the best judge of that.”
Victoria frowned. “Why not?”
“I talked to the others.” Beatrice explained, crossing her arms. “They say you and Annie are great together. Greg even went so far as to call you ‘aggravatingly in sync’. Chris called you both well balanced. Andrew said you were cute together. That doesn't sound like ‘nothing serious’ to me.”
“We- I guess we get along pretty well and we definitely enjoy each other's company, but it isn't like we're anywhere close to getting married or something.” Victoria's frown deepened as she talked. “I- guess I just feel like someone has to reach the level of being practically an essential part of your life before you can really call it serious. If you could do without them, then even if it's great being with them, it isn't anything special, right?”
“How do you mean?” Beatrice cocked her head.
“Well… like with Jessica, she was- she became a part of everything I did. Without her… I don't even know how things would have gone. Worse, definitely, though… the end would have been the same. I just think that's what a relationship should be, a partnership where you can rely on each other for anything, facing your challenges together, through everything. Otherwise it's just companionship, and you can get companionship from anyone.” Victoria shrugged helplessly as she finished.
“So you don't think Annie would be there for you if you needed her?” Beatrice asked.
Victoria paused. “No, I think she would…”
Beatrice frowned. “Then… you don't think she's capable of being there for you?”
“No, that isn't it either.” Victoria shook her head. “I guess I just don't feel like I need her to be there for me.”
“Do you want her to be?” Beatrice pressed. “Do you want her to stand beside you through everything, no matter what?”
“Of course?” Victoria gave her a weird look. “Isn't that the case for everyone though? Wouldn't it be great if everyone would be that loyal?”
Beatrice shook her head. “Of course, but- if she's willing to be there, capable of being there, and you want her there, then you should just let her be there. If you wait to need her to be there, it'll never happen.”
“It happened with Jessica. And you.” Victoria retorted. Once they no longer needed to hide their relationship, Beatrice had slowly become someone she depended on. Talking with her was a great way to organize her thoughts and put things in perspective.
Beatrice rolled her eyes. “You weren't a god when Jessica met you, and I forced myself to your side. I had to push you to talk to me about what you're going through every night until you finally decided I was someone you depended on! And don't pretend it's because you need to! You have your mother and father, Maurice, Ursa, and many others who could give the same advice I can, if not better! You depend on me now because you chose to, even if you didn't do it consciously. So why not choose to depend on Annie as well? She doesn't have a snake in her head to tell her what she needs to do.”
Victoria just stared at her, wide-eyed for a moment. “You- you did that?”
Beatrice sighed. “I had to. You can be more emotionally dense than Chris sometimes.”
Victoria grimaced. “That can't be true.”
“It is.” Beatrice replied firmly.
Victoria glared at her, but Beatrice refused to back down, until Victoria sighed. “How do I choose to depend on someone?”
“Talk to them about what you're going through, be open and honest, even if you don't need to be. Don't think about getting anything out of it, just share. Like we did.” Beatrice explained.
Victoria nodded slowly. “Okay… I guess I can give it a shot.”
Beatrice smiled. “And that is why we talk about your other relationships.”
Victoria snorted. “Fair enough.”
“Now though, about our relationship…” Beatrice purred, leaning forward and pushing Victoria down on the couch. She went in for a kiss, only to frown as her lips met… paper? “What-” She pulled back as Victoria grabbed the paper that had appeared between them.
“Don't forget to ask Obanonos about different sources of energy.” Victoria read, rolling her eyes.
Beatrice glared at the ceiling. “Chris, we are going to have to have a talk about boundaries.”
“To be fair, he did warn me about this.” Victoria sighed. “Actually told me to get you to leave the room. Apparently we've become sort of… predictable.”
“You can talk to Obanonos after.” Beatrice grumbled, pushing the paper aside and leaning in for another kiss, only to meet paper again. “Chris!” She growled in frustration, pulling back. “What now?!?”
“It's a chart.” Victoria sighed. “Apparently the vast majority of our sexual encounters continue until we're completely exhausted, and we immediately go to sleep.”
“Then you can talk to him in the morning!” Beatrice snapped, ripping the paper out of her hands and tearing it up, before going back in to kiss… paper again. “Grah!” She roared as she sat up again. “What!?!”
Victoria facepalmed. “It says ‘That's fair’.”
Beatrice glared at her. “We're getting a new house.”
Victoria nodded. “Agreed.”