Small, blue orbs glow and cast circles of light upon the inscribed surfaces of the old ceramic tiled walls. Spread throughout the area roughly even, each ball of illumination reveals further details of the ancient chamber to Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sebastian, and Sotalia. Adjusting a few small, bright electric torch lamps on tripods, Dretphi aims a beam where Cideeda points a claw tip. After a quick thumbs up, Cideeda kneels down next to a removed access panel in a console of blended tech and magic. "Thanks. Huh. I think there might actually be a proper computer inside here."

Her emerald green eyes open wider, and an eager, toothy grin sneaks out further from the corner of her mouth, "MAYBE... There's data to dump."

Pivots his ethereal form in the middle of the room, Sebastian scans around and nods to Cideeda. "Yeah, that would be nice. Also... Any signs that anyone else has been in there before you?"

Cideeda cranes her head to peer inside the kiosk's maintenance cavity and shakes her head of short, multi-colored hair with a confident smirk. "Doesn't look it, so far! All the dust build up looks even, and no other marks that I didn't put there myself. And..."

Plucking a flashlight out of her vest, she clicks it on and furrows her brow studiously towards the technological innards of the system. "Parts seem original. Markings and design look like they match. So, that's a good sign."

A flicker of bright light reflects off the walls and briefly tints the rest of the room. Side stepping over carefully, Aristespha holds her tablet in both hands up to the various inscriptions upon the wall. She frames up a shot of the inscribed surface on the screen, taps the button icon, and momentarily squints against the flash. She shifts the tablet over methodically, repeats the previous process, and lowers the device with a sigh. "This will take some time to work through."

Sotalia steps over next to Aristespha and presents another tablet to her. "I think I got enough pictures of the platform to stitch together a big complete one. But... The battery is almost dead on this thing."

Glancing down, Aristespha inspects the image on the screen and notices the battery status bar blinking red, with an acknowledging smirk. Sotalia eyes over her shoulder, motions towards an old, dusty energy storage vessel, and cracks a mischievous grin. "So... Do you think ANYONE is going to miss one... or two... of THOSE?"

Slowly lifting a contemplative eyebrow, Aristespha leans back and gazes upon the collection of stray and stacked magical cells. She works out the indecision upon her ivory face, twisting her grimace between deliberations. "I DOUBT it. BUT..."

She shifts her attention back to Sotalia. "I DO NOT want to tempt fate too much. And, I certainly do not want to test the good graces we have earned with ruin raiding."

Debating in her mind, she wanders glances of her violet eyes between reasonable justifications. Seconds later, a tempered, sly smile graces her, and she perks an mischievous brow at Sotalia. "WELL... I suppose the stray ones with recent hand marks, feasibly from Noxian, could be considered evidence worth taking in for... Extended investigation."

Mirroring a similar expression upon her face, Sotalia pivots slowly around and tosses a stray lock of dark red hair over a swept back horn within an air of satisfaction. "I would have to agree. Certainly, such direct evidence is part of our ongoing mission, and it would be pertinent to seize it for now."

Bach flicks out a few more glowing blue orbs off, each floating along a path to different spots upon a far wall. Pausing a moment, he gauges the overall brightness, crossing his arms and straightening his posture. Sebastian drifts down next to his brother, crossing his arms, and shrugs. "So, another thirty minutes before you have to touch them up again, bro?"

Swaying his head slightly from shoulder to shoulder, Bach tugs at the corner of his mouth in contemplation. "Meh. A little longer than that. Tried to put a little extra in these orbs. Maybe it'll free me up to do something more useful than lighting."

Sebastian smirks, chuckles to himself, and gazes over to Bach. "Shit. It's Saturday. A Saturday after a hell of a week, bro. So, don't worry about it. Take it easy while you can. We'll be back to the complicated shit soon enough."

A begrudging groan escapes Bach, and he shrugs his shoulders, relaxing his arms down to his sides. "Yeah..."

In the lighting from the array of blue orbs dotting the old chamber, the brothers stand in silence. Each drifts a wandering stare across the area, observing the work of others team members. Dretphi prepares a clear plastic, white paper backed sheet from a roll and lays it next to a faint footprint in the thick dust. She cuts it to size, and carefully pulls the paper off the adhesive side of the plastic. With deft precision, she gently floats the plastic onto the dusty, flat concrete. Allowing the sheet to rest evenly, she gently pats the plastic down secure, applies modest pressure, and waits patiently. Seconds later, she lifts the entire sheet back up with even tension, glides in the air over to the side, and rests it back upon its original paper backing. Dretphi smiles proudly and breathes out her relief. Guiding back her platinum braids, she inspects the clear, defined boot print outlined in the dust between the sheets.

Cideeda's eyes telegraph her confusion, and her brow furrows with her thoughts, her arm rummaging around inside the console. Reaching far through the access panel, she twists and contorts upper body, searching for the best position. After many awkward attempts to budge something inside, frustration sneaks out upon her light brown face. Pausing a moment, she stretches her arm slightly deeper inside and ponders, the faint clicks of claw tips upon metal sounding out. Tensing her body a moment, a muffled, mechanical pop emits from within the console, and a triumphant grin emerges upon Cideeda. Carefully removing her dust coated arms out of the space, she guides a metal, vented box with a tether of electronic cables onto the floor and eagerly inspects it further.

Sebastian pivots around, and watches Aristespha and Sotalia sort through pictures upon the two tablets. His ghostly gaze notices Aristespha occasionally rubbing her stomach unconsciously, the rest of her focus pouring upon the images on the tablets. Glancing over to Bach, he points towards his brother's pocket. "Hey, what time is it, bro?"

Bach digs a hand into pants pocket, pulls out his aetherphone, and clicks a side button, activating the screen. "Umm, about noon?"

Nodding in thought, Sebastian turns to the rest of the team and ethereally calls out to everyone. "Okay, it's noon. As party leader, I think it's a good time for a lunch break."

He glances over to Bach and tilts his head towards the exit, wrestling an uncomfortable grimace. "Hey, bro, could you go out and get the cooler from the humvee? Probably best we eat in here and keep our profile low right now."

Acknowledging with a thumbs up, Bach walks towards the exit with a playfully sarcastic roll of his blue eyes. "Yeah, a big picnic, midday, in the middle of the restricted area for a dig site... Probably NOT the best plan, right?"

Sebastian sighs in agreement and drifts over towards Aristespha. Cideeda glances down at her grit and grime covered fingers and cringes briefly, her furry ears drooping close to her shoulders. "HEY... Could you bring me cleaning wipes, too?"

Noticing Bach moving towards the exit, Sotalia wanders over towards that direction, glancing over to Cideeda briefly. "I'll go get them. I need to hook this tablet up to the charger anyway."

Squinting his blue eyes, he lifts his hand up towards the light and passes the threshold of the entryway of the chamber in the noon sun. He lets his eyes adjust to the daylight and scans around the vicinity. Seconds of blinks and watching the peaceful, quiet ruins later, he steps out onto the gravel walkway towards the covertly parked humvee between crumbling stonework and overgrown landscaping. With a second set of footfalls upon the dirt, he glances over his shoulder towards Sotalia. "Oh, hey."

Sotalia moves up in pace next to Bach and tucks the tablet under her shoulder. Trains her golden eyes at Bach, she lifts an inquisitive dark red eyebrow. "So... How are you doing? All things considered, of course."

Bach awkwardly scratches the back of his head of longer brown hair and manages a weak shrug, poorly attempting a nonchalant pose. "Well... Um... Okay. Yeah, uh. Apart from certain developments, ah..."

A genuine smile grows on Sotalia, and she apologetically sighs, hints of compassion building. "Listen. I'm sorry for being a bitch the last few days. Old habits die hard no matter what I try.

Flicking her golden eyes over to Bach, she fights a flit of guilt upon her tan face, dark gray edged face. "BUT... You don't need any grief from me."

With a long exhale, tension vents out of Bach, and he relaxes his shoulders. "Hey. It's okay. Quite the major secret to reveal in the most dramatic fucking way possible. So, uh, I get it."

Sotalia laughs and smirks with a perk of an eyebrow. "Certainly not how you wanted to tell everyone, I'm sure."

Biting his lower lip, Bach momentarily averts his gaze from Sotalia, the two walking closer towards the humvee. "Yeah... Since, truth be told, I was really hoping to NEVER need to tell anyone. But..."

He wrestles down frown into a grumble. "That plan didn't survive contact with reality."

Sotalia meets Bach's returning glance with a gentle smile and rolls her golden eyes at herself. "Well... Truth be told, they RARELY ever do."

Drawing a tense breath through her nose, she frowns. "I know from personal experience."

Bach and Sotalia walk down the rough rock encrusted dirt path and arrive at the humvee. A curious grin cracks from the corner of Sotalia's mouth, and she slyly narrows her gaze at Bach. "So... After telling us such a big secret, maybe you'd be transparent with a little, trivial, in comparison, piece of information."

Moving towards the back passenger door of the humvee, Bach pulls open the door and squints a wary glance back at Sotalia, perking his brow. "Oh. Like what?"

Sotalia swings the front passenger door out, places the tablet from under her arm on the front seat, and attaches a charging cable to it. Brightening her tone, she coyly gazes over to Bach with a devious smile. "Oh, a certain important number... One you should have learned when you entered adventuring school... From a certain test."

Bach pauses, blinking, and grabs hold of a handle for the cooler in the middle aisle. "Uhh..."

Twisting her mouth near indignant, Sotalia aims a prying glare and awaits a response, her hands firmly on her hips. Drawing a long breath in, Bach groans and acquiesces into a sigh. "Well, I don't know the exact number.

A flit of irritation lifts Sotalia's eyebrow. Bach tips his head back and wiggles the cooler free from the far back row seat space. "BECAUSE, the system was glitching out from my stupid antics in the test chamber. BUT, it was around the mid nine thousands."

A contented, eager grin creeps onto Sotalia, and she reaches over the front passenger's seat, grabbing a tub of cleaning wipes. "INTERESTING. NOW... Was that so hard to admit?"

Shaking his head, Bach slides the insulated plastic container along the cab aisle to the front of his seat and secures his grip around the other handle. "NO. I'm just fearful of what such knowledge may or may not ENCOURAGE in the future."

Humming to herself in thought, Sotalia closes the front passenger door. After Bach hoists the cooler out of the humvee, she closes the other door and stands in front of Bach. "Okay. Just to be fair, ask me a question about myself."

Bach ponders the proposition, scrutinizing the expression upon Sotalia. His blue eyes search in his mind, he visibly contemplates and focuses back upon Sotalia. Bach's stare drifts up to towards the top of Sotalia's head. A crack forms in her aura of confidence, and she quells a reflexive grimace. A playfully sinister grins flashes upon Bach, and he narrows his eyes upon her. "Are your horns naturally that dark?"

Sotalia's mouth hangs open, a response failing to launch. Amusement, relief, and embarrassment swirl together on her tan and dark gray face, and she shrugs off the hesitation with a coy smirk. "Well... NO. I use a tint to darken them down. They're naturally much lighter. And, the tint helps keep the color even."

Nodding, Bach hoists up the cooler higher and walks back towards the chamber entryway across the ruins. "Okay. I was curious. I just remember Shadeesa always kept a whole collection of horn care products laid out in the dorm apartment bathroom."

Stepping along the gravel path back next to Bach, Sotalia rolls her golden eyes. "Oh! You have no idea. As much as I love my horns, there's some days I totally understand why some people cut them short and keep them filed down. Gods, it's SO frustrating when you find a nick or gouge."

With a chuckle in his tone, Bach glances over and curiously furrows his brow. "Kind of like when you find a bruise you don't remember getting?"

Sotalia exaggerates a nod and laughs with a smile. "Yes! Except the bruise will go away, eventually. With horns, you better hope you can buff it out with some clear polish or know someone who's REALLY good with filler putty."

Cocking his head, Bach pries. "So, ever do the horn carving thing?"

A sigh rushes out of Sotalia, and she shakes her head. "NO. I lived in a town with hard water. No design looks pretty with hard water stains."

The two continue along the gravel route, discussing the intricacies of emin horn and nail care, and soon disappear into the entryway to deliver food and cleaning supplies.

----

Late morning sun shines through the windows in the small bedroom of the ranch style house. From the open door to the hallway, heavy, cumbersome footsteps upon hardwood reverberate into the room. Seconds later, Bach crosses through the doorway threshold into the bedroom and flips the light switch next to the door. Plodding across the room, he swings his draw-string duffle bag off his shoulder onto his bed, bouncing it upon the mattress. He pivots toward the doorway and directs his voice down the hallway. "Hey! Is there anything else I need to help haul in?"

From down the corridor, Dretphi's voice sounds back. "Not at the moment."

Slowly glances back over his shoulder, Bach side steps over, aligns himself to a clear part of the bed, and tips backwards. He flops onto the comforter, sending a shockwave of air through the sheets. Gradually working the rest of his body up on top, he loosely sprawls himself over the surface and sloppily props his feet upon the duffel bag. He quickly works off his low cut shoes, exhales a long sigh, and stares blankly up at the overhead ceiling fan. The blades spin up to speed and a gentle current of air blows down. Minutes passing by, Bach stares distantly and idly, present awareness waning. Between blinks and long breaths, the past rises up in the faint winces upon Bach's face and settles with current thoughts in following grimaces. Focus shifts from moment to moment. Bach closes his blue eyes, and bathes in the breeze of the overhead fan and warmth of the sun, the beams of light sluggishly traveling across the room. Other sounds rise over the background fan hum. Conversations elsewhere in the house bounce around into unintelligible murmurs. With light footsteps barely audible from the hallway, the rest of the world fades from Bach's awareness. Over the minutes, the conscious mind disconnects from current surroundings and drifts within the haze of past memories.

A series of clawtips rap upon the wooden door, crisply bouncing into the soundscape. Bach winces his eyes hard and opens them, focusing back upon the present world. Slowly lifting his upper body up off the top of the mattress, he sits up, blinking, and spots Cideeda waving at him from the doorway. Crosses her arms, Cideeda leans against the door frame and smirks, wagging her long, fluffy tail. An unconscious unease seeps out into Bach's smile, and he waves back. "Oh, hey. Yeah... How are you doing?"

Cideeda pulls a smile across her light brown, perks up her furry ears, and cocks head to the side. "Good... How are YOU doing?"

Bach musters an uncertain smirk and nods slowly. "Well, all things considered. I'm doing okay, I guess?"

Narrowing her stare slightly, Cideeda furrows her brow and parts a toothy grin. "That's good to hear. By the way..."

Flicking her emerald green eyes towards the bedroom window, she lifts an eyebrow towards Bach. "What time is it? I don't have my phone handy."

Retrieving his aetherphone from his pants pocket, Bach clicks the side button and triggers the display on. With a nonchalant smirk, Bach gazes at the time readout. "Um, yeah. Well, it's Sunday late morn-"

He draws the phone closer and blinks in sheer surprise. "Uh... HUH... Um, after noon? Wow."

Processing the unexpected chronological difference, he slides over to a seat on the side of the bed. His attention darts between his phone and the daylight coming in through the window. Sorting through the confusion, he gazes awkwardly over towards Cideeda. "WELL. Um. Quite a bit later than I thought then."

Cideeda calmly steps up next to the bed, places her hands on her hips, and focuses upon Bach. "Yeah. You spaced out for an hour. I looked in an hour ago and saw you staring at the ceiling. So, I thought I'd give you a few minutes to decompress from the ride back. But..."

Furrowing her brow, she tilts her head to the side and narrows her gaze. "There's more going on, isn't there?"

Averting his eyes downwards, he grimaces and slowly nods, his own voice wavering. "Yeah... Just thinking about... Everything..."

He glances up and meets emerald eyes staring right back at him. Cideeda sighs, shaking her head. "Bach. Let's review that whole situation."

Blinking, Bach nods through the wave of tense confusion. "Um. Sure."

Smirking, Cideeda rolls her eyes at herself and waves her hand with her thoughts. "If there had been time to present the options, I would have chosen the blow it the fuck away option. Especially for THAT thing."

She chuckles, bites her lower lip, and works through a bit of past embarrassment in her posture, flicking her long tail. "I MEAN... I DID fling a satchel of explosives at a security bot armed with a minigun and plasma particle cannon, recently."

The brief flicker of a smile tries to emerge on Bach. Cideeda sighs out her nerves and crosses her arms tightly, the past replaying in mind between blinks. "And... We weren't going to outrun that horrible thing. I think you figured THAT out, and made the choice that you thought gave us the best chances for survival. Despite the risks then, I would have agreed it was the best choice."

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Rolling her shoulders, she swallows hard and droops her furry ears. "One I would have made myself."

A bit of relief eases the tension building within Bach. He feels Cideeda rest a hand upon his shoulders, and she flexes a brief, familiar five claw tip grip. Waiting until Bach gazes back up, Cideeda smiles with a slight watery glint at the corners of her emerald green eyes. "And somehow... I've gotten another chance at something I didn't think I would ever get. SO, I think you did JUST FINE."

Nodding slowly, Bach draws a long breath in and thinks in silence, wrestling down a grimace. He exhales into an uncertain cadence. "Thank you... Um, really. It's just that... I mean, I'm really happy with the results. But... I'm not sure how to feel about how I got the results?"

Cideeda lifts her hand from Bach's shoulder, holds her chin in thought, and grins toothily. "I think I get what you are talking about. I guess it's about using that elder energy?"

With a long groan, Bach quickly acknowledges into a grumble. "Yes."

Resting her hands behind her on the top lip of the dresser drawers, Cideeda shrugs her shoulders and sways her head side to side, pondering the predicament. "Being an outside observer to magic for a LONG time, I just can't help but to see it as just another tool. For example, I've got lockpicks. I could break into houses like a thief. OR, I can unlock doors for owners without their keys like a locksmith."

Standing back up straight, she gestures with both hands weighing a balance and bounces her attention between them. "I've got a gun. I could hunt food with it. Or, I could mug someone with it. I've got a car. I could drive it responsibly for good reasons. OR, I could drive it like a maniac for all the worst reasons."

Bach blinks with his thoughts and rocks his head side to side in vague agreement. "Yeah... I mean, I can see THAT. But, it's just there's a bit more gray area to it than I've ever really thought about before? It was actually a lot easier when it was just a simple light or dark side thing. It's bad, don't use it. Done. Simple."

Laughing with an honest, warm smile, Cideeda waves off the subject thoroughly amused. "Oh gods. Remind me to tell you some Fvalian fables my parents would tell me. Every last one of them just rolls around in moral gray area."

She gazes over at Bach and smirks happily. "ANYWAY... From what I've seen, magic is just a tool. I've seen it used for both good and bad things. So far..."

Cideeda winks a Bach and grins toothily. "You've been doing good. For good reasons."

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Bach dons an awkward smile and averts his gaze away. "Well... I try."

Sotalia's voice echoes down the hallway through the small bedroom doorway. "Cideeda?! Where are you? I got that magic's shop's aethersite up and want to show you the starter kits they've got in stock."

Cideeda grits her teeth briefly, crosses her arms tightly, and flicks her ears back. "By the way, could you do me a HUGE favor?"

Furrowing his brow, Bach nods affirmatively. Bending down close to Bach, Cideeda whispers, side eyeing the doorway. "Tomorrow, could you please come with us when we shop for magic stuff? She's REALLY EXCITED about teaching me magic, and I DO NOT know anything about it, at all, to stop her from buying everything I don't need."

Turning his head towards the bedroom door momentarily, Bach hears Sotalia audibly admiring the inventory of the store and returns an understanding gaze to Cideeda. "YEAH. That'd probably be a good idea, just in general. I need to actually get a few things myself, so I'll have a good excuse to join you two."

Cideeda relaxes her shoulders, loosens her arms, and walks towards the bedroom door. "THANK YOU. Also, you mind helping me with a few data cables for that dusty mess of a computer?"

Tipping forward, Bach rights himself on his feet, stands up, and follows behind Cideeda. "Sounds good to me."

----

In the finely decorated two bed hotel room, the television shows the latest local new developments and flips between clips of the aftermath from the "Hattan Nightmare''. A billowing cloud of faint steam slipping out, the bathroom door opens up, and Tassilda steps out wrapped in an elegant bathrobe. Guiding her damp black hair back over her gray shoulders, she carefully towels off her swirling horns and walks over to her bed. She narrows her light blue on black eyes towards Deedri upon the other bed with a perplexed expression. "Whatever are you doing?"

Pausing from sorting through a towering stack of papers, Deedri finishes jotting down a few notes into a journal and rubs the fatigue around her auburn eyes. "Oh... Just logging the medical work I did during the attack and formatting it in all the correct templates to send off to the guild."

Tassilda gracefully slides on top of her bed, settles up against the pillow stacked headboard, and surveys the collection of documents organized upon Deedri's bed top. "I am honestly curious. What all do you need to send to the guild?"

Deedri stiffly uncrosses and stretches her legs out from underneath her. Lowering her upper body down, she rests her head on a fluffy hotel pillow and breathes out a long sigh. "It's for my public work hours. I try to keep up with my quota so it doesn't build up too much."

She briefly grits her teeth and faintly hisses with a grimace. "Because it's not fun when you get a notice from the auditors..."

Her tufted ears flick over to the side, and she glances over at the confusion upon Tassilda's light gray face. Blinking a few times, she recognizes the lack of context and smiles with an apologetic tone. "Oh. Um. It's a medical mage requirement to keep our licenses when we are part of adventuring groups."

Tassilda curls her eyebrow, leans over down to the floor between the two beds and rummages a hand around in a large zipper bag. "Well. They certainly seem to keep medical mages on a short leash."

She rises back up with a small mirror and a clear bottle with a dark, translucent liquid inside. Deedri shrugs her shoulders and rests her hands on her night-shirt covered stomach. "Oh, it's not that bad. And, it's for a good reason. The guild has an agreement with most of the medical systems of all the different states in the region. They make sure the adventuring groups don't hire out the medical mages without keeping up with their license requirements to practice for the public good."

With a quick twist of the cap, Tassilda sets the bottle upon the middle nightstand between beds and examines her horns through the small mirror. "Ah, I see. Prevent all the talent from getting stolen away for the higher paying adventuring life... Never to be seen again."

Deedri frowns and begrudgingly agrees with a slow nod. "Well... YES. But, the guild not only handles a lot of the paperwork, they also will find work that counts for your quota. So, if you've let your quota get too big, they can help out tremendously. It's so much better than having to go back through relicensing."

Tassilda squints her light blue on black eyes through the mirror and adjusts the angle. Reaching over with her free hand, she lifts the cap of the bottle, revealing an integrated brush, and guides the liquid soaked cap brush to a discolored spot on the side of her horn. With a few careful taps of the fine hairs on the brush, the dark fluid settles and blends out the discoloration. Tassilda replaces the cap on the bottle and perks a curious brow towards Deedri. "Interesting. So, whatever happens to a medical mage that does NOT keep up with their quota?"

Deedri's auburn eyes widen, and she slowly lifts her upper body off the bed. Gritting her teeth underneath a twisting mouth, she fails to subdue a wary grimace towards Tassilda. "Uh... NOTHING GOOD. Usually a guild warning is enough to get most people to take a break and work on their hours. BUT..."

Bouncing a side around, she wrestles against a frown and uneasily chuckles. "It ESCALATES from there. QUICK."

Thinking to herself in the lull of conversation, Deedri's attention settles upon the scuffed and discolored claw tips on her hands. "If it's deemed negligence upon the medical mage, they're put on probation, and eventually will get their license revoked if they don't take steps to remedy their quota."

She glances over to Tassilda with a strained smirk. "If the adventuring group is thought to be hindering the medical mage from getting their hours done, the guild sends an operative out to..."

Furrowing her brow, she hems and briefly stiffens her posture. "FIRMLY and ASSERTIVELY explain the importance of supporting the medical staffs' needs and how it may extensively delay the release of mission payouts."

Tassilda blinks into a blank surprised stare and places the mirror down on the nightstand. "OH, MY. Well, you have my abundant appreciation for keeping up with your quota. I certainly could not stand to have to contend with that much regulation."

Smiling, Deedri nods graciously with a flick of her long, fluffy tail upon the bed. "It's a small inconvenience, really."

A thought drifts forward in her mind, and she levels an inquisitive gaze at Tassilda. "You know, I've actually been curious... Why did you focus on charm and counter magics?"

A sly grin graces Tassilda, and she narrows an amused glance to Deedri. "Oh, it's really very simple. You don't need great attacks or defensive spells when your opponents have no desire to harm you. And, it doesn't matter what spells someone has if they are rendered moot before they can affect you."

Flicking her furry, tufted ears with her thoughts, Deedri eyes follow the reasoning in her mind, and she agrees. She slides her attention upon the clear bottle of dark fluid and glances to her toes. Drawing up her legs closer, she inspects the roughed tips of her toe claws with tinges of annoyance. "Hey... Do you have anything that'll help with this? Running on all the pavement the last few days really did a number on my claws."

Leaning over, Tassilda surveys the scuffs, marks, and wear upon the tips of Deedri's toe claws, and smiles confidently. "Oh! Of course, I do! Do you need anything for you finger claws?"

Deedri flexes her fingers, inspects the points on each tip, and shakes her head. "Not right now. They're okay."

Narrowing a stern stare upon her open hand, she curls her digits slightly inwards and lowers her tone slightly. "But... I have been thinking about sharpening them up."

----

A few shopping bags with a colorful "Miradia's Magic Materials" logo reside on the coffee table in front of the couch. Containers of reagents, packs of thick paper, and a stack of books cover the table space between the shopping bags. In a copy of "The Illustrated Guide to Magical History", a colorful bookmark splits the pages of the novel. Nearby, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia sit around the dining table. With exaggerated gestures and elaborate demonstrations, Sotalia enthusiastically lectures around the magical basics. "Without getting too deep into details, the easiest way to think of your magical flows are On, Near, and Far. On is what magical energies are on you here. Near is magic energy that is relatively near you in the aether. And, Far is pretty much anything towards the Abstract Prism."

Gradually nodding her head, Cideeda maintains blank expression eye contact with Sotalia, blinking her emerald green eyes occasionally. Dretphi glances briefly down at the notepad in front of her, jots down a few notes, and gazes back up, awaiting further instruction. Continuing her explanation, Sotalia pans her gaze between Dretphi and Cideeda with an eager smile. "Now, most of the magical energy you two will flow is On you. It's the immediate source you have to will into your spells. It's limited, but what you use is replaced from Near, the aether, when it flows to On, or you."

Bach's attention rests upon a pad of thick paper and his careful, purposeful strokes of a finely haired brush. Sotalia pantomimes out a simplified process of magical flow transition, in slow, broken down steps. Bach calmly dips the tip of the brush into a small bowl of black ink, next to a sliced lime and a salt shaker. Lowering the brush upon the paper, he inks out a series of branching, interconnected lines. With a calligraphic flair, he adorns the page with a network of lines, forming a simple maze of channels. Pausing a moment, he listens to Sotalia list through a number of techniques for practicing flowing magical energy and glances at the attentive, slightly overwhelmed stares that Cideeda and Dretphi present to Sotalia.

Sotalia stops her lecture and grins excitedly at Cideeda and Dretphi. "So... Any questions?"

Blinking a few times in the lull, Cideeda cocks her head of short, multi-colored hair to the side, puzzling out loud. "Okay. Well. What practice technique should we use?"

Pointing over to the collection of practice focuses on the table top, Sotalia glides her gaze over the assortment. "Well, practice focuses help with getting used to moving a lot of magical energy. So, I would start with that right now to build up your power handling."

Bach places the final touches on another ink maze and slides a piece of paper each to Cideeda and Dretphi with a smirk. "And, it also helps to practice fine flow control."

Examining the papers, Sotalia perks an eyebrow and recognizes the drawings on the pages, her interest piquing. "Those... Look like flow mazes. Oh! I used to do those all the time as a teenager. I had the fastest times in the mages club back in high school."

Cideeda curiously inspects the piece of inked paper, and her furry ears flick with her thoughts. Dretphi turns her head to face Bach and eyes the paper in her hand. "How do these function?"

Leaning over the table, Bach reaches out both hands and directs Cideeda and Dretphi to the large circular spots on the pages, grinning. "It's simple enough. Place a finger on the starting dots and flow some magical energy into it."

Cideeda and Dretphi exchange glances, shrug, and place fingers on respective starting spots. Dretphi concentrates her gaze upon the piece of paper. Seconds later, a faint silvery wave traces along all the inked paths and illuminates the entire network. Narrowing her eyes, Cideeda grits her teeth and strains to focus herself. Slowly, a gradual progression of green creeps onto the lines and overtakes the black markings on the page. The last bit of dark path glows green, and Cideeda releases her frustrations with a triumphant exhale, relaxing back into her chair. "Wow... That's actually really challenging."

Nodding with a sly smirk, Bach lifts an eyebrow towards both Cideeda and Dretphi. "Yes it is. Especially, when you get to the point of just lighting up the path to the exit with no extra branches."

Cideeda's emerald eyes open wide, and she stares down at the flow maze, utterly bewildered. Dropping her head, Dretphi blinks blankly, examines the paper under her finger, and twists her mouth in contemplation. Bach smiles and shrugs with an encouraging laugh. "Ah, don't worry. Once you get the feel of how the energy reacts to you, it gets a LOT easier. BUT, it may take awhile to figure that initial bit out. Took me a while, too."

Propping her head up by a hand with an arm on the table, Sotalia happily watches both Cideeda and Dretphi test their magical mettle against their paper puzzles. With a mischievous grin, she glances over to Bach, reaches one hand over for the bowl of ink with the brush in it, and frees the other hand to slide blank pages over. "So... You up for a real challenge?"

Narrowing his gaze, Bach lifts an amused eyebrow and presents a nonchalant tone. "Maybe? If you can present one."

Sotalia pauses a moment, focuses a competitive glare upon Bach, and turns her full attention to the page in front of her. Picking up the brush, she deftly details out an elaborate array of pathways and lines. She fills the network of confusion with segments of chaos, splintered forks, and feathered branches. In the minutes Sotalia spends upon the construction of her masterpiece, Cideeda and Dretphi continue their practice, and Bach carefully grants just enough assistance to help them out. Placing the brush down, Sotalia blows a gentle breath, allowing the ink to dry on the page, and confidently presents the advanced maze to Bach. "Here you go."

Bach's blue eyes scan the chaotic pathways and follow the routes through a bit of apprehension. Nodding slowly, he smiles slyly at Sotalia and cocks his head. "Okay. Okay... I'll give it a shot. BUT, I think it's only fair I make one for you."

An eager glint sparks in Sotalia's golden eyes, and she props her head upon both palms with a devilish grin. "OH. But, of course..."

Bach guides the bowl of ink back over and glides a piece of thick paper in front of him. Lifting up the bowl, he hovers it over just over the page and pours a blob of ink on the page. Sotalia tries in vain to hide her bewilderment and snarls her upper lip with wide eyes staring at the scene. Bach purposefully presses his finger into the blob of ink on the paper, and a blue glow emits from his eyes. A magical flow of blue brightly illuminates the ink, and a series of thin lines grow from the blob. The charged ink spreads out on its own into intricate patterns and fanciful paths, each branching into complex routes and rejoining prior paths. The maze expands upon the page, and Sotalia's confident grin wanes to an awkward smile, her wavering stare telegraphing her agitation. Cideeda and Dretphi both stop practicing and watch expectantly. Dretphi discreetly hides her smirk behind her hand, and Cideeda awaits quietly with a tight smile.

----

With Bach, Cideeda, and Dretphi watching expectantly, Sotalia pours her full focus upon the finely crafted, hectic flow maze on the paper before her. Grimacing and gritting her teeth, she squints at a singular path of golden energy edging closer and closer to the exit point of the maze. Her long nailed finger firmly presses down upon the dried circle of ink. Above the dining room table, Sebastian hovers above, observes the intense progress, and vaguely points at the page with an ill-humored smirk. "Hmm. Looks like it's starting to leak down that branch over there-"

Shifting her attention briefly, Sotalia winces and mumbles forcibly through her lips. "I. KNOW. Sebastian."

The flow of gold approaches the exit, creeps out into the end point, and illuminates the finish place brightly. Sotalia tensely waits a few seconds, darting her eyes around expectantly. Bach and Sebastian exchange glances, and Sebastian calls out. "Clean path! Time?"

Bach taps the button on the screen of his aetherphone. Lifting her hand from the page, Sotalia flops back into her chair, panting out the stress. "HA! Still got it!"

Quirking an eyebrow with a sly smile, Bach reads off the number on his phone. "Fifteen minutes and forty three seconds. Not that bad."

Sotalia's golden eyes spring wide open, and she reaches out for Bach's phone with a frustrated growl. "What?! There's no way it was that long!"

Cideeda retrieves her phone out of her shorts pocket, glances at it, and nods in confirmation. "Yes, it was. It's been about fifteen minutes."

Flexing the fingers on her hand, Sotalia glares at the black ink paths on the thick paper and contorts her light tan face, her frustration revealing itself more. Bach shrugs with a smile and highlights his tone with an honest appreciation. "That's actually a really good time. I put a lot of nasty tricks in that one, so that's quite an accomplishment."

Shifting her full focus, Sotalia aims her inquisitive stare right through Bach with a tinge of a growl. "Let's see how long it takes YOU."

Blinking blankly, Bach processes the context clues and slides his chair back, averting his eyes towards the refrigerator. "Okay. Sure. But... You know before that, we should probably think about... Um... Dinner?"

Sebastian floats his ethereal form back from the table and down upon the floor, nodding in thought. "Probably a good idea, bro. I'll go check on Aristespha. She's probably gotten wrapped up in sorting through all those pictures and stopped paying attention to the time, again."

Drifting through the archway into the hallway, he leaves the team, and Bach warily gets up from the table under the watchful stare of Sotalia and the amusement of Cideeda and Dretphi. Sebastian glides down the hall to the last bedroom door and phases through slowly. The late afternoon sun casts a few rays on the bedroom floor and the document and tablet covered desk. Furrowing his brow, Sebastian tilts his head to the side, noticing the lack of someone at the desk. From the bed, a familiar sigh catches his attention, and he observes a figure under the sheet quietly mumbling a dialect of evuukian to herself. Sebastian floats over next to the head of the bed and waits a few moments. Listening to the annoyed grumbles, he smiles and watches the tips of a pair of long ivory, gray and blue hinted ears poke out from under the comforter. He kneels down and inquires with a gentle tone. "What's wrong, dear?"

The bed covers shift, and an opening lifts up, revealing a pair of violet eyes behind a mess of silvery blue hair. Aristespha groans and exhales into an annoyed moan. Stirring underneath the covers, she glances down to the glow of the screen within the fabric cave and extends her hand with aetherphone out to Sebastian. She presents a prominent section of text within a very long message and grumbles. "This... Sebastian."

Sebastian's ghostly form examines the paragraphs and slowly nods understandingly with a reassuring smile. "Oh. Well... We have been neglecting your hours, dear. Don't worry. We can take some time soon so you can work on them. I think a bit of a break from anything too heavy or crazy is in order, and-"

Aristespha's hand withdraws back into the comfort of the bed sheets. With the screen illuminating her face, she drags a finger up, scrolling the document, and turns the phone back towards Sebastian. "Look..."

Following the lines of the new text, concern tints Sebastian's demeanor, and he musters up the best awkward grin he can. "OH. WELL... I guess we'll take a break this week then, dear. It'll be fine. You just need to work down your quota this week. Then, you won't have to worry about it for a while."

Aristespha breathes in, pauses, and exhales a mixture of annoyance, sadness, and frustration. "Yes... I know..."

Reaching her arm out, she rests her phone on the nightstand and pulls the sheets off her head. Attempts to sort through the chaotic mess of her long hair, she wrestles a frown. "It's just... Right after we find some potentially useful information, Bach revealing his abilities, and..."

She sits up slowly, crosses her arms, and grumbles with a petulant posture. "I REALLY DO NOT want to spend the rest of this week doing clinical diagnostics. If they could postpone it for a month or SOMETHING..."

Pausing a moment, she rubs her forehand and sighs. "But... The Hattan attack has redirected staff from other places to help out. I am certain there is no negotiation room for an extension."

Hovering to a seat on the bed next to Aristespha, Sebastian smiles lovingly to her. "Now, now, dear. You know we are supposed to be trying to be on the heroic side of the adventuring business. And, you should do your part for the public good."

Aristespha rolls her violet eyes and works off the grimace on her face, groaning. Sebastian leans over closer to her and chuckles lightly. "Don't worry, dear. Your research will still be here, all for you to explore. I don't think anyone is going to solve it before you. And, it'd be a good change of pace for you."

Aristespha tries to direct a hard glare to Sebastian, it wavers almost immediately, and a lovingly smile forms. Relaxing her shoulders, she extends a hand out to Sebastian, her eyes glowing violet, and pulls him over for a long, tender kiss. Seconds later, she slowly releases Sebastian, her eyes dim, and she narrows a sinister gaze at him. "Okay, Sebastian. BUT... If I have to treat anything disgusting, nasty, and or stupid, YOU are going to have to listen to every single little detail. You try to hide in that sword, and I WILL use telepathic magics to show you the mental imagery."

Sebastian dons a heroic grin and winks at Aristespha. "But, of course, my dear. I will brave the worst stories for you."

With a playful roll of the eyes, Aristespha slides the rest of the covers off her, flipping the fabric through Sebastian's ghostly visage to his brief shudder. She stretches her back, and guides her long silvery blue hair over with an amused groan. "You do know there is going to be at least ONE incident with someone doing something absolutely stupid with their genitals. That is just how MY luck is."

Gliding up, Sebastian stands in a brave pose and nods to Aristespha. "I look forward to hearing all about it."

A dark giggle escapes from Aristespha. "Oh, you say that now."

Sebastian breaks his act and leans down close to Aristespha. "The rest of the group is thinking about dinner. So, you might want to say something soon, especially since Sotalia is in one of her competitive moods against Bach at the moment."

Contorting his face, he briefly grimaces. "Dinner might be a good distraction."

Shifting her weight forward, Aristespha stands up on her feet, plucks up her phone, and walks towards the bedroom exit. She opens the door, taps through to a list of saved restaurants on the aetherphone screen, and glances behind at Sebastian. "I think I'll vote for a place to order pick up, and I'll take Bach with me to help carry the food."

Floating behind Aristespha, Sebastian gives a thumbs up and nods.