Trail 59: Lights Rekindling
--- Jon ---
“Come on Pix, just draw this Script.” He told his (stubborn) little fairy as the light of his spell script began to fade.
Pix merely shook her head and crossed her arms, causing him to forcing down a frustrated growl as he refused to take anything out on his little light.
“She’s still giving you trouble on this?” Miss Edna asked from where she’d been watching for a few moments.
“Yeah, I honestly thought she was willing to try after she started drawing those light shapes a few days ago, but apparently she thought that was more of a game than actual spell work.” He sighed as his script completely disappeared.
“Which spell are you trying to get her to do?” Miss Edna asked, taking a seat next to him on the couch.
He let out a dry laugh. “Any spell?”
“Well, then…” Miss Edna reached out to where he’d previously drawn his Script in spell light, before with a flex of her fingers the script once more became visible. “If she isn’t willing to learn a new script maybe you can get her to use your old ones? I mean, it’s not like she actually has to do much work for this, since you did all the work for her already.”
“Um… How are you doing that?” He blinked. “I thought spell scripts became unusable once the light faded?”
“They do, and they don’t.” Miss Edna shrugged. “When you draw the script using magic it’ll fade once said magic dissipates, but it still leaves enough residue that you can push magic into it to… rekindle the spell.”
“Huh, can you… can you use that on a Spell Script that was actually cast?” He wondered, watching the spell slowly fade for a second time.
Miss Edna tilted her hand side to side. “Eh, depends on the spell really. You should be able to reuse most spells if you can get to the script site fast enough, but if it’s got any extra conditions such as materials or even the caster’s affinity then it wouldn’t work unless you met all of that yourself.”
“And how hard is it to… rekindle a spell script?” He asked, thinking that even if doing all the work himself didn’t push past Pix’s laziness it would still be a useful trick for him to know himself.
“Well, each time the spell is cast it disrupts the magic that was built up to cast it, sort of muddying it up with ambient anima. Meaning you could probably rekindle it once… Maybe twice if you’ve got enough practice with it. Then again, my own Mementor,” Miss Edna laughed. “He had a really nasty habit of copying people’s spells and throwing them back half a dozen times over regardless of their Spell Craft, but he also had an Affinity built for mimicry. So…” Miss Edna shrugged.
His face scrunched up a bit. “Does that mean I can learn it or that I… won’t be able to learn it?”
“Eh, Spell Scripts are the easiest Craft to copy since they’re so much more structured than the other ones.” Miss Edna assured him as she drew a spell script of her own into the air. “You just need to reach out and grab the circuit with your own magic before giving it another charge of Anima. The only real trick is that you’ve got to do it quickly or the circuit will lose cohesion.”
Seeing what she was getting at he quickly pulled on the cool warmth of his talisman’s magic before hurriedly shoving it into the air in front of him.
Scene Consequences
-Pix has leveled up her Light Scripts
--Currently: Lv. 5
-Jon has gained 2XP to Script Crafting
--Currently: Lv. 5 (3/12)
-Thanks to Miss Edna, Jon and Pix have gained the [Rekindling Scripts] Perk.
--Rekindling Scripts (I): As a Quick Action, spend 1 MP to re-cast a Spell Script that has been cast in the last round up to (I) time at the user’s skill level. (Note: Any extra Spell Costs and Conditions must be fulfilled once more.)
---
The disturbingly familiar sound of his Ma’s heart monitor filled the air as he sat in his chair. Not having much to talk about for once as instead of focusing on his problems he tried to ignore them all in favor of the quiet. (Or it would be quiet if not for that stupid monitor but… at least it means she’s still alive…)
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If he thought of it like that it was almost reassuring rather than a stabbing stressful stimulant sadistically reminding him every second of his Ma’s slumbering soul laying there far too still for him to ever find comforting.
He let out a groan of exhaustion as he leaned forward pawing at his eyes as he tried hard not to think about how even when he tried he just could not SLEEP!
Be it at the hospital or his home, the longer his Ma slept the harder it was for him to do the same, and he could feel it eating at HIS SaNitY!!!
Something anyone else might label as an exaggeration, but that he felt he was more than qualified to diagnose given his experience with Madness.
Leaning forward, he couldn’t help but sigh knowing that he was being both dramatic and selfish when his Ma was the one stuck in the hospital. (But I just want my Ma to wake up…)
Once more he listened to his Ma’s heart monitor, the only sound in the otherwise silent hospital room, beyond the shifting of fabrics and a groggy groan.
(Wait…)
His eyes shot to his Ma as she began to slowly shift.
“M-ma?” He called, half scared he’d started hallucinating again.
Despite not answering his Ma’s shifting seemed to grow.
“Mom!” He practically yelled, rushing to her side.
“J…Jon…?”
"Ma!"
Scene Consequences
-Ma Whitaker is no longer in a coma.
---
“Well, aside from some minor muscle atrophy from being down for so long you’re a clean bill of health.” The doctor told them after spending the last few hours with the nurses once more going over his Ma’s vitals as he clung to her side, terrified that if he left her alone she’d once more slip into a coma.
“So that means I can go ahead and head home, right?” His Ma asked, squeezing his hand in reassurance despite clearly looking like she’d jump out of the hospital bed the moment she was green lit. (Not that I can blame her when I want her out of it too…)
“Well, normally we’d like to keep you a bit longer for observation, but you are to free to leave at your own discretion now.” The doctor sighed.
“Fantastic.” Miss Edna clapped. “This place may’ve kept you from bleeding out but trust me that doesn’t mean it won’t bleed your wallet dry Minnie.”
“Oh, I completely forgot about the bill. That’s going to be fun.” His Ma laughed dryly, before looking at the doctor. “How bad do you think that’s going to be? I’m not actually sure how much the station’s insurance is covering.”
The doctor flipped through their clipboard. “It… looks like you’ve been fully covered actually.”
“Really?” His Ma frowned. “With all the cuts the station has been making the last year I was sure our insurance was, well… crap.”
“Well, it may’ve been, but you’ve a note on your file saying that your treatment is being fully covered by someone with the initials A. D.”
“A. D.?” His Ma repeated as something began to prickle at the back of his head. “Who is that?”
“No clue, but you were authorized for the best treatment available to us if necessary.” The doctor informed them, before checking their pager. “Sorry, but I’ve got to deal with something. Like I said though, while we’d prefer you to stay another night you are free to leave whenever you feel like it.”
Once the doctor was gone Miss Edna said what was on all their minds. “Well, that’s… concerning.”
“Yeah, going to have to find whoever this A.D. guy is later.” His Ma sighed. “Way too many people think paying a cop’s bills can put them in your pocket.”
“Maybe but right now getting you home is more important.” Miss Edna chided.
“Amen to that.” His Ma agreed with a wry grin, before turning to him. “You going to be okay while I get dressed, kiddo?”
“Y-yeah.” He nodded, wiping at his eyes as he gave his Ma’s hand one more squeeze. “I-I’ll be okay.”
He glanced at Miss Edna as he stood up.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t get up to any trouble.” His second parent promised.
“Th-thanks.” He told her with a failed attempt at a smile before making his way out of the hospital room while his Ma got changed.
(...)
Once in the hall and by himself, he let out a growl and a glare that made a nearby nurse jump away from him.
Narrowed eyes darted down both ends of the hall as he felt something in the air, before moving to his right as he made his way through the hospital. With every step a weight grew on his shoulders as he slowly drew near to the source of the crawling feeling in the back of his head. A source hidden behind an unassuming door leading into a small break room with no windows revealing the room’s inhabitants.
Swallowing down his apprehensions he pushed the door open to find a man in a black suit with red floral lining on his vest and tie, sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his back to a window letting in the late afternoon light as he twirled a flute full of red wine.
From beneath slicked back dirty blonde hair a pair of brown eyes looked up at him, seemingly flashing black in the shadow of the setting sun as the man smiled.
“Jon.”
“DeSade.”