Lady Lura'mi held the bucket so I could see the bottom and asked, "What is the actual sigil doing?"

I sat in the chair and stared at it, the cold stinging my skin. I said, somewhat unsure, "It is making the water cold."

She flipped it over and set it on the small table. As the elven woman held her hand over it, she said, "Correct. The difference between the two seems to be setting in. Formed and Raw magics are the two most people can use. Now, summon up and hold the magical energies again."

I let out a relieved sigh, knowing the outcome of failure would be another dousing. I took a deep breath and reached out for the magic. Once I had it, I let it flow into me and I tried to hold onto the chaotic force. Lady Lura'mi asked, "How do you imagine the magic in yourself?"

Slowly the power was ebbing away as I explained, "Like water in my hands."

Suddenly the water stopped dropping in the bucket as she said, "So if the power is like water and you hold it in your hands, it drains away. The training has made it do so less. Yet you will never fully be able to keep it from doing so with that way of thinking."

I raised an eyebrow at her and she calmly continued, "This is more for your concentration and ability to summon it forth. How you hold it at this point wasn't as important. It's a bit of a trick, yes, but one that has helped build those skills. In the future, imagine yourself more of a vessel like the bucket. For now, I do think you have learned enough for us to move to the next part."

With as robotic movement as she always had, Lady Lura'mi tipped the bucket over and watched it splash across the floor. Turning it, she showed me the bottom of the thing and said, "This will do for now, sense it is simple. Dry yourself off."

I did so happily as she pointed to the sigil. The glowing eyes never once leaving me, I wondered vaguely how she kept an eye on my magic itself. It only occured to me now that I had some greater understanding. There wasn't really a possibility the ones on the walls were for such, sense they always seemed to glow the exact same soft light.

Lady Lura'mi explained in a methodical pace, "So, all sigils start on the outside with a circle. Usually under that is the rune lines. Such lines are to specify affected things. These can be as many as needed. Then below that is usually the geometric symbols. For now just know that it's another specifier for the magic itself. Then is the rune for the magic itself's command. Note that this is the common layout and those in the room are different."

I nodded and asked, "So, why are the runes and geometric symbols able to do that?"

The elven woman put the bucket face down on the table as she said, "That is less easily explained. The runes themselves are only known because The Record Archon has decided to give us them. The god of knowledge is fickle and anything given is often without context. I personally have spoken to him and can attest to the truth of that."

I asked, unsure if it was smart to even do so, "You spoke to him?"

She stood quiet for a moment, the icy eyes glowing, never shifting from me. She nodded and said, "We are both of the same afflictions and yours has drawn you to her without your willingness. Such benefactors are not so socially aware."

The truth in that was far more than I wanted to consider at that moment. I didn't want to think of my "benefactor" at all. She motioned to me and said, "We'll be moving to the library for the next part of this. Now that you have a grasp on holding and gathering up the magic, we can move to the forming and the runes."

Once my shirt was one, we left the small room and Anna followed to the library. I was noticing how, when Lady Lura'mi wasn't looking at her, my guard always seemed to fear her. GIven what orders I knew she had, I didn't blame her. It gave me the worst feeling when the pale elven woman turned her cold eyes on us. I couldn't help but to imagine that she was wondering if I had.

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At the library, Misana was sitting in there. She was lost in her book again with Salvester sitting in one of the others. Noticing us, the elderly man looked a bit shocked but Lady Lura'mi merely just strolled in with no apparent care. I froze there till Anna shoved me forward gently. The only thing I could hope Misana stayed lost in that book. She merely frowned as I followed Lady Lura'mi. Yet, the noblewoman had paused ever so slightly and glanced between me and her daughter before continuing.

The icy woman went slowly from bookshelf to book shelf, running her finger occasionally across the spines. Yet she didn't take a single one. She slowly turned and said, her glowing blue eyes widened in a horrific way, "I forgot something important here. You can't even read, correct?"

I stared at her for perhaps a few seconds more than I should. After a shake of my head, she turned sharply, and walked over to Misana. The act sent ice through my veins. To my relief, she moved past her daughter and handed the book to Salvester, saying, "I'll leave this in your hands for now. If Misana wakes, let her know that she should show Mr. Moores the process of using magic to write the rune. Farewell."

With that Lady Lura'mi left and I walked over to the little library. Salvester let out a soft sigh, motioning for me to come over. As I took one of the other seats, Anna let out her own exhausted sounding noise but said nothing. The older man cleared his throat and said, "I wasn't expecting to see you here today, Master Moores, but I suppose it falls upon me for now to help with your teaching. Please do not mind the young lady. Let her be at peace."

I nodded and sunk a bit into the comfort of the chair. Between Lady Lura'mi and the Baron, I had hoped somewhat that the worry I'd have would lessen. The elf was the lesser of the two in my mind at that moment, though. At Least her goals seemed mostly clear beyond whatever that intensity she had at the failed dinner was. For a moment I remember the Baron out in the training field as he danced.

Silently I sat up, my mind having caught the fact and placed it suddenly alongside another. I asked quietly, "Hey, I hate to bring this up, did the Baron spend the night here in the last month?"

Anna's tan face lost some of its color. My guard asked, "Y-yeah. What the hell are you bring that up for?"

I shook my head and sunk back into the chair a bit, saying, "I just remembered being told that he is generally not around to stick around for very long is all. The idea of him having snuck in isn't exactly a fun one."

The butler chuckled a bit, his unamused eyes resting on Anna for a few seconds, said, "A fair thing to worry over. Still, for now I haven't any real clue what Lady Lura'mi expects of me here. I'm not really versed in such matters as magic nor it's arts."

His attention turned to the book, which he began to flip through almost idly. His aged face slowly turned to a look of perplexed boredom as he said, "No. My employer most certainly knows that. So I suspect her goals with this are thus differing from the stated. Master Moores, you no doubt vividly recall the lunch yesterday?"

I answered with a dry affirmation, not particularly wanting to actually remember it. The maid had tried to poison me apparently, but it didn't soften the feeling of dread with just how easily she was killed. Salvester said, continuing to stare at the pages, "Lady Lura'mi is an enigma in her own right for many things. Yet she watched you with a look I'd not even know after all these years. Were I unaware of her oddities, I'd think she had some interest unbecoming of her station towards you."

I frowned as he glanced to see my reaction to that statement. He let out a chuck lacking any sort of merriment and continued, "Yet I do know full well such wants are not even possible with her. So, whatever excitement was within her is new to me."

His eyes suddenly turned to Misana for a moment. She barely moved as she sat there, her eyes barely rolling across the page as she looked truly without concern. Even so, as beautiful as she was, the scar didn't let me feel anything other than regret. Salvester said, somewhat more sad, "I suppose, Ms. Timberland, that you should take this book. Take it and show him the runes."

Anna had been little help, stumbling over terms in the book as she did her best to attempt to read it out to me. It didn't help that she made a number of snarky statements and that the terms were mostly as opaque to me as they were to her. Still, it would have been a rather calming experience had I not been all too aware of the practically catatonic Misana.

Her presence was always on my mind, making my learning go ever more slow. Every once and a while, I'd look to her and her face would occasionally give off the slightest hint of discomfort. Even unaware of me, it seemed that my emotions still invaded her mind.

After some time, Anna let out a loud growl of annoyance as she kept attempting to read a specific line in the book out loud. With a hard slame she got out of the chair by mine and said, far too loud, "What absolute nonsense!"

Salvester had watched us the entire time, only then giving off any noise by tisking at her. He said, "Remember you are in the library Ms. Timberland."

She paused for a moment and stared at the older man. Yet as soon as he glanced at Misana, Anna's anger instantly drained and was replaced by a sheepish look like a child who had done something wrong. She fell back into her chair and said, "Fine. But this is giving me a massive headache trying to help you."

My guard shoved the book into my hands, leaned back, and closed her eyes. I held it very gently in my hands as I said, "Then I guess this is a break. Is Lady Lura'mi planning to drag me to dinner today?"

The old butler shrugged and said, "I can not say, Master Moores. At least you seem a fair bit more calm still than before. I must apolo-" He stopped as I suddenly looked at him and he cleared his throat, "Ah, right. Well, we do hold nothing against you for what happened. It was a failure on our part to not make sure. I know it has been said before, Master Moores, but I feel like it should be said again."

The grip I had on the book strengthened slightly as I looked at it. There was some desire to reply, but I couldn't. Words didn't come to my mind and I felt too strange to even nod. The idea still didn't sit right in my head. Even without the demons, it felt wrong to think that I could trust them. So I just sat there, acting like nothing was said to me. Then, a soft yelp cut the silence and my very heart seemed to try and escape through the floor. Misana asked, quietly, "H-how long have you b-been here?"