It was a mixed feeling, on one side Iro had been the first person to understand what she wanted, but when Iro spoke those words aloud it sounded extremely foolish, something that had not happened back when it was just a feeling with Alana's mind. What came after was a paradoxical feeling where she realized that if she found what she wanted she wouldn’t want it. The former magical girl continued giving reasons why she was right, why that was reasonable, but instead of cementing the path Alana had wanted to take, they just brewed more uncertainty within her heart.
As the evening approached, she went to where Qull had been waiting, continuing to read one of her books while also fidgeting with her flip phone. It was a pretty place to relax at, it had padded benches, was away from the noise of the mall and just to its side stood this massive glass wall, reinforced and enchanted, which allowed people to observe as the storms outside hit the gardens around the mall.
When you were safely inside, even a constant hurricane had some beauty it.
“Hey Qull.” Alana said meekly.
“Hello.” Qullqi nodded, in a better mood than when she left. “Did Iro manage to help you? Do you know how you want to progress your spellcasting?”
Straight to the business, as it was expected. Alana let out a sigh and then sat down.
“I have been thinking. Was I... too forward? I kinda created a whole situation when we first met, and now, I don’t know what to think. Are we like, friends or something?”
Qullqi simply tilted her head. “Sort of, I think we have hit off well. It’s the law of vacuum in practice I guess.”
“The what now?”
“The universe abhors empty spaces; this applies even the human topics. For example, when a new class is formed in a school, the kids will be far more receptive to making new friends and will bond strongly almost immediately, while later in the year they will be less receptive and take longer to care about newcomers.”
School was a sore topic to the witch, and so was friendship, but even then, she could follow where Qullqi was trying to go, a rare occurrence now that she thought about it.
“So, it’s just circumstance. And that circumstance is us being friendless?”
Qull couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Sort of. But it's no less valid. That said, why do you ask? Are you having second thoguhts about Cerberus and our planned trip?”
Alana puffed her cheeks; she wanted a bit more of small talk before that.
“Not exactly but, it's a bit of an issue now. I wanted to learn better spellcasting so I could be useful, help you beat Maze and then go on adventures with you two. But that would need me to learn the more modern way of spellcasting.”
“Are you having difficulty with it? We could wait, you don’t need to understand it all in a single day.”
“Sincerely... No. In that first store, where the dude was using crazy words, I actually started to understand it halfway. But then... I didn’t want to follow through.”
“Ah, I did notice you were a bit too resistant.” the black-haired girl said. “But why? Is it because it's different from what you are used to?”
Alana nodded at first, but then she thought over it again, and then shook her head. The answer was not so simple.
“What bothers me, is that it feels like it will replace what I have now. Because it's... so antiquated.”
At first, she had thought it was just a silly feeling, but Iro had echoed her thoughts as soon as they started talking.
“Iro said my spellcasting is very traditional and delicate, and that I should probably keep it exactly like that. My fire spell for example, as I had said before, is entirely built on memories of copying my grandma, using it to kindle fires and heat up teapots. Even today when I aim it, I think of my targets as pans and pots.”
“Hmm, I see. Sounds like there is an element of dream in your spells, therefore, there is a danger you might lose it when you start studying the hardlines and equations of more modern magic.”
“Yes! Exactly that! It would be terrible if I just lost it all and became as incompetent as a child when I am 19. It would also... make me lose something that grandma gave me.”
The witch started tapping her foot, once again she had arrived at the same conclusion from before, but she still wasn’t comfortable with it.
“So you don’t think you can train. Not for combat like Maze might have suggested.”
Iro had said maybe Qullqi would be able to find a new solution to this, but even she was agreeing.
“I do think I have some useful skills, but it's all so makeshift, it doesn’t compare to the things other people can do.”
Qullqi crossed her arms and sighed. “Is that the full issue? Somehow, I do not think you fear being useless. You obviously don’t want to lose your current spells, but you also don’t like simply giving up...”
She couldn’t just go back. She was perfectly fine with her life isolated in the forest with her grandmother, but ever since she was sent to the city, to the school, it all had been a mess. She couldn’t feel comfortable in the city, but there was a sense of emptiness from going full hermit again.
Now that was manifesting even in her spellcasting, the one thing she truly enjoyed doing, her safe haven.
“But no matter what you choose, I think you should stay with Cerberus. It’s a neat little group we got here, and there is no reason for you to stay in Lullaby all alone, right? It doesn’t matter if you decide not to progress with your magic for now.”
That was obvious. What she had here wasn't a reliable existence. One part of her wanted to go back to Zvezda already, but deep down, was there a difference? She felt as at home in the shack in some sewer shanty in Lullaby as she had been feeling in the last year back on the forests of her homeland. In that scenario, Cerberus was... something, she did not have the word for it, but it was at least something that would go forward, an immediate objective and place to be.
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“But Maze said...” The witch interjected
“Maze is an idiot. She really doesn’t mean half of what comes out of her mouth.” Qull made a sound between a laugh and a sigh. “I know cat who is like her.”
“Okay but what do you think? I was going to merely stay with what I have but... maybe the painful path is the one with rewards and I should accept the new methods over the old...”
The black-haired chimera froze for a good five minutes, then suddenly she slaped her legs as she stood up and stretched.
“Sorry Lana, I have had enough of sitting and brooding. Let’s do something more enjoyable. Eating something nice for dinner, window shopping, whatever you want.”
----------------------------------------
For the rest of the evening, they were going all around, and although initially Alana was not in the mood, seeing how hard Qullqi was trying to make her happier did eventually sway her to enjoy the trip more.
They went from storefront to storefront, seeing all the latest trends, though neither of them really fitted with what was hip these days. Actually, Qullqi did seem to match the vibe of a store named Heated Topic, but when Alana mentioned it, the black-haired girl got flustered.
They watched a movie about a witch, it was a fun adventure but sad at points, the witch revealed her magic to the villagers when she tried to help an injured child, but everyone immediately turned on her, even the child she had saved. It was one of those neat new movies that projected the image out of the screen, and they even adjusted the enchantments of the room to match weather effects, enviroment and even the smells.
Qullqi had to wait until the staff found her some special glasses so she could see the projection, Alana asked why she didn’t use those normally and Qull explained those were quite expensive and there were cheaper alternatives like her flip phone. Alana made a mental note that should she ever get some money to spare, she would try to buy that as a gift.
Speaking of which, Qull did seem to enjoy the earlier parts of the movie, but then she went quiet. Alana peeked over her shoulder and saw that she was typing some sort of review about the movie.
> XxSilvershot92xX -- Poor effects, boring use of magic. These stories showed up when Aeolian ruling class was entirely magical and noble, so they had to create these stories where the mundane peasants are always violent and ungrateful, fearing the unknown. Even has that terrible trick where the poor baby MC tries to be all nice and reasonable just to be spat on the face, so you feel vindicated with the gore and torture that the villagers will go through in retribution.
>
> Now, I won’t pretend humans are the best at dealing with differences, but there are other priorities the caveman brain goes through before extermination: Can I eat it? Can I weaponize it? Can I profit from it? And witches hit those last two points. (Technically all 3, but let’s not be grotesque, you psychos) So these witch hunt stories just come off as so boring and unrealistic.
Alana couldn’t help but to notice how differently Qullqi spoke on the ethernet, it was a bit funny, so was the fact she was so furiously using that small keyboard and screen to type it, as if that was something important.
After that, they went to an Izumo restaurant. At first Alana was worried since all foreign restaurants looked expensive, but Qullqi knew a little place that was mostly inhabited by working class clients, migrants and docked fisherman from the island nation, so the prices were undertandable and the enviroment more cozy than fancy.
“I would not recommend the fish. Fish here tend to be large and very muscular. it's an acquired taste..” Qullqi explained.
“Oh, I was about to want this river serpent sashimi thingy, but any sort of meat in my plate is fine.” Alana answered happily, tail wagging.
“Alright, I think I will have udon, for you, maybe katsudon?”
They sat down in an area by a fish pond, under the massive glass dome of the mall. The rain above them was still raging on and on. Some of the rainwater was drained into the mall, through a few filters, and then would form little waterfalls that fed the many fountains around this central food court area, including the pond.
“So, it's fine to eat raw fish? I wonder how much those in the pond cost.”
Qullqi shook her head with a smile. “Those are for decoration; you can’t gobble them up.”
Alana could bet Maze would let her eat one of those, maybe they would even make a competition... That kinda convinced her it was a bad idea after all. Even if food was best when it was extremely fresh.
“Hey Qull, can ask one thing? Why do you only have two ears?”
“Most people have two ears?” she said initially, but then couldn’t help but to smirk. “It’s because I am chimera. A person born with an animal trait, typically because the world felt they needed a boost to survive their environment.”
“But what about Maze? She has a human set a wolf set...”
“She comes from a bloodline, I think, werewolf implies a genetic trait."
"And what about me?"
"I would think you would know your own ears..." the mercenary placed a hand over her mouth as she giggled, causing Alana to blush. "There are many possibilities, but since I doubt you have some sort of spiritual parasite or that you are a changeling, I'd say it could also be bloodline, or maybe it's an embodiment of an animal aspect, Zvezda has a lot of shamans who do that. In that case unlike Maze, who can hear with all four ears, you would only listen with two, since the dog ones would be just constructs.”
Qull was right, Alana only hear with two ears, but it was with the dog ears she had, not the human two.
As their dishes arrived, some sort of soup with noodles for Qull and Alana could smell pork and rice in her plate, not a whole lot of veggies either which was a win.
In the middle of their dish, Qullqi started looking to the sides and brooding. Had this not been as fun to her as it had been to Alana? The witch was worried since the whole reason they had extended their mall trip was because she felt quite down after talking to Iro.
“Wait, maybe we were hasty.” the chimera suddenly blurted.
Alana tilted her head, lacking the context to even reply to that.
“Iro could be wrong.” Qull declared.
“Oh, you were still thinking about that?”
“Yes, I wanted to walk so I wouldn’t obsess over it, but I couldn’t help myself.”
Alana pursed her lips as she realized she realized she may have misunderstood a few things so far, this wasn't really a friend taking her out to cheer her up, was it? But that Qullqi was still thinking about her issue was already more than she could ask.
“See. This mall, its architecture, its modern, but it's not the typical modern you’d see in the post-war period. Back then, people cherished the new techniques and engineering advancements a lot, so a certain utilitarian mindset took over, and, in turn, a certain disdain for more traditional housing, vernacular stuff started to take over.”
Alana gulped as she tried to follow, but that was quite the tangent Qull was getting into.
“However, in more recent years, people looked back, and saw that a lot of vernacular traditions were useful. This mall is an example of this, so many techniques in here wouldn’t have been used 50 years ago, not because they were not invented yet, they were, but they were used in the traditional huts and houses of the people of the island, because over centuries intuition and wisdom had let to great techniques to mitigate the effects of the storm and to be better prepared for the challenges this land has.”
The witch actually followed it, to an extent. “So, what you mean with that architecture history class is... Uh, is that they won’t clash? I can learn the new spell systems and then not lose my old?”
Qullqi drew a breath through clenched teeth. “Can’t guarantee, but it’s the mindset that matters. There are dangers, I cannot say you won’t feel unsure about your kindling spell once you start using fireballs or even an electric oven...”
“But they have a history to them, right? Is that what you meant? And there may be new uses to them even, once I know the more academic side of magic?”
Qull nodded. “Again, like this mall, it mixes the science with the traditional wisdom of the locals.”
Alana took a deep breath, her mind racing over this. “I don’t feel entirely sure. I still fear interference. But...” the witch smiled. “I think I feel better. I can see some way out eventually. For now, I will try to keep both sides separate in mind, but I will promise myself, one day, when I master both sides, I will learn how to use them together!”