Chaos is known as the being that never became a star. It is everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time.
Neither good nor evil, the ultimate expression of nothingness. The antithesis of the cosmos, creation itself.
Although Chaos claims to be the very state of existence from which the first entities appeared, it cannot form into the entity it wants most.
So it has been cursed to stay in the form of a dark and shapeless void. Floating between existence and nonexistence.
Longingly watching as stars are constantly born and lives are lived. The seeds of malice had been planted, flourished and transformed Chaos into the purest form of evil.
Not sure what she meant? How could she possibly think that, given the help she had rendered with the marble and just now with that skeleton. Unless of course she had mixed the girl up with some other benevolent force; it's not exactly like she had witnessed the girl do magic. Celeste's faith in her own theory faltered under the girl's direct comment, and shattered into oblivion when the clapping had begun. It didn't matter anymore, what did matter was that feeling, slowly creeping up from some nebulous spot around her ankles. Oh no, please don't do that. Like a thermometer filling rapidly the feeling finally hit her face and painted her a bright scarlet of blush; she had surpassed the peak of her ability to cope with the situation.
Her hands shot up into a stopping or placating gesture and she waved them in front of herself with a dash of panic. "Th-th-that won't be necessary, I'm fine, really." She punctuated this comment with one hand moving from the stopping gesture and upwards to hold onto her scarf. Beneath the shirt and the scarf a small red glow lit up, each of her small wounds healed up swiftly. Such a blatant usage of magic in front of someone who could very well be a civilian would have deeply troubled her before, but with the overwhelming emotional roller coaster she had experienced in the last few minutes she was acting on pure intuition. No doubt she would mentally reprimand herself for her foolishness later in the day when she had time to calm down and think things through.
Using her magic again though brought back to her mind the other part of her job: acquiring grief seeds. Which were no doubt in the planetarium and outside... Where I left my book bag! The thought struck like a thunderbolt, not improving her ability to calm down in the slightest possible sense of the word. She had of course been listening the entire time and acting on 'automatic' she returned the comment as etiquette demanded no less, though her addendum to the usual courtesy might have come off as odd. "My name is Celeste Foster and it's a pleasure to meet you Erica. However I forgot some things and I'll be right back." She left the girl to no doubt ponder her bizarre actions while she sprinted outside and picked up her book bag easily sliding it back where it belonged. A quick glance pointed out to her that not a single grief seed was in the area, and while that was puzzling her mind shelved it for later consideration while urgency demanded she sprint back, past the girl and into the planetarium to quickly find the grief seeds she had left behind earlier. With both tasks taken care of and her tea recovered she made her way back to where she had met the girl, the calming taste of tea starting to work it's magic on her frazzled mental state.
Erica raised an eyebrow as the girl tried to refuse her offer of getting her patched up. As if accentuating the point, her visible wounds and scratches suddenly began to heal before Erica's eyes. Her first thought was that it was such a very convenient power. With something like this up her sleeve, it was no wonder she could afford to utilize such a reckless style of fighting. Really that was quite something.
"Hmm. Well, I suppose that was presumptuous of me. It's quite clear you can take care of yourself."
Sliding her finger across her phone screen, she canceled the ride just like that. Her main reason for calling for it in the first place was in consideration of treating the girl's wounds with haste. But now that it was unnecessary, it would be much more discreet to just get out of there on foot as they were trying not to draw attention to themselves after all.
The girl introduced herself as Celeste but before they could continue their conversation, the flustered magic user quickly excused herself and sprinted outside. She returned with a bag that Erica recognized as the one she used earlier to smack one of the skeletons. So it was a personal belonging and not something she just picked up somewhere. She wasn't done yet though and this time rushed back inside the projection room. She then returned with a cup of tea in hand, no doubt cooled beyond what would be typically acceptable for tea, but for some reason the girl had a more relaxed expression as she took a sip from it. Erica shook her head and sighed.
"I assume you've got everything you need now? Good. Change of plans. Since you appear to like your tea so much, I feel bad that you have to settle for a cup that's gone cold. The nearest cafe is not too far from here. Let me buy you a fresh one."
Erica turned around and started walking, leading the way. It seemed she had run into a rather strange one. Though to be honest somewhere at the back of her mind, she was already expecting that most people involved with magic were probably eccentric in some way. Of course Erica wasn't an exception.
Celeste nodded at the question, and before she had even concluded whether or not she wanted to go with the girl somewhere she was swept up in the walking pace. Like any natural follower she tried to rationalize the decision to go with the girl as her idea or something that benefited her and while this was normally difficult, free tea spoke volumes. As it was she fell into step easily enough with a bit more enthusiasm than her usual letting her nerves cool as the responsibility of what to do next was taken by another person. Though a question was burning in her mind now that she was beginning to calm down. What had happened to the grief seeds that were outside, did this girl.. No, did Erica pick them up already? She contemplated asking but in true form she tried doing everything in her mental powers to approach the question from a number of different angles to see if there was a way to avoid asking. There was simply no way around it. She took a deep sip of her tea, enjoying the taste even as her mind noted the horribly wrong temperature. Cold sencha is really terrible. Ok, here goes. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"Did you perhaps pick up the grief seeds that were outside? I looked, but there wasn't any in the area and I'm not entirely sure what would happen to a normal person if they were to touch such a thing." She kept even pace with the girl, curious as to what she would say. Would she openly admit that she too was a magical girl, proving the theory Celeste wasn't even sure of, or would she sidestep the question all together or plead ignorance as to what she was talking about. If she really was a civilian than Celeste had screwed up already on her first task, and that was more than a bit depressing. Her mind held onto what it knew and what it felt but she still doubted herself so much even in the light of what had happened today.
[break][break] With the skeleton army being destroyed one by one, small trinkets would fall from their bodies upon their demise. To the eye of a magical being, they would give off the allure of a grief seed. However, this was not the case. All of the grief seeds that fell from the skeletal bodies would float into the air and begin to gravitate towards one another. Colliding into one more elaborate Grief seed. [break][break]
[break] The seed would fall back down onto the ground and lay in waiting. One of the two Magi would recieve the gift. [break] [break] But whom? [break] [break] Erica Cypher • celeste foster [break]
[ OOC INFORMATION ] [break][break] • Only one Grief seed! Who gets it??
It had taken her a while but after so long the other girl finally brought up the grief seeds. Her words betrayed her inexperience, or perhaps she just wasn't very attentive or perceptive about things. It seemed Erica really needed to spell it out for her, but at least the danger had already passed. She honestly wasn't expecting to give a lecture today and didn't want to if she could have avoided it.
"I'm glad to know you're actually aware of how dangerous they are. But this is the sort of knowledge you should keep in mind at all times and not only when everything's over. Terrible things can happen when they're left unattended."
"If we had parted ways without you ever bringing them up Ms. Celeste, then I would have been quite disappointed."
Erica smiled and opened her purse, and the grief seeds Erica had collected emerged and floated on her free hand.
"Although I guess I find it a little funny that you still had any doubts about me being a normal person. Would a normal person really not bat an eye at seeing someone else's wounds glow and close up by themselves? A normal person can't see grief seeds in the first place so it would have been impossible for them to pick them up."
Suddenly the grief seeds on Erica's hand would float up, causing her to pause. They were only just talking about how dangerous these seeds could be and already something unusual was happening. It seemed the seeds Celeste collected started floating up as well and they began to gravitate to each other, forming and combining into a single grief seed before floating back to the ground between them.
It was really quite a surprise. Erica waited for a few seconds, but thankfully the single seed had remained motionless after that and she couldn't sense any other activity from it. Perhaps it was trying to say that the group of skeletons from earlier counted as a single Youma and thus only had one true seed. This was her first time seeing such a thing though and it was fascinating.
Unfortunately that meant dividing the seeds up between themselves was no longer possible. Erica obviously wanted it. But she wondered if Celeste wanted it just as much.
"I suppose for all the trouble you went through, you would like to keep it? Though I honestly can't say I don't have any apprehensions about entrusting it to someone who was a little careless about properly collecting them. No offense meant."
Celeste lowered her head in apology, listening to the girl's lecture and feeling like she had somewhat disappointed a mentor. It did however come with the added benefit of knowing exactly where she stood in regards to the things she had been wondering about. Erica was indeed some sort of magic user and seemed in possession of a much more vast level of experience. The girl had many fine points and she listened to all of them making a mental note to improve her attentiveness to the grief seeds in the future. She wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that given how busy she was just trying to prevent people from becoming hurt, or herself from being hurt beyond repair, but it was a good thing to keep in mind.
"I'm sorry," She apologized while watching the grief seeds float in the girl's hand. "it was my first time fighting and I was focused on getting the danger away from the scared people. I'll try to keep better track of them in the future."
Then Erica said something that made her mentally stop for a moment. Normal people can't see the grief seeds? Interesting. She hadn't exactly dealt with them before today. She hadn't known that her wounds glowed when they healed either, this was certainly a learning experience and something she would have to add to the swiftly growing list of things to keep in mind during future escapades. She took a sip of tea, sensing the end of the cup fast approaching with a mix of tea induced calm and future tea shortage induced anxiety.
The grief seeds started to move, and without her permission the seeds in her book bag snuck out of the top flap and joined with Erica's to form a more elaborate grief seed. She looked to Erica an unasked question upon her lips. Is this normal? Judging on the way the girl didn't elaborate on it, it must be normal for these kinds of things but the question she received immediately after reminded her of the consequences of this moment. There was only one grief seed and there was two of them.
Celeste considered this for a moment. Fair would dictate that both of them should get something but that was no longer possible. Since the first word Erica had been very accommodating and helpful and given that she knew more about this there was an opportunity here. Perhaps she could be convinced to lend even more assistance. I don't need the grief seed desperately yet, but I do need experience desperately. Her mind made up, she snatched the grief seed up and placed it on the girl's still open hand. "I do need these, quite badly in fact. However, you can have it. In exchange, would you teach me how to be a better mage?"She waited with baited breath for Erica's response.
At least her apology seemed sincere. Erica had no intention of further pressing the issue after that. The more important matter at hand was the single grief seed before them and what they should do about it. Surprisingly, Celeste chose this time to act a little more boldly.
Erica unconsciously tilted her head a bit upon hearing the girl's unusual proposal. From the way it was worded she was implying that giving up the grief seed was a huge sacrifice on her part. That was a strange thing to say because as far as Erica was told, grief seeds were collected to obtain rewards, ergo there was no real loss if one had to give them up other than an opportunity to get something nice. It was hard to believe the straitlaced Moira was lying. Thus Erica could only conclude two things. Either Celeste drew the short end of the stick and was given a troublesome contract that required collecting seeds or she was a Magi, their "rivals" when it came to collecting seeds, and their agenda was a bit of a mystery.
Thinking back, she was never really given a warning against assisting other magical beings. And anyone collecting grief seeds was ultimately doing good for the world regardless of their motivations. Thus the only thing holding her back from accepting this proposition was her hesitation to act when things were uncertain and doubtful. The first step then would be to clear up those concerns.
"You need them badly? That sounds like a troublesome contract you signed up for. I hope whatever you got in return was worth it. And I feel terrible about taking the grief seed from you in that case."
"As for your request, I know almost nothing about you or what you already know. It's rather impossible don't you think, for me to help you in any way without understanding and getting to know you better."
"I won't pretend to be an expert in this field. Even if you spilled all your secrets to me, a total stranger, there's no guarantee that I can actually be of any use to you. That's what it means and entails, making that proposal of yours. So I'd think about it some more if I were you."
"On the other hand, if this is just some excuse you thought up of to hang around me more often or if you have some other motive, I'd much prefer if you come clean about it now."
If there was anything about this exchange that would be disadvantageous to her, Erica was determined to bring it all to light. Even with her own contract, she had a lot of things to say and protest about. But in the end, she found the terms acceptable enough and proceeded. This girl had to prove herself if she wanted to keep associating with her.
"I.." Celeste began, trying to defend her request, but Erica had made some very good points. She had been rash in her request, yet the need for more information was becoming more clear as the girl spoke. A troublesome contract certainly described the deal she had made but it was also a deal she had not had the opportunity to properly understand. The urgency of bringing that strange creature grief seeds could possibly vary based on what that deal was made for. With a much more expensive task requiring more effort on the part of the newly minted magical girl or it could be an entirely fixed number. Celeste was just facing far too many unknowns and had never been given the opportunity to question the arrangement. She took a long drink from her cup, draining it's contents entirely and using the moment to compose her thoughts into the words she wanted to say.
"The offer I was made was not one I could refuse, no matter how severe the details of the contract might have been. When I tried to ask a question about the details the creature gave me a most repulsive type of magic at which I decided to stop asking questions in case I make it even worse. So you see I don't need an expert in this field because almost anyone would know more than I do. I know that I have to bring the creature grief seeds, and I'm not sure whether or not it will undo that offer if I fail to bring them to it fast enough. As that is something I cannot allow, I'm forced to assume that I need to bring that thing the seeds rather quickly until I find out otherwise. Until then, I have to focus on becoming a better mage as quickly as possible to be able to secure more grief seeds quicker.
I understand that there might be a chance that you really can't help that much, but I don't feel that to be true given your words and actions thus far. A novice at this sort've thing would charge in much like I did, oblivious to all, but your actions left me wondering if you even were a mage to begin with. To act in a subtle manner without everyone knowing you were even the one behind it does not strike me as the actions of someone who can barely contain their fear at the situation but rather the calculated actions of a veteran. Adding to this fact the note that you are the only other mage I know, I simply had to try and ask.
While I would certainly like to spend more time with you, I would have simply asked. I may stammer and have a hard time coming up with the right words, but I would never try to be duplicitous. "
That was a lot of words for Celeste and she found herself trembling a bit, no better for having managed to actually say what she wanted to.
Erica expected the girl to be a bit at a loss being put on the spot like that. And that was fine. She would take her time picking apart what made Celeste tick and figure out what she really wanted from her. But to her surprise the timid girl brought out a lot more words than she expected. The girl was noticeably stressed after her little outburst. She was probably holding it in all this time.
Honestly there were a lot of complaints mixed in there. Whoever she entered into a contract with, it definitely didn't sound like the same one Erica knew. It sounded like they did Celeste a pretty major favor too, apart from simply granting her powers. That in itself was strange because on Erica's part, the "reward" would come after she had collected grief seeds and not before. Celeste's contractor was rather sly to give the girl the "reward" upfront and put her in debt instead. That being said, despite her distress at the situation, she really only had herself to blame for not raising more questions to her contractor despite having a lot of them.
"A veteran? I was just being careful. Didn't you at least get a warning to keep your usage of magic discreet? That was probably the first or second rule they emphasized."
She actually chuckled a bit at this one as she wasn't really aiming to be perceived as a veteran. Was two weeks of experience actually enough to be considered one? The impression she was aiming for was capable at best, but it was nice to be thought of so highly despite it being unintentional. Erica couldn't help but want to humor her a bit. The girl might not be aware of it, but it was her actions that allowed Erica to get a better grasp of their situation earlier and conclude that it was well within her capabilities to resolve.
"I understand. You have quite a few problems. And honestly from what you've shared so far, you won't get your answers from talking to me. Really the best advice I could possibly give you is to sort things out directly with your patron. If you haven't caught on to it, then allow me to enlighten you. They approached us because they need something from us. You're quite wrong to think you're on the inferior side with no say."
"As for the specific help you need from me... Fine, I accept."
As if to seal the deal, she closed her hand on the grief seed Celeste had place on her palm earlier. She was suspicious earlier, but from the way this girl couldn't keep things together, she was more likely to be a danger to herself than to Erica. There was no need for her to take any more extra precautions than the usual.
"We can talk more when we get to that cafe. I'm surprised you kept drinking that one."
Rules? She hadn't been told of them as rules so much as it was just something she wasn't supposed to show civilians. Another thing to add to the pile of grievances she would have to find out. She sagged a bit as Erica mentioned her inability to explain more of the rules to her, pointing out that it would be best to simply talk to the one who approached her. Perhaps somewhere deep inside she had suspected that to be the case but had been dreading the interaction significantly. At least she now had a good grasp of the various topics she would have to seek details on. Erica's comment about not being the inferior side and having some say in the matter did make her feel a bit better about the upcoming topic, but it was nothing compared to what she said next.
"Oh, thank you, thank you very much!"
Celeste's entire visage brightened significantly at this simple declaration that she would help. It probably didn't mean much to Erica but it meant the world to Celeste that she wouldn't necessarily be alone in this frightening task. She looked down spotting the girl closing her hand on the grief seed and accepting it thus completing the arrangement. With that firmly out of the way, Celeste could finally feel herself starting to relax a bit, loosening her grip on the empty tea cup. It was at this point Erica commented on her tea and she felt inclined to defend it.
"Well, I paid for and made it, of course I have to finish it. It still tastes good, far worse than if it was still warm, but still good."
As they approached the café Celeste made up her mind to have a chat with the one who had given her the powers she could now wield and discuss the details of the arrangement properly but it would have to wait until after tea.
The skin LIGHTS OFF was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
HALATION was created by KOJIHIME. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
