don't wait for a knight in shinin' armor, your savior's reflected in the mirror

[perpend]

[That sure was a fucking thing. That execution was a fucking thing. Those secrets are a fucking thing.

Cabanela retreats to his room, but not for all that long. Everyone will get a note eventually, written in very neat handwriting

I do not plan on bowing down to threats and intimidation. If you did not act, it means you were, like me, aware of the risk, but decided against it. Your reasons are entirely your own.

Join me in the dining room if you agree enough is enough, and that you won't acquiesce to threats. I don't plan to let this stop me, and neither should you.

-C

In the dining room itself, Cabanela has set up coffee and tea for those who want it-- there's no food, because to be honest, he doesn't know how to cook. Two more candles have been lit-- he wasn't really sure what to do about the whole... parasite thing... so Fern's candle will have to make due.]

Comments

[firstaid]

Yes, so long as they have a Blastia, they're capable of magic.

[It's that simple, really. People just have to study in order to be able to use spells.]

I'm a rare being that's able to use healing magic without it. [Which may be why the world at large decided they wanted to use magic. The Children of the Full Moon are capable-- why not everyone else?]

Though the Blastia also double as technology and provide light, heat, and other now daily necessities.

[heritrix]

[Thanks to a conversation with Rideaux, she actually has some small context for this. He told Rin that unlike in his world, those in Yuri and Estelle's world have to use devices to utilize artes. Those must be the Blastias Estelle is talking about.

I thought it would be like a magic wand, but...]

I see. Those in your world lack the ability to draw on magical energy naturally then, and have found an outside source to fuel their spells instead. I was picturing a magic wand before, but that would make your Blastias more similar to an engine.

[firstaid]

I suppose that is an accurate way to say it. Rita, I've seen her use some sort of interface it study Blastia-- [It's something like a computer though she has no clue what a computer is.] --and she can change the formula within them to make them react differently.

[So it essentially is technology that allows the use of magic.]

Blastia themselves come in different shapes and sizes, but it's best to describe them as magic stones, not wands. People who use wands for magic are usually from fantasy books.

[Estelle... you use a stave to cast magic...]

[heritrix]

[Oh my gooood, so long as Rin never learns they're computers they can still get along. She hears formula and she's thinking "oh yes, a chemical formula, that's reasonable" because she's a simple girl who hasn't been put through the existential horror of what R5's afterlife was.]

Oh, that's just a term we use. Though mystic code would be more appropriate.

[Magic wands can be anything, as we learn from bad ends. Including human bodies reduced to a vegetative state. #just-fate-things]

[firstaid]

[In a sense it is a chemical formula too. Vesperia is a convoluted piece of shit canon that we love for some goddamn reason.

Oh right, it has a good cast.]

Mystic... code?

[She cants her head as she looks at Rin with confusion. That's... quite a term.]

So is that the engine for magic?

[heritrix]

[Rin shakes her head.]

No. Magecraft isn't the same as your artes. It wouldn't fit perfectly but if I had to use the same analogy, for a mage from my world, our bodies are the engines that produce magical energy. A mystic code is a tool to amplify that power.

[firstaid]

Oh, so it's like how I can amplify my healing artes with a blastia.

[The girl can do stupid amazing healing things with that.]

How intriguing. I bet Rita would enjoy speaking with you if she were here.

[heritrix]

I would probably enjoy that as well. It's not often I get to speak with other mages.

[firstaid]

Rita's considered rather eccentric, but I think you two would get along.

[They're both blunt, that's for sure...]

[heritrix]

[It'd be one or the other, that's for sure.]

Does she know that secret of yours?

[firstaid]

[Estelle nods.]

She does. She may have been the first one to figure it out.

[heritrix]

You're drawing your power from the world itself, then.

[Rin hums, considering. The words themselves might sound detached, as if they're being read from a textbook, but there's something about Rin's tone that's gentler.]

It must have been dying long before you came along, if your friend was able to notice it.

[firstaid]

Technically, the Blastia draw that power from the world as well, but I... use a lot more than a Blastia.

[But she can't not use her power when people are in need.]

It... may have been dying, but I'm just... speeding up the process.

[heritrix]

It's not like that can be solely attributed to you, however. Especially if these Blastia work the way you say they do, and moreso if other factors are present.

You said you were a rare person, but does that mean someone like you has existed before?

[firstaid]

[Estelle nods.]

If my dreams are correct, there was a full race of people like myself. They... sacrificed themselves to save our world when there was a similar crisis.

[heritrix]

One they created, probably. In that case, some of the burden is on their shoulders, too. It's fine to take some of the blame, but remember to evenly distribute it.

[firstaid]

No, it wasn't entirely them. At least I don't think. Just that they, as a people, were straining the world's natural resources so... they did something about it.

[By sacrificing themselves.]

Back then there were so many, yet... I'm just one person and I alone... am....

[She shakes her head.]

In any case, the remaining Children of the Full Moon started the Empire, I believe. Perhaps as some sort of bargain for... killing off their race. Perhaps that is why, despite my distant relations, they consider me royalty.

[So fun fact, Estelle is a very distant relation to the actual throne but legit got thrust the title of princess because stupid old white men figured out pretty fucking quickly she's a Child of the Full Moon and wanted her power.

That's also why she got trapped in a castle.

Yep.]

[heritrix]

[Estelle was always going to be a figurehead, then. It didn't matter if she had parents or siblings, or grew to be an adult. They'd always keep her under their thumb.

Processing that, Rin sighs and shakes her head.]

My point in the end is it's not all on you. I'm not going to praise you for using a power you know does more harm than good in the end, but as it's phrased up there?

[She points to the secret on the wall.]

That secret is wrong. You're not killing the planet just by being alive. You're one person, who was never taught better. The mistakes you make from here on are yours, but just living isn't one of them.

[So don't beat yourself up, alright?]