Therese just nods, with a disappointed look down onto her own
hands. She had hoped that some of her magic had worked... though
with a deep breath in, she huffs and clenches her fists, now filled
with determination once more and sitting down right in front of
Luna, taking out a notepad and pen and writing, now deeply immersed
in her own world of theorycrafting.
The peek into her notebook was anything but educative, as her notes
are a madman's scripture of electric symbols, calculations, innate
ramblings in changing fonts and small drawings. The page Luna was
looking at right now had the title "Magiedissonanz" -> Magic
dissonance with several symbols and a small doodle of several
mages, being surrounded by jagged lines. Therese was now deep into
thought, now in her own mind palace.
Mary-Sue hesitated before slowly going up to Therese and Luna,
promptly sitting down. She didn't say anything as she didn't wanna
intrude or scare one of them. She twisted a finger in her hair. She
was deciding what to say if she said anything at all.
she wants to dance like uma thurman /
bury me till i confess
Luna peered over Therese's shoulder and got a stick to start making
runes. She weaved around Therese with symbols. And then, her eyes
went white and then red, the runes glowed the same color, then orbs
of water started dancing around them. "РАСШИРЯТЬ!" she whispered to
the ground and Therese was in a half water bubble. Luna stepped in
and froze the water, letting down her hands and sighing. "That took
a lot out of me. This should help you concentrate." The ice was
kind of... singing.
Therese gave a silent nod, followed by taking out a piece of paper
and edging in her own runes, before whispering into them. Nothing
could be heard but... a glance at her eyes shows that she spoke
into the stick with devotion and passion. Following that, she
lifted the stick and while the bubble around burst, the voices
remained, now accompanied by a small orchestra of magic. Therese
looked over to Luna... and just gave a little smile, before
resuming her book.
Luna sat, eyes wide with curiosity. Maybe if she found her father's
journals, she would learn more. She tinkered with some ice in her
hand before looking around. She then thought for a second,
pondering the location where her father would keep his journal. She
got and idea and whispered to Therese, " Sorry if this bothers you,
but have you heard of Caspian Regium?"
Therese makes a wavy motion with her hand, before simply writing
"Who is that again?" on the ground, shrugging and looking at the
orchestral magic around them. It was a nice combination.
You know the first rule in combat?
Shoot them before they shoot you.
Luna shrugged. "I don't really know, but apparently he was my
father. The people who tried to take care of me said I had a
brother, but I don't really care if he exists or not."
Therese looks at her notebook, replying. "Sounds like a complicated
family. My condolences." She folds the notebook away and gives a
little sigh, she did not know what to do in a situation like that.
Luna grinned. "Yeah, I guess. The place I used to live ran out of
money, and I got evicted, but, that was a day before I came here.
She held up a frosty perfect sphere of ice, "At least I don't have
to work at that ice cream parlor anymore. The customers there were
always so demanding. And, half the time, they didn't even pay, so I
had to freeze their feet and get in trouble for it."
Therese gives a bit of a condescending look towards Luna but at the
same time, berating her for a poor business practice like that
would not sound like something friends would do. That is more the
job of an advisor. Instead, she pulled out her notebook and
wrote.
Royalty is my birthing ground but that was never for me. My last
social gathering before the school assembly was a decade ago, I
dislike the whole nobility thing. After my grandfather passed, I
would spend all day inside in my room, refining spells and potions,
learning. Much to the dismay of mother dearest, whose only heir was
a shut-in witch with the anatomy of a scarecrow. Didn't even give a
passing glance of sorts when I left. So I delved more into
learning...
You know how royal people are born with innate power from the
get-go? Well, I wanted to earn my powers. This is the
result.
Luna gave a weary smile, "Yeah, that makes sense. I never knew any
magic other than runes. I've memorized the most I can, but I just
really need my fathers notebook. At the same time, that also feels
like cheating. My kin- my boss told me about making your own
progress without looking at someone elses."
Therese takes out a different notebook all of a sudden. It was just
about the size of her hand and, despite looking old and somewhat
gone with the age, it's starry cover and small galaxy-like spots
were still highly detailed. Opening it, she looks through and reads
a bit before showing a line. The formatting suggests it was a guide
book of sorts.
Rule #6: You know how everyone says that you have to work for
your own goal? That is correct but a bit too generalized. To ask
for help, to look at other things to get inspired. Those are things
artists of the past and inventors of the present share, to look for
other things and aspects. Things are never done from one point of
view.
Luna's spirits lifted, a sense of confidence replaced her doubt.
"Right. My dad was Caspian Regium, son of Cora Cretori, daughter of
David Cretori. All three have written in the journal. But," Luna
thought for a second," they have nothing in common except the
bloodline. My dad was a pyromaniac, which got him arrested. So, if
I look in the dungeons of Cretori..."
Therese sketches her own family tree, above though she first wrote.
"Sorry, I am not from here. I am not familiar with your customs and
families."
Her family tree was... well, about as convoluted as one would
expect from a reigning family. Lots of branches and branches... so
she took a red pen and make an (almost) perfect rectangle around
her closest relatives, along with outlining four people in fancy
red. Translated, the rectangle just read:
Therese Reuter von Klausius, daughter of the current governing pair
Günther & Isolde, granddaughter of a (native) legend "General
Teresio Klausius - The Persuasive Force".
"wow." Luna breathed. As she thought about it, she winced.
"Cretori's several leagues away. If I need something from there,
there is no way that I can get there if I'm here."
Therese shook her head a bit. "My homeland is at least a few
hundred imperial miles away... it takes a very long time to get
there, even by carriage." A thought came up and she wrote again.
"Sometimes, there are foreign shops in countries. I had a shop from
Cretori in my hometown. Perhaps there is one near here as well?"
Luna thought a bit. "Maybe. I can see if Malidum can get
contacted." She smiled. "Come on, I want to freeze the lake. Maybe
we can practice magic on thin ice so we know how to practice with
pressure."