July 28, 199 NWC, ~15:00
Collab with
@LondotheGreat
Hibiscus Oswald
As Hibiscus made her way out of the classroom, she looked around for any sign of Essence, and spotted her, turning the corner. Hibiscus quickly ran after her, taking care not to break the oh-so-delicate crystals in her pocket, trying to signal Essence without talking too loud and disturbing anyone else, if they were still here, "
M-M-Miss Essence! I-I have a few m-more questions!...." Hibiscus said jogging up next to Essence, "
I-I'm sorry, I wanted to ask you a few more things, i-if that's ok…"
A rustling in Hibiscus pocket made her shudder, wondering if she suddenly broke the crystal Essence gave her, but instead Lyka poked her head out, "
Eh?... I thought we were done with this student council bullshit. Just go home already and maybe we can have some food. Maybe if we ask nicely, Almeida will give us more boo-" "
L-L-LYKA! P-PLEASE! Y-You're embarrassing me again… S-Sorry, M-Miss Essence."
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Essence Parker
With her mind occupied by the next task of the day, figuring out what she'd do until dinner, and more importantly, coming up with what she'd have for said dinner, Essence suddenly noticed she'd been followed.
"Sure, go ahead." Truth be told, Essence wasn't the most eager to start a Q&A, but she was polite enough not to let it show too much.
Kerr Underground
Kerr had slowly walked on, leaving Essence and company behind, until he heard the fairy from before start something that sounded like it'd be interesting. He immediately turned around to address it.
"Oi, wait, let the Fairy finish. You got someone providing you what I think they're providing you with?" Kerr slowly walked back to Hibby.
"If so, I'm in."
After a deep sigh, Essence spoke up.
"No apologies necessary. As you can see, I'm in a similar position." She then turned to Kerr.
"I think Stanley should have you go through the routine again."
"Oh, come on, I'm just having a little fun here. No need to get the mutt involved."
Stanley Barker
Stanley growled at the comment.
"Don't make me try to find out if biting you hard enough will wipe the taste of that kids blood out of my mouth."
Ruya Proudfeather
Ruya looked at the two with a tired expression.
"Essence, dear, I'll be off to spread my wings for a bit. You won't mind, right?"
Essence shook her head.
"Have a nice flight." With that, Ruya was off and Essence turned her attention back to Hibby.
"Sorry about all that, what did you want to ask?"
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Hibiscus nervously shifted from side to side, trying to get her words out. Finally she managed to think of what to say, "
M-Miss Essence. W-We all told you about our powers. D-Don't you have any too? W-Were they the reason you started b-being a detective in the f-first place?..." Hibiscus didn't want to seem rude to Essence, but, "
Y-You know a bit about us. I w-wanted to know a b-bit about you t-too…"
Lyka poked her head out from Hibiscus's pocket trying to watch the conversation with boredom. She'd really love to be drinking booze right now. She made it extremely obvious that she was extremely bored with the conversation already, complete with hanging motions and gun shooting her head. She also mimicked stabbing herself, but then quickly glanced at Hibiscus before sinking back into her pocket, realizing that was probably in poor taste due to what Hibiscus did on a regular basis. Of course, Hibiscus did not see a speck of Lyka, as she was too focused on conversing with Essence.
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A question about her magic? Essence hadn't expected that from Hibiscus. She didn't seem to be someone obsessed with other's abilities like some of the other kids, so it'd seem like Essence's introductions of her and her spirits at the start of her lessons would've sufficed. Had she been wrong in that assessment? In either case, there wasn't all that much harm in telling a bit about herself.
"No, I was a detective before being a mage. However, I did learn some skills that were helpful for investigations after becoming a mage."
"I've also had some training with these, picking up a trick or two." She showed Hibby the combat knife and pistol that she'd been carrying.
"Other than that, I've got the magic from bonding my the three spirits. Some of that helps with investigations, some of it helps in combat." Normally, Essence would never reveal her hand, but those putting in the effort would find it out anyhow, as keeping magic abilities hidden was nearly impossible. To that extend, Essence only knew a single person that seemed to be doing a great job at keeping everything about them hidden, even from a detective like her. Well, that was an entirely different story.
Still, just telling Hibby about all she had learned seemed too anti-climatic, for some reason.
As if she'd just blurt out most of her previously hidden character sheet. Luckily enough, Essence had a fun idea.
"How about we go outside to catch some fresh air? In the meantime, we can play a little game I've learned when I was young. It's fairly simple. Based on what you previously learned about me and my spirits, you make a guess as to what the magic might be like. I'll tell you how correct you are by saying 'freezing' if you're far off, 'cold' if your a bit off, 'warm' if you're close to it and 'hot' if you almost guessed it correctly."
Assuming Hibby would follow her outside, Essence gave a final clue upon stepping outdoors.
"I've got one ability to use for each weapon, and two abilities for each spirit, out of those sets of two, one is based on investigations and one on a more general supporting role."
Meanwhile, Kerr watched as the fairy put up a show, but he wasn't impressed. There was a fine line between being rebellious and being childish, and the fairy was crossing into the wrong side of it. Maybe he should give her a good example of how a real troublemaker did it? Then again, he'd rather not go through the 'routine' again with Stanley. Tough choices. Suddenly, a neat idea popped up.
"Oi, Essence, I'm gonna meet up with some old drinking buddies of mine. You no longer need me, right?"
"No, just don't cause any trouble."
"I wouldn't dare to." Kerr turned to the Fairy.
"Oi, Fairy, wanna come with?"
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Hibiscus looked down, terrified at the prospect of having to guess someone's powers, but it would be a good learning moment right? If Hibiscus ever had to know someone's power at a glance, this might even help her out. Hibiscus nodded, and followed Essence outside, trying to think about what her power would be.
Lyka popped out of Hibiscus's pocket at the mention of drinking, "
Ah hell yea! I'm down for that. See ya Hibby, good luck trying to guess that shit." She said, flying over to Kerr, and sitting on his shoulder if he let her. If not, then she flew near him, "
Where's this bar at, big guy?" While Hibiscus's face grew slightly pale. She didn't know whether or not Lyka would be safe with Kerr, but didn't say anything about it.
Instead, Hibiscus tried to think about Essence's game, "
W-Well…" She started, but couldn't really think of it much, "
I-Im not so good at guessing, b-but I'll try…"
Hibiscus knew a bit about Ruya, from how their talk went, and Hibiscus overheard stuff from between Kerr and Lyka, but knew nothing about Stanley. So to start, Hibiscus asked Stanley, "
Uhhh, S-Stanley, right?... Uhh. H-How did you meet Essence, and why did you become her spirit?..."
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It seemed like Hibiscus was up for the game, which was fun. However, instead of making a guess, she asked a question. The question made Stanley look at Essence, whom shook her head. She answered instead of Stanley.
"Let's just say we've known each-other for a very long time." It was clear this question had an answer that was a bit more loaded than the stories of Essence's other two spirits, and that neither Essence nor Stanley would easily share it. At a lighter tone, Essence added;
"Don't worry, you should still be able to figure out the magic."
Meanwhile, Kerr gave an earthy, rumbling laugh as the Fairy went along. If she wanted to ride along (and if she was small enough, considering Kerr isn't all that big himself at about a feet or 2 or 60 cm at most), so be it, he didn't mind that much. However... his speed was slow. Very slow. As a result, it'd take them a fair bit of time to reach their destination: a shady looking bar in a dark alley in the middle of what otherwise looked like an alley shooting off from a normal street in a residential area near the Academy itself. From the size of it, it seemed like it was regularly visited by spirits of a smaller stature than humans, such as Kerr himself. In fact, the average human would be a fair bit too big for most of the interior.
"This little place here is quite precious. It's become a hangout for a lot of us Academy-bound spirits. Oh, also, we're technically legal, but eh... you might still wanna keep your mouth shut about it. Just to be safe, you got me?"
As he entered, the heads of various spirits turned towards the door. About a dozen in total, with the only common trait being that they were all fairly small, with Kerr being among the tallest ones. Most of them were Fairy or Animal spirits.
"'Sup you fuckers!" Was Kerr's greeting upon entering.
"The usual for me, and one for the lass here." The usual turned out to be some sort of pretty strong home-brew that'd make anyone question its legality.
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Hibiscus pouted, thinking that if she knew Stanley's backstory, then she might have had an easier time guessing, but it seemed like that was a no-go. Hibiscus then tried thinking back to when Essence first introduced herself, as it was probably easier to figure out the spirit's powers before Essence's.
Her three spirits had said what they could do, "
Stanley can smell, Ruya has flight and sight, and Kerr can dig… and stuff..." Hibiscus said, thinking to herself as she thought about it. It seemed like that really was a big hint, "
Hmm. I'm guessing that Ruya is able to scout and share her vision with you. Stanley can follow the scent of a trail, but I don't know how he can apply his power that way. Kerr can dig, so his affinity must be earth, and something to do with that." Hibiscus had heard about how some creatures use echolocation to detect objects under the ground, "
Can Kerr… Use echolocation underground?..." She asked out loud, "
One for investigations, and one for support…"
Hibiscus then scratched her head with both hands and then looked back at Essence, "
Uhhh… I-It's hard to guess, b-but how close am I with t-those?"
Meanwhile, Lyka was at the bar with Kerr. It took a while to get to the bar itself, and neither said anything on the way there. The conversation would be better with some of the hard stuff, probably. At least Lyka had something to sit on, seeing as she was only a quarter of a foot high herself (about 7-8 cm). Lyke nodded in response to Kerr's suggestion, "
Got it, I don't want to ruin this for myself either you know."
Lyka herself got herself into the mood after Kerr greeted himself, "
Hell yea, now this is my kinda place!" She exclaimed. Normally she was stopped by Hibby from doing that sorta stuff, but it seemed like here spirits could let loose. Maybe she should visit this place by herself and get some alone time. Actually, now that Lyka thought about it, this was one of the only times where she had been separated from Hibby. Hopefully she was doing ok with the stuck-up student council member.
After Kerr ordered, and Lyka took a look at it, inhaling the aroma. She then coughed into her hand, "
Wow, that's strong!" She said, then started to drink it, albeit with a straw as it was slightly too large for Lyka to grab. It definitely was strong, and Lyka blew out some breath after drinking, "
Hooo, that hits the spot! I don't get to drink the hard stuff that often, but when I do, it's always good!" Lyka said, sitting on wherever she was supposed to and turning towards Kerr, "
How long have you been to this place anyways, was it before or after you started working with you 'partner'" Hibiscus said, throwing airquotes around "partner".
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As Hibiscus' guesses started, Essence replied.
"Hot for Ruya, warm for Stanley, hot for Kerr." She nodded.
"That's a strong start for the guesses towards the investigative abilities. I'll give you some hints. If Ruya herself would scout, we wouldn't be in contact, so the bonded magic wouldn't work. The same goes for how Stanley would share what he learns about scents. Echolocation is mostly used in empty spaces or underwater, but there are similar ways to go through the earth."
Kerr took place at the bar as he downed the drink in one go.
"Before, the guy who created this place was a friend of mine. Shame he got caught selling drugs, especially since this business would've kept him going, meaning there was no need for it to happen." Kerr waved over at the guy behind the bar.
"Another." It seemed like the barkeeper was already expecting him to go for another, as Kerr was presented with the next drink in a matter of seconds.
"Eh, no need to dwell on the past. How about you tell me a story or something? Seems like you've got a weak enough partner to pull some fun pranks on without the risk of getting shot."
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Hibiscus thought harder about the powers. Ruya said she shared her power so, "
R-Ruya gives you her flight and sight?..." And about moles… What did moles use to traverse underground. Usually they were blind, but Kerr was not, but maybe his power still worked the same way, "
D-Does Kerr feel vibrations in the ground?..." Hibiscus didn't know the term for it, so she just guessed what he did. As for Stanely… She was apparently warm for him, but couldn't nail down exactly what he could do in that case. Hibiscus sighed, "
T-The only thing I can think of for Stanley is h-him sharing his scent abilities… T-To be honest, I'm not t-that good at guessing. I-I just wanted to learn a bit more about you s-since you didn't share that e-earlier, b-b-but!-" Hibiscus said looking at Essence in a panic, "
I-I still want to try and g-guess it! C-Can I have another hint?"
"
Drugs huh? Sucks." Lyka said, taking more sips of her hard stuff. Lyka leaned on her hand, groaning, "
You mean on other people or Hibby herself? I tried pranking Hibby, a lot, but she's way too innocent. Falls for everything, it just gets boring you know? So I stopped trying to prank her. I tried pranking her parents' servant one time, but he's waaaaaayy too smart for that shit. As for trying to prank police or something, if I was my own spirit I'd try it, but I don't wanna get Hibby involved. I kinda owe her a bit for bonding with me, cause I literally had no life before her. Apparently I was just a core in her garden sleeping for the longest time and only woke up because she found me. Maybe someday when Hibby dies and I'm unbonded I'll decide to do some of the more hardcore stuff. For now I can only flip off the student council and embarrass her. Ha. Speaking of which, how's it working with people so strict you can't do anything?"
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"Hmmm, you're hot for Ruya." Essence thought for a moment, then continued.
"I guess I'll count it as good enough. I'm able to use a projection of her to scout an area, so in a way she gives me her flight and sight." There was one more thing Ruya did, but that'd be up to Hibby to guess.
"Warm for Kerr. It's not about feeling vibrations, but about sending them. Have you ever heard of a radar? It's the same as that, yet for scanning the ground." Ah. Essence realized she just gave it away again.
"Oh, the second ability with him is quite the thing as well."
Finally, for Stanley's.
"Correct!" It was a simple sharing of scent ability, but useful regardless.
"Here's a clue for the second one, which is a bit embarrassing to use as a human, as it is normally just for canines."
Meanwhile, Lyka explained her tragic prankster history.
"Yeah, I getcha there. It's no fun when it's too easy. I guess it's also kind-off the same for me with Essence. She probably would've had an easier life if she just shot me then and there, but she didn't, saved my ass with it, as others probably would've finished that if she hadn't bonded me. Besides, there are some fun things as well, meeting folks like you and whatnot..."
Kerr waved over for the bartender, and a third drink was headed his way in no-time. He'd normally order one more for the Fairy as well, but with her size, she'd probably still be barely halfway the first one.
"Oh, and working with someone like Essence really makes you appreciate a place like this a fuckload more."
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Hibiscus had gotten enough hints by now probably. If she couldn't answer, she'd probably just disappoint Essence. Fortunately, Essence gave away his first ability, "
Sending out vibrations… Huhhhh...." As for the thing dogs did that humans found embarrassing, but was normal for dogs, "
Uhhhh… D-Does it have something to do with licking things?..." Hibiscus said, her face turning red, as it was quite embarrassing to think of licking someone else's face. Actually, dogs also licked their wounds, was it something like that too? "
A-And for Ruya… I-I've heard of wind being used to speed others up. Is that it? O-Or is her second ability like the first?..."
As for Kerr's second ability, Hibiscus had honestly no clue. She said his second ability was… Quite the thing as well? Hibiscus didn't understand it, but maybe it meant his second ability was something like that. Hibiscus tried to think, but unfortunately could not think of anything, "
I-I can't think of anything for Kerr. I-Is it mole-related at least?"
Lyka nodded in response to Kerr, feeling a slight buzz coming on, "
Yeaa. Do you at leaast get along with herr? I know you said fuck the estabblishment, but a partnerr is a partner, right?"
Hoo boy, this drink really was a doozy already, "
I gottaa come to this placce by myself sometiime. This drink is prettyy damn strong."
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Upon Hibiscus' mention of licking things, Essence broke out in laugher.
"Okay, it's not that embarrassing, luckily enough." The thought alone made the actual ability seem a lot less embarrassing. However, from what Hibiscus mentioned, it was clear she didn't have much of a direction to go by for guessing the other abilities.
"I'm afraid you're cold on all fronts, freezing even."
It didn't seem like Hibby would get much closer to getting the remainder of things, which, truth be told, might not be that unexpected.
"Well, don't worry about it for now, you've guessed three abilities, which is pretty good. Enough about me though, what about you? You said you used blood magic to heal people. That's not the most common combination. Did you specifically said out to train such an ability or did you roll into it?"
Kerr raised an eyebrow. Just how much of a lightweight was this Fairy? Sure, they were small, and the stuff they were drinking was pretty strong, but surely she was the type of gal to hold some liquor right..? Well, it sounded like he was wrong. At least she's be small enough to drag back.
"I mean, I guess. She's okay for letting me go to places like this without much complaints and whatnot." As he downed his fourth drink, he started to feel the effects himself as well.
"Yeahs, 's the good stuffs." He should probably stop there if he wanted to make it back to the Academy... A recollection of Stanley dragging him back came to mind, which was embarrassing enough for him to say 'no' to a fifth drink.
"We ssshould probably head back..."
As Kerr places some money on the bar, he turned to the others at the bar.
"I'll be back for... for.. the ehh... poker!" With that, he'd said his goodbye's and was ready to head out, likely dragging Lyka along with him. If the way towards the bar had been slow... the way back was even slower.
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Hibiscus sighed in relief and embarrassment. Apparently Stanely's other ability had not been licking, and was farther from the truth than anything else. It was very relieving to know that Essence didn't go around licking other people's sweat to tell if they were lying or not. Although she did wonder how exactly the other powers went, she couldn't guess any further due to lack of knowledge and smarts. Instead, Essence asked about her own abilities.
Hibiscus poked her fingers together, still slightly red from embarrassment, "
I-It's a bit embarrassing." As if she wasn't already embarrassed enough, "
W-Well, my father and mother were both m-mages, heh. My father didn't want me to b-be a mage, so he kept me home all the t-time. I wouldn't have become a m-mage i-if-"
Hibiscus cut off, feeling more embarrassed, "
W-Well, I was p-playing in the garden one d-day and. Sorta. F-Fell… Onto a r-rosebush... " Hibiscus was very embarrassed, smiling from embarrassment and looking away and even speaking quieter, "
Lyka's core was in the ground, and my blood spilled onto it."
Lyka on the other hand, was going for a ride on Kerr's shoulder once again, "
T-Thanks for the driinks. Next tiime I'll payyy." Lyka might have been able to hold her liquor, if she had actually drank more often. Usually the only times she drank were when other people let her…. Actually the only time she drank was with Almeida. This time the drink was way too strong and she was pretty dang small.
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Essence raised an eyebrow at that explanation.
"You bonded by spilling blood onto her core? That's the first time I heard of such a thing happening." It was technically not impossible, but a bond required some form of consent from both sides. Even Kerr had probably wanted it to some degree when she bonded him, other than merely to avoid the risk of being shot, so the idea that Hibiscus bonded with a spirit that didn't even know it was being bonded was odd at best. The obvious counterpoint was that the blood might have somehow gotten her back into her real form, after which the spirit bonded with Hibiscus, something they could have both unconsciously wanted to do. Considering it sounded like Hibiscus was sheltered, she probably yearned for adventure, and considering Lyka could have been stuck as a spirit core for a long period, attaching herself to the first thing she saw like a chick hatching from an egg wasn't far-fetched either.
"I think I've got it." That said, Hibiscus answer hadn't answered Essence's question.
"Anyhow, it still sounds pretty odd that you'd use blood to heal others, so I wonder how that kind of magic will develop in the future." She knew another example of healing through blood, but it was quite a bit different than this one...
"Kind-of like a reverse vampire." Essence had uttered it before realizing. Somewhere else, Kerr and Lyka were still on their long and slow way back towards the Academy.
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Hibiscus didn't know how best to explain why or how her blood spilling onto a core woke Lyka up and bonded them, it just happened, "
Y-Yea… I don't know how it happened, or why it's blood magic. Lyka doesn't know e-either. I haven't learned anything about my power since I got it, and the only abilities I have are the ones I s-started with...." Hibiscus didn't know what Essence meant by that it was odd of using blood to heal others. It was the only way she knew how, "
Y-Yea… I've been training, b-but nothing's happening. So I guess I-I'm more rolling into it. I-I've been trying to see if I can a-attack with the magic, but so far, all I do is hurt myself trying…"
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It sounded like Hibiscus was having quite the struggle dealing with her own magic, but that wasn't too surprising.
"It's not uncommon for new Mages to have some trouble figuring out how to use their magic, so just keep trying at a slow but steady pace. The only thing that sounded strange to me was the way you utilize blood, but since it's magic we're talking about, even that should have it's own rules about it."
Well, there was no point in thinking too much about it. Out of all the mysteries yet to solve, this one didn't quite capture her interest all that much.
"Well, I should be off soon. I promised I'd try making dinner for some friends..." It reminded her of that she still didn't know what she wanted to do for said dinner.
"You don't happen to know any great recipes by chance?"
Whether or not Hibiscus was able to give something (in the latter case she'd thank her for the suggestion), Essence would end up heading off with a
"Goodbye." At one point or another, Kerr would also finally return from the 'long' way back to the Academy with Lyka and head on his own merry ways.
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Hibiscus nodded, hopefully she'd be able to apply herself and learn something new soon. When Essence said she'd be off, Hibiscus smiled and waved, "
T-Take care. Thank you so much for talking with me!" And when Essence asked for recipes, Hibiscus giggled, "
I-I only know one, it was one that Almeida taught me, but I can tell you too!" And so, Hibiscus quickly told her of the delicious recipe for beef stew, although it couldn't be very super detailed because she thought time was of the Essence, "
A-And that's pretty much it, I may have skipped a few things, but that's about it! A-Anyways, I'd love to talk to you again sometime!" And if Essence already didn't have Hibiscus's number, she would give it to her.
After Essence left, Hibiscus sighed, then wondered when Lyka would get back. Probably the best thing to do would be to head to her dorm for the night, and Lyka would get there eventually.
And eventually she did! Lyka had said goodbye to Kerr and slowly flew her way back to their dorm. When she got back she celebrated, "
Hibbyyyyyyy! Wassuuuuuuuup-" Before collapsing onto the bed she had been hovering over. Hibiscus was worried for a second, but seeing as how she was snoozing peacefully as ever, Hibiscus moved her to Lyka's bed, then settled down for the night, feeling pretty lonely for once.
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Essence nodded. 
Essence was in thought for a moment, then smiled. 
Having written that all down, Essence looked at the class. 
First, the entire idea of bringing a combat knife into an area with hostiles around is to be able to quickly use it for self-defense. Having it inaccessible would be very counterproductive. Having it stolen from him by Ahn would also be entirely unexpected, for why would she steal his knife if she could transform and shoot him? Soldiers aren't primarily trained for betrayal either, they are trained to work as a team. While I agree he'd likely be trained to act first and think later, I believe that likely stopped the moment he tried calling in the object. Considering he braced himself in advance, Ahn's charge would be a good moment to think he might have screwed up by angering her. 
