Day 54: Lunch

[full_score]

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory

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[full_score]

Rita it was, then. She sure didn't seem like the most sociable person, but maybe she was just the sort who got down to business. Claude couldn't exactly blame her, especially with how strict the staff was about where they went, and for how long. When you had so little control over your time, it made sense not to want to waste it with small talk if there was something you really wanted to talk about.

He took a careful bite of his own fish, slowly chewing it. His appetite still hadn't completely recovered, but he felt like he was open to eating a little bit for now.

In the meantime, he listened to what Rita had to say. She wasn't the first person he'd met with an interest in learning more about heraldry, though this was the first time someone sought him out specifically for that purpose. Since she'd already talked to Leon, it sounded like she already had a somewhat solid idea of what heraldry was all about. Not a scientist himself, Claude wondered how much more input he'd be able to give.

"Sure, I'll do my best," Claude said with a nod. "I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I've been exposed to the basic concepts enough. My mother's a leading authority on the subject back home, and my father was the first known skilled heraldic mage on our planet."

[bodhiandspirit]

Claude's father was a skilled mage? Perhaps Rita was talking to the right guy after all. If Claude was an outsider to Expel, his father probably was as well... and yet he'd become proficient in heraldry use. That meant there had to be a way for Rita to use it, too.

"My biggest concern at this point is the usability of heraldry," she said as she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. "I was told that to use heraldry, you need to be born with the 'Blessing of Mana'... but I also heard that there's a technique that allows even outsiders to use it." Leon had suggested that applying symbols to one's body could have that effect... but he didn't know the details of the process. Perhaps Claude did. It was plausible, considering his family history.

Rita stuck another piece of fish onto her fork and, before putting it in her mouth, asked, "Do you know anything about that?"

[full_score]

It was good to know she'd had a good talk with Leon beforehand. Out of the two of them, he was the more solid authority on the subject. Now that he knew Rita had a basic understanding of the concept, that made Claude's position a little easier.

"Some cultures refer to the ability to use heraldry as the 'Blessing of Mana', yeah," Claude said. "Under most circumstances, it's not a talent that can be learned. As far as I understand it, the theory back home is that it's largely hereditary, and probably from a recessive gene. If two heraldic mages have a child, for example, odds are they'll have the same ability. But if the Blessing of Mana is only present in one parent, then the odds are a lot lower."

They couldn't discount other possible factors, of course, but so far that seemed to be the most plausible explanation. It would explain why Claude himself hadn't shown any proficiency in heraldry, and why there was such a disproportionately high concentration of heraldic mages in the village of Mars, a place steeped in culture and traditions that weren't influenced by outsiders.

Claude took a small bite of fish and slowly chewed as he considered his next words.

"Some heraldic crests can be applied on weapons or machinery to give them power, regardless of who's using them," he continued after a moment, "but casting spells generally requires an innate ability to use heraldry."

[bodhiandspirit]

"Hm... so it has those kinds of applications, too..." Rita mused, mostly to herself. Guy had mentioned that heraldry could power machinery, but he didn't seem to know many details beyond that. It seemed that heraldic crests could potentially be as versatile as Rita's blastia formulas. "Since the system is mana-based, there's a chance that it could be used on my world as well."

Of course... that was only if Rita could return in time to deal with the Adephagos. If she didn't make it, she would no longer have a world to return to. For a moment, Rita's gaze turned distant as she thought on her present situation. There was another reason for her interest in heraldry, and that was the fact that she needed all the firepower she could possibly come up with right now.

"I've also heard that such symbols could be applied to a person's body, to allow them to use power they couldn't access before," she said, paraphrasing what Leon had said the night before. If Rita could learn how it was done, she could add heraldry to the few weapons she had in this place. Once she had enough power at her disposal, she'd have Landel begging for forgiveness.

[full_score]

Claude didn't see why it couldn't be used on Rita's home planet. As far as he was aware, heraldic crests weren't overly dependent on environmental factors. Then again, he wasn't exactly a top expert on the subject, either, so who was he to say?

Some part of him wondered if he ought to feel bad for even having this conversation with Rita in the first place. After all, he probably wasn't in any position to encourage people from other worlds to adopt foreign sources of energy. Considering the way Earth had taken this method from an underdeveloped planet, however, it didn't seem as serious as, say, showing her the inner workings of his phase gun. Not only that, but she'd already been exposed to other forms of technology just by being here. It couldn't really be helped, could it?

When she brought up the way symbols were placed on a person's body, he grew still for a moment, paralyzed by the brief reminder of that horrible white room and the buzzing of a tattoo needle. Claude shook himself out of it, though, as he tried to focus on the conversation at hand. Get a grip, he inwardly chided himself. Under normal circumstances, talking about that wouldn't have been a big deal at all. Now wasn't the time to falter, either.

"Yeah, that's, uh...that's right," he said with a nod. "Some people have them permanently inscribed onto their skin. That way, they won't get separated from a crest they might need later."

[bodhiandspirit]

That was odd. Claude had seemed so friendly and open when she first met him, but now he seemed strangely nervous. Was it because of Rita's line of questioning? She was reminded of something Kratos had said earlier, about the messiness of similar processes. Was there a negative side to heraldry tattoos that she was unaware of?

If there was, it was all the more reason for Rita to want to know more. She wasn't prepared to give up on her ideas just yet; not while there was even the smallest chance of it working. Rita needed the strength to break out of here, and to get back home. Making people uncomfortable was the least of her concerns.

"If there's anything you know about the process, I want to hear about it," Rita pressed on, locking her eyes on Claude's.

[full_score]

He shouldn't have been surprised that Rita wanted to hear more about it. The process itself wasn't so strange to discuss once one was familiar with the basic concepts of heraldry. Claude straightened in his seat, drawing in a small breath. His personal experiences had no place in this kind of talk.

"It's...a pretty straightforward concept, really," he explained at length. "If you have a crest tattooed onto your body, and you've got the 'Blessing of Mana', then you'll have access to that symbol's power."

Claude took a drink of his water and set down his cup again. "I've been to a village where that was the common practice," he added. "There aren't any negative side effects or anything." It was just like getting any kind of tattoo, except obviously heraldic symbols were special.

Part of him didn't want to acknowledge that he had an example of the very thing Rita was asking about underneath his sleeve. While showing it to her would have simplified the conversation, Claude wasn't comfortable enough to reveal that about himself. He glanced away from her gaze for a split second before offering her a smile.

[bodhiandspirit]

No negative side effects. That's what Rita wanted to hear. Claude's impression that the process was straightforward was also encouraging. Using heraldry was beginning to seem less like a hypothetical dream and more like a goal that could be achieved within days, with proper planning and execution.

"Then there shouldn't be any problem if one were to attempt it here... right?" Rita was aware that she was making her intentions obvious, but it wasn't as though she had anything to hide. It had to be somewhat obvious from the way she kept digging for specific details, anyway. As for the heraldry crests, she supposed that the actual process of tattooing a symbol could require some innovative uses of institute supplies, but Rita was sure the building contained everything needed for that.

"That just leaves the symbol itself," she went on, picking up Leon's notebook and looking through it. She stopped at one of the pages detailing his heraldic spells, running a finger over one of the intricate symbols. "Maybe one of these spell crests would work..."