Day 58: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of

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[full_score]

"You're telling me," Claude muttered. Where did they keep something like that, anyway? Or had they been transported to another world specifically so they had to fight that thing while rescuing Anise at the same time? It was a little unnerving to think their captors had those sorts of capabilities, but it would make sense. A lot of people here had already been transported back to their own homes, after all, although he had to admit it still wasn't clear whether it had been real or a holographic illusion of some kind.

Either way, there was no sense on dwelling on that for long. Rita probably wanted to know why he'd approached her, and she soon steered the conversation toward the book in his arms. Claude gently placed it onto the table next to his tray (which looked a lot more appetizing than what Rita had, he guiltily realized).

"Yeah, I did," he confirmed with a nod. "Thanks for taking care of it. I really appreciate it."

Claude paused a moment, hesitating. He wondered if this was such a good idea. He and Rita weren't good friends, and sometimes he got the feeling she tolerated him more than anything else. On the other hand, she'd never been outright mean to him before, so maybe he was just over-thinking things.

"I...was thinking of learning how to do some heraldry," the blond added at length.

[bodhiandspirit]

That was unexpected. Rita looked up from her notes again, her eyebrows raised.

"You? ... What brought this on?" If she remembered right, Claude was the son of a skilled mage and a magic researcher. If he wanted to learn heraldry, he should have had countless opportunities before. Did something change since arriving at the institute...?

Perhaps it was simply the hopelessness of having such limited mobility and ability that pushed people to seek out new power. If that was it, then Rita could certainly relate.

[full_score]

That was a fair enough question, especially considering his background. Claude rubbed the back of his hand with his uninjured hand, unsure of how much he should divulge. "Well, in truth, I wasn't physically capable of casting spells before I came here," he admitted. "I could perform special sword arts by channeling my body's energy, but I just didn't have the propensity for proper heraldry."

It was kind of funny, especially given who his parents were, but that was simply the way of things. He'd never felt bothered by it, but rather saw it as an opportunity to forge his own way. And yet...

"About a week ago, though," he slowly continued, "something happened to me. I can...well, I can do at least one spell now, but I haven't learned how to use it at will." Claude realized he was currently glossing over the gritty details of his torture session, but he didn't want to derail the conversation. Searching for the right words, his gaze drifted to the closed notebook on the table.

"I'll admit...at first I was angry that the doctors here had changed me somehow," Claude added with a small frown. "But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be really stupid to just let that kind of ability go to waste. This place already does what it can to keep us down. If it can eventually help someone, then..."

Well, that would make learning how to control it worth something, wouldn't it?

[bodhiandspirit]

A week ago... before Rita met him, then. Claude was probably keeping quiet about it on purpose. The institute's human experiments weren't something that people seemed very open to talking about, generally. Especially with strangers. She listened as Claude explained his situation, her expression serious, though she didn't betray any specific emotion.

"Yeah, it'd be stupid," Rita agreed, not bothering to mince words. When they had such limited power, choosing not to use one's full abilities was an act of complacency. Those who didn't want the institute to have its way were the ones who sought new and greater power, like Rita. That was how she felt, anyway.

While the institute's methods of experimenting on people was disgusting, Rita had to admit she was curious to know what had been done to Claude. If he told her this much, then perhaps he wouldn't try to hide the details... but maybe it was too soon to start prodding. If she seemed too eager to know the results, Rita knew it could seem as if she was validating the unethical experiment. Best to start with the easier questions...

"So? What kind of spell is it? Is it one that Leon wrote about?" she asked instead, since that was also a major point of interest.

[full_score]

At least Rita understood where he was coming from. Claude could imagine why some patients might try to discourage him from using something the Institute did to him against his will, but this wasn't the time to get hung up over something like that. The odds were too stacked against them.

"It's...a healing spell," Claude admitted. "Leon didn't write about that because healing crests aren't known on Expel. The principle behind it should still be the exact same, though." He took a sip of his water, refraining from eating his food for now. It felt rude to eat from the better menu in front of a "lower-ranking" patient, even if he doubted Rita would care much for sympathy. Besides, the conversation was a bit heavy, so it was hard to think too seriously about eating right then.

"It's true that some people are better suited for destructive spells than healing spells," Claude added, "but I already know I'm capable of performing one because of what the doctors did. That's why I wanted to look into it more."

He'd already lost friends in the coliseum once, and he'd seen people get hurt countless times since his arrival in the institute. If he could help prevent things like that from getting worse, even just a little, then Claude wanted to give it a shot.

[bodhiandspirit]

"Healing?" Rita gave Claude's bandaged hand another glance. "Looks like you could use it." On the bright side, if Claude started learning soon, he'd have something to use for practice. Unlike with superficial wounds, it would allow him to assess the potency of his own abilities. It was helpful to know one's limitations in advance, so there weren't any surprises when a dire situation came about.

"I don't use healing magic, but I've done a lot of research on it," she went on to explain. Chances were that if Claude was bringing all of this to Rita's attention, he could be interested in her help. Couldn't hurt to mention her qualifications.

Rita still couldn't quite guess what the doctors had done to Claude, but if he was so sure he could use healing magic, he had to have something to use as a starting point. If it was heraldry, then perhaps... "I'm guessing you have a crest for that spell of yours?"

[full_score]

Rita had a point. While Claude wasn't so sure they would let him retain enough power to heal an entire broken hand, he had mended a broken finger before. At the very least, he could speed the healing process along a little faster. Even with the institute's accelerated healing, two or three days seemed like an eternity. Waiting that long to properly use his sword again sounded a bit risky. So much could easily change within a single night as it was.

Besides, it was probably better to practice on injuries he got through fighting rather than self-inflected flesh wounds -- or worse, using someone else as a guinea pig.

If Rita had done research on healing magic, though, maybe he hadn't been wrong to approach her about his issue. She sounded like she would be the most knowledgeable out of everyone in Landel's about what he ought to do. Better yet, she was willing to continue discussing the situation with him. Maybe the fact it related to her field of study had piqued her interest.

"That's right," Claude said with a nod. "They...tattooed it onto my body." The practice was common among some groups of heraldic sorcerers, but it was still strange to admit out loud to someone he didn't know very well. The whole procedure had been horribly invasive, and Claude preferred to think of it as little as possible.

"I'm not sure about all of its properties," he quietly added, "but it's definitely a crest."

[bodhiandspirit]

So they'd placed a crest on Claude's body. It was a process Rita had even considered doing to herself, being desperate for a way to expand her magical abilities, though it was at that time that Claude informed her of simpler alternatives. After hearing him bring it up again now, she felt that she needed to see his crest for herself... but again, that would have to wait.

"I hate to break it to you, but Leon's notes aren't exactly written for beginners," Rita told him. She was able to make sense of them because of her extensive background in magic research. Someone who'd never tried to learn magic before was bound to be confused and frustrated before long. "However... if you're serious about wanting to learn heraldry, I might be able to put together a simplified guide, using more layman's terms."

Rita wasn't one to be too outwardly kind to others, but she did want to see Claude succeed at this, provided he was willing to make the necessary effort. It was best to have allies building their skills when their enemies were so powerful, and besides, his successes could contribute to her own research.

"I won't do it entirely for free, though," she added before he could get too excited. Claude was... well, she couldn't quite call him a friend, but he was useful and he didn't annoy her. Because of that, Rita didn't plan to overcharge him for her help. She just wanted a fair exchange of information.

[full_score]

When Rita pointed out the difficulty level of Leon's notes, Claude silently glanced toward the book beside his tray. He almost wanted to resent the implication that he wasn't sharp enough to glean information from what his friend had written (he wasn't stupid, and he understood many of the principles behind heraldry, after all), but he couldn't call himself an expert on magic. He'd never approached the subject as someone who intended to learn how to cast spells of his own, and it hadn't been his focus in school, either.

But apparently Rita was willing to provide him with a more basic guide, maybe even one that would suit his purposes better. Claude's expression brightened. "Really? Wow, I'd really appreciate that, actually."

When she mentioned a price, though, Claude paused, wondering what it was she meant. Not that he could blame her for wanting something, of course. She'd done such a good job of looking after Leon's notes, and she'd just volunteered to help him. If there was something he could do to help Rita somehow, then Claude was willing to do it.

"Sounds fair," he said with a nod. "Was there something you had in mind?"

[bodhiandspirit]

Good. Claude was quick to agree to Rita's suggestion of an exchange. Hopefully that wouldn't change once he heard her terms.

"The most valuable thing a scholar can have is knowledge, right? I want to know everything you can tell me about what those doctors did." She wanted to know exactly how a person incapable of magic could be made able to use spells. It would be understandable if Claude didn't fully understand the procedure himself, but there had to be some things he could tell Rita. And in addition to that... "I want to see that crest you mentioned, too."

Rita turned to a blank page in her notebook and tapped the top of the page with her pen, awaiting Claude's answer. If he agreed, she would start writing. If not... well, she would be disappointed, despite the lack of emotion in her expression. Rita really did want to learn as much as possible about heraldry, and about the capabilities of the institute's doctors.

[full_score]

Upon hearing what Rita wanted in return, Claude's expression grew more somber. He knew he should have expected something like that, but the request still made him more anxious than he would have liked to admit. His "sleep study" was a deeply personal thing. Most of the time he didn't even bother sharing it, although he supposed one of the pins on his beret already marked him as one of the doctor's guinea pigs. Regardless, he didn't like going into the ugly details.

But if that's what Rita wanted in return for her help, Claude figured he'd be stupid to say no. Some Federation officers might have balked at the idea of sharing that sort of information with her, but rules like that didn't mean much when they were all stranded here with so few resources at their disposal.

"Um...all right," he agreed. "I can't show you my crest without rolling up my sleeve, so is it okay if we put that off until later?" Hopefully Rita would understand that. Since his hand was broken, it made it difficult to do something like that discreetly. Besides, he didn't exactly want to draw the soldiers' attention, nor did he want to get slapped with a stupid dress code violation.

"In the meantime, though," Claude quietly added, "I'll...tell you what I know about the experiment. They didn't exactly explain the logistics of what they were doing, though, so I don't know how useful it'll be to you."

[bodhiandspirit]

As expected, Claude seemed uncomfortable with Rita's request. She knew she was asking him to describe something he'd rather forget... but she wasn't going to back down on that. Rita needed all the information she could get her hands on.

The military uniform was kind of a problem. While Rita was dying to see that crest for herself, she couldn't insist on something that simply couldn't be done. "I guess there's no choice, so... all right. We'll leave that for another day."

Since he'd agreed, Rita's pen began to move, and she started writing the promised explanation. "I'm listening," she told Claude, though it may have looked like she wasn't. Her eyes were on her writing, though her ears were focused on what Claude was about to tell her.