Finished [Aslan City] Salting The Sea (1x1)

[Spoiled Bread]

This RP takes place in the Grand Duchy of Roran, following after I Summon Thee!. After passing the summoning class, Aqua asked for Phoebe's help to train her water magic and fight her fear. They seek a secluded rocky beach at the outskirt of the city for the training spot.

Cast:
Phoebe Penrose Clockwork_Magic
Aqua Spoiled Bread
​

---

​

---

She knew that she's the one who insisted on training on a beach as she also wants to fight her fear of the sea, but now that they're here, she felts like she just wants to go home. Aqua looked rather pale as she gazed warily into the ocean, as if a monster would jumped out of it and attack her any moment. Pinching her own face, she reminded herself why she's coming here for and recalled her resolve about becoming a strong-willed person.

Thankfully this place was a perfect spot for her. Its secluded enough that no one would see other than Phoebe if she somehow do something embarrassing, its close enough to the sea to expose herself to her fear but not open enough to the ocean to overwhelm her. Stepping into the sand, Aqua noticed that not only the place had plenty of boulders and stones of varying size, but tiny shards of rocks were also scattered throughout the beach and buried underneath the sand, making it unsuitable for people to play on. Guess that's why there's no one here.

"I-I-I-I-I'm r-r-ready...!" She said nervously to Phoebe and shakily pointed her staff towards the water as if she's going to fight the sea itself.​

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

The place Aqua led the 2 was certainly a ways away from civilization. Not that Phoebe minded, it was still a pretty and cozy little cove. As long as Aqua is comfortable with it, there's no reason to make a fuss. Not like there would be one to make with a nice place like this, a wonder that this place doesn't have as many people frequenting it. And today, it was their own personal magic training ground.

Aqua's seeming determination to fight the sea itself drew a lighthearted chuckle out of Phoebe. "Good enthusiasm, but I don't think the ocean is gonna put up a fight anytime soon! Well, no better time to get started than the present!" She clapped her hands, as if she were a teacher at the head of a classroom. "Let's see... you said you wanted to conjure and control water, so let's just focus on the control bit first! Good control is the back bone of a lot of magic, so let's get you used to controlling the flow of water using magic before trying to create water. Just go ahead and try lifting some water in a ball or arc out of the sea! Don't worry if you don't get it the first time, take as long as you need, we have all the time in the world right now."

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

"R-R-Right!" That's true, Aqua thought. She was too tense for what's supposed to be a simple training. She slightly lower her staff, just enough to make it point to the sea while keeping her muscle relaxed. She started to quickly recite her incantation and soon enough a large ball of water emerged from the sea in front of her. For someone who was trying a new type magic, she didn't seems to have any difficulty at all.

"W-what next?" She said nervously to her mentor as she try to keep the water ball afloat, her eyes glancing nervously at it as if it might explode anytime soon.

Action:
1) Use Magic E, Water Affinity F, Magic Range F, Magic Area F and Spell Duration F to conjure a 15 ft water orb

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

"Oooh, not bad." It was a pretty good start considering Aqua had mentioned that she couldn't do water magic before. "We can probably take it up a few notches. Let's see... Give me a minute." As Aqua was maintaining the ball of water in the air, Phoebe went over a couple of feet away from Aqua, around 30-ish feet, and gathered whatever dried grass, washed-up pieces of wood, or really anything that could be set on fire and gather them all into a small pit in the sand that she would dig.

"We'll go with this setup, now..." With the snap of her finger, a single bolt of lighting shot forth from her hand, striking and igniting the gathered fire materials. "How about a little challenge, Aqua? Extinguish this fire with that orb of water and however many more you need to draw from the sea, but..." A few orbs of mana formed around Phoebe as she stood behind the fire pit. "I'll be using my own spells to try and intercept your orbs. Being able to focus under stress and react quickly are key skills in a lot of magic situations, especially if you're out in the world adventuring. This should be a good way to kill 3 birds with one stone. Don't worry, I'll tone it down from what you've seen me use before, you'll be able to evade my orbs if you time it right and you won't be in any danger with my selective magic skills."

Phoebe gave a reassuring smile to her pupil, a silent 'you'll be fine' before speaking again. "Whenever you're ready, Aqua. Let me know if you need to take a break." And with that, she readied herself for Aqua to begin the challenge.

Actions:
1) Magic F, Componentless Magic F, Lightning Affinity F, Focus F to create a small lightning strike to set the fire
2) Prepare [Magic Bullets E]- Magic E, Componentless Magic E, Magic Range E, Magic Targets F, Selective Magic E, Focus E, Energized E to intercept Aqua's orbs

• Phoebe focuses her mana into spheres of concentrated magic, manifesting around Phoebe, that are then shot towards the targets. Targets must be within 100 feet of Phoebe at time of casting. Spell can target up to 5 enemies at the same time.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

"Ah, A c-hallenge. Got it!" Aqua was starting to her mind into the training as she gradually forgot that they've been training next to the sea. Her movement became less sluggish and her complexion less pale as she pointed her staff towards Phoebe while think of a strategy to defeat the challenge. Attacking head on would definitely be a no go as she's 100% sure she wouldn't be able to overpower Phoebe's magic, but defeating her wasn't the objective so she must focus on what she really needs to do.

"Here I come!" The crystal on her staff shine brightly as she ordered her 15ft water orb to move. Yet instead of sending the orb directly towards the fire, she instead placed the orb above it. Letting it loom over the area before cancelling her spell, with most element cancelling the spell simply mean it would vanish, but not with water. As it's a spell that control already existing substance, her cancelling it mean she simply let gravity do its job, and rain down 15 cubic ft worth of water over the area.

Action:
1) Move the water orb above the fire and then cancel the spell

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe nodded as Aqua announced she was beginning her approach. The magic bullets she prepared before hand began firing towards the sphere of water one by one, being sure to keep the trajectory a straight line and not have it follow the target like usual for the sake of fairness. As Aqua's orb neared the space over the fire, she sent a bolt of magic its way. For a second, Phoebe thought she'd gotten it, that was until the water simply fell onto the fire.

"Well done, Aqua!" Phoebe couldn't help but smile as felt a strange sense of pride, even though she had lost the challenge to Aqua. The confidence she showed in that trial wasn't something she's seen as much in the short time that she's known her, all the better to see that she was slowly but surely beginning to grow that feeling! "You think you can manage to conjure up some water from using mana now?" She called over to Aqua as she started gathering more fire materials into another pit. "I'll light another fire, but this time, see if you can't conjure directly over or on the fire! After that, we could see how you put it all together in a friendly little duel to see how you work under pressure! Who knows, if we finish early maybe we could go for a little swim or something!"

As Phoebe finished her little preview of the next steps in the lesson plan, she had just about gathered enough materials for a new, slightly larger fire pit, which she once more set aflame with a snap and quick bolt of lighting. "Remember, the clearer you can picture it in your head, the easier it will be! If you're having trouble, listen to the waves next to you! Whenever you're ready!"

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

Aqua did a little joyful jump as her water managed to extinguish the fire. She didn't seems to hesitate anymore on expressing herself more openly, at least right now. It might be small, but she wouldn't forget this feeling of accomplishment and the approval from someone she's looking up to!

Still, the test wasn't finished yet as Phoebe set up a bigger fire and this time she needs to do the challenge directly instead of using sneaky tactic like before. Still elated from her previous accomplishment, Aqua nodded confidently. She took several steps closer towards the sea, listening to the gentle bobbing wave repeatedly crawling onto the shore. That's true, if she close her eyes and focus on the sound of the sea it actually gave her a relaxing fuzzy feeling. Like a nostalgic summer youth memory that she never had.... OK, let's not go that way.

"I'm ready!" Raising her staff to the direction of the fire, Aqua started to chant another spell. This was a different spell from the big slow water orb before. She wanted something fast, a simple bolt of water that can immediately hit the fire. Magic started to form at the tip of her staff.

Then it suddenly snapped.

"Ehh?!"

Maybe her focus was lacking, maybe she chanted something wrong, or maybe she's just tired but Aqua could feel a sharp pang inside her mind and the next moment she found her vision spinning as if she just get off from a roller coaster. The young mage wobbled around like a drunk person before her leg stumbled on a rock and sent her tumbling into the shallow water face first. A surge of memory flooded her mind the moment her face touched the seawater, rendering her immobile as she slowly sunk into the water.

Action:
1) Water Blast - Magic E, Magic Range F, Water Affinity F, Focus F - Shoot a bolt of water at a target 30 feet away - Grade E - 1 Post Cooldown E grade on cooldown

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe smiled to herself as she watched Aqua ready her staff and start casting her spell. Things were going pretty well so far and Aqua was showing good progress in both her control over water and in developing a better sense of confidence in her magic. The pink haired mage looked on, waiting to see what kind of water spell she could come up with, however, as it looked like Aqua was about to cast her spell, the water forming at her staff suddenly popped. The brief feeling of concern over that soon turned into panic as Aqua fell into the water.

"Aqua!" Phoebe rushed over to where she had face planted into the water. She grabbed hold of her arm before she could sink even further into the water, or worse swept out to sea, pulling her away from the shore and laying her by the fire she had made for the test to counteract the chill of sinking into the seawater. "Just sit tight Aqua, alright?" Phoebe knelt by Aqua's side as she concentrated her mana to cast the healing spell she created after the incident with the goblin nest she and Aqua had met during, the spell just so happening to be a water spell. Although it may seem counter-intuitive to most people to use water to treat someone who was just at risk of drowning, the water created by Phoebe's [Soothing Waters] acts as a temporary vehicle to deliver her healing magic, dissipating as soon as the job is done as to not create any more complications that would happen if the water were to remain.

A thin coat of the magic water formed around Aqua's face and her torso, Phoebe's efforts focused dealing with any seawater that may have gotten into her student and friend's respiratory system to stave off any pneumonia that could happen as a result. She also made sure to coat Aqua's forehead in the water too, in case she hit her head on something when she faceplanted into the sea. Aqua may not have been in the water for too long to warrant full use of Healing D, but with matters of health it's better to be safe than sorry. Not all things can be regained so easily as mana.

---

Action:

• Cast [Soothing Waters]- Magic C, Componentless Magic C, Healing D, Water Affinity F, Magic Range E, Area of Effect E, Selective Magic E, Focus C, Energized C
  • Every ally/friendly entity within a 50 foot radius of the spell's epicenter has their injuries wrapped in a cool coat of water which heal the wounds. After the healing process is over, the water disappears just as suddenly as it manifested. The epicenter of the spell must be cast within a 100 foot radius of Phoebe. Hostiles within the spell's area of effect are not affected.
  • Grade C - 2 Post Cooldown

Cooldowns:

• C Grade Abilities: 0/2

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

It's dark, it's silent, it's cold.

Aqua found herself upside down in the deep sea, violently getting thrashed by the merciless current as it dragged her into the abyss below. Her left hand was frantically reaching for something, or someone, yet the figure she was looking for was lifelessly drifting away from her. Realizing this she tried to look for comfort to her right, and she was horrified as she realized that her right hand has been holding nothing but a severed hand. She thought she could at least die peacefully... did she made a wrong decision? Would it be better if she just stays? Unfortunately, she would never know the answer to that question.

...

Aqua opened her eyes and found herself looking at Phoebe. The water that was enveloping her face was soothing, almost felt warm. Though the fact that her head was still inside water immediately sent her into panic. The girl suddenly flipped over to the side before she just let all the seawater and her lunch exited through her mouth. Normally she would feel embarrassed for vomiting in front of someone else, moreover this was the second time she did this in front of Phoebe. Yet Aqua didn't show her usual flustered face and was instead showed a defeated expression with what seemingly to be tears flowing down her eyes.

"I-I remember it." She said to Phoebe with a shaky voice. Still laying sideways on the sand, she hug her knees in a fetal-like position. "The death. MY death. my stupid death. T-the raging current, the sharp c-coral, th-the harrowing muffled scream, the red trail of bl-blood..." The girl started to ramble. Muttering short yet vivid descriptions one after another.

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe let out a sigh of relief when Aqua opened her eyes, about to ask how she was feeling before the girl turned around and threw-up. Well... she probably should have expected that... a natural reaction to almost drowning, getting all the water out of her system and all that. When she turned back around to face her, the look on her face wasn't one that Phoebe was expecting. Neither was what Aqua said next.

"Aqua..." She leaned forward and gently put a hand on the blue haired girl's shoulder, a soft look of sympathy and understanding on her face before speaking in the gentlest and reassuring voice she was capable of. "That must have been terrifying..." Hearing Aqua describe her death in vivid detail brought back memories of her own death. The screams, the gunfire, the bombers overhead and explosions around her as her homeland was burning to ashes. Her hand trembled for an instant before stilling herself for Aqua's sake. With a deep breath, she continued. "You've been through a lot haven't you? It's alright... It's alright now...."

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

Feeling the gentle touch on her shoulder, Aqua slowly wiped the tears from her face and changed into sitting position. Though she's still hugging her knees. Aqua felt what she would do to Phoebe wasn't fair. The older mage had been a great mentor and an amazing friend, but instead of getting someone she can be proud of and relied on what she got was a messy person that demands her attention and validation, like a lost lonely kid thirsting for affection.

but, but, but, she felts Phoebe would understand this. Somehow, hopefully.

"C-can I... ramble for a bit?" Aqua looked at Phoebe, her eyes were still red from the crying.

"Astra, the succubus or the dino chef. I might be similar to them... a-a little bit, probably." She wasn't sure how to start this, but she had been holding this by herself for years and felts like it was the right time to unload it.

"When I was one year old, I was knocked down by a door." Despite the silly scenario that she had chosen as the start to her story, Aqua's voice was much more serious than before. "I lost consciousness for an entire day, and my parents thought I would die. B-but then I woke up, and I woke up with memories of someone from a much different worlds from this one."

"S-sometimes I wonder... if I am really someone with memory from another world, a metaphysical entity that took over a child's body, or a purely delusional kid. A-anyway, I never told my parents about this, I don't know what or how to tell them. They look so... normal, s-so happy. I'm scared of how they would see me if it turns out I'm an otherworldly alien impostor, or clinically insane." Aqua's body shudder at the thought of it, both her hands moved to grab the side of her hair next to her ears before she pulled it by clenching her fist. Her eyes were briefly closed as she used the pain to shoo away the horrible thought.

"F-for a time, I tried to tell the friends I trust about it, but t-they just thought I was weird and made fun of me s-so I stopped telling them, and I stopped going outside. I-If my memory right, I should be be 20 years when I died, and I was bullied by kids 1/5 my age..." The realization sunk her morale even lower, Aqua's shoulders were slumped further making it looks like she was melting into her robe. Though she felts somewhat refreshed after telling all that.

"S-Sorry! Out of all things I can do I choose to trauma dump... P-p-p-please just ignore, everything I said. It's all just meaningless rambling." Finally going back to her flustered self, Aqua picked up nearby half-charred firewood and started hitting her own head with it.

"Forget it! Forget it! Forget it!"

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe silently gave a nod, a silent ok for Aqua. The best thing she can do now for her friend was to listen. And listen she did, intently, to every word that Aqua had to say. Until...

"Aqua!" Panic and concern drove Phoebe's instincts to lean forward and grab Aqua's hands before she could hit another time. "It's alright... Just... please, don't hurt yourself anymore..."

"You're not insane or an imposter, Aqua..." Phoebe took a deep breath before continuing. "And it's not meaningless." It really must have weighed on her throughout all those years, those she did tell ridiculing her for it. It must have been very isolating indeed, to go for a long time not knowing if you were the only one like that around in an alien place. Aqua was brave enough to tell her story, now it was time for Phoebe to do the same. It was time for her to let her know she wasn't alone.

"Well... truth be told... I'm just like you, Aqua. I... was born into this world but I... my soul came from another world... I think I was around... 5 or 6 years old when it happened to me... My parents were mages themselves, so they had quite a few magic tomes back home in the study. One day, I got a little curious what they were reading, so I reached for a book on the higher shelves..." A light chuckle escaped her as she recalled that specific memory. "Of course, I couldn't grab it, just a corner of a lose book by the edge of the shelf... and it fell on me, directly on my forehead. And while I was out... it felt like I had an extremely long dream..."

"A very long, very vivid dream... Memories... of the life of young woman, an aspiring author, whose life was cut short when her homeland was burned to ashes by airplanes above... I was just in my second year of university..." Phoebe went silent as a somber look washed over her face, averting her eyes as she downwards. After a few seconds passed to the sounds of gentle waves crashing and the fire next to them crackling, her eyes once again met Aqua's.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't have the same kind of thoughts that you do, Aqua... That I took their little girl from Phoebe's parents... But you know what? I realized that just wasn't true... Memories from another world or not, second life or first, I am still and always will be my parents' daughter, Phoebe." She removed one of her hands stopping Aqua from hitting herself with the firewood and gave the blue haired mage a few reassuring pats on the head along with a warm smile. "The same goes for you, you know? You said it yourself, your parents were so happy raising you. Because they love you. Because you're their little girl, and I don't think the existence of your first life will change that."

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

"Y-you too?" Aqua's eyes widen when Phoebe decided to confess her origin, she carefully listened to the story and was horrified when Phoebe told her about some bombing. She did thought she wouldn't be the only one that came from another world the moment the professor let Astra stay but she never thought Phoebe had such similar origin as her. On one hand she felts rather silly as she always acted with the assumption that she's the only one that came from another world, on the other one she was relieved that she wasn't the only one. That means if she looks hard enough she might find someone from the same world as her, preferably from the same era, maybe even from the same country!

"Y-you are strong, Phoebe. Y-you didn't choose death, and you adapted well here. I-I'm gonna tell my parents about it later, I don't know how or what to tell them, but I will!" For years she had been stuck in this particular thing, but Phoebe was right, even she knew that her parents love her. It's time for her to face the conclusion of her origin and move forward. Before that though, there's something else that she's curious about,

"C-can you mention any president of America?" It's a simple test to see whether they come from the same world. Phoebe mentioned that she's a university student with airplanes around. That means she's from a somewhat modern world, but is it the same world?

 

[Clockwork_Magic]

Phoebe Penrose

Interactions: Spoiled Bread
Languages: Common | [Terran]​

---

Phoebe's smile grew as Aqua voiced her determination to tell her parents. "I'm sure they'll understand, you'll be alright! Heck, between you and me, I haven't even told mine yet. It's a really brave thing for you to do, Aqua!" She gave another pat on the shoulder before retracting her hand.

"America? No, I don't think I know of a place like that, I'm afraid, but I feel like I've heard the name somewhere before..." Phoebe sat on the thought for a second. Now where did she hear that name... She didn't have to think for long, searching through the memories of conversations about other worlds she's had didn't take that long at all on the account that there was only one other time it happened. "Ah, right! It was the time I went to the bottom of the Continental Lake. The halfling girl I was with asked me if I knew a place called 'Earth.' No idea what that was but I assume it was the name of the planet, since she went on to name a bunch of countries, America, Ja...Japin...? I don't really remember any more names, but none of it rung a bell until she brought up technologies this 'Earth' had like cars or television. Although I still don't know what an 'Internet' is." She gave a little chuckle.

"Kinda makes you think about what kind of worlds are out there. It doesn't sound like this 'Earth' is much different from my own world from how she described it. But hey, looks like you're not alone from your world! I may not be one of them, but you can always send me a letter if you wanna talk about it or want another magic lesson, anytime, anywhere!"

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aqua
​

Aqua's shoulders slumped a little when Phoebe said she didn't know anything about it. She thought it would be great if it turns out they both came from the same world, They can do things like reminiscing their old memories together. Aqua felts like her old memories were gradually fading the older she get, and while she knew that forgetting unused memories was a normal thing, she didn't want to forget about her previous life. No matter how miserable and pathetic she was there.

Of course she perked back up when Phoebe mentioned that someone had talked about America, Japan and even internet to her before. Continental Lake, Hafling girl... Aqua glanced to the sea next to them. It was only today that she exposed herself to the sea, she couldn't imagine scouring Continental Lake to find a person. Although, now that she realized the root of her fear and the confirmed existence of other people like her, going into the sea didn't sounds that bad.

"T-thank you for... everything today. I-I will write you a letter once I tell my parents!" Finally wiping off all the tears from her face, Aqua ran towards the sea, letting her boots partially submerged by the water. She then bowed towards the horizon.

"I'm sorry for blaming you for all my issue!" She said towards the sea, "I have been running from my problems all my life. In this one or the previous one. b-but I will do my best to be a better person. Thank you for the second chance that you gave me!"

As if answering Aqua's vow, a gigantic whale emerged in the distance. The whale let out a majestic groans that shakes the sea as it jumped over its back. The creature's eyes met with Aqua's and for a brief second the girl felts a sense of bliss washing over her. Like whoever sent her into this world just gave her a big nod of approval.


================================


A few weeks later, Phoebe would find a letter delivered to her:

Dear Phoebe,

I hope you are in good condition. Just like I said on the beach, I did tell my parents about my situations. I told them everything, my past life, my life here, what I think. Their response was, honestly... underwhelming. I don't know what to expect, but they simply listened to me and accepted me with a smile. Parts of me think they already know about it, the other parts think they just didn't fully understand the situations.

but it's enough. The fact that they accepted me for what I am is enough. It's like the burden on my shoulders have been lifted.

Next time you come around here, please do pay us a visit. We will give you a thank-you party!!

Sincerely,
your #1 apprentice
Aqua
It's fine if I call myself like that, right?
​

===== RP CONCLUDED =====​