Magic For Sale

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd couldn't help but snicker quietly at Adel before finishing cooking and, keeping the food in the pan, brought it over to the table. "We don't need plates for stir fry, let's just eat." She said, hunger starting to set in now that she wasn't doing something. Grabbing some utensils for the both of them, she quickly sat back down and started digging in. She was hungry, man!

 

[SaphireTsuki]

He nodded, getting to work on the food. Of course he ate quickly, not noticing Aria from where she was staring at the two of them. "Thish ish goo" He said around the food, taking bites of the food overly calmly. Especially for him, as he usually shoveled it all in his mouth. "I'll ma-k di'er O'nigh" oh, he couldn't undestand that himself. Swallowing the bite, forcing the slightly-too-much food down his throaght, ignoring the slight pain, "I'll make dinner tonight."

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd smiled, shaking her head lightly. "Well, I would let you make it." She paused. "If I wasn't worried you'd burn down the whole castle." She finished, unable to hold back her laughter. It was as she was laughing that she saw Aria there, watching them. She stilled for a moment, then smiled again, a bit forced. "Would you like to come eat with us?" She asked politely, standing up to get another chair and set of utensils.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

"No, I'm fine. I ate a bit ago." while the two of them had been having their moment. Which she'd been surprisingly worried about. A small shake of her head and she was back to normal. There was no way that was even slightly adorable for a scene, no way at all. "I'll be waiting in front of the forest in ten minutes. Be on time, Adel." He nodded frantically, and she smirked... satisfied.

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd let her gaze fall to the table and said nothing, biting her lip slightly. Slowly her hands began to twist and rub against each other, a nervous gesture as much as the lip biting was. Finally she managed to gain her courage just as Aria was leaving the room. "Wait!" She called after the blond woman. "I wanted... Well, I wanted to ask you..." Taking a deep breath, she dropped into a bow and clapped her hands together. "Please allow me the honor of accepting your teachings and wisdom." She spoke formally, closing her eyes as she awaited the teacher's answer.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

An appraising look of the woman in question... and a stiff nod. "Right. You be there as well, then. I'll assess your skills and act accordingly." If she was as woefully unknowing of magic as she looked? Then it'd be a long, long fight to get her ready to act as a proper partner for the boy. And sad but true... Aria knew he needed a partner. so deep breath, and out the door...into the hall. "I don't want you being late. My students will be punctual, they will be respectful, and they will be competent."

 

[Ananfal]

"As you wish, ma'am." Adenyyd replied, staying in her bow until after her new teacher had left. Then she slowly straightened up, sighing softly. "Well, that went better then I had expected." She muttered to herself before she turned back to Adel, giving him a weak smile. "Are you done with your food?" She asked, heading over to the table to collect the pan. "We should probably finish up and start heading there now if we don't want to be late to our class." She gave him another weak smile. "Don't want to disappoint Aria, after all."

 

[SaphireTsuki]

"SHe's like that as long as it's not me." A dismissive shrug, more evidence of his awesomeness! Or so he kept telling himself. And it was a good thing he'd just finished the food, or he had a feeling that he would have done something rude. Like scoop all of the pan's contents into his mouth and start choking on it. which was not a good thing, now that he thought about it... and his skin started paling. Wordlessly he handed Adenyyd the pan, hands tapping together for a bit in an attempt to calm down. Standing up he waited for her to finish in the kitchen before he started walking down the hall.

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd placed the pan in the sink, resolving to wash it later before hurrying to catch up with Adel. For some reason she felt raw, vulnerable. She wanted Adel to hold her again... She always felt safe with him. Restraining the urge - don't be stupid, he doesn't want to touch you! - she simply twisted her hands together once more, keeping her gaze directed at the ground. Even without looking at Aria, she could tell that the woman thought she didn't know much. And that was enough to bring all her doubts to the front. What if she failed to perform any magic? What if she turned out to be another failure?

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Adenyyd was being quiet again. It was something he'd stopped expecting, so suddenly he turned to look at her. Head low, gaze on the floor... hands twisting. He'd seen people do it before, but for her... every time she'd done this she'd started getting sad, or tired... and always responded positively to him hugging her. I see lots of hugging in the future... One arm moved around her, pulling his partner in while letting them keep walking.

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd couldn't help but let out a startled gasp as she felt Adel's arm around her. Half panicking, she glanced up at him, before widening her eyes and dropping her gaze back to the ground when she realized that unconsciously she was snuggling into him. Letting out a soft sigh, she gave in to the hug, resting her head on Adel's shoulder. Slowly, hesitantly, her hands stopped twisting and dropped to her sides as she relaxed, leaning into him as she took deep breaths. Adel was here. She couldn't be a failure. She had to succeed, for him. And because of that resolve, when she saw the trees of the forest, her heart didn't waver for a single beat.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Aria, holding a pocket watch, imperceptibly sighed. "Barely, but you're all on time. OK. LIne up. Adenyyd, I want you to show me all the magic you know. I'll be staying the night, and tomorrow we can begin training the two of you properly." If Adenyyd was up to par they'd work as a team in the afternoons, individually in the morning. "I'm sure you've something to do in the morning, though..." For all his faults Adel was horribly considerate of guests, after all....

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd hesitated, looking back down at the ground. "Teacher... Do you mean my combat magic, or simply every spell I have ever learned?" She asked, unwilling to simply show off her magic. Combat spells she could understand, but she didn't want to show Aria all the prank spells she had made up over the years. At first they were just supposed to help her gain control over her magic, but then she found that she actually enjoyed making people laugh with her magic. Shaking her head quickly, she focused back upon the situation at hand. No use thinking of the past now.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

"Hmm... anything related to combat for now. If I need to see anything else I'll let you know." She waved Adel away like a fly, glaring at him... and he just scooted back. "I'll make a shield, and then you can practice on me." She whispered something, and a blue glow surrounded her while she did so, solidifying into a shield as soon as she was finished. "Right, whenever you're ready begin. Stay in human form."

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd closed her eyes and concentrated. This was one of her least used spells, but since Aria had asked... Slowly, eleven other flickering images of herself appeared, surrounding Aria on all sides. Once the images solidified, they seemed indistinguishable from the real Adenyyd. All of them smirking slightly, they raised one hand and daggers of darkness formed in the air. Swiping their hands down, the daggers sped at Aria with lethal speed.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

A deep breath, and the translucent ball became opaque, ringing with the sound of the various darkness daggers, and then shattering as they fell down, fading. The shattered barrier was broken at the top, Aria jumping upward with her sword in hand, just in case. Golden-glowing wings granted her a short hover time... "Very good. It's a good cornering tactic, but we'd need to make it a bit faster, or easier to control, for cases like this, where they can escape from above."

 

[Ananfal]

Adenyyd couldn't hold back a laugh. "Golden wings? Little butterfly, think not to tempt a Dragon." Closing her eyes once more, she began to chant. "Tywyllwch, ateb fy alwad." For Adenyyd, someone who did not need to chant her usual spells, this was something rare. Almost unheard of, really. But for Aria, she would show all of them what she could do. As the words tumbled out of her mouth, like water over rocks, darkness sprang up around her feet. "Gwnewch yr haul yn diflannu." Even the most insensitive person could feel the magic rising in the air now, as Adenyyd finished her three count aria. "Gwneod fy ngelynion yn teimlo ofn!" The magic around her froze, then seemingly vanished. It only took a moment for the world to plunge into complete and utter darkness. There was no light, not even a trace. The darkness made the air seem thicker, almost hard to breathe. Adenyyd's aura, for those who could feel such a thing, would feel it all around them. It would seem as though the darkness was her. Her presence was everywhere, you could almost feel her brush against your skin. A ghostly laugh, coming from everywhere and nowhere. "Little butterfly, has your light gone out? So sad..."

 

[SaphireTsuki]

A serious look came across the invisible Aria's face, She gripped the sword... and then muttered under her breath, "Akari no nanomoto ni, Exucaliber wo, yoru wo koete!" A dim glow in her sword arm, just enough for her to ascertain that she could, in fact, generate light... and the barely-visible outline of her wings. "Butterfly, eh? It's impressive how you can block all of the light... but I"m not giving up from just that."

 

[Ananfal]

"Give up? My little butterfly, I hope you won't give up. At least not until I tear your pretty little wings off." Adenyyd had not only unleashed darkness upon the world, but unleashed the darkness inside herself. "Now, let's see you flutter, little butterfly." No longer daggers or even a spell of some kind, blunt magic flew at the Excalibur wielder. It came from all sides, at the same time. It was relentless, unyielding. However, none of it touched Adel. Although he stood in the darkness as well, there was no ill intent near him, and the darkness more soothing then scary. Even deranged dragons can sense their partners.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

Adel had been watching confused as Aria and Adenyyd were fighting it out... and then he noticed that there was actual light. That seemed quite put out. And it seemed to grow stronger, though stayed in one point... and was pointed at him.... and then he heard the smirk in Aria's voice as she called out her spell. "Seinaru Hikari! Arthur-Oou no Namae ni, waga meirei wo kike! Sono hito wa waga teki dearu, waga teki wo obiete, zetsuboushi sasete, kakomarete!"

 

[Ananfal]

"No!" Adenyyd shouted, the darkness abruptly dropping as she raced to block the spell aiming towards Adel. An incoherent shout escaped her as she raised her hand up in the air and sent raw force at the light, making it shatter with the sheer strength of her will. Skidding to a stop in front of Adel, Adenyyd panted hard for breath, her eyes blazing. "You dare to attack my partner... Die!" And by then it was too late to stop. The shift was already happening, the majestic and deadly Dragon looking down at the creature she had so aptly named 'little butterfly'. A resounding roar and then she struck.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

This strike... and the wings faded, replaced by a golden glow around her body. "HEY!" Ow.... and down she landed, hitting the floor with a sickening thud, but luckily her armor managed to keep her alive and well... even as she struggled to stand up. Note to self... never be the target of a dragon's spell again. EVER.

 

[Ananfal]

The Dragon chuckled menacingly, rage making those green eyes look infernal. Slowly prowling towards the struggling Aria, the Dragon circled her as one would circle a wounded animal. "Little butterfly... Have you broken already? Your light grows dim..." A click of her talons and a black well appeared beneath Aria, spell circles shimmering and whirling on it's surface. The circles glowed and Aria's light was slowly sucked away from her. It was sucking the very magic out of her. "The Absorption Pool only lasts for a minute or too, but enough to restrain your wings, little butterfly." Another whispered word and black streamers of darkness flowed from her, wrapping around Aria tightly. Excalibur was also covered, the sword unable to cut the solid blackness. "The chase grows weary. I will make an example out of you, to warn my enemies the price of attacking my only partner!" And without further ado, a jet of black flames blasted at Aria.

 

[SaphireTsuki]

The drain on magic had succeeded in making Aria actually rather angry. And then she'd shifted to terrified as even Excalibur, her greatest weapon, was made unusable, and then the flames.... she nearly cringed when Adel suddenly was standing in front of her, shouting out "STOP!" at the top of his lungs and looking for all the world like a Maester. "Adenyyd! This can't be the right way of showing your skill! Did you forget this was all a practice session? Please... come back to your senses!" There was a note of desperate pleading in his tone, even as he closed his eyes in resignation... she might not be able to stop as quickly as she would need to, afterwards. "As scary as she is Aria's showing her consideration in her own way, I'm sure!"

 

[Ananfal]

With a shocked gasp the Dragon inhaled her own flames before they could even singe Adel's clothes. That induced a coughing fit as the Dragon struggled not to choke. When she had finally recovered herself, those green eyes were no longer blazing with fury, but calm. "My partner..." She spoke, laying on the ground before him and closing her eyes. "I apologize for my actions. I will accept any punishment you deem necessary." She had never before done something so utterly stupid.