Closed Scrolls for the Wave Guard [Pt. 2] [Uschi]

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna heard the question as she drew away on the parchment, getting the trigger in place for the completion of the scroll. She decided it best to finish the trigger first rather than addressing Uschi's question right away, she needed to get the scroll read and move on to the last one. The trigger word for this scroll would be 'Eldritch', a word she had not heard spoken that often outside of academic circles. Beneath it she added the same warning in common as she had on the other scroll. Little disclaimers like that put the error's more into the Wave Guards hands because she warned them of the risks ahead of time. Anna liked to cover all angles.

"I'm making scrolls containing fire reimancy for the Wave Guards to utilize as a form of magical defense. By doing this it increases my standing in the eyes of the Sailor's Guild and the public as a whole. Potent tools if you know how to use them correctly." The young wizard said as she drew up another piece of parchment and started to get to work on that one.

This was the last one she needed to do for tonight before she started placing spells inside each one. After that they could then be delivered on the morrow for the Wave Guards to receive, free of charge naturally. The young wizard started on the focus of this scroll, glad for Uschi's ministrations. She was useful for something at the very least, a notion that made sparing her life seem well worth any headaches she might have gotten up to this point.

Anna's brush danced along the parchment as it drew the focus to completion, her eyes scanning over the design for any signs of flaws. If she noted any they were quickly corrected and the focus made more perfect. Anna knew that imperfect glyphs were more a liability than an asset and when they were used in scrolls they increased the probability of a malfunction. She couldn't very well give the Wave Guards scrolls that would blow up in their hands.

Once the focus was finished the young woman moved on to the barrier, approaching each individual rune with care and patience. The runes form a circle around the focus with each rune being well drawn and accurately placed in the correct sequence. One could not very well have a poorly drawn barrier, the magic could then easily escape from the focus with nothing to contain it. It was often the sigil that took the longest due to the number of smaller runes that made it up.

Finally came the trigger, which she opted for a name this time. It was her father's name which was rather uncommon in that she had never heard another with the name. 'Amatus' it seemed like as good a trigger word as any. The name brought images of her father lying weak and dying in his bed from the plague, an event that would be forever engrained into Anna's memory. Her parents might not have accepted her practice of magic but in the end they had still loved her, and she had loved them. Their death had ultimately been the force that had put her on this path, the path to greater power.

She shook her head slightly and finished up the glyph, adding the instructions in common again. With that, the scrolls themselves were complete and now all she had to do was add a spell to them in order to prime them. Anna stood up yet again, waving Uschi away.

"I'd suggest you stand back a little ways, fire reimancy can be dangerous after all." She said, as she brought her hands out before her.

[Uschi]

She was clever, that was obvious. Magical defense for the Wave Guards increasing her standing? Brilliance. Uschi's eyes wandered around the room, taking in everything. Experiments, all around her. Her mind drifted off again, but was brought back by her mistress waving her away. She stood back against the wall, blinking in the sudden darkness. She hated having terrible eyesight, but her sense of smell and good hearing more than made up for it. The drying ink was an obvious one, but there were other, less clear smells. One she was familiar with was the pelts she slept on.

Her mistress brought her hands out before her, and Uschi backed up as much as she could. Currently she wished for a gnosis mark from Azenth. She had heard it granted fire immunity... Which would be useful in this household.

[Annalisa Marin]

It would be very much accurate to say that Anna was addicted to casting and using magic, it was like a drug that she couldn't stay away from. Like drugs there were consequences, ones she had been dealing with for sometime now. The mere fact that she was attempting this without drawing focus runes first was a major downside for her, as it would definitely increase the difficulty of casting. She had her incantations, but those would only get her so far and they had their limits when it came to the sweet whispers and the overwhelming urge to cast more and more. Magic was indeed a dangerous drug, but it was a drug she used readily and eagerly.

The tall woman started up a chant in the Ancient Tongue, once more speaking mostly gibberish. As soon as res began to form in her hands the urge slammed her. Hard.

Euphoric hallucinations danced before her eyes, once that spoke of power and strength beyond imagination if only she would cast a little bit more. They wanted her to lose herself and surrender to the joy of casting, to go completely mad and burn all those who dared to oppose her. It was difficult to resist, in fact for a brief moment she almost allowed herself to lose herself in the madness of casting.

She gritted her teeth and pushed the urge aside in a heroic display of sheer will, making her incantations slightly louder as she generated a ball of res between her hands over a glyphed scroll. Anna slowly willed the outer layer to ignite, waves of pleasure sending shudders down her spine. Slowly she drew the ball of fire down, her breath more ragged than it normally would be for such a simple task. As it drew closer to the glyph she transmuted the remaining layers. Rather than igniting the scroll as one would expect it instead was absorbed into it, vanishing within the focus.

Anna let her arms down with a heavy gasp, slumping back down in her chair in exhaustion. This was not right, it was not like her to become so exhausted after casting a simple firebolt. She should have been able to manage the spell with utter ease, but right now she felt as if she had cast two more than she had already. The wizard felt something odd trickling down her right nostril, she brushed it with her hand and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Blood, bright and crimson was dripping slowly from her nose and it was enough to cause a surge of panic. What the petch was happening to her? Why the petch was it happening to her?

[Uschi]

She watched her mistress begin the chanting, nervously making her way to her sleeping-pelts. She knew that magic was dangerous, and that if one didn't control the urge to cast more, it would control them instead. The girl remembered hearing rumors of wizards who had succumbed to the casting, and were shown to new students to try and prevent the same thing from happening to them. The incantations grew louder, and she covered her ears. A great sense of hearing had its downsides, after all. A ball of what she assumed was res had formed and ignited, and was drawn to the scroll. For a moment she felt a brief flash of panic that everything would burst into flames, but then it disappeared into the parchment.

The tall wizard fell back into her chair, exhausted. Uschi could smell the blood already, and ran to her room to grab one of the smaller rabbit furs. It was of the softer, thicker ones, and would soak up the red liquid. She came back, her mistress staring in shock at what trickled from her nose and smeared her hand. She didn't know why she was so surprised, had she not seen blood before?

The woman must be sick, thought Uschi, but she didn't smell sick.

That's the strangest part. Normally the bear Kelvic could smell sickness, so it must've been some kind of wizard-sickness. She shrugged it off and wiped the blood from the wizard's hand, then dabbed gently at the dark redness making its way down her face. She shook her head.

"Mistress, you've ought to be more careful. If you're sick, then how can you teach?"

She tut-tutted over the woman like a nanny would a child covered in mud and in need of a wash. The rabbit fur could be cleaned, but right now she just wanted the blood to stop.

"I suggest you lay down on your back for a while, Mistress. I've heard that clears up the bleeding."

Uschi wiped some of the liquid from a few strands of her mistress' hair, then went back to dabbing at the blood.

[Annalisa Marin]

This was bad, this was really, really bad. Anna's mind was a torrent of confused thoughts and emotions as she stared at the blood, she couldn't think coherently at the moment. Her expression was blank as she regarded Uschi who was fussing over her little nose bleed. The bleeding itself was only part of the problem and the full truth was far more frightening, these were the price of her continued use of magic. Anna knew that she had overgiven a number of times recently, nothing heavy but certainly noticeable. It had all added up to this moment, building up each time she cast a spell. It was a horrifying revelation to say the least, that her magic might be permanently effected.

The young woman clutched her head and pushed Uschi away, the whispers still throbbing in her skull. Gods she wanted it all to just stop, to end before it pushed her over the edge. She wanted to keep going and fill up the rest of the scrolls, she was not weak and the combination of the urge screaming about in her head was not helping her to resist. This was the price she was paying.

Anna attempted to rise but only succeeded in nearly losing her balance, her hands grasping at the table. She needed to keep going, the young wizard needed to prove that she was not weak. The current situation she now found herself in was unlike anything she had experienced before, this was torture of the worst sort really. Her own magic, the thing that meant more to her than anything at the moment was destroying her from within. There was a sick irony in this whole thing.

Anna's legs were shaking and her eyes were still wide, this could not be happening. Not to her and not at this moment, not when she needed her powers. There was some part of her old self in her now as the traces of fear thrummed at her heart. She was scared despite herself, oh gods was she scared. This kind of thing had never happened to her before this moment.

"I need, I need to keep going. I can't stop know, I'm not weak." The woman said, clearly distraught as she babbled to herself.

Anna tried to compose herself several times, leaning heavily on the table as she occasionally got out a word in the Ancient Tongue. She was desperately trying to deny the whole thing, to keep going despite her condition. She was not weak.

[Uschi]

Uschi was pushed away, her mistress clutching her head. She looked at her, the worry clear in her chocolate eyes. She could smell the fear -- or was it panic? -- emanating from the woman. Anna began rising, but nearly lost her balance and Uschi darted in to support her. Her mistress' hands grasped the table. The girl noted shaking legs and wide eyes.

"I need, I need to keep going. I can't stop now, I'm not weak."

Uschi huffed and narrowed her eyes, placing both hands on her hips. As the professor began speaking in some magical language the Kelvic didn't know, Uschi pulled her hands away from the table and placed one of her arms around the girl's neck. She knew the woman didn't want to believe what was happening, and even she had no clue as to what was going on. Stubbornly Uschi led her mistress to her bed and laid her down on it.

"Stay there, or you'll not get better. I won't let you cast any more until I'm positive you're alright."

She trundled back to the table, neatly and carefully arranging the various magical supplies, but keeping an ear trained on Anna and her movements.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna didn't actually register being led to her bed and laid down, the hallucinations were back and were much more vivid this time. She could see her face, it was there not accusing her but the kind look from it was accusation enough to stab at her heart. It was beginning to become difficult to separate reality from the delusions and now it was her face. The face of the woman she loved most in this world and the woman who had loved her unconditionally from birth until she died.

"Mother," the words escaped her lips as a small sound, like she was the child once more.

The young wizard shook her head and tried to dispel the vision, her mother was gone, taken by the plague. This was just another hallucination, it could not be her mother yet it looked so perfectly like her. The long and think black locks that she had played with as a child and now possessed, the simple and quaint beauty about her that spoke of a humble individual. Her grey eyes were filled with compassion and understanding, the traits that so defined her mother.

It was just a vision, but the look itself was enough to send her breathing into an erratic rhythm. She had to know, Anna could feel that she did, she knew her darkest secret.

"Mother I'm sorry! Please forgive me, I had no choice! I had to take the power he offered!" She wailed pitifully, sounding more like a scared child than like the feared wizard.

Tears were flowing freely and her movements became more erratic and violent, to an onlooker it would appear to be the result of a psychotic episode and it probably was. The woman thrashed about, her eyes wide and the fear inside them was primal as could possibly be. The woman couldn't be her mother but by the gods she was causing more fear in her than she ever would have imagined possible.

The side effects of overgiving were steep indeed, the symptoms had been building up over time and had finally reached the point where she could no longer deny them. Her mind and sanity were fraying, a chaotic storm of fear and pain ruling her mind at the moment. Uschi was not even there in her minds eye, the only one there was her mother and how she wish she was not. Were she lucid Anna might find these actions embarrassingly pathetic, but for now the only thing she wanted to do was make the apparition go away.

[Uschi]

Uschi turned at the sound, shuffling quietly to the side of the bed and tilting her head. Anna sounded like a little girl, which was unusual. She waited for a few seconds, then the wizard began crying out loud, begging for forgiveness. Her breathing was off, too. She thrashed about, and Uschi grabbed her arms and pinned them to the woman's sides to keep her from knocking anything over. The look in her eyes reminded her of a rabbit cornered by wolves. Tears streaked her face and the bear Kelvic smelled a fear that could only be caused by hallucinations. It was sour and she wrinkled her nose, but stayed where she was. Frantically the girl shushed her mistress.

"Hush, it's okay! Calm down Mistress, nothing's there, I promise. Just calm down!"

Her voice changed to sounds she rarely used in human form, and her posture became a more comforting one. She pulled Anna off the bed and hugged her tightly, ignoring any attempts to shove her away. Placing one hand on the back of the woman's head, she held her close and rocked back and forth gently. It was an awkward position, but it would have to do. She doubted her mistress could stand in this state. Uschi make shushing sounds, rubbing Anna's back.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna did not know who this woman was trying to help her at first, however as her mind was filled with paranoia and delusions she was certainly not looking to be helped easily. The young wizard thrashed out at Uschi at first, behaving in an almost primal fashion. She tried to punch and kick at the other woman and was instead restrained. Her mind panicked and her thrashing became much more violent, trying to get away from this woman.

When Uschi attempted to comfort her, some strands of sanity connected and her mind gained some lucidity to it. The hallucinations became less and less vivid but the memory of them was firmly burned into her brain, this was not a moment she would be forgetting soon. The tall young woman's mind slowly began to regain focus as Uschi rocked her back and forth, fear was soon replaced by focus which was soon replaced by utter frustration and anger. Her actions had made her look like a sobbing fool, a weak willed and second rate wizard. This fact angered her to no small degree, as was the fact the Uschi had felt the need to treat her like a frightened child.

Anna violently pushed back and landed sitting on her bed, her hair messy about her face. Tears still stained her face but the wizard held up a hand to forestall any intervention from the kelvic. Her eyes gleamed in rage, a fire started by the wound to her pride. To call her displeased was an understatement.

"I believe I have recovered, Uschi. All the same, gather the scrolls together and make sure they are secure. I will not be attempting to finish the other two for a few days." The young wizard commanded, sounding slightly short of breath.

"I appreciate your intervention, however I'm going to warn you Uschi, whatever I might have said or done in the grips of those hallucinations had best not become known to others. If it does, not even the gods themselves will protect you from me." Her words were cold and deadly serious.

Gratitude was not a concern at the moment, reasserting her own dominance was. She was the strong one here, not Uschi, the bear was not around because she needed her. Uschi was around because she made for a useful test subject and a convenient form of defense. Nothing more, at least that was what the wizard kept telling herself.

[Uschi]

Uschi yelped in surprise at being shoved away, but managed to catch herself. The professor held up a hand and she could still smell the sadness. Her hair was mussed, rage shining in her eyes. The Kelvic felt a pang of grief hit her when she realized the rage was directed at her. Her own eyes welled up, but she refused to cry. She was told to gather the scrolls and make sure they were secure, and stood quietly. Despite her mistress' words, she didn't believe she recovered. A death threat was issued, and she shrank away. Her gaze lowered to the ground and she nodded slightly.

"Yes, Mistress. Of course, Mistress. Not a word... will get out. On my life, not one word."

She shuffled to the table and began gathering the scrolls. Taking care not to stain them with tears, she sniffled and secured the parchment. The spells went into a safe place and the girl's hand reached up to wipe away the wetness in her eyes. Anger flashed through her body and dried the tears swiftly. She shouldn't be crying, and especially not over this. Her mistress used her as a test subject, no less. Why should she get emotionally attached?

She's not my bondmate, and I doubt she ever will be. Why should I care about her well-being? If she dies, then I'm free... Right?

Uschi shook off the thought and straightened up, running a hand through her short hair. Stupid wizards, always getting themselves into trouble. A tiny kernel of doubt, one that denied her not-caring, and told her she did care about the tall woman. But that thought was for another time.