Later That Day (Aria, Request)

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Adrain was in the spellforge hammering away at a project. He was making a prototype for handling Aqua's...unwanted guest, but it was hard to get it quite the way that he wanted to. A subtle time loop that delays or halts the link from manifesting. However the results in the bracelet that he was making weren't quite working out that well. At least...not in the way that he was hoping for. Perhaps he needs to study the link to Aqua's homeworld to figure out better the interaction. It was...complicated.

He sighed, putting the ornate bracelet of Orichalcum down, two glowing gems in four of the slots winding down. He picks up a large cup of water drinking it and sighing a little. Aria had raised some havoc earlier, some effort having been taken to clean the whole thing. She scurried off at some point after he broke up a fight between kaguya and her and the actions simce, which made him feel at unease. Surely she was up to no good: he couldn't sense her too well right now.

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Aria and somehow successfully talked herself out of cleaning a very large mess; which was…yay. She also gleaned some good information on the whole process. But she still needed to talk to Adrain, and had not been able to fully do so with the relatively bitchy, pink haired, tree destroyer. She also wanted to test out a new ability; so since sneaking off she had been not really suppressing, but blending her magical presence into the natural magic channels that flowed through the arch. The Arch was a good place to start due to it having such large magic channels; there was room for error.

So; up to the headmasters office she went; she had been there a couple times already so it was easy to find. She swung the doors open without knocking ”Hey watcha working on now?” Her tone was sing song, but she watched his reaction carefully to judge on how well she was masking her magical presence.

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As Aria burst into the office, she would find herself denied by a powerful force, keeping the door from budging. The door glows and if she were to hit it again, she would be launched against the wall behind her. Serai meanwhile saunters out from a teleportation circle nearby that he was attuned to, tilting his head and looking at Aria.

'He's not here, he's in the Artificer wing doing metalworking.' the large cat states.

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Aria blinked, damn it the door was magically locked. She frowned…where the hell could he be now? Aria placed her hands on her hips thinking; however she didn’t have to stay in thought long when Serai suddenly popped up. ”Serai! Where is he? And whatever portal you just jumped out of does it lead to him? Quick to the point, but she was happy to see the cat. She skipped over to the old cat and gave him a tight hug. ”I haavvee newwws; before we go see Adrain, I want to ask. Will you be my flower cat?”

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'No, it is a way in and out for me alone as I like to sleep but also prowl. He is at the sublevel in the spellforge beneath the ground. We will have to go down there the traditional way...or the pod elevator. What is this you say of a 'flower cat?' the cat speaks to Aria's phioric channel, not certain what it all meant. He was unmoving as Aria embraced him as she was oft to do.

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”Pod sounds like a new interesting experience, let’s take that! What does it do? She grinned, whatever this pod was, it sounded fun. She wonder if it went fast. Or if it was just another portal, but then why not call it a portal? She let go of the cat and tilted her head when he asked her what a flower cat was. ”Well traditionally, a bride has a younger family member…usually it’s from the grooms side but both myself and him and myself are lacking in younger family members. But anyways it’s usually a girl, but you would walked down the aisle ahead of the bride. Basically long story short, I’m getting married and I would love for you to be in my wedding. You’re like a big furry member of my family.”

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"Oh you have to see for yourself.." Serai states, a smile almost evident on the milky night of his face. When Aria explained the idea of the flower cat, a bead of sweat went down his head. 'Well I am honored you would ask, very well I will assist you as you see fit, just remember I am a male. the large cat says, then going down a couple halls to a large shaft that seems to go down a far way. A large, plant-like pod suspended by vines directly attached to the tree firmly rested there. Serai steps on and then gets under the seat.

'Sit down, press the bottom most runic etching on the large bark panel, and hold on.' Serai states. When Aria did so, the pod would fasten around Aria and then drop down rapidly, rising from near the top of the Arch to the underground level in a matter of twenty seconds. Needless to say the speed might be horrifying. Yet, at the same time it would be secure and 'safe'. At least Aria wouldn't die from it. Probably.

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Aria tilted her head at the smiling cat…..well this should be interesting then. She was happy he accepted being in her wedding, that made the old cat the first to know. Which caused Aria to grin from here to ear; at least she had a chance to be giddy about it. ”You never wear pants its kinda hard to miss those kitty nuts. OH Noku just got a pretty white tiger, female I believe, just a couple months ago. Would you like me to ask if she could be brought along as well?” She had almost forgotten about the pretty white tiger; she’d have to ask Noku how it was doing.

Aria fallowed the big cat to where ever these pods were. When she got to it, she didn’t know how she felt about being enclosed in something so small. But curiosity seemed to be the stronger force, because Aria climbed in and did as the old cat said. As soon as she started dropping, Aria let out a squeal. It was just like when she flew as high as she could and just dropped. She enjoyed it for MAAAyybe a total of two seconds before the realization hit that she was strapped into this falling object and had no clue how close the ground was. Her squeal of joy quickly when from ‘WEEeee to FUUUUCK’. Porting out at this speed was, dangerous to say the least. Porting may change the location, but it certainly didn’t change the speed at which she was traveling. It was official if she died….she’d be coming back to haunt that damn cat!

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As the pod approached the bottom it slowed down graciously and actually came to a controlled stop. Serai could be heard laughing in the animal communication channel as he casually sauntered off the pod elevator waiting for Aria to recover.

"It's sort of a hazing ritual to go through the pod elevator unawares for the first time. You get used to it. They have talked about slowing it down, but people claim they like the speed, though truth be told they seem to get a rise out of people's reactions."

Serai would then lead Aria through the artificers hallways, dimly lit by glowing light crystals along the tops intermittently. At the destination, a large teaching forge room with numerous work stations and spell forge items was everywhere. From magic compressors to spell anvils to everything in between, the items needed for crafting magical items was here. Adrain would be holding his hands up, lightning shooting out from his hands as he was seemingly working on enchanting a ring of some sort, too distracted to hear an approach.

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”I want to be mad……..but I know I’d likely do the same…..Has any one gotten Noku into one of these things?” She got up with slightly shakey legs, she didn’t quite like not being in control over the fall. But she supposed it could be fun….So long as all the spells held up. One little alter and well that pod would more likely serve as a coffin. She fallowed the cat; however a bit more cautiously this time. She looked around curiously; sooo much stuff to poke and tinker with. She wondered if she could ‘borrow’ some of the items. Temporarily of course. She stopped as she neared Adrian, clearly interested in what he was enchanting. She hopped up onto a nearby table and crossed her legs. She’d wait silently till he noticed she was there. She was kinda curious to how long it would take.

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The tiger's only reply was a laugh, both at the reaction and at the idea that Noku would actually step foot within the Arch. Even the cat knew of the man's reputation for paranoia. Meanwhile as Adrain was working the enchanting, he stops the electrical part and holds his hands up as a light projection manifests showing a complicated circuit of sorts through which mana was flowing in the object, vaguely ring shaped. After a moment, Aria's fiery mane was caught out of the corner of his eye as he turned to the mischievous Phioric, raising a brow.

"Oh? You're still here? Did you need something else?"

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”Actually, reason I came in the first place was to talk to you remember?” She hopped off the desk; really she couldn’t approach the subject with that other fated girl around. Something told her she’d have something against what she was going to suggest. ”There’s actually several things I wanted to talk to you about. First off, I wanted to let you know Lucinda’s been sick in bed for the past week; I was amused to hear the incident with the bird. But if she hasn’t been showing up for her personal lessons, that would be why. If you have any assignments for her just let me know and I can take them back with me when I go home.”

”Second I wanted to learn more of what you taught here at the arch. Your lesson the other day has me curious to what else I could learn here. Third, I was curious to how many fated have found their way to the Arch. Because if you’re starting a collection I have a proposition which may benefit all involved.” Quick and to the point. ”Despite what the pink haired one may think, I do lobby for the fair treatment of fated. However there lack of knowledge, and willingness to learn the customs of Nova is concerning. Most of them an entitled lot they are; with many of them gaining magical abilities I worry how they might swing that new weight around….People are already cautious of those of us who wield magic, add fated to that mix and…..I just don’t see this going well. There’s going to be rebellion if something is not done soon and I fear for the safety of the fated. We’re on a blades edge from going straight back to what happened during Claires first execution.”

”I have approached Noku already once on the matters of opening up a school specifically for teaching the fated the customs and laws of Nova, mainly because I think many of their infractions come from ignorance. Which can easily be corrected. To you I want to propose an ethics and rules requirement for mages fated or not; in the class you can go over an etiquette section. As mages are likely to be contracted from areas of all classes, it would make sense to include how one should interact in different social situations. I think a strict ethic code surrounding magics interacting with non magics may put many minds at ease, if you know what I mean. It would give non magics a sense of some predictability when dealing with us. That and it would also give a fated a lesson on the rules of Nova which they are lacking in, in a way where they do not feel singled out.” Adrain was her best bet for getting this implemented. It wouldn’t cover all the fated, but it was a start at least. That and it may provide a solution to Nokus growing fear.

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"Oh I see.." Adrain says in response to the news about Lucinda's illness. "I wish I had known sooner, she hasn't been showing up for lessons but I largely attributed that to her position and responsibilities. I will have to visit her soon to see how she is. There isn't any homework, its mostly practical hands on learning with her. Right now I'm still working on fine tuning her water control so it's not really something work can be assigned for like documents."

He considered Aria's second inquiry then spoke. "The Arch teaches magic in all fields that are relevant to students except for Holy and Unholy magic. We have to focus on what can be repeated and controlled on a scientific level without the influence and whim of deities. There are programs too numerous to list in casual conversation but the guiding principle has always been that we should seek to teach control and ethical use of magic to improve it's position in the world as well as keep all involved safe." he says, then looking at Aria with a raised brow.

"Well I don't have the bias toward Fated a number seem to. I accept them here as people, not as a label. Many find their way here without a purpose or control which is exactly what the Arch seeks to correct. A program of some sort is an idea I've played with but I don't know properly where they originate from, I just handle them as they come here and attempt to educate them. There already are mandatory Ethics courses for magic, I am well aware that magic is still feared." he says, then pausing.

"I don't disagree with a lot of your points. What's more...I've been pondering and designing a plan for some time now. I would like to make a new city on the coastal edge of my land, a port city where people can make a living without some of the fear of living in one of the Noru cities. Of course, the allegiance would be to Noku, but local laws to prohibit discrimination. The population boom of fated has put strain on the economy for a number of reasons you've mentioned and I feel a lot of potential can be used to make a new city to expand both Noku's influence as well as give Fated a place to feel more welcome and produce for a life. Of course...after a plan is made I have to get the kings Blessing to avoid...many unpleasant side effects but all things in time."