Searching for Answers... (Schala/Augen/Cross)

[recon5]

The flow of magic in Kylie's body had been... odd... to say the least. Her energies had changed drastically when she'd used her magic, to an extent that had shocked even Patchouli. She did seem to have a vast internal reserve as Patchouli had predicted as she'd released far more magical power than necessary for the basic techniques she'd used. The leftover power filled the area within the barrier, appearing to Patchouli's conditioned eyes as a cloud of luminous gas which only she would be able to see.

That was the major part of Kylie's problem. She didn't seem to be able to control the rate at which she channeled her magical power. That often happened to gifted amateurs who had power to waste- they learned their craft by pumping as much magical power as they could into something they wanted to control until the desired effect was obtained. Such a practice was not just exhausting but it could also leave a caster vulnerable to active enchantments by giving such spells free access to a large supply of magical power. Youkai were particularly susceptible to this effect as they could tap into primeval forces for practically unlimited reserves of power and their greater stamina prevented them from accurately gauging how much they released- and how much they left to be used against them as a result.

Patchouli stopped her quill, noting as she did so that it had started on its tenth new page, and looked at Kylie. "Tell me, have you had any formal instruction in the magical practice?"

[Augen]

((Skip me this post))

[shiningdrake]

Kylie looked at Patchouli, confused. "Formal instruction?" she repeated back, "Actually, I haven't. I've lived on my own since I was very young, even by human standards. I did have a friend who could use magic at one point, but I never thought to really study together... All of my practice has just been really using my own natural abilities. Why do you ask?"

[Schala]

(Skip me this post)

[recon5]

Patchouli looked at Kylie. "Your spellcasting is terribly inefficient and you are releasing large amounts of magical power for relatively small effects. Even worse, you do not seem to be able to sense magical power directly apart from observing its effects so you are unaware that your surplus power lingers in the air around you and provides plenty of fuel for your curse. No wonder you can even combust when you seem to be completely drained. There is enough power for the curse to draw on outside your body without it having to reach inwards."

"This is a common problem for self taught magicians, as well as for Youkai and others who have great natural gifts. Since they have plenty of power to spare, when they fail to produce an effect they believe they simply have to use more power or more concentration, leading to a situation like yours. Experienced magicians know that the complexity of a magical formula, whether written, spoken, gestured or even merely visualized in one's mind, plays a greater role in the generation of effects than the amount of raw power used. A properly completed magical formula can tremendously amplify the effects of an enchantment performed with a miniscule amount of power. Observe."

She poked her index finger through the slime and traced a small symbol in the water. When she finished there was a flash of blue light at her fingertip and the entire body of water froze solid except for a small space around the girl inside. Then she traced a different symbol of roughly the same size on the ice and all of it melted immediately before returning to room temperature in seconds. She withdrew her index finger and pointed it towards Kylie.

"Small symbols, small gestures and less power than you would use to manipulate a single drop, but look at the result. That is the purpose of magical formulas. My own body is too weak to channel even a fraction of the power that yours can and I am willing to wager that your reserves are far larger than mine, but with my application of the correct formula for a given enchantment I can achieve far greater effects than many Youkai, even with their higher level of ability. You would have learned this if you had received formal instruction, which was the reason for my question."

[Augen]

Augen began looking through the books he was holding much more quickly. There was a lot of stuff that he could not understand, but a few things he thought he could assume. The books didn't quite have the information he was looking for, though. Sure, there were plenty of spells... But how does one go about using them? That's what he needed to know.

[shiningdrake]

Kylie was quite startled to hear what Patchouli had to tell her. The truth was, manipulating water took next to no effort, and basic creation and freezing of fairly small amounts didn't take an exceptional amount either. It was only on far more powerful spells than she'd used here (apart from that last one) that she truly had to put any serious amount of effort into.

It would seem that Kylie had no idea just how much energy she put when she used her magic. If she could just learn the right technique, and how to control her power better... It was funny, how in well over two hundred years, she had never realized this.

"I see..." Kylie said, "I suppose I need to learn a bit more control over the power I use, since most of what I did there didn't take much effort at all." Suddenly, she got an idea. Maybe Patchouli could teach her? ...No, wait. From what she'd heard about this mansion, that wouldn't be a good idea, even if Patchouli were to accept.

Although, if her curse could be removed here... Then maybe it might be possible for her to deal with anything that would happen. She might be able to stay in the lake outside, and come inside to be taught. Though with her curse, it likely wouldn't be a good idea to be around here all the time... Just being here now seemed like some form of risk... Then again, as long as she was in the water, the chances of catching on fire regardless of what happened were next to nothing...

She then remembered why she'd been demonstrating her magic in the first place, which she'd forgotten for a moment during Patchouli's explanations. "Anyway, do you have any ideas now on how you might be able to remove my curse? Or should I attempt to do more demonstrations of my magic?"

Kylie was sick of having to be alone all the time... Being alone could be nice, but not when it was forced on you. Kylie hated being alone constantly... Though at least she had Augen and Haku as friends... Sai seemed nice as well. But still, it would be so much easier if she didn't have to live in fear of accidentally hurting people...

[Schala]

Sai was pretty out of it. She just couldn't believe someone would do this to an innocent person. Whoever cursed her was going to get--
Hold on.
If Patchouli knew a way to remove Kylie's curse, Sai wanted to help. She wanted to stop Kylie's curse and, if possible, get the one responsible.
She turned to the librarian. "If you know a way, can I help?"

[recon5]

Patchouli lowered her head and closed her eyes in silent thought, uncertain of what she should tell Kylie. While she'd obtained an understanding of why the curse was so powerful, the process of understanding how it worked would have to begin with her seeing it in action. In fact, she would have to observe more than one activation to gather enough information for a dispel. With the girl being so fearful of it in the first place, Patchouli didn't think she would be allowed to deliberately trigger a single combustion, let alone the several she would need. She didn't want to force such an experience on Kylie, at least not if the girl would be willing to accept some lesser measures.

As she thought, she wandered over to the tea set and poured another cupful to buy herself some time. She ran through various methods and workarounds as she sipped her tea, almost a drop at a time, before finally deciding on a course of action and draining her cup at once as she did so. She would present Kylie with a relatively painless alternative and endorse it as strongly as she could, but if the girl would accept nothing less than a dispel the magician would be sure to explain everything before making her move.

"I can remove your curse, but since I know so little of it or its caster I will need to perform some very specific research before I can even attempt to remove it. If I blindly perform a dispel there might be side effects up to and beyond death, both yours and mine and perhaps that of everyone else in this room as well. That being said, the 'research' I speak of will be uncomfortable... no, to be honest it will be an utter nightmare for you and I cannot even guarantee that you will survive although I must stress that you will be free of the curse if you can follow it through to the end."

She dismissed her book and her quill before summoning a slightly smaller tome that was bound with a crimson strap. "In view of the suffering that a full dispel would require you to undergo, allow me to propose a much less painful alternative. I can place on you something that you might call a counter-curse: an enchantment that will instantly absorb or negate any excess magical power that might linger around you when you use your natural abilities. This will keep your old curse dormant but it has limitations which I will explain if you decide to accept my proposal."

[Augen]

((Skip moi))

[shiningdrake]

Kylie listened as Patchouli explained the risks of dispelling the curse. From what she said, a dispel without more research could be catastrophic, but the research she'd need to do would be painful and possibly painful as well? So... Wait, what was she supposed to do then?

However, then she mentioned that there was something else less painful that could be tried. "What are these limitations that there would be any real reason to not take it as opposed to risking death?" Kylie asked her, confused.

[Schala]

Oh, come on!

The only way to remove the curse was to risk dying?! That was certainly not fair. Sai walked up to Patchouli and spoke.

"Look, if you want to help Kylie, you need to find a way of doing so without risking death! Surely you can do it, with all those books you have!"

She herself began plowing through the books, and any book with the word "curse" in the title she tossed to Patchouli.

Please let something work, Sai thought.

[recon5]

Patchouli sighed as she began to dodge the books thrown by Sai. The Nekomata seemed to have forgotten that she only had two hands. After a few seconds she caught herself and decided to assert her authority in order to get Sai's attention.

She raised her hands and clapped them together lightly, producing a loud BANG! and a wave of power that swept around Sai and over the shelves she was manhandling. All the books that the Nekomata had pulled out, including the ones she was holding, immediately jumped back into their former positions and became unmovable even as violet barriers flashed into being over the shelves. It was a lockdown mechanism that Patchouli had built into the library but for some reason she had never thought of using it around Marisa. Perhaps she had gotten a bit too chummy with the witch since the Scarlet Mist incident.

Once the books were out of Sai's reach, Patchouli cleared her throat and addressed the Nekomata. "In case your hearing somehow failed you, I did mention that I have an alternative not involving painful research. However, perhaps I need to apologize for not providing you with all the details you might want."

She walked closer to Sai before continuing. "You see, due to our lack of information about the curse I will have to observe its effects by actually activating it, which I believe will be quite a horrific experience for Kylie. One activation will not be enough for me to formulate a dispel and I do not know how much damage she will sustain with each combustion. That is why I would prefer to minimize the effect of the current curse instead as such a step would not require me to activate it at all."

[Augen]

((Again))

[shiningdrake]

((And skip me this time too... You know, this is getting to be just sad <_< ))