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

[Schala]

(OOC: I really don't know what to say either. I think Drake should post.)

[recon5]

When she was sure she had everyone's attention, Patchouli touched the crimson strap that held her book closed, causing it to dissolve like smoke. After silently flipping the pages for a few moments she turned the book over to reveal a brutal looking symbol that looked more like a random collection of bleeding wounds than her regular seals.

"This is the counter-curse that I mentioned. Well, it is in truth a regular curse but the way it works will allow it to minimize the effects of the one you now bear. It is a charm intended to combat a very specific school of magic: one requiring a caster to release a great deal of raw magical power into his or her surroundings before using formulas to convert it into the desired elements. Once such a caster is imbued with this charm all unconverted magical power that he or she releases will rapidly decay into the ambient elemental energies, preventing their source from using them. Any power that you directly channel into the water you are manipulating will still be usable but the excess will decay into a form that your old curse cannot use."

"The advantages should be obvious. With the effects of this new curse your old one will have minimal power and at most it will only warm your skin a bit whenever it activates. The downside is that if you release too much raw power at once, the new curse might be overwhelmed and it might backfire and actually enhance the effects of the old one. However, I estimate that the new curse should be able to stand any of your current abilities. You might also want to avoid going underground if you decide to take on the new curse as the ambient fire element will naturally be strengthened by its effects."

The magician inhaled deeply after finishing her speech, then she looked at Kylie. "It is your choice to make. Will you allow me to deliberately activate your curse as many times as I need to dispel it or will you take on the new curse instead?"

[Augen]

Augen put down the pile of books he was perusing through, standing up and starting to walk ofwards. "Oy! I'mma be back shortly. If you don't mind I've just gotta do some snooping, as usual," he said, turning to face the others and tipping his hat before continuing to walk off into the reaches of the library. Surely there must be something here that would answer some of his questions.

[shiningdrake]

Kylie listened to Patchouli's explanation of the curse. Kylie enthusiastically replied when she was done, "Yes, that would be-" She paused, then her face fell and she said sullenly, "Not that useful..." She sighed, "It can activate just fine even when I haven't used my power at all recently. I'm not sure it would really affect anything except possibly bring me to exhaustion before I can do a full explosion..."

Why couldn't she just be rid of this curse? More than two centuries... She was sick of it... Why couldn't it just be over...? Was this really worth it...? A life of nothing but searching... Searching for the one responsible for this... Alone... Augen, Haku, Sai, they wanted to help, but... She wasn't sure she could be so selfish to put them in danger anymore.

Kylie said suddenly, "Unless it will stop the curse from taking the power inside of me as well... I'm going to ask you to fully dispel it. I'm prepared for whatever happens... Even if I don't survive..." It didn't matter anymore. If she died, she at least wouldn't be a danger to anyone anymore...

[Schala]

Sai wasn't really listening until Kylie said that she would risk her own life.

"No!" Sai said. "No way. You're not dying. That's not right. If you die, whoever did this to you wins. And I'm not going to let that happen."

Well, it was just then that it occured to her that there might not be another way...

Except...

"I will look for whoever did this to you. Not you. I will make him dispel the curse. And if he doesn't, he will get it. And that might get rid of it."

[recon5]

Patchouli was disappointed when she heard Kylie's response but if the girl was really willing to risk that much just to be rid of her curse then she deserved what she wanted. The magician dismissed the book she was holding, then she dispelled the barriers surrounding the bookshelves when she noticed Augen heading towards them as he seemed like one who would treat her precious tomes responsibly (unlike a certain Nekomata a short while earlier).

Then Sai raised the possibility of hunting down the source of the curse. It would be a neat solution if they could locate the caster and force him or her to cooperate, but there was a major obstacle they would have to overcome even before Sai began her search.

Patchouli cleared her throat and addressed Sai. "Your suggestion is acceptable. However, I will not be able to help you in your search as my location spells require me to activate Kylie's curse before I can trace the caster. You will have to search for the caster on your own but I am willing to wait until you return if Kylie agrees."

The matter was out of Patchouli's hands now. Kylie and Sai would have to decide on their next step by themselves.

[Augen]

Augen began walking down the aisles, scanning the bindings of any books that looked at least mildly intact. Hmm... Not much seemed to be what he needed. Mostly spellbooks. What he wanted was the history of magic... The anatomy of it... The origins, the methods.

Usually Augen wasn't the type to seek power to obtain it, but instead preferred to kill it. But this was different. Something about magic infatuated him. It was something his world didn't have. Anymore, at least.

[shiningdrake]

Kylie shook her head. "The curse was put on more than two hundred years ago. The caster may very well already be dead. And I do think... That being rid of this curse would be well worth the risk of death..."

She was having doubts though... While she was relatively calm until she actually SAW flames, she knew that she'd be unbelievably panicked once she actually was on fire. And the pain...

And then what Sai said... If she died, he won? She supposed that was true. ...She wouldn't let that happen. "Then again," Kylie spoke up again, "Perhaps you're right. If I let this curse kill me, if I let it rule me, then he does win."

Kylie turned toward Patchouli again. "I think I'll actually wait on that dispel. Maybe we can still find him anyway." She paused, before adding, "Maybe." as if for emphasis. She still wasn't incredibly enthusiastic about the chances, but simply letting him win... No.

[Schala]

Sai wondered how they would find him. Did she just hear Patchouli say she may be able to trace the caster?

"Did you say you could trace the caster?" Sai asked her. "And if you can, is there a way to do it without seriously harming Kylie?"

If the fire was the only way to do it, Sai would not like it, but she would go with it if Kylie wanted to go with it. All she wanted was for her new friend to be free and for the person who did it to pay.

It began to dawn on Sai that she wasn't thinking at all about what was in it for her. But then again, in the big scheme of things, did it matter? Another thought came. What was really in it for her was that Kylie was safe. That was it. That would be the greatest reward in this quest*.

(*Hooray for character development!)

[recon5]

For a moment Patchouli found herself wondering if Sai needed a healing spell for her ears as it seemed that the Nekomata was only getting half of what she said. On the other hand, she had been told by the other residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion that she was a bit too verbose in her speech especially when she was talking about the magic arts. The librarian decided to make her answer as simple as she could.

"I must activate Kylie's curse in order to trace the caster. There is no other way. However, I do not know how badly she will be injured if I do that as I have not seen what the curse can do."

[Augen]

"Wat'cha lookin' for," a pink voice asked Augen, who turned to face the speaker. Augen was suprised to see that someone had followed him.

"... Oh, well there's a lot of magic stuff here... But I'm not seeing much as to the how or why of magic's inner workings. There must be some link... Some universal law that allows magic to work. That's what I'm curious about."

"Hmm... Maybe Koakoa knows! 'Cuz she practically lives down here. Stay, I'll be back shortly," the pink maid said, turning and extending her tongue. Before long she was a fully operational lolicopter, and off she flew towards the distant reaches of the library.

"... Eh," Augen said to himself, confused.

[shiningdrake]

So... They'd have to activate her curse to trace the caster? Kylie took a deep breath, "If we have to activate it, then alright. I know I won't like it, and it will knock me out, but if you put me in water afterward I should wake up and heal rather quickly..."

She didn't like the idea of activating her curse deliberately, but if it would help her find the caster... She was willing to do it. Though she'd completely panic once the flames were actually there... Oh well...

[Schala]

Sai was a bit uneasy about the risk Kylie was taking, however, she was proud of her for facing her fears. Sai had faced her fears so many times when she had been to the Human Village looking for some sort of legendary sword. Many a time had the humans distrusted her.

Now, Sai had eventually given up on ever finding said sword, but that wasn't going to stop her from dumping water on Kylie as soon as she was allowed to. She would try her best to resist the urge to dump water on her the first chance she got.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sighting of a little mouse scurrying along. Her feline instincts immediately kicked in, and she dove for it, only to jam her hand in a mousehole.

After an unsuccessful attempt of wriggling it out, Sai looked up at Patchouli.

"Excuse me...a little help here?"

[recon5]

Patchouli was pleased when she saw that Kylie and Sai had decided on a course of action although she was still a bit apprehensive about having to activate the water Youkai's curse. Still, she had loosened up enough to smile when Sai got her hand stuck in a mouse-hole and she immediately went over to help the Nekomata.

When she reached Sai she knelt on the ground and bent over to have a closer look at the Nekomata's predicament. As far the magician could tell, the only reason Sai was stuck was that she was too agitated to ease her hand out instead of trying to jerk it right through the wall. For a moment Patchouli thought of helping Sai normally but then she remembered that she'd promised to show the Nekomata some magic.

She touched the wall beside Sai's hand and traced a glowing blue line around the mouse-hole. Then she inscribed a small symbol at the end of the line and softly recited an incantation. The opening of the mouse-hole expanded to fill the line Patchouli had drawn, leaving Sai with more than enough room to withdraw her hand. "There you go. Now, get out of there so I can seal this opening."

[Augen]

Augen wasn't quite finding what he was looking for... And he had a feeling it'd be best to try again some other time. This library was, quite frankly, huge. Augen would need somebody with a detailed memory of this library, and Patches was quite busy at the moment... Perhaps it'd be best to return for now...

Augen left a note in blood for the pink maid. Yeah, I'll look again later

Then he started to make his way back to where he was before. To where the decisions were being made. He'd need to be a little more patient, anyway.