damned_institute | Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

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Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

[F15]

As usual, the doctor's announcement was vague and led her nowhere as far as figuring out what his intentions were went, but definitely foreboding. There was no way to tell what exactly he had in mind when he was cutting himself off like that among all the static, which was frustrating, but ... she supposed sooner or later, they would all see what would happen-- if it did.

For now, however, Naoto knew there were other important things she had to wait for, so the riddle can be further sat on later. Setting her journal back on the desk, she went to prop the door to the room open and sat back on the edge of her bed, then set the flashlight up to give the best lighting around the room she could get it to. Anyone else wouldn't be wandering around the pitch black halls without their own light, but Naoto figured it would be best if those dropping by could see easily in the room, as well.

Now, all there was to do was wait. She didn't care when in the night her radio delivery came in, but she wanted Yousuke and Kanji to hurry. There was a lot to talk about, and Naoto didn't want any of this time wasted.

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Rein nodded again and sat at the edge of the bed; she was perfectly content to remain standing, herself, but she wanted Raine to feel free to sit.

"I don't know how much... I told you, before," She began hesitantly, "But I'm able to... steal the magic of others. I can't use any of the magic I brought with me from my own world, but I think I might be able to make some use of other magics that are allowed to manifest within the barriers here..."

She paused. It was probably clear where she was going with this, but she should probably leave Raine a chance to ask questions...

Raine put the new makeshift staff aside and went to sit with her; she didn't see any reason to hesitate, herself. "Unless there's severely adverse side effects, you're welcome to... take a spell of mine. Although if it's going to leave me unable to cast one or both spells tonight, or exhaust me, I'd prefer to wait until morning."

Hmm... she remembered Reinforce analyzing a spell of hers before when she cast it, but her powers had seemed different then. Anyway, it didn't hurt to ask... and as always Raine wanted to hear everything on the subject that her friend was willing to tell her.

Rein sighed softly. For her, this was what made it hard... this unquestioning acceptance from a person she'd met so recently was in some ways hard to deal with. She wanted to be accepted, yes, but for others to so easily make themselves vulnerable to her also made her nervous.

"I cannot form a proper unison here, this is a mere corruption... it will probably be draining, but I was not being gentle with Sheena last night and she was able to continue fighting. So long as you don't plan on doing anything strenuous I don't expect it to be a problem. More than that... I need to know whether you trust me. Not as you knew me before, but the person who just arrived here."

Raine tilted her head very slightly, not certain what Reinforce meant. "Of course I trust you. It may be in part because you were here before, but even if your powers have changed, I don't think you have."

She was slightly concerned about the spell-taking being a drain, but there was no need to hurry to the clinic, and it sounded like at worst she would need to rest for a little while afterward.

...and, of course, even an incomplete, corrupted unison for the purpose of anyone learning anything sounded worthwhile.

Rein nodded. "Your curiosity is something I like very much... but in this case I want to be certain that you don't feel this is simply a risk worth taking... if you don't trust me completely, I would rather not continue. It is thievery, a hostile act."

There was a difficult balance to maintain here, between explaining her own concern, why she needed that trust, and delving too deep into the past and creating unnecessary fear. The risks were, after all, the small ones she had already described. This was a moral issue for her, a question of how well she trusted herself.

Raine smiled slightly; it was certainly good to have a friend who loved learning as much as she did. "It's not stealing if I'm offering it to you." Besides the joy of teaching her friend a new spell, regardless of how that was done, on the practical side they could use all the healers they could get.

She did understand that they were taking a chance here, but risks were unavoidable if they wanted to accomplish anything. So, yes, she thought the venture was worth it.

Another nod; for some reason, that simple answer made Rein feel a great deal less anxious. The past cast a long shadow, but the context of the present mattered as well. This was a gift, a sacrifice made willingly, and for the sake of others. To object too much was an iniquity in itself...

"If you're ready, then..."

"I am." Raine wasn't entirely sure if she needed to do anything, but considering this was a power rarely used on willing subjects, probably not.

She was about as relaxed as she could be, at least without lying down, so she settled on mentally lowering her shields. I doubt I can do it completely for anyone, but I can imagine that putting up resistance will only leave me even more fatigued.

She did hope it wouldn't hurt--or worse, make her feel like she couldn't breathe--but whatever happened, she could handle it.

It was not an especially flashy or involved process; all Rein had to do was place her hand on Raine's chest, and after a brief moment where nothing seemed to happen it began to glow a dull white and sank in, moving not through clothing and flesh but something else entirely, the space defined by the magic in the body...

For most unison devices, to touch another's magic meant to dwell within them, and be subservient... but her vastness swallowed up the magic of anything on the scale of a human, and instead made it a part of her... even through this partial connection, with her powers suppressed and confined to this body, that had not changed. Both the form and substance of Raine's magic were open to her,

It took only a second, and then the hand withdrew... though not far. Sheena had been able to continue fighting after enduring the same, but the ninja was made of sterner stuff than Raine, and Rein wanted to be able to steady her if she felt weak.

Raine didn't mind being touched (for once), but she stiffened, her breath catching in her throat, when Reinforce... went into her. She couldn't have put up a fight if she'd wanted to--she couldn't think well enough to. It wasn't the feeling of a hand through her chest--there was none of that. It was more as if she had entered into Reinforce's essence, and it overwhelmed her.

When her friend withdrew, there was a pause before Raine was even able to exhale. Suddenly feeling like she'd forgotten how to breathe, she finally managed, "So... how much did you get?" Because I don't think I want to repeat that experience.

"More than enough," Rein answered, still hovering over Raine. The half-elf didn't look like she'd taken it very well... which was what she had expected, but it was still cause for concern.

She'd really rather it wasn't herself that necessitated the first use of her new magic...

"Good." Raine rubbed her forehead, hoping she hadn't gone as pale as she felt. "Did you acquire all of my spells, or just the ones I have access to here?" She sincerely doubted that Reinforce would be able to cast anything she currently couldn't, but she was interested in knowing what her friend had managed to pick up.

I'm sure it's called a Unison for a reason... if she did it again, with a little help, would I be able to learn about her magic? So much for not wanting a repeat episode!

"As long as they're reflected in your personal magic I can understand them, so I should have learned them all," Rein answered, and gave a small smile. "Does this mean you're feeling well now?"

Well, Raine's curiosity was probably strong enough for her to ask these kinds of questions even when she was in poor shape, but her voice was steadier than it had been just after.

Raine managed a smile in return, if mostly to reassure her. "I'm not on the verge of fainting, at least. I'm curious... since it's called a Unison, would it be possible to do it in such a way that I learned your magic? I'm sure I won't be able to use any of it, but I'm all right with that." She chuckled slightly; of course Reinforce understood purely academic interests.

Actually... since Rein had first used that trick on Sheena, would she be able to learn anything that the summoner knew? It was certainly an interesting prospect!

"I could show you a great many things in a proper unison," Rein said with a sad shake of her head, "But this ability is as I said a corruption. It has no such pleasant uses."

She had always been a device to learn first and teach second, but the gap between the two had grown far too wide when she'd been broken.

"So you can't show me anything with it?" Raine tried not to look too obviously depressed... the experience had been unpleasant, but she was very willing to repeat it for a learning experience!

...if they were able to stay together for any length of time when not under this limiter, Raine suddenly had a few ideas for what they should do.

Rein was thinking along the same lines, and pulled Raine into what she hoped was a comforting huh. "When I'm restored I'll teach you as much as you like."

It was an unusually optimistic thing for her to say, but for some reason the renewal of her magic hadn't brought with it the fears of the old cycle. If anything, she felt closer to Hayate's purpose than she had before, now...

Raine chuckled slightly, and managed to hug her back; affection was still something she wasn't used to. "That would be marvelous. Half-elves live as long as full elves, about a thousand years, but I still don't think it's enough to learn even a fraction of what I'd like to."

She didn't even care that much of what Reinforce might be able to teach her might turn out to be essentially pure theory; at least some of it HAD to be useful, and the rest was too fascinating to pass up!

"A thousand years..." Less than she'd lived, but a long time even by her reckoning. "You can learn a lot in that time, Raine... and forget a lot. I think it's more important to think about what you'll do with that much knowledge than worry about having enough."

She didn't usually think about these things, much, but somehow she found herself giving her opinion anyway.

"I'm a scholar," Raine reminded her dryly. "It's not about what I'll do with it." Although all knowledge was potentially useful, and that was why she was so adamant about preventing things from being lost to time.

No matter what, she intended on getting home as soon as possible, because she was needed there. But, once the crisis was over, if traveling to worlds beyond the two she knew was possible... she just might have to look into researching immortality at some point.

"There will always be more knowledge, though. I think if you only preoccupy yourself with what you haven't learned yet, it will be hard to be satisfied. Things like teaching, writing... using that knowledge for others, are important too."

But then, as a penitent, she had a bias towards the importance of good works in an individual's life.

Raine nodded. "Passing knowledge on to others is a pleasure, as well." It was one reason she was a teacher, after all.

She felt reasonably recovered, so she got up carefully; thankfully, she found she was no longer shaky. "I'm ready to go if you are."

Rein nodded back, signaling both her agreement with Raine on the joys of teaching and her readiness to leave. She'd delayed Raine long enough for this... they had other responsibilities to fulfill.

"Are we going to be working on our own tonight?" she asked. So far as she knew the clinic was without a set location for the night.

"I don't know," Raine admitted, going for the door. "I was planning on just going to M35 and figuring out the plan from there."

Picking up her closet rod reminded her that another broom would be nice, but that had to wait. Hopefully she could just ask someone nicely to get her one.

[[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/630961.html?thread=54238641#t54238641).]]

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Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

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