Stralia - Notes, Times, Places
#8 of Stralia
_Stralia - Notes, Time, Places. ~~SnowDragon
They say the second week is the hardest and I might just believe them as it comes to an end. While thus far I've technically written more than in the previous week, it was mostly swept across different topics and different files, resulting in thus far, this being the only chapter written in the week rather than last week when we had two. While is this well within the rules of this little challenge I dislike it as this event should allow me to finish it and then have time to edit it before the end of the year. I wish I knew how many people were actually reading and enjoying this story as I put it together, at the moment I have only my own mind and the risk of an ass kicking from one person that's keeping me writing. Regardless, so far it's been fun to put together and for those that are reading, I hope you're enjoying it!
So, without further ado, I present Chapter 8 of Stralia, this time, Notes, Time, Places. As always, enjoy!
Writing time: Estimated 6 days. Written and finished mostly at midnights, so basically a guess. Length: Digital Copy Only, 7.5 A4 Pages Soundtrack: Pokemon X-Y Team Flare, Team Flare Boss, Legendary Themes_
'They are taking our work and starving our families! Murderers! We Will Kill You!'
~Anti-Equality Protest Banner in Japan, translated to English.
Before she even knew it, the time had passed, passed so quickly, lost to the depths of the book and all the knowledge it held within, knowledge she was trying so desperately, so quickly trying to absorb in the vain hopes she would be able to transfer and teach the knowledge to others at some point in time... though she might or would probably have more like simply making an exact copy, and distributing it to anyone and everyone she could find in the hope the knowledge would spread more quickly that way, but that would take more time than she could ever dedicate to any single task. Time had passed as had the sun, disappearing away across the planet to it's other side, leaving only the full moon in it's wake and the soft white glowing light to provide vision for the many species that were not blessed with perfect night vision, humans and Erildisans alike, though it hardly mattered to her, not so much trapped as willingly locked to her hard backed books of such knowledge and of such power, switching between using her computer's electronic notebook and a blank writing book she had spare for the house in order to make notes, observations and to make her own theories if she thought she understood enough of the topic and comparing them to the topics as they were discussed when they came up, a method of checking her answers as it were as she learned, cross referencing theories between the two books. Learning through her mistakes and learning through her correct answers as well. The words connecting her to such powerful, intelligent minds as if they were her own teachers, the copyist having done such an amazing job in order to allow her to connect so deeply with, blessed with the opportunity to learn from them. There were more minds in the meeting than she had originally thought, and while the book of magical theory was just as, if not more invaluable than the first thanks to it's ability to help her decipher the high level magical discussions like a code book, enabling her to dive deep into the levels of their talks, to help her understand what was being said, and exactly why it was being said.
The interlinking meanings were not to be lost either and she had a deep suspicion that the author of the textbook directly relating to magical theory, the history behind the theories that had come to be accepted as fact in her time. Some, were no longer as practical, such as where and how to locate a suitable site in order to conduct deep thinking meditations in Erildisan caves and forests, though perhaps the later might be of use to her purely for thinking. Despite all of this, she was still so utterly convinced she lacked the Signs that would make her a mage proper. Deciding for a short break, if only to break the distracting thoughts by giving herself an answer, she flipped to the book written by Vauimen, the textbook, right to one of the first sections, dealing specficially with those young enough to start to grasp the concept of magic, enabling to cast should they bare the power, given to them at birth. Those who showed the Signs, at least until they were properly trained, had limited ability to both access and control their powers. Some were barely able to flash a flicker of fire into existence while others had a more natural grasp of the ability, capable of lighting fireplaces or cooking meals, reading the thoughts of others or calming down a situation. Mind mages, now that she thought of it, particularly young ones who did not yet understand the importance or dangers of their powers, were of deep concern to the governments, Erildisan and Human alike. The Empire was better equipped for such things, their important structures having been protected by numerous wards and acts of protection that prevented such powers from being abused, but the Earth government were not so lucky. In the same way US and NATO forces abused the definition of mercenaries to avoid taking Empire soldiers as prisoners of war, Empire ministry officials used the lack of rules regarding and surrounding mental warfare to wage internal conflicts within Earth military structures. Finding and capturing enemy intelligence agents, implanting wrong information in their heads or outright reprogramming assassins, capturing enemy soldiers and forcing them to gun down their own commanding officers and comrades until they were stopped, remembering nothing about what they had done or why they had done it. By the time military commanders were able to gleam enough knowledge about what was happening, the war was practically over, and the UN established Resolution 3-4-4-9, Magicks on the Battlefield, which outlawed the use of reprogrammed time bombs as they had been referred to against enemy forces. Many civilian governments had adopted the same principle, making such an act punishable by death.
She shuddered to think of how many mind mages she had run into who were diving into people's minds in such an unethical fashion who knew the truth about her and exactly what she was capable of doing, a scary, scary thought indeed. She shook her head, corrected her head feathers and continued to read into the Signs. A standard test of sorts would have been administered to her if the Collision hadn't occured by more practiced mages in order to detect those who had aleady begun showing the signs, but it wasn't always effective, as the age and time of showing such Signs were variable between races, genders and individuals alike. Often times, the first sign would be displayed in one's dreams, the person in question would accidentally cast a spell in their sleep, either alerting themselves instanteously by means of soaking themselves with a casted ball of water or by accidentally setting their drapes on fire or awaking in the moment wondering why they had woken up in the middle of a cornfield. Parents played a part as well, pulling their child aside on their birthday around the typical age, the average of which was thirteen, imparting the message and the warning. Never try to change the light. Vauimen had a theory that it was simply tradition, to ensure the child didn't attempt the impossible and therefore injure his future attempts to cast by thrying to cast through doubt and disbelief, that he believed Light element spells were an impossibility, a tradition that like many others, had simply lost it's meaning, but Vaalkazar's words in the Symposuim discussion left her with other ideas. He had seemed so certain, so assertive back then, several days ago when she had read those words, anyone trying Light based element casting was doomed to die. Dragon's minds were always in the clouds, and for whatever reason, these academic minds that had likely never spoken, didn't see eye to eye on the topic at hand, which only muddied the waters for her. Making note of it with a slow, calculated typing into the digital notepad, nothing more than a transfer of magnetic information to metal platters only accessible through the transfer of power to the device with which the metal plates were stored in, making it bold in order to highlights it's importance for further thought, before returning to the text at hand before she distracted herself anymore than she already had, rubbing at her temples idly with a hand, wondering just how long she had been at this for, but not having the heart or the mind to stand yet another distraction when this question remained to be answered.
For those aiming to test if they actually showed the Signs, a short but indepth test was required, for those with early magical abilities were purely limited to their element with what little control they possessed. Since Vauimen, nor Vaalkazar nor Eisenhower nor anyone else she had read and effective met and absorbed the knowledge of, had devised a way of determining what that element would be and because of just such a limitation, a level of guesswork was required by the one administering the testing and the soul being tested for signs, which, unless a very lucky guess was had at, required a long, awkward situation in which two people were set in a room with either a number of people watching, mages themselves to undo whatever damage might be caused or in the case of more modern times, a good number of items pertaining to extinguishing fires, blankets in case of a small blizzard, breathing devices in case of a flood of water inside a confined space was created and other paraphernalia in case of various emergencies that might arise thanks to an untrained mind throwing the powers of creation about by order of another when they full well knew they didn't have the ability to control such powers. Again, she hesitated, much to the like of her caution and to the irritation to her mind which wanted answers and was determined to get them. Directing her attention to the textbook once more, she could find no mention of any requirement of these tests that said that they be watched or looked after by another mage, or by anyone else in fact, merely that it was recommended in case something untoward happened. Well, that had to be easy enough to avoid right? Just avoid thinking about setting your drapes on fire or filling the room you were in with water and that situation would or rather should never arise. But she needed one more thing before she could administer the test to herself, a list of actual, magical elements, things that could be controlled, changed or otherwise forced into obeying the power of a spell caster's mind to become a spell or otherwise be flashed into existence in the realm she inhabited, and again her attention flicked to the first book, that of the book of such great minds, those she admired, those she revered and those she learned from, wondering if they in this session, in their conversation regarding mages and their elements, actually spoke about what could and couldn't become the subject of a spell.
She took to flipping through those pages at merely a glance across a few words for each of them, looking for those key elements, blinking her focused yellow orbs in slight irritation, rolling from her chair for only a moment when she declared the dull white glow from her computer monitor simply not bright enough to continue her search, letting the brighter yellow-white shade from the aging desk lamp, it's story retold after it had been recovered at a swap meet after much haggling, a more convenient and direct-able light source than that the lights mounted into the cream roof's surface could provide, and the silent sound of those well oiled wheels rolling back into place in front of the desk, resuming her study and after five more minutes of reading, searching, giving in and resigning herself to defeat in that book, changing her tactic, switching to the textbook and striking success almost at once. Vauimen had, in the very rear of the book, as a point of basic refreshing reference, provided his reader with a table of known, castable, that was an important point as well, magical elements. She whispered them aloud, commiting them to paper and memory as she spoke, her words soft with the new knowledge, something that would likely keep her busy for quite a while yet this night. "Fire. Water. Lightning. Earth. Mind. Venom (Even Vauimen noted it was probably better known as Poison). Wind." She paused for a moment, checking the list in case she forgot something peering between her writing and that of Vauimen's textbook, noting... deciding, rather, that something was missing from her list, and quickly adding another column to her hand drawn, efficient list, and whispering it as well. "Light." She blinked as she finished it, looking between the books and flipping the page two... three times in her hand written note book and peeking up to observe the digital page counter of the computer's electronic paper and writing display before tilting to the time as tiredness hit her properly for the first time since two nights ago. Despite surely having slept for most all of today... or yesterday as the time clock was telling her in no uncertain fashion, there wasn't a part of her that didn't feel tired and she was honestly surprised, the depth and the intensity of her work must have kept her from feeling it coming on until she had a moment to stop and just think about it for a few seconds, something she would take steps to avoid in future.
But the more logical thoughts came to her rescue, bringing her back to that of the girl not done with the required education, not yet ready to properly escape life to teach the knowledge to others, however untrue that statement might have been. She might have gotten an entire day of because Humankind thought she had gotten lost in a forest and therefore needed a day to recuperate and be coddled like a small child barely out of the eggshell, something she loathed, if it had happened on Erildisan lands or back on the planet itself, she would have been hauled up out of bed in order to attend her duties proper, considering she was hardly seriously injured, mentally or physically, they really were quite weak when they were not fighting so desperately, tooth and nail and claw against an enemy that wasn't really an enemy. She might have gotten the entire day to peruse a subject she found so much more important than the roles of numbers and letters interacting together or even the subject she was so good at, the history of the worlds as they had been Post Collision, but rather a subject where no matter how she looked at it, no matter what she read, it was a topic where she could do some real good, make an actual impact in the world rather than studying something that had no real value, no real advantage to knowing, and was in most cases, something she already knew off by heart and didn't need teaching. In fact, she thought to note, quietly in her own mind as she shrugged off clothes, folding them as carefully as she could while so clumsily tired as she really was, not really knowing how badly she was currently until the actions she performed every single night to the scale of ritual were difficult to not just perform, but to remember their order. It wasn't until she sat down upon the side of her bed, quietly opening the drawer containing her hidden alarm clock, setting it for the correct time and setting it upon the bedside table, ready to awaken her to the world tomorrow as the rain pelted down outside her window, in the alley, surely going to be a very quiet night tonight, which was perfect for her and everyone else in who lived in her home. Not until she went to slip the blade of her person underneath the pillow did she realize it was all the way over there, on her desk next to the keyboard of the computer and not in fact in her hand like she thought it had been the entire time, and perhaps that was for the best as with a careful, non conscious adjustment of the position of her wings, she had slipped beneath the covers and was already asleep as her hands were pulling them up over her, falling asleep to the nightly glow of the computer and the bright yellow desk lamp, it's glow leaving the room well light, it's best attempts to keep her awake wasted.
Her eyes not opening until like clockwork she awoke moments before her alarm was set to deploy it's buzzing sound, her thumb pressing and then disabling the device for another morning, kept silent and then hidden away within it's drawer home, ever serving, ever pretended like it didn't exist, it's very structure and usefulness denied as if it were never there, her mind only partly awake, not alarmed, not really aware, merely a pleasant tingle from a long night's sleep. A stray thought, no fears, no worries, no jump starting, no terror or fluttering of her wings, just dead, quiet sleep and she smiled, waking up in that single second, so amazed, and so happy with no nightmares weighing down her thoughts making her afriad of the night later today and the night after that, and the night after that. Instead rather, she sat up and slipped out from under the covers, taking a short moment to correct them, reaching for her knife to set it upon the desk... it wasn't underneath the pillow so where... oh, that's right she left it upon the desk in the first place last night after her studies left her exhausted and she shared a silent chuckle with the room itself at the state she had left it in like that one time she spent most of the night studying for an exam she left too late a year ago only for it to have been moved back another week, making her rushed studies unneeded, leaving her quite embarrassed. With a shake of her head and the customary readjustment of her head feathers as she went, slipping out of her current clothes, folding them upon the bed and delaying her redress with a long, well needed stretch of every part, inch and muscle of her form, soft pops as she woke muscles and bones back into action from her night's worth of activity... she felt stiff, far to stiff from too much exercise without enough preparation and now she was paying for it, predictably, not when she had nothing to do but rather now when she was required to move. Hands fell to her thighs as she worked fingers into the tensed, sore muscles which helped, at least enough to move without concern.
A few minutes spared for just such an act before straightening up and rolling those plumage covered shoulders back and fanning out those wings with a quick, short rustling as the primary feathers were uncovered against her back and extending the pair to the natural width, arching them to a takeoff tilt and then fanning them out like she would to slow a hunting descent at mind boggling speed. It was in this act she breathed a short sigh having not done it in so long it was such a good feeling and she even bared her claws as if coming down on hostile prey, a meal for her to catch and feed her family, letting the feeling of power spread throughout her mind and body before letting those feathered appendages fold back up tightly, comfortably against her back and sliding the cupboard door open, a short pause this time merely to decide which colour combination... Black jacket of course but, yes but what to wear underneath it. After a few more moments of decision her mental timer ticked to zero and she decided, tan undershirt with black slacks rather than the blood red dress with the black trimming, and while what she slipped into was slightly more... aggressive as she had been told by some of the human adults who hadn't quite caught up with the times, she would wear whatever she heck well wanted, thank you very much. Humans again with their preconceived and preassigned gender roles... shaking her head and peeking in the mirror to make sure her feathers were aligned in the proper direction, buttoning up the shirt in the mirror (because she just couldn't get them by looking down over them) and after fumbling for what seemed like an eternity, slipping her wings through and into the jacket as it sat on her shoulders, gathering her notebooks in one bag and her magical theory books in another, bags sitting on opposite sides of her hips from one another. With that, she was ready to go.
As she shut and locked the door behind her with both bags slung across her shoulders and began her careful and predatory-silent trip down the stairs, something she was increasingly proud of, praising her own skills at remaining unheard despite all the extra weight. Although she had little doubt her mother would have heard it as clear as she would hear a normal conversation held at thirty paces, she realized just how long it had been since she had practiced those predatory instincts in the depth of her lake, even with how recently she had paid it a visit and stayed so deep for a time even she didn't realise she had stayed there for. Typically, she always remembered when she last ate and exactly what it was... and the expression it'd had when she caught it down, broken it's form and devoured it in seconds. No, she was defiantly hungry and not expressing blood lust for no reason, but she thought even as she slipped down the stairs. Her sister was not there in her normal spot drawing although she was earlier than normal and she was probably still asleep. A few items and a bag sitting on the kitchen counter indicated that while her mother was actually awake, she was likely in the bath, items required for her place of employment on a day to day basis. Without another look at the rooms left and right of her, she turned and headed for the front door, stopping only a moment to make sure she had everything she needed, in her pockets and in her two bags and stopping once more to check the weather, given she'd forgotten to up until this point. Still raining, constant and steady but no longer to the monstrous storm they'd had a few nights ago, the clouds grey but little else, which means the younger school children would be full of energy with little way to dissipate it, meaning the library was going to be noisy. She grabbed an umbrella all before stepping through the wooden structural portal and locking the door behind her with a soft but solidly confirming locking click. Pressing it forth once to confirm this fact again for her mind, she quickly headed down the handful of stairs leading to her home and turned parallel to the street, past the alleyway between the brick building she called home and the commercial structures right next door as rain struck the protective fabric covering above her head, keeping her, her coat and her feathers dry as she liked them, her downy hide not weighted down by the clothing that was soaking wet.
The beginning of another day.