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Eventually Bella and Lexi go to bed - they have to coordinate this; Bella's a reasonably sound sleeper but Lexi's not, so if Bella goes to sleep first Lexi won't be able to drop off with all the random nouns and if Bella goes to sleep second Lexi will wake up when she's trying to sneak around. They get up, and they get ready for school.
+Morning, Brilliance,+ says Bella while she's brushing her teeth.
incanted
incanted
"Okay, matter manipulation like - sorting the sand by color, or making colorful sandcastles, or melting it into colorful glass? Can you be more specific?" asks Bella, bouncing on her toes.
cardistry
Brilliance laughs.
"I'd go with sorting, then glass, then sandcastles, I think. And cast through me, you'll use less mana and I can analyze the spells easier."
"I'd go with sorting, then glass, then sandcastles, I think. And cast through me, you'll use less mana and I can analyze the spells easier."
cardistry
"Nope! You've already done it a bunch. It should actually be easier to cast through me than otherwise, when you're holding me in this form."
incanted
"Okay. Do you suppose I can make a general organize-the-stuff-I-have-in-mind-by-
cardistry
"I think long-form incantations are our friend here again," he says. "They're more flexible. Tell the sand you want it to sort itself. Uh, they tend to be kind of poetic, but I don't think that's actually a requirement except that it maybe makes them easier to remember."
incanted
"I should be writing these down," Bella decides, and she catches her notebook up to what has already been tried. Then she considers, and writes, and says aloud:
"Sand, please arrange yourself into a rainbow!"
"Sand, please arrange yourself into a rainbow!"
cardistry
Radiating out from Bella in a wave, the top inch or so of sand lifts into the air and settles back down sorted by hue, with red to her left sweeping through orange, yellow, green, blue, and finally various purples all the way on her right. The edges of the sorted patch fade back into the multicoloured sand; the wave of colour-sorting dies down about a hundred feet away.
There is definitely a feel to this spell that's different from the smaller, simpler, more focused spells she's been casting so far.
There is definitely a feel to this spell that's different from the smaller, simpler, more focused spells she's been casting so far.
incanted
"Feels - interesting," muses Bella. "I might have to start making up words for spell-feelings. But hey! Look! Rainbow sand."
incanted
"Very. Glass next? Long-form incantation for that too? We're not shy on mana sorting that much sand, are we?"
incanted
Bella focuses on a circle of some of the green sand right in front of her. "Melt and become clear glass without getting hot," she orders it.
cardistry
Nope.
"Try just, like - part of that at a time," offers Brilliance. "Like, melt some, then melt some without letting it get hot. I'm not sure how to handle the clear-glass part."
"Try just, like - part of that at a time," offers Brilliance. "Like, melt some, then melt some without letting it get hot. I'm not sure how to handle the clear-glass part."
incanted
"Okay."
She hops up into the air a bit, in case the heat is significant, and commands the same circle of green sand to: "Melt smoothly together!" (Since they're working on long-form incantations.)
She hops up into the air a bit, in case the heat is significant, and commands the same circle of green sand to: "Melt smoothly together!" (Since they're working on long-form incantations.)
cardistry
There's more responsiveness in a long-form spell; it gives her feedback about the successful melting-together of the sand. And this one, thanks to the temperature, doesn't end up with extra grains stuck all over it.
incanted
She picks up her blue glass circle. "Neat," she laughs. "All right, maybe I can get one clear, stained glass -" She aims at purple sand. "Melt smoothly together without heat transparently!"
cardistry
It's hard to tell with all the discs just lying there, but the purple one definitely looks flatter and smoother and with fewer impurities than the other two.
incanted
Bella tucks Brilliance under her arm and picks up the blue and purple disks and compares them.
incanted
Hmm. She sets them down and makes a red one with the same incantation as the purple, focusing on smoothness and clarity while she speaks the sentence.
cardistry
There is still feedback from the spell, silently showing/feeling how the sand comes together into glass. It goes even better this time.
incanted
"So there's - either a practice effect, or a focus component that itself has a practice effect," Bella says.