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A boring afternoon
Permalink Mark Unread

It's a hot afternoon in the middle of summer, and one young teenager has run out of things to do. It's too hot to do something outside, and she doesn't feel like wasting any more time on the internet. Her brother's - doing something, she's not entirely sure what, but he's definitely not here right now and won't be back until later. Her parents are at work, there's no interesting movies out, all of the channels on TV have nothing but garbage. She's too young to drive to go anywhere.

She had gotten so bored that she had actually sat down and finished her summer reading. The required essays are neatly formatted and in the folder next to her bookbag for when she'll need it in a month. A month. No one finishes their summer reading a month before school starts without a parent incessantly nagging them unless they are really bored.

Yvette is really bored.

While she's already chewed through most of the books in her family's library, maybe there's one or two she's missed. She goes looking for one that could amuse her for an hour or two until she figures out something better to do augh.

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Is that snoring.

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It sounds like it.

Is a cat sleeping behind a bookshelf? She didn't think Pancake snored. Better check to make sure the cat's okay...

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Nope. No cat.

It sounds like it's coming from maybe the Weird Books bookshelf?

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Why would the Weird Books bookshelf be snoring?

She must investigate, clearly.

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Well, it's not snoring anymore. Noise's gone.

On the other hand, that is a very suspicious glowing book.

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She doesn't have a stick to poke the book with it, but she does have a shoe. She takes hers off and prods the book with it.

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It acts as any other book would, i.e. doesn't.

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Ooooookay.

She reaches tentatively for the book.

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It's quite the pretty book, with a winged tiger on the front cover and a pretty image on the back cover.

Also, when she takes it, it stops glowing.

Also also, it unlocks on its own.

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She jumps a little, at the unlocking, then inspects the lock. Faulty, maybe? Some old locks can do that, she thinks. Probably. She's not an expert, or anything. But that and the glowing makes it very mysterious, and consequently very interesting. What were there, LEDs in this book for effect, some kind of fake magic book to impress people?

Clearly she must figure out how it works. Where are the lights on it?

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Uh. Nowhere. Is. Is where the lights are. They're nowhere.

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What? No, that's impossible, there has to be lights, maybe the lights are inside and cleverly redirected, somehow.

This seems flimsy to her, but so does the magic glowing book was snoring and then unlocked itself, so she opens the book to figure out where the lights are to wonder which flimsy explanation it's going to be.

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No lights in there! Not proper pages, either. Or, well, there are pages, and a rectangle has been cut neatly off all of them, and a stack of cards is in it.

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She takes a minute to be annoyed at the fate of the poor, pretty, probably excessively clever book for the sake of fulfilling a murder mystery trope. She's sorry, book. You deserved better. And then she's back to business.

Why aren't there any lights? It's not a glow in the dark book, the glow would still be present, it wouldn't disappear so quickly, nor shine so brightly. Some kind of convincing reflection? Of some kind? She closes the book and brings it to the window to see how it catches the light. Suitably close to glowing?

How does she replicate the weird shit she saw, weirdness doesn't just happen, things make sense if you study them enough...

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No more weirdness. That gem on the cover of the book sure is refracting light prettily, but other than that, nope.

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That is complete bullshit, and she refuses to be beaten by the pulped and bedazzled remains of a tree.

She opens the book again to begin gently removing the cards so she can investigate every inch of the inside of the book.

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Removing the first card reveals that what she had seen was actually its back. The front of the card has a very prettily drawn lady and the words 'The Windy.'

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... Headtilt?

"The Windy? What, not even something poetic, like 'The Tempest'?" she wonders, to no one in particular.

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When she says that, the card in her hand glows, bright enough that it looks like it's made of light. A whirlwind envelops her, and the cards start flying away from the book, one by one in quick succession, flying off in random directions and going through the ceiling and walls like they weren't there.

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She yelps, dropping the book. She stares in alarm and confusion at the cards flying free before her knowledge of fiction and the failures of its protagonists compels her to fling herself at the book to shut it right now.

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She does! She does shut it right now.

The book feels pretty light, though, as the wind settles.

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Yvette is not quite brave (or stupid) enough to attempt to open the book again immediately. She has no idea what her explanation for this is, there is no rational explanation, magic shit just started happening. She cannot explain this with LEDs and faulty craftsmanship. Maybe the magic cards were good, maybe they were bad, maybe she's the new Pandora and just screwed over the world, who even knows.

The book stays very firmly clamped shut, and she carries it in a vice to her brother's room to steal a belt and keep this fucker shut until she can figure out what to do about it.

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Well, she might be able to ask the floating plush winged bear that's emerging from the book's cover, glowing slightly.

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She bites her tongue to keep from yelping, again, and has a brief debate over the benefits and downsides of dropping the book and running for her life.

Whatever this is, whatever she just accidentally did, it's her responsibility. She'll be damned if she runs from that, fourteen or no. She keeps the book clamped shut, but holds it out from herself to let the - the - whatever that is emerge from the book. It's cute and fluffy, storytelling says that clearly it must be good because of that, right? Right. But it also might be Cthulhu, so, no pressure. Just if it looks evil, try to kill it very very sincerely.

She wishes very dearly for something sharp, but all of the knives are in the kitchen, and she's not close enough to retrieve one. Note to self: get a pocketknife.

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"Helloooo!"

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"Hi. Did I just unleash the apocalypse, please tell me I did not just unleash the apocalypse."

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"Hmm?"

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"I opened the book, cards went flying everywhere, I tried to shut the book as quickly as I could but some of them definitely went through some walls to, do - cardy things. What is going on?!"

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"What?!"

He lands, and the book stands up all on its own. Belt: gone. Book: open. Inside it are two cards, Windy and another one, which the winged bear takes to look at. They're taller than he is, but he can hold them anyway.

Permalink Mark Unread

"... I kept two from getting away?" she attempts, lamely. Then she sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. "So, I did just cause an apocalypse...?"

Permalink Mark Unread

He turns around, sighs, and sits down. "When the Seal on the Clow Cards is broken, a catastrophe will befall this world. Those cards were special cards made by an amazing sorcerer named Clow Reed. Each card is alive, and possesses incredible powers, but they all like acting on their own, and normal forces are no match for them. So, Reed himself created this book and placed me, the Beast of the Seal, on its front cover."

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"So. That's a yes." She also sits, shivering a little. ".... Why the fuck was the lock on the cover faulty, why were there zero warnings, why was it in my family's library you do not let apocalypse cards into personal libraries where is this Reed I will find him I have issues with his apocalypse card protection technique!" Pause. "And how can I stop the apocalypse?!"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It wasn't faulty. It could only open to someone with magical power. And anyway, normally the cards shouldn't scatter like that... Did you do something to them?"

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"I, I, read the title of one of them out loud, made a snarky comment about the naming scheme...?"

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He looks at the two cards, then points at Windy. "That one?"

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"Yes? It was the first one, why would you put the one with the 'cause the apocalypse if you read it out loud' clause first, why not instead a long list of instructions about how the fuck any of this works and can I stop the apocalypse or not?!"

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"Yes, you can stop it. You'll need to capture all the other fifty-two cards. Here, what's your name?"

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"Yvette. How do I capture the cards, you said they were alive, is this weird card based slavery, are they going to destroy the world because some sorcerer enslaved them?!"

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"...what? No, they were created by Clow, and they aren't slaves."

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"You can still be a slave to something that created you!" hisses Yvette hotly. "My parents do not have the rights to do whatever they'd like with me just because they decided that they wanted a second child!"

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"Yes, but they're Clow Cards not humans."

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"Okay but how smart are they, how okay are they with this situation of being stuck in a book until some idiot picks it up and reads two words and unleashes chaos, why the hell did a sorcerer decide to make living things to be his, magic objects of the apocalypse, why would he make magic objects of the apocalypse?!"

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"They're not magic objects of the apocalypse and that's not how they work..."

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"Then why can they cause the apocalypse if you say the wrong two words that are the first fucking words in the book?!" she shrieks.

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"Because they're magic. Windy scattered them when you used it, and they are themselves."

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"Your safety measures are absolutely shit, being magic is not an appropriate barrier for unlocking entry, that's not some kind of, of, character test, it's not some kind of test of knowledge of how not to scatter cards that are themselves! When the themselves they are involve causing the apocalypse-!!"

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(Somewhere downstairs, a door opens, but everyone present might be forgiven for not noticing. What with the shrieking.)

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"They weren't supposed to ever be unlocked, and I was guarding them, but I... fell asleep."

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"YOU FELL ASLEEP WHILE GUARDING THE APOCALYPSE CARDS, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU WHY WOULD YOU EVER LET YOUR FUCKING GUARD DOWN WHEN THEY CAN BE SCATTERED BY A CURIOUS FOURTEEN YEAR OLD READING THE WRONG FUCKING WORDS!"

Permalink Mark Unread

 

 

Welp.

Blair sees how fast he can get up some stairs to see why his sister is shrieking. Turns out: pretty fast. Taking stairs three at a time will do that. The door's already open, he does not need to literally break down a door to get to his sister. Luckily for the door.

He takes in the scene in half a heart beat, barely even pausing in his glance at the bear-thing before focusing on his sister.

"Yvette, what-?"

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She spins to look at him.

"I, the, there's, magic is real and in, card form and I accidentally scattered them and they're alive and possibly slaves and the ones that are loose might cause the apocalypse and, and."

Aaaaaand now she's sniffling and starting to cry.

Permalink Mark Unread

 


"Okay," says Blair, and he scoops his sister into a hug.

He fixes the bear with a look.

"How does fixing this work?"

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The bear is looking at Blair suspiciously. "She will have to capture the cards," he says tentatively.

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"Okay. How does she do that, can she start doing that immediately?"

Permalink Mark Unread

(His sister is now busy crying into his shoulder.)

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"...one second."

He crosses his legs, closes his eyes, floats, and glows.

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"Sure."

Comforting sister: a thing that is happening. Such hugs.

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She starts murmuring a very broken explanation of what events led up to this situation, occasional sob between words.

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He comes out of his trance.

"Not immediately, no. She needs to become a cardcaptor, but for now, there's nothing she can do with that."

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"Got it. What does becoming a cardcaptor mean, in the immediate sense, besides her assumed ability to capture cards...?"

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"What do you mean?"

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"What does being a cardcaptor entail aside from presumably capturing cards?" clarifies Blair.

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"Taking care of them and making sure they don't fall into the wrong hands."

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"And how dangerous is capturing, taking care of them, and making sure they don't fall into the wrong hands? "

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"Capturing them can be very dangerous, depending on the card. Taking care of them isn't dangerous, you just talk to them and understand them. Making sure they don't fall into the wrong hands depends."

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"On?"

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"Who the wrong hands are and what they'll try to do."

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Yvette huffs in a grumpy fashion. No duh, bear thing.

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"Well, yes," says Blair, "but what's the range of power she might be up against there?"

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Shrug. "I've been asleep for thirty years and in the book for more."

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"What could a random person do if they were to acquire one of the more dangerous cards?"

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"Not very much. A random person can't use a card, so it'd be the same as if the card was wild. You need someone with magic to do it."

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Good God, no wonder Yvette is in hysterics. This conversation is beginning to piss Blair off.

"What could someone with magic do with a card, then, and how common is it for people to have magic?"

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"It is very rare, and someone with magic could do a lot. The most dangerous card is Nothing. It makes things stop existing."

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"... On what scale?"

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"If it's wild, it starts out making small spheres stop existing. About... as large as your head. After a week active, it could disappear this room. After a month, a city block. If someone's controlling it, it depends on how much magic they have." He points at Yvette. "If she got it right now, she wouldn't be able to disappear more than something the size of her fist. Clow could probably disappear a city."

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(Yvette goes very still and quiet.)

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"How often can this be done?"

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"If it's wild it starts out at once per day. After a month, once per minute. That's about the range."

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Blair lets out a breath of mild relief.

"Okay. That's not as nightmarish as I'd imagined. Right. What is the best way for Yvette to prepare to go capture some cards, after becoming a cardcaptor?"

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Shrug.

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Blair grits his teeth and reminds himself very firmly that everyone in the world does not have to be highly competent. They are allowed to not be competent. It means they shouldn't be put in charge of anything, but they are allowed to be incompetent. Even if it is very very annoying.

"Right. So it seems she has two cards, already. How does she take care of them?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"First she has to become a cardcaptor. She'll need to stand over there," he says, pointing at an emptier spot.

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... Blair glances at his sister to see if she's up for this right now.

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Yvette takes a deep breath, scrubs at her eyes, and then nods at Blair. She'll be fine.

She steps out of his embrace and goes to stand over there, trying very hard not to glare at the bear thing. It is only moderately successful.

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He starts intoning: "Key of the Seal, there is someone wishing for a contract with you." A small glowing dot appears from the lock of the book, and it grows to about one and a half inches before becoming a key.

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"Wait, contract? Can I read the contract?"

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"...it's not a contract as in a written paper, you're just going to bind your magic power to the Key."

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"... Okay? And nothing else besides taking care of the cards is involved with this? My soul doesn't get moved into a fragile rock, I don't become tied to eldritch other worldly Cthulhu monsters, my lifespan doesn't shorten to a year and a half...?"

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"...no, nothing like that."

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"All right. Then, uh - what do I do?"

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"Ahem." He continues intoning. "A girl! Her name is Yvette. Oh, Key, grant her the power. RELEASE!"

The room disappears. She's standing in a void, the only things present being herself, Blair, Cerberus, the Key, and a glowing circle much like the one on the back of the Clow Cards where the "ground" should be. Yvette is at the edge of the circle, and the Key is floating in the middle. A strong wind starts pressing against her as it starts glowing again, almost too bright to look at.

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... Yvette still doesn't know what to do. She bites back her anger at this little bear creature's lack of explanation, and does not freak out at the creepy black void.

Should. Should she take the key...?

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The Key grows and changes shape, becoming a staff.

"Now, Yvette! Grab it!"

The wind is stronger, coming from the magical floating staff in the middle of the circle, working against Yvette's attempt at doing it.

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This is to save the world, she reminds herself, and she fights the wind to grab the staff.

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She grabs it, the wind stops, the glowing circle disappears, and they are back. "Done! You are now a Cardcaptor."

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Blair does not like how the bear thing is being bright and congratulatory about his little sister being dragged into a life threatening magical contract with the threat of the destruction of the world looming over their heads. He doesn't like it at all.

His expression darkens, but he doesn't snap at the bear thing. They need to be - allies with the bear thing. Do not yell at it. Yet.

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"... Okay, how do I take care of cards?" says Yvette, because she is going to save the world and that is important.

Permalink Mark Unread

"You don't need to do anything for now. You should meditate, sometimes, to keep in touch with them."

He reaches out, and the two cards float towards him and stand up to either side of him. "Windy is the manifestation of the wind. Libra is the manifestation of truth."

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"Considering I haven't been in touch with them at all so far, I think now is the perfect time to start," she says, a little tartly. And considering that she is mission oriented, she has a mission now, and she will do it, damn it. "Um. ... Are they - can they hear me, or can I only get in touch with them while meditating...?"

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"They can hear you, but better when you manifest them, and you can connect directly to them when you meditate. Windy and Libra don't talk, though."

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"Oh. Okay. Um. Hi, Windy and Libra - nice to meet you, um, let me know if you want anything?" Pause. She looks at Windy. "I'm sorry about the snark about your name, earlier, I didn't realize, um." Awkward face. "How do I meditate, exactly? It's weird to talk without knowing how they react..."

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"Sit cross-legged, put your staff on your lap, and one card to either side, then focus on your breathing and your magic."

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"All right." She scoots to an empty part of the room (luckily Blair's room is rather sparse and very tidy) to sit with the staff and cards.

She - doesn't really know how to focus on her magic, but she can focus on her breathing. Breathe in, breathe out, consider the implications of all of the things she said while hysterical in front of her new always aware card buddies, breathe in, try to draft some kind of apology that is sincere without sounding like it's bullshit, breathe out -

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"...you're not doing it right."

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Yvette huffs, annoyed.

"I don't know how to focus on my magic, I was focusing on breathing, what am I doing wrong, what do I need to do specifically...?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Clear your mind of all thoughts, relax, focus only on your body and your breathing and the feeling of the magic on the staff and the cards."

 


(There is no such feeling that she can detect. Yet, anyway.)

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"You want me to clear my mind. Of all thoughts," says Yvette, blankly. "Except for breathing and a feeling I have never experienced before in my life."

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Blair rubs the bridge of his nose, retrieves his phone, and starts texting their parents. They will get the full explanation when they get home, but right now, they need a heads up.

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"You will know it when you feel it. You could try manifesting one of your cards to see what it feels like."

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"... Okay, how do I do that, then?"

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"Throw the card in front of you, say its name, and tap it with the tip of your staff."

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She nods, and she - tries to decide which card she'll manifest.

She fidgets absently with a bit of her hair, then picks up Libra, gently tosses it front of her, and says, clearly and firmly, "Libra."

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The card twirls and spins in the air a few times before floating in front of her, facing her.

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... Okay. Magic is real. Roll with it.

She rolls with it, and pokes the card with her staff. Boop.

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When she does, it feels firm in the air, as if it were resting against an invisible surface. The card starts glowing, and tendrils of magic start leaving it and coalescing into something resembling the image on the face of the card, floating mid-air.

And there is a certain... feeling. Though she can't really tell much more than that—physical, mental, emotional, where it is or what it's like. It's just... very definitely a feeling.

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Remembering this feeling isn't going to be a problem, it is very itself, whatever it is. ... She does like it, though. Magic is nice.

"... Hi," she says, to Libra. "I understand you don't talk, but would you like me to try to learn some kind of sign language so you can communicate if I have trouble with meditating?"

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...it is a floating object. Communicating is definitely not its forté.

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"Libra can tell when someone's lying," the bear who has not introduced himself yet explains.

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"That's useful, um. How - is there a way you can indicate how you would prefer I speak to you, Libra? I'll try not to lie to you, but I've never done this before, so I don't know how to treat you at all."

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"It won't tell you anything in this form. Also: my name is Robert."

Libra moves its parts, lowering the moon and raising the sun, then doing the opposite.

"It's not. It's Cerberus."

It stops moving.

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"... Okay. Um. How do I put Libra away, the power's really cool but I don't know if they want me to just baldly state things to prove I'm not lying to them or not. Sorry Libra, you are very cool, I will geek out about this later, I want to make sure you're being treated right first."

She is not lying!

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Libra does not react.

"You just need to will it to return to its card form."

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Nod. She attempts to will Libra to return to card form.

(Do not think the words 'Pikachu, return!' right now, that is not helpful.)

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And it does, floating back to her hand.

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"Thank you," says Yvette, patting the card. Was that condescending? She hopes not.

She goes to sit, Libra back on the ground on the other side of her from Windy, staff on her lap, and - trying to not think about anything except her magic and her breathing.

It's hard.

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Cerberus himself closes his eyes, crosses his legs, and starts floating and glowing.

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"Do you have tips for this?" wonders Yvette. "I think I'm terrible at it."

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He opens his eyes and stops glowing, then shakes his head. "Practice and patience."

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Sigh.

"Okay."

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"Does she have to completely clear her mind?" wonders Blair, looking up from his phone. "Would listening to, say, music help?"

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"Completely. Music would not help."

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"Even the meditative ocean soundtrack things?"

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"...ocean soundtrack things?"

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"There are soundtracks with sounds of the ocean or something, meant for helping to create an atmosphere to clear your mind."

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"That might help."

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"Right, okay. Yvette, it kind of looks like you don't need me right now, I can go buy things you need? Soothing soundtrack things, a book or two on meditation," medical supplies for when the dangerous card things hurt her, "maybe other things if you want anything?"

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... Yvette recalls the moment when she very dearly wanted something sharp, earlier.

"Can you find me a - swiss army knife of some kind? Or something?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sure. Priority to the knife bit or the multi-tool bit?"

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"... Got it."

That is Yvette for 'knife please.'

He leans down to hug his sister, and then heads out to retrieve his keys.

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Cerberus watches this exchange with bemusement.

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Yvette smiles a little.

And then she goes back to failing at meditating.

 

"You're sure you don't have any tips?" she mutters, frustrated.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sorry. I'm not human. It's easy for me."

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Sigh.

"It's really hard to focus on breathing and my magic when it's not doing anything, doesn't require any input from me."

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"Maybe try counting your breaths? Making sure they're evenly spaced?"

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"I can try?" she says, a little dubiously.

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"Sorry."

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"... It's not your fault meditation's hard," she attempts, because she can't bring herself to say 'it's okay' when it's so obviously not, and when she's still withholding burning boiling rage and can't really give him any sincere praise. And she suspects lying in front of Libra would go over badly.

She takes a deep breath, and focuses on evening out her breath, recalling the feeling of magic, and just experience what she's feeling right now. It's hard to do, but if nothing distracts her, maybe it'll work this time. Maybe.

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It does! It does work this time! She's seeing things with her eyes closed!

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Oh gosh excellent yes now she can-

Aaaaaand she drops out of it.

"Augh," she says.

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"You did it! Now you just need to keep it going."

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Yvette makes a face, and then - gets back to trying it again.

It's harder to get into the mindset when she's also going, C'mon you did it before you can do it again at herself, and also staving off But what will I say to them when I can actually talk to them, and How could I possibly speak to them when I have to keep my mind clear?!

Getting back is going to take a while.

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Yes. It probably is. She might glimpse some things with her eyes closed every now and then, if she manages to spend more than thirty seconds without letting her brain get in the way of her thoughts.

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This is so freaking hard.

Despite this, she does actually manage it. Once. After about half an hour.

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When she does, she will notice that the thing she sees is the magic circle under her, and the cards to either side of her, floating, and... something else.

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Noticing the something else causes her to lose the meditation, because what is that she must know.

She huffs, then asks, "There was another thing, along with the cards and magic circle, do you know what that is?"

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"I didn't feel anything."

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... She does a survey of what is in the room right now.

"Could I have been seeing you?"

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"Yes, that is a definitive possibility!"

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"Is it very likely?" sighs Yvette.

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"Yes!"

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"Right."

Back to failing to meditate. Where is her brother with those ocean soundtracks?

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Cerberus can't do remote seeing.

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Here he is!

He doesn't ask how it's going, he can guess pretty well by the look on his sister's face. He wordlessly offers her a stunningly beautiful multi-tool-with-a-prominent-switchblade-edition with a green, silver and black floral pattern on the handle of it.

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She was failing at meditation anyway, she looks up when he comes in and stares at the knife.

"Where did you even find this, it's gorgeous."

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"I am the best brother," he says magnanimously, "and I have my ways. Do you want the ocean, forest, or soothing jazz music soundtrack?"

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"Forest," she decides. "Thank you."

The best brother gets a hug.

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"Okay. I have the books on meditation if you also want them, don't know how useful they'll be."

He forks over his iPod because he realized partway through shopping that buying CDs is silly. Sorry, record stores. This is the digital age. Blair has moved on.

"Anything else you need me for?" he asks, directed to his sister and not the bear-thing.

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Yvette considers, then shakes her head.

"Thanks."

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"...what's that for?" the bear thing asks of the multi-tool thing.

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"I will be getting into dangerous, varied situations, right?"

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"Yes?"

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"So this is a multitool, it has lots of things on it for lots of different situations, in case I need a tiny slightly insufficient screwdriver to - I don't know, crawl into a vent like an action hero. A tiny insufficient screwdriver's better than none at all."

But also it has a knife. If she needs it.

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"Okay."

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Blair looks between the bear and his sister, then decides the thing to do is be present in case his sister needs him. He sits on his bed, checking his phone for anything it might have to say about prepping for emergency situations.

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And Yvette goes back to attempting to meditate.

The forest sounds help.

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The room is no longer there. The circle is under her. There are two cards, floating, but there's a sense of—more, as if the cards were just merely tiny windows into the vast truth they represent. Libra is truth, Windy is, well, wind.

There is Cerberus, there, alright, as a golden shadow.

And there is Blair, as a silver shadow.

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Aaaaand meditation lost again. Augh.

"Is it ordinary for people to show up in - meditation vision? Because Blair, I can see you with - meditation vision. Cerberus is golden, you're silver."

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"... Huh. Does that mean anything?"

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Cerberus eyes Blair suspiciously. "It means you have magic. Moon magic, to be precise."

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Blink. "And how do I use it? And what's Moon magic compared to - what's the other type of magic, solar?"

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"Sun magic. Without the Cards or a magical artefact, you will have difficulty using it, but you can use the Cards."

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Blair doesn't point out that the bear thing failed to mention that Blair could have taken his sister's place.

"That's good to know. Which magic does my sister have?"

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So the bear thing doesn't point out that he couldn't, actually.

"Sun."

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"You didn't actually answer how they're different. What does being one or the other mean?"

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"Sun magic is the most practiced in the West, Moon in the East. If you have more Moon magic than Sun magic you have an easier time with Eastern spells, and vice-versa. Half of the cards are under Moon, like Windy, and half are under Sun, like Libra."

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".... So I'm best suited to using Sun cards, and will have more trouble with Moon cards? Is this difference strong enough that handing my brother Moon cards to use is actually viable, or is the cardcaptor staff thing powerful enough that I'm just the best person for both?"

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"Without a magical artefact, even while using Moon cards he will not be as good as you are."

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"Can we get him a magical artefact?"

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"It's not a thing you buy in stores. You will have to make him one, when you are more powerful."

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".... I can make magical artefacts." Sigh. "How do I do that."

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"You don't, yet. After you have learned how to use your magic without the cards, you will be able to infuse artefacts with new magic."

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"Okay, but what kinds of artefacts can I make?"

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Shrug. "All kinds."

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(Blair idly thinks about how very puntable the little bear thing is. So puntable.)

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"Can you give me some examples?" sighs Yvette.

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"Hmm... a magical sword? Another staff? A compass?"

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"And what could they do besides being vaguely magical?"

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"Channel your magic and allow you to seal a Clow Card."

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"... That's it for all of them?"

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"They can also do specific things. A compass can find things, a sword can cut things, a shield can protect."

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"Can non-magical people use them?"

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"Not their magical properties."

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"Okay. Can I make things that are activated once by me and then just work continuously after?"

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"No. When you use magic, it takes up some of yours until you stop using it."

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"... I have a pool of usable magic?"

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(So very puntable. And he's just the right size, too. Though, keeping him still so that he could be punted would be a bit of a problem, what with the wings. It'd have to be a punt sneak attack, for sure. And he'd only get to do it once, so the punt should be a good one.)

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"Yes. It grows when you do more varied magic and capture more cards."

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"Is there a limit to how large it can get?"

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"Not really."

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"So - how do I do more varied magic, when I can only use the cards themselves?"

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"Using more cards and finding new ways to use cards."

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"What do you mean, finding new ways to use cards? New ways to apply abilities I've already used, or creative reinterpretation of - I don't know, how to use truth."

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"Both."

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"... I can work with that. Can card abilities be combined?"

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"Yes."

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She resists the urge to laugh maniacally.

"Excellent. Can you walk me through how I would do that? Not what I could do, but actually what I'd need to physically do to activate two cards at once."

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"...ask them?"

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... Sigh. "So I do the card touchy thing twice, and then ask them to do whatever it is I'd like them to do?"

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"Yes."

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"Is there an upper limit to how many cards I can have in use at once?"

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"As many cards as can fit in your magical capacity."

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"How can I tell how high my magical capacity is, and how much do cards take up? Is it the same amount of magic, or is it different amounts for different cards?"

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"You can't tell, and it's different amounts, and also depends on what you're doing with each card."

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She is going to make an artefact that measures how much magic she has left as soon as she can make artefacts.

"So - there's a baseline just for activating them, and then what I do with them adds to the magic they're using up from me?"

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"Yes."

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"Is there any way to tell how much a thing I ask from them is going to cost?"

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"Not in advance."

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"What happens if I ask more of them than my magic can provide?"

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"Something else you're doing stops working."

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"So I have no way to tell how much cards are costing me to do things, except if something breaks when they do it," says Yvette, with a sigh. "Do they know how much magic I have left?"

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"They know what they can do with what you have, and will tell you if they can't."

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"So a lot of this is trusting my cards and building a good working relationship with them." She already knew that, but it's good to see it's more than just the power of friendship being necessary for magic reasons.

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"Yes."

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"Right. So meditation is still a good idea, even if I suck at it." Sigh. "Blair, what time will dad be home?"

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"Five. Ish. I told mom and dad a bit, but they agreed that taking off of work early now, when there's not an emergency and there might be ones in the future's a bad idea, so - normal time for them both. I can explain everything else when they're home, let you keep meditating."

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Nod. "They're not too freaked out?"

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"I mean, it was all by text message, so I couldn't really see their reactions? But no, mom didn't get super curt and dad didn't take ages to reply and then send me a novel. "

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Yvette snorts.

"All right. Thanks."

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"Mhm! And while you're not meditating - dinner requests?" Pause. Do not glare at the bear thing. "Either of you?"

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"Not picky."

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"Dessert!"

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Blair gives the bear thing a very dry look, then looks at his sister to make sure that she does in fact want him to make dessert.

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And he gets a little smile. Dessert: approved.

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"All right. Dessert for the bear thing. ... What's your name, anyway?"

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"Cerberus!" he says, pronouncing it 'Kerberos.'

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"... Like the three headed dog that guards the gate to the underworld?" says Yvette, blinking.

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"Yes. This is not my true form."

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"What is your true form?"

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"Do you remember the tiger on the cover of the book?"

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"Yes."

She had been investigating it for lights, after all.

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"That was me."

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This makes sense. "Is there anything keeping you from assuming that form now?"

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"My powers are linked with yours. The more powerful you are, the more powerful I am. And you need to capture Earthy and Firey, too, before I can assume my true form."

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They are seriously called Earthy and Firey, what the hell -

No, stop that, no snarking about card names, even in your head, you need to make friends with these cards.

"I see. Why them?"

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"They are the most powerful cards under me."

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"... Under you?"

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"I am Cerberus, the Sun Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards. Sun cards are under my purview, and they draw their power from me, and I from them."

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He could have mentioned that earlier -

"Is there a Moon Guardian of some kind?"

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"...yes."

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"Can I find them and get their help, too?"

And maybe get some straight answers for once?

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"He will be dormant until all cards are recovered."

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"Oh. What happens then?"

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"Then he will challenge you to ensure you are truly meant to be our master."

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That's - alarming. "Um. And what does that entail?"

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Shrug.

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"Is it a magical confrontation, battle of wills, game of riddles or what? Or do you just not know?"

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"Almost certainly magical confrontation."

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"Great. Okay. And what happens if I lose?"

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"And can I help her out with this confrontation?"

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"If you lose, your magic powers are sealed away with the cards in the Clow Book," he tells Yvette, then looks at Blair. "You can't help her with magic."

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"... So, all or nothing, defend my magic powers or lose them," says Yvette, sounding - displeased.

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"But I can help her?"

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"Yes."

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"Can you give some examples of the ways I could help her without magic...?"

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"Advice? That knife? I'm not sure."

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"Right. I'll have to use my imagination."

Because clearly somebody's not going to be any help...

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"Sorry."

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... Blair nods, because he doesn't really think he can bring himself to say that it's okay.

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"Right, anything else, or back to meditation for me?"

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Shrug.

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Sigh.

Meditation!

She is getting better at this. .... Sort of.

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So she will sort of see things with her eyes closed.

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Well, that's better than nothing. What does she see?

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The same things: magical circle, self, staff, cards, entities behind cards, Cerberus, Blair, becoming clearer and clearer—in that order—the longer she manages to stay under.

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Well, she can sort of manage it if nothing new and shocking comes in to disturb her. ... Once out of every three times she actually makes it this far. Which is not often.

What exactly becomes clearer about the cards?

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Their nature. Being magic and not people, in the strictest of senses. Emotions and relationships. Windy has a grandmotherly air to her, or the closest to that the wind itself can have. Libra... is pretty much a smart plant. And it seems to have some feelings about everything in the room but they can't really be described as anything more than 'positive' or 'negative.'

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Well, she can maybe stay here long enough to figure out how they sort of feel about her. Maybe. Very vaguely, because she still can't stay here very long.

How do they feel about her?

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Windy: Grandmotherly. Yvette is a new magician, and will one day be a worthy master, but that day is not today. There may be intricacies and details about these emotions, but they're too alien to really be understood, for now.

Libra: Well, Yvette has not lied. That is a good thing. Cerberus has lied. That is a bad thing. Blair dislikes lying. That's a pretty good thing. Once again, there are intricacies and details there, that one might expect the incarnation of truth to have, but—incomprehensible.

There is a magical connection between them and her, and a similar but not identical one between Libra and Cerberus, and a third kind between Cerberus and her.

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Wait a second, Cerberus has lied?

How the hell has Cerberus lied, what the everliving fuck?

... Was it the time that he purposefully lied, or..?

Augh. This is going to make it really hard for her to meditate, now. She huffs.

"Is casting and playing with magic a viable thing for me to do, too, in order to train?"

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"A bit, but just doing the same things many times won't help."

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"I wasn't really planning to do the same thing over and over, I don't know my limits at all yet."

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Nod.

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"So, um. I'm going to go do this in the living room. That seems a better place to do it."

The backyard might attract some attention, they don't have a private fence.

She picks up her cards and staff, and heads off to the living room.

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.... Blair follows! That seems the thing to do.

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Cerberus follows, too.

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And then they are all in the living room.

Yvette takes a deep breath, decides that actually she should have some practice with her only offensive card, and summarily throws Windy in front of her.

"Windy," she says, and she boops the card with her staff.

(.... She keeps a good hold of Libra. She's a little scared, but she's fighting past it.)

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Windy appears: a tall translucent woman with a kind smile made of tendrils of magic air.

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"Hi," says Yvette, because that seems to be the thing to do. She keeps the quaver out of her voice.

"Can you actually pick me up?" she asks, because clearly she must figure out if she can literally fly.

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She shakes her head.

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"The Fly card is better for this."

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"What's Windy best at, then?"

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"Moving air. Not so much fine control of it."

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... She gives Cerberus a bit of a look, before she bites it down and goes back to business.

"Windy? I don't suppose you'd like to show off for me?"

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She pauses and cocks her head.

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"You probably don't want that, unless you were going for renovating your living room."

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"... Point. Um." She looks embarrassed and scuffs her foot against the carpet. "So you can move things around, but not necessarily gently, and not with much finesse?"

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She nods.

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"Can you do - shields made of wind? Stop projectiles from hitting me?"

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She cocks her head a bit, and there's a distinct "more or less" feel to the movement.

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"Can you keep things from moving? Since I'll need to -" catch 'em all "return them to their card forms."

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Same feeling.

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"Not good at finesse, right. I - get the impression that you are rather powerful, it's just me and my lack of power limiting you."

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She nods, looking for all the world like a kindly old lady.

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Nod. Vague apologetic look.

".... Aaaaand I am having trouble thinking of places where I can practice with you without getting a SWAT team breaking down the door. Um." She glances at her brother. "Can you see about finding me a place in the middle of nowhere where I can practice magic?"

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"Sure. It'll probably take a while, though, this is not the kind of thing I want to mess up."

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Nod!

She glances at Cerberus. "That being said - how ostentatious -" is the end of the world "- are the cards on their own?"

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"What do you mean?"

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"How obvious is it going to be that there are magic cards running around using their powers as they so desire on anything they want? I assume they all have physical forms like Windy and Libra, but I don't know how large and obvious and magical those forms are."

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"Very obvious. All of them have physical forms, not all of them are visible to normal people. Windy isn't, Libra is. When they're doing things, they can be very destructive and flashy. Earthy will probably cause earthquakes."

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"Charming. Can you give me a list of these cards, please? And what they can do, and what they're likely to do if left to their own devices?"

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"Arrow, Big, Bubbles, Change, Cloud, Create..."

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"Stop, if you're going to start listing them let me get some damn paper," she hisses.

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"You asked for a list..."

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Yvette looks very much like she would like to start shouting at Cerberus again, but this time she inhales sharply, shuts her eyes, and counts to ten in her head. Very quickly.

Once this is done: "I apologize for not being clear in what I was asking," she says, a little bit too formally. "Give me a minute, I'll go get paper, and then could you please be so kind as to list them out for me so I can write them down?"

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"Okay."

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She then summarily ignores him and looks at Windy.

"Thanks," she says, the formality dropping a bit because she's not talking to the person she's upset with, "Hopefully I'll be able to practice with you before a card turns up, but uh - thank you for being understanding about this whole thing." Pause. "And I know it's not your fault, about the - card thing."

She resolutely does not look at Cerberus. She does not look at Cerberus. It's incredibly tempting, but she doesn't.

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She nods again, smiling.

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Yvette smiles back, and then wills Windy back to card form.

She picks up the card and puts it with Libra, then walks (she does not stalk, she is careful to not let herself stalk) off to get paper.

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Blair doesn't seem inclined to talk to Cerberus at all while she's gone.

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Cerberus doesn't know what he did wrong.

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Ugh.

"You know her knowing all that she possibly can about the situation is very important, right?"

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"...yes?"

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"You... don't really act like it? It is sort of like you are doing the minimum requirements for explanation instead of showing initiative about what she needs to know, and you're not checking to make sure that she can actually absorb the information, or understand it in the greater context of what's going on, so she has to piece together tidbits instead of having a good foundation. She has to build the foundation herself."

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"I'm not a teacher," he admits. "I'm a guardian beast. I was born knowing things."

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"I'm sorry you have to do things you're not good at and weren't made for," says Blair, "but you're also the only one we can actually talk to that does know these things. Do you want help trying to figure out how to teach?"

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"...yes?"

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"Okay. So I think it's a good idea to focus on the overall structure of how magic works - have you told her all of the information about basic principles?"

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"I don't know basic principles. I only know about cards, and a little bit of what Clow showed me."

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"That's okay, you don't need to know everything," says Blair. "But I think you're underselling what you do know. You know that there are two types of magic, and that the cards are sorted into one or the other, and what they're all capable of and their personalities and mannerisms. That's not nothing."

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"That's true. But I don't know what else is important. And I don't know all about the cards, only what they told me."

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"Okay, well, I'll help you with figuring out what's important. Are there - sets of rules the cards follow? Or categories that they sort into besides sun and moon?"

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"Yes. They are divided in seven groups: Windy, Earthy, Firey, Watery, Light, Dark, and Nothing."

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Yvette returns with a pencil and a notebook newly made empty by strategically ripping out pages devoted to algebra.

She raises an eyebrow, but doesn't ask.

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"Okay, and how many cards are in each group, and what is implied by being in a group?"

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"Nine cards in each of the element groups, eight in each of the attribute groups, and Nothing is alone. Cards in a group will trust her more and be more powerful if she controls the leader card."

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... Yvette sits down to write this! It seems appropriate! She makes a table for all of the cards and their card groups.

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"All right, that makes sense." He glances at his sister for Are You Absorbing This Information. ... His sister finishes writing a thing, then looks up and nods. Right, okay.

"Does being part of a group do anything else, besides being more powerful and trusting if she has the leader card?"

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"I don't think so."

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"Okay. So what are the cards in Windy's group?"

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"Float, Fly, Dash, Jump, Move, Storm, Voice, and Song."

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Write write write write!

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Blair looks at the layout of Yvette's table, decides that it's not built for inputting information besides the names of the cards and their group, and then waits until she's done writing to ask, "All right, and - which group is Libra part of?"

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"The Earthy."

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"And what are the other cards grouped under the Earthy?"

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"Flower, Lock, Loop, Maze, Mirror, Sand, and Shield."

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"... That sounds a bit more varied than Windy's cards. Is there a reason for that?" wonders Yvette.

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Shrug. "Windy is more directed to movement, Earthy to preservation and protection? I'm guessing."

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She considers, then nods.

"Do the other group leaders have similar directions?"

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"More or less? It makes sense when you consider them."

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"And what would those be?" asks Blair, gently, because his sister's going to start getting annoyed again.

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"Firey has Arrow, Fight, Power, Shot, Sword, Through, Thunder, and Twin," he begins.

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"Ah, so pretty aggressive and - attacky," says Yvette, as she writes down the names.

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"Yes. Watery is Bubbles, Cloud, Mist, Freeze, Rain, Snow, Wave, and Wood."

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".... So, environment effect based?" decides Yvette, after a pause.

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Shrug. "Dark is Change, Dream, Erase, Illusion, Silent, Sleep, and Time."

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Write write write write!

"... Messing with things?" she attempts.

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Another shrug. "Light has Big, Create, Glow, Little, Return, Shadow, and Sweet."

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"... No idea. Size changes and creating stuff? I guess? Eh. And the Nothing's alone."

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"Yes."

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"Okay, thanks."

She flips to another page in the notebook and gets to setting up something for personality and powerset of the cards.

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"Is she likely to have a lot of trouble catching the card group leaders?"

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"Yes. Forcing them to their true forms and then trapping them will be a challenge."

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"Forcing them to their true forms and then trapping them? I thought their true form was the card."

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"The card is their true form when sealed."

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"... And when they're not sealed, it's - like Windy or Libra?"

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"Yes."

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"So what do the true forms of the card group leaders look like?"

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"Women. Different ages and species, made of magic and their... things."

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Nod. "And how does one force them into their true form, and what is one forcing them from?"

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"Disrupting them? I don't know. You're forcing them from—their things. Water, earth, fire, light, darkness."

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"Forcing them from their things? Could you give an example?"

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"Getting... Watery out of water?"

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"... Would turning all of the water to steam get Watery out of water?"

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"Probably."

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Blair nods, thoughtful.

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Yvette has finished writing up her list!

"Okay," she says, "So some of these are obvious but some of them aren't. Float does exactly what it sounds like?"

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"It makes things float."

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"Well, yes, but is there a height limit? And what makes floating different from flying?"

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"Float has finer control, and can do it to multiple objects, but it's slower. Fly only affects one thing at a time and is very fast. I don't know if there's a height limit, I never asked."

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Nod! She writes this down.

"I'll check the height limit thing, I suppose. ... Could I make things float with Float, and then push them forward with Windy, and approximate what Fly does?"

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Shrug.

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"... Okay, well, what about Dash?"

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"It's very fast."

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"Does it go very fast, or does it make other things go very fast?"

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"Both."

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"By what mechanism does it do this?" Pause, realization that this is not a thing that Cerberus will likely understand, then: "Meaning, does it - speed up my ability to run, or move me some other way?"

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"It makes you move magically faster."

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".... Soooo I speed up?"

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"Yes."

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... She does not ask 'if I were using Fly, would I also speed up that,' because she assumes that this is not a question Cerberus can answer.

"What about - I don't know, projectiles? Things that have no movement abilities on their own."

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"Those too."

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"So it magnifies whatever speeds are already present," she muses. "Okay. Can it change the direction of the movement?"

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"I don't think so."

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Nod! Thoughtful hum, as she writes this down.

"Jump?"

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"Jumps very high, can accelerate more than Fly."

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"Does it have something inherent in it for helping whatever's jumping to land safely, if it's jumping up?"

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"It softens the landing too."

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"Oh, good." Pause. "... Does it have to soften the landing?"

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"What do you mean?"

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"I mean - if I fight it," says Yvette softly, "can it fling me up into the air at an incredibly high speed, and then not soften my landing?"

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"It can't fling you if you're not using it. It can only fling inanimate objects while wild. But it's strong enough to bring you with if you're holding onto it and it jumps."

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"Okay. So I - won't hold onto it. If it dragged me along after it would it be better to hold on so I can be covered under its softer landing, or let go and try to see if Windy can save me?"

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"It won't cover you. Windy's a better bet."

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Nod. "But don't grab hold of it."

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"Right."