00:07?Carmine?With his usual long stride a person who hasn't been to the hollow in quite some time appears, this time draped in a form of ceremonial cloak that billows out behind him as he makes his way across the lawn.
00:08?Hazard?The bell hung from the portal arch dings once, then breaks off, dropping to the ground around some crispy twig bits.
00:08?Hazard?The Hollow's tree has seen better days, many of the leaves are turning colors, and some have fallen off.
00:09?Hazard?The guardians, still as vigilant as ever, look untouched by whatever blight has taken the plantlife here.
00:10?Carmine?Sirius frowns, this isn't good, so as a first order of business he attempts to revitalize the tree with his magic, taking the bell and hanging it back in it's original place.
00:12?Hazard?Mana slips into the wood (~lewd comments aside) as easily as water into a sponge. The arch revitalizes, regrowing its crispy leaves and extending a curled vine to accept the bell. The tree, however is another matter. It is so drained of life energy, that it seems hungry for more, no matter how much is given.
00:14?Carmine?This makes Sirius's frown deepen, he continues inside and makes sure to not get his horns caught on the doorway before calling out, "Young Hazard? Little one?"
00:15?Hazard?Hey... was that a cricket? Nope. Pin drop? Yeah. Yeah that was a pin dropping right there.
00:17?Carmine?Sirius follows the sound, his hooves clacking against the wooden floor as he moves.
00:18?Trimangle?(There wasn't actually a sound, for the record. Hazard was making reference to the phrase "so quiet, one could hear a pin drop.")
00:18?Hazard?(That was... metaphorical...)
00:20?Trimangle?There's a flash of movement at the window before Sirius enters, and a familiar silver-headed air mage pops down the stairs. "Oh! Sirius! Hello!"
00:20?Carmine?(I didn't get that)
00:20?Carmine?(As made obvious)
00:21?Carmine?"Young Alex... Where is little Hazard?" He asks, his grim expression not lifting.
00:23?Trimangle?"Oh, um...she's either in her room or downstairs in the greenhouse. ...For your sake, I hope she's resting in her room right now." She laughs a little...the tone just ever so slightly ?off?. "It's a long way down, and the elevator's busted."
00:26?Carmine?Sirius quickly makes his way to Hazard's room, "Alex, tell me, why is the grove dying? What happened while I was away?" A tone of worry settles into his voice.
00:30?Trimangle?A pained look flashes across Alex's face. "There's a ?very? good reason for it, I assure you," she says, following behind. "I can't tell you a lot, but suffice to say I was trying to help Hazard, and I accidentally burned out her connection to the mana pool she used to use. ?However?, Hazard and I are working to fix it. She'll be as right as rain before you know it."
00:30?Hazard?The doors of the bedroom hall are all shut.
00:31?Carmine?Once he hears this news he stops and slowly turns to Alex, "YOU WHAT!?"
00:33?Trimangle?Alex starts stepping backwards, her hands up in front of her body as she laughs nervously. "I-ah, I-I said...ha, I accidentally severed her connection--b-but it's getting better! I-I spoke with a couple people, a-and they told me what I could do!"
00:35?Carmine?Sirius clenches his fist and resists the urge to hit Alex, instead taking it out on the wall next to him, leaving a large dent, "You absolute fool! That could have killed her!"
00:36?Hazard?After a moment, Hazard's bedroom door swings open. "Wha.... What is going- Sirius?"
00:36?Trimangle?Alex shrieks and flinches back, shuddering. "Y-You think I ?meant? to?!" she demands. "You think I ?knew? what I was doing?!"
00:39?Carmine?"Obviously you didn-!" he turns to Hazard and stops yelling, after a moment of silences he rushes up to her, collapsing to his knees to embrace her, "Oh thank the goddess you're alright."
00:40?Hazard?As he reaches out for her, she jumps back, throwing her arms up in defense with a yelp of "Ah!"
00:41?Trimangle?Alex closes the distance to Hazard and Sirius, trembling with fear. "I-I t-told you. It's getting b-better. I'm ?w-working? on it. ?We're? working o-on it."
00:43?Hazard?The blood has drained from the little girl's... everything. Pale as a ghost and frozen in terror, she stands stark still in the hall.
00:45?Carmine?Sirius remains silent for a few more moments, "I apologize for scaring you two," he stays on his knees and bows to them, "But, I know of a way to fix her connection."
00:46?Trimangle?"Right now, you're scaring her by being so close, by touching her," Alex says, her voice suddenly ?far? more firm. "Please step away."
00:47?Hazard?"Oh? What? You... Do?" She says, finally relaxing her limbs as the color slowly returns to her. Still, she continues to step back. "I mean... I've been practicing with my own mana, but it's going."
00:49?Trimangle?"She has her connection. Right now, it's just like a muscle group you haven't used in a while, she has to build back into it."
00:49?Carmine?Sirius quickly gets up and backs away, giving Hazard ample space, "I do, but it'll require meeting with my mistress, she can hasten the repair process."
00:53?Hazard?"Your mistress? Gaia, was it?"
00:56?Carmine?"That is not her name but that is not important as of now, she is a goddess of nature and can help you."
00:58?Trimangle?Alex shakes her head. "No." A simple, flat dismissal/denial.
00:59?Hazard?"I... I see." At Alex's quip, however, the little brunette tweaks her head, a single braid falling into her face. "Why not?"
01:00?Carmine?Sirius just looks over to Alex and frowns, "I ask the same as Hazard does, why not? And you aren't one to decide for her."
01:00?Trimangle?"That's not a good idea. This is a problem for me and Hazard to solve on our own. Hazard needs to come back into contact with her magic on her own, not have the process accelerated along."
01:01?Trimangle?"This is not a task that a Goddess need be concerned with."
01:02?Hazard?"Uh, Is this like... Like an Ichigo learning his true bankai or something? Do it the right way for ultimate power?" Despite the anime quips, her question seems sirius... Serious, even.
01:05?Carmine?"Do you say that out of consideration for disturbing my mistress? Or out of fear of what she may do? Or do you seriously think that it can be fixed as quickly as you think it can? By the time she gets her connection back this grove will most likely be shriveled and dead."
01:08?Trimangle?"Along those lines," Alex agrees with Hazard, chuckling. To Sirius: "None of those are wrong, but neither do they capture the entire problem," Alex explains, rubbing the back of her neck. She shifted a little on her feet, though, when Sirius mentioned fear of what she might do.
01:10?Hazard?"What is the problem then, Alex?" She seems thoroughly confused, but at least she doesn't look scared anymore. "If I don't get my powers back soon, those refugees will have a rough time getting food!"
01:12?Carmine?"My mistress wouldn't think of it as a disturbance if my student is the one asking for help and she wouldn't dare harm her or do anything other than heal her for the same reason of her being my student, however if you truly want to walk the path alone then I can attempt to heal the grove and stop it from dying."
01:16?Trimangle?"That would be ideal, Sirius," Alex says, nodding. To Hazard: "The problem is...well, consider this. If Sirius' mistress touches your power to help you get it back, then it's not really a hundred percent yours anymore, is it? It's partly ?hers? at that point. I mean-- and please, I don't mean any offense-- Sirius is beholden to his mistress in exchange for his power. Is that what you want?"
01:20?Hazard?"N-no, I don't think so. I'd rather not be tied to any deities... except my own." She puts up her hands in a surrendering gesture. "Not that I doubt she's a nice lady or anything.
01:20?Hazard?"
01:23?Carmine?"No offense is taken, but I will correct you, I am loyal to her because she saved my life, not because she gave me power."
01:24?Trimangle?Alex nods. "Well, correction taken, but you take the point. She has certain expectations of you for bearing her power."
01:28?Carmine?"Of course, but at the time it was the beginning of the thousand year war, but now there is no war and I am her bodyguard and general of her armies should they be needed."
01:29?Hazard?"Wow. You're a big wig." Hazard says, tweaking up a bushy, brown eyebrow. "No wonder I learned so much from you."
01:30?Trimangle?She whistles. "That does seem like an impressive position."
01:31?Carmine?"Well, slaying a saint in single combat and being responsible for sacking the god of the underworld's palace gets you places."
01:33?Hazard?"Saint? Which saint?
01:34?Trimangle?"Doubtful one we've heard of."
01:35?Carmine?"Yes, she is long lost to the annals of time but I believe her name was Thiestes... It's hard to remember after nine thousand years."
01:37?Hazard?"Nine thou... How do you fit that many candles on a birthday cake?"
01:38?Trimangle?"Very carefully. Or maybe you just put those number-candles on it, you know, a nine-zero-zero-one."
01:39?Carmine?"Cake? I can't remember the last time I had that..." He trails off, "Anyway, the only person who actually remembers how old I am apart from myself is my mistress, which is nice of her."
01:40?Hazard?"When is your birthday? I should totally make you a cake. Although I'm better at regular cooking than at baking..."
01:41?Trimangle?"That'd be nice," Alex agrees.
01:44?Carmine?"Lets see, I'm ten thousand three hundred and forty nine... my birthday is soon, late in the month of 'June' as you humans call it."
01:45?Trimangle?Alex exchanges a surprised glance with Hazard. "Geez..."
01:46?Hazard?"Really? Mine is June 27th!" She's actually excited now, a smile slashing across her face.
01:48?Carmine?Sirius' eyes widen, "Our worlds calendars may be a little different but by my worlds calendar my birthday is the twenty seventh of 'Caharis' which is the equivalent of your worlds 'June'."
01:48?Hazard?"Birthday buddies!"
01:49?Trimangle?Alex laughs. "Very nice!"
01:52?Carmine?Sirius smiles a little, "Now then, it was good to catch up with you two but I must now tend to the grove, it's slow death is unpleasant to sense."
01:54?Trimangle?Alex nods. "Very well, Sirius. I appreciate you coming by."
01:54?Hazard?Guilt settles over the girl like a thick blanket. "I wish I could do something more to help."
01:55?Trimangle?"Hey, hey," Alex says, smiling. "We'll get there. You'll be back to 100% in no time."
01:56?Carmine?Sirius undoes his cloak and throws it to the little girl, "Look after this for me, that'll be plenty of help for me." He makes an about turn and makes his way down the stairs, brushing his hand over the dent he made and repairing it as he passes.
01:57?Hazard?A little head pops up from being buried under the cloak. She gathers it up and trots into his reserved room to put it away. "Would you like anything to eat? I can at least cook for you two for coming out this far."
02:05?Trimangle?Alex tilts her head, then nods. "I could eat, if you're gonna make something." She smiles. "I love your cooking."
02:06?Carmine?"Certainly, I will make my way up when you are done." Sirius replies, slowly adding more and more magic to the tree as he descends.
02:09?Hazard?"Spinach and roasted leek risotto, then!" The energy flowing through the tree highlights the expanse of work done to this magnificent plant. Beyond just being huge above ground, its roots extend down to an even greater depth, wrapping around a larger chamber filled with more plant life.
02:10?Trimangle?"Ooh, that sounds really good!" Alex says happily.