Growing Lilies

Lily awoke in darkness. It took her a minute to remember where she was and what was going on. She was tired. Down to her bones it felt like. Then she remembered. The frozen river. She must still be recovering.

The rest of the night had gone mostly uneventfully. Lily was too dead to move more than once an hour or two to take a trip to the restroom. Otherwise Sunica had made her drink an absurd amount of warm tea, and they’d gone back and forth about what to do.

Sunica was vocally in disbelief that Lily had caused so much trouble and defied an order by a [Matriarch]. But, the look on her face told a different story. Even Lily who was normally a little oblivious to things like that could tell she was flustered and happy.

Although, if she was being honest Lily wasn’t sure her motivations had been so pure. It’s not like she had lied about how she was feeling, but wasn’t refusing to leave without someone she trusted to do the talking and generally keep her safe socially kind of selfish?

In either case, Lily was glad the girl was happy. And it’s not like it was totally unfounded. Lily had gotten somewhat attached. But, she was worried her friend might get the wrong idea. Although, was it entirely the wrong idea? Sunica was sweet, caring, protective… tall…

“Ugh. I’m too gay for this.”

Lily hastily rolled over. No no no. Those weren’t productive thoughts. It’d never work out. She still wanted to go home, and Sunica was just getting attached because Lily was the only girl around who didn’t want to shun her. She’d definitely find someone else way better and more interesting  later. That thought stung a little. Lily shook her head. She couldn’t get caught up in weird stupid feelings. She wasn’t going to take advantage of Sunica’s vulnerability and that was that. She had other things to focus on.

Sunica had gone out looking for Bay. He’d been missing since Lily fell in the river. She insisted she could make her sister find him when she came back, but Lily was a little worried. First a hole, and then missing? She thought she had him still when she left the river, so he probably wasn’t way downstream or anything. Maybe she’d lost him in the flight.

She really needed to perfect a tracking spell. Or just start putting magical tags on everything and everyone she might want to find later. Not that they’d last through getting a hole blown in them apparently.

Talking it through, they’d decided to wait and try to be diplomatic. Lily’s first instinct was to pack up and run, but Sunica made it clear they’d be tracked down. So, it was either diplomacy, or a fight and Lily didn’t like their odds. Besides, she might still be able to talk her way out of all of this. If only she could focus on thinking about what to even say. At least they should probably have a few days. Sunica had said that because her mother was so busy all the time and this was hardly a national emergency it was likely that talking directly to her about it would take a bit. Lily wasn’t so sure. After all, wasn’t it her daughter talking?

Well, if Adelina showed back up with guards tomorrow she might still be able to buy some time by claiming to be too sick to talk or make the trip. Maybe she could cast a spell to make herself seem colder and clammier?

She focused. It wouldn’t be hard right? First draw the circle under her skin like with her self defense spell–

“Huh?”

Her internal mana reserves were nearly empty. When she went to pull on that power, it didn’t want to come. She tried again, but she hadn’t felt this low since… since when? Right. The pit. When she had been drawing on what felt like her life to try and cast spells. Why was she so low? Was it the fire spell from yesterday? Or something more?

Her head spun. She felt woozy. Oh, she really was tapped out huh? She sank back into sleep before she knew it.

---

 

When she woke again, the sun was out. Birds were chirping. She let out a heavy sigh and stared at the ceiling for a few moments. She didn’t want to move. She was nestled in her warm cocoon of blankets. It didn’t sound like Sunica was up and moving around yet either. Lily yawned. Today she was going to bounce back! Today she wasn’t going to get caught off guard! She was going to get her shit together and be prepared!

“Oh, you’re up.”

Lily screamed and fell out of her makeshift bed, clattering to the floor hard enough she could feel her teeth rattle. She groaned. She turned toward the noise as soon as she could figure out which way was down. Adelina was sitting in the center of the room, cross legged, and sipping on a cup of tea.

“H-How the hell did you get in here?”

The girl gave her a look and seemed like she was holding back laughter.

“It’s my Sister’s house and the door was unlocked. I walked in and made tea. Would you like some? It’s an extremely simple blend, but sometimes simple products are delightful wouldn’t you agree?”

Lily stared at the girl, and narrowed her eyes.

“You can’t just walk into someone’s house!”

“But, my family owns it?”

“Sunica owns it.”

“Yes, and she is part of my family is she not?”

This was going nowhere. It was time to switch gears. This was not the best way to wake up, but she could still try to talk.

“Why are you here? Come again to try and drag me up to Avezare?”

“Not at all. You made your position on that quite clear yesterday, and I haven’t gotten a firm response from Mother yet.”

“Then why?”

“Actually, I am here to offer my apologies for my behaviour yesterday. It was unbefitting of my position as a representative of the Nor family.”

“Mmm. Okay? Apology accepted, so long as you don’t come after me with spells again.”

“In the interest of making amends, I went and found your t– friend from yesterday.”

She dug around in a pouch clearly way too small to fit more than a fist and pulled out a familiar white round shape.

“Bay! You found him?”

“Yes, and I have not done anything with it other than picking it up and bringing it here. I wasn’t sure if you had some kind of magical effect on it, but I figured you would want to do repairs on your own.”

“Oh, yeah the hole… I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that. Honestly, I’m not sure it’s possible to fix him up right without access to a ma– aaassively high level tailor!”

Lily stopped herself before saying ‘machine’ out loud. She still wasn’t totally sure about the technology in this world but she sure as hell hadn’t seen any sewing machines yet. Adelina seemed to be able to tell she was covering, but graciously didn’t bring it up. She did however give Lily a confused look.

“Are you not a [Mage] of some power yourself?”

Lily laughed.

“Me? Oh no. I’m probably still at the hobbyist level if I’m being honest. I don’t even have the [Mage] class.”

“I thought you were an [Enchanter]?”

Ah shit. That was the lie wasn’t it? Lily’s brain was still coming online. She had to be more careful.

“[Enchanter] isn’t [Mage] is it?”

It was a poor lie, and Adelina very clearly seemed skeptical.

“I suppose not. Where did you say you were from?”

Fuuuuck. This wasn’t a good direction for this conversation to be going. Where was Sunica?

“California. Hey, have you seen your sister?”

“She’s sleeping in the other room. Can’t you hear her snoring? I’m not familiar with anywhere by that name. Is it far?”

Damn. Lily could faintly hear the girl snoring in the other room.

“I– uh. I don’t know. Truthfully, I didn’t exactly walk here. I came by teleportation spell.”

“A [Teleportation] spell? That’s powerful magic. And you say you are not a powerful [Mage]?”

Lily frowned.

“You’re being awfully nosey. Does your family want to know that bad?”

“Oh, my apologies. I forgot to say. Officially I’m still supposed to be in Veni. I came back for… personal reasons. So if you could just try to separate me on a personal level with me in my official capacity, you’d have my gratitude.”

Lily stared down the girl for a few seconds of silence. Adelina fidgeted. She seemed… guilty?

“What kiiiind of personal reasons?”

“Oh. Well. Uh…”

“Yes? What?”

“I’ve never seen magic like yours before! As a fellow [Mage], I would really like to know more. So, would you please answer my questions?”

Well, that was unexpected. Lily was expecting a fight, not a personal request. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Well… Could you do a few things for me in return?”

“Name your conditions.”

“Not conditions! Just favors.”

“Very well. Please, name your… favors.”

Lily rolled her eyes. This girl had no idea how to act like anything other than a diplomat or an angry teen.

“First! You must know some good [Tailor] with the fancy clothes you’re wearing. Help me get Bay fixed.”

“Oh. What about the spells on him?”

“Nothing I can’t re-cast. He’s mostly for sentimental value. I just don’t want him broken.”

The girl stared down at Bay on the floor between them for a moment, and her glacier blue eyes gleamed. She put out a hand and pointed it at Bay.

“[Repair]!”

In less than a second, Bay looked like he inflated from the inside out as the holes in the cloth mended, and then there he was. As chubby with fluff as the day she’d found him in the Target. Although the purple patches remained.

But, more than that. That spell! Lily still wasn’t used to seeing spells cast in this world yet, much less enough to recognize what was happening. But that spell! She recognized that spell! The way the mana flowed out of Adelina and how it materialized around Bay. She’d seen this before. It was the glyph she couldn’t figure out in the repair spell back home! The glyph that wasn’t a glyph. What the hell? Was it some kind of… API, plugging in a different style of magic altogether? She struggled to remember the actual mechanism of magical circuits around that ‘glyph’, but couldn’t. She’d have to ask Lily 0 to go take a look. Damn.

“Are you okay? Did I mess something up?”

Lily shook her head. Right, the other person in the room.

“No! No. I– I just hadn’t seen that spell before. It was incredible.”

Adelina burst out laughing.

“The [Repair] spell? Most second year students learn it. How have you never seen it before?”

Lily felt the blood rise to her cheeks. Oh. It was simple magic.

“I– I just haven’t. Things are different where I come from. Favor number two! Answer my questions about your own magic.”

“Sure, done. Anything else?”

The smug look on the girl’s face made Lily feel like she was somehow still getting the raw end of this deal.

“Do your best to address me like a normal person. I’d accept being your friend. I won’t accept being your political acquisition. That one is a deal breaker.”

“Are you sure? I will still have to deal with you as part of my official position as well. Isn’t it easier if we have this kind of relationship all the time?”

“Nah. I’m terrible at stuff like this. Friend or nothing.”

“What kind of [Lady] are you exactly?”

“I’ll answer that after you agree.”

“As even your… potential friend I feel I should warn you that this is a profoundly ill advised thing to ask of me that carries no legal standing and in fact may weaken your position.”

Lily groaned.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about. I can’t have a full conversation talking like that, and watching out for everything I say. Just talk to me like a normal person, and tell me you’ll treat me as a friend.”

“Are you completely sure? Even with no binding terms?”

“Ever heard of something called trust? You’re Sunica’s sister. I’d like to just trust you.”

That seemed to give Adelina pause. She was silent for a minute. Then she rose and walked over to a small cabinet. She removed four eggs and came back over to sit on the floor near Lily.

“That’s a relief. It’s fucking exhausting being in work mode! Don’t tell a soul though or I really will kill you.”

The girl laid back on the floor and popped a whole egg into her mouth, shell and all. It made a terrible crunching sound as she chewed it down while Lily stared.

“Oh. Uh… Yeah. Of course.”

“What’s that reaction huh? Regretting it already?”

Her tone and mannerisms were completely different. It was a startling shift.

“No, I guess I just wasn’t expecting you to be able to drop it so easily. But I guess I saw a bit of this yesterday.”

“Hmph. Well, can we talk about magic then? And where you’re from? I have so many questions! I’ve been waiting all night while you slept!”

Lily almost laughed. From the most unexpected source, suddenly she had someone to nerd out about magic with. Despite the girl’s sudden shift and the fact that she had just popped another whole egg into her mouth, Lily was really looking forward to this.