Day 56: Mountain Antiques (Early Afternoon)

[scintillatingly]

Sora was glad that he had gotten the chance to talk to Wally, since even if he drank coffee with a ton of sugar with it, that didn't stop him from being a nice guy! Not that the two were related, but it had been kind of weird. Sora had been pleasantly surprised that the man was so friendly and optimistic even though he'd also been stuck here for a

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[bodhiandspirit]

So far, the day wasn't going too badly. Most of Rita's conversations had led to discussions of magic, energy, and blastia; subjects she held a strong interest in and was willing to talk at length about. She even had a new lead that could possibly turn out to be an actual blastia in the institute. Whether it was functional or even genuine remained to be seen, but Rita was fairly excited to examine it

[full_score]

The day had been pretty quiet up until now, which wasn't such a bad thing. Running into Natalia on the bus had been an amazing stroke of luck. Not only that, but he'd had a laid-back time with Tifa last shift, even if he'd never thought he'd actually use that Pearl's coupon in a million years. It was hard to get over how clean and trim his nails looked, especially since he was used to having worn and rough hands

[bodhiandspirit]

Rita still wasn't used to strangers and acquaintances willingly approaching her, but seeing as this was the third time it happened in one day, she responded without much of a delay, lifting her chin and looking over at the person who addressed her. Though the different clothing could make it difficult to identify acquaintances, she quickly recognized him as Claude, the man who'd helped her develop a method of using heraldry.

"Oh, it's you." As was usual for her, her greeting wasn't particularly warm, though her tone wasn't all that cold, either. More than anything, her expression was that of mild surprise.

When asked if she was looking for something, she glanced back to the table, then to Claude. "Nothing specific. The bookstore was useless as far as history and development information goes, so I thought I'd try here." She gave a sweeping glance across the room, noting the variety of wares, many of which appeared to have a story behind them. "I'd say these artifacts are much more informative than the garbage they sell there."

[full_score]

Rita didn't seem overjoyed to see him, but she didn't act like put out, either. That was good, at least, which was why he felt okay with sticking around uninvited. Claude stuffed his hands into his pockets as he stood beside her, looking down at the gleaming gems on the stand for a moment

[bodhiandspirit]

"Right." Claude seemed to get it. "It's easier to censor words than it is to censor a whole civilization." The institute seemed to have full control over the town, which would explain why they were willing to bring their patients - subjects - there in the first place. They had no reason to worry that they'd uncover secrets or make an escape. Everything was well within their influence. However, there were some things that couldn't be hidden, and if Rita looked in the right places, there were some things she could still learn.

Claude's question earned him a thoughtful look, and Rita folded her arms as she considered her answer. "Depends on what sort of things you mean. Shops like this? Maybe in the capital. Not in my hometown, though. It's a closed city, and a merchant's permit is hard to get." Was, she inwardly corrected herself, but it was unnecessary to go into that

[full_score]

He listened to Rita's response, trying to imagine what her planet was like. It sounded like the town she came from had restricted access, though apparently the capital was much more open. Claude had to wonder why she came from such a closed city. Were other towns like that? His first thought was that maybe it was an unfair rule imposed by the government. If she had a large collection of artifacts herself, though, then that meant she'd been allowed to travel freely herself.

Although it was tempting to ask for more details, something else piqued Claude's interest. Books and blastia? The latter word was unfamiliar to him, yet she'd used it as though he ought to know what it meant. Having been an offworlder himself, that wasn't so unusual. Quite frankly, he was surprised it didn't happen more often in Landel's. Some people might have felt put off by having to give explanations for basic things, but Claude was always interested to learn more about other civilizations. That was why it was hard to keep too many questions to

[bodhiandspirit]

Rita continued to examine the magnifying glass as she spoke, turning it around in her fingers. "Basically, they're stones that contain magical energy. By applying formulas to them, we can harness that energy to power devices, set up barriers, or use magic." As the need to explain blastia to people foreign to her planet had come up multiple times over the past week, her explanation of it had grown more and more succinct. At first, it had been difficult to explain something that was supposed to be common knowledge, but she'd gotten used to it

[full_score]

So blastia were stones that needed special formulas to use. They sounded a bit different from heraldic crests, but, according to Rita's explanation, their purposes were about the same. Since they were stones, though, it sounded like they had to be found in nature. That would make them a limited resource, and if a civilization depended on them for long enough there would come a time when they'd deplete the supply, right?

Either way, that was apparently Rita's specialty. Despite her young age, she was an accomplished mage and scientist. In that sense, she was a little bit like Leon, Claude realized.

"Is that why you were interested in learning more about heraldry, then?" he asked. "Because you can't manufacture blastia?"

[bodhiandspirit]

"Partly. It's complicated," Rita began, looking now at the price tag on the magnifying glass. Fifteen dollars... That was more than she had. With a frown, she set it back on the table and began examining the others in hopes that one would be cheaper than that.

As she did, she elaborated on her answer. "It's not just that we can't make more. We recently discovered that blastia are harmful to the environment... and also that we won't be able to use them at all in the near future." An examination of the second magnifying glass revealed that it was twice as expensive as the first. She set it down, and a third was picked up.

"I've already developed an alternative form of magic, but the more options we have, the better." Perhaps she was boasting a little, but it was a discovery Rita took great pride in. If all went well, Rita's formulas could end up not only saving the world, but also defining the following eras. She had every right to be proud.

[full_score]

The story about how blastia would become obsolete soon reminded Claude of Auldrant's fonons. From what he understood, it would someday become impossible to power spells and devices unless someone developed another source of energy. That was why Guy had been interested in looking into heraldry, too, come to think of it. He wondered how many other planets were in a similar situation

[bodhiandspirit]

"You could say that," Rita replied with a self-assured grin. There was no point in acting humble and trying to deflect the compliments - Rita knew how amazing she was

[full_score]

As incredible as Rita was, she had no modesty to speak of, Claude realized with an inward sigh. In that sense, she and Leon were definitely alike. Of course, even though Leon could have kind of a bratty attitude, he knew the boy well enough to understand there was more to him than that. He suspected it was the same for Rita, too.

"Yeah, sometimes those crests can be kind of tricky," Claude said. It was understandable that she wouldn't get it completely perfect on the first go, especially considering the circumstances. "But I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon."

When Rita expressed disappointment over the pricing, Claude took a closer look at one of the magnifying glasses. "Well, it is an antique store," he said after a moment. "I can't imagine them selling reading glasses for any cheaper than this, so it's probably to be expected." He gave a small frown. "It'd sure be nice if they had something you could use in battle here, though

[bodhiandspirit]

Tricky? Perhaps. The one that Rita tried was probably one of the simpler ones, too. It was possible that advanced spells would prove more challenging. It was difficult to say whether her diminished power would even allow her to cast them in the first place, though

[full_score]

Claude wondered how magnifying glasses could exactly be dirt cheap, although he guessed the magical lenses on Expel and Nede were pretty inexpensive, come to think of it. There was no use in comparing wares on Earth to places like that, though. They were like apples and oranges, since Earth's needs were pretty different from planets like that

[bodhiandspirit]

People flung back to their home worlds...? Rita's gaze sharpened at those words, and she turned her attention back to Claude. She'd heard similar rumors on the bulletin board, but this was the first time someone had mentioned it to her directly. Could it really be true, or was it all just an illusion

[full_score]

That answer wasn't what he was hoping to hear. He could get Leon accidentally overlooking his note, but it wasn't like him to ignore something related to heraldry, especially considering how much pride he took in his expertise. Claude's heart sank, but he tried not to let it show too much. He barely knew Rita, so it wasn't right to dump his problems onto her.

But still...Leon. Was he all right? The thought of not knowing made Claude ache in the worst possible way.

Rita's question brought him back to the conversation at hand, though, and he swallowed hard. "O-oh, right, his notes..." Claude scratched the side of his head as he considered what to do. "Well, if you're not using them anymore, I wouldn't mind holding onto them."

Not that he distrusted Rita or anything, but he liked keeping things safe for his friends.