[Misguided searches]
New verse of... something. XD uhm. Mages!
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“Too small, too tall, too big,” Tamamori grumbled, staring around the dusty, crowded store in annoyance. Staffs, wands, scepters, swords, chains, and jewelry cluttered the small room, but despite the value and the power of these artifacts, none of them where what Tamamori was looking for. They didn’t feel right and therefore they were wrong.
“Maybe we could try the Academy’s warehouse again,” Miyata said, glancing around the store as Tamamori picked up and discarded a large ruby ring. “It’s where we found your gloves.”
“The warehouse isn’t going to have what I need,” Tamamori said, distractedly rummaging through a bin of exotic rocks.
Searching for a new medium for his schooling was difficult. He had finally entered the advanced stages of magery and that meant he couldn’t just pick any old object for his medium. Now he had to find one that was harmonious to his magic.
However, despite the fact that Yonehana’s shop was famous for its powerful items and artifacts, Tamamori still wasn’t finding what he wanted.
“Well… What about this?” Miyata asked, reaching into the next bin over and grabbing at random. “There has to be something that-Oh.” What he came up with was decidedly odd. It was a doll, nearly the size of an older child, but it was made entirely of bare, sanded wood, just jointed arms and legs attached to a torso and a unshaped head.
“…” Tamamori stared at the object in disbelief. There was no way, it couldn’t be possible and yet.
And yet he felt a small tug, the small tug that he had been looking for.
“I don’t believe it…” he murmured, but he couldn’t help but reach out to run a hand over the wooden doll. There was that tug, much stronger this time, and there was no doubt any longer. “That’s the one.”
“… That’s good, right?” Miyata asked, uncertain as he handed the doll over to Tamamori. Tamamori shrugged, not completely sure of it, except it was what he had been looking for. He had never heard of a doll as a medium before - certainly it wasn’t going to be easy to transport. But he supposed that Tsubasa or perhaps Nakai-sensei would know more about it.
“Found it a’ight?” Yonehana asked when they approached the counter, dropping his cigarette into the ashtray and eyeing Tamamori and the wooden doll. “I figured he’d be yours.”
“He?” Tamamori glanced down at the doll with a quirked eyebrow. While the doll was, to put it plainly, flat as a board, he hadn’t really thought of it as having a gender at all. “Why?” he asked, glancing up at Yonehana in question.
“Because he showed up. It’s been a while since that’s happened,” was all Yonehana said, and then it was all paid for and Tamamori and Miyata were out in the street with many questions.
“I wonder what he meant by that,” Miyata said, glancing at Tamamori and the doll. “Are you going to make sure it’ll… work?”
It was as good an idea as any and they trotted down a few alleys and side-roads until they were mostly outside of the small village, with the Academy looming above them.
Taking a deep breath, Tamamori knelt down next to the doll and Miyata took a few steps back. Since they had no idea what would happen, it would be best if Miyata was ready and able to either throw him a life-line or run find help, if things were to turn dire. Tamamori dearly hoped they wouldn’t.
Reaching a hand out, he touched the doll’s torso, throwing a loop of his magic out to bind the doll to him, to create his new medium.
Everything seemed to crack around him, his magic flaring up much more stronger than it should have and though he tried to cut it off, pull it back to him, it wouldn’t come. His vision blinked white and then black as he toppled over to the ground.
As he vision returned, he realized someone was kneeling next to him, prodding him gently. “Miyata geroff,” he grumbled, rolling onto his back and staring up at the sky.
It was then that he realized Miyata was standing over him, peering at him wide-eyed from his feet and that it wasn’t Miyata poking him at all.
A boy knelt next to him, eyes bright with curiosity and smile filled with laughter. “You’re awake!” the boy chirped, leaning back to give Tamamori room. “I’m Ryouta, it’s nice to meet you.”
“… Tamamori,” he said vaguely, glancing around in confusion. Miyata looked completely bewildered and the doll was nowhere to be seen. Where was his medium and why was this boy here all of a sudden?
“Your magic is amazing,” Ryouta said, still grinning at Tamamori. “I think we’ll work well together.”
“I didn’t know they were supposed to do that,” Miyata muttered. Ryouta shifted to look at him and Tamamori felt something.
“What the hell,” he gasped as comprehension dawned on him, as he stared at Ryouta in fascinated horror, realizing that he was staring at his new medium.
He certainly had never heard of this before.
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Next is hatenaimirai_e! ♥ :333