Previous: Chapter 11  

Meanwhile.

While Jennet headed for the kitchens again where Olyvia presumes the mouse will see more of cleaning of cabinets or whatever she does there, the squirrel goes down the corridors, twists and turns to where her... mentor? The resident Wizard at any rate, Devana, resides.

Olyvia steps towards the right hallway with a spring in her step, having felt fairly good about the whole 'having magical power' thing, even if she has not quite grasped how to do much of anything with it. But it certainly beats mopping floors!

...there is also the fact that she should be looking for a way back home, and she does feel guilty about that. But for the moment she brushes that one off to not being able to exactly fly off from a flying royal fortress. Not alive, anyway.

She steps to the well-hidden door and gives a quick, low, rattling knock on it.

The door, naturally, opens on its own. Inside, Devana paces slowly by the window, adjusting her bracers. She turns when the door opens. "Hmm? Oh! Yes! Olyvia! Come in! I was just thinking..." She trails off, then turns towards the window to hum to herself.

Olyvia blinks, still not quite used to the door just doing that. She has seen doors that open with magic, but not... everything up here is so dingy, that Devana's space feels almost out of place. Not that she can really make that call.

"Hey, Ms. Devana." She walks in and manages to not jump when the door closes behind her. "Thinking about what?"

Devana stares out the window a moment, then turns back to the squirrel, "Hmm? Oh! Yes! About you! I think I have a sense of your current knowledge. A basic training in Lesser magic, not wholly unexpected."

She walks down from the window to consider. "Hmmm... yes. What I think I need now is a measure of the depth of your potential. If you are willing to submit to these tests."

Olyvia blinks, tilting her head: "Tests? But I have barely learned anything? How can I pass a test already?"

Devana chuckles, "Ah, but then we are fortunate! You cannot fail these tests either! They are more of a... examination. A test to find measure, rather than to grade knowledge! This may be more a personal curiosity, I admit."

Olyvia opens her mouth for a moment. "...oh." She pauses for a second, then looks at Devana: "...how does one measure magic?"

Devana holds up a hand, "How does one measure the amount of water in the ocean? Through careful application of logic and several layers of magic! With proper measurements, we will know what to expect."

She reaches up to adjust one of her bracers. "And in time, be able to attune devices to you. There is a great deal of benefit from administering these tests."

Olyvia nods slowly as she leans her chest against Devana's desk, her head just above the level of it: "Figuring out, uh... What kind of potential I have, I guess? Suppose that makes sense..."

Devana's cheeks puff up into a smile. "It is exciting, is it not? I have my suspicions already, simply due to the nature of how I found you. And err... it is exciting? Isn't it? You don't seem wholly enthused... Am I rambling again?"

Olyvia smiles, summoning a bit more excitement as she straightens up: "Just trying to understand what we're doing, is all." She looks at her paws: "Or really, being honest here, even getting it into my head that I have such power in the first place."

Devana walks over to sit at the desk, nodding, "Ahhh... I think I see... it is quite a lot hmm? Your grasp of lesser magic certainly proved meager, but this is not unusual. Perhaps some measurable results will help cement the reality of it."

She digs into her desk, and removes a small device, "We can start with this... observe."

She takes the device, a slanted cylinder reinforced with metal struts, the bottom of which is a black pointed stone. The top of it was capped with a strange dial. It fits snugly into her claw as she moves the device to press against her own arm.

As the device takes measure of Devana's own power, there is a sense of discharge within the room, like a low level of static electricity filling the air. The dial goes up, and slowly stabilizes, and Devana removes the device from her arm. The faint electricity in the air quickly disperses, and Devana shows the results to Olyvia. "This is a measure of my own power... in as much as such a thing can be measured. I don't put full stock in such numbers... but it can be helpful. And that feeling within the air hm? Other things we shall test may reveal more about the nature and color of your own magic."

Olyvia feels her fur stand up and her tail stiffen a bit as she watches with wide-eyed curiosity. "I... I think I may have had a magic tutor use such a test on me when I was little, but... If I had anything then, guess they didn't see it."

Devana nods, "This does not surprise me, considering your upbringing. Some tests would have been done. But, I can't exactly look up the results from here, but I suspect whatever they found they discounted. There may have been hints of potential, or perhaps nothing at all. Power revealed in stress and desperation. Let us see what has woken up within you, yes?"

She holds out the instrument, gesturing to Olyvia to hold out her arm before she presses the black stone against her wrist.

Olyvia holds up her arm, feeling a bit of a pleasant shiver going through her at the touch. "It's... Cool to the touch. Huh. So um..." She trails off as she just looks at the device in quiet wonder.

Devana nods, "Just a tiny shard of black onyx... perfectly cut to conduct magic... a singular filament runs up through the device... and pressing it against the skin encourages the magic to rise up into it."

Olyvia peers at the rock, trying to see what Devana means. "So it... Encourages my magic? How?"

Devana waves her free talon around, "Lesser magic is like breath. You pull it in from around you. It exists everywhere. We merely pull it in and interact with it."

She lowers the claw to point at Jennet's chest. "But Greater Magic comes from within. It is like blood, flowing through your veins. Your each and every heartbeat sending it through you. Suffusing you. This little lodestone is pressed against your skin, against a vein, and while we draw no blood, the arcana within you pumps into it, for just a moment we can fool your body into thinking this stone is part of you. Enough to get a reading, in any case."

She hums, pulling her hand back to jingle her bracer, "Much of a wizard's attire is similar. My bracers and girdle and materials that help guide the ebb and flow of magic within me so that I might more readily call upon it."

Olyvia blinks: "...I had no idea. I thought magic users just wear whatever they feel is fancy and classy enough." She lifts her free hand to her chin: "... Though that might just be the kind of mages my family employs."

Devana leans back, "Perhaps... We fulfill many roles. I am not one who enjoys wearing 'fancy' or 'classy' clothing. What I wear holds purpose, and there is purpose in what I wear. Some might say this makes me practical? Now then... Tell me, how are you feeling?"

Olyvia pauses, slightly surprised by the question: "How am I feeling? Um... Fine, I guess? A bit tingly... It's probably the device." And it's definitely not someone actually caring enough to ask how she is feeling.

Devana glances at the instrument, then back to Olyvia, "Likely so. Adverse reactions are rare, but discomfort is not. Please, speak up if anything feels amiss and we can stop."

Olyvia nods, looking back to the onyx: "It's... Yeah. It feels kinda odd, but not bad." She attempts to figure out what the thing actually shows, but quickly gives up. "You will need to explain to me what the results are."

Devana nods, and without too much further delay, removes the onyx from Olyvia's arm. "I feel that's enough. Thank you for your patience."

She examines the reading for a moment, then nods, tilting the gauge towards Olyvia. "A measure of raw potential, my dear. This is how 'strong' your magic is. A somewhat meaningless measurement in some ways... Power means nothing without will and application. But at the very least, we know you possess a very powerful gift. This number here is rather high. Excitement! It reads higher than my own reading, in fact."

Olyvia blinks: "Whoa. Now I'm even more confused how no one noticed before..." Her brow furrows and her ears turn downward: "No, wait. No I'm not. Would have required someone to notice me without an intent to tell me what I'm doing wrong again..." Her voice is clearly bitter from a memory or seven.

Devana blinks slowly, watching Olyvia for a quiet moment. "...I am sorry, Olyvia. I can tell you that you've done nothing wrong this time. At least, not in my estimation. Are you certain you are alright? I had two other tests in mind, but if you do not feel up it..."

Olyvia frowns for a moment longer, but then takes a deep breath: "I-I'm up here. In the uh, now. I s-should focus on that." She gives Devana an unsteady smile: "I wish to continue."

Devana watches Olyvia and slowly puffs out her cheeks into a smile. "Thank you. Yes! Well, we have three things I wish to learn. Magnitude, type, and color. We have now measured magnitude. Type and color may seem more or less important, but together this can be a somewhat unique signature. My own magic tends to take an electrical form, and is a somewhat pleasing violet color. Pleasing to my eye at the very least." She again summons a small orb in her talon, a glittering purple ball that does crackle faintly with that same sense of static electricity in the air. In another motion, she dismisses that orb.

Olyvia looks at the orb, slowly forming a thought: "So... What kind of types are out there? I have seen fire and cold at least... Is light one of them? I had a tutor that I swear could just glow whenever she wanted to."

Devana nods. "Light is one, as is Shadow. Fire, Water, Earth, Air... In theory, some argue that those four are the only true elements, and that all other types derive from them. Ice, or cold, they would argue, is simply water and earth in some measure... But I find the variety of magical types recorded staggers belief that they are all only combinations of four parts. My own magic is storm-based, electrical, like lightning. Perhaps it is merely a mix of wind and fire... But it does not feel like either to me."

She hums, considering, then recalls Olyvia's question, "Oh! Types! Yes, Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Light, Dark, Life, Death... There are many unique manifestations of personal magic within a being. Some say the Beasts within the Vales have their own magical auras... But all of that research was destroyed and declared forbidden." Her ear tufts droop a moment.

Olyvia takes all that in... Or attempts to, at any rate. May have missed a point or two. She gives her mentor a quizzical look: "So... What do you think I might have?"

Devana considers, examining the results once again. "Perhaps... Fire? Temperament was certainly a factor. Though fire does not usually build so long and so greatly without exploding first. That... May be my best guess. Without further data, at least. Not that every elemental magic adheres strictly to the same rules, either. Ahhh the hopeless plight of the Academic within me, seeking to explain through logical analysis that which defies explanation. Magic is as magic wont. Perhaps your power is strictly anchored in the domain of ice and I have read entirely incorrectly. It is, as I said, merely a guess at this point."

Olyvia blinks, then nods slowly: "Sooo... Guess we better figure this out, before I accidentally set something on fire." She looks a bit paused at that mental image, before shaking it off: "... Or s-something."

Devana chuckles, "We are testing in relatively safe conditions. Anything you set aflame shall be the result of my negligence, not your inexperience."

She stows away the initial measuring tool, taking out a large box. Opening it on the desk reveals an array of gems, each individually housed as if this were an array of sampler chocolates. The owl removes a small pair of tons as well. "These are Pairing Gems. Each is infused with some focused sliver of magical energy matching those elements I described. We shall have you hold each and see if we get a reaction. If a stone finds a match, you should see a reaction near instantly. And of course..." She clinks the tongs together, "I shall not touch them so my own magic does not taint the results."

Olyvia looks at the collection gems. "Oh... Wow. So many. Are there this many different kinds, or I guess, flavors of magic?" She peers closer, just admiring the beauty for a moment before pausing again.

"Uh... Where do we start?"

Devana nods with a grin, "This many and more... These are simply the more common varieties. My owj testing had reactions to the air stone, the fire stone, and the light stone, and the greatest reaction to the lightning stone. One assumes my magic is a mixture of all of these, or that one is a combination of the three, or... Another option. But starting, yes. We can start with Fire to test my hypothesis, then move through the major elements into the lesser and see what you favor?" She picks up what is probably the fire stone with her tongs, a deep red stone cut into a flat, tubelike shape.

Olyvia nods at the explanation, uncertainty clear on the young squirrel's face. She stares at the rock for a moment before realizing to put her paw under it. "Well... It looks pretty. T-that probably does not count for much, though."

Devana chuckles, "It might! I never discount a feeling, no matter how simple it may seem on the surface. If it seems pretty, then think on that and how it makes you feel to look at such a stone."

She turns the tongs, and drops the stone gently into Olyvia's paw.

The stone flares into bright orange life, giving a little flame and startling Olyvia to dropping it. "Eep!"

The flare dies instantly when the stone stops touching her fingers. Dumbly she stares at the again-inert rock resting on the table.

"Huh?"

Devana gives out a triumphant hoot, before retrieving the stone with her tongs. "Strong evidence in favor of my hypothesis, how exciting!" She presents the stone again, "Shall we move on...? Or would you like to see again?"

Olyvia hesitates, then nods as she takes the stone again. It flares brightly, almost like a flame, except there's no heat or pain. "I... I do that?"

Devana nods. "Here... let me show you..." She lowers the tongs, and extends her open talon for the stone.

Olyvia looks curiously, largely just fascinated by this.

Devana takes the stone, and the light immediately dims... the stone continues to sparkle faintly, but it's merely a candle next to the roaring fireplace that had been Olyvia's magic. "I hold some attunement to fire... but not nearly as much."

Olyvia blinks. "Oh. I do that." She swallows: "That's pretty amazing."

Devana gently stows the fire gem away back into the box and chuckles, "It is, yes? I do hold the thought of it in awe, daily." She removes the next gem, "Quite a few to get through. But I cannot say how much reaction we shall get from them, when I believe we can safely presume Fire shall have your biggest reaction... though, truly, only way way to find out."

Olyvia nods slowly, in awe and just maybe a bit in fear of what might be coming. "Um... yeah. That was definitely something. Let's, uh, find out indeed."

Devana returns to using her tongs after handling the fire gem, bringing out the gems one-by-one to place in Olyvia's hand, watching each for a reaction, and taking them back if none manifests. Though, the fire gem is not the only one to get a reaction, as she drops the gem attuned to air, a circular gem that almost seems transparent, into Olyvia's hand.

Olyvia is once again startled as a gem reacts after several ones that did not react. The transparent air, or wind, gem seems to glow, and without the girl actually doing anything, it gently floats above her palm.

She blinks at it: "Um. I think that's a reaction."

Devana lets out an intrigued hoot, "Oh, very much so! Fire... and wind... very interesting... almost... hm..." She waits a moment for Olyvia to get the feel of the gem, then carefully reaches out with her tongs to take it back. "It's almost too much to be coincidence... not that I believe in coincidence. So, let's try this."

She removes the next gem, a yellow topaz cut sharply. The gem reflectiong the third piece of Devana's own magic, electricity. She brings the tongs over to place this gem in Olyvia's paw.

Olyvia giggles at the floating rock, then looks at Devana in curious surprise: "Try what... oh?" The yellow gem is placed in the squirrel's paw and she expects something to happen based on her mentor's words... so it is kind of even more of a surprise when the topaz stays inert in her palm. "...huh."

Devana leans back in consideration. "So... we do not match. It would be most unusual if we did, but stranger things have been known to happen. Still, our own personal auras contain both air and fire in similar degrees."

Olyvia tilts her head: "They do? That's... huh. Strange, isn't it, with so many directions for magic, right?"

Devana nods, taking back the lightning stone carefully. "Very strange... but it does cement my feelings in this matter. I feel as though I was meant to teach you. Though, for what reason? I cannot say. We are all who and where we are for a purpose. Even if we cannot see it..."

She grows distant a moment, then leans back and laughs, "Ah, I am thinking through tangents once again. Let us continue, yes? Perhaps finding the differences shall provide some insight."

Olyvia nods slowly: "Well... yeah. I thiiink you may know better than me." She gives Devana a cheeky little grin.

Devana chuckles again, "I do not. I may know more than you... but I do not know better than you about you than you yourself knows."

Olyvia blinks: "...what's the difference? I just learned I even have magic."

Devana brings another stone to Olyvia's hand, continuing the test as she talks, "The... difference? Hmm. I do so hate to dismiss the efforts of those who teach for a living... but have you ever reached a point in your studies when you know nothing your instructor tells you will be remembered? You perhaps even ask to be dismissed for the day, but your instructor insists that this information is valuable to you and that you must learn it all!"

"So. Your instructor obviously knows more. But... you understand that you will not benefit from their teachings at this moment. You know better than they do. I am no instructor by trade... I must learn how best to teach you. And to do that, I must trust that you know best."

Olyvia considers: "I'm pretty sure I was taught higher language and mathematics at some point, or something of the sort... more letters than numbers." She shakes her head: "Can not remember anything of it, other than being startled awake at one point."

She then pauses as another gem gives no reaction from her touch, then gives Devana a smile: "...I do not know if I know anything, but I do appreciate the approach, I think."

Devana takes the gem back, preparing the next one. "Good. We are both learning how best to approach this. Yes, you are working as my apprentice on an official level, but I feel we must consider this a partnership."

Olyvia considers again, then nods once more: "...that does make some sense. At least... if magic works as you have told, and it is as much a function of me as it is what I know."

Devana hums, pausing a moment to study the next stone, "Yes, that is the truth beneath it all... I can teach you techniques and theories and ideas of how this works... but it works different for all of us. Every wizard who wields greater magic does so differently. Sometimes even different words and gestures. I bemoan the inability to truly share knowledge amongst my peers."

Olyvia nods slowly: "So... Less you directly giving me a script to act out, and more us figuring out together what uh, what I am? Or can do?" She gives a weak giggle: "... Well, once I know anything about anything, I guess."

The squirrel has eaten a lot of humble pie lately and since learning that no one up here is out to get her, has un-tensed quite a bit.

Devana nods, lowering the next stone into Olyvia's paw. "Striving to learn anything about everything, and everything about anything. Or simply, what we can learn with what we are." She smiles at Olyvia, "You will do just fine, I'm sure."

Olyvia starts to nod, but is startled from her answering by the small light green gem flaring into a bright yellow-green-white aura, larger and brighter than the fist-sized flame the fire gem had on her. "Ack!"

Hand shaking, she manages just about to not drop the sudden source of light, if barely. "What the... W-what gem is t-this?"

Devana blinks in surprise, her voice a whisper, "There is our difference, it seems..." She takes a moment to raise her voice in answer to Olyvia's question, "...Life. That gem contains concentrated Life magic, Olyvia."

Olyvia stares at living, dancing 'flame' rising from the tiny rock, then at Devana wide-eyed: "Life? Umm... How? I'm not..." She trails off, actually having no counterargument, though no idea how this could be her either.

Devana takes a deep breath, "We are only just beginning to learn who you are, Olyvia. That one is a rare gift, and it may explain why you show so much potential. I promise you, I shall do my best to nurture it... I promise you."

Olyvia nods, swallows, and after a moment longer of staring at the flaring light in her paw, gingerly sets the gem back on the table, where the light almost instantly poofs out. She blinks at the again-inert stone.

"So... a b-bit of fire, and air, a-and a lot of l-life." The squirrel is clearly shaken from this newest revelation.

Devana picks the stone up with her bare talon, and the stone shows now response. She rolls it between her fingers, with still nothing to show for it, then sets it back down between them. "Yes. How are you feeling?"

Olyvia leans slightly on the table, swallowing: "K-kinda hoping I don't have more than that in me, o-or I start wondering how I haven't exploded yet."

Devana chuckles, "There's only three stones left if you wish to find out, we can rather quickly eliminate those possibilities." She leaves the life stone on the table, then gets the tongs to pick up the next stone, working to rather methodically finish the test.

Olyvia nods, offering her paw again, almost wincing in anticipation as the next stone is placed on it. Thankfully it doesn't react, nor do the other remaining ones.

As she gives Devana the last one back, her breathing has calmed down again. "That... Was an experience."

Devana hums as she puts the last of the stones back away carefully in the padded case, "A positive one, I hope? Or at least not negative. Thank you for bearing with me."

Olyvia nods slowly as she leans on the table. "No, not negative I think. Just... Unexpected, I guess is a word I would use."

She looks back up to her mentor with a weak smile: "Guess that means there's a lot for me to learn, then."

Devana closes the case and slips it back into its drawer, "It is exciting! I uh, hope so, in anycase. I imagine it can feel a little overwhelming in this moment... you are here, not entirely of your own designs, and I have shown you truths of yourself that change much of how you may view yourself."

She leans forward to tap Olyvia's chest with a talon, "But, just remember, that magic in there is something you control. It does not control you. You remain the same, Olyvia, You remain Olyvia. Understand?"

Olyvia nods slowly as she straightens up. "Oh. Y-yes. I think. Still me, just with..." She swallows: "... Power much greater than me. W-what could go wrong?"

While she has certainly slept through a fair few classes in her life, 'powerful magic gone wrong' is not so much a school lesson as it is a part of public consciousness. She just never imagine she would need to be concerned about it like this.

Devana takes a seat and leans back, "It is a lot, I understand. But do not let it weigh upon you... it is good to worry when in possession of such power. I would likely think something was wrong if you were, in fact, perfectly fine with these revelations."

Olyvia gives a nervous giggle: "I can't imagine just being... Yeah, t-that." She attempts to take some deep breaths, and sorta-kinda succeeds. Stepping back from the table, she sits down, swallowing.

"How do I... Uh, not do muh.. My magic, accidentally?" She looks at her paws as though expecting more explosive and windy life magic to just burst out any second.

Devana folds her hands in front of her, "Consider, if you will, the way I found you within the shoveling room. Consider how you felt in that moment. Strong emotions can often be a gateway to the release of power, voluntary or not. Especially those emotions kept bottled in. I suggest finding a way to vent those thoughts. I know you likely find yourself quite alone on this Castle... and I am not suggesting you tell every secret and thought to me. But even speaking your frustrations of thoughts aloud to a mirror might help."

Olyvia opens her mouth... then closes it. She may have someone she can talk about things with. Maybe.

"Y-yeah... um. So... talking will help to not mess up the uh, magic stuff, that sort of way?"

Devana points to her head, then downwards, expelling a breath, "Keeping the mind clear, the emotions steady. Perhaps even a hobby to focus upon, if there is anything that you might do in your free time to that end? I know it may sound silly, but in many ways, keeping calm, relaxed, not letting those things build up. Yes, it will help."

Olyvia blinks, then winces: "Err... I am sorta-kinda still a bit of a prisoner of this Fortress, right? What can I do?"

Devana glances amidst her bookshelves, "Books! But... if there is something within my meager pull to acquire for you, I can certainly try."

Olyvia pauses, considers, then shakes her head. "Can not really think of anything. But..." She hums, lifting her fingers to her chin. "...maybe I will think of something."

Devana sighs, "Sadly, here most thoughts of 'entertainment' are reserved for those 'above' us in the castle. I find the court frivolity tedious these days... but I can likely lean into my position's authority if you do think of something."

Olyvia tilts her head: "How so? Others aren't allowed to entertain?"

Devana shrugs, "Oh, you're allowed. But allowance isn't the issues. There's not exactly amenities down below to accommodate. Yet I still find it preferable... but that's simply my own preference for books over... extravagence."

Olyvia blinks: "Oh." She thinks about everything she's seen about the conditions around. "...t-true, I think. I mean, I sleep in a tiny room..."

She sighs. "...having free time as such might be a thing I had. But..." She looks up with a small smile: "...I think I will rather spend my time learning with you, even if it's harder than just cleaning the endless floors."

Devana gives a laugh, "I hope not to work you that hard... but it will be difficult, I won't lie. Power always comes at a price. Better the hard work and the sweat upon the brow, than taking the easy path with the greater cost."

Olyvia nods: "I will try my best. I..." She thinks back to the immense amounts of magic in her: "I think I have to. I don't want to hurt a-anyone."

Devana smiles, and bows to Olyvia, "You have a good head on your shoulders, my dear. And a good heart too. I shall reiterate my statement... I think you will do fine."

Olyvia smiles a bit guiltily: "Ah huh... Um, yes I do."

'Though my travel companions might think differently since the beehive...'

'... And my language teacher if she ever knew it was me with the paint..'

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