driftfleet | (no subject)

Ah, right!

[She reappears, having mostly regained her composure. (There's still a slight tint to her cheeks, but if she doesn't think about it, it's not happening, right?)

As she appears, though, she's holding up a... large round mirror, a couple feet long.]

This is my Noble Phantasm and primary weapon. There's no risk about it giving away my identity, though, it's just a sturdy mirror in the style of the time when I lived.

[... yeah, her primary weapon is a mirror. She swings it around a couple times to demonstrate.]

Well... I suppose, to start, how much do you know about Japanese legends, Hermione?

[ Hermione relaxes a little as soon as Caster comes back to her, and she softens, nodding her head.

The mirror is impressive and it reminds her, a little, of the one she had used to hide the Sigil in the Drabwurld; that had taken so much of her strength, however, and her blood, and she hopes that her Servant's mirror isn't the same. ]

That's good - I know your identity is important to you. It's very beautiful, though.

[ Hermione has no comments on the weapon itself - she's seen worse things used as weaponry before, why would a mirror be terrible when magic is at play? ]

I don't know very much, so you might have to guide me through a lot of this.

Well, then... It might be meaningless if I say that this mirror later went on to become the Yata no Kagami... Well, to be brief, it is a sacred instrument that belonged to the gods.

Its true name is the Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu on the Weight Stone Under the Sunlit Watery Heavens... But that's kind of a mouthful, so 'Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu' is good enough! Originally, it was a sacred artifact from the land of the dead, and when I used it, I could retrieve souls from the afterlife or the cycle of Samsara to resurrect the dead, it was an EX-rank super-Noble Phantasm that could banish an entire country to Yomi without a care! But, as a Servant, I can't use that much power anymore, so please don't expect anything too great, okay?

Well, as a Servant, mostly it's just a support-type. Upon releasing the True Name for it, it can do a little bit of healing if I have allies, but more importantly, it lets me cast magic for a while without expending any magical energy. Careful use of that property is how I lasted so long without vanishing here, you see! It doesn't have any real direct attack applications, but if it's used wisely, it has unparalleled support abilities. And, as an instrument owned by a god, it's definitely one-of-a-kind, and not even your King of Heroes would have something like it!

It may not be as flashy as some others, but in the end, it's still a blessing of energy from the sun itself, so isn't it still the coolest Noble Phantasm of all?

I... See.

[ It's a lot of information at once but, lucky, Hermione is the master of absorbing information quickly. She nods her head and listens, taking it all in before she breathes out a noise and tilts her head up to look at Tamamo again, softening a little. ]

That's actually incredible. To be able to use magic without it being exhausting is really, really useful - it's something I wish I'd had more of in the Drabwurld. There's only so many spells you can do in a short period of time before you wish you could have a bit of a break.

[ Whether or not that came from mental, magical or physical exhaustion depended on the time and place, of course. ]

It's incredibly cool, Tamamo. Thank you for sharing it with me.

[She's practically bouncing in place, giggling, her tail flicking back and forth from the praise.]

Of course, of course! It really is the coolest Noble Phantasm, so remember that your Servant is the best of all!

There is one other, but frankly, it's a boring normal attacking Noble Phantasm and not even worth talking about, so let's just move on. What about you?

[ Hermione is struck by how adorable the other woman is, softening for a moment before she huffs out a little laugh. ]

We can talk about that one later. Hopefully there won't be any need for us to use any kind of attacks, boring or otherwise.

[ But, um - ]

What about me?

[It's a good thing Tamamo can't actually read Hermione's thoughts, or she would literally never let her live that thought down.]

You're clearly a magus, and no stranger to combat on top of that, if I may judge from such a dramatic scar. When it comes to being a Master, from what I can tell, I'd place you on the same rank as that Tohsaka girl, or perhaps Rani. But there's still a lot of types of Masters. Honorable knights who support their Servant and fight fairly and justly, or children who simply use nothing but attacking Code Casts to disrupt their enemy. I've even heard of Masters who fight on the front line, and leave their Servant as the support instead.

So! I'd like to hear about what you can do as well! Do you have any special spells? A Mystic Code? Some kind of Formal Wear? Something extravagant like that?

[It's taking all her willpower to not slip something less innocent into that line of questions, really.]

Oh! Right, well. A lot of things are different here, but in the Drabwurld...

[ This might end up being a long story, and Hermione is still a little nervous about what she was in the Drabwurld compared to who she is here. ]

I was a Marchioness, leader of the White Citadel with four other people, and I lead soldiers and people with shards - magical parts of a Gem - into battle. When I was rallying the soldiers I had armour made of gold - it wasn't very protective, of course, but it was there to make a point. Otherwise it was thin metal and leather, so that I could move and use the rapier that the Atroma took away from me. I wasn't the best with my swords, but I did try.

[ She had been Marchioness for a year, a supporter and well known face in Treun for just as long and someone that was recognised across the Drabwurld; that's why assassins had been sent after her, why she had ended up on the front lines more than once, why she had dabbled in practically everything she could. All Hermione had ever wanted was to help people, after all. ]

My magic comes from my own world, where I went to school to learn about it. In the Drabwurld the King and Queen gave me boons that helped my magic grow, and I used my shard to help my powers and learn new things. I can turn into a lion, which is the only magical power the Atroma let me keep, but I used to be able to create magical bubbles that could levitate and heal people too.

[ Is there anything else...

She pauses, trying to think. ]

[She listens attentively, her fox ears periodically twitching.]

Well, that level of Item Construction is something you can leave to me!

But, that is quite something... You can use shapeshifting? For a human, that's quite a rare skill.

I can make things, I just need to have other things around to be able to do it first. Transfiguration was always one of my favourite classes.

[ Shaking her head, she offers a small smile. ]

I was given my lioness form as a gift, but other witches and wizards in my world can turn into animals as well if they have enough power and study long enough. It's called an Animagus.

Oh? It sounds like your world is quite interesting... Well, it's not like I was a magus when I was alive, so I don't know how much I'll understand, but could you tell me more about it?

My world? Of course.

[ Not many people really asked her about her home, England and Hogwarts and the magic, and so she was happy to explain. ]

I didn't find out I was a witch until I was eleven years old - neither of my parents had magic so I wasn't raised with it. I ended up going to a school called Hogwarts where I spent six years learning how to use magic, the incantations and wand movements and the theory and history behind magic and it's uses. I studied Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, Care for Magical Creatures, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. I didn't do all of them for the six years I was actually at school, but I did most of them at least once.

[ She's babbling, but she misses her school, desperately. ]

Oh? It sounds like you've done a bit of everything, rather than specializing... A regular Renaissance woman!

How were you taught? Things like wands and incantations weren't used in my time at all, but is that a form of Mystic Code?

I'm not sure what a Mystic Code is, but we were taught how to move our wrists to use the spell and then taught the words that made it happen. Once we were older and a bit more proficient we were taught how to use spells without saying a single word.

[ As an example, Hermione draws her wand and, without saying anything, makes the tip light up in a gentle Lumos. ]

A Mystic Code is... well, any sort of item that a magus uses to augment their spellcasting. Anything from a staff to store extra prana to a weapon with spells pre-loaded into it...

Still, a general-purpose spellcasting device! It's kind of plain-looking, but it seems like it's pretty useful.

I suppose wands are a little like that, aren't they? The ones in my world are a bit more sentient, though; they have their own kind of magic, and they can choose their own partners. If a wand doesn't like you then your magic just isn't going to work properly.

[... okay, that gets her to stop, and then start laughing.]

The Mystic Code can deny its wielder magic? I've never heard of something like that! The magi of my world have too much pride to ever allow for a system like that.

[ Hermione shakes her head, fighting a smile. ]

Think of it as though it has a bit of a personality. If you and the wand have personalities that clash then you can't work well together, can you?

Well... Perhaps, but to solve that sort of clashing personality problem, and to force a tool to serve its purpose, is the reason why Command Spells were created. But there's nothing like that for your wand?

Not really, no. Besides, that's not what I would ever use Command Spells for. I never had to use any of Diarmuid's, and the one time I had use of one I... Well, I didn't use it for battle.

[ She might be pink now. ]

[Well, now she has the biggest grin.]

Oh? Ooooh? Tamamo's fine-tuned nose smells a story! Oh, my, what could it have been?

[ Hermione hesitates for a moment before she bows her head, cheeks flaming pink. ]

I asked him to smile for me.

[There is just a long silence as Caster stares on, totally dumbfounded. It honestly takes her a very long moment before she can manage to speak again.]

Um... Hermione? Of course, I would never question my Master's judgement, but... Are you aware of exactly what a Command Spell is?

Of course I do! I had nothing else I wanted from him, and - he was my friend, even if things were difficult between us sometimes. The only thing I wanted to see was him smiling, really. To see him happy. It wasn't a real Command Spell anyway so it wasn't as if he had to obey, he just said he would.

[ And he had smiled for her, and he had been beautiful. ]

Oh... Oh, so it wasn't real. That makes more sense.

[She sighs in relief.]

Honestly, that was worrying! It sounded for a moment like you spent a real, bona-fide miracle on something like that... Well, it's a touching gesture anyway!