CATHARSIS is a non-canon OC fate/series site, loosely based off of fate/apocrypha. Knowledge of the fate/series canon is helpful, but knowledge of fate/apocrypha isn't needed!
"Usually, it is the man who comes bearing gifts to the woman's family." Luca closed the door behind him and turned to Teresia, his fiance, who sat on a blue, velvet chair. "Gender is not a concern in the magus society. It is always about the family with better prestige."
The morning breeze rolled into the room, bringing with it the freshness of the mountains and the smell of pine trees. Luca aimed at a stuck window shutter a balled fist and smoothly opened his hand. The window opened, pushed by a mysterious wind.
"How was the journey? Sorry I wasn't able to fetch you from the station. I'm busiest on mornings." Replying to letters, sending out orders, checking through alchemical concoctions left overnight. Preparations for the rest of the day, though for today and tomorrow, Luca had vacated the slots in his schedule. It depends on how well lunch was going to turn out. The last time Luca had spoken to his father, the man was still too embittered to respond.
Post by Teresia Bárány on Aug 10, 2014 12:22:55 GMT
the parchment wrapping the bottle of wine in her lap crumpled as teresia shifted in her seat. well, she had come with a bottle of wine because that's what people from her side of the world did -- and here luca was, saying something about having families with better prestige. guests were the ones who were supposed to bring something for their host, was it not?
apparently not, it seemed. she watched the window creak open, and turned to her fiance.
"it would a waste to not drink this together," said teresia, laying an end to their line of conversation. to affirm her statement, she placed the item on the coffee table before she stood up, stretching.
over to the window she went, and glanced out at the quiet country scenery. it was a stark contrast from the busy airports she was stuck in transit for -- how long was it again? she didn't want to remember, and neither did she want to explain. it had been rather tiring, in all honesty.
"tiring, as all eighteen-hour flights should be," she sighed.
teresia turned around with her arms folded, and leaned against the window.
"mornings are the best time of day to get things done," said teresia with a small smile, "efficiency comes when the mind is fresh."
Luca picked up the wine out of mild interest and checked the foreign brand he did not know. Whether it had been locally made, he wouldn't have recognized it either. He read through the label but, as he already knew, there were no chemical compounds for him to recognize. Luca put down the bottle of wine just as Teresia had turned around.
"Yes." He smiled in return. "Waking up an hour close to noon spoils the rest of the day. Too little time for work with just a small delay." Luca walked toward the window next to Teresia's and stood behind it with a foot distance. His gaze was far, almost detached.
He seemed to realize this. Quickly and subtly, he changed the subject.
"Ah, how have you been feeling? Was there any significant effects from the dream-catcher? I'm certain it's safe, and yet -" he chuckled, "- a part of me is always prepared to be proven wrong."
Post by Teresia Bárány on Aug 10, 2014 15:08:39 GMT
she hummed in thought.
"the dream-catcher has not been strange," she reported, which was half the truth.
there had been other effects -- or were they? it was this thought that made teresia hold her tongue in doubt of herself. she did not want to say anything but proven and solid fact, lest she end up saying something completely unrelated.
prana, however, was probably the reason why she felt more lethargic than usual. or perhaps it was the addition of magical essence to something less magical that resulted in this. or perhaps it was something else altogether. without more time, she would never know.
"and i am certain that i'm not in any sort of mortal danger," teresia continued, before curiosity got the better of her. "is lethargy a common side-effect of these sort of accessory, or is it just my jet-lag?"
too many factors, too little facts. teresia wanted to know for certain.
"it has been webbing at certain intervals. particularly during the night. i assume it absorbs prana during that period of time, which causes me to become restless during my sleep, and -- oh. oh."
Of course she wasn't in mortal danger. Luca wouldn't have applied the magecraft on her were there a slightest risk to her life or health. It was a creation Luca had perfected from theory, kept bare, simple, and unambitious to present less complications. He read through dark, human experiments as reference and conducted tests on cadavers. And, even before those, as a magus who specialized in the creation of life, tampering with flesh should pose no problem.
But as Luca said, he was prepared to be proven wrong. Who wouldn't be interested in finding out the variable that made his perfect equation incorrect?
Lethargy was too broad for consideration - and minor. It could be a side-effect of her body adjusting to the foreign material, though that shouldn't be the case either. Luca had used Teresia's hair not just for empowerment but for genetic identification, for the body to recognize the magecraft as its own. Hmm...
Luca looked at Teresia half-quizzically.
"Really? What is it?" He could sense that her "symptoms" might have been from something silly.
Post by Teresia Bárány on Aug 14, 2014 13:56:24 GMT
"simply put, i need more sleep," said teresia, shaking her head.
the books neatly stacked in her room were testament to that fact. she had been reading, learning as much as she could about subjects that interested her. more recently, it was schrödinger's cat and various other theories of its time. they made for pleasant light reading. (but alas! time flew so fast when she was enjoying herself!)
"until i am accustomed to this, i need to allow my body to rest," she said, a tinge of bitterness creeping into her words. teresia was a woman who liked keeping to a schedule. this addition was forcing her to come to a compromise between the next exciting chapter of a thick book and a good night's sleep.
she had almost always chosen the former, but it seemed that the latter was coming into play at the moment. teresia lamented the lack of reading time she now had.
"but knowledge waits for no man, or woman! i must continue to read," she added with zest.
"Teresia, the mind and body come as one. If you want to have time to read more, make an investment to be physically fit. After all, I have twice the busy schedule as you and you don't see me slowing down like an old man just yet. You need to quit holing up around books. Perhaps - " Luca waved a gloved hand at Teresia's feet, "- you should lighten up."
The air underneath Teresia's shoes bloated into swirling cushions of wind, steadily sending her up in the air. It was a simple spell that would stop once she was ten inches from the floor, but Luca, as if fearing she might retaliate, jumped back. A small gust burst from his step, pushing him up with the speed of a weightless man floating in the moon. Gravity had not been compromised nor changed. Looking closely, Luca's hair and clothes were being buffeted. He had motioned the wind to swirl in a ball around him to slow his momentum from the initial burst, giving the impression that he was slowly levitating.
