Complete Private ✪ Finweald Hope For The Afflicted.

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Fiora scratched away at her hairs Once Ronja begun to laugh away at her concern, meeting her smile with a sheepish look of her own. "My hair's gonna turn white again from worrying so much."

With the magia's confirmation and a set of claps, the Aid-Lings finally begun to move in place to her surprise, as if they all shared a hivemind with their creator and knew exactly what to do and what gap to fill, specially finding the right materials to replace it with in a way it could last, rather than as a temporary solution.

"I doubt they'd mind if we do some overtime and work on fixing the place beyond just the structural problems it has. If anyone deserves charity it's these kids right now." She couldn't miss the way Ronja smiled and how her mind wandered to that little beastfolk of earlier, given how she pointed it out as they begun to make their way back up and across the main corridor once again. "Specially her." Fiora reassured.

"Well, we were newbies back then, probably explains why it was so mana hungry. You gave your everything to save us." That much she could recall. That could have very well been their first death were it not for Ronja's last resort. "If energy consumption is an issue, why not add a secondary battery to yourself? Or one to work as a backup should you run low. Having different forms to specialize sounds like a good idea to get around that problem though, even when your base one is versatile enough." Fiora commented, peering curiously back to Ronja as they begun to near the kitchen area, set apart by double doors. "That said, I love that all your forms come with the Ultra Cute Mode on~" She winked back at her beloved, playful smirk tugging at her lips before her coyness brought to an end the second she turned the knob and one of the doors just broke out of it's hinges, held on the air on her grasp right now as she just stared, confusion delaying itself for a few extra seconds.

"I jinxed it by thinking this would be easier, didn't I..." Fiora shook off her head, stepping inside to get a better look at the kitchen, only to find it just as much of a disaster as the basement, but only thanks to the amount of utensils and objects scattered across.

Someone came around to at least pick up the sharp objects and get them out of the way from the children should anyone step in, but with the many holes across the walls, and with a fallen tree having wrecked part of the ceiling and a wall alike, there were plenty of glaring issues to fix, but nothing severe enough to require the amount of effort Ronja put up just earlier.

Their clay oven was busted, and instead a central hearth was placed on the room where one of the tables would probably have been placed at given the proximity to the counters, with many of the shelves having some wear and tear, yet surprisingly most of the decoration survived the ordeal, with only some wooden beams scattered neatly over the floor. Further inspection revealed that things weren't so dire, aside of the fact they would need to replace their oven very quickly unless they wanted to deal with smoke accumulating inside the kitchen.

"I can take care of the tree for sure, I'm kinda worried about their oven though. All in all we should be able to get this done with quick enough between your aidlings and me. Do you have anything for the oven though? I'm thinking we could piece it together and patch up what we are missing, just need a material that works similar to it." A knuckle resting on her lips, furrowed expression dipped full in thought before deciding to turn her eye towards Ronja.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja looked at Fiora, shaking her head. "Ronja will just need to go and dye it again." She nudged her beloved.

"Ronja doubts they will, but it is still hard for them to stay for too long without being able to use their building." She said, concerned about the time they would take to do these renovations, even if they had the help of so many constructs, the flexibility of arcanamancy and the herculean strength Fiora had.

These concerns, however, flickered when Fiora emphasized Ronja's words. "Yeah... Especially for her." She said, with a faint but warm smile, along with a flutter in her chest that only grew when Fiora mentioned the past. The time as newbies where all of these complex, political problems weren't there to disrupt their lives. To disrupt their friendships. Or to nearly make them kill those they loved.

"At that time... Ronja just wanted to make sure the two of us would get out of there alive. Nowadays, Ronja would probably have a better plan, or at least, if she had to resort to her Ultra Magia, she would've managed to save a lot of energy." She explained, with the extra compliment from Fiora coloring her cheeks. "Ronja... Will show you her new modes at some point. But not now, she needs to keep her energy to fix all of this..." Her eyes peered into the kitchen, crossing her arms and staring intently at the oven, humming.

"Alchemy should do the trick... But we need to collect all pieces and put everything together." She turned to Fiora, with a reassuring expression crossing her face.

"Take care of the tree, Ronja will pick these pieces in no time."

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

"Thanks for that, hun. Green looks grea- Hey!" She stopped just when she got nudged, blinking back at Ronja as her playful smile gave away her next move, nudging the magia back with her hip instead.

The concern was understandable enough for Fiora to pick up on and face confidently. "We'll just have to keep up this pace and get it done before they arrive, I'm sure we still got a few more hours left." There was a clear motivator on Ronja to try harder. A single child's smile could push the brunette to her peak. These thoughts were brought to an end the moment Ronja begun to talk, and any ideas she had were poofed out with a tilt from her head.

"Efficient or not, you still saved us both. I'm sure that golem would be a piece of cake for you now, even without your Ultra Magia mode." She cheered for the truth, as in her eyes that was a well earned victory for Ronja back in the day, just like now her lips curved into a cheshire smile and her golden gaze glittered a little as the elf watched Ronja's cheeks turn red, ultimately nodding as focusing their resources on the kitchen had priority over the Ultra Magia forms. "Let's wrap this up then, I'm sure we could both use a break." The answers to her questions came after no more than a little pause to let Ronja think about it.

"Yes ma'am, I'll come over and clean up after my mess, so keep an eye up just in case something drops." She warned her, taking the job for granted at this point. With Ronja working over it, all she had to do was head out and deal with the physical labor instead, passing over that reassurance to the volunteers at the orphanage with nothing more but a smile.

Branches begun to break and drop, and fragments of tiles and roof alike begun to drop along dust and ashes as the tree budged, but not without offering some resistance to her disdain. "Hang on, it's stuck!" She yelled, repositioning herself to the side to roll the tree a little over the gap left on the ceiling before lifting it off and setting it straight, bringing along part of the broken frame onto the kitchen, following by setting down the tree aside on a horizontal position.

Fiora didn't sit to admire her handiwork for long before jogging her way back inside, stepping through the gap left by the fallen door to get a look at the progress Ronja had done, this time with a broom to start cleaning up the mess and buy them both some time, aswell as to take a break herself from pushing herself too hard.

Even lifting things around was taking a toll on her as she wiped sweat off her forehead once again and her hands trembled just a little from so much physical exertion. Even her muscles cried a little at this point with how warm they felt. "Need a... Hand?" But that wouldn't stop her from trying to be of use for her lover.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja laughed heartily at the retort from her beloved, rubbing the nudged spot and looking at Fiora with a confident expression.

"You are right. We are in a good pace, at least." Ronja nodded in agreement, though still unsure of how far they could go right off the bat. It was a lot of work to do, and while they would make almost everything new like leaf, something in her mind panged her to improve it on top of everything.

"Ronja thinks Ronja will still need to return a couple times after this, if the caretakers will allow us to make some improvements."

She didn't want to make something undesirable though.

While Fiora moved on to the tree, Ronja used her magitech eyes to outline the materials that shared similar compositions as the clay furnace, and with her arcanamancy, she wrapped them with a force magic that allowed her to lift every material while she casted a glance to see Fiora struggling, but eventually managing to carry the tree out of the room.

"Ronja thinks that we would completely crush a golem like that nowadays. Look at you go."

She cheered her on before raising one of her fingers to send a signal to the Aid-Lings, that quickly took flight to aid Fiora not on carrying the tree, but to work on it as soon as it was settled down. Some of the propelled constructucts worked with saws to get rid of the brances, while others followed with chisels to clean the surface.

While that went on, Ronja attached the pieces together, still outlined by the force magic which meant it was being held on artificially for now, while Fiora approached with the offer for help.

"Ronja... Will... But for now, you look very... Tired?"

She said, looking at her beloved while trying to keep the concentration on her arcanamancy.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Fiora squinted as Ronja laughed, smiling back at her as they finally got an agreement on their pacing, a thoughtful mood taking over her features as the brunette's future intentions were revealed. "I can start taking notes and gather the stuff we need if that's the case. Just need you to write it down for me like a shopping list." Playing errand girl didn't sound so bad afterall when it's for a good cause.

Magic sure had it's perks, as she just came to notice how easily Ronja just lifted fragments of the furnance into the air, and even gave her lover time to notice how she put down the tree after a bit of a fight. "How about we build a golem one day instead of breaking it? You can make it practice against these." Fiora flexed her arms, oiled muscles fit for a builder and wrestler alike, swelling her smile with pride, eye turned towards the Aid-lings that took over the boring job of getting the tree down to size.

It was great to know they were always at their disposal to ease their tasks a little, and proof of how hard Ronja pushed herself to make them as flexible as they could, something she succeeded at with flying colours.

Once inside, it let her get a better view at the force magic used to hold all the pieces static, very similar to magnetism, only for more than just metals in this case. She stretched her hand in between breaths, giving a short squeeze on Ronja's shoulder.

"I'm fine, no sweat." Ironically it was the opposite, but it's called an 'expression' for a reason. "These Aid-Lings gonna replace me if I don't keep up... But, don't lose your focus, hun." She jested, her face turning merrier now as she grew quiet and waited for her to finish

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja perked up at the idea of creating a golem, making her ponder for a moment. "Golems are no different from robots. Ronja is sure she would be able to craft some of them up." She nodded, musing about the idea while she played along with the clay pieces as if they were pieces of a puzzle... And well, they were. Except of a much more practical puzzle with realistic results and rewards.

"Ronja is sure you could practice against those too. Golems are good training dummies, probably." She rose an eyebrow. It was sort of like challenging an AI in Chess, but instead of Chess it was fighting, and instead of frustration you got black eyes.

When her beloved approached from behind with a squeeze on her shoulders, Ronja smiled and softened, tilting her head to brush her cheeks on Fiora's hands.

"Ronja isn't... don't worry. We need to do this... after all."

After another straining effort, Ronja added a bit more of pressure with her magic, tightening the hold of the pieces before sending more signals to the Aid-Lings, with some approaching and spraying alchemicals on the outlined cracks, that didn't fade completely, but shimmered and seemed to glue, allowing the oven to stay firm in one piece even if it had its cracks.

After a bit, she released the magic, slightly leaning on Fiora after the sudden relaxation of her body.

"O-Okay... At least now Ronja can work on making the finishing smoother." She smiled, faintly.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Until now, the idea of golems and robots being the same didn't quite click, the revelation leaving her in thought before she nodded in agreement. "You are right, they ain't so different afterall." Stone and magic instead of steel and magic, with the end result being almost the same.

Fiora distracted herself a little watching the clay piece itself together, oddly entertaining for some reason as her dearest gave her a training option that had her single ear flickering. "They could be good second-hand guardians for our home too if they can learn from fighting me. The average highwayman doesn't have magic." Even if Ronja's War-Lings would probably be more effective at that. "If they can kick my ass, then we know they are ready." She giggled. Although if they aimed to make them fight home invaders and not powerful mages, then that would be overkill for sure.

"As a reward, I'll spoil you a little once we are back home, starting with dinner." She mumbled, watching how Ronja and her Aid-Lings finally begun to give a proper shape to the oven, admiring in silence as she didn't want to distract her any further until the task was over, tracing her gaze over the shimmering lights once they welded together and everything made sense. A puzzle now completed.

Her arms wrapped gently around her waist, letting her beloved rest against her bossom as she watched the almost-finished product and the product of their labour with the kitchen being returned to the closest to it's former glory it's ever been.

"It looks great, we are almost done here too. Lend me one of these Aid-Lings by the way, so I can work on getting the door fixed." Her thumbs tenderly strokes over her midriff for a moment, setting Ronja straight seconds after, with a heavy sigh drawn out of her lips as she tilted her head to the side and cracked her neck a little, rubbing her shoulderblades afterwards.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"They aren't different at all." Ronja smiled, taking a thought at Fiora's words and nodding along. "Ronja did have plans to make some protective measures in her home. Not only for outsiders, but to herself as well." She said, looking at Fiora for a moment before showing a brighter smile. "But that's for the future. For now, we have another priority." Ronja clasped her hands, getting back to her feet after a recovery, and snapping her fingers to force the Aid-Ling to give its attention to Fiora.

"It is all yours... Meanwhile, Ronja will do the finishing." She declared, approaching the clay oven and turning all of her attention and efforts to it.

Her fingers carefully traced across the cracks, releasing a paste through the joints of her fingers that made the connection more rigid, on top of giving a finishing work, making the cracks fade away into a smooth surface that had no falters.

With a small sigh, Ronja nodded. "They just shouldn't heat up anything for a day in this oven, but after that, this oven should be good to go." She took a couple steps away, taking a good glance of it before turning to Fiora again.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

A faint smile tried and failed to match her lover's. That there was even a need to create something to defend their home from Ronja was a pill hard to swallow for the elf. "We'll prepare ourselves and be ready for the worst. But you are right, that's for later." With the right preparation, maybe they could suppress her before she could rampage in the first place.

It was disheartening just how powerless she felt, knowing they have to live with the fear of the unknown, sitting idle as Ronja works very near the very source of this problem in the first place.

The wording out of the magia caught her unprepared, a chuckle escaping free out of her lips as she waved over for the Aid-Ling to follow, despite not being sure if it could understand the gesture. "Alright, I'll do the finishing over here too." She giggled, lifting over the door and letting the Aid-Ling do a throughful scan to find the leftover fragments on the floor. Compared to the oven, it was easier to reinforce the material it's made of.

Thankfully, the hinges were still functional enough for her to clip it back on place, giving it a trying tug to make sure it stick true on place. The paint was a bit at odds with the door right next to it, but it was a small price to pay for functionality as she pulled it open, good as new.

With Ronja's side of her duties done, Fiora walked over next to her, scratching her chin as she appraised the oven. "You did great, dear. It's as if it never broke in the first place." Only now picking up on how the cracks had turned into smoothness instead, her eye flickering back to Ronja as she pointed behind her at the door. "That desk lady would probably want to know what we've been up to. Let's go give her the good news, I could use some rest." Her hand stretched out, idling on the air for Ronja to take hold of before waltzing away to the lobby.

Voices could already be heard coming from the orphanage's entrance, many chirping noises that were yet to make it inside, and it wouldn't be hard to guess they were keeping the children waiting. The elven manager awaited, tapping away with her nails over the desk, eyes widening once both workers came in view.

"Is it safe now? The kids are waiting outside but it's getting harder to keep them still, we didn't want to risk anyone."

"Ronja over here replaced the structures within the basement and kept this building in one piece. I'd say it's thanks to her, I didn't think it was that bad until she shown me." Fiora shrugged, her indifference coming in handy to direct all the attention to the magia, which worked well enough given the surprise on the manager herself.

"I can't thank you enough, Ronja... And you too, miss."

It was like a dream come true to her after such bad luck streaks, sighing a thousand pounds away thanks to the good news.

"Anything else I should be made aware of? We'll keep most of the staff away from the basement for the time being."

Not like they had much to begin with at the moment, but that she didn't wish to think about too hard now.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

"Thank you... Ronja couldn't have done it without you."

A faint smile crossed Ronja's lips at Fiora's reassurance, looking at the hand that was offered and taking a soft hold on it, letting herself be guided by the elf to the way out, until they saw the desk lady.

"Just make sure you aren't using the oven for a couple days. You can use it, and use the room again after these couple days, but if you hear any crack leave it immediately, and try to get in contact." Ronja had a very firm tone in her voice, because it wasn't a matter to be taken lightly.

"But- Ronja will also be coming again in a few days, just to make one check up and see if everything is fine after a bit. Since it was magic, it is much quicker than waiting concrete to dry or anything, but we still need to be cautious about it." It completely ignored all the laws of physics and chemistry, especially because in real life there was no such a thing as magical concrete or alchemy for her to be able to have a reference of how it worked.

The only reference she had were sculptures she had done before, and they were done in the most mundane method possible.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

"You could. It just wouldn't be the same." She knew Ronja's the kind to adapt to the situation, but the company of cold steel and magic is unlike her own. Cold shivers ran down her spine to the thought of Ronja finding a way to clone people to breach that barrier even.

Aela's hand flickered the quill across a set of notes, experience allowing her to hold the conversation with nigh a change on her expression, other than a faint squint on her eyes.

"I'll make a few copies to inform the staff. Feel free to visit, but I suggest in the mornings when the children are awake already." She concluded, tapping her quill over the desk before pulling a hand beneath, revealing a purse, half-filled given the way it jingled within once she rested it over the counter.

"This gold is my own, not the orphanage's. Consider it gratitude, or payment for the materials, should that make it easier to accept it." Not a brow bat, her gaze like stone over the pair, as if showing a bit of emotion would mean rejection on the matter.

Fiora set her eye on the purse, then back to Ronja. Her mind already was set on taking it, yet she knew that decision fell on the magia, as it rightfully should. "I'll send a letter a few days before the visit, should give you plenty of time to prepare for her." An obligation as much as it was to keep them on their toes, should the need arise to evacuate, however slim the possibility is.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot

 

[Ronja Bubblyfoot]

Ronja smiled to the desk lady, nodding. "Of course, Ronja would never intend to bother the children." As fun as it would be to interact with them, the last thing Ronja would desire was to get on their way. After all, people were already overprotective of children, rightfully so, she couldn't imagine what would happen if a magia got close to them. Everyone would lose their minds.

The magia then looked at the gold that was offered to them, and while she did understand they had spent some gold to do what they had done, something panged wrong inside of Ronja's chest at the idea of getting any money out of it.

Her eyes locked on the gold for a moment, and while she pursed her lips, she looked up at the desk lady and rested her hands behind her back.

"Ronja is very grateful for the offer, but she isn't looking for any reward." She said, pausing for a moment before adding: "Consider it a donation, or just buy something nice for the children with it, should that make it easier to accept." Her tone wasn't sarcastic, but just friendly and innocent.

Averting her gaze, she looked to @Fiora Di Angelo, and took her hand while gently tugging it, a brief sign for them to go now.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

"..." Silence lingers, mind sunk in thought, and not exactly because of the magia using her words against her. Solidarity? From Starcalled..? They always have an ulterior motive as far as experience tells, but nothing seemed to be standard as of today with this one.

"I'll make sure your name is in the donator's list. I wish you two a good day." She nodded, her eyes tracking the pair as they started to make their way out.

Her hand held the door open for Ronja, taking the opportunity to bid farewell to the fellow elf with a faint nod. "No gold, looks like we eating stew now, heh." Non-chalant, her smirk solidifying the jest before Ronja could punish her for being greedy.

"I know a good stop to eat, and it's riiight on course. Besides, you can't leave your mule without some food in her stomach." Fiora chuckled, pulling their cart up by both handles and turning back to whence they came from.

@Ronja Bubblyfoot