Complete Quest Redchron (Wintersday) Shimmering

[Kyanna Wynne]

Even the rocky Redchron was covered by snow, creating an interesting contrast between the impossibly white snow and the intense red tone its landscape held. As a beholder of the landscape, one of the few towns Redchron had, requested for a few travelers to decorate their buildings, to enjoy the most intriguing sight, that could only be witnessed at this time of the year.

Without a second thought, Kyanna took the job to herself, with the idea of killing two birds with a stone:

First, that would give her more opportunities to explore a new place and try to find her mother.

Second, that would give her the chance to actually enjoy a bit of Christmas, with her home being mostly with the mood on the dump because of... Well... Her mother.

Pondering for a moment, Kyanna considered the surroundings for a moment, realizing the lack of vegetation that would allow her to work on the typical Christmas tree. She held her breath, resting her staff-that-totally-wasn't-a-flying-broom and muttering a few magic words, and making the ground crack for a moment before a pine tree began growing through the ground, raising tall enough to be double her size.

Enormous? Not really, but big enough for a decoration!

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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"Notification - The inhabitants of the village do not need to fear for their decorations. This unit's control is stable."

The words may not have been quite enough to fully calm down the villagers who wished only for someone to help with all the decorations that they normally put on their houses. Right now, all of the heavy boxes full of various items continued floating mid-air in a steady line toward the center of the village. MAI had used her mastery over gravity to make them all weightless and simply nudged them all in the right direction, but apparently, onlookers were a bit too worried that the spell might be suddenly broken without warning, smashing everything inside.

The Magia would never allow for that, but she did get distracted for a brief moment when she made it past the corner. A sizable tree was already adorning the square, even if it was rather bare at the moment. The last time the girl checked, there was no such thing.

"Query - This unit was informed that this village does not have any trees for Christmas. Have the details changed?"

People around her only shrugged. It was then that the mechanical girl noticed someone else standing by the tree, looking rather proud of themselves. Was that person responsible for the new addition? MAI took a step forward to propel herself into the air and float toward the newcomer to ascertain, all the while making people panic even more about the items potentially falling down onto the ground. They weren't going to.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

With a full-grown tree, Kyanna was quick to start working on the decoration around it, muttering spells one after another, allowing brimming and colorful flowers and fungi to grow across the tree branches, giving it an interesting mix of decorations and embracing it with care with every inch of nature magic she could muster.

The corruptive magic she had, helped to slightly change the composition of the plants, giving them a more saturated and strong hue, that made the tree become flashier, perhaps slightly too far for a Christmas decoration.

Finally, growing a giant star flower in his hands, Kyanna looked up at the top of the tree, before peeking behind her back and noticing another girl approaching, this one having some hovering objects that were rather impressive.

"Ooh! Hey, can you give me a hand?" She asked with a smile, showing the flower. "I need this flower to be at the top of that tree-" Kyanna gestured to it, then peeked at the girl.

"Can you do it? I see you are good with flight, and my flying broom isn't too precise for this kind of thing." She admitted, rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed smile.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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Making a tree appear when no one was looking, growing plants and mushrooms... using a broom? MAI softly landed a few steps away from Kyanna and looked the other girl over several times. Was this person... a traditional witch? Now that might have just been the most unusual thing she had encountered so far in all of TerraSphere.

With a nod, she accepted the organic star, feeling it in her own synthetic hands for a moment. She almost wanted to nibble on it to see what her taste sensors and material identifiers could tell her, but that would probably be a bit too weird a thing to do in front of a stranger. And the flower was unlikely to taste very good, or so MAI assumed.

"Understood - This unit will help."

With a small jump, she floated again. Weightless, she simply swam through the air, small movements with her legs guiding her toward the tree's top. It wasn't that tall, so she reached the spot rather swiftly, even having to stop herself to not fly any higher. As soon as the flower was planted, the Magia's eyes shifted back to the girl down below.

"Queary - Is this individual here to help prepare for Wintersday as well?"

It seemed like a somewhat silly question with an obvious answer, but one never knew.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

"Thank you!" Kyanna beamed gratefully, turning her attention to the last details of the tree decoration, sparkling a few 'prestos' and 'abracadabras' until the tree shimmered in a near-perfect conclusion, with the cherry on the top being applied by the magia girl, which Kyanna looked at with sparkly eyes as she took a couple of steps back to have a wider view of it.

When the girl landed, Kyanna clasped her hands. "That looks great, thank you very much!" She exclaimed, tilting her head slightly when realizing the funny way the girl spoke.

Was she a robot? Well, it would explain her general appearance.

"Yeah, I'm here to help out." She nodded eagerly, then peeking at the huge pile of items that was still floating. "I assume you are helping out too? I mean, that's a lot of things you are carrying over there, are you sure this won't just fall and hurt someone?" Kyanna pointed out, with wide open eyes.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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The girl was happy, so at least that meant MAI did a good job. It'd be rather embarrassing if she somehow managed to fumble such a simple task, although it would not be the first time... well, it would be the first time in this game.

"Answer - Yes. This unit has been called upon to help move decorations for the houses. This task is in process."

"Reassurance - This unit can control gravitational pull via Astramancy. The boxes will not fall down."

They were also floating close enough to the ground that the only way they would actually fall onto someone was if they had their feet directly below the boxes. The chances of that happening were so low that MAI didn't even consider it possible. No, what had her attention was the girl next to her right now.

"Query - finished now?"

The tree was grown and 'decorated', if a bit unusually. For a particular kind of Starcalled, that would mean peacing out and looking for a new quest to get more experience from. If the girl even was a Starcalled... MAI just sorta assumed based on her appearance and behavior. Though compared to most, she seemed most normal and like she could fit into this world as a Lander.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna crossed her arms, nodding slowly as she finally built enough courage to blurt out:

"Are you a robot, miss?" Kyanna asked, placing her hands behind her back and leaning in, with blinking, curious eyes. "You have an interesting speech on you." She pointed out, finally straightening her posture once again, but never removing the smile from her lips.

When the girl explained a bit further about how she was making the boxes float, Kyanna perked up, intrigued about it.

"Oh, so this is gravity? No wonder it is defying it." She giggled, approaching and gently poking the boxes, before peering at the girl and nodding.

"Yeah, I am done with this part, there is still plenty to decorate, miss... Well..." Kyanna tapped her forehead. "My name is Kyanna Wynne! What's your name?" She asked, realizing that neither of them had done any introduction, something that would send all the gods of good manners into wrath.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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MAI paused for a moment. Every time she somehow managed to forget how she sounded to people around her. It might have even been somewhat infuriating. Her eyes wandered to the side almost sheepishly. She wasn't exactly trying to hide her nature today, as the somewhat isolated inhabitants of this place didn't appear to know of the threats provided by Dissonant Magia emerging from Vintergard.

"Answer - Correct. This unit is a Magia. Is this individual... afraid?"

She waited for a few moments to see how Kyanna would react. It was exceedingly unlikely that she would hold any negativity toward Magia in general, or else she would have probably already acted on it the moment she got a suspicion MAI might be a robot... but nothing was ever certain.

"Addendum - Strange speech patterns are a result of assimilation with incompatible technology. Can be temporarily suppressed with strong emotion or will."

She had at least since learned that she could return herself back to normal in some limited capacity, but it was mostly not worth the expended energy.

When Kyanna poked the box, it slowly started drifting away from her, one of the people quickly running over and readjusting its trajectory so it didn't stray, shooting a bit of a mean look at the witch. Although MAI was quick to shake her head at the man before introducing herself as well.

"Introductions - you may call me MAI. This unit's task of helping transfer goods from one location to another is effortless and does not require this unit's close presence. This unit can help Miss Wynne if requested."

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

"This individual--" Kyanna tilted her head, then blinked realizing that she meant- "Me? Oh, no no. I'm not afraid." She giggled, then pondering about the magia girl's answer regarding the speech pattern, making the witch curious and surprised about it. "Interesting... I will admit I didn't understand most of it, but from what I understood, this is an error?" An educated guess.

Her gaze then briefly turned to those who struck her a few unfriendly glares, making her rub her head and smile apologetically, waving in a gesture of not meaning to do anything bad.

Thankfully, the magia girl calmed the few meanies down, and she turned to face MAI with a gentle smile on her lips.

"It is very nice to meet you, Mai! But... You don't need to call me Miss Wynne. Kyanna is more than enough." She said with a firm nod. "Unless... That's part of your speech pattern thing?" She squinted, unsure. "In any case, I'd love some help with the decoration, yeah. I can even give you something very nice when we are done." Kyanna beamed.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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There was almost a faint blush as MAI looked to the side, considering the implication of an "error" when it came to her speech. Was it more embarrassing because of the way she sounded to others, or was it more irksome because she allowed herself to have an error?

"Annoyance - Yes, referring to it as an error... is probably fine."

At least the Magia was already used to people thinking she was a weirdo from the real world, but it was still annoying that even in a world where people came to escape reality, she had some quirk or another that would potentially put her on the spot like that.

"Understood - This unit will now refer to this individual as Kyanna. Hopefully, that is satisfactory."

Just being 'forced' to refer to others as "this individual" felt rather dehumanizing. But then again, she was playing the role of a machine, so that was somehow in character.

"Information - This unit does require compensation. Locals are already paying for the work. What does Kyanna need help with?"

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

"At least it makes it pretty clear what you are talking about, eh?" Kyanna giggled. "No room for misunderstandings." She said, regarding the way @MAI simply declared what kind of topic she was aiming for before actually speaking about it.

Kyanna nodded at MAI with a small smile. "Approval - This unit finds the rectification very appealing." She teased, adjusting her witchy hat, that was filled with glowing decorations and mistletoes.

"Mostly to decorate a few high spots." Kyanna explained, raising a finger upwards for emphasis. "You see, I have a flying broom, but it is kinda hard to control right now... But if you can just adjust gravity, you could put some decorations high up, and take me up high as well so I can summon more decorations." She explained, shifting her gaze toward a nearby building, one that almost looked like a tower.

"That one, for example! Maybe we can make a glowing spiral aaaaall around it." Kyanna gestured with her arms.

 

[MAI]

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Although MAI's expression was briefly that of someone quite unamused, she returned back to normal soon after Kyanna stopped mimicking the way she spoke. In fact, the Magia considered a little payback jest of making the witch float for a bit, it was harmless enough. Though Kyanna did end up suggesting that very thing only moments later. At least she didn't have to hesitate in grabbing the other girl's wrist and nodding.

The air around Kyanna would suddenly shimmer, and she would feel the effects of being outside the gravitational pull that the world provided. No longer anchored in any way, just about any movement would send her off the ground without the ability to return. MAI forwarded this heavily by spinning in place, making the black witch spin around her before letting go, sending Kyanna a fair bit above the roofs of local houses.

Finding any potential shock from being tossed so high up with no obvious way down felt like a sufficient conclusion to her prank, making MAI fly up as well, albeit with far more precision.

"Query - Kyanna is in possession of nature mastery that can create luminescent foliage? This unit will get her close enough."

Moving behind the helpless witch, the Magia gave a small push to her back in the direction of their tall target.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

The unamused reaction of @MAI brought a slightly embarrassed giggle from Kyanna, who rubbed the back of her head while peeking at the magia girl, until she seemed to return to her usual mood.

With her wrist being suddenly held, Kyanna felt herself light, to a point it felt like she could just float away at any moment... and honestly? That seemed to be the case, espefially when MAI began spinning, making Kyanna gain height. "W-Wait, what are you doing? Wait- WAAAIT!" Her eyes grew wide, seeing the world spin until she was tossed away, spinning and seeing the ground going farther and farther as she flailed helplessly.

When MAI approached again, Kyanna was already dizzy, barely understanding her- "Luminiscent..? Yes, I- eeek--" She flailed again, holding on tight at the building when she finally reached it, breathing heavily due to all the surprise she went through.

"... Aaah... Ah..." She sighed.

"Uhm-" Kyanna peeked down, trying to recover for a moment and looking at the building. "Okay, okay... Let's see..." She muttered, with a faint magic flickering until glowing vines began spreading across the structure she held onto.

 

[MAI]

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The whole thing was quite amusing, but not for too long. Watching the state of Kyanna, MAI submerged herself in her own thoughts for a brief moment. After a while of the witch creating vines around the building, she would suddenly see the Magia 'standing' on the wall next to her as if the stone and wood surface was the ground itself. Her gravity was not disabled anymore but shifted 90 degrees. Squatting down, she looked at Kyanna with presumably a bit of remorse.

"Statement - Is Kyanna alright? This unit did not expect someone who uses a flying broom to have such a reaction to flying."

Or was it just the spinning..? Yes, that might have been it.

". . ."

Perhaps she wanted to say something, but instead, she simply grabbed a box that floated up to them. Inside of it were crystals of all colors one could imagine, perhaps created by someone who used Geomancy. Wordlessly, MAI started picking the crystals and slowly tying them to wherever she could to help with decorating... she did promise to help, after all.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna side glanced at the magia girl for a moment, blinking surprised at her position and offering a faint smile before returning to her work. "I am alright, just got a bit dizzy." She said, then chuckling at the girl's reminder that Kyanna supposedly flied with brooms.

"That's true, but I'm still bad at managing them, and... Well, getting dizzy is one of those. I still need to get used to fancy maneuvers like spinning." Kyanna said, spreading the vines further, creating a layer of luminous vegetation that embraced the building with ease.

Her eyes then shifted to the crystals the girl was putting as decoration, perking up in curiosity.

"What are these, Mai?" She asked, leaning in. "Where did you find those? They are so pretty!" She clasped her hands, feeling a sudden shift of her position due to gravity once again, but this time recovering it quickly by holding back onto the building once again.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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MAI had no idea what to say, so she simply remained silent. Only the thought that she should be more careful in the future remained. The fact that they were playing a game got too far into her head. After all, this game was special and had far more reaching consequences for real life than any other game.

As she handled the crystals, she merely spun one in her hand as if to show it to Kyanna some more before putting it up like the rest, the box containing the rest floating between herself and the witch, as if to tempt her into decorating with them as well.

"Answer - This unit did not find these crystals, nor does it know what they are."

"Elaboration - They are part of the items to be transported across the village. They are, therefore, items meant to be used to decorate the houses."

Some other soul in the village must have been the person who precured them at some point and the villagers have been using them ever since as a lovely decoration during special occasions and festivals. MAI had no idea if this place already celebrated Christmas before, but if they did, then this kind of decoration would already be familiar to them.

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

The initial silence of the magia girl made Kyanna wonder if she should've tried to endure the spinning a bit more. There was a certain hint of remorse in her voice earlier, which made Kyanna a bit remorseful herself, creating an unnecessary spiral of remorse that only interrupted thanks to the following topic regarding the crystals.

Kyanna perked up for a moment, tilting her head. "So they aren't from you? Interesting... I wonder if we can find someone to tell us how they were made?" Kyanna said, pondering it as she continued to spread the vines, 'crawling' on the facade while finishing wrapping the whole building with her luminous plants, that made the crystals MAI was working with shimmer in beautiful reflections.

"Ah, that should be enough for this building." Kyanna smiled, clasping her hands together and trying to turn to MAI without slipping away to flail helplessly.

Her eyes then turned up to the a large rocky hill, away from the town, but not too far.

"Say... Do you think it would be a nice idea to make a glowing message and decoration on that hill? It would look like a giant board!" Kyanna pointed at the hill with a smirk, wondering what the girl would think of it.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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Did the girl really like the crystals that much? Sure, they were pretty, but still pretty basic all things considered. But then, perhaps... well, there were quite a few of the crystals, so surely no one notice if one of them would disappear? MAI's eyes moved from Kyanna to the crystal a few times before she decided.

Her Astramancy only caused trouble so far, making someone she didn't even really know uncomfortable and possibly scared. Of course the Magia felt bad about that. So to use her mastery for something better, she used it on the crystal in her hand itself. After sparkling a few times, its color changed. Now, it was like a window to a galaxy... a swirl of colors - primarily reds and blues, with countless shiny dots - stars, adorning the visage. It was no still image either. Moving, it almost seemed like the galaxy was imprisoned inside of the crystal.

"Statement - Kyanna can keep this crystal or use it for decoration as well."

Hopefully that would make up for it a bit. But as far as the suggestion went...

"Query - Can Kyanna produce said giant board? This unit does not posses the ability to manifest such items out of thin air."

@Kyanna Wynne

 

[Kyanna Wynne]

Kyanna watched the magia girl making a crystal, that was already very pretty, become even prettier as it mirroed a galaxy in it. The sight brought a gasp out of her lips, and Kyanna held it with a wide smile when it was offered.

"This is really beautiful, it will look great as a decoration-!" Kyanna smiled beamed, tracing her fingers on it before pausing and peeking at MAI. "Or it would look great. I think I will be a bit selfish and claim it to myself." She said, holding the tip of the crystal and pulling out two thin vine strings off it, as if it had been growing naturally from it.

She wrapped it around her neck, making it seem like a necklace.

"How does it look?" Kyanna asked, smiling before glancing at the hill again.

"I can't make a board, but I can make the glowing vines take the shape of words..." She suggested.

@MAI

 

[MAI]

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MAI's eyes remained squarely fixated on Kyanna as she took the crystal and turned it into a necklace. It was a tad larger than what people would normally wear like that, but she liked it. That was the important part. The Magia merely nodded before turning around again to look at the place highlighted... though she mostly did it so Kyanna wouldn't see the smile that she just couldn't keep hidden for too long. Gosh, so embarrassing...

Thankfully, it didn't take her too long to compose herself again, back to the 'mechanical' self. A deep breath in... deep breath out.

"Statement - The item does look good on Kyanna."

With the witch wearing all dark colors, the swirling galaxy of colors was a nice contrast that fit her magical nature. Quite eye catching indeed... an eye candy, yes.

"...warning - Stay still, please. We'll go down again."

With a small jump, MAI was able to turn back 90 degrees again to match Kyanna, slowly approaching the girl and tapping her shoulder. And just like that, the gravity would grow heavier again. Not too much, but enough that the two of them would start descending, at least as long as the girl would let go of the building. Once on the ground, all became as normal.

"Query - Ready to head out, then?"

@Kyanna Wynne