Euphemia has been spending a whole lot of time in her lab recently rather than doing things out in the field. She still helps search for Jewel Seeds every now and then, but primarily she's been trying to find ways to force them active or draw them out of subspace if any are still left in the dimensional instability that surrounds the planet she's found herself stuck on. Unfortunately it's... not quite as easy as she had thought.
It turns out the universe actually objects to having massive subspace tears ripped through it, and adapting the Dimensional Transfer spell into a much more dangerous form requires a lot more than simply removing the safeguards written into it to prevent exactly that.
Today she's taking a break, swimming in the UMBRA pool she stole with Fate while wearing a simple one-piece blue swimming suit. There are a few float rings tossed into the pool, and every now and then she dives down and emerges a few moments later with her head sticking out of the center of it. Much more simplistic than magical aerobatics, but fun in it's own way!
Fate Testarossa has been going the opposite way, spending less time in the lab and more time in the field. She's taken on the arduous task of systematically checking every corner of Tokyo with controlled storms, and also maintaining a magical network that allows her to observe the majority of the city. Such a task is something she was more than happy to take on for her mother, if 'happiness' can even be considered something she feels these days, but it has been very...
...taxing.
After the third time fainting in a row, Fate finally let Arf talk her into taking a break. After all, there's no point if she pushes herself to a point where she can't work anymore, right? She needs to keep up her strength in case there's a fight.
So where does she go? To the Arcade? No, someone might find her there and try to talk her out of what she needs to do. To her mother? Hardly. She didn't want to do that right now. Precia would probably be angry if she knew, but Fate really didn't want to go home right now.
Instead, Fate goes to the one place she considers safe. The swimming pool that she stole along with Euphemia. She walks in, wearing a normal bathing suit for once, and notices her friend swimming in the pool.
She doesn't dive in, instead sitting on the side of the pool and dangling her feet into the water.
Euphemia's head pops up out of the water, once again in one of the float rings. She shakes her head a bit to get some of the water off her face, looking over towards where the younger girl sits right after. "Fate!" Her face lights up and she swims over, her neck caught on the float ring and impeding her somewhat. She doesn't bother preventing this until she nears the edge of the pool, pushing one end up and flipping it over to free herself.
"I haven't seen you around the pool much lately, it's good to see you!" Euphy chimes with a bright smile while treading water a few feet away. "You must be working pretty hard; I've heard your lab isn't even being used much anymore." With a bit of a grin she adds, "Don't let them work you too hard!" Pause, "Well, unless you -want- them to work you too hard." She makes a face, peering upwards towards the roof, and thus the panoramic of upside down Tokyo spreading to the horizon. Could someone want to be overworked for it's own sake? It's not entirely impossible.
"How's it going anyway? Makin' lots of progress?" To say that she's just a little bit out of the loop is an understatement.
Fate looks at Euphemia. Something about her is a lot colder than usual. She's always been just a little distant, a little slow to trust, a little unwilling to get close, but now that distance has multiplied. Yet, she smiles. It's a strange smile. It's a smile that sort of feels like it should be there, but it has to remind itself not to wander off.
"I haven't seen you much either. UMBRA has taken quite a large hit, hasn't it? All because of my mother, too." She snorts. Has she ever snorted before? "What an ingrate."
When asked about the progress, she lifts her gloved hand. The yellow triangle pings, and a Jewel Seed rises up out of it. <SERIAL VII CONFIRMED>
"Seven Jewel seeds have appeared. My mother has six of them. This one... I haven't brought to her yet. I know she's eager for them. I just don't want to. Not yet." She reaches out, fingers drawing close to the Jewel Seed, as if to touch it... but at the last moment, they think better of it, and retreat.
"Things have been a lot easier for me lately. It's almost as if no one wants to oppose me."
Euphemia looks curiously at Fate when she sees the odd smile on her face. Being prone to her own odd smiles from time to time she doesn't read much into it. The cyan haired girl groans a little and 'flops' back in the water, waving her arms behind her to keep her above water as she floats on her back, "It sure did. To think that -I'm- the one who had to get everything together."
The snort, that is rather out of place, and the girl looks curiously once more at the lightning controlling mage. "Do you mean Takashi-kun?" she asks, confused about who might be an ingrate. "Talking back like he did to your mother was a pretty stupid thing to do, especially when he knew she was close to Dr. Tomoe right from the start." She throws her hands up and momentarily slips beneath the surface of the water because of the gesture, popping back up and wiping water out of her face a moment later. "I was going to throw a fit if your mom made you quit UMBRA because of it."
Then the Jewel Seed is show and one of the girl throws her hands into the air again in a much different gesture, "Woohoo! Awesome!" Since she's upright and her legs are kicking she doesn't get water up her nose this time.
"Wow! Seven, and she has all of them but that one? You've been doing amazing, Fate!" Euphy makes a bit of a face, her lips skewed to one side, perturbed, and crosses her arms. "Maybe I didn't need to be looking into drawing them out so much after all. Though actually I don't remember how many there are anyway."
Fate doesn't want to give it to her mother just yet? "Ohhh, are you thinking if you hold out a little while and then bring her two she'll be extra ha-"
Euphemia is, by in large, not a very emotionally observant person. At least not for people other than herself. But when Fate reaches out for the Jewel Seed she catches a bit of the less-subtle subtlety. She's quiet for a moment before tilting her head, "Hey, Fate? Is there something -you- want to do with the Jewel Seed? Other than just give it to your mother, I mean."
She then grins widely, and laughs a little, "Why would anyone want to oppose you? You're nice, and cool, and powerful! And you have a lot of powerful friends. Quite frankly opposing you would be really stupid. Like, if anyone ever really seriously hurt you I think there'd be a line for who gets to kill them." With a bit of a singsong she adds, "And I'd be at the front~"
"Not Takashi-kun." Fate's tone is cold. "He was, perhaps, a little unwise, but it was my mother who..." She pauses and looks upwards. "What's the saying? 'Cut off her nose to spite her face?' UMBRA was the reason she had as many Jewel Seeds as she had. Maybe she thinks she got ahead, just because she got a few now... But I wonder what would happen if she didn't have me working for her anymore?"
"I'm her one and only daughter after all, and it's not like that rat of a familiar could really pick up the slack."
Her wine-red eyes turn back to Euphemia, and she kicks the water in the pool. "Things have been going well for me. Maybe it's skill, or maybe just luck, but I don't care. Victory is victory."
She watches the Jewel Seed, hearing Euphemia's question but not immediately responding. What should she say to that? Does she even have an answer?
"I don't know. I know they're dangerous to use, but so is Dark Energy, and that hasn't been stopping me. What I do know is that I've been spending a long time searching for what someone else wants. Seeking out what someone else desires. Fulfilling someone else's dreams. When was the last time I ever had something for myself?"
The black jewel reflects in her red eyes, and the magical bauble draws closer to her face. "These Lost Logia have the power to make wishes come true. Even if they're imperfect... an imperfect wish would be better than nothing, right?"
Fate hears a string of compliments from Euphemia, and blinks. Again, she smiles, and the Jewel Seed sinks back into the device on her hand. "Thank you... You've always been a good friend to me."
Euphemia is shocked when Fate's negativity is directed towards her mother. "Huh?!" She flops back in the water again, but begins treading water again almost immediately. She doesn't interject quite so soon this time, letting Fate finish. "That-" pause. "I've... never really known you to want much of anything other than to make your mother happy. You've like, enjoyed doing fun things from time to time, but that's always been your goal since I met you."
She frowns thoughtfully, "If that isn't what makes you happy anymore then... I donno! Maybe you should think about what -you- want." She beams a bright smile to Fate for a moment, "You know me! I only do things because I want to. I work here because I think doing that will get me what I want in the end, and because it's pretty fun. If people didn't let me have any fun I wouldn't do anything for them ever." Which is rather hyperbolic and not entirely true, but it is how she'd expect herself to act.
At the comment of having something for herself Euphy makes another face, "I don't know. You have this pool, but it's totally mine too. Maybe... Arf? Arf is 100% completely and totally yours. I don't know if that counts since she's, you know, actually a part of you. Or made out of a part of you. Or something." She waves her hand in the air, indicating the specifics don't really matter.
On the matter of the Lost Logia the cyan-haired girl considers, "It depends on how imperfect. What if you wanted to be beautiful, and you ended up so everyone else thought you were, but you thought you were ugly? Or the other way around?" She shrugs a little. "I'd probably try it if I had one." Pause, "Well, if I had one and you didn't want them anymore, I guess."
"Though... you've been using Dark Energy?" She peers a bit closer at Fate. "You should probably be pretty careful with that stuff. I like messing with it in a lab, but using it is pretty different. Bulwark actually won't let me! Which, I mean, Bulwark lets me stand in fire and electrocute myself, so the stuff has to be pretty awful, right?"
She reaches up and scratches her head again, only to grab the float ring from earlier and hang onto it. "I kinda decided I wouldn't want to use it anyway, though. You remember how Hannah started acting when she used those Dark Energy Seeds of hers?" She's referring to the empowered Grief Seeds without knowing what they actually are, "Hannah is pretty crazy already, but after using them she got even more reckless. Like, her device was shouting at her all the time about Linker Core damage and all that, and she was coughing up blood. I mean, don't get me wrong, she got what she wanted, and she was using A LOT of it, but..."
She's quiet for a few moments, because this requires some pretty careful thinking and careful thinking is something she's not used to at all so it takes a while. "Here's the thing. I think after a while the Dark Energy starts controlling you instead of the other way around." She grins broadly, "Being able to do what I want for myself is kinda the most important thing to me, so I don't want to use it at all. For you... just be careful, okay? If you're the one to seriously hurts /yourself/ there's kinda no one for me to shoot and make pay for it!"
At the smile and thanks Euphemia just grins again in response, "Yep! I'm pretty much the best friend ever~"
Euphemia's shock is itself surprising. Should it be? No... no, Fate is the one who is acting unusual. She knows that. She closes her eyes and remembers. She knew that using Dark Energy would change her personality, but for some reason... for some reason she still can't argue. When she opens her eyes, she listens to what Euphemia tells her. There was a time when she would have ignored it, but now...
"If I ever stop to have fun, my mother would just punish me for it. One time I took a detour to help save a friend's entire world, I was paid for it and they gave me money to buy treats. All I did was fight in a few battles, and they treated me so well for it. Even Eclipse, they pay me. If I actually had time to spend it, I'd be able to have a lot of fun." Fate looks down at her palms, raising them to look at them. "Occasionally I have to do things I don't like it, but I get paid for it. I get my due reward."
Fate pushes herself up, standing at the edge of the pool, blonde twintails dripping with pool water. Her voice slowly boils over. "My mother? She just hurts me. I take a break from finding Jewel Seeds that aren't even around in order to help another world, and she hurts me. I don't bring them back fast enough, and she hurts me for that too. Never mind the fact that what she wants is actually impossible. My only reward for it is not getting hurt that time."
She looks up at the roof, at the upside down view of Tokyo. "If going back to her means getting hurt, then why should I ever go back? She can find her own Jewel Seeds."
Her hands tighten into fists. A flash of darkness passes over her red eyes, there for an instant and then gone. She looks down into the pool, and at Euphemia. "Arf is mine, sure. She very much has a mind of her own, and she does try to do what's best for me. She's a good familiar. ... and really, yes, this is our pool. However, we didn't wait for anyone to give it to us, did we? We went out and took it for ourselves."
Fate considers. Could she wish for beauty? What would that make her? "I know they aren't safe to use, but mother has some way of using them safely, doesn't she? I'm sure she does. She wouldn't use something that was dangerous to her. She wouldn't be that crazy."
Fate considers Euphemia's response to Dark Energy, and purses her lips at the mention of Bulwark not even letting her use it. She listens, sitting back down on the edge of the pool, dangling her feet into the water. At the mention of Hannah, she leans back. She remembers something like that, sure. She closes her eyes.
"I don't know if it will kill me or not. It doesn't seem to be hurting me. A lot of my friends say that I've changed, however. I don't think they're wrong... but right now, all it's done is show me just how little my mother truly cares for me. Maybe I needed to see it. However..."
Her red eyes open, and she focuses on Euphemia. "The energy I'm using, it tainted my Linker Core. The more I use magic, any magic, the darker my magic gets. It doesn't matter if I try to draw on a dark source or not, because right now even my Linker Core is a source of Dark Energy. If I keep at it, my Linker Core might change completely. If you don't want Dark Energy controlling you, it's better not to even start."
"I was so determined to make my mother happy by any means necessary, but the means I'm using now led to me not caring. I don't even know if it's a good thing or a bad thing."
There's a frown when Fate says her mother punishes her for having fun. Euphemia crosses her arms indignantly over her chest and huffs, blowing a bit of air into her bangs. Parents putting a stop to their children's fun is something she's very much against! She nods along to the rest, "Yeah, generally people give you things if you do things they like. That way you'll be happy you did, right?" Then the mention of work and Eclipse and doing things she doesn't like, which Euphy doesn't exactly understand the full meaning of, "Yeah, that's pretty much what work is, right? Doing things you don't like so you get paid. It's cool when they pay you for doing things you do like, though!"
Then Fate stands up and looks more upset than her UMBRA colleague has ever seen her, and her words make Euphemia's blood run cold when the word 'hurts me' is used over and over. "Your mother... hurts you? Like, more than just lock you up in your room without dinner hurts you?" Her own hands clench tightly into fists, so much so that there's a sudden pop as her inflatable toy suddenly lets out all it's air and her head dunks underwater. She stays down beneath the surface for a few moments, a large number of bubbles burbling to the surface.
When she finally kicks back to the surface her face is a petulant scowl, "You shouldn't! If going to her means she /hurts you/ you shouldn't go back to her. If you're doing all this to make her happy and she hurts you for it, I don't think you should try to make her happy anymore. Who cares if -she's- happy if you aren't? Like, I know you really care about her. Or, well, you did, but if she's hurting you I think your mom might be crazier than me and Hannah put together."
She then gives a big nod, "Yes! That's exactly what we did. Once we knew what we actually wanted, we went out and we took it. We made sure that no matter what else, we'd be happy. And have we ever regretted it? Nope! Not once."
On the subject of Dark Energy she groans, "It sounds like everything Bulwark told me is true. But... actually, in your case I think it's actually helped you. I think it's good if you're being a bit more selfish, because you've only been doing things for other people. I wish I could help with your Linker Core, but that's one of the things I can't actually fix. If it was someone else who put the energy in you I could fix it, but Dispel can't remove Dark Energy if it's your own."
Euphemia swims over to the edge of the pool and hauls herself out, taking a while because she isn't using the ladder and nearly sliding back into the pool once or twice. "I always thought she was good to you because you worked so hard for her, but I'm stating to think your mom really sucks. If she wasn't so strong I'd try to make her stop hurting you myself." She crosses her arms over her chest and glares into the water, "If she doesn't care for you, I don't think you should work for her. I wouldn't! You're... not me, though."
She makes a loud, frustrated sound, "You might be in a lot of trouble, Fate. She's so strong and influential that you might -need- the extra power the Dark Energy is giving you. But if you use it too much your Linker Core might change like you said, and then you might not even be you anymore. It's kinda hard for me to say, Takashi-kun is the expert on Dark Energy, not me."
She looks over to Fate, letting her cyan eyes meet red, "I don't think this is a bad change for you so far, though. I don't think you'd have told me about your mother before, when it's not something you should have to keep to yourself." She lets out a sigh, "Maybe I should have been trying to get more fighting power instead of science. I think by now you're much stronger than I am. I don't know how much help I can be. But no matter what happens, I'll be on your side, okay? Not UMBRA's, or Eclipse's, or your mothers. I'm always on my own side, and since your my friend that means your a part of my side. So if there's anything you think I can do to help let me know."
Pause, "Especially if that thing is a subspace weapon." Cringe, "Though... I don't think it'd be a good idea to mix -that- with Dark Energy."
Fate didn't want to have said it. Now that she has, she almost instantly regrets it, but it's out there now. She spoke without thinking, and now she's scared... but... There's no keeping it in now, is there?
"I never showed you my scars, did I?" She twists her body to the side, putting one hand on her shoulder, to let Euphemia see them. They aren't fresh, as it's been a while since she's been hurt, but it's hard not to mistake the thin red lines bordered by a gross discoloration. "I told someone once that these were from combat, but that's a lie. They came from her."
She frowns, untwisting herself and sitting straight again. She listens to Euphemia, coldly considers the broken float ring, and thinks it over. She's silent for a long time. She looks down at the pool, twin blond pigtails falling over her face. Her voice cracks when she speaks.
"I shouldn't, should I? I really shouldn't. I don't know when things went wrong. I remember so many times when my mother was so nice to me, so loving, so kind... I remember she was busy all the time, but when we were together we still had fun. She was so sweet back then."
Her gloved hand rises to cover her eyes. "I don't know when things went wrong... but they are wrong. They are so wrong right now. I don't know what to do."
"If I rebel against her openly, she might punish UMBRA again. I don't want to bring more trouble on you. Maybe if I just disappear, they won't do that."
She stands up, looking over the side of the pool. "... this is the way I should have lived." She gestures over the waters. "Getting what I wanted. Pursuing my own goals. I've spent so much time serving her that I don't even know what my own desires even are."
Fate shakes her head as Euphemia says she can't dispel it. "Thanks anyways. Maybe there's something powerful enough to do that, or maybe the Jewel Seed could, I don't know. ... and I wouldn't want you to get hurt by her, too. I don't know what anyone could do against her except run away."
It's not a bad change? It's... Fate considers. Takashi said the same thing before didn't he? 'Now that she finally understands'. Euphemia's making a lot of sense right now. A whole lot of sense. She nods, turning towards her friend. "I want to keep being your friend, too. I don't know how long it will be before we see each other again, but... I always do want to consider you a friend. I still remember all the fun we had. Throwing rocks into the ocean was one of the most fun things I've ever done."
Her eyes widen at the mention of a Subspace weapon, and she giggles. "It would probably not be very smart, would it? Still, you never know when you'll need something like that."
Euphemia shakes her head, leaning a bit when Fate turns her back towards her, and then goes very still and tense. Her jaw sets, and for a few moments she grinds her teeth as Fate talks to her with her face hidden behind her hair. "That's... beyond 'wrong'." Euphy states in a very unlike her even and cold voice. "I kind of want to kill your mom right now, Fate. Except I don't know if that would help you more than it would hurt you."
She turns to look away before her anger gets the better of her. This right here is why Dark Energy can be dangerous, because it could lead someone to- do exactly what Takashi when he met Fate's mother. Recent events start to make a little more sense to Euphy.
She looks up when Fate stands up and nods, "You should have, but she's your mom, right? I... well, I kind of did the same thing. I did what my Father wanted me to do and stayed hidden in a forest. But if I'd disobeyed him and went looking for help he'd have lived. Sometimes the best thing you can do is disobey. It's stupid to listen to bad orders that are only going to get you hurt."
She considers the Jewel Seeds being able to dispel the dark magic for a moment, "Maybe, but you'd need to be able to control them properly before doing something that affected your Linker Core."
Fate's considering running away? "Maybe. If nothing else it'd let do something for yourself, and if she's so awful she'll hurt you even when you're doing your best to help her, there isn't even really a downside. Except that I wouldn't get to see you as often." Euphemia makes a face, "You might be right about that. Anyone might not be able to do anything against her. But what about more than just one anyone? What about everyone? You do have a lot of friends."
All of a sudden Euphemia lifts her hand and smacks it against the edge of the pool, and kicks her feet, thrashing and splashing in the water. "Darnit! If she's that strong I'm not sure there's any way except killing her or throwing her into some kind of prison. She uses Dark Energy too, right? Even if you took away her Device she might still be able to use it, just like Takashi-kun can. People like that a-"
Something hits her, and she looks back to Fate, "Wait. She... uses Dark Energy, right? And you said that she used to be sweet and you'd have fun, but then all of a sudden she got mean and wrong?" Another pause, "I wonder if -her- Linker Core got 'changed'."
She shakes her head as her hair drips slowly onto the pool's edge, only to smile a little again at the mention of throwing rocks. "It was fun. The splashes were huge! You... should get to do things like that more often. Even that was a more fun way of trying to find those things for your mother."
With a groan she notes, "That's what I've been doing, you know. Looking for ways to activate the Jewel Seeds so you could get them. I was only doing it because I thought it'd help you make your mother happy, too." A frown, "I'm actually annoyed I've spent so much time trying to do something that might not even help at all. But I guess now I have a better reason to keep doing it."
Kill Precia? ... how does Fate feel about that? Sure, she's been cruel, but she's also Fate's mother. Even with the dark energy in her, can she really... actually... want to do that? She can't blame Euphemia for wanting to, but is it what Fate wants? "I don't... know anymore. I don't want to kill her, but I can't stay around her anymore. I think if you tried, you'd just get hurt."
Fate is quiet as Euphemia turns away. She's not surprised, but... that's her mother! But... it's also someone who hurts her... how can someone who loves her hurt her so much?
Fate watches Euphemia as the cyan-haired girl talks about her father. She's quiet for a little bit after the story ends. "So... doing what he told you... you regret it. I think I regret doing what my mother says, too. I guess being older doesn't make you smarter. Maybe it would be better for everyone if I disobeyed. It's not like obedience is getting me anywhere."
All of her friends, against her mother? She thinks about it. Runealy... Takashi... Euphemia... Ayana... Suzuki... how many friends does she have? Would they be enough? For someone like her?
"But... is killing her the only answer? I don't know if she's using Dark Energy, she seemed to think it was dangerous, but that doesn't mean she isn't being corrupted by something. Shouldn't I... try to do something?"
She shakes her head. "I don't know if I can just write her off that much. It's not like I'm angry... I just want to have my own life, that's all."
"I appreciate you trying to help me so much, but if I stop helping my mother, then I'll likely stop going after the Jewel Seeds, too. If I continue chasing them, it will be for different reasons."
Suddenly, there's a noise. A tingling noise, coming from the golden triangle on the back of Fate's hand. She looks upwards, at the upside down Tokyo.
"Another Jewel Seed is about to appear. It's not far from a doorway." Fate lifts up her hands, and her henshin flashes around her. Cape covering her shoulders, and a pink skirt covering her hips. Even her black ribbons seem to change in a subtle way. She turns, flourishing her cape, and heads for the door. "I need this one. I don't know what I'll do with it, but I'm going to grab it before someone else does. Goodbye, Euphy-chan. It was a lot of fun."
She heads out the door at a brisk pace. She can't afford to wait around.