Chapter 35: Trust Me, This is Perfectly Safe

With the temporary hold on her crystal experiments, she turned her attention to trying charms.

Kasen’s notes on basic Old Sulfae commonly seen on charms told her to start off with freezing charms. They were supposedly the easiest ones to make and she got it to work by accident the first time.

Soot ink or charcoal were needed for a charm to work. Most ink available was made with dyes from plants and ground insect shells, and didn’t work. Since Kasen told her to use soot ink and a brush, she didn’t think pencil would work, but she accidentally charged a piece of scrap paper she was practicing Old Sulfae on.

From her scrap paper practices, it turned out that pencil worked, too.

“Is it the graphite?” Tori lifted her pencil and stared at the tip. Graphite had carbon, too, though the structures were different and there were more impurities in soot. Soot ink was more expensive, as it was more difficult to make compared to plant and insect shell dyed ink. Graphite was cheap, as it was just pieces of soft mineral encased in wood. She narrowed her eyes. “That’s good to know....”

Charging a charm was the same as charging a crystal; the two were once aligned, after all. She had learned to charge crystals from Instructor Ignatius and while she didn’t have a high aptitude for it, limiting the amount of energy she could draw from the earth and funnel into a crystal at a time, she could still do so with relative ease.

“While channeling energy from the earth is common, some people can’t channel energy at all,” Instructor Ignatius had said, during their very first metacrystals class. “And of those who can channel energy, not all of them can release the energy to charge a crystal.”

Tori had a bit of a panic attack the first time she tried to charge a crystal. She remembered glaring enviously at Gideon’s back as he made his quartz glow straight away, earning him praise from their classmates. It had taken her a bit longer to channel energy and even then, it was limited.

The way she tried to explain it to her friends was to imagine a well and you have to pull up water. Some people are able to use a bucket. Some people could only draw water with a cup.

“And I’m probably using a thimble,” Tori had concluded. If someone like Gideon was using the proverbial bucket to draw energy, then she could only imagine what a talent like Sebastian was using.

At any rate, even a ‘thimble’ of energy was enough to charge a charm. Despite their weaknesses, such as low lifespans and easy to be damaged and neutralized, they were favored for this.

Because it took her so long to charge a single crystal, she would carry one around, and ground and channel energy whenever she could to try to charge the crystal in her pocket. The scrap piece of paper with the practice characters was accidentally charged because of this. When the graphite began to glow, Tori jumped back with flashbacks of her exploding crystal experiment.

Nothing happened.

The glowing stopped and Tori poked at the scrap piece of paper. Thinking she might have just been seeing things - she had been running herself ragged recently, she balled up the scrap paper and pushed it aside. When she reached for her coffee, it had a chunk of frozen coffee floating on it.

The scrap paper had touched her cup.

As expected, the charm worked fast. Her coffee froze as soon as the paper charm touched the mug. However, the state of the coffee didn’t hold and it started to melt. It was like taking an ice cube from the freezer and placing it out at room temperature. On the upside, she finally had iced coffee and planned to introduce it to her friends when it got warmer.

Most people would focus on extending the life of the freezing charm; to have it keep an object frozen for a longer period of time. But for Tori, there was another charm she wanted to try.

Tori looked at the matching pieces of paper in front of her. They were two halves of a sheet of paper, cut lengthwise, and she wrote near-identical instructions on each with soot ink, as Kasen instructed.

In the game’s sequel, Victoria was tracked down using one of Montan’s charms. Tori didn’t recall how it was placed on Victoria or for how long, only that Montan had somehow placed it on her person to allow the love interests to find Victoria and send her to her death. In a way, it was a bit morbid for Tori to want to learn how to use the charm that led to Victoria’s death.

Perhaps it was a way to try to gain some feeling of control over a situation that liked to throw her surprises.

Tori had asked Kasen about the tracking charms and he’d found a few good samples in the book she bought from Mr. Ramos. She had little bookmarks marking them and carefully practiced the characters on scrap paper with pencil.

Still, when it came time to test the tracking charms, she went the traditional route and used soot ink. With the two near-identical pieces of paper in front of her, she closed her eyes and put a hand on each. A small bit of energy was funneled into each piece of paper to activate the first half of the charm.

With the two activated, she needed guinea pigs.

“Ewan!” Her hapless friend was just coming out of the practice grounds when he saw her. A smile filled his face as he waved.

“Why didn’t you come to practice?” he asked.

“I need to split my time with the project and the store, so I’m only going twice a week,” she said. “Are you busy right now?”

Ewan shook his head. Midterm exams just finished and most students were relaxing a bit before they returned to their studies. “Need something?”

“I need to test a charm, but need a second person,” Tori said. “Can you help?”

She was sure that Ewan would energetically agree, but this time, there was hesitation written all over his face. His eyes crinkled up and he shifted awkwardly. “Uh...is this like your crystal experiment?”

Tori never should’ve told them about the explosion. She shook her head. “No, it’s a tracking charm. They’re only charged with a little energy.”

Ewan was not convinced. “Is it...safe?”

She let out a little ‘ugh’. “Trust me, it’s perfectly safe. It either won’t work or it will. Nothing on it says it will explode. Let me show you.” Tori reached into her satchel and took out the two pieces of paper. “They’re matching charms that were charged at the same time, except for these characters. This one says ‘release’ and on this charm, it says ‘react’. When I activate the react charm, the release charm will start to release the energy stored in it. The react charm will start to move in the direction of the released energy. Once the energy runs out, the charm is useless.”

“And it won’t explode?” Ewan asked carefully.

Tori drew her lips into a tight line. “It won’t explode.”

He didn’t seem fully convinced, but he still nodded. “Okay. What do I do?”

Tori beamed. She handed him the release charm. “Put this in your pocket and then head anywhere on campus. It has to be somewhere I can’t see from here, so that I won’t subconsciously influence the test. I will count to a hundred fifty before activating the charm and come look for you.”

Ewan looked at the piece of paper in his hand. “How will I know when the charm is activated?”

“The characters should glow.”

“Isn’t this like hide-and-seek?”

Tori’s eyes widened. She wasn’t sure if they had such a game here, so she didn’t use that in her explanation. “Yes! It’s exactly like that. Only this is a cheat tool for the seeker.”

Ewan nodded. He folded the piece of paper and tucked it in his pants pocket. “You can start.”

Tori turned her back to him. “One...two...three....” She heard his footsteps growing quieter before it was gone. She remained standing not far from the practice grounds, quietly counting to herself, as a few other people from the association came out. She waved and greeted them, but said she was in the middle of an experiment and couldn’t talk.

“This isn’t like your crystal experiment, is it?” Vice-Captain Hector asked with a slight look of concern.

“No, it’s a charm experiment! Nothing is going to explode; how do you even know about that?” Tori only told a few people.

“Who doesn’t know about it?”

She tilted her head back and groaned. She had the highest exam scores in metacrystals, but now was known as the girl who made a crystal explode. She was not reconciled. Tori pushed aside her thoughts on the matter and continued to count.

When she reached a hundred fifty, she lifted the react charm and took a deep breath. She activated it and watched the characters glow. If this didn’t work, then she’d have the tiring job of finding Ewan on her own. In retrospect, she should’ve gotten another person to help in case it didn’t work.

It was too late now and all she could do was stare at the piece of paper. She pinched the two lower corners in each hand and willed it to react. It hung in front of her, lifeless.

“Oh, come on....” Tori muttered. “I know I’m not a genius like my brothers, but I’m trying. At least give me-” She sucked in a sharp breath as the paper straightened out and went rigid. The top of the charm began to shake and she held her breath.

The charm folded over, making the top point to the left. It was as if the wind had blown over a sheet, but it kept flapping in a non-existent breeze. Tori narrowed her eyes and took it as a hint. She began to step to the left, in the direction the top of the charm pointed.

By no effort of her own, the charm began to subtly move and, wherever the top of the charm pointed, she would walk in that direction.

Tori’s smile widened as she kept her eyes on the charm, only occasionally glancing up to get an idea of where she was going. Occasionally wasn’t good enough. The charm twisted again to point to the right and without thinking, Tori made a sharp right.

Right into a metal pathway lamp.

She slammed her right arm and shoulder against the lamp, nearly dropping her charm in the process.

“Son of a-!” Several curses left her lips as she looked up at an innocent metal lamp post, secretly blaming it for getting in her way. She lifted her foot and gave it a kick to the base. “Stupid lamp....”

When she raised her charm once more and looked up, she saw a few students looking at her strangely. As soon as they made eye contact, they looked away and began whispering amongst themselves.

Tori drew her lips inward. And now I look crazy.... She took a deep breath and shook her head once more. She resisted the urge to rub her upper arm and shoulder so she could keep both hands firmly on the charm. It was still pointing in a particular direction and she wondered how much longer it would last.

The release charm would only work until it ran out of energy and losing energy was what it was supposed to do in order to signal the react charm. Tori quickened her speed, but made a point to look up more often so as not to hit a wall or run into a person. She narrowly missed running into a classmate and had to hastily apologize.

She could feel the energy in the charm starting to weaken.

“No, no....I’m not done yet....” It began to go limp and Tori let out a long ‘no’ of protest. The charm hung lifeless in front of her, out of energy and useless. She stopped just beside the east dorm and let out a heavy, disappointed sigh. I only got halfway across campus. Who knows where Ewan is? Dammit...this is hella messed up.

On one hand, it worked for a moment. If she used more energy next time, it would last longer.

On the other hand, she now had to find Ewan by herself.

Her shoulders dropped as she lowered her arms and looked around, trying to figure out where to start. Since she was near the east dorm, perhaps she could find Ilyana in one of the study rooms and ask for her help. She began to circle the ground floor and peeked inside the rooms.

“It was glowing a moment ago. Now it’s not,” she heard a familiar voice say. “Did it run out of energy?”

“Charms are known for having low lifespans.” That was Ilyana. “Maybe it did work, but just not long enough.”

“At the very least, it didn’t explode.” Tori narrowed her eyes. That was Henrik.

“When you say explode, you make it sound as if it was a massive thing that did a lot of damage,” Tori said as she walked into one of the study rooms that had an open door. “All it did was shatter.”

“Shatter violently,” Henrik said with a dull expression. “You had pieces of quartz embedded in your satchel.”

“They were easy to remove,” Tori said, dismissing the thought with a wave. She then lifted up the charm. “It worked! I managed to get to the east dorm, but then the energy ran out.” She neglected to tell them that she was held up when she ran into the lamppost. No one else needed to know about that.

“Did you time it to see how long it lasted?” Ilyana asked. Tori shook her head.

“No, I just wanted to see if it would even work. I want to do some tests to time the longevity per amount of energy I charge it with, as well as different inks, papers, and if it’s possible to track multiple things at once,” Tori said. “That can come later. For now, I’m just happy I got it to work.”

“What are you going to do with the charms afterwards?” Ewan said, holding up the folded piece of paper he was given.

“They’re useless now. They can only be charged once,” Tori said. “But Kasey said that some charm users don’t want others to see what they’ve written, so they destroy the charm afterwards.”

Henrik rolled his eyes. “They make it sound so mysterious.”

As Tori took the used release charm from Ewan, he looked at her curiously. “What else have you made charms for?”

Tori’s face lit up and a far too excited look filled her eyes. “I’m glad you asked.”

“I don’t want jambalaya anymore. I want this for my birthday meal,” Henrik said with a straight face as he scraped the last of the frozen custard from the bowl.

“This isn’t a meal. This is a dessert,” Tori said. It was the end of the week and that weekend she wasn’t scheduled to go to the delta. She had some things to take care of at Lions Gate and needed time to prepare and send out invitations to see the prototypes.

In order to show her friends the possibilities of freezing charms, she asked to borrow Nanny Rey’s kitchen the afternoon before the weekend. Ilyana, Ewan, and Albert had their dagger lessons while she tinkered around, making a simple custard.

When their lessons were over, Tori just finished. She left some custard for Nanny Rey, who in Victoria’s memory always made sweet treats for her. Nanny Rey was very touched and kept complimenting her about her custard until they left.

The small group then went to Cafe Fortuna to meet up with Henrik and the twins after their riding practice. Tori showed them the pot of custard Ewan carried over for her and then took out a charm and froze it.

At first, she could tell that her friends were all somewhat unimpressed. They were glad that the charm worked and, most importantly, didn’t explode, but then they just looked at her, silently asking ‘now what’.

Tori then borrowed bowls and spoons from Mama J and scooped some frozen custard into the cups. She didn’t over charge the charm; frozen custard was kept at a warmer temperature than ice cream, so she couldn’t freeze it into a solid block. It still had to be smooth and creamy.

When it appeared to be the desired consistency, she handed a cup to everyone and, despite it still being somewhat cold outside, everyone dug in.

“I don’t care. I want this,” Henrik said. It kind of surprised her that he had a sweet tooth.

“Are you sure?” Tori asked. “It’s a bit plain. I’d like to try adding fruit to it or coffee to give it more flavor.” She was speaking as a girl who had nearly every flavor in her original world available at some point and time. She liked the custard, but...it could be better.

“Do you think coffee would make it too bitter?” Sonia asked, looking at her nearly finished bowl.

“The milk and sugar should balance it out,” Tori said.

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“Strawberry season starts around Henrik’s birthday,” Ilyana said. “How about strawberry?”

That was Tori’s favorite fruit. And her favorite gelato flavor. She’d made gelato before, though not as much as custard, and it was exclusively strawberry. Now, she had the means to make it again. And if she controlled the energy of the charm, she could make it faster. Her heart skipped a beat. “Yes.”

“You should open a store for this in the summer,” Albert said, as he eyed the remaining custard in the pot. “It would be very popular.”

“Do you think I should serve some of this during the spring and summer clothing release?” Tori asked. “It’s a limited event and I was just going to serve coffee and pastries again.”

“I think it would be a good idea,” Henrik said. “It’ll be something new and different.”

“And it’s very cool and refreshing, especially if it’s a fruit flavor,” Ilyana agreed. “It would go well with the spring and summer release.”

“Do you have the guest list already? Grandma Letty has been waiting and asks me every weekend if I have news,” Albert said with a sigh.

“I’m getting the invitations to both the prototype exhibition and the release done this weekend. But tell your grandma to reserve two weekends from now for the prototype. I should have her invitation sent through you by next weekend,” Tori said. “Don’t tell her about the frozen custard, though. I want it to be a secret for the release.”

“What secret do you have now?” Axton stopped behind the chaise and raised a brow as his eyes immediately landed on the pot of frozen custard. “New dish?”

“Good evening, Sir Nassaun.” The younger students greeted him and Ewan rose to bring another seat forward.

“Hi, Axton,” Tori said. “Frozen custard. I just froze it with a charm. Want to try?”

“Is it going to ex-”

“It’s not going to explode! It’s custard!” Tori snapped, sending him a glare. “Never mind. I retract my offer.” No custard for the haters.

Axton chuckled as he took the seat Ewan brought him. “Thanks, kid. Can you grab another? Piers might come by.”

Despite Tori’s retraction, Mama J still came by with a few more bowls and spoons. Tori scooped a small portion for Axton and handed it to him. “Anyone want more?”

Several bowls were pushed forward and Axton narrowed his eyes as he watched Tori scoop larger amounts into her friends’ bowls. “After all I’ve done for you....” He put a spoonful into his mouth and his eyes crinkled up. He looked at Tori, wronged. “Why do I get so little....”

“There isn’t much left,” Tori said.

“What do you mean there isn’t much left? That’s at least two more bowls!”

“Isn’t His Highness coming, too?” Ilyana asked. It was only right that they save him a little.

Axton made a ‘tch’ sound. “He’ll be fine. He doesn’t like sweets. Everyone else already got a second bowl. Who else is this going to go to?”

“Lady Guevera,” a voice sounded behind Axton and Tori lifted her head. She smiled pleasantly at the relatively familiar face that now stopped to chat with her whenever they crossed paths at school. “Good evening.”

“Good evening, Mr. Zisos,” she said, giving him a small nod of her head. “Are you here for coffee?”

“I was passing by and saw you through the window. I thought I’d come say hello. It's good to see everyone, as well," Constantine looked around the small group and smiled as the others gave him friendly greetings or nods. He turned back to Tori. "Brother Cassius sends his thanks for arranging the carriage for tomorrow. He looks forward to being able to give a formal mass.”

Tori shook her head. “It is the least I can do. I don’t know how you two did it, but you managed to get all those angry elders to move into the camp further in-land. Honestly, it puts my mind at ease knowing they’re in a safer place.”

“We only urged them to move for their own safety, Lady Guevera. You were the one who provided the tents and facilities.”

“Speaking of facilities, since Brother Cassius is going to go to the delta more often, I’ve had the encampment managers set aside a small tent for him. He’ll still be holding mass in the dining hall, but at least he has a place to sleep aside from the carriage,” Tori said.

“Mr. Zisos, are you going to join us when we go back next weekend?” Ilyana asked, curious. “Tori told us you were going to focus your Lycée project at the delta.”

Constantine looked happy that others were asking him questions and he nodded. “Yes, I’ve submitted my report stating that I will be starting a program to assist with the building of communal spaces to be overseen by the villagers. My goal is a plaza that can be used as an open-air market and town square. I am still working on a proper proposal to give to Lord Wolfgang and Professor Grey.”

“The villagers can use all the help they can get,” Tori said. She looked at the remaining frozen custard in the pot. “Mr. Zisos, I made a batch of frozen custard. Do you want to try?”

He looked surprised, but nodded. “I would love to try. I heard Sir Nassaun and Training Commander Reystrom talking about your cooking last week.”

Tori took the last bowl and scooped the remaining frozen custard into it for Constantine, before stabbing a spoon into it and handing it towards him. He graciously received it and took a small bit into his mouth.

His brows furrowed and he nodded. “This is delicious...not too sweet, but smooth. It was frozen?”

“Partially. It has to remain creamy, so it can’t be frozen solid, like ice,” Tori said.

“Thank you for letting me have a taste,” Constantine said. He smiled as he ate it. “I planned to just come in for a greeting, but it seems I got a nice treat.”

“This is all right,” Ewan said. “The real dishes she makes are even better.”

“What real dishes? This is a real dish.” Henrik defended his precious frozen custard.

“Yes, but do you really think it’s as good as the burritos?” Sonia asked.

“Yes. This is light and delicious. You won’t get full stuffing yourself with this. And when it gets hot, this will cool you down,” Henrik said, confidently.

“I’ll try to figure out other flavors for the release, Henrik. You can pick which one you want on your birthday,” Tori said. She looked at the twins. “Yours are next. Do you still want your burritos?”

“Yes,” they chorused, completely assured. Sonia paused.

“But...there are two of us,” she said, glancing at her brother. Unlike when they were playing games at Sebastian's, this time the two seemed to have a silent understanding. “Shouldn’t we get two choices?”

“You’re cheating the system!” Henrik glared at them, but the others seemed to nod. They made a valid point.

“It should be one choice for Sonia and one choice for JP.” Ilyana agreed.

“No, there are two of them, but one birthday.” Henrik shook his head.

“It’s on the same day, but there are two of them,” Albert said, reasoning out loud. “Tori said she’d make something for each of our birthdays. They each have their own birthday; it just happens to be the same day.”

“They’re twins, isn’t that how it works?” Ewan knit his brows together.

“Would it be too much work to make two dishes, though?” Ilyana looked towards Tori with some concern. “Lord Sebastian said you spent the whole day preparing that meal for us.”

“As long as I have a day to prepare, it should be fine,” Tori said. “They just have to plan it with some time for me to make the dishes before the celebratory meal. I already sourced the beans and am using flour for the tortillas.”

“Our mom’s schedule comes out this weekend. We’ll be able to confirm when it is a good day, but it will be a weekend,” Sonia said.

JP thought for a moment. “Are you planning on going to the delta every other weekend?”

“Yes, I'm going to try to until the end of the semester.” Tori wrinkled her nose. “That reminds me, I need to decide if I’m going to go to my cousin’s succession ceremony.”

“Lady Siobhan’s?” Axton asked, distractedly looking at his empty bowl. “I heard it’s going to happen this summer.”

“I wanted to stay in the delta to help, but most of my family is going. I’m sure I'm going to see a lot of relatives, as well as heads and heirs of other marches....” As much as she wanted to stay in the delta, she felt she’d have more to gain going to the succession ceremony. She also hadn’t been to the western region yet, and was curious.

“General von Schwert isn’t able to make it, but the empress is likely going to go,” Axton told her. “She’ll be excited to see your mother.”

“What succession ceremony is this?” Albert asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Marquis O’Tuagh, who is my grandmother’s nephew, is stepping back from the position and my cousin, Lady Siobhan, is going to succeed him,” Tori said. “It’s happening in Anlar, in Moss Hill in the O’Tuagh March.”

The group was quiet for a moment. “Sometimes, I forget that Tori is a marquis’ daughter....” JP seemed to quietly admit.

Axton chuckled. “Of the nobility, the marquises tend to be the least pretentious. It’s because all of them are somehow involved in the armies and navies, so they work with many lower ranked nobles and commoners. The more they work next to everyday people, the less uppity they are.”

Tori nodded. Originally, she thought it was just her family that was very casual about class on a day-to-day level compared to how she thought they’d act in a fantasy European setting. They were still formal when the moment called for it and abided by formalities required for their position, as well as acknowledged the social and class differences, but it wasn’t as if they detested the masses and purposely avoided them.

From how they talked about the other marches, she began to wonder if that was just how it was in the game world.

Then she found out about the duchies and experienced her noble peers in Presidio. Unless they were impoverished nobility, like Alessa, or new bloods, like Ilyana, they very much acted and lived within their own circles of wealth and privilege. If anything, the marquises, and their families were an anomaly in the nobility. But it was one she liked. At the very least, she didn’t have to constantly worry about formalities when she was at home.

“Half of Gramps’ drinking buddies are commoners and friends of his from when he was leading armies,” she said.

Although, there was a clear divide in the circles in Lycée. People like her and Albert, who would technically run in both circles, made up a small percentage of the overall student population.

Of course, there were no formal after class activities and clubs that allowed for such a division. The Sword Association was open for everyone, for instance.

Come to think of it, that’s probably why it’s seen as such a big deal to get into Lycée. You literally can’t buy your way in with money alone. You have to test well or be good at something.

“Well, I for one am quite glad that Lady Guevera doesn’t have such prejudices,” Constantine said. “She is very easy to work with. And a good cook. Is there any more of this...?”

“Frozen custard?” Tori shook her head. The remaining amount was in her bowl. “Sorry, Mr. Zisos, that was the last of it.”

“...so, nothing was saved for me.” A low, but questioning voice spoke out and everyone turned towards the door to the cafe. A pair of narrowed violet eyes bore into Tori.

“Your Highness!” Aside from Axton and Tori, and Constantine, who was already standing, the others rose to their feet and gave him small bows or a quick curtsy. Even Constantine bowed.

“Good evening, Your Highness.”

“Hello, Your Highness.” Several voices spoke at once. Axton looked amused at the nervousness of the younger students.

Piers simply gave them a nod to acknowledge them before walking behind the chaise. “What did you make?”

“Frozen custard.”

“There is no more?”

Tori looked at Axton, who quietly avoided her eyes. “Axton said you don’t like sweets.”

“Oh.” She could’ve sworn there was some disappointment in his voice and she looked at the empty pot. She glanced at the others; they had all finished eating. The only bit remaining was in her bowl.

Quietly, she took one of the clean spoons Mama J brought out and replaced her spoon with the new one. “I humbly offer you the last of the frozen custard,” she said, raising the bowl towards him.

Piers looked at it for a moment and then slowly picked up the spoon. He didn’t pick up the bowl, instead letting her hold it up for him as he brought a spoonful into his mouth.

Everyone was quiet and Tori wondered if they were breathing. She looked towards Piers and watched his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed.

“How is it?” she asked tentatively.

“Too sweet.”

Tori frowned. “What? Are you sure?” She glared at him and prepared to bring the bowl back to her. Piers was faster.

The weight of the bowl was lifted from her hands and she watched as he ate another spoonful with a small smirk. “But I still like it.”

“That’s the last of it, so you got lucky,” Axton said as he leaned back against his seat.

Piers slowly finished the bowl. “Did you tell her?” he asked, looking at Axton.

“Tell me what?” Tori looked from Piers to Axton.

“Ah...not yet,” Axton said. “I didn’t know I’d see you here.”

Tori knit her brows and looked towards Piers. He licked his lips, seemingly satisfied at the dessert. He looked at Tori as he handed her the empty bowl. “Tomorrow. I need you.”

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