Closed [Bronze Woods] The brother, sister and the ghost

[Ignatius]

Ignatius & Laeva 513AV, Spring 32th The siblings spent the day at the Bronze Woods. Ignatius had found new notes from his father’s research on earth Reimancy. The day before, Ignatius studied and examined the notes, trying to retain each detail from the charred remains. Thinking that he was ready, he decided he’d take what he has learnt and try to find a practical use for it. However, since it was the first time he used his Res for these spell, he thought it would be best to do it away from the city, because the spell might backfire or go out of control. He tried to convince his sister that she shouldn’t go because of the dangers that could happen, if he cause her any harm he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. However, she was reluctant about stay home by herself. Ignatius also disliked the idea of his sister alone by herself at home, and that it he couldn’t rush over to help if she was in trouble. After thinking it over, Ignatius allowed Laeva to come, under the condition that she doesn’t get close to him when casting. The siblings wondered around the outskirts of Syliras. The place they are at is what they assume is called the bronze forest. Ignatius asked Laeva is she had brought food, and was responded with a quiet “yes”. They wondered around, looking at the trees’ trunk and how their size varied. The ground was littered with orange leaves that are slowly decaying and returning to the earth. When Ignatius gazed ahead, he saw a clearing. The clearing had a tree that was slumped over on one side and had a branch growing in the opposite direction, forming a seat of some sort. The siblings walked over to the clearing and Ignatius asked Laeva to setup a place to sit. She gave Ignatius a nod and began unfolding a large piece of cloth from the backpack to set on the floor. “Iggi, what are you going to cast again?” Laeva said as she sat down. “Earth Reimancy. From father’s notes, I should be able to make a form of rock – Kinda like sandstone made from dirt.” Ignatius explained. Ignatius began to distance himself for Laeva for her safety. He stopped and turned around to face Laeva so he could check the distance. From his perspective, she was the size of his hand. He was satisfied with the distance and began to concentrate on his hand. He began to form his Res, shaping it into a liquid state. Extending his arm, he let the Res flow onto the ground and seep into the soil. Ignatius took a few steps back and concentrated again. He raised his arms in front of himself and began to slowly raise them higher, focusing on the Res in the dirt. With a bit of effort, the ground shot up forming a small dirt mound. Ignatius hoped the Res within the dirt has not decayed as he spreads his arms open and then slowly closes them, as if he was crushing an invisible object. In theory, the Res within the dirt would create an attraction so strong that the dirt surrounding it would compact together, creating a rock. As Ignatius was casting, Laeva was doing her own thing. Although she wore an eye patch to prevent focusing on objects with her auristic talent, she is able to pick up very faint information able things. She picked a leaf of the ground and held it close to her head with her eye’s closed. After three minutes of holding the leaf close, she began to look at the leaf. “So you fell of your tree 2 days ago?” Laeva asked the leaf. She let out a giggle in realisation she was talking to a leaf. However, her laugher stopped when a sudden chill ran down her spine… It was like her brother and herself were being watched.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri The Bronze Woods, the forest just outside of Syliras, named for its characteristic bronze-colored scenery, courtesy of its vegetation and dead leaves. It was almost sundown, the sun prepared for its rest, to be replaced by its nocturnal sibling, the moon. "Hmhmhmhm~" A haunting beautiful humming can be heard in the woods as Kouri, the gothic lolita ghost girl, sat on one of the high branches of a tall tree. Ehehe~ Sir Ethan~ Her mind was filled with the blind bard's wise words "You have a voice, you have feelings and thoughts and worries. To me that is all you need to be alive. That one sentence made any doubt Kouri had about her condition as a ghost vanished. Yes, he was right, it does not matter what state you're in, as long you have a conscience and feelings, you're alive. As Kouri hummed, she heard footsteps approaching the clearing she was facing. Oh? Who is it? Sir Kise? Akilia? Kouri listed some of the people she had met in the same forest before. She stopped her humming and examined the direction of the sound. To her surprise, two people entered the clearing, one was a male, not an adult yet, but obviously not a child, a teenager with average built, dark blue eyes, and long brown hair that was tied into a ponytail. He was obviously older than Kouri. Oh? Ehehe... Kouri positioned herself into a prone position on the high tree branch as she examined the other person, clinging to the aforementioned man. The other person was a little girl like herself, she was around Kouri's height with fair skin, deep blue eyes, and very long brown hair that reached her back. Oh hey! She has long hair like me too~ Ehehehe~ But eh... Kouri looked to her back, her own very long ethereal white hair that swayed around like it's blown by an ethereal breeze. I think I have it longer... I wonder why mom liked it so much? Kouri's mother was noticeably a fan of very long hair, she didn't cut Kouri's hair ever since she was born, only occasionally trimming it if it reached the floor. As so, her hair almost reached to the bottom of her feet if let down. Ahaha~ Oh well, I like it anyway~ Even when she was alive, Kouri didn't feel any difficulty with her hair as she can tie it if they got in the way of a particular task, being a ghost, it was even more convenient as she doesn't have to worry of it being dirty, tangled up, ripped, etc. As Kouri faced back to the clearing, she could see the little girl sitting on a large piece of cloth on the ground. Oh? Are they going for a picnic? Kouri thought as the idea of picnics was not a stranger to her, she often did it with her parents. Then she looked back to the boy as he cast something, then he did some gestures and the ground in front of him changed shape into a small dirt mound, then he did some more gestures, and the mound formed into a rock. Oh?! He's a mage too? Ever since Kouri met with Cyrus, her master, she had always been curious about mages as Cyrus is a mage himself. Extremely intrigued by the boy, Kouri kept focusing on him as he practiced his reimancy, not noticing the sudden distressed look on the little girl's face.

[Ignatius]

Ignatius & Laeva Ignatius kept his focus on the dirt mound. Small pebbles and debris trickled down the pile of earth as it slightly vibrates. Ignatius’s focus became more intense as his hands got closer to each other. Until his hands clamped together and the dirt mound implodes with a bang, shooting small pebbles in all directs. Ignatius Shielded his face as quick as he could, but a small rock hit him square in forehead. He rubbed his forehead as he walked towards the rock to inspect it. He crouched down to get a vivid view of his work. Upon first glance, it looked like an ordinary pile of dirt. It was a mixture of earthly colours and even had a few twigs poking out. However upon feeling it, it was extremely hard and couldn’t be easily broken by hand. A smile found it was onto Ignatius face as he stood up. “Success!” he cheered to himself. The feeling of accomplishment washed over Ignatius as he thinks about the next spell. In the distance not far from Ignatius, Laeva is still felt slightly unnerved and could not shake the eerie feeling of another person, or thing’s presence. She stood up and looked an every direction she could, not knowing what to look out for. She wasn’t sure if she was looking for a man, creature or something else. All she could see however was nothing but trees and plants. Her unnerved feelings grew and caused her to rush over towards Ignatius, leaving behind their possessions. “Iggi! Iggi!” she calls out as she ran towards him, latching on to his back soon after. “Wh – what’s wrong?!” Ignatius gasped out as he was caught off guard. “Something is watching us!” she said, burying her head into his back. “Hah… did you remove your eye patch, Laeva? You know you see odd things without it. Remember when you rubbed your eye the other night? You had to crawl into my bed for the rest of the night.” Ignatius said as he tries to face Laeva. “Someone was sleeping on the floor above… I thought I saw a ghost... I didn’t take it off. I can feel it, someone is watching us…” Laeva said as she looked around. The sibling stood in front of each other. Laeva was still looking around holding onto the end of Ignatius’s robe. Ignatius looked around as well, half-heartedly. Like Laeva, all he saw was trees and plants, a forest. After the two gazed around, Ignatius told Laeva it would okay and escorted her to the cloth set out on the forest floor. He sat with her hoping that she’d settle down. However, Laeva still cannot shake the feeling of being watched. It was like something was constantly looming over them, not afraid about being seen. Laeva’s body shudders once again. “Are you okay, Laeva?”

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri Kouri watched the boy as he did his antics, giggling when a small rock hit his forehead. Ahaha~ Ehehe~ Kouri hold her chin with both of her hands as she kept examining the boy in a prone position. Suddenly, the little girl who had been sitting silently called out to him. Iggi? Oooooh, his name is Iggi... I see... The little girl proceeded to ran to the boy and clung to his back causing him to stop his practice. Haumph... what is she doing? Don't interrupt my show... Kouri felt a slight annoyance at her disturbance. They talked for a few moments until the girl said “Someone was sleeping on the floor above… I thought I saw a ghost... I didn’t take it off. I can feel it, someone is watching us…” Oooooh? Am I spotted? Huh? How can I be spotted? Oh well... Kouri decided that with them being cautious like that, she could not see the boy's display of magical prowess anymore. That girl is so annoying... Sigh... Decided to make her presence known, Kouri spoke from atop the tree branch, her haunting voice echoed through the woods. "Ahahaha~ Don't worry~ Nothing is dangerous here, so so, big brother, please continue your practice, ehehehe~ And get that annoying girl of you~" They sure will spot her location now, but Kouri didn't care about that, she wanted to see more of his magic.

[Ignatius]

Ignatius & Laeva The haunting voice of a child echoed in the woods. Laeva gasped in fright and Ignatius stood up, spreading his fingers in a clawing position to hold a small amount of liquid Res in his hand. At first Ignatius looked around the area at eye level, keeping close to his sister to keep her safe. However, when the being explained that it meant no harm, he slowly lowers his arms and allowed the Res to decay. Ignatius looked around again, this time in up in the trees, and there his eyes feel upon a small girl sitting with head resting on her hands in a prone position. The girl wore lacy white clothing, decorated with ribbons. She had long silverly-white hair that flowed with the wind, and wore a floral headband upon her head. Ignatius was taken back when the mysterious girl came out of nowhere and addressed him as ‘big brother’. “Practice? Annoying girl? Who are you?” He said with confusion. “I’m not annoying! You might be dangerous!” Laeva spurted out suddenly. It was rare that Laeva shouted at a stranger. However, she felt disturb that a stranger called her brother ‘big brother’. Laeva wasn’t a greedy soul, but the one thing she didn’t like sharing was her big brother. She puffed her cheeks slightly and stared the girl straight into her eyes, pulling herself closer to Ignatius. “How did you even hide there? Did you make yourself invisible or something?” Laeva huffed.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri Kouri waited until both of them spotted her, wearing a smile on her face all the while. The boy was cautious at first, but seemed to understand that Kouri meant no harm and relaxed himself. "Ahaha~ so many questions at once~" Kouri slowly shook her head, her ethereal hair slowly waving in the air. "Hmmm... first answer then, Hehe~ I saw you practicing your magic ehehe, I love magic! And then uhm... annoying girl is... " Kouri pointed her right index finger to the little girl next to Iggi "...her, she interrupted your training session, I don't like that... and theeen~" Kouri suddenly blinked, vanishing from the tree branch and appeared on the ground a few meters in front of them. "I'm Fubuki Kouri, nice to meet you, big bro Iggi~ Ehehe~" She lifted the hem of her dress and bowed slightly as she introduced herself. "Hmmm, I call you big bro because well~ you are older than me, but you're not old like uhm... like adult yet, ehehe~" Kouri shot an annoyed glance at Laeva "So, ehehe~ your name is Laeva, right? I'm not dangerous, and you're interrupting his practice, hmph" Kouri blinked to a nearby fallen log and sat on it. "Come on, big bro Iggi, I wanna see more of your magic~"

[Ignatius]

Ignatius & Laeva The mysterious girl spoke to the siblings from the trees. Her voice resonated as if her voice was merely an echo from the past, haunting but not terrifying. She explained why she was watching him and how Laeva annoyed her. Ignatius had no idea what to think, he hasa gothic lolita girl stalking him, he was clueless. Laeva, however, was just as annoyed with the girl as she is with her. However, they became shocked as the girl vanishes into thin air, leaving behind faint traces of ghastly mist. She reappeared before them, introducing herself as Fubuki Kouri she curtsied. Faint mist radiated from her body, Ignatius tried to make sense of what is going on, searching though his father’s notes within his head. When Kouri gazed at Laeva, Laeva leered back at her, poking her tongue out childishly. Soon after, Kouri once again vanished, reappearing on a fallen log nearby. “Me, Annoying?! You’re the one who is stalking my brother! What are you?! Normal People can’t just jump around like tha-” Laeva was interrupted by Ignatius, who placed his hand on her head, gesturing for her to stop. “Okay, sure. I’ll cast something for you” Ignatius said with a smile. Laeva, knowing her brother, was up to something. She knew he had something forming in his head but wasn’t sure what it was. “Iggi…?” Laeva said in a worrying tone. Ignatius reared his head and smiled. “Just relax” he said before he walked towards Kouri, stopping at a comfortable distance. He wasn’t far from her, nor was he near her. “Are you ready for this?” he said with a warm smile. He arched his hands together and began to generating Res. He focused on transforming the res into gas instead of liquid. The res gas expanded into the air, creating an invisible shroud around Ignatius. He drops his hands and looks at the girl, with eyes filled with curiosity. He raised his arm. The shroud surround in attracts small clumps of dirt, pebbles and other earthly matter. Ignatius crossed his arms and smirked as bits of earth revolved around him like planets around the sun. “What do you think?” he said.

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri As she sat on the log, Kouri was thinking various ways to shut Laeva up. That girl is too clingy and annoying for her own good... and oh? He's her sister I see... The irony of the statement can be felt if one knew Kouri's history with her master, Cyrus. She often acts very clingy to him, not that Kouri realized it, but should one reminded her about it, she would go red and speechless in embarrassment. Alas, none of the two siblings had any knowledge about it. ".........." Kouri's eyes started to turn into reptile-like slits in anger as Laeva berated her with questions in an angry tone. Sigh... This is why mother taught me about etiquette... hmph, I would make a better little sister than her... Kouri thought, thinking herself mature compared to the almost same-age girl in front of her, in truth, they were most likely similar in maturity. Suddenly, Iggi stopped Laeva's train of angry questions and told Kouri that he agreed to show Kouri his magic, with a smile nonetheless. "Really? Hehehe~ Thank you, big bro Iggi~" Kouri's expression quickly changed into that of an excited little girl at Iggi's statement, though Laeva's reluctance did not escape her notice "...Oh come on, now... what's your name again? Laeva, let big bro Iggi do his wonderful magic" Kouri scoffed at Laeva. Then Ignatius approached her and stopped at a few meters from herself, Kouri's eyes lit up in excitement as she focused her attention on him completely. He asked her if she's ready, "Of course~!" was her immediate answer. As Ignatius began to cast his spell, Kouri kept focusing on him, face filled with awe as he formed rocks and dirt to revolve around him. "Oh wow! Awesome! Hahaha~! Y-you can do that too?!" Kouri was talking about how she often spun her steel dagger around herself, similar in movement to Iggi's magic just now. "Here! Here! Let me show you! Just a moment!" Kouri then blinked away to her previous tree branch where she stashed her steel dagger inside the hollow hole on the tree and picked up her dagger with her Soulmist tendrils. She immediately floated back to the sibling, carrying her steel dagger, grabbed by her tendrils, floating in the air following her. "Big bro Iggi~ You see, I can do that too! Hehehe~!" Kouri said that as she spun the dagger around herself, its metallic surface glinting in the sunset's light.

[Ignatius]

Ignatius & Laeva As the rocks revolved around Ignatius, he was being praised by Kouri. He could see her eyes lighting up and heard her gasp in amazement, and he felt a slight sense of pride… but he would never show it. “Okay, I just need to confirm this… I hope I’m correct, or else…” He thought to himself. However, in the background, Laeva wasn’t very impressed. She did love her brother’s magical talent, but deep within herself, she felt as if his magic betrayed her. If he didn’t have magic then this girl would never have set eyes on him. “He’s my brother… get your own…” she quietly muttered. Ignatius continued revolving his carousel of dirt, until Kouri began teeming with excitement as if she had something to show. It was obvious this was the case as she explained that she could do the same trick. Ignatius and Laeva were slightly confused about what she said. They watch was the girl used her ‘spell’ to transport herself from the ground to a hollowed out tree, reaching in and grabbing an item of some sort. However, when she pulled her hand out, a dagger floated in mid-air following Kouri as if she had some kind of link to it. Laeva slightly furrowed her brow. “Projection?” she questioned. However, Ignatius continued smiling. “I see” he stated. Ignatius watched Kouri mimicking his magic with her dagger. Although it revolved around her like Ignatius debris, it didn’t move around quite the same. As the dagger sun, it would bob in an odd manner. “Ah I see, you’re a wizard Kouri.” Ignatius said. “A what?” Laeva asked, cupping her ears. “A wizard” Ignatius replied, raising his voice slight so Laeva could hear. Ignatius uncrossed his arms and looked at the dagger glinting in the evening rays. He slowly raised one hand in a loose fist with the back of his palm facing away from his head, he then raised one finger and the earthly matter around him clumped together into small piles. This newly formed earth revolving around him, Ignatius took a deep breath in. He hoped he was correct. “Please don’t take it the wrong way.” His finger dropped towards Kouri. The earthly matter became bullets of dirt. A barrage of projectile closes in on Kouri. Until… Bang! As the small cloud of dust disappeared, Ignatius looked at the results. A smile fell upon his face as he whispers the words “He was right…”

[Fubuki Kouri]

Note for ST : Kouri would not be affected by the dirt bullets as they were not created from Ignatius' res, but gathered from the ground. Reference: Ghosts and Magics “Ah I see, you’re a wizard Kouri.” "Ha?" Kouri tilted her head in confusion "No, big bro, I'm not a wiza-" Kouri didn't even get to finish her sentence as Iggi suddenly launched bullets of dirt at her. "Wha-? Hey?! What are you doin- AAAAH!" Kouri panicked, even though she was fascinated by magics, she was also terrified by them as she knew that her ethereal body could be harmed by the force of the arcane. Her panicked state didn't let her hear Ignatius' warning that he didn't mean her any harm. N-noooooooo! GAAAAH!! WHY DID HE DO THIS?!! Kouri's instinct for survival immediately caused herself to put her hands in front of her to block the oncoming dirt bullets. "G...guh..." But strangely, she didn't feel any pain, Huh? His magic... didn't work? Aha... ahaha... As the rain of bullets ended and the cloud of dusts dissipated, one can see an enraged ghost, her hair ribbons disappeared and her very long ethereal hair opened outwards, strands of silvery white slithering around like the Gorgon's serpentine hair. Kouri's pupils were in the shape of narrow reptilian slits as her ethereal sharp tendril-shaped Soulmist swirling rapidly around herself. "What... did... I... ever... done... to... you...?" Her haunting voice, filled with anger and hatred, echoed in the woods as she suddenly 'dove' inside the ground. Her steel dagger still floating in the air, suddenly launched itself at Ignatius, aiming to slash his body. "huhuhu... hehehehe... HYAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" A high-pitched maniacal giggling can be heard echoing in the area.