In a surprising turn of events, Barbara wasn't bullied in her new dorm. The noble Ladies and the an rich girls left her mostly alone. I would later learn it was due to Lord Hamilton's interference, but that's a story for another day.
Today the expedition would depart to the Labyrinth and we locked ourselves in her posh dorm room to pick our Perks and prepare our Status sheet for the incoming flood of Exp. As if. Sitting on her too-big bed (for a halfling), Barbara was excited to finally have access to the [Crystallomancer]'s spell list and asked for my input.
"Should I take {Shard Conservation} or {Shard Boost}? What do you think, Nethe?"
Shard Conservation (ultra-rare): Every third use of a Spell-Crystal drains no charges.Shard Boost (ultra-rare): 300% extra effect at the cost of three charges.
"They're expensive," she rolled her eyes as if it was obvious.
"What if I take both, and boost every third spell? I'll get a boosted spell for free."
Ignoring my advice, Barbara selected the two Perks anyway, then tested it with a basic {Light Orb} spell. She conjured two such orbs, and the third had four tis the luminosity of the previous ones. "It does!" She cheered. "The third casting is always boosted. And the counter is on the crystal's info, I can leave my offensive spells prid. Even if I use the spells on nothing, it still costs two charges instead of three."
"I did, but when did she make them?" She sniffled.
"It's made of [Living Silk]. Nethe, I read the sacred litany. I know there's only one who's able to weave [Living Silk]."
"Nethe, is your mom…"
I grew so legs and crawled next to her. Then I extended a few silk ribbons from between my pages and wrapped them around her shoulders, neck, and two to wipe her tears and caress her cheeks.
Her emotions kept overflowing. She raised a hand and held my back cover, I think the closest a person and a mimic ever got to a hug. We stayed together without a word for a while.
"Why ?" She whimpered between sobs. Barbara had the Perk from her previous life (I didn't know which) but she never understood why. Worse, she was afraid of revealing it to the Church because people with special Perks at birth usually disappeared, and chafed under the burden of the secret she kept from everyone.
Frantic nods. I knew she wanted to ask the whole story but I couldn't tell her. Fate wouldn't let cheat.
"Will you tell ?"
"Why ?" She repeated the question I couldn't answer.
She didn't answer but her grip on my cover tightened a lot. She let herself fall on her side on the bed, dropping with her. After a few minutes touching each other, she cald down. Fiddling with my ribbons, Barbara lifted at eye level. "I'm sorry, Nethe. Listen, let say everything. When I learned you were a mimic, you sounded hurt. I was afraid but I didn't think of your feelings. Would you forgive ?"
My "toilet paper" joke drew a peal of laughter from her. She scrunched her face in disgust, "Eww, Nethe. That would never happen."
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