Gretta had insisted that Livia, Krey, Emilie, and Pippy return to her church to rest and relax after the day’s strife. Now a united whole once again, and with a new member to boot, Phyrn’s chosen sat around the tea table with their host, arms laid down and bums in chairs— without being tied to them for once. Krey took the opportunity to tell Emilie and Pippy what he’d only told Livia before now, since his business with the Garnet Inquisition was finally concluded, and it was something he could finally bury in the past. After that, however, Pippy couldn’t avoid becoming the focal topic of conversation… though that didn’t seem to bother her too much.

“Y’know, Pippy,” Livia said, “when you first told me how young you were when you started practising magic, I didn’t entirely believe you… but seeing how you fought back there? I believe it now.”

“Part of me still doesn’t,” Krey jived, and winked with a smile to ensure the others knew he was just joking now.

“I would’ve been more impressed if it hadn’t been mandated by such violence… but, yes, impressive nonetheless.”

“The gods surely smile upon you, child,” Gretta nodded.

“Well…” Pippy toned. “At least one does. I honestly wouldn’t mind teaching you guys some stuff, if you wanted me to.”

“For real?” Livia perked up. “I’ve always meant to expand my magical horizons. Maybe… airomancy… yeah.”

“It’d be weird taking instructions from someone so young, but…” Krey shrugged. “I would like to use pyromancy. Pyrokinesis just ain’t cutting it these days.”

“Hmm…” Emilie stroked her chin. “Well, if we’re really doing this, I suppose I should pick something to learn that nobody else has. A healthy variety of tools at our disposal would be prudent.”

“What about cryomancy, then?” Gretta suggested.

Emilie just nodded with a smile.

“Awesome! We can start right away!” Pippy nearly leapt out of her chair. “And, honestly, I’m really glad none of you said red magic, because… well, the elemental stuff is easy, but… I’m no Sage Cid the Red.”

“The elemental stuff is easy?” Livia scoffed. “I couldn’t use petramancy properly until about two years ago! And I’ve been trying since I was a kid!”

Pippy rolled her shoulders and groaned. “I don’t know… I guess I’ve just always found magic to be… just so natural, y’know?”

“Are you sure you’re not a sorcerer?” Krey pointed at her in an exaggerated manner.

“Hah! As if! I might’ve been an early bloomer, but I still had to work for my magic! No, I’m just an ordinary mage.”

“I’m not even that,” Emilie lamented. “Just make sure to appreciate what you do have… because not all of us are so fortunate.”

“We all have our sources of strength, my younger,” Gretta mused. “For some, it is their inner strength. For others, it is the world around them. For us, it is the gods to whom we have pledged ourselves. Do not think less of yourself just because you find your footing in different shoes.”

Emilie bowed her head at Gretta. “Thank you, my elder.”

They idly chatted some more, finishing their tea… and then, it was time for their first crash course under the tutelage of the Battlecaster Extraordinaire! Pippy had almost begun demonstrations right there and then, but, thankfully, Gretta managed to put a gigantic hand on her shoulder first, urging her to use the garden space out back. The elder hierophant had escorted them there herself, and even joined them, using her own petramancy to raise target pillars from the earth for them to practice on. In turn, they each stepped up to the proverbial plate to test themselves. Livia, most eager of all, went first, extending her open palms forward and thinking of the wind.

“No, no,” Pippy remarked, not afraid to get hands-on with her guidance. “You’re doing this for the first time, so you have to make a more proper stance!” she crouched down and stuck a hand between Livia’s knees, slapping the insides of her legs to make her widen her footing.

“Hey!” Livia nearly shrieked. “Don’t just go touching me wherever like that!”

“It’s faster than trying to tell you how to stand. There… that’s better! You’ll lose the need for stricter form as you get better.”

“Actually… that does sound familiar. I think that’s why petramancy took me so long to learn; I couldn’t get the training stance right.”

“Well, I won’t let you make that mistake again! Now you can try and create your first magic wind. Blow that target pillar over!”

“Alright… here goes.” Livia began controlling her breathing; rhythmic, focused, eyes closed. She felt her mana well up inside her, and she could hear a breezing gust in her mind. Her eyes snapped open, she pushed with her palms… and a tiny toot escaped her backside.

“Pffff ha ha ha ha!” Pippy nearly keeled over laughing.

“Well…” Livia brought her feet closer together and straightened her back, blushing. “Not quite what I wanted…”

“Hey,” Pippy managed to chime through her giggling. “It’s a start! You’ve, uh… definitely got the right idea, at least.”

Livia shook her head and stood aside, letting the next person take their turn.

Krey moved up to stand across from the target pillar. “I’m ready. Let us just all pray I do not have similar results as Livia… or it could be disastrous.”

“Pyromancy is the most immediately risky of the traditional elements to the caster,” Pippy said. “Thankfully, it’s also the easiest to use.”

“No pressure, then,” Krey smiled thinly. “If I mess this up, I’ll not only be a laughing stock, I’ll also burn to death. Wonderful.”

“Oh don’t be such a big baby!” Pippy slapped his steel-clad arm. “We’ll put you out when that happens.”

“Excuse me… when? Don’t you mean if?”

“Shh! Time to be a pyromancer!”

Krey shook his head. “Alright. How should I start?”

“Bring your hands in close to your core, and focus on the warmth of your own body. Ignite your mana, and thrust your hands forward. If you do it right, you’ll cast a fireball at the pillar. Okay, do it!”

“Ignite… my mana…?” Krey took a deep breath. “If you say so.” He did as he’d been instructed, but, instead of hurling a fireball at the target pillar, a small explosion went off in his hands, nearly blowing him off his feet as it kicked up sparks into his face. “Agh! My fringe is on fire! My beautiful, mysterious fringe!”

Pippy conjured a concentrated airomantic sphere, blasting it from her open, forward-facing palm into Krey’s face, the air-aspected magic blowing the fire out as it dispersed… however, this force was the last little push Krey needed to finally topple, and he went crashing to the ground. “Your fringe lives to fight another day! And so do you. For a first try, that wasn’t that bad!”

“Well… it wasn’t exactly my first try, but…” he got back up, dusting himself off.

“You’ll get there!” Pippy encouraged. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Krey regarded her with a whimsical smile, and then stepped aside.

Last but not least, Emilie had her go.

“Now, I have to say,” Pippy disclaimed, “I don’t really know anything about devout magic… the only advice I guess I can really give is to dig deep, and really focus on the desired outcome. You’ve gotta want it! You’ve gotta need it! That’s how prayers get answered, right?”

Emilie stifled a chuckle, a smirk fighting to form on her lips. “I shall try to apply your logic as best I am able.” With her rosary clutched in both hands, she began reciting prayers aloud— something she had not done in a long time to cast a spell (not counting the incident on the Toothy Crocker, that is). “O’ Decakon, of thou who still heed me, of thou who still feel me, I beg of thee now, sew in mine weave a new thread…” her words became louder, clearer, and then, finally, she threw her clasped hands over her head and let out a wordless cry of exultation. Sadly, it was to no effect. Nothing… absolutely nothing happened. Nothing at all. “I am not sure which was not strong enough… my mana or my faith.” Emilie sighed, hanging her head for a moment.

“I don’t know… maybe I’m just not a very good teacher.”

“I sense you all have much to learn from each other,” Gretta interjected. “Much to gain from one another. Keep trying, keep helping each other grow, and I think you shall all find new strength. The potential of many working as one is limitless.”

“I think there’s one last thing I want to try and teach you all,” Pippy peeped. “This should be a sure thing, since I can use my own power to help you.”

“Oh?” Livia put her hands on her hips. “Some red magic trick?”

“Blue, actually! The only blue magic I know. Well… a mix of red and blue, in this specific spell’s case.”

“You’re just full of tricks, aren’t you?” Krey quipped.

Pippy just made a face at him and continued. “Remember when I made that guy stab himself in the back of his own head?”

“Or when you pulled that managraph out of nowhere?” Emilie recalled.

“Right! That’s all thanks to space magic, which is a bizarre element, making it a part of blue magic-”

“Hold on, hold on…” Livia groaned. “I thought… I thought red magic was the, uh, bizarre stuff.”

“No, no!” Pippy waved her hands around as she spoke. “Red is arcane attributes, blue is bizarre elements. See, the key differences are-”

“Please,” Krey butted in. “Let’s not get distracted.”

“Right, right. It’s all… a bit complicated anyway; I probably couldn’t explain it very well. I understand it, but…”

“The point, Pippy,” Livia urged.

“Okay, okay! Don’t rush me! I have to nerd out at least a little!” Pippy cleared her throat. “I learned just enough blue magic to put an old theory of mine into practice, and it turns out it works! By mixing the element of space and the attribute of soul, I can create what I call… a soul space! Not very creative, I know, but it works. What is creative - not to toot my own horn - is the spell itself. I keep all my most important stuff in an isolated magical dimension defined by my very soul, safe from harm and intrusion.”

“And sparing you of all encumbrance,” Emilie supposed.

“Exactly! I should be able to help you manifest your own soul spaces! It’s… also the only thaumaturgy I’ve ever done, I guess, since it’s an original spell I crafted myself. I’m quite proud of it~”

“That would be so useful!” Livia oohed. “It would save Danu carrying our entire mutual inventory. It would let me sustain her summoned form for longer.”

They wasted no time, Livia volunteering to go first. “Say… do I get to choose what the soul space looks like?”

“Yes… and no.” Pippy oriented herself behind Livia, almost whispering into her ear. “Your soul space is defined by your desires, your memories, and your emotional state. It changes as you change, always matching you.”

Livia felt goosebumps run up her neck. “Okay… I’m ready. Do your thing.”

“Okay, make sure to stay relaxed.” Pippy wrapped her fingers around Livia’s wrists from behind, holding them tenderly. Livia allowed her to move her arms for her, feeling a warmth between their skin. Both their eyes were closed, so they didn’t see it, but the others were nearly startled by the wisps of red and blue aura that began twirling down Pippy’s arms and up Livia’s. The trails of light formed double-helix paths, and the wisps started getting faster, more frequent, and even now making a strange sound; each pulse of aura perforated the air in an oddly pleasant way. Pippy was manipulating Livia’s arms, slowly raising them, parting them… and then bringing them together again suddenly, thrusting forward. Livia managed to hold her ground, even when she could feel Pippy’s chest pressing into her back. Pippy released Livia’s wrists and stepped back. “There… now… open.”

Livia did, and felt like she’d woken into a dream. “What… where…?”

“Welcome to your soul space!”

“What?” Krey furrowed his brow. “But nothing happened.”

“Only the owner can see their own soul space,” Pippy whispered-shouted to the others. To them, Livia had entered some kind of trance, and wasn’t moving at all… though they could still hear her voice echoing out o her form, laced with an ethereal distortion.

Livia could still see Berodyl around her; her friends, the garden. However, now, layered on top of all that was green and blue aura shaped into what she finally recognised as her old bedroom. She smiled, just turning on the spot and looking around. “This… this is exactly what I thought it’d be. It’s great! So… I can summon this soul space of mine now whenever I want?”

“Yep! Pippy chirped. “Forming it was the hard bit; now it’s a part of you. It’d be easier - smoother - if you could actually use the spell yourself, but you should be able to use it on your own with some effort. But, hey, you’ll have me to use as a focus if you really need to use it urgently!”

The first thing Livia did was take the managraph out of the inside of her jacket and tucked it away in one of the bedside table’s draws. When she moved inside the soul space, her position in actual space didn’t change, but the soul space did ‘move’, so to speak, around her, in accordance with the desire expressed in her movements.

“Don’t be fooled by appearance,” Pippy added. “What you see may not reflect the true capacity of the soul space.”

“How much can I keep in here?”

“That depends on you. Think of the soul space like… like a magic muscle! You’ll be able to carry more things inside the soul space as it becomes stronger."

After Livia had finished marvelling at her own, Pippy assisted Krey and Emilie in manifesting their own soul spaces as well. Krey’s took the form of the very first Knights Berodyl caravan he’d served with, in the vast sands of Pivuseon; he had even been able to feel the heat… though, that might’ve been a trick of the mind. Emilie’s took the form of the monastery of the Sisterhood of Communion, where she grew up to become a hierophant. She thought she had forgotten what the countryside of Jiel looked like, but her soul space’s rendition felt perfect.

“Okay!” Pippy clapped. “Now that I’ve shown how awesome and beneficial I am… do you guys mind buying me dinner? I am so broke.”

Livia shook her head, smirking. “I guess we could, just this once.”

“I regret that I cannot feed you all myself,” Gretta sighed. “Alas, I must use our limited resources to sustain the devout who reside here. I’m sure you understand.”

“Completely,” Krey nodded. “You take care of yours, My Lady, and we shall take care of ours; you have been more than accommodating.”

Gretta smiled and bowed her head. “We live to serve, do we not?”

Krey silently returned the bow.