Day 28 Chapter 18
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan: Further Experimentation, But We're Running Out Of Topics And Need A New Target
While Kazumi and Scáthach continue to try and learn to control the hole in reality – a feat which, the more you look on their attempts, the less confident you feel in its success as anything other than a weapon of mass destruction – you meander over to where Nurse Ortensia is practicing. Or, more accurately, where Nurse Ortensia has finished practicing, because she's torn through all of the dummies you gave her and is seated on the ground, nursing her left arm which she's once again wrapped in her red shroud.
"Come to gawk at me?" Nurse Ortensia asks, upon seeing your approach. "Or just bored out of your mind watching those two fumble around with that black hole in Kazumi's hands?"
"Neither," you respond. "I just wanted to see how you were coming along with your practice." Your eyes quickly scan what remains of the practice dummies; melted black slag in smoking puddles on the concrete. "It looks like you're finished."
"Obviously. Why else would I be sitting down?"
"Right, of course," you say. "Perhaps, if you were willing, you could give me a demonstration, or at least a quick explanation, of the abilities your arm gives you?"
Nurse Ortensia sighs to herself, but she stands up and says "Get me some more targets and some Asprin for this headache and for my arm, and I'll do it." Quite reluctantly she says it, but she'll do it all the same.
"I can give you some more targets, but you'll have to wait until we're out of here before I can get you something for your headache," you say. "But… I thought your arm had a built-in pain suppression going on?"
"Only for pain above a certain threshold, it would seem," Nurse Ortensia replies. "So that'll block out the pain of having my arm set on fire every time I use that electricity attack, but for stuff like headaches or just the general soreness I get in my arm after using it are no-gos, for whatever reason." Nurse Ortensia shrugs, only her right shoulder; you'd guess that's from the pain in her left arm after tapping into the servant's abilities, and she adds "So, chop-chop on those targets, then?"
You don't appreciate being chop-chop'ed at by Nurse Ortensia, but you do as you said you would, and set up some additional dummy familiars. Actually, it might be more appropriate to say that you approach the puddles of black sludge left over from the previous targets, and recreate them, because you're not actually pouring out any additional Grief to make Nurse Ortensia's targets.
You've given her a row of dummies in the shape of humanoid silhouettes; are they more familiars of yours that you just haven't given sentience to, perhaps, or just the ideal shape for practicing when you're planning on fighting another person? It isn't as though your dummies could replicate Sidonia's abilities, so maybe the human-shape isn't worth the hassle if you can control it otherwise. You step back, and once you're behind the firing line, you say to Nurse Ortensia "Walk me through what your arm is capable of, if you would, please."
Nurse Ortensia bites her lip, bracing herself as she throws the red shroud off her arm. "We'll start with the obvious stuff, then," she says, holding her arm out straight. A stream of brilliant white lightning leaps from her fingertips, scorching them under their intense heat and pressure as they surge towards the target, making contact and causing it to erupt into a cross-shaped explosion almost immediately.
"What I've found is that the electricity can be directed to take on a number of different forms," Nurse Ortensia says. "The stream is the easiest to just send out, quick and dirty like." She pulls her hand back, and the lightning tracks with her hand movement, forming into a spherical shape in her palm. "But it can take on other forms, like a ball, or a lance." As she speaks, the lightning in Nurse Ortensia's hand rapidly changes shape according to her description, shifting from the ball of lightning that had been in her hand just moments before and into the elongated shape of a glowing white spear.
Nurse Ortensia throws like a girl, but it almost doesn't matter because the spear manages to find its way to the target as though it had a mind of its own. It crashes through the second dummy, leaving a clean, smoking hole right through the middle, causing another cross-shaped explosion before the dummy collapses into black sludge. "The lightning is holy in nature, so it makes quick work of anything that's been made with curses or other dark magics," Nurse Ortensia says. "But there's an obvious gradation of power that's roughly equal to the amount of power being put into each one."
"I imagine the cross shape of the explosion also has something to do with the holy nature of the lightning?"
"That's correct." Nurse Ortensia flexes her arm, waiting a few seconds as blackened bone and skin knit themselves back together, before continuing. "However, even with that, all of this is really only suitable for dealing with the small fries; the wolves, bats, and those weird shrieking vampire things. Against some of Sidonia's bigger threats, there's still the potential for a lot of damage to be dealt, but in terms of outright killing them there's just not enough power compared to what I can do myself if I can actually get close enough to exorcise them."
"So, what does that mean?" you ask.
"As I was… I wouldn't say 'conversing' with the servant inside my arm, but it's close enough for our purposes," Nurse Ortensia says. "Anyway, as I was conversing with her, I realised that there had to be a reason for this to be on the rank of a Noble Phantasm, and that's when it hit me."
Nurse Ortensia raises her hand skyward, and for a brief moment the skies darken and the heavens let out a terrible roar. Nurse Ortensia's arm cracks with electricity, which shoots up and out in a single thin stream – not at all like the wide, arcing stream that looses from her fingertips, but a single winding bolt of glowing white – and twists and turns upon itself, knotting itself into the shape of a massive spire. "The Tower is the lightning's preferred shape when maximum power is required," Nurse Ortensia says. "I've yet to test it against a static target, but I imagine the blast radius would be a lot more than whatever our safe distance is here."
"Then let's not see what happens," you say. "I'd prefer not to get blown away because we were too close to the blast radius."
"Good." Nurse Ortensia clenches her hand into a fist, and the darkened skies and blinding white tower of electricity vanish as she withdraws her arm to allow skin and bone to recover. "Frankly, just warming up the Tower takes a lot out of me, and I imagine actually letting it fly would take even more. I'd prefer to only use that as the nuclear option if there's absolutely nothing else I can do."
You nod your head. You've seen the kind of damage her arm's electricity can do, and you'd hate to imagine what kind of damage could be done to the rest of her body if Nurse Ortensia were to be caught in the blast. "So, what else can you do, then?"
"Some other assorted odds and ends," Nurse Ortensia says. "You've already seen the electricity, but on top of that I'm also able to create holy artifacts – spears, swords, nails, crowns, sceptres, that sort of thing – and you've seen the regeneration as well; though I'm still hesitant to test whether it only applies to my arm, or if I lucked out and it's my entire body benefiting from it." Nurse Ortensia counts off with her fingers, saying "I've got improved eyesight and physical reflexes: those are both things I tested to make sure I could do before you came over here; but then there's the stuff I haven' had the chance to test, as well; mainly, I should have some pretty good magic resistance and protection against physical, mental, and spiritual abnormalities."
"So… How do you know you have that?" you ask. "If you haven't had the chance to test it, I mean." Should you offer to be Nurse Ortensia's guinea pig so she can test her magic resistance?
"The servant that's stuck in my arm has been kind enough to give me an overview of what she's capable of," Nurse Ortensia replies. "There's one more thing I should be able to do, but unlike the rest I haven't had the opportunity to teste this at all, since it's pretty dependent on someone else giving me handouts."
"That being?"
"I can enhance weapons. Holy weapons would be the most effective, but even something mundane would suffice in a pinch." A trio of shirt, needle-like blades slide out from under Nurse Ortensia's sleeve, and she says "The most I've been able to test it is with these Black Keys, but as far as the upper limits of what I should be able to do, they're pretty poor test subjects. What I'd really like to get my hands on to test is something bigger; like a holy weapon, or even a modern firearm to see if she's right that I could enhance something modern and turn it into a holy weapon."
"You couldn't… Make them yourself?" you ask. "If you're counting weapons alongside the other holy relics you listed, then is it possible you could also create holy versions of mundane weapons from scratch? Or even just mundane weapons from scratch?"
"Sure," Nurse Ortensia replies. "Find me a modern weapon that's been blessed by a priest and been declared an official holy relic, and I'm sure I could convince this arm of mine to make me a copy. But I personally don't know of any; maybe there are some out there, maybe not."
You aren't sure if anything like what Nurse Ortensia is asking for exists, either. But before you're able to tell her so, she points to your left arm and, wrapping her own arm back in her holy shroud, says "You might want to get that checked out. I think you've been experimenting too much.
You hadn't noticed it when you were practicing, but now that Nurse Ortensia has pointed it out, it's as clear as day. Radiating out from your Soul Gem are several thin, smoky black lines crawling underneath your skin. Oh. Oh, dear. They form a small circle around your Soul Gem, almost like a knot, and then travel up your wrist, darting underneath your sleeve, which you roll up to reveal that they crawl at least up to your elbow. "I'd get that checked out if I were you," Nurse Ortensia says. "Maybe take one of those black seeds you girls use to keep your magic in check, or tell Archer you're experiencing whatever it was Kaname had. It kind of makes you look like you're shooting up some pretty nasty stuff."
In effect, you kind of have, with how so many of your experiments have either involved or required you to reabsorb Grief into your body in order to continue testing. You flex your hand a few times, curling your fingers into fists, twisting your wrist, and bending your elbow. "It doesn't hurt," you say.
"It doesn't have to hurt to be doing serious damage inside your arm," Nurse Ortensia says. "Again, if you're not going to take one of those seed things, I'd seriously recommend getting that checked out if I were you. I'm in a lot of pain right now, but I can take a look if you'd like; or I can call Archer over here and have him take a look at it. You are his daughter, and he's got a right to know what's going on with your health."
Do you
[ ] Take a Grief Seed
[ ] Ask Nurse Ortensia to take a look at it
[ ] Ask Archer to take a look at it
-[ ] Oh crap, dad's going to kill you isn't he?
-[ ] Oh crap, Kirika's going to kill you, isn't she?
-[ ] Oh crap, mom's going to kill you, isn't she?
--[ ] Speaking of mom, how are you going to break the news to her that you're a witch? (write-in)
[ ] Do nothing; keep it hidden, keep a watch on it, and document what happens, but don't let it get so bad that you witch out
[ ] Ask Kazumi if she's experiencing similar symptoms from working with her own witch abilities
[ ] Other (write-in)
While Kazumi and Scáthach continue to try and learn to control the hole in reality – a feat which, the more you look on their attempts, the less confident you feel in its success as anything other than a weapon of mass destruction – you meander over to where Nurse Ortensia is practicing. Or, more accurately, where Nurse Ortensia has finished practicing, because she's torn through all of the dummies you gave her and is seated on the ground, nursing her left arm which she's once again wrapped in her red shroud.
"Come to gawk at me?" Nurse Ortensia asks, upon seeing your approach. "Or just bored out of your mind watching those two fumble around with that black hole in Kazumi's hands?"
"Neither," you respond. "I just wanted to see how you were coming along with your practice." Your eyes quickly scan what remains of the practice dummies; melted black slag in smoking puddles on the concrete. "It looks like you're finished."
"Obviously. Why else would I be sitting down?"
"Right, of course," you say. "Perhaps, if you were willing, you could give me a demonstration, or at least a quick explanation, of the abilities your arm gives you?"
Nurse Ortensia sighs to herself, but she stands up and says "Get me some more targets and some Asprin for this headache and for my arm, and I'll do it." Quite reluctantly she says it, but she'll do it all the same.
"I can give you some more targets, but you'll have to wait until we're out of here before I can get you something for your headache," you say. "But… I thought your arm had a built-in pain suppression going on?"
"Only for pain above a certain threshold, it would seem," Nurse Ortensia replies. "So that'll block out the pain of having my arm set on fire every time I use that electricity attack, but for stuff like headaches or just the general soreness I get in my arm after using it are no-gos, for whatever reason." Nurse Ortensia shrugs, only her right shoulder; you'd guess that's from the pain in her left arm after tapping into the servant's abilities, and she adds "So, chop-chop on those targets, then?"
You don't appreciate being chop-chop'ed at by Nurse Ortensia, but you do as you said you would, and set up some additional dummy familiars. Actually, it might be more appropriate to say that you approach the puddles of black sludge left over from the previous targets, and recreate them, because you're not actually pouring out any additional Grief to make Nurse Ortensia's targets.
You've given her a row of dummies in the shape of humanoid silhouettes; are they more familiars of yours that you just haven't given sentience to, perhaps, or just the ideal shape for practicing when you're planning on fighting another person? It isn't as though your dummies could replicate Sidonia's abilities, so maybe the human-shape isn't worth the hassle if you can control it otherwise. You step back, and once you're behind the firing line, you say to Nurse Ortensia "Walk me through what your arm is capable of, if you would, please."
Nurse Ortensia bites her lip, bracing herself as she throws the red shroud off her arm. "We'll start with the obvious stuff, then," she says, holding her arm out straight. A stream of brilliant white lightning leaps from her fingertips, scorching them under their intense heat and pressure as they surge towards the target, making contact and causing it to erupt into a cross-shaped explosion almost immediately.
"What I've found is that the electricity can be directed to take on a number of different forms," Nurse Ortensia says. "The stream is the easiest to just send out, quick and dirty like." She pulls her hand back, and the lightning tracks with her hand movement, forming into a spherical shape in her palm. "But it can take on other forms, like a ball, or a lance." As she speaks, the lightning in Nurse Ortensia's hand rapidly changes shape according to her description, shifting from the ball of lightning that had been in her hand just moments before and into the elongated shape of a glowing white spear.
Nurse Ortensia throws like a girl, but it almost doesn't matter because the spear manages to find its way to the target as though it had a mind of its own. It crashes through the second dummy, leaving a clean, smoking hole right through the middle, causing another cross-shaped explosion before the dummy collapses into black sludge. "The lightning is holy in nature, so it makes quick work of anything that's been made with curses or other dark magics," Nurse Ortensia says. "But there's an obvious gradation of power that's roughly equal to the amount of power being put into each one."
"I imagine the cross shape of the explosion also has something to do with the holy nature of the lightning?"
"That's correct." Nurse Ortensia flexes her arm, waiting a few seconds as blackened bone and skin knit themselves back together, before continuing. "However, even with that, all of this is really only suitable for dealing with the small fries; the wolves, bats, and those weird shrieking vampire things. Against some of Sidonia's bigger threats, there's still the potential for a lot of damage to be dealt, but in terms of outright killing them there's just not enough power compared to what I can do myself if I can actually get close enough to exorcise them."
"So, what does that mean?" you ask.
"As I was… I wouldn't say 'conversing' with the servant inside my arm, but it's close enough for our purposes," Nurse Ortensia says. "Anyway, as I was conversing with her, I realised that there had to be a reason for this to be on the rank of a Noble Phantasm, and that's when it hit me."
Nurse Ortensia raises her hand skyward, and for a brief moment the skies darken and the heavens let out a terrible roar. Nurse Ortensia's arm cracks with electricity, which shoots up and out in a single thin stream – not at all like the wide, arcing stream that looses from her fingertips, but a single winding bolt of glowing white – and twists and turns upon itself, knotting itself into the shape of a massive spire. "The Tower is the lightning's preferred shape when maximum power is required," Nurse Ortensia says. "I've yet to test it against a static target, but I imagine the blast radius would be a lot more than whatever our safe distance is here."
"Then let's not see what happens," you say. "I'd prefer not to get blown away because we were too close to the blast radius."
"Good." Nurse Ortensia clenches her hand into a fist, and the darkened skies and blinding white tower of electricity vanish as she withdraws her arm to allow skin and bone to recover. "Frankly, just warming up the Tower takes a lot out of me, and I imagine actually letting it fly would take even more. I'd prefer to only use that as the nuclear option if there's absolutely nothing else I can do."
You nod your head. You've seen the kind of damage her arm's electricity can do, and you'd hate to imagine what kind of damage could be done to the rest of her body if Nurse Ortensia were to be caught in the blast. "So, what else can you do, then?"
"Some other assorted odds and ends," Nurse Ortensia says. "You've already seen the electricity, but on top of that I'm also able to create holy artifacts – spears, swords, nails, crowns, sceptres, that sort of thing – and you've seen the regeneration as well; though I'm still hesitant to test whether it only applies to my arm, or if I lucked out and it's my entire body benefiting from it." Nurse Ortensia counts off with her fingers, saying "I've got improved eyesight and physical reflexes: those are both things I tested to make sure I could do before you came over here; but then there's the stuff I haven' had the chance to test, as well; mainly, I should have some pretty good magic resistance and protection against physical, mental, and spiritual abnormalities."
"So… How do you know you have that?" you ask. "If you haven't had the chance to test it, I mean." Should you offer to be Nurse Ortensia's guinea pig so she can test her magic resistance?
"The servant that's stuck in my arm has been kind enough to give me an overview of what she's capable of," Nurse Ortensia replies. "There's one more thing I should be able to do, but unlike the rest I haven't had the opportunity to teste this at all, since it's pretty dependent on someone else giving me handouts."
"That being?"
"I can enhance weapons. Holy weapons would be the most effective, but even something mundane would suffice in a pinch." A trio of shirt, needle-like blades slide out from under Nurse Ortensia's sleeve, and she says "The most I've been able to test it is with these Black Keys, but as far as the upper limits of what I should be able to do, they're pretty poor test subjects. What I'd really like to get my hands on to test is something bigger; like a holy weapon, or even a modern firearm to see if she's right that I could enhance something modern and turn it into a holy weapon."
"You couldn't… Make them yourself?" you ask. "If you're counting weapons alongside the other holy relics you listed, then is it possible you could also create holy versions of mundane weapons from scratch? Or even just mundane weapons from scratch?"
"Sure," Nurse Ortensia replies. "Find me a modern weapon that's been blessed by a priest and been declared an official holy relic, and I'm sure I could convince this arm of mine to make me a copy. But I personally don't know of any; maybe there are some out there, maybe not."
You aren't sure if anything like what Nurse Ortensia is asking for exists, either. But before you're able to tell her so, she points to your left arm and, wrapping her own arm back in her holy shroud, says "You might want to get that checked out. I think you've been experimenting too much.
You hadn't noticed it when you were practicing, but now that Nurse Ortensia has pointed it out, it's as clear as day. Radiating out from your Soul Gem are several thin, smoky black lines crawling underneath your skin. Oh. Oh, dear. They form a small circle around your Soul Gem, almost like a knot, and then travel up your wrist, darting underneath your sleeve, which you roll up to reveal that they crawl at least up to your elbow. "I'd get that checked out if I were you," Nurse Ortensia says. "Maybe take one of those black seeds you girls use to keep your magic in check, or tell Archer you're experiencing whatever it was Kaname had. It kind of makes you look like you're shooting up some pretty nasty stuff."
In effect, you kind of have, with how so many of your experiments have either involved or required you to reabsorb Grief into your body in order to continue testing. You flex your hand a few times, curling your fingers into fists, twisting your wrist, and bending your elbow. "It doesn't hurt," you say.
"It doesn't have to hurt to be doing serious damage inside your arm," Nurse Ortensia says. "Again, if you're not going to take one of those seed things, I'd seriously recommend getting that checked out if I were you. I'm in a lot of pain right now, but I can take a look if you'd like; or I can call Archer over here and have him take a look at it. You are his daughter, and he's got a right to know what's going on with your health."
Do you
[ ] Take a Grief Seed
[ ] Ask Nurse Ortensia to take a look at it
[ ] Ask Archer to take a look at it
-[ ] Oh crap, dad's going to kill you isn't he?
-[ ] Oh crap, Kirika's going to kill you, isn't she?
-[ ] Oh crap, mom's going to kill you, isn't she?
--[ ] Speaking of mom, how are you going to break the news to her that you're a witch? (write-in)
[ ] Do nothing; keep it hidden, keep a watch on it, and document what happens, but don't let it get so bad that you witch out
[ ] Ask Kazumi if she's experiencing similar symptoms from working with her own witch abilities
[ ] Other (write-in)
