Oriko fidgets, fingers flexing around her champagne glass. She glances up to you, then at the glass. She sips at it a few times. "She...is attempting to ascend."
You blink. "Beg your pardon?"
"Rin views herself as above magi, as the true successor to the Incubators. She believes she can control the power of both witches and magi without losing her humanity. She is under the impression that her soul is the true self, that the soul is the only part of a person that matters."
"Except that ain't true." Kyouko leans in. "As much as the soul is a powerhouse, it's just one aspect of the human condition, especially for magi. We've seen what happens when a body is destroyed; the soul can't continue. It's one part of the self, like the brain and the body."
"That matters little to the Lady." Oriko presses a hand into her temple. "She wants to fuse with the largest, most powerful witch she can find. Her soul gem directly interacts with grief seeds. You've seen it, right?"
"A white dot, yeah." You nod. "I've seen it before."
"It is a two-part soul gem: one gem, one grief seed. The grief seed is slotted in, and it enhances the scope of her control. Without it, while she would still be powerful, she would lose control when a magi left a one-hundred meter radius. But with it..."
"She can control an entire city of magi."
Oriko nods. "She was always dangerous, but that grief seed turns her from a concern to a danger."
"And she plans to slot in the Walpurgisnacht seed instead," Kyouko mutters.
"With a seed of that strength and power, she would not only have wider control, but the effects would be..." She trails off. Her eyes squint shut, her head tilting to the side as she bites her lip. She looks up to the ceiling, and you come in to press your hand into her shoulder.
