trans_9 | One more reason to keep on going

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One more reason to keep on going

Irma was gone. Matt was gone. Just about everyone from their universe seemed to have been podded, and Kaya decided, in the wake of this, that she should still make sure the classrooms were kept clean. The place she was staying, Will's room with all of the gymnastics, had been clean after Kaya ad attempted a fairly rigorous workout. She had made sure that Matt's wares were stocked, the common room swept and cleaned, so that when the other came around, they would have a nice place to sit and talk.

First there was Cornelia's room, with all of its earth nation goodness and flowers, making sure that the architecture was carefully polished and everything watered so nothing was neglected. She couldn't help passing by this room and thinking of Toph.

Then she moved onto Hay Lin's room, which never failed to remind her of Aang with all of its wind implements, very much something an airbender would have loved: she would have to make sure to tell both Aang and Nima about it if they had the chance to visit. It always seemed so big and grand and open to her, as she thought the element air should anyhow.

Tarnee's room, while once making her wary with its affiliation for fire, was gotten over once you stepped inside: it was kept in balance with all of the books and the globes that were a representation of energy everywhere. She always loved coming here to expand her mind a bit, and it was a perfect reflection of an intellectual girl Kaya never had the pleasure of meeting.

And then, of course, there was Irma's room. She knew there was an obvious bias here, stepping into the room that reflected her best, with all of its watery element and the ability to swim in and out of the water that surrounded the room. She was cleaning here a little, and then could not help herself: she discarded her clothing, wrapped only in her underclothes and jumped in, allowing the underwater environment to envelop her. Perhaps her favorite thing about this place was how she could still breathe underwater.

She was so entranced, she did not notice anyone coming in.

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She laughed. "It wasn't quite that simple of course: he's actually quite the accomplished wizard. In his world, the way you become stronger is by getting people to make a Pactio with you, but its a mutually beneficial thing too. When you make a Pactio with the wizard, you get a magical artifact that grants you power. To make it though, you do have to exchange a kiss."

Kaya chuckled. "Which is awkward, since the boy in question is ten and pretty much like a younger brother to me."

Huh. "Awkwardness aside, what's the catch? Seems to me like if that's the only price, people would be lined up for miles to lock lips with wizards there." Especially people with no magic of their own or who wouldn't otherwise have access to such artifacts. A healing chalice was fairly potent after all...

"He doesn't do that with many people," Kaya said. "Only ones he trusts. He knows that every time he makes a contract, the person can potentially be in danger. That person has to accept that and be strong enough to help, as only then would Negi even consider it."

Besides, from what she recalled people who didn't know about magic weren't supposed to know about magicians like Negi.

That made sense, but... "Kind of a moot point with that whole 'war against existence' thing we're tied up in, I'd guess. Hard to imagine the danger getting much bigger, right?"

Despite the serious turn of topic, he kept smiling. Can't let even the dark subjects get too dark.

"Exactly," Kaya said, "but he also knows enough that these have to be people he can trust. Entering into a contract with a wizard isn't something anyone should do lightly. Danger is one thing, but with a magician? Considerably worse."

The smile was reassuring (and only slightly creepy). At least he didn't seem too bothered.

He didn't know much about Hermetics, so he supposed he could be wrong, but... "It's not something I've ever heard of in so direct a term. I can see it working as a sort of magical connection ceremony, but an artifact is a remarkably difficult creation to make no matter what your paradigm. It speaks highly of him that he can do it so readily."

Kaya was lucky she was not hearing into his head: she would ave had no idea what any of the terminology was. This was probably one of those things that Negi needed to be around for to explain. Much of what he did was still a bit of a mystery to her anyway.

"I guess so," she said. "I don't know too much about magic, I just know about what I'm able to do."

"That sort of magic is completely different from what I'm used to, honestly. But we all try to use some common terminology, just so different Traditions can work together. Or at least TRY to work together." She can guess his opinions on how often it really worked.

"I'll take your word for it," Kaya said, still somewhat mystified. How often are these other traditions able to work together? Is the magic that incompatible?"

"Naw, but people are." He tapped his temple. "Everyone thinks they've got the right way, and the way the other person's using is wrong, you know?"

"Yeah, to a certain extent," Kaya said "Not so much when it comes to magic, but in the way that people stumble around, thinking they know the best way to go about things when all they'll do is make things worse. And it doesn't sound like they came up with a better solutions either."

"Best to work in small ways," he said, sitting back in his chair. Oh man, that food had bee, good. He blinked once, hard, to stave off a food coma. "Man, I AM out of shape. Mentally if not physically."

"One would hope," Kaya said, "although getting things to work on the ship need to be tackled the same way, eventually we need to get together for one big attack. She laughed. "How do you mean mentally?"

"Small ways are the best to do that too. You feed me a couple more times and I'm on your side for life." He winked broadly at her.

"Shouldn't feel tired after eating. Even if it's all in my head. I know we were all in stasis down there, but I still FEEL like I've been out of it in one wacky, long dream, just a little. All the more reason I need to get back into my routine!"

Kaya laughed. "Well, just let me know ahead of time and I'll be happy to do what I can! Alien food takes a bit of time to prepare, but luckily I have experience cooking for my family back home."

She shook her head. "It's always tough the first few days though: I don't think any less of you, nor would anyone, if you needed to adjust a bit. There's the whole getting used to the lack of day and night, time lapses: space is a pretty fickle creature to some."

"I hate to take a deliberately firmer grip on my own body, but I think I might have to just to acclimatize." He lifted one hand, looking down at it with a frown as he flexed it into a fist a few times.

"Trust me, I know all about disciplining my body!" Kaya said, gesturing. "Keeping myself this tone has taken nothing less than hours of training, even when I felt I was going to drop. But I'm sure you'll get the rhythm down!"

"This is normally where I'd peel off my shirt to show off my tone," he said, prodding the plantsuit over his chest. "But I haven't quite gotten the knack yet. But you DID promise me a training area in this bus, didn't you?"

Kaya flushed slightly, but regained herself. "It's not necessary for you to do that. But yes, I definitely did. That would be Will's room. Think you've digested the food well enough?"

"No, it never IS necessary, but after all the hard work I put into this --" He thumped his chest with a fist -- "can you blame me for enjoying the fact that I can flaunt it?"

Putting his hand on the table, then, he pushed himself up. "Oh, I'm plenty good to go."

Kaya couldn't help but giggle a little. Guys were SO weird sometimes. Somehow he reminded her a little of Sokka when he did that. "I guess not."

She took him by the hand and led him to Will's room (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/elpedrososama/w90-19.jpg), showing him around.

"What do you think?"

Guys also had a lot more opportunity to show off their fine upper bodies than girls did, it must be admitted.

He followed quite docilely, as any sensible guy would do when being led by the hand, to the training room.

"Interesting combination of the mystical and practical!" He gave the floating punching bag a curious tap of the fist, grinning at it. "I don't think I've ever seen a training room quite like this before!"

Yes, but even the little girls showed of their upper body was usually met with approval. Not that Kaya had any problem with this: once you were in the Earth Kingdom, guys with no shirts on was pretty normal.

She nodded. "I thought so too! Will, from what I knew, was apparently a pretty accomplished gymnast, and I've been trying to keep that alive. There's still plenty of other things you can use those: this is perfect for when you have a sparring partner, don't you think?"

Hmm. Pugilism sticks. He casually picked one up, spinning it around him like a staff to check its balance and heft. "It's definitely good variety! I'm accustomed to a more traditional 'isolated mountaintop shrine' sort of training ground, but that just means I need to break habits and get some new experiences under my belt."

Impressed with the stick, he spun it lightly back onto its rack. "I think that's one of the highest-quality training weapons I've ever seen."

"I thought so too!" Kaya grinned, taking the staff in one hand and moving it around her, behind her back and around her side. "If you want that kind of training session, you go to the Sensoriums though. I would be game for that though."

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