expiationnet | [Video]

[At first, there's just audio as Aerith is figuring out how this little trinket works. A phone would be easier, wouldn't it? As video comes on, she lifts a hand and wiggles her fingers in greeting.]

Hellllooooo!

[If it seems like she's too cheery, that very likely might be the case. Despite the situation and bizarre circumstances, she's chosen to approach all of this with a great deal of optimism. Smile, and the world smiles with you, goes the saying.]

I understand a lot of us are kind of going through the same thing and it's probably very easy to focus on what we don't know, but I thought it might be kind of nice to have the reminder that we have a common goal. So whether you arrived here with friends or without them, you're not alone! You have the rest of us, too.

[Gesturing to herself, she continues.]

My name's Aerith and I didn't arrive with very much, but if there's something I can help you out with, make sure you let me know and I'll do my best! Also, if you're having trouble finding a place to stay, I'm sharing a room here with my bodyguard, but I'm sure he won't mind too much if we make a little more room for you.

[You're welcome, Cloud.]

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Really! [Ethlyn looks keenly interested.] We store elemental magic in tomes--they can be quite bulky to haul around, as you can imagine, and once the magic's expended you just have either a burnt-out set of covers or a blank book, depending on how good the craftsman was.

These condensed forms sound much easier to carry around. You don't happen to have one with you that I could see, do you?

Your magic comes... in books?

[Finite uses, even. How does a book just know? But she guesses that's the point behind the enigmatic nature of other worlds. Transparently, Aerith doesn't seem to know what to make of any of that.]

Oh, uhm.

[There's the few in her bracelet, but it seems easier to not deal with the removal of those. Lifting her hands, she tucks fingertips carefully into the way her hair is pulled back and she withdraws a sphere, that almost looks like it's alive.]

They look like these. Pretty, isn't it?

[Her feelings on materia, she thinks, are sometimes mixed. When it is naturally occurring, that is one thing. But so much of the materia back home is artificially produced.]

Yes--it's quite a complicated process to make a magical tome. And you can be sure the bookbinders keep their secrets close.

[Ethlyn leans closer, as people in the modern world sometimes do when they're on a Zoom call and their partner holds an item up to the camera, even though there's no practical purpose to it.]

Oh... even looking through this, I can see that it's magical. [...] Do they all look like that?

[Because maybe it's her unfamiliarity with it, but to Ethlyn it looks rather special.]

I'd love to hear more about it sometime if you wouldn't mind telling me.

[No, really. Making a magical book sounds cool as beans! Aerith would love to hear more about stuff like that, especially because it seems like it belongs in a storybook.

She admires Ethlyn's reaction to it. All of the materia back home, even when it's manufactured, looks beautiful. Why shouldn't it? The contents seem to move with life. To her, that makes perfect sense. It's not so much a pulsating as it is just an ever constant movement.]

A lot of them do. They can be different colours, I guess. But most of them look like this. Except this one's special. It does absolutely nothing.

[She grins. Is she kidding? Is she serious? Who can tell for certain when it comes to Aerith.]

Of course! I can't claim to be an expert, but I've picked up a few things here or there.

[Not unlike a knight picking up a few things by hanging around the smith's while they bash a sword back into shape. And it is quite an impressive skill.]

...Nothing? [Ethlyn smiles back, trying to unravel that very question. Aerith, like her, seems to have a penchant for teasing.] It looks far too impressive to only be decorative.

Well, all materia looks like this, even materia that doesn't have any special properties. But it can't be used the way other materia can be, so that makes it useless.

[Which isn't exactly true. It's not wholly false either, though. True that the materia of Holy cannot be used the way all other materia can be. Aerith isn't fully certain of how to use it, but if her visions are correct, if what she knows is accurate, then—]

It's more like sentimental attachment. I got it from my mom when I was little. So it makes me think of her.

[Ah... at those words, Ethlyn's expression softens.]

A memento of your mother... that can never be useless. [...] I have a few things from my mother, and they would be of no consequence to anyone else--but they mean a great deal to me. So I understand how that feels.

[Aerith's smile grows. It's a reassuring thing to hear. 'Useless' is almost like a little joke to her. She doesn't seem inclined to give anymore details on it. Either way, Ethlyn is right. It's not useless at all.]

That's true. It's not important to anyone else except me. But that's the only thing it needs to be.

[Although that's not entirely the truth either. That little piece of materia means so much more than so many people know. Aerith can only hope that she won't truly have to use it. And if she does... Well. She can hope.]

[Video]

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I am that person who leans closer on Zoom calls for no reason.

Me too :'D

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