- Peter and Dimitri -
Peter and Dimitri were practicing their magic weaving in the restored training area, which had been modified to be half land, half pool. Peter was slowly moving flames along his arms while Dimitri did the same with water.
"When was the last time we actually trained together?" Peter asked.
Dimitri shrugged. "Don't know. I don't think our schedules have lined up for it in a long time."
"What with ya trainin' in private so ya could prove yerself to Luce," Peter grinned.
Dimitri fed more water onto his arms. Peter matched him with his flames.
"I didn't appreciate you and red-eyes trying to prevent me from joining this trip," Dimitri said.
"Oh don't be mad at Luce," Peter sighed. "He'd prefer to stay out of this if he could."
"He can," Dimitri responded.
"He can't," Peter corrected. "I know yer smart enough to know that."
Dimitri fed even more water onto his arms, completely coating them. Peter slightly tilted his head to the side and did the same with his fire.
"For the record, I don't think yer in the wrong," Peter said. "As much as I love havin' someone as reliable as Lao out here, I'd prefer he live a more peaceful life."
Dimitri grunted. "That didn't stop you from giving the boss a heads up about me asking to join."
Peter spoke slowly, "I owe Luce more than I like ya, sorry." He sighed, "Besides, I knew ya would prove yerself to him. Don't get pissy with me because of formalities."
Dimitri grabbed more water from the pool and started coating his chest, soaking his brown shirt. Peter lifted his arms and stopped channeling his flames.
"Ya win," Peter said, pulling a coin out of his pocket and flicking it to Dimitri. "I feel like the handicap isn't fair anymore."
Dimitri threw the water back into the pool with one hand and caught the coin with the other. "You don't get to complain when you're almost ten times my age."
"The fuck I don't," Peter huffed. "I've EARNED the right to complain by livin' this long."
"Whatever you say, old man," Dimitri chuckled.
"Is that what ya call yer cradle-robbin' husband?" Peter joked.
Dimitri scowled. "It's not cradle-robbing if we're both past a hundred."
Peter put his hands up. "Whatever ya say casket-robber."
Dimitri took his shirt off and pulled the water out of it with his magic, revealing the heavily-faded tattoo of Lao's name on his back, along with various other black markings around his shoulder blades.
Peter eyed the tattoos. "Surprised ya haven't added anymore."
Dimitri pulled the water off his chest and put his shirt back on. "Don't see much meaning in it." He reached his hand over his back. "Even the tattoos that are there, barring one, don't hold much meaning anymore."
Peter looked at his arms. "Yeah, I stopped addin' them after... never mind."
Dimitri gave Peter a curious look. "What?"
"Nothing," Peter assured.
"I'm not Lao," Dimitri sighed. "What is it?"
"After all the damage I realized I was takin'," Peter said in a defeated tone. "It felt pointless addin' things that would keep gettin' damaged by bolts I had taken, or wind that had sliced me."
Dimitri frowned. "Oh, right..."
Peter kept talking, not realizing what he was doing. "Not to mention all the fireballs!"
"Peter..." Dimitri said.
Peter stopped, now aware of what he had done. "To be fair, a lot of that was before Lao had even been reborn, much less joined the team."
Dimitri walked over to the pool and sat cross-legged in front of it. He stared into the water as he spoke. "If I had had any other affinity, would I have been allowed to join the team?"
"No," Peter's tone was firm. "Luce doesn't even like the idea of havin' someone with loved ones on the team, much less two married people. And before ya mention her, Yvere begged for years, all while trainin' to prove she was ready."
"Wasn't gonna mention her," Dimitri kept staring at the water. "I like that Lao actually made friends with someone. I don't want to be the only person in his life."
Peter slapped Dimitri on the back. "I'm friends with Lao too, ya dick," He put his hand under Dimitri's arm and lifted him up. "Don't try usin' this emotional shit to get out of trainin'."
"Fuck..." Dimitri mumbled through his teeth.
- Yvere, Lao, Sabu, Heinrich -
The four were in a closed-in area of the castle with padded floors. Heinrich and Sabu were practicing hand-to-hand while Lao and Yvere discussed things in the corner.
"I like that he's here," Yvere said. "I think water magic gets an unfair judgment in this world."
Lao kept his eyes on Sabu as he spoke. "You're only saying that because of the queen."
Yvere gave a nervous chuckle. "Sure...but I'm not wrong. For one example, Poseidon is incredibly strong."
"Exceptions, not examples," Lao responded. "Stop falling for his feints!" he shouted at Heinrich.
Yvere snapped her fingers near Lao's face. "Hey, look at me."
Lao turned his head toward Yvere.
"I know why you're not happy about it but think about how he'll feel if he sees you acting this way," Yvere said with an irritated look.
Lao turned his head back to Sabu and Heinrich. "He knew I didn't want him joining before we came here, and he's smart enough to know that hasn't magically changed now that we're actually here."
Yvere went to say something but the sound of Heinrich slamming against the ground interrupted her. Before she ran over, she turned to Lao.
"He's been patient with you, the least you could do is reciprocate."
Lao walked away without responding.
- Lucifer, Elijah, Satan -
Elijah was practicing weaving his magic along his arms while Lucifer, holding an echo, was supervising. Elijah would run his fingers along an arm, creating lines of electricity as he went.
"The fact that healing magic doesn't work on enchanted weapons but does work on life weave clothing," Lucifer said.
Elijah took a slow breath in as he completed one line of electricity on his right arm. "I assume merchants found that one out."
"Is he actually practicing?" Satan asked through the echo.
"YES!" Lucifer and Elijah both said.
Elijah started weaving electricity onto his other arm. "Healing magic requires the mana of both parties but won't tap into lifeforce if the healing target is fully depleted."
"Does this really help you?" Satan asked Elijah.
Elijah took another slow breath. "Yes. It clears my head."
"I guess you did always perform better during our discussions," Satan said.
Elijah finished weaving the electricity on his arms. He lifted them both up slowly and surged mana through the lines of electricity, coating the entirety of his arms.
"He did it," Lucifer spoke into the echo.
"No damage?" Satan asked.
"No damage," Lucifer responded.
"Good," Satan's tone shifted to be more serious. "Now focus on getting faster. Your pain tolerance should be more than enough to handle the next step."
"I'll call you with a report after," Lucifer said, ending the call. "So-" he was interrupted by an immediate call.
Lucifer threw the echo to the side. "So, with what we know, we can tell that there was definitely purposeful design in the systems of this world."
Elijah stopped channeling the electricity and stared at the tossed echo. "I think it was called "meaningful design" in the human world. These talks do make me wonder if the human world was created by magic instead of natural science."
Lucifer slowly walked to the echo. "I wouldn't start questioning humanity's origins. Magic seems loosely based on science, hence the inconsistencies, not the other way around."
Elijah started his weaving process again, moving a little faster this time. "What if science is the completed form of magic? Where the rules are more clearly defined?"
Lucifer picked the echo up. "Maybe, but it's unlikely. Why would the human world be primarily human if that was the case?"
Elijah completed his left arm's coating. "You're sure that there aren't any mythical races hiding in the human world?"
Lucifer answered the thrumming echo. "Call you right back probably." He ended the call before Satan could say anything. "If they do, then they don't come to this world when they die, which would beg the question, why? As you've seen, a lot of the races of this world aren't that different from humans."
"Hmm..." Elijah hummed as he started coating his other arm. "Fair point. I guess I don't want to derail what we were originally talking about."
Lucifer answered the thrumming echo once more. "He's doing well, no injuries." He ended the call.