Looking up from the table where the seal diagrams I had been working on were strewn about, I saw Raina walking into the room carrying a bowl full of taco meat and another one full of shredded cheese.
The moment she walked into the room, I was able to smell the scent of the taco meat and all of the spices used in it.
The mix that she used made it smell like the taco meat my grandmother used to make when me and my sister would stay the night with her.
Following her was Yuki carrying a plate with tortillas staked on it and a bowl with some chopped-up lettuce.
Behind Yuki were a few floating bowls that flew over to the table. One of the bowls had some sour cream with a small spoon in it, another had some beans, and the last one had homemade salsa.
All of this was then placed in the center of the table as I was trying to clean the table of all the different diagrams I had drawn.
It was then that a few plates floated out of the kitchen and placed them selves in front of everyone as both Raina and Yuki were now sitting at the table.
Yuki was sitting there looking at the center of the table confused, but I did not care and reached out to grab two of the tortillas. I then grabbed the bowl of taco meat and used the spoon that was in the bowl to place some meat on the center of each tortilla. Placeing that bowl back in the center I then did the same with the beans and cheese. I then grabbed a few pieces of shredded lettuce before topping it off with a small scoop of sour cream and salsa.
This reminded me even more of those times I spent with my grandmother in my old life.
With those memories on my mind I closed my eyes for a second and gave a quick prayer before opening my eyes again and grabbing one of the tacos.
Taking a bite from the taco, the flavor that filled my mouth was almost exactly like the ones that my grandmother had made. I was hardly able to swallow the food in my mouth for about half a minute.
When I was finally able to, I slowly ate each of the tacos, trying to savor the flavor while feeling a cold liquid start trailing down my cheeks.
It was midway through the meal that Raina and Yuki were both looking at me in concern before Raina asked, "Are you alright?"
I quickly nodded in response to Raina's question and, after I swallowed my food, answered, "I am fine. It is just that this reminded me of all the times I would spend the night with my grandparents."
Yuki's expression showed confusion at this but Raina showed a look of understanding and asked, "Do you not want to eat this?"
Hearing her question I quickly shook my head and rapidly responded, regardless of the food still in my mouth, "No!" Swallowing quickly so I would not be speaking with food in my mouth, I continued, "The tacos are good, so we should make them again. Besides, it's not like my memories with her are bad. In fact, they are some of the best that I have, so it's fine.'
I then paused for a moment before finishing, "As long as we remember someone, then they are not gone, right?"
Raina and Yuki both went quiet after that.
Yuki looked contemplative for a while before lowering her head and focusing on finishing her food. Raina, on the other hand, sat there frozen with put a single movement made. Even her tail went completely still in the middle of saying to the side.
A few seconds later she nodded her head before saying, "As long as we remember, we are never alone."
With that said, they both focused on the food and finished everything that was made.
When they finished, Raina then turned to me with her tail forming into a question mark and asked, "Does brisket also hold something important for you?"
I immediately replied by nodding my head and explaining, "My father was the first person to introduce me to brisket by smoking his own. His was also the best one that I have ever made."
She then paused for a second again and then asked, "What did your dad use to smoke it?"
Thinking for a second with my tail calmly swaying back and forth, I then answered, "He used both apple and hickory at different times, but the only difference I could tell at the time was created by how long and the way the pieces of meat were cut. However, he did not smoke it too heavily either."
She then gave a curt nod before asking Yuki to clean up dinner.
When Yuki left the room with the dishes in hand, Raina then turned to me and asked, "Is that seal you're messing with a slave seal?"
I was hooked by her Question, which must have shown on my face as she chuckled before continuing, "I have been around for over a thousand years, so even if my profession is that of formations, I have learned things about various other professions. Especially those similar to formations like seal and, to a lesser degree, talismans."
With her explanation and the growing thought that she might be able to help me, I answered her by nodding my head and saying, "It is actually Yuki's slave seal. I was able to see it by using the inspection function of the system, as well as getting a description of everything that it did."
She then looked at me for a second with a curious expression before asking, "What are you planning to do with the slave seal?"
I had to think about this for a second because I knew that she would not want me to remove it, but I wanted to do so eventually, as well as remove that small part about the original slaver being able to use her for cultivation, so I carefully explained, "I know that you do not want me to remove her slave seal for safety reasons so I will wait to do that until I am at least in the immortal realms before doing so. However, I also want to remove the part of the seal that would allow for her original slaver to use her to improve their own cultivation."
After hearing what I said, she only sat there and chuckled for a moment before saying in a defeated tone, "Well, even a small improvement is an improvement."
I got embarrassed after hearing her tone of voice but soon forgot about it as my tail started to wag around slightly after hearing what she said next. "I guess since I am already here, you might as well show me what you found out so I can help where I can."
Reaching for the stack of diagrams I had, I pulled out the original and showed it to her before showing her the others and explaining what I was trying to do.
I had already ruffly figured out what lines dictated the control and loyalty parts, but the others were still a mystery.
It was after seeing all of my work and hearing about my plan that she then did something I did not expect. She used her Qi to create floating diagrams of the seal with various mistakes made on the different parts.
Going through them, I was able to better understand all the separate parts while telling Raina about everything I was learning from my intuition.
After I went through about half of the diagrams she created, she pulled out a book from her spatial device and started flipping through it. When she did this I also pulled over a piece of blank paper and made another copy of the seal with notes on each different part detailing some of the things I managed to figure out.
Finishing my notes, I went back to going through the remaining diagrams when Raina grabbed my new notes paper and started expounding on the notes I made using the book she was now reading from.
I was not able to see the title, but I could reasonably assume that it was something like a textbook on how to make seals and what their possible components are.
Going back to the diagrams, I start going through them again while occasionally walking over to Raina and writing down new notes on the blank lines I did not leave notes on previously.
This lasted for over half an hour before Yuki walked back into the room and stood near the door.
I was unable to see her face, but she just stood by the door without moving.
After another half an hour, we had almost everything figured out about the seal, with only one part missing.
I was getting far more frustrated about this than I should have been until a moment of inspiration hit me, and I wrote down what I thought it was on a different sheet of paper.
My trait showed that what I wrote was slightly off but it was enough to understand what the missing part was.
Writing it on the notes diagram, Raina then used the book she had to expound on the note.
All that was left to do now was make the modifications.