I
Wuwu decided to give it his all. He had to, as he could finally see the faraway figure of his father approaching, if slowly. The Hatter was not a traditional teacher, and his methods were often what he called "practical", which mostly meant violent. He couldn't count how many times he was grabbed and hit the floor. Still, he improved rapidly, and in just a few weeks he had ways in which to counter them. The second part of his training involved achieving a state of focus without slipping into a rage, which proved to be even more difficult, as Hatter taunted him with both insults and moves that made keeping his calm almost impossible. If he raged, the Hatter made him hit the ground and sit on him, making things even more infuriating. Yet, he slowly but surely started to gain control. This weird new method suited him, as an eclectic style was how he had learned his moves originally. His efforts were finally starting to bear fruit, and for once he felt a slight peace...
II
Rei didn't let her mother's warnings stop her from trying out the armor. She could handle heavy, didn't care it was made for males, and was really interested in the magic it hid. She stole it from the passage one night, and found it wasn't nearly as heavy as it seemed. She tried it on and, while it was uncomfortable, it wasn't so bad it was unusable. Yet, something was wrong. She felt like she was alone, more alone than ever. She instinctively tried to cast magic… and discovered she couldn't.
For a second, she saw herself as she was before. Powerless, chased, depending on others. Just when despair was beginning to set in, her logical mind pushed it out. What had changed? The armor. Thus, it was a fair hypothesis that it was causing her lack of magic. She slipped out of it, and she could cast again.
So! The armor wasn't just enchanted against magic… it nullified it! Rei's curiosity was on an all time high, so she dedicated a lot of her limited free time studying the effects of her magic on the armor. There was potential here. Her eyes seemed to shine at the prospects of new kinds of magic to go around the protection...
III
Rhea's new sword was behaving… not exactly as she thought. She tried to practice with it, but when the sword discovered how much an amateur at it she was (she only had basic lessons, she wasn't expected to use a sword considering her magic powers) it started guiding her of its own volition. She moved like a seasoned warrior, yet it wasn't her at all.
"Well, at least I know I'll be capable of defending myself if attacked at close range now…" She thought, and the sword flew out of her hands as if in agreement.
"Hey, sword, can you fly over there?" she said, and instantly felt silly. Yet the sword flew exactly as she had asked. Huh! There could some very good tactical moves to be discovered if she had a sword she could command! The possibilities were endless!