fellpool | +23+ [action]

[Today, Leon is practically living in one of the battle dome rooms. How many times now had he put off actual combat practice? There had been a few distractions here and there, but he had to admit to himself that a good majority of the time was spent tinkering with symbols and gems in his lab.

When was the last time there had been a large draft? Four months ago? Was that the last time he had swung his sword around for any good reason for more than a few minutes? His lack of practice shows in his awkward test swings. Even with a practice simulation to fight, he's quickly tiring. Claude would probably laugh at the mistakes he was making.

Leon huffs and moves on to Symbology practice, switching from the Claude's Silvance to his own Heraldry blade. Even within the barrier and with the lower augmentation of his sword, he's able to quickly form ice needles and arc black sabers across the room. When he switches to one of his Symbology tomes, he increases his range and covers the walls in a thick layer of ice. And then shatters the ice with a decisive flick of one hand.

--

Later on, towards the mid-afternoon, Leon trudges over to the plaza to go looking for something to eat. First the bakery to check out the pastries for the day, then the coffee shop to order something cold, and then over to the grocery store to grab something for the inevitable midnight munchies.]

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"Appeasing the spirits of fountains..." The unimpressed look that was beginning to appear on his face fades at the sight of the box Elizabeth offers. His stomach growls in complaint as he looks over the colorful variety she had selected.

"You don't mind?" He figures it's polite to at least ask in that way before reaching into the box. The doughnut he pulls out is obviously made to be stuffed with some sort of cream, and there's sprinkles on top. "What do you think of them so far?"

"I think they are very sweet, made of a bread that has slightly more sugar than normal bread and then fried which is something new to me. I suspect the fillings are put in afterwards given how the centers have no caramelization in their flavor still, I would have to watch them made to be certain and the last time I attempted to uncover the mysteries of a food the chef asked me not to spoil the secret."

She ponders a bit.

"Still, I have had almost 50 today and I believe I am coming close to uncovering the mystery as to why it is only fruit and creams inside. I have yet to come across one with a carrot or broccoli paste yet that would be an excellent way of deceiving small children to eat such things."

As Elizabeth goes about describing the doughnuts in ... ridiculous detail, Leon finds himself slowly tilting his head more and more in growing disbelief. I really should have expected things would just get weirder after our first meeting...

Leon stops chewing on the doughnut when he hears how many doughnuts Elizabeth has managed to pack away, staring at her in bewilderment. It takes a moment to swallow before he speaks up. "Fifty!?"

He can't even get past that revelation to try and address the bizarre idea of packing vegetables into doughnuts.

She tilts her head and looks at him with a curious expression with just a bit of disbelief in it.

"Well I have only been at it for a few hours. To take less than several minutes to ponder the flavor would be a disservice to the baker would it not? You strike me as an artisan, even if you are trying to learn swords by the look of it, of course you understand?"

"W-- well..." The look of shock is much slower to fade from his face, with the silence seeming to stretch as he tried to think of what would be strange or rude to say.

...Would she even take offense if he did say something rude? Did he really need to hold back?

"Where did you put away 50 doughnuts?" He even points at her, as if her body shape should be explanation enough for his bewilderment.

"Oh, you mean my ability to eat... More than conventional people. I see. Yes."

She ponders a bit.

"I am not human, while I was created to mimic one in appearance it was to make my duties easier, and while eating is a necessary part of human existence it is more a curiosity for me. I get my power from... Other places. I honestly know not where exactly. I do know however that sometimes I am overcome by a great hunger."

She shrugs then smiles.

There was definitely that sense of not human whenever he looked at Elizabeth, from her mannerisms to her eyes that almost seemed to glow in the light, so Leon finds himself slowly nodding at her explanation.

Of course, their conversation thus far leads to him asking another question, even as he tentatively takes another bite of his doughnut.

"Are .. people like you usually so forthright about yourselves? You go into such detail when you talk."

"Hiding things is frequently the fertilizer that nurtures the roots of the problems my master has to deal with. Technically we are aligned with Phileomon who represents evolution over chaotic destruction so we are trained to explain things as one must always understand a situation so one can understand the consequences."

She ponders.

"I suspect I simply do not know how to not explain things like that."

The fertilizer that nurtures the roots... From a distant standpoint, he would probably have found something funny about the way Elizabeth spoke -- but face to face, he feels more awkward than anything else.

"It's-- not really a bad thing. I'm just not used to it." And he couldn't imagine anyone actually being used to it. "You probably end up having to explain yourself a lot though, huh?"

"Explanation was one of my primary duties before I left."

She shrugs a bit and offers another doughnut.

"Clarity is important to see what is in front of us, I do not mind having to explain myself. It is a thing that keeps everyone understanding the same thought as points of view vary as much as people."

Leon glances at the offered doughnut, slowly taking it as he finishes his first doughnut. Her comment seemed bizarrely deep, considering how eccentric she had been acting beforehand.

"...You seem to know a lot. But you still need to learn more for your journey?"

"Knowledge is useless if it is in a form that can not be shared or used. I know a vast many thing, but I do not know how to apply them for my goal."

She shakes her head a bit.

"While my knowledge is the gateway to many things, I do not understand the human heart and that is the key to that gate."

"So it's really a matter of ... meeting a whole lot of different people. To understand the human heart." He nods, even though it seemed like there was still a lot more he had to understand.

"So can't you just accomplish that by talking to everyone or listening in during school, or something like that?"

"You have grown up with humans, correct? You have been to school, correct?"

She tilts her head.

"Do you understand what causes some of them to long for oblivion while others do not?"

"Understand?"

He stares at Elizabeth at that, a chill running down his spine as something about her question rings familiar in his head. It takes him a moment to recognize that familiarity as connected to his false memories of Minato's world -- namely, from his time with his 'father,' Shuji Ikutsuki.

Longing for oblivion. Wanting to die.

His ears lower as he thinks about her question. He thinks about Expel, and his parents, and the war against the demons spawned by the Sorcery Globe...

He thinks about a little boy who had cried out that he wanted to die.

"There's no simple answer for that."

"No, there is not, and the beast I left home to slay. The beast which has his soul trapped is powered by those urges. Direct confrontation will not defeat it so until I understand that, I can only do temporary things."

She sighs a bit and shakes her head.

"So I am trying to learn. To become more so that I can understand."

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