school: maya

[shaft]

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[shaft]

[ He huffs, grateful and reaching out for her hand. ]

If there is a wish, what would you ask for?

[feytality]

[ she takes it and twines their fingers together ]

Probably... to end all of the witch trials in Labyrinthia, or...

[ .... ]

[ lux wanted her to wish to help herself, and she's considered it, but... ]

For my village.

[shaft]

Your village?

[ He doesn't really know that much about her home, and he looks at her curiously. ]

What for?

[feytality]

[ she hesitates, but ]

[ ... she's okay with him knowing ]

You know about how about I'm a spirit medium, right? Well... it's more than that. I'm... next in line to be the Master of the Kurain Channeling Technique... and that means being head of the village, too.

[ hence why morgan tried to take her out, as he'll probably remember ]

The village, right now.... is in pretty bad shape.

[shaft]

Oh. [ He frowns, not having known that.

It bugs him. As if Maya doesn't have enough burdens on her shoulders. ]

How exactly do you mean?

[feytality]

[ she never talks about herself so there's no way for him to have known tbf ]

.... When I was really young, something with happened with my mother, the current Master. She... got involved with outsiders and things... went badly. She was labelled a fraud, and became the laughing stock of the nation. She disappeared.

That's when my aunt started running things. But.... nobody believed in spirit mediums anymore. So, my village.... is in really dire straits. It's full of broken families, barely anyone can afford .... anything, and.... the future of the Kurain School is up in the air. Especially after my aunt.... well, you saw.

So if I do have a wish, I should probably use it to set things right.

[shaft]

[ He frowns hearing that. He knows the responsibility that comes with being an heir, the weight of other's lives on your hands.

It's a lot to bear. ]

I'm sorry about your mother. [ He squeezes her hand. ] But I believe in you, y'know? No one can weather a storm like you, I just hope that it passes soon.

[feytality]

[ part of the reason she's okay talking about this with claude is that she knows he understands.... probably more than she does, actually, since it's on a much grander scale for him ]

Thank you.

[ sincerely. ]

It's not really a storm, though... it's more like, wreckage. It'd be up to me to pick up the pieces... [ if she ever makes it out of labyrinthia ] and I don't even really know where to start, honestly.

So I guess a wish would really come in handy.

[shaft]

[ He sighs, bone deep and weary. ]

Yeah, cleaning up after messes is the worst. It's pretty smart to use a wish to do the work for you.

[ He peers at her, curiously. ]

But I hope you're relying on the people around you. Like that Phoenix guy, even if he looks like a wimp.

[feytality]

[ yeah he'd know all about messes.... she's about to ask him about it, actually, but-- ]

[ --there's a stab of intense guilt when he mentions phoenix. the answer is yes and no, because phoenix is a lot denser than claude is when it comes to perceiving people, but he always comes through when maya's in mortal peril. ]

[ well. almost always. ]

.... He must be... really worried about me.

[shaft]

[ He squeezes her hand again, concern building. ]

It does look like he loves you a lot. [ ... ] And I told you, I'll jump over to where you are to save your butt if he can't.

[feytality]

[ there's a bit of raw affection and gratitude, here, though the guilt lingers because of course it does ]

[ she tries not to think about the last time she saw phoenix, and how he must be feeling, and instead pictures the two of them interacting... claude swooping in to arrow some knights and show phoenix up... it's a nice image ]

You know... Nick and I, we were basically trying to solve the town's mysteries. It was... a lot like here. Some kind of story driving everything, horrible and unjust trials.... lots of things that don't add up...

So in a way... it's kind of like, you're the Nick here, except.... you're not a lawyer. And you're a liiiiittle bit cooler.

[ but just a little bit ]

[shaft]

I'd never let myself get beat up like he did.

[ Hmph. ]

Though I can't say it wouldn't be nice to have another brain around to try and solve this mystery.

[feytality]

Well... he spends most of his time floundering around in court, but then he figures things out in the nick of time.

[ claude would bully phoenix... ]

[ she's getting a warm but slightly bittersweet feeling trying to picture the two of them interacting ]

... Also, if he were here, you wouldn't be the one that's picked on by everyone.

[shaft]

I don't know if there's any guarantees for that. I wasn't very bullied back home...

He could come here and be a stud.

[feytality]

Trust me, that's impossible. He's a total dork! All he does is clean the toilet. Even Frumpkin would scratch him.

[shaft]

Cleaning the toilet is pretty handy! I can barely do the dishes.

[ why is he defending phoenix? is this buttmonkey solidarity? ]

[feytality]

[ very seriously: ] No, it's all he's capable of cleaning. The only thing he ever cleans. It's really, really bad, Claude.

[shaft]

... What? How's that possible? The principles of cleaning are the same across most things, aren't they?

[feytality]

You'd think, but..... that's just how he is. Obsessed with the toilet.

[ don't defend him ]

[shaft]

... He sounds odd.

[feytality]

That's what I've been saying, Claude!

[ phoenix would be the bigger buttmonkey here ]