Private Finished An eye for an eye

”Fair point.” She conceded. All spells were made up, sure, and mages could be a pretty perverted bunch. She felt her stomach starting to do corkscrews again as Caissa elaborated needlessly on her sexual escapades using enchanted objects, and coughed uncomfortably.

”I didn’t need to. I got through the first three sentences, and I knew what you were doing. Honestly, yeah, it was pretty good.” She admitted, smiling sheepishly. She was prideful, sure, but she could admit when something was funny. Usually. Plus, she’d wasted a few months of her life learning two languages that might yet be of use to her. Caissa had lost an eye and been brutally burned in the encounter. She wasn’t exactly in a good position for righteous anger.

”I see.” She nodded, taking in Caissa’s explanation. It was a little bit gloomy, that she wanted to see through other people’s eyes, but honestly, that bothered her less than outright mind control. ”Rada’s Eyes. My grandma used a spell like that to rob a bank, once.” She commented dryly. Grandma Deitrich had been something like outlaw royalty, from the 17th century right up to the last days of the old west. ”Granted, she needed a lock of hair or some fingernails or something to do it, and she could only do it to one person at a time. It sounds like you want something with a bit more oomph.”

She rolled her eyes at Caissa’s offer, not looking up from her spot on the page as she turned it. She was keeping pace pretty easily, memorizing sigils just as fast as she could draw them.
”I’m using your shoulder strictly for practical reasons.” She lied, shaking off her offer.

Tilly nodded, considering Caissa’s explanation. She was well-versed in most forms of magic, but she wasn’t too well-read on psychic powers. Sometimes they overlapped with magic, but she tended to think of psionic power as something entirely separate. Then again, magic was really just manipulating the energies of the universe, same as psionics.

”So, theoretically, I could make you something that boosts your signal.” She queried, starting to put together exactly what Caissa expected of her. ”All we need is the right sigils to pour the energy into you without, well, killing you.” She continued, swallowing as she reached the end of that particular line of thought.

She knew what Caissa was sketching before she finished it. It was a five-pointed star, with each point resting upon the edge of a circle. The inscriptions and general flair marked it as of her own design, and the flaws in the ritual were memorable enough that she knew exactly which one Caissa was drawing. ”My circle?” She asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

Her outburst was… unexpected. She hadn’t expected to see something genuine peering out from the half-mad demoness, and she actually felt a bit sorry for her. As much as she wanted to know everything, she knew that there would always be more to learn. She’d never grow bored of her quest for knowledge. Caissa already had all of the answers.

Well, not all of them…

”’Zounds!” She mumbled, gazing down at the book, and looking back to Caissa. ”This circle was made to use your true name as a focus. -Well, your dad's true name- If we used it in reverse, channeling power into it... “ She trailed off, scribbling something down into the book. ”If I inverted the circle and tweaked it a bit, we could channel the power of the ritual into your name. Use your true name itself as your signal booster.” She exclaimed. ”Is that what you’re trying to do?”

She beamed with pride at Caissa’s praise. coming up with something that had stumped even a goetic mind was an achievement that, fairly, she thought, made her quite proud. However, the smile on her face began to fade as Caissa came to the logical conclusion of her line of reasoning. She’d have to learn Caissa’s true name in order to work the spell. She’d first considered just having her write it in herself, but it was like she said before: If she participated in the spell’s inner workings at all, it would fail.

She felt like the first contribution she could make to history was passing by before her eyes. She was not going to let someone else be responsible for this. This was her magic, her circle, her idea. If it wasn’t her, she was sure Caissa could find another to do it, but it had to be her.

”You already have my names, and I’d love to hear how you got those, honestly.” She said, and she made a calculated, yes, a calculated decision, to close the distance between them a half inch more, her gentle hand rising to rest reassuringly against the side of her face, the side that she’d burned. She thought about using the spell that Caissa had just taught her, but she’d probably be able to tell, and besides, that seemed a little slimy. ”And I have no reason to invoke yours, since you’re all too willing to teach me what I need, anyways. It wouldn’t make sense to use it against you when we both already have what we want.” She reasoned, her voice level and filled with resolve. Her hubris was causing her to develop tunnel vision, just a bit. She’d never heard of anyone pulling something like this off. She might have even been the first wizard in all of history to do it.

Her heart burning a little hotter, she slipped another hand onto Caissa’s face, the glint in her eyes shining brighter by the second. ”I don’t need your name until the very last step of the process.” She said quickly, shaking her head, and drawing Caissa's face an inch or so closer. ”We can cross that bridge when we get to it. But I want this.”

”Fair point.” She admitted. She kept forgetting Caissa could do no actual magic on her own. She was a little frustrated that Caissa wasn’t willing to tell her how she’d come across those names, because if she could get them, someone who actually could use them probably could too. But, she was a smart wizard, and she knew to choose her battles. Once she earned Caissa’s trust, she’d bring it up again.

”-Wizard.” She interjected, pointedly taking her hands from Caissa’s face and setting them down on the table to support herself. She knew that she was just doing it to annoy her now, so she didn’t want to give her the satisfaction, but it was, admittedly, working.

Still, she got what she wanted. Caissa was willing to give up her name when it came time for the ritual. ”As fun as that sounds…” She began, scooting back against the wall just a hair. ”I think I’d rather keep my personal magic encyclopedia happy. You’ve just made yourself the most valuable thing in my magical arsenal, and I have no interest in giving you a reason to try and get out of it.” She said, sitting up a little straighter.

”Now, if we wanna make you into a psychic goddess, we have work to do.” She said, pointedly nodding towards the notebook. ”Salt or chalk isn’t going to cut it for this circle. I’m not super well-versed on magical conductors, but we’ll want something that can handle all of the energy we’re channeling into the circle. A precious metal, maybe, and we’ll need someone who knows their stuff to forge it. That’s not gonna come easily. Not to mention, I can’t supply enough power for this ritual on my own. Not yet, at least. Unless you can teach me a magical 1-up spell, we’ll need a foci with power I can channel into you.” She continued to rattle off her list, counting on her fingers. She realized that rattling off the necessary components to a woman who had limitless knowledge of magic was a pointless exercise, but hopefully Caissa realized she was doing it more for her own benefit. ”And I know you don’t fear death, but I need you alive, so I’d prefer to make something that can insulate you against the caliber of power that we’re pumping into you. I can make you a crown or something if it’ll make you feel better about wearing it.”

She was a little bit disappointed that they didn’t have to do something as epic as finding a forgemaster to make them their circle out of exotic materials, she couldn’t deny that this was the more frugal option.
”I think that’s the most attractive thing you’ve ever said to me.” She grinned sheepishly, still a bit put off by the fact that Caissa was basically pressing her up against the wall. Once again, predictably, her heart had begun to pound, and her complexion reddened, but she was beyond trying to pretend it was something else. Caissa already knew how easy it was to get that reaction out of her. There was blood in the water. ”Can we please not kidnap someone if we go that route?” She added, very pointedly. ”-I’m not sure if you do that, or anything, but you have that energy where I feel like it could go either way.”

She wanted magic lingerie? Honestly, she shouldn’t have been shocked. It wasn’t the most outrageous request that had been made of her, and what a shame it would be for Tilly to have to see her like that when they do the ritual…

Gods, Tilly, stop it.

”Sure, pick out whatever you wanna wear for your big day and I’ll put a spell on it for you.” She sighed, appreciating the breathing room that Caissa had given her. And yet, she couldn’t help herself- ”Keep in mind that the cloth could burn up during the ritual if it isn’t high quality.” She chirped involuntarily. She couldn’t tell if that was an attempt at flirting or her know-it-all reflex.