[10 ~ Accidental Video | No Consequences]

[blahblahblah]

[Ducks, the camera feed opens on... a forest. In a clearing, Rita's standing and looking at a single tree separated from all the others. She's taking deep breaths with her eyes closed, and she's got a long scarf drawn, coiled in her hand. Around her lie several small, empty bottles that used to contain gels, and a few more marked to be cures for things like being poisoned. In short, it looks like she's been overworking herself again. Perhaps more than usual, as there's no sign of Yuri and the others. Truth be told, she'd been working on theory for more extreme magic than she'd been using up to now; some of her really big stuff was yet to come together, but with everything that had been happening, plus her status as a researcher and mage of Aspio, it was her duty to push herself.

But as if at some unseen signal, Rita's eyes snap open and her hands come up in front of her.]

Time for something with a little more sparkle...!

[And the sky seems to darken, as she starts winding up for something big, starting to chant at a shouting level. ((0:07-0:17))]

I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, call upon thee, who openeth the gates of hell! Come forth, divine lightning!

[The very air seems to crackle with energy, though something seems... wrong. It's clear she's aiming at the tree, but the whole clearing is shimmering. All the same, she's this far in. Can't stop now...!]

This ends now! Indignation!

[A brilliant light fills the clearing as lightning roars down from the heavens... but even with the terrible flash, Rita seems to have mostly missed the tree. And as a piercing scream fills the air, it's clear that it wasn't the tree she hit.

Rita, self-proclaimed genius mage, missed and hit herself. With something meant to take on a god. And as she collapses to the ground, clothes and hair smoking slightly, you can make out a faint condemnation:]

Dammit... I messed up...

[She's still conscious, as made apparent by the occasional even softer swearing, but she's not going anywhere under her own power for a little bit. The camera cuts out after a short time.]

((Rita's still quite alive and will be responding to comments.))

Comments

[lil_tanuki]

Rita-nee are you okay? [Wow, what power...]

[blahblahblah]

[There's a faint crackle and a sizzle as Rita manages to being her community access blastia to bear; there's a tired look on her face, her hair is singed, and she twitches every few seconds, but she's alive.]

I... I think so. I can't believe I made such an amateur's mistake. I messed up my calculations, so I lost control of the spell. I'll try it again in a few minutes, once everything stops twitching and I'm not burning anymore.

[To help that along, she gingerly raises a hand, and it glows as she tries to call power to it to put herself out. But she hisses in pain and puts it down, the glow fading immediately.]

Okay, maybe a little more than a few minutes.

[lil_tanuki]

Do you need someone to come and help you out? I think I can get Signum to take me over to where you are... [Cause y'know, she has magic family now, and she has a medkit...]

[blahblahblah]

I... think I'll be okay. I just pushed myself a little too hard. [Rita sighs, dragging herself to sit up against a tree stump.]

Sorry I worried you, Hayate.

[lil_tanuki]

Mmm you should be more careful, okay?

[blahblahblah]

Don't... ask me that. [Rita frowns; clearly this isn't something she wants to say aloud.]

This world is too dangerous. I have to get stronger by any means necessary, or I'm going to get killed doing the work I have to do. Bandits, monsters, the guilds... if I'm unlucky, Yuri...

Anything else, I can try my best. But please, don't ask me to be careful. I can't afford that.

[lil_tanuki]

Well okay. I'll still worry about you though.

[blahblahblah]

I would expect nothing less. Just let me do my job and everything'll be okay. I'm sure of it.

[lil_tanuki]

All right then. I'll still worry though.

[mightletyouknowme]

[Sena had been cheering her on, assuming she could do it.. At first, she even assumed she was aiming for the entire clearing.

Then she's hit and that's gone. She doesn't care about the power.]

RITA! Are you there?!

[blahblahblah]

S-Sena...? [There's a moment as the girl coughs, but she seems all right...]

I'm... I'm fine. I just screwed this up a little.

[It'd be a little more believable if her hair wasn't still smoking.]

[mightletyouknowme]

Your hair's on fire!

[blahblahblah]

It is, isn't it?

[Rita slowly raises a hand to try and pat her hair out, wincing with the motion. Her cloak's smoking a little too, but she needed to replace that anyway.]

[mightletyouknowme]

You could have died! Why would you do that?!

[blahblahblah]

Because I could die any day out here, Sena! I know everything's sunshine and rainbows where you are, but life isn't that easy here! The only way to keep myself alive is to fight, and if practicing until I collapse is the only way for me to get better, then dammit, that's what I'll do!

[When she's finished, the silence hangs in the air, before she lets her head drop so her bangs cover her eyes.]

I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I... dammit.

[mightletyouknowme]

[Tears well up in the corner of her eyes but she seems more angry than hurt.]

Idiot! Nothing would get better if you died! N-n-nothing!

[blahblahblah]

Sena, it's not like I'm trying to die out here! In this world, either I die by bandits, die by monsters, or die because Yuri made us enemies of the guilds! But I'm not ready to lay down and let them get me yet, so I'm working on my magic so that doesn't happen.

I... don't normally make mistakes like this. It's a fluke. [She smiles sadly.] Come on, stop crying. I'm gonna be okay. Really.

[mightletyouknowme]

How can you say that when you said it didn't matter! Stop acting like it would be okay if you died! E-even if there's a lot of things than want to hurt you, you have to...you have to just keep fighting them!

[blahblahblah]

Isn't that what I just said I was training for? So I wouldn't die? If there's one thing I can promise, it's that I'm not going to go without a fight, one way or another. I refuse to die.

[mightletyouknowme]

If you keep doing things like that, you'll end up hurt!

[blahblahblah]

[She opens her mouth to keep arguing, but closes it, a heavy frown on her face.]

What do you want me to do, then? I'm just spinning my wheels here.

[mightletyouknowme]

You're already doing enough. Don't push yourself so hard it would kill you.

1/2

[blahblahblah]

[The words are so foreign to Rita that she doesn't comprehend them for a moment.]

Wha... what? I'm already doing enough?

[blahblahblah]

I'm sorry, Sena, but I can't accept that. Being satisfied with what I'm already doing hasn't gotten me anything but scorned and ignored. That's... not how life alone in Aspio works. It's not how I grew up, and it's not how I'm going to live my life now.

I know my limits. I know how far I can push myself before I'm putting my life at risk. Please... trust me.

[mightletyouknowme]

[A hand wipes at the tears. She was really scared there and for Rita to pretend it was nothing...]

You're not alone anymore...I'll trust you so...so promise you'll never do anything like this again.

[blahblahblah]

[Her vision was still a little hazy, but... was Sena crying? She'd been that worried...?]

...I'm going soft. That's the only possible explanation. Okay, Sena. I'll be more careful. No more risky magic. I... promise.

[mightletyouknowme]

It's not soft. It's better knowing people will be sad if something happens to you.

[But now she's aiming a bright smile at her, saying what her words didn't. 'Thank you']

[blahblahblah]

[Rita lets herself fall back onto the ground, exhausted but smiling.]

Yeah. I'll believe that when I see it.

Thank you, Sena.

[mightletyouknowme]

[Her voice is so quiet that Rita would have to strain to hear it, if she wanted to catch what was being said.]

You just did.

[But then it picks back up.] Eh..heh, you're welcome.

[aquaticrush]

R-rita-san!? Are you alive?

[blahblahblah]

I'm... I'm okay... I think.

I cast my spell wrong... admittedly nearly wrong enough to kill me, but I think I know what I messed up. I'm going to try it again in a little bit.

[Her cloak is still smoking, so maybe that's not a good idea...]

[aquaticrush]

But Rita-san, you've got limits!

[blahblahblah]

Damn my limits! [She raises her voice to shout this, coughing a bit afterward.]

I don't have time to sit around and wait to get stronger. I've... got to keep pushing. I... I've had this feeling, ever since Keiv Moc, that something's really wrong, and I need to prepare. I can't let my limits bind me, Retasu. There's too much at stake.

[aquaticrush]

R-rita-san, please! You might --

[blahblahblah]

Retasu. [Rita's tone is hard, and her eyes flash dangerously.]

I know you're worried. I know I'm going to burn myself out - maybe literally - if I keep going like this. But please, don't fight me on this. It's... what I have to do.

[aquaticrush]

*She steps back and looks at the ground.* W-well... if you're sure, but...

[blahblahblah]

[Rita smiles, though it's a bit forced.]

Aren't you supposed to keep arguing with me until I stop working myself to death?

[She stands, her smile turning true and softer, even as she winces with the pain of standing up so soon, and nearly falls over.]

Seriously, though. Thank you, Retasu. I've... got to get back to work, and I don't know if you'll hear from me for a little while. But I'm glad you're worried for me.

[aquaticrush]

I don't want you to die, Rita-san.

[blahblahblah]

I don't want to die, either. But I'm a mage, in a world where life outside the barriers is a fight to survive every day. My duties put me in harm's way often enough that there are no guarantees.

[Rita climbs atop a stump, standing proudly. Her hair and cloak aren't burning anymore as they blow in the wind.]

I won't change who I am because I might get hurt. That's for someone with no spine and no desires. And if I want to make a name for myself... I'm gonna have to get a little reckless.

[She starts to pull out her scarf, before looking down and seeing that most of it burned up when she was struck with Indignation. Shaking her head, she casts it aside, sighing.]

[aquaticrush]

...okay. Please be okay.

[blahblahblah]

Just trust me. It'll all work out. I'm not so weak that I'll die from this.

[Rita's hands come aglow with magic, and she spins as she works out intricate patterns in the air; she winces as she gathers power, but it'd be hypocritical to stop now. Mages walk with death. She knew that, so she had to live it...!]

I'll become powerful, and I'll protect everyone, and I'll finish the Rizomata Formula and become the best mage in the damned world! Watch me... watch me!

[All at once, power starts to pour into Rita, enough to be visible. Whatever she's up to, it's going to be big.]

[aquaticrush]

Rita-san... *But she holds back. Rita isn't going to give up, obviously.*

[blahblahblah]

Yeah. I'll be fine. There are people waiting for me... I can't die here! I won't give up!

[The power in her hands, in her whole body, seems to make the girl glow in the darkening sky. And as she throws out her hands, she shouts one more spell call, loud and clear. ((0:19-0:34))]

O power that lies at the root of all creation! O memory inscribed in ages past!

[Raw power glows in four orbs at the cardinal directions from her, each containing pure mana of one of the four elements and as tall as Rita is, and a paper-thin, wobbly blue barrier barely covers Rita herself. The strain is building, and you can see it on her face, but she's not giving in, though it's a close thing, as she turns to address a monster coming up on her.]

Hear my call... and arise... before me! Ancient Catastrophe!

[A few things happen all at once. The monster jumps at Rita just as she finishes her spell, a large wolf that will be more than happy to make her lunch. The yellow ball of earth mana falls apart, destabilizing and making the air shimmer dangerously. And the other balls together combine by striking Rita's shield, which... fails after tanking most of the damage. As the bright white light fades, Retasu may notice the wolf flying out one end, and Rita flying out the end where the yellow ball should have been. Whatever normally records her, it must not have gone with her, because the view isn't changing to show Rita. It's just showing the ruined remains of the stump.

Oops.]

[aquaticrush]

Rita-san--

*DDDDDDDD:*

voice;

[entreats]

[ Geez, that looked like.. a fairly dumb idea. Even to Ange, who's reckless as all hell. To just try something that big out of the blue.. At least she can tell the girl is at least alive from other comments, which is why she's even able to think about how stupid it is rather than being shocked. ]

Listen, can you stand?

[video]

[blahblahblah]

Ask me that question in a few minutes. I'll see then.

[Rita's been dragging herself toward a stump to sit against while she recovers enough to stand; by the time Ange calls in, she's made it there, and she looks... a little less pained, though she's still clearly not in top form, if the twitching every several seconds is any tell.]

[entreats]

Sure, but if those "few minutes" turn out to be the difference between passing out and not passing out, it might have been somewhat of a big deal. [ ... ] I guess that doesn't seem very likely though.

[ After all, even though Rita looks hurt, she still looks reasonably okay. Considering what just happened, that is, aka she's just not dead. ]

You should get yourself somewhere you can get patched up though the moment you feel okay enough to walk.

[blahblahblah]

I'll think about it. I still have gels left.

[Rita pulls out a small vial containing an orange substance that wobbles as she shakes it. She pops open the lid and slides the contents into her mouth, letting out a relieved sigh a moment later. She almost instantly looks more awake and alert, though her physical wounds are unchanged.]

Whoever designed gels was doing the work of the gods. If I ever meet that man, I'm going to shake his hand.

[entreats]

[ .. Wow, give her a moment. It's not lik she know everything about that world, so she has to stare for a moment. People there get better just by drinking some sort of.. substance..? Weird. ]

Those kind of things are normal in your world? That's got to be more powerful than the strongest energy drinks.