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[theidlemaiden]

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[theidlemaiden]

[ Claire is incredibly lucky that these messages can't transmit videos of what the sender's state currently is because Hilda would be on the verge of rioting right now.

Hilda's own state is a little battered and a little bruised, but nothing that some healing magic can't take care of. She's surrounded by a plethora of parts and books and she's fairly certain she's going cross-eyed staring at everything as intently as she has been for the last however many hours.

The woman's words bring a wry smile to her lips. ]

𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦?

[beautifullies]

[LOL ]

𝐴 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝, 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠, 𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ?

[ She absolutely does not answer the question, attempting to smoothly dodge it so she doesn't have to lie. ]

[theidlemaiden]

[ She sees what you did there. Luckily she's going to try and keep this Light and Fun because while this isn't the kidnappings, this isn't exactly a party either. ]

𝘕𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 - 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦? 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦.

...𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

[beautifullies]

[ Chuckling softly despite herself, she lets out a soft breath, content that Hilda's safe for now. ]

𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛.

[ The'll both always do what they're best at, no matter what the stakes. ]

[theidlemaiden]

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦.

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯.

[beautifullies]

[ She knew Hilda would get back to this and she braces herself for the fussing. ]

𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒; 𝐿𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑢𝑛𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠.

[ No more detail needed! ]

[theidlemaiden]

𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨?

[ She isn't getting away that easily! Hilda practically has a sixth sense for these things - look who she's friends with. ]

[beautifullies]

𝐴 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑓 𝐼'𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑙𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝐻𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑘𝑎 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑚 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ.

[ Yet. She still has an encounter to go and doesn't know it. ]

[theidlemaiden]

[ Knowing Claire is running in close circles with Himeka is comforting but that doesn't stop her from worrying. ]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦?! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵?

[beautifullies]

....𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑦𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑.

[ She's being casual about it to keep Hilda calm, but the truth is she's been taking an extended break because she isn't sure she can do much more near-dying. ]

𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡, 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐼'𝑚 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡.

[theidlemaiden]

[ Is this close to having a heart attack when she reads Claire’s words about encountering several creatures that she isn’t sure she’s equipped to fight. ]

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

[beautifullies]

𝐼'𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.

[ Which isn't an answer and she knows it. And she also knows Hilda isn't a child, and deserves to know what's happened. ]

𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝐼 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑. 𝐼 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.

[ There's a pause in the words before Claire adds: ]

𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑛𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒.

[theidlemaiden]

[ That's definitely not an answer, Claire. As difficult as it is for her to swallow, as much as she'd like to protest her decision, Hilda understands. Sometimes she wishes that people weren't so selfless; it would mean they're less likely to get hurt in moments like these. But all of that selflessness is what made Claire, Claire. ]

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘦 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴.

[beautifullies]

𝐷𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡? 𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑜, 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦.

[ Claire sighs and rubs her forehead, trying to stave off a pending headache. She should at least rest, but when? ]

𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼'𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑜𝑡 𝑐𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑝.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

[ She's kidding of course. ]

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯.

[ ...The ones she had run into didn't really count. ]

𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶!

[beautifullies]

𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑑𝑜, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡.

[ She's also teasing, she has no idea if that's even right. But she does care for Hilda an immense amount. ]

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡? 𝑁𝑜𝑤 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛.

and fin!

[theidlemaiden]

[ It's unlikely that she is Claire's youngest nor does she actually want her to worry for her the most, but it feels her chest with a happy warmth to read those words regardless. ]

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦.

𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸.