A full vial is a day's dose (16 hours, accounting for normal sleep time), which can be split up.Originally Posted by Dracueri
Brewing Potion of All Potential will take at least a couple of hours.
There are a few days left in the gathering portion. Once you transition from the gathering area to the brewing arena, you basically have one 24 hours period to brew your potion, though you can submit yours at any time prior to that limit being up.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
I vote we use 4 hours of the vial of Felix Felicis.
...Like it basically just screams to me that you are unwilling to consider using it as a gift to one of the many supporters of Shinji that help make his relatively good position in this championship. We have had so many people help Shinji in this as well as training him that it feels wrong to right that off by just keeping it for 'dark days.' I don't mind saving it but this write in underlining attitude annoys me somewhat.
I hope you are not serious with such accusations. The reasoning is pretty straightforward. I choose to save it because Shinji can make a good use of it, yes. But if we feel the need to fulfill a social contract or another, and don't have many options, we can gift it, that's not the end of the world.
Please notice though, that Shinji's actions haven't been driven purely by selfish motives since... Year One, I think? (Unless you count saving people because "Sion approves" selfish.) Even if you can't trust the person behind the curtain, trust the Hero to stay true to his ideals.
By the way, it's really interesting how you justify using FF pretty much for personal glory here in contrast to "player hoarding" vote.
Last edited by Malorius; January 18th, 2019 at 10:31 PM.
If I was more serious, I would be making a larger noise here on this and not saying I do not mind your write in winning. I just dislike that underlying tone that one can read this as. I have seen us horde stuff before. Such as the reaction when Lestrange got some ingredient from Shinji. it worries me.
Granted it not like I feel like you are all bad and doing this all the time. No, no, no. Far be it, we are likely to use it at a later date for someone else, gift or what not. Its more my disapointed that everyone just jumped on board on this one without anyone seeming likely to gift it to the many people that helped Shinji get where he is.
Please do not think I am ranting here, just voicing a concern at this cause I know players in tabletop/video games. They horde like no one else. Why else do people save Mega Elixirs for that final boss just in case, when they are near dying stat at other points and thus end the game with a million potions they never used.
We got this far, I think we can stand to use some of the luck to make sure we cross the finish line as well as possible. Even if its not strictly needed here.
Last edited by Skull Leader; January 18th, 2019 at 10:34 PM.
Would FF allow us to absorb or make use of the Wisdom we recieved from passing the trials. You indicated that the next few days we are able learn and retain more information so we should use the opportunity to gain more wisdom.
The POAP would make More refined.
You can learn more, yes, but the wisdom of the First Age would probably still be beyond you.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
Luck potions take six months to be complete. And no, I don't expect Lockhart to rely on liquid luck for his rebellion. You won't get any for the conflict.
Champions do not need to cheat, for a simple reason; We are not winning that competition.
That's just a fact. As to why;
- Ayaka has thaumatagoria and she came up with a potion that equals the PoAP in a matter of less than 48h. Now imagine what she would end up making with two weeks of prep time and experimentation.
- Ramona has the book of potions and thaumatagoria, as well as being one of the top brewers.
- Lestrange beats us any day of the week in terms of skills as well, on top having obtained some thaumatagoria too.
- Libatius is the best brewer of the competition and will have a decent shot (yes he will regrow that arm)
The best Shinji can hope for at this point is to make it on the podium, and even that is optimistic at best.
Shinji is still the black horse, no matter how you look at it. Even Olu, who should be below all the others during the second trial, has no reason to sabotage Shinji since the boy hasn't shown he could make anything decent by himself. It was Ramona who brew the Elixir of Restoration.
Champs will be focusing on their own potion and I doubt the CAS would place participants in an environment that allows cheating anyway, they would be the ones losing up with all these materials and recipes going to waste. Thus, I expect them to be watched carefully during the trial.
There's literally zero reason to use FF here. You're not making your potion better. You're not improving your odds either. And you're certainly not affecting the judges' decision.
Save it for the conflict where people will die.
Last edited by Daiki; January 19th, 2019 at 03:52 AM.
The only potion at the level of POAP its the Potion of resurection, look the how the potion of restoration need Thaumatagoria but Is less important AND powerful than the POAP.Drink the felix felicis to be secure than nothing wierd its Gonna happen when Shinji brew the POAP, because if you don't know Budge isn't happy with Shinji and he could do something to our récipe.The reason of why this Is a vote its because something Is going to happen AND all our work could be destroyed un just few seconds because we didn't have enought luck.
I think that the catch here is that we, as players, have expectations limited by our information of the setting. We think that PoAP is the pinnacle of creation, the greatest thing that can be achieved by Potions. So, we expect to be the best simply by making it right, or maybe even somewhat better than original recipe, and that's why we suddenly are entangled in a delusion of a close victory.
Alf has proven us time and again, there are more things in heaven and earth.
Last edited by Malorius; January 19th, 2019 at 05:16 AM.
What have this to be with drink or not the Félix felicis?
I understand where you are coming from, but absolutely disagree with your assessment. There is a difference between hoarding and reasonable preparation, as I'm sure you are aware. And we are constantly on the verge of being underprepared, as our recent adventures show. We expand anything and everything to get the result nowadays, it's a miracle (pun intended) that we have finished the latest fight without spending the power of the whole Ring, but before that we needed to spend all PoAP and all Command Seals to even get there. Those weren't easy choices, and each has left us less ready for the next challenge, but we have managed, somehow. This trend will probably continue, no matter what path we choose going forward, simply because of the level of the person we aim to reach.Please do not think I am ranting here, just voicing a concern at this cause I know players in tabletop/video games. They horde like no one else. Why else do people save Mega Elixirs for that final boss just in case, when they are near dying stat at other points and thus end the game with a million potions they never used.
Basically, you cannot be considered hoarder if you spend everything you have just to get by on constant basis.
- - - Updated - - -
Daiki has explained it, but I can repeat: we cannot win, our expectations are too narrow, our competition - too good and well supplied. It would be nice to be seen on the podium, I guess, but we shouldn't spend the severely limited resource because of the wish for fame and recognition in the eyes of CAS/competitors. That's not why we are here.What have this to be with drink or not the Félix felicis?
" do your best, win if you can but come back alive".
Looks like Sion would be ok with Shinji winning.
Even if we don't win I want to drink the FF because I fear what could happen when we are brewing.
Sion is not interested in Shinji's winning or losing, just in reaching as far as he can by putting all his strength towards his goals. I'd argue that she would be more pleased if we don't use the FF during the final brewing if Shinji harbors intentions to later use Liquid Luck for the sake of the others - like he always does - than if he chugs the precious potion to entertain the half-buried wish-fulfillment fantasies. But that's just me.
Maybe, unlike you, I haven't seen the victory as a worthy goal, and feel that Shinji shouldn't either - and herein lies the difference.
Last edited by Malorius; January 19th, 2019 at 05:56 AM.
It's worth a mention that you will not lock out of opportunities simply because you do not take the first three spots. You're still the youngest champion to have made it that far in history, that's nothing to laugh at. Whether you're from the wizarding side or the moonlit world.
If on top of that, you produce one of the legendary potions, it doesn't matter what score you're given by the judge, you'll be under the attention of many interested parties.
Choice 449: [X] Yes, and why not - everyone else is likely to be using it
Chapter 110. Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble
During the remainder of the time allotted for gathering ingredients and experimenting with new recipes (about one week), Matou Shinji mostly found himself resting, given that with Sondrol and her partner, Lestrange, around, he felt relatively safe – and he didn’t want to make a fool of himself by staring at one of his benefactors.
Neither of them were obliged to look after him and see to his health, after all, given that he was technically one of their competitors, so the fact that they did, the fact that they let him hang around and checked up on him despite him just unexpectedly dropping by was…well, generous didn’t quite seem to fit the bill.
…frankly, he still didn’t know how he’d just appeared on the threshold of their magically concealed and protected camp, especially since he could still feel the flow ofuda he’d given Lestrange nearby, meaning that it hadn’t been used up.
‘…well, at least I didn’t wreck another of her handbags, so she won’t have any reason to be annoyed at me.’
So he hoped, at least, as he didn’t think he could stand it if Rachelle Lestrange was truly irritated by him, or the things he had done. She, unlike him, was someone who could truly claim the title of Alchemist, someone who had long walked a path he was only setting out upon, and so, in a sense, he thought the way she looked at him might be somewhat like how Sokaris did.
'I promised to help her win, too, and yet…’ Yet right now, he was only a burden to her, as the French Champion and her partner had let him recuperate at their encampment while expecting little from him. ‘It doesn’t feel right.’
Especially as he had already received payment in advance for his services in the form of the basics of Thought Acceleration, a technique that was otherwise exclusive to the Alchemists of Atlas.
With his debt unpaid, receiving more aid from her and her partner seemed…wrong, given that he felt like he wasn’t living up to his word, and if he could not keep his word, then what was he?
‘My father, that’s what I would be.’
A man – a worm – who had lied every day of his life. Lied to his child, lied to himself, lied to everyone else around him, and gained nothing for it but an early grave due to drinking too much, due to his refusal to face his responsibilities and the consequences of his choices.
Truthfully speaking, the boy considered Matou Byakuya more of a monster than Matou Zouken, because Zouken had at least been honest about his desires and the scope of his machinations, while Byakuya…Byakuya was the sort of person who would cruelly give a young boy hope, only to look on as the boy discovered that his hopes were hollow, that all that awaited in the end was despair, a fate far more bitter for the false expectations he’d been allowed to nurture.
‘But that man is dead. Just as grandfather is dead.’
Just as Matou Sakura was dead, and every last trace of the Matou family – the family which had cast him out, ironically ensuring his survival.
‘Funny how that works…’
Yet, not all of his time was taken up by ruminations about the past or by resting his weary bones, since this was the World Potions Championship, and he had promised Sokaris that he would try his best – even win, if possible, though he wasn’t sure that winning was truly in the cards anymore, after everything he’d seen.
‘And that means working on potions.’
Thus it was that after a few days of resting and contemplation, the boy came before Rachelle Lestrange, who was busy working on some strange and exotic brew involving several vials of blood, what looked like wyvern – or maybe dragon – scales, and an assortment of odd plants, including two he recognized as Witch’s Ganglion and Pritcher’s Porritch.
The young woman seemed weary but focused as she bit her lip and jotted down notes about ingredients and combinations – or were those equations? – with an almost frightening intensity smoldering in her silver eyes and a strange Mona Lisa smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
‘…beautiful…’
The thought came unbidden to his mind, as a part of him wondered what it would be like if she were looking at him like that, instead of at a pile of reagents, if the slim delicate fingers now wrapped around a quill were instead wrapped around—
Shinji’s thoughts lurched to a halt in his mind so violently that he found himself lurching physically, a movement which drew the attention of the potioneer in question.
“Matou,” she greeted him gently, politely taking no note of the physical signs of his, ah, discomfort. “Are you vell?”
The boy shivered – in a pleasant sort of way – as her voice reached his ears, and he only nodded, not trusting himself not to say something…unwise.
"You 'ave somezing for me, Matou?" she inquired, noting the slightly-singed pouch at his waist, and Shinji nodded once again, reaching into it and withdrawing a sprig of a plant whose stems and leaves glowed with a strange azure light.
"Thaumatagoria," he replied at last, naming his offering as the rarest magical plant in the world, one thought to be only a myth by most.
Hearing that word, that name, the French Champion gaze darted to the item he held, though the rest of her went perfectly still, as if she were a taut bowstring, yet to be released.
“Zat is for me?” she asked, her voice almost a whisper, as if she was unable to believe it. That the youngest – least prepared – of the Champions had somehow discovered such a powerful ingredient, and what was more, was offering it to her.
“Yes,” Shinji confirmed, looking down, as he was unable to meet her eyes. “I did make you a promise. I said I would help you win, however I could. You….” He took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. “We made a deal, with you giving me the basics of Thought Acceleration. This is my offering then, for our equivalent exchange. Is it…is it enough?”
In response, the Champion of Beauxbatons laughed – not a derisive sound, but a pretty, lilting one that seemed like the echo of bells.
“I 'ad not zought to zink I would see such a plant in my life,” she murmured, a note of pleasure seeping into her voice, “but you are...a surprising one, Matou. Vas it…difficile to find zis?"
"As long as you're happy, then everything was worth it,” the boy stated solemnly, bowing to the Alchemist. It wasn’t exactly an answer to her question, but the things he had done – the things he had been through – he didn’t think anyone would believe him if he talked about them openly. Not that it would be a great thing to do so in any case, given the particulars of his arrangement with Androme—Elesa.
But he was drawn back to the present, away from these musings on the past by Lestrange, who even now was speaking.
"Mm. Je suis très heureuse," Lestrange murmured, and though the boy didn’t know her language particularly well, he understood that much at least. "Merci beaucoup, Matou."
"No, thank you," he replied, bowing as he imagined one should in a situation like this. "After everything you’ve given me – everything you’ve done for me – it is the least I can do. Really.” There was a beat, a moment of almost silence, which the boy hurried to interrupt with a question. “What will you make for the final, do you think?" he asked, looking at the spread of ingredients the blonde had laid out.
"Mm. Somezing of blood, likely..." the French Champion said diffidently.
"Blood..."
As he repeated the last word, something stirred in the recesses of his memory: a potion that he had experimented with some time ago which also made use of blood. His blood, that was, mingled with kodama bark and some other things.
“Oui? What of it?”
“I’ve done a bit of work with blood myself, as it happens,” Shinji reflected, an odd expression crossing his features. “You can make the most interesting concoctions if you use it.” Blood was, after all, a very powerful – and personal – reagent, when it came down to it, given it was evocative of one’s life – or the life of whatever being supplied it.
“Yes?” was Lestrange’s response to his observation.
“I guess…what I’m saying is…” The boy swallowed, reaching for his courage. “If you wouldn’t mind, could we uh, work together?” he asked. “I mean, I know I’m inexperienced, compared to you, but if you don’t mind…”
Lestrange just eyed the boy, as if urging him to get to the point.
“I created a new potion under the influence of Felix Felicis,” he said matter-of-factly, “one that unlocks the drinker’s current potential and allows them to go beyond what they normally would be able to. I call it the Potion of All Potential, and it saved my life…more than once,” he admitted. But then Shinji sighed. “The trouble is, I never actually wrote down how to make it, and since I only have so much Thaumatagoria, I’m a little afraid to experiment. After all, if I fail…”
…then he would have wasted something precious and irreplaceable.
“And you believe zat I can ‘elp you,” the French Champion summed up.
“Yes.”
“You are not…afraid zat I vill take your potion for myself?” she inquired, to which the boy only shrugged.
“If you do, you do,” Shinji admitted, knowing he was powerless if she chose to do so. “But either way, I will at least have an idea of how to make the potion again, and how the effects of the ingredients come together into one grand potion.”
The blonde took a moment to ponder, before nodding.
“You are…sincere,” she noted, with a nod. “Very well, Matou. We will be…allies in zis.”
“Thank you,” was all the boy could say. “Really, thanks.”
Over the next few days, Matou Shinji found himself learning more about the intricacies of potions and the theory behind how the processes involved in brewing (the precise number and direction of stirs) helped one to blend one’s magical energy with the conceptual effects of the ingredients to create something new.
Oh, he’d known that magical energy was involved, and that many potions needed some kind of spell to be said over them in order to function (with Liquid Luck being one of the most notorious examples, which made him think that the six month long process of brewing was just to create a stable enough matrix for the spell to take hold in, given that the ‘luck spell’ didn’t work independently), but the specifics had always escaped him.
They didn’t anymore though, with him finding that the nearness of Lestrange as she pointed out how the mechanics of brewing worked wasn’t nearly as distracting as he’d assumed it would be, and by the time they broke camp to head for the arena where the final brewoff would be happening, Shinji grasped far more than he ever thought he would, to the point that Lestrange found herself momentarily surprised when the boy had pointed out something before she did.
“You ‘ave learned vell, Matou,” the French Champion had noted, with the boy feeling a flush of pleasure at the words of praise, given that Lestrange was…sparing with positive comments (and even that might have been too strong a word).
And then it was time to go, with the trio arriving at the compound adjacent to the final arena after a fast march that took no more than a few hours.
‘We were that close all this time?’ he wondered. Intellectually, he’d known that the island wasn’t so big, but to really experience that after two weeks of it being his entire world was…jarring.
Still, he wasn’t about to shy away from using the creature comforts of the facility set aside for the Champions, and on separating from the group and finding his way to a guestroom, indulged himself in having his clothing laundered and taking a long, cold shower.
After all, a week of living in the jungle without a change of clothes really was not conducive to personal hygiene, and he didn’t want to stink.
As it happened, the “Tri-Wizard Group”, as they were being called, were only third to arrive at the compound, with the Champion of Qausuittuq having arrived first, days before, and the Champion of Mahoutokoro arriving some time after.
“Huh,” Shinji grunted on learning this from Ramona.
He honestly thought that some of the others would have arrived by now, as according to the great clock in the common room of the compound, there were only hours left before the gathering and exploration phase of the Championship came to an end.
‘I hope the others are alright – they’re all decent people, and I’d hate it if anything happened to them.’
Well. Except Mischa, but the Russian Champion was already dead, at the hands of what Ramona was calling a “mysterious draconic being” who rescued the Brazilian, an appellation that made the boy sweat nervously. She…she couldn’t know, could she…?
“Personally, I thought the homing Avada Kedavra was a nice touch,” the shaman was saying, “especially releasing a layered volley like that to overload the Russian’s active defenses. Very clever.”
“Thanks,” Matou Shinji spoke before he could help himself, only to realize his mistake in the next moment. ‘Shit.’ “Um, that is…”
“So, how many people knew or suspected?” Rachelle Sondrol questioned, with everyone present – except Shinji – raising their hands and somehow managing to make Shinji feel very small in the process, as the boy let out a strangled urk. “That’s about what I figured.”
“How did you…?”
“…you do remember you were having fits earlier, where you were transforming…?”
“Oh.” Ah yes, that had happened, hadn’t it?
“So how did you manage that kind of transformation anyway?” Ramona questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Some kind of potion?”
“…not quite,” the boy admitted, with a nervous chuckle, his eyes darting to Sajyou Ayaka in the hopes that his senpai would say something to help him out.
“Fusion then?” the Champion of Qausuittuq pressed.
“I…I cannot confirm or deny any—"
“Alright, fusion then,” Ramona noted with more than a hint of satisfaction. “Want to see what the fight looked like from the outside?”
And then Shinji remembered.
“…it was…recorded?” he all but squeaked. “You mean…everyone saw what…”
“Only up to the part where you struck down Stukov, as we lost the feed after that, but yes,” Ramona acknowledged. “From what I hear, it was one of the most memorable moments of the competition. The press had plenty to write about.”
Had someone else been in Matou Shinji’s place, the boy was fairly certain that they’d want to sink into the ground right now. The boy certainly understood that – but also knew that actually sinking into the ground, as he was sorely tempted to do, would solve nothing.
‘…what would solve nothing, Master?’ came a quiet voice in the back of his mind, with Shinji jerking upright as he recognized the voice as that of Zelkova.
‘You’re awake!’ he exclaimed over his mental link with his familiar. ‘How are you feeling?’
There was a long pause after that, with Shinji about to get worried when the kodama finally replied.
‘…decidedly odd,’ came the response. ‘I had a very strange dream. Series of dreams.’ Then there was another pause. ‘At least, I think they were dreams. And if so, they were my first.’
‘…what did you see in your dreams?’ the boy hazarded, uncertain if he really wanted to know.
‘In what I believe was a dream, Master, we fought an echo of the ancient Moon and stole it power. We destroyed a forest corrupted by darkness. We faced a being from beyond the edge of reality. We died, crushed by the moon, our body broken as we sank into a sea of fire.’
As the kodama spoke, the images of what it had seen appeared in Matou Shinji’s mind, with the boy realizing that what his familiar had seen weren’t dreams.
…they were his memories.
‘Uh.’ The boy felt very awkward at the realization. ‘That uh…it wasn’t a dream,’ he told his familiar. ‘That…it happened.’
‘Even the moonfall?’
‘…I don’t remember it exactly, but…probably?’
‘Then how are we still alive, Master?’
It was a very reasonable question, really, though unfortunately, it was one that the boy didn’t have an answer to.
‘Maybe there was a miracle,’ the boy said at last. ‘I don’t actually know. I just remember…a song of silence and blood…or was it madness and pride?’ Countless shards colliding, coming together, shaped by the chaos of the world, by the quantum tide. ‘Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between dreams and reality.’
‘As you had trouble escaping your dream of Miss Tohsaka?’
The boy flinched at the question as the memories of the Trial of Courage bubbled up, and he remembered spending something like a year together with the girl whose opinion had once meant everything to him.
‘…yes,’ was all he said as he recalled how close he’d come to failing – to being locked forever in his thoughts, while his body decayed – like so many of those who had attempted the Trial before – those whose bodies he had pilfered from. ‘If I’d failed…I would have been like them.’
And no doubt, Elesa would have plundered everything of value from his living corpse.
…but he hadn’t.
One way or another, he had survived the Temple – somehow.
He’d survived his encounter with Stukov and the entity that had been using him.
He’d survived the gathering phase of the Championship, and was thus as qualified as any of his older, more worldly peers.
…but speaking of his peers, no doubt they’d noticed that he was distracted.
At least, Ramona and Sajyou Ayaka seemed to, though they didn’t really seem offended.
“Your familiar is well, it seems,” the Champion of Mahoutokoro spoke for the first time that conversation. “That is good.”
“Yes,” Shinji acknowledged. “It is. Good.”
With little else to do, the Champions spent the next hours discussing some of their experiences with the isle while they waited for the arrival of their fellows, with one of the most common questions being how they had gotten past the gigantic serpent at the center of the isle.
“…there was a ser—oh, right,” Shinji realized, recalling too late the great wyrm that had devoured a wyvern as if the latter had been merely an overstuffed bird. “I don’t think I ran into it.”
“It was easier to go around the center,” Sondrol spoke up. “No need to pass by the most obvious chokepoint on the island. Not to mention one of the places where so many died in the past.”
“I see,” Ramona noted. “But the shed skin of a wyrm is quite a potent ingredient, is it not?”
“If one can collect it without incident, then yes,” Sondrol acknowledged. “In some cases, however, the reward is not worth the risk.”
“Mm,” was Sajyou Ayaka’s contribution to the conversation, though what she meant by that, no one knew.
Eventually, as time began to wind down, others began to arrive, with Olu Akindele and Ka’aukai Kapule, the Champions of Uagadou and Nu’utea Kohu, stumbling through the door, their weary, very much worse-for-wear forms looking like they were about to collapse from exhaustion.
“We made it!” Olu declared, his words somewhat slurred. “Civilization at last!”
Ka’aukai, who was too tired to manage even that, simply slumped forward, falling into blessed unconsciousness at last, with the only thing that kept his face from smashing into the ground being Olu’s firm grip.
Wordlessly, Rachelle Sondrol rose to her feet and with greater strength than most would think, helped take the Polynesian’s exhausted form off Olu’s hands, as she helped the unconscious Champion to an empty couch.
“Vat ‘appened?” Lestrange asked, with the African Champion straightening under her regard, even managing to snap off something like a salute.
“Ma’am,” Olu stated formally. “You probably wouldn’t believe this, but we ran into the Russian.” He looked around, frowning. “Or rather the Russian found good old Libby…and, ah, Ka’au and I got dragged into the whole mess.”
“Yes, that part was recorded,” Ramona interjected, with the African Champion visibly needing a moment to process that.
“Oh. Well then,” the Champion of Uagadou vocalized. “Then you saw how we held off those bears and an entire forest of trees that had been somehow warped.”
“Oui,” Lestrange acknowledged.
“Well, things were looking pretty bad until a dragon showed up and distracted the Russian, giving us the chance to disengage,” Olu reported. “Neither of us were in particularly good shape after that. And when we were attacked by wraiths while we were trying to rest, well…”
“Wraiths?”
“Wraiths. Dragons. Snakes. I think there was even something like a nundu, which we just barely managed to escape from,” the African Champion stated. “This island is no joke. Pretty much everything on it tried to kill us – we’re damned lucky to have gotten here at all.”
“Congratulations, then,” Sajyou Ayaka interjected, with Olu nodding gratefully at her.
“Thanks,” the young man replied. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know what happened to that Russian asshole, do you? Because if he comes barging in here, I don’t think I can keep myself from ripping his goddamn face off.”
“A dragon ‘appened,” Rachelle Lestrange supplied, with a beatific smile stealing across the African Champion’s face as if Christmas had come early.
“Ah. Splendid!” the Champion of Uagadou exclaimed. “Guess in the grand scheme of things, dragons eat bears, huh?” He managed a chuckle, if a weak one.
“Oui,” Lestrange acknowledged with a nod.
“Do…uh, do I have time to go take a bath and everything before the brewing?” Olu hazarded. “Or…?”
“You have a couple of hours,” Ramona replied, with the African Champion nodding. “Go. You look like you need it.”
Taking the dismissal for what it was, Olu bowed to the gathered Champions before heading off to help clean up and look more respectable.
“Two more then,” the Champion of Qausuittuq remarked.
One of those two – Libatius Müller, the Champion of Castelobruxo – staggered through the doors of the compound with just under half an hour to go, looking quite…piratical with an obviously missing arm, his clothes turned into rags, and a dagger held between his teeth, his eyes darting hither and fro, from one Champion to the next before he seemed to sag, spitting out the dagger, which hit the ground with a dull clank.
“Gott im Himmel, if I never see another lake of fire for as long as I bloody live, it will be too soon,” the Brazilian Champion growled, shaking his body almost as if he was a dog trying to dry himself. “Trees and bears and dragons.” The man let loose a truly impressive litany of curses, with Matou Shinji’s eyebrows rising with each word. He might not understand what they meant, given that his main exposure to German was Tohsaka when she was casting spells, but the man sounded…angry.
Vehemently so.
Not to mention more than a little disgusted, bitter, and exhausted by whatever he had gone through.
Truly, German was an impressive language for that sort of thing.
…and then the man switched to Portuguese, then to English, and even to a bit of Japanese, with about the mildest thing he said being an insult to the Russian Champion’s heritage.
He fell silent after that, with Sondrol being the first to recover from her surprise.
“…feeling any better after your…rant?” the Champion of Durmstrang questioned.
Libatius snorted.
“I’ll feel better if that Stukov asshole is dead. Maybe blown to chunky little bits. Maybe eaten by dragon. Maybe melted by lava,” the Brazilian growled. “Whatever, as long as he’s fucking gone.”
“…yeah, he’s dead,” Shinji spoke up, with Libatius turning to him with a grunt.
“How’d he die?”
“Killing Curse,” the British Champion said matter of factly, with the Brazilian half-scowling at that.
“Quick and painless, huh? Too good for the fucking bastard,” he grumbled. “And here I was hoping that asshole would suffer after fucking cutting off my arm.”
“…actually, the spells recorded how he died,” Ramona offered. “Would you like to—”
“YES,” Libatius exclaimed, before he seemed to catch himself. “I mean, yes, if you don’t mind.”
Ramona queued up the footage of the fight, with the Brazilian watching with hungry eyes as he saw the immense devastation wrought by the fight, and how in the end, the Russian had been brought low by a combination of the torture curse, and six – no, seven Killing Curses.
“Well, good,” Libatius said with some satisfaction. “But why was the signal lost after that?”
“I don’t think anyone really knows for sure,” Sondrol stated. “But it was after that when the lake of fire appeared.”
“Maybe someone dropped a giant fucking rock on his corpse,” the Brazilian grunted, shaking his head. “At least that’s what I would do. Only way to be sure, after all. I don’t trust that black stuff he was using – kind of had a life of its own.”
“…well, for what it’s worth, that…stuff is gone now,” Ramona offered.
“It’s something at least,” Libatius noted, shaking his head. “Doesn’t make up for the potions I lost, the ingredients, my wand or…well, whatever. Take what I can get.” His gaze darted to the unconscious form of the Polynesian Champion, and he grunted. “Don’t suppose Akindele got in safely?”
“He did,” the Champion of Qausuittuq replied.
“Good. Would hate if someone actually died to that fucking bear,” the Brazilian muttered. He glanced over at Matou. “Oh, and you, British boy.”
“Y-yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“For…?”
“Don’t be an idiot, you know what,” Libatius grumbled, before heading off in the direction of the rooms, muttering something about he’d never fucking feel clean again.
After that, only one Champion remained at large, with the clock ticking down until only minutes remained.
“You know, if she doesn’t show up soon, she’ll be disqualified,” Ramona observed, her gaze fixed on the door.
“Worried about your fellow American?” Sondrol questioned, to which the Inupiat Champion shook her head.
“Worried? About Elesa?” the Champion of Qausuittuq inquired, taken aback. “Not really. I’d just prefer it if she took this seriously. It wouldn’t look good if she wasn’t even allowed to brew.”
Olu, by this time, had emerged from one of the rooms, wearing a simple, but clean set of black robes.
“What was that? Are we still missing someone?” the African Champion asked, glancing from the Champions on the couches to the door. “Don’t tell me…Müller? If he got himself killed after everything we did to bail his ass out of danger…”
“No, its…the American,” Sondrol supplied, to which Olu frowned.
“…personally, I don’t even understand what the hell Ilvermorny was thinking, choosing a model as a Champion,” he grumbled. “I mean, sure, she’s easy on the eyes and good at talking to the press. But she’s not…”
“She doesn’t seem capable of surviving on her own, you mean?” Sondrol questioned. “Especially on an island where everything is trying to kill her?”
“Yeah…pretty much that,” Olu agreed. “So unless this is some stupid spy shit, where she’s been fooling everyone with an act this whole time, we might as well stop waiting. She’s probably dead.” He paused. “No offense, Ahgeak.”
“None taken,” Ramona murmured. “But we might as well wait. She’s not confirmed dead, after all, and we waited for the rest of you.”
“…fair enough,” the African grunted, finding a seat next to the still insensate Ka’aukai. “Kapule hasn’t woken up?”
“No,” Ramona murmured. “Sajyou, would you mind…?”
The Champion of Mahoutokoro nodded, moving over to the Polynesian as her palms flared with golden light. After a moment to examine him, the Japanese Champion frowned, her fingers coming together over the youth’s stomach as his body jerked, a strange babbling escaping his lips as something gathered around his abdomen.
Before anyone could say something, she thrust her hand downward, seeming to pierce cloth and skin, much to Olu’s shock, only before he could intervene, she withdrew her limb to reveal a wriggling, black thing of filth.
“What the…”
“Corruption,” Ayaka uttered, her eyes narrowing at the…sight of the thing in her grasp. “From earlier wounds.”
“Corrupt…fuck the fucking bear,” Olu growled. “Was it poison, or…?”
“Something like a curse,” the Japanese Champion explained, even as the light wreathing her hand grew unbearably bright, searing away the corruption until it was utterly gone, destroyed on a level beyond the physical. “Had it not been caught…”
“…then what?”
“Death.”
“Fuck,” the African Champion grunted. “But…he’s not going to die now…is he? After everything we went through. After the hell we fought through to make it. If he dies…”
“He won’t, but he needs healing, if he is to fully recover,” Ayaka stated, withdrawing a potion from the pouch she carried and pouring it into the shivering Polynesian’s mouth, after which Ka’aukai’s body stopped shaking like a leaf in the wind. “This will help, but alone…”
“Wait…was that…what you made in the preliminaries?!” Olu asked, his expression almost disbelieving.
“Yes.”
“And you…that potion, you just…”
“A potion can always be brewed again. A life cannot be brought back, if it is lost.”
“I…I see,” the African Champion stated, swallowing. He’d never considered, never expected that a Champion would just give up one of their creations for the sake of another, especially not the Champion of Mahoutokoro, who had never given the time of day. “I…” he swallowed. “Could you examine me as well? I mean, if Ka’au was infected, then…”
Sajyou Ayaka nodded, bidding the youth to approach, which he did, albeit somewhat nervously.
“I hope there isn’t…one of those things inside me,” Olu stated, shaken by what he had seen. “But if there is…you’ll find it, right? I’m not going to turn into one of those tentacle bear things…or die, right?”
“Mm,” Ayaka noted, a non-committal sound which didn’t really help the youth’s nerves any, but soon enough she finished her examination. “You are clean.”
Olu nearly sagged with relief at the Japanese Champion’s pronouncement.
“Thanks. I could just kiss you right now,” the African Champion stated. “But, um, I won’t, since I uh, don’t think you’d want me to. Still, thanks. I owe you one. Really.”
He collapsed into an empty seat in a bit of a daze, noting out loud that there was only about a minute left before this phase of the Championship ended.
“…so, what was that about the model showing up?” he asked.
“She’ll be here,” Shinji stated, with Olu looking at the Japanese boy questioningly.
“You seem pretty sure of that,” he observed. “Know something we don’t?”
“I…she’ll be here,” Shinji repeated, even as the face of the clock began to pulse a bloody red, indicating that only thirty seconds remained.
“Well, doesn’t hurt to wait, I guess,” the African grumbled, turning to the door expectantly, keeping count inside his head as the time remaining dwindled to twenty seconds.
Fifteen.
Ten.
And then, just as Olu had counted down to seven, the door opened, with Elesa Labelle strolling through it, sipping from a straw she’d jammed into a coconut. In contrast to the other Champions, she seemed pristine, her skin untouched, her clothes perfectly arranged as if she was just stepping off the runway – as if she hadn’t been in a jungle for two weeks.
“Hey everyone, glad to see you all made it in one piece!” she greeted them, raising her…coconut to their health. “That was some adventure, huh?”
Olu found that he was unable to reply, as his mouth hanging open as if he was some sort of idiot.
“What…how?” he managed weakly, after finally regaining control over his face. “How are you even…?”
Alive? Looking refreshed? So fucking happy?
Any of these could have applied, but the youth couldn’t choose one over another.
“Well, you know, good genes. Taking time to manage my skin. Things like that,” Elesa replied airily. “You should try it sometime. Maybe take some time to enjoy the beach. I mean, we are on a tropical island, no sense not taking advantage of it.”
“T-t-the beach,” Olu repeated. “Like…what…”
“Oh, and there were those lovely new mud baths that appeared the other day,” the model added. “Did you know, volcanic mud is very good for your skin? Wasn’t expecting to find any, but I won’t say no to a pleasant surprise.”
The Japanese Champion just looked at her American counterpart, whose chipperness seemed to bleed down to normal – manageable – levels.
“Good to see you all made it,” Elesa added more seriously. “A toast to all of you for getting this far.”
“…and to you,” Ayaka stated.
But the American Champion didn’t seem satisfied with that response.
“I’m sure there are drinks here, and cups. Let’s have a proper toast, shall we, before we head on over for the brewoff.”
Those who could, did, each taking a moment to think of what they had gone through, how they had changed, and how it was they had found their way here, as Champions.
After that, the brewing section of the Finals was almost anti-climactic. Yes, in theory, it was a 24 hour long ordeal, where Champions would struggle and wrestle with themselves to come up with something to do with the ingredients they had gathered, but it never lasted the full 24 hours.
Champions either knew what they were doing, or didn’t – and those who didn’t often collapsed of exhaustion before the period was up, or ended up getting themselves killed from otherwise avoidable mistakes.
(Fatigue, incidentally, was the leading contributor to injuries during the brewing phase of the Potions Championship, given that a simple mistake could lead to the wrong ingredient being added to a cauldron, or a step done out of sequence, often with disastrous results.)
For this reason, it was common practice for Champions to take a dose of Liquid Luck before attempting to brew, just to make sure such mistakes did not happen. It wasn’t every day one brewed in front of so many people, let alone when the outcome might well determine one’s future.
Matou Shinji was no exception to this, though he’d wrestled with himself for some time before finally deciding to down the vial, reasoning that he could always acquire another, while this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
‘Sokaris told me to do my best, and I will.’
He had the recipe for what might very well be a legendary potion, after all, the ingredients he needed to make it, and the drive to see it through – as well as something to ensure that he would not make any mistakes in the brewing of it.
Whatever happened, whatever result he reached, he would be satisfied – for how could he not, when he had done so much, achieved so many things, few of which he could ever have imagined before setting foot on this isle?
There were a few notable moments during the presentations to the judges.
Libatius, for example, demonstrated the effects of his potion – one that would fix damage even from the worst of dark magic – by downing it, regrowing his arm in the process, much to the delight of the audience.
Lestrange crafted a potion which could suppress an individual’s magical potential – outright nullifying it in a large enough dose – which she pointedly did not demonstrate on herself, but a house elf that the CAS had provided for demonstration purposes.
Elesa created an Elixir of Waking Dreams, which allowed one to temporarily conjure forth things from dreaming into reality, allowing one’s imagination to reshape the world around them, depending on how much magical energy one had – though it did mean one couldn’t use other spells in the meantime.
Sajyou Ayaka…
…well, she created something that none of those watching would ever forget. A potion that when taken, rendered the Killing Curse – the deadliest curse of wizardkind – useless, with the spell having no effect at all on the target, not even leaving a scar. This was demonstrated, once more, on the poor CAS provided house-elf.
And of course, there was Matou Shinji and Ramona Ahgeak, who against all odds, created the exact same potion – the Potion of All Potential, which when taken by the unfortunate House Elf, restored its magical abilities and more besides.
This, as well, caused quite an uproar, for something that realized the highest potential of an individual was something everyone would want.
A potion worthy of legend.
And so it was that Matou Shinji found himself on the winner’s podium, standing just a step down and to the right from Sajyou Ayaka, with Ramona Ahgeak next to him, and Rachelle Lestrange to the Japanese Champion’s left, as the strains of the Japanese National Anthem, the oldest of any in the world today – and one of the shortest – began to play.
Kimigayo wa
Chiyo ni yachiyo ni
Sazare-ishi no
Iwao to narite
Koke no musu made
Choice 450: In the wake of the finals, there are a few days provided for media appearances, celebrations, and for guests to talk with various Champions, now that everything is over. As a Champion, he is expected to be at the closing ceremony, of course, but other than that, Shinji is free to do as he likes.
Choose three.
[ ] Debrief with Elesa
[ ] Talk to the Press
[ ] Talk with the CAS Reps about buying that house elf - and looking up any recipes he may have access to
[ ] Spend time with Luna - who no doubt is worried, when all is said and done
[ ] Speak with some of the guests - like Kaiduka and Yamato
[ ] (write-in)
Choice 451: And now the vote you have all been waiting for - what do you do with all the stuff you have acquired? Said stuff includes the Circlet of Mindsight, the Saint Quartz Ring, the Cord of Stubborn Resolve, Scarab of Protection, and an Illuminati Outfit.
For each item, choose one of the following:
[ ] Keep for yourself
[ ] Give to (write-in)
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; January 20th, 2019 at 01:11 AM.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Spend time with Luna - who no doubt is worried, when all is said and done
[X] Debrief with Elesa
[X] Talk with the CAS Reps about buying that house elf - and looking up any recipes he may have access to
We need to spend time with Luna, I am not even going to debate/change the vote on that one as that is my top pick. Spending time with Luna is important for both of them. She is worried and Shinji has his own issues/guilt to work thru with her.
For the other two choices I have some flexibility on, but I think grabbing the Potion of Restoration that he is a co-creator for is important as that one will seriously help us next year with werewolves and healing. The debrief might not be fully needed, but some talk between the two should happen. But I could swap that one with Kaiduka.
As for the Items vote, I think we need to have a small discussion together on that front. Yes we mostly have an idea here, but just a talk to make sure if a better distribution could be done now that we have the full sense of what we are able to give. I will hold off on that one for now.
[ ] Talk with the CAS Reps about buying that house elf - and looking up any recipes he may have access to
To get the recipe of the restoration Potion
[ ] Debrief with Elesa
[ ] Go with Ramona to get back the Book of Potion.
If you guys want to get the final recipe of the fading Potion se need Budge back.
[ ] Give to:
Circlet of Mindsight for Luna.
Saint Quartz Ring for Sion
Cord of Stubborn Resolve for Shinji
Scarab of Protection for Rin
Illuminati Outfit for Shinji.
Nice exchanges between the champions.
[x] Spend time with Luna.
[x] Speak with some of the guests - like Kaiduka and Yamato.
[x] Talk with the CAS Reps about buying that house elf - and looking up any recipes he may have access to.
First choice is self-explanatory.
Second choice because I want Shinji to check with Kaiduka about becoming part dragon - as in understanding his current condition - and how it could end up affecting Zelkova as well.
Third choice is mainly for the Elixir of Restoration recipe. It will serve to cure werewolves in Britain. While I wouldn't mind having a debrief with Elesa (we probably get a mini-debrief with her anyway), I think Touko would work just as much here. Especially since we can use that opportunity to present her requested item when she gives us access to potion data archives. And well, a house elf would be welcome.
[x] Saint Quartz Ring - Give to Sion.
[x] Scarab of Protection - For Rin.
[x] Circlet of Mindsight - For Luna.
[x] Illuminati Outfit - Keep it for yourself.
[x] Cord of Stubborn Resolve - Keep it for yourself.
Last edited by Daiki; January 20th, 2019 at 01:21 AM.
How much did this, uh, victory cost us exactly?
Does this mean the whole vial?before finally deciding to down the vial, reasoning that he could always acquire another, while this was a once in a lifetime opportunity
Last edited by Malorius; January 20th, 2019 at 04:45 AM.
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