At the thought of breaking off a piece of her stone, Amazon became curious and reached up to touch the warm, strange gem. She scratched her claw along it and it created such a horrible feeling that she hissed and shuddered violently. She shook out her head to try and dispel that feeling before thinking about what Envy was saying.

Her? Use magic? She had no idea that there was even a spell that would heal herself like that. She wondered if she knew such kind of things already - after all, others had said that magic was instinctual and that everyone had the ability. She closed her eyes and focused on her gem and the strange workings within it. There was something there, something that didn't quite feel like the strange heat and sickness that usually plagued her body. This was something else that felt different. Not pleasant but not bad.

She released it into her body, hoping that it wouldn't do anything bad. A soft green glow covered her body for a moment as strange things squirmed through her body. Some of the sickness that rolled through her stomach began to lessen, but it didn't do much to dispel the headache or the itchiness on her head. After a moment, she let it go and breathed out a breath she realized she had been holding.

She looked towards Envy, her eyes wide. "Was that magic? Did I just do magic?"

@Envy

Amazon's silence caused Envy to twitch and flicker uncomfortably, retreating a few steps away and coiling around, before pacing like a shark in front of her. Trying to comfort or inspire really wasn't Envy's thing, and for some reason the weasel found nervousness clenching in their chest in anticipation of their reply. They paused and tensed as the lizard hissed and shuddered at her own contact, staring expectantly.

They relaxed slightly as she closed her eyes, sitting once again on their hind legs to watch. They spotted the soft glow creeping over her body and appeared to relax, not without a curious perk of their ears, though. They sniffed, wondering what type of magic it was she used. Perhaps It was the one they'd suggested, or something else entirely. Who could know? "Well?" they asked impatiently.

At the release of breath, closely followed by some questions, Envy nodded vigorously. "'Course it was! Did you feel anything? What kind of magic was it?" They paused. "Wait! This was your first time? No wonder you thought I was spouting shit. Believe me, when you find the magic that works, you'll never look back."




"Speech."

@Amazon

Wow, she had just done magic! She had thought that she had no capability for it, or, at least, no capacity for it, especially now that she had found out her gem was toxic. She wondered if that could at all affect how she cast her magic or what would happen. Hopefully not.

To answer Envy's question, she thought for a moment to try and remember what exactly it felt like. "Well, it was kind of warm, and I just kind of started feeling better. It was gradual and kind of warm. And it was like there were millions of tiny things rushing through my body. It was strange, but now I do really feel a bit better. Just the stomachache part, though." At least she wouldn't get sick anymore, for now. She wondered if it would always work, if she would be able to continuously use it to feel better.

"What other magics, then, do you think would help? I know that you use your magic for absorbing things, but I can eat and drink fine. I don't know what kind of magic I have, after all. You say that you know a lot about magic, can you guess what type I have?"

@Envy

"Yes, yes? Go on..." Envy said with interest as the lizard answered their question. They weren't particularly interested n the warmness, but that seemed to be a big part of it. But the millions of tiny things moving? that was something Envy was interested in. Their rounded ears pricked. "Hmmm, that's... new," they muttered thoughtfully.

They tapped their claws on the ground as they thought. They'd never heard of anything like that before. Chances were, this was the first time they'd encountered this magic type. But with a noticeable effort, they closed their eyes and thought back to Amras' explanations of the magic types and flicked through them one by one. Light, primal, arcane, plant, fire, water, energy, disease... Envy knew for a fact that they were primal. They had no idea what Amras was. Or, for that matter, what Li was. Imperia was fire. Pride was energy.

Lots of little things moving... sounded completely alien to them, but the possibilities didn't completely evade them. It couldn't be air or plant or primal, so that just left... "Disease," they said with confidence. "You have power over disease. The good and the bad. You must have purged your gut of all the bad stuff, but it won't heal your wounds."

Envy considered for a moment. "To do that, I think, you'd need just plain old magic. Let me try..." They focused on the itching, swollen flesh surrounding the gem upon their tongue that was such a problem. They knew that it wouldn't help them to eat or drink and the pain would soon return, but maybe they could demonstrate... by making it look a little bit less disgusting. They focused, and magic flooded their being. As predicted, it eased the tingling and itching, and they felt the pain subside. The gem suddenly felt much easier to bear.

Envy opened their jaws again to show the lizard the result. The swelling had gone down, the redness subsided. The gem looked as innocuous as it should have been from the start. It still smelled toxic, but looked a little less grotesque.

"Speech."

@Amazon

Amazon watched Envy deliberate, a little bit nervous at their expression and their general lack of response. Did she have some kind of weird, unknown magic? She didn't really want that. She had no intention of being a practicer of magic, unless she found some way to get it to help her. She shifted a bit nervously, self-conscious about her gem again. And then shuddered at their response.

Disease? Her magic was of disease? This knowledge felt wrong, somehow, as if her very essence was the cause of her sickness. Did that mean that her gem was making her sick because of her magic? But that didn't seem right - what she had felt when using her magic hadn't felt sickly. It had felt warm and pleasant. She didn't associate disease, like Khloros, with that feeling.

But plain old magic? She didn't quite grasp that until Envy opened their mouth again to show her the gem again, but this time it was considerably less disgusting. In fact, it had seemed to have healed a bit.

Excited to try this, she closed her eyes and tried to focus again. She opened the gateway to her magic and instead of pulling it away, she simply let it go free. Nervous, however, she didn't open it too wide and hoped that it would heal her, at least a little bit.

She felt warmth again, but different. Less...part of her. Like warm water washing over her body but on the inside. Her head began to steady and the scales around her gem began to feel less itchy. A little surprised, she closed the gateway before she could heal herself all the way and looked up at Envy. "Uh, was that it? I feel a little better now. Do the scales look better?"

@Envy

Envy took the silence as a bad sign, and they watched the lizard closely, expecting a volley of questions or... something, in response to that revelation. But nothing came. They did however, take note when Amazon closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate. The weasel's tail twitched, wondering to themselves if they could really afford to be so loose with their magic around this kid. After all, the weasel liked to hoard their possessions jealously, and magic was no different.

They tried not to let sourness show in their stance or expression as the lizard successfully managed to replicate their newly-learned magic; they'd been hoping for a failure, at least; something to confirm that they were still the one on top. For once, the relationship was equally symbiotic, and although Envy felt in control, they didn't feel as empowered as they would have liked. But that didn't change the fact that they felt a kinship with this lizard. it was a confusing array of emotions that contrasted their usual state of mind, and they found themselves growing nervous for the state of their reputation.

They shrugged. "Probably. How do you feel? Not sure. Lemme see." The weasel slunk In close, peering at the gemling's head. Whatever the spell had been, it did appear to have had some effect. The skin around the base of the gem was much less angry-looking than it had been before, they assumed similar to their own. "Looks better to me."

"Speech."

@Amazon

For a second, Amazon thought that it would look the same that nothing she had done had made her wound any better. But then Envy's words touched her ears and she sighed greatly. "Oh, thank the Spire. I can heal it." The words pierced deep into her heart and brought even more tears to her eyes. It was a promise of hope, even when she got sick, she could get better. Perhaps magic was not as terrible as it seemed.

"Thanks, Envy," she sighed, raising a claw to run it along the wounded flesh. It felt almost normal, like the rest of her scales did. "I don't think I'll ever be as good at magic as you, but this definitely helps. Maybe I try and find new ways of using magi to heal myself, or at least make it easier when I get sick." She lowered her claw again and wondered, again, about Khloros. He said she was dying. Was she still? When she knew of this magic?

@Envy

Envy nodded, ears twitching to the lizard's sigh of relief. They bared their teeth in a grin. It was their magic that had done this; and they felt a sincere sense of pride at the thought. They felt certain that Amazon would remember this impact and their generosity in giving her the magic she needed to feel healthy. "How does it feel?" they asked absently, a hint of elation in their tone, watching closely.

They nodded as she thanked them, her gratitude further helping their sense of pride. Her humbleness about it helped, too. The weasel examined the claws of one of their front claws idly, though they couldn't entirely cover up their pleasure at the situation. "No problem. If you find anything new, think of me, okay? I'd like to know."

"Speech."

@Amazon

Amazon smiled back, feeling genuinely thankful for Envy helping them figure this out. Her life would be easier now that she knew how to heal herself, or at least stave off the illness. She wondered if it would ever stop working, but pushed away the thought for now. The important thing was that it would work for at least a little while. That was all she needed.

"I feel a lot better! My headache is gone and the scales are less itchy and painful. I'll probably have to keep casting the spell, though. I don't think it stopped whatever is going on with my gem." To confirm, she reached up and touched it, quickly pulling back her claw at its warm surface. It wasn't particularly hot and didn't burn her, but it just felt wrong somehow.

She nodded. "I will. And if I ever need any more help, I'll find you and ask. Er, where can I find you, usually?"

@Envy

Envy looked pleased with themselves, tail flicking excitedly. "Good!" they said, pausing as she complained abut having to re-cast the spell. They gave her an incredulous look, and seemed as though they were about to say something bitter- but quickly huffed and shook their head. "Hmph! that never stopped me, did it?"

They watched as she touched, and then flinched, at their gem. Envy bent their neck to scratch their chin, regardless of whether there was an itch there or not; perhaps they were considering whether it'd be worth the effort of trying to give their gem a poke. Probably not. They straightened up and nodded eagerly at the prospect of Amazon seeking them out. "You do that. Uh, Orion, usually. I live there so, chances are, I'll be there. Look for a stream, I live in a hole under some big rocks. But don't, y'know... go in. If I find any of my stuff's been stolen, I won't be happy."

"Speech."

@Amazon