[Leela] Chapter 7: Cardinals of Xalaster

[Throndir]

Location: Golden Wing Inn - Leela's Room
Date: Day 5 - Time: 8 AM

"I'm up! I'm up." Efrit's tired voice came from the room. You heard a yawn then as well. Behind you Abi was simply bouncing around. Zephyrus' presence was still there, along with this was as light breeze that you could feel around you. Given the fact that this was indoors, more than likely it was Zephyrus.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

'Same.' The young woman thought when she heard Efrit yawn loudly through the door. Not only had she been woken up at an ungodly hour that morning, she also had been waking up much earlier than she usually did since she had been summoned. Honestly, she was surprised she had been able to study in her sleep zombie mode. She guessed that was probably in thanks to her stupid early morning classes back in her own world... Nope. She could not think about her own world right now. Tired Leela and thinking of her own world would only lead to an ugly scene.

Forcing her mind away from her own world, she concentrated on Zephyrus and the light breeze she could feel. Leela glanced around the room to see if other things were affected by his presence or if he was just... clinging to her. Huh... She wondered if that ability of his could be useful to keep her cool if the weather was hot. One of the books she ready once, a girl could control wind and she would use it in that way, making all of her friends jealous. It would probably be rude to ask the wind spirit to hang out her just for that, though... And besides, she had magic now. She could probably alter her wind shield spell to do the same thing. Although that would drain mana...

"Come in whenever. There's still food." She finally called back through the door before moving back to her chosen seat. She was still thinking about Zephyrus and using wind magic to keep her cool or warm.

[Throndir]

There was as light breeze of wind through the entirety of the room, given the fact that some of the curtains were rustling. However, the room itself was too small to figure out if Zephyrus was specifically clinging to you, or if he was just simply around the room.

"Give me a moment!" Efrit called out from his room near your door. "Unless you liked what you saw the first time we met." His voice had a hint of mischief in it.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela paused in her steps at Efrit's response. This was part the reason she had not just burst open the door to wake him up. But his words left two things to consider. Either he normally slept in the nude in the privacy of his own room - which she had no opinion of as long as he remembered to put clothes on before leaving his room - or he had spontaneously combusted in his sleep and burned all his clothes off, as he had mentioned happened sometimes. The latter was what she worried about most. She did not need the inn's staff wondering why half the room he had stayed in was scorched.

"You didn't burn the bed or room, did you?" She called back, her worry obvious in her tone of voice.

[Throndir]

"Of course not!" Efrit responded back. There was no more response from him after that, and in a few more minutes, he walked in from his door, thankfully clothed.

"You said there was food?" Efrit asked the moment he was through the door. It didn't take him long to see the cart. Abi had already had her fill, but the imp had been looking longingly at the food still. "I'm glad the imp didn't eat everything already. Even a demon general such as I require sustenance..." Efrit said, his eyes locked onto the cart. He started making his way towards it then. He was moving at a quick and driven pace. Too driven.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

With Efrit now awake, dressed, and ready to eat, Leela decided she might as well eat the food she had set aside for herself. It was definitely a much smaller portion than what the imp had eaten and what was left on the cart, considering the inn staff had brought up much more food than necessary again.

"I'm pretty sure if Abi ate all the food they provided, she would explode." Honestly, she was surprised the imp had not exploded already from the amount she had eaten. But considering she had told Abi not to eat anything once they were out in public, she figured it was okay to let her eat her fill.

"I hope you obtained the amount of beauty sleep that a general such as yourself requires, as well." Leela smiled at him before taking a bite out of one of the pastries. She was jealous that he had gotten to sleep in, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She could have gone back to sleep after accepting the food, but then there would be no one to keep Abi in check. Not to mention, she was not sure she would wake up before Efrit had if she had gone back to sleep and it would not be fair to keep all the food hostage just so she could sleep in... At least she had made good progress in her studies.

[Throndir]

With the amount of food that was consumed, it didn't seem possible that Abi had managed to fit it all in her stomach. The content just didn't seem to add up at all.

"Oh yes. The beds here are actually pretty good." Efrit said as he stuffed his mouth. For once, there was no sarcasm or teasing in his voice - he was too engrossed in eating the food presented to him. "Human food isn't that bad either." He stated. "We need to... bring a lot of it... for my cuties." He continued in between bites.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Indeed. I wish I could have enjoyed mine more. I told the staff who brought up breakfast to not wake us so early for breakfast if we stay another night. I wish I had known that they thought six in the morning was the best time to wake guests up." She was disgusted at his eating behavior so early in the morning and made it a point to not watch him eat as she nibbled at her own food.

"It is my hope that negotiations will go well and that the Orthodoxy leaders will accept a trade agreement with us. If so, your desire to share such food with your... cuties... is more likely to come to fruition." And then she would not have to experiment with the bland food they had back in Roshandan. Or perhaps she still could and try to pass it off as a delicacy to people here... she would have to determine toxicity levels first, though. She did get a title for surviving food poisoning after eating that first bland, purple fruit. So if it was toxic or poisonous to humans, then that would not work out... Unless she made it out to be like poisonous things people ate in her world. Wasn't pufferfish poisonous if not cooked right? But people still dared to eat them.

"Speaking of negotiations with the Orthodoxy leaders, I don't know if you heard me the first time I knocked on your door, but the maid servant said that Bishop Mateo will be here around ten. So we have an hour or two until then."

[Throndir]

"Around 10? Got it." Efrit said, taking a big bite from a dish that looked very much like some sort of frittata. He chewed for a few seconds and continued after. "Though, I'm not sure how formal my clothes could be for meeting with leaders." He shrugged. "Demons never really needed fancy clothes, but humans usually have more pomp to them when it comes to things like these..."

It was around that time, when Zephyrus finally appeared. Abi nor Efrit noticed him of course, but he seemed to have yawned and blinked lazily at you. "Good morning Princess!" Zephyrus said, some excitement in his voice. "I found out what happens when I force myself to hold a physical form... I become like... a slow moving slime." Zephyrus said, trying to explain.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"You don't really need to look formal. You just need to look like my knight, accompanying me for my protection." She paused for a moment. He certain did not look like a knight, with no armor or even a sword. Eh, that was fine. They knew nothing about her world and people. She could make up whatever she wanted. Besides, in her modern world, people could be knighted and only have to wear a fancy suit to the royal court. Besides, with his fire abilities, she could say he was a mage knight.

"If you want to dress up, though, we can see if the men's clothing I brought from the castle fit you." She had, after all, picked out the nicer stuff to show off what they had to offer trade as far as textiles went.

Leela rose and retrieved the clothing in question from her backpack to show Efrit.

"Zephyrus!" She exclaimed at his sudden appearance and chipper greeting. "You're okay!" She was glad that he had recovered already.

Leela listened to Zephyrus try to explain the results of his experiment. He had already said that trying to become physical made him feel sluggish the day before, but she was still not sure if that was just how he felt from the physical form or if that was how he felt from using his mana. By this point, though, she was pretty sure he had to use mana to hold a physical form. "You mean you become extremely sluggish and lethargic when you use up all your mana?"

[Throndir]

"Sure. I am your knight after all. I might as well look the part too."

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Zephyrus exclaimed.

Stats some actions for the next 2 hours before Mateo's arrival.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Leela handed the clothing over to Efrit. She hoped that they fit him or were adjustable enough to look like they fit him. "I might be able to alter them a little before Bishop Mateo comes if needed."

"I'm sorry the test did not result in you getting to experience sleep, Zephyrus. At least we know what happens when you use up all of your mana, though. I think it would be best to avoid letting that happen again. But you should definitely keep on practicing!"

-If alterations are needed on the outfit, Leela will spend time working on that and chatting with her companions.

-If alterations are unnecessary, Leela will ask Efrit if he knows any Ethereal spells he can teach her.

[Throndir]

Efrit took the clothes, and waving goodbye, went back into his room to change.

"I will keep practicing for you, Princess Leela." Zephyrus said as he smiled softly.

After another few more minutes, Efrit came back out of his room.

"What do you think Great Princess?"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to, though. I don't mean to force you into doing anything." Leela was worried that it might not actually be something he wanted for himself. She barely knew him, after all. Maybe the reason he had never practiced before was just because he did not want to.

Leela eyed Efrit when he came back in from changing, looking over the overall fit of the outfit. He did look good in that style, though.

Spoiler

Perception/Tailoring to see how well the clothes fit Efrit.
Perception:

Rolled 1d20+4 : 19 + 4, total 23

Tailoring:

Rolled 1d20+13 : 5 + 13, total 18

[close]

[Throndir]

"I want to! Before I didn't have a real good reason to. Even if I became able to physically touch things, no one was able to see me anyways. Now though it's different. Because of you and Zavan."

Perception (clothes): 23, Profession (tailor): 18
The clothing was a bit tight in some places, making you think it was originally made for someone a bit smaller, but for the most part, it fit well.