"That was exhausting."
Alix was walking home after finishing the research with Professor Inengway. The results were...disappointing. After hours of research they had not managed to find a single type of fresh water fish that matched Mo's description even the slightest. Accompany that with the constant questioning from one Eric Holland and you get an annoyingly unsuccessful first effort.
"Well, look on the bright side. Now we know that I'm not any normal type o' fish. I really am quite unique."
"You could also be from the sea." Alix stated coldly.
"Well, yeah. I guess that could be an option but ya could at least pretend to go along with my self praise." Alix looked down at the fish, took a deep breath in and simply said, "No." Completely deadpan. Mo pouted but knew that this was just how the girl was.
"So, where to now? Didn't ya say that we had somethin' to do after school? Other than what we just did of course." Alix nodded. "We need to experiment."
"With what?" Mo questioned.
"With Omnia Nexus." Alix moved at a steady pace in the direction of her house but not quite home. She began to make her way through the dirt streets of Nogreni. The buildings were made of bricks and wood bringing much use to the town's masonries and carpenters. The buildings were rather close together but did not touch creating several connecting alleyways around the town.
These alleys were exactly what Alix needed. "Why do ya need an alley?"
"They happen to be some of the most well known homes to rats." Mo's face dropped. "Don't ya tell me that the thing that ya plan to experiment on is a rat."
"Well I would do another fish, but the only lake in town is now empty thanks to the sudden moving of its only resident. So...rats." Mo grimaced.
"Ya could do a bug or somethin'. I ain't gotta be a rat." Alix continued to look through the alley's for signs of rats. "Why the dislike of rats?" Mo shrugged. "Not that I dislike them. More like I don't like the idea of ya interacting with dirty street beasts." Alix raised an eyebrow.
"Dirty street beasts? Then what would you prefer? I practice on a bird?" Mo aggressively shook his head. "No! Birds would be even worst than rats. They treat my people like nothing but a bunch o' juicy morsels for them to devour as the so please. The friends that I've lost because of those feathered fish guzzlers! Never, in a million years, will I ever accept you bringing a bird into our group!"
"Ok, fine." Alix reared back at the fish's intense disdain for the avian species. "Well, good news then because I found a rat." Mo looked around. "Where?" Alix approached an alley that was between a butcher and a jeweler. The alley was, of course, dark not assisted by the Blaze which had already become barely visible. Mo tried to see whatever Alix saw but looking into the darkness through water and a glass fish bowl made it quite difficult to see.
"I don't see it." Mo stated defeatedly. "You don't need to." Alix placed Mo onto the ground and leaned forward. She spoke in a gentle, warm tone. "Hey. Come here little guy. I want to talk to you."
From the darkness, moving cautiously, a small white rat approached the girl. The rat was quite small with white fur and appeared to be very scared of the girl beckoning it forward.
"No need to be afraid. I am not going to hurt you. See?" Alix opened both of her hands and revealed them to the rat. "No weapons. Nothing dangerous. I just want to have a talk." Seeing that the girl meant no harm gave the rat a bit of courage as he quickened his approach."
"I've never seen ya this gentle on anyone. Not even me." Mo stated with a hint of envy in his voice. "Well, you are not a child and I have known you for about a year now so it would be a bit strange to baby you like this."
"Just sayin'. Ya feel quite motherly right now. Didn't know ya had a side like that." Alix rolled her eyes and continued to guide the small rat into her hand. Once in her hand she lifted it off of the ground and to eye level. "Hi there." Alix greeted. The rat did not respond but did seem to be able to understand her words.
"I have a little gift to give you. It is a special spell that will make you strong. Do you want it?" The rat cocked his head to the side as if asking what she meant. "You see, I am a sorceress. I can make all sorts of magic that can change the fates of those that it is casted on. I see that you seem to be small but have a lot of fight. Am I right?" The rat nodded fully invested into the giant's story.
"Ya know that this has to count as some form of scammin', right?" Alix glared at Mo causing him to flinch before she returned to her gentle smile at the rat. "Well, I can help you grow up to be big and strong. Stronger than any other rats that try to pick on you. Does that sound good?" The rat nodded vehemently without a trace of doubt in his eyes. "Good." Alix gently set the rat back on the ground.
"Now, time for the spell." Alix lifted her hand and closed her eyes. She sat in complete concentration. Her hand extended straight out in front of her. Unmoving like the leaves of a tree on a windless day...
Nothing was happening. Alix opened her eyes and turned to Mo.
"What?" The fish asked. "How do I cast Omnia Nexus?" Mo was awestruck. "What do ya mean how?! The same way ya casted it last time!" Alix nodded. "I get that." She took a deep breath.
"But how did I do that?" Mo was utterly surprised. He did not expect this kind of problem to occur and neither did Alix from the looks of it. "Look, from what I remember ya just wrote on the air. So, do that again." Alix sighed. "I get that but it isn't as easy as it sounds."
Mana is in constant descent. It is literally raining from the sky at all times so gathering mana is simple but to write on it was a different thing entirely. "Firstly, mana is not a tangible object so I can not simply touch it. Secondly, mana is invisible to anyone not blessed with Spirit Sight so I can not see it. And lastly, I do not even know how to begin separating my Lis from my body and simply writing it in the air like a pen on paper."
Mo nodded. "That makes sense. Wait, don't ya do somethin' similar when yer writin' yer spells. Why don't ya just do it like that?" Alix let out an impatient breath. "That works because I have a physical writing utensil and a physical piece of parchment to write on. All I have right now is the air and my body." Mo shrugged.
"Then just use that."
"I DON'T KNOW HOW!!" Alix shouted at the fish in anger. Mo flinched back in fear. "Uhh, Lexi?" Mo pointed his fin to behind the girl bringing her back to her current situation. She turned around and saw the now terrified rat hidden behind a box and shaking.
"Hey little fella. I apologize, I just got a bit frustrated at the stupid fish over there. I am sorry if I scared you at all." The rat was still shaking but slowly peeked from behind the box as if he was asking, "Are you sure it's safe?"
"It will all be fine. Come here. " Alix motioned over. "What if I gave you something that no other rat has." The rat was immediately interested and ran in front of the girl like he said, "What is it? What is it?" Alix smiled. "What if I gave you a name?" When speaking those words something that Alix could not predict happened. The string came out. The small loose pink string that came out of her chest whenever she would talk to Mo.
That same pink string was now stretching out to touch the rat. Alix picked the excited rat up with one of her hands. "How would you like to be called, Felix?" The rat jumped for joy and Alix felt the string pull at that moment. She pushed on the string with her mind and it flew out and connected to the rat now named Felix.
Felix was jumping and squeaking in the girl's hand when the squeaks suddenly shifted into, "Felix! Felix! The pwetty giant named me Felix!" the joyous child like voice shouted out loud. "So you like the name?"
"Of course! My bwothas always called me a runt but none of them got named by the pwetty giant!" Alix smiled. She had thought that this day was going to end up being a waste because she didn't know how to cast the spell but things had turned around.
It wasn't Omnia Nexus but she did feel a bit closer to understanding how this pink string worked. Felix's cute little happy dance and his adorable, and fitting, voice were just the icing on the cake.
"Alright, Felix. I can't cast the spell on you today." Felix's whole demeanor shifted as he became sad at the girl's words. "You can't?" His cute little beady eyes glistened as they filled with tears. "It will be okay. I should be able to cast it on you in a few days. Then none of your brothers will be able to pick on you. How does that sound?" Felix nodded somberly but did seem to feel better.
"Okay." Alix put Felix down and waved. "Bye, Felix." Felix sudden became really happy and ran to the nearest wall. He used the wall to stand bipedal and waved one of his hands imitating the girl. "Bye bye, Pwetty Giant!!" With that Felix turned around and scurried away into the dark. Alix stood up from the ground smiling. She turned around and saw a clearly dissatisfied Mo.
"What a beautiful connection that ya just made." The fish said sarcastically. Alix chuckled.
"You really are such a drama queen."