Chapter Text
Mirabelle POV:
Isabeau: “It’s very common here!”
Odile: “I see.”
(It really is, everyone you know has used it at least once!)
> “Everyone I know has used it, there are a lot of classes for it!”
Miki: “I don’t know much about body craft, it only had a passing mention in the book about craft I had access to.”
Isabeau: “It’s pretty complicated and time consuming, but you are given the time and resources to perform your Change due to how tied in it is with the Change belief.”
> “I took a class on it, so I know how to do it, but I don’t fully understand how it works…”
Odile: “It is complicated, getting information on it in Ka Bue is difficult, but I found ways.”
Miki: “May I ask a question?”
Isabeau: “Of course!”
Miki: “How does it work?”
(Change, you think it has something to do with internal craft? You think you remember something about intention forming into craft…)
Isabeau: “As with all craft, it’s turning intention into action. The way craft is channeled through our bodies allows our thoughts to be used to affect the world around us!”
Miki: “I am aware, that was a hurdle I had to overcome in order to craft at all.”
Odile: “From what I have read, you have to plan out what your body would look like well before you start.”
> “Yeah, then you have to visualize it in your head for months…”
Isabeau: “You need to have a good idea what the result will be in order to get it right. Once you have it visualized, you lock yourself in a Changing Room and bring craft-restoring food to last you months!”
Miki: “May I ask something else?”
Isabeau: “Once again, you may!”
Miki: “What are the limits?”
(Limits?)
Isabeau: “There are things you are advised not to do, but otherwise, the exact limits are unknown.”
Miki: “Can body craft be used on others?”
(Using body craft on someone else?)
Isabeau: “Hmmm…”
Odile: “It is possible, but difficult and highly illegal pretty much anywhere you go.”
(You think about someone crafting your body without your permission)
(You… don’t like thinking about that)
Mirabelle shivers.
Miki: “So it is possible?”
Odile: “...yes… why?
Miki: “It means I might be able to use it.”
Isabeau: “Now that I think about it, how do yo-”
Odile: “Get ready, a group of 4 Égarés are up ahead.”
(Oh! Sadnesses! It’s been a while since you all last fought, this is the first time with Miki in the party!)
(They come into view, two of them are scissors and the other two are paper and rock)
Odile: “Mirabelle, heal the party, Isabeau and Miki, help me make a rock jackpot.”
> “Got it!”
Isabeau: “Sounds like a plan!”
Miki: “Command received.”
(Your turn comes up first, you provide the party with a pepper juice)
Isabeau: “ROCK!”
(He punches one of the scissor Égarés)
(The paper Égaré lunges at you!)
(Miki jumps in front of you and takes the hit)
> “Miki! Are you okay?”
Miki: “Affirmative, I have no craft type at the moment, the damage is minimal.”
(Odile hits the same scissors Égaré with a Rock I, it looks weak)
(That Égaré just sits there and cries)
(The other scissors Égaré take a shot at Isabeau, not much happens)
Isabeau: “I can take these all day!”
Miki stiffly stands and points her arm at the healthy scissors Égaré. Her audio emitters float in front of her hand which is in the form of a fist.
(What a unique way to craft!)
Miki: “Type: [Rock].”
A barely visible burst of craft exits her fist and goes through the audio emitters, a crashing sound echoes out from them as it passes through the emitters.
The blast hits the sadness and seems to only make it stumble a bit.
Miki: “My craft type is now rock.”
(It’s so interesting to see it in action!)
(The rock Égaré swings its fist at you!)
Miki blocks it again, it pushes her back a bit.
(Your turn is up, you go to heal Miki)
> “Fancy Heal!”
(You hold out your hands and channel healing craft into her)
(It doesn’t feel like it’s working???)
Miki: “Healing craft does not work on me, it is made for organic beings.”
(Oh change!!! You just wasted your turn!)
Isabeau: “It’s okay! We can handle this no problem!”
He uses his standard attack on the rock Égaré, it looks hurt. The weakened scissors Égaré continues to cry.
The paper Égaré takes a shot at Odile, she staggers.
Odile: “I’ll be fine, Slow II.”
She slowed the paper Égaré. The healthy scissors Égaré swings at Odile.
(Miki blocks it again???)
(Her chest looks scratched up!)
> “Miki!”
Miki: “The damage is minimal.”
Miki moves to a rear position and sends her audio emitters to the front in a triangle around the party.
Miki: “Amplify: [Jackpot].”
(Music is coming from the emitters!)
(You feel the craft in the air start tingling?)
The rock Égaré takes a swing at Mirabelle and misses.
(You hand Odile a sour tonic)
[Hi there, it’s Miku! Can we connect?]
(Miki is singing?)
It started with a sound
Stray dots and dashes
Cross a wire and rebound
(The craft in the air is vibrating, it feels stronger)
And just like magic
It’s a skyhigh debut
Oh, it connected me to you
It’s true
(My dear, come here, I want to see you!)
(Miki is dancing, she looks really engrossed in this!)
Once the line is live
[Hello?]
And all the world can be reflected in your eyes
[Sorry, wrong number]
We trip the fiber optic light across the sea
Anything to bridge the gap from you to me
I patch the scene through reverie, and-
The healthy scissors Égaré leaps at Miki; she dances out of the way.
Lo
An unfinished colloquy
Reply received
Reflected in harmony
Isabeau: “ROCK!”
He pounds the healthy scissors sadness that leapt into range, it barely holds on.
In neon lines
These letters that tether
Will link us straight through the heart
(The craft in the air is overflowing with power! The air feels thin now, it’s time for the jackpot)
Odile: “The jackpot is ready!”
And when the air grows thin
We’ll do it again
United miles apart
(You all gather the craft within yourselves and prepare a massive rock attack)
So in the morning light
We etch the connection
And send it straight to the heavens
(You release the all out rock attack on the Égarés, you feel in sync with the rest of your party. The two scissors Égarés dissipate instantly!)
Darling
Speak to me, a memory
And let it ring to all eternity
(You hit the rock Égaré and it too disintegrates)
Across the intersection
We open our connection
Resound with all affection
Beyond expression
All that's left by the end of it is the paper Égaré, it looks very weak, it just cries.
Miki’s emitters return to her and the song stops, it’s her turn.
(Miki looks at it and… guards?)
Odile’s turn comes up and she finishes it with a Scissors I.
Odile: “That’s the last of them.”
Isabeau: “Whew… that was a tough one!”
Odile: “You don’t see 4 Égarés in a group very often, but still not much of a threat to us.”
(Odile is breathing heavily!)
> “Let me heal you!”
Odile: “Thank you Mirabelle, that jackpot almost got me back to full strength, but not quite.”
Miki: “Jackpots are able to heal me, so I don’t need any servicing.”
Isabeau: “And I’m all good here!”
Mirabelle finishes healing Odile.
Odile: “I really need to get better stamina, hits like that should not be that devastating.”
Isabeau: “You’ll get better with time, Madame!”
(You wouldn’t have taken those hits aimed at you very well, it’s a good thing Miki protected you!)
> “Thank you for protecting me and Odile, Miki!”
Miki: “It was the logical course of action, I am hard to damage and keeping the healer and main damage dealer up in exchange for a little bit of damage is the obvious choice.”
Isabeau: “That skill you used was impressive, it was ‘Amplify Jackpot,’ right?”
Miki: "Affirmative."
Odile: “That jackpot was far stronger than I’m used to. The paper Égaré was completely undamaged before it, but it was as good as dead afterward, a rock jackpot usually does not have that much power.”
Miki: “It is a skill I am proud of, it’s also-so really fun fun to us-use!”
Mirabelle: “You’re really good at singing!”
(Her voice is so beautiful! You wouldn’t expect that rough voice of hers to be so wonderful!)
Isabeau: “It was really motivating! I felt like I could do anything!”
Miki: “That song is part of a playlist I was gifted.”
(It was a very unique song, you haven't heard music like it!)
Isabeau: "Earlier, I was wondering about how you used craft, but it looks like it has something to do with sound, right?”
(Sound? You suppose she did use sound during both of her crafts… Could you do that? Would it be by channeling craft through sound waves? Actually… that could work! If you can’t channel craft through your body, then using the craft in the air might just work!)
> “Do you channel the craft in the air by sound!? It would not be viable for a human, but you have your sound emitters!”
Isabeau and Odile look at Mirabelle, shocked.
Miki: “That’s exactly it, using sound waves is complicated, but the only way I know of that allows me to craft.”
> “Oh! And changing your craft type is done by gathering craft energy in the air around you, am I right?!”
Miki: “It took me a long time to figure it out, but yes, using some specific sounds gathers craft around me which functions as a craft type for defence and offence.”
Odile and Isabeau look astounded.
Isabeau: “You know your stuff, huh?”
(This is so embarrassing!!!)
> “I-I took a lot of cra-crafting classes! I found them interesting!”
Odile: “It’s quite impressive, I was still trying to figure out how sound could be used with craft, much less the specific ways Miki was using it.”
Miki: “I would guess seeing it in action helped her develop that theory quickly, it took me a year just to channel craft through sound, then another 9 months to turn that into my craft skills. Making the theory and figuring out the sounds that work takes a very long time. I could have figured it out much quicker with something to base it off of.”
(Yes! You got it right! That’s so cool, Miki is really something!)
Odile: “There does seem to be a complication with you battling however, is the only way for you to heal via jackpots?”
Miki: “Affirmative, healing craft and tonics are made for biological beings. As long as I use Buff: [Overdrive], a jackpot is energized enough to repair my body.”
Isabeau: “That’s not ideal, there isn’t always enough time to use a jackpot in battle. Is there some other way to heal you?”
Miki: “Unless one of you is good with mechanics, I would have to do with what I have and make the repairs. A jackpot repairs me in a much better way than a manual repair, but it can help in a pinch.”
> “You don’t seem to take much damage anyway, so it should be fine?”
Miki: “Affirmative.”
Odile: “Everyone patched up? Because if so, we should keep moving.”
Isabeau: “All of us are good, back on the road we go!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isabeau POV:
(Things have been silent for a while, it’s been a few hours since the fight)
(What a fight it was! That jackpot attack was really epic! You felt so in sync with your friends, it was so cool!)
(The way Miki uses craft is really interesting, vibrating the natural craft in the air with the correct frequency of sound waves? That’s really clever, it even uses intent! The song she used fit the purpose of the skill, using both frequency and intent to use that skill)
(And the way she fires a craft infused sound wave from her hand, only to then strengthen it with her audio emitters! The blast still seems rather weak, it did almost nothing to that scissors sadness even with type advantage. But the emitters serve another purpose, the emitters become charged by that craft type and go back to her, bringing the craft around her to function as a craft type! That's really cool technology!)
(She looked like she was having fun, blasting, singing, and dancing)
(She’s both impressive and adorable!)
(She has good battle logic too, defending Mirabelle and Odile from harm)
(Though…)
(Never mind, you can find out some other time)
(Now that you think about it, why did she do so little damage? The whole party had an attack buf- oh, it was with pepper juice, wasn’t it?)
(Can she even get craft buffs? You don’t remember if those functioned off of biology or not… you should make a craft buff, maybe defence!)
(Miki was barely hurt by any of those attacks, she took even less damage than you did, and she got hit by more attacks! If you can strengthen that further, she should be practically impossible to take down!)
(With Miki now in the party, you can take on anything!)
(You just got a hilarious idea)
> “Miki, what craft type do you think you would be if you had a craft type?”
Miki: “There is no way to know such a thing, craft types are mostly random, the odds do change based on the parents, but anything is still possible. I don’t have parents, so I can’t realistically know what I would theoretically be.”
(Maybe you should have expected that…)
> “But… there are traits associated with the craft types, and based on that, what would you be?”
Miki: “Based on the traits associated with craft types, I could see being protective or creative, I lean more towards protective, perhaps dual craft type.”
(Miki’s not giving you the setup! You should have known she would use those terms, she’s logical like that! How are you supposed to pun in these conditions!)
Mirabelle: “You think your craft type would be rock? I think that suits you!”
(Mira’s here to save the day!)
> “Yeah Miki, you really rock!”
Odile: “Gems, you have got to be kidding me, did you really ask just for that pun!?”
Odile is exasperated.
Mirabelle: “That was bad, like really bad.”
She pretends to be disappointed in him.
(Score!)
> “Of course! I can’t be sedimentary!”
Miki’s eyes are narrowed, she seems to be thinking.
Mirabelle is struggling not to giggle.
Mirabelle: “No! Stop! You can do so much better than this!”
Odile: “Gems…”
Odile is defeated.
(Puns are so much fun)
Miki: “...so this is a joke…”
> “Indeed.”
Miki: “Okay, okay. So the first one was you using me fitting rock type and the phrase ‘you rock’ to combine them, which is funny?”
> “To people with good taste.”
Odile: “The rest of the world would disagree.”
Odile is smirking.
(Gasp! How could she!)
Isabeau holds a hand to his chest and pretends to look hurt.
> “Gasp! Madame! How could you!”
Odile: “Did you just say ‘Gasp’?”
Miki: “Then the second pun was about using the term ‘sedimentary’ to both say that you don’t want to stagnate, but also that that word relates to rocks?”
Miki is looking up at Isabeau, she looks very proud of herself.
(Change, she’s adorable! This takes some of the humor out of it, but that proud look on her face is worth it)
> “Exactly right!”
Isabeau claps, Mirabelle joins him.
Mirabelle: “Good job!”
Miki: “Hehe!”
Miki’s arms are out in front of her and she's shaking with a little bit of excitement, her smile is very wide.
(Woah! A rare laugh from Miki! It’s been a week and you have only heard her laugh like, thrice? You must treasure this beautiful event)
Suddenly, something rapidly climbs a nearby tree. Now perched at the top, a winged sadness watches the party.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Miki POV:
(Something entered your vision, it looks like a sadness)
Miki: “I have spotted a sadness on top of that tree.”
Miki’s expression goes blank and she points at the sadness.
Isabeau: “Get in fighting positions!”
Isabeau takes a front position and pulls his fists up in front of him.
Odile: “Let me examine it.”
Odile pulls out her book and stares at the sadness, extremely thin threads of craft come from her book and attach to it.
Odile: “Bonheur, it’s a rock type, has very low health and defence, is strong, and is blisteringly fast. It’s got some craft skills I can’t identify yet, I’m giving it a high danger rating.”
The sadness is an orb with a hand in the rock position surrounded by multiple spinning pulsating rings which are covered in eyes. The bottom of the orb has a spike which touches the tree top and at it’s back are two large wings.
Mirabelle: “I’ve nev-never seen a sadness like th-this!”
(It is unusual, you have seldom seen things floating in the air, many parts of Bonheur are floating, many parts don’t even connect)
Bonheur’s many eyes stare at the party, unblinking. It does not move.
(It’s fast and strong, but frail, the difficulty will be with landing hits. You should be able to hit it with your craft skills, but they don’t do much damage)
(Protect Mirabelle, without the healer, this battle will be much harder)
Odile: “I will try to hit it with a Slow II, make sure Mirabelle does not get attacked.”
Isabeau: “I’ll be on protection duty!”
(You need to change your craft type quickly)
Miki points her arm at Bonheur, her hand is out in a creative formation, her audio sensors float in front of her hand.
Mirabelle: “Here’s a thyme juice!”
(You do not benefit from support items, you do not partake in the thyme)
Isabeau guards and Odile casts Slow II. Bonheur glides down from the tree, breaking the threads and dodging the craft, then it hits the ground.
Odile: “Gems, that’s bad, but we just have to land a few hits.”
Miki: “Type: [Paper].”
(You play a whoosh sound from your hand, as the sound wave passes through your emitters, you play that same sound to strengthen it)
Bonheur tries to dodge out of the way with it’s wings, but it is not faster than the speed of sound. It pauses a moment upon being hit, then flaps its wings in place.
(It used a craft skill, the craft around it is vibrating quickly and it’s pulses are faster)
Miki: “My craft type is now paper and I believe it used a craft skill to become faster.”
(It’s really fast now, putting your systems into overdrive is the logical choice, you may not be able to keep up in speed, but you can exceed it’s reaction time)
Odile: “Try your best to hit it with a paper attack, Mirabelle.”
(Odile speech is very slow to you now, you should be able to react quickly)
Bonheur closes the gap in a single second and hits Isabeau dead on, Isabeau staggers.
Isabeau: *cough* “It hits hard…”
(That was a neutral hit, Isabeau has the second highest defence and it still did a lot of damage)
Mirabelle: “Fancy Heal!”
Isabeau looks better, but still very winded.
Isabeau: “Thanks, Mira.”
(The party members would not survive a hit from it, you need to get in there)
Miki takes up the front.
Miki: “None of you would survive a hit, let me take defence.”
Isabeau passes around a ginger juice.
Odile attempts to hit it with a normal paper attack, but the blast is just too slow and Bonheur dodges.
Bonheur begins moving towards Mirabelle.
(Don’t let it hit the healer)
Miki blocks Bonheur’s body with her arms and slides back a full meter.
[Warning: Moderate Damage to the Left and Right Arm Sustained]
(This is bad, you can’t get a jackpot out in these conditions)
(You can’t let it hit the party, but it isn’t going to target you)
(What can you do?)
Mirabelle: “We need to stop it somehow!”
Odile: “I’m trying to figure out how we do that.”
(You look around, you don’t see anything that could help you slow it down)
Mirabelle passes around a pepper juice and Isabeau guards.
(Amplify: [Jackpot], it doesn’t know what it does, it might register you has a larger threat if your doing it)
(You move your emitters behind the party, time to continue where you left off)
Miki: “Amplify: [Jackpot].”
The Music begins again.
[もしもし?]
Stray thoughts and feelings wrap the world up in sound
[喂？]
And just like magic
Odile: “What are you doing?!”
It’s a spark ‘cross the sea
[是哪位？]
Oh, it connected you to me
Unseen
My dear, I fear the silence weighs
Miki: “Drawing it’s aggression.”
All of Bonheur’s eyes stare at Miki.
Between
The air zoned for entropy
Away, asleep
A fragmented frequency
(Perfect)
Bonheur puts it’s wings in front of it and charges at Miki.
(That looks like piercing craft, no one is directly behind you, dodge it)
Lo
Our unfinished rhapsody
Retried, reprised
Projected in harmony
[This is she.]
Miki barely dances out of the way as it charges straight through the center of the party.
In neon lines
These letters that tether
Will link us straight through the heart
(It didn’t leave an opening)
Isabeau: “How are we supposed to attack it?
And when the air grows thin
We’ll do it again
United miles apart
Mirabelle runs up to it and tries to hit it with her paper craft skill.
Bonheur covers itself in it’s wings, Mirabelle’s attack seems to do nothing.
So in the morning light
We etch the connection
And send it straight to the heavens
Mirabelle: “It can also defend itself?!?”
(It’s too fast to hit, and it’s wings can block attacks. In order to hit it, it would have to be stuck in one place and have it’s wings disabled)
Darling
Speak to me, a memory
And let it ring to all eternity
Isabeau guards, it’s all he can do in this situation.
(You have an idea, this will not end well for you, but you are a thing, you are expendable)
(You need to save your strength)
Across the intersection
We open our connection
Resound with all affection
Beyond expression
Bonheur rams into Isabeau, Isabeau is barely holding on.
Isabeau: *cough* “I definitely can’t-” *cough* “-take another hit…”
(You have to stay paper type, it needs to do damage)
Talk through me
Tell me every little thing
I’m naught but the message
The feelings expressed in
Your airborne elegy
Bonheur puts it’s wings in front of it and charges at Odile.
(This is your opportunity, block it)
Miki barely gets in front of Odile in time, taking the hit to her chest, the wings erupt straight out of Miki’s back.
[Warning: Chest in Critical Condition]
(YOU’RE AWARE, SYSTEM)
(Don’t let it get away this time)
Miki grabs hold of Bonheur’s wings as it tries to retreat, it tries fruitlessly to remove them.
My darling, see
There’s no corner we can't reach!
So, when fate replies
I’m by your side
(It’s not getting away, you are much stronger than you look, a perk of being a machine)
Odile stands there a moment, stunned, then she gets a hold of herself.
Odile: “Paper II!”
Bonheur takes a direct hit to it’s core, it’s hit so hard it flies out of Miki's grip.
(Coolant is leaking out of your chest, you don’t have much longer)
Bonheur gets up, its damaged, but still in the fight.
(Speak to me your everything
And let it sing to all eternity)
(It's not going to fall for that again, you needed that to finish it)
Bonheur flaps it’s wings in place again.
Isabeau: “Change! That was our one shot!”
(Between the coolant leakage and the damage to your circuits, your systems are going to give out soon)
[System Failure: Left and Right Legs on Emergency Power]
Mirabelle: “Come on! We need to keep fighting!”
Across the intersection
We open our connection
Resound with all affection
Beyond expression
Isabeau: “We don’t know how to fight a sadness like this!”
Mirabelle: “Odile any ideas?!”
Odile: “We just need to keep fighting until we figure something out!”
(What can we do?)
(It’s too fast and it dodges all of our attacks)
Our love spread cross the landscape
Ring out beyond the daybreak
In-tempo, now and always
Along the skyward wave
(You hear something in the bushes, light glints off of something)
(This is your one hope for the party to make it)
The song ends.
Miki: “Is anyone there?”
Isabeau: “Miki, what’s wrong?”
Odile: “Not the time!”
Miki: “Lure it to me.”
(You aren't making it out of this, but you can be happy you did your job)
Miki goes toward the bushes.
Mirabelle: “Ok! We trust you!”
They are standing between you and Bonheur, they manage to dodge it as it comes barreling at them.
(They've lured it towards you, now’s your chance)
Miki just barely dodges out of the way of Bonheur and it crashes into a tree. It turns to make another attack, but something jumps out from the bushes behind it, stabbing it several times. Bonheur finally dissipates.
(Who are they?)
(Their expression is bright, but their eyes look emotionless)
???: “Hope you don’t mind if I cut in!”
[Fatal Error]
[Repair Protocols Activated]
(It’s over)
[Senses Shutdown]
[Repair Protocols Have Suffered a Fatal Error]
[Retrying…]
(Please, if any deity is listening, protect them)
[Fatal Error]
[Warning: Coolant Levels Low]
(Goodbye)
[Attempting to Fix the System, Please Wait a Moment]
[...]
[Fatal Error]
[The System has Suffered a Series of Fatal Errors, Shutting Down]