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“Alright, Giorno. We’re here.”
Bucciarati put down his armful of small bags in a forest clearing, next to a rock. He pointed to said rock, directing Giorno to sit down on it. His apprentice looked at the rock for a moment, then turned back to him.
“Bucciarati, I don’t mean to overstep, but we’ve walked an hour away from the nearest settlement,” Giorno gestured to the bags. “If we needed an open space for our experiments, why didn’t you bring healing ointment with us?”
“What you’ll be learning today won’t be anything destructive. Sit down, and watch your feet.”
Finally, Giorno took a seat on the rock, searching around his feet for anything out of the ordinary. He spotted a flash of white by the corner of the rock, and he leaned over to get a better look at it. It turned out to be a part of a small circle of white mushrooms.
“Oh, good. It seems you’ve noticed it,” Bucciarati remarked. “Then, I’ll get on with today’s lesson.”
Giorno patiently looked up at him while awaiting the lesson. Ever since the day he came to Bucciarati’s doorstep, asking to be taught his magic, he had been a good apprentice. He took to his lessons quickly, learning more than Bucciarati could even teach.
He could pull off spells and potions after watching Bucciarati create them once or twice, he helped with chores without complaining, and he even got along with Bucciarati’s familiars. The mage no longer minded Giorno’s presence in his house, even welcoming it. And in turn, he’d uphold his end of the bargain and teach what he could.
Bucciarati cleared his throat as he began the lesson. “You already know what a fairy ring is, I’ve seen you read my book on natural oddities. A portal to the Land of the Fae, far more dangerous than its appearance suggests.”
Giorno nodded, quietly listening.
“But we mages can draw power from them. After all, magic is just a tangible application of the ‘rift’ between this world and other worlds, so to speak. There’s a reason we use certain kinds of mushrooms when making potions. But it also carries over to spells and runic portals.”
“So, this ‘rift’ is a metaphysical substance?” Giorno asked.
Bucciarati nodded. “Precisely. Now, the problem with drawing power from fairy rings is the influx of this power. We could easily be overcome if we draw too much, or succumb if we’re not used to it. You’ve been exposed to this power for some time, so you have some immunity just by contact. I have full immunity, but even then, I have to be careful.”
“Because of your familiars,” Giorno realized. “And since you’ve contracted with multiple fairies, you’re able to handle the magic from the fairy rings more easily.”
“That’s right. So, our first lesson today will be forming a contract,” Bucciarati explained. “With this, I’ll be able to move on to teaching you more complex lessons, such as drawing power or casting high-power spells.”
With those words, Bucciarati began unbuttoning his cloak. When it was unbuttoned, he gave the sides of his cloak some light taps. To Giorno’s surprise, he could hear some murmuring from inside.
“Your familiars, do they become a part of your cloak when they aren’t needed?” he asked.
“Close, but no.” Bucciarati held open his cloak, revealing pockets sewn onto the insides. “They just sleep there while they’re not needed. This cloak’s their favourite because I got it from a vendor in the mountains, so the wool insulates heat. That’s very important for creatures with small bodies.”
As he spoke, the pockets began to move in response to the taps earlier. Out of them came small fairies, who looked around curiously until they realized where they were and what was happening. Giorno didn’t fault them for their confusion, they all seemed like they’d all woken up from a big nap. Looked like it, too.
Giorno knew the familiars by name now. As they woke up fully, Narancia went over to bother Fugo, while Mista began darting around to check out their surroundings (likely looking for snacks).
Abbacchio flew up to Bucciarati. “Oi, did you need something from us?” he asked. He glanced over at Giorno. “I don’t think it takes the five of us to teach that kid over there.”
“No, just two will do. But we brought along snacks, so we might as well wake you for that.” Bucciarati motioned towards the small bags he brought with him. Giorno stood up and went to them - minding his feet so as to not step in the fairy ring - picking up a bag and opening it. Inside were cut-up pieces of dried fruit.
He passed the bag to Bucciarati, who took a piece of dried strawberry from the bag and gave it to Abbacchio. The fairy took the piece, and darted right back into his respective pocket in Bucciarati’s cloak. The mage shook his head with a sigh as he handed the bag back.
“Well, I was going to suggest against contracting with him anyway,” he muttered. He looked over at the remaining three fairies. “Mista! Narancia! Fugo!”
That quickly caught the attention of all three fairies, who quickly flew to Bucciarati’s side.
“I need two of you for the next thing that I need to teach Giorno. You’ll be forming a contract with him.”
“Just two of us?” Narancia repeated.
Bucciarati replied, “That’s right. He won’t be handling enough power to need more familiars right now.”
“That’ll mean that we’ll be making a dual contract with him,” Fugo pointed out. “That might be tricky. If you two come into a conflict of interest, then we’ll be caught in the middle.”
“If worst comes to worst, we’ll discuss it, and one of us can break off our contract with you.”
That seemed to satisfy the fairy, who looked at the other two.
Mista promptly shrugged. “Fuck it, I’ll do it.”
“You will?” Fugo asked.
“Why not? I mean, it’s Giorno! That guy’s been bringing nothing but luck since he came here!” Mista turned to Bucciarati. “Hey, are we even sure he’s fully human?”
“If he wasn’t, you would’ve felt it.” Bucciarati looked between Narancia and Fugo. “So, that’s one. Which of you will be the other?”
“I’ll do it,” Fugo volunteered.
“What?!” Narancia exclaimed. “Oh, come on!”
“Calm down, Narancia. Maintaining a dual contract is a lot of work, I don’t think you’re ready for that yet.”
“I could totally do it, I’m older than you are!”
“Both of you, settle down!” Bucciarati ordered. The squabbling died down between the pair, and they watched Bucciarati carefully; most of the time, he was the one to settle or break up any bickering in the group. “Fugo, you can do it. You seem to hover around Giorno a bit more anyway.”
Fugo’s face started to go red as Mista snickered at him. At least the other fairy had no shame.
Narancia let out a sigh. “At least you guys brought along snacks this time.”
Abbacchio chose that time to poke his head out of his pocket. “You’re looking for oranges, aren't you?” he spoke up, startling Bucciarati a bit. “Don’t bother. The fruit’s all dried anyway.”
“What?! Shit!” Narancia swore as Abbacchio moved back into the pocket, out of sight.
Bucciarati rolled his eyes. “Narancia, there’s basil leaves in there too. Those aren’t dried, but you can help yourself to the fruit as well.”
With a little bit of a grumble, Narancia darted over to the fruit bag Giorno held and grabbed a small piece, then went back to Bucciarati, tugging at the edge of the mage’s cloak. Bucciarati gently grabbed the orange fairy, careful not to crush him, and moved him to his shoulder instead.
“Sit. You can watch from here,” Bucciarati told him. With a small huff, Narancia sat down and made himself comfortable with his piece of fruit.
Giorno quietly watched the rest of the group interact. As playful and clueless most of the fairies seemed to be, he knew that all of them were dangerous in their own way. All four of them had formed a strong bond with Bucciarati, to the point where they knew his full name and did nothing with it. They hadn’t done anything to Giorno either, likely because of Bucciarati’s influence. Bucciarati was more powerful than he had first thought - not just because of his magic, but from having four fairies truly loyal to him.
“Alright, so we gotta make a contract with Giorno? Easy enough.” Mista did a loop in the air, ending up in front of Giorno; he always liked to mess around with air tricks, as did Narancia. “And it’s our help with magic that you need, right?”
“Mista, don’t say all of that at once. He might not know what to offer in return. Bucciarati’s giving him lessons for a reason,” Fugo reminded him.
“It’s okay. I’ve read all those books,” Giorno spoke up. “I know what I need, and what to offer you.”
The fairies listened with interest. Giorno began to smile, cat-like and confident.
“In exchange for your services, I offer you my stepfather’s name.”
Bucciarati immediately did a double-take, nearly knocking Narancia off his shoulder. “Giorno! What are you doing?! You can’t offer them that!” he shouted. “You only need to offer them food and shelter! That’s less risky! But you’re offering your parent’s name?!”
“You don’t need to be that shocked. I know what I’m doing,” Giorno replied. He then turned from him. “You can do whatever you wish with the name,” he told Mista and Fugo. “Now, do we have a deal?”
“Well, if he knows what he’s doing!” Mista jokingly repeated. “It’s good with me! Fugo?”
“If you’re sure, then,” Fugo agreed, but his voice was still skeptical.
Suddenly, Giorno felt something twist inside him. He wasn’t even sure where it was coming from, but a part of him squeezed uncomfortably before starting to warm up. He dropped the fruit bag and patted his hands along his chest and abdomen, trying to look for its source.
“It’s alright, Giorno. That’s just the magical bond being formed,” Bucciarati reassured. “You’re only feeling it because their magic is reacting to your own. This is exactly why we can’t overload ourselves with magic from fairy rings.”
“Two lessons in the span of ten minutes. Impressive,” Giorno gasped out. With no reason to search anymore, Giorno knelt down and picked up the bag again. Thankfully, nothing had spilled out.
Fugo flew up in front of him. “And now, what you owe us?”
“Right.” Giorno stood up again. “His name is Bifronte Giovanna.”
“Bifronte Giovanna… Giving his name to us, you must have a grudge or something,” Mista remarked.
Giorno gave a non-committal hum and tilt of his head. “That’s not right. It’s more like…I couldn’t really care less about what happens to him.”
Bucciarati took a step towards him. “Do you even know what you just offered?” he asked, his tone stern.
“Please don’t make me repeat myself,” Giorno dismissed out of hand, and said nothing more about it.
Bucciarati decided not to touch on that yet. Giorno was hardly open about himself, save for his goal, but he knew that all of his summoned familiars had pasts that they didn’t like to discuss much. He didn’t know if it said more about his summoning spells, or about himself.
“You’re going to want to sit down,” Bucciarati told him. “Once you’re well enough, I’ll teach you how to manage your power with your familiars."