[Jaykobell]

Sibyl had hoped that the child would've waited just a little longer to start asking questions. Perhaps this was a good thing; it showed the girl could take a certain level of initiative, even if hesitantly.

With the child stopping, Sibyl had no choice but to do the same. Slowly, the albino stopped and turned around so that she walk back towards the child. Bending down so she could look Danika in the eye, the albino stared at the girl quietly for a few seconds. "I'm keeping you with me," Sibyl explained plainly and simply, ignoring the dumbfounded look on the girl's face upon hearing those words. "I have a use for you. The powers that you have: I can find them, and I can teach you how to use them."

The words were too overwhelming for Danika to take in all at once. This woman wanted to keep her? What did she mean when she said that she had a use for the child? What did she want to do? And what was that about teaching Danika how to use her powers? The things she did do weren't things that she understood, and whatever power she did have always made others uncomfortable. Why did this woman want to find such a power? "But everyone always told me to not—"

"Shh," Sibyl ordered as she put a hand over the child's face, cutting the child right there. "I will explain everything to you once we find a restaurant." There was a pause as Sibyl dropped her hand and got closer to the child. "Unless, of course, you'd rather go back to that home. A place where the children hurt you, and where even the caretakers care nothing for you. Isn't that right?" the albino pointed out, noticing the child's face changing at the words.

"They..." Danika muttered hesitantly, the older woman's stare unsettling her. She looked down, unable to maintain eye contact with Sibyl, and giving the words some thought. It was true: the people at her home didn't care for her at all. Her parents had abandoned her because she was never meant to happen, and because she had been born with that power. The others children thought she was a dark witch, and the caretakers thought much of the same. "No, I... I don't want to go back th-there..." Danika eventually muttered out, the thoughts and feelings making her eyes water.

Still looking down, she eventually felt something slipping under her chin and forcing her head to move back up. She found the albino woman using a finger to lift the child's chin up, so that the two could look at each other in the eye. She'd probably been happy to hear those words, because the dark albino woman was now smiling darkly at the girl. "Exactly. Now, follow me," Sibyl instructed as she straightened up and started walking down the sidewalk again.

[Jaykobell]

It was a bit of a dilemma for Danika.

The girl hadn't had a nice life up until now. Her parents had told her multiple times that she shouldn't have been born, and that she had been a mistake. Her parents, to her knowledge, weren't mages or fighters, so their unwanted daughter being born with a dark power had just made everything worse. They had quickly gotten afraid of her, and they always jumped on the opportunity to give Danika away, or to simply abandon her somewhere. The opportunity finally came when they signed off the papers to say that the home for abandoned children had the authority to take the girl away from her parents with the intention of rehoming her.

Initially, she'd thought that the home would be a better place for her. She had never connected with her parents, since the only things she had been told were that she was a witch and a mistake. By being put in the home, Danika thought she could make friends there, maybe meet some children in her age group, and maybe finally have adults that would care for her like her parents should have. Despite her relatively young age, the girl wasn't as stupid as most people thought her to be. With the parents she'd had, the child had quickly grown up mentally in order to keep up with them. While she wasn't necessarily the most mature or the bravest child around, that didn't mean that she couldn't understand what was going on around her.

So when the caretakers of the home started to neglect her, and when the other children refused to interact with her, the child knew exactly what was going on. The caretakers were afraid of her as her parents had been, and the other children thought she was too different for her to play with them. Her parents had probably mentioned her power to the caretakers, but it wasn't only that. Over time, the other kids picking her and the caretakers giving them reason to hurt her had activated her magic. It usually happened when Danika was too emotional to control herself, or when she felt sad or frustrated. She had hurt children before with it, and the caretakers had grown afraid of her. The less interaction they had with the child, the better it was for them.

Over time, the girl had to learn how to fend for herself. This town wasn't known for its trustworthy people, so it hadn't been hard to pick up on some shady tricks. Soon enough, she knew some good places to hide, and she knew how to steal things without getting caught — most of the time. She was still young and inexperienced, so she often ended up getting caught. Still, it was better to get caught and beaten up than to go without eating for another day. The home didn't have a lot of food due to lack of funding, so they kept the majority of the food for the other children.

So having done through all that, why would the child not follow someone who claimed to have a use for her? She had defended her from those boys earlier, brought her to the clinic in order to patch her up, and now she claimed to know what she knew what Danika's power was, and how to use it. The child had ultimately lost her bread, despite Sibyl saving her from those bullies, but the food had been lost either way, dirtied with blood and dirt. Despite that, this woman was the only one who had ever portrayed her dark power as a good thing.

Considering her other options, following Sibyl seemed like the better choice.

[Jaykobell]

It took a bit of time, but eventually Sibyl found a restaurant that looked decent enough. She had to pick one that looked well-known and prestigious, in the hopes that a bigger restaurant would recognize her as Negative. More often than not, they offered their food for free, or they gave her a ridiculous discount on it. Since the child was with her, perhaps they could even go the extra mile.

As she stepped inside the restaurant with Danika in toe, Sibyl headed straight for the service counter. It was a small restaurant, but it had a certain fancy feel to it. The dark wood design gave it an exotic and prestigious feel, and the small terrace outside also added to that feeling. From what she'd seen so far, not a lot of restaurants in this town offered a terrace, so this restaurant probably had more funds if it could afford to make one. It also seemed to have a pretty varied menu that covered a lot of common bases, from red meats to seafood. Not only that, but surely they would have a kids' menu, wouldn't they?

Sibyl waited patiently for a waitress to come, and just as she'd expected, the one waitress that did appear to serve her recognized her as someone else. "Hi, welcome to the Food Sail! You're lady Negative, aren't you? The famous tactician?" the girl asked as she introduced the restaurant by name, as any professional worker should do.

Snarling internally, Sibyl gave the girl a small smile. "Well, famous might be pushing it, but that's me, heh. I've been traveling around for a while, and I'm starving, so I decided to stop by." With that said, the albino put a hand behind Danika's back and pulled the child forward so that the waitress could see her.

"It's such an honor to host you here! Oh, and who are you, little girl?" the waitress asked as she bent down a little to take a closer look at Danika, which left the child a little unnerved and insecure.

"U-um..." the girl muttered, but all she could do was to latch onto Sibyl, since she had no idea what to reply.

[Jaykobell]

The touch made the albino hiss internally. It took everything she had to keep herself from frowning and growling at the child, but she managed to keep a wide smile on her face. "Hah, she's very... timid," she explained, trying to make up a small story on the fly. "She's a little aspiring mage that I found during my travels. She's traveling with me to better her skills. We're both starving, so if you have a free table...?" she asked, hoping the bubbly waitress would get the hint that they wanted to sit down and eat, not tell her their entire life stories.

However, the albino made a mental note that she would certainly need to establish some boundaries with this child. As she spoke to the waitress, one of the albino's hands had been grabbing onto the child's turtleneck in order to slowly pull her away from Sibyl. While it took a bit of time for the child to catch on, Danika eventually let go of the woman, instead settling for hiding quietly behind her.

"Oh, of course! Please, follow me," the girl invited as she picked two menus from the counter and lead the two outside on the terrace: exactly where Sibyl wanted it. "I can offer you a table on the terrace, since it's—"

"Yes, that would be excellent," Sibyl confirmed, interrupting the waitress abruptly, but surely they would just mistake that as Negative's happy, friendly little personality. "You read my mind." Considering she was so famous, the waitress had probably figured that Sibyl would like a table on the terrace, since no one else was sitting there. If she sat in the restaurant itself, then it was likely some customers would get distracted and interested in the albino, probably ruining her experience.

With that said, the waitress lead the two to a small, quiet table on the terrace and put the two menus on the table. "Anything to start with?"

"Just water. And please, do give my salutations to the manager," Sibyl replied as she watched the waitress nod and leave for the inside, leaving the albino and the child alone. She always asked for the manager to know that she was here, because only the manager had the authority to decide if the food would be free or not. More often than not, they gave the meal for free because she was renowned all around the globe. Who didn't want to give their restaurant a good reputation by being able to say the famous Negative herself had enjoyed the food?

But the food wasn't the only reason why Sibyl had bothered to find a restaurant.

[Jaykobell]

With Sibyl and Danika sitting at the table, the albino started looking at the menu while she waited for the waitress to come back. The part about her being hungry wasn't a lie, so finding a good meal was a priority to the woman.

As for Danika, she remained quiet, leaving her copy of the menu alone. Was she allowed to order anything? Sibyl had introduced her as if both of them were going to get food, but surely the woman had no intention of buying this child a meal? She didn't even know yet why the albino seemed to be so interested in her. Not only that, but what everyone had been calling this woman was bothering Danika. The child could remember hearing the name before, associated with a powerful mage that had done something great recently. Was she really...?

"Um..." the child muttered, but once again she was met with no reaction from the albino in front of her. However, since Sibyl had done the same thing just earlier while on the streets, Danika figured she probably needed to just speak out. The adult had probably heard her, but she just wasn't going to acknowledge it. "Are you... Are you really Negative...?" the girl asked timidly, keeping her hands against her chest nervously.

Upon being asked that question, Sibyl slowly let the menu fall down a little so that the two could look at each other. Without replying right away, the albino gave the child a sigh as she rubbed her forehead with one hand. "Let me make this clear." She put the menu down on the table and bent down over the table so that she could get closer to the child on the other side. "I am not the tactician Negative, child," Sibyl replied quietly, just loud enough so that only the child would hear it. "So don't call me by that name. Understood?"

"But..." If this woman wasn't Negative, why did she claim to be her? Clearly if everyone mistook her for the tactician, then she had to look very close to her. Were they sisters? Still, that wasn't what concerned the child. "But if you're not Negative, why did you tell the girl that you—"

"There will be time for that later, child," Sibyl interrupted as she put a hand in front of the girl's face to order her to quickly quiet down. "We are going to a hotel once we're done here, where I will explain the story to you. For now, you will follow my lead and let me handle all the talking. I will not hear a single thing from you. Understood?"

The cold voice of the albino woman were enough to unnerve the girl, and the child simply nodded. "I-I understand." So the restaurant wasn't going to be the only thing? She was going to stay in a hotel room? To the child, this sounded like a five-star outing. Danika still had no idea why Sibyl was interested in her at all, but the child only hoped that she could live up to those expectations, whatever they were.

[Jaykobell]

"Good," Sibyl answered as she returned to the menu to find a good meal to eat. "Now please look at the menu and figure out what you want. I want you to be ready when the waitress comes back."

Sibyl had gone back to look at the menu, so the child couldn't see her, and she couldn't see the child, either. However, when she tilted the menu down just a little to get a better look at something, she noticed Danika's ridiculously surprised look. It looked as if she'd told the child something horrendous. "What? Are you going to eat here, or do you want to go steal more food like you did earlier?" Sibyl pointed out, narrowing her eyes at the child.

"N-no!" Danika answered as she quickly grabbed her copy of the menu, baffled that she was actually allowed to order something. Her parents and the caretakers had never taken her out to a restaurant before; not even to a candy or ice cream shop, either. She had never been treated anywhere. "I-I'll eat something here," she promised, opening up the menu hesitantly and just staring at the list with wide eyes.

Sibyl stared at the child for a few seconds before grumbling quietly and going back to the menu, herself. She wasn't quite sure what she felt like eating at the moment. She was so hungry that her body felt like it didn't want to eat right now, but she knew that was just a ruse. The moment she would start eating, her body would rejoice. Now, did she feel like eating red meat, or was she daring enough to try some sea—

"C-can I order anything?" Danika asked, snapping Sibyl right out of her thoughts. "I... I never ate at a restaurant before," the child admitted, hiding a little behind the menu timidly. Fortunately, her parents had been forced to send her to school, so the girl could read fine on her own. Regardless, she had no idea what to do here, or what she could order.

"Anything," Sibyl answered, glancing up at the child momentarily before going back to her own menu. "Now get on with it," she ordered, hoping the child wouldn't take forever to find something she wanted.

Everything went smoothly for a while as both of them looked at the menu to find a good dish. Sibyl settled for a platter of seafood, something that would change the scenery a little from the typical red meat and chicken cutlets. As for the child, she still seemed unsure. She eventually settled for a small pasta dish; a good choice, considering the child was probably starving, and pasta were usually very rich and filing. Common pasta with meat sauce was a universal dish, so it was unlikely the child wouldn't like it.

Since they knew what they were taking, Sibyl took both menus and simply put them on the side of the table, ready for the waitress to pick them up later. She would be able to pick them up once she came around to bring them their water and take their order.

The albino was just staring off into space when she heard the child speak again, this time with an interesting question. "Why... why are you being nice to me?"

[Jaykobell]

"I already told you," Sibyl answered the child as she turned her head around to look back at her. "I have a use for you. There is nothing more to it than that."

"But... why are you nice?" Danika asked again, confused as to why the woman would do things like bring her to the clinic to patch her up and then allow her to eat food at a restaurant. The girl knew for a fact that the food here wasn't free: that was why she had never eaten at a restaurant. "You... you could just use me," the child added, showing that despite her young age, she really did understand what was going on around her. She wasn't nearly as ignorant as most adults thought her to be. If this woman truly had a use for her, nothing prevented her from simply using the child like a tool. Such was the mentality of this town, and such had been the fate of other children and adults here.

At those words, Sibyl found herself pleasantly surprised. She gave the child a content grin, teeth showing just a little. "I'm impressed, child," the albino said as she crossed her legs and leaned back against her chair. "You already understand how the world works. No: I'm not planning on doing that. In order for you to be useful to me, I will need to be dressed and for you to eat properly. I already told you what I'm going to teach you, and for that to happen, you need to be healthy." The child's words were true, however: Sibyl could've simply taken the child away and forced her to do her biding. As tempting as it sounded, this wasn't the relationship that she could afford to have with this child. The dark magic inside of her would need a lot of training in order for it to be useable for the child. There was no way the magic would grow and develop if the girl lived under such conditions. She had to eat and grow in order to be strong, and so it was necessary for Sibyl to take care of the girl on a more personal level.

Even though Sibyl's voice was nothing short of unsettling, Danika had to feel a little bit of pride at being told that she actually understood something. Many adults just saw her as the cursed child of the village, a stupid little girl who couldn't make decisions for herself. She was nowhere near as experienced, mature or knowledgeable as an adult, but she was certainly more in the know than most kids in her age group. Still, what use Sibyl did have for her was still a little hard for Danika to understand. "What use... do you have for me?" the child questioned, unsure if it had anything to do with the mysterious power she had, or if it was in relation to something else.

"The use itself is something we will discuss later," Sibyl answered, intertwining her fingers as she spoke. "What I plan on doing with you is develop the dark magic that you have in your body. If you can learn how to use and wield that power, you will become terrifying powerful, child," the albino explained, the thought of shaping and creating a terrifying dark mage pleasing the vessel very much.

[Jaykobell]

The mention of dark magic is what stood out to Danika. Was that what her power was: magic? Not only that, but a specific type called dark magic? No one in the town had ever referred to it as anything, only using it as an excuse to label her as a cursed witch. This was the first time someone had given it a name, and the first time someone knew just what it was, period.

The discussion was interrupted when the waitress came back from inside the restaurant, carrying a plate with two glasses of water. She put the glasses down in front of their respective drinker before slipping the round plate under her arm and taking out a small notepad and pen. "Are you ready to order?" she asked, clicking the pen open to start scribbling down the orders. "Oh, the manager also said that he's delighted to host you here in his restaurant. Business has been a little hard as of late, but he said he can offer one meal for free. I hope that's enough to show you how happy we are to have you here, lady Negative," the waitress added, looking a little apologetic that this was all they could offer to such a famous figure, but she did hope that it would be enough.

"That's very kind of you. It's enough, I appreciate it," Sibyl replied, giving a genuine smile to the waitress. That was good enough: in a way, that meant that the child's meal would be free, exactly as Sibyl wanted it to be. "We are ready to order, yes. I will take your seafood platter; put as many different fish as you can, including shrimps and any derivatives," she asked, pausing to give the waitress enough time to take down the order.

Once the waitress was done writing down Sibyl's order, she turned to Danika, prompting the child to tell her what she wanted. "And what about you, little one? What would you like to eat?"

"Um..." the child muttered first, turning to look at Sibyl in order to know what she was supposed to say. The woman had mentioned earlier that Danika should follow Sibyl's lead, and that she shouldn't talk. When the albino gave a curt nod as permission to answer, Danika turned back to the waitress. "U-um... I'd like the pasta with the meat sauce... p-please," she asked timidly, not even sure if she'd done it right.

"Do you want some cheese melted on your pasta?" the waitress asked, and again Danika's reaction was to turn to Sibyl for instructions.

"Um... Okay," the girl answered after Sibyl gave the permission to answer again.

The waitress took down both orders with their specifications, if any, and then took the menus back from the table. "Your meals should be ready in a little bit. Let me know if you need anything in the meantime!" she offered as she made her way back inside the restaurant, leaving the two alone again for some much-needed discussion.

[Jaykobell]

Once the waitress was gone for sure, Sibyl turned to the child. "Let's establish something right now," she said, pausing for just a moment so that the child could pay attention. "If they do ask you a basic question, answer them. If they are talking to me or asking me any questions, then I don't want to hear a single thing from you. Am I clear?" This was to prevent the child from saying something that could blow her cover or make anyone question why Sibyl had the child with her to begin with. However, if they asked Danika any basic questions — such as what she wanted to eat — then the child had to answer. It would look suspicious if people noticed the kid turning to Sibyl every single time.

"Y-yes," Danika answered, nodding her head to confirm that she understood the instructions. She wasn't sure what the boundaries were with the albino, and so, the child had played it safe. Now that she had ordered, however, she found herself being fairly excited to eat — and to eat real food, too. That was the exciting part, really, since she'd never eaten top quality food before.

The two sat in silence for a bit as Sibyl started looking around the town, while Danika was giving the woman's words some more thought. The mention of her power being dark magic really intrigued the child, and if this woman could tell her exactly what power she had, the girl wanted to know everything about it. For so long had everyone else made fun of her and called her names because of it. "Earlier... You said I have dark magic. Is... is that what I did to those children earlier?"

When she was asked the question, Sibyl slowly turned back to the child, legs and arms still crossed as she learned back in her chair. "Yes. The power that you sporadically release is a form of magic. The reason why you can't control it is because dark magic is a powerful and difficult magic to wield, even to those born with it."

"Dark magic..." Danika echoed, the name giving the child a sense of relief. For so long, she'd wondered what exactly she had, if it was a curse or something entirely different. Now, she finally had an answer, and it was something that interested her. She had been born with the ability to use dark magic, and the thought of manipulating such a thing was exciting to the child. "No one ever gave it a name before. People just thought I was cursed, or that I was a witch," the child muttered as she looked down, still feeling the shame from being called such things.

"That would be because you live in a town of ignorants, child," Sibyl explained as she glanced at the few passersby that were walking by the sidewalk. Just their verbal language described them like an open book, showing how paranoid and self-absorbed they were. It wasn't surprising that the child had been called such things, and why no one could seemingly recognize dark magic when they saw it. How unfortunate... but in a good way. The child had a dark history, and that would be the key to shape her into what Sibyl wanted from her.

[Jaykobell]

A town of ignorants: the words rang so true that they echoed in Danika's head in a never-ending loop. It was obvious that this was true; if one bothered to wander around town, they would eventually find tourists, travels, and other such people who didn't come from this town. Their behavior, their belongings, their speech, their knowledge: everything about those people sounded different. She'd tried to steal from travellers before: their possessions were nothing like what this town had.

"Will... Will you teach me how to use it?" Danika asked, raising a voice just a little for the first time. "I... I want to learn!" she insisted, stretching her body a little forward towards Sibyl, clearly getting agitated over the prospect of controlling something like dark magic.

Sibyl stared at the child for a moment, eventually grinning a dark smile at the girl. She shifted positions as she bent across the table and slipped a single finger under the child's chin, the two locking eyes. "Good... very good, child," the albino spoke in a dark voice, white teeth giving her smile a dark feel. "Yes, I will teach you how to control it. You've clearly displayed it before, so there is no need to unlock the magic itself. What you will need to learn is how to access it, and how to control it," Sibyl explained, keeping her voice low and from that, sending shivers down the child's spine.

"I... I want to learn how to do that," Danika replied quietly, her eyes shining with the excitement of learning how to control such a powerful power. All her life, people had told her that she was nothing special, and that she was only an accident, something unwanted. People had pushed her, beaten her, forced her to steal and become a criminal. Finally, someone had a use for her: someone who knew what she had, and someone who actually glorified what people had put down all her life.

"You will, child: give it time," Sibyl warned as she let go of the child's chin and leaned back in her chair again. "Dark magic is very difficult to control, which is proven by the fact that you cannot use it willingly now. As you realize that it is something you possess, the magic will eventually become easier for you to use." It would be a hard start, considering not a lot of children could learn how to control something like magic: dark or elemental. Still, if such an energy could be emanated from the child at her age, perhaps she had been born not only with the magic, but also with a talent for wielding it.

"Can you use that magic too?" Danika asked, her eyes wide and intrigued, staring as if someone were mind-controlling her. No: the child was quite conscious, and she was nothing short of excited to learn how to control the power that she had.

At the question, Sibyl chuckled a dark, quiet little laugh. "Child, you will not meet a mage who has come in contact with as much dark magic as I have," the albino said as she grinned happily, making slow, rhythmical circles on the table with a single finger. "If you knew the level of magic that I got to touch... It was power that is unimaginable to the human mind." She could still taste the magic that she once had, thanks to Grima's revival. Perhaps, if she worked at it enough, Sibyl could manage to reach something akin to that level of power.

[Jaykobell]

Sibyl's answer had done nothing short of exciting the child even more. Danika stared with wide eyes as the albino explained just a sliver of her experience, and the girl literally couldn't wait to start learning how to use her power more. "R... Really?" Power that was so grand and powerful that it was unimaginable to the human mind. This cemented the idea that this woman would, in fact, be the best person to teach Danika how to use dark magic. "I-I want to see. What can you do with it?" she asked, unwilling to let go of the topic. She had waited so long to know what power she had that she wanted to know every single thing about it.

"You can do many things with dark magic," Sibyl explained as she stopped drawing circles with her finger and looked back up at the child. "From small curses to something akin to necromancy. There are a lot of possibilities available to dark magic, unlike the more common types of magic. Maybe if you learn how to control dark magic, I can teach you the other elements." There was no doubt that wind, fire and lightning magics were easier to learn. Some children picked them up without any trouble, so it was clear in Sibyl's mind that Danika would have no problem learning them. However, the priority was on the girl's dark magic. It was a much more powerful type of magic, and the different spells you could cast with it made it a much more versatile type of magic. If the girl wanted to learn more elements, that was fine: however, for now, Sibyl would only focus on developing the girl's dark magic.

Some of the words went over Danika's head, but that didn't stop the flame from burning. She knew what curses were, but necromancy was a whole new word to her. "What's necromancy? Can you show me?" She wanted to see the magic itself, too, and not just hear about it. Was there anything that Sibyl could show her?

The persistence of the child wanting to see what the magic could do didn't fall on deaf ears. As much as Sibyl wanted to actually show the child what kind of power she would be able to wield in the near future, there was very little the albino could show that wouldn't result in a catastrophe. Unlike elemental magic, dark magic was more destructive and couldn't really be used for small, cute magic tricks. However, maybe there was a little something she could show the girl. "Necromancy is the act of bringing back the dead using magic," she explained, covering the child's question before moving on to showing her something. "As for showing you what the magic can do, dark magic is much more destructive than regular elements. Still, for one who was often called cursed... Perhaps I can make you feel what it truly is like to be cursed," she added, trying to think of a small curse that wouldn't bring too much attention to them, but that also wouldn't put the child's life in danger.

The definition of necromancy was surprisingly intriguing to the child. The ability of bringing back the dead using dark magic? If that were the case, why did no one else really use it just for that? If dark mages could do that, then people wouldn't need to grieve over their lost family members and friends ever again. It had probably never happened in this town because, as Sibyl had said earlier, it was inhabited by ignorant people.

However, while necromancy was interesting to the child, the idea of getting cursed was a completely different story. "C... C-curse me?" Danika asked, suddenly regretting having asked the albino to show her what the magic could do. "B-but I don't want to—"

"It is only temporary, child," Sibyl assured her, although that was partially false. Curses could honestly be attached to a person forever, unless the caster dispelled it, or unless someone else could get rid of it. "Would you like to see what dark magic can do, or not?"

[Jaykobell]

Danika did want to see what dark magic could do, but the thought of getting cursed was a little unsettling. Still, if Sibyl said that it was only temporary, the child could take it, right? If she didn't want to show the child what dark magic could really do because it was destructive, then surely the woman didn't want to curse the child permanently and attract attention to them. "O... Okay," the child finally answered, trying to brace herself for whatever Sibyl wanted to cast on her.

The child accepting to take it pleased the albino. "Curses can be used in a variety of ways. Some dark mages use them to kill enemies over long term, but curses can also be used to create distractions and to be mild inconveniences. What I will cast on you is only going to hinder you temporarily, and I will dispel it after," Sibyl reminded the child, giving her a final warning. "Do not panic." The last thing she needed was for the child to panic from the sudden spell and to get others to notice them.

Once the child had nodded her head in understanding, Sibyl worked on casting the small curse. The smaller the spell, the less effort and magic it needed. While she obviously had a bigger interest in lethal curses, it was necessary to learn the harmless ones in order to learn the bigger spells. Perhaps it was a good thing, in the end, since she could now show the child what kind of spells dark magic could do.

Using one hand, Sibyl moved one hand where it hovered over the child's mouth; at least, from the albino's perspective. She used her pointer finger and thumb to simulate her hand grabbing the child's mouth from the side, and then slid the pinched fingers across the whole mouth. Danika watched with curiosity, and as Sibyl reached the other corner of the child's mouth, the albino withdrew her hand back towards her and snapped her fingers. Danika seemingly waited for a few seconds to find out what Sibyl had casted, if anything, and eventually the albino gave the child a small smile. "Well? Are you feeling any different?"

Initially, the child was disappointed, because she didn't feel anything different. Danika was about to answer to say just that, but despite her wanting to talk, her mouth wasn't cooperating. Blinking, the child put her hands to her mouth. She could feel the lips and the mouth still being there, but although she wanted to speak, she couldn't make it open. She could still move her tongue inside her mouth and the teeth were still there, but she simply couldn't open the mouth itself to speak. She frantically tried to pull one way and then another, hoping the lips would get unstuck, but no matter how hard she tried, the girl still couldn't open her mouth. She eventually went the extra mile and tried to pull apart the lips with her hands, but even then, it wasn't enough to unstick the lips.

Baffled, she looked back at Sibyl with a defeated expression, getting just a little nervous at the prospect of having her mouth glued shut. She could still make expressions with it, and everything else felt normal, except for the fact that it was glued shut.

Giving a small, dark chuckle Sibyl leaned back into her chair. Exactly as she'd explained it: the child had become completely immersed into the curse, losing track of what was going on around her and instead focusing entirely on trying to unstick her mouth. "Useful for unruly little pipsqueaks, wouldn't you agree, child?"

[Jaykobell]

As the child grew more and more unnerved at the fact of having lost her mouth, Sibyl eventually dispelled the curse, once again with a single snap of her fingers. The child had been trying to unstick still, so when the curse was dispelled, the girl was left with her mouth suddenly opening wide. Danika quickly closed her mouth and put her hands over it, the sudden change startling her.

So this was the kind of thing dark magic could do? The child knew it could do things that were much more dangerous than just this, but this kind of thing really could create a distraction. If it could do something like control the body of someone else to a certain extent, what other unsettling things could this magic truly do? "Th-that was so strange..." the child commented mostly to herself, letting her hands drop from her mouth.

"That was but child's play," Sibyl mentioned as she put her hand back down and crossed her legs again. "Curses can be much more devastating when used appropriately. Not only that, but dark magic has many different sub-categories. Curses are one of them, and most likely the most well-known. Necromancy is also something many dark mages try to master. Dark magic is a lot more tangible than its elemental cousins, which makes it harder to wield, but more devastating when used properly." It could take on many different forms, unlike the elemental magics that were mostly shaped according to their type. While experienced mages could shape them slightly, they couldn't reach the same level of versatility that dark magic had.

"Wow..." Danika said as she looked down at her hands, imagining herself being able to use that kind of power. If she stuck with Sibyl, surely the woman would be able to teach her how to use a whole variety of spells. Finally, the girl would have something that she could really call hers, and no more would the other kids tell her that she wasn't worth anything. "Can you teach me those little curses now? I want to learn how to cast them too!" The child had no intention of using them in order to hurt others, but someone did hurt her, then the girl could retaliate.

Things were going much more smoothly than Sibyl had expected. The girl had to be truly unhappy to be so willing to learn such dark arts as black magic, but it certainly didn't displease the albino in the slightest. The girl was eager to learn, and she sounded like a hard-working, loyal child. Sibyl only hoped that this would turn out to be accurate, and that the child would pull through the adversity of learning such difficult magic. "Curses are too advanced for you at this time, child," Sibyl answered as she waved a finger in disapproval. "Despite their mundane effects, curses are very structured. An inexperienced mage trying to cast even the smallest one could result in them casting a completely different spell. You wouldn't want to accidentally curse someone to stop breathing, would you?" If a curse was cast wrong, then it could result in terrible side-effects, such as casting a completely different curse. One had to be in complete control of their magic in order to be able to force their magic to do such specific things.

Danika seemed disappointed that she couldn't learn curses quite yet, but Sibyl's example of a catastrophe that could happen should the child try did keep Danika from insisting. It seemed like she had a long road ahead of her before she would be able to really use her magic the way she wanted.

[Jaykobell]

Shortly after having shown the child that muting curse, the door leading inside the restaurant opened to reveal the waitress bringing the two their order. The conversation ended right there for the time being as Sibyl and Danika both turned to the source of the noise.

"Here you are!" the waitress exclaimed as she reached the table, dropping the seafood platter by Sibyl and the pasta in front of Danika. "Seafood platter and meat sauce pasta, with an extra of cheese," she announced once the plates had been deposited on the table. "Oh, also, lady Negative," the waitress added, turning to Sibyl as she spoke the name of the tactician, still unaware that she was talking to the wrong person. "The manager asked that I give you this, as a token of our appreciation for your visit here."

Sibyl turned around to face the waitress, and was surprised to see the woman hand over a small hat to her. It matched the one the employees had: a black hat with a small beige rim, and a little embroidered boat anchor on it. The albino took the hat, but to be truthful, she had no interest in keeping it, since she had no use for it. "We thought maybe this could make up for the food," she explained, the staff seemingly still feeling bad for being unable to offer the renowned tactician free food.

"Ah, I see. Please don't worry about the food. Thank you for the hat: I appreciate it," Sibyl replied, obviously lying through her teeth. She occasionally glanced back at the child, expecting Danika to remember what they had discussed and for the child to keep quiet.

"It's nothing! The pleasure is ours," the waitress said as she gave a small bow. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to let me know," she added as she turned around and made her way back inside the restaurant.

Once the waitress was gone, Sibyl's expression changed from something akin to gratitude to plain annoyance. "Humph. Useless," she grumbled quietly to herself as she looked down at the hat. Why would they think that a useless piece of clothing could make up for free food? She had no use for a toy.

While Sibyl was thoroughly unimpressed by the hat, Danika was curiously looking at it with a certain sense of longing. Whoever the albino was pretending to be, that person was certainly well-known, and also very loved by others. To be given things for free was so mind-boggling to the child, whom had never been given anything at all. What did one have to do for strangers to give them free food and items?

As she stared at the hat, Sibyl eventually noticed the staring eyes of the child fixated on the hat. The albino glanced at the child, and then back at the hat. What, did the child want this? "I have no use for this," Sibyl said as she dropped the hat on the table towards the child. "Take it."

[Jaykobell]

When she was told to take the hat, Danika just stared at the albino, baffled. Why was Sibyl giving the hat to her? Even if she didn't have any use for it, the woman could've simply thrown it away. "R... really?" the girl asked, unsure if the albino was testing her, or if the hat was really up for taking.

"Do you want it, or not?" Sibyl asked, turning to her dish and surveying all the different kinds of fish that the chef had prepared. "If you do not want it, then leave it. I'll throw it out lat—"

"I'll take it!" Danika interrupted quickly, stretching her small arms across the table to quickly grab the hat before Sibyl took it back. She regretted interrupting the adult woman, and the girl actually expected the albino to get upset. "I... S-sorry," she blurted out awkwardly, hiding a little behind the hat that was clearly too big for a small teenager her age.

It wasn't pleasant to have been interrupted by a child, but at least Danika had realized her mistake before Sibyl had to point it out to her. Considering she cared nothing for the hat and simply wanted to eat and then be on her way to a hotel, the albino let it go. "Just eat, then, if you're done," Sibyl instructed as she started going through her own dish, starting with the smaller fish like the shrimps. Finger foods were always the best and easiest to eat and enjoy.

While Sibyl was busy eating, Danika's attention was fixated on the hat. Never before had the child gotten a gift, or even bought something for herself. Although the hat had been given to Sibyl and not to Danika, ultimately the albino had given the hat to the child. Had the albino needed the hat in any way, Danika wouldn't have it now, but that didn't matter to the child. Even if there had been a reason as to why she could get the hat, the child still appreciated the fact that she did have the item. And the girl knew, for sure, that would probably never get rid of it, and that it would be something that she would keep with her always.

Timidly, the girl gripped the hat and brought it over her head, dropping it over her light blond hair. It swallowed her head almost completely, looking way too big for a child her size. Still, she had a lot of growing left to do, so she was certain that the hat would fit, given time. The child let the hat go so that she could focus on eating her food: another thing that would be a whole new experience for her. The hat gave Danika a few problems, however, as it kept sliding over her eyes the moment she tilted her head downward. Still, with a little bit of persistence, the child eventually found a position where the hat could stay on her head well and allow her to eat.