The Song at the Heart of Obsession

    Since leaving Eas and arriving in Alne, Fuka's been busily putting the final touches on her enchantment obsession. Fortunately, with Baroness Wake and Tae around, there are people willing to tell her she stinks and need food and sleep, and they're stubborn enough to not take any crap or evasion over it. So Fuka's only marginally hungry and tired rather than exhausted. She's even not foul-smelling or filthy! Just... a little distressed at getting this project absolutely PERFECT.

Instead of having her gaze lost in the distance, Uta today is looking at the ground. She paces briskly, she rubs her chin, quick, nervous motions.

"The Peko Ranch... The Slime Labs..." she mumbles, low, barely audible. "I fear we have no choice. We'll have to evacuate. We might be able to save the slimes, but the equipment..."

Maybe it's fate, or maybe it's her Nurse Sense, but the point is, Uta glances up. "Oh. Oh, hi, Fuka!", she waves, the sight of a friend restoring her good humour for a moment. "What brings you around her-" She gives the Sylph a sideways look. "Have you been taking care of yoursef?"

    Fuka's current work is on a wagon, in the yard of the building she's currently renting a room at. She's holding engraving tools and wearing a pair of glasses for close-in detail. Glasses with extra-thick lenses that make her look like an owl as she raises her head from the engraving at her friend's call. It's a near thing. Someone else calling her name may not have gotten a response. But Uta? There's always time for Uta. "Heeeey girl~" she calls, lifting up those glasses to be sure it actually IS Uta. Blinking, she nods. "I've been taking great care of myself!" she lies. Technically Tae's been taking great care of her. Close enough!

Uta looks over her shoulder. "-from the menu? Is the Girl from the Menu following me? That- Oh. Oh, wait, you meant- nevermind." She waves one hand dismissively. "Sorry, mild paranoia there. One day I'll explain."

Uta walks over, and takes her time to sit cross legged on the grass. "Sure you have, sure you have" Uta replies at Fukaziroh's assertion that she has been taking care of herself, with the tone a mother would use with a child who is providing her with a totally legit and absolutely beliveable story, honest.

She cranes her neck in various directions, and takes her time to admire Fuka's handiwork. "So, is this the fruit of your labor?"

    "This is my baby!" Fuka admits unashamedly. "Though... uh, Riza had it built so that would make HIM the father and that just sounds weird. Not that he's a bad guy or anything, you know. But he's such a prude!" she grins wickedly, then eases off slightly on the innuendo to explain. "He had the container built into the wagon and insulated, I mean. I did the spell form and created the mana crystal, after I got Wis to show me how. And now I'm doing some last adjustments so we can see how long this will keep a wagonload of food at a deep freeze!"

    She pauses, running something back through her head. Then Fuka puts down her magnifying lenses entirely. "What's this about a menu girl? You don't mean the one from character creation do you? Because that'd be weird."

"It's the one that comes up on the character sheet," Uta explains, making vague menu-swiping gestures, similar enough for explanation purposes but not precise enough to pull up the menu for real. Her eyes narrow, and she looks left and right. "Every time I pass in front of a mirror, I catch a glimpse of her stalking me. Good thing I'm quick to dodge." Back to her lost expression, and to her lip tapping, she continues, "Must be the game mascot or something, used as a stand-in to demonstrate equip slots or something..."

She stands up and begins to walk around the cart. "It looks impressive, indeed." Uta leans sideways to get closer to Fuka, and with a smirk, she asks, "So, when are Rizado and you getting married? This newborn deserves a proper family." Hey, two can play at the teasing game. Granted, not both can play at the same level... but they can still play.

    Perhaps surprisingly, Fuka's not at all shocked by Uta's question. It helps that she likes Rizadoman, but also that she's got a ton of experience at deflecting a tease. "Oh, I'm still waiting for a nice ring." she grins, splaying out her fingers and waggling them to show a decided absense of wedding rings. Or engagement rings for that matter. Fuka is, indeed, maidenly. At least in body.

    Fuka shakes her head at explanation of the girl from the menu. Uta's weird, and delightfully so. But the talk reminds her of something, and she snaps her fingers. "Oh hey I found out something a few days ago and maybe you know what it means! I mean, if anyone does you do, and I think you mentioned something about it before. Ummmmmmmm... how did it go? Yeah, I was with Waku-Waku and Prof, and Prof said something and mooned me. Or maybe Waku-Waku, we were pretty close together at the time. Do you know anything about that?"

Uta does not quite speak Fukaspeak, and she *frowns* at her antics. "The Doctor did... I can't believe it was intentional. He... he must have... it must have been some sort of medical procedure. He might easily be the most brilliant medical mind we have in this world. His genius is unfathomable. In fact-" She looks up and taps her chin. "Next time I should ask him what kind of medical benefit he's expecting to give people that way."

Snapping back to attention, she returns to Fuka. "I am afraid, however, that no. I have no idea of the medical benefits of exposing your patients to your buttocks. And even if I did, it is a medical technique I am not planning to practice any time soon."

"To be fair, I believe you must be mistaken, and the culprit must be this... Waku-Waku?" She frowns. "Did they integrate Pac-Man as a creature?" She frowns even harder. "How can that -even- moon you? Apart from the anatomical impossibility of locating its buttocks, he technically has no pants to lower... or legs to put the pants on..."

    Fuka tries to keep a straight face at that. Honestly she tries... but no, it's too much. A broad grin cracks her face and she chortles, lifting a hand to her mouth to try to hold it in.

    After a moment she manages to control herself. "Prof? Noonononono he'd never do something like that! Well, actually he might. He does come off as a little creepy sometimes doesn't he? But he just SAID moon. And... uh, what was it? You gone? One was moon something and the other you gone. Yeeeah something like that! And he said it was the Strange Mood. And this was the result of a medical examination! Which was in public and THAT'S kind of rude come to think of it. I mean, there I was nearly naked in public, being examined by Prof!"

    She pauses, looks sidewise at Uta. "I guess, to be fair, it wasn't really his fault I was half naked at the time. I'd been in the bath. And I was wearing a towel! Perfectly decent. And no, Waku-Waku definitely didn't moon me. She's a baroness! They don't moon anyone. Well, not in public at least!"

"Waku-Waku is a Baroness? But that means that who you've met is not Pac-Man, but actually..."

A gasp.

"-Mrs.- Pac-Man!"

There is a moment of shocked silence. "Oh, wait, no. Duh. Must be Baroness Wake. Nevermind."

Uta frowns. Concentrates. Cogs are visibly cranking in her head. "Oh, he must have meant a Fey Mood, and a Yuugen. The former results in a Moonlight profession, the other in one becoming a Sage." She waves one hand. "It's... a bit complicated, but simply put..."

She looks up, and taps her lips, thinking.

"Sometimes inspiration strikes people. People like you. It gives them absolute focus. They forget about everything and just -do the thing-. They won't rest until they're done with their work." She gestures towards the cart with one hand. "Their baby."

Breath in.

"When we who are trained in Pharmacy medically inspect people in this state, if we are particularly lucky, we get to see them as having a special status effect, which the flavor text describes as Resonating with a particular Song. Everything clear up to now?"

    Fuka knew coming to Uta would be educational! Never mind she didn't come to Uta, Uta technically came to her. She'd have gotten around to it though, eventually. Once her project was done. This is of course excellently educational, and Fuka doesn't even mind the break from her work! It was giving her a headache anyways, or the lenses were.

    "Moonlight and Yuugen, yes exactly!" she beams cheerfully. "I'm not sure whether me or Waku-waku was the Moonlight, he was a little vague." And yes, it's Baroness Wake she's talking about. She just likes the nickname, and Wake doesn't seem to mind it.

    Fuka nods along with the explanation. Fortunately she's not stupid, far from it. She does seem to have a problem with names and with using the correct words sometimes, but that's either carelessness or just playing around. Hard to tell which. "I think I remember you saying something about those songs and resonating before. But I don't know enough about Pharmacy or medical inspection I guess. The only inspecting I do is the..." she waggles her fingers and makes a creepy expression. "... hands-on kind!"

    Dropping the creepy expression along with her hands, the little Sylph continues. "So what does it mean? What song? And why do some resonate with one and others with another? Is it unique to the person, or to their particular focus?"

"Before I answer that, there is another point you need to be aware of: people tend to receive a quest upon completion of their project, and if they accept, they receive a new profession."

Once Uta is reasonably certain Fuka has gotten that point, she proceeds. "There are three types of status effects. Each has their own name, their own associated song, and their own associated kind of profession. The names of the status effects are Fey Mood, Mujou, and Yuugen." A pause, to let the information sink in. "The Fey Mood is associated with the Primordial Song, and results in a 'Moonlight' profession. The Mujou is associated with the Earth Song and results in a 'Novasphere' profession, something along the lines of 'Novasphere Pioneer of-' profession. The Yuugen is associated with the Eternity Song, and results in a 'Sage of-' profession."

Uta looks up, and begins counting. "Gwen has been obsessing over a tapestry depicting the Fourth World Fraction, and she's become a... Moonlight Tailor, if I remember correctly? Setsuna has created rings to control monsters and has become a Novasphere Pioneer of Monster Handling. Longest profession I've heard of. And Jazuhanzu has made a geographical discovery, and thus become a... I think it's a Sage of Cartography?" Her hand makes a wobbly motion. "I might not be remembering all the names -exactly-, but that's the basic idea."

    This is news to Fuka, but not bad news at all. "A quest! So I should definitely accept the quest and become... what, a Moonlight Enchanter? Or maybe a Sage of Food Preservation?" she grins. "Fighting evil by daylight, enchanting men by moonlight? Yes, I like the sounds of that indeed! I will be irresistable!" she smirks. "Of course not discounting the chance of becomin Novasphere pioneer of Ice Cream either. We shall have to see!"

Uta bursts out into laughter. "I doubt this will make you more attractive to the gentlemen, but- yes. You are in a Fey Mood, which means that you'll likely become a Moonlight Enchanter. You will also find your Enchanting skills improved."

Uta tilts her head to one side, and rubs her chin. More slowly than usual.

She tilts her head to the other side, gives it more thought, and adds, "If you are interested in this kind of subject, I am going to start an open research group to learn more about the Songs of Yamato. It's all about meeting and sharing what we find. Especially if we find new songs. Would you be interested in taking part?"

    Fuka muses about that thoughtfully... something actually kind of rare in public. She does want to learn more, but there's other matters involved. Part of it is automatic interest in anything her friends obsess over, and that very likely includes Uta and song, particularly those primordial songs that seem to control so much of this world.

    Fuka has to decide if she wants to learn more because she's interested, or if she's only interested because Uta is. It might not matter to anyone else, but it matters to her. Finally she nods. "I'd be happy to help, and I think this is a fascinating topic!" she agrees. Something fundamental to the Land. Music that resonates with people, making them weird. Ancient, primal songs. Maybe even primal power. Worth learning about, worth taking part in, if only to find out what's going on with no practical value whatsoever.

Uta lets Fuka take her time to decide. Without pressure.

When the response is positive, the Spriggan claps her hands together and beams. "Excellent!", she exclaims. "These songs pop up in the most unexpected of places. And there's something about them people who know more about them than we do don't want to tell us. So, clearly, we have to find out on our own."

"I will have to go soon," Uta remarks, as she moves to stand up form the grass. "But before I go, unless you have any other questions, there's a thing I think you need to be aware of..."

Uta closes her eyes. She inhales.

And then, she begins to sing a song. Slow, powerful, melodic. No lyrics, just vocalizations.

As Uta sings, Fukaziroh can feel her focus deepening. Whatever has been happening to her until now, it's now more intense. She might even start whispering the melody along, even if she doesn't realize it herself.

    Fuka smiles, not one of her usual fierce grin but a softer expression, as Uta begins singing. The song does resonate with her and she's heard it before, so she's quick to start humming along. Not necessarily hitting all the right notes, but when she does dip away from the tune it's in a pleasingly harmonic way that doesn't spoil the song. Fuka is, after all, quite skilled in Song either naturally or because the system assists her. Maybe she's no legendary bard, but she manages in her own way.

    When the song ends, Fuka just sits there for a bit, eyes closed, that peaceful smile still showing. Her eyes open, and she nods. "We'll find the answers, even if it means grabbing and shaking everyone keeping this secret from us!" Fuka promises.