Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Alrighty. Yet another of my pre-roleplay special side story things. Muahahahaha.

Enjoy! biggrin

Captain Emily’s Crew and their Rise to Freedom Pre-story Special #3
Of Explosions and Fireworks


“Kaea, tell me again why I’ve gotta come along ta Gillers. You can deliver his oddly designed bread jist fine on yer own,” Emily complained as the two of them walked down the alley towards Giller’s house. Why he had to live so far away in the first place was another matter entirely. That crazy old coot.

“Because you’ve got nothing better to do today.”

“Sure I do!” Emily protested. “Why I could have cleaned out me shoppe, or rearranged me toolbox, or gone looking fer ‘dose missing pieces of de ship.”

“None of those, save for the last one, actually count as ‘something better to do’. And you’ve been looking for those parts every day for the past three weeks, can’t you take a little break?”

“Now Kaea, what was de first thing I taught ya when we formed this rebellion group?”

“A rebel’s work is never done, I know, I know, but I think that it’d be good if we got out to do something purely non-anti-monarchist related.”

Emily raised an eyebrow towards her friend. “You mean it’d be good fer Giller?”

Kaea’s eyes darted around a bit. “Well….ya, kinda.”

“Now why would ye be thinking that Giller needs more company? He sees you every day when you bring him that bread!” she said, pointed to the bag in which a single loaf of bread with some fairly intricate designs put into the top resided.

“I know, but that’s just it. The only person he sees is me. You should have seen him when I first started coming. He practically kept me captive for the night teaching me over fifty years of magical history. Then there were the following days when he tried to actually teach me how to use magic. And of course that didn’t go well.” Emily stopped walking, a wave of realization finally hitting her.

“What’s up?” Kaea asked, turning around when her sensors detected her friend’s ceased movement.

“You,” Emily began, pointing to Kaea, “want me,” she continued, now pointing to herself, “to be Giller’s,” she was now pointing off in the direction of Giller’s house, “apprentice in magic?”

“Well, yes, that was the general idea,” Kaea said, “but I don’t understand what’s wrong with it.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Emily said, now getting a little worked up. “What’s wrong with it? What’s right with it, that’s the better question!”

“Emily, I don’t see how going a just making an effort to let Giller teach you—”

“Kaea, I be an airship pilot, ok? I deal in mechanics, with machines and that sort. Not in create blazing balls of fire outta nowhere! If you want Giller ta have an apprentice so badly, then you go and be his apprentice.”

“I can’t,” Kaea stated, and Emily felt as though she’d been hit in the head with a really hard brick. Duh! Kaea was an android. And androids and magic were two un-mixy things. Now she felt all stupid for being, well, stupid.

She sighed. “Alright. If ye really want me to go be Gillers apprentice person, then I shall try. I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll try.”

“Thanks Em! You’re the best!” Kaea said, and began pulling her friend down the alleyway.

“So long as he durnt make me do nothing funny.”



“This counts as something funny,” Emily said through clenched teeth, as she stood on her hands and head with Giller holding her feet up in the air as he munched on a piece of the bread Kaea had brought him. Minus the bread munching the position was actually quite reminiscent of someone who was attempting to do a handstand.

“Just hang in there Em,” Kaea said, attempting to cheer her friend on.

“Easy for you ta say, ye aren’t the one who’s gotta hold themselves up on their hands.”

“I could though,” Kaea said, and proceeded to easily do a handstand.

“Stupid enhanced physical stuff,” Emily grunted. “Giller, what da heck is dis supposed ta do anyhow?”

“It’s supposed to aid you in channeling all the magical energy in your body to one spot, in this case your hands. If you are successful in creating a flame then the paper underneath your hands will set on fire.”

“Won’t dat burn down yer house?”

“No,” he said, taking another bite of the bread. “I’ve got a spell on the house, it’s fireproof. Besides, Kaea’s got that watering can,” he took another bite of bread.

“How do ye eat dat bread every day and not get fat?”

“Wizards,” he swallowed, “have incredibly high metabolisms. Comes as an after effect of casting all those spells. Why do you think we eat so much?”

“I wouldn’t know, yer de only wizard I’ve ever met.”

“I see,” Giller said, and Emily flopped down on the floor.

“Ouch,” she said, rubbing her backside.

“That was fairly unsuccessful,” Giller commented.

“Well no kiddin! That’s what happens when you force someone to stand upside-down and try ta light a paper on fire with their mind!” Emily yelled, now looking slightly insane.

“You’re right, that was too much too quick. Here,” he handed her a ring off of the shelf. It’s a ring that amplifies people’s magical power. You should be able to cast a spell no problem with this.”

“This is insane,” Emily said, taking the ring and putting it on. “I be an airship pilot, not some magician!” All of a sudden she felt something wet hit her face, and when she opened her eyes she deduced from the way that Giller was looking at her, and how Kaea was laughing that he’d squirted her with water.

“You needed to cool off,” he said, and that was it for Emily. Nobody squirted Miss Emily Andrews with water and lived to tell the tale.

“Why you little—” she began, but the ring started making some odd humming noise and a blast of fire appeared about two inches from Giller’s nose.

Giller stared at the spot where the fire had been for a moment, seemingly dumbstruck. “Well done,” he finally said. “That was a little close, but well done.”

“It weren’t me,” she said, as another blast of fire appeared, and then another one, this time in quicker succession.

“Giller, is there any way that ring could be malfunctioning?” Kaea asked.

“No! Not a chance! I made it myself!”

“Well that there explains everything. Get this abomination off me!” Emily yelled, and began flailing around.

“Well hold still then!” Kaea said sternly, as she attempted to get a hold on her friend’s hand, which was proving quite difficult due to the flailing and the miniature explosions appearing in every open space of air.

“And..got it!” Kaea yelled triumphantly, as a bunch of fireworks appeared in the air simultaneously, and while they were prettier than the explosions, they left the three of them pretty singed.

“That’s it,” Emily dusted herself off. “I’m through with magic. And nothing you say,” she turned to Kaea, who had been about to speak. “Can convince me otherwise. Ye gots that?”

“But who will be my apprentice now?” Giller asked, whining like a three year old that had his favorite toy taken away.

“The first person who goes and walks through that door for all I care,” she went and sat down at the table, realizing that it was completely clean. Fireproof or not, it was kind of depressing when a wooden table came out of a magical minefield better than you did.

“This is tragical, completely horrid, it—” Giller was complaining, though it was then that there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” he said, unenthusiastically.

“Hey Giller,” Jamie popped her head through the door, “Kaea, Emily…why are you guys all covered in soot?”

“Emily had a little too much fun with a malfunctioning magic ring,” Kaea explained.

“It was your idea!” Emily yelled.

“Oh. Alright. Giller, do you have any sugar? We’re all out and Keenan sent me over to get some.”

It was then that Giller’s face got the crazy look that Giller’s face got when something was going his way. “Say, Jamie, you do some magic, don’t you?”

“Ya, a bit,” she said meekly. “I’m not all that great at it yet though.”

“What do you say you become my apprentice? I’ll teach you everything I know!”

“Really?” her face lit up with excitement. “Giller that would be fantastic! Thank you! Thank you, thank you!”

“’Tis no problem. Now come right this way,” he said, and led Jamie towards his bookshelf in the back, and Kaea knew that the girl was about to get an earful of all the magical history ever.

“Well, it looks like Giller got his apprentice after all, huh?” Emily asked, and Kaea nodded.

“Yep, sure does.”

“I be done with explosions and fireworks. And all magic of any sort.”

“I know,” Kaea said, “and I think the world is better for it.”

Alright, well that's it. I hope that you liked it, and Erin, I hope I got Emily's speach at least mostly right!