The Story of Orion and Ai

"Yeah, that's basically how it works. But it's not easy. You'll fail a lot trying to achieve lucid dreaming, so just take your time and do not let the failures set you back. I had to try for very long to be able to do it myself." He hoped she realized now that it is a matter of patience and hoped that she wouldn't give up too soon. Just like magic, he sees lucid dreaming as something anyone can do if they put enough time into it.

"Lance... He sounds more like the type that would teach you how to fight with a lance than with a sword, to be fair..." He laughed a little bit at his joke, despite knowing it was a terrible one. "Well, meditation may indeed help, after all it helps you clear your mind. So yes, I would recommend meditating as well."

"Well, nothing wrong with feeling a certain kinship towards someone, right? The people you meet sound wonderful indeed." He smiled patiently.

"Hmm, that does sound like trouble... Well, the way I keep myself disciplined is by simply acknowledging that if I do not treat others right I'm not welcome there, and as a traveler that would of course be a major issue. I can just get kicked out if I cause trouble for others. That may be a little harder for a princess to acknowledge, though... Oh, no offense of course." Though he knew that Ai was not like other princesses and that she most likely would not feel offended by it, he did not want to take any risks. Maybe unnecessary, but better safe than sorry.
 
"I'm not known for giving up," Ai spoke with her hands on her hips, a smile so strong it pushed her cheeks almost up to her eyes. "Even today, like every day, I practiced my swordplay in my room to better hone my abilities. I was taught that a sword is an extension of yourself, so you must be as vigilant to control the sword as you are your own body." She knew it wasn't the same deep inside- magic and physical energies alone were quite different. However, it proved her point, in her mind, that she wasn't someone who would stop just from failure. She'd failed plenty of times with her sword- she could deal with not being perfect.

A small laugh escaped her lips when Orion mentioned the pun in Lance's name. This giggle soon turned into a small fit of laughter, causing her to double over for just a moment, eyes tearing as she wiped them with her dress's sleeve. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh so hard, it's just... I said the same exact thing when I first learned he was going to be teaching me swordplay. His proper name is Lancelot- it's just no one calls him that. He's been with our family so long he's like another older brother, same as Ludo."

Her happy atmosphere stayed put, but her expression surely didn't for long. As she listened to Orion, her lips turned to be almost a straight line, her eyes a wee bit dull. "That... I don't get how you can have just a mindset to keep disciplined. I was much more rowdy as a kid until I took up learning to wield a sword. If you're not cautious, you can seriously harm someone with it. I guess it's more, I don't see what you could personally do to offend someone so greatly that they'd kick you out of town. Perhaps it's because I don't know you that well yet, but you just don't have the air of a troublemaker."

Ai wouldn't admit that she was offended, even if only a tiny bit. She had more pride in herself as a person than a princess, and wanted to believe she could well understand what a regular person felt and how they lived thanks to her regular visits to study the townspeople. With how rarely she actually was treated as a normal girl, though, she sighed in realization his point was far too valid to ignore. "I suppose you may have a point... I can only know my own experiences for certain..."
 
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"Well, dedicating yourself to something is a good thing! Well, not always, but most of the time." He chuckled a little. He himself was not all too good at physical combat, which was quite common for mages in general. Not all mages were poor at melee fighting, though. He knows of stories where mages could practically do anything.

He was expecting to get a death stare for his horrible pun, but instead... She laughed. She lost it, in fact. She was laughing so hard that she bursted into tears. "...Was it that good of a joke?" Looking at his face, it was obvious he was quite surprised. But then she explained that she made the same joke back when she first heard that he was to teach her swordplay, so it made a lot more sense. "Lancelot... Hmm, his name sounds familiar. Maybe in a story I read a long time ago, someone shared his name... Well, whatever!"

"Well, it may be hard to imagine for good people, but a lot of humans can behave outrageously. Whether that is because they cause trouble for others or because they can get severely offended by just the littlest things. I've met quite a lot of humans in life and I've met bad people, too. Most of the people I've met were genuinely nice people, but there were people I met even I couldn't stand. And I'd argue my patience is quite big, if I do say so myself." He did not intend to brag, so he hoped that she wouldn't mistake it for that. He has experienced the cruelty of mankind first-hand, which he still vividly remembers to this day...

He thought deeply. He honestly wanted to see the young princess himself, to see what she was like... But that of course only would be possible if he could get in the royal castle. "Well, just tell your father about the idea of me teaching you magic. If he allows it I'd be more than happy to teach you!"
 
Ai nodded in agreement when Orion mentioned the good of dedication. She twitched slightly when he said not always was it a good thing. In the princess' mind, dedication was one of the best things in the world. She was dedicated to multiple things, and felt pride unwarranted because of that. "I'm dedicated to many things. I'm dedicated to swordplay, to taking care of the people... My hobby, as you know, is to come into town hoping I won't be recognized so I'll be able to do more than they'll let me when they know it's me... Which is always. Is there magic that can make me not so easy to recognize?"

It wasn't that shocking that Ai was easy to catch. Her red hair was vibrant and rare, her eyes such a deep green with a certain passion that anyone would catch her in a crowd. It had been the same way when her brother was young and wanted time to himselft. He'd told her the stories, and they were all correct- whenever Ai came into town, people doted on her and spoiled her instead of letting her spoil them. Thinking about it made her want to cry ever so slightly. What kind people her family ruled over! It was truly luck, even if it didn't always feel that way.

"I've been wondering... you called people 'humans', but aren't mages still human? The way you said it, it almost sounds like you don't believe you belong to the same species. It's kind of... sad, in a way. Like you're putting an unwarranted distance between us." A sad smile was on her face, but her eyes were kind rather than crying. She'd not cry over something like this.

"If you'd like, we can ask father together. I'm sure he'd be happy to agree if he meets you. I'm allowed to bring people to meet him on my outings, but for some reason no one ever wants to go..."
 
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