LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 1728 Callisto Protocol Part 1
--- Kat --- (Thursday)
Kat slid into the chair across from Callisto who had set up an easel and paints for the afternoon. Kat was apparently going to be the model for the painting which… well Kat didn't know how she fell about that. She also hadn't known Callisto could paint. "When did you learn to paint and why didn't it come up before?"
Callisto adjusted her stool and the easel a little bit as she answered, "I learnt in school and I put in a decent amount of time. It was one of the more… hands on hobbies that my parents did not completely disprove of. They greatly disliked the idea of my attending shop classes so I had to forge their signatures for those.
"Which meant I did most of my woodwork in other places or while they were away from home. Art I was able to do at home… though despite asking for a space to setup up my supplies I was constantly berated for getting paint on the floor. Keep in mind that my setup was in a corner of the garage and the paint never once got on the cars,"
Kat winced at that. Not wanting to image what it was like to stay with parents who were so strict. "Is… I don't normally ask… but was the issue that your parents were too strict?"
"It was but a small issue that they were too strict. My parents were too strict, rarely at home themselves, and I was mostly taken care of by a rotating cast of friends and babysitters that had no real interest in watching and caring for me but were all quite willing to snitch to my parents about any rules I had broken… or in quite a few cases rules THEY had broken and blamed on me.
"I know my least favourite sitter was my older cousin. She was not allowed to watch me until we were both older and would regularly sneak into the good cheese and wine that my parents liked to set aside and then blame the missing food and drink on me. The worst part of that though? She taught me how to pick locks a few weeks prior to her first theft and ensured my parents knew I had been taught so it was not some sort of spur of the moment decision. She also made multiple attempts. Eventually my parents either hid the good stuff better or stopped buying it to have on hand," explained Callisto.
Kat flinched and tried to adjust herself after hearing that but Callisto sent a glare Kat's way. The glare was enough for Kat to remember that she was meant to be the subject of a painting so she fixed her posture back to where it was when she sat down. "Right… well… I do sort of want to hear more about that but why did you ask me for this? I'm quite sure that everyone who lives here would be happy to model for you. So is this an excuse to ambush me like Vivian did?" Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire
"Well Vivian's tactics did work did it not? If you wish we could talk about your problems but in truth I have been slacking on my painting skills and wish to renew them a bit. I plan to try painting everyone but as I do not know when you will need to leave next you are going to be my first subject as I am still undecided if I have the time to add Lily to the list as well.
"That being said, considering you are trapped here we could talk about some of the more interesting or noteworthy moments of your journeys? I would not want to force you to confront any deep seated issues you have buried because I myself utilised that same technique to great success so it would be hypocritical of my to force any answers from you while keeping you as a captive audience. Plus I am interested in hearing about what it is you think IS the most interesting about all of your adventures," replied Callisto.
"Well the first one is basically a wash. I thought it was a dream and I got sent back just as quickly so I'm not really sure that one counts. Then we had the King that I may have given terrible advice to. Lily has since informed me that while yes, fires are good for clearing deadwood and ash is great fertilisers… some ecosystems really aren't set up for that. Hopefully he didn't do anything too crazy with that advice…" Kat admitted with an awkward smile. "Though you've already heard all of this stuff,"
Callisto shrugged as she dipped her brush in the blank ink. She was currently working on Kat's outline. "True but that is not the point of doing this. I want to know which parts you consider important. What you choose to highlight. Not which things you feel are safe to mention within earshot of Sylvie."
Kat gave a wry smile and continued. "Um… right well… after that I pretended to be scary but it was another really short Contract by my current standards. After that was the meeting with… Major and Minor. That was… well that was a whole thing. Though I did learn what it's like to regenerate with gravel in your body,"
"That is what you chose to focus on?" asked Callisto.
Kat shrugged. "Lily might not like to hear it… but I think that was the moment it sunk in that I was nearly invincible. I didn't think about shielding… do I call them Major because it's her body technically? Whatever. Point is I didn't think about it, I just acted and despite all the damage I took? I was fine.
"It was probably the scariest moment I'd had up to that point. Gravel rash in the extreme and I could feel it getting pushed out of my body at the time. It was super gross and I guess that sort of stuck with me the most?
"Oh, and if we jump forward to the tournament stuff. That moment Thyme stopped time? Or close enough to it? That was the single most powerful piece of magic I had seen up to that point. It might still BE the most impressive feat of magic I've seen pulled off. Depends on if certain other things count as magic. Plus a lot of the time stuff Trvis pulled off I didn't get to witness personally. That was all Lily.
"I mean there is some crazy stuff time has done so maybe it's just the fact that it was the first really impressive bit of magic… but I can't tell really. I suppose it depends on just how extensive the effect was…"
Callisto nodded along, "I admit that stopping time does still seem impressive. Trvis might have been able to stretch time, speed things up, slow things down, teleport and a few other fancy things but I do not believe Lily mentioned him stopping time properly. Not once,"
"Well… Ronldo was frozen but that was more of a gradual thing and I'm not sure how conscious of a choice that was on Trvis part. So… to move on from that we had that time I went into a dream with to save them both but… well that whole sage was a mess and honestly it might be best to just forget that whole thing.
"Um… where did I go next? Xiang! Ah yes the first time I was dealing with Xiang. That was a whole heck of a thing. So many moments I could maybe bring up… but really it has to be getting stabbed in the heart twice. I mean, it was the entire reason things got so messy and I ended up going the Hub. In the end it worked out but it was a massive pain at the time and well… I don't think anyone could forget getting their heart stabbed even if they didn't have total recall like myself," Kat finished.
"Ah, yes that was a bit of a mess. I remember Vivian being quite worried about it. Sylvie was beside herself and I admit to being quite stressed about it as well. We did not yet know just how good demon medical care was and your regeneration had… not quite proven itself so thoroughly. It did save you the first time and from what I remember ensured you survived it the second time but it was still a rather worrying thing to hear about the first time. Please ensure you do NOT get into such a situation again," stated Callisto firmly.
Kat let out and awkward laugh and went to rub the side of her face only to remember Callisto was painting her, causing her to wrench her hand back down. "Yeah I'll try not to. I mean, now that I've got that water trick figured out… somewhat… I think I can keep it from happening again. Might take a lot more energy to reform all that water but I wouldn't be missing a heart again!"
"See that you do," stated Callisto firmly.