Perfecting Perfection {Zoe}

It had taken far too long to convince one of the elder ice acolytes to cough up the few scrolls and books that were laying around Inverness concerning the spell Garth Carmina. It was a spell that had taken Gaspard longer than most other spells to master, and even he could admit that he could benefit from brushing up on his technique and execution a little. With that in mind, the blonde carefully tucked a few of the scrolls and books under his arm before exiting his quarters and making his way to the court yard where he had an appointment with Zoe.

Rounding the corner, and spotting the younger ice elemental Gaspard gestured to the items under his arm with a small flourish of celebration, offering the girl a rare smile “We’re lucky the acolytes were feeling generous, you know…” he paused momentarily to set his armful down on a small table in the yard and kick off his shoes “I’m glad you came to me for help, actually – I could use a little work myself.” While the girl got herself situated and ready to begin, the Zealot gently opened each of the scrolls and books so that they would be ready for use as they went along.

“So, are you having trouble producing the spell in general, or is there a particular part of the spell that’s not feeling right, or?” He probed gently, having forgotten to some degree what the brunette had asked for help with specifically. Then after another beat he added “Why don’t you give the spell a go, and I’ll watch and see if anything stands out? For what it’s worth, I’ve found if you don’t focus on exactly where you want the spell to go, and more on just a general area at first, it’s a bit more cooperative.” It wasn’t often that he got to work with another elemental outside of his own training on spells of this caliber, and he was anxious to see what Zoe could do.   

@Yelena Romanova a

Zoé Deveaux had never really struggled with any spell during her elemental training. Sure, some had taken her longer to learn than others but all in all she'd grasped the concept of each spell quickly. She didn't really know if it was all her or if it was the fact that she'd learned from the best but if someone asked her, she would always tell them that most of it was Peter Alva's doing. The old harbinger had been her teacher from the start and over the years he'd become some kind of father figure for her. And now he was gone. Off to some place no one knew anything about and if his absence had proven one thing it was that his teaching methods had indeed been the reason for her success.

The ice elemental knew that Garth Carmina was one of the extremely advanced spells, one that wouldn't be easy to master, but she hadn't thought that it would be that difficult to learn, maybe even impossible without the harbinger's help. Still, it fascinated her more than any other spell and there had to be a way to finally learn it. For years she had toyed with the idea of becoming a healer one day and while it would definitely be more difficult for her to become a healer than for a normal witch, Zoé was determined to reach her goal one day. She had all the time in the world, after all. And by knowing Garth Carmina everything would get a little easier.

Thankfully Gaspard had agreed to help her and while the man didn't have the same experience Peter Alva had, she knew that he was an extremely capable elemental. When he walked towards her with a bunch of scrolls under his arm, she greeted him with a wide, open smile, excitement clearly visible on her face. "Wonderful," she said and clapped her hands once, beaming up at him. "Let's get started then."

Zoé made herself comfortable, glancing at the scrolls and books, hoping that their little lesson would be a successful one. "I don't really know," she sighed and shrugged her shoulders slightly. The problem was that the spell didn't only heal, it could also hurt others, and maybe that was what held her back. "It sounds stupid, so please don't laugh, but I think the spell senses somehow that I'm not too happy with all its effects." She paused, dark brown eyes focused on him. "I just don't want to hurt anyone."

Gaspard was glad to see that Zoe had enthusiasm for their lesson, which was more of a troubleshooting session than an actual lesson, but knowing that the woman was as eager to get to work as he was made things that much more enjoyable. And, while Gaspard was always willing to help the few friends he had with their elemental training, it helped that he simply enjoyed Zoe's company. It wasn't a chore, not in the way that it could be with some students, no matter how much he might enjoy teaching them.

When Zoe revealed the reason for her hesitation, Gaspard didn’t laugh, instead the Zealot nodded sympathetically letting her talk. While he rarely struggled with that kind of dilemma, he absolutely understood that others did, and knew that Zoe was no exception. While he often found other’s reticence to do what needed to be done tiring, he found it endearing coming from Zoe. And because they were friends, he found the discrepancy easy to ignore. “You’re probably not alone in that” he offered, chuckling good naturedly “but I do think it might be one of those cases where you have to make a decision, and once you make that decision, you’ve got to buy into the good you’re doing – whether you actually believe it or not – fake it until you make it” In all honesty, Gaspard wasn’t entirely sure he was offering the right advice, but it was what had helped him get over mental blocks in the past, and it was worth a shot for Zoe, too.

When she was ready, the blonde waved her on “use me as your target when you’re ready” Not wanting their session to be overly stressful, the wizard added on “I trust you” and shot the woman a wink to let her know teasing. Not to mention, if he could make her smile, there was a chance that she might relax whether she realized it or not. And the key, as Gaspard had learned the hard way, with most elemental spells was to be relaxed, not fighting the magic, and instead working with it. He couldn’t help but blanch at the cliché nature of the advice he had given Zoe, but until he saw her try the spell, there was little he could do other than offer words of advice and encouragement.

It was a relief that he didn't laugh and she shot him a grateful smile, appreciating his understanding. She knew that the older elemental didn't show that much sympathy to all his students, in fact she knew that some of them were actually a little nervous when he was around, and it made his whole behaviour towards her even more meaningful. It wasn't easy to understand why they were slightly afraid of him, especially since he'd never done anything that would give her any reason to be scared of him, and she was glad that he seemed to like her enough to consider her his friend. To non-elementals their friendship might seem weird due to their age difference but for them time was a different concept. While Gaspard might be older measured in 'normal' time, he was still young for an elemental.

Zoé nodded at his words, they made sense, she just didn't know if it would be that easy. She'd thought that she'd already made a decision, she wanted to master the spell, to use it whenever she needed it, but even though she knew that she would only use it for good and never to hurt anyone else intentionally, it had never worked before. The brunette looked up at him when he told her to use him as a target and smiled softly when he added that he trusted her. It made her think of Pierce who had said the exact same words when they'd met for the first time after his adventures and she had to admit that it was a nice feeling to be considered trustworthy.

"Okay, let's do this," she said quietly as she ran a hand through her hair to stop it from falling in her face. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus and to channel all her magic, repeating to herself over and over again that she only wanted to master the spell to do good. Her brown eyes met Gaspard's as she said the incantation and for a second she thought she could hear a strange melody as the wind picked up and blew the hair she had just brushed away back in her face. As fast as the wind had appeared it was gone again and with it the melody. Her shoulders dropped in defeat, a sad smile on her face. "See? It just doesn't work."