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The first time Sirina had to watch someone she loved die because she didn’t have Storm flames, and no other Storm was present to help her pull off her healing technique, the beginnings of an idea started to stir at the back of her mind.
Later, after the trauma had dimmed somewhat and she was able to concentrate past the grief, Sirina sat down to think up a solution to the issue. It took her a few lifetimes, during which she tried everything from using storage seals to magical runes. To be fair, though, Sirina wasn’t much of an inventor and she knew it. It wasn’t until she was ‘filling in for Skull’, as she liked to call her lifetimes as a Cloud Arcobaleno, that she hit upon the perfect solution.
Why not create objects like little miniature pacifiers that one could choose to pour flames into, according to the flame-type of the container? Without the curse aspect, and making donation voluntary, there wasn’t anything actually wrong with the flame containers themselves. Although she still wasn’t going to bring it to the attention of the Arcobaleno she was currently the ‘colleague’ of. They weren’t on the bad end of the spectrum for Arcobaleno Sirina, or rather “Skull” had dealt with, but they weren’t particularly close either.
Plus Kawahira had gotten smart and used Mist flame to bind her so that she could not share the truth of the curse, or how to fix it, until the correct time in the timeline. If Sirina wished to be able to use the spheres, she had to keep her new invention ‘on the down-low’, so to speak.
Once she had the idea, creating the spheres with a combination of Mist flames and seals was fairly easy. All she needed was a board made of the same flame-conducting and storing material as the Pacifiers, with a seal carved into it to help in the creation of the spheres, a pinch of Mist flame, and her will. Plus the flames to store, of course.
No, creating the spheres proved to be the easy part. She’d created millions of ‘extra’ pacifiers while breaking the curse part of the Arcobaleno system, so it was practically second nature by now. It was the delivery, the ability to remove and use the flames that proved to be troublesome. Naturally “Skull” could use her Sky flames to pull out and direct the other flames, but she wanted to be able to market this invention of hers. It would be nice to not have to work for others if she didn’t want to, after all.
After a lot of trial and error, Sirina found she could imbue the ‘shell’ of the creation, which was mostly mist flame with tiny particles of the material of the pacifiers, with the ability to direct the released flames via the will of the one who broke the orb.
To really test it, though, she needed another Flame-user. She thought about hiring someone, but she didn’t really want to give anyone else access to the process during the developmental stages. The long pauses between the stages of her invention drove Skull a little crazy, and this latest block was particularly irritating. Mostly because it was really only her own stubbornness getting in the way.
Deciding to take a break from both her current job with a small-time famiglia and her inventing, Skull dropped by Mafia Land in disguise. These days when she decided to go out, she went in a henge. The transformation technique had many uses, but one of the best was being able to be in an adult form even while cursed as an Arcobaleno. This time she’d chosen a traditional ‘forgettable’ henge. She liked to call it ‘Background Character #3: Mafia Style!’. This henge’d shape was male, stood about 5’5, and looked typically Italian. Brown hair, brown eyes, nobody you’d give a second glance to in Mafia Land, in other words.
It was easy enough to place a mist net over her pacifier so it wouldn’t alert Colonello that another Arcobaleno was nearby, and then enter the island like any other free-lance member of the Mafia. She’d used this disguise often enough that it had an established “identity” with Mafia Land and she wasn’t required to take any tests. A small relief. After checking into the hotel, Skull went looking for dinner and a drink.
She found both at a local bar, one more for those just getting by. The place had a tired air tonight, and the few conversations were more along the lines of weary griping than anything that could be called positive. Skull took up a position at the bar, feeling her flames settle beneath her skin as she felt herself meld into the atmosphere of those who felt like her.
After ordering and receiving her food and drink, Skull listened in on the other conversations. Not that she was particularly making an effort to do so, but it was quiet enough in the bar that Skull’s keen hearing picked everything up. Skull paused mid-bite when a very specific conversation met her ears.
“Don’t know how much more of this I can take, ‘Tolé.” A middle-aged man grumbled to the barkeeper. The barkeeper kept silent, but tilted their head to show they were listening. The middle-aged man huffed.
“I’m serious! I know there aren’t that many Skies to go around, but there’s got to be some way a person can get the hit of Sky flames needed for the pain of not having a Sky to ease, without swearing away their entire life!” Skull’s hand slipped into her pocket and thoughtfully fingered a couple of the small “Sky Spheres” she’d made. It was honestly a use of the spheres she had not known was needed or wanted.
Being a Sky herself, Skull had never felt the pain of not having a Sky. She’d felt the inverse, naturally, as a Sky without elements who needed Guardians. It just hadn’t occurred to her that the regular elements felt pain from being unbonded as well. The longing she’d heard about, of course, but that was emotional and social. The pain, on the other hand, was another matter altogether.
Before she’d even realized she’d made up her mind, Skull stood and moved over to join the other man at the bar, still in her “Background Character#3: Mafia Edition!” disguise.
“Hello. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.” Skull greeted calmly, seating herself next to the man.
“Yeah, and what’s it to you?” The man grunted.
“Not much to me, honestly, but I know how you’ve felt, I’ve been there.” Skull replied calmly.
“Haven’t we all.” The barkeep sighed heavily.
“Sure, but these days there’s a solution for it. I guess you haven’t heard, but there’s a new group selling ‘flame spheres’ now. It’s a portable bit of flames, you pay the fee and you can do whatever you want with the bit of flames. They come in a sphere, you just crush it and release the bit of flames. They work with a Sky, though no-one knows who because their contracts are air-tight, but they sell Sky Spheres for those of us who need a bit of Sky flame to stay out of pain.” Skull informed them both seriously.
“Really. And I suppose it costs an arm and a leg for a ‘bit’ of Sky flames.” The middle-aged man scoffed.
“Leonardo! Have some manners. I, for one, want to learn more about this!” The barkeep, ‘Tolé, scolded.
“Actually it’s not to bad price-wise. I guess they figure if they keep it affordable, people keep coming back for more, right? Otherwise it’d be no better than having to belong to a specific famiglia to have access to Sky flames. Only the elite would be able to purchase it then.” Skull replied easily.
“Look, I’ve a couple extra on me. I’ll show you how they work, and you can each have one of mine. The sellers give a discount on your next purchase if someone you refer to them purchases any of the spheres, because they only advertise by word-of-mouth right now. So if you end up buying some, give them my name, Antony, and I’ll give you each one in exchange. Sound good?” Skull suggested easily. Leonardo looked suspicious, but the barkeeper seemed eager to see this.
“I will.” ‘Tolé agreed. Leonardo shrugged.
“Show us how they work, then I’ll decide.” Leonardo bargained. Like most business being done at Mafia Land, everyone one else was pretending not to notice the business deal going on, all while actually paying very close attention. Skull could feel the eyes and ears focusing on their conversation.
With a shrug, Skull pulled out a sphere from her pocket and popped it in her mouth. Then she bit it and with a small poof of Mist flames releasing, the amount of Sky flames she’d had stored in the sphere released. Others in the room startled, as the Sky flames contained therein were strong enough that they could be sensed throughout the room. Skull closed her lips around the flames that’d just released and re-absorbed them into herself.
“Easy as that.” Leonardo looked much more impressed, with that demonstration. He agreed quickly, and Skull withdrew two more spheres and passed them over to the two men. The two men traded looks, then, with a shrug, Leonardo emulated what Skull had just done. It worked exactly the same, and she (along with everyone else there) could see how he relaxed, muscles easing and posture shifting.
“Here, this is the seller’s card. Be sure to give them my name, remember.” Skull, who did not actually need the reference, encouraged while handing the men each one of the cards for one of her other identities. The identity in question was a free-lance agent that had been doing a bit of jack-of-all-trades jobs for years, but she decided she was going to dedicate that identity (and a couple clones in said identity) to producing and selling the spheres.
“Right, what did you say your name is again?” Leonardo asked.
“Antony Rossi.” Skull replied, holding out a hand. Leonardo shook Skull’s disguised hand, and then Skull was shortly overwhelmed as most everyone else in the room wanted a card. Thankfully her cards were mist-made, so she had as many cards available as she wanted to make. When the furor died down, Leonardo actually paid for her dinner and whatever drinks she wanted in thanks. Which was nice, because she’d forgotten to bring her dinner with her when she started the conversation and wasn’t dumb enough to go back and eat food or drinks that’d been left unattended.
It looked like she might have a lot of business in the near-future.