Curio

Chapter 3

*Credits to music go to Nintendo & Game Freak
A/N: Play music above when you see this symbol ***

Everybody in the room froze in shock at the sight of the animal.

"How did you-" Mariam began, her grayish-blue eyes lighting up in wonder.

"That's impossible!" Chris interrupted. "You can't- you just- there can only be one [Lionheart]! No two exact Curios can exist at once!"

The lion in front of April growled, laying down on the floor, its tail flickering impatiently, thudding to either side of it with a steady thud.

"That's true." Xander mused, scratching his chin. "Unless..." He flipped through the book in his lap, frantically searching for something. Suddenly, his finger stopped on a worn page near the end of the encyclopedia. He looked up at April, eyes wide. "You have to be one of the Seven Fates."

"Excuse me?" April raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose you haven't learned about them in your curriculum yet. They usually only teach students about them in A.C.E's." Xander replied. "The Seven Fates are seven of the most special Curios known to man."

"They're the most powerful." Mariam added, standing up, pacing around the room. "But also the most dangerous. Curios already drain some energy each time they're used, but the Seven Fates often have much more drastic consequences when used too often."

"The Seven Fates consist of [Reverie], [God], [Joker], [Ambrosia], [Crystalline], [Lucid], and lastly [Capture], which I believe to be yours." Xander clarified. "[Capture] is one of the strongest of the Seven Fates. It's the ability to observe and copy other Curios by the touch of a hand. This ability is only as good as the user's memory, however. In addition, using this ability causes extreme fatigue and malnutrition if used in succession. This requires the Adept to constantly fuel themselves with food, or else they'll collapse and die."

"That's why she was so out of it!" Chris jumped in. "After she burst into flame, she passed out!"

Mariam nodded in agreement. "That's likely the reason. It was her first time using her power, right? That has to mean she came into contact with a fire-user somewhat recently. Luckily I was able to rejuvenate her with my Curio. If you hadn't received aid earlier, you would've died."

April bowed her head. "Thank you for that."

"No need." Mariam said, smiling a bit. "I was glad to help."

"At the incident yesterday, you burst into flames, right? And today you copied my ability [Lionheart]. Whom did you copy the first from?" Xander asked.

"Um... a stranger came into the bookstore the other day. He had the fire Curio." April replied.

"You said that [Capture] works as well as the individual's memory?" Chris questioned. "If that's the case, what would happen if... if they happened to have a photographic memory?"

Xander paused, thinking about the question. "Well, I suppose that they'd indefinitely remember the Curios they observed. In recorded history however, I don't believe that's ever happened before. Why do you ask?"

Chris opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by Mariam.

"Never mind that. Didn't you have something important to tell them, Professor?"