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"Depends on how powerful you are magically." said Marco, "Theorectically I could teach it to you, but I have no idea how it would affect you, unless of course your aura is stronger than mine is by a fair amount."
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"Well, I don't know. I've never tried to do any other magic than my shadows." Oci frowned. "Is there any way to tell?" He stopped walking and turned to face Marco. "Is it easier or harder than the Areanian portal spell?"
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"About the same, but it takes more energy." said Marco softly, "What it does to me, is it takes enough energy that it drains my reserves, hence the unconsciousness"
"Huh. Well, I think we should try and Areanian portal before whatever your portal is. What do you think?" Oci asked, glancing down the road. "Would we need anything other than ourselves for your portal magic?"
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"No, just the incantation." he said softly, keeping an eye out for anyone who may be following them.
"Well, that's one less thing than we need for the Areanian portal. Do you see a store anywhere? We're going to have to get a picture of the Everlasting Woods." Oci took a step towards the road and looked the other way down the road.
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Marco hummed, "I don't see one, but I know where one is." he said, picking up his pace.
"Good. Lead the way, then." Oci glanced over his shoulder at the road the bar was on. "And quickly. It's probably best I don't hang around here for much longer."
flash_on
Marco nodded, "Keep up if you can!" he called, before bolting into an alleyway, dashing through faster than would've seemed possibly, skipping over several blocks.
"Oh, do we have to do this?" Oci sighed heavily and started running after Marco. He was fast, but apparently not as fast as Marco.
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Marco slowed a little when he saw Oci couldn't keep the same pace, but kept them hard through a few alleys before they cae out on another quiet street across from a dingy store that sold almost anything and everything, from fine furniture to weaponry to worms.
"How the Ed are you able to run that fast?" Oci asked when he caught up to Marco. He was a little out of breath, but not too bad. "Oh. Is that the place?" He nodded towards the store.
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Marco shrugged, "I run a lot.." he said softly, giving no further explanation as he nodded in response to the question, "And yeah, that's the place, it should have what we need."
"Okay." Oci looked around before crossing over to the store. He opened the door and walked inside. "Have you ever been here?" He asked Marco. "If so, do you know where we could find what we need?"
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Marco followed him in, wordlessly beckoning down a far aisle, where photobooks lay right next to the maces and deadly poisons.
Oci scanned the photobooks, picking up a few and flipping through them before setting them down again. "Look for a picture of either the Everlasting Woods or the town near them, yeah?"
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Marco nodded, setting to work on flipping through them, eventually finding one that looked like it was of the Everlasting woods. "Is this what we need?" he asked.
Oci looked over at the picture that Marco had. "Hmm… orange and red leaves constantly falling, pale gold bark, no vegetation… it's them alright." He looked up at Marco with a small smile on his lips. "Have you ever been there?"
flash_on
"Nope, but I've heard the stories." he said softly, handing the picture to Oci, humming softly. "So, do we need to grab anything else?" he asked.
"Well, if this place sells decent food, we could get that here and skip right to the Woods when we get there," Oci said, accepting the photo and staring at it intently. "And you're going to love the Woods. Unless you go insane because of them. Then… you probably won't love them."
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Marco shook his head, "You can get anything here, except food. The food is horrid." he said flatly, "And as for the woods…. well…. I guess I'll just have to see."
"Okay, we're not getting food here, then." Oci shook his head. "How would you feel about leaving right now, from here? Or do you need to get something from somewhere first?" He glanced up from the photo for a second to look at Marco, then looked back down at the photo like he was trying to memorize it.
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Marco hummed, "Picking up my staff from my hideout would be nice, but after that, no, I got nothin." he said, studying the look on Oci's face for a moment.
"Well, then, we'll go to your hideout and grab your staff," Oci said distractedly, still staring at the photo. "Then we'll go to the Woods. Lead the way." He looked back at Marco, an expectant look on his face.
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Marco nodded, leading the way out of the shop, then directly into another alley, picking up the pace to a light jog, not bothering to say a word to Oci, feeling very uncomfortable about this, but knowing he was better off with his staff.
Oci jogged after Marco, wondering at his sudden silence. Yes, Marco was a pretty quiet person, but this silence felt… different. Then again, they were about to go walking straight into the Everlasting Woods. That was something not many people walked out of.
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In truth, it was more his discomfort at leading someone back to where he lived, a process that didn't take long as he led Oci up onto the rooftops, continuing on for a little while until they found a small tent-like structure, made with tarps and a variety of poles, from sticks to old broomsticks.
"Is your staff a weapon, or something sentimental?" Oci asked when they arrived, not commenting on the tent. After all, he'd lived in something similar at one point.
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"Both." sad Marco, slipping inside and grabbing it, revealing it to be a dark mahogny wood, laced with silver and indigo flecks, carved with intricate runes. "It's important to me, and more than once it's been the difference of life and death."
"I see. It's very beautiful." Oci stared at the staff for a few seconds, then looked at Marco. "Are you ready?" He glanced back at the photo and took a deep breath, waiting for Marco to say something.
