Whelp, poor Coco. In the end, she returned from Kalhn empty handed, so she must make do with Quifrey’s old pens for the time being. It’s been frustrating for her to see how unsteady her lines are, to the point the repetitive routine of just drawing the circles over and over and over again with no real way to apply it was making the process a snooze fest. So Quifrey had a solution for that!
In order to help her focus again, he had her assist with prepping with the cooking through magic spells. By integrating the spells and using them for purposeful means in their daily lives, it allows them to practice with purpose. So Quifrey had Coco help him with meal preparation since it was time to empty a magic Cookpot that is designed to keep repeating the moment the meal was freshly made (for as long as TWO YEARS at that).
While they were doing that, we got to learn a little bit about Quifrey himself! The first element he mastered was water, but it wasn’t because he was fond of it. He did it because he’s a bad swimmer and hated being wet, so he practised really hard to get out of washing duty while he was an apprentice. Amazing really, but I suppose there’s equally as many benefits of mastering something you’re afraid of than something you like. It probably helps giving him a sense of control over his fear too.
Then we met someone new, Olruggio: the Watchful Eye of the atelier. An audit supervisor, so to speak. His job is to make sure they abide to the rules and don’t do any funny business since they are being taught outside of the headquarters. Initially when he discovered that Coco was the vicitum of the Brimmed Hats, he wanted to turn her in for interrogation to the Knights of Moralis. But there’s a good reason why Quifrey refuses to do just that: The Knights of Moralis would erase her memories, and by the sound of it, you could almost liken it to resetting an entire personality of an individual. Coco’s love for magic has been ingrained in her since she was very young, so if you take that away from her, what will she have left? Would she be the same Coco we know of today? Probably not. And on top of that, because Quifrey had broken the rules, he too would have his memories wiped. By the sound of it, they probably don’t want to do that because of his sheer talent. It probably would a tremendous loss for them if they did such a thing.
While all of that sounds pretty grim, there’s a far greater reason why Quifrey refuses to turn Coco in, and it circles back to the fact she is his only lead. He must keep her close in hopes to increase the odds of crossing paths with the Brimmed Hats. In-fact that was one of the reasons why Olruggio wanted her gone in the first place, he doesn’t want anything to do with them, or anyone who’s been directly or even indirectly associated with them. But luckily Coco was able to win him over when she discovered he was the one who created the Glowstone Paths. Her earnest love and admiration for his creation made him realize her passion for magic is wholly sincere.
While the girls and Quifrey were having fun cooking and having a picnic in the rain, Agott has been hard at work with her studies. She was particularly frustrated with the noise of the storm outside, to which I couldn’t help but think, ‘She needs a noise cancelling spell’, hahaha! Not the first time since she showed to have trouble focusing with Coco’s mumbling behind her. She probably has gotten used to having the room to herself for her studies too. Agott’s determined to pass the test that’ll give her the permit to finally work in the outside world, and she feels like she’s finally ready for it. And an opportunity to do something just like that comes up when a man comes seeking for aid from a Witch to safely retrieve a child trapped in a carrier washed out into the river.
