As Kat told everyone her story of the most recent adventures to everyone, Kat noticed something. Every time she glossed over some details either to respect Minor and Major's privacy or just to make things seem slightly less dangerous, Sylvie would tap twice on the tail that Kat had wrapped around her.
At first Kat didn't pick up on what Sylvie was doing, and her track record wasn't perfect, but it was much better than chance. Once Kat started to check when she was being tapped it became extremely clear what it was being used for.
Halfway through the story Callisto brought out the first of the food. It was an elaborate spread of various fruits all cut up in intricate ways. A watermelon had been carved into a carving of Kat herself,
With the smaller pieces that had been taken off in the carving, being made into copies of everyone else except Callisto. It took Kat a second to realise though, once Callisto had placed down all the dishes, that Callisto had hidden her outfit in a number of things.
The apple slices were mimicking the frills that lined her sleeves and collar, then the grapes made up the buttons covering her neck, and if you looked at the right angle, the little pieces of fruit that seemed to be randomly placed on the table seemed to have Callisto giving a shushing gesture.
Kat was half convinced she was mistaken about that last one, but Callisto had very deliberately moved the table once Kat had noticed it in a half-minded way during her story, grinned at her reaction, and then ever so slightly adjusted the table destroying the sightline completely.
In the end though, everyone on Earth made for better audience members than Major did… or perhaps it was just that they were used to her stories now so they were willing to wait for the whole thing to be over.
When it was finished, it was Callisto that spoke up first "So do you know the specifics relating to your dream ability?"
Kat shook her head "Nope. It's really murky as to how much the spell Enuko cast actually did. She was still stuck in it at the end, and it didn't seem right to grill her on everything. Plus, she said she was just copying someone else's work, so I'm not sure if even she knows"
Callisto nodded and went back to checking on the food that was still being cooked. How anyone thought they needed more food after the table of fruit, Kat was unsure, but when she asked about it, she was simply assured that it was part of the spirit of things.
"I think it's a been strange that all took ten days" said Lily "Even if you have shortened the explanation from us, they don't seem to be overly shortened in my estimation. Even doubling the theoretical time that each even took would lead to nothing more than maybe five days
"And that is including sleep times which I take it you didn't need to do?" Kat nodded "Right, so I actually have a thought about why it might have taken so long, if you would be interested to hear it?"
Everyone nodded along curious as to what Lily had come up with. "Right so, I can think of two ways this spell might theoretically work. Relying mostly on the knowledge from that time Nixilei explained it to Kat,
"Magic is a little like writing out a strongly worded letter and expecting the world to follow through. Each ring is like a sentence, and when you add them together you get a paragraph. For intense things you need multiple paragraphs to make a story, is everyone following me so far?" Everyone nodded, even Callisto back in the kitchen.
"Right so with that in mind, I can make some assumptions about the 'story' that Enuko was trying to tell with all of her sigils. Either, she is making the dream world more real, thus allowing actions to have more of a pronounced effect.
"Or she is instead first picking someone up and placing them inside someone else's head, then using the spell to keep them 'trapped' in them for lack of a better word, until such a time as they wish to leave
"Now, I think that the most likely scenario is that she is making things more real, and that Kat was able to join in with her own power. Now, when things got made real, I bet a chunk of mana was used to finalise the scene
"And every time Kat moved scenes, what actually happened was that she destroyed part of the spell, which then suspended them in time, until the next scene could be built, before releasing them once again. This allowed for such a large amount of time to pass" said Lily
Kat and Vivian seemed to chew on this information. Going over it, but not really reaching any true conclusions with the information. They just didn't have enough to go off of. Sylvie on the other hand seemed to understand perfectly, but was hesitant to agree with the information.
Callisto was ready with an alternative suggestion "I believe we are operated with severely stunted data. It is just as likely that it is intended to lock the being's consciousness inside the one mind and that the additional time that was used was entirely generated during the entry and exit procedures"
Instead of folding in on herself the way she had when criticised at school by teachers and some mean-spirited students, Lily seemed to almost gain a few centimetres in height and start to glow. "You're right, that is entirely possible with the information available except for the fact that we know Kat has her own dream walker ability. If it took a significant amount of time to transfer the conscious it would be essentially pointless.
"Imagine if Kat took even just ten hours instead of a few days to enter a dream. That length of time would allow the target to awaken before Kat could enter their dreams, and the system very specifically said it was a dream walking ability not a mind invasion or mind walking one"
Seeing Lily so pleased with herself Kat brought her into a hug. She let out a slight squeak but smiled at Kat, before looking back over for Callisto's counterpoint. "I can concede that, but perhaps we can look at this another way.
"If we assume once again that it is the solidification of the dream area that the spell aims for, perhaps it takes a certain amount of time to properly reinforce that. Even with Kat's ability bypassing that, perhaps it is time limited anyway for safety" said Callisto
"But what about Minor's appearance when Kat first arrives in the dream. She didn't seem to believe an extended period of time had passed since Kat had arrived" said Lily
"Ah, but…
Kat allowed herself to start tuning out Lily and Callisto's argument as it devolved into speculation above her head. It wasn't as if she couldn't participate if she really wanted to, but this was a great chance to relax and hug the adorable Sylvie while hanging out with everyone and Kat just couldn't find it in herself to butt into the conversation once Callisto and Lily really started going.
Even still, it did warm her heart to see Lily actually arguing with someone. *She might not have realised, but normally once she got into her 'this is what my research says' voice she just curls up when someone other than I contradicted her. I'm glad she's gotten so comfortable with the others.*
*She's been doing better since school finished… though I think it has more to do with somehow being inducted into our family here.* Kat winced at the thought, feeling someone bad for thinking that Lily was more part of her own new family than she was a part of her own.
*I still don't like her parents though. Even if I feel a bit bad for excluding them in that thought. But really, I haven't seen them actually SUPPORT her in anything. Gramps has supported me more than they've done for her and he has a whole orphanage to look after. Honestly it's-* Kat cut her negative thoughts on Lily's parents off, focusing back on the room.
Sylvie noticed when Kat shook herself out of her own mind and snuggled in closer pressing in closer to Kat's chest with a big smile on her face enjoying the closeness of everyone. She was even using her other hand to keep Vivian from sitting further away and 'giving them space'.
*Well at the very least. I'm glad with my story and then Callisto and Lily's investigation they've managed to forget that I have to leave in a day.* As Kat finished that thought she felt a shiver down her spine. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Vivian give the slightest shake of her head.
*Welp.. I tried.*