growth and courage.

isola radiale affiliated Agott Arklaum from Witch Hat Atelier

[magicread]

AGOTT ARKLAUM from WITCH HAT ATELIER

One of the apprentices in Qifrey's atelier, a young witch who spends most of her time perfecting her craft.

Tends to pull all-nighters studying in her desperation to move forward with her study of magic.

Prone to lashing out, but this is because she's rather shy with devastating self-esteem issues.

The literal black sheep of her family, has basically been disowned in terms of the magic system with not having an apprenticeship within her family.

Very observant of others due to being so self-critical. One part to be able to accurate lash out at others, and the other because she has a constant need to know what she's doing wrong.

Definitely has a crush on Coco. You can't tell me she doesn't.

[Application] | [Stats] | [Rules]

[teenymagic]

Richeh nods. Agott understood how frustrating it is being here for her already. Richeh looks down at the journal she was given when she got here.

"Richeh can only make Riche's ribbons." The fellow student says. She demonstrates by drawing the cricle, and holding the crystal ribbon that pops out. She offers it to Agott.

"I was worried I may not find you here."

[magicread]

"I was worried, too." Agott takes one of the ribbons, holding it gently in her hands. She hated how powerless they were, and it was only reflecting on that, that she noticed her finger conspicuously empty.

"Ah-" Embarrassment welled up on her features, and she snatched her hand back toward her chest, holding it, clenching the ribbing a little too tightly between her fingers.

"They took our rings, the ones you made for all of us." She felt shame well up on her face, for losing such a rare gift, and someone someone who she cared about.

"I'm sorry, Richeh. They took even more from us than I thought. But I'll work on getting everything back - we can set it right."

[hopefulmagic]

✧ "A-AGOTT!?" The panic on her face was super obvious, as was her blush, because Agott had dropped in on her dressing up her Brushbuddy friend in a quite little cloak she had made with materials she had picked up at the arts and crafts store as a birthday present to herself. She quickly tried to block the sight with her body, worried Agott might think it was childish even though Agott had a magic for making her plushies move.

"It's not what it looks like! I was just... um... having Brushbuddy try it on for a friend!" Was that friend also a worm-shaped mammal?

[magicread]

Agott presses her lips into a thin line, trying not to burst into laughter. It's well-done, honestly, and while she wants to compliment Coco, she also can't open her mouth, lest she say something insulting.

Brushbuddy looked proud of its cloak, anyway.

Inhaling, she holds out a hand:

"I'm hoping you can take a break from your tailoring project - for a friend," it's clear she doesn't believe that for a minute, based on the smirk on her face, "And come with me for a few hours?"

Oh god, she sounds like someone out of one of Tetia's stories.

"..." She's stopped, waiting for Coco's response, feeling herself starting to lose steam. This plan was...Certainly something. Perhaps from a sleep-deprived mind who could not fathom making a gift for someone without the use of magic and-

[magicread]

Not having sylph shoes made this a pain, but at least Coco's bedroom wasn't at the top of the building. And at least, as used to having magic as she was, she could also climb up onto balconies well enough.

It felt like the most trouble she'd gotten into lately, which certainly wasn't the case.

Opening the window, she pokes her head in, the sun setting in the distance. She's fairly certain, based on the room itself, that this is Coco's room. But where's it's inhabitant...?

"Coco?"

@hopefulmagic

[tikklil]

Coco see, Coco do

[daxned]

Yes, knowing Coco....

Agott knows her well enough. That is evident. "I do not believe I'm at the stage to call her a friend," She answers honestly. Coco may be around to hear it, and she may not....She can't tell how that would make her feel, but she knows it would make Coco a little sad.

"Have you contacted Coco yet?"

[magicread]

"Of course I have. She was one of the first people I found!" Agott huffed indignantly, as though her efficiency was being questioned. Complicated, her chest hurt.

"Well, I know that feeling. Not calling her a friend when she calls you one. It's...Complicated. Complex, even. Dealing with people is difficult." She pauses, looking down at her ink-stained hands.

"So, I understand."

[hopefulmagic]

✧ Even though she was still crying, Coco's eyes went wider when Agott took one of her hands with her own. This comforting side of her friend was still something she was a little surprised by, even though they had slowly been getting closer over the months she'd spent at the atelier. It felt like things had really begun to click for them during the Silver Eve festival.

She used her free hand to try and wipe the tears on her cheeks that she could. Agott's hands were warm as is, but when she was done she placed her free hand on her friend's. "Thanks... Sorry, I know I should be happy... I am happy!" Coco smiled. This definitely wasn't the first time Agott had seen her cry. She'd probably seen her cry over sillier things.

"You want me to teach you and be roommates again? Are you sure you're actually Agott and weren't replaced by a double!?" Coco joked as she tapped patted Agott's hands with the one on top. "But I'd like that... I wouldn't say I know that much about the city though, just enough to get by."

[magicread]

"W-well, it's not because I necessarily want to, but you seem lost yourself, and it would be best for us to work together. Better than being isolated on an island like this where we have no idea how this system works." She said it all almost in one breath, which was pretty much the only breath she felt like she had in her body. She'd seen Coco cry before, but this felt different. It wasn't something silly - Coco had been lonely, and Agott knew that for Coco, that was a terrible thing.

Although...

It gave her pause, that Coco hadn't learned more. Not in the sense that Coco was some spectacular student - she certainly wasn't, but...

She tended to pick things up in her own way. "That's fine, either way." She removes one of her own hands, and pats Coco's in turn. "We'll figure it out together." Unable to muster up a barb at that moment in time, she sighed, finally removing her hands and crossing her arms.

"We've got a lot of work to do, to make up for how much we've lost."

"So let's get started, take me to the library."

[magicread]

"Richeh, I heard you were here now." She looks up from the pyreball she had conjured, sighing, and then moving away from it. Observing Richeh, she tilts her head. "What are you able to do, then?"

"..." She pauses, and then adds: "I know you don't like being told what to do, so I imagine these limitations are as difficult for you as they are for me, even if it's different."

@teenymagic

[hopefulmagic]

✧ Coco nodded along as Agott spoke. She seemed to understand things, maybe even a little better than Coco herself did, off that short and clumsy description. "Yeah! There aren't a lot of kids our age around here, so... But you're so mature, Agott! I think you would probably have an easier time than me!" Even though Coco was very emotionally intelligent for her age, she knew that people looked down on her for being a child. Agott had a demeanor better suited for being taken seriously as she saw things.

That was when she noticed her friend staring at her wordlessly. The young witch slowly tilted her head to the side ready to ask what was wrong, but Agott blurted out a word suddenly, surprising Coco into correcting her posture with eyes wide.

"Agott..." She felt like she had been read for filth. She could have said that she hadn't wished for anyone else to come to the city, but she knew that would have been a lie. Whether it was friends coming to the city or her returning home, she had been so desperately yearning to see her friends again. Coco couldn't fight back a few shed tears that she quickly tried to wipe away with a big sleeve. "I'm really glad you're here... I missed you..."

[magicread]

"N-no, I doubt I'd do better than-" before she could get the thought out, Coco started crying, looking stunned and then starting to shed tears. Her first thought was 'how could Coco be so lonely'? Of course, then it became, 'of course Coco is lonely'. Coco was friendly, she definitely had plenty of friends here, Agott was certain, but...

But even having friends at the atelier didn't stop Coco from missing her mom. And...and so, it must be that...

"You don't have to be lonely anymore, okay?"

She grabs onto one of Coco's hands, clasping it in both of her own. "Teach me what you know about this place, and I'll help you figure out even more about it. And we can be roommates again." She feels the words coming out of her, and suddenly she gets shy once more-

"Th...that is - of course I'd be happy to, since...Since you missed me."

[daxned]

"I'm---," she pauses. Coco called her a friend, and yet Dam-bi isn't so sure what she thinks of Coco or if she even deserves to have friends like Coco.

"Someone she knows. Seeing as she was the only one I knew around my age, we talked a lot." Though it was more of Coco talking and Dam-bi listening.

"My name is Dam-bi."

[magicread]

"'Someone she knows'? I doubt she'd refer to you that way, knowing Coco." It was the truth, and yet she didn't like that she had said it. She felt defensive and yet...

Agott didn't like the face the girl was making. And...

"In any case, it's good to know that Coco had someone around..."

"She can talk a lot, and be kind of annoying, but I'm sure she would rather you call her your 'friend', and I imagine she thinks of you that way, too."

[daxned]

@magicread

"You must be Agott. Coco's talked about you."

[magicread]

She narrows her eyes, crossing her arms. She doesn't know what flares up in her chest at the idea of Coco's new friends on this island, but it's uncomfortable.

"That's right. She hasn't mentioned you. So, you are...?"

[madeupxmemory]

Naminé watches the other girl draw the circle in chalk, a look of awe on her face. She never had thought about it like that, actually.

When she's offered to try, Naminé gently picks up another piece of chalk out of her kit and stands next to the other. The blonde Nobody takes a steadying breath.

Then makes her mark, following the other's movements as best as she could. While it looked a lot smoother, the new circle still seemed a bit wobbly next to the perfect one.

Naminé steps back a bit, turning to look at the other. "I guess I'll need some more practice, but thank you." She holds out her hand.

"My name is Naminé. What's yours?"

[magicread]

"My name is Agott." She shakes the blonde girl's hand briefly, a short and sturdy handshake, and then walks up to the wall, hand on her chin. "It's about here, that you go off-course. You start out strong, but as you move your arm backward, you hesitate." She moves her hand to the wall, pointing to the part where the circle becomes wobbly.

"It might be connected to you not being able to see it in your peripheral vision, which may make it worthwhile to practice the whole circle with your eyes closed. You need to be able trust your hand and-"

She pauses, shaking her head and backing away from the wall, particularly since the girl didn't ask and-

"Er, well. I'm sure you know that. It's nice to meet you, Naminé."

[conjuringink]

"I haven't quite made sense of it myself," he replies. It's important for a student to know that their teacher doesn't know everything, because that's simply impossible. Even the teacher must always strive for new knowledge and understanding. And perhaps it will bring her some comfort to know she isn't alone in her confusion. "Despite being here for quite some time."

There was already the question of how he arrived here in the first place. Not once, but twice, now. With new memories, like he'd never left the world he called home to begin with.

"There are eclipses every few nights... and with them are often new citizens, from vastly different worlds. Some of these worlds have magic far different than what we know: cast from staffs, hands, books, words, or their minds. Worlds where magic can be cast upon the human body, and where magic-users are not expected to serve the public as we are.

"From what I've gathered, the powers that be strip us of what we've learned, or for others, what they've been born with or gifted, and then push us through trial and tribulation to regain that knowledge and power. Even I still have much to regain."

"However, even if all you can make is a single pyreball... there is no harm in continuing working on your penmanship, when the day you are capable of more inevitably arrives."

He offers her a smile. Kind and warm. One hand rests on Agott's shoulder, curling to give a light squeeze.

"Our captors were kind enough to grace me with the atelier once again. We can continue your studies there, if you'd like. It does get rather quiet without a gaggle of students running around, I have to say."

[magicread]

She furrows her brow, taking this all in. "Eclipses every few nights...That is certainly a strange phenomenon." Besides the ramifications of it, it was disconcerting that her master knew little more than she did, and it seemed he had not regained the breadth of his magic. This did not comfort her, not at all. Pyreballs were a beginner spell, they were the kind of thing that only a novice would struggle with, not someone who had passed her second exam.

She's clenching and relaxing her fists, her index finger scratching at her thumb, she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then speaks again:

"The atelier would likely be a better place to research this island further. I know for now it's just myself and Coco, so it won't be as loud as if Tetia was there, too," Richeh was really the only one who tended to be quiet, between Agott's (rightful) outbursts, Coco's clumsiness, and Tetia's cheer...

"Will..."

"Has Coco moved into the atelier, yet? It would be strange to be without my roommate."

[masterqifrey]

TONGARI BOUSHI NO ATELIER (2026) episode 02 ✴ agott created by shirahama kamome

[thiefandlyre]

"We all have our magic taken. You're not being uniquely suppressed, lass," Octavo tells her. "Let me give you a bit of advice: There are things here far more worthy of your indignation than some petty theft. Pick your battles."

He crunches the last mouthful of the croissant, licking the sugar from his fingers. "It's Octavo, by the way. I'm sure you'll hear that name around~"

[magicread]

"It feels like my battle when I see it happen, you know." She looks down at the odd tablet in her hands again, and then back at the window display. She doesn't know how to even pay for the pastry this man took.

Maybe she shouldn't bother, but she knows someone who would.

"And my name is Agott, not lass."

"Remember it well, when I become a famous witch."

[hopefulmagic]

✧ Coco must have blinked like ten times rapidly when Agott let go of her hands and stepped away. It wasn't like she'd expected her to linger, it was more like she was worried she'd said something wrong. It was possible that her friend was just overwhelmed by the information she had just shared, though!

Agott was really smart though! She'd understood immediately, even though Coco didn't think that she had done a very good job explaining things. "Mhm! I've been here, sent home, and come back again. I can never remember being here when I'm back at the atelier, but those memories come rushing back when I return. And no time ever passes from when I come here and return..."

It felt a little overwhelming to say out loud, and she once again hoped it had been coherent enough.

"Yeah! They won't realize anything's changed. But for us, being here..." Coco quieted herself for two reasons. She didn't want to ruin the mood, but she also didn't want Agott to know that she'd felt lonely. This wasn't the same Agott that she'd first met when she joined the atelier. Agott had been worrying about her a lot lately. "Um... We returned to the atelier after everything at the capital. We're getting ready for the next test!"

[magicread]

"So...it's something temporal that only impacts this dimension...Or, else-" She bites her lip, looking away as she considers the possibilities of there being magic used directly on them. She tries to put that out of her mind, and focus on the mechanics of how this could be possible.

(And not think of how relieved she is that this is the same Coco as always, odd temporal distortions aside.)

She feels a comfort she can't explain very well, so instead she shakes her head, "That's the last thing I remember too, so at least that makes sense. I'm sure that this magic at play is something we can start to uncover as we gain access to more resources here-"

"..." She trails off.

"..." Staring at Coco, she fumbles with her own fingers.

"I'm!"

"I'm sorry I took so long. To come here. But I'm here now, alright? We'll be able to figure out what's going on now that I'm around."

[thiefandlyre]

"You're awfully assured in your judgement for someone who doesn't even know my name." Crunch. Another satisfied bite of the croissant. He chews it slowly, without breaking eye contact.

"If only you knew what it took for me to gain this power. Perhaps then, you'd understand why I allow myself to be a little selfish with it. Besides... it's only a pastry. They have plenty more."

[magicread]

"I- You-" She didn't care about his name! But...

But...

She clenched her fists. She hated that he had a point, but then the same could be said for everyone else. "Did the bakery owner here not work hard to make those pastries?"

"Did I not work hard to learn my own magic only to have it be taken away? You're not the only one here who sacrificed something."