Wakey, Wakey – Chapter 7, Act 4, Strip 73

Huh? Looks like one member of Team Good is still active, after all. Even if it’s only the smallest member by a pretty wide margin. But Si’ri is keeping the struggle alive! Even if she’s just struggling to wake any of the others up…

And she’s not only keeping the struggle alive, she’s keeping the magic alive, as well. Or, at least, she’s struggling to keep the magic alive…or maintain its reputation, at least. You see, the thing about magic is…uh…that you don’t always need magic. Sometimes, simple and mundane measures might solve a problem just as well as the most elaborate spell, without any danger of accidentally summoning a squad of pit fiends from the depth of Hell because you pronounced a comma wrong. And with a little sleight of hand – always a magician’s best friend – you can even make your mundane solution look like magic, so no one will be able to tell the difference!

Of course, it’s a that juncture that Si’ri’s physique kind of lets her down. She’s great at sleight of hand – in fact, her hands could hardly be slighter than they are – but she’s got a real problem with hiding implements. It’s tough hiding stuff on your body if the stuff in question is several times larger than the body in question. ._. She managed to hide the bucket behind her back smoothly and quickly, just like her magician’s manual advised – but her back measuring only about 3 % of the bucket’s area, it’s not super effective. The reference to long-discredited medical theories is an artful dodge, but it’s probably not good enough to hide the bucket, either.

Still, Team Good is now in slightly better shape than at the beginning of the strip, so it’s a small step ahead. And, really, small steps are the largest steps you could expect from Si’ri.

More on Thursday.