September Catch-All | OPEN

[onethirdthesoul]

Characters: Ryou and YOU!
Date: September 10th~30th (after he and Yami Bakura clear things up)
Location: Around Keeliai, Mu-Hao
Situation: Many
Warnings/Rating: None yet.

[part a]
[In spite of some warnings from the Spirit himself, Ryou didn't wait to see if everyone heard their message. It's possible someone might still mistake them, but he decided to simply tie his hair up and tuck it into a hat instead of worrying himself sick. It doesn't do much, but it's a start.

Properly "disguised", he can be seen around the less shady looking parts of Keeliai, a sketchpad and colored pencils in hand. Even with the maps Solomon provided him, making a diorama of the turtle was going to need some personal experience. The map gave him layouts, but it didn't really provide that glimmer of insight that distinguished each sector. Even if he didn't have to toll away on the details like he would a game of Monster World, he feels the context of color, at the very least, will help.]

[part b]
He also stops at several food stands along the way, so passersby might notice him snacking as he diligently colors in little sketches of the more fantastical parts of each Sector. Is he still researching, or is he just gathering ideas for his next tabletop at this point?]

This would make a really cool final boss arena...! [Well, that answers that.]

((ooc: Prose or brackets is fine! If you want to do anything specific and would like to set something up outside of these prompts, feel free to PP/PM me! I'll add it to the top-level prompts.))

Comments

[peacefullywreathed]

Yes?

[Solomon regards him a touch indulgently.]

[onethirdthesoul]

Baku-san said you were a necromancer... [Notably, he's looking very curious.]

Is that true?

[peacefullywreathed]

[Amused and slightly intrigued. This isn't the sort of reaction he's used-to. Usually it's more 'get away from me you dark-magic freak', and even here he gets sidelong glances.]

I am.

[onethirdthesoul]

That stuff is only in fiction where I come from! Well, I think. [Once you get involved in magical artifacts, a lot of things become "maybes".]

But I always loved stuff like that! What kind of necromancer are you?

[peacefullywreathed]

'Kind' of Necromancer?

[Definitely amused.]

What 'kinds' of Necromancer are you familiar with?

[onethirdthesoul]

Well, your technique? Some just call up the spirits and some raise their bodies first! Or at least that's what I always read.

Real life tends to be stranger than fiction...

[peacefullywreathed]

[Fiction. Solomon has to shake his head, though the amusement now is nostalgic.]

Actually, the most basic Necromantic techniques from my world revolve around the manipulation of shadows.

[To demonstrate, he raises his hand and all the shadows around the room rush beneath it, and he manifests a chair to sit on, sitting back in it to regard Ryou with a faint, faux-innocent smile.]

Like so.

[onethirdthesoul]

[For a split second, Ryou looks alarmed by the shadows moving, but that feeling passes once he sees the other man take a seat. Solomon's not going to hurt him, he's not like Bakura who he has to be constantly on edge of.

And with that reassuring though, he alarm is instantly replaced with enthusiasm.]

W-wow!! That's so cool! Can I touch it? [Too late, he's gonna touch it. He's touching it. What happens when he touches it?!]

[peacefullywreathed]

[It's smooth to the touch, like obsidian, but cold and without the highlights stone usually has. It doesn't react, either.]

Apparently, I can't stop you.

[Dryly.]

Creating temporary objects like this is a very advanced technique, of course, but we start acolytes off with shadow-control.

[onethirdthesoul]

How cool would it be if all my furniture was made of shadows?!

[He is 110% serious about that thought. It would look awesome.]

So how long have you been a necromancer, if this is an advanced technique? Can you still talk to the dead?

[peacefullywreathed]

[Solomon chooses to treat the first like a rhetorical question and answers the second blandly.]

About four-hundred years. That depends on the technique you're imagining; Necromancers don't contact ghosts. You want a Sensitive for that. But we can ... revive them, after a fashion, yes.

[onethirdthesoul]

[But Solomon...think of how cool it would be.]

Wow, you don't look four-hundred years old. [He rubs his head, actually pretty surprised. Then again, Bakura didn't look 3,000 years old either.]

So what exactly does reviving them entail? [His tone seems to slip from playful curiosity to something a little more serious.]

[peacefullywreathed]

Magic in my world has a rejuvenating effect.

[He's alerted by the shift and withholds a sigh. His tone, despite the words, is mild.]

Unless you have the body of whomever you wish to see again laying about here somewhere, I can't revive them. And you wouldn't like the effect once I had.

[onethirdthesoul]

Ah... Of course. [He smiles sadly, obviously not too thrilled by the truth.] I thought so! I mean...stuff like that is never as easy as just casting a revive spell.

[peacefullywreathed]

[A revive spell. Solomon politely keeps the amusement off his face, in favour of calm neutrality.]

Quite. Necromancy isn't about healing or contacting spirits; it's about reanimation, controlling shades. We need something in which to put the soul which has a connection to the soul. Even then, our magic can either focus on reanimating a person's entire soul, thereby compromising their physical body, or on properly reanimating their body, at the cost of their entirety of their soul.

[The only one who'd been able to contravene that was Lord Vile, and that had been a matter of sheer power. Theoretically Solomon ought to be capable of the same, and in fact he now understood more about the process and why it worked in such a way thanks to Bakura, but he still needed a body. Though, theoretically, if Ryou was a blood-brother that blood-tie might be enough to create a working golem--

[No. For a grieving family-member, even that wouldn't be enough.]

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou can't hide his disappointment any longer. His eyes drop to look down at the floor, at the shadow chair, at anything besides Solomon.]

I was just curious. [He knew his lie was painfully easy to see through, so he could only hope that Solomon decided not to ask more.]It sounds really cool...and a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.

[peacefullywreathed]

Many people are.

[And Solomon's voice is as gentle as it ever gets, there, with understanding if not sympathy. After all, his initial reasons for joining the Temple weren't too dissimilar.]

Magic always is. People tend to think of it as an instant solution to problems when in fact it's nothing more than an alternate resource. Yes, it can allow one to do great things, but those great things always come with a corresponding consequence.

[onethirdthesoul]

It doesn't sound much different from anything else, when you put it like that... [And he realizes of course, that that was probably the point.]

Everything we can do has a consequence, but they don't always have to be bad. [Ryou sighs and leans back against the table his diorama sat across.] But I think even bad consequences aren't really bad, they're just not what we wanted to happen. If we can realize them ahead of time, we can even stop ourselves from doing something we might regret...or doing something for the wrong reasons.

[Kind of like right now.]

[peacefullywreathed]

[That was unexpectedly philosophical for a teen his age. Unwelcomed, too; Solomon didn't have much patience for debates on morality. So his answer is bland.]

Perhaps. Either way, restoring a loved-one properly to life is beyond anyone's abilities, no matter how powerful.

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou tended to be a little more thoughtful than he acted most of the time. As such, he takes the hint at Solomon's somewhat dismissive answer.]

Yeah... I know. Anyway, I'll keep working on the diorama, and start building the mines you wanted...

[peacefullywreathed]

Of course. Is there anything you'd like to know before I leave you to your work?

[onethirdthesoul]

No, I think that's everything. [After a beat, Ryou heads to the door of his room and opens it.] Here, let me show you out.

[Even if he's feeling a little defeated, Ryou doesn't want to be rude and just send him on his way without walking him to the front door.]

[peacefullywreathed]

Very well.

[Solomon follows him to the door and bows.]

Good day, Ryou.

[And he's off.]