[OPEN] An agitation of the air...

[denyamenti]

Characters: Bakura; Jack Frost; River Tam & OPEN
Date: September catch-all log
Location: Various around Keeliai. Some general scenes in starters or make your own :)
Situation: General bits and bobs for my characters.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings if needed in subject headers.


A. BAKURA W/ EMILY-HELEN - PARK

He might not be the kindest or most encouraging parent the hatchling could have chosen, but Bakura does seem to give the young turtle a fair amount of freedom to decide what she wants to do daily. Sometimes it will be exploring markets or shops, sometimes it's going out to the shell's edge to swim in the ocean. He never says that she cannot spend time with her other siblings, and Riva in particular as the two are very close, but he never joins them. Other days it is asking questions for hours on end (though thankfully little as problematic as the sex ed talk) and occasionally her days just consist of lounging in the sun, with Bakura more often than not using her as a convenient resting place.

Today it's in a park, and he knows that the summer weather will be turning soon so warm afternoons like this are going to be getting rarer. He's listening with half an ear to Emily-Helen's constant upbeat chatter about the clouds, about the people across the park, about the pink seaweed that she had which didn't taste at all like she'd expected. The rest of his attention is occupied with keeping a casual eye out anyone who might want to cause trouble. Eventually he realizes that the turtle's litany has ceased and there's an insistent, expectant prod with her flipper.

"Hm?"

I said, what do you like to do when you're bored?

---

B. JACK - WELCOME CENTER, CENTRAL KEELIAI

The spirit was staring up at the painted murals around the perimeter of the main room, feeling an unhappy knot in his stomach. They were Rapunzel's creations and the fantastic-haired girl had been among one of the many recent disappearances. His book, which he'd been writing in facts and stories about the people who'd been and left, was almost full. In fact, it was down to just he and Zatanna working at the Welcome Center, and that meant that he was hardly home at Mu-Hao at all anymore.

He'd done as much tidying as he could, done a thorough circuit of the building itself (a few weeks ago a cultist tried to break into the Center and Jack had sent him to the hospital frozen like a popsicle) and then sat down to practice his ability to become intangible at will. It was something that required ongoing use to maintain, and he'd been lax in recent months with everything else. So anyone entering the Center might catch the winter teen with a look of concentration, passing his hand back and forth through the edge of the table.

---

C. RIVER - WATER SECTOR BRIDGE

If the long weapon looks incongruous on the tiny young woman, it only does so until she grasps it firmly and begins a sort of kata pattern, balanced precariously on the railing of a water sector bridge. The surface she's walking on is only about six inches wide, so she's attracting a fair crowd to watch her, the long blade and straight shaft flinging end over end as she moves through each pose surely, even closing her eyes at some points.

If anyone asks, this is Hawke's fault.

Comments

[denyamenti]

Solomon's musings made sense; Bakura had never felt safer than with Diabound at his back and that was significant, given the life he lived and how little he trusted anything or anyone.

"You don't need an Item to summon your ka," he replied. "You don't even need to know how to manipulate the khajbit, though it's certainly going to be of help for you. All you need is a strong ba and you have that. The Items were originally used to summon out other people's ka, whether from them while they were still in possession or later, after they were sealed, from stone tablets they were bound to. There used to be a whole massive temple of them right in the city, called Shrine of Wedju. It was where the priests stored all the stolen kaa of the criminals they'd convicted."

[peacefullywreathed]

"Which doesn't in the least bit answer my question," said Solomon dryly, "given that, regardless of their necessity, the Items obviously make it easier to summon one's own." He'd already known about the shrine, though a refresher wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But he'd never summoned a monster without being in the khajbit, and he already knew how to channel magic through an item (though, granted, not one of those Bakura owned).

"I'm used to summoning shadow, whether by using an item or not," Solomon said, lifting his hand and bidding shadow to come, and it swirled around his palm. "I haven't the faintest idea how to shift focus from magic to ka." Frankly, he was concerned about simply diving into it, in case he did accidentally run into his true name again.

[denyamenti]

The thief sighed a little, though he knew he couldn't blame him for not havig quite the right mindset. "I'll tell you how," he said. "Close your eyes."

And once Solomon had, he waited a few seconds and added, "Now open them. Congratulations, you've got it."

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon rolled his eyes, very deliberately, though the point was made ... somewhat. "As simple as that, is it? Unfortunately, that doesn't make it easy."

Still, he closed his eyes again, and didn't concentrate. It was simple--so simple that not many sorcerers would have figured it out. His ka was him. He didn't have to try to call it, as he didn't have to try to be himself. If anything, all he had to do was remember how it felt, to have that wire bared.

Luminescent mist slunk across the ground, and wreathed around Emily-Helen's shell.

[denyamenti]

It was what many people in his own time hadn't been able to figure out either, so Bakura didn't hold it against the necromancer. Bakura had learned it on his own through (as most things) trial and error, and "met" Diabound the first few times without even realizing what the creature was. Only by recognizing what affected one affected the other had he been able to put things together. As time went on and more people discovered these strange manifestations, he was able to get more information through watching.

Ironically it had been the Priests themselves, who bore the Items and tried to help Egypt's people come to terms with these monsters, who got it wrong. As Bakura only now knew, were side effects of Zorc's awareness being unlocked and thrust back into the living world. Before that... well, it was entirely possible that the last time such creatures had been free was in Atlantis' time. (Bakura had a number of theories on that as well, but that was for another time.)

But the priests had tried to instill the idea that good people had good heka, and therefore they weren't to be feared because the strongest of them, like the Pharaoh, had more powerful kaa than anyone who might stand against them. And yet Bakura saw that there were a disproportionately large number of criminals with ka, not ordinary citizens. From that he had reasoned that most people had approximately the same amount of heka inside of them, and that the kaa were shaped by something else. Many criminals showed little or no regret for their actions, and Bakura further surmised that had a great deal to do with it.

His understanding of the whole thing had improved significantly with the Ring (with Zorc) but Bakura had always been satisfied with how much he'd put together on his own.

Look, Emily-Helen said, surprised and cautious at the appearance of the glowing mist. Oh, it's pretty!

[peacefullywreathed]

It was Emily-Helen's delight that told Solomon he'd managed something, more than anything else, but when he opened his eyes he was still vaguely surprised to find himself wreathed in the mist, or shadow, or whatever it actually was. It was spreading, but not far--just far enough to make it seem as though the turtle was an island in a floating ocean.

"That seems far too easy not to be dangerous," he muttered, and the mist contracted, shivering, like a laugh. Solomon found himself smiling.

[denyamenti]

"If it was easy, you wouldn't need to have asked me how to do it," Bakura pointed out. "If it makes you feel better, you could make say a phrase to trick yourself into triggering it 'out'. Or rap yourself three times over your head with your cane, either way there are options. But at its simplest level, it's not a summon like you're thinking of it. It's not even like the shadows you command, easy as they are for you. It's a reflex... like blinking or breathing. What was going on when you called it out the first time?"

[peacefullywreathed]

"Dying," said Solomon dryly, "to a given degree of dying, at any rate; as I said, I encountered something which risked the integrity of my self." He wasn't going to explain exactly what that something was, no more than he would have talked about Kul Elna to Skulduggery without Bakura's permission.

"Hm." With his foot he reached down and prodded Bakura in the shoulder, and the mist drifted in its wake. "If I didn't know any better I would think you wanted to delight in my pain. I don't suppose you could identify my new friend for me?"

[denyamenti]

"That makes sense," Bakura replied, utterly unperturbed by Solomon's admittance to such a thing having happened, as if it was a regular occurrence. He swatted at Solomon's foot, causing Emily-Helen to laugh at them both for their antics, before making a show of getting to his feet.

The ka was in such a dispersed form that he couldn't identify it, but it should, like any monster, be bound to obey a Duelist. That was a major component of what the Ring did; it allowed Bakura to exert the weight he carried in the shadow realm as a Duelist into the physical world.

"Be recognized," he said in Egyptian, addressing the glowing mist and bending his own will through the Item. "And show your form."

[peacefullywreathed]

The mist shivered and recoiled close around Solomon, and the Necromancer frowned at the sensation of Bakura ordering a piece of his self to the thief's bidding. "I'd say that's rude," he said, "but I asked, I suppose. Please don't do it again."

He couldn't see behind him, but the mist was taking a form; horns and a eyeless sockets, and fanged maw, and heavy clawed hands that settled protectively on either side of Solomon. What he did see, however, was when one of the chubby, misshapen babies flopped in his lap.

Solomon paused. "That's mildly horrifying."

[denyamenti]

Bakura uttered a "tch" at the request not to compel the ka again, only because Solomon was right; he had asked him. It wasn't the thief's problem that the creature hadn't made itself known until prompted.

The form that it took was one that Bakura did indeed recognize, being familiar with fiends and this one distinct enough to be of note to him. "Interesting," he allowed, letting the current of power dissipate, leaving the ka to maintain or dissolve the form as it chose.

"A Light fiend... there aren't many of those."

[peacefullywreathed]

"I would have thought that would be a contradiction in terms," Solomon said bemusedly, lifting his hands while more of the misshapen babies crowded his lap. One of them clung to his arm as if pining for a hug, or a head-stroke, or some manner of comfort, and after a moment Solomon acquiesced, putting his hand lightly on its head. It leaned into the touch.

"What are its characteristics? Aside from an apparent need for tactility." The last was muttered to himself.

[denyamenti]

"It's called now Theban Nightmare," Bakura answered. "Though I doubt that is its actual name. A Light fiend with an effect: when you possess no Spells or Traps, its strength doubles."

From 1500 to 3000... the thief thought without giving the actual values, knowing that Solomon had no frame of reference for them. "Strong enough to take out very, very powerful creatures."

Seeing the creature's obviously affectionate behaviour made Bakura's throat knot and with an additional cord of power from the Ring, he dismissed the ka, rejoining it with Solomon.

[peacefullywreathed]

"It's a shadow." A light-based shadow. The explanation did give some context into how it had reacted to Skulduggery--it hadn't been able to work based on brute-force, since Solomon had magic of his own; but its attributes had been such that it could work with Solomon's magic as a complementary force. Still, it was good to know that without magic or any other course of action the monster would be more powerful.

The title wasn't exactly a surprise either. The babies seemed so starved for affection, clustering around his hands, that Solomon wondered what nightmare had tormented them so.

Abruptly his ka registered surprise and chagrin, and then vanished under his hands, and Solomon grunted, feeling as though someone had just kicked him in the--well, soul. He glanced up at Bakura and said coolly, "I presume you had a good reason for doing that."

[denyamenti]

Emily-Helen likewise sent a mute but surprised ping of feeling at them, having not expected the disproportionate reaction. Are things all right? she asked both of them. Normally these two generated a pleasant field between them but at the moment, the aura was terse and prickly.

"I assumed you'd come here to speak with me about something relevant," the thief answered in the same tone Solomon had used. "If you have nothing else, I can surely find other things to do than watch you make a fool of yourself with your new lightspawn."

[peacefullywreathed]

--Oh. He was an idiot.

"Perfectly fine," Solomon said quietly to answer Emily-Helen, and folded his hands on his lap instead. "On the subject of summoning, how does one summon monsters through the khajbit, without an Item?"

[denyamenti]

The hatchling maintained the worried tension for a moment longer until Bakura likewise issued a silent, curt agreement that all was well.

"I don't know if you'll be able to," Bakura replied. "I can, but I've been bound to the Ring since before it was in my possession. I presume the Pharaoh also can, since it was his Name that sealed them. Thankfully he's so useless without his memories that hasn't been something I've had to go against this time."

[peacefullywreathed]

"And yet, since I can do this--" Solomon mustered a space of khajbit between his hands, not terribly wide because he was making a point rather than exerting himself. "--one might assume it's possible, or at least worth the try."

In truth Solomon hadn't been cultivating the skill as much as he possibly could have; he hadn't really had the time, beyond an idle hour or so in play. He may as well bring it up now, though he hadn't set out intending to learn anything more and may not pursue it with too much efficiency until he'd gotten a handle on other things. At the least, it would be a distraction for Bakura.

[denyamenti]

"Possible," Bakura agreed. "And it may be different here, in Keeliai, compared to what I am used to. That you've picked up that ability at all suggests that it is."

Now that the conversation had moved away from Solomon's newfound ka, some of the tension seemed to have left them both. "The easiest way to test it would be to teach you a Spell or Trap and see if you can use it here."

[peacefullywreathed]

"To be fair, there were extenuating circumstances involved in my learning it," Solomon admitted, closing his hands with a soft clap. "Very well. Something useful in multiple circumstances, hopefully. Traps generally have to be laid beforehand, from what I recall of our duel." He mulled that over. Magic he had in spades; it could be useful to have something in the way of wards that didn't leave a tangible presence the way sigils did. "One of those, perhaps."

[denyamenti]

The thief nodded; it was the same idea that he'd had. "Very well," he replied. "I have a few ideas."

He took a few steps back to put some distance between them, and also not to be right next to Emily-Helen when he did this, before calling a red and purple mechanical globe into existence, hovering in the air next to him. He had to show Solomon what he was going to be summoning before he could expect him to do it. Per usual the Ring absorbed most of the energy draw of pulling it into the real world; Bakura supplied the concentration and will to do it.

"This is a trap called Security Orb," he said. "When this Trap is set, and you are attacked by an opponent, it will change that attack to a defense and thereby nullify it. It has a secondary effect but it's not particularly useful in this setting, so stay with the main one. Setting a Spell or Trap isn't entirely different from calling up a monster... it can't be done badly. In fact in that instance, Spells and Traps are actually more dangerous as, instead of failing a summon, you might get a bad effect or a backfire. It has to fit the situation."

He dismissed the Orb and it faded out of view. "Now you try," he said. "Have it in your mind: what it is, it's name, what it's used for, what you want it to do."

[peacefullywreathed]

"What is the secondary effect?" Solomon asked anyway, because useful or not in this particular circumstance he was still going to want to know how to use it properly in future. He studied the globe as he spoke, using his hands to shape it in the air as a shadow so he knew its form.

He did wonder if it was necessary to open the khajbit, but since Bakura didn't usually do so he declined to try so the first time around. Possibly it would required for a beginner from another world and Bakura didn't realise owing to the nature of his own experience. Instead Solomon banished the shadow-construct with a wave of his hand, rising and putting distance between himself and Emily-Helen. He exhaled slowly, keeping the things Bakura had specified in mind.

That part wasn't difficult--it wasn't too dissimilar to summoning shadows of specific objects. Unfortunately the shadows were all too eager to respond to his will over the monster, and thrice they swirled around his hands. He shook them off each time, his brow furrowing with controlled annoyance.

"Would it be easier if I opened the khajbit first?" he asked at last.

[denyamenti]

"Of course it would," Bakura said blithely. "But since you're already capable of summoning things there and that isn't where you'll likely be standing when an attack comes, let's not waste your enthusiasm there. Try again, and give those things a bone to worry over if they're going to act like pups."

[peacefullywreathed]

That was about what Solomon thought and it made sense, but didn't make the situation any less frustrating. He grunted in lieu of an agreement, absent because he was already moving to do so. With long ease of practice he flicked the shadows out and turned them into ferrets darting around the grass, tumbling and playing and climbing all over Emily-Helen's shell.

It left a strange dearth of shadows anywhere else; all of theirs were missing, and the grass looked strangely flat. At least it meant they were occupied, and Solomon compartmentalised the part of his mind keeping them maintained before focussing on what he was actually trying to achieve.

This time Solomon felt the resistance, not exactly under his hands but in his being. "Ah," he murmured, and he felt out the space around the trap he wanted to summon, like he felt out the space around a shadow-construct. It had mass, it had presence; it wasn't just magic, but an object related to an action. It was simple, once the shadows were distracted, but unfamiliar and as if it used muscles he hadn't quite known were there; but it still wasn't all that long before the Orb hovered in front of him too.

[denyamenti]

The shadows shaped into ferrets earned a noise of amusement from the thief, overtaken by Emily-Helen's delighted mental squeal. Once Solomon has brought forth the Orb, Bakura strides around it as if looking for flaws, finds none and offers a succinct "good" before pointing at a space in front of Solomon.

"Now... Traps are set, hidden. You don't need to see them, you know they're there, others don't. It won't be something you have to force... it's what it exists to do."