tushanshu_logs | catchall, early November

Characters: Raine Sage and OPEN
Date: first week of November mostly, some flex if necessary
Location: various around Keeliai, including her suite (Tu-Gai)
Situation: also various, mostly involving catching people up to the situation as it stands and seeking possibilities for dealing with things under the shell.
Warnings/Rating: violence/gore in Anton's thread; probably all-over discussions of mind control etc.

While the suspicion of someone willingly working with Malicant is something that never quite leaves her mind, for the most part Raine's of the opinion that dispersing information can only help right now. Not via the network, of course, but she spends much of the first week of November seeking out people she knows to catch them up to how bad things are, to make sure the vision Wan and Valdis had gets shared out, and to see if anyone has any helpful input at all. She's done about as much as she can within her own head; now it's time to get outside points of view.

When she's not busy doing that, she can mostly be found in the Earth sector, either at her suite, which she hasn't made a significant effort to hide, or in one of the assorted nearby parks, running through artes over and over in an effort to improve her casting time and focus or simply swinging her staff in the most basic of forms.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That might explain a little of Raine's error in dealing with her, in point of fact. Most of Raine's students prior had been willing to listen. Question her, absolutely, but in the end actually listen. Leading someone to an answer was one thing, and doing it without letting them know you were entirely another.

"They'd either feed each others' arrogance, or do each other some good," she said, thoughtful. "Some of the people I traveled with-- when they fought, it always seemed to be their own traits they disliked in each other." How many times had Genis and Zelos snapped at each other, irritated, on matters of intelligence and pride? "And I imagine they'd have something about moral distinctions to discuss."

A pity, then, if Hayley really was quite that close-minded. Especially given that Tony had seemed genuinely disappointed about the ruined friendship. "Does she consider you a friend?" Raine wondered next, given the familiarity with which Solomon spoke of her tendencies.

"Hayley's moral distinction runs from 'right without the presence of regret or guilt' to 'wrong and you should feel bad'," Solomon said. "She, unfortunately, said as much herself in our conversation." The girl hadn't even known the definition of culpability, which was surprising only because Solomon kept forgetting how young she was.

"She's my student," Solomon admitted. "Among the first of those I met here--being from a world without magic, she was curious about learning some. She's a rather driven young lady, but imprudent. I've warned her about the risks of learning necromancy but it hasn't made much of a difference; if I were to refuse to teach her she'd only learn on her own."

The best thing he could do was teach her anyway, and teach her the difference between addition and control, power and prudence. It had been his responsibility they even reached this far--at the time he hadn't been quite aware of the risks himself, and by the time he was he had forgotten it was relevant to Hayley herself. Now there wasn't much else he could do save minimise the damage.

"I don't know that she considers me friend," said Solomon. "A nuisance, perhaps. A means to an end. Someone worth listening to, on occasion, but only when she chooses."

Combine that sort of moral binary with Hayley's youth and the absolute certainty that she was right, and Raine could see very well where and why things had gone wrong. She'd keep it in mind, if there was a next time. Why had Bakura felt the need to intercede, anyway? That still didn't quite make sense.

Later. Raine set that issue aside, and gave the greater implications of what Solomon was saying some thought. "Safer to have you guiding her in that case, yes," she noted, "but if she listens only when she chooses, she's setting herself up for failure." He had to know that, too; it was a concerning thought, especially given what necromancy could do to the user. "...But despite being from a world completely without magic, she's taken to it? Fascinating. Not wholly without precedent, I suppose." She'd managed to pass on a technique, after all, and Solomon had learned some of Bakura's magic... The way different magical systems interacted here really would be worth studying, if they could clear the greater concern of Malicant.

"And it will take a failure before she learns," Solomon agreed with a sigh. He didn't usually concern himself with that, because failure could be a learning experience; sometimes it was even worth manipulating into making happen. In this case, given necromancy, it was more a concern than usual, and he didn't even have the benefit of idiots in the Temple to manipulate into being the antagonists. There were too few of them for him to set anyone up as Hayley's enemy by asking them to push her into failing early, even though it would be beneficial for her in the long-term.

"Apparently she learned some magic from a necromancer from another world," he said, "though it wasn't necromancy that she learned, and has had a few other mentors before I arrived. When magic was reacting badly she had a touch of trouble, but primarily in minor ways. She isn't very powerful, yet."

If Hayley ever would be. So far, Solomon hadn't seen much evidence of potential power, not that he was expecting it since she had come from a world without magic.

"Perhaps that's for the best." If Hayley was going to stumble into self-made failures, better she did it at a lower level. Easier to control a fireball than a meteor storm, as it were, and young people with less judgment than power led to unfortunate things. A non-fatal mishap would be the best outcome, but... necromancy would rather lend itself to something more fatal, wouldn't it.

Still, there was no other way to proceed at this point, save trying to impart something like control to her, which Solomon was already evidently on top of. Raine leaned back a little in her chair. "I do wonder exactly how much leeway there is here, in the interaction between magic from different worlds," she said aloud, thinking. "If she's picked up things from a number of different mentors-- perhaps there's more flexibility than I'd thought." Her sample size was too small currently. It would be fascinating to study, however. ...Later. When there was a later to be certain about. "...I'd ask her, but I don't imagine that conversation going civilly."

catchall, early November

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