tushanshu_logs | February Catch All

Characters: Valdis and you!
Date: The Month of February
Location: Noted in the starters
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: None yet

A) Before the 5th, Keeliai's Markets: After acquiring the angelic sword, Revelations, Valdis has found herself in need of some supplies in order to make a sheath worthy of the blade. She has enough coin to obtain what she needs and it helps that the Kedan are currently trying to put on a good face for the Ambassadors. She is quickly evaluating the attitude of the store owners and either purchasing or moving on, aware that this window of niceties might be quite narrow.

B) Midnight Hotel: When she isn't out in the city or exploring the surrounding areas, Valdis can be found in the common area, reading up on the history of Keeliai or going over her extensive, hand-written notes on the current issues the foreigners are facing in the city. If one is lucky, they may catch her in the lobby of the hotel, or if someone is ambitious and unafraid, they may find her in her room, though if she is sleeping, wake her at your own risk

C) Before the 5th, Turtle's Head: The cold didn't bother her much and she sat near the turtles head, looking out over the water at Khatronma, marveling at the dome from a distance. Revelations is at her hip, glowing softly in the early morning light. The last time she had been here it had been to possess the turtle in an attempt to help Wan oust Malicant from the ancient entity. It had also been where she had used the Void to kill four of the cultists attacking her and her friends. So many memories and none of the peace that had once been attached to this place.

D) Start your Own: Please give a location and a setup.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She would have laughed if the movement wouldn't have caused pain, not at the question, but because the answer was agonizingly simple and yet incredibly complex at the same time.

"Odd as it may sound," she said, "The two are not exclusive. I have been alive for over two-thousand and five-hundred years, but my soul is only just over three hundred."

"My soulless kin can sense emotions, can use them to their advantage, but I actually feel them. I suppose that Iroh put it the best when we discussed the Kedan. Sometimes, after having lived without something for so long, it takes time to realize that you possess it, time to figure out how to cope."

"So while I am old considering the mortal timeline, my soul is incredibly young and inexperienced in comparison. Does that make sense?"

Edited (muse) 2015-02-14 16:32 (UTC)

Putting aside for the moment that three hundred, too, was not an inconsiderable amount of time. "It does," Raine said, wishing a little bit that it didn't. "I believe I understand the cause a little better, now. However, that's not an excuse. But you know that, don't you?"

She shook her head just a little, and looked down at Valdis directly. "Two things, then. The first: How will you... no. How do we prevent this from happening again?" Because it couldn't be allowed to. There was no guarantee that talking her down would work again; there was no guarantee, Raine had learned, that she'd be able to kill Valdis.

"There is no excuse for what I almost did," Valdis replied, "But now that I have experienced such a thing and have gotten through it, the chances of it happening again are slim. But the fact of the matter is that as long as my soul and the Void are in conflict, then balance is difficult."

She sighed heavily, hissing slightly at the sharp pain, but she couldn't release the sword yet, not until Raine understood. "Being around Dante brought a sense of balance, and losing him threw off the balance so badly and so suddenly that I didn't know what to do. Horrible as it may sound, in the moment, the only thing I sought was to regain that balance by destroying the cause of those emotions. An act of idiotic desperation."

"I don't believe it will happen again, but should it," She released Revelations and instantly the pain began to lessen as the Void took over healing, repairing the internal damage and restoring her strength. She slowly sat up and turned to look at Raine, "Revelations is the key."

Raine's eyes narrowed at that last. She didn't back off, but she was stiller than she had been, focusing intently. "I suppose I should thank you for humoring me," she said, tone bitingly dry. "Revelations-- your sword? All right."

Raine took a deep breath, flexed her hands on her staff, and instead of standing and leaving like she wanted to, leaned in a fraction. "The last thing, then," she said, meeting Valdis' eyes squarely, without flinching. "Let me make this clear. I am not your first resort. Hurt though you are, don't make the mistake of forgetting there are people who care about you, who would mourn if you died. I doubt we will ever be anything like friends, but we may be allies, perhaps. As such, I will serve only as your last resort, should all else fail. I will protect my friends, and the people of this city, but I would prefer not to have to kill you to do it, if at all possible."

Now Raine did stand in one smooth moment, not giving Valdis a chance to answer before she had turned away. It might have been a gesture of trust, showing the woman her back; it might have been dismissal.

Though Raine didn't flinch as she spoke, Valdis did, the words cutting deeper than perhaps the light mage knew.

"Raine," She said quietly, "Perhaps I give the Void more credit that it deserves, but I truly believed that I was going to lose it. No matter what I thought in those few moments, do you think I really wanted to die?"

She let the question hang in the air for a few breaths, "Thank you though," she continued, "Sometimes I forget that in this world, I actually have people who want me to live. Everyone in my own world would happily see me die for simply existing in the first place."

"Did you?" Raine crossed the room, heading for the door, but she didn't leave, rather turned, and leaned against the wall beside it. "I'm familiar with what it looks like when someone desperate tries to force another's hand. You know what I can do with light, and you know I bear you no great love. I'm not saying you still think the same way, but in those moments, I would have trouble believing you wanted to live."

Improbably, the last sentence sparked a faint, wry smile from Raine, and she looked aside for a moment. "No life should be born for the sole purpose of dying," she said quietly, and it sounded rather like she was quoting something or someone. "Every person, once born into this world, has the right to live in it, simply by virtue of being alive." With one hand she touched the space over her heart, a gesture that wasn't wholly conscious. "A friend of mine told me that, once. Sometimes it's hard to believe it myself, but I believe in him."

She shook off nostalgia after a few seconds, looked back to Valdis. "You might try believing in your friends," she added, gently. And then, moving on: "Is there anything else I should know?"

"In those few moments," she admitted, "I didn't...but it seems that my friends had other ideas," After all, Anton had put himself between her and Raine. "Your friend sounds like an idealist, if only the world could be so beautiful that such a thing would be common practice. But you yourself saw how dangerous I could be, do you truly blame the factions of my world for wanting me destroyed?" No matter that the three factions had very different reasons and some had different motives.

She shook her head and stooped to pick up Revelations once more, "There is one more thing," she said, sheathing the sword, "Revelations is tied to my soul through a complex magic that not even its creators understand. It may reject your touch, but I believe that Anton and Wan would be able to use its power."

The description of Lloyd was spot-on, and Raine laughed, very briefly. "He is," she said. Added, quite bluntly, "And I cannot blame them, as you say, but neither will I agree that they are right." Much the outlook she had on the kedan's attitude toward them, of late.

She tracked Valdis' movement as she retrieved the sword, and nodded, filing the information away. Interesting. That might merit study, if she thought Valdis would let her; she'd never heard of such an effect. Discounting the Devil's Arms, which were of an entirely different ilk. "Understood. ...I believe you should tell them that yourself, however."

Valdis nodded, the woman's answer wasn't unexpected, but she was still somewhat surprised by how well the whole conversation had gone.

"I suppose I can't hide from them forever," she said, heading toward the exit, she slowed when she neared the light mage, "I suppose that I must also thank you for giving me a chance to explain, I didn't and don't deserve it, but I do appreciate it and even if we aren't parting as friends, at least it isn't as enemies."

She nodded once again and then slipped past Raine and out the door, heading back toward the Midnight Hotel.

"Whether you do or don't is immaterial." What Raine markedly did not say was that, on reflection, she had known too many other people with similarly destructive capabilities to not at least try to give Valdis a chance. "This community, such as it is, is too small to allow the perpetuation of enmity among us if it can be avoided. I'm glad we could reach an understanding. Good day, Valdis." She returned the nod, and went to do something about the mess that remained.

February Catch All

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