Twilight Tea (The new IC Thread, open to all!)

Roery pulled off her hood absentmindedly as he spoke. She never liked wearing a hood. She might not have asked under normal circumstance, but since they had already played twenty questions on her, "...What do you mean your abilities betrayed you? It looks like it's something you're still struggling with..."

"And of course I want to find a solution. It's just I haven't been this way for very long, and I don't exactly know where to start..."

Ralis glanced over at her, noting how she looked without the hood on, identifying that her body was yes, entirely water. He nodded to himself before answering, "Oh, my darkness powers, er... abilities over shadow. One way of putting it is, I can't really sleep anymore, uh, my hair wasn't pure white too, my eyes weren't this weird green.. for some reason I don't need to eat as much, it's just an overall state of perpetual weirdness that I can't really fix..." he trailed off.

Ralis let out a quiet sigh before blinking with realization and staring back at her. "As for your state, that is something that can be fixed... well, not easily, nor quickly, but I think... I just might be able to provide a small relief," he nodded, looking off to the side. He wasn't quite accustomed to random acts of kindness. It just felt weird.

"Really?" Roery asked, perking up for the first since entering the tea shop. "What could you do?"

She paused, remembering his talk about necromantic powers. "It wouldn't require... dead people or anything, would it?"

Cey considered this. "I've never been on a bode before. I saw some at the docks sometimes! They smelled though. Like fish." He pulled a face like a fish, blowing out his cheeks and opening his eyes wide. He giggled again.

"Oh, my darkness powers, er... abilities over shadow. One way of putting it is, I can't really sleep anymore, uh, my hair wasn't pure white too, my eyes weren't this weird green.. for some reason I don't need to eat as much, it's just an overall state of perpetual weirdness that I can't really fix..."

Lex was speechless and looked astounded and somewhat incredulously at Ralis when he spoke to Roery. Ralis had seemed detached and maybe even irritated when Lex had been talking to the girl, putting his head down and playing with his tea.

Lex had really expected little else from the kid that had basically left him to die in an arena duel preferring to save himself, but Ralis's explanation of his current conundrum, of the side effects of his powerful magic made his current deteriorated state make a lot more sense, and Ralis's sudden altruistic offer to help a brand new acquaintance was to Lex's sensibilities at least beyond the vestiges of Ralis's remaining humanity. This one never ceased to surprise him.

"Seriously Ralis, what did happen to you though? You remind me a little bit of the Joker, at least by the color scheme. Did you fall in a giant vat of nuclear shadow magic stuff or something?"

Now Lex turned back to Roery.

"You didn't answer my first question though Roery, who did this to you? If he was a powerful being that performed some powerful magic to you against your will then he likely has the power to undo it. I think someone should make sure that he is persuaded to undo this magic..."

"I'd be glad to help Roery, if holding that form tires you out and you wanted to use the filtration system in my mecha suit it'd be a good way to transport you wherever you needed to go until we found a place where Ralis could get the resources he needed to help you. What Ralis... dead bodies or something?"

Roery turned back to Lex, her mood dampening. "It was a Lich. Zaknafein. Supposedly, they sell their soul to become near godlike. I don't know if storming his base would be such a great idea..."

"Filtration system...? I... don't know if that would be necessary. Thanks but I can always find standing water... or a small enclosed place if it gets that bad... And I am getting better at hold it together." She replied, looking at her hands as she flipped them over and over.

Originally Posted by I)ragon11

"Really?" Roery asked, perking up for the first since entering the tea shop. "What could you do?"

She paused, remembering his talk about necromantic powers. "It wouldn't require... dead people or anything, would it?"

Ralis gave a slight shrug and he glanced up at the ceiling of the tea house tapping his chin slightly with his gloved fingers, tilting his head to the side. "Well, I could... craft you a new body. That would take certain... 'material' though, that I'd have to er.. gather," he shrugged. "If that isn't your cup of tea... heh, I make myself laugh..." he trailed off, without laughing though. "...but anyway, I could make you something to reduce all the concentration you need to maintain your form like that. It's what I do to my weapons, with my shadows, to make sure they always absorb nearby darkness... except this time, it'll be with water. That way, you'll... drip, or spill or something, but the water will be drawn back to you like that," he said, snapping his fingers.

Originally Posted by quick silver

Lex was speechless and looked astounded and somewhat incredulously at Ralis when he spoke to Roery. Ralis had seemed detached and maybe even irritated when Lex had been talking to the girl, putting his head down and playing with his tea.

Lex had really expected little else from the kid that had basically left him to die in an arena duel preferring to save himself, but Ralis's explanation of his current conundrum, of the side effects of his powerful magic made his current deteriorated state make a lot more sense, and Ralis's sudden altruistic offer to help a brand new acquaintance was to Lex's sensibilities at least beyond the vestiges of Ralis's remaining humanity. This one never ceased to surprise him.

"Seriously Ralis, what did happen to you though? You remind me a little bit of the Joker, at least by the color scheme. Did you fall in a giant vat of nuclear shadow magic stuff or something?"

Now Lex turned back to Roery.

"You didn't answer my first question though Roery, who did this to you? If he was a powerful being that performed some powerful magic to you against your will then he likely has the power to undo it. I think someone should make sure that he is persuaded to undo this magic..."

"I'd be glad to help Roery, if holding that form tires you out and you wanted to use the filtration system in my mecha suit it'd be a good way to transport you wherever you needed to go until we found a place where Ralis could get the resources he needed to help you. What Ralis... dead bodies or something?"

Ralis glanced back at Lex. He didn't seem none too happy about being asked that question, about why he was like it. He chose to ignore it completely, but answered the next question Lex asked. "To put it so bluntly, dead material, yes... easy to gather, except for maybe the methods. The lucky part for us is... our bodies are typically comprised of two-thirds water, so we got that part covered..." he said, looking back down. "And about why I'm now like this, it's a long and gruesome story, very entertaining about probably to greatest story ever told, but still, now doesn't seem the best time to tell."

Originally Posted by I)ragon11

Roery turned back to Lex, her mood dampening. "It was a Lich. Zaknafein. Supposedly, they sell their soul to become near godlike. I don't know if storming his base would be such a great idea..."

"Filtration system...? I... don't know if that would be necessary. Thanks but I can always find standing water... or a small enclosed place if it gets that bad... And I am getting better at hold it together." She replied, looking at her hands as she flipped them over and over.

"A Lich, huh?" he asked, leaning back in his chair slightly, shaking his head. "Mhmm... those are usually pretty bad news, no matter how you slice it. I don't think you'd be able to 'persuade' a Lich into reversing one of his incantations. We'd probably have to kill the miserable thing, and then he'd just be maddeningly even more unhelpful to this current situation. "Well Miss Roery, my offer is sitting here figuratively on the table... I could... craft you a new empty, dry body that you can take your form within, or I could make you a nifty little... I guess I'd say medallion, or talisman, I don't know... that would help you with your water form."

I allowed a snort of laughter as I held Ceyrnan; he had such a way of twisting a conversation in a completely different direction. It was darling, the way he puffed out his cheeks and laughed as if he were playing a game.

"No, Ceyrnan, I meant my home, a house in the middle of a forest. If you wanted a safe place to rest for the night, Chanson and I would be very happy to have you stay with us."

"You live on a bode in the middle of the forest?" Cey asked incredulously. "What about the fish?!"

"N... n-no, the word 'abode' is simply another name for a house. And there are no fishes in or around them unless there is a lake nearby, or if someone is cooking fish..." I shook my head, resting my hand against my cheek as I struggled to keep from confusing myself. "What I mean to say, Ceyrnan, is that you are more than welcome to spend the night with Chanson and me at the place we live."

Cey pondered this. "I do like to eat fish..." he said speculatively. "Okay! Can we play games?" He beamed at her.

I let the smile surface, both defeated and triumphant at the same time. It was wonderful that Ceyrnan was willing to stay, if just for a night or two. I did not want to worry for him sleeping alone by a tree. How long had he been without Tesha? It was terrible simply to remember bumping into the boy just a moment ago. He had been so afraid, so helpless, so... lost. So much of the world seemed strange and new to him, and imagining him out there alone again...

No, I could not simply leave him. Some solution was sure to come eventually, and though I did not have the patience of Adrien, it could not be too unpleasant. Ceyrnan was very entertaining company, when he was not panicking or confusing me with my words. And there could be no harm in it; I had plenty of food and time on my hands to care for a child for a day or two. It would be a wonderful excuse to brush Adrien off as well. One never knew when he might drop in, save that it would likely be at the most inconvenient time. Leita seemed to like Ceyrnan as well... perhaps it was not a bad idea at all.

"I am very happy to hear that, Ceyrnan. Chanson and Padme (she is another good friend of mine) love to play, and I am sure we all shall have a great deal of fun. And I do hope you like seasoned salmon; it is one of my best recipies."

"Well I don't think we should be making her into Frankenstein's monster, eventually I imagine she'll be able to replicate the look and feel of real skin, to control her form better, and if she's stuck in some shell of dried flesh I don't imagine she'll be able to control her watery form so well, it might actually hinder her.

"Besides... yuck Ralis... But what she needs is a catalyst that'll help her control this magic better, if it works as you say, you should try out making this talisman. If you need to get a hold of any precious metals or rare materials I can help you out in that regard.

"As for your predicament with this magic, Ralis, far be it from me to force you to pull the scab and start healing your current psychosis, but I think that just maybe you need a little bit of practice at being human again.

"Telling your problems to someone, even if those problems are irreparable, it is still cathartic and very human to do so. No, maybe right now isn't the best time, but if you ever have time, I'd love to hear about it.

"Sometimes I wish there was a way for me to learn magic myself, and although your methodology of coming into magic doesn't sound like it was so pleasant, as long as I'm stuck here in the Dome, I need to learn more about magic for the sake of my own survival."

Originally Posted by quick silver

"Well I don't think we should be making her into Frankenstein's monster, eventually I imagine she'll be able to replicate the look and feel of real skin, to control her form better, and if she's stuck in some shell of dried flesh I don't imagine she'll be able to control her watery form so well, it might actually hinder her.

"Besides... yuck Ralis... But what she needs is a catalyst that'll help her control this magic better, if it works as you say, you should try out making this talisman. If you need to get a hold of any precious metals or rare materials I can help you out in that regard.

"As for your predicament with this magic, Ralis, far be it from me to force you to pull the scab and start healing your current psychosis, but I think that just maybe you need a little bit of practice at being human again.

"Telling your problems to someone, even if those problems are irreparable, it is still cathartic and very human to do so. No, maybe right now isn't the best time, but if you ever have time, I'd love to hear about it.

"Sometimes I wish there was a way for me to learn magic myself, and although your methodology of coming into magic doesn't sound like it was so pleasant, as long as I'm stuck here in the Dome, I need to learn more about magic for the sake of my own survival."

Ralis narrowed his eyes slowly as he made his head gradually rotate to stare up at Lex. There was emotion on his countenance, that was sure. However, it wasn't depression nor curiousity but pure anger. The shadow caster did his best to repress it, but he found a lot of what Lex just said incredibly offensive or disrespectful on a number of levels.

"First of all... you say you know nothing of magic, but you contradict yourself by criticizing the way of a fake body works, it's not just a hunk of flesh that someone walks around in. It's a living, breathing being with no conscious or subconscious, it needs to be fed, it needs sleep, it needs to expel waste, it needs to be taken care of or it will die. If Miss Water-Roery here were to fuse with the body, she can walk around as if she were human, except the fact that she wouldn't feel pain or hunger or get tired, because the body and her true form cannot be permanately connected, or else the natural body would think it was being invaded and try to absorb or expel her..." Ralis went on, his words were precisely sharp and fast.

"Secondly, as for the talisman, all I need is a very durable object, something that won't break very easily, the size nor shape doesn't matter," he continued. "All I need to do is manipulate the talisman to bind to Roery's water form so it kn0ws what to absorb and maintain, then finally imbue it with a lot of my power, which would sufficiently drain me for quite some time afterwards..." he spoke, his voice getting darker now as he stopped leaning back in his chair and sat straight up.

"As for my condition, apparently you didn't get the HINT that I was trying to make blatantly obvious, that I didn't WANT to talk about it, but by all means, if you want to know sooo badly, then you'll know," he glared, now sitting up from his chair to turn towards Lex, face to face. "My father was a miserable and loathsome man that only wanted to find new ways of increasing his dark power, writing these secrets in books and recording them, he even went so far as to teach me these things when I was just a kid, I didn't know any better. Then the man decided, hey, I need to start using living people to continue my work! Did that cause any hesitation? No. So he started going out at night, grabbing any he found... men, women, children, it didn't matter to him! I don't know what he precisely did with them, all I know is that they're not alive anymore. Finally the town started to catch on and crossed their t's and dotted their i's and followed the trail of breadcrumbs to my home..."

Ralis was fuming now, clearly enraged, gripping his fingers together into tight fists. The air surrounding him had gotten slightly humid, the temperature in his short radius was slowly increasing. "So my dad does the logical thing... he forces ME to set up whatever incantation he had planned, and waited, waited for them to come all inside. Once they were all in... he willingly allowed himself to be killed, in order to complete whatever spell he was trying to cast. Everything went dark, and then I woke up. Everyone was dead. He was gone, I was alone, and all of these dark powers he had were passed to ME. I didn't ask for this. I don't plea for this, my condition is not of my own, and I want to know WHY, WHERE, all of it!"

Ralis' voice calmed and he grew quieter. "I wanted revenge on those people in the city for causing this to happen, because I was unable to exact vengeance on my father... they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wiped the city out. It didn't matter to me who got in the way and who tried to stop me. This... this power, was too great. I couldn't even stop it if I wanted to, it just wanted to kill. So I let it."

Ralis blinked and he looked down at the ground. He let out a sigh and looked over at Roery. "So, about that talisman?" he asked, reaching for his cup of tea to sip.

Roery flinched. A few times. Lex was being pretty blunt, and apparently crossed the line with his casual speak about Ralis's condition. And here she was wrapped up in her own misfortune, she didn't much care to ask such a request of Ralis anymore.

When he had finished, Roery sat silently for a bit, a concerned expression etched on her face. Having a dark force that caused you to kill people against your will? She couldn't even imagine. She didn't know what to say besides "Ralis, I'm sorry..."

"First of all... you say you know nothing of magic...

"So yeah, basically what you just described was Frankenstein's monster. The idea of a golem of flesh created from the parts of dead people is not a new one you just came up with, sorry dude. You really should read Shelly's work if you haven't yet. The creature that her character in the novel created was not some sickly dilapidated monster like is so popularized, it was a whole and real person with the brain of a person who was born in this 'built' tabernacle of flesh.

My point though, is unchanged, and Roery will probably want to weigh in on this as well, but by everything I've heard so far this fleshy golem would only hinder her. That would be quite a neat trick if you could that, for someone unable to take any form whatsoever, or if you wanted to bring a spirit back to the physical world, but it wouldn't be so great for this occasion."

"Secondly, as for the talisman, all I need is a very...

"That's easy, I don't actually know what material my cybernetics are made out of, but I've got a chunk of the material about the size and shape of a silver dollar back in my mecha suit. And don't worry, it's nearly indestructible."

"As for my condition...

Lex looked solemnly on at Ralis and gave him all of the respect he deserved and made no move to interrupt him while he spoke. When he was finished Lex smirked, as if Ralis had just described the weather as "it's gonna be a great day."

"See, cathartic wasn't it? You've gotta get rid of all that dead weight and baggage somehow," Lex made in and out hand movements towards and away from his own face like he was showing Ralis how to breathe. "Haven't killed the population of any small cities in the recent history have you?" Lex made a face like the concept was the easiest thing in the world to grasp and he was talking to someone who lacked the intelligence to understand it, "this is all part of the healing process.

"So you're mad at your dad, few adults in the world aren't. It's certainly cliché to say that disillusionment from one's parentage is the first step to adulthood but I find that cliché's usually have measured truth to them." Lex shrugged and sighed, "I bet you haven't even consciously decided yet that you as a person are not a measure of this poisonous magic that your father forced upon you, nor a summation of everything bad and good that happened to you in life, but what you choose to do with what powers fate had chosen to give you.

"If you spend your life moping about how horrible your father was and punishing those around you for it, you will never be any better than him. But you have the potential to do a lot of good in the world with those powers, even as scarred as you are."

Reason was Lex's first priority, and he was certainly far more an emotional being than Ralis was at this point in his life. But Lex had only been asking for information, and would not be deterred because of some ugly story or grudge that Ralis was obviously holding onto. Ralis had basically just screamed into his face, and Lex remained completely unfazed.

Lex seemed to be an expert at pressing the wrong buttons. "Lex, you can... shut up." She said, glancing him a mild glare. It was best to get the shadowmancers mind onto another subject.

"Ralis, you can ignore him... I would be grateful if you could create such a talisman for me... and I think I'll have to pass on the living body. Thanks, but I'm not sure if I could inhabit what sounds like the equivalent of someone in a coma..." She smiled at him, let him know she appreciated the gesture all the same.

Originally Posted by I)ragon11

Roery flinched. A few times. Lex was being pretty blunt, and apparently crossed the line with his casual speak about Ralis's condition. And here she was wrapped up in her own misfortune, she didn't much care to ask such a request of Ralis anymore.

When he had finished, Roery sat silently for a bit, a concerned expression etched on her face. Having a dark force that caused you to kill people against your will? She couldn't even imagine. She didn't know what to say besides "Ralis, I'm sorry..."

Ralis glanced over at Roery, a bit confused by her words. He had never once heard someone apologize to him, it was certainly strange enough for him to slowly and calmly sit back down. He looked at the tea which had long since grew cold and shrugged slightly to himself, drinking it all down and gently setting it back onto the table's surface, sighing softly to himself. "Sorry? You shouldn't be, but... thanks," he said, a word he didn't use often enough.

Originally Posted by quick silver

"So yeah, basically what you just described was Frankenstein's monster. The idea of a golem of flesh created from the parts of dead people is not a new one you just came up with, sorry dude. You really should read Shelly's work if you haven't yet. The creature that her character in the novel created was not some sickly dilapidated monster like is so popularized, it was a whole and real person with the brain of a person who was born in this 'built' tabernacle of flesh.

My point though, is unchanged, and Roery will probably want to weigh in on this as well, but by everything I've heard so far this fleshy golem would only hinder her. That would be quite a neat trick if you could that, for someone unable to take any form whatsoever, or if you wanted to bring a spirit back to the physical world, but it wouldn't be so great for this occasion."



"That's easy, I don't actually know what material my cybernetics are made out of, but I've got a chunk of the material about the size and shape of a silver dollar back in my mecha suit. And don't worry, it's nearly indestructible."



Lex looked solemnly on at Ralis and gave him all of the respect he deserved and made no move to interrupt him while he spoke. When he was finished Lex smirked, as if Ralis had just described the weather as "it's gonna be a great day."

"See, cathartic wasn't it? You've gotta get rid of all that dead weight and baggage somehow," Lex made in and out hand movements towards and away from his own face like he was showing Ralis how to breathe. "Haven't killed the population of any small cities in the recent history have you?" Lex made a face like the concept was the easiest thing in the world to grasp and he was talking to someone who lacked the intelligence to understand it, "this is all part of the healing process.

"So you're mad at your dad, few adults in the world aren't. It's certainly cliché to say that disillusionment from one's parentage is the first step to adulthood but I find that cliché's usually have measured truth to them." Lex shrugged and sighed, "I bet you haven't even consciously decided yet that you as a person are not a measure of this poisonous magic that your father forced upon you, nor a summation of everything bad and good that happened to you in life, but what you choose to do with what powers fate had chosen to give you.

"If you spend your life moping about how horrible your father was and punishing those around you for it, you will never be any better than him. But you have the potential to do a lot of good in the world with those powers, even as scarred as you are."

Reason was Lex's first priority, and he was certainly far more an emotional being than Ralis was at this point in his life. But Lex had only been asking for information, and would not be deterred because of some ugly story or grudge that Ralis was obviously holding onto. Ralis had basically just screamed into his face, and Lex remained completely unfazed.

Ralis then glanced back at Lex. He just stared, a cold and long stare. Then he smirked in return, shaking his head. That smirk went into a full on grin as Ralis closed his eyes, leaning over the edge of the table, suppressing a laugh, a few laughs actually. Finally his repressed chuckles ended and he sighed, looking back up at Lex. "You don't get it, do you, kid? I never said I wanted to be better than him, I might not even find him. As for all this crap going on inside me, I'll probably never learn how to fix who I used to be. But... I can thank him, for one thing. Back at that arena... I nearly killed you, 'dude', and that was back when I was weak. I hadn't nearly grasped the confines of this... this dark force that's come to reside within me, but now I've learned to take a firm hold of it, and bend it to my will. You seem to forget that I was concerned on getting out of that hell-hole, above all else. Not killing you, or the others. Be grateful I wasn't nearly as powerful then, or you'd be dead. And be grateful that Roery here lightened the mood, or I just might have snapped and killed you. I know I could. You know I could. Let's keep this to a rational discussion now, all right?"

Ralis ended his second little monologue with a slight nod and a courteous smile, letting his threat float out there for Lex to grasp.

Originally Posted by I)ragon11

Lex seemed to be an expert at pressing the wrong buttons. "Lex, you can... shut up." She said, glancing him a mild glare. It was best to get the shadowmancers mind onto another subject.

"Ralis, you can ignore him... I would be grateful if you could create such a talisman for me... and I think I'll have to pass on the living body. Thanks, but I'm not sure if I could inhabit what sounds like the equivalent of someone in a coma..." She smiled at him, let him know she appreciated the gesture all the same.

Ralis returned his gaze back at Roery and he gave her a slight smile too, again, something he rarely did. "Yeah, you're doing me a huge favor, having to get the material to make one of those is... well, let's just say annoying, maybe tedious. I'd be happy to make you a talisman for your form, for starters. After that, I'll try and see maybe what we can do from there about your current state, but one step at a time," he nodded. He really felt good that someone had come to his defense for once. Again... a strange feeling, but good all the same.

Aurora smiled back at Adrien. "Guitar is my favorite, then about any kind of flute, and then percussion." She listened to tempers flare and ebb a few tables over. "When will young bucks learn when and when not to run their traps?" She chuckled. "Or, at least keep it to its usual uses of flirtation and talking smack." She sipped her tea. "Guess it goes to show you brains do not equal smart."

She looked over at Chanson, still playing her little heart out. "Ready to roll over and give someone else a turn, Beethoven?"

Cey smiled happily at the prospect of playing. "Games are fun, what kind of games do you like to play? What does a recipe do?" Cey sipped at his milk, curious.