simulsimul: (Default)
Kratos Aurion ([personal profile] simulsimul) wrote2016-11-22 11:53 am
Entry tags:

another thing; w/ [personal profile] fafnirs and [personal profile] skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

a post for random filings of things


d_p - in which Kratos and Zelos snark as well as they can with Lloyd in hearing.
here - Zelos takes Kratos up on a challenge. (cw for suicide talk)
here - spacedad finds another canon on another planet. it involves a skeleton with a disturbingly similar backstory.
skeletonenigma: (thinking)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-21 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
[There's something vaguely discomfiting about watching a very powerful race Skulduggery knows next to nothing about use a small children's thesaurus to translate all of English. A part of Skulduggery is still suspicious about the possibility of an invasion, and believes simply watching this happen is a terrible idea. The rest of Skulduggery recognises that the first part is an instinct from a bygone era of war, and is best ignored.

Translating might help the emotionless angels. Experience, as Kratos said, of another world.

The infringement on Skulduggery's mind has him turning towards Kratos with an air of mild exasperation, though the exasperation doesn't make it into his voice.]
That's very unnerving.

[Even Hopeless had never been able to read Skulduggery's mind. This isn't quite the same thing, but that doesn't make it feel any less of an impossible trespass.

It isn't words, either -- or rather, it is, but the meaning Skulduggery comprehends doesn't come from the words. That's an extra layer of unnerving.]


Yes. [He looks out over the raised daises.] Thank you.
skeletonenigma: (adjustingthehat)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-21 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
Ah. Like Dublin.

[Making Derris-Kharlan the name of the asteroid, and Welgaia the name of the city on top of the asteroid. That's simple enough.

The city, Skulduggery soon finds, is huge. It spreads out like any city on Earth, but it also spreads up. Every time he thinks they must be close to the pinnacle, there are dozens more raised walkways above them. Is the atmosphere only for his benefit, he wonders, or are some things simply easier to do in atmosphere no matter what? He would have thought lightning couldn't occur in a vacuum, but Kratos proved that wrong on the journey here.

And above them, nearly always visible, is the night sky. Space. Other planets in the solar system, Skulduggery discovers. He almost wishes he thought to bring a separate camera with him.

He doesn't speak very much throughout the tour, content to watch and listen and learn. Content to absorb, like a sponge. Every now and then they pass more angels with feathered wings, some talking, others just drifting. Skulduggery's watching a pair of them debate something he doesn't understand when Kratos stops, and Skulduggery takes a few extra steps to realise and follow suit.]
skeletonenigma: (tie)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-24 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kratos is expecting rather a lot from him. Skulduggery's never seen these machines before -- that hardly equips him to answer questions. He takes a look anyway and watches unfamiliar videos scroll across the console's screen, one right after the other, overlapping and interspersing like some sort of terrible movie splice.

Skulduggery shakes his head.]
I don't know.

[-- wait. Yes he does. That, right there, for about two seconds, was Grace Kelly. And the movie, if he's not mistaken, was Rear Window. Skulduggery leans closer, and when he speaks again, it's with a note of curiosity.] How are you picking these up? These are -- well, some of them are movies, at least. One of them was a classic. Is this -- ah-ha.

[There's a beat, and then Skulduggery chuckles.] It's a noisy little planet, isn't it? That's the internet. [He looks at Kratos and repeats the word.] Internet. I would try and explain, but I doubt I could do it even if you spoke perfect English.
skeletonenigma: (yes?)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-25 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah, perfect. Derris-Kharlan has something similar. An electronic database of some kind, by the looks of it.]

Something like that, yes. [Skulduggery pauses to think about it.] A library. A repository of knowledge. Many, many books, and books-but-not-books, electronically stored just like this -- [He points at the console.] -- and sent all over the planet constantly. [To emphasise the point, Skulduggery draws a circle in the air with two fingers.] The whole planet.

[He'd been wondering how to explain the internet, and Kratos then explained the internet for him. Skulduggery suspects this won't be the last time it happens. Kratos is picking up English in leaps and bounds.]

You have computers, but you don't have streetlights? Your people were a bit eager, weren't they?
skeletonenigma: (writtenname)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-25 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Why? Hell if Skulduggery knows. Communication. Free and easy access to information. Collective creation. Achievement and discovery as ends unto themselves.]

Why not?

[It's about the easiest simplified summary he can come up with.

The first thing Skulduggery notices is that the lightning crackling in and around Kratos's hand doesn't arc to any of the other objects, like it did with the streetlight back in Dublin. Not this, Kratos said. Not lightning. Skulduggery tilts his head.]


Not electricity?

[That certainly explains Kratos's startled reaction from before.]

Then I assume only angels can manipulate it. [If everyone could do it, they would have invented a way to harness it, after all.] What do your streetlights run on? Not electricity, but...?
skeletonenigma: (snap)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-25 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Mana.

[Skulduggery repeats the unfamiliar word out loud, but even that doesn't help him find any sort of translation in English. It's not magic, he's fairly sure, though to be fair he's only sure because there's no possible way to use magic to power technology on Earth. Energy, maybe? It would explain the variety of reactions -- light, lightning, fire. Maybe it exists on Aselia, but can only be controlled by angels. Maybe there is no English equivalent.

But if that's the case, why is there an English equivalent for 'angel'?

Skulduggery shakes his head.]
I don't know what that is in English. Energy, or magical energy, or something completely different we don't have. Is it what your wings are made of? [He points to Kratos's back.] Mana?
skeletonenigma: (skulblue)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-26 09:54 am (UTC)(link)
[Skulduggery nods.] Mithos.

[It's the same story Kratos told before, but now with mana as an added explanation. Mithos. His student, Kratos called him. Probably an angel as well. After time, however, implies that the angels changed from Kratos's glittering wing state to their emotionless feathered wing state gradually. And if that's the case, Skulduggery wonders why Kratos didn't intervene earlier.

The last bit makes him turn his head in surprise.]
We do? Hm. Maybe it is magic, then.

[Maybe it has something to do with what overzealous scholars call the Source of Magic. Until Kratos explains what mana is properly, it's impossible to know.]
conductingresistance: (i'm reaching out for something)

[personal profile] conductingresistance 2016-12-26 10:16 am (UTC)(link)
[Yuan, for his part, is hoping Kratos has come to his senses. It's been a unique few days, enough to try his patience-- not that he has a great deal of it in the first place, but he's been trying.]

[Zelos has also been trying, in a completely different way.]

[He isn't sure what Kratos can possibly be busy with, but inter-planetary communications are finicky. Perhaps it's technical. The comms officer puts him through eventually.]

[Yuan opens the conversation by scowling at Kratos.]


Are you anywhere close to turning around? I'm--

[--there's a skeleton behind Kratos, just visible at the edge of the projection. That isn't right. Yuan half-reaches for his blade, even though it will be absolutely no use from this distance.]

--behind you!
skeletonenigma: (closeup)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-26 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[Several things interest Skulduggery about the conversation before it even starts. The first is that Kratos and all the other angels apparently use telepathy as a matter of course, since there's no visible cue that Yuan Ka-Fai has contacted Derris-Kharlan. The second is that Yuan, who presumably hasn't left Aselia, has contacted Derris-Kharlan. Not just long-range communications, but long-range communications over light years. When Kratos first touched down, Skulduggery had wondered if time travel was at work. Now, he's fairly sure the angels' technology exceeds Earth's. By a lot.

Yuan, when his face appears, even looks vaguely Chinese in conjunction with his name. Skulduggery's head tilts in his customary indication of surprise when the language Yuan speaks sounds much more like Irish than it does Chinese. Irish syllables, Irish cadence, combining to form words Skulduggery's never heard before in his life and can't decipher.

It's also, if he's not mistaken, different from both the languages Kratos has used thus far.

Skulduggery doesn't move except to straighten his head and say, in a very amused tone:]
Now that's the proper reaction. See that, Kratos? That's someone who's never met a friendly skeleton before.

[And here Skulduggery was beginning to think Kratos encompassed all glittering-wing-state angels.]
conductingresistance: (softly call you over)

[personal profile] conductingresistance 2016-12-27 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Kratos is addressing the skeleton like it's sentient. To be fair, as seconds pass, it becomes evident that the skeleton isn't about to attack Kratos. Unless it's lying in wait.]

[And it knows Kratos's name, though Yuan doesn't recognize the language. He scowls, looking down his nose at the image of the skeleton for a moment before transferring his attention back to Kratos.]

[He doesn't deign to switch to the language Kratos is using.]


--the humans can use mana?

[The scowl fades in favor of bemusement, in making sure Yuan heard Kratos right and there wasn't some kind of glitch in the transmission.]

Are you sure they're human? They might only look it.

[The thought of still mana in a living creature is an odd one. Yuan trusts that Kratos knows what he's talking about, though.]

I take it this means you're nowhere near to turning around.
skeletonenigma: (writtenname)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-27 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
No friendly skeletons on Aselia. [Skulduggery repeats this to indicate both his agreement and his amusement. Kratos's stoicism, it seems, has nothing whatsoever to do with being an angel. That's reassuring. Secretive people, Skulduggery has dealt with before. Angels are still new territory.

Yuan and Kratos are definitely not speaking the same language, however. Is that normal? In Skulduggery's experience, changing to match your companion's language is fairly automatic. If angels are at all similar, then Yuan is deliberately not switching. Either that says a lot about him individually, or the rules are different where angels are concerned.

More importantly, Yuan seems to be expressing surprise at the idea of mana on Earth. Skulduggery can't imagine why. They haven't seen the entire universe, have they?

And more importantly still... Skulduggery leans a little closer. Is that -- blue hair? Bright blue hair, and not a trick of the light.]


Yuan has blue hair? [Kratos may have learned some colours already, and if he hasn't, Skulduggery can always specify.]
Edited (I can totally remember what happened just a few short tags ago) 2016-12-27 20:34 (UTC)
conductingresistance: (softly call you over)

[personal profile] conductingresistance 2016-12-28 08:50 am (UTC)(link)
[Don't turn that teaching patience on him, Kratos. Yuan gives him a flat, thoroughly unamused line of an expression.]

The Tethe'allan Chosen is experiencing the same difficulties with his transformation which you did.

He's taken to throwing things to get attention.

[Yuan catches his name, and the word for elf, and looks, if possible, even less amused.]

I'm not sure I want to know what you're telling him.
skeletonenigma: (darkfirewind)

[personal profile] skeletonenigma 2016-12-28 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[Maybe Aselian hair colour is similar to skin colours on Earth.

A human-something angel. Half human, half the other thing, according to Kratos's earlier attempt at explanation using the thesaurus. Skulduggery was wrong. The unfamiliar word isn't an analogue to 'angel'. It's an analogue to 'human'. That explains why Kratos specified human angel.

Whatever the unfamiliar word means, Yuan sours upon hearing it. That, especially when compared to Kratos and his unreadable face, tells Skulduggery that being a half-whatever-it-is is not something to be proud of. Odd. He'd think being an angel would trump genetic background, but it doesn't look like it does.

And that brings up another question. If the angels identify as their race first, does that mean they weren't always angels?]


Sorry to interrupt. [Since, Skulduggery belatedly realises, that's exactly what he was doing. He takes a small step back, a symbolic declaration of intent that in no way impedes his view of the console screen.] Carry on.
conductingresistance: (i'm reaching out for something)

[personal profile] conductingresistance 2016-12-29 07:37 am (UTC)(link)
He's a skeleton, and he finds hair color odd enough to comment on.

[So flat.]

[But it does explain exactly why Kratos is talking about Yuan in that particular way, which Yuan will grudgingly accept and move on.]


He's far more intolerable than you ever were.

The Chosen, that is. Lloyd is doing just fine.

[His tone might be a hair warmer.]

Colette is helping him adjust, and somehow I've wound up teaching all of them, now and then. I'm sure you didn't have anything to do with this.

[His tone implies the precise opposite. This is Kratos's fault. Everything is probably Kratos's fault.]

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