simulsimul | another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

Help ... with your life? Hmh. That bodes well.

[If it's a joke, it's hard to tell; Kratos delivers it rather deadpan. He is thinking of the turn of Skulduggery's mana while emotional. Perhaps his words are actually true. It also doesn't tell Kratos whether he can trust them with his, but needs must, and there isn't all that much which could truly threaten Kratos these days.

[He's getting the impression the help is for far more than just wanting to investigate a new planet, but nevertheless turns to open the passenger's door for Valkyrie, motioning for her to get in while glancing Skulduggery's way measuringly.]

You said that I -- arrived at a time of 'chaos and apocalyptic destruction'. Is the help for me, or for you?

Edited (icon) 2017-02-18 04:24 (UTC)

[Oh, good. Valkyrie won't have to fight for the rights to her seat. She smiles at Kratos before taking advantage of his invitation, then rolls her eyes once she's settled.]

You really don't know how to break things to people gently, do you?

[Skulduggery doesn't answer. He looks at Kratos, his lack of a face inscrutable, then gets into the driver's seat. He doesn't answer until everyone's in the car, buckled up, and he's turned on the engine.]

Both, I hope. Should I expect you to have written your own thesaurus by the end of the day?

[So it's certainly, at least in part, Skulduggery having a tendency to want to shock people. Kratos gets into the seat behind Valkyrie, banking on it having slightly more leg room; even then, he has to turn himself to fit.]

You're exceedingly verbose for a skeleton. I should think I wouldn't need my own thesaurus.

There you go again. 'Verbose'. Would you believe he couldn't speak a word of English last night?

[Valkyrie turns to look at Kratos. She's not surprised, exactly, but there's still a measure of suspicion on her face.] Is your magic to do with languages? We met someone like that once.

Did we?

Miss Nuncio, remember? In the Hotel?

Oh, yes, we did. She was useless in a fight.

[Valkyrie sighs.] Okay, what's up?

What?

You don't act like this unless something's wrong. So what's up? [She hesitates.] Unless it's the obvious thing, in which case we really don't have to talk about it.

[It's as good an explanation as any, so Skulduggery lets Valkyrie assume what she'd like and changes the subject.] So, Kratos. Now that we can hold a halfway decent conversation, are skeletons usually verbose in Aselia?

[Kratos looks back evenly and without a flicker in his expression.]

Something like that.

[Their magic seems more constrained than mana-use on Aselia. Language is only on part of it, really; a side-effect of exspheres having significant data encoding abilities.]

No. They're usually unthinkingly violent with a weapon. Only one ever spoke words, and he was fairly monosyllabic. Also, a demonic skeleton, not a human one.

Ah. You see, over here, they tend not to move. I'm an exception.

[Valkyrie looks back and forth between them, twisted so that her elbow leans against the side of her seat, the better to see them both.] I'm confused. Where's Aselia?

We'll explain everything in Ghastly's shop, remember?

Fine, but if you're going to keep not making sense, I'm going to get really annoyed. [Valkyrie looks back at Kratos consideringly. If he learned the language in one night through magic, that explains the Irish accent. It doesn't explain anything else. What kind of Adept discipline lets you turn off your hearing, and also pick up languages on the fly?] Can I at least ask questions until we get there?

I suppose so.

Awesome. Where's Aselia?

About fifty years away by the speed of light. More or less.

['Year' is the relative term, here; the speed of light, Kratos should think, is not. Still, their years seem roughly similar. He answers this blithely impassive. If Skulduggery is going to let his student ask questions, there's no reason Kratos can't answer some of them.]

[Valkyrie doesn't respond right away, too busy frowning. There's an audible sigh from Skulduggery, but no other objection, so she turns to him.]

Seriously?

[Skulduggery gives a small shrug.]

Okay, remember when you told me there was a whole family of eight-armed octopus people?

No. When did I say that?

When I was twelve, and I believed you because I didn't know any better. Are you really trying to tell me aliens exist, and we've got one sitting in our back seat?

[Skulduggery gives her one of his sidelong glances that are impossible to identify if you're not looking carefully.] I'm not trying to tell you anything.

[Valkyrie pauses, then turns back to Kratos.] Are you really trying to tell me you're an alien, and you're sitting in our back seat?

[Kratos watches this exchange with hardly a flicker in his expression, his arms crossed, sitting upright as if he isn't just the tiniest bit cramped.]

I'm certainly sitting in your backseat. If this is in doubt, then I can't say much for Skulduggery's abilities as a teacher.

[This is deadpan, amused in a manner hard to tell unless someone's already familiar with him. Or someone equally as impassive.]

Don't drag me into this. I'm an excellent teacher. It's not my fault she can't think her way through shock.

[Valkyrie's expression sours.] First of all, everything's in doubt. I could be hallucinating you, and I'd have no way of knowing. Second, let me rephrase that -- are you really saying you're not human? Or a vampire, or a witch, or a zombie, or -- you're not from Earth?

But you haven't trained her to do so? Hmh.

[Kratos is entirely teasing, but his gaze shifts to Valkyrie's sour expression, and he represses a smile in favour of tipping his head.]

I'm human, certainly neither witch nor zombie, and I've never heard of vampires in Aselia. But no, I'm not from Earth.

How can you be human if you're not from Earth?

[Skulduggery huffs.] What I've trained her to do is keep asking questions despite shock. It doesn't always work.

Stop talking over me like I'm not here. How can you be human if you're not from Earth?

Sorry. It's human-analogous, most likely. I'm sure the professor could tell you all the details.

Then can we make the Hibernian our next stop?

No. Ghastly's our next stop.

[Kratos is not quite adept in lifting his eyebrows the way Yuan does, but the slant of his head indicates a similar expression nonetheless.]

More to the point, how can you be human if you're not from Aselia? This is one of the things I wished to investigate by coming here.

[It should not be possible; and yet.]

Who is the professor?

[If they're anything like Raine, it's probably prudent to meet them ... if judiciously.]

Professor Grouse. [This from Skulduggery, since Valkyrie seems more interested in asking questions than answering them.] Kenspeckle Grouse. He's an expert in science-magic, and he'd probably know a great deal more about how magic differentiates across planets than we do.

Can everyone on your planet learn languages overnight?

[Case in point. Skulduggery shakes his head.] We're nearly there now. It's probably best if both of you let me do the talking.

[Science-magic. Kratos's brow furrows.]

He develops magi-technology? Hm.

[That may or may not be a good thing. Absently:]

No. Only a specific subset of us. Why? What should I expect from this brother-not-brother of yours?

[His tone is only faintly dry, and equal amounts of amused, really.]

Magi-technology. [Skulduggery repeats the term out loud, mostly because he can.] Sure. Why not?

Brother-not-brother? [Valkyrie fixes Skulduggery with an amused look.]

You try communicating with an alien who has no context for any language on Earth. We'll see how quick you are to judge me then. Ghastly's a good man, Kratos, but you'll find no one is going to take what you've told me as well as I have. Ghastly won't either. The best-case scenario is that he's going to insist we tell the proper authorities, which will be difficult, because we don't have any right now. The worst-case scenario is that he'll refuse to help, and be infuriatingly stubborn about it for at least three days.

Oh, no. Is this like the Sceptre of the Ancients?

This is worse than the Sceptre of the Ancients.

[Valkyrie pauses.] This is worse than a mythical weapon that can turn anything to dust being in the hands of a bad guy?

Yes. [Skulduggery pauses in turn.] Maybe.

[There are a number of implications packed into those sentences, and Kratos sits absorbing them while they discuss this 'Sceptre'.]

Why don't you have any proper authorities?

[This, Kratos deems, is the most salient question, along with:]

Why would he insist on reporting me to authorities you don't have?

[Why is he getting the impression this is related to the angel in the tree and the winter festival.]

We don't have any proper authorities because the previous authority was convicted of a war crime.

[Valkyrie nods.] And the authorities before that were killed by a guy with the Sceptre. So you can see why I'm a little less than reassured here.

[Skulduggery goes quiet for several seconds, tapping one long gloved finger against the steering wheel. Then he tilts his head towards them.] Valkyrie, do you trust me?

What kind of question is that?

An overly dramatic one, I'll admit, but not any less important. Do you remember how you felt when you first learned that your humdrum existence was lingering on the fringes of magic, monsters, and sorcery?

That's a weird way of putting it, but yeah.

You're about to feel like that again. And when you do, I need you to stay with us and keep doing what I tell you to do. [He pauses.] Or start doing what I tell you to do. Kratos, how do you feel about Valkyrie knowing?

[Skulduggery seems to be thinking, enough that Kratos sits quietly while he does, listening to them talk. Then he head-tips.]

She's coming with us to meet your friend, is she not? I assumed she would find out then regardless.

[Skulduggery seems to think the question is loaded, but for Kratos ... hmn. Students and teachers. Kratos has to wonder what the conversation on the docks had been about.]

I suspect that anything that may put me off is something I don't know.

[Skulduggery nods.] That's a good point. In that case, I'm going to have to ask you to trust me as well.

Are you going to come around to some kind of point, or --?

Kratos is an angel.

[That stops Valkyrie dead in her tracks.] What?

On Earth, we have a certain religious institution. It's not the oldest, and it's not particularly the happiest, and yet it's injected itself into the everyday life of most western countries. Part of the religion is that there's one God, and He's served by a hierarchy of angels. Even people who don't consider themselves religious know what angels are. Do you remember the Christmas ornament that soured your evening?

No, seriously, what?

Christmas was originally a religious holiday. Angel decorations are standard.

[Kratos would ask if there's any such thing as a happy religion, but in light of the explanation, being sardonic gets set aside. The description is ... disturbingly familiar.]

I see. So my presence here could be used to allow a single religion to dominate the rest in opposition to free will.

[Damn.]

I should think that would be reason not to report me to the authorities. Or is your friend a practitioner of this religion?

Put simply, yes.

Angels from space?

[Skulduggery ignores Valkyrie's minor breakdown. It might be more difficult for Kratos to do the same, given she's now staring very intently at him.]

No, Ghastly doesn't practice it. [How to explain this.] It's primarily a mortal religion. Most sorcerers don't take kindly to the idea that anyone exists who's more powerful than they are, let alone a hierarchy of beings no one's ever seen.

Space angels?

A large group of sorcerers believe in a race of evil gods instead. Unfortunately, those evil gods do exist. If any of them find out about you, we'd probably have another war on our hands.

You're an alien angel from outer space.

Ghastly, being a bastion for lawful morality, would argue we take this to our current Grand Mage, Corrival Deuce, because we can trust him and he can help us mitigate any damage. The problem with this is that the government's getting moved to Roarhaven.

Do you have wings?

[Kratos manages to ignore being stared at quite easily. There are more important matters than to assuage her curiosity. Instead he says dryly:]

So mortals worship angels, and sorcerers, when they aren't worshipping evil gods, worship themselves. Where do those evil gods live?

[He might have something of a notion. If they came from Niflheim ...]

What's the issue with Roarhaven?

Edited 2017-07-19 06:44 (UTC)

That's an excellent summary. [It is, too. There's no fault in it Skulduggery can see.] As for the Faceless Ones, they live in another dimension. A few of them are dead on this side.

How can you be a space alien angel if you don't have any wings?

The issue with Roarhaven is that it's populated solely by disillusioned sorcerers who think mortals should be slaves. More than a few of them worship the evil gods. We don't want knowledge of you getting anywhere near there.

[A few of them are dead.]

None of them are skeletons, perchance?

[Sword Dancer was something of an anomaly, but still, there's precedence. Kratos hums.]

And what do you think they'd try to do if they found out about me, precisely?

another thing; w/ fafnirs and skeletonenigma; cw for suicide talk

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