Closed Magics of the Sight and Worlds [Anna]

[Zandelia]

“Anna, I saw nothing there. Just…blackness. No monsters, no dangers at all I…”she began to say but was stalled by the rushing of the embrace, the almost instinctive grasping out for something comforting. She wasn’t entirely sure that she was the best for that but there was nothing else nearby, no one to try and offer some solace in accompaniment to whatever was ripping through the Wizard. So it feel to Zandelia to try and take up that mantle though she had little to no experience at shouldering the burden.

There was little she could do but hold Anna close, swiftly wondering what in the Hai anyone did in these situations. Carnal embrace was one thing but comforting others had never been of interest to her beyond garnering advantage and she wasn’t sure there was any to be gained here - or even if she wanted it. There was little point in abusing someone who clearly had been abused far too much already. The memories of her own abuse, so many years past now, flickered up and into her mind - those small hands and that dark room. How had she done it? She’d used something she remembered from her mother she thought, gods rest her soul. A small flicker of compassion kindled and her arms wrapped around the woman gently, softly.

She’s just as damaged as I am, aren’t we a pretty pair? Different wounds but always so close to the surface. One trigger, one nudge and we’d both crack. I can’t crack now though, I destroyed my demons long ago. Most of them anyway. She lives with them daily, with every breath. What must it be like? she asked herself as one hand slipped around the slender waist and the other rose up to smooth the hair on the back of the head.

“Shhh, there’s nothing to fear Anna. Nothing. I’m here” she spoke the words from so long ago, adapted and restated as soothingly as she could muster considering the situation.

Zandelia herself was rattled though, deep down and to the core. She had just seen a powerful woman in all regards collapse inwardly within seconds and the knowledge drove a spike into her own chest. Everyone held weakness she knew but to it see its effect so startlingly was a terrible affair and filled her with pitiful self-reflection. She was weaker than Anna she was sure, less adept at her own crafts certainly. Could she be brought down so easily, so suddenly? A shiver of fear at that idea rippled through her before she could contain it. No, she pushed it away. Now was not the time for her own weaknesses. Later, much later, she would ponder and hate herself.

“I think that the same could be said for you my dear, so we are even on that score. Eye…remember?” she pat the back of the shoulders a little as Anna pulled away and began to form herself some composure, bitter and pitiful though the mask was.

No, it wasn’t a mask. The words were an echo of what she had heard before but stated far more frankly now. There was a depth to the gaze as it shifted, met her own and then slipped away despairingly. The shoulders were hunched ever so slightly as if a great burden were slammed atop them, invisible and crushing. She shook her head at Anna, there was no point hiding the fact that she was planning to leave soon enough. The other woman knew deep down that she would, Sahova just wasn’t home enough for her - he was no powerful mage. Still, she sidestepped it as best she could - leaving it for another day.

“Come now, where’s the sarcastic little bitch who always likes pointing out my flaws? Right now I think she might say that I should stay because I’m too blind to leave?” she tried for humor in an attempt to bring the woman back further from the precipice.

“Or perhaps that if I am spending the nights with a mad woman that I must like have a complex of some sorts,” she tried for a smile but her heart wasn’t in it truthfully, “how about we leave this…experiment? Go somewhere else? Do something fun. Show me somewhere I’ve not seen before. You have the power and certainly the knowledge to tell me how stupid I am?” she asked tentatively?

She looked around, there was little enough to keep them there and at least few had seen the outburst to report it further. In fact it seemed the area had emptied as if they feared some impending storm. She wondered whether it were wise to stand in the eye of such a possibility but for better or wrose there wasno going back. What she had seen meant that she knew more about Anna than most did perhaps. Not her choice of what she would share but she had never been lucky…or wise.

[Annalisa Marin]

Weakness. It was something Anna considered the gravest of sins, the greatest flaw a person could possess and to reveal it to others was a terrible thing. However at the moment she pushed aside the expectations of her pride and even of her god, allowing the pain and hurt of her path to flow from her as she stood like this. Zand’s embrace was noted and appreciated, a simply form of human contact reminding her that before being a wizard there was something else she was. She was Annalisa Marin, the human woman, mortal and possessed of the same needs and fears of a mortal.

That same part of her that pointed the finger at her actions, her corruption that seeped deep within her heart as a serpent coiled tightly. The influence of Rhysol had caused her so much suffering, all to please a mad god that was simply using her like a tool. She knew this deep down, she knew that at the end of the road she might be deprived of this feeling of humanity and while that scared her there was no other choice in her mind. She had come too far; her hands were stained in the blood of innocents whose lives had been snuffed out in devotion to the Defiler. Anna wondered if Zand would be so willing to comfort her if she knew that truth.

The sorceress smirked slightly at Zand’s changing of the subject; it was unspoken between them that she would likely be leaving soon enough. Anna knew that Sahova was no place for her; the other woman was no master of the arcane and was hardly the type to remain upon Sahova. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she was willing to indulge in what Zand offered, because she was both no threat to her politically and would likely not remain upon Sahova long. Still, the unspoken subject was not broached now; Anna allowed it to slip by without comment.

“A complex Dasoma? One might say the same for me, sleeping with an old cripple; some might wonder how exotic my tastes might be.” The tall woman muttered slightly, though the humor failed to reach her eyes.

The sorceress hated that her magic was such a weakness and strength, it burned her to the very core of her being when she knew that each time she drew upon her power she danced upon a knife’s edge. To have lasted as long as she had without such complications was miraculous really, to have climbed to the very heights of Reimancy and come out so powerful. Perhaps this was merely what happened when one attempted to devote their mind to the arcane arts so single-mindedly, the most damning thing being that even despite this the sorceress knew she could not stop.

A different place, the sorceress ran through the list of possible locations that might interest Zand and actually did manage a chuckle. The Dungeons… she doubted her companion would appreciate what happened there, so she crossed that off the list. The Palsa Hydrasa seemed like a logical choice, but it was not a place Anna wished to go to after that little mental breakdown. There was the Great Library, it seemed like a good choice and it was quiet enough for her to collect her thoughts. Besides, Zand’s curiosity would probably eat that place right up.

“I might have a place for us to go; I think you would rather like it knowing your infuriating and rather unhealthy curiosity. Its… quiet, as far as places in Sahova go.” The tall woman offered, holding out her right hand for the other woman to take, the scars of her initiation clear in the light.

“We’ll need to pass through levels where riff raff is not permitted; being that you fit that description to a letter I will need to escort you.” The sorceress stated, this time actually managing to find a bit of genuine humor.

OOCFeel free to move us to the Great Library if Zand accepts.

[Zandelia]

There was a silence at the words, returned in jest and with the well noted smirk finally surfacing from whatever depths it had been relegated over the last few moments of what she could only assume was hallucinogenic trauma. Overgiving seemed possible, she had done so a few times herself and even lost her sight briefly in one such foolish endeavour with magic. She was thankfully on that score, if it had been such, that the entire room and them with it had not been sucked into the Void – there to be shattered, frozen and most certainly bereft of the life she enjoyed experiencing if she were to believe Anna. She had no reason to doubt her words but every reason to try to help her recover. Even if they had merely been co-workers there was still the threat to her own safety that would have spurred her.

As it was we are slightly more than that, ever so slightly. I’d hate to have to find another warm body to share the nights with upon occasion. I think others would be far more demanding and exact a far less pleasurable toll she tld herself as she took in the words.

Her first instinct had been anger, a flash that still managed to sear through her whenever mockery was mentioned of the eye – real or just teasing. If it had been a decade previously she might have punched the woman but time had relaxed her with age. Not to mention that fact that there was a connection, of sorts, between them and in truth they mocked each other. Humour was such a wonderful release for when nothing else would work. It was the most undervalued of balms in her experience and yet could often be the only way things could be dealt with. It broke down wall and she could only really snort in derisive merriment at Anna’s words. A small glint in the only eye she possessed – her old disability.

“And how often do you sleep with such people I wonder? A most voracious appetite for the strange perhaps. Exotic though…I like that. Dasoma the Exotic! I might adopt that as my title one day,” she chuckled as she looked Anna up and down, “and riffraff? Harsh words coming from a woman who doesn’t own a proper Nykan dress I think. Fashion, my dear, can be instructive. But yes…let us leave this place” she slipped her hand into Anna’s and allowed the woman to lead the way.

She seemed much calmer now, more disposed to a sense of wistful melancholy or inner reflection than shattering into an untold number of fragmented magical shards. There was the flickering of amusement once more, in need of further tending perhaps, but growing stronger. Perhaps the shock was merely wearing off, or perhaps Zandelia did have a positive effect in some ways – it mattered not. Either way it was a silent but relaxed journey they made through the winding corridors and cold airs. She felt the breaking of bubbles upon her skin at certain crossings that she presumed meant magical barriers were in effect. She didn’t ask the question of what would happen to her if she tried to explore by herself – she was not sure she would enjoy the response. Then their destination was reached and it was…

“Magnificent…a library! Much grander than I have seen before too, so much knowledge. What secrets lay hidden in these walls? What could you learn if you devoted enough time, if you were allowed to do so?” she asked the world in general, soft words spoken with awe.

There were untold numbers of bookcases, books in a number she was sure none could read without living forever – apt for a Nuit city. She stepped further inwards, pulling Anna with her gently as she tilted her head to try to take it all in. It would take days just to look at everything without even reading anything at all. She felt a calling from within, not of the scholar but of the sifter – to know things that no one else might know. To uncover mysteries, or the resolution of mysteries. The TAR problem…did the answer lie in one of the tomes somewhere? Were there books that explained her encounter with Gregor the Protohuman, or perhaps the very beginnings of her own craft of Intelligence…were there books about its formation and the writings of some great master in the past?

“Oh Anna, I love it. Do you come here often? Where did all of these come from? How do you get the books? Are they sorted? What topics?” she asked the questions quickly for her wonder before pausing and frowning slightly, “anything upon the Ancient Tongue? Nader-Canoch?” she asked softly and looking at the other woman out of the corner of her eye.

[Annalisa Marin]

Anna had managed a chuckle at Dasoma’s humorous words, the horrors of overgiving fading from her immediate thoughts as she just opted to enjoy the company of another woman in a casual way. The other woman did have a way with humor that was not entirely dark, which the sorceress could certainly appreciate. As for fashion, Anna did have to admit that her companion did have her beat there as her clothing was either horribly plain or terribly extravagant and in ones face rather like her robes. Rather like herself really, a woman of extremes was what one might classify her as sadly enough.

The journey to the Grand Library was a silent one but Anna rather preferred the silence at the moment, it allowed her to concentrate upon Dasoma herself rather than the Void. Sahova was not the place for the other woman; Anna knew that beyond the slightest bit of doubt though the thought of when she might leave had been something she had refused to address. The half blind woman was probably the most pleasant thing to happen to her in a long while, proof that Sahova was not entirely the worst experience in the world as there were tiny shreds of good in it.

They passed through the wards easily enough; Anna’s ring allowing Dasoma to pass through the wards without one of her own. Eventually they passed through one final set of wards and entered into the musk of old parchment and leather that defined the Grand Library. Countless books surrounded them and Dasoma was quite vocal in her amazement, drawing a smirk to Anna’s face. The sorceress was quite used to such places, having grown up in Zeltiva and been surrounded by the most extensive library most would ever see had prepared her fairly well for Sahova as a whole.

“Indeed it is quite the selection isn’t it? Pity most are in the Ancient Tongue and the golems around here only respond to those with ichor in their body rather than warm blood.” Anna stated, no small amount of irritation in her voice as she glared at a golem nearby.

Then came the flow of questions, a norm coming from Dasoma as she was quite the inquisitive soul Anna had fast discovered. The sorceress shook her head and chuckled starting off down a section she knew held a few Glyphing volumes within it, maybe something of D-Wire could be found. She gestured for Dasoma to follow her with a rather imperious gesture, her arrogance obviously having recovered well enough by this point. Her finger ran down the nearest line, her eyes slowly moving across the faded lettering on some of the spines and sounding out the Ancient Tongue words silently.

“I come here every now and again, though my magics are not as heavily based on extensive research as many others might require. Glyphing requires few materials and the imagination of the user and my personal magics depend upon my Djed. As for where they came from, I assume Alahea. According to what I have pieced together the Citadel was founded by it. To think I once thought the old empire a fairytale myth…” Anna said, smirking as she found a book titled simply ‘Advanced Glyphing Applications’, when translated from Nader-Canoch.

“You get the books by picking them up and then sitting down to read them, a rather simple process Dasoma though I’ll try to slow down for you. They are indeed sorted, normally the golems know where to go but if you don’t have access to them then you can still find your way around easily enough. Also do be careful with the volumes, my dear, I would hate for you to be tossed to the Dungeons for ruining a book.” The sorceress remarked, carefully picking up her own book and moving to a small table nearby and setting the overly thick and heavy thing down upon it.

“As for Ancient Tongue, I believe there is a Common to Ancient Tongue dictionary over in that section, do be a dear and bring it here. I’ll also need it to find what I want in this book here.” Anna answered, pointing in the direction of a bookcase across the way.

[Zandelia]

“Quite the selection? Quite the selection?!” she asked in a daze, looking at the woman as if she were entirely insane, “it’s more parchment in one place than Sunberth has it it’s entire damned city? I called the Library there impressive but this…” she gestured to the uncountable numbers of shelves and words failed her utterly.

She knew that she must have appeared backwards in a scholarly respect but she didn’t care, she would have challenged Anna to a game of ‘find the other’s secret’ any day of the season but she knew she was truly beat when it came to less practical and more academic aspects of the world. For the most part she had built her repertoire of abilities through active participation. It was not that she despised reading, she loved it, yet she never truly set aside much time for it beyond what was required. The realization that some people made the pursuit their life’s work was rammed home brutally by the sights before her singular eye.

She watched Anna walk the shelving, nonchalantly seeking out whatever it was that she had decided was worth her time. Zandelia was not so sure, after seeing the woman at work, she wanted to know what was being sought. For all she knew it was another way to form a deadly portal into another unknown realm that her magical ignorance shielded from her. Still she found herself curious about the words spoken and the explanation of the Library and Anna’s relationship with it. So the books were written in Nader-Cannoch and, as such, she could read some of them perhaps - or portions of them at the very least. She had little knowledge beyond what she had learnt from Gregor and the Mirror in Nyka.

And these Golems, she now knew, only responded to the Nuit. Another showing of the inherent penalizing of the living Pulsers upon the citadel island.

A start however, and with this…dictionary…could learn some more whilst I am here. If it’s an old language that few know it could be useful. Especially in ciphers or talking without being understood. Well, if I ever get that good…or find someone able to respond he sighed internally, not sure that such a fanciful idea would find fruition outside of Sahova.

“Alahea? What’s an Alahea?” she asked with obvious curiosity in her voice, “an old empire? What does that mean?” she continued the questioning without much of a pause in between. This was information she had never heard of before, held promise of things that few knew and a direction she had never considered before and as such she wanted to know as much about it as she could.

“Oh and thank you for speaking slowly with the dullard, my I think my epiphany has just made me a bit faint,” she flapped her hand in front of her face theatrically, “or perhaps its just standing so close to someone filled with such power? I might just have to have a sit down at this rate” she stated dryly as she flicked her gaze to the shelving once more.

She followed the gestured arm and snorted as she turned towards the indicated shelves and made her way towards them slowly, considering what was going through Anna’s mind. She knew the woman liked to expose the ignorance of herself and as such had the idea inside her mind that there would be an adequate display of superior knowledge forthcoming. She wondered whether Anna was teaching her purposefully or whether it was almost incidental She had yet to make her mind up on that matter but nevertheless was silently thankful that she was learning anything. Mental stimulation had been scarce in Sahova so far and this day so far had proven to be a distraction indeed - in various ways. She looked at the books, eye tracing the spines until she found the indicated tome and carefully slipped it out of its nook. It proved much heavier than expected and she cradled it gently as she walked until she finally slipped it next to the book Anna was thumbing through as instructed.

“There, now that your ignorant assistant has complied does she get a reward?” she asked, only half-sarcastically.

[Annalisa Marin]

Amused was a good way to describe Anna’s mood at noting Zandelia’s words regarding the scarcity of books in Sunberth, an indication of how very different the pair were in their upbringings. The sorceress had ever been surrounded by the penned word, ink stained parchment being the norm for her to deal with in her studies. Zeltiva had been a place where one could find a selection unheard of in the modern world, its sheer volume putting most so called libraries to shame. The tall dark haired woman wore her amusement on her lips, the horrors she had witnessed within the Void Portal forgotten for the most part.

Her eyes shot upwards towards Zandelia, brows rising at the question regarding Alahea for it was not something she normally expected around Sahova. The tall dark haired woman reclined back in her seat as she pondered the question and how best to address it, calling upon her own limited knowledge of the subject. Even having lived upon Sahova for some time Anna only grasped bits and pieces of information regarding the lost empire of Alahea. The things she knew were based on scraps gained through conversation, as well as the Citadel itself so teaching that was rather a difficult thing. After all, one could not teach what they did not know all too well.

“Alahea… Translated from the Ancient Tongue it means to reach towards the sky. From what I understand it was an advanced civilization that existed many centuries ago, and that Sahova is the last remnant of it. I know very little beyond that, though if Sahova is any indication the empire was extremely advanced and powerful.” Anna offered, the information hardly massive in amount but it was there at the least.

A snort escaped her nostrils as Zand mocked her mockery, the tall woman taking the book when it was offered and turning her gaze up from her seat to the other woman. A reward was what she wanted, well that could certainly be arranged. Anna made a show of drumming her fingers on her chin, her pale lips pulled upwards into her normal arrogant smirk. The other woman could certainly be charming when she desired, a trait Anna admired to some degree. Fleeting though her presence was Anna needed to remind herself that she could not afford to get too emotionally involved with the older woman, already she had tipped too much of herself to the woman. Trust was a very dangerous thing.

“A reward? You want a reward for doing a task a golem can do? My, here I thought you were doing me a favor, after all my emotional state is quite fragile Dasoma. However if you require some validation of your efforts I suppose I can accommodate. Ask me any question you might have regarding the Ancient Tongue and I will educate you as fully as I am able.” The tall woman said absently as she opened the Glyphing tome and the Nader-Canoch to Common dictionary next to it.

The sorceress found her eyes assaulted with line upon line of Nader-Canoch lettering, the lines not completely indecipherable but still rather difficult all the same. It was the formatting of the sentences that always managed to trip her up, common being an easy thing by comparison. The Ancient Tongue possessed a low amount of words in general, which meant meanings were often shared by a single word. Then, depending upon the sentence formatting the meaning was gleaned by process of elimination. A more fluent speaker might have an easier time of it, however Anna was not a fluent speaker of the old language.

The first few pages appeared to be some form of index, Anna’s eyes flicking back and forth between the dictionary and the tome itself to see if she was getting the right meaning from it. At the moment she was looking for something rather specific, a section on the creation of D-Wire. Clyde had so kindly let slip that it was a product of Glyphing, which meant that it was likely something that she should at the very least look into the creation process of. Her finger traced down the aged pages of the tome, looking back to the dictionary to see if she could spot what looked like the correct section where she should start looking.

[Zandelia]

She noted the curve of the lips at her words, granted she must have seemed a slight dullard in comparison to the wizard as she had never had any true formal education. Clearly Anna had had much of that, a safer life secluded in book would be expected if she had not understood at least a portion of what Sahova gave to those who lived within its boundaries. It was a strange combination - excellent learning facilities mixed with casual violence. Not violence in the Sunberthian sense though, its violence was far more clinical. Yet just as deadly, more so perhaps. She had little idea of magic when arriving upon its shore, she knew more now but still not enough to appreciate it fully. Still, it rankled slightly that she was in a position of ignorance - she disliked being ignorant. As such she listened to the words spoken, if spoken with a trace of bemusement.

“An empire? Can’t say I’ve heard of it before though…though…yes. Sunberth has some very old places. The mines particularly are hated though the reason has been forgotten. Always thought it was older than we thought…perhaps I will investigate,” she spoke, almost as if to herself as she bit her lower lip in thought, “still…powerful indeed. Sahova seems to be one of the more powerful places, even if it only cares about itself as far as I can discern” she continued thoughtfully.

“If it was so large there should be other places about, hidden perhaps. Or maybe just ruins. A lot of ruins out there some say. Or did it just exist around these parts? I mean, there are whole…continents…I think that’s the word. Maybe a book here has the answers?” she cast her gaze about again and wondered where to even begin.

Her gaze came back at the snorting, it was nice to see the woman was returned to her usual self at last. Even if it was at her expense. The words were jesting, or at least part jesting, and that was an improvement. Casting something in a mocking light was decent enough as far as she was concerned - it meant she was less likely to snap and break down again. She shook her head at the words though, she did not know Anna overly well but well enough to understand when she was being baited. She snorted in return, a mimic action.

“Validation? I am not so easily validated but if you say so. I wouldn’t want to incense you otherwise I’d need a shield. Kindness doesn’t come easily to me anyway, everything seems to have an ulterior motive these days” she muttered the last words begrudgingly, they were true up to a point, “and I know some things about the Ancient Tongue. You’d be surprised”

“Spoken by old humans…forget the name of them now…back when they were fighting something in Nykalia. Or at least that’s what I saw and understood” she shrugged, wondering if the words would register anything in the other woman, she was still searching for answers on that front, “and I presume that if I learn something then you want something in return? Or are you feeling magnanimous Anna?” she asked simply.

Nothing was ever free in her experience, knowledge least ways. Friendship, being an on-off lover, these were swaying points perhaps into how much she could learn but usually not enough to gain things for free. Then again they were both lonely spirits and perhaps that meant companionship counted for more. She stepped forwards to look upon the book and soon found she understood little of it indeed, enough to pick out a few words here and there as she muttered them under her breath to test the pronunciation.

“Seems complicated, I won’t ask what it is. I probably wouldn’t understand anyway…right oh powerful wizard? Still, Ancient Tongue…why are all of these books in this language? I mean I assume most here can speak common. Writing in code is understandable, seen a few of those in my time, but why this language?”