World Tree MUSH

Raven was sitting down at the desk, flicking slowly through the pages of her book, not really focusing. Things were.... Busy. Odd. Off. She was considering going off again, maybe seeing more of the multiverse. I mean, she could always just like... come back. Maybe some time apart would do her good.

Already she could feel those strings, those bonds forming, those... that urge to stay with her friends here. But she knew this couldn't last forever. One day, her father would rise and they would all fall if she couldn't protect them by removing herself. But for now, she just studied, flipping through a.... mythology book?

Temulin comes walking in. Out of her armour today, instead in the traditional attire of the dotharli warrior women. Which isn't the kind of garb you see most places. Shows a fair bit of skin, includes feathers. "We need to talk, you and I." She announces casually when she approaches Raven, in a very neutral tone of voice.

Raven didn't look up, at first. Jsut kept her gaze down. No. She could do this. She was a mature, responsible adult. She would keep herself calm, and collected.

Internal raven: 'OH MY GOSH WHAT DO WE DO?! PANIC! RUN! FLEE! HIDE! GO TO HYRULE! NO! GO TO THAT PLACE WITH THE GOATS! SHE'LL NEVER FIND US!'

External raven: Slowly, she got to her feet, pushing back from the table. Before turning to her. "Yes, we do. I owe you an... an..." She stopped.

And stared.

And finally... "What... in the world... are you wearing?" she asked. Trying to suppress the blush.

"Well, it was this or my armour. I didn't feel like this was a conversation that should be had in armour. I travel light so I don't have room for a lot of clothes and these are traditional." Temulin answers and approaches, and tilts her head at the blush. "Uh. You act like you've never seen a girl's skin before, which I'm fairly sure isn't true."

Raven glanced off to the side. "Ahem. It is just... odd. We didn't have outfits such as that in Azarath and... listen, that's not important." She steeled her face and looked the other girl in the eye. "Please, don't interrupt, I have some things to say."

"I can imagine what this is about. What happened in that world. And about... I imagine you have questions. First... When you touched me, all that anger, that rage? That was me when I don't control my powers. When I let that... evil side out myself out. When it breaks free. That's why I work so hard to control myself. To keep myself under control. To keep my powers under control. And frankly, what you did was cruel. But... you didn't know. So it's unimportant," she said, trying to brush over it before closing her eyes and her cheeks going a little red.

"And about what happened when I thought I was a... normal... girl. I am sorry. It was wrong of me to... kiss you like that. Even if it wasn't truly me, it was a... portion of me. And it was wrong of me to do that. You and I are not... compatible. And while I do appreciate your attempts to keep me safe, what happened was... bound to happen..."

".... And if you liked the simulation... I am... sorry for... ruining it..." she mumbled gently.

"I didn't touch you." Temulin answers with mild confusion. "I saw her touch you, sure. And that was cruel, but she's frequently cruel." Well that's sure a thing that's being said there. "Anyway, I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again." She promises, and then moves on to the other stuff and shrugs. "Look, I like you and all that but I don't have time for a girlfriend to begin with. Don't worry about it. As for the simulation, it was fun but a lie is not worth living."

Raven blinked. "She... what? I... What? But..." And then trailed off. Well... the rest of what she said was comforting. She nodded.

"Exactly. Neither of us have time for such things. I'm glad we can agree on that. And yes. A simulation isn't... worth living..." No matter how desperately you want to, from the bottom of your toes... to your...

She sighed and nodded. "Was... that everything, then? That oyu needed to talk to me about, or was there more?" That was easier than she'd feared.

 
"One more thing. I'm your friend, don't you dare try to cut of me off in some misguided attempt to protect me." Temulin answers and folds her arms. "I'd be insulted, as well as upset. I don't need your protection, and I'm fairly sure you do need friends. If you want to cut me out for any other reason, that's fair. Just make sure it's about that reason, don't lie to me or yourself about it."

Raven cringed, and nodded. "Fine. I won't cut you off alone for that kind of a notion. A promise," she said with an almsot believable smile." She then glanced back to the book again and....

"Does your world have libraries?" she asked. "How... well known are your abilities? Your dark magic? Is it studied there? Researched? Are there entire groups dedicated to learning its secrets?"

 
And Temulin stares at the cringe, and the almost believable smile. "And until you can tell a more believable lie, it's no good telling me to leave. And I will chase you, I don't handle insults well." She answers, but is then willing to change the subject and she shakes her head. "There's another Dark Knight who mentors me, and that's how you learn how to be a Dark Knight. There's another group of people doing dark magic, but I don't know much about them. They call themselves Paragons and pull shady strings from the backgrounds. Ran into them a few times, their magic is nothing like mine."

Raven nodded. "I see. Do you see your instructor often? I ask merely because... Well..." she was silent for a long, long moment. Staring at the book and...

"Where does your magic come from? Where is the source? Is it a natural occurance in your world? A corruption? A monster? Or something else? I've been... studying things similar to my own magic and.... learning. What I can...."

"I'm not a scholar, I know how to use it but not really where it comes from. Magic is incredibly common in my world though, so common that there's an empire that invented magitech simply because their people can't use magic. Dark Knights use more magic than most close combat fighters, but that pugilist is still going to augment his punches with wind and lighting, and that archer's arrows get infused with all kinds of unpleasant side effects." Temulin ponders and a bit and then adds, "Five years ago, some idiot pulled down the lesser moon, Dalamud, and unleashed the elder Primal Bahamut. The region it was unleashed on has massive mana crystals from the sheer force of magic that clashed when it came forth. I wasn't there to see it happen, but you don't need to be a scholar to know how intense that was. How many people must have died."

Raven nodded, her eyes lowered. "A... moon... How did you... How did the elder even get into the moon?" she asked softly. "How did you all... deal with it?" she asked softly. "And it sounds dangerous. Incredible. Though.... I must admit I'd want to know more about it. To learn how magic works in your world..." she mumbled. "And if that was in the lesser moon..."

"What's in your larger ones?"

 
"As I understand it, a long-dead civilization put him in the moon and put the moon up there. Pulling it down was always meant to be possible, because it was designed to be a weapon. We just forgot it was one because that was aeons ago." Temulin shudders at the thought of the larger moon being similar. "I hope that's a regular moon, or if it isn't, to never find out what it is." She pauses and gets out a flat stone about the size of the palm of her hand with glowing lines through them. "This is a tomestone. At least, that's what we call them. They're made by the same long dead civilization, they're apparently a means to store knowledge. Not sure how they work, don't think anyone does. They're mostly collectors items, rich people who hope to have a vast collection of these for when we do figure out how to read them."

Raven nodded, listening and... "Would you let me have it? Or, well. Borror it? Perhaps I can learn about it and offer something to help you..." she mumbled, eying the stone. Then her eyes wandered to Temulin.

"Sealing a creature away in the moon, however? That sounds... interesting. Back on Azarath they had different methods of sealing. They did have special gems that were said to be capable of capturing... trapping.... almost anything..." she mumbled. "Though I suspect those were just myths. Otherwise they would have likely used them..."

 "I don't think sealing is a good idea. From what I heard... the elder primal had been spending all those aeons stewing and saving up energy, which meant that when he was unleashed, he was stronger than usual and angrier than usual. That's why they sealed him, so they could unleash him." Temulin answers even as she hands over the tomestone. "Just be careful, it's valuable. I was supposed to trade it in for a better sword, but ..." She glances around herself.

Raven nodded and took it back. "I'll see what I can do," she mumbled. "Perhaps... it'll be useful. And fill in some gaps in my studies..." shem umbled, flicking her fingers across the surface of it, now glowing purple.

"And that's... even worse. That method won't work for my needs, then. This isn't something I can just push off and hope that it'll go away," she said with a sigh.

She then glanced to her sword. "If... you'd like. I may be able to help. Not in making one. But... I could... conceivably... Enchant a weapon of sufficient quality... Not right now. But, don't make the decision on it now. Just... think on it. If you would like," she said before getting to her feet.

"As it is, I am hungry. You are welcome to join me for dinner. I believe today they are having... ham."