World Tree MUSH

    It is not often, as of late, that Rydia of Mist returns to Kaipo, since her hurried move to Hyrule with Cecila and Zelda. But sometimes, the now grown Summoner has business to tend to back on Blue Earth that requires her to make the trip back. And sometimes she likes to check and see if any progress has been made on the rock slide in the water cave that leads to Damcyan.
    So far no luck on that end. But at least the innkeeper is still kind to her-- even if they were surprised to see how much she had grown in such a short time. Indeed, though it has not been long, the Summoner is much older now; having spent a decade in the Feymarch in the time that she had been gone, much had changed about her. But there's no mistaking that vibrant green hair and the green theme of her clothes as she makes her way into Kaipo's in to rest for the evening before her return to Hyrule in the coming days to follow.

    The Sage of Kaipo, or so Tellah likes to call himself, has set up temporary quarters in Kaipo. It's hot, certainly, but the desert air and sun keeps away the ravages of cold weather that has never settled with him. Tellah has found a means of securing temporary quarters with a merchant that is rarely home in exchange for minor magical feats and help with the book-keeping. Years of teaching and reading of alchemy has made arithmetic trivial.
    In the evenings, he will go to the inn to keep abreast of news in the immediate area. When pressed, he can offer his own tales of interest but his audience is far from the likes that appreciated him in Mysidia. But still, they try.

    At first, Rydia doesn't hear him come in. Busied talking with the innkeeper about her accomodations for the evening and her chocobo's berth in the stables, she doesn't quite notice the great Sage's arrival for a moment as she handles the very important details of how much she's going to have to pay in rupees instead of Gil. At least rupees look valuable so she has that going for her.
    But once that's over and done with, she turns. And there he is; the old man himself.
    "..." She stands there for a good, silent, beat. His is a face she hasn't seen in literally over ten years and she's a little shocked to see it nonetheless, the green-haired young lady spends a good moment blinking and nearly gawping.
    "Ah..."

"Good evening."
    That's as much as Tellah offers to the green-haired young lady before taking a seat at a table away from the bar. He doesn't look like he has changed since she last saw him ten years ago. Hair. Glasses. Beard. Those clothes. The amulet about his neck. The irony is that he doesn't seem to have aged in the slightest.
    He'll take a small book out from amongst his things and set it down on the tabletop. He will turn his head to regard her once more, his once-over a simple appraisal of her appearance before he adjusts his spectacles. "The honeyed locusts are an acquired taste," he tells her before he takes his seat. "But they are a nice digestive after your meal." He promptly returns his attention to his book, opening it to the spot that had been saved with a ribbon. "Where is that... now...?"
    Does... does he not remember? Or does he simply not recognize her?

    For a beat, Rydia continues to stare, jade eyes following after the aged sage as he moves to take his seat. She shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't seem to recognize her in the least. For her ten years have passed, even if she had been gone for only a week in the world beyond the Feymarch.
    He just must not recognize her, that's it, simple as that. His memory can't be that bad, no one's is.
    So in a beat after Tellah sits himself down and rattles off about the honeyed locusts, Rydia is sitting herself opposite the aged sage, staring rather intently.
    "... You don't... Recognize me, do you?"

Tellah's eyes flick upward from his book, his face one of consternation. He doesn't like to be interrupted when reading about the somatic spell components of teleportation magic. Or any magic, really. His gaze is level over the lenses of his glasses, considering the young lady across from him.
    His gnarled fingertips rest on the pages of his book, keeping his place as he considers the question posed. "You remind me of someone," he says, "but you aren't her. She was a gifted child half your age, a Summoner."

    Tellah may not like to be interrupted, but Rydia is fairly certain she's worth the old man's time as she stares intently with those deep jade eyes. For a beat she bites on her lower lip before drawing a breath, a thin mist seems to float into the inn, lingering around the green-themed girl as she curls her fingers into her lap.
    "That's because that gifted child was me." She says, coming right out with it. "I've returned to check on the landslide in the water cave. It's slowly being cleared, the path to Damcyan will be open soon- it's been so long since I've even returned to this world. ... A lot has changed, hasn't it?" She says softly.

    Tellah may be old and forgetful, but is as sharp as a razor's edge when it comes to recognizing the influence of magic.
    His brows loft high above his glasses, and he slowly folds the book in front of him closed. His interest in teleportation magic has been displaced with what he is seeing before him.
    "Young Rydia," he says, his voice almost breathless. His fingers clasp together for a moment as he continues, "I don't even know if I should ask what happened. But if what I suspect is true, well, time seems to have gotten away with us."
    His hands start to elevate from the table, still clasped together. "But let's start with this. You have aged." He opens his hands, revealing the unmistakable glowing ball of fire that has been contained inside of them. It is a controlled, blistering heat that crackles the air around it.
    "You have aged, young Rydia. But tell me, have you grown?"

    There are those who would doubt Tellah. There certainly are probably people who would dismiss the man due to his age and deem him a dottering and forgetful old codger. Rydia is not one of those people, and she recognizes the sharpness still within the wizened sage's eyes as he clasps his hands.
    It is true though. She has aged. But when he parts his hands and reveals the controlled fireball waiting within it is her turn to pause, breathless.
    The stares into that flame for a long beat, reflections of Mist burning to the ground practically dancing in her eyes for a moment, before she reaches her own hand out. Without even speaking words of power, without even wielding the somatic gestures for a Blizzard spell, her fingers frost over, a rime of ice forming on her fingertips as the air slowly chills and seeks to gently diminish that flame, if not slowly extinguish it altogether.
    "I've learned much from many teachers over the last ten years. Even Lord Ifrit taught me control over fire itself, though I still mislike using it."

    To see Rydia calmly extinguish the flame evoked by Tellah is a delight that doesn't reveal itself right away.
    It starts with him looking at his hand, presenting the empty palm that Rydia can clearly see. Then, his moustache lifts to reveal his smile. His eyes flash behind the lenses of his glasses, and his hand curls into a tight fist.
    "Most prodigious, Rydia," he says, his tone lighter than it had been moments ago. "I don't know from whence you had spent your ten years, but they were certainly not spent in vain. Now, please tell me that this experience will not happen a second time. I consider it fortunate you were able to live ten years and allow me to see you as a self-assured adult." He adjusts his glasses, "But you needn't rush in your life."

    Slowly the frost melts from Rydia's fingers and the temperature normalizes as she folds her hands together on the table in front of her, leaning forward by a degree. She looks almost awkward and sheepish when given actual praise, before she softly clears her throat to answer.
    "The Feymarch." She says. "Lord Leviathan snatched me from Hyrule and took me to his realm." She explains. "It shouldn't happen again, I think. The Eidolons taught me much and raised me, but time flows differently there than it does here. To me I was gone for ten years... Here, I had only been gone seven days."

    "They Feymarch," Tellah repeats, brow wrinkling even moreso than it was already. "You were in the Land that Lies Between? I had only read rumors of its existence." He looks down at his book, then starts to pat himself. "I must have a reed pen somewhere on--" he starts, then plucks out a red feather from within his robe.
    He'll open his book to another page, blank, before licking the tip of the pen. "You mustn't spare a detail. Tell me what it was like to be among the summoned creatures. What did they teach you of magic? I must know."

    Slowly, the green-haired girl nods her head. "Yes." Comes her reply. "It was a little... Jarring at first. Lord Leviathan swallowed me whole and dragged me back from Hyrule." Hoo boy, Zelda was furious about that. But that's niether here nor there as she recounts her journey.
    It was... Different. They're not like humans. It's... Hard to explain. It was more like trying to hold a conversation with a force of nature than with a person for each one of them."

    Tellah makes his notes in his book hurriedly, scratching in the details using a variation of short-hand reserved for old magic-users that haven't written a spellbook in over fifty years. Namely, him and maybe four other residents of Mysidia. "Yes, force of nature. Of course. It is also said that they reside in the Feymarch until summoned by one such as yourself. They are whisked away, and returned almost as quickly. I imagine it is quite jarring."
    The word jarring has him looking up from his book. "I just realized you probably just arrived here in Kaipo. Are you hungry? Thirsty? When did you eat last?"

    Jarring is... One way to certainly put it. Now that Rydia is the last of the Summoners, it stands to reason that the Eidolons would have wanted to take her in and train her how to properly call upon them, instead of doing so wildly and on base instinct than through the proper means.
    It's only as Tellah offers that Rydia realizes it has been quite some time since she HAS eaten, stomach threatening to become very vocal about her need for sustenance. "... Not since I left Hyrule." She admits. "Maybe a little something would be good right now."
    She can discuss the Eidolons over a light meal at the very least.