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Post by Althea on Jan 22, 2017 23:31:16 GMT -6
Mmm gotta love that fresh scent of dead and rotting fish, huh?
Please stop talking.
What? You don't like the delicious mix of fish, feces, fools, and sweat?
...That last one didn't even rhyme.
Thoroughly done with this crap, Althea ignored further entreaties and slowly made her way down the boarding ramp from the battered ship, taking a moment to look back at the savaged transport. While the external damage hadn't been too extreme due to the fact that the pirates had been looking to capture rather than destroy it, the sails were still somewhat tattered and the deck was a mess. But the real truth of what had happened was on the people getting off the ship, injured, still caked in blood from once the ship had run out of bandages. So too were the bodies, those who had not simply been buried at sea but died along the way, passengers who had families elsewhere. One-armed men, hobbling women... all those who had fought were in poor shape, mentally as well as physically for most.
Althea herself was in relatively good physical shape, the small remaining marks on both hands mostly faded and the physician had assured her that they would finish vanishing soon in the wake of the healing, but mentally speaking she was... less ideally situated. Eris's tendency to ruin everything aside, the amount of dark magic she had called upon as well as the weight of the deaths she had been responsible for still sat on her shoulders. The shaman was not despondent, per se, it was difficult to actually be properly depressed when you have a mindreading bundle of energy and idiotic humor ready to ruin any attempt to feel sorry for yourself, but it was most certainly a responsibility nonetheless.
And so here she was, on some nondescript pier in the port of Badon, surrounded by a swell of humanity and the passengers of ships hers own and others, with nothing to her name but the clothes on her back, a small sack of belongings, some money, and of course that bloody grimoire. Eh. Better than when she'd left that Lycian town in Don's care, anyways.
Don't forget me!
...And that.
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 22, 2017 23:53:19 GMT -6
Well, on a positive note, Circe had discovered that she did NOT suffer sea sickness. Her passage from Khan Yunis had been as pleasant as anyone could ask. Entirely worth the gold she had spent on the trip. Circe had a lovely few days to simply enjoy her books, listen to the stories the sailors had to tell, and only had to suffer the unflattering gazes the sailors let linger upon her. Naught she could do about that aside from dress in gaudy robes and...she was too vain.
Unfortunately it hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows. The events that led her to seek ship passage rather than head through the desert, closer to Etruria, were still solid on her mind. The first night she'd spent on the ship had been the worst. She could hear Ashim's wails of sorrow ring in her ears, and every time she had closed her eyes she saw the glazed, lifeless gaze of Nazim staring back at her.
Sleep had not come to her that night. It wasn't until the second night that things had...gotten better. She hadn't been brought to tears over the incident since the day it happened, but she still felt grief and guilt weigh heavy over her heart. Yet despite plenty of distractions and her ever present goals to strive for, she just...didn't really know how to handle it. Who was she going to talk to, the sailors? Did she even want to speak to anyone at all about it?
No...and NOT because she wanted to hide from the truth. Circe owned her mistake completely, and was glad that it would not leave her memory so easily. It was a staunch reminder that she had far to go before she could go about risky endeavors such as that one. As if nearly being killed in the dig site hadn't been evidence enough. Circe was...she WAS ready for Elibe. She could handle it. SHE could survive...but she had no right to drag others into her own glory hounding. Not until she was powerful enough to ensure their safety.
So, somewhat hardened from the incident yet filled with her ever-present resolve, Circe stepped onto the port of Badon. Her ship had docked moments earlier and, grateful as she had been for the otherwise pleasant trip, she was not eager to linger. Instead she stepped down the dock and closer into Badon proper, her gaze casually scanning the large, busy city. Eventually her scarlet eyes settled upon the other docks and...
Hm, she spotted a few interesting looking people. Travelers no doubt. A dark haired woman boarding a ship, her appareldecorated with what appeared to be raven feathers and...was that a blonde haired woman in a cape? Ah, and her outfit made Circe's appear homely and modest. Strange travelers indeed.
Yet what stood out most to her was a woman with a full head of long, thick, snowy white hair. Circe took a few curious steps closer to this woman, blinking to make sure she wasn't seeing things aaaaaand-
“Althea!” She wasn't. Circe, to her credit, did not bound over to her friend(?) like the giddy teenager she may or may not be. Though she did walk rather quickly, her bags bouncing lightly against her sides and back as she strode up to the woman. Indeed, it was unmistakably Althea. “It's so good to see you? How have you...”
Circe's gaze had flicked briefly from the older woman and towards the ship she appeared to have arrived in...if one could call it a ship anymore. It looked like it had been ravaged by a kraken, though that was unlikely. Perhaps pirates had boarded it? Circe was amazed the boat retained buoyancy, let alone that it had made the whole trip to Badon...with Althea as it's passenger!
“...been?” Rather than bombard Althea with questions, Circe at least had to tact to stick with one. Her earlier excitement had not faded completely, but her head was cocked to the side in genuine concern.
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Post by Althea on Jan 23, 2017 17:56:49 GMT -6
"Hm?" Caught in her thoughts (and Eris's incessant caterwauling), Althea hadn't been paying enough attention to her surroundings to actually locate or recognize the familiar voice exactly, though it did at least register in her mind that it was, ah, familiar. So that was... something to work off of, given how few people she actually knew. She looked about with uncertainty writ large on her face, both down the pier towards the docks proper and back the other way, before actually managing to focus in on a familiarly feminine body clad in not NEARLY enough white fabric to really be considered a proper dress. The mage from the dig and the inn, she remembered now. Circe!
The thought drew a smile to Althea's face, though it was somewhat smaller and less genuine than she might have liked, than she wanted to feel, meeting the girl who had only ever been good to her. But in the wake of everything that she had just been through, the death and the exhaustion, the realizations-
So is that your girlfriend, or...?
-And a certain obnoxious voice in her head, it was all Althea could do to manage a smile and a subdued greeting. Not that she could really think of one, anyways. How could she actually explain everything that had happened, and did she even want to? Not that she distrusted Circe per se, simply that her emotions on the various subjects were too tightly packed to actually unwind them all simultaneously. Put simply, Althea realized, she didn't have the energy to even try... and she couldn't think of ANY way to broach the subject of Eris in a way that didn't make her sound even crazier than she usually was.
"...It's been a long few days," she settled for, the exhaustion in her voice speaking more than the words ever could. "But - it is good to see you, Circe."
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 23, 2017 18:44:16 GMT -6
“It um...it sure seems that way.” Circe said as she tore her gaze from the ship completely. As curious as she had initially been, most of that was due to concern. What mattered was that Althea seemed to be unharmed, if not dreadfully exhausted. Hah, it was funny, every meeting between the two had either began or ended in mutual exhaustion. A sign that the two were hard workers? If nothing else they were hard fighters, and even harder nerds researchers.
“I can relate, though. It has...been a long few days for me as well. So I suppose any questions and stories can wait for the moment.” Circe decided. Much as she wanted to know how Althea had been and, again, just what had happened to her ship, Circe could only ask those questions if she was prepared to answer some of her own in turn. And frankly Circe um...wasn't sure she was ready for that, yet.
Though she didn't gloat about or heavily pride herself on it, Circe had saved Althea's life. As far as Circe was concerned they were even, but that was still a fact that she had registered all the same. She wasn't prepared to present herself as...less than perfect to Althea. No, not less than perfect, just...fallible. She had saved Althea's life, but whether she liked it or not she had killed Nazim. Circe just...didn't want her acquaintance, perhaps even her friend, to know that yet.
Gah, it was all so complex. Circe barely even knew what to think about the matter, it just led her down more and more circular trains of thought. So she turned her mind outward rather than inward, and mustered up a smile all the same.
“Come now, let's get away from these noisy docks...” Circe said as she stepped ahead of Althea. Story time could wait, certainly, but they were still not exactly in an optimal place to hold any sort of discussion. “Besides! I'm wondering why you've come to Badon.”
Okay, so just ONE question. That wouldn't hurt, right?
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Post by Althea on Jan 23, 2017 21:51:47 GMT -6
Something in Circe's guarded hesitation suggested that the other mage wasn't lying just to match her own reaction, Althea felt. It aroused her curiosity, making her wonder just what the forceful mage had seen to change her like that - but much as she wasn't entirely eager to share her own story, the mage didn't seem particularly eager to have hers pried into. And while the shaman had never exactly pretended to be a people person, even she could recognize the value of a little tact. So rather than push it she just nodded in response to Circe's deflection, willing to give the other mage the time she needed.
As for the idea of leaving these docks behind - yes, she was quite alright with that plan. Regardless of Eris's unhelpful additions earlier, the whole place was quite unpleasant, entirely too bright and noisy and smelly for her tastes. It was quite easy to be led along by Circe like a lost poppy following - actually Althea decided not to pursue that simile any further before things got weird. Well, they were already weird, just... weirder. Anyways! Questions and answers time apparently, or at least singular, Circe seemed to be restraining herself to some degree.
Unfortunately for both of them, Althea didn't have an off switch.
"Yes, I came back to investigate a dig site in Caelin, holding some recently unearthed ruins. Given the increased monster and bandit threat of late, I'll be traveling tomorrow with a heavily guarded caravan to protect the site and provide labor and transportation back of valuable artifacts..."
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On the evening of the following day, Althea was sitting on the edge of the open wagon, feet trailing off the edge as the column of soldiers, mercenaries, and scholars of various types hung off of anything self-propelled or walked stolidly alongside the caravan. It was a surprisingly large column for 'just' a dig site, but there had been a number of suspected and confirmed bandit attacks in the area recently and there had also been reports of magical activity at the site proper. Thus, the local lord had actually been convinced to step in and help fund the expedition, if only in hopes of having his name attached to the discovery. It was... somewhat unusual for the shamaness, in all honesty. She was used to smaller expeditions, a dozen at most, not... there must be at least fifty people here, somewhere around 25-30 fighters among them many of which doubled as workers.
None looked especially excited to be there, though, and that was just as true for the researchers as admittedly for her as well. The trip had only been going on for about four hours and they were well into the wilderness so to speak, but the slow pace of travel and absolute lack of anything happening was certainly boring enough to make her consider setting fire to something valuable just to see what happened. Oh gods, was she going to become one of those hussies, the pyromaniac types who just set things on fire because she could? Althea silently decided against ever introducing Anima magic into her repertoire - she didn't trust herself with the terrible power of actually being able to set things on fire with her mind.
The irony of being A-OK with Mire was unfortunately lost on her.
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 23, 2017 22:34:58 GMT -6
Circe had uh...not expected this, to say the least.
Since she'd left on her travels, not counting the ship she had taken from Khan Yunis to Badon, she'd only ever gone on expeditions of about...four people. Tops. Yet the party that she now traveled with consisted of twenty, nearly thirty more than that. It invoked memories of travelling to one of the miners her family has a trade deal with, moving in groups that consisted of workers and guards alike.
Dig sites were still not Circe's primary focus. That was, as ever, furthering her magical prowess. However, especially with magic, knowledge was power. And Circe could not rule out what could be unearthed from such a dig. Especially with so many workers among them! Surely at least a few were great minds.
One issue with travel was that um...well, travel was quite dull. When Circe had traveled with her family they did not travel on a wagon such as this. It was closer to a carriage, by which Circe meant it WAS a carriage. Doors, a roof, windows even. It was spacious and cozy, so she could read her books in peace while her parents either dozed or chatted.
Circe was not about to complain, despite the wagon she currently stood upon being significantly less comfortable, but she was a touch miffed. All of the workers were so...down. The prospect of them not being eager to go to work was a bit lost on Circe. She LOVED what she did, after all, and she didn't even earn a salary based off of it.
However it did mean that none of the workers were keen to speak with her, and Circe wasn't going to talk the ear off of men and women who cared not for what she had to say. So instead she turned to her friend, Althea, the one who had invited her to this trip in a fashion. Circe had more or less invited herself.... Seeing that Althea was alone she sat beside her, feet dangling off the edge of the wagon.
“You'd think with as many people as we have travelling with us, there'd be more to say.” Circe wasn't a social nut. Really, she wasn't. She enjoyed her quiet time all the same. However she did take an interest in people, and spending an entire trip lost in her texts when there were...twenty some odd individuals with her was a bit vexing.
“I take it you don't actually KNOW any of these men or women?”
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Post by Althea on Jan 24, 2017 21:20:37 GMT -6
"N-not as such," Althea admitted with a slightly wounded demeanor. Okay, she wasn't the... best at making friends, but she didn't have to be reminded regularly! It took only a moment for her to latch onto a more, ah, optimistic angle on things. "Though in the pursuit of knowledge, we are all sisters! ...And brothers. And, um, extended family members of various - nevermind." That hadn't gone quite as planned but she WAS rather certain it had made her point, or at least something resembling a point, in much the same way that an axe was kind of like a sword because they both killed things.
Anyways! Exploration and research wasn't all fun and games, sometimes you had to do the dirty work too, or endure the boring trips where nothing happened. Althea wasn't especially fond of them either, but at least it was a good time to get work done. Except for when people talked to her, endlessly, because they didn't have the patience to... well now she was just a bundle of joy today, wasn't she? Throwing the momentary frustration under a jar and bashing it forty or fifty times with a mental sledgehammer, certain that this was all Eris's fault even if the aggravating aspect was not currently active, Althea resolved to be nice and try to engage Circe in conversation so at least one of them was happy. Er, that sounded very mean. She was happy to spend time with the mage too. Eris just made her want to throttle something, something whose name started with E and ended with ris, because it was Eris.
"It's sure to be an interesting, um, dig site at least, there were supposedly reports of wild magic there!" Althea wasn't actually sure if that would intrigue or worry Circe, but she didn't actually have any good ideas for conversation, not that THAT was anything new.
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 24, 2017 23:01:41 GMT -6
Althea reacted in a somewhat...strange manner. Well, perhaps strange if it had been someone else, but Circe was starting to grow accustomed to those little quirks of hers. They added some charm that was uniquely hers. So rather than blink in confusion, she merely giggled in innocent amusement. “If I ever need to deliver a speech filled with soaring rhetoric, I'll be sure to ask for your input.” Circe teased. She DID hope Althea knew it was just teasing.
...Ah, just to be sure. "Either way, I don't know about sisters, but I'm glad at least that I'm among friends...a friend." Well, there. Althea wasn't alone in reciting inspirational, companion focused speech. Yet Circe did not blush or shy away at all. Instead she beamed at Althea, wearing her usual smile all the same.
Mhm, on a less humorous manner, Circe had to cock her head a bit at the last little bit that Althea had mentioned. Reports of “wild magic” at the dig site. “Um...as for 'wild magic', I'm not quite sure I'm familiar with the term. I've never really heard it be used. Surely you're not referring to a mage, and Elibe is...for the most part, magic is extinct in Elibe. At least out in nature.”
As quick a study as Circe had been to the magical community and all that it entailed, some things she simply never had the opportunity to learn. She didn't mind, though, and actually looked to Althea with a great deal of curiosity. As much as Circe loved to, humbly and silently, stroke the every loving heck out of her ego, she still recalled a rule that had helped her nourish her talents so swiftly: embrace being the least informed in the room.
If Circe ever found herself in a room full of wise sages she would gladly ask questions. Make it known that she was the least informed. It maximized the opportunity before her! She could just...learn so MUCH that way. More than she ever could if she strutted about and acted as though she knew what she spoke about. “Also, would you mind refreshing me on the artifacts this crew will be excavating? If you know, that is.”
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Post by Althea on Jan 24, 2017 23:28:08 GMT -6
Welp, that was it then, she was just going to sink through the floor of the carriage, dripping like rotted porridge as she seeped through the seams and began to congeal in the ground underneath, never ceasing her endless descent until she reached... whatever was below Elibe. Circe's initial joking (had she been joking?) had turned into a kind of casually serious kindness that took the alternatingly confused and tetchy shaman into a spiraling nosedive into embarrassment, her cheeks flushing in a lovely shade of pink as she searched for a coherent, rational, reasoned response that would show what a great friend she was and how well they got along. "Y-you too!"
God DAMMIT.
"I mean. It's nice to, um, do this with you. The dig." Ok, that was better, and this time she'd actually managed to add a little description to go with it! Baby steps, girl. "Oh!" Yes, of course, she'd just expected Circe to magically (heh) know everything about magic at dig sites. Adjusting the pack at her side, Althea smiled somewhat more comfortably as she prepared to lecture for hours explain the concept to her... friend. The word still rang strangely in her mind, making it hard to focus. A friend! "Wild magic is - sometimes very old ruins, from before the Scouring, utilized one of the forgotten types of architectural or enchantment magics that survived to the recent day, or even magical traps - Bryn and I ran into quite a few of those at the ruins back in Naba-" Focus. "'Wild magic' is a catch-all term for unknown magic that may be dangerous, anything from an ancient tome to a fire trap, since often times the discoverers know little to nothing about magic to differentiate the two."
Hoo. Finally exhaling to keep from passing out after that explanation, Althea wobbled a little in her seat before bringing her intellect back to bear, whatever that actually meant these days. "It's most likely a pre-Scouring site, which is part of why there are so many people here. They can be very dangerous if proper precautions are not taken, but also a wonderful window into the past, of an Elibe that we know almost nothing about!"
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 25, 2017 2:20:17 GMT -6
Really now, Circe? The mage considered herself almost cruel. Althea was actually adorable, in a little sister sort of manner, when she was flustered or embarrassed. Yet despite blatantly exhibiting the latter Circe couldn't stifle a few last giggles. She tried, raising a hand to her mouth and everything, but her body still shook a bit with light laughter. Oh, she just hoped she wasn't being TOO mean.
Though to her credit she listened politely as Althea began a...somewhat jumbled explanation of the term “wild magic”. It was actually rather simple, almost self-explanatory once Circe heard it out. Perhaps it was that simplicity that had Circe confused at first but ah, she still did feel like she should have known that one. Though now she was ah...curious about some other things.
“Mhm, I can definitely understand the uh...excitement.” At least Althea's excitement. The rest of the crew, at least those she could see, still looked almost miserable. “Unless the dig we met in was a pre-Scouring site, I'm not sure I've ever been to one. So I'm curious as to what we'll discover.” That's right. To be fair Circe was a fair bit intrigued as well. She wasn't quite the history nerd, hee hee, that Althea was but she WAS a magic nerd. Really Circe was far more curious about what manner of “wild magic” they could encounter at the dig site. Oh, not that she hoped anyone would be harmed, but she wanted to see examples for herself.
Also...
“But um, Althea. Who is Bryn? And where exactly did you come across these traps?” The shamaness had been about to mention Nabata. Was this one of the adventures Althea had undergone after she had met Circe? Or perhaps before. “Also, what manner of traps were they? Pressure-sensitive runes?” Those were the uh, common traps that she heard of. Still never heard them be called wild magic, but at least she knew what traps were, right?
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Post by Althea on Jan 25, 2017 3:16:07 GMT -6
"Yes!" Althea clapped her hands together in girlish glee, "You get me!" About as opaque as a window and half as durable, Althea's excitement manifested easily, unused to the idea of having a friend along for her adventures but finding herself quite fond of the idea to say the least. It was a pleasant departure from the normal if nothing else, but the idea of... having someone to share her enthusiasm with was even more enticing. Even if Circe didn't quite share her love of history for its own sake, there were all manners of history, and Althea's interest in ancient magics ensured that at least she and Circe had something in common. Aside from, her, Circe's apparent need to save her butt on a regular basis. But nothing would go wrong this trip, she was sure of it!
It took a moment to register Circe's question about Bryn - obviously, Bryn was Bryn - before she remembered that OH YEAH Circe hadn't been there she forgot that sometimes. "Right! Um, Bryn was the shaman I met for the exploration I mentioned the night after we met, following the trail of Nan Madol. Well!" Looking so pleased with herself that it was a distinct possibility she might actually implode into smugness itself, Althea paused for a moment of dramatic tension before continuing. "I believe we did find, er, some evidence of Nan Madol, among... other things..." she trailed off, the radiant smugness dissipating into the beaten droopiness of an abused puppy, "Statues animated by dark magic, the walls and floors were covered in magic sigils, there were - there were pillars rising from the floor, I tripped over one of them," her voice rapidly growing less and less pleased with the circumstances, "and - there was dark magic, a lot of it, and- and- and he kept asking me why I was 'like this' just because I thought the patterns were so interesting and the statues weren't THAT close anyways so it really wasn't that dangerous I don't think."
Suddenly, forgetting about such minor things as personal bubbles and appropriate body space, Althea reached one hand out to lay it lightly on Circe's arm. "I'm not - I'm not 'like this', am I?" Her stricken expression could have convinced the average bandit to go home and be a family man, though that bandit had been spared the rapidly more and more incoherent story before it and thus might be more receptive to her sudden plea.
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 25, 2017 13:09:29 GMT -6
“Ahh-hhh...” Was Circe's initial, confidence filled and absolutely definitely not shaky, response to Althea's...well it wasn't quite a meltdown. More like she had decided to ride from the top of the emotional spectrum all the way to the bottom, and then half the way back up, in about one slightly long winded rant. Um, okay, so maybe it was a minor meltdown. Circe would be lying if she said it didn't leave her a touch frustrated, it made things ludicrously difficult to follow, but all the same she saw that Althea seemed to have some manner of crisis.
Um...last Circe checked, she wasn't all that good at consoling others. So she thought it best to do as she's done a few times now with Althea: break things down and go through everything Althea had said in a calm, objective order. The young magus took a breath before she held out a hand, using her fingers to help her stay on track.
“First: Okay, Bryn is another elder magic practitioner.” Those seemed to be sprouting up everywhere these days. As fascinating as elder magic and the nether were, Circe had begun to long for a chance encounter with a fellow anima mage, or even a practitioner of light magic who was...preferably not a sociopath running with a crowd of thieves. Hm, Circe wondered if he had white hair?
“Second: You found more clues to Nan Madol! That's wonderful, and later on you simply MUST tell me more.” Circe knew that Nan Madol was Althea's “big project” of sorts. Much like “Anima Mastery” was Circe's goal, it seemed to be the consistent primary goal of the fair haired shaman. Not to mention Althea's admittedly adorable, if not smug though perhaps that was why, smile when she talked about it proved just how happy the discovery had made her. Unfortunately that was where Althea's happiness had taken a nosedive.
“Third: So you ran into traps and wild magic in these ruins. Well either way I'm glad you're all right. Apparently dark magic as well?” This one didn't really prove any point, but Circe simply wanted to stay on track. Though she was INFINITELY curious about the magic sigils. So she tapped on her fourth finger and promptly moved on. “Fourth: Althea ah, you should probably eliminate any immediate dangers in the area before you begin to investigate a discovery...”
Ah, yeah. As much as Circe wanted to smile and shake her head because, well, that was just such an 'Althea' thing to do, it did have her a bit concerned. Sure Althea had wound up fine this time but...things didn't always end that way. One could never be certain when something good would be spoiled. When Elibe would try to seize victory, and your life, right from out of your own grasp.
“...Fifth: Althea, I don't even know what “like this” means.” Circe began, but she swiftly paused. Oh boy, she was probably already off to a crappy start with this whole 'consoling' thing. “I've um...we've only known each other so long, so all I can really say is that you are...like you.” Perhaps some basic instinct had compelled her, or it was Althea's melancholic expression that somehow made her feel guilty for a crime she hadn't even committed, but Circe lightly touched Althea's hand before smiling. “And there's nothing wrong with who you are.”
Sure, Althea could probably stand to improve on some things. Like listing one's thoughts out in a more orderly...or at least less chaotic fashion. Also her awareness, and...well, those were small things. Fundamentally, Circe genuinely thought Althea was a wonderful person. She was happy to be able to call her "friend".
Besides, she knew now more than ever: everyone had flaws.
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Post by Althea on Jan 26, 2017 0:05:50 GMT -6
Okay, okay, calm down, do not dissolve into a puddle of shrieking harpies, do not try to cast any Nether magic, do not operate while pregnant or under the effects of alcohol. Try not to focus on Circe's horrified reaction too much, she was just, um, surprised and not actually looking at you as if you were actually the devil. Right. She could do this! Probably. Althea didn't actually trust herself to speak though, so instead of making the attempt she just focused on listening to Circe's listing of various more or less related things.
"Y-yes, it was a... confusing experience," she managed in response to Circe's comments on the ruins. Althea was still kinda putting all that together and didn't quite feel ready to talk about it in much detail yet. It would take more investigation to confirm all that she had seen and found, and she had never really stopped and thought until after that experience as to whether or not it was a good thing to find in the first place. "And you're right, I should... focus." Her lips jerked for a moment, not sure whether to rearrange themselves into a smile or a frown. "I learned about that the hard away aboard the ship." And while she was not proud of her overall performance, it had at least shown Althea that she COULD focus, blotting out useless data to accomplish necessary tasks regardless of how hard she had to push it. It was just... harder to do when surrounded by fascinating research material.
"And - thank you, Circe," she managed, looking away as she pulled her hand off of Circe's as well to uh minimize the awkward factor of the situation. "I'm... sorry about that. It seems as though I've been drifting from one episode of violence to another lately, and I'm still getting used to this life."
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Circe Alexandra
Mage
"But I just wanna play it right, We're gonna get there tonight"
Posts: 64
Affinity: Anima
Profile: Circe
OoC Alias: Ars Sanctum/Tsunderis
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Post by Circe Alexandra on Jan 26, 2017 20:42:15 GMT -6
Phew, potential crisis averted. Althea had started to calm down, and even better was that she saw reason! Circe completely understood getting super excited for research materials or so forth. Really, she did. But...if you make a discovery on a battlefield, you can't shift focus to that. Circe hadn't even been distracted by research in the desert. Just caught in the revelry of her own supposed victory that she completely failed to see the ambush.
When ALL the threats were eliminated...then one could study, celebrate, or do whatever they wished. Otherwise you could not only pay with your own life, but the lives of others.
...Well, with “Circe's Depression Hour” over and done with, the young magus perked up once again, her focus on her friend beside her. “Mhm, anytime. Trust me, when it comes to the whole 'violence is everywhere' deal, I can relate. And I'm not...I don't always handle it perfectly, either.” That was one extremely restrained way to put it. Subtlety/10, Circe. Still, there did seem to be at least one small bright side to the apparent predicament of the two mages.
“At least we can learn together, right? How to fight, how to survive. Most people have to learn that entirely on their own. But I'm willing to help you, and I believe you're willing to help me too.” Probably a bit presumptuous but Circe didn't really stop to think about that. She reached out and gave Althea a “friendly” pat on the shoulder. Whether Althea took it that way or not...ah, she hadn't really thought about that either.
“It's a fairly unique advantage, I'd say. So we ought to make the most of it, right?”
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Post by Althea on Jan 29, 2017 16:25:30 GMT -6
"It is..." The shaman's face churned for a moment, unable to decide what expression fit the moment. A wry smile? Sad regret? Amusement? Sorrow? She simply wasn't equipped for this, she hardly even knew how to react to what she'd seen much less discuss it. "-Overwhelming," Althea finally decided on, looking a touch sheepish. It felt like an underwhelming description, but at the least it was an accurate one. She was already in her 20s but still didn't have the experience with actually fighting and killing that some eight years younger might have by now. She couldn't decide if that was something to be grateful or shameful for.
Circe did bring up an interesting idea though, the concept of trying to handle that stress together. As a team of sorts. As friends. It was... something Althea hadn't really had much of before. As pathetic as it sounded, she hadn't had many friends growing up, the eternal curse of the bookworm, and after Kraft took power she'd stopped caring. Or at least she'd convinced herself she didn't care anymore.
...But she'd met so many people, likable or at least trustworthy lately, that it was becoming... harder and harder to keep to that mindset. Many of them had saved her life. Don, Circe, Bryn, Drei, Jalid. Some of them were slightly more grating on her soul than others looking at you mr. WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS but all had helped her stay alive, worked with her, earned her trust to some level or another. They were good people. Better than her, perhaps. So, was it right to continue to try to keep them out, or should she try to trust them again? Could she?
"Yes." Smiling softly at Circe, the pale shaman made a quick decision that she hoped she wouldn't regret. Even as she saw more and more of the ugly underside of Elibe and was forced to face her own failures, so too did she continually learn more and more of the good people who had undergone similar trials and come out stronger for it. She wanted to be more like them than the her that existed now, weak and helpless, unable to defend herself much less others. "Yes, I would like that very much, Circe." Well, there was no easy way out of it now. "Though for the time being, let's hope that isn't tested this trip. Just once I'd like something to go right."
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