star_kingdom_logs | I dream of gardens in the desert sand

Entry tags:

I dream of gardens in the desert sand

WHO:

innerflow, closed
LOCATION: Agrabah; just out in the desert.
TIME: Around noonish on Saturday, the 24th of September.
WHAT: Magus has gone to Agrabah; Mercury is there. Line-facing will ensue.
RATING: Ah, PG-13? Possible R, but I doubt it.

For a number of reasons, and not just because he wanted to find a place for himself and Schala to start a new life, Magus had been learning about the other worlds around and visiting them. And while he had found that he could teleport to other worlds, it would leave him drained for a while. As such, he had been taking such explorations at a slow pace.

His current exploration was Agrabah. He has intended to arrive in the city of the land, but he had never been there before and pinpointing his teleportation from this distance was a fool's game. Which is what landed him in the middle of the desert.

Of course, for all of his magic and all of his power, it was still draining on his power to teleport like this. It took him a moment to gather himself after arrival, which gave time for several Crimson Jazzes to appear, hopeful to pray on the dark heart of the weakened mage.

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"I'd appreciate that," Mercury admitted without an outward trace of embarrassment at her own weakness. Of course, she couldn't help comparing herself to him, and finding herself coming up short.

'I'd appreciate that.' Meaning she cannot teleport. Meaning he will have to.

"Very well," he said, gathering up his cloak. "Come."

She was suddenly very sorry she was relying on him so much, asking so much of him. But she approached at his word; they'd come this far together and it would be worse to try to excuse herself now.

And perhaps, maybe, there'd be something she could still do, in the caverns.

He folded his cape over the two of them. The wind whipped around them and there was a sudden sharp pulling...

...and then they were standing on the ice block. He lit another ball of fire and stepped away from her. There was no telling how deep the water was; he could see no bottom. There was, however, a tunnel not far off to the side and it was high enough that there was a bit of ground before it.

"There," he said with a nod.

She was thankful for her boots, to shield her from the cold. The water... she could sense its depths, but crossing would be difficult and the tunnel was a far better choice. She nodded.

"Is the passage wide enough for us both? I'll follow you if it narrows."

"For now it is," he said. If it narrowed, they would go single file. If it narrowed further, they would go back.

"Can you cross the water, being a manipulator of it?"

Edited 2011-09-26 23:24 (UTC)

"Yes. I could freeze it solid so that you can cross as well." Not that... he needed it. But it was a genuine offer nonetheless.

"I am capable of flight."

But he wasn't going to stop her from freezing the water.

It seemed easier to do it sooner; she nodded, and the air turned cold with a faint crackling as the water shifted to ice, inches thick, easily strong enough to walk on.

"You have decent control," he said, stepping onto the ice. He doubted the cretins from his world could have done as well.

He walked across the ice bridge to the tunnel. She certainly would be useful.

She is the soldier of water. She smiles softly at the compliment nonetheless. "Thank you. But, seeing you earlier, I want to work hard to improve."

"As you should."

He was very arrogant about his powers. As well he should be; he had studied hard for twenty years to get here. Of course, then Lavos sapped his powers and he had to relearn a lot of it. Had she met him a year ago, he would have been much more powerful.

And he would have killed her as soon as look at her.

She is the opposite. She, too, has developed her powers over years and through battle and hardship and testing; but her powers are often defensive, and rarely strong. It's a lack she feels when she's unable to face a battle she needs to, when she has to continually rely on others. There is nothing wrong with needing help, of course; but to be the one who can't do things on her own is sometimes demoralizing.

She steps across the ice without speaking for awhile.

"Be careful as we go; it should hold us, but it's still ice. If it begins to crack, spread your weight and hurry to thicker parts."

"If it cracks, I will fly."

He never learned defensive spells. Defending himself would not kill Lavos. It would not have allowed him to find Schala. He does all he can to not rely on others. No one could help him, after all.

They went on deeper into the caverns, and the light spread shadows across the rock of the walls. (Such an extensive rock formation, when so much here was already dust and sand? It was strange, wasn't it?)

"I haven't seen signs of tools or anything left behind yet," Mercury remarked.

"There is a lot of magic here," he said. "Can you not feel it?"

Magic left its own mark, much in the way that tools leave their marks. It just takes one who can sense things to feel it.

She shook her head. "Not at all." An enemy presence? Yes; though she still wasn't sure about the Heartless. Simple magic use? She wasn't that attuned to it.

He stopped at looked at her. It was a very critical stare. "You can manipulate water and ice, yet you cannot sense magic?"

Yes, Mercury, he's calling you an idiot.

She hated the feeling of being judged and found wanting. She tried not to squirm under the scrutiny, and to answer him clearly.

"It's a different sort of ability, one I don't possess and haven't learned."

"Hmph." He started walking again, going deeper into the cave. "A mage that cannot sense magic. That should be as basic as learning to walk."

He continued on, stopping when the cavern opened and the floor dropped away. In the light from his fireball, he could see a torch high up in the cave. He shot the ball of fire at it and found another.

He lit each one that appeared in the light before looking down. They had come to the treasure vault deep under the cave. Mounds of gold and treasure chests abounded. The light seemed all the brighter as it shone off of the gold.

She felt ashamed, when he put it that way, but she made the effort to defend herself. "It must be different between our worlds. No one in mine has that sort of ability, exactly. We can sense our enemy's presence, or figure out illusions, or something like that; but sensing magic already used, I've never heard of except in books."

"Then you should learn," he said.

"IF it's something that can be taught... Would you be willing to help me? I could repay you in some way, if we agreed on a price." She wouldn't ask it for nothing, after all.

He looked at her, that same cold, scrutinizing look.

"Very well."

"Thank you. We can discuss details after we finish here." She had the odd, back of her mind sensation that this wasn't a place to simply linger in.

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