nexus_sages | A question of safety

"I always feel safe! On account of knowing I'm the most skilled mage in any present situation. Any threatening matter is easily quelled or rendered null when you command fire or can turn into stone."

Naugus is...eating an ice cream cone. In this weather? Maniac. Some kinda orange flavour. He gives it a few licks before adding, "Very secure. You should try it sometime."

Edited 2016-02-09 00:06 (UTC)

"But of course you always feel safe," she answers in a sarcastic tone. "Because magic makes everything better, right?" Obviously she thinks it's not, but she's certainly he will.

"Did you ever stop and think for a moment that perhaps it's not my well-being that I'm worried about. Did that thought ever occur to you?" No, no it didn't. She knows that already.

"Pah! You speak as if I've never been in charge of the well-being of others! My child, I've been the court mage for nearly three generations of kings, my counsel directing the entire nation to a golden age. And even in exile, I extended my protection to all the others unjustly trapped in a zone of wild and unpredictable environs! I am no stranger to acting as protector and shepherd."

He takes a nibble from the ice cream and rolls it around in his mouth, letting it melt against his tongue. "I was the rightful king of Mobius because of my capabilities, you know. I think that speaks volumes, doesn't it? And I all but secured my place on the throne. And yes, all of this thanks to magic. Fancy that."

Amelia gives a small snort and rolls her eyes at him. "Yes, and I see that worked out perfectly for you, given that you're trapped here now." She's not throwing her punches with him today, it seems.

"And while the idea of using magic to protect a world is certainly not one to be discounted, it's not an option for mine. There isn't any magic there. I can't bring it there, can't let the people of my world see it, can't let them know it exists. I need more options, but..." She sighs and shakes her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It's quickly becoming apparent that I have only one, and it's not one that I like."

The corners of his mouth turn down abruptly at her barb. "For circumstances sadly beyond my control. Don't brook this tone with me, child. I'll have none of it, same as you."

Still frowning, Naugus turns the ice cream cone in his hand. "I'm sure I could still work Ixian magic where you're from. So long as there's air, fire, water and earth, I can conjure wonders. But we've had this conversation before, haven't we? You can't afford to learn it or bring it there because you'd rather not deal with the fallout. Even though you'd have the tools right at hand to end any possible outcry or uprising; that of course being the magic that upset the rabble in the first place.

"So let's hear it then; what's this one grand solution of yours to maintain mediocrity back in your zone of origins?"

There's absolutely no room for him to misunderstand this, so she turns square to him and meets his gaze.

"I find my world again. One way or another I get a portal to it open, just so I know it's there. And then? I close it - while I'm on this side of it. Permanently."

Her chest tightens as she says this. The idea hurts, but it's the only way she can be sure it's safe for good.

Naugus had just gone to take a proper bite of his cone, but stops. One ear twitches slightly higher than the other.

"...Why? Are you so afraid of the Nexus reaching that place? What's to fear so drastically?"

Says the guy who actually was part of the swap the other day.

Her gaze doesn't drop from his. "There is everything to fear. They don't know magic, won't understand it if it comes there. They'll reject advanced technology as magic. They're likely to do something incredibly stupid if presented with it."

She crosses her arms in front of her chest and hugs herself just a little. "They also have no defense against it. If someone were to go there with the intent of harming them, they would succeed. I can't let that happen, not when I can prevent it."

Because even the simplest of magical acts could send her world into chaos. If she can prevent it, even if it means a lifetime apart from those she has known and loved her whole life, she'll do it.

For them, she would do anything.

"Why are you so certain it would end in the disaster? By all means, reject the machines. I've personally seen them time and again cause the decline of society. But isn't there ways to gradually introduce these things? I see the disgusting walking dead man with the hat take things from here back to his world. Things gone scarce where he comes from, or things that maybe improve their quality of life. The same corpse talk about using the Nexus to assist in his means to find a cure." He scoffs. Right, a cure for death itself. Good luck, cowboy.

"Speaking as a man who brought the full breadth of Ixian magicks to a kingdom who'd never seen such a thing, all it did was make said kingdom flourish. It is no boast that we ushered in a golden era. One of great wealth and expansion. Ours was a realm to envy across the globe. Why are you so pessimistic in the face of such marvels, is what I want to know."

"I know my world, know its people and its history. What little mention of magic there is in our history isn't good. People were afraid of it, are still afraid of it. They don't understand it, can't make sense of it, and they react with instinct against that which they don't understand. And that instinct is to lash out with violence. How could I, someone who doesn't fully understand what she's seen here, explain it to them enough to keep them from reacting in fear?"

She shakes her head. "On top of that, I am but one person. Assuming I did understand enough to explain things to them, I can only reach so many people. What if someone takes what I've said wrong? A rumor can begin and tear down everything I've been working to protect. The violence would turn on the people who listened to me, could cause strife, maybe even war. I will not risk my world's safety for the empty promise of greatness." Her eyes narrow at him. "My world is fine the way it is. There's no need to force improvements that could backfire."

He scoffs again. "Your world increasingly sounds like a backwater slog of a place. By all means, barricade it off from the rest of us so we don't have to deal with the yokels that populate it. Leave them to their sticks and mud and assumptions that the sun is some kind of angry god. Do they throw rocks at the moon? Do they kill their firstborn during an eclipse? Are they collectively afraid of fire? Just curious."

He takes a crunchy bite of that ice cream cone finally, chewing and looking smug. Tasty.

Today was not the day to pull this stunt, Naugus.

There's a brief moment where the air between them settles. If he's paying enough attention, he'll recognize the calm before the storm. But the moment passes quickly and she's soon on him, grabbing his beard and pulling down hard. His beard in hand, she grabs a dagger from her belt and holds it at his throat.

"You had best keep your accusations to yourself, you pompous ass. Just because my world is not as advanced as your doesn't make it any less deserving of respect. And if you have a problem with that, you can keep it to yourself and fuck off."

Her gaze is steady, but her eyes on fire, as she holds him in place. Her voice is low, almost a growl. Whatever semblance of civility that she had once been able to keep with him before is now gone. He's pushed her buttons one too many times.

He makes a noise not unlike 'gurk' when his beard is yanked on, dropping his frozen treat in the scuffle. And when the pain passes, it gives him time to be aware that there's a weapon being brandished against him.

Amelia may have a fire in her eyes, but Naugus soon has the same. Actual fire. It licks upwards in small whorls, red and hot. His teeth are bared by now, all them sharp and pointed and far too plentiful.

"You court disaster, girl. One chance to drop your steel is all you get."

Well, Amelia? Lower it? Or go for some pain?

The fire doesn't scare her. And it really, really should.

"Take back what you said about my world and admit that it's just as good as any other. If not, I'm going to finish what I've started."

If that's not an invitation for the impending violence, nothing is.

He barks a laugh. "Hah! Apologize? Me?! To a backwards world full of Overlanders too stupid to grasp anything but the simplest, most mundane aspects of life? Who riot at the merest thought of things their feeble minds can't grasp?! Having to be maintained and coddled like the little backwater insects they are lest they burn down their own homes in a panic!?"

His grin widens. "A thought occurs to me now; maybe it's not your world that can't handle things. Maybe you just assume they can't. Maybe you're the one in fear of change and upheaval. They're not the problem; you are."

"ENOUGH!"

Her patience for his insults is over. The dagger at his throat is pulled back for the briefest moment before she slashes up his face with it. True, his beard is in her hand, but it can grow back - his face has plenty of space to show that mark until he's able to get to a healer for it. Any blood that comes from it can also stain his clothes. All signs, if only temporary, of her small victory.

"Knowing the difference between what my world can and can't handle is not weakness, nor is it a failure on my part to proceed with caution! Some of us fucking think before we act on a scale of that magnitude!"

The slash chops a lock of beard hair from his chin, but it's not what catches the worst of the damage. A clean, diagonal line across his face from lower lip to left eyebrow. Naugus hisses, loud and abrupt and, most of all, furious.

No magic in retaliation; not yet. He's too blind with rage (and blood) to think to cast anything. Instead, his claw swings in a hard hammer blow, aiming to strike Amelia in her side with all of his considerable strength behind it. And considering he can hit hard enough to crack stone, well.

He's also quick to leap upon where ever she may stagger or fall, still hissing open-mouthed and drooling. He's pissed.

The retaliation is expected, but her reflexes are a little rusty - she hasn't been in a real fight for months. She's able to escape most of the blow, but it still connects with her side, easily bruising several of her ribs in the process. The shot elicits a sound of annoyance rather than pain and she spins directly away from him with an added flourish when she returns to facing him again.

Her steps are light as she rushes back at him. She fakes to the right and then ducks left at the last second, bringing a second dagger up from underneath. If her aim is true, and he doesn't move a little faster, she'll be catching him in the side with that dagger right between his ribs. Either way, she twirls away from him, stepping back and around herself as she does so, with that dagger still in hand.

That knife strikes true, though she may have to put more power behind the strike than she normally would for a human. The man's got tough, hide-like skin, but he stabs all the same. An artful slide between the ribs, befitting a rogue's attempts at mauling. The hiss becomes a rage-filled shriek, drool pouring from his mouth as liberally as the blood from his cut.

The distance Amelia promptly puts between them lets his more deadly instincts kick in. The magical ones. Naugus opens his mouth wider still, hissing once more, showing all his teeth, that fire in his eyes returning and soon engulfing him. The hiss becomes a roar of swirling, burning flames. Flames that promptly and swiftly launch themselves at Amelia.

There's not enough time to dodge and precious little to take cover. Amelia quickly turns her back to Naugus just as the flames reach her - and she's quickly grateful for the fact that her world is so simple. The wool dampens the effects of the flames considerably, but there's enough force from them to knock her to the ground. She lands unceremoniously on her forearms, which she held out to save her face, then quickly rolls to a nearby patch of snow for relief from the few flames that did manage to stick. Her hands are burned lightly in the process, fly-away hairs singed off, but she pays them no mind. The adrenaline has complete control of her. There will be time to take count of the injuries later.

The distance and fire do nothing to slow Amelia down in her attacks. After assuring the flames are all out, she rolls up to a crouched position, one knee up in front of the other for balance purposes. With practiced hands she drops her dagger, grabs her slingshot and a rock from a pouch on her belt, and pulls the slingshot up to her face to aim. Another half second and the small rock is on its way - followed quickly thereafter by another three. Because why shoot only once when you can shoot four times in three seconds?

The problem with taking aim at fire is it really doesn't have a form to strike. Each stone whiffs through the roaring flames with all the effectiveness of fingers through mist. The actual physical body of the mage has become flame; there is not body to hit any longer.

The visage of a snarling face is visible, flickering and whirling, as it rushes at her a second time. Only after it charges for the second pass do the fires die off and the proper physical form of Naugus is present once more. Twisting around in midair to swipe his hand upward, calling the earth beneath Amelia's boots to spike up violently and abruptly, looking to toss her skyward.

Amelia makes for the nearby snow pile again to miss the flames - and for easy access to something to put them out with if the worst should happen. But that doesn't mean much when the ground underneath her begins to quake and move. She struggles to hold on to her weapons and keep her footing, but eventually loses both. With a cry she's tossed into the air, her weapons clattering onto the still-moving ground below her. The mid-air cry is quickly cut off when she lands on the ground and the wind is knocked from her lungs. There's no chance to recover before she's thrown up again and after a few tosses, she's weak and shaking from lack of air.

...this is not how she expected this fight to go, clearly.

Malevolent magics, dark and terrible, swirls around Ixis Naugus with licks of fire and whorls of mist. The gem on the end of his staff, held firm in his claw, glows bright and flickers with its own unworldly, purple flame. He approaches the fallen Amelia with steady purpose, blood coating one half of his face and oozing down his left side. He has no mind for his wounds right now.

When he his nearly upon the rogue, there's a snarl and another sharp gesture with his hand, the earth rumbling around her once more to snap and form stone-hewn shackles around her wrists. Pinning Amelia to the floor so she cannot attack or retaliate when he reaches down for her.

Ignoring any violence attempted against him or his bindings, or any protests upon completion, Naugus snatches the silver pin from her hair. Equally uncaring if any hair is yanked along with it.

Breathing is still a struggle for her when the shackles form around her wrists. Suddenly the air doesn't seem necessary, because she's pulling at them with whatever strength she can find.

And then, the unthinkable. Naugus has her hair pin. Her gift from Nathan. Her one last piece of him that she's been clinging to since the day she received it.

She's honestly unsure what's happening. It's like a dream. It has to be a dream. But that pain...

No, this is real. The moment that hits her, Naugus is getting both of her feet right to his bleeding face. Her arms may be pinned down, but she is a strong and stubborn thing who isn't about to let him walk away with her most prized possession.

"GIVE IT BACK! NOW!" Her hair is a tangled mess, her wrists are screaming in protest to her frantic kicking, but she isn't stopping.

It's not adrenaline that has her now - it's terror.

Her kick is angrily batted away with his staff even after it connects, adding a bloody nose to the rest of his injuries. But like the others, it's ignored. He steps back slowly several paces, breathing heavily, getting out of Amelia's range for what comes next. In fact, the assault, the fresh red flowing down over his lips and staining his teeth pink only serves as inspiration. Slowly, his mouth pulls into a wide and toothy grin.

"In due time. In due time," he reassures her, dropping it onto the ground with a clatter and musical tinkle. Staff is switched from claw to hand, only so Naugus can crook that arm and suddenly jam the point of his pincer into the wound. Deep enough that it causes it to widen and only bleed more profusely. Wincing slightly, he draws it back out again, examining the end of his claw and how it's now coated in crimson. He looks between it and Amelia, still grinning, still panting...

Then swings it downwards where it smashes into the ground with a loud CRACK. He wastes no time; circles and sigils are drawn hastily, his claw dragging bloodstreaked furrows into the stone floor. He works fast, the symbols getting drawn sharp and abrupt, framing and encircling the stolen hairpin. And the end of whatever this arcane preparation is, Naugus draws one last line and...

FWOOM.

A portal tears open, hovering jagged and bright over the profane summoning circle. A doorway to a quiet shore, a scent of ocean air wafting briskly through, the sound of wheeling and whinging seabirds. There is a city nearby. Far enough to be a decent walk, but not so far that one can't hear the sounds of harbour industry, the bark of dogs, smell the smokestacks dotting the skyline. A wooden ship laden with cargo can be seen pulling into port, the shiphands hurrying to lash it to the docks.

Naugus grins at the sight of it, looking back to Amelia with that manic, evil smile, the blood now past his chin, streaking his beard red.

"Idiot girl. Look. Look. Look what you could have had all along had you paid me proper respect."

A question of safety

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This morning's mood music: https://youtu.be/Wsysh9VWEv0

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