Well this probably isn't all that good.

[kitty_of_light]

C'taqa has arrived, and he's getting right to the question this time. No faffing about. Looking intensely serious, too.

"If you had the chance to - basically throw away an old life you don't want to remember, and start a new one, as a whole new person - what would be the best things to consider while thinking about it?"

He pauses. "I mean, uh...other than the reactions of everyone around you."

Comments

[onemorebounty]

By "everyone around you," you mean your friends?

*The question comes from that tall woman.*

Or just the general populace?

[kitty_of_light]

"Well, sort of both. My friends understand - they've told me that if it's what I feel most comfortable doing, they'll support me. As for the general populace...I suspect a fair few have done it themselves, and it would be hypocritical to comment negatively on it."

C'taqa takes a breath, lets it slowly out. "By 'whole new person' - I mean it literally. I could...transform, in a way of speaking. Take on a whole new shape...a new appearance. A new life."

[onemorebounty]

External changes. The important question, I think, would be whether you, the personality inside, would remain fundamentally the same. Would you remember your old friends, your old life?

[kitty_of_light]

"Yes. The only way to truly forget all of that would be to have it magically removed."

[onemorebounty]

Is that a yes-meaning-no? You're talking about changing the rest of you with magic, after all.

[kitty_of_light]

"Fantasia--" C'taqa takes out a small phial filled with sparkling blue liquid. "This - it basically works like a permanent glamour. And a glamour is a way to change one's outward appearance, while inwardly remaining the same. It touches the body, not the mind."

[onemorebounty]

Well, then, if you want to do it, your friends support you, and you'll remember them, I suppose the only question I'd consider in your place is whether or not I can trust whoever sold me that bottle.

[kitty_of_light]

"I asked a very close friend to get it for me. She's the sort who's very good at ferreting out genuine articles." C'taqa smiles a little.

[onemorebounty]

Good fortune, then.

[kitty_of_light]

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

[mybadhabit]

"What you have to do to start over is a good one. Leaving behind everyone you knew before is probably the bare minimum for a new start." The 25 year old perched on the back of a couch with his feet on the cushions probably doesn't look like he's an expert on new starts, but he's been there, done that, got the t-shirt. "Here is a pretty good place for that. No one knows who you are, so you can be whoever you want to be, without any of your old life lurking behind you. Bonus points, you don't have to worry about people's reactions. They're a part of the old life anyway, and they're not going to be adapt to change readily, so you might as well get rid of them."

"After that, it's just a matter of figuring out who you want to be, and how you want to be seen."

[kitty_of_light]

"I might have misspoken. It's physical appearance only; a way of throwing aside the appearance connected to the old, painful feelings. I won't forget them, but I would be more able to distance myself from them." C'taqa studies the young man with a bit of interest. "If I may be a bit rude - you sound as if you don't have many precious people in your life."

He sounds sympathetic, no negative tone at all. He is genuinely concerned.

[mybadhabit]

Sonic stares right back as he's studied, his posture hunched and elbows resting on his knees. Intense gray-blue eyes look out from beneath sloppy black bangs, his brow lightly furrowed. He scoffs when C'taqa explains that it's only a physical change, rolling his eyes and flicking his wrist dismissively.

"Oh, is that all? Then all you have to worry about is what you want to change and why. For example," he pauses, pointing to the twin streaks of purple beneath his eyes. "I got these done when I left home, because I couldn't stand looking in the mirror and seeing my twin brother's face. It's a small change, but no matter what, now there's no doubt in my mind that the face staring back at me is myself."

"I don't have any precious people in my life." He shrugs. Verity may be hurt if she heard that, but then she's also know it's a bit of a lie. She's still new to him, and he likes her, but... He's not comfortable with the idea of letting her in too close. It's scary. "Relying on other people is a weakness. There's too many ways other people can hurt you."

[kitty_of_light]

"I would have said the same thing when I was first starting out," C'taqa admits. "But then I met people who insisted on getting close, no matter how hard I tried to keep them away. You may find someone like that yourself."

His tail flicks a little at a wisp of memory. "Someone who genuinely cares for you won't try to hurt you."

[mybadhabit]

"It's not just that. Even if someone never betrays you, other people can use them against you." He knows, he's not above using someone's friend or family member as a means to an end.

"It doesn't matter, anyway. My lack of friends has nothing to do with you wanting a make-over."

[kitty_of_light]

"I can still sympathize," C'taqa answers mildly. "Thank you for your suggestions, though. You had no way of knowing I only meant a physical change."

[mybadhabit]

The mild rebuke makes Sonic flinch imperceptibly, his expression going sour. "Why would you sympathize with someone you don't know who's being rude to you? For all you know, I could deserve to have no friends. I could be a criminal."

He is a criminal, but that's completely beside the point.

"Anyway, whatever," he shrugs again, like he just doesn't care, flicking his bangs out of his face with one hand. "I've done both, so I figured I might as well. There hasn't been anyone interesting here to talk to, lately."

[kitty_of_light]

"Why not? People sympathized with me when I felt the same way."

He's also a healer, so more inclined to sympathize anyway.

"Am I interesting, then?" He slants Sonic a bit of a sideways glance. "I could talk about magic, but that would probably be boring."

[mybadhabit]

"Ugh," the face he makes is one of exaggerated disgust, rolling his eyes and sticking out his tongue for effect. "Kindness, gross. I don't know how you people live, always being so nice to each other all the time."

The fact that his scowl has shifted more towards a smirk means that he's not being serious. Mostly.

"You asked an interesting question, one I have personal experience with." He shrugs for a third time, clasping his hands together between his knees. His eyes dart over C'taqa, head tilting to the side. "Magic. That's an interesting thing, magic. We don't have that where I'm from, but we have telepaths and mutants and other things that could pass for magic in the right light. What's the source of your world's magic?"

[kitty_of_light]

C'taqa has to smile, recognizing that Sonic is at least sort of kidding. "Most of them live because of me, to be fair."

He's going to idly fiddle with what looks like a few playing cards now, letting them slide between his fingers absently. "Aether, to be succinct about it. It's basically the source of everything...the people, the land, everything. I can draw on it in order to heal people, and to attack to a limited extent."

[mybadhabit]

"Touche. Can't say I've ever heard of a 'hero' turning down the chance to be somebody's savior." Does he sound bitter? Because he's a little bitter. The heroes back home aren't all that much to talk about, in his opinion.

Sonic only keeps half an eye on the playing cards, the focus of his gaze kept squarely on C'taqa's face. Playing cards make for great sleight of hand tricks, and he's a suspicious bastard, if only because he uses all those tricks himself. "Ah, healing magic, that's less interesting. I was wondering if it was something I could learn, but I have no interest in healing."

[kitty_of_light]

"I'd rather not be thought of as a hero. It's just my job."

The cards don't look much like playing cards if Sonic gets a good look. They have faded pictures on them, and an odd script at the bottom that, thanks to convenient Nexus translation, says:

Ewer - a light blue card with a picture of what appears to be a water urn.
Spire - yellow, containing a figure of what might be a stylized representation of a crystal formation.
Balance - red with an almost flower-like design.
Bole - green, with a large tree.
Arrow - pale blue, a picture of what appears to represent a wind gust.
Spear - dark blue, with a snowflake design.

They might put one in mind of a tarot deck.

"It calms me down," he shrugs, shuffling the cards a little faster.

[mybadhabit]

"I can respect that," he nods with a shrug of his shoulders. "Medic is a very respectable profession. Pardon me for being waspish about it. Where I'm from, there are professional heroes, and they tend to be it for the glory, not for the cause."

Seeing script in one language and reading it in another makes his brain itchy, and he blinks his eyes a few times before looking away from the cards completely. Maybe he'll get used to it one day, but right now, it's uncomfortable. "The healing or the cards?"

[kitty_of_light]

"I understand. I'm not offended."

C'taqa stacks the cards again, tucks them back into his belt pouch. "Both, actually. I like the feel of them, and drawing on aether is somehow settling to my spirit."

[mybadhabit]

"Sounds like meditation. But can you draw upon it here?" He gestures to the Nexus with the wave of his hand. "While I've heard of similar sounding concepts; Chi, Chakra, or Mana, for example, I'm not familiar with Aether, so I doubt that it's a universal constant."

[kitty_of_light]

"I can. Barely." C'taqa trails a hand through the air, faint greenish wisps following it. "Enough to concentrate on, anyway. Maybe it follows me or something."

[mybadhabit]

"Could be." He hops off the couch, stuffing one hand in his pocket and waving the other through the wispy green trail. "I know with my village's jutsus, we use both our own internal energies and on the life force of the world around us. For example, I use my own energies to gather the energy the wind to increase my speed and power, and to create minor illusions. Have you put much effort into practicing? Using similar techniques, you may be able to enhance your ability to call up this "aether" to power your magic."

[kitty_of_light]

Now C'taqa smirks a little, taking out those cards again and fanning them out in front of Sonic. "As a matter of fact - that's exactly what these taught me to do. I can enhance offensive power and bolster defensive, temporarily increase the amount of aether flow in myself and others, and even temporarily increase the ability to more thoroughly utilize that aether."

[mybadhabit]

"Oh, they're focuses! That makes a lot of sense!" He leans in to examine them more closely, nodding to himself. "We stopped using those when I was in middle school, but since we're no longer on your world, I can imagine them being extremely necessary."

[kitty_of_light]

"I haven't needed them since I was first learning. Astromancy - basically taking aetheric energy from the stars - teaches the user to focus on six constellations, called 'gates'. Once the user understands the power in each gate, it's 'unlocked'. The cards help with that."