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

[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."