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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 12, 2006 0:33:31 GMT -5
eleisia sighed. Blocks don't work, eh? Well, then... The elder girl looked directly into Fyrhtu's eyes. "Honesty, it is, then!"
Smiling, she relaxed her overly rigid control. "First of all, you're welcome to stay as long as you like. Secondly, I'm not going to be completely comfortable with you being able to enter my mind passively and me unable to block you, until I understand better what your motive is. You say you used your powers against your parents because you never loved them. I suppose, ...
"I suppose, what I am wondering is, did they never love you? Or did you simply find them unnecessary? Were they impeding your growth? Or did they lie to you? At the base of it all is one real question. How much of a danger do you pose to me? We may as well talk plainly. If you are truly that much stronger than I, there would be nothing I could do to defend myself, were you inclined to do the same to me."
No fear resided in eleisia's heart, only the curiosity of the truly fatalistic. She lived for the present. If Fyrhtu chose to end eleisia's existence on the spot (though she did not know if the younger girl had that power), at least she had asked the pertinent questions. At least she had not walked away. And most importantly of all, she had not become the same as the people who had chased her away. She would stay welcoming until she had a reason to believe otherwise. And perhaps, even after that.
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 12, 2006 1:54:52 GMT -5
"When I do enter people's minds, it's hard. Most of the time I pass out afterwords, which isn't good. I've only done it a couple of times.
"As for my parents... I don't know. They raised me, fed me, and clothed me, but I never felt attached to them. As I grew older and uncovered some of my more intense powers, they forbade me to use them. And, as teenagers do, I used them as much as possible just to spite them. If it was to be toward them then that was how it happened.
"And, as for your second question, I would never hurt you! You are helping me and you're my friend, so I couldn't bring myself to hurt you.
"However, if you posed a threat towards me or my sister, I would take your soul. I can't kill--at least, not that I know of, but I discover new powers every day--but I can take people's souls, which is worse. You'd just walk around, alive but unable to do anything, feeling anything, or think anything. I learned I could do that by accident--it happened with a rabbit I once has as a child," Fyrhtu explained. She was so happy to be able to speak without fear, to confide without paranoia.
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 12, 2006 3:45:14 GMT -5
Reassured, eleisia forced herself to retain a modicum of worry for the sake of her own comfort. Fyrhtu's enthusiasm for her subject was infectious, and now that she was no longer afraid, she spoke confidently.
"Your rabbit? Was it a pet?" eleisia understood the passing of time, the cycle of living things, even the way of the sands... but the theft of a soul was ...creepy. "And what did you do with the soul?"
Morbid curiosity lit her own eyes as she listened to the younger girl, the pencil forgotten in her hand.
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 12, 2006 4:04:07 GMT -5
"Yes," Fyrhtu answered, "It was a pet bunny. I stole his soul by accident, because I was looking for him, as he'd run away. I concentrated on his image, and there it was, his soul, right in front of me. Hen--the rabbit--hopped up past me, and into the forest nearby. His soul, though--it was a lttle glowing silver sphere of light. It stayed with me until I said, 'Just go away!' out of frustration. It flew off, and I've not seen soul nor rabbit since,."
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 12, 2006 14:54:43 GMT -5
"But that- that's awful!" eleisia couldn't imagine how unsettling it must have been to lose a pet in such a... wrenching way, and that by her own hand!
She shook the image from her mind, then looked at Fyrhtu warily. "Perhaps you will not want to talk about it, but have you yet needed the use of this power for defense? It is good that you are capable, and that you have done it before, even if it was your pet... have you used it against a person?"
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 12, 2006 20:14:24 GMT -5
Fyrhtu considered for a minute how to answer.
"Well...," Fyrhtu started. "Not exactly. I honestly don't know how to control most of my powers except emotion and mind reading. I use them by accident.
"After the rabbit incident, I was scared to think about any one person at all, so I kept myself in groups or alone.
"But it happened again. It was a person this time.
"I was in the marketplace, shopping for pie ingredients. A woman attempted to barter with me, and I argued back. Without thinking about it, I concentrated very hard on her, and suddenly her eyes went blank and silver. Her expression faded back into her face and she stopped talking. And there it was, her soul. Platinum and orb-shaped, it floated in front of me obediently.
"Then I remembered what happened with Hen's soul; it followed my orders. So, I said, 'Go back in,' and it did. The woman revived and her eyes turned back to blue. And, she began bartering again. I don't think she knew what happened." Fyrhtu shivered as memories overtook her. The images played before her eyes, and she blinked away her tears, returning to the present.
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 13, 2006 2:55:58 GMT -5
eleisia listened intently. When Fyrhtu became teary, she stretched a hand out to comfort her. She felt the tightness in her chest, the familiar wash of desperation as the tears threatened to overspill.
"I see." The librarian had seldom felt so comfortable with another. She acknowledged her mind's insistent alarms that she ought to excercise caution, but chose to ignore them.
A friend-- a friend would be nice. For the most part, the librarian kept to herself and her books. Her friends were al-Khumi and Spragner, Kuntz and Feller. She pored over texts modern and ancient, from medicine to cookery, from textiles to archaeology. She was learning to open up, but it was slow going. She was quite ignorable, the quiet girl who took care of the stacks.
"Fyrhtu, may I meet your Faeger one day? When you feel it's appropriate?"
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 14, 2006 8:42:49 GMT -5
Fyrhtu looked up, meeting the librarian's lonely eyes.
"Of course. Of course you can meet Fæger. She would take to you immeadiately, I'm sure. Like me, she can read emotions, but on a less...intense, I guess, level. She's not aware that normal can't do this, nor does she comprehend what she is. She knows only that we are special, unlike the peasant people. She can't talk very well yet, though, and has no opportunity to betray our secrets.
"I will fetch her now, if you'd like. I have no trouble with you meeting my sister. I like you, as you are kind and a good confidante. I'm sure you'll like her as well. She's a beautiful child, and I say that with no bias on my words.
"Would you like to meet her now?"
Fyrhtu smiled and stood. She hoped the girl would. it would be such a meeting, a meeting to end all meetings, if those two were introduced. And the housing district wasn't far. She could easily get Fæger in the span of five minutes.
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 14, 2006 15:46:40 GMT -5
eleisia's heart found its way to her mouth... she had rarely been in such a precarious emotional position. She dealt in other people's emotions, she did not spend time feeling for herself.
"That would be... lovely." eleisia gathered her papers together, opened a desk drawer, and swept the mess right into the drawer. "This really can wait."
She put a small wooden plaque on the desk, LIBRARIAN WILL RETURN, and set the spinning dial to indicate tomorrow morning's opening. Meeting Fæger... who knew how that would go? And she would want to rest. Yes, tomorrow morning would be time enough.
"Shall we go?"
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 14, 2006 19:04:49 GMT -5
"Yes, let's go," Fyrhtu agreed with a smile. "She's in the Housing District, it'll only take us a few moments to walk from home." She stood from the chair and walked toward the door, checking behind her to make sure the librarian was behind her.
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 15, 2006 0:31:22 GMT -5
eleisia paused to shrug into her cloak, then jogged to keep up.
"Who did you find to keep Fæger for you? I can't imagine trusting her to stay with just anyone. Isn't she terribly sensitive?"
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 15, 2006 7:21:30 GMT -5
"She's not obtained all of her powers yet, and the woman knows to keep her inside. I told her that my sister has a condition that the sun worsens, which is not really a lie," Fyrhtu said with a grin. She rounded a corner and slowed down a bit, as the librarian was jogging to keep up.
"Ah. Here it is. I told you it would only take a bit."
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 20, 2006 2:50:45 GMT -5
eleisia looked with apprehension in the direction Fyrhtu was pointing. Her new friend was cheerful, but she felt something uncomfortable brewing within. Taking a deep breath, she put away her feelings of foreboding and put on a brave smile.
"Well, here we are then."
eleisia waited for the young Unchained to lead.
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Post by fyrhtu on Feb 20, 2006 9:56:13 GMT -5
Fyrhtu nodded at eliesia's words and climbed the stairs leading on the small porch. She reached her hand out to open the door just in time to hear a screeching, "Fyhrtu! Fyrhtu, where was you?" There was Fæger, running around with no clothes on. Fyrhtu smiled at her little sister and picked her up, just as Wearm came bustling into the kitchen, flushed.
"Miss, I do love your sister, but she gets quite rowdy at night time, don't she?" Wearm asked. Fyrhtu's grinned just widened as she thought, Oh you have no idea.
With a start, she remembered eleisia behind her and stood sideways in the doorframe so Fæger could catch a glimpse of the librarian, and also so that the girl could come in.
"Well, eleisia, don't just stand out there. Come on in!" Fyrhtu welcomed, not caring she was inviting the girl into a house not her own.
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Post by eleisiakhartou on Feb 22, 2006 0:58:28 GMT -5
eleisia absorbed her surroundings with graceful equanimity, moving out from behind Fyrhtu to greet the ersatz babysitter. Smiling gently, she stepped up, but did not cross the threshold. The child's clamoring did not stop, and Fyrhtu's charming soul seemed to equally match the youngling's excitement.
A demi-curtsy and an intoned "ma'am" accompanied a slow nod toward Wearm as eleisia stepped inside. Her attention was nearly taken up with the young Fæger, but she made it her business to be polite.
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