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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 11:28:56 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 11:28:56 GMT -6
This was not going to be remotely pretty. After their meeting with the queen, they had been shown to a room for privacy and it was the first type Catherine had alone with him since they had arrived here and she had still be struggling to speak clearly. No, he anticipated this going very poorly for him, very poorly indeed. Then again, he definitely deserved the treatment given the lack of warning on anything. Admittedly, some of it he hadn't expected but still. He should have planned better.
The mage sighed and met Catherine's gaze. "So, how dead am I for this?" He knew he was in trouble with her. It was a matter of how much trouble he was in. He should have at least run everything by her first. Now he was going to have to deal with the fall out. "Or should I cast privacy wards before we get started?" They may be needed. He had very little doubt that this had the potential to get incredibly loud.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 11:38:16 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 11:38:16 GMT -6
"If you wish." She shrugged, it didn't matter to her now who heard it or not. The seelie rumor mill was likely in full tilt by now, with any manner of insane rumors about her and the human she'd brought with her. For them it was unexpected for a human to know court rules, and especially to be so quickly accepted by the Queen. For some, Catherine was an individual they didn't even know, much less know anything about. There would assuredly be a through investigation into her background and social standing.
"I have not decided yet." Catherine remarked testily. What had even possessed him to think such a thing was even a wise decision? He had known from the start that the magic always easily overwhelmed her, and that despite her talents she had chosen to take a different track. It was easier to hide in the mundane world as a psychic than a mage that lived and breathed magic. There were just some things that the mundanes were not ready to accept again, and magic so far had been shown to be one of them.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 12:58:40 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 12:58:40 GMT -6
Tyrus cast the privacy wards. At least this way his dressing down wasn't going to be overly public, though he had a feeling he'd have mud on his face with Catherine for a long time after that. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I thought it would take weeks longer to convince the council. And I thought it was the only way to make you better." He wasn't about to apologize for that. "You should feel better now at least. The outpouring of magic you manage would have cleared up the poisoning thoroughly."
It had been significantly more than he had thought it would be. Now he just had to convince her that she could control that. Half the battle was believing in yourself even when completely wasted. He should know, he had gotten completely wasted in public often enough to have mandatory AA meetings as part of his life now.
Not that they knew he wouldn't be attending for the next twelve weeks their time.
Here's to hoping he didn't end up in a drunken stupor again.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 13:16:31 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 13:16:31 GMT -6
"Sorry? You damn well should be!" Catherine replied, clearly angry now. Thankfully for Tyrus, she hadn't reached the point where she actually considered casting as reasonable. "I never for a moment asked you to go before the Council on my behalf. I never asked for this Tyrus!" She shouted. Normally, she was a quiet and reserved individual, someone who was content with a boring life outside of work. "And feel better? I am exhausted... exhausted is not better! I have an arson case on my desk that Council expects within the week. Please explain to me how being here is of any use to people who lost property and livelihoods!" Catherine demanded.
Her life, with the exception of a small window of time, was spent being told where to go, what to do, and what she was good for. "You are just like everyone else! You tell me what you think I need, never thinking to ask me how I might possibly feel about it."
The room was quickly beginning to shimmer, with golden motes floating to and fro. There was an immense amount of ambient magic that could be drawn on, if only because of the proximity to the veil.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 13:26:38 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 13:26:38 GMT -6
"You were dying!" He protested. "I should have asked, but you were dying and you wouldn't listen when I tried to tell you." He had been desperate. "Boyuan and Bronson can handle the arson case. Trust them to handle it." That was going to be tricky as hell. And it wasn't like she was the only one having to trust things to others. Carter and Cruor were who he had to trust to keep things level. And neither of them had the sense Ra gave them. At least Boyuan and Bronson had training and were intelligent and competent, no matter how ridiculous the two could be.
"If you hate me now, I wouldn't blame you. I did this without asking permission, without running it by you at all and that was wrong. But I was not going to leave you to die." Her magic wasn't the only one acting up. Tyrus forced himself to control his magic. One of them had to have a handle on it and Catherine didn't have the experience for it to be her.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 13:47:35 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 13:47:35 GMT -6
"Dying? Tyrus.. I was meant to die from the moment I was born." She had heard that often as a small child, and even later on at times as an adult. It was a wound that always cut deep, regardless of who said it. As a child, her village had feared her and left her either to run wild or later chained in a cowshed as they debated what to do with her. If she should be sacrificed to the village gods or dispatched in some other way. They had treated one of their own with fear and anger.
"I have lived longer than I ever should have." There were days when she felt that her time was running out or borrowed, that around the next corner would be demise in one way or another. When placed in Broadmoore, she had fully expected to never see the light of day again. "There are no gods that hold someone like me in their favor!" Catherine shouted. If there was something out there, then she fully expected to have met or found it by now.
"You talk pretty words of trust mage.. just like the rest of them."
The intensity of the magic had grown with each word, until the room was shimmering with heat and sparks. Thankfully many of the rooms within the palace were constructed of stronger stuff, having seen many disputes within their walls over millennia. But, the pressure was soon to grow unbearable. Her psionic gifts only served to fuel the magic that much more.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 13:52:27 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 13:52:27 GMT -6
"If I can stop you from dying, I'm going to do that. That's what it means to be friends. And I don't care about the gods favor! I'm a priest and I don't have the gods' favor!" If he had their favor, he wouldn't be this thing he was, he'd have been a normal human and not...not whatever monstrosity he was. No, a god's favor wasn't something he believed in. If the gods were kind, he would one day die a peaceful death. But he knew the gods to be all too cruel.
Tyrus bled the magic out of the air as the pressure grew, shaping and forming it, taking the stones of the floor and walls and carving beautiful images into them with Catherine's magic. She would learn to create. Her magic would learn to create. He was not going to give it a choice.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 14:05:29 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 14:05:29 GMT -6
Creation wasn't what Catherine wanted though, she was more interested in making Tyrus pay for what she saw as a slight against her. "And yet you still hold your allegiances to them." She mocked, her tone cruel and cold. "What have I wasted time and breath for? This?" She asked directing an onslaught towards him. Catherine was very quickly loosing control again, and Tyrus was the focus this time.
"Do you know how many times I prayed to whatever was out there, that someone take this away from me? That I have a normal life?" Her mind was all too eager to replay a series of every mistake she had ever made, large or small, in fine detail again. "I resigned myself to that hell hole, it was what I deserved.. and yet here we are. It is so strange how history repeats..."
Control wouldn't likely come until underlying mental fears and anguishes were addressed. Even then it would likely be a challenge of epic proportions for all involved.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 14:11:37 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 14:11:37 GMT -6
"As if I have ever had a choice." He directed the onslaught on, the carvings becoming more and more fine and detailed. "As if I've ever had a choice in anything I can do. I've been a pawn of a court since I was kidnapped from my birth family, Catherine! Saving you? That was my choice. Do you think you're the only one who wants a normal life? That wants the power taken away? Do you know what I would give to be mundane." She couldn't. He never spoke of it. He never wanted to.
This would keep happening. This room was going to be torn to shreds but this. This was what he had been seeking to push her to for months. "We don't get to have normal lives, Catherine. You and I are cursed! That doesn't mean we let the curse control us." He refused. He had enough things controlling his life, enough expectations heaped upon him, enough requirements to be whatever the court desired him to be or suffer. But that didn't mean he was going to let this curse control him.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 14:27:08 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 14:27:08 GMT -6
Catherine scowled at Tyrus, still clearly angry. His words hadn't done much more that add fuel to an already dangerous fire. "At least.. you are human." She finally said. She likely could have dealt with the other things, if the circumstances of her birth had not been heaped on top of it all. "But I'm quite certain that Klein already told you that one... untrustworthy bastard that he is."
She didn't talk about any if at all of where she came from, or her family history. Catherine did everything she could to be tight lipped and close mouthed about any personal details for fear that they would be used against her as they had in the past. "Normal? I have seen normal.. I have had normal.. and it was taken away! Is it so much to ask that I be allowed to live a life out without this.. this insanity?!"
When things with Izaak had been good, they had been very good. It had been one of the few times that she had been content, but after the divorce and she had been asked to pick up the pieces without help; like so many other women in her circumstances had. She knew that Izaak was the one who blamed her for the marriage falling apart, and she had accepted it without question.
Catherine was growing tired, and more than likely couldn't keep putting out such vast quantities of magic much longer. Her reserves had long since been depleted and restoring them would take some time.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 14:36:28 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 14:36:28 GMT -6
"Human? In what way am I human? You can't be a human and hold the magic I do." He didn't know what he was, but it wasn't human, however much he looked like on. "And Klein didn't need to tell me you're not human. Not that he told me anything more than your emergency contact. I assumed you were fae." She had the magic for it. They both did. He didn't know if she was fae or not. But he had assumed so on seeing her contacts name. "I've been acting like you're fae. How do you think I got that prick councilor talked around? The fae bastard never listens to me." And he had folded like a house of cards on being told it was for Catherine.
He continued to direct the magic, seeing her weaken. "I'm glad you got to see normal. But I'm afraid for people like you and me, there is no way out of the insanity. There's only controlling it. And you will need to learn to control it." And he was going to teach her no matter how much it was going to suck for both of them.
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 15:15:44 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 15:15:44 GMT -6
"Edavane will do anything to stay in Tatiana's good graces, the man is insufferable, but knowledgeable." Catherine explained as pain began to bloom behind her eyes, making it hard to think, much-less see. This always happened after she used high levels of magic for far longer than she was able to sustain it. Grimacing with discomfort and a swears far more fitting of a woman far below her stature, the magic suddenly died, leaving her breathless and exhausted.
"I... was raised...by the fae, but am not fae." She finally said between gasps for air. Why was this so hard and why did he continue to push her to the breaking point? It had been everything she could do to not be pulled under by the torrent of magic that so eagerly come at her bidding. "Tatiana... oh christ... why is this so bloody hard." Catherine groaned, her legs feeling weak and unstable. She was going to kill Tyrus for this if that was the last thing she did. He pushed and pushed, but still was never satisfied.
"My father was loyal to the Seelie crown, Oberon saw him as a son and placed him as his second in command." She added sitting down on a nearby footstool that had managed to survive the dispute. "During his travels... my father came to my village. They had planned to use me as a sacrifice to the village gods, as they decided I was to blame for the drought that had ruined their crops." Catherine placed her head in her hands, trying to will the pain and breathlessness to subside. "My mother had died not long after I was born you see, and her family left me to my own devices as soon as I was old enough." They had wanted nothing to do with what had in the end ultimately killed their daughter.
"Lord McBride adopted me as his own, and raised me as his own. But I am not fae, that would be better than a dhampir."
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 15:23:54 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 15:23:54 GMT -6
Tyrus walked to her side. "Headache? If you'll let me touch your temples, I can take it away." He said, offering. "And hey, at least you know what you are. The ritual my parents did on me? I'm not human anymore. I don't know what I am." He held his hand out, ready to heal if she'd let him. "It was nice to meet your grandmother. I hope she'll like the art you made." The magic had abated enough now. He didn't have to redirect it any more. He grinned slightly, if not happily.
"You've survived this far. And you're doing amazing, even when I push. Look around you. I directed your magic to carve, Catherine, but you chose the shapes." And it was beautiful, in depth. Tyrus wasn't entirely certain where the images had come from, what she had chosen to carve with her magic, but they were beautiful, people he didn't recognize, places he had never seen. "And dhampir or not. You're a good person."
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 16:41:34 GMT -6
Post by Circe on Jul 21, 2019 16:41:34 GMT -6
She wanted to wipe the stupid grin off his face, it was aggravating that she had allowed him somehow to have his way. "Wipe that idiotic smirk off your face mage." Catherine said smacking his hand away. That was the last thing she wanted to see today.
"But.. it is uncertain if it will be appreciated, or not." She sighed looking at the walls. Lord or rather Sir William McBride had been very well respected among the fae, and he had led from a position of experience and not just authority. Oberon had been well loved as a kind, but firm ruler and had deeply loved his queen. The seelie people and culture were vastly different from the rest of the unseen. They were not nearly as prone to offense, and quick to forgive if the offense was an honest mistake. Kindness received was kindness given back in return. However, they also could hold a grudge against those who had offended them. Many of the nobility were still apt to using humans as play things when bored, even if it was mostly harmless mischief.
"And grandmother likes guests... even if they are unconventional." She added tiredly. "I was not subjected to the ritual, whatever it is. We did not have one 1500 years ago, I was just unfortunate enough to be born when I was."
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Fury
Jul 21, 2019 16:49:34 GMT -6
Post by demikara on Jul 21, 2019 16:49:34 GMT -6
"Be glad. It had very specific requirements that are actually incredibly stupid." That he had been the unlucky kid to meet them was not exactly something he was proud of. He let his hand drop and looked around. "Well, if she doesn't like it, I'll smooth it over. No harm done." The room might be a little, well, wider than before, but it would be smooth again. He could manage that well enough. Still it would be a fun exercise.
"I'm glad she likes guests. If she has suitable training areas here, we can stay here instead. But given how often I'm going to have to push you to make certain you can hold up even under emotional strain...." It may not be the safest. A nice abandoned countryside was one thing. The middle of a palace was another entirely.
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