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Post by Circe on Feb 7, 2021 21:20:49 GMT -6
"Yes, English." Catherine acknowledged. At least she could halfway understand that, even if the person speaking it made little sense to her. Focusing on her own food, she almost didn't hear Tyrus's offer to clean the sites. They had made quite a mess of things hadn't they? It was generally unavoidable given how tightly tied to the veil they both were, Catherine especially. She didn't know what made her so unique, she just knew that Tyrus had had a ritual done ot him at a certain time when he was still very young.
"If you wish to do that, feel free." She remarked as she cut a piece of venison on her plate. At one time it might have been a trencher or piece of bread, but once the fae discovered that the humans had created beautiful porcelain things like plates, they soon came up with their own. The trade between the two realms eventually stalled out as soon as kings stopped appointing court magicians, or magicians masquerading as scientists at the very least. Consequently, the realm was left to continue to develop on its own, diverging from the humans and eventually coming into a vastly different identity from the other.
In addition to the venison and other foods, Catherine had had the foresight to ask that the blood from butchering the animals be preserved. It was an usual request thankfully, and the staff thought little of it. There were some traditions after all that dictated that if you consumed the blood of a particular animal that it would impart certain things. The cook had just shrugged and assumed that it had something to do with her now white haired companion, and Catherine seeking to aleeviate whatever trauma had happened to the mage.
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Post by demikara on Feb 8, 2021 10:24:46 GMT -6
There was blood at the table, and a line of tension eased as Tyrus quietly poured some for himself. It was more than enough, though he didn't want to bring attention to the fact that he was drinking it. He took a sip and noted the flavor. Animal blood. He wouldn't get as much from it as he would from a human, but it would be enough to stave off the hunger at least. It didn't take him long to finish his glass. Perhaps the blood explained the look earlier. Asking for it was a sure sign that he was neither human nor fae after all. The mage had a feeling they hadn't had to deal with a vampire before. He sipped his water to clear the taste from his palate and then ate more of the meat.
"Considering I left small toy soldiers behind, I think it may be wise. I should at least undo the transfigurations." There was a moment as he considered what else to say. "Do fae children have toy soldiers?" He didn't actually know. He had little wooden ones as a boy, carved to resemble his parents people. Most of his toys had been reproductions of ancient egyptian toys, or things to encourage him to magic and fighting. He hadn't actually had much of a choice in toys, and had no clue what modern children played with.
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Post by Circe on Feb 8, 2021 18:37:15 GMT -6
Catherine considered Tyrus's question for a moment, trying to remember if anyone of the children in the village she had known had had such toys. She was fairly certain that they had, but they hadn't ever been a thing she was interested in. Sure, she had spent her fair share of time tumbling around with the other children and playing games with them, but that had quickly ended once she reached a certain age. Then it was lessons and instruction on the various things necessary for a young woman of her station to learn.
"I believe they do... but it's been a very long time since I was that young." She finally answered. This was probably a question better posed to someone like Molly, significantly younger and with significantly more experience as a normal child.
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Post by demikara on Feb 8, 2021 18:41:58 GMT -6
"Then at least they won't stick out too much if someone stumbles on them in the meantime." They'd still stick out somewhat, but it would be better and less obvious. That was all he could really ask for. The mage considered what else they could talk about as he ate his food. It really was good. Catherine had an excellent cook. She was fairly lucky in that regard, as far as he was concerned. Grigore had dismissed the court cook rather violently on his ascension, with a declaration that they would all subsist on blood alone.
Not that his heirs paid that particular declaration an ounce of attention. Hunting for enough food to sustain him and his magic without killing someone would take entirely too long if he didn't eat mundane food as well. "You seem to have come out the other side of everything okay. Were there any side effects for you?" Or was it just him, again.
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Post by Circe on Feb 8, 2021 18:56:20 GMT -6
"Very few use that path through the forest." She replied slowly, pushing the remains of her meal around on the plate. Catherine was still very much trying not to think about what she had seen and what she had heard. It shouldn't have even been possible, and yet it had. There were few, if any instances of such a thing happening, which was very quickly found out to be the product of a mad man's raving. This latest solstice had left Catherine concerned for her own mind and its stability.
"And I guess so, no artificial ley pools this time." Though she wouldn't have considered what had happened normal.
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Post by demikara on Feb 8, 2021 19:00:31 GMT -6
He finished his meal and put his fork down. "Good. That was the main idea in coming here. Nothing seems to clean up the two on the ranch." He had tried, but they seemed to just draw more magic to them. At least the magic was a relatively stable amount. It filled up to a certain level and stopped. "I'm glad the fae realm can take it. I wish my body could take it better though." He ran a hand over his snow white hair and sighed. "Dye is probably not going to fix this, is it?" He had never tried to dye magically shocked hair before. He doubted magic would fix the color either.
It was going to be very obvious something very magical had happened to him over the solstice and he had no idea how he was going to explain what happened to Grigore. He'd have to come up with some sort of failed experiment that left him in one piece but struck through by magic.
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Post by Circe on Feb 8, 2021 19:16:16 GMT -6
Catherine sighed again and looked across the table at Tyrus. "I've never tried. Mine has been like that for some time.. at least it has since, well the incident." She wasn't sure what else to call it, except an incident. That tended to distract from the fact that she had near lost her mind, and had slaughtered anyone who had stood in her way without pause for concern or remorse. As far as she was concerned, it was their fault that he was dead and the magic had reveled in being used on such a large scale.
The sheer amount that Catherine had managed to channel through from the veil and live, was what had turned her white. It had been a lovely and warm honeyed blonde, kept quite long and straight before everything had happened. A thing that had often grabbed and held men's attention, like her ex-husband's. Now though, it was bone white and she hadn't even bothered to hide it. To Catherine it was her scarlet letter, evidence of her sins and crimes, and that she should be judged appropriately.
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Post by demikara on Feb 8, 2021 19:20:07 GMT -6
"I suppose nothing to do but try." He murmured. Then he grimaced. "Preferably before returning to fucking court." Grigore was not blind and would notice. It had been luck alone that he hadn't noticed Tyrus couldn't see in color anymore. Luck and careful planning at least. It would take careful planning to avoid Grigore's ire for being out of communication as it was. They were lucky he had never planned anything for the solstice. That would have been impossible to get out of and impossible to attend at the same time.
"I wonder if all veil born end up with white hair, eventually." They may be attached the the veil after all, but that didn't mean their bodies could channel all the magic of the veil. He could channel a decent amount, he knew, but that was the result of long practice from the time he was very young.
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Post by Circe on Feb 8, 2021 19:27:35 GMT -6
Returning to the court was not high on Catherine's list of priorities, especially since it involved dealing with a mad man who was so intent on erasing everything relating to the man who had actually raised her.
"I saw him." She finally blurted out, unable to ignore it any longer. The veil was thin in places, but it didn't mean that it was between life and death. That was the god's own realm, and something that Catherine often chose to firmly ignore and distance herself from. As far as she was concerned, those gods had done very little for her, and given the amount of power she had just at her fingertips alone it wasn't surprising Catherine thought that way. "Logically... I know it was a product of the solar noon and my own insanity.. but.. still." She had wanted so badly for it to be true.
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Post by demikara on Feb 8, 2021 19:31:10 GMT -6
"Him?" She saw someone apparently due to the magic. "Who did you see?" That wasn't a good thing, especially given her history. It was surely just a product of the veil though. It had already scoured her of color once, surely it would extract a different price. And it sounded like it had extracted some price from her, and not one that was any good.
If she was seeing things, then perhaps she was a little too unstable to really be up and about. It didn't sound like she was still seeing them but...the veil had apparently pulled someone, some image, from her mind and reproduced it. That was. That was dangerous. That was incredibly dangerous and significantly worse than having to speak his mother tongue or having his hair go white.
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Post by Circe on Feb 8, 2021 20:22:51 GMT -6
"Him." Catherine confirmed. "It was like I was a child again.. and I had run away. He had let me have my fun and had come to check on me and bring me home." She of course was talking about her father, a man who she rarely mentioned in passing, preferring to not be seen as a spoiled councilor's daughter or nobleman's heir. That wasn't to say that she hadn't loved him, it was saying that she learned very early and quickly the reputation that some names and some families carried with them.
"I know he's... dead..but it seemed so very real."
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Post by demikara on Feb 8, 2021 20:34:34 GMT -6
Oh, her father. That was definitely concerning. He was dead and she had seen a dead person. "Maybe the veil pulled from your memory. We don't really know how...sentient magic is. It's certainly not without some sort of force behind it, at least. Especially at the levels we deal with on the solstice." It made sense that it would seem real, if it pulled from her memories. It could have been a memory she had after all, made real without he even knowing.
He didn't know. But it sounded far more horrific than what he had dealt with. "I'm sure you're fine though." She had to be worried about her mental state, especially with her history.
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Post by Circe on Feb 9, 2021 9:00:20 GMT -6
Catherine had repeatedly told herself that it was just a product borne from the chaos and sheer magnitude of the magic at the solstice. It didn't help that she had let her mind wander to happier times either. A time when there wasn't an entity like the Council watching her every move with scrutiny and individuals like Grigore doing their best to ensure they could watch the world burn. "I don't know... it seemed... real." She said shaking her head. Time was supposedly the great equalizer that healed all wounds, but all Catherine felt was an emptiness where her father used to be. "If... my mind... my magic," She hesitated, her mouth twisting with disgust around the word magic. "Can do that, then I will gladly give it up." But it would be impossible, she was as much a part of the veil as it was a part of her. There were days when she wondered what would have happened if she'd never been granted so much power.
"But that's the thing though, I don't know if I am. I don't know if everything is fine, not after that."
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Post by demikara on Feb 9, 2021 9:07:23 GMT -6
He hesitated a moment. "I know...I know our line is predisposed to...well, madness." It was pretty clear Grigore was crazy, and both Scotty and Catherine had ended up in Broadmoore, drugged into calmness. "But I don't think this was that. At most, it was the magic taking advantage of, well, our big weakness." He meditated daily, trying to know his mind, so he could control his magic and keep an eye out for any signs of magic. "I know it's mostly a mundane practice. But there are some therapist out there that are part of the unseen. Maybe that would help?" He considered it himself. It would be a good thing for him to go, more than likely.
He wasn't sure what else could. It didn't sound like madness though, not when he added in the knowledge of the solstice. "You seem stable now, if it helps." Uncertain, but stable.
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Post by Circe on Feb 9, 2021 15:54:48 GMT -6
Catherine just shook her head, "I don't know..." If the Council got even the faintest hint about what had happened, they'd have her back in Broadmoore sooner rather than later. She had already violated the parole in a major way, not to mention quickly found herself allied with not the fae, but the Dragon court who could be down right hostile to anything MCU or Council.
"I didn't even know that it was an issue until it was one." She added. No one had known much if anything about her background before she'd been adopted by the fae, and more specifically the McBride family. Every time the Council had asked, she had told them the truth, that she didn't know and that she would have told them if she did. Catherine had been taught honesty was generally best, even if it wasn't the most palatable option, especially with the Council. It gave them less rope to hang oneself with if it ever came to that, and often it did if someone had decided to take exception to the rule.
All in all though, she supposed he might be right. There was so little they knew about the veil, except that the fae guarded it and supposedly had woven it. Unlike Tyrus though, Catherine had decidedly little experience with magic and knew enough to satisfy the Council for her Warden's exam requirements. Even then, what few bits and pieces she had known had been more than adequate. The Council had just been content she'd passed and they could add a psychic to their small list of Warden's. At that time they hadn't cared about what she was, and only marginally about who.
"But maybe you are right, and I'm weak and thus the magic saw fit to take advantage."
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