kingdoms_of_auradon | Getting Down To Business

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Getting Down To Business

Who: Lea and Aqua in one thread, Lea and anyone in the others
When: After the memory event, but before the next Isle trip
Where: Various places, see thread prompts
What: Now that the days are getting longer and the possibility of not being stuck inside any more looks imminent, Lea is feeling motivated. Time to get things done, some of which he's been putting off for awhile.
Warnings: Feels probably in the thread with Aqua. Otherwise, we'll see.

Fire And Water- Closed to Aqua

Another training session in the gym, virtually indistinguishable from most of the others since they'd been stuck inside. Though, this time, Lea hung back afterwards, looking thoughtful. "Aqua?", he said. "If you've got a few minutes, there's some things I want to talk to you about."

Magitek For Fun And Profit

Lea reading isn't that rare of a sight, but when one does spot him, he's usually curled up in one of the library's comfy chairs or stretched out the common room sofa with a cup of tea and either a stack of comic books or a YA novel or two. But today, Lea's seated at one of the library's tables. The cup of tea is still present nearby but his attitude is different, as is his choice of reading material. The book open in front of him looks more like a textbook or other nonfiction title than anything else, and he has a open notebook and pen right at hand, occasionally pausing in his reading to note things down. What is it that could have given Lea of all people the urge to study?

Let The Sun Shine In

Lea was walking through the greenhouse, but at present, his focus wasn't on any of the plants. Instead, he was looking up, carefully directing his magic to melt any lingering patches of snow on the roof. He knew his way around well enough to avoid stepping on any flowerbeds or bumping into tables, planters, or equipment racks. Most of the time, the only interruption might be if the ent got a little too curious about his hair, but that had mostly been solved by a few well placed colorful bangles hung from the ceiling on strings. But looking up does tend to make it easy to run into people or other non-stationary obstacles that might be on the walkways. Assuming you're not just trying to figure out what he's looking at.

Let There Be Light

Lea was rummaging through one of the supply closets, apparently looking for something. And without much success, by the sound of it. "Come on, they've gotta be here someplace," he said. "You'd think a school like this would have a whole crate or something of spares sitting around, but nooo..."

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"Eh, magical theory has never been my strong point," he said. "In fact when it comes to anything besides fire I'm kinda mediocre, magically speaking; I have been making an effort to expand my repertoire, but I'm always gonna be more of a physical fighter than a mage. The only reason I'm so good with fire is probably the weird way I got my powers in the first place."

Cassidy thought a moment, brushing the tail of her braid against her chin. "Perhaps I can help?"

Lea quirked an eyebrow. "How exactly?", he said. "I mean, I'm guessing some kind of magic lessons, but beyond that..."

"A lesson, yes. As a Queen, one of my responsibilities is to the education of others. You aren't one of my people, but I am still willing to offer if I can help. And if your concern is how weak my magic is, I assure you I have taught those stronger than me before." She fiddled with the Rose Jewel on her necklace, her fingers still dirty from the soil.

"I'm not worried about power," Lea said. "Compatibility though, might be an issue; not every world or race thinks about or works with magic the same way. Like for example, I couldn't learn magic from a moogle; my world's people actually tried that early on, but how moogles use magic is tied to their biology and requires parts a human just doesn't have. And more locally, the way Malia uses magic is really intuitive, while magic use where I'm from is very structured. Something like that could make it really hard to mesh the two, or apply the ideas of one system to another."

"Then... isn't it good to try and learn from as many sources as you can because you can never tell which one would help?" Grey asked.

Cassidy smiled and rested a hand on her husband's hand, giving him a warm look before turning to Lea again. "We have something like that at home as well. It is almost impossible for someone not born a Black Widow to learn a Black Widow's craft. And until Deamon Sadi was born, no male had ever been a natural Black Widow. In all our history only two males have ever learned the craft of a Black Widow. Healers are similar. While anyone with magic can learn some basic healing craft, there are some abilities biologically tied to being born a Healer. There are some abilities only males have and some only females have. But we can still learn something from each other, even if we can't all do the same things. I am a Queen, but not a Healer, not a Black Widow. But my training still included time with both Black Widows and Healers." She winced a bit. "That was a speech, wasn't it. Sorry."

"I never said I was against trying it," Lea said. "Mostly we just need to figure out how to approach it, so we don't end up wasting a bunch of time with false starts."

"And it was a bit of one, but it's actually pretty interesting so it's fine. Though unless your Black Widows are actual spider-people or something, I doubt they're as different as humans and moogles. And my people did learn something from moogles, namely how to use magic crystals in crafting and synthesis. I used to help my dad do that sometimes; he ran an accessory shop, and made some of his own stock."

"Anyway, how about we finish up here, then head to the gym or something? Even if I wasn't concerned about the plants getting damaged, a room made of glass prooobably isn't the best place to be experimenting with magic when you don't know if it's gonna backfire or not."

"I am not sure what a moogle is," she admitted. "A Black Widow however is a member of the Blood with a snake tooth and venom sac under her fingernail. She has different needs, and different resistances to poisons. Black Widows can often identify a poison used even from a small sample. They are also the only Caste who can spin Tangled Webs."

As to his suggestion she nodded. "Meet you there in an hour?" she asked.

"Cassidy...."

"Grey," she returned cooly.

Grey looked stubborn and mulish and crossed his arms.

Cassidy sighed. "Fine. I suppose I've don enough. For now." she stood and touched her hat. It vanished.

"Cassie," Grey snapped.

She gave him a look of sweet venom. "If I'm going inside somewhere that does not have a glass roof I do not need to wear a hat," she said in a tone that sounded both simple and... like putting her foot down. She turned and offred Lea her arm. "Shall we?"

Lea nodded thoughtfully at the description of Black Widows. "Is that under all their fingernails?", he asked. "Or just one or two? And I'm guessing 'Tangled Webs' are more metaphorical than like... actual spiderwebs?"

"As for Moogles, they don't really look anything like humans at all. I've actually got a book with a picture of one in it so I can show you later, but for now... picture something that looks like a cross between a cat and a teddy bear, with white or cream colored fur, a big pink nose, squinty eyes, little purple bat wings, and pompom attached to a little dingaly-bob on top of its head. That's basically a moogle."

After that, Lea just found himself kind of... glancing back and forth between the two of them during their low key argument. If you could really even call it that. He got the distinct impression was missing something, but wisely decided not to ask.

Then Cassidy offered him her arm and, still slightly bemused, he replied, "Sure, OK." Which led to a slightly awkward moment where he tried to decide if he should straight up hook elbows with her or just kind of rest his hand there, the way he had when escorting Diatu's headmistress at the dance. He opted for the latter- something about her just felt a little too 'fancy' for the former- and headed back inside. He could come take care of the last of the snow later.

It did seem the correct choice indeed as she walked with him as though he had done just what she had expected. "Only under the nail of the ring finger of their dominant hand," she explained. "as for Tangled Webs, the physical component does often look like a web with Jewels," she said with a nod. "However the effects of it... what you describe sounds like an illusion from a Tangled Web more than any real creature I could have imagined. Tangled Webs hav a few different uses, from illusions to glimpses into the future. It makes Black Widows a very powerful Caste of Witches to have around. And given how many of them seem to tend towards sharper wits and tempers, they can be a bit... frightening I suppose, to someone not used to them. Part of my training as Queen though involved four months in the Hall," she aid with a bit of a reluctant chuckle. "For polish, but also for experience dealing with Demon Dead, dealing with those who reside so far into the Abyss most of us would shatter before coming close, and dealing with all manner of powers and personalities. All where the High Lord could keep a watch to make sure a mistake was a lesson learned rather than a death sentence."

Though her word were grim and her expression serious, her tone... she sounded very much like someone grumpily talking about family members she loved but was frustrated with for most of it. At the end though... she spoke of the High Lord with respect. Not fear. But also not as casually as she spoke of the rest.

Lea nodded his understanding. "Illusion magic tends to take some specialized skills where I'm from too," he said. "Ienzo's really good at it, or at least he was when he was Zexion, but then he's a bona-fide prodigy; magic comes as naturally as breathing to him. Don't think it can be used to see the future the way we do it though."

He frowned thoughtfully at the rest of it though. "I wonder if your world's Abyss is anything like my world's Realm of Darkness? The Realm of Darkness is where Heartless originate and is generally not a place you wanna wander too far into if you can help it. Time and physics are all of kilter there; it's super weird. I never went beyond what we call the Dark Margin myself, and even then only once."

"I am unsure what you mean by Heartless, but I can assure you that some of the Darkest people in our history have also proven to be the kindest to most people. Oh I'm certain that in war or defending someone they could be brutal in ways I can't even imagine... but they took in a Rose Queen and actually cared for me and helped me, just because I happened to be related to my cousin Aaron. It was... something I never would have expected, honestly. I understand why some people are afraid of them... but I also understand why most people who have spent time with them... aren't."

Her lips twitched a bit. "It is rather hard to be terrified of the High Lord when he has been cornered by his chef because a wolf ate the meal she had been preparing when her back is turned." A broader smile. "From the stories I'v hard that wasn't even the first time it had happened."

"OK, definitely not like the Realm of Darkness then," he said. "There's nothing in the Realm of Darkness that's friendly to anyone, and it's definitely not a place where anyone is just hanging out and cooking dinner, with or without wolves."

"As for Heartless, I'm not talking about like... people who are mean and cruel or something. I'm talking Heartless with a capitol 'H'. They're a type of monster or creature that's essentially made of darkness. What they're called is actually something of a misnomer though, since any that don't spawn naturally in the Realm of Darkness are formed when a person's heart is completely consumed by darkness and effectively collapses in on itself. They reproduce by attacking people and ripping out their hearts so those hearts are then consumed by darkness and form new Heartless. Only good thing about them really is that they're stupid; they can't really think, just act on instinct like wild animals. Unfortunately their instinct is to seek out hearts and make more Heartless, so... yeah, they tend to be a major problem anywhere they show up."

"I have... never heard of any such thing..." she said, perplexed. "How does one fight them? Do you have to b as Dark as they are? Or could even someone like me be able to protect myself and those with me?" she asked, ignoring the growling sound coming from Grey behind them.

"Well they're not immune to magic or weapons, generally," he said. "So anything you might normally use to fend off an attacker will do for self defense purposes. Weapons with a magical element to them do tend to do better though, since they're not exactly corporeal. That's really only a short term solution though."

"See, smacking them down will definitely save your butt in the immediate fight, but it doesn't do anything about the source of the problem. If it's not done a certain way, the Heartless you dissipated in the fight will just reform and pop up again awhile later. And adding more darkness to the mix would only compound the problem; it'd be like throwing kerosene on a fire. That's part of why it's so freaking hard to actually get rid of them once they've got a foothold in a world."

"The only way to get rid of them permanently is to purify and release the corrupted hearts, and the only weapon we've found that can do that is a Keyblade. Destroy a Heartless with a Keyblade, and it purifies the darkness and releases the hearts, stopping them from forming new Heartless. There's maybe one other way to do it, but it's super conditional and only seven people out of my entire World's population at any given time could even hope to pull it off, so for all practical purposes, Keyblades are it."

"Sounds like Janelle, and her family," she murmured, considering. "Alright then, where do I get one of these Keyblades and how can I start training? Would you be teaching me?"

Cassidy had no idea how ironic that question was. "I'm sure Aqua would love it if I said yes," he said. "She's really into the idea of me being a Keyblade Master someday. But no, I wouldn't be doing it. If anyone it'd be Aqua doing the teaching."

"But getting a Keyblade isn't that simple. You can't just go to a Keyblade shop and pick one up or something. A Keyblade is a weapon that's more an extension of its wielder's heart than a physical sword; something that's manifested rather than built. You could maybe be given the potential to manifest one, but after that you're kinda on your own. And frankly I'm not sure you'd even be able to do that much; Keyblades are generally light-based, at least initially, so if your powers are darkness-based, it might not be compatible, even assuming Aqua or I was willing to try it. And while I can't speak for Aqua, I'm not, for a lot of reasons."

"Light based magic...?" She was so confused. "And.. why not if I may ask?"

"Yeah," he said. "I mean it's no Holy or Ars Arcanum, but it tends to lean that way." Realizing belatedly that those spell names would mean nothing to her, he unhooked his arm and stepped a bit to the said. "Hang on a sec; I'll show you."

Stepping a bit clear of her and Grey, he summoned his Keyblade to his hand. As usual, it appeared in a flash of sparkles. And then, a bit ahead of them, he used the Keyblade to open a portal of light for them to see. "This is what I mean," he said. "It's not connected to anything here, any more than dark corridors are, but this is a portal of light generated by Keyblades that back home would let someone travel between worlds. Or between different locations on the same world."

He'd answer her other question in a moment, but for now was focused on his little demonstration.

Edited 2025-05-02 04:59 (UTC)

"You can make a Gate between realms?!" Everything else was forgotten for the moment. Because that... should have been impossible. Even Jaenelle had never tried something like that as far as she knew.

In this case, Cassidy was actually incorrect, but no one here knew better.

"Depends on what exactly you mean by 'realms'," Lea said. "My world has a set up that I've realized is kind of unique. It used to all be one world, like most are, a long time ago, but that world was destroyed in a massive war. What was recreated after it is a lot of smaller worlds that are parts of the old bigger one. The smaller worlds are mostly sealed off from one another, but the inherent connection they still share means that travel between them is difficult, but not impossible if you know how. Most of the smaller worlds aren't even aware of the others' existence though, so the number of people with that know-how is a pretty short list."

"The world 'realm' there specifically describes where these smaller worlds are located. There's three realms: the Realm of Light, the Realm of Darkness, and the Realm Between. The Realm of Light is where most worlds are located and consequently where most people live. The Realm Between is a lot smaller and has a lot fewer worlds; and because it exists between the Realms of Light and Darkness, a lot of the worlds that are there have unique properties. Like for example, there's Traverse Town, a world that only appears when someone is lost or traveling between worlds and needs a refuge. The Realm of Darkness, meanwhile, I already described to you a bit. It doesn't have any proper worlds and it just kinda one big space saturated with darkness where time and space as we know them just don't work right. It's where Heatless come from and no one could really live there. A very weird, icky place."

"So in the context of my own word? Yes, a Keyblade portal or dark corridor could allow someone to travel between realms. But there's a fairly good chance that 'realms' might mean something different in your world."

"Yes.... I suspect it does. We have three realms as well, however and on the surface..." she frowned a bit. "There is Terreille, it used to be known as the Realm Of The Light, though I am not sure why. It was the realm most devastated by the end of the war. That is where the Territory I currently rule is. Shalador Nehele. Prince Theran Grayhaven came to the Shadow Realm to ask Prince Sadi for help to rebuild his lands." She sighed, considered adding to that just how badly Theran put his foot in it after, and then decided Lea probably had no interest in such sordid drama.

"Then there is the Shadow Realm, Kaeleer. That's where I am from. In the Territory of Dharo. Fifty thousand years ago, when the Dark Priestess began the war, Kaeleer distanced itself from Terreille and there were many in Terrille who knew of it only as myth and legend apparently. Which is really odd to learn about your own home," she said with a hint of a smile as she shook her head. "Even within Kaeleer individual Territories further isolated themselves. The Kindred, for example. Most of the Kindred who had Territories of their own intentionally pushed their homes into myth and legend, not wanting to be drawn into what they saw at the time as a exclusively Human conflict. The Unicorns, the Arcerians, and the Weavers most of all. Other Kindred, such as Horses and Scelties hid themselves among their Landen counterparts, letting Humans and the other races forget they existed at all. Even some of the races that most would consider Human isolated themselves. The Dea Al Mon, also known as the Children Of The Wood among them. As well as the Paw Islands, the Saytars, and the Centaurs. Fractured, the Shadow Realm actually survived the war largely unscathed until about fifty years ago. Mayb a little longer. Because the Territories so rarely communicated, the taint couldn't spread as easily as it could in the Realm Of Light. Also the protectors in the Shadow Realm were generally stronger, and more alert to danger."

A small sad smile, eyes a bit misty and distant. She shook herself and continued. "For some reason I cannot say the name of the Dark Realm while we are here. Neither can Grey and neither of us know why. But that Realm sounds similar to what you describe as your Realm of Darkness. To a point. I've never been there myself, but I spent a few months of my training at the Dark Court, because my cousin Aaron who is a First Escort requested it, and the Queen agreed. Since the Steward of the Dark Court is also the High Lord of..." her mouth stumbled and she sighed. "The Dark Realm," she said finally, "I was taught about it. Part of why I trained at the Dark Court was specifically to learn about the proper Protocol for interacting with the Demon Dead. And that was where they mostly stayed, with a few notable exceptions. There isn't much in the way of division of Territory in the Dark Realm. There is SaDiablo Hall, of course. But The High Lord built that in all three Realms before the war. And there is the Harpy's territory. And a small Isle that the High Lord left to his ex wife that no longer exists. Oh, and the Cildru Dyathe Isle. But other than the Harpy's area, none of them were really Territories, and the High Lord ruled over all of it. Again, excluding the Harpies. As the High Lord once said, it does not matter who the man is, he yields before the Harpy Queen. Especially when she is Dia Al Mon. I... don't know what is still there other than the High Hall though, because most of the Demon Dead in the Dark Realm sacrificed themselves to help Witch end the war."

She considered as she absently played with the end of her braid.

"The realms are connected by the thirteen Gates. Priestesses are generally trained to open the Gates, and few others are. Though legend says that if someone was born in the wrong realm the Gates themselves would recognize that and push them through. I know a few non-priestesses who know how to work the Gates though. Which considering how many of the Priestesses died one way or another in the war... is probably a good thing."

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Getting Down To Business

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CW: war mentions, death mentions