tushanshu | [radio]

We did it! He's still alive! I felt--no, better than that, I heard him!

[She sounded tired, but only physically. Just barely out of breath. Still, even that couldn't contain the excitement to her tone as she barely waited until the radio had turned on before addressing the network.]

[Allowing a full second for that bombshell to properly sink in, she collected her thoughts and elaborated.]

The spell I was suggesting. The one to see if there was something magical interfering? It worked. We got through, and I heard Asti's voice calling to me, begging for help. It was faint...like it was coming from far away--no, lots of far aways. [Wait, no, that didn't make sense, either.] Like his voice was...I don't know...fractured?

Anyways, that wasn't all. I also had another Vision. It wasn't like the last one. I'm not even sure anybody else but me saw it. There were stones. Black and White ones. They were forming arches at this underwater crossroad...only some of them looked like they were brand new, while others looked close to falling apart.

I think Asti sent it to me. But I don't know what it could mean. Second, third, and any other opinions are welcome on this one.

((ooc: Because of the nature of the subject in particular, Threadjacking to allow for open discussions is not only cool with me, but I even encourage it! Spread the word~))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So he yet lives? This is good news.

Though the thought of his conscious being fragmented is... disturbing to say the least.

[He's been here a few days and he's already mother-henning over a giant turtle.]

Are you alright?

[Disturbing, yes, but it meant that Asti wasn't dead. There was still a chance to save him.]

Great, actually.

I can honestly say I haven't felt this good in years. [Which may or may not have had something to do with the subsequent power boost that came with breaking the barrier down.]

This is wonderful to hear.

Is there any plan in the works for helping Asti? When it comes to matters of a fragmented mind, I can imagine there will be many difficult factors.

[Unfortunately, so could she. Which is why she shook her head.]

Not yet, no.

I did what I knew how to do. I took a look. From this point on, everything's way beyond my magical knowledge.

[There's a worried 'Hmm' from Klaus's end. Is someone giving themselves ulcers? Why yes indeedy!]

Sadly I don't have access to Libra's considerable Library.

[Or even Abrams's vast knowledge of these subjects.] How long has Asti been like this?

[No, stop that. With the ulcers. No ulcers allowed. Especially over something this trivial. ~~Yes, trivial.~~ There would be time for ulcers, but first--]

[Oh. Wait. Actually, she did know the answer to that. Somewhat.]

It's hard to say. And it depends on what he was like before the Final Battle with Malicant.

That was...let's see...oh, man, that was definitely over a year ago, since we were stuck in the Dreaming realm about that long. And we came back from that 'bout half a year ago. Maybe a little longer. Seven, eight months, max. We hadn't heard a word from him until Valdis' major Vision the other day. Some people thought he might've been dead, because the Turtle was starting to sink.

[Which, they now knew, wasn't true.]

[...well, the dead part. The sinking part was still true, last time she checked.

Before then, I'm not sure if anybody knows for certain. There's still a lot of debate over how long Malicant was in control before anybody really noticed.

[He can worry himself sick if he damn well pleases!]

Starting to sink is... well that's definitely not good.

What was Malicant like? His intentions? All I've heard about the wretched man was that there was a fight with him and some people still worship him.

[Some people worship the Devil.]

Well, he tried to kill us. And he took over Asti's mind, making us think he was him so he could rule the city. He killed a bunch of Asti's kids--[Okay, so she didn't know if they were his kids or even if they were unrelated, but that part of the explanation took way too long and was unnecessary.]--and left them on the palace steps for us to find. The worst part was that there had been several other Foreigners who'd formed bonds with the babies. Raised them from before they'd even hatched. So when they died, it wasn't just Asti who lost part of his family.

If that's isn't pure evil, I don't know what is.

So he was seeking dominion.

[He can feel his blood boiling.]

...I heard about him killing the children. I didn't know they were treated so terribly, even after death.

My thanks. And my apologies for dredging up such terrible memories.

No, it's alright.

You deserve to know. And I learned a long time ago what keeping secrets can do to people who are supposed to work together.

Then I am very grateful for your willingness to be open about the matter.

If there is any help I can give, I gladly offer it.

Uh-uh.

I did my part. Next help you'll be giving, I won't be the one leading the charge.

[No regrets, of course. It was actually kind of nice. But not something she was in for the long term; being her own boss was one thing, but being the boss of everyone else? That was a little too much boss for her.]

Ah... of course. I'll stay alert for any information then, and share what I can if I find anything new.

Likewise.

Thanks