tushanshu | [Video] 001

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[Video] 001

[Having been here a few days now, Aqua has mostly acclimated to being around people again, and simply sitting idle doesn't suit her. She's had enough of aimless wandering with no direction to last her a long while.]

Hello, my name is Aqua, and I arrived here a few days ago. Things have been mostly explained to me, and I'd like to help out in any way I can. I'm not sure where to start looking, though, so I'd be grateful for some direction. I know a fair number of spells, but I'm not sure how useful they would be here. [She hasn't seen Unversed or any other sort of monster around, so she doubts being able to summon a bolt of lightning upon a target would be of much help to the general population.]

[A brief pause while she considers whether or not to ask her other question, given that she's just offered to help, but decides to go ahead anyway.]

And... I understand that how we are brought here is not fully known, or how we could leave, but if anyone has an idea, please let me know. I've been away from my home too long.

[She's worried about both Ven and Terra. The former is safe, but what if he has awoken in her absence? And the latter... she doesn't know at all.]

I'd truly appreciate any advice. Thank you.

[End video.]

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Skulduggery Pleasant. You can mention that to Shudder if you'd like. We're old friends. He might give you a minor discount on a room.

[He won't, but it never hurts to try.]

Your friend? Did you arrive here with him?

[And a moment later, when she realizes that was a bit of a tangent:]

Would you mind telling me what sort of magic he's looking for? I'm afraid most of my spells wouldn't help much with the upkeep of a hotel.

[If she knows more about this prospective position, she can avoid wasting Shudder's time should she not be the right fit for the role, especially if he's looking for someone with less combat-oriented magic.]

Not with him, no, but he arrived shortly after I did.

[... Which is going to turn into a conversation, isn't it? Seconds after sending that message, Skulduggery pulls up his disguise, despite already having used it past its warning mark for the day, and turns on video.]

He's not looking for magic so much as he's looking for someone who can help him clean and protect the Hotel. If your magic is beneficial to any of that, it's a bonus. His previous assistant was immortal. That was helpful, as I recall.

[Mainly because he was able to avoid dying during that brief stint where Anton nearly turned into his gist.]

[She's just finished reading the newest message when the video comes on. Aqua looks a bit surprised when she turns on her own video, but doesn't ask why the change.]

So it's possible for people we know to come here as well, after we've arrived.

[If Ven or Terra came here....]

I'm afraid I'm no immortal, but I can help with protection, both magical and physical combat. And I don't mind busywork at all. I'll have to offer when I next see him; thank you.

Not necessarily. There's a pattern there, but no one's been able to decipher it. There used to be a spell in place to bring us here, but the woman in charge of that spell has since died, and now... [He shrugs.] There was never much sense to our comings-and-goings. Now, there's even less.

[The shrug dislodges something. Quite unbeknownst to Skulduggery, his chin is starting to dissolve.]

But there's still the possibility. [That alone is enough for Aqua.

She would say more, but Skulduggery's chin suddenly begins looking wrong. Almost like it's... vanishing? She frowns, a look of concern crossing her face.]

Are... are you alright?

[Maybe it's just a video glitch? Maybe?]

[Fine, apart from the small frown creasing his brow. And also the fact that you can now see the bone white of his chin underneath the skin which is, slowly but surely, dissolving its way up his face.]

Fine. Why?

Your face...!

[That is not a video glitch, and the stark white of bone sends her into alarm.]

Sir, please, tell me where you are, I have healing magic, I might be able to heal it-

[How can he not notice?!]

Heal-?

[Oh. Well, that explains that. For some reason, he believed he'd be able to feel when the facade was disappearing.

Switching to text, even though the pause in between would be brief, sounds like it's going to bring Aqua running. Audio it is.]

I'm sorry. That happens if I try to talk to people for longer than half an hour a day. I'm absolutely fine, I promise.

[Aqua remains on video, thoroughly unconvinced that nothing is wrong by the switch to audio, and now additionally worried that he's gone and put himself at risk just to talk to her.]

But- you were- have you been cursed? If there's anything I can do to help, please tell me!

[Don't even begin to doubt this woman's capacity to mom anyone who she thinks needs help, Skul.]

Edited (I USED THE SAME ICON TWICE IN A ROW WHEN I HAVE ALMOST 50 ICONS TO CHOOSE FROM I HAVE BROUGHT SHAME ON MY FAMILY) 2015-02-22 22:23 (UTC)

[This would be amusing, if someone trying to 'help' wasn't about the last thing Skulduggery wanted.]

Killed, actually. The face is only a disguise. I usually use it to put people at ease, but I've obviously messed that up this time.

[If Skulduggery thinks that's supposed to make her feel better, he's dead wrong.]

Killed-? A disguise? But how can you...?

[She sounds almost frantic in her concern and now confusion. She's never encountered something like this before.]

How can I what?

[No, he's not amused. He's not amused in the slightest.

Why is he so amused.]

[She's trying to figure what to say to this. He's so calm about this, but there's no reason to be calm about having been killed!

Her eyes dart around as she searches for the words, before she stares directly at the blank screen in front of her.]

How can you be fine? I... I don't understand.

I've been dead for over two hundred years. I'm used to it.

[He pauses.]

I can turn the video back on, if you'd like.

[She's hesitant as she runs over everything in her head; he's dead, he's been dead two hundred years, yet it's fine... if it weren't for her video still being on, it would seem almost as if she'd dropped the conversation entirely.

As it is, her face shows fully how confused and unsure she is about this. She's calming somewhat, true, but it's still completely beyond anything she's ever heard of.

Finally she looks back up.]

If you would, please.

[There's something unnerving about speaking to a dark screen when the last she'd seen of the man on the other side was an image of his face dissolving.]

[Skulduggery patiently waits until she comes to her decision, however long it takes, before turning the video back on. And, sure enough, there's a grinning skull where his face used to be, tilted somewhat sheepishly to the side.]

You said you're familiar with magic. Does that include illusions?

[She has been mentally bracing herself for whatever appears on the screen next, but it's still a bit of a shock to see a grinning skull. A grinning, talking skull, at that, though still dressed in the same clothes as before.

Well, that does fall in line with having been dead for 200 years.]

I know a few illusion spells, but they only affect the caster.

[Also Skulduggery probably wouldn't want to be an Unversed.]

There's still a lot I have to learn.

[If Skulduggery knew what an Unversed was, he would probably agree with that.]

In my world, illusion magic is fairly commonplace, and usually easy to use. Mine was a gift from a friend, but she warned me not to use it for longer than half an hour each day. You've just helped me discover why.

[Before, all it did was break the magic slowly down to the point where Skulduggery's features began drifting around the illusory face whenever he used it. He has to wonder if the change in M.O. is a side effect of streamlining the sigils, or deliberate on China's part.]

...you're welcome, I suppose?

[Forgive her if she'd much prefer to not have helped in the way she did. It's unnerving to have seen - and spoken to - a face that melted in front of her, magical or not.]

I can't say how commonplace illusion magic is across the worlds, but it was never a major focus of my learning.

In your world, is it... is it common for the deceased to return? [That is a brand of magic she is wholly unfamiliar with, if it is magic at all. Though, what else could it be?]

No. I'm an exception everywhere I go.

[It's a simple answer, given that necromancy is a dark and varied topic Skulduggery could probably choose to explain. But on the tail-end of a disastrous introduction, it's hopefully answer enough.]

Oh.

[A silent pause; Aqua is still not sure how she feels about all this, given everything that's gone on, but ultimately decides to leave the matter alone for now and change subjects.]

Besides illusions, what other sorts of magic are practiced on your world?

[There. A safe subject, and she's always interested in magic.]

Elementalism, which is exactly what it sounds like, and the sort of magic I use. There are also people whose limits to their magic are their own imaginations, though thankfully they usually can't master more than one discipline at once.

[Death magic being one of them goes without saying.]

What about your world?

I know a number of element-based spells too, as well as other magic. There were no specific disciplines of magic on my homeworld; we learned spells that gave form to our magic, so that we could best use it.

[Talking about magic is relaxing her a bit, though she still hasn't quite come around yet.]

[It isn't the first time Skulduggery's heard about forms of magic different from his own, but this particular one sounds a bit like manipulating sigils instantaneously. If it's anything like he's imagining, it must be powerful once mastered.]

Spells like...?

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