"Well," she said, sitting up again. "When he's angry he's the scariest thing ever. I mean I was almost eaten by a giant fly thing, but I think Master Horowitz is even scarier."
"The lord of flies," Goligan put in from his spot leaned against the wall.
She nodded. "But Master Horowitz is tons scarier." She hugged her arms and shuddered a bit. "But when he's not being scary he's..." she put a finger to her lips, thinking. Because he's always just been her Master. She's never really had to explain him before. "When I was really little, after I started living with him, he told me not to play in the attic. But I went up there while he was making dinner. I still wasn't always sure that I'd get food just because there was food, so I was looking to see if food was hidden anywhere else. Ad I found something super yummy looking."
"I still have the scars," Goligan said dryly.
"My teeth were itchy," she said like a sister might when teasing a sibling. "Anyway, so I started chewing on this old lumpy staff I found."
"HEY!"
"And my Master found me. But he wasn't angry that I was up there, and din't chase me away. He brought us downstairs and studied Goligan a lot, then gave him to me. Even after we found the other man-headed canes, my Master only ever said anything bad about Goligan once. It was the only time he's ever been wrong, and he admitted that himself."
"He was worried about you, Naja," Goligan said softly. "And so was I. I was doubting myself too."
"Goligan doesn't have any memories from before I woke him up," Naja explained to Leia. "So they were both afraid he used to be evil and might become evil again or something. But he's just Goligan. He doesn't have an evil bone in his body."
"Lady Najaran..." he whispered, clearly touched.
"He doesn't have any bones in his body at all," she concluded.
He slumped. He was made of wood, yet somehow he slumped. Why did he always fall for that?
She grinned a bit, then turned her attention back to the question at hand. "My Master's done a lot. and he's old. Like really old. I've seen paintings and stuff from ages back. He and his two friends were super powerful, but they went their own ways. They knew about lots of stuff, including things like Dragons. Master Horowitz has a Dragon Eye, and it let me see the end of the War of the Gods, when all the Dragons died," she said quietly, looking down at her lap as she remembered that. It had been a sad memory, and she had been locked within it, living it.
Eidolon climbed into her lap and she put her arms around him, cuddling him as she remembered. "His friend took the other Dragon's eye, they had a falling out over it. Their other friend Mistress Grubel... she's as old as the two of them but she looks young. She works really hard to look young. She has a machine that sees other worlds. She showed it to me. And she can read the hand of Culdra in all things, she can read us as if we were still in the Book of Creation and she held it. And even she's awed by Master Horowitz."
She considered. What else to say?
"Oh! This one time after Goligan and I were kidnapped again we were brought to"
"NAJARAN!"
"This place," she said turning to glare at Goligan before sticking out her tongue. "And we were supposed to meet this super important leader guy, and we get there and Master Horowitz is sitting in his seat. And I panicked and tried to tell people he was senile to keep them from getting super angry at them. But apparently he was this super important leader guy to them." She sighed, sad again. "All those years with him, and I never knew all this important stuff about him. About how many people listen to him and respect him. He doesn't just tell people to do things and they do it..." she said, thinking things through now as she spoke.
"He made us come into this crowded room and tell people about the Lord of Flies and the Dark Lord and the Black Cepters. But none of them wanted to listen to me. I think if he told them to, they would have but instead he let them challenge me to a battle royale duel. I think..." And she was thinking now. "I think he wanted them to see me, se what I could do. It was scary, because at the time I couldn't summon my Cards at all, and they didn't let me talk to him to try and figure out why. Well not for long. He did come by right before the duel and I told him. He wished me good luck and stuff."
She rested her chin on Eidolon's furry head as she remembered, speaking as she did. "It was scary, going out there, unable to summon my Cards. But then suddenly I could..." She frowned. Thinking. Remembering. "I was running scared, everyone was trying to take me out. But then..." Right, that was what had happened... "Someone said that all the battles I'd won till then had to be against weak folk. And I thought of Chimeno and how much his goblins loved him, and how he turned out not to be such a bad guy after all. I thought about Master Owen and how much he risked and sacrificed to protect us all. And Kigi... Kigi's sister gave me her cards, Kigi died believing in my power after I beat her." Her voice was trembling with emotion now. "They weren't weak. I won't let anyone say any of them were weak."
Seriously, she knew Kigi for so short a time and spent most of it at odds with her and yet... Najara would defend Kigi to her own death and beyond.
"Suddenly I just had all this power. And I could summon my Cards again." She pulled herself back from the emotion, the memory of it nearly sweeping her away for a moment. She felt her Cards that were still Cards trembling at her back. Leia would see a pride and strength in how the summoned Cards were holding themselves. And that those who could inched closer to Najaran, like they were preparing to close ranks and defend. But also like they were drawn to her, as though she were worth defending.
"I think..." she was making an effort to step back from that rush of feeling, that readiness to fight. "I think Master Horowitz must have known that would happen. That I could do well enough that they'd listen to me. And they did, after. We left soon after that, but then I wound up here. I'm sure he's either worried I'm off causing trouble, or he knows exactly where I am and wants me to stay," she said a bit ruefully. "I wish I knew which. I wish... I wish I could go back and help him, finish what we started... but I don't want to leave the people I've met here either, or stop helping other worlds."
And then brought back to the current issue, she fell back onto her back again, holding Eidolon like a plushie clutched to her chest as she did. "When I can help, that is," she said, a bit bitterly. Angry at herself.
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"Well," she said, sitting up again. "When he's angry he's the scariest thing ever. I mean I was almost eaten by a giant fly thing, but I think Master Horowitz is even scarier."
"The lord of flies," Goligan put in from his spot leaned against the wall.
She nodded. "But Master Horowitz is tons scarier." She hugged her arms and shuddered a bit. "But when he's not being scary he's..." she put a finger to her lips, thinking. Because he's always just been her Master. She's never really had to explain him before. "When I was really little, after I started living with him, he told me not to play in the attic. But I went up there while he was making dinner. I still wasn't always sure that I'd get food just because there was food, so I was looking to see if food was hidden anywhere else. Ad I found something super yummy looking."
"I still have the scars," Goligan said dryly.
"My teeth were itchy," she said like a sister might when teasing a sibling. "Anyway, so I started chewing on this old lumpy staff I found."
"HEY!"
"And my Master found me. But he wasn't angry that I was up there, and din't chase me away. He brought us downstairs and studied Goligan a lot, then gave him to me. Even after we found the other man-headed canes, my Master only ever said anything bad about Goligan once. It was the only time he's ever been wrong, and he admitted that himself."
"He was worried about you, Naja," Goligan said softly. "And so was I. I was doubting myself too."
"Goligan doesn't have any memories from before I woke him up," Naja explained to Leia. "So they were both afraid he used to be evil and might become evil again or something. But he's just Goligan. He doesn't have an evil bone in his body."
"Lady Najaran..." he whispered, clearly touched.
"He doesn't have any bones in his body at all," she concluded.
He slumped. He was made of wood, yet somehow he slumped. Why did he always fall for that?
She grinned a bit, then turned her attention back to the question at hand. "My Master's done a lot. and he's old. Like really old. I've seen paintings and stuff from ages back. He and his two friends were super powerful, but they went their own ways. They knew about lots of stuff, including things like Dragons. Master Horowitz has a Dragon Eye, and it let me see the end of the War of the Gods, when all the Dragons died," she said quietly, looking down at her lap as she remembered that. It had been a sad memory, and she had been locked within it, living it.
Eidolon climbed into her lap and she put her arms around him, cuddling him as she remembered. "His friend took the other Dragon's eye, they had a falling out over it. Their other friend Mistress Grubel... she's as old as the two of them but she looks young. She works really hard to look young. She has a machine that sees other worlds. She showed it to me. And she can read the hand of Culdra in all things, she can read us as if we were still in the Book of Creation and she held it. And even she's awed by Master Horowitz."
She considered. What else to say?
"Oh! This one time after Goligan and I were kidnapped again we were brought to"
"NAJARAN!"
"This place," she said turning to glare at Goligan before sticking out her tongue. "And we were supposed to meet this super important leader guy, and we get there and Master Horowitz is sitting in his seat. And I panicked and tried to tell people he was senile to keep them from getting super angry at them. But apparently he was this super important leader guy to them." She sighed, sad again. "All those years with him, and I never knew all this important stuff about him. About how many people listen to him and respect him. He doesn't just tell people to do things and they do it..." she said, thinking things through now as she spoke.
"He made us come into this crowded room and tell people about the Lord of Flies and the Dark Lord and the Black Cepters. But none of them wanted to listen to me. I think if he told them to, they would have but instead he let them challenge me to a battle royale duel. I think..." And she was thinking now. "I think he wanted them to see me, se what I could do. It was scary, because at the time I couldn't summon my Cards at all, and they didn't let me talk to him to try and figure out why. Well not for long. He did come by right before the duel and I told him. He wished me good luck and stuff."
She rested her chin on Eidolon's furry head as she remembered, speaking as she did. "It was scary, going out there, unable to summon my Cards. But then suddenly I could..." She frowned. Thinking. Remembering. "I was running scared, everyone was trying to take me out. But then..." Right, that was what had happened... "Someone said that all the battles I'd won till then had to be against weak folk. And I thought of Chimeno and how much his goblins loved him, and how he turned out not to be such a bad guy after all. I thought about Master Owen and how much he risked and sacrificed to protect us all. And Kigi... Kigi's sister gave me her cards, Kigi died believing in my power after I beat her." Her voice was trembling with emotion now. "They weren't weak. I won't let anyone say any of them were weak."
Seriously, she knew Kigi for so short a time and spent most of it at odds with her and yet... Najara would defend Kigi to her own death and beyond.
"Suddenly I just had all this power. And I could summon my Cards again." She pulled herself back from the emotion, the memory of it nearly sweeping her away for a moment. She felt her Cards that were still Cards trembling at her back. Leia would see a pride and strength in how the summoned Cards were holding themselves. And that those who could inched closer to Najaran, like they were preparing to close ranks and defend. But also like they were drawn to her, as though she were worth defending.
"I think..." she was making an effort to step back from that rush of feeling, that readiness to fight. "I think Master Horowitz must have known that would happen. That I could do well enough that they'd listen to me. And they did, after. We left soon after that, but then I wound up here. I'm sure he's either worried I'm off causing trouble, or he knows exactly where I am and wants me to stay," she said a bit ruefully. "I wish I knew which. I wish... I wish I could go back and help him, finish what we started... but I don't want to leave the people I've met here either, or stop helping other worlds."
And then brought back to the current issue, she fell back onto her back again, holding Eidolon like a plushie clutched to her chest as she did. "When I can help, that is," she said, a bit bitterly. Angry at herself.