Death Just Needs A Little Conversation [Open]

[fivemilesdeep]

Who: Ryo and Open (angled towards those with death powers/connections)
Where: ICP/Garden Car
When: Nebula 3
What: Ryo is coming to terms with the fact that he's kept his death-related Diagad powers, so now he's asking for help with them. (They're not what he's afraid they are, but he doesn't know that yet.)
Warnings: Probably a lot of death talk, but we'll go from there.
Notes: It starts as an ICP post, but he won't be replying on the network, only in person. Anyone is welcome to join in; he's just angling for people with Insight Into Death. (I'll also match prose or brackets.)

[Ryo looks...uncertain at best, but much closer to 'worried but trying not to show it' as the ICP flickers on.]

If anyone is connected to death, or has death-related powers, I could use your help.

[-wait that sounds bad-]

It's nothing crazy - I just have...questions.

[He can't quite bring himself to say what he's actually worried about, so instead it's just:]

I'll be in the garden car, if you wouldn't mind coming to see me.

[And the ICP flickers off. He's not planning on having this conversation in front of the train and everyone, so in-person it is. True to his word, he's sitting on one of the benches in the garden car with Lagos in his lap, holding the plush bird and trying not to let his fears run away with him. He may not be entirely succeeding. It may be obvious.]

Comments

[thawed_pride]

Questions often lead to experiments. Unless whatever you are wondering about lies purely in the realm of theory, it is always best to have precautions in place when seeking to study dangerous powers.

[fivemilesdeep]

[The sad thing is, this makes a terrible amount of sense.]

[He continues staring for a moment or two, then gives a long, frustrated sigh and leans heavily against the back of the bench, letting his head hang backwards over the top.]

There aren't going to be experiments. I'm not going to ask for volunteers so I can test whether I have the power to kill them!

[He's said too much, and worded it incredibly poorly, but his filter is the least of his worries when fear and anxiety are eating him alive from the inside out. He doesn't want to kill anyone, he's terrified he's going to, he doesn't know how to figure it out without putting anyone in danger, and he refuses to do that.]

[thawed_pride]

If that is your concern, then I believe I can be of assistance.

[He holds up a hand and a soft white glow appears in his hand, before wrapping around him and fading.]

A pre-emptive infusion of Life magic creates a protective buffer that will harmlessly negate even exposure to powerful death magic.

[fivemilesdeep]

[Ryo's having trouble processing that, partially because he's a bit floored that the answer to one of his biggest fears might be that simple and partially because he's just watched it play out upside down. He sits up, takes Lagos off his lap and places him on the bench, and turns around to fully face Vexen.]

You- you can do that?

[Yep, he's definitely still processing.]

And you're sure it'll work.

[thawed_pride]

I had Death spells specifically in mind during part of the development process for this particular spell. As for whether or not it has been tested...it saved someone's life when we were standing against that demonic army.

[If he looks a little smug right now, well...he has reason to, doesn't he?]

I do, however, try not to advertise my mastery of such spells. I fear it would simply encourage a certain segment of our population to be more reckless.

[fivemilesdeep]

[He's worried about the implication that death spells are prominent enough in Vexen's world to prompt the creation of life spells, but that gets swept aside by the flow of the conversation and the reassurance that the spell itself does work. The smugness is to be expected, but honestly, what's reassuring is Vexen's crack about the warrior population of the train. It's healer humor, it's familiar, and it puts him at ease, at least a bit.]

That's fair.

So if you can protect someone from death magic, then...

[He trails off, looking down. He definitely hadn't been planning on testing his powers - if he even has them - but if Vexen can protect someone from them, then...]

[Then it's a matter of whether he can bring potentially fatal force against someone who isn't trying to hurt him in turn. Whether he can hurt - or potentially kill, if things go wrong - someone for the sole purpose of satisfying his curiosity.]

[Healers don't go dark is the going wisdom, but he doubts any healer has ever been in this exact situation, and he's stuck. He doesn't know what to do.]

[For now, he doesn't know how to finish that sentence, so he doesn't.]

[thawed_pride]

I am quite safe. Even should something cause me mechanically fatal harm right now, the spell would restore my body to functionality before my heart and soul have a chance to depart.

[fivemilesdeep]

[It's a reassurance, in the starkest manner possible, and Ryo looks up uncertainly. He's trying not to let his fear and worry show on his face, but given that's all that's been driving him when it comes to his Diagad powers and that he's damn near overwhelmed today, they're all but impossible to hide. He can at least manage to keep the waver out of his voice, though that's a near thing.]

You're sure.

[It's not a question of Vexen's spellcasting competence; it's more that Ryo is utterly terrified he's going to wind up killing someone and is using everything he can get to shore himself up against that possibility. He needs answers - it's why he reached out in the first place - but the possibility of having blood on his hands because of them is a tough one to process.]