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Started February 24, 2022 by Deleted user

tune

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Qûs'ÿltn shrugs as he enters the kitchen. "Wasn't sure if I would get ass blasted by some random burst of fire magic or some shit like that."

Farah laughed quietly. "Usually the barrier is enough," she said, still leaning heavily on the counter. "And if someone would happen to get through," she held up her hand for emphasis, "I have my magic."

"That's my point." Qûs'ÿltn chuckles.

"Not that I think you could do much, it's just that I hate fire. I dunno why. I always have." he adds.

Farah inhaled sharply and straightened again. "Every little dig you can throw in counts for you, doesn't it?"

Qûs'ÿltn shrugs. "Hey, it's the first one I've done in ten minutes. Give me a break. And besides, that wasn't a dig at you, it is a statement of fact. If you don't like the truth, that's your problem, not mine."

Farah pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. "I don't like using my magic anymore, alright? There, I said it…" She turned her back to him and closed her eyes.

Qûs'ÿltn shrugs.

"Really? That would explain the masive ammounts of mana concentrated in the nearby forest, huh?" he says, placing a hand on Farah's shoulder, gently.

"But all jokes aside, I can understand that. Magic is a violent, barely tempered beast. I'm surprised you've manged to live as long as you have, considering how powerful you are. And that is not a diss, or a dig, or a joke, it's the truth." he adds.

"Yes…" Farah smiled weakly. "Thank you… I've been using minimal magic for the past sixteen years, and I've gotten by quite well defending myself and my home. Until I met you." She spared a brief eye-roll.

Qûs'ÿltn actually looks startled at that, for once. "S-sixteen years? Dear gods, Farah, how are you alive? The mana should have overloaded you long, long ago, and yet, you're right here, alive and, well, not exactly well, but at least able to stand and speak, and deal with me."

Farah turned to face him again. "I'm more powerful than I look, aren't I? Do you see why I didn't take kindly to your little remarks now? And for your information, I'm well."

Qûs'ÿltn chuckles, shaking his head and leaning against the counter. "You definitely have power. Willpower, at the very least. And you want to know something?"

He pauses and leans forward. "I'm like this to everyone, not just you. But with you, it was particularly funny."

He leans away. "Uh-huh. Sure. Not buying it. Honestly, you look horrible. And I mean that in the best way possible, by the way."

Farah squinted her eyes at him for a second when he said it was funny, and she straightened to avoid looking weak. "I'm well," she repeated firmly, the vial still clutched in her hand. She already knew she might need another one soon.

"No, you're really not." Qûs'ÿltn snorts, grabbing Farah's arm gently and raising it so that she can so the harsh tremble in her hand.

Farah pulled her hand away, hating that he was right. "I'm well enough," she muttered, closing her eyes for a moment. When they opened, she went back to her set of vials and selected another one, again draining it in one swallow. "I can't bring myself to use my magic again," she murmured. "I don't care if it kills me."

"Okay, you know what, I'm done with this. You aren't leaving this cottage until I find some fucking way to make you belive that you are dying. Dying, Farah. No respawn. No redo. No coming back. Kaput." Qûs'ÿltn snarls.

"I'm not letting someone else kill theirself because they can't be bothered to help theirself get better, you hear me?"

Farah whirled on him, more aggressive than he'd ever seen her. "I can't use my magic, alright?! I'm afraid I'll hurt someone! I don't want to risk another Aster Dell!" She was breathing heavily, and her eyes were fiercely wide. Just as quickly as she'd gotten angry, she curled back into her shell and turned from him again. "I can't."

"If I ever feel the urge to die because of your magic, I'll let you know. But nonetheless, you are not leaving until you fix this, and that is final." Qûs'ÿltn snaps back.

His eyes soften. "I understand what you feel. I know you don't think I do. 'What can an asshole like him know about losing loved ones?', right? But I wasn't always like this. I'm a demigod for a reason."

Farah shook her head. "I didn't even know them," she whispered. "The entire civilization." She closed her eyes, and her fingers began to tremble even worse.

Qûs'ÿltn shudders. "Look at me, Farah. Look me in my eyes."

When she does, he continues. "I made a similar mistake, you know. I was barely even a demigod, and I had no control over my powers. I crossed paths with a band of scouts, and then…"

He shudders and pauses, closing his eyes for a moment. "And then they were slaughtered. By my rampant magic. And then the kingdom, the civilization, heard of a terrifying stone beast of storms crossing the countryside. I never meant to kill them. I meant to stun them, knock them over. But-"

His voice breaks. "I've done things I'm not proud of. But I managed to move past it, rather than let it consume me in grief and fire. You need to learn the same lesson, Farah. Or else you'll end up like the lost, wandering shades that haunt the realm."

He turns and walks away from her then, his hands clenched into tight fists to keep them from trembling. Slowly, he became aware of a painful sensation in his hand: his nails had cut four deep gashes into his palm. He let the blood collect and pool, a bloodred puddle forming. His hand spasms closed, and blood slowly starts to drip from his hand to the floor.

Farah listened to him intently, studying his face with wide eyes. How had they gotten here? One moment, Qûs'ÿltn was harassing her in the woods, the next she felt sick, and now she was here listening to him sharing his deepest pains of his past.

The older mind fairy inhaled swiftly. "Alright… my mentor was a mind fairy by the name of Rosalind. I looked up to her in every way. She was the one who brought me to Alfea, the one who practically raised me, the one who trained me. She turned me into a loyal soldier, and when she had my trust, I look back on it now, she began to manipulate me. She would give me just enough information to string me along, but then we went to Aster Dell. There was supposed to be a shared expenditure of magic, but… Rosalind withdrew. The power was already there, and mine just filled in the gaps without realizing. It was so easy, and I drew on so much power, Rosalind was overjoyed. I had thought the civilization was evacuated, and the only beings in it were our enemies, the Burned Ones. But Rosalind had lied. It wasn't evacuated. I murdered and entire town like it was nothing, and after trapping Rosalind, I made my barrier here and hid myself away. I don't deserve such power."

Qûs'ÿltn turns his head slightly, lifting his hand up to the light, then dropping it again. "I swore an oath, that day, to make sure noone else made the same mistakes that I did. And that applies to you, Farah."

He sighs, and leans heavily against the wall. "Thank you, for telling me that."

Farah flinched and looked away. "I'm a monster," she whispered. "A murderer. A foolish little girl who thought she could please her mentor."

"And I'm a killer, and a monster myself. The problem is, knowing it and accepting it, then moving past it." Qûs'ÿltn mumurs, turning and hugging Farah gently but firmly.

Farah stiffened at first as he hugged her, but slowly, she accepted it and leaned against him. "It's easier said than done. I've been trying for sixteen years."

Qûs'ÿltn chuckles softly, just a hint of his old snark touching his words. "Obviously not hard enough."

His heart isn't in it, though, and Farah probably knows it.