Pleroma | Memory/Voice

[coupris]

[A few days after he returns to Godsblood, and things have started to settle down, Kim has started to experiment with his new ability that surfaced during the rescue of the new arrivals. For those with their minds open to shard communion, a brief memory will cross their minds.

Kim, standing on a relatively more remote dock in the shipyards, is talking to someone that others might recognize as one of the Greentruth rebels. He hands them a sturdy piece of wood, about the length of a baseball bat, and nods his approval. The rebel, looking a bit uncertain, squeezes their eyes shut before swinging the plank as hard as they can, directly at Kim's head. It seems to make contact, but Kim doesn't so much as flinch as the wood splinters in half. Not a hair on him is out of place.

He then reaches forward, also as tentative as his partner in this bizarre experiment, and flicks his finger against their chest. A ripple of energy seems to diffuse from him, and the rebel flies back as if Kim had punched them with full force, and falls off the dock, into the water.

Once the image fades, Kim's voice takes its place.]

I realize that magic is a bit more mundane for some of our number than others. However, no one else has shown signs of this ability since they arrived here, no?

[Something ripples through the shard that gives the impression of a sigh.]

Unfortunately, this is all rather new for me. Discovering I could manifest my own fire instead of wasting matches was tricky enough. If anyone has any information, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[A pause, and then a pale, gloomy bloom of blue before he speaks again.]

And I hope everyone is doing well. [Doing well considering, is the implication.]

Comments

text

[passio]

[ it’s an impressive display. dextera has not, as far as he knows, manifested anything new—but he hasn’t experimented, and along with everything that happened in venera, this is a good cue to start working on himself. his purification is limited. ]

You couldn’t do this before you came here?

[ kim will likely recognize the handwriting that manifests as the same in his notebook. ]

voice

[coupris]

[He does, and it's a relief to at least perceive someone familiar-- he hadn't been completely comfortable in sending this out to strangers.]

Not at all. None of the powers I've seen in Horos do.

[passio]

[ even if it’s stretching the definition, dextera is the only person with ‘magic’ as such from his own world. it’s still strange to hear that someone is completely new to it all. ]

How new is it? This power? Could you do it as soon as you were reborn?

[ even if it’s in his handwriting, the medium of the shard presents a rhythm in his writing a little closer to how he would speak—disjointed, but curious. ]

Things have changed. But I haven’t tried anything new.

[coupris]

It's recent. Since the new aions arrived.

[Had it been immediate, he realizes, being corralled by the Achamites would have gone much differently.]

What could you do before all this?

[passio]

[ a sensitive question. dextera would be able to hide his reaction if they weren’t communicating telepathically, but he palpably sorts through his immediate emotions before settling on honesty. ]

It’s called “purification.” Maybe to people who have never seen it, it looks like magic.

[coupris]

[He's good at dropping those without warning, though in this case, the palpable reaction demurs him.]

But it isn't?

[passio]

Maybe it is.

[ dextera has enough self-awareness to realize that isn’t helpful, though. ]

It’s preternatural. It does the same things magic does. It changes things. It’s something you have to channel. Is that “magic”?

[coupris]

I'm... not really sure. I've heard some arguments that magic is science you don't yet understand, but--

[He sure doesn't understand much of anything here.]

I suppose it's a bit of a pointless distinction, now.

[passio]

Ha ha.

[ it’s not a sarcastic laugh; dextera does actually think it’s funny, which is normally impossible to convey through text alone, but the empathic undercurrent of humor helps push his message across the line. ]

No matter what it is. I want to repay you for your help before.

[coupris]

[The sentiment carries on those matter-of-fact little letters, which makes it all the more amusing, really.]

There's no need for repayment. [He can't shunt the offer away using duty as an excuse anymore, but he'll sure try.] We all needed help getting on our feet in the city.

[passio]

You helped a lot.

[ dextera… is still doing some hard labor to make up for a few days of work lost while recovering people from the shrines, but he was able to wiggle his way into a more suitable job, too. ]

My world is so different from Horos. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a city. So, let me thank you.

[coupris]

[It's hard to shrug off Dextera's sincerity. Kim does need the help, and it's better than asking complete strangers, anyway.]

If you have time. They like to work outsiders a bit hard at first, I've found.

[He's still what most people would consider scrawny, but beneath his sleeves, Kim's arms have picked up more tone from dock work than what he was getting from the precinct gym.]