@deceitanon 147
Eddie wraps his arms over Remy's neck after he takes his shirt off.
"I love you so much~"
He moans when Remy rubs his bulge, his hips bucking into Remy's hand.
"Fuck, you're so beautiful, my love~"
He runs his hands along Remy's chest as he kisses Remy deeper, pressing his tongue to Remy's lips. His hips keep grinding against Remy's as he does, panting ever so slightly.
"Wonder what it'd feel like for you to touch my soul too?~"
“Nghh~ mmm I can show you how it felt for me~”
{Remy grinds himself against Eddie’s movements with a groan}
“I love you so fucking much”
Eddie pants more at Remy's movements and rests one of his hands on Remy's hips with the other gently tugging at Remy's pants.
"I'd love for you to~ Mmng~"
He nips at Remy's lip and moans softly.
"Please~"
And they fucked!-
——-
{Remy has given Amber a location to go to… she hesitated as she shakily steps out the door, immediately flinching when a car drives past}
{she rarely goes outside anymore.. modern times freaks her out and makes her spiral}
{But she trusts in what Remy has told her, she clings to the walls of the alleyway, her fox ears flattened at the loud buzzing noises of the light up signs on the streets, she clutches her amber encased soul, trying to be the brave adventure she used to be}
“Dark sun protect me”
{she whispers, knowing the god isn’t here anymore.. it’s a habit at this point}
At first it would appear the library isn't there, but with a slightly more intentional look it is now there in that dimly lit shaded alleyway.
The painted text on the window "The Archive." The golden bell, flower bed, dim orange glow instead. The old worn stained glass and green door with the short stone steps and old black metal railing.
{Amber relaxes at the sight.. she was raised in a library, her mentor has the book keeper of her home towns knowledge}
{she smiles at the flowers and says hello to them- like she’s used to plants being able to understand}
{she immediately rushes in when another sound of a car horn in the distance can be heard, she breathing heavily, she hates cars}
{she hates this world so much- she’s happy with the people she met sure.. she’s used to the crime and corruption. But it’s different here}
{she doesn’t wear modern clothes either.. she doesn’t like that she has to hide her fox features. So she wasn’t going to change her style, so she is still wearing her leather armor, a red fire cloak that she wears to honor her magic and her studies back home}
The front room is large with hundreds of bookshelves, and dimly lit orange lanterns. The desk nearby with new scattered papers, and a fresh bottle of ink.
Howl isn't visible from this room, but a fox does trot over calmly from the right of the room. The fox is a more firey orange, eyes glow a light blue... It's a spirit guide. Shortly after it walks over a raven flies over as well, landing on the fox's back. It's a dark blue with white specks dancing in its feathers.
It seems to be a spirit guide as well... The two seem close.
The fox looks up at Amber with a slow tail swish and then turns, beginning to walk towards the back left of the room. It turns its head to her as if expecting her to follow.
{Amber stares at the fox and the birb.. and immediately starts crying}
“A…Alder”
{her voice breaks as she mutters that name in her own tongue, her best friend.. the one who raised her as a fox, and the reason why she rejected death .. who turns into a silly duck, a bird.}
{she misses home- and everything here reminds her of it all}
—-
{She wipes her tears and slowly starts to follow}
The fox tilts its head slightly at her reaction, but continues regardless.
It leads Amber back past the living space and down a hall to the second door on the left. The door is beautiful nature warped wood stained dark brown. A golden door handle carved to be decorated with forget-me-nots.
The raven pecks a pattern in the door.
"Oh? Another visitor already?"
He gets up and heads over to the door. Once again in his cloak, eyes hidden.
"Well hello, welcome to The Archive! Who do you happen to be?"
He holds out his hand to shake. The golden star like tattoos visible on the back.
{Amber blinks slowly and stares at the hand, she doesn’t understand English, she is too overwhelmed to cast any sort of spell right now}
{she slowly shakes his hand}
“Fȳr?-“
{she shakes her head, she knows this isn’t her mentor.. they look nothing alike.. she points to herself}
“Amber” {she said in a thick accent that can be described as old English mixed with fire it Fire itself had a language}
“[Remy] zheixev ahafa safadv kz xelbyryzhebyv ba zheyz py? ahafa daac dxecz i piqz.. i easyrbrfad alz..”
{She sighs, she knows nobody can understand this language.. Amber holds up a finger as a waiting gesture, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, calming herself down before she mutters a spell, casts a comprehend language spell, a simple spell in her world.. probably unknown here}
“Sorry.. I’m Amber, Remy said that you would be interested in seeing me? He said it was a library so that what convinced me really”
“Who are you?”
“I know a mage when I see one.. but you are very kind. So I’m assuming you aren’t from where I’m from..”
{Amber rambles and talks, she likes to do that, rambling to avoid her feelings, or maybe in hopes to get on the mages good side}
{No Flirting.. she learned that the hard way with Eddie}
Howl shakes her hand gently and smiles softly as she speaks. He doesn't mind the other language, though he hasn't learned them all, he knows of far more than exist in just one universe.
"It's quite alright, good to meet Amber."
He lets go of her hand to walk past and out to the kitchen once more. Behind him a cluttered but clean study sits there. Tall stacks of books, overcrowded shelves, many many herbs and flowers hung to dry, and a handmade desk with a soft glowing oil lamp. The window say in front of the desk shows the night sky and a beautiful forest with overgrown shrubbery. It was not night when Amber walked in, nor is there a forest near here.
"Do you like tea? And you can call me Howl, Selkie Howl. Though I typically only introduce myself as The Archivist at first, you are from Remy so I suppose I can say early on."
He smiles softly as he starts a kettle on the stove this time. The kettle is rather beautiful and ornate, a lot of the things here are.
"I'm not from this world or yours, no. But this place exist between the all, so I'm sure you can find just about anything from one or another. Plenty trinkets come my way from time to time."
Some of the souls bring small gifts, he tends to put them in front of the soul's respective book.
"My familiars are Calcifer and Solace. Calcifer is the fox, and Solace the raven... Calcifer tends to be less of a trouble maker, but Solace will drag him into her schemes on occasion."
He smiles softly, before realizing he should ask something.
"Remy mentioned you were a sorcerer and warlock? I have met some sorcerers before, but not a living warlock..."
He hasn't explained what the library is yet so the specification of living might sound odd.
“I do like tea, yes please..nice to meet you howl”
“Oh- yes I am, I’m a rouge, sorcerer and a warlock.. I was also gonna to study up on other classes”
{Amber blinks slowly at the souls around them}
“Uh… - you have souls? I guess life and death doesn’t work the same here.. but how are they moving on its own? Are they dead?”
"Lovely, what tea then? I probably have anything your looking for... Possibly from your own world as well if you want ask?"
He smiles softly as he grabs lavender for his own tea this time. He takes his cloak off in the process, he seems to prefer wearing it when people aren't here.
"Rouge as well? Quite a few skill sets under your belt then, huh?..."
Howl's always loved hearing about people who study all these wide variety of skills. They tend to have a lot to say.
"Oh! Yes those are souls, they come and go... Specifically lost souls. Ones that aren't ready to go to the after life yet. I talk to them a lot, about their lives, their interests, what they loved and hated. I'll write their whole life into these books, and then on the shelf they go."
"I find a lot feel comfortable moving on once they feel their memories are more permanent. Some also never leave here. It's a bit of a safe haven for them."
He takes a deep breath as he searches for the honey... He misplaced it this time it seems.
"There are different states of souls. Souls within a living person look the same as these ones, just aren't visible, but when a person dies the soul is separated from the body. Like the core of a person. They contain their story, their memories, feelings, dreams, everything a person is and went through. A body is more of a vessel to them..."
"Souls travel directly to the afterlife typically, but some become lost. Whether they aren't ready to truly leave, or have unfinished business... Solace guides them here."
He finds the honey misplaced in the spice cabinet.
"Generally speaking I'm bound to this place. I'm a soul myself, but I can't help myself wanting to keep writing."
He laughs at himself with a little sigh.
“Any tea will be lovely”
“And wow.. I wish.. it was that lovely back in my world”
“I love libraries and learning, I can understand the passion”
{Amber smiles softly as she slowly moves her hand over to her necklace, she rubs the amber.. encased soul?! Does she not have a soul inside her body?}
“Souls work differently, when you die, a god takes your soul and eats it.. which produces the worlds kinetic energy.. there is no afterlife for us.. if we are lucky we get trapped in the death realm until it’s our time”
“Ah sorry.. I don’t mean to burden my story on you so suddenly”
Howl hums softly and looks through his cabinet of herbs...
"How about strawberry leave with a bit of honey? I had a friend who loved that a lot."
He gets out the ingredients for that to make their teas. There's also now fresh coffee beans next to the herbs...
"Well if there's anything you've ever wanted to learn, I wouldn't be surprised if one of these books contained the answer. I've had my fair share of people wanting to pass on what they learned in here... In fact I have a separate section of those books."
Textbooks from the dead almost.
He turns and looks at her soul for a moment while listening.
"That... That is unpleasant to think about. Everyone deserves peace after death. Living on its own is beautiful, but it can be tiring too... Some souls actually get reborn here. Sometimes our souls just need some rest and peace."
"Your soul... It's in that Amber isn't it? I've never seen something like that... And you are quite alright."
He smiles softly.
"It is my life's work to listen to souls and archive their stories after all. If you need a person to talk to, I am happy to listen."
“Yes… technically it is my soul- uh”
“Hmm”
“But this isn’t my body”
{Amber says as she rubs her neck}
“It’s… really complicated.. but I begged to live so I could protect my best friend, Alder.. he raised me..”
“I.. didn’t want to die, so a god took pity on me.. took my soul and took a life so I could live.. at least that’s what I thought happened.. apparently this bodies mother sacrificed her own child to that god.. and I was born into it, they encased my soul so their child could live”
“I didnt know that until recently.. before I was teleported here after”
“I saved the world yknow! We saved the world! And now they get to live on without me! While I’m stuck in an unknown world! Where magic isn’t taught and cars exist!”
{Amber pauses and takes a shaky breath, she slowly takes off the necklace and holds it in her palm}
Howl finishes brewing the and sets it down on the coffee table as she talks. A sunset pours in from the sun room.
"Long journey then... Whether long by time or not, sounds like a long one for a soul."
He smiles softly and offers for her to sit on the couch.
"You wanted to live on to protect your best friend, and you went on to save the world despite being on a second life... I may not be the best to comfort with such things, but... I can teach magic if that may help? At least as a distraction I'm sure."
He knows he can't help her back, guarantee everyone's fine, or really comfort missing her friends. He can offer a distraction though, and hearing the last comment makes him think it'd be a good one.
“You can teach me magic? Yes please! I’ve been dying to know more spells! Especially ones in this world!”
{Her tail is wagging hard}
Howl smiles brightly with a chuckle.
"Sounds great, and I'm sure you have some things you could teach. I work specifically with magic circles though. Some involve incantations, others don't, some require concentration too. Just depends on the spell."
He settles in his arm chair and takes out his book again. The papers vary in age, the circles in color and patterns, and notes for each are written around the circles.
"Is there anything in particular that you'd like to learn first? If it gives some idea of range I have travel spells, stat boost spells, healing, communication related ones, and then ones specialized to my skill set. The ones I listed are more general use, and may not be high level in what I have."
"The ones I specialize in have to do with spiritual magic. Summoning is the main one I use, lets me summon certain souls. Another spell I use temporarily gives a soul a vessel. Ones to heal souls, calm them... Etc. there's a lot of application for them."
The book is leather bound with ornate carvings and golden detailing.
"For my more complex spells I have a room for the large circles. But I can show that later."
The way he says it gives away it is of importance and likely very interesting.
{Amber stands, she shifts unsure what to do with herself but she makes do}
“I… can you teach me how to use this worlds mana and magic?”
“I use my own, I honestly don’t know why my magic still works- I fear I might have brought something with me but I have no clue and haven’t really worried about it”
“You see I use mushroom spores to use my spells”
“I would love to learn some healing and anything that can be of use-“
{she said, as if afraid she will be kicked out if she isn’t useful}
Howl nods and scans through his book for a moment.
"I can teach you how to use this mana. Healing magic is a good start too, but learning to bend the mana in general is the first step..."
He flips to a specific green magic circle in his book.
"And don't worry about 'being of use'"
He smiles softly at her.
"You're alright to just exist here. There's no pressure to do or be anything for anyone, okay?"
He gets up to grab some of the green ink and a normal fountain ink pen, and then some sturdy paper.
"I don't exactly do more than magic circles though, but there are other ways to use mana for magic. The way I do it isn't as common anymore."
He seems happy to teach his way.
"There's also alchemy as another use for mana, but that is very very different. It's unlikely a magic user could teach you alchemy."
“It’s okay! I’m a fast learner and I don’t do well with school, I was homeschooled and trapped in my house until I was 18? Then I was founded by a nice magic user who turned into my mentor, he ran a library and taught me all I know now, but still I made it my own yknow? So I’m sure I’ll learn and adapt, that’s what I’m known for”
“Learning and Adapting”
{Amber seems proud of that, no matter what’s thrown her way, she still figures out how to survive and thrive in the best way possible- yes she is struggling with this new world, but who wouldn’t. Everything she knows has been turned inside out and tossed into the void, but she is adapting}
“It.. just feels weird not going on adventures or quests anymore.. I miss it, feeling busy and having a objective too”
{Amber stares at the paper and frowns}
“I… can’t see that color well?”
“Does that matter?”
Howl pauses a thinks for a moment.
"Ah well the color is caused by the form of mana embedded in the ink... While the color is the quickest indication, you can practice sensing the mana instead."
"You don't need to see it, just be able to tell what type of mana ink goes where. I rely on the color, but if you can't see the color then that solution would work."
He hadn't really thought of that before, he knew about the different mana types of ink, but never considered identifying them besides color.
"This is the green ink, commonly used for healing type spells. When using revival spells with magic circles you use golden ink, light mana embedded, with the green ink. The circles get more complex in patterns and ink combination as you go so learning to sense mana types might be more useful for you to learn earlier."
"There's ink ratios too, when don't need to be exact for the spell to work, but the more attuned it is for you then the more powerful it will be. I could say more, but I don't want to overwhelm you with information quite yet."
He chuckles a little and sighs.
“Oh- wow that’s a lot of information but I’m a fast learner!”
{she said proudly as she tries to draw the spell if she is allowed too}
Howl smiles and watches her draw the spell out.
"Ask any question if you need to as well."
He gives pointers as she draws occasionally. Not enough to be interruptive.
{Amber looks at the reference and her hand is shaking slightly, she’s not nervous, just her body get trembles a lot due to how much mana she holds, not only is it just from being a magic user.. being max level in two different classes of magic, it doesn’t harm her, her body adapts.. her god, the Dark Sun is all about change and adaptations, the dark Sun is the reason why mutants exist}
{She huffs when it doesn’t work, but if she is given another go she will try again until it does! On her third attempt she manages to get the drawing correct!}
“How do I know if it worked?”
Howl lets her try as many times as she needs.
He notices the trembling first, and then senses the amount of mana.
"Huh... I don't think I've ever seen someone who has enough mana to cause them to be shaky? Seems I keep getting surprises with my visitors lately."
He chuckles quietly before answering Amber's question.
"Try flowing your mana through the ink on the page. The ink conducts the mana. The mana in the ink is more of a conversion, while the circle determines what spell it is expelled as. It essentially conducts your mana, converts into the correct type, and then expels the mana accordingly. The pattern determines how it is reflected."
"The more neat and perfected the pattern is the stronger that specific spell will be. The more mana put into it can effect multiple factors depending on the spell. For example this spell requires touch, so the person or entity you are healing has to be within arms length, so the amount of mana would effect the amount of area healed... It can also effect the strength, but if you put too much mana into it it could break down the ink if it is too much for the circle itself..."
"Ranged spells can increase distance with more mana input."
So these types of spell require drawing skill, preciseness, and heavy mana control.
"Magic circles can often be stronger than simple mana bending, but it depends on skill level for either. Personally I like magic circles for my spells, because they can be used as many times as you wish give you have the circle drawn... Over time it may take less mana to cast the same strength spell as before even... There is a lot to it overall."
He likes explaining this all.
“Hm? Oh my shaking? yeah it’s more of a reaction to feeling the sp- um mana coursing through my body, my mind itches to use it a ton to the point it causes the jitters”
{Amber chuckles as she pauses to listen to the rest of his explanation}
“Flowing my mana into the ink..”
{Amber focus as she draws a circle again while letting her mana slip into the ink.. and before she finishes, the paper sparks a small fire instead by accident}
“Shoot! I know this was going to happen- sorry!“
{Amber casts her own spell and controls the fire until it burns out, she takes the smoke and balls it up into her hands, pressing the ball, converting it into clear oxygen before release it}
{Amber has a lot of control with her own magic, to the point it’s perfection. This should be almost second nature to learn another. Not setting paper on fire like a person who never touched magic before}
“Sorry, I hope I didn’t ruin anything”
"How intriguing... I wonder how that exactly hap—"
Howl cuts himself off, seeming rather surprised at the sudden flames.
"Oh! You... You're quite alright. I wasn't expecting that, but no it's okay."
He thinks for a moment, tilting his head in thought.
"Oh... You flow mana into the circle after it's drawn. Mixing mana into the ink before it's dry can cause it to irregularly bounce through it. It does dry fairly quickly once applied to the paper... I also have plenty of ink and paper, I wouldn't worry about wasting any."
He smiles softly at Amber.
"Try as many times as you need, it takes practice, even for a quick learner."
“Take…. My time?”
{Amber blinks slowly}
{That seem to strike her hard, she grows quiet}
{she never had time, not recently at least.. from stopping world wars, while juggling the end of her world, while solving how to stop evil druids from killing a god, watching cities getting blown up, natural disasters striking, like volcano eruptions destroying her home town}
{safe to say, she never had time to just figure things out. She and her group had less than three months to stop it all}
{She wasn’t even sure if it worked}
“I.. don’t think I’ve been told that before”
Howl sits up more at the silence. His concern settles in with her last comment.
"... You can take as much time as you need here. There's no rush or pressure to learn this, nor do you have to learn it... You can just go at the pace you want."
He smiles softly and holds out his hand. He doesn't know everything of what she went through, but he knows that tone and expression and type of silence well.
"It's safe here. There's nothing to rush to save or stop here... You can just exist and do what you want on your own terms, okay?"
He just sounds so calm, sweet, comforting... He takes care of lost souls after all. He knows a lot... And he wants to help.
“….”
{Amber sniffles and wipes her eyes, she stares at her lap}
“I..don’t know”
“I don’t know what I want to do”
“But…. You’re right, can.. can you help me? Not just with magic.. but with learning how this world works?”
“Maybe I can teach you things in return..? I don’t have a lot that would be of value though…”
{she fidgets with her soul necklace}
Howl frowns and stands up to offer Amber a hug.
"It's okay if you don't know what you want to do... You have time to figure that out too."
He smiles softly but sadly, his eyes matching that expression.
"I'd be glad to help you learn... Magic or about this world, I'm happy to teach it."
He just loves learning and teaching in general... Part of the archive is collections of just knowledge too. This place goes beyond just stories.
"I'm sure you have things you could teach, and any knowledge is valuable..."
He pauses briefly and takes a deep breath.
"I can't actually leave this library though... Not in a physical way, so I can't interact with anyone who isn't here. That may make teaching you about this world a little more difficult."
He does wish he could leave sometimes especially in this moment.
