[And now Ahito knows why the ghost was weirdly and VIVIDLY pissed off at Solomon showing up to the barbeque and threatened to shoot his head clean off the second he was in eyesight! Yippee.]
Who's to say, at this point. I could have been putting Tatara in incredible danger to bring him in front of that spirit, given what his goals were. I could have seen him slip away if I'd left the room at any point. Or I could have avoided an incredible amount of pain for all of us, had I spoken up when I had the chance.
...
But we can't exactly rewrite our steps, or the decisions we made.
The way you and Akira both have acted after all of that... I just don't want to see you both feeling like you must be a burden to everyone, just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
You're not. But in this, you both are worrying me sick.
[you youths and your Coping Skills]
I already have enough wrestling with my soul at the moment. Perhaps more literally than I would like right now. At least for a little while, I just hope you both would be kinder to yourselves.
Magic for a wizard comes from emotions. From the heart. And mana stones contain what is left of a magical creature's power.
So what do you think happens, Ahito, when the magic in those stones, filled with someone else's heart, enters your own? What happens when those feelings are strong? What happens when that will did not want to break?
[It's the hardest question he's been asked in his time here. Before he'd known, there wouldn't have been any hesitation. There had been no problem with the stones of the beasts. But feeling the spirit of another wither and die inside one's body... it's a trait of the demonic, to snatch up souls like gems, to slip them into their mouths like candy and snuff out their light.
Were they no better this way? This world is so similar to his own, where humanity and magic would never truly intermingle. But what line should the magical draw when it came to what was perceived as the greater good?
What line did they draw with one another? Was it wise to have a line to draw at all, if it meant leaving something dangerous and powerful to be picked up by something else? Was this monstrous, to rob the soul from the grieving, to snatch it just like he might snatch a demon up as an item?
...
There's a long, slow exhale of breath.]
I'll do what I must, if it means the people can continue with their lives.
Maybe that makes me no better than a demon. But... I will do it, if it means it won't be used against them otherwise.
[What answer did he want to hear, really...? Even he doesn't know. Still, he purses his lips in thought, arms crossing, closed. Eyes hidden behind his shades once more.]
...You really are a wizard of the north, in the end.
[Solomon knows the answer to that well enough. He's not a fool - he knows that out of the five, he's pushed himself to a separate corner from most of the rest in many ways. Habitual, uncomfortable, a refusal to be seen as anything less that a threat in a room of powerful beings that did not care to show more than the baselines of respect.
A wolf in sheep's clothing, attempting to pretend in the presence of other wolves.]
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...I fail to see how Tatara would have been able to help with any of that anyway.
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Who's to say, at this point. I could have been putting Tatara in incredible danger to bring him in front of that spirit, given what his goals were. I could have seen him slip away if I'd left the room at any point. Or I could have avoided an incredible amount of pain for all of us, had I spoken up when I had the chance.
...
But we can't exactly rewrite our steps, or the decisions we made.
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And yet...
And yet...
...]
...Don't insult me. You really think I'd fall for such obvious bait?
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[It's said without looking up.]
If you want to hear that as an insult, or as bait, then I can't stop you or your feelings. I'm too tired to argue, Ahito.
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If you couldn't exorcise the ghost, I doubt there's anyone at the manor who could've done a damn thing.
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[It's a gentle question.]
The way you and Akira both have acted after all of that... I just don't want to see you both feeling like you must be a burden to everyone, just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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[He says, extremely convincingly.]
And I already know I'm not a burden.
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[you youths and your Coping Skills]
I already have enough wrestling with my soul at the moment. Perhaps more literally than I would like right now. At least for a little while, I just hope you both would be kinder to yourselves.
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...What do you mean, literally?
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He exhales slowly.]
Did you take any of the witches' mana stones for yourself yet?
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Why?
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Magic for a wizard comes from emotions. From the heart. And mana stones contain what is left of a magical creature's power.
So what do you think happens, Ahito, when the magic in those stones, filled with someone else's heart, enters your own? What happens when those feelings are strong? What happens when that will did not want to break?
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[He regards Solomon, speechless, for a moment.
And then:]
...How many of the witches' stones did you...?
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[He just assumes Itha and Robin ate them all at this point. Give him his share, u monsters.]
What was left of the witch named Sophie fought at me from the second I swallowed her stones.
I doubt there would be a danger of possession. But... [His lips thin.] It's incredibly uncomfortable, to put it lightly.
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...And she's still fighting you, even now?
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No, not anymore. Her feelings finally went quiet the evening after I woke up from my stupor.
[And yet he doesn't sound entirely triumphant about it.]
...I haven't been able to get it off my mind, I suppose.
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[It was already an unpleasant idea to him, but somehow, it's even worse than he initially figured.]
If you get more mana stones from other witches or wizards - are you still planning to consume them for their power?
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[It's the hardest question he's been asked in his time here. Before he'd known, there wouldn't have been any hesitation. There had been no problem with the stones of the beasts. But feeling the spirit of another wither and die inside one's body... it's a trait of the demonic, to snatch up souls like gems, to slip them into their mouths like candy and snuff out their light.
Were they no better this way? This world is so similar to his own, where humanity and magic would never truly intermingle. But what line should the magical draw when it came to what was perceived as the greater good?
What line did they draw with one another? Was it wise to have a line to draw at all, if it meant leaving something dangerous and powerful to be picked up by something else? Was this monstrous, to rob the soul from the grieving, to snatch it just like he might snatch a demon up as an item?
...
There's a long, slow exhale of breath.]
I'll do what I must, if it means the people can continue with their lives.
Maybe that makes me no better than a demon. But... I will do it, if it means it won't be used against them otherwise.
[They are his line in the sand.]
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...You really are a wizard of the north, in the end.
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Was there any doubt?
[Solomon knows the answer to that well enough. He's not a fool - he knows that out of the five, he's pushed himself to a separate corner from most of the rest in many ways. Habitual, uncomfortable, a refusal to be seen as anything less that a threat in a room of powerful beings that did not care to show more than the baselines of respect.
A wolf in sheep's clothing, attempting to pretend in the presence of other wolves.]
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It's almost impressive, watching you kill a part of yourself to answer like that.
[That hesitation did not go unnoticed.]
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It's not the first time. I doubt it will ever be the last.
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My concern is keeping them out of more dangerous hands.
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