[Once Akira's arms wrap against him with the telltale shuddering of tears, Solomon eases his weight back down to the couch. There they will sit, Solomon letting his hand run a slow and even circle against Akira's back, not letting up until he feels that breathing start to even, or until the young man starts to loosen his grip.
Only then will he pull a handkerchief from his sleeve as leans back to give Akira space, holding it out to him.]
It's good, you know. To be able to cry. Don't take it for granted.
[He'll give him a few moments to compose himself, to clean his glasses if he needs to, before he settles back further against the cushions, pulling his limbs up to sit cross-legged. He's cold, okay, don't look at him.]
You said you don't know much of the North. Were you aware of how the people there tend to treat the magical?
[The times Akira allows himself to cry are few and far between, but he takes this moment, takes the comfort Solomon offers him without questioning if he's deserving of it. That doesn't matter now. He needs it.
Akira doesn't cry for long, coming away with a note of thanks when he takes that handkerchief and dries his eyes. A measured breath in, and a long, steady exhale. Don't tell anyone you saw your temporary apprentice look totally uncool, Solomon.]
I'll take your word for it. I'd rather avoid it if possible.
[Rather than fuss with his glasses, Akira gets up to go and set them aside. While he's at it, he snags a throw blanket off his bed and slings it over Solomon's shoulders on the way back to the couch. No need to sit there in discomfort if the cold's bothering him.]
Wizards hold all the power there, yeah? It seems like most people up there are afraid of them.
In trusted company, it's good for the heart to not hold everything, or it might very well break. Let yourself be human.
[The blanket isn't expected, but he still lets his hands wrap into the fabric with a tired smile of gratitude, wrapping himself tightly in it. He's gotten too used to his fireplace while his body has recovered.]
It's a very harsh relationship, yes.
The North is incredibly inhospitable. For those that have chosen to live there, they are at the mercy of the weather, the beasts, and any magical creatures that have the resilience to survive the harsh conditions. That includes wizards.
Many of the villages only get by through the magic provided by a wizard. But many of those wizards are not gracious. They are not against using that power over the people for their own benefit, asking to be treated as gods, or even resorting to violence and murder to keep the people fearful and in line.
A representative from one of those villages came to the ball. I spoke to him for a considerable amount of time about the subject, because they were at tensions for a much different reason.
Their normal protector is Oz. The strongest wizard in the world.
[...Actually, while Solomon talks, Akira hops up to fiddle with something on his desk. There's an electric kettle there frequently used to boil water for coffee, but this time, he fixes up a bit of tea he'd purchased in the south and brings over a cup for each of them. Solomon needs plenty of rest, so no caffeine for him today.]
And so that's why you went off to the north on your own? Were you looking for this Oz guy?
But if he's in the same state as the Southern wizards, then I doubt there's anything we could do to bring him back to the North anytime soon. So the problem at hand is not exactly anywhere close to being fixed.
[A pause, as he holds his cup out.]
I haven't tried your sugar yet. Do you mind if I change that?
Are you gearing up for another long-winded old man story?
[Akira doesn't sound like he's complaining, though, extending a hand over Solomon's cup to sprinkle his glossy red sugar into the cup. Special shiny sugar, just like Akira himself...]
It's too sweet for my tastes. Maybe you'll like it more than me.
Thank you-- [Ah, what a pretty color... He'll give his teaspoon a stir, giving the brilliant red some time to dissolve.]
No. I'm too tired to do that at the moment. Just know that Oz is currently in the castle in Central, and his village is in no state to ask for him even if they knew his current whereabouts. There's enough tension already that is not our place to handle.
My concern was the people. Oz was a wizard under the service of Central, despite being from the North. But he has a castle situated in the mountains, one that was his home before he worked with the Sage. Henry had said that Oz had enchanted the windows of the castle to always remain on, even if Oz himself wasn't present. It acted like a scarecrow of sorts for other wizards who might think about challenging Oz's stake on an area.
When Oz vanished, so did the lights in his castle, and so did the protection the people relied on. Their location right near the mountains leaves them in a highly susceptible area for avalanches and blizzards, and they were afraid they wouldn't last for long if anything at all started to fail.
[Akira sprinkles sugar into his own cup and gives it a stir, warming his palms against the porcelain while he waits for it to cool.]
...That leaves the people of the North in a pretty tight bind. Has anyone tried to challenge his wizard dominance, or whatever you'd call it?
[Akira can only imagine two nerds slinging their heavy textbooks at each other despite knowing from his own experience just how much mages are capable of. Let him have this funny mental image.]
[Oz would crit hit him for 10000000 damage in every universe, man, lbr.]
Here and there. Though there isn't much to challenge. Oz's castle still has a very large amount of protective magic shutting it up tight, but the village is not as lucky.
[He takes a tentative sip. Mm. A strong sweetness indeed, though not cloying... this would work very well against the bitterness of coffee.]
That is why I went to them. I decided to infiltrate his castle for myself as a preventative measure.
[Akira hears that and his expression promptly flatlines.]
Solomon...
[...But he said he'd work on trusting this man, didn't he? Knowing how Solomon is, Akira can't give him hell for undertaking the task on his own and letting no one know about it. Stupid, stubborn old man... and were it Akira, he wouldn't have done any differently himself.
Deep breath in, deep breath out... Akira grabs an academic paper off his coffee table and rolls it up tight...... and baps Solomon on the head.]
If my hair turns prematurely grey because of you, you're paying for all my hair dye. You're insane.
He rubs at his forehead at the point of impact, holding up his palm to silently request to not be hit again.]
H-haha... ah, so I've been told.
[As well as some other things! But insanity is definitely one of them.]
By the time you came across me, I'd already made it in and out of the castle properly. I wasn't able to get it fully functional before Oz's magic overpowered me... but at the very least, I was able to work through and reinitiate some of the enchantment spells Oz had placed.
I didn't exactly leave it unscathed, since it took about every ounce of magic I had to make it through there. But the village hosted me afterwards, and I stayed with them until I was rudely taken up by Snow and White's request for the City of Ice earlier this week.
I've had no chance for clear skies, so my amulet was running low... I was having to make daily trips to the Forest of Dreams to replenish my mana from the stones. That was where you found me. But I couldn't be guaranteed that more of a presence of our own wizards to Oz's village would drawn more of the unsavory to them.
So I kept mum, and watched the rest of you work on repairs for other villages when I wasn't with my own, so that I could pay attention to whether aggressors were keeping their focuses on the collective group of you or trying to find an opportunity with the castle's changes.
[Akira tries and fails to see why this information couldn't have been given to him prior to Solomon's trip, or to anyone else he trusts, for that matter. He understands where Solomon is coming from, but this is the biggest way in which they differ— Akira's all about the power of teamwork. Not everything can or should be accomplished alone.
He doesn't censor his long, gusty sigh, downing his glass of tea in one long pull and rising to fix another cup.]
Look. I understand that you're going to do what you want no matter what, but can't you at least tell me beforehand? Drop a hint. A little "hey Akira, I'm about to go do something reckless. I'll be back" before you run off and almost get yourself killed? You're being inconsiderate.
[He returns, resisting the urge to dump his tea on Solomon's head, and drops down on the couch with a whump.]
If you'll be honest with me, I'll be honest with you. I'll keep your secrets safe. In exchange... there's something I need to tell you. I'm sorry in advance.
If I told you, would you have trusted me in return? Or would you have pursued me into the depths of the castle even at risk to yourself, like you did in the forest?
[But it's not an answer Akira can comfortably accept. It would be one thing if Solomon were at his full power like he was in his own world. It would be another if Akira had access to his Personas. Here, however, they're more or less equals... aren't they?
[From one who was the most powerful in the world, one who knew he could. He had the knowledge, he had the willpower, he had the people reliant on him. Like stepping through one's own footsteps in the freshly fallen snow, or so he figured. Adapt and overpower, all for them, leaving everything else and everyone else behind when the only justification he needed was his own.]
It's hypocritical of me to say now that I'm in the state I am. But... Habit says I don't have to take the worries for myself that I do for the people around me. Because I cannot die. I'm the only one in human existence who cannot die.
Or... rather, I couldn't die.
[Here is different, is what his dip in tone seems to say. Here is difficult, with the weakness in his body and the exhaustion in his heart.]
...It's a fool's errand, in a way, to learn that isn't the case anymore through something so risky. And I won't pretend it's a fair viewpoint in the slightest.
[He can hardly blame Solomon for thinking of himself as impervious to death when he was, at one point. Akira himself is as normal and human as they come, but even he has times where he feels invincible, like he's the one laughing in the face of death and not the other way around.
He gets it, and that's why his frustration diminishes some, his cup remaining where it belongs in his hands instead of being upturned onto Solomon's head. Dousing him is tempting, though.]
So what will you do now that you know you're not the powerhouse you used to be? Are you going to act accordingly, or do I have to keep worrying about you?
Maybe it's more that I'm... not used to having limits. It used to just be what my own body could take, when I was younger... and more what my mind will bother to remember, now that I'm older. But limits on my magic?
Outside the ocean or the occasional strange curse or two, it's been impossible. Maybe that's why I felt so strongly to act when it came to Oz.
[To prove to himself, and only himself, that he was still powerful enough.]
Mn. I don't know. There's not much I can do no matter how I wanted to proceed, so that's limited my options and left me a lot to think about. But... when left with very little, we do only what we can, correct?
For me, that was following through on my word, and finding those who deserved a better word from me than the cold shoulder I've given. I'm used to loneliness, but... sometimes it escapes me how it damages those of you I care about, too.
[...Man, they really are alike, aren't they? They're alike in some of the best ways but also some of the worst. Akira groans.]
Your ego needed the reality check. Get over yourself.
[As if Akira hasn't also entertained delusions of being nigh invincible. He can't judge.]
If you want to live a lonely life, that's your choice, but you don't act like a man who does. You're a bit too social for that, you know? Either you care about people and take their feelings into consideration, or you don't and you stay away from them so they don't get hurt. You can't have it both ways.
[He just tiredly chuckles, but doesn't argue. It's not quite so simple, but... it's hard not to desire it in the way Akira tries to lay it out so frankly.]
That's a strangely funny thing to hear, coming from you.
[But not a surprising one. Hypocritical talk was necessary at times, in his own experience. To protect what had to remain a secret, to hold power meant only for one's self as far away without detaching it entirely.
He takes a moment of silence over his tea.]
Regardless... I don't care for that idea. I've found a third way before. I can manage it again. You could say it's been a mission for a very long time.
Besides, I've never been one for following the rules.
[Something that Nightbringer so deeply hated him for. Their game of back and forth hadn't stopped for millenia, but he still had no desire to budge, even if his heart twisted further and further into the grips of hell.
...]
Mm. That's a bit beside the point now, though. [His cup clatters slightly as he places it down against the table.]
You said you had something you felt you had to tell me. Right?
Man, I feel like I'm staring at my own reflection sometimes. You're obnoxious.
[Said with no real heat, no ire, because nothing in Solomon's answer surprises him. He'd be something worse than a hypocrite if he held any disdain for Solomon just because they share so much in common. It's those commonalities that make it easy to relate to and understand this enigma of a man.
...Alright, he's setting his cup down for this just in case Solomon is overwhelmed with the urge to throttle him. Akira doesn't want tea stains on the carpet.]
I made a promise, Solomon. Two of them.
[And he's not going to apologize. He's not going to double down in an effort to explain the reasons why. He doesn't regret what he did, nor would he take it back, but Solomon deserves to know what his apprentice has done.]
[The swell of Solomon's emotion washes over him like the high tide, and Akira fights to stay on his feet. He knew this would hurt Solomon, perhaps even deeply, but he wasn't prepared for the reality of his confession.
He wishes he could apologize. Wishes he felt any sort of regret... but he doesn't. He doesn't. Akira looks straight ahead, his eyes squared on Solomon's.]
I wouldn't have made them if I didn't. I will do anything I can to honor those promises to him... even if it costs me my life.
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Only then will he pull a handkerchief from his sleeve as leans back to give Akira space, holding it out to him.]
It's good, you know. To be able to cry. Don't take it for granted.
[He'll give him a few moments to compose himself, to clean his glasses if he needs to, before he settles back further against the cushions, pulling his limbs up to sit cross-legged. He's cold, okay, don't look at him.]
You said you don't know much of the North. Were you aware of how the people there tend to treat the magical?
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Akira doesn't cry for long, coming away with a note of thanks when he takes that handkerchief and dries his eyes. A measured breath in, and a long, steady exhale. Don't tell anyone you saw your temporary apprentice look totally uncool, Solomon.]
I'll take your word for it. I'd rather avoid it if possible.
[Rather than fuss with his glasses, Akira gets up to go and set them aside. While he's at it, he snags a throw blanket off his bed and slings it over Solomon's shoulders on the way back to the couch. No need to sit there in discomfort if the cold's bothering him.]
Wizards hold all the power there, yeah? It seems like most people up there are afraid of them.
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[The blanket isn't expected, but he still lets his hands wrap into the fabric with a tired smile of gratitude, wrapping himself tightly in it. He's gotten too used to his fireplace while his body has recovered.]
It's a very harsh relationship, yes.
The North is incredibly inhospitable. For those that have chosen to live there, they are at the mercy of the weather, the beasts, and any magical creatures that have the resilience to survive the harsh conditions. That includes wizards.
Many of the villages only get by through the magic provided by a wizard. But many of those wizards are not gracious. They are not against using that power over the people for their own benefit, asking to be treated as gods, or even resorting to violence and murder to keep the people fearful and in line.
A representative from one of those villages came to the ball. I spoke to him for a considerable amount of time about the subject, because they were at tensions for a much different reason.
Their normal protector is Oz. The strongest wizard in the world.
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And so that's why you went off to the north on your own? Were you looking for this Oz guy?
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Not quite. We know where Oz is, after all.
But if he's in the same state as the Southern wizards, then I doubt there's anything we could do to bring him back to the North anytime soon. So the problem at hand is not exactly anywhere close to being fixed.
[A pause, as he holds his cup out.]
I haven't tried your sugar yet. Do you mind if I change that?
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[Akira doesn't sound like he's complaining, though, extending a hand over Solomon's cup to sprinkle his glossy red sugar into the cup. Special shiny sugar, just like Akira himself...]
It's too sweet for my tastes. Maybe you'll like it more than me.
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No. I'm too tired to do that at the moment. Just know that Oz is currently in the castle in Central, and his village is in no state to ask for him even if they knew his current whereabouts. There's enough tension already that is not our place to handle.
My concern was the people. Oz was a wizard under the service of Central, despite being from the North. But he has a castle situated in the mountains, one that was his home before he worked with the Sage. Henry had said that Oz had enchanted the windows of the castle to always remain on, even if Oz himself wasn't present. It acted like a scarecrow of sorts for other wizards who might think about challenging Oz's stake on an area.
When Oz vanished, so did the lights in his castle, and so did the protection the people relied on. Their location right near the mountains leaves them in a highly susceptible area for avalanches and blizzards, and they were afraid they wouldn't last for long if anything at all started to fail.
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...That leaves the people of the North in a pretty tight bind. Has anyone tried to challenge his wizard dominance, or whatever you'd call it?
[Akira can only imagine two nerds slinging their heavy textbooks at each other despite knowing from his own experience just how much mages are capable of. Let him have this funny mental image.]
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Here and there. Though there isn't much to challenge. Oz's castle still has a very large amount of protective magic shutting it up tight, but the village is not as lucky.
[He takes a tentative sip. Mm. A strong sweetness indeed, though not cloying... this would work very well against the bitterness of coffee.]
That is why I went to them. I decided to infiltrate his castle for myself as a preventative measure.
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Solomon...
[...But he said he'd work on trusting this man, didn't he? Knowing how Solomon is, Akira can't give him hell for undertaking the task on his own and letting no one know about it. Stupid, stubborn old man... and were it Akira, he wouldn't have done any differently himself.
Deep breath in, deep breath out... Akira grabs an academic paper off his coffee table and rolls it up tight...... and baps Solomon on the head.]
If my hair turns prematurely grey because of you, you're paying for all my hair dye. You're insane.
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He rubs at his forehead at the point of impact, holding up his palm to silently request to not be hit again.]
H-haha... ah, so I've been told.
[As well as some other things! But insanity is definitely one of them.]
By the time you came across me, I'd already made it in and out of the castle properly. I wasn't able to get it fully functional before Oz's magic overpowered me... but at the very least, I was able to work through and reinitiate some of the enchantment spells Oz had placed.
I didn't exactly leave it unscathed, since it took about every ounce of magic I had to make it through there. But the village hosted me afterwards, and I stayed with them until I was rudely taken up by Snow and White's request for the City of Ice earlier this week.
I've had no chance for clear skies, so my amulet was running low... I was having to make daily trips to the Forest of Dreams to replenish my mana from the stones. That was where you found me. But I couldn't be guaranteed that more of a presence of our own wizards to Oz's village would drawn more of the unsavory to them.
So I kept mum, and watched the rest of you work on repairs for other villages when I wasn't with my own, so that I could pay attention to whether aggressors were keeping their focuses on the collective group of you or trying to find an opportunity with the castle's changes.
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[Akira tries and fails to see why this information couldn't have been given to him prior to Solomon's trip, or to anyone else he trusts, for that matter. He understands where Solomon is coming from, but this is the biggest way in which they differ— Akira's all about the power of teamwork. Not everything can or should be accomplished alone.
He doesn't censor his long, gusty sigh, downing his glass of tea in one long pull and rising to fix another cup.]
Look. I understand that you're going to do what you want no matter what, but can't you at least tell me beforehand? Drop a hint. A little "hey Akira, I'm about to go do something reckless. I'll be back" before you run off and almost get yourself killed? You're being inconsiderate.
[He returns, resisting the urge to dump his tea on Solomon's head, and drops down on the couch with a whump.]
If you'll be honest with me, I'll be honest with you. I'll keep your secrets safe. In exchange... there's something I need to tell you. I'm sorry in advance.
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If I told you, would you have trusted me in return? Or would you have pursued me into the depths of the castle even at risk to yourself, like you did in the forest?
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Of course I would have followed you.
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Oz's magic was deadly in its power. I wouldn't have been able to forgive anyone, let alone myself, if we'd lost you again over something I'd chosen.
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[But it's not an answer Akira can comfortably accept. It would be one thing if Solomon were at his full power like he was in his own world. It would be another if Akira had access to his Personas. Here, however, they're more or less equals... aren't they?
Aren't they?]
Do you think I'm that weak?
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I just couldn't accept it for myself.
[From one who was the most powerful in the world, one who knew he could. He had the knowledge, he had the willpower, he had the people reliant on him. Like stepping through one's own footsteps in the freshly fallen snow, or so he figured. Adapt and overpower, all for them, leaving everything else and everyone else behind when the only justification he needed was his own.]
It's hypocritical of me to say now that I'm in the state I am. But... Habit says I don't have to take the worries for myself that I do for the people around me. Because I cannot die. I'm the only one in human existence who cannot die.
Or... rather, I couldn't die.
[Here is different, is what his dip in tone seems to say. Here is difficult, with the weakness in his body and the exhaustion in his heart.]
...It's a fool's errand, in a way, to learn that isn't the case anymore through something so risky. And I won't pretend it's a fair viewpoint in the slightest.
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[He can hardly blame Solomon for thinking of himself as impervious to death when he was, at one point. Akira himself is as normal and human as they come, but even he has times where he feels invincible, like he's the one laughing in the face of death and not the other way around.
He gets it, and that's why his frustration diminishes some, his cup remaining where it belongs in his hands instead of being upturned onto Solomon's head. Dousing him is tempting, though.]
So what will you do now that you know you're not the powerhouse you used to be? Are you going to act accordingly, or do I have to keep worrying about you?
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Outside the ocean or the occasional strange curse or two, it's been impossible. Maybe that's why I felt so strongly to act when it came to Oz.
[To prove to himself, and only himself, that he was still powerful enough.]
Mn. I don't know. There's not much I can do no matter how I wanted to proceed, so that's limited my options and left me a lot to think about. But... when left with very little, we do only what we can, correct?
For me, that was following through on my word, and finding those who deserved a better word from me than the cold shoulder I've given. I'm used to loneliness, but... sometimes it escapes me how it damages those of you I care about, too.
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Your ego needed the reality check. Get over yourself.
[As if Akira hasn't also entertained delusions of being nigh invincible. He can't judge.]
If you want to live a lonely life, that's your choice, but you don't act like a man who does. You're a bit too social for that, you know? Either you care about people and take their feelings into consideration, or you don't and you stay away from them so they don't get hurt. You can't have it both ways.
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That's a strangely funny thing to hear, coming from you.
[But not a surprising one. Hypocritical talk was necessary at times, in his own experience. To protect what had to remain a secret, to hold power meant only for one's self as far away without detaching it entirely.
He takes a moment of silence over his tea.]
Regardless... I don't care for that idea. I've found a third way before. I can manage it again. You could say it's been a mission for a very long time.
Besides, I've never been one for following the rules.
[Something that Nightbringer so deeply hated him for. Their game of back and forth hadn't stopped for millenia, but he still had no desire to budge, even if his heart twisted further and further into the grips of hell.
...]
Mm. That's a bit beside the point now, though. [His cup clatters slightly as he places it down against the table.]
You said you had something you felt you had to tell me. Right?
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[Said with no real heat, no ire, because nothing in Solomon's answer surprises him. He'd be something worse than a hypocrite if he held any disdain for Solomon just because they share so much in common. It's those commonalities that make it easy to relate to and understand this enigma of a man.
...Alright, he's setting his cup down for this just in case Solomon is overwhelmed with the urge to throttle him. Akira doesn't want tea stains on the carpet.]
I made a promise, Solomon. Two of them.
[And he's not going to apologize. He's not going to double down in an effort to explain the reasons why. He doesn't regret what he did, nor would he take it back, but Solomon deserves to know what his apprentice has done.]
1/2
He falls completely still. Everything but his eyes, which suddenly become too bright, too sharp.
Surprise. Then concern. Then anger.
Then a deeply, deeply ingrained hurt.
All in moments, passing, brilliant, before tucking back down.
...]
2/2
...Mn. Did you, now.
[It's not his job. It's never been his job. He knows this. The heat of sorrow feels so vibrant in his throat.
But it never was his decision to make. Not for them. Not for him.
...]
Do you plan to keep them, then?
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He wishes he could apologize. Wishes he felt any sort of regret... but he doesn't. He doesn't. Akira looks straight ahead, his eyes squared on Solomon's.]
I wouldn't have made them if I didn't. I will do anything I can to honor those promises to him... even if it costs me my life.
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