and the white knight is talking backwards and the red queen's off with her head

[undealt]

WHO || Gold, Amara, and OPEN
WHAT || Gold has arrived back from dealing with refuges in Bermuda. And now he's making frands. And surely everyone wants to know who dat lady is.
WHERE || The castle library
WHEN || some indeterminate time in June
HOW || actionspaaaam
OTHER || You can also pull Gold and Amara aside for one-on-one conversations if you'd like. Just specify.

If you go into the library today, you will find an unusual sight- for one thing, Gold's back, but he must have snuck in like a ninja because it's not like he made any great announcement of it. Just swanned in, checked on his crocodile, and immediately tracked down a certain blonde homo magi. Suspicious!

Said homo magi is currently in the library with him. In fact, they're in the section with all the magic books, chatting animatedly about... something or other. (A listen check of 18 will catch what they're saying).

Comments

[reallywicked]

[That causes Faye's eyes to narrow, but she's keeping her mouth shut... for now...]

[undealt]

Of course I do. You know how children are, however- their eyes are bigger than their stomachs, as it were.

[He just fucking rocks at diplomacy okay (19)]

[besmitten]

Among our people, children are taught from a very young age to respect the Art - and those who hold its secrets.

[reallywicked]

In case you haven't been given the full tour- a lot of us here came through the Veil? We're lucky to remember our own name, let alone what we were taught as children.

[Her temper is still hot, but the words come out precise and calculated.]

Imagine waking up one day and forgetting everything about yourself, then discovering by accident that you have this power inside you. And it feels right. It feels like the only thing that makes sense. You might not be as concerned with respecting someone else's rules when it comes to getting back what you know is yours.

[undealt]

[Gold waves a hand at the girl. She has a point.] And Faye's yet young. According to my squire, the memories I have aren't even truly mine, so magic came as a bit of a shock to me, considering what I've believed about myself all these years. Hasmed, however, does truly believe in respecting the art, and I was truly fortunate to have him as my knight.

[He glances at Faye.] A good teacher can make a world of difference.

[besmitten]

There are none yet living among my people who came from beyond the Veil, although the first of us, our progenitors, are said to have. If my words seem harsh to you, it is because I find it difficult to imagine.

What do you both feel you do, when the years peel magic away from this world once again? There are those who believe the time will come soon.

[reallywicked]

[Faye had never heard that before, and the idea of it was more terrifying for her than she cared to admit.]

...Why do they think that? [She only just found out she could cast. The last thing she wanted was for it to be taken away.]

[undealt]

[Gold waits for the answer, a little bit horrified himself. It's not something he's ever heard before and a pawnbroker from Maine would probably shrug it off.

But he is not a pawnbroker from Maine, apparently. He can't trust those memories. And he can't remember what he really is, but magic plays into it and so magic is his only connection to whatever life he might have once had, then he has to keep it. He's nothing without it.]

[besmitten]

It has been almost forty years since magic last fell silent. There may be little pattern to the eldritch tides, but with each passing year, our chances of reaching the end of this era only grow.

[reallywicked]

[Faye swallows hard, suddenly realizing how little she knows about this world and how magic works in it. She glances away from Amara to bring her gaze to Gold. While she doesn't actually say anything, he may know her well enough to recognize that it's fear in her eyes, rather than any of that usual bold defiance.

Losing her magic is the one thing that she actually fears. And she didn't even realize it was a possibility until just now.]

[undealt]

[Gold only gives her a cursory look- because he'd rather not see his own internalized fears in her eyes. He tilts his chin up, regarding Amara with a confident expression that belies his true feelings.]

But your people have always prospered- perhaps only behind closed doors, but you've managed it.

[And he would sequester himself somewhere if it meant not losing his magic. At least until he could find a way around the problem.]

[besmitten]

[ she looks at him like oh honey no ] My people live in a pocket dimension that becomes sealed shut when magic abandons this world. There is no escape to be had, but it is the only way we can ensure we will not be exposed to mortals in the interim, and find ourselves among them when magic returns, triggering our supposed curse.

There is no way to preserve magic within our hidden realm, because that dimension still inhabits the sphere in which Earth resides. We struggle through those dark years, and prepare for them in the interim, but to say we prosper during those times is hardly accurate.

[reallywicked]

[The longer this conversation goes on, the more Faye's gut twists. Even in hiding, it would be gone- and who even knew for how long? She doesn't have time to try to put on a brave/snarky face. In fact, all of her defensive walls fall away and she sinks herself into the nearest chair.]

It can't just...go. What do we do?

[undealt]

Consider our days in the Dragon's Fire numbered for a few decades. [His will save sucks, so he ends up looking thoroughly unhappy and wibbly. Amara basically cancelled Christmas on him.]

[besmitten]

All the more reason to appreciate and respect magic while we have it.

[reallywicked]

[Faye just nods in response to the both of them. The last thing she wants is to lose this but if she has no choice, she doesn't plan on wasting any time.]

I'll do whatever I need to. [She looks up at Gold. Hi, someone found their humility.]

[undealt]

[Gold plants a hand on her shoulder.] Yeah. And there's no sense harping on it until that dark day is upon us. Magic endures, whether it's with us or not. And those who practice it endure with it.

[besmitten]

[ amara looks pleased with such a resolution and nods once ] Precisely. True adherence to the discipline can prolong one's life, even through those hard dry years, as well.

[reallywicked]

Wait. [Faye's gaze snaps back to Amara.] Are you talking about immortality?

[undealt]

A longer life is far from eternal youth, I should think. [(Wisdom 22) You're gonna get old, Faye. You're just gonna get old for a much longer period of time. And you'll probably look like Hasmed.]

[besmitten]

Not eternal, no. Prolonged.

How old do you think I am?