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IC CONTACT
...this is the neatest thing I've ever seen. I want one for home so bad.
-Right! This is Sorey, please leave me a message so I can get back to you!
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-Right! This is Sorey, please leave me a message so I can get back to you!
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Sorey-- are you busy? I can call back later.
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It's... what I couldn't tell you, before.
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Okay, I have time. Want me to come over?
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Sorey wastes no time making his way over to the Bishop, wondering what in the world it is Belthazar could tell him that he finds so damning. He knows Sorey's the one responsible for the destruction of those villages and for Mikleo's death, isn't he?
Then again, those things don't necessarily have anything to do with it. From the way Stefan had parted with his own secret, Sorey's swiftly learning that if there's one thing other worlds are never short of, it's prejudice.]
action;
He meets Sorey as he steps off the shuttle. Belth is smiling in a way that doesn't quite reach his eyes.]
Thanks for coming over. I know you know where my room is, but let me show you there anyway. [The scent of freshly-made cookies and tea is already palpable as soon as they step into the hall.]
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[He holds his door open for Sorey. He doesn't take up much room despite having grown a few inches. But if Sorey came over for the Feast of Winter Veil, the new growth isn't a surprise.
He has a wooden breakfast table in the small floor space of his room, a recent addition or otherwise stored elsewhere. There is a full tea set resting on it as well as a plate of delicate vanilla meringues and berry scones. No magical flavor-changing today, but that's just as well. Meringues are finicky enough without bringing magic into it.]
Have a seat. [There's only two, you can't really pick wrong here.]
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He still feels a little like he's being placated a little with this spread though, like Belthazar is afraid Sorey is going to get up and storm out.]
This seriously looks amazing. You must be as good with sweets as Mikleo. [Sorey slides into a chair and picks up the teaspoon to fiddle with nervously.]
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The compliment makes him blush unexpectedly, and he has to cover his face with his hand to hide it.]
T-thank you. We have different strengths, really; his gelato is very good, and I am comfortable with baking.
[Belth sits primly on the other chair. He pours them both some tea and spills a little. Hands shaking. Tends to happen when you're terrified. He doesn't take a sip just yet, instead he just shoves his hands in his lap in hopes of looking less nervous. Obviously it doesn't work.]
I think it's best I start from the beginning. You've heard some of this story, but not all of it.
[He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. When he reopens them, he finds his determination again, at least for the moment.]
For ages and ages my people lived near something called the Sunwell. It was a font of pure mana, not unlike the kind that goes into spells, and it changed us as arcane magic is wont to do. Before I was a blood elf, I was quel'dorei, high-elven. We all were. We drew upon its magic to enrich our livelihood, to build a new kingdom, to change the land around us into one of eternal summer. It flowed through our veins and granted us power beyond measure.
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Sorey just mops up the tea silently as Belthazar steels himself. He really is terrified; it pulls at Sorey's heart and he wants to reach across the table and offer Belthazar support, but keeps his hands to himself. Belthazar probably rehearsed this. It would be kinder to let him get it all out at his own pace.]
I'm guessing things didn't stay that way?
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... No, it did not.
[He fidgets with the hem of his tunic as Sorey gently soaks up some of the tea. He doesn't like thinking or even talking about what happened, even though it was twelve years ago.]
When Quel'thalas fell, the Sunwell went with it. It was used in some kind of ritual and then completely destroyed. It left all of us cut off from its mana. Even as a child, I wasn't immune to it. I watched the hunger overwhelm people and turn them into-- zombies, almost. Children, just like me, withered and mad.
[He thinks Sorey might know where this is going, now.]
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-- you see, right? I'm a monster. As long as I'm here, I have to feed on other people. Things like me shouldn't be allowed around seraphim at all, but I was just so happy to talk to someone, I...
[He covers his face and falls silent. It's a lot of information to dump on someone, and he knows that.]
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Sorey has heard something similar; when Stefan had confessed to him in the shuttle, quiet and ashamed, that he drank blood to survive. Idly Sorey wonders if Belthazar has killed people by devouring their mana before he dismisses it as irrelevant. No matter what happened before, it's clear he doesn't want to do it any more.
Still, Sorey can't just respond as blithely as he did with Stefan before. If it was about something other than the very stuff that makes up his friends and family, he wouldn't be as cautious about this, but...]
You were lonely. ...I don't think you should punish yourself for that.
[Sorey sighs through his nose, pressing the heels of his palms down against his knees. Geez...he'd thought Belthazar was frightened he'd hurt Mikleo because of the malevolence, not...this.]
This...feeding on other people's mana. How are you doing it now?
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This was not a problem until I disappeared from the Fleet for a few months. Before then, I had a gift-- a mana crystal that would recharge through solar energy. It was gone along with all my other belongings when I returned.
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And I guess there's no alternatives or anything, or you'd probably have already been using them. I see.
[Sorey blows out a breath.] Okay. Uh...so, what are the options available to you? Just finding someone you can take mana from? [Because this is what you were worried about, right? Sorey will help you out man.]
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Someone or something. It doesn't hurt people to imbue items with a small amount of magical power, but it's hard to ask for and harder to teach them. Feeding directly from the source is a last resort; there's always a risk of losing control and taking too much.
[Especially with a creature of pure mana. Light, he can't even imagine what he'd feel. He'd probably be trippin' balls.
Sorey isn't screaming or throwing things at him yet, though he seems a little apprehensive. It's... something.]
The verdant planets we've found, though-- each one has had an abundance of mana. If only I could bring a little piece of that with me... I wouldn't have to do this anymore.
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[None of the plants they took retained any magical properties...]
Hiro and I were working on the solar crystal before someone with great power offered to help me. I'm afraid of being indebted to someone like that a second time; he was not very trustworthy, even though he helped me. Black dragons always want something in return.
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... Are you sure? They wouldn't-- think I was a monster?
[What's the difference between him and a hellion?]
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Seraphim are incredible. They might seem really similar to humans or other mortal people, but their perspectives are so different. [Sorey picks up his teacup, just to have its weight in his hands.] They'll forgive just about anyone of anything. Even things that don't need to be forgiven.
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... Thank you.
[He wraps his hands around his own teacup. They're small and shaky, but they seem to gain strength the longer they're still.]
I don't think I can tell them. I hate to put the burden on you, but I think I might fly into hysterics if I had to face Mikleo.
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[Sorey sighs and takes a sip. The tea's gone a little tepid but it's still good.]
I appreciate you telling me. I can definitely see now why it would worry you so much.
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