nabataprophet

[nabataprophet]

march activity check

status: passed

skill points gained: 1 (29)

february activity check: any +1 | lance d+ > c

claims:

tbd

#📚 ooc #toaactivity

[nabataprophet]

Veyle's hand slips out of Sophia's so, so easily.

"...Lady... Veyle...?"

And it's so cold to be alone in this great, wide room.

...She always kind of knew, though, didn't she? That it would turn out like this? From the very beginning, there was a sinking feeling that she would end this night alone. Veyle had warned her, even, to not get her hopes up.

Quick, while she's distracted—

A probing curiosity apologizing for all that she doesn't understand, even about herself. A heart that wants for nothing. Not quite a human, but not quite a dragon, either. A child and yet not a child. This is just the way things are for this unique existence.

It doesn't have to be this way—

But it does. If Veyle looks so scared, it is her responsibility to package away her own fears for the moment. Her own wants and desires can be tampered down all for the sake of safeguarding another. Call it a habit, if you will.

(She does not understand why this makes her so frightening. That this is why that elderly woman had looked her in the eye and called her strong.)

Sophia kneels down next to Veyle.

"Please... respond. If you don't... I will consider it permission to subdue you... okay...?"

a bagel :) noooo :D two bagels

#📚 ic #📚 thread: two bagels #📚 support: veyle #misericordel #//she rolled a 4 on the power of friendship. so um! good luck and have fun veyle! :thumbsup: #engage spoilers //

[nabataprophet]

creating emotional distance through politeness

girls will literally other themselves through their speech patterns and not see a problem with that

Sophia is a polite girl! She's a little shy and off putting at times, but she's nothing if not polite. When she actually finishes her sentences instead of trailing off, she uses desu and -masu with pretty much everyone. The sole exception is Fae, who she speaks casually to.

Compare the way she conjugates the same verb in two different conversations:

Speaking to Fae:

わかる・・・？

Speaking to Raigh:

私・・・わかります・・・

For the non Japanese speakers in the audience the る suffix is casual, the ます suffix is polite (keigo).　

Fae is also one of only two characters that Sophia addresses with no honorific, the other.........conveniently also being Raigh.

On Fae's end, the way she addresses Sophia is significant because she calls her お姉ちゃん (lit. big sister) whereas other characters around Sophia's relative age get (name)のお姉ちゃん/お兄ちゃん (Sue and Roy, respectively). The only other character to get this privilege from Fae is Idunn.

This! Is interesting because! From a mechanical standpoint, Sophia begins at the same level of support with both Fae and Igrene, implying a similar level of closeness since they all start at 30. HOWEVER. Whereas Fae's support growths with the other Arcadians are 30/+3, Sophia's are 30/+3 for Fae and 30/+2 for Igrene.

Fae is happy to call Igrene directly by her name and vice-versa, but Sophia positions Igrene above her with Igrene-san. Despite knowing her for her whole life, including when Igrene was (relatively speaking) younger than her, she still will not speak to Igrene casually.

This isn't (relative) age based, either. She uses keigo for Raigh (13) all the way up to Niime (~70s). She is just so stubborn about being polite to everyone not named Fae that she comes off as emotionally distant.

Because she kind of is, honestly! We can see it through her support growths! She struggles with forming connections, especially with new people. Even if she does manage to form a non-Roy friendship, she will always return home to where Fae is because her friendship with Fae supersedes anything else.

...Except a Roy A support, that is. That's oomfie from the outside that she puts on a huge pedestal.

#📚 ooc #📚 hc/meta #//having to always specify relative age like yes she is older than all of the humans no she does not treat herself as such #//and also like yes she is younger than fae but fae herself puts her in the position of older sister #//anyway yeah bc im me im interested in their friendship as a kind of codependent thing. hashtag girl

[nabataprophet]

"...I suppose," Sophia murmurs vaguely.

Maybe it's because they are fundamentally different people, but she does not seek the complete mastery of the unknown that Pelleas does. It's not that she isn't curious herself about that which is unknown to her (and how much there is she still doesn't know!), but rather the intensity of that desire.

If their desires for knowledge were candles, then Sophia's would have a tiny flame. A steady light that would allow the candle to last longer, but a meager glow compared to the all-encompassing light of Pelleas' candle. A bright, vivid flame that doomed the candle to melt ever faster.

His next question is not strange, considering the flow of their conversation, but Sophia still tenses up.

"......."

The desire to end the conversation entirely is great, but if he had already managed to guess, then it should be fine to say it.

"...Yes. I can sometimes see... blurry glimpses of the future. So I already knew vaguely... when the murder would happen." She is not omniscient, far from it. If anything, she would consider her power rather weak in the grand scheme of things. "Sometimes when I tell people... what I see, things change. But sometimes they... don't. Knowing what will happen... and having the power to change it... are very different."

She watches her walking companion with inquisitive eyes.

"Then do you also...?"

you have been evicted

#📚 ic #📚 thread: you have been evicted #📚 support: pelleas #pirrhyc #//sorry i keep handing you back long replies by complete accident it is nawt that serious

[nabataprophet]

Sophia is a girl of few words even on a good day. She had, however, fallen completely silent after the Duke had looked at her and her companion derisively after explaining the full scope of what he would like to see them accomplish.

"Well," he chuckles to himself after looking them up and down, "you're still but a child and a man who has only just broached the cusp of adulthood, so you likely do not understand the necessity of my family's heirloom. Regardless, I should like your assistance in seeing my dream become manifest."

Perhaps he expected someone older. A grizzled, elderly mage with deep age lines marking their face instead of a young girl. In terms of number of years alive, Sophia is all this man had dreamed of and more. But she does not correct his assumption about her age, merely shifting awkwardly in place. She is already reticent about her personal affairs to begin with, doubly so in light of who her companion is.

She had never met the marquess herself, returning home rather than follow the army back to Pherae, but it's clear enough by his appearance alone who he is. That red hair and blue eyes — the family resemblance is strong. He's taller than his son and his face is sharper; a product of age, surely. If there is something about his appearance that takes her by surprise, it is that he looks healthy.

She keeps this thought to herself, as well.

It is a long journey to Adrestia, so all parties agree to turn in early. Before retiring for the night, the Duke leaves them with one final comment: "Just remember the beauty you have now, while it pales in comparison to mine, won't last forever. This must be a success. We begin in earnest tomorrow."

The mansion falls eerily silent by nightfall, at least for a time. It is fall in earnest now and the cries of insects stopped with the turning of seasons. The weather is fair, too, so the trees outside do little more than rustle gently. Even the servants have ceased their bustling, the hallways of the manor free of human traffic. The entire manor, no, the entire world is asleep.

One singular room in the manor is the exception. Behind a locked door comes the shattering of glass and the low, pained howling of a beast, entirely at odds with the rest of the manor. Who else could the room with the elaborately gilded door belong to but the Duke himself?

The Duke breaks the silence of the manor and so too does Sophia break her own silence. Standing outside a certain guestroom, she knocks softly, but urgently.

"Lord R... Eliwood? Can I...speak with you...?"

@pheraed

preserved flower

recovery: family heirloom

#📚 ic #📚 thread: preserved flower #📚 support: eliwood #pheraed #//noooooooo need to match length this is all scene setting + we're switching to discussing after this #//once more the endless existential horror of existing simultaneously in the past present and future etc etc etc #//anyway hiiii mr lord roy's dad

[nabataprophet]

february activity check

x

status: passed

skill points gained: 1 (28)

february activity check: any +1 | lance d > d+

claims:

don't even worry about it lad

#📚 ooc #toaactivity

[nabataprophet]

The cloying heat of summer, hanging heavy on skin, is much preferable to Sophia than any other season even after having finally experienced all of the other seasons. She wears the evening heat as comfortably as long draping robes. Although the dirt and grass path under foot and the foliage overhead are unlike the near endless sand of her home, there is a sort of familiarity in seeing such a worn down statue.

A reminder that even the most long-lasting of materials will eventually fall victim to time.

Perhaps it is only human nature to ascribe mystique to that which primarily exists out of sight. A statue hidden deep in the forest; wouldn't it be much more exciting if it were a gathering place for the dearly departed? If no one is around to prove otherwise, then who's to say it isn't possible?

Besides the two dark mages gathered here to investigate it, that is.

"...Here?"

Sophia positions herself as indicated by her companion and looks back for confirmation.

By all means, from this position it just appears to be a normal statue. A little worn down, but without anyone to tend to it like the statues at the cathedral, it's only to be expected. Nothing moves or jumps out at her like the reports would have lead her to believe.

"Oh... alright. If I think... of anything... I'll say something."

𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙮: 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜

recovery | ghosthunters.

#📚 ic #📚 thread: an inquiry: the haunting #📚 support: knoll #pryings #//lets be weird and unsettling. together :palm_up_hand:

[nabataprophet]

✧ dead reckoning: finding yourself bothered by somebody's death more than you would have expected, even if they were only an abstract presence in your life.

obscure sorrows cw: discussions of child death

"When's she coming back to play?"

Sophia's hand is on the door when the young dragon calls out to her. Fae has a bad habit of trying to stall her from leaving by asking questions like this. The shaman can come and go freely while she can't, so perhaps it's only fair that she would act out against this perceived injustice. Children often act in such ways when they can't understand the reason for something. "...? Who is...?"

"You know! ▊▊▊▊▊ ! Igrene's little girl!" Fae says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. She looks at Sophia like she's silly for having asked at all. "She used to come here with you all the time! When's she coming back? When, when, huh?"

Sophia freezes in her tracks, hand unable to turn the knob. She can feel Fae's innocent gaze boring holes into her back, impatiently waiting for an answer. She's only asking because she genuinely doesn't know.

That innocence is a blessing and a curse.

"...I... don't know," Sophia lies and excuses herself from the room.

She knows the reason. Of course she knows the reason. She vaguely knew even before it even happened.

But how is Sophia supposed to explain that to her? Although Fae is hundreds of years older than her, she had matured much faster than Fae, so she could conceptualize complex ideas such as mortality. She had come to the terms that regular humans would not live as long as them, with their dragon blood, a long time ago. It's a simple fact of life that everyone in this mixed human and dragon settlement understands except for Fae.

Even so, a deep part of her is quietly unsettled to remember that even young children can die. Isn't that just too unfair...?

Sophia remembers when Igrene had been Fae's height, still too small to use a full sized bow. Then, like she had so earnestly declared in her childhood, she had become the guardian of Nabata like her father before her. She had a lover and then a child. That child had held her hand in the same way Igrene had when she was younger.

But the cycle does not continue. She does not watch that little girl grow up like all of the other humans living in Arcadia.

The door to Fae's room clicks open once more and the little girl races over to the entrance. She peers curiously at Sophia; she doesn't usually return this quickly, claiming she has 'duties' or whatever that means to attend to.

"You're b— You're crying?" The excitement at her return drains from Fae's face as she spots uncharacteristic tears dripping down Sophia's cheeks. "Don't cry, Sophia! Fae will give you a hug, okay? You're bigger than Fae, so you can't cry!"

#📚 drabbles #child death cw ///// #//this was half finished in my drafts (tosses it out on the dash) #//girls will literally be haunted by the mortality of themselves and others and not see a problem with that

[nabataprophet]

"You two... are you even trying at all?"

A hint of irritation creeps into the seminar leader's voice. She taps her sword against the ground as she looks down at the two students sheepishly avoiding eye contact. "Everyone else managed to make it to the end... so how is it that you two failed so quickly?"

Even with their scrawny appearances, surely they should have lasted longer than five minutes. Where was the vigor of youth? The fear to drive them forward past their exhaustion? Forget getting caught in any traps, these two slackers hadn't even made it far enough to encounter any! Their own sheer incompetence had done them in!

What in the world are they feeding mages these days to make them so weak?! Back in her own academy days, even the most waifish of students could complete this exercise with ease. So why? Why were these two so bad at this?!

"You!" Her sword points at Sophia. "Tie up your hair or you'll trip again!"

Jumping a little at the sudden address, Sophia awkwardly gathers her hair into a lopsided ponytail. Even tied up, her hair hangs dangerously low to the ground, a fact that makes the instructor's lips press into a thin line.

"And you!" The sword points at Arval next. "Don't just stop running! Don't forget the point of this exercise!"

She slaps her sword against the ground for emphasis. If I catch either of you again, you're getting the flat side of this sword, the look in her eyes seems to say.

"You're both going to keep trying until you make it to the end. Do you understand me? Now start running!"

With the blow of a whistle, the two dark mages take off running.

...Well, perhaps running is too strong a word. Right out of the gate, Sophia's speed starts to flag and she half-jogs half-walks through the forest.

"You... can go on... without me," she wheezes. "Can't... run..."

@laruarva

the emo kids walking an 18 minute mile

[ sword + 1 ]

#📚 ic #📚 thread: the emo kids walking an 18 minute mile #📚 support: arval #laruarva #//all this scene setting and only one line of dialogue to actually work with........

[nabataprophet]

january activity check

x

status: passed

skill points gained: 1 (27)

january activity check: any +1 | lance e+ > d

claims:

Dark Bishop Mastery (Lifetaker) Iron Bow, Curved Shot, Killer Bow Accuracy Ring Lance Claims tbd

#toaactivity #📚 ooc #//my long con build gambit begins now #//killer bow :) not for meta. just for igrene.

[nabataprophet]

Sophia nods, "Oh... that sounds like we did. There are fruit trees... that grow near the oasis. We used the fruits... to make sweets for special events. Cookies with date or apricot jam... things like that."

Nothing too fancy, but tucked away in their secluded little world, the children didn't know any different. It's hard to be envious of something you don't know exists.

She falls silent again hereafter, letting Chad stew in their reminiscence alone. Even if it's only for a moment, they look much happier than they had been, talking about the home that had raised them. But the moment is over soon, fond expression dropping from his face.

In this big empty hall, the two of them are children so, so far from home.

The other people milling around the hall pay them no mind as they go about their own business. No one has a moment to spare for those who seem to be doing just fine on their own. Fiddling with their own crafts, there is no need to step in and provide instruction.

"...I haven't either. Importing food is a little..." Sophia trails off. Chad has seen for himself the process of getting to Arcadia, so there's no need to elaborate any further on the matter. "I think I would... like to try them at least. When I go home... I can tell Fae about it."

The little girl would surely clamor to try it for herself, but even if Lord Roy were to take pity and try to send some for her to try, surely all of those expensive foods would be too delicate to survive the journey through the desert, sandstorms and all.

"...Will you... tell them?" Sophia asks hesitantly.

eldest daughter gender anonymous

#📚 ic #📚 thread: eldest daughter gender anonymous #lycianlynx #📚 support: chad #//extremely funny in retrospect knowing the actual ball ended up just having like. coffee and spaghetti. i would be seething

[nabataprophet]

“ Good day, Priestess Sophia!”  the Crimson Shield calls out to her with a small salute. His hands bear several band-aids wrapped around his fingertips, a fact she would be able to notice as he offers her a gift for the holiday season.  “ And this is for you for the Winter Festival. ”

It turns out to be a small hand-sewn protection charm. It is a bit crudely made, lacking any artistic sense, but it is still put together and complete if nothing else, not at risk of falling apart anytime soon.

“ ... As is probably obvious, I made that myself. I thought it would be best to put my best foot forward in exchange for the work you put towards your community and the talisman you gave me some time ago now, but my talents... are decidedly not in this area. But nonetheless, I have finished it and tried my best! ”  Perhaps it is bizarre to see a grown man appeal to a younger looking girl this way, but Kent does not speak with shame for that reason. No, if he holds any shame, it is solely in his incompetence for the more delicate crafts in life.  “ I chose the image of a fox given that they are cunning. There are many physical dangers in this life that could be prevented with a bit of foresight and careful planning after all! ”

She hears Kent far before she registers the shock of orange hair standing before her. He salutes her, to which she responds with a stilted nod.

"Professor. Happy... Winter Festival."

She accepts the gift without fuss. From that time twenty-some odd years ago until now, they had exchanged charms and talismans several times now, so another one is easy to accept.

The one in her hands now is... charmingly homemade. It looks a bit like something Fae would have made for her, but much more securely stitched. From the way it is put together and his apology, she gets the sense that his sensibilities lie more in the utilitarian.

Had he not verbally described the decoration as a fox, she honestly isn't sure she would have guessed it. His craftsmanship (or lack thereof) isn't entirely at fault, though, because she isn't entirely sure she has ever actually seen a fox in real life. They probably... look something like this. No, seeing his hands in such a state, they definitely must look something like this. He must have given it his all trying to recreate the beast to the best of his ability.

Violet eyes glance down at the orange embroidery and then back up at Kent's orange hair.

He must be fond of the color, she supposes.

"...Thank you. It's very cute."

#📚 ic #📚 support: kent #liegebound #📚 christmas 2023 #//sorry kent you are my guinea pig

[nabataprophet]

It had only been a hypothetical for the game they had played, but Pelleas approaches the concept with the giddiness of a child, working through the scenario like a puzzle. Every possibility, every ending clicks into place in this little thought experiment.

(Like this, he reminds her of someone else she had known in the past, but she keeps this thought to herself.)

"...Yes, if that ending exists... it would be nice to aim for it, wouldn't it...?"

But in sharp contrast to the euphoria of his realization, it is melancholy in Sophia's expression instead. Pelleas looks to the sky, but Sophia drags behind, almost as if she were fading into the remaining fog.

"But... it's too late now. We can't... take back what already happened. That ending... does not exist in this reality. Two people 'died' and the control you seek... does not exist either."

They had not been true 'deaths' in the sense of the word, especially given that those who had 'died' now walk with them back to Garreg Mach. They had not seen Lewyn at his moment of 'death', but Jakob had been suspended in his moment of 'death' for hours. It was disquieting to see, even if she knew he would be fine.

"Even if you have the knowledge... can you act on it?"

She couldn't.

you have been evicted

#📚 ic #📚 thread: you have been evicted #📚 support: pelleas #pirrhyc #//why was the note i left for myself “infinity mozzarella stick loophole” ??????

[nabataprophet]

without hurting or being hurt

Whenever you lose track of your father, you always find him in the same place. You round the corner of the library and find him, as always, tucked into the back with a thick tome in hand.

You tug at his robes to get his attention. Whenever he's reading, no matter how much you try to raise your voice, you can never draw his attention unless you do this.

"Sophia?!" He yelps, nearly dropping the heavy tome. He catches it at the last moment, breathing a sigh of relief to not have beaned his young daughter right on the head. "Sorry, were you calling me?"

"...Is it... fun...?"

Your voice is shot from playing with Fae all afternoon, but your father knows you well enough to interpret your vague statement and the pointing of your finger.

Your father's face lights up. "Dark magic? Oh, there's so much to learn! I could study just the knowledge gathered in Arcadia alone and not make it through even half—no, not even a fourth—of it in my lifetime! Isn't that incredible? I consider myself pretty learned in the ancient language, too, so just imagine how much faster I could read if I were completely fluent! To be honest, I was also thinking about asking the village elder to help me translate a few sections."

Excitement colors his voice as he launches into an impassioned explanation. Recently, you've noticed him moving slower than usual, but seeing him so passionate soothes your anxieties somewhat.

"Can I... learn, too?"

The bright smile on your father's face fades, replaced by a more complicated expression. He takes the tome in his hand and returns it to its home on the shelf, far above where your tiny hands can reach.

"Honestly, you're my daughter, so you may have a talent in dark magic, but I hope there never comes a day you have to use it, Sophia."

"...Why?"

"Hmmm... let me put it this way. The people who live outside of this village aren't very nice people. They like to hurt other people, especially if they have dragon blood like you do. You're a very kindhearted girl, Sophia, so I hope you never have to hurt another person. Do you understand?"

You nod quietly. You don't want to hurt anyone, either. Sometimes when you close your eyes, you see flashes of visions of people attacking each other with weapons. It's all incomprehensible to a little girl who has only known the safety and peace of a true Utopia. You don't understand why a person would willingly hurt another person.

Your father scoops you up in his arms, holding you close.

"You really do resemble your mother more and more by the day." He strokes your head, affection in his eyes and regret in his voice. "...But I can't help but wish you resembled me as well. Ha ha, forgive your selfish father, Sophia."

It's many years later when you finally understand what he had meant when he told you those words on that day. He is long gone now, his lifespan mere days in comparison to yours. Sometimes you wonder if he had already known at that point that he was never going to be able to see you grow older.

It's not until after the war that you return to the library of your youth. You're tall enough now to pluck that tome off the shelf without even needing to stand on tiptoes. The well-loved pages of the book open easily under your fingers. When you were younger, you had wondered what kind of secrets the book your father had kept hidden from you had contained. By all means, it's just a normal dark tome just like the ones sold in the village's shop.

It's the particulars of the spell that stand out more than anything else. The tome details the usage of a spell that restores life force at the expense of another; the second level of dark magic. It's not particularly complicated magic and indeed, you've handled far more complex magic while traveling with Lord Roy's army.

Your father had been right, though. You still wish that you would never have to hurt another person, but you had no longer been afforded a choice in the matter. There's no way that your father could have known that in the future, your perfect untouchable paradise would be under threat of being invaded or that you would end up being taken prisoner.

He was only human, so how could he have known?

I hope you never have to hurt another person, your father had said. He had hoped you would stay nestled safely within paradise for your whole life.

But a life without hurting or being hurt is impossible, after all.

Class Mastered: Dark Bishop

#📚 drabbles #//794 words btw future me when you're looking for this #//nosferatu is light magic in fodlan so i prrrrobably wont grab it but lifetaker however is fantastic for introspection on living at-- #//someone else's expense. the human cost of paradise etc etc etc #//also the nature of dark magic being a genetic thing in elibe

[nabataprophet]

The two of them were similar but also so very different. That was the nature of meeting other shamans, he found. It was a difficult search to see those who had taken the same plunge as him somehow, but although he had expected them all to be quite like them, he kept getting proven wrong.

They were usually stronger, and the girl with the hair that dragged against the floor was no exception. 

“ A merry Winter Festival to you, ”  he greets her, box in hand. If he allowed himself to be pettier, he wouldn't have bothered. Against her ability to not show any emotion on her face, he can only imagine the might of her spells... how much more easily she could venture into the darkness than him and come out unscathed. But at the same time, he supposes there's a part of him that still holds that childlike innocence untainted by the horrors of adulthood. There's still a part of him that yearns for finding that connection and clings to it with what he can, no matter what other complicated feelings he has on the matter.

And the only way he knew how to cling was through material goods. For a man who sought the road to the arcane, he still found himself rooted in the present.  “ I got this for you. I don't know if you'll use it, but I still wanted to give it you if you'll take it. ”

Inside the wrapped box were hair ties and pins of various colors. Some held pearls. Other were merely beads.

“ As one dark mage to another, I couldn't imagine being able to get anywhere very fast if I had as much hair as you do. Dark magic already takes so long to cast... but you learned it for a reason, right? I'm not asking you to tell me if you don't want, as much as I'm curious, but if you're able to use it, you might as well use it to the best of your ability. No sense in having power that you can't use well. But I understand some people find that much hair very pretty, and it shows your diligence to grow it that long too, I'm sure so... I figured this was a way to keep that much hair without having to let it get in the way.

“ Of course, I've never had that much hair, so I don't really understand how to take care of it... and I don't even know if all I got you would be enough to handle it all, but I hope it's at least a little helpful to you maybe. ”

It's strange, having been outside for long enough to begin getting accustomed to celebrations that simply had not existed where she had come from. Until just recently, "winter" had been a nebulous concept that Sophia had only heard of from others who had been fortunate enough to experience it for themselves. Now, she can even count herself among those who had seen snow for themselves. This is her second Winter Festival now in this foreign land, so she knows more or less what to expect by now.

She does not expect Pelleas to come to her, but neither is she startled by his approach. At this point, it has become a given that they would find their way to each other at events like these eventually; not as friends, but as those with a common interest.

"Yes... Happy Winter Festival..." Sophia parrots back when Pelleas greets her, but her eyes widen when she is handed a present. "U-um, this is...?

She takes the gift in hand, unwrapping it slowly to reveal the hair accessories hidden within. She truly looks her age now, girlish excitement at being handed an accessory box lighting up her otherwise sullen face. She did not own many accessories herself, tying back her braids with whatever she happened to have on hand, but she had always been curious about the bits and bobbles that other girls wore in their hair.

His words are a little harsh, but she cannot say he's wrong either. While it had not been a problem back in Arcadia, there is no denying that the sheer amount of hair had hindered her movement on more than one occasion. Still, silly as it is, she is hesitant to part ways with it now that it's been with her for so long.

The hair ties are a lovely gift, though, so the least she can do is answer the question he is dying to know the answer to.

"...No, it's okay, I can tell you. It's not a secret... or anything, but um... it's not a very... exciting reason...? I didn't think... I would ever actually need to use it, because I had people... who were protecting me, but I..."

He seems to have convinced himself that she must have some grand reason for taking up dark magic, but now that she must explain herself, it's hard to find the right words under the weight of his expectations.

"...Wanted to... protect something," she finishes lamely.

...

....

......

Silence falls between them, as it is wont to do when Pelleas isn't the one talking.

Sophia bows her head slightly, "Thank you, I really... like this. Later... I can give you... a tome from my home. You said before... that you don't have Flux... where you're from. I'll give you my old copy."

#📚 ic #📚 support: pelleas #pirrhyc #📚 christmas 2023 #//pelleas funny as hell he's like girl i dont even like you. present anyway #//i know why but the complex he has against her is so funny he doesnt know her growths are worse

[nabataprophet]

Sophia shakes her head, "...No, we've never... met before. You... do not know me... and I do not know you..."

When you've lived in an isolated village for longer than most normal humans live their lives, you do not have a particularly long list of people you know, after all. This boy is not one of such people, even if he had looked like someone she had known from a distance. He is, for all intents and purposes, a stranger who only existed in her life by some slim chance.

She allows the "strange" comment to roll off of her like water. Just as he has apparently been told about his voice before, Sophia has also been told about her strangeness before. The more one hears such words, the harder it is to be bothered.

"The organ..." — a languid finger points at the instrument — "I think... it's out of tune. Your voice... is on tune... but the organ is not."

distorted hymns

#📚 ic #📚 thread: distorted hymns #📚 support: leif #diadic #//what trying to talk to someone else's silver (purple) haired maiden does to a mf #//why was this just sitting in my drafts nearly done hello?

[nabataprophet]

One: (Obscure Sorrows)

There is so much you don't know, so many questions you wish you could have asked her. But even if you asked, her 'forever' would still be different than your 'forever', because as much as you are her daughter, you are also your father's daughter. That is to say, she was supposed to outlive you, too.

Two: (Apocalypse Drabble)

You feel sick to your stomach just holding it in your hands. Bile rises in the back of your throat and you imagine that same burning sensation in your fingers where they rest against the leather of the book. Your very blood riots against the magic gifted to you, a centuries long legacy of terror and bloodshed.

Three: (Devoted Hearts, Linhardt)

“An interesting person...” She mumbles. Sophia can hardly be called a normal person, in any sense of the word, but it feels wrong to outright claim that about herself. “I can’t... promise that, but I have been told... I am strange...?”

Four: (KKE Flood)

“This could be your paradise,” he had said, but this terrible coldness feels nothing like home.

Five: (KKE Flood, Sara)

The newest of (her döppelgangers) circles her like a cat and Sophia swivels her head to watch her. Her waves of hair, so similar in tone to her own, bounce as she moves around. Had her own hair looked like that before it had grown too heavy from its own weight? There are some things that one can only think about when seeing themself reflected in another, she supposes.

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#📚 ooc #emetophobia tw // #//i was a flop during kke but yknow what. i had some bangers i'll give myself that.