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[tongueamok]

Hello, this is Carlisle. I mean, it's not Carlisle as in I'm actually answering you right now, so if you're trying to reply to me at the second, you should probably save your breath because I'm not really here. This is some kind of a recording of my voice, but this is my communicator. I'm going to assume these devices are as common here as they are in other places — not my world, but others, ones more technologically advanced than where I come from— so if you'd like to leave me a message, then you may do so here, or er... Right. Here is fine. So just leave yo— [beep]

Comments

[dedikated]

( It's similar enough, actually. She can't even count on luck letting her learn other things, but it's close enough that Kate doesn't correct him in any way. )

Is it a family thing? ( Her head tilts curiously as she asks that. ) Is for us, usually. Powers get passed down family lines.

[tongueamok]

The capacity for magic tends to be, though not the area of expertise. That is not always the case, however. My family, for example.

[He brings his hands into the air, lines of light manifesting from his fingertips as he draws a tall figure with a staff.] Uncle Benistad -- the one who enchanted the cloak -- was a phenomenal magician. Primarily an elementalist, but he had vast talents in enchanting and abjuration, as well. Uncle Boris, on the other hand—

[He draws another figure, one taller and broader.] He had no skill at all. He could barely even activate the glyphs he crafted, if that.

[Finally, he adds a figure between them, one with his hair tied bad and holding a bow.]

My father, Kevin, had little proclivity for magic. Even if he did, it is unlikely he would have been a specialized healer, as I am.

[dedikated]

( His explanations are listened to intently, the lines of light followed with her eyes. It works so differently from world to world, and Kate doesn't often question people about it, but doing so only highlights how far apart they all are. She isn't sure if there's a Superhuman on the planet whose child has no powers. )

Sounds so weird to me.

( No matter how much you accept that all these worlds work differently, it's still strange to know that Christian mythos is real in Jo's world, or that Gods exist in Ignis'. That a family's ability with superhuman powers - or magic, as the case may be - varies so wildly.

After nearly thirty five years of the way her world works, it's strange to think of the possibility of having a family like that. )

Always been that, if your parents're Superhumans, you are too. Even just one. Unless you're like Faith - ( A Named one, a legend in their circles. ) - powers depend on your parents'. Wouldn't get someone who couldn't use their powers unless something were wrong.

( Though, "something being wrong" can be as simple as not keeping yourself in good physical condition, not using them enough. )

[tongueamok]

Like Faith? [He gives Kate a puzzled look.] What about Faith? What was wrong with Faith?

[Not that he cares -- he's just curious.]

[dedikated]

( Wrong is... the wrong word and Kate's lips quirk upwards. )

Nothing. She's... special. ( In a lot of ways, but Carlisle knew that. )

We call them Named ones. People with certain sets of powers that get a name. One in a million sort of thing that springs up randomly.

Faith's a Phoenix.

[tongueamok]

A Phoenix?

[The word is lost on him, Kate. Forgive him.]

The title sounds fancy, but what unique could she do?

[Because of his reclusive nature, he rarely saw her do anything, and he assumes the ability to coerce birds to move in with you is not a choice skill in any world.]

[dedikated]

Stories said it were a bird of fire that could heal people with its tears and come back to life.

( A shrug. ) Could do most of that. Didn't need to cry to heal anyone. Regenerated her injuries instead of dying in the first place.

[tongueamok]

[A necromantic bird. How utterly dreadful.]

So she was some kind of... pyromancer and healer. That seems counterintuitive.

[dedikated]

( Well the only real version of them is Faith, at least. And she can't come back from the dead. )

Why?

( And no one said powers had to make sense. Look at hers. )

[tongueamok]

Fire is wildly destructive, while reparation is not. If she were to lose control of her pyromancy while attempting to heal, it would be devastating to the victim. And if her healing does not require a firm grasp on her energies as mine do, it could be dangerous in an entirely different way.

[He sips again, wondering if the difference, perhaps, lies in what constitutes a power versus magic.]

[dedikated]

( Ah, that's what he means. )

Don't think whatever decides on our powers cares much. You learn to control them. Or you shouldn't be using them.

( Shouldn't being the key word. Guess what 90% of power-related incidents end up being back home? Idiots who never took the time to properly control their powers trying to use them. )

[tongueamok]

[He hmms quietly to himself. He knows too well about needing to learn control, though it is a rare instance when he uses his compulsion by choice.]

Have you tried learning other magic, Kate?

[dedikated]

( They've spoken about glyphcrafting before, and she's even considered it, but aside from that. )

No. Not sure how it'd interfere with my powers.

[tongueamok]

Would it? [A genuine question, considering how things work in his world.] You will not know unless you make an attempt.

[dedikated]

( But they're not in his world. Or hers, come to think of it. Who knows what realities Hadriel operates under with regards to that? They can receive pieces of the gods' powers and use those without their bodies rejecting them. There's still a lot about powers that's unexplained even back home, and it only gets more complicated when you add magic to that. )

... Might not. Still a lot about how things work here we don't understand.

[tongueamok]

That's true, but if I could teach Emily, I have no doubt I could teach you.

[Not that Emily was a bad student; it's more that she came from a world where there was no magic, were no powers. She flourished with the gift when given the opportunity, blossoming into an adept glyphcrafter, and Carlisle cannot help but wonder if Kate would do the same -- and if it might help her chances of survival when she does insist on running into danger to have more tools at her disposal.]

[dedikated]

( There's a knot of uncertainty in her stomach, because they don't understand how this all works or why. But Emily's progress was undeniable, and there's something to be said for having more skills under her belt in a place like this.

It's the same reason Fear's blessing hums vibrantly on her wrist, after all. )

...Alright. How's it work.

[tongueamok]

[The barest hint of a smile crosses Carlisle's face.]

Well, first we'd have to see if your energies are capable of being drawn from your body into a glyph. If they are compatible, rather. Most from my world have at least some capacity for this, though a strong glyph may draw too much from their aural channels, leaving the caster drained -- or worse. I like to test with rather small glyphs, something where the backfire would be harmless at best, and negligible at worst.

Or, er. Were you asking how the glyphs themselves work? Or how to craft one? There is a lot to learn, but I'm confident you are perfectly capable of it.

[dedikated]

( Definitely the first one, but she is curious about the second. Kate's eyes narrow, her lips purse in thought as she stares down Carlisle. )

Sure. Let's try it. ( Carlisle sounds like he's being careful enough at testing this out, which is all she can ask for, really. Because Kate has no idea how such a thing will interact with her powers. The blessings, she can understand. They're added in. But learning something that she was never born with the potential for... that goes against everything that she knows about how Superhuman powers work.

Then again, she's pretty sure The Door goes against everything she knows about how the universe works, so there's that. )