tongueamok | XOqNI

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]

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From:

tongueamok

Is it magic-related?

[Because he can do magic, but if it's something else, well. They'll maybe cross that bridge if they come to it.]

Experimentation sounds like it'd be better suited for an alchemist or a doctor than a cleric, but if it isn't physical, then I suppose it could be magical. Or aural. But what kind of magical eating problem is it, if it is magical?

From:

circumitus

The one doctor who could look into it said that it wasn't physical, despite the experiment changing her physiology. So that puts us back to square one.

[More or less. But it does give them a better idea on what is going on now than before.

[She's quiet again for a few seconds. This is the part she wasn't looking forward to explaining.]

It... makes it so that she can't sustain herself on anything but human flesh. She couldn't even finish a damned cup of tea because nothing sits well with her now.

Hope was providing her with meat, but it'd be better to look into something more permanent than cutting more deals with their kind.

From:

tongueamok

[There's a reaaaaaaaal uncomfortable pause.]

Is... is she an undead?

From:

circumitus

Don't think she is...?

[Rey recalls the way Rose turned into a more beastial type form than something zombie-like.]

Pretty sure she's not.

From:

tongueamok

Ah. Good. The whole, ah. Flesh-eating thing. Usually indicative of an undead, or some kind of terrible beast. Demonic, perhaps.

From:

circumitus

[Oof, this is awkward.]

Well, she did say that her kind were born from negative human emotions, which is probably why she's been made to only eat humans after what was done to her.

[It's a good thing that Rey got curious and started asking questions about Rose's people, because this is good stuff to know if she's going to be doing this.]

But she's trying not to, to the point where she's starving herself because she can't eat anything else. [AND THAT'S NO GOOD.]

From:

tongueamok

[Negative human emotions, eats people, 'her kind.' Oh. Oh.]

It's Rose, isn't it?

From:

circumitus

[Guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that Rey wouldn't have been the only one Rose shared her predicament with, to some degree.]

Y... es...?

[Shit, is this going to be a problem already?]

From:

tongueamok

I see.

[Another quiet pause.]

I would need to know more about this energy that she's made from. More about just how this experimentation affected her, and how it continues to affect her. Find out if it can be manipulated in any way. I mean, I work in energy, utilizing its positive nature for healing, but the negative version of it isn't foreign to me. Just...

[Uncomfortable.]

Tricky. In my world, such arts are primarily used for necromancy, with demons being called from other planes rather than created from energies around us, as she has described. Clerics deal only in positive energies, but...

[A soft hm on his end comes through the speaker.]

My... particular set of skills might actually be just what she needs.

[You know, Rey. Those skills.]

From:

circumitus

She talked about this shit called "ki", but it sounds like you might have a better grasp on that than me.

[Rey isn't even going to try to describe that weird Japanese mythology crap because it all seemed so weird. Interesting, but weird.

[While Carlisle's answer does sound promising, it's disconcerting as well. She's already seen what the mere act of healing does to him>]

Hey, this wouldn't seriously hurt you or anything, would it? [Because it sounds like it would seriously hurt.]

From:

tongueamok

[Annnnnnd another pause. His voice softens with uncertainty.]

I don't know. I admittedly have not tried anything like this before, so... I don't know what it could do. I can control aural energy, but what about that which is demonic in nature? Could it taint my own energies, like a possession? Or will it rebuke my attempts to interact, even if on an unconscious level? Or will any lapse in control on my end result in her being exorcised in some way from her own, corporeal form?

[He sighs. All of those potential consequences are... frightening at best, and dire, at worst.]

From:

circumitus

[That doesn't sound very good. None of that sounds good. But he's listing all the worst case scenarios. There has to be some better outcomes.]

If the risk becomes too much, you don't have to go far to get yourself killed. Could always just go to one of the gods once we have a better idea on what the hell was done to her.

[Pause.] Whatever the case might be, it's up to the both of you. Personally, the fact that she's living a half life suffering and starving herself doesn't sound like living. But she seemed resigned to her condition when Hope couldn't cure her, so I doubt she'd willingly go to someone for help.

[Because that's what Rey would do, and her and Rose are too much alike in the worst ways.]

From:

tongueamok

[Resigned to her condition. Living a half life. Those are statements that resonate deeply with the young clergyman, who has long understood his time to be limited, who knows far too well what it is to feel as though his existence is a burden that he'd rather endure than put upon others. As such, he cannot help but empathize with her plight. He doesn't know how dangerous it will be to him, or what risks might come because of this venture; he cannot promise that he will be entirely comfortable with even the process, given his moral qualms, but—

Well, he owes Miss Rey a great deal, and more than that, he knows what it is like to suffer because of a condition that cannot be helped, cannot be cured. If there were some chance to be rid of his affliction, would he not take it? Would he not rather live than to have those he cares for bear his loss?

He knows what they would say, and even with his own cowardice fighting against him... he finds he would say the same.]

Does she know about this? About how much you care?

From:

circumitus

Ah--

[That's such a way to put it. That she "cares". Rey wouldn't normally say yes, not just about anyone. But, hell, she felt that Rose was someone worth talking from a ledge and Rey was someone Rose felt was worth breaking down the door to impose on her self-inflicted isolation.

[If that isn't caring, Rey is probably doing something wrong.

[She's quiet for another moment, before she can figure out what to say:]

Think she knows enough. I made it a point to her that I would try and figure something out. When Law's methods didn't work...

[Another pause.] I just... I let down Maketh, in the end. I can't let Rose down, too.

From:

tongueamok

I see.

[Carlisle knows the weight of not wanting to let others down, especially those who are no longer around. He has carried the burden of the Longinmouth name his entire life, and as the last of his line, it will die with him -- a final disappointment to his family, and one he will never be able to apologize for. The loss is frustrating even on its best days, and maddening on its worst.

But his family has been gone for some time -- they feel distant, disconnected, literally worlds away. He cannot imagine such a burden if it were his lover instead, or even a friend like Rey herself. Amends must be made when they can... before it is too late.]

I want to help you, but... I need to figure out a way to do this, if it is all right. And speak to someone first. Let them know what I will be doing, in case something should go wrong. Will she be all right for that long?

[Demons are hardy, he knows, but she is unlike the demons from his world. Perhaps there is a difference.]

Edited Date: 2018-01-25 06:52 am (UTC)

From:

circumitus

[The fact that it isn't a hard "no" gives her some assurance, though she'd hate to get Rose's hopes up. She is all too familiar with disappointing others, and this is the one thing she wants to get right. Maybe for herself as much as it is for Rose.]

That's fine. She's been this way for a couple years. Think she can last a while longer.

[God knows for how long exactly Rose is capable of starving.]

And... thanks.

From:

tongueamok

[Hardy indeed. A few days more won't kill her as unpleasant as they may be, and it will give Carlisle time to formulate a plan... or figure out if he can do this at all.]

Of course, Miss Rey. I am forever in your debt, and... on a more personal note, it would do me good to help her, if I can. I know too well what it is like to be damned by a condition you cannot cure.

From:

circumitus

[At the very least, Rey knows better than to rush Carlisle into this. If what he's implying is true, she would hate to see him hurt himself over this -- especially while he's carrying that "debt" over his head.]

That have something to do with that black shit you puke up when you heal? [So eloquent. But it's the closest thing to a "condition" he has that she's seen.]

From:

tongueamok

The black bile. [Not 'black shit' Rey, they've been over this.] But yes, it does. I am what's known as twice-cursed, and it's... an unfortunate condition, one that will plague me until the end of my days.

[As it turns out, for as much as he keeps to himself, he does have some empathy lingering inside of him, particularly for people -- even demons -- who are suffering from their own afflictions.]

From:

circumitus

[Sorry, Carlisle. It's always going to be "black shit" to Rey.]

How the hell do you get cursed twice?

[Isn't just once enough? Gosh.]

From:

tongueamok

Once for not dying when you ought to, and again for troubling the Domu to come fetch your spirit, only for him to have to leave empty-handed.

[So apparently, once isn't enough.]

From:

circumitus

Guess that'd do it. Though I've died before. A lot. So that would probably make me about eight-times cursed or whatever. Lost count.

[Rey, no.]

From:

tongueamok

Perhaps whatever deities are watching over you are more favorable than mine.

[Not bitter at all.]

From:

circumitus

[She snorts.] Sure, if you could consider being deemed only ever good for killing people and not having any control over my life a thing some favorable god would do, in which case they can fuck themselves.

[Nice.]

From:

tongueamok

[Ouch.]

You are good for far more than killing people, Miss Rey. Whoever gave you such an idea was mistaken.

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