XOqNI

[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

[puzzlingly]

「For a little moment, Atem remains silent. If he could, he would do everything in his power to protect every single one of them, even those he doesn't know a single thing about. But just as Kaiba (and Law) had told him before, he cannot save them all.

A shadow of remorse crosses over his eyes and he does not look at Carlisle when he speaks again.」

To be frank with you... there's... two in particular I'd want to protect before thinking about all of Hadriel.

「He knows he's got little time for it too, he's unsure as of when they'd set sail to try to recover the ninth god and he doesn't know how long preparing for it would take.」

[tongueamok]

[Atem may feel remorseful that he cannot protect everyone in Hadriel, but Carlisle sounds relieved.]

Oh, thank goodness. That makes my job far more manageable. Enchanting is not my specialty, admittedly, but the nature of my energy opposes that of demons -- or at least those from my world. Were I to try to ward everyone, there wouldn't be enough to go around. But two? Two, I can do.

[puzzlingly]

「Carlisle's relief is certainly met with a bit of a comic stance, as Atem blinks at him several times.」

I am not as... delusional as others think I am. It would have been too much to ask.

「He, then, seems to hesitate.」

What do you mean, the nature of your energy?

[tongueamok]

Ah, the restorative arts. Reparation. 'Healing energy,' as the layman would call it. Energies tend to oppose one another, not as enemies would so much as... two faces of the same coin. Here—

[He motions for Atem to join him at his table, grabbing his journal and pen off the workbench on the back wall. He slides into his seat, drawing a few symbols on the paper.]

This one, light, is the primary attunement of nearly all my healing. The opposing force is darkness -- this one, here.

[He taps another, nearly identical symbol, then goes back and forth between them with his pen.]

Day, night. Clairvoyance, the uncertainty of the void. A cacophony, and silence. You see?

[puzzlingly]

「Atem listens with wide eyes, it sounds so familiar to what he's used to that he's a little surprised. So, maybe different dimensions can be connected by the same principles. His, and Carlisle's for instance might not be so different one from the other (except, maybe, he doesn't have Duel Monsters either...)

But something in the way he says it makes gives him goosebumps. His mortal enemy, had said it before, claiming that they weren't so different from each other, that we're really just two sides of a coin.」

Light and Darkness... 「Atem repeats, idly, as the words of the Darkness itself makes way from his memories.

Powerless as you all are, you cling to the tiny scraps of this light with all you have.
That light, Nameless Pharaoh, is you.」

Hn, I see it.

「He says with a little nod. He, and Carlisle, are no different either, as it turns out, they are both agents of light.」

Do you seek balance, then... or it's your purpose to overthrown the darkness?

[tongueamok]

Balance is preferable, but that does not mean I'll allow demons to bend people to their whims. The void is best handled by those willing to use it properly, not by abominations.

[puzzlingly]

「That's an answer he can get behind any day.」

Then we definitely are on the same page.

「He leans forward to take a better look at the symbols.」

How does this work? The symbols channel your... energy and intent into an object, like you did with the tea?

「That's pretty much how it was done in his time, and more or less what Carlisle explained to him, but truth to be told, he was so tired then he could not pay that much attention. It's time to mend that.」

[tongueamok]

Yes, simply put.

[Carlisle grabs more paper, deciding he'd better write this down for the lad this time. In Atem's defense, he did seem exhausted when the clergyman last explained such principles to him, but his minor annoyance manifests in the curl of his lips regardless.]

My magic is channeled manually through my hands, though if I wished to use other elements -- the flame, the mountain, the void -- or schools with which I am untrained -- illusion, transfiguration, and the like -- I could use glyphs to obtain the same results, as I do with my teas. If I wanted to enchant something for someone else to ward off demonic energy and the influence it grants, for example, I would start with a glyph...

[He scrawls out some smaller circles, connecting them all within two larger ones. He draws a complicated symbol in one of the smaller circles.]

Charming.

[Another line to another circle, where he draws another sigil.]

The purity of light, clairvoyance.

[To the other side and to two overlapping circles there his pen goes.]

Abjuration, and clairvoyance here, as well.

[And another circle, this one connected by a single, thin line.]

The void. And here, in this space between the stage and the platform, I could dictate precisely how these elements would interact.

[puzzlingly]

「Oh! So it's like putting a puzzle together!? Pieces and parts of little things to make it work as a whole. It's wonderful.
To see it all being put together before his eyes, brings a bright to them that hasn't been there in a long time, he's excited, hopeful. This is the kind of magic he's used to.」

What is it that you need to write in that space? More glyphs? And how do you inject your energy into it? Is this the space where you put the thing you wanna enchant? 「He points at that empty space in the middle.」 You called it, stage... right? What other schools are there and what do they do? What is this other line for?

「He wants to know everything!」

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle puts up a hand.]

Cisth, slow down. Not that I don't enjoy a proper discussion of glyphcrafting, but one question at a time, lad.

[He does have to admit that Atem's enthusiasm is... rather refreshing. It's been a while since a near-stranger took such interest in what he can do -- it reminds him a bit of Emily, for better and for worse.]

[puzzlingly]

「Atem doesn't seem deterred by the attitude in the slightest, instead he takes a second to consider.」

The energy one. How do you do it?

「If anything, it seems to be the most important question, as he wonders if he would be able to do it too.」

[tongueamok]

We add an arc here -- [he draws a half-circle at the bottom of the glyph] -- to serve as our contact point. Then another up here with which we will dictate what kind of energy we will be using. If you have an object from which you are drawing the energy, you may place it here, as well, but I prefer to use the most common type of energy, and the only one with which I am truly adequate.

[He draws another symbol in that top half-circle.]

Eksth'alva. A being's very essence. Some individuals are unable to tap into it, and in turn, even a glyph struggles to draw it from them. Others grow capable of manipulating it once they know what it feels like to draw from such a well. But many cannot control it adeptly, and therefore use glyphs to garner similar results.

[puzzlingly]

「A being's very essence...」

You mean... One's soul?

[tongueamok]

Yes, precisely. It has many names, but the essential source is the same from world to world, it seems.

[puzzlingly]

「As familiar as he is to use the power of his soul, Carlisle's way is unknown to him, thus he does seem a little hesitant.」

You don't get to use it in a way that you leave a piece of it in the things you work on, do you?

「He's also unfortunately familiar with that too.」

[tongueamok]

Cisth, no. That would be perverse.

[Hence his opinion on phylacteries, Kate.]

The energy is not trapped within the glyph upon activation, lad. See—

[He digs for another piece of paper, scrawling a very simple glyph onto it. Digging into his pouch, he produces a single, clawed leaf from one of his paw plants. He drops it onto the stage of the glyph, then presses his fingers to the contact point, activating it. The lines light up for mere seconds, the leaf in the center of the page turns blue, and the glyph evaporates away, taking most of the ink with it.]

It returns to its natural form and the body that housed it. Mere aether.

[puzzlingly]

Ah...!

「Atem's expression turns a little more surprised if possible. To see it work, the suddenly brightness of the glyph, to see the energy at work, it brings him an elating sensation. Not all magic in Hadriel worked that way, this is more to what he's used to, primal, yet clean and simple, almost elegant.

Mahad would surely love it as well...」

What did you do to the leaf?

[tongueamok]

I made it blue.

[Very astute, Carlisle.]

[puzzlingly]

...!

「He can dye things....!?

Carlisle, you're a hero!」

Can you make it purple?

[tongueamok]

[He gives Atem a puzzled look.]

Well, yes, but why? Do you really need another demonstration?

[puzzlingly]

「Please?」

N-no, it's fine... Um... It doesn't affect anything else, right? Why would you need this for?

「It's pretty cool but... why?」

[tongueamok]

Need what for? Changing its color? It's used for dyeing. And showing how glyphs work, apparently.

[puzzlingly]

It seems like a lot of effort just for such kind of effect.

「Maybe this isn't as mystical as he had anticipated. It's not less cool because of it.」

Anyway, do you think I could try? Is there anything that could go wrong?

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle honestly considers rattling off the long list of what could go wrong with a failed glyph, but to be fair, the one for dyeing is one he'd recommend testing the aural waters with, as any magical backfire that could result from it is benign, at best. He pushes a sigh through his nose and redraws the glyph on the now-blank sheet of paper, adding in another symbol with the ones he had initially. Not exactly the same glyph, but very close.]

There. Now place your hand upon the contact point here, and hold it there until finished.

[puzzlingly]

「Carlisle should probably not sugarcoat things like this, last time someone he knew ignored what could go wrong with practicing magic, it practically wiped the world, but he's the teacher.

He does as told, trying to mimic Carlisle's earlier movements — as soon as his fingertips touch the glyph, he can feel it. It's not quite what he's used to, but it's the sensation, he can recognize that little tug. It's no too different from him channeling his soul into the Millennium Puzzle, he allows the little glyph to gather what it needs from him, this unspoken acceptance makes the shaky lines on the paper to glow momentarily, the leaf turns a vibrant purple and the glyph evaporates just as it did in the earlier demonstration.

And Atem? His grin couldn't get any bigger than it is. He did it... He did it!」