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Ari is... so, so lost. He didn't know this amount of lost was physically possible. One minute he's in a briar maze deep in Winter picking frostberries for a pie, then he takes four left turns and he exits the briar and he's in a temperate forest. Not even any snow on the ground. He turns around and there's no thicket to be seen.
He puts the frostberry pouch in his backpack and mutters the incantation to open a Way back to the mortal realm; he might land somewhere dangerous, but better endangered in the mortal realm than completely lost in the Nevernever. And... nothing. Literally nothing happens, no backlash or fizzling or anything that would indicate that he fucked up a spell, but the kind of nothing that happens when you don't have a spell to cast.
In something of a panic, he tests that he still has magic by punching a nearby tree, which splinters and crashes to the ground. "So that's still working, I guess," he mutters. "Punching systems: still online."
So, recap: magic works, he just got snatched out of deep Winter territory and put into something that kind of looks like the Wyld, and the Ways are on the fritz. Either something big is screwing with him or he's very much not in Kansas anymore. Either way, he'd better figure out what the hell is going on.
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bitterchill
imeanforever
"Thank you," she sighs. "Now, I can't just feed you, because feeding doesn't work either way between people who are already master and vassal. If you want to come with me it'll have to be your name."
bitterchill
"I'm okay with that." Specifically: He's more okay with that than he is with continuing to colocate with Fairy Creep after he freed his favorite vassal. That seems like a gratuitously terrible idea.
Ari pulls a sheet of paper off his sketchpad and scrawls "ARI KALTENBAUM" on it. His handwriting is remarkably bad when he's not using runes. He hands the paper to her. "Is that okay?"
Ari pulls a sheet of paper off his sketchpad and scrawls "ARI KALTENBAUM" on it. His handwriting is remarkably bad when he's not using runes. He hands the paper to her. "Is that okay?"
imeanforever
She takes the paper; she looks at it; it goes up in flames. Then she fixes him with an intent look. "Never give me an order that I do not expressly request of my own uncommanded will, or that you do not sincerely without mental contortion believe to be in my best interest as you genuinely understand it, except for a copy of this order should you so desire."
bitterchill
Ari nods cheerfully. "Yes'm. And, uh, not sure this is necessary on your end, but never give me an order that I do not expressly request of my own uncommanded will, or that you do not sincerely without mental contortion believe to be in my best interest as you genuinely understand it. That is very nice construction, kudos. Now can I be freed of my previous commands excepting your own?"
imeanforever
"Except the one I just gave I rescind all your orders. I'm going to take two minutes to pack and then let's get out of here. Do you want to go to the mortal world?"
imeanforever
"Sorcery doesn't work, so if you go there I won't be coming along. I don't know about your magic." She is in her room flinging books and some of the fruit into a bag. "I don't know a lot else about it. But I know where a gate is because this isn't the first time I've tried to help a mortal home - it's just, apparently, not your home. I won't be staying near the gate either, it's too close to where I used to live, I have to find somewhere far from anybody who knows my name."
bitterchill
"Yeah, I'd rather not risk losing my magic. Plus, fairyland is cool. Can I come with you instead? I can punch your enemies and build you a cool house made out of rocks. You could teach me whatever the hell sorcery is, we can be weird magic buddies and feed each other weird alien food!" Ari stuffs the things that he had out into his own bag. The basement ritual he puts into a folder to keep it neat, he really wants to keep working on that. It'd be handy.
imeanforever
"I don't mind. Obviously you're familiar with the risks." She finishes packing. "How fast can you travel and what sorts of obstacles are the most problematic for you? I can't carry you or enchant you to fly yourself."
bitterchill
"I travel at human speed. My obstacles are human obstacles. Would you be able to carry me if I made myself practically weightless and made the air pretend we're aerodynamic? Because that's totally a thing I can do."
bitterchill
"Sounds good."
Ari looks around at Fairy Creep's house. "Should we, like, set his house on fire? Ooh, or I can crush it into dust, I love crushing things into dust."
Ari looks around at Fairy Creep's house. "Should we, like, set his house on fire? Ooh, or I can crush it into dust, I love crushing things into dust."
imeanforever
"There's a tradeoff there. Makes him more likely to come after us for revenge, but also might cultivate us a reputation as too much trouble to keep." Pause. "I'm gonna burn it to the ground."
And she marches out the door with her bag.
And she marches out the door with her bag.
bitterchill
Vengeance! Vengeance vengeance vengeance. Ari's okay with Promise getting the fun part, she was vassalled longer.
He does take the time to break some furniture, though. Smash, smash. Hee hee hee. Then he runs out the door.
imeanforever
When they are out of the house Promise has barely turned to look at it before it goes up with a whoosh and oppressive heat. It half-burns, half-melts.
"Do your thing," she says. "Let's go."
"Do your thing," she says. "Let's go."
bitterchill
Burning, burning, burning. Huzzah! Ari throws a rock at the smoldering rubble. It bounces off what may be the remains of a chair.
He lays down some runes in chalk dust, then brings his stone knife across his arm while chanting about the bonds of the earth. Blood drips onto the chalk, which hisses. With a light hop, he shoots a few feet into the air and drifts down gently. He grins. "We're good to go on weight for a few hours. The windshield spell is gonna be a sustained effort, but it shouldn't be too hard to keep up. Shall we?"
He lays down some runes in chalk dust, then brings his stone knife across his arm while chanting about the bonds of the earth. Blood drips onto the chalk, which hisses. With a light hop, he shoots a few feet into the air and drifts down gently. He grins. "We're good to go on weight for a few hours. The windshield spell is gonna be a sustained effort, but it shouldn't be too hard to keep up. Shall we?"
imeanforever
"Mm-hm. How do you want me to carry you?" She's in the air already, hovering, feet a couple feet off the ground.
bitterchill
"You could carry me bridal-style, I suppose. Go for the Fairy Pieta effect."
imeanforever
She scoops him up, tentatively at first then more confidently when she confirms that he's feather-light. And then she rockets into the sky.
Fairyland below them is beautiful.
Fairyland below them is beautiful.
bitterchill
Oh man. "This is amazing! Flying is amazing! Your world full of terrible mind control is amazing!"
imeanforever
"It's not mind control. A master can't control their vassal's thoughts directly, although they can oblige you to think about specific things as part of a task."
imeanforever
"Mm-hm. So I have four ideas for where to go. If one of them's become occupied since last I heard, which is entirely possible, it's probably a better idea to move to a different one rather than try to oust unknown residents, but other than that we could try any of them first. What do you like best, waterfalls, valleys, snow, or grass?"
bitterchill
Is this even a question? Come on, Promise, get with the program. "Snow! Snow is the best. I'd take waterfalls, but snow is great."
imeanforever
"Forever Snows it is. Much less likely to be occupied than the other three, harder foraging though, might have to grow my own plants in sorcerous plots."