abraxaslogs | april catch-all

[ Being already inside when she arrives, he misses her grand entrance with Waffle (probably for the best, considering their tense truce from the previous encounter).

Kahlil is in the same uniform he usually arrives in: gray cassock with moons on the collar, black cloak over it. Too warm for the weather outside, but that doesn't matter much here. He's seated on the other side of the wide trunk of the tree, the empty journal in front of him as he manifests information onto it. When he hears/feels her enter, he peeks his head around, smiling for a moment before calling over: ]

Boo.

[ A giggle that only he can hear tickles at the back of his neck. ]

[ Her heart leaps into her throat at the sound of the voice. She spins around, quickly locating the mischievous source, sudden surprise turning to delight. Unlike outside the Horizon, Hilda dons an outfit that she's used to wearing from home, the Lovers arcana affixed to the front of her neck like a choker. She quickly rounds the tree, getting down on her knees to give him a squeeze. ]

You know, I was trying to figure out which of the Summoned might have large piles of dirt, gigantic trees, and huge statues as part of their decorative tastes but I had no idea it was you!

[ Her eyes shine when she pulls back to inspect him for any lingering injuries from their fight with the creature in the mountains. ]

That just goes to show how much I know about you. How have you been?

[ He really needs to get rid of those dirt piles.

His domain stands out (especially next to the gas station), and she's not the first person to be surprised that it belongs to him. His past is something he seems to either guard out of habit or confess all at once.

He makes a noise like a stifled laugh when she settles down with him, grinning widely. She'll find him uninjured. ]

I'm doing well. [ There's really not much to say about the return, at least on his end. There's been some personal things, but he's still trying to sort that out himself, so... ] Oh, here -

[ He passes his hand over the ground near them and the tea tray appears, both mugs already full with lightly colored tea. ] This is what we drink in my world. Daru'sira.

[ The scent is floral and the taste is delicate, like most flavors in Basawar. ]

[ Maybe they can ask Waffle to sweep them back into the ground with his tail later. Who said wyverns couldn't be used as a multi-purpose tool?

Her lack of knowledge - or maybe in this case, his guarded nature about his past - isn't taken in any sort of slight. In fact, it's a draw. In a way it's not so dissimilar to the curiosity that had drawn her to Claude in the first place all those years ago. Fitting considering the friendship that Kyle had established with Claude.

She wags her finger at him in a way that is not at all threatening. ]

You better be. Otherwise I'll find out — I have friends in Thorne, you know.

[ The appearance of the tea set draws a happy gasp from her. She reaches out to hand him one of the mugs before reaching for the remaining one. The name of the drink rolls over her tongue delicately as if she doesn't want to butcher it. ]

This smells amazing, thank you. [ It tastes equally so and her eyes flutter briefly closed in bliss. There's a beat where she wishes she could have brought him something had she known he was going to offer her tea. ] Is the temple also something from home?

Do you? [ He raises his eyebrows at friends in Thorne as he raises the mug to his lips, taking a sip before adding: ] What gossip do you have on my many roommates?

[ From what he understands, the Summoned in the Free Cities are more spread out. In Thorne, everyone except the few who choose are able to afford to rent in the city end up in the north wing of the castle. Not exactly living on top of each other, but with maybe only twenty or so Summoned living there at any given time, most everyone is vaguely familiar with each other in his faction.

At the question, he tilts his head slightly. ]

The statues outside are from the monastery I grew up in. The rest is - pieces of places I remember, I guess. Or maybe just things that felt right.

[ Like the strange iron tree and the crystal fruits, the beautiful glass dome at the ceiling. There is only one part of his domain that's built from a specific time and place, but it's hidden behind the stone walls - protected. ]

Kyle - [ She pouts jokingly over the edge of her cup. ] I can't just share gossip with you if you're not going to share gossip with me! That's just not how tea time works.

[ That statement isn't true whatsoever. She'd happily harmlessly gossip with someone whether or not they had anything to provide in return. But as to whether or not she actually has any real gossip is anyone's guess. Natasha is a keeper of secrets and not so willing to part with them, and she adores Elrond to the point that gossiping about him seems mean spirited. ...There was one other red head that grinded her gears enough.

Genuine curiosity fills her expression at this new revelation. ]

I didn't know you grew up in a monastery. Would that make you some kind of monk? Or a priest?

[ If she has any gossip on that one other redhead, well, Reno has been decent enough about keeping his head down, and Kahlil doesn't have a good read on the man or exactly what he did before he was Summoned to Thorne. Hired muscle would be his first guess. ]

A priest. [ He nods slowly, cupping his mug with both hands. He's come to find that different worlds have different definitions of them. ]

Not the sermon-giving kind, though I did sit through many of those. Everyone in my order has the same abilities as me.

[ His 'teleporting' that she saw in the mountains, when they fought that beast. It takes a little bit of ego-swallowing to say the same abilities as me, because he is the only Kahlil. But what does it matter now, when almost all of them are gone? ]

We're trained from a young age to use them, in service to the church.

[ It's more complicated now, but even if he's more willing to tell the story now, he's not sure she wants to hear about it. From his conversations with Claude, the church and religion in general in Fodlan is divisive. ]

[ Hearing that Kyle is a priest is surprising, mostly because Hilda had never thought to consider it a possibility. Not that there was a look to a priest unless you counted a habit or robe of sorts. Rhea, for example, probably wasn't what people would typically think to be a bishop and yet she was.

She mulls over his answer for a moment, a plethora of questions spouting in their wake. One of them would have been about his powers, one of which she suspects must be what she had seen in the mountains. She would have asked sooner but there simply hadn't been an opportunity to ask when they had been in the middle of something arguably far more important than sating her curiosity. ]

Well for what it's worth I think I could listen to you give a sermon any day of the week. [ She offers him a genuine, but teasing smile. ] And I usually fell asleep during those back at the Academy!

[ Unlike Claude, Hilda doesn't have a particularly keen interest in the church, gods, or religion. But what she does have is an interest in people, especially those that she considered friends. If Kyle's religion was important to him and quite literally woven in the fabric of his story, she'd be more than willing to listen. ]

I'd love to learn more about your church and your god, if you'd be willing to share.

[ At the thought of having to give a sermon he pulls a face, shaking his head. ]

I'd fall asleep if I had to give a sermon. [ And he definitely struggled to stay awake through them as a youth. The oldest of the priors and ushman that gave them barely looked conscious, reciting everything from memory (sometimes well, sometimes... not). The youngest ushman in the middle-age usually weren't much better. Kahlil never felt his god in the other priests, not in any way that wasn't tied to fear.

When she says she'd like to learn more, he thinks for a moment, taking another drink of his daru'sira. He always expects most other people to find these stories boring. He pulls a book out of thin air, placing it on the floor between them. The beautiful, golden script is written in another language, surrounded by carefully painted illustrations. ]

We believe that our god, Parfir, created the world out of his own body. [ He points at a male figure on the page, surrounded by greenery. ] All things in Basawar are part of him. In the early days, a demon empire arose, and Parfir used a piece from what remained of his body to create The Rifter to destroy them. [ Turning the page, he points to an illustration of a female figure, wild-haired and wide-eyed. ]

The Rifter was too powerful, though, and after the demons were destroyed her powers began to destroy the land. Parfir’s own body shuddered as she walked across his back. [ The last part he translates from the golden script, his finger underlining the words. ]

My church was formed to calm the Rifter and bring her death. Then, she is reborn, and the whole thing starts again.

[ He glances up from the pages at Hilda, studying her. ]

[ Hilda can't help the peals of laughter the bubble to her lips at Kyle's expression. She hadn't been lying when she said that she'd listen to him give a sermon, but was it her favourite thing in the world? Is there a possibility that she might fall asleep during it? If past experiences with Claude giving her a sharp elbow during chapel in order to wake her up before Setheth caught onto her sleeping the answer was yes. ]

I knew there was a reason we get along.

[ The magic of the Horizon still has yet to wear off for her. The appearance of the book piques her interest - particularly the illustrations but she still pays rapt attention to Kyle as he explains it to her. It feels in many ways like part origin story, part creed - all of which checks out for a religious order. The difference is that it seems like these mythical beings were still walking amongst his world today which is a vastly different experience than what she knows.

There's a thoughtful pause as she processes everything but there is a question that does stand out in her mind. ]

What brings about her rebirth? Or does that have to do with her being a part of Parfir? If your god, the gods in Solvunn, and Fodlan's goddess are anything alike then that means they sort of live on no matter what.

[ He's glad to find he's not boring her with any of this. And at the question about the Rifter's rebirth and connection to Parfir, he nods. ]

Even Parfir himself cannot truly destroy the Rifter. They're part of the same whole. [ He glances out toward the double doors of the temple. ] The statues outside represent them both. Creator and destroyer. Parfir is always masculine, but the Rifter has been both women and men.

[ Which should explain why the statues outside are two men, and not a man and a woman. He looks down at the page again, humming. ]

My church prefers him as a man, though. Only in these old texts do they portray her as a woman.

[ The Payshmura are considered backwards by many other cultures, he's found. It's hard to imagine a world where they follow a goddess instead of a god. All of Basawar's history would have been very, very different. ]

[ Recognition dawns in her expression as she connects the dots between the statues outside. ]

Why not represent the Rifer properly though? It's not like it's hurting them to do so.

[ Even though her nose wrinkles slightly, there's no real judgement aimed towards Kyle. Rather, it has more to do with his church. The Saints were both men and women, but Sothis had always been identified as female. Perhaps that was why women in positions of power in Fodlan too had never been put into question. Then again, gender wasn't so much of a problem as Crests were. ]

And how are you and your church meant to fight something that can literally destroy a world? That sounds pretty dangerous if you ask me.

Not physically, but their pride....

[ He shrugs, then frowns. ]

Only men could rise in rank. Women could become nuns but... they were given their own monastery.

[ She might sense him becoming slightly uncomfortable with this talk. The nuns of the Bone Orchard had a very specific task. He doesn't talk about it to people here very much.

Another pause, and he purses his lips, somewhat glad to shift the topic back to the Rifter. ]

There were ways, but - that I probably shouldn't tell you. [ It's technically sacred knowledge. What if the Singularity were to bring Jath'ibaye here? He shakes his head. ]

They used his power, though, to intimidate and destroy their enemies. [ He brushes his fingers over the illustrations one more time, then closes the book. ] The common people rebelled against the church and the nobility. They were tired of decades of tithes and indentured servitude, and priests accusing their women of witchcraft. They ran to the hills and forests to form small armies. This war went on for decades.

[ He pauses again, skipping part of the story that is only known to him. ]

The rebels eventually gained the upperhand. The church is gone now. There's a tentative truce between the nobles and the rebel leaders, or there was right before I arrived here.

[ This he frowns at too. Everything was in a state of disarray when he left. A beat, and he glances at her again and gives her a wry look. ]

Sorry. I didn't mean to make you sit through a full history lesson.

[ Men and their pride. Of course. Hilda can't stop the roll of her eyes heavenward at that. Any exasperation towards men - people, really if she didn't want to distill it to gender - and their faults are quieted as Kyle goes on to answer her question. A reassuring smile is quick to replace her frown as she tries to process everything he's told her. ]

Don't apologize. Like I said, I'd listen to any lecture given by you. You're a lot nicer to look at than some of my professors so it's a win for me either way.

[ Her frown is quick to return though. ]

So if the church is gone what does that mean for you? Your powers still work [ At least she thinks they do; can teleporting from one place to the next be considered an innate ability or a given one? ] so that means they aren't connected physically to them right?

[ If she's being honest, all of this feels like a lot for her little brain to handle so hopes that it doesn't come across as silly or stupid to ask. There were other things she had picked up on, like the discomfort when Kyle had mentioned the nuns, and the mention of things he shouldn't tell her (which was fine by her; this was enough to make her head spin), but she didn't want to inundate him with so many banal questions or accidentally cross a line she shouldn't. ]

Edited 2023-04-28 16:32 (UTC)

[ He gives her a sly grin at the compliment. If they were talking about anything even a little less serious to him he'd probably have an immediate reply for a little teasing, meaningless flirting. Instead, he watches her frown while asking her question. ]

The church held all the knowledge. They considered themselves the voice and custodians of history, and Parfir. [ He holds his hand out in front of himself, turning it over as he stares at it for a moment: tiny, straight line scars mar his skin all over the back of his hand and knuckles. ]

Our power comes from Parfir himself. Not them.

[ Destroying the Payshmura couldn't unmake him. Only Parfir himself - or the Rifter can do that. He raises his eyebrows at her in question. ]

Magic isn't connected to your goddess like that?

[ Hilda's gaze flits down towards Kyle's hands easily picking up the scars on the back of his hand. She knows the look of scars that have been there a while and while she can't assume that they don't hurt, concern flits into her gaze all the same.

After a moment of quiet contemplation she places her teacup down before tugging her gloves off and dispelling the Horizon glamour from them to show her own scars and calloused hands as if it would represent a form of quiet commradiary. There's less than Kyle has — she is nothing if meticulous with the magic she pours into having less of them — and they're likely from different sources but she wants him to know she appreciates him showing her all the same. ]

Faith magic is. It lets people do things like healing others but that's not always the case — go figure huh? Reason magic is similar to elemental magic I've seen here but I'm not sure that comes from the Goddess. Claude may know better.

[ A cheeky, mildly self deprecating smile punctuates what she says next, ] Magic made my head spin during the Academy and it still does now. I can only cast two basic spells now.

[ The concern isn't necessary, she's right in accessing the age of his scars. But his brow furrows when she begins removing her own gloves, and only when she removes the glamour does he understand the reason. He gives her a knowing half smile, tinged with his growing fondness for the young woman. Her hands wouldn't be soft, despite appearances. Hilda is a warrior, after all.

When she explains faith magic he nods. ]

Claude's promised to teach me a healing spell. We'll be meeting in Nocwich, probably in the wood. [ Where it won't be noticed. As open as he's been during the past couple weeks about his good relationships with the non-Thorne Summoned, it's still best to keep certain things secret from unknown prying eyes. ]

And you hardly need spells when you can wield an axe like that...

[ Another grin. ]

[ The Horizon glamour is better than any make up she's encountered. She's wistful in her longing for the illusion it provides her; for one it would cut down on the time it would actually take her to apply said make up and two, few would be the none the wiser to the marks on her body that indicate she is more than what she claims to be.

Which explains why Hilda puffs up her cheeks at the grin on Kyle's face. It's very hard to dispute something someone has seen but she still tries to deflect it as best she can. The embarrassed pink colouring her cheeks is a clear indication of that. ]

I'd rather not have to wield an axe or spells. And that thing with that creature doesn't count! It was a big fluke. [ The deflection and redirection continues, even if it's somewhat inelegant. ] I'm surprised you don't know any healing spells already though. It's one of the first things they taught us at the Academy.

[ He ducks his head is faux-chastisement, still smiling though. ]

Either way, your friends are very grateful for your skill.

[ Him included. Maybe one day she will be able to appreciate these abilities in spite of how she was forced to come into them. More than likely she end up needing them again. Given the history of the Summoned, they will be targeted and tested again.

After that comment, though, he responds to the deflection thoughtfully. ]

We were taught how to dress wounds and assist healers by bearing wounds. [ A pause, and he explains the term: ] The healer can temporarily bind two people: one badly injured, one healthy. It helps to stabilize the injured person while the spells take effect.

[ It wasn't used often, though. The injuries they received either served as part of a lesson, or were too grievous to survive. He shrugs. ] There wasn't any reason for us to learn ourselves.

[ The ushiri were meant to move quickly. ]

Just don't expect too much from me in the future, okay?

[ It's a canned line, one that she's used so often that her friends can practically rattle it off in tandem with her. Kyle, thankfully hasn't heard that line before this, and if Hilda had anything to say about it, never would again.

Tension in her shoulders releases as he seems to agree to the change in topic. Silently she can't help but think that two people to heal one feels like one too many. But who is she to say anything when she doesn't like expending any more energy than necessary? ]

Does that mean that the healthy person shared some of the pain of the injured person?

[ One last wry look at that line before he truly leaves it, and then he nods to her second question. ]

More effective than yellowpetal. The strength of the healthy person can be shared with the wounded, as long as they aren't too far gone.

[ Beyond help. The wounds that the potential ushiri'im tended to suffer from during their training were often too horrific to recover from. ]

[ Anxiety begins to dissipate even when she's met with the wry look. She's seen that look plenty of times too.

Hilda thinks she can read between the lines of what Kyle isn't saying. ]

That does sound way more complicated than just a regular old healing spell. [ Training hadn't been easy at the Academy either but it had never gotten to the point where it was life threatening. Well, so long as you didn't count the in field missions they had been sent on. ] But was your training really that dangerous where it could get to that point?

[ He gives a casual shrug, trying to preclude any unnecessary worry on her part. ]

It could be at times for others. But I was exceptionally skilled. [ He grins at his own pride, exaggerated a bit for show. ] It irritated my teacher to no end. I was a troublesome student and he couldn't get rid of me.

[ There's no need to mention the methods of removal, had he failed. It's in the past now. ]

You and Claude shared the same instructors?

[ Hilda, for one, appreciates the show. The smile on her face is indicative of that. ]

No wonder you're friends with Claude. Have I said that already? If not, I think it's worth repeating.

[ Not that Claude was outwardly irritating. Exasperating maybe. He got along just fine with Byleth, but then again during the war, Byleth had become more friend and comrade than professor. Speaking of... ]

We did. Although I'm not sure if we can really call Byleth an instructor. [ A fondness appears in her expression as she picks up her teacup again. ] They were a mercenary before joining the Academy but he didn't look that much older than us! I was so used to instructors being older that it took some getting used to.

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