abraxaslogs | i'm reaching for the clouds

Entry tags:

i'm reaching for the clouds

Who: Claude and various
When: January + early February (pre-event)
Where: The Horizon, Aquila, TBA
What: Catch all
Warnings: None currently, will add/mark as needed

( Closed starters in the comments below. Feel free to find me at

indech, arboria#1862, or by PM at any time to plot something! )

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[ Kahlil is having a busy day. After his meeting at Istredd's domain he begins making his way to his next meeting. It's only after he gets closer that he realizes he's visited this place before, some months ago. Sylvain has his domain here. So he did know something about what Fodlan looks like after all.

There are quite a few people from Claude's world in Abraxas, now.

Kahlil enters the space wearing a black cloak over his grey cassock, one of the outfits Claude has probably seen him wearing before. The shoulder of his cloak has the symbol of the Hanged Man emblazoned on it. ]

It was. [ He grins, stepping closer to where Claude is seated. ] I met another man on the grounds before - Sylvain.

[ He cocks his head to one side. ]

And on our trip I met another woman who mentioned knowing you. Hilda.

[ The Singularity favors his people. ]

[ Claude shifts to set the book aside where it can be remembered later - if he does remember to ever bring it back to the library, which is a different problem in and of itself - and is in the process of leaning forward for the tea tray when Kyle mentions one familiar name and then another. ]

I see you met some of our social butterflies. I'd be more surprised if you hadn't met them somewhere by now, even if Hilda's just arrived.

[ A smile goes with that, both because Claude's well aware he has no room to talk about being social and since he means it as a compliment to the two in question. He gestures to the chair next to his for Kyle to have a seat if he hasn't taken one already before turning back to his tea task. ]

All of us went to the same academy, back when. Hilda is from the Alliance like I am, so we've spent considerably more time together over the years. 'Knowing' me's probably an understatement since she'd be the one to know me best.

[ There's an opening he could take in there with the mention of the trip to segue into other topics, but it feels like Kyle might have another question in there if he's not answered it. ]

[ He takes the nearby seat, nodding. ]

She seems like a kind woman. [ She'd seen him having an issue during the bonfires and immediately tried to assist him without making him feel too self-conscious. She'd explained how she didn't necessarily want to go to the military academy, but that she'd made good friends.

A raised eyebrow, and a kind of wry look pointed at Claude. He does have another question, mostly out of curiosity: ]

Do you have any other friends here that I should keep an eye out for?

[ Sylvain and Hilda are from the Free Cities, but they still bumped into each other in the places the factions are allowed to meet. ]

That she is. [ The words come out almost noncommittally even if Claude certainly agrees with that statement several times over from years now of knowing Hilda, but patience in waiting out where that thought of Kyle's is going takes precedence. He doesn't have long to wait and he glances up in time to catch that look crossing the other man's face which has a feeling smile crossing his own. ] Sounds like you've yet to meet Felix and Petra to round things out. They're also in Cadens with the rest of us. Felix you're most likely to meet if you're practicing with a weapon somewhere, and Nocwich's hunting grounds would be a good place to team up with Petra.

[ Aside from the Horizon, that is, since that's the obvious and likely far easier place to find them both. Maybe he should be wary about pointing out places to locate any of them, but - Claude doesn't think twice about it, instead looping it into the same branch of trust he's extended to Kyle. With the tea steeped he pours another cup of it and hands it with a saucer over to Kyle with a smile. ]

Hope you don't mind chamomile if you've had it before. I'm unsure how popular it is anywhere else since I've not been able to find an exact match in Cadens as of yet, just things that come close.

[ With that taken care of, Claude reaches for his own cup to refresh it considering the contents are likely long gone cold. ]

Speaking of it, how'd you enjoy our little mandatory excursion?

[ Oh. Even though he asked, he's still a little surprised to find out there's two more, totaling to five of them. It reads across his features, along with vague amusement. He could try to parse out the meaning, what it is that calls to the Singularity from the warriors of Fodlan, but - it's not for him to understand.

He's glad for Claude, to have so many around him from home. People he can trust. When Kahlil first thought about who might arrive from his world, all he could imagine was enemies.

Kahlil takes the saucer, peering into the cup and giving it a sniff. ]

There's a tea shop in the castle city. I think I've had something similar. [ He takes a sip. It's good - a light floral taste, the kind that he prefers. ]

It's always nice to get out of Thorne. [ he answers as he sets his cup down again, cocking his head to one side. ] And, well, it seems to have gone without a hitch.

[ Aside from someone falling off the ship mid-journey. He hasn't heard of anything else going wrong. And the negotiations themselves - nothing major seems to have changed, yet. The war remains cold. No ground has been gained or lost. It's better than the explosive alternatives. ]

I heard a rumor about one of your officials. Quilleth Kaur? She seems to be at odds with another official, Klingel, regarding funds for Libertas. She supports rebuilding the city, she seems to think more than enough funding is already going to military inventions.

Edited 2023-01-08 20:53 (UTC)

Consider me jealous of your tea shop then, unless this is entirely my own fault for not investigating enough shops in Cadens and being unsure of where to find teas like in Fodlan. In which case, shame on me.

[ There's a slight smile he'll smother by lifting his own cup to take a drink and with a slight hum of acknowledgement about getting away from Thorne. He's heard from a couple others there since the last time they talked, and if they hadn't said it outright Claude's certain the sentiment is the same. No time to consider that or the outcome of everything, since what Kyle says next has him setting his cup down almost immediately. The motion is smooth and controlled, almost as if it just happened to be perfectly timed and not because of intense interest on his part. ]

A rumor, is it. [ Claude's contemplating that information while absently tapping a fingertip against his cup's saucer. It feels too convenient one of those officials had come up in conversation recently, though in a different context. ] I know of Quilleth. Not on a personal level, but she's the representative for Libertas. Rebuilding's just started though it's been... slow. A couple of other Summoned have been organizing efforts to help with what we can. I assume that's also a reflection of where funding is being sent.

[ Officials not getting along sounds familiar on many levels, but first: ] The name Klingel doesn't ring a bell for me, unfortunately. But speaking of that, sort of. Do you happen to know of any Thorne officials who are siblings who aren't getting along?

[ The tea shop is a bit of an odd place. For one, it's somewhere that Summoned congregate. And two - the owner likes to do a lot of experimenting...

He frowns a bit at what Claude describes, then at his question. ]

Not that I've heard. [ His brow pinches. ] The only siblings I know of are Ambrose Rhett, the High Mage who conducts the Summoning, and his sister Anastasia. I've never met her, but I hear she runs Hayle University up north. [ His mouth twists downward. He hasn't heard of any discord between the two of them. To be fair, he didn't hear much at all about Anastasia Rhett until the negotiations - ]

Although... I've recently heard she's interested in recruiting Summoned to her school.

[ Which might put her at odds with the High Mage. Thorne prefers that the Summoned all live in the castle. They don't force them to anymore, but he's only heard of one Summoned who lives in the city.

Kahlil shakes his head, looping his finger around the cup's handle. ]

There's discord within Solvunn, as well. The head of the Tertiary Settlement is at odds with the other two council members. [ A beat, and a slight shrug. ] If there's infighting within each faction - I'm not going to complain.

[ If they can't keep their own houses in order, the longer this shaky ceasefire will last. ]

Up north, as in somewhere besides the place where they're determined to make you stay?

[ If so - that could explain some tension. Claude's heard from several people in Thorne, and Kyle himself included in that, about how Thorne's royalty likes to keep them close at hand and dependent upon them. The names Kyle mentions don't mean anything to him as he's not heard about either Ambrose or Anastasia to his knowledge or if he has, then it wasn't directly by name and with details he's still not connected. Mostly he wishes he could do a better job of recalling the maps he's studied for a better reference. ]

I'd imagine the man responsible for bringing you here would be exceptionally loathe for any opportunities where you might slip away, temporarily or otherwise. What I heard made it sound like they couldn't even bear being seated by each other for any meals which hints at some serious ill will.

[ It brings to mind something else Claude's wondered which is how much freedom they really have in the Free Cities. While they aren't actively being kept from leaving Cadens he's yet to hear of anyone living elsewhere, but pondering that isn't as interesting as Kyle's mention of discord and he listens to that carefully. ]

I can't confess I know much about Solvunn. They seem to be... more of a mystery than Thorne and the Free Cities where they both have structures I recognize from home. But from what I've heard of Solvunn, they seem to be even more lax than the Alliance where I lived though we certainly all benefited from what they were able to provide after the attacks. [ Another sip of tea while he thinks for a second. ] I can't help but wonder if negotiations went as well as they seemingly did because they were all too distracted arguing with their peers to squabble too much over what each nation was asking for.

[ He nods to the first question, pulling a face. ]

Hayle's the only city I haven't visited yet. Wouldn't say I'm eager to go this time of year...

[ Growing up in Rathal'pesha, he's fine in the cold. But given the choice?

Not that - like Claude says, they have much of one. He's hoping Lucifer and Istredd might pick up that thread, though. He's not sure if he can finagle a way to be sent to Hayle, and even if he could, it would likely interrupt his trips to Borrel. That doesn't seem wise, given where the army sits.

And as to the other nations squabbles, that's his thought as well. He nods with another sip of his tea, but his frown is persistent now. ]

Solvunn... worries me. [ His mouth twists into a grimace. ] I've been trying to research the history of Abraxan gods for months now, and every thread seems to lead back to the settlements. [ A beat. ] Did you know that the last High Mage to do the Summoning was exiled? This was before even Nocwich was formed. He founded Solvunn. [ Another pause. ]

At least that's what the histories here say.

[ That face tells Claude all he needs to know about the time of year making it unfortunate to visit. He's heard a bit about Thorne's weather from books and though the heat of the desert has its downsides - he'll stick with that. The mention of concern about Solvunn wipes away those thoughts since Claude has a sort of unsettling feeling about the nation and in what others have told him are normal enough occurrences there. But. Those are insignificant compared to what Kyle has to voice. The mention of the old gods is enough to raise an eyebrow.

But that's also nothing compared to how Solvunn was founded. ]

I presume you mean those same gods which visited us all recently, and that there's others besides just them. [ However many there even were; Claude's still unclear on that but remembers their talk about this enough to run through the information since then. ] Solvunn being tied to them somehow doesn't surprise me. Others told me about how Luna reminded them of the settlements, so maybe there's a link there.

But to hear how Solvunn was founded way back when? That wouldn't have been in anything I guessed. [ This is as close to outward surprise as Kyle's going to get, though Claude does set his tea down in what might also give away that the gears in his mind that are always turning are churning away extra now. ] If that's true, that's troubling. Since Thorne was the place that started summoning others this time around, I would have thought it was their secrets all along. Which I suppose they were, technically.

Surely that would mean Thorne somehow gleaned said secrets back to begin the process again after finding it acceptable now before things came full circle when those brought to Thorne were able to escape. But the question to me then is why they decided to start summoning again after exiling someone for it in the first place, even if it was centuries ago.

[ Granted, time passed and attitudes likely changed over those many years, but even then. Why now? ]

Edited (words!) 2023-01-12 13:09 (UTC)

After Nocwich opened I spoke to some of the locals about it. The ones from Luna had similar beliefs to what I heard about those in Solvunn. [ Particularly about the heralds being like forces of nature.

He drinks more of his tea as Claude talks. The answer to the last question seems obvious to him, whether it's truly the only reason or not: ]

Desperation. [ He shrugs. ] Solvunn and the Free Cities have been creeping toward their borders. And time has a way of making people forget the dangers of the past.

[ He shakes his head. ]

But - what happened to those Summoned, all those thousands of years ago? Or even those of us who vanish. When I spoke to another one of us about it, he suggested they might still linger in Horizon, somehow.

[ This is true conspiracy theory territory. There's absolutely no proof of this. But - did those Summoned have the same connection to the Singularity? Is it possible?

Claude doesn't seem like the sort of person to panic over the thought. ]

[ Desperation certainly fits. It's a concept Claude's familiar with in more ways than one considering how it can spur things forward when used productively or tear them apart at the seams when not. He's gotten the sense the nations here have been on the brink of war for so long that embracing long lost rituals meant to turn the tide would seem reasonable. It'd explain a couple things, like -

Claude doesn't finish that thought to himself because the mention of Summoned from years ago stops that line of thinking before it's really started, and so does the idea of what might happen to those who vanish. There's a long moment where he doesn't say anything at all and simply studies Kyle. Maybe it's appraisal, maybe it's simply a chance to consider both weighty statements, or maybe it's just that it feels fitting. He doesn't bother to clarify while picking up his own threads to follow. ]

If Solvunn reveres the old gods so much, who's to say those gods weren't once the first Summoned here? In some part, anyway.

[ Farfetched as it might sound, Claude's serious. It could be possible. It'd be far too close to Rhea if true, but maybe that's not the first time it's happened in history elsewhere. Further explanation might come in a minute after suggesting this first. ]

Especially if we're assuming there's a possibility of those who vanish didn't just... return home as assumed but remained connected here in some way as we must be now. I've heard of Summoned who were once here before, left, and returned. Depending on how the summoning process works then maybe Time isn't so fond of being played with.

[ Never mind the questions that raises about what that means for him, his friends, and their own accounts of what they've lived, specifically. ]

[ Kahlil meets Claude's appraising gaze, and as the other man speaks his theory aloud, there's a lack of surprise on his own expression. What Claude says is something he's been toying with ever since he spoke to Himeka, ever since he heard about the previous High Mage's attempt and his exile. It's a possibility that he can't shake even if they have no other proof. ]

When the heralds first appeared in our dreams, they felt almost... welcoming. Maybe they were manipulating us, but - I can't shake the connection.

[ And then there were all those other places - the not-quite-Horizon domains, like the labyrinth they were trapped in. What if the heralds were Summoned, from long, long ago.

His own god lived in another world. It's not so far-fetched to him, even if it seems sacrilegious to compare the two...

At the mention of time, he raises his eyebrows. Pauses for a second, then continues: ]

Where I come from, we call the place between worlds the White Space. Without the right protections, you can be destroyed making the attempt to travel. You can blow up a whole continent. And sometimes, even if you are successful, you can lose time. Decades, if not more.

I remember the dream. [ And how strange the welcoming had seemed, something Claude decided was a trick of the mind upon waking up before it became very, very clear nothing about that was relegated to a dream alone. All of it seems to be aligning in ways even more unnerving than what they'd experienced. ] It would, unfortunately for us, make even more sense if that was true given how much havoc they wreaked with the supposed tidings they brought to us.

[ It'd certainly explain why - in that context - the destruction brought to crops and wildlife, the dead rising, the way relationships either did or could have frayed. Even if it ends up being only a theory and nothing more, it's sobering.

The amount of time he could spend ruminating on that is near endless, with the twists and turns it could take in looking for more connections in Abraxas. That's before adding in the ones which have already crossed his mind from home, and it's home where the conversation turns next without him even directing it there. Kyle's method of traveling is something he recalls from Nocwich, how one minute he'd been there and the next he'd disappeared, so Claude listens attentively. ]

Decades?

[ That part he can't help repeating incredulously even if he believes Kyle. Has no reason not to, especially having seen it in action, but that much time is considerably different than the few months between him and his friends. Or just Hilda, really, since Claude has no explanation for the others, but they're something tangible and here unlike what Kyle describes. ]

If things are that fragile, how do you learn to use the ability at all without destroying something? Because that would be my luck, that or the appearing not at the time that I mean to.

And the gifts they left behind. [ He scowls. ] I can't get rid of that mirror, no matter where I've tried to hide it.

[ It's stuck between some books on his shelves, now.

As strange and horrifying as these theories might be, it's almost a relief that Claude connects the same dots. The others he'd mentioned it to hadn't seemed to understand what he was implying, or were focused on other aspects that lead down other rabbit holes. It makes him feel like the leap might not be as far as he thought.

At decades he nods, setting his tea down again. ]

Ah - how you've seen me moving here is slightly different. We call that the Gray Space. Time can act strangely within there too, but it's not as extreme. I can only move between space in the same world through it, if that makes sense. [ The few people he's explained this to have found his explanations confusing. He taps his cup distractedly. ] Traveling through the White Space is... probably closer to what happens with the Summoning. It requires very specific rituals, keys, and a gate to pass through. Protections on your body, so that you're not ripped apart. There's almost no one left in my world that knows how it works.

[ Only Fikiri, who he had failed to kill. But his co-conspirators were dead, so at least there's that. He gives Claude a serious look. ]

I have no way to pass through the White Space here, though I suspect the Singularity might function like a gate. Only a handful of people know about my powers. I don't know how much Thorne actually knows about our abilities, but... I'd rather keep them in the dark.

[ He feels like he can trust Claude with this by now. And while it probably doesn't need to be said, he feels better laying out that he means to keep most of what he can do under wraps. ]

Edited 2023-01-13 23:14 (UTC)

[ The mirror. Claude would rather not think about either - also rather not possess it - but it's currently hidden away in a desk drawer under lock and key, as if that prevents it from being an intrusion. For a second, though, it's almost a welcome thought in comparison to losing years upon years from someone's life.

His tea is thoroughly forgotten thanks to rapt attention focused on the other man while the differences between the White Space and the Grey Space are explained. They aren't the same as he'd assumed, those differences being filed away even if it's not like he has access to this magic or power himself, and he nods slowly at the final notes of that explanation. ]

I'm not sure if I've ever said this before, but I'd consider myself more in the business of collecting secrets rather than sharing them. [ With a disarming smile which could easily be read as insincere, one Claude's certainly meant as a placation more times than not in another life, but he shakes his head afterwards. ] By that I mean none of us benefit by telling others what it is the rest of us can or can't do, and especially not in the sense of that information ending up in the hands of the officials. Even if there's a chance they know more about us than they're letting on, confirmation of that information shouldn't come from us. And it certainly won't ever be coming from me now or at any point.

[ A promise without saying it so formally: that Kyle's trust is not something he intends on testing or breaking. A tacit acknowledgement, perhaps, it's also less about the information proper than someone else he's come to consider a friend in a short time. But even friends aren't exempt from his ever present wish to know more should someone be willing to share it. ]

You mentioned it's possible what you know as the White Space functions much like the process of how we were all brought here. There must be a way for you to determine in the white space if you're headed to the right destination, yes? If there are similarities to the Summoning process, then I would think that means there's a two way link between the worlds we come from and this one. It'd also explain how someone could be brought back here multiple times after vanishing.

[ They've known each other only since the late summer. Kahlil had known Alidas for two years and did not reveal so much to him. At the time, he hadn't remembered half of what he's told Claude, but even so - would he have told the captain? He doesn't know. His feelings toward the man had been complicated. With Claude, he was able to start this relationship without one holding some measure of power of the other. It's more equal.

He nods, acknowledging the promise in his words, not letting himself think now on whether or not he might come to regret it. Speaking openly about these things is still strange to him, almost like returning to speaking a native tongue not used in years. At the questions he thinks for a moment before answering. Everything he says is either speculation. ]

With travel in the White Space... the destination is chosen before you enter. Or locked in, I suppose. There was only one other world I could travel to. [ He hadn't known there were more worlds. ] A ritual bound me to that world, the key opened the way through the gate on both sides.

[ The gate had to be on both sides. Attempting to pass through without a functional gate should be impossible - he only managed it because of his bond to the Rifter, and only just barely. His brow furrows. ]

There was a man who sent out a message some months ago about this. Tony Stark. He'd wondered if anyone remembered their time here when they were returned home. I don't know if he got any answers, but - [ a pause, and here he's grappling with something for a moment, a hand lifting to rub at his temple before he shakes his head ] - I don't know.

[ Another grimace. Those memories that didn't make sense, the ones that Jack had pulled from his mind, he's been doing his best to ignore them. Push them away before they have a chance to surface. For months now, it's been working. He's been able to only remember the things that line up with history as he remembers, along with his memories of Nayeshi. He reluctance to continue that particular thread has less to do with a lack of trust in Claude then it is... self-preservation of his mental state. He'd spent two years recovering from a state of amnesia and madness. It's not a path he wants to walk again. He only admitted some of what he did to Tony Stark because the man seemed desperate, and maybe a part of Kahlil was hoping the man had some knowledge to share. But it'd only been more speculation.

His shoulders slump slightly, and he glances at Claude again. ]

Do you remember any particular items around the area you were Summoned? Anything that stood out?

Edited 2023-01-15 21:11 (UTC)

[ The pause is noted - a rightful pause, Claude thinks, considering Kyle must almost certainly be weighing up whether he believes the sincere offer to not tell anyone else anything about this. He'd be doing the same if the tables were turned, he knows that much, so when Kyle volunteers that it requires dual gates connected to each other he nods. Not unlike a warp tile, of sorts, except that rather than being blasted across a room it would send someone to somewhere else potentially like Abraxas.

After that there's a shift, a metaphorical door being shut with only the tiniest indication of it, but Claude's sat through enough negotiations to recognize what it looks like. Patience is a factor here, a skill he'd developed long ago first out of necessity and then as another tool, and he can wait as long as needed. The mention of Tony Stark is something to consider in the meantime since he remembers small bits of the conversation here and there. Something he should've paid more attention to with the benefit of hindsight now, Claude thinks. ]

What stood out about where I was summoned? [ That gets a furrowed brow of concentration as he tries to recall the room, and to his surprise some of the smaller, finer details of it are fading from his memory much faster than he would've guessed it would for the sheer strangeness of it all. There's more he's still grasping at from that deeply confusing memory, but he can start with the basics of what he recalls. ] I remember being pulled out of water with no clothes on, which seems to be an unfortunately shared experience for all of us in Cadens. The prime minister, Marlo, was there, but so were... a lot of other people in uniforms as if they'd all been waiting for some time. She seemed to anticipate we might be upset but didn't want to answer questions then.

But now that I'm thinking about it, there was something like a card on a stand nearby. It had, [ with a couple fingers tapped against the Wheel of Fortune arcana emblazoned on his shirt shoulder above his heart, ] something like this on it, but whether it was this symbol precisely I can't say for sure. Does any of this resemble your arrival?

[ That does actually sound familiar, even if the details are equally hazy to him. It wasn't his best moment. ]

The water. That was the same in Thorne. [ It's the thing he remembers the most. The gate stones in Basawar were located in a pool of water too, but he thinks that's more of a coincidence than anything helpful. The location of the gate was important for initiating travel, not so much the exact spot you landed. ]

The High Mage was there - he was... looking through a book? He seemed distracted by it. [ His mouth twists. ] I think there was a card, too. [ He'd fixated on the unfamiliar symbols, though like Claude he can't remember the exact details. All of the tarot signs are complex compared to Payshmura symbology, a quick glance wasn't be enough for him to recall perfectly. He points to the symbol on his shoulder. ]

These seem to carry weight in Thorne, to a degree. It's odd that they appear here, too.

[ Everyone has them in their clothes, no matter what they wear. He knows that he doesn't conjure it intentionally. ]

A book. DO you think the mages keep the Summoning ritual written down somewhere?

[ That's certainly a thought, that maybe there's a record existing of the process they might someday get to look at for themselves. Even if it's likely kept in pieces rather than a complete one since that'd be too much to risk; maybe that'd explain why the High Mage needed to concentrate. But Claude dismisses that thought almost the same instant it crosses his mind and laves his mouth since the reality is that whatever it is - even if the Free Cities and Solvunn now have it, as demonstrated - it'll be under guard where they can't hope to gain access. Not without investing a very, very large amount of time and duplicity into it.

Instead, his gaze drops briefly to Kyle's own symbol in concentration. ]

I don't know about you, but I didn't ask for this one to start showing up on my clothing while I'm here. No matter what I opt to wear instead, it finds its way right back.

[ The arcana, their meanings, the symbols themselves: they aren't something Claude's looked into much beyond some very cursory research after noticing his own in the Horizon and then other ones scattered about Cadens on various things. Perhaps there's more to them he should be considering rather than assuming they were, in some ways, like Crests back home and not bothering to investigate them. ]

I've heard they have some relation to the magics that are common here. I'd imagine that means they also have to be tied into the process of summoning us somehow even if I haven't the slightest idea of how beyond that. Shame we couldn't have overheard that while we were out and about on that trip.

Possibly. Though I don't know why he'd still be so engaged with it after I was summoned...

[ But if it is a written ritual, his thoughts are the same: it's under proverbial lock and key, and he can't access those guarded places right now thanks to the wards distorting the Gray Space.

As for the symbols, he shakes his head but in agreement. He never places this design on himself, and yet it's always consistently been the same. ]

No, and I've never thought to ask about it in Oleuni Square. In Thorne it reminds me of the way some people like to think that being born under a certain star is important, if that makes sense. [ But he shrugs. ] How it connects to the Summoning, though...

[ He sighs, frustrated. Too many questions. Even he's hitting his limits, these days. ]

[ That's a good point about the mage being distracted post summoning, post the theoretically most important part of all where Kyle would be pulled out as Claude imagines was the same case for him in that too confusing arrival. With the benefit of hindsight and being able to say so, now he wishes he'd paid more attention to what the mages were doing where he was. ]

If Thorne knew some of the people they initially brought here were done so in error, I wonder if he was comparing something about you to what Thorne knew about you. If they even somehow knew what we look like which... would require portraits of us.

[ Claude's brow furrows at that, the idea of many different drawn cameos or something close to it. That seems unlikely, though it's a thought. The mention of Oleuni Square gets his attention to another thought that's been something he's returned to now and then. ]

Did you have your fortune told when we were in Nocwich for that first time? In the invitations I received, there was a card with that arcana symbol on it. I handed it over to the fortune teller and she... told me something. [ He looks vaguely uncomfortable here, if only because that reading hit far too close to home for him to want to think about. Time to power through considering the possible connection is too important to not mention. ] It was, let's say, accurate. In ways where no one else could've known what she said since I've not told it to anyone, but if the arcana's really connected to something about us then maybe it's a way to see.

[ A pause, then - ] I've not seen her around to ask about that or anything else since.

[ Now he wishes he could've tried to get a closer look. He could ask Geralt or Himeka if they remember anything similar from their own Summonings, but he's already plied them with so many questions about what was a difficult time.

At the mention of the fortune teller he frowns, shaking his head. ] I received a strange card, but it only said something like 'your time hasn't come yet'.

[ He hadn't saved it, though.

Normally, he wouldn't push. But curiosity gets to him and his brow furrows: ]

What did she say?

[ Ah - Kyle would ask, wouldn't he? That's purely his own fault for putting it out there, phrasing it the way he had. It's the exact kind of loose end tapering off into nothing Claude would pounce on himself if the tables were turned.

Still. There's a long moment where he looks at his tea expressionlessly with any feelings on that well-concealed and hidden away, turning over how to pare down that fortune into something... something less what he knew it to be. ]

At first Lady Elin didn't say much. Seemed like she was just thinking with her eyes closed more than anything else, and it was a lot less over the top than some of the other fortune tellers I'd been to before. Not all of them are like that so it was nice that was the case here. [ This is the least subtle stalling of all time. ] Anyway, she told me I hold a tie to wrongs that were never righted. She's not wrong.

[ There's a lot of those wrongs, enough that this sentence could easily apply to some of the ones he's told Kyle about in bits and pieces, except that there's another half to it he's purposefully withholding and which provides greater context.

Now Claude looks up with that carefully crafted smile as a mask set back into place and shrugs like they're discussing something unremarkable. ]

Something I was on the path to correcting before I arrived here, so it'll have to wait a while longer. If she ever returns which it sounds like might happen what with it not being your time yet, I'll be curious to find if yours holds any weight.

[ It's the stalling and the way he seemed uncomfortable earlier. He leaves the topic be, for now. Whatever the fortune teller said was clearly enough to convince Claude.

Kahlil's own sister is/was an oracle. In other areas he might better trust his friend's judgement, but in this he will have to judge the woman for himself. Assuming she returns. He sighs again, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before glancing at Claude again, the other man's handsome smile masking his earlier discomfort - reminding him of someone else for a moment. ]

Besides righting those wrongs, what would be the first thing you'd do when you returned home?

[ From here. ]

i'm reaching for the clouds

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