element_wizard | (no subject)

(no subject)

The other side of the portal lead to the end of everything. Or an everything. It was a surprisingly nice end of everything. A bar with plenty of tables, booths and comfortable chairs sitting by a fire with fish swimming within the flames. Rats wearing little suits scurried around carrying trays with food and drink on them to various patrons at various locations.

There's a scattering of people around with friends or by themselves. Doing everything from nothing, to eating to reading to making a mess on the table because they've pulled apart a machine. The rats are not happy about that.

And of course there's the Window where the end of the universe can be seen in all its glory. As it is the natural time of death for the universe, it won't do anything to Zack beyond looking beautiful. Repeating every few minutes or so as time is rewound. People pay to watch the universe end, not be there when it ends after all.

Alec stands on the other side of the portal, which also corresponds to a doorway, even though he was behind Zack a second ago.

"Welcome to Milliways. The restaurant at the end of the universe."

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Creepy is in the eye of the beholder, in this case, at least. Zack is positively bristling in the presence of this ... person, who is decidedly not mortal. As Zack has no way of divining what powers Karan might have, he's not enjoying the encounter at all.

This, however, does make him snort, remembering Alec slipping and falling on his butt. "Tell me stuff I don't know," he grunts, adding, "or I'm walking."

Blah, blah, blah. Zack is just overly sensitive.

On the other hand he did get Zack to "smile" so there is that.

"You should try eating the dust of a world you've not destroyed," he suggests. "Your nature has been, as he said, changed. You are connected to worlds, but not in their destruction, but their life. By eating the dust of the dead you betray the life you should have."

Edited 2021-08-04 13:59 (UTC)

Well, that wipes the snarl off Zack's face.

Give him a minute to let that sink in and maybe wonder if Karan is pulling his plonker.

"I don't eat it," he protests, somewhat feebly and just to be contrary. That's not how it works...

But it's also completely beside the point.

"That's against the rules." Not strictly true. Abe has pounded it into him to replenish after a task is fulfilled. Must be done. Rule number one. Prime Directive. And all that. But Abe has never once forbidden him to replenish from a living world. He's never even mentioned it. Which might be suspicious in itself. "Might poison me."

His arguments are getting weaker and weaker. Zack chases Karan's words like he's trying to herd cats. It's hard to take it in, and it makes his head... hurt. Not the usual throbbing pain, but a sharp stabbing at the nape of his neck, rising up through his skull.

"Ugh Even talking about it's ...toxic."

Edited 2021-08-04 14:10 (UTC)

Take all the time you'd like, there Zack. Please do. Think about it.

"Eat, absorb, take into your essence, put it in a bag and hide it under your bed. The point stands, you still take some of it with you." He then gave a bark of laughter. "Poison you? Did you just hear what you just said? Something like you get poisoned?"

Leaning forward, knife still in his hands, he asked, "Is it toxic or is it something keeping you from thinking? Your brother did this to you; why? And why does it hurt to think about why? What do you have that he's afraid of?"

There are ways to poison creatures like himself, he's pretty sure. Zack isn't impervious to magic, or the powers of godlike beings. Or maybe he's got it all wrong, because at present, it's agony and he can't even see straight.

In a haze of pain, Zack stands, tipping back his chair so it falls noisily to the ground. He catches the table too, which doesn't get flipped, but it does get knocked, disturbing all the plates and cutlery. The near-empty glass of water falls over, as does Alec's cider.

"I don't know, okay? I don't know!... Stop!"

People are turning to look at the disturbance, but Zack can't see them. His bead feels like the bumping and grinding of two tectonic plates, of a supervolcano straining below the surface, just before it erupts. "I don't want to hurt anyone!"

Edited 2021-08-04 15:31 (UTC)

And at that, Karan grins a wider grin than should be possible. Tucking his knife away, he stands, not at all bothered by the attention driven their way.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I do have other things to be about," he said. Giving a bow, he adds. "Oh, sometimes I go by Death's Shadow. Do have a lovely day."

He saunters off, hands in his pocket. His shadow gives Zack a wave before following.

The attention doesn't bother Zack either. He has no sense of embarrassment in that way. All he wants is for the pain to stop, and he has to lean forward, bracing his hands on the table for stability.

Wait.

What?

"You fucking bastard!" he snarls as Karan - Death's Shadow - bids him a calm goodbye and strolls off, calm as you like. And your shadow too, mister smug-arsed shithead. Yeah, 'course he'd have walked away straight-off if he'd known who it was. But it's obvious now that Karan knows that and is a sneaky git.

Dimly, Zack hopes what he's just done isn't counted as fighting. Not because he gives a shite about being banned (not at this moment anyway) but because he may have let Alec down. He'll just pick up his chair, sit down and groan a bit, hoping the pain will subside now he's trying not to think. Or that now he's too mad to think.

He walked straight into that one. Though to be fair, it had walked into him first.

His work is done. Zack's reaction is perfect. Especially if he starts to wonder why Alec isn't there to drive him off. Where is he, anyway?

Turning around to walk backwards, Death's Shadow said, "Bastard? Me? No. At least I know who my parents are." Then he decides to add, "I hope to see you again!"

Just to mess with Zack's head a little more. And he's off in the crowd, vanishing from sight.

Fighting in the Bar constitutes actually attacking someone. Which Zack did not and which is a good thing. He would not want to be stabbed or cut or just have blood touch that knife.

Edited 2021-08-04 18:45 (UTC)

The phrase 'not if I see you first' may be a cliche, but it's true nonetheless. It's exactly what Zack mutters to himself as he nurses his head.

And where the fuck is Alec?

For the first time, Zack feels a flash of irritation at his friend. And then instantly hates himself for it.

But where is he?

Zack stops one of the wait-rat.. things, and does actually apologise for the state of the table. "Didn't mean no harm by it," he mutters, "Can I get another glass of water and a cider? Please."

Does he really want to see Death's Shadow again? Really? The guy is a bastard and delights in it. In the possibility of murder - not violence. He will cause violence in the hope of murder. And it is murder not killing someone.

The rat is fine, they've seen worse, and goes off to get the drink replacements.

Shortly after Alec does reappear. Literally. He's wearing a different t-shirt. "Oh. There you are. Good. I didn't flub up my timing that bad." And a pause. "What's wrong? You don't look so good."

He really, really, does not.

At least Zack is feeling slightly better disposed to the wait-rats. He can see they're too useful to be food. Given time, he may even respect them for the right reasons.

"M'not good." He peers at Alec's changed teeshirt, which sort of explains what he might have been doing. "Two words. Both of 'em Death's Shadow. Fucker."

At least the pain is subsiding. "Your timing could've been better. Just don't make me think too hard for a bit."

Grimacing, Alec gave Zack an apologetic look. He was about to explain that he'd been out a few days his time to pick up something to get rid of the magic on him, but that gets derailed with the mention of Death's Shadow.

"Ah, fucknuts. I'm sorry. I didn't know he'd show up, or talk to you." He is sorry. Dealing with Death's Shadow is never fun, as he knows very well. "What did he want?"

This makes it okay. Zack didn't know this about himself, but a genuine apology - even though it wasn't Alec's fault - appears to make him feel a lot better. Maybe it's not the apology itself, but the acknowledgement that something nasty just happened and that Zack's feelings are valid.

He never gets that in Antillioch. Even as a kid, crying would earn him a smack in the face.

"S'okay. You didn't do it." He's still nursing his head. Pressing a palm to his forehead, Zack is trying to find that line between focussing on the topic, and not thinking too deeply. "Dunno what he wanted. Told me I shouldn't eat dead planets. M'connected to living ones, not dead ones, or something. And about how much it hurts to think. That Abe did it and why did he do it."

It takes some effort to get out even this sketchy information. the pain keeps creeping back... though at least not to the degree it just did.

There are few people that Alec would wish Death's Shadow on. Zack is not one of them. Abe, currently, isn't one either. That being said, if the shadow did show up and...talk... to Abe, Alec would happily grab popcorn to watch.

He almost contradicts Zack, by saying mentioning Death's Shadow brought Zack's attention to him, but decides not to go into that sorrid little detail. He's got some investigating to do, if Death's Shadow has decided to creep out of his world...

Later.

Problem for slightly future him.

"Hard to say what he wanted. Problem is he thinks he's being helpful." Though seeing the pain on his face, he holds up a glimmering glass bead with what looks like clouds within. "But let's try getting rid of the spell on you first."

If that happened, Zack would watch from the shadows bug-eyed with ... maybe not terror but a horrified fascination. He may even forego the popcorn, which is saying something.

Zack is not the petty type. He might be slightly freaked that the mention of Death's Shadow sent him this way, but he wouldn't hold it against Alec.

Especially in light of this current turn of events.

"Gaia save me if he ever wants to be not helpful."

Still pressing a finger to one temple, Zack peers at the bead. He's transfixed for a moment on what it appears to contain, which results in his stopping thinking so much. It helps.

"Whut, now?" Not that this is a problem. Given the escalation of pain now he's wise to what Abe has done- "couldn't come sooner, far as I'm concerned."

"Well, either he leaves you alone or kills you, so it's really a toss up there."

Entertaining. It would be highly entertaining. One way or the other. At least in Alec's opinion.

"Sure. I spent the past... three days... I think... my time getting this," he said. "You want the explanation or just do it?"

Leave him alone please. It's hard for Zack to die so there's the added dread of what Karan might come up with to achieve that.

"I...ugh. Explain? Easy words?"

He doesn't do physical torture. He likes the mental stuff. Which he doesn't see as torture. It's just helping people. Really. And that is the honest truth. He really does feel like he's helping people. Usually. He is a fickle fickle creature and would like to poke himself more into his Fool's life.

Alec holds up the bead. "Bead holds dispell magic spell. You crush the bead and the spell goes off. Should get rid of your problem."

That's quick and easy. It took him a bit to figure out and find. It was getting the magic from one world to work on the magic of another. There are some wizards aeons in the past who had a very traumatic visit by the Everstorm of Chaos. He would not say he didn't enjoy what he did but... he wouldn't not say that.

That will come as some relief. Zack didn't much like the look of that blade though. Anything powered might do him actual harm.

Zack will now feel even worse about being irritated with Alec. From the change of clothing, he's sort of assumed Alec was off buying a new teeshirt. Perhaps somewhere in Milliways somebody is selling some. But no. He was off being a friend. A good one.

“Just like that?” He holds out a tentative hand, ready to accept the bead. “Is asking how you got it a bad idea?”

No one likes the look of that blade. That is half the point of the blade. The blade is only used for one thing. Murder. (And apparently cleaning fingernails.) But if he is going to use it on someone it's going to be for a killing blow. He can miss, but he doesn't aim to injure. Betrayal is killing something in someone.

It's not his fault. He doesn't know how Alec or anything really works. Alec barely knows how Alec works.

"Just like that." The bead is dropped into his hand. "I talked to some people."

This is true.

Zack swallows as the magical thing lands on his open palm. He's still jittery from his recent encounter and magic is anathema to him. It's a scary proposition, but...

The reward outweighs the risk. Especially as this is Alec. Zack looks from the bead to Alec, still suffering from guilt at the way he questioned his intentions just now.

"You should know, I thought... maybe, you'd decided to abandon me. And I got a bit lost about how we made friends. Dunno what I was thinking."

Or why.

Alec gives a soft laugh. "I wouldn't blame you for thinking that. You've not had good experiences with other people. And I am an outside factor, you don't know how I act," he said. Also he'd been talking to someone who encourages that sort of thinking.

"As for how we made friends? I don't know. I forced myself into your life, I guess."

He's not going to press Zack to do anything with the bead. His choice.

"Just thought... friends are honest, right? Anyway. Felt bad about it after, and now."

He picks up the bead between the thumb and forefinger of his free hand, and examines it more closely. "M'glad you did. It's about the only way anyone could've got to know me."

Still a little perplexed as to how simple the process is, Zack just checks, "So I crush it? In my hand, or underfoot?"

"Generally speaking, yes. And you can feel bad about it. I mean, no experience. I shouldn't ding you for that." It would be like dinging a child for not knowing social rules. Which Zack is in someways.

"You were interesting. You are interesting. I collect interesting things." There's a finger waggle. "Not always in the physical sense." He's not planning on locking Zack up in a bottle somewhere.

"Crush it in your hand. It needs the skin contact to know where it's going," Alec said. "And hopefully it'll work."

He's mucked about with it. He's good at cross classing magics from different realities, but it's still always an iffy endeavor. Volitle things. Especially when it comes to anti-magics. But he has no idea if it'll work or not. That is not up to him.

That's true. Both childlike and childish at times. He may be a mature adult, but there's a small part of Zack that's always remained as a ten-year-old child, at his time of death.

He does grin at that. Being kept in a jar would be boring as... well, Zack isn't over acquainted with boredom, but he does have some idea.

"Okay." He drops the bead back into his palm and stares at it a bit before finally closing his fist. He's not preternaturally strong, but Zack is a little stronger than an average mortal man. He figures that the bead is meant to be broken fairly easily though. His fist tightens and the bead breaks into tiny pieces.

For a moment there's nothing and Zack glances at Alec to see if he's done it right.. but then, very quickly, he can feel a drawing sensation somewhere at the back of his mind. In his head, but in his thoughts too... It increases steadily, and Zack grits his teeth. It does make his head hurt but in a different kind of way. It's sort of clean pain one feels when a thorn is removed from flesh, or of a tumour being cut away.

His entire dust form alters and shimmers like sand. It's still Zack-shaped, but it becomes a humanoid figure composed entirely of ash and grit, and what passes for sand or dirt. it feels like the spell is working on his spirit, the part of him that holds the dust-body together; because after all, that's where the pain is.

Dust has no nerve-endings. It can't feel things.

It attracts curious glances from the other people in the restaurant, but apparently magic is nothing new here. Finally... it really really HURTS... and Zack snarls with the pain...

...until suddenly, there's a harsh tightening, followed by a sense of release.

His illusionary skin and surface bodyparts return to their usual state, apart from the one noticeable thing. Zack sits here now without his warpaint. It shows his features more clearly. He looks exactly like any ordinary human, apart from his unnaturally blue eyes.

But there's no more pain.

"That didn't feel so good," he mutters, studying Alec's reactions. "But better now.. I think?"