the vain must swallow their pride

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

Who: Ray, Yen Sid
What: Ray is seeking advice from her teacher about a certain pirate and an idea of hers.
When: Sunday afternoon
Where: Yen Sid's Tower

Ray stepped off the magic train, watching as it disappeared once more into the distance. She sighed and turned to the Tower entrance, only to find herself facing some odd creature she'd never seen before. It charged as soon as she moved to go around it, and reflexively, she countered it with a Thunder. When it didn't falter, she growled and threw a Fire at it, too, wincing as it shrieked and withdrew. She circled around it cautiously, sliding in through the door. She wasn't here for a fight... it was probably better to avoid creatures when she didn't know their weaknesses anyway.

She looked up, still marveling at the number of stairs in the Tower. It never ceased to amaze her how tall it was. Nevertheless, she started the climb and finally found herself at his door. She knocked politely and entered the room with a small smile.

"Master Yen Sid, I hate to come unannounced like this, but I wanted to ask you if you could help us at all..."

Comments

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

"Well, yeah, but if it could hurt Josiah we might not want to try it. But that's up to him..."

She quirked an eyebrow at the last suggestion. "What sort of object...? Who might we be looking for if we were to choose that option? And..." here she hesitated, "what effects might something like that have on Josiah?"

"That's good, though; I mean, not dying and all. But I'm not sure if that's as good, with the damage it could entail."

[handsoffmyhat.livejournal.com]

YenSid lifted his hand in a smooth gesture, and thick tome appeared in his hand.

With another gesture, the book floated up and opened to a page of a cloaked figure wielding a ghostly looking knife. "There are stories told of a weapon that is designed to sever the bonds between souls themselves. If used by anyone other than someone with a true intimate understanding of souls, then this weapon can cause devastating harm, but in the hands of the right person, it could be the tool that saves your friend."

"The damage could leave his soul twisted and scarred. Wounds of the spirit are infinitely more damaging and are far harder to heal than wounds of the body. It could leave him a different man, or be so insidious that at first you would never realize anything was wrong."

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

"You can't mean the Subtle Knife," she murmured. Or maybe there was something similar somewhere...

"Seems like no matter what option we choose, it's going to take its toll on him. And if we leave him alone..." She trailed off before continuing a moment later. "Well, whatever we do is up to Josiah. I'll have to talk to him when I get back to Radiant Garden."

[handsoffmyhat.livejournal.com]

YenSid gave Ray a look and said, "Don't be silly. That's just a story."

"In this life, nothing is earned without effort, sacrifice, or both. Go to consult with your friend, and return to me when you have made a decision."

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

"That's what I thought," Ray snorted, standing to leave. "Either way, that's what I was planning on. I'll be back when I can."

[handsoffmyhat.livejournal.com]

"Very well. I will have my apprentice look into this more for you, when he next checks in."

[seolearo.livejournal.com]

She paused. "Brandon...? I thought he was still on Earth..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered that voice post on the community a few weeks ago. "...Oh jeez. What trouble is he getting himself into now?"

[handsoffmyhat.livejournal.com]

YenSid once again steepled his fingers. "My apprentice has been on Earth for some time, but more recently he has been acting as my eyes and ears on some of the more distant worlds currently reachable with Gummi Technology. He is following leads to investigate projects other than Oblivion the Organization may have been working on, and looking for signs of the next great threat. His communication technology has been having difficulty linking to us, but he'll be reporting back here very soon."