entrancelogs | sleigh bells are ringing, it's that time of year

Entry tags:

sleigh bells are ringing, it's that time of year

Who: Anders (

circlejerked) and Minato Arisato (

jivitadana).
Where: First floor tea room.
When: Dec. 28th.
Rating: PG, probably.
Summary: A late Secret Santa gift exchange wherein Anders does his first Christmas proud and they try to wash the taste of Ewaymas out of their mouths.
The Story:

_{[After that roller coaster ride of sleep deprivation and fending off hordes of mindless Tranquil-esque pod people (a slight exaggeration, perhaps), Anders could honestly sleep for a year straight with his usual dreams of Wardens flying into battle on the backs of tigers. But there's no rest for the wicked or the weary--duty calls.

Somewhere out there is a Secret Santa recipient waiting for him to shower them in holiday cheer. It's Anders to the rescue.

After all, how can he hope to take part in Earth celebrations--or just as likely poke fun at them for being strange--if he dropped the ball on his first Christmas gift exchange? It's practically like Satinalia, and he's awesome at that. He's got this. And then maybe he'll consider looking into that year-long hibernation.

It's easy enough to find his giftee's name in the contact list and send them a text inviting them down to the first floor tea room to meet their Secret Santa. It's not stranger danger when someone's luring you with free gifts, right? Well, that might actually be the textbook definition of stranger danger, but who's counting?]}

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A what now?

_{[Sorry, Anders is going to need a minute before he can think about putting on a magic show. Minato has just safely laid claim to one of the most amazingly bizarre puppet shows Anders has ever seen, personally--and he's seen a few. What happens in the back alleys of Denerim stays in the back alleys of Denerim.]}

What is that? Some kind of spirit?

_{{Meaning the cartoonish snowball creature, as if there was any doubt. In case there is, Anders helpfully points at Jack Frost before the Persona disappears back to whatever hammer space pocket Minato had pulled him out of.]}

Persona. It's a manifestation of parts of my personality depending on different situations.

[Basically. That's why they were so different. He was so used to it, but maybe he shouldn't have been. He went down this road before, wondering why he had so many parts of his soul when other people only had one.]

But I can't do much more than that.

[He only had his Personas to his name. Nothing else much.]

_{[A squint. It's necessary to stop and do a reality check on himself before he goes any further. Does that explanation make sense, or has he just spent so long in Wonderland that he's desensitized to things that make no sense? If a tree falls in a forest...]}

So the iron maiden looking thing and the snowman are reflections of yourself? Like spirits you've made a pact with--is that comparable?

_{[Can't do much more than that, he says. How humble you are, sir. That ability's more than impressive all on its own; with the acrid smell of burning foliage still in his nose, Anders isn't at all sure he'd want to fight one of those things.]}

Yeah, like that. It's possible for a Persona to turn on its summoner, so making a pact makes sense.

[Minato hadn't thought of it quite along those terms even if he did make a contract himself for his one-year stint at being a Persona user. He had thought it was like awakening or realizing those other parts of himself. But if they were capable of killing their owner, then it was like they were another entity altogether... Huh. It was like how Personas seemed to evolve after his journey ended.]

What about you? What's your magic like?

Sounds like a spirit, all right.

_{[Powerful and possibly dangerous, check and check.]}

I've... never seen spirits quite like those before, though. How does "jolly snowman" work into your personality, exactly? Smiling on the outside, frigid on the inside?

_{[Or does the kid harbor a secret fascination with button eyes and carrot stick noses they don't know about? It's in Anders' DNA to tease, impressed as he is at the ease with which each of these "Persona" things had casually cut swathes through the hedge maze. The flora carnage draws his eye while he mulls over Minato's choice of words.

(Hopefully no one had decided on taking a stroll in the hedge maze today or they'll be really regretting their choice of venue right about now.)]}

It behaves differently, my magic. _{[Musingly, he tilts his head.]} Can I ask what it means for them to be pieces of your soul? They're a part of you? Like spirit possession?

_{[It's the nearest equivalent that comes immediately to mind.]}

Maybe more on the smiling part.

[Jacks were playful, a little simple, but they were a bit arrogant. And ~~not in his game~~ could threaten to kill you with the big grin on their faces. Was Minato like that though? Hm.

Probably not. So much. Maybe.]

They're a part of me, like I can hear them sometimes while I'm thinking.

[If that made sense too. They were like spirits who spoke to him, but they were a part of him at the same time. If he had a thought, did they have the same thought, or if they thought of something, was that Minato's thought from the start? (Is he a man dreaming he's a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming that he's a man?)]

Does that help? Most of them have elemental powers, others have physical ones, and some can heal too.

[That might be more analogous to the kind of magic Anders was used to? At least the magic part of it, less so on the summoning?]

_{[It's always the cute ones that are capable of breaking you like a toothpick...]}

Huh.

_{[A thoughtful 'huh'. A curious 'huh'. A mostly non-judgemental 'huh', too, for that matter. A year and some change ago, back before he'd met Justice, Anders would likely have found the prospect of someone harboring spiritual entities in their body a little discomfiting simply because of how he'd been raised. Thank the Circle and the Chantry for that knee-jerk aversion--common opinion had it so that spirits and people were not made to mix except under the most controlled conditions.

These days, Anders' horizons are all the broader for being in Wonderland and hearing of his own fate, becoming Justice's host and allowing Justice to influence his personality. (Not entirely for the better, truth be told, but Minato doesn't seem like someone hellbent on a crusade to free all peoples and burn down chantries.)]}

Have they always been with you, or did making a pact involve inviting them inside yourself?

_{[He rubs his jawline, burning with interest now that the initial surprise has faded. The academic in him is full of questions.]}

Someone like you would make Circle mages back home wet themselves. Where I'm from, mages are born with magic. It attracts demons that'd like nothing more than to crawl inside our bodies and whisper sweet nothings to kill everyone around us.

_{[Which is a colorful way of saying contracts with a spirit comes with risk. And that's just with one--by Minato's own word, he has a menagerie to call upon. Anders is pretty sure he can't top that.]}

[Sometimes Minato wondered too how they all existed inside of him and where they came from. And then why some of them were the same in someone else, for that matter. It couldn't be a coincidence.

No one at home really questioned what they were and why, really, since it was either a secret or the people around him knew about them already. It was like he had the chance now to explain it not only to Anders but partially for himself too.]

I think they were always with me, but I didn't know. Like I was missing a friend I didn't know I had.

[Something like that too? They must have been there the whole time. He was only aware of them when he became stronger. Uh, then there was the issue of fusion. That's complicated. And the issue of that thing he had sealed inside of him. Also complicated.

But huh too. Being born with magic sounded different from Minato's situation where something seemed to awaken instead of being so innate.]

You managed not to have that happen to you though?

[Maybe? Could he have been talking to Anders and whatever demons he had inside of him? He didn't think so.]

What do the demons want or what do they get out of killing everyone?

_{[Manifesting spirit-like creatures like some kind of extra limb is interesting, but it's not one of those topics that can be easily unpacked in a single afternoon. Anders accepts he's not about to understand the intricacies right this moment; for the sake of not trapping Minato in a Q&A session, he'll have to be satisfied with that answer.

His head tilts at an angle as he considers.]}

I get by. Others aren't so lucky. That's another long story, but those of us trained in Circles of Magi are taught to resist more malicious spirits. Demons have endless appetites, as a general rule--they'll feed on energy until there's nothing left.

_{[The consideration in his expression deepens as he rakes Minato up and down with a look like he's trying to see behind his skin to what's living inside.]}

If your Persona things there had been demons, I don't suppose we'd be talking right now. They'd have burned the maze to the ground and kept going.

[Sometimes Personas were like demons, he thought. (~~If he only knew SMT canon.~~) There were deities and figures from mythology. Some of them were demons in their own right. He didn't want to seem so arrogant that he could just control them all at will though.

He nodded, smiling a bit at the analogy since it made sense. He could imagine. It wouldn't be all that great to be overrun or be ruled by demons like that. Where would his sense of self be then? Probably burned to the ground like the maze.]

Did training take a long time? Who trained the trainers?

[It seemed like a constant cycle of teaching and training. But that was good though, if to maintain tradition and the "right" way of handling Anders' type of magic.]

Is the point though to defeat all the demons?

[Now it was like the reverse, with Minato conducting the Q of the Q&A.]

Most of my life, through no choice of my own. _{[Offered up casually with a wave of a hand as if to say no big deal. The implied sarcasm is unmistakable.]}

The rest is a long trip back into the annals of history. Mages have been around for hundreds of years in my world. Where there's a mage, there's a demon attracted to their power, and we're powerful enough on our own to make people nervous. Uncontrolled magic can be dangerous, so the best solution the Chantry could come up with was rounding us all up and keeping us under constant surveillance. You could say the point is making sure mages don't have a chance to become a danger by assuming guilty before proven innocent.

_{[The "right" way of dealing with magic is a contentious issue at the best of times--the Circles teach, but only in order to suppress and control, which vastly outweighs the pros when the thing they're controlling is a person with free will. It's an issue that hits a sore spot in him, and it shows.]}

That's not to say demons are the only spirits out there. Some are benevolent. We can draw power from good-natured ones--but that's normally a long distance relationship between worlds. Nowhere near as cozy as what you just did.

[Hundreds of years. That is a really long time. Someone out there developed those rules or laws to govern over mages and non-mages to keep things in order. Or really, just to control them somehow. It sounded a little familiar, keeping a group of people with magic powers secluded and away from others if just to observe and experiment on them. Not cool.]

But has a mage in your time ever caused any harm?

[Rules are rules, but maybe by now there wasn't the need for it to be so strict? Hundreds of years should have helped in honing in on how to keep that magic under control versus keeping demons at bay. But then again, demons were tricky things. So was magic, actually.]

So when you're born a mage, you have magic of your own? Is there any specific kind of magic mages are born with?

[He was thinking along the lines of elemental magic, that different mages had different kinds of magic.]

_{[Unknowingly or not, Minato hits the nail on the head. Whacks it with a sledgehammer, really. Anders looks a little on the sour side, lips coming together in a way that screams borderline sulkiness that he'd absolutely deny if mentioned.

Has a mage ever caused harm? More than can be counted. Plenty of mages have lost control, or simply not cared enough to act on that control. That's not really his fault on a personal level, nor is it enough to condemn an entire people in Anders' opinion, but the dangers of magic pricks a little more now that he knows about Corypheus and the future of his other self. Mages apparently brought about their world's greatest threat, and he, himself, turns Kirkwall into a battleground. Food for thought in the worst way.

So yes, harm. In opposition, a large part of him revels in the lack of judgement in Wonderland--people like Minato who haven't followed the Chantry's teaching his entire life wouldn't know to fear Anders if he didn't give him a reason to, not like the people of Ferelden that have heard enough horror stories to curl their lip as soon as they see a mage coming. That blank slate is seductive, and he's reluctant to tarnish it.]}

Magic is a powerful force. It can be dangerous in anyone's hands if misused. You might call it by a different name with what you do, but I'm sure you understand.

_{[There are bad apples in every bunch, it doesn't mean everyone is rotten. But Chantry politics is perhaps a soap box to stand on another day.]}

For us, it's a mixed bag depending on what you study. Like those-- _{[A gesture at the singed branches and melting ice.]} --we'd call spells from the primal school of magic. Elemental stuff. I'm not bad, but my main focus is spirit healing. I rub elbows with spirits that are willing to help out with that sort of thing.

_{[But still a far cry from Minato and his ability to pull Personas out of his hat in rapid succession.]}

[The look didn't go unnoticed though because it was in stark contrast to the charismatic and almost carefree demeanor Anders had only a moment ago. Magic and mages were quickly becoming apparent to Minato that they were a sensitive subject, and he took for granted the significance of it in someone else's life or world. He took for granted the powers from his own world too (sometimes) since it wasn't easy for everyone to wield said powers. He was out like a light for a week or so the first time he realized he had them.

But since it was that sensitive, a deeply, personal subject, then Minato wouldn't ask more in that particular direction. Not yet, maybe, even if he were curious or was willing to listen to anything that Anders might want to talk or vent about.]

I do. I think that kind of thing happens in any world, magic or not. Mine too.

[And oh, man, was there an issue related to magic and powers or what back then.

But healing! That definitely got Minato's attention too.]

I'd pick healing if I could only have one skill. Does your healing cover all physical wounds?

[Broken bones, bruises, lacerations? Loss of blood?]

_{[A nod, acknowledging Minato's point that abuse of power is a universal danger.]}

Moderation in all things, as they say. My world takes that adage too far some days, but it's true that being taught to control one's abilities helps prepare a mage for when an ill-intentioned spirit starts whispering in their ear.

_{[Anders' nonchalance is a smoke screen for many things, not the least of which is the layer of lava-like resentment that runs in him, burning quietly below the surface. Anything to do with the strict teachings surrounding Harrowings and the treatment of mages is almost guaranteed to incite fumes, and in another place and time those feelings will take on a voice of their own, one called Vengeance.

For now, though, there's one voice and one voice only, and it's currently telling him to follow this track of conversation wherever it leads. It's leading away from mention of the Circle, which is the ideal direction, in life as well as in practice.]}

Most. _{[A trace of a smile returns to replace the shadow of old resentment, kicking up higher on one side.]} Since it would seem I'm outclassed when it comes to the fancy stuff, would you like to see?

_{[Minato's demonstration had been thoroughly distracting, but he hasn't forgotten he owes one in return.]}

[Anders seemed prepared though for that eventuality, if it ever did happen. He was capable and knowledgeable. Sure, there were those that would abuse whatever power they had--that was happening now, wasn't it, back at that mage's home?--but it didn't account for anyone else who actually had good intentions.

He could only hope that one day, if and when Anders did return home that things would change.

He hadn't minded the tangents since they were actually related to the original intention of their coming out to the hedge maze at all. He was grateful too that Anders was willing to share what he did.]

I'd still like to see, please. Fancy's okay, but whether it's effective or not is something else.

[For all of the elements he could wield, he remembered fighting Shadows and either finding that an attack didn't work at all or that it backfired. Literally. Not cool, man.]

If you're worried about effectiveness, don't be. _{[Despite himself, he ends up chuckling. Only a youngster full to bursting with supernatural freeloaders would sound so serious.]} Looks to me like you've got that in the bag.

_{[The Evoker pointed at Minato's head and the subsequent appearance of the Personas had thrown Anders a bit, but he looks around now, thinking of an easy way to demonstrate some of his magic without going too crazy. Maybe by doing so it'll help Minato contextualize the similarities and differences they've been discussing thus far.

His eyes settle on a branch on the ground, blown off one of the hedge walls from the force of the spells. It's not his usual fare, but...]}

It's not a laceration gushing blood, but this'll do. One demonstration of Thedosian incanting, coming up.

_{[The branch sits in one hand, his other poised just above it, cupping it between them. The murmur of words won't be familiar to Minato, but the faint light that encases the branch hints when Anders' power is about to take hold.

It's not a conventional healing spell as one would use on a living person to revitalize flesh and knit it back together, but under Minato's eyes the branch's splintered base and bruised leaves will begin to sprout new green, extending and growing in his hand like a video of a plant's growth fast-forwarded.]}

Edited 2017-02-22 10:11 (UTC)

[Whoa.

That is so cool.

Minato watched carefully as Anders was demonstrating this one part of his powers. And Minato knew it was just one part. Anders had to have so much more in his arsenal of which he hinted at, but how much of it he had couldn't be explained in words.

It was so fascinating to see. Most of Minato's healing or what he knew people could do in terms of healing was focused mainly on human beings (and okay, a robot and a dog), and he knew he wasn't capable of giving life to something like a tree or any plant like this. Some nostalgia struck him though since he had seen something similar before in someone else, but not this rapid or with this level of ease.]

That's amazing.

[It was! Demonstrations like this don't happen every day. He was grateful.]

I'm glad I got to see it. You can even do it without your staff.

_{[He pushes a little more mana into the branch, a pinch of earth magic that gives birth to buds that unfurl while they watch, colorful splashes of flowers dotting the length of the twig. Fanciful, if not fancy in the same flashy way as a fireball. He can't resist; it's not every day he shares his craft with gifted individuals from other worlds, either.

But... he still wouldn't say it's anywhere near holding a weapon-looking thing to his head and calling on spirits that look like they jumped out of one of Alphys' anime shows. Minato's got the market cornered there.]}

Compared to that-- _{[Waving the newly-restored branch at the rest of the maze, reforming at its much more sedate pace.]} --it's nothing, really. If those Persona things have as diverse a repertoire as you say, I don't know that there's anything I could show you that you, or they, can't do yourselves.

[There was more. Minato was intrigued since it was not just restoration, but something new had come out of it as well. That kind of ability was really so cool as he had thought before since for all of the firepower Minato might've had, he appreciated healing skills much more. What was he going to do with his life after fighting anyway? (Besides guarding a door, if he had the choice.) Knowing how to heal was going to be so much more useful.]

I like that you can just do it without any real ceremony.

[No summoning device, no thinking about one's death, none of that stuff. Anders made it look so easy, even if it hadn't been.]

Anything you show me, I'm sure I'll still like that too.

If by that you mean the kind of ceremony that involves pointing weapons at my tender bits, then I like it, too.

_{[Hey, you do you, Minato. No offense to your activation ritual or whatever you'd like to call it.]}

So which Persona represents that politeness of yours?

_{[Anything is a pretty broad. Letting Anders run roughshod over this little demonstration is kind of adorable in the manner of a courteous audience that claps at anything. He's not adverse to doing more magic if there's genuine interest, though--should Minato want to see a specific kind that's within his capabilities, he's up to the task of trotting out more Thedosian techniques.]}

[Minato nodded since he meant it that way. No offense taken at all. Having magic at one's disposal without all the fanfare was super convenient. He had been more than annoyed more at himself when the mansion decided to nope his Evoker out of an event where it would've been helpful to have. The best he could do was slash a sword at that rate, and he was lucky enough to have one at the time. Not bad, but not so helpful.]

Most of them. Except Jack Frost since that's the way Jacks are.

[And Jack Frost still thought the name "Anders" was a terrible name to pun for lack of any "hee" or "ho" to play off of. Disappointment all while looking like :D forever. But it was soon forgotten since Jacks like shows of magic and are easily amused, even if they're a bit arrogant and think they're bigger than they are. How much of that is Minato is still up for debate.]

But you do have more, right? Anything that could take down a hedge maze?

_[Wait--]

There's more of them? As in these Jack Frosts are their own species, you mean? _{[Now that's a thought.]} So they're not just unique extensions of yourself. There are more of them out there.

_{[That's certainly something these Personas would seem to share with spirits, more than just the fact they're not entirely corporeal. For every defining quality, but there are multiple spirits that do the embodying in the Fade. There's not just one spirit of compassion, but several--hundreds, thousands.

Interesting. He'd come out today to hand out presents, but he's not at all sorry to be learning about the kinds of other entities that share world(s) with people.

He laughs at the almost hopeful way the boy inquires about whether or not he has more firepower to his name, a change from the people who'd ask about his powers with the same kind of eagerness, but with the opposite hope. That he's not powerful enough or skilled enough to raze an area to the ground. It reminds him a bit of Sigrun, wanting to see him a burn a bush just to prove he could.]}

Sure I do. No offense to nature, but defenseless leaves don't stand a chance against a mage on a roll.

They're brothers. Jack Frost, Pyro Jack, Black Frost, and King Frost.

[Little does Minato know there are even more Jacks out there, like Raiho and Frost Ace and so on. Funny, Jacks had a habit of saying "hee ho" a lot, but only of them could have a pun in their name. Double standards there, Jacks. But he only knew of four, and therefore only gave the names of four. He missed the others all the same, even if he saw a Pyro Jack in someone else. It wasn't his Pyro Jack though.

But magic! More magic is to be had and Minato smiled, thinking about it.]

Well, I wouldn't want to slow your roll.

[He was pleased, as excited as a silent protagonist would get at something like this that had piqued his interest. He had more questions too, like if using magic was draining, if different types of magic required different incantations or if they were in different languages, things like that. ]

Of course, brothers. I should've guessed. That makes about as much sense as anything I've seen today.

_{[What's next, sibling squabbles? One Jack doesn't want to talk to another Jack and they sit on opposite corners of Minato's soul? Family dinners that end in split personalities?

Anders can see that given the boy's opening volley had been destruction incarnate, a small display of revitalization probably isn't enough to satisfy an appetite for something big. Everyone always wants the lightning and earthquakes. All right... he can oblige, just this once. Partly because Wonderland can heal itself--any damage won't be permanent.]}

Oh, all right, since we're doing show and tell.

_{[He bends to stand the twig up in the dirt at his feet. It's still growing larger by the second, mantle of green thickening, already the size of a small bonsai tree by the time he steps back.

Not for long. A cage of bluish light surrounds the bit of hedge. It's no gentle healing light--the telekinetic trap condenses, shredding the plant and turning it into scattered bits of mulch on the path.]}

We call that one Crushing Prison.

_{[For obvious reasons. RIP, plant.]}

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