Fable - Ask The Scent of Lost Magic

[Neith]

"Who said I was worried about it?.. I don't particularly care, and it seems you're past the point of caring too so.." she waved a hand flippantly.

Her dark eyes swept over him with a brief flicker of fury at his question. "I don't owe him anything. I work for him. He gave me a home and makes sure I'm fed and paid for my work. My last job didn't go exactly to plan, and patience isn't exactly his strong suit. But I've nothing to worry about - because you're going to hand over that coin in two days." her eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened irritably.

"So you best be getting on with it." she added dryly.

 

[Kyril]

Ky couldn't read minds, but he wasn't an idiot either.

She seemed to have a short fuse at the best of times, but the question seemed to set her off. He could see her irritation in the way she moved, how she shifted and then gnashed her teeth. The words she said might have been true, but there was something more there. Something more than just a lost little orphan taken in by the brutal crime lord.

He had no idea what it might be, and now was not the time to keep pushing. Yet he had spotted something, an opportunity perhaps, though that depended on how he used it.

Without the Lyrum yet in his veins he still felt a bit hazy. Oddly enough working on the contract had helped, something he'd thought would drain him and not Invigorate him. It was strange, but he knew that his mind wasn't entirely there.

He glanced down at the Lyrum. Not yet.

Ky thought to himself as he dragged his gaze back towards her.

"I need to wait for nightfall." He told her in simple rebuke. Trying to break into the vault in broad daylight would be outright suicide.

 

[Neith]

"Fine.." she huffed. "In the meantime I'll stay out of your way. I'm going out." she informed flatly as she pulled herself to her feet. She could pull in some work whilst she was here, maybe sniff out some more magic. A loud rumble of her stomach also reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything in almost two days.

 

[Kyril]

Ky raised an eyebrow.

The way she stood up, pulled herself away indignantly reminded him of some of the younger students at the College. They had always refused help, always wanted to take their own path. Pride, he would have called it, but it wasn't quite that.

Not with her.

He was about to let her go, just walk out that door, but then her stomach rumbled loud enough that even he could hear it. "Hungry?"

Ky asked.

"I have a kitchen." He told her, leaning back in the chair. "if you'd like a meal."

 

[Neith]

There was certainly some element of pride to Neith's character, though it was more an independence that had been forced upon her, a need to look after herself when nobody else could, or would. It was the way in which she'd survived for years, and she'd sure as hell be sure to let it be known that she could look after herself. Then again, he had drowned her. She wasn't invincible, so she had been so rudely reminded.

She turned to look over her shoulder at him, her fingers twitching by her side, fidgeting as she thought on it. She didn't trust him, not one bit, but the contract was binding and she trusted its terms at least. "What you got?...." she asked after a moment in answer to his question.

She was starving.

 

[Kyril]

He considered for a moment. "Bread, cheese, a few bits of meat."

In truth, he had no idea what his pantry was stocked with.

The Duke had kept it stocked for him, but for him his belly was always last on the list of priorities. He had never much cared for what could be found or scrounged up. Hunger did not touch him, not when Lyrum was coursing through his veins.

"Something that they call 'pasta'." He took a breath. "The cuisine of Alven is apparently famous."

At least from what he had been told. "You're welcome to it."

Keeping her here was important. The more that he could drag from her now, the less he would have to find out later.

 

[Neith]

Neith's lips twisted as she gnawed on the inside of her cheek in consideration, rocking back and forth on her heels for a moment before she shrugged in resignation.

"Alright." she sighed and gestured with both hands for him to lead the way. "You might start eating something yourself, now and then." she commented as she scrutinised him a little more.

Neith dropped herself into a chair in the large table in the centre of the room, letting her gaze wander around the dilapidated kitchen as she leaned back to put her feet up.

"So why did he give you this place? This, Duke was it?" she asked curiously.. "Does he know it looks like a shit hole?..."

 

[Kyril]

Ky lead her into the Kitchen.

It was a nice enough space, though clearly meant for servants and not the master of the house. There was a tightness to how everything was put together, as if the designer had not really cared for the comfort of those who had worked within it.

The young mage did not seem to mind though, grabbing pots, pans, and a few of the ingredients that he would require.

Ky had no great passion for cooking, but he had learned during his time at the academy. He knew how to make a few meals, could have written a book, or perhaps a long post of some sort describing exactly how to create the perfect dish of pasta.

"The Duke is a true believer in the mystic arts." Ky explained.

"He believes that my magic can guide him." It was of course, an utter lie. At least it had been. Without the Lyrum he had been capable of a few parlor tricks and that was it, now? Now he would have been able to do as the man wanted. "It was important enough to him that he gave me this place."

Ky gestured. "I don't think he's a man to really...care, about what this place looks like."

He was a selfish man, only truly caring what suited him and nothing else.

"Besides." Ky said with a shake of his head. "It fits me just fine."

 

[Neith]

She folded her arms across her chest and rocked slowly back and forth as she watched him potter around. Neith had always tried to make business dealings short and sweet. She spoke to the buyers as little as possible, even refrained from looking at them or letting them look at her face much at all. Every so often, things would go wrong, and she'd learned just to get in and out as quickly as she could.

Neith had already spoken to this one far more than she should have, all because she'd been somewhat desperate herself, though for food and warmth rather than a vial of powder. She tried to push it from her mind. He wouldn't try to hurt her again. He couldn't.

"And can it? Guide him?... What sort of magic was that you pulled anyway? Some sort of elemental?.." her head tilted.

 

[Kyril]

He smiled. "That? No. Not elemental."

Ky couldn't help but keep the Pride from his tone.

When he had talked about his skill to her, when he had asked her if she knew who he actually was he had been entirely serious. Though he was a fragment of himself, a pathetic piece left behind by all the Lyrum he'd taken, Ky still knew he was strong.

"It was a spell first cast by the Kivren." He himself had learned it from a scroll within the College. An ancient artifact collected near a thousand years before his birth. "They crafted it to contain sailors they captured from wayward ships."

As he spoke butter was tossed into a pan, garlic sprinkled after as he cooked.

He tossed the plan slowly, continuing to answer her question.

"As for the Duke." Ky mused for a second. "It's more...complicated. He does not want divination, but fact. Assurance."

Something he could do now if he tried, though even then it would not be a sure thing. "He is a...difficult, man."

 

[Neith]

Neith noted his pride. It was a powerful piece of magic, but she gave a slight glare at his smile and smugness, a wordless reminder that he'd drowned her in it. She listened to him with interest regardless, her gaze narrowed slightly as she considered him for a moment..

"If you're powerful enough to wield magic like that. If you really are what you claim to be then why are you here? Why the Lyrum?" she frowned.

"Why work for someone like the Duke?.. Shouldn't that sort of thing be a little... beneath you?" her head tilted.

 

[Kyril]

Ky frowned for a moment, and in truth...he agreed.

Being a Court Mage was beneath him. At least to someone like the Duke. He had spent years training, learning, inventing. Yet here he was, a simple trickster in the Court of a man who had women beaten for his own entertainment.

"I didn't have a lot of options when I ran." He told her. "I only had enough Lyrum to last me a few weeks with minimal dosage, didn't know where I would get more."

Until she had shown up anyway. "The Duke gave me this house, food, a bit of coin."

He shrugged as he continued to cook.

Her other question made him hesitate for a moment, lips thinning as he realized she was basically asking how he'd fallen so far. It made anger simmer in his chest, and he had to bite his tongue not to just lash out.

"I grew up with many...expectations." Ky said, half turning towards her. "I met them, time and time again. Yet each time I did there would be another. My father, the professors, my peers. Someone would always ask me what was next, what would come after, what other 'great' thing I would bring."

Lips thinned. "Eventually I ran out...until the Lyrum."

 

[Neith]

Neith's stomach complained a little louder at the smell of food, her lips curling briefly as she watched. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had cooked something for her.

Her head tilted slightly as he spoke of the expectations that'd been put on him. "So you had all that power and you fucked it trying to impress people?.." her brow furrowed in confusion.."Well that was stupid." she shook her head and kicked her legs back down to fold her arms over the table..

"You still have magic left, you know.. That stuff will keep burning it away until there's nothing left." her lips pursed..

 

[Kyril]

He grimaced. "I wasn't trying to Impress anyone!"

The words came as a rather harsh rebuke, harder than he had meant them to be. Strangely enough, this was the first time he had ever spoken about it, the first time anyone had ever asked him his side of it.

When his father had learned he'd never even asked, never even talked to him. The Old Man had just gone to the authorities, turning him into the Elbion City Guard and then the College itself. The only reason Ky had escaped was one friend letting it all slip to him.

His teeth grit, his tone settling.

"I just didn't want to let anyone down." Ky said quietly, leaving out the person who he truly had not wanted to disappoint.

Silence reigned for a second after, Ky quietly taking the pan he had been cooking in and finishing off the meal he had made for her. A bowl was pulled from somewhere, and a second later Neith had Elbanese Carbonara sitting in front of her.

Ky remained standing a moment. "It's just a trickle now."

He told her softly. He could move a carpet, make some illusions, that was it. Anything more made him ache and hurt.

 

[Neith]

Neith flinched slightly as he snapped. She had that effect on people. Particularly people who'd tried to strangle and drown her in quick succession. She stared at him, her brown eyes narrowing softly at his reasoning. There was a brief flutter of pity behind her eyes at his words as she finally understood how he'd wound up in the predicament that he was in. She'd clearly touched a nerve too.

"Mh.." she muttered as he finally spoke again, her eyes dropping to her meal with a small smile in thanks.

"I know. I can sense it." she answered with a short nod.. "Which also means it's not too late to get it back.." her shoulders rolled as she stabbed her fork into her bowl with a quiet groan of approval.

 

[Kyril]

He stopped for a second.

There was a slight hesitation. In all his time taking Lyrum, in all that time he had never thought he could get his magic back. There was precious little research on the drug, at least official research. It had been outlawed in Elbion, and thus no one went near it.

"I..." Ky hesitated for a moment, mostly because of the groan that escaped her lips when she took a bite of the food.

His gaze narrowed for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Was there a chance? Or was she just dangling hope in front of him to lead him on?

 

[Neith]

Only her eyes lifted to look at him as he asked his question, her cheeks already bulging with food. She chewed for a moment longer, letting him wait, most definitely to irritate the irritable. Eventually, she swallowed and licked at her lips as she shrugged at him.

"I don't think I could have said it any simpler. The Lyrum is burning the magic from your veins. Soon, you'll have nothing left of your natural ability, you'll rely on the Lyrum to do any of it. Fuck soon you'll rely on the shit to breathe." she stabbed her fork into her bowl and twirled it slowly.

"But, whilst there's still some of your own natural magic left in your veins, providing you stop taking Lyrum, you can hone it.." she shoved a forkful of food into her mouth and continued to speak as she chewed. "Problem is...Well I've been selling the stuff for years and I don't know a single person ever to have stopped takin' it once they started it."

 

[Kyril]

Ky stared at her for a few moments.

Fingers tightened as he stood there and just watched her. He tried to read her, tried to see if she was telling the truth. His head tilted at every word, listening to her carefully as she spoke of being able to hone the magic.

He had no idea if it was true, if it could be done. "The withdrawals."

Ky mentioned as she spoke of those who were not able to stop taking the Lyrum. A breath filled his lungs as he tried to steady himself, tried not to explode out at her again. It was easy to see in his eyes though that he wanted to, that he was barely contained at this point.

In his mind...it made sense. Lyrum burned out your magic circuits, through overuse, so perhaps there was a way to set them right again.

"How do you know it can be fixed then?" He pressed, urgency in his tone. "If you've never seen anyone do it."

 

[Neith]

Again her eyes lifted, and she stuffed another piece of food into her mouth and chewed as she tilted her head at him. "Because." she swallowed. "Because I've watched people try. I've felt their magic grow.. before they fail. And I've seen people revive their magic after I--.." she cut herself off with a frown.

"I just know it can come back." she huffed and pointed her fork at him. "But I'd say by the looks of you, yours is hanging by a thread." her head shook, and she continued on with the last few bites of her meal.

 

[Kyril]

He shook for a moment, hand shivering, looking down at where the vial had sat earlier.

His palm looked so small. So skeletal. There was a flash of memory, holding his hand up against one of the girls in his class, trying to impress her. It was a silly thought, but it washed over his mind as he looked down at his hand.

Then he noticed it, the slight catch. "After you've what?"

He asked, stepping forward.

A thread? How thin of a thread? Would it be gone if he stole the gold? Would it be gone if he did this task for her? How much did he have left?

There were a thousand questions.

 

[Neith]

Neith huffed as he pressed on.. "Nothing. Look, this is why I don't speak to you people.." she muttered "Can I eat in peace, please? You've done nothing but abuse me since I got here apart from fix me food and now you're ruining that.." she grumbled with a glance up at him.

 

[Kyril]

"Listen!" He hissed at her, the word was curt, short.

What was he supposed to do? What the fuck was he going to do?

Ky stepped forward, his hand grasping the edge of the table near her. He seemed to loom over her now, looking down with such intensity that it seemed she would burst into flame. "This is my life."

He told her.

"It's not some flippant little thing." His knuckles grew white as he gripped the table. "You're telling me I can get my magic back. My magic."

Not the Lyrum. "And you want me to just fucking stand here and let you eat?"

 

[Neith]

Neith's brows knit as he towered over her the way that he did, and she cast a glare up at him in sheer defiance. She remained quiet for a long moment before letting out a long, nasal huff.

"Well I'm sorry." she said calmly. "But you didn't seem to give a single fuck about your life or your magic until I mentioned it." she grumbled and pushed the bowl away from her before standing up to face him, albeit much shorter and having to tilt her head back a fair bit as her fingers flexed at her sides.

"Yes - YOUR magic. Do you need me to write it down??" her fists settled on her hips.

 

[Kyril]

Ky looked down at her, his teeth gritting. "No."

"I gave a fuck once I realized I could get my life back." His face was just inches from hers now, close enough that he could smell her breath. "My life!"

There was a pitiful sort of sound to the words this time, a deep hurt.

"Before this shit." He didn't realize, but he had brought out the vial that she'd brought him, his other hand clutching it so tight that the glass was almost cracking. "You don't think I want be rid of it?"

Ky shook, every bit of him. "That I want to be myself?"

 

[Neith]

Her fingertips danced over the hilt of a small knife and she leaned back just a little in recoil, though her face maintained the same stubborn petulance. A strong scent of Lyrum caused her eyes to leave his, glancing at the vial in his hand, her frown relaxing slightly in realisation..

"Kyril.. You made your point.." she told him, reaching her hand slowly toward the vial. He'd already ruined one, she had a limited amount and they cost too much for her to lose another. That and it was supposed to be ingested, not forced straight into the bloodstream, and the glass was dangerously close to cracking.

"Do this job for me then all you have to do is quit, and you can start workin' on developin' your magic again. That's all it takes is patience and practice.." she assured.