Rise in Revolution (Chapter Forty)
Jul. 15th, 2016 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Chapter Forty
Ice’s Gift
Control Center ASQ, Sector ASQ. March 30, 2272. Time instance 842N.
“One at a time, one at a time,” Neves growled, motioning at the relatively short line of collared people in front of him. “I can only use this thing on one collar at once. You’ll all get your magic back just wait your turn, you asshole!”
The mage he was addressing quietly slipped back out of sight, embarrassed at being caught trying to cut in line. Neves growled quietly and unlocked the collar of the mage in front of him, who grinned widely and whooped, thanking him before racing off with light spiraling out from his hands.
Neves continued to work, barely looking up when Nine stepped up to him and asked how it was going.
“Fine. They’re just impatient.” Click. Another collar off. “Almost done, though.”
“Good.” Nine put a hand on Neves’ shoulder and smiled at him. “You’re doing a good job, Neves. I mean it. You’re doing really well since Kyir helped out with your mechanical issues.”
“Thanks.” Does he really mean that? I doubt it. Just trying to make me feel better about the fact that I can’t fucking fight. “Anything else you’re here for?”
“No, not really. Just-”
“Excuse me.”
Neves and Nine both looked up at who had spoken. A man had walked up while they had been talking, and unlike the ones in the line, he lacked a collar. He was a bit lighter-skinned than Neves with piercing blue eyes and blond hair. He was a few inches shorter than Nine but held the same intensity in his eyes- the intensity of a man who would do what he needed to do to protect those he cared about, the intensity of a man who had already faced more than he ever wanted to. A jagged scar ran down his face, starting below his right eye, and two smaller scars crossed the left side of his mouth. He wore a short sleeved shirt, allowing Neves to see an odd grouping of scars running up his forearm from his left hand- scars that started in the spaces between the fingers and were deliberately carved up the arm, grouping up about halfway and stopping once they reached his elbow joint.
Nine raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”
“My name is Geluu Narsworn. I believe I can be of assistance to you.”
“How so?” Neves could tell that Nine was likely going through the files of everyone in the sector, searching for this man. I know I am. This guy has some history to him and I want to know more. What the fuck is going on with those scars? He resisted the temptation to growl in frustration as his search function bugged out and locked. Dammit! Going to have to find Kyir again.
“I’m a veteran of the Mahuvsian War, so I’m trained in combat and seeing solutions to otherwise deadly problems. I’m originally from the area up north, around the area of TZI, so I know the terrain well. I’m also familiar with where the Mainframe has chosen to set up- I was captured in that desert for several months during the war until I escaped and had to make my way out of there.”
“That war ended over fifty years ago!” Neves protested. “You can’t be more than thirty-five!”
He shivered when those intense blue eyes locked with his. “I’m half ice elemental. Appearances can be deceiving.”
“In any case, you could be invaluable. You’re very right there.” Nine looked him over. “How good are you in a fight?”
“Against things that can’t predict my every move, excellent and terrifying. Against the cyborgs, I unfortunately have a disadvantage. My mind works fast enough to know what they’re doing and think of how to counter it, but my limbs can’t quite keep up with them.”
“That’s better than most of our non-cyborg forces,” Nine muttered. “How did you know to come to me?”
Geluu raised an eyebrow at him. “I asked the first random bystander I came across. Everyone knows you, Nine. Everyone I asked had only good things to say about you. I hope you’re as good of a leader as you are a speaker, because they sure believe in you.”
“I hope so too. We’ve done pretty well so far, but this was the Steelwings’ first real test.”
“Taking ASQ?”
“Yes.”
“How many did you lose?”
“About a dozen.”
“Excellent.” A fierce grin pulled its way across Geluu’s face, distorting his scars. “I doubt you’ll have such good fortune again, but that speaks volumes about what your Steelwings can do. Excellent.”
Nine nodded. “Thank you. I’m glad to have you on the team. You should probably talk to Seven and Tanadin as well, let them know who you are.”
“Are you able to train people to use magic?”
Geluu seemed surprised at the question, looking at Neves curiously. “Yes. Why?”
“We have a novice mage just learning to use his ice powers, and a few others with similar skill levels. Most of our spellcasters are too busy or too terrible at teaching to help, and even a little more magic could turn the tides, right?” Neves glanced at Nine for support.
“You...have a point,” Nine said slowly. “I knew listening to you wasn’t a bad idea. You’ve just got a temper is all.”
“I do not!” Neves huffed.
Nine looked at him.
“Maybe sometimes! A bit!”
Geluu raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, okay, shut up.” Neves crossed his arms moodily.
“How patient are you, Geluu?” Nine asked.
“Depends on the situation.”
“Teaching people magic that don’t know how to use magic.”
“Very, unless they need it otherwise.”
“Are you a good teacher?”
“I led a team of spellcasters, most of them new recruits that, when they joined, could barely hold together a light in their hands. We won. I’d say so.”
Nine sighed in relief. “Could you help with training a few of our...less proficient spellcasters? It could, as Neves said, help quite a bit.”
Geluu nodded. “I can do that. Will you provide a list of who needs training and where I can find them?”
“I think Tanadin knows that better than me. She’s probably inside. She’s a fire elemental, but usually is in her human form. About your height, pale, small scar on her chin. Usually stands next to Seven, who looks like the most serious and least personable cyborg you’ll ever meet.”
“Spoiler alert, he is,” Neves mumbled.
Nine made a noise that could have been just a ‘hmm’ but sounded a bit like he was agreeing.
“I will find them, then. Unless you need me for anything else?”
“No, I think that’s it. Thank you, Geluu.”
Geluu saluted and left.
“Well, he was weird,” Neves noted. “He makes me uneasy. Did you look at his eyes? What about those weird scars?”
“He’s strange,” Nine agreed, “but he could be incredibly useful. That’s a man that has seen and experienced more than you and I ever want to know, I think. Don’t pry into that one’s past. He doesn’t seem aggressive, but who knows.”
“Great. Another ‘don’t ask questions or I’ll rip your face off’ type.”
“You’re like that too.”
“No I’m not!”
“How are your limbs doing?”
“Fuck off! I’m fine!”
Nine crossed his arms and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
Neves stared back at him before shoving the collar removal device into his hands and stood up. “I need to go see Kyir. My search function’s bugged out.”
“Have fun,” Nine called dryly.
~~~
Shawn leaned against a wall, listening to Matt tell Tac the story of their attack on ASQ. Before this, Tac had been telling stories from before he had ‘vanished’- which Shawn took to mean died- and as interesting as that was, Shawn was beginning to feel out of place. This was the twins’ conversation, not his.
He just couldn’t find a polite way to leave without interrupting them.
Shawn wasn’t sure if he was saved or condemned when a scarred, intense man walked up and asked if he was Shawn and if he could please come with him for training.
The man, who introduced himself as Geluu, gave off a focused and intense air, one that made Shawn pull away from him. Geluu’s eyes never stopped moving unless he was talking to someone or focused on one specific object. While they walked in silence, his eyes wandered, evaluating the area around them and seemingly checking for threats.
Overall, it made Shawn paranoid and anxious.
They rounded up several more people, including Sub and, surprisingly, Scara, as well as a cyborg that Shawn didn’t recognize, before gathering in a cleared area between several buildings. Geluu bounded up to the top of a box and cleared his throat to silence their muttering.
“Nine has asked me to gather up some of the more novice spellcasters and give them a few pointers and shoves in the right direction. Tanadin gave me a list with your names on it and, no matter how good you think you are, I can guarantee you I have something to teach you if you are here. My name is Geluu Narsworn. I’m a veteran of the Mahuvsian war. I’m eighty-three years old and half ice elemental. I’ve been through alot in my life and I’ve taught a lot of people about magic and what I have to say might just save your life out there. I have more experience than any of you here, but that doesn’t mean I’m perfect. If you disagree with anything I say or do, bring it to my attention in a civilized manner and we’ll have a discussion about it. I’m old, not infallible. Got it?”
“Got it,” the spellcasters echoed.
“Good! Let’s get started, shall we? First! Introductions. I can’t help you if I don’t even know your names or what you can do. You all have very different types of magic, I assume, some types that I can’t use or might not know much about. That’s fine. All magic has the same basic principles to it, with some modifications based on what it does. We’ll go left to right- that’s my left, so your right. Say your name and what kind of magic you use and are the best at. Go.”
Everyone looked at Scara, who blinked in surprise and glanced around before clearing her throat and speaking. “Um, hi. My name is Scara. I have healing magic.”
“Good, good! Healing is always good. Next?”
Three more people introduced themselves before it got to the only cyborg in the crowd. His mechanical eye whirred and his arms were crossed. He looked annoyed, but spoke anyway. “I’m Neves. I have life manipulation. I can take or give life energy directly to people as well as heal them.”
Geluu raised an eyebrow. “A lifewarden, huh? Interesting. I haven’t seen one of you for years.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I only met the one.”
Neves shrugged. “Guess we’re not common. Certainly not among cyborgs.”
“That’s true. You’re not…” Geluu trailed off, thoughtful, before shaking it off. “You! What’s your name?”
“I’m Sub, and I’m a master of magic! I’m just here to make sure you know what you’re talking about!”
“Uh huh. What are you good at?”
“Everything!”
“She uses magic pulses,” Scara told him. “She can use them as shields, pushback attacks, or blades. Just not well.”
“Interesting. We have a varied group of people. What about you?”
Shawn shuffled to his left as the next two people introduced themselves, very aware that he was the last one in line. When it was his turn, he cleared his throat and spoke.
“My name’s Shawn. I’ve recently started developing ice powers.”
Geluu’s eyes glinted. “Ice powers? Excellent. You, particularly, I believe I can help. Now! Before we get started, is there anything that anyone needs to tell me? Any difficulties using your magic? Issues accessing it? Damages?”
Neves sighed and raised a hand. “Using magic causes damage to my systems. They’re not meant to deal with it. I’ve gotten modifications to help with that, but I need repairs often.”
“Understandable. We’ll try to keep your casting to a minimum, if we can. If you need repairs at any time, let me know, and if you can’t get there on your own, I’ll go with you, no problem.”
“Thanks.”
“Anyone else?”
Shawn hesitantly spoke up. “I can’t use magic while wearing this.” He held up his arm to show the skull bracelet. “But if I take it off I look...kinda terrifying.”
“...Terrifying how?”
“Zombified.”
“You’re a zombie?”
“Yes.”
“Take off the bracelet.”
Shawn looked around at the curious faces and shuddered, reluctantly removing the bracelet. His form shimmered and was replaced by the rotten, undead creature he had become.
Geluu jumped down from the box and circled him a few times. “Amazing,” he mumbled. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. How did this happen?”
“It’s...a long story. Geek could try to explain to you what she did.”
Geluu nodded slowly. “I’ll want to hear that story later, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.”
“Okay, everyone. We’re going to not discriminate against anyone based on what magic they use or what they look like. Human, cyborg, zombie, elemental, it doesn’t matter. We’re all fighting against the Mainframe, and we all need to learn magic. Got it?”
“Got it!”
“Good! Now. You all know how to focus your energy, right? Speak up if you don’t.”
No one spoke.
“Excellent. That’s always damned hard to explain. Now, I’m going to go around and you’re going to show me what you can do. Scara, Neves, since we don’t have any injured people lying around, and I don’t really want anyone fucking with lifeforce at the moment, just try to explain as well as you can. Tell me what you’ve done in the past- that goes for everyone. Anything that you think I might need to know. I need to gauge what you know so don’t be shy about telling me gaps in your knowledge but for the love of all that is frozen don’t lie to me.” His eyes paused on Sub. “Don’t try to impress me. You’re not here to impress me. You’re here to learn. And if you don’t know what I think you know, you won’t be able to learn from me. Let’s do this.”
Shawn watched as, one by one, the other spellcasters showed Geluu what they could do. His heart sank further with every demonstration, even Sub’s weak pulses and beams of purple-pink energy showing up what he could do. One spellcaster got too enthusiastic and almost set Geluu on fire, which didn’t amuse him in the slightest and led to him remarking on needing to plan a lesson on controlling all this power that he’ll be teaching them to access.
When he reached Shawn, the zombie sighed and held his hands the way that Sub had showed him, focusing his energy and feeling the air around him get colder.
“Move your hands closer,” Geluu advised. “You’re letting a lot of the energy out the way you’re holding them. There! Like that.”
Shawn immediately felt an increase in magical energy as the space between his hands started to glow faintly. He struggled momentarily to tap deeper into the magic, but fortunately didn’t have to reach for long. With a quick hand motion pushing forward, a foot-long spike of ice formed mid air and shattered against the wall with a satisfying crash and quiet clinking as smaller ice shards littered the floor.
“Fire on the exhale. It’ll give it more power. That’s good. You have a lot of potential.” Geluu raised his voice and addressed the crowd at large. “We’re almost done here, but I’m going to demonstrate something simple that’s specific to my type of magic. None of you except for Shawn will be able to do this unless you expand into ice magic, but you can do plenty of things just as impressive as this. Watch.”
Geluu stepped away from them and shut his eyes momentarily, focusing his energy as he held up his hands, palms facing each other but about a foot apart with his arms extended away from his body. The temperature dropped several degrees and the space between his hands started to glow blue. Geluu’s eyes snapped open, glowing a similar shade, as cold air swirled around him and ice started to form within the glow.
He moved his hands around the stationary form, and, as they watched, more ice expanded outwards and quickly formed the shape that Geluu wanted. A grin lit up his face as he suddenly snatched it out of the magical field, the glow quickly dissipating and leaving the object in his right hand.
A scimitar made entirely of shining, solid, blue ice gleamed in the setting sun. He held it up for them to see and took a few swings with it.
“It took me many years to perfect making this. It can stand up to most normal blades in battle, won’t melt except in flames, and can be reformed in a matter of seconds without using too much energy. That’s the key to magic: learning how to do things using the least amount of energy possible. There are many ways to use magic- some of which require incantations, some don’t- but all of it goes back to the usage of energy. Remember that.” Geluu slid the sword into an empty sheath at his side that Shawn hadn’t taken note of before.
“That’s enough for today, I think. I’ll put together a plan of what we’re going to do. Meet back here at eight in the morning tomorrow.”
Everyone groaned.
“I mean it. You need the training, but I’m impressed with how far you’ve all gotten on your own. Good work. Dismissed.” Geluu saluted them, and a few of them saluted back, before the group dispersed.
Shawn slid the bracelet back on and reflected that, a month ago, he wouldn’t have been so relieved to look down at his hands and see a natural skin color. Not green. He spun the bracelet around a few times before leaving, glancing back at Geluu as he did.
Geluu’s eyes followed him until he was out of sight, and even long after that, he felt where they had been.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-15 06:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-07-15 08:37 pm (UTC)“Well, he was weird,” Neves noted. “He makes me uneasy. Did you look at his eyes? What about those weird scars?”
“He’s strange,” Nine agreed, “but he could be incredibly useful. That’s a man that has seen and experienced more than you and I ever want to know, I think. Don’t pry into that one’s past. He doesn’t seem aggressive, but who knows.”
“Great. Another ‘don’t ask questions or I’ll rip your face off’ type.”
“You’re like that too.”
“No I’m not!”
“How are your limbs doing?”
“Fuck off! I’m fine!”
Nine crossed his arms and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
I like Geluu. Don't ask about the past seems to the mainstay for most people in this story. Kinda reminds me of the Rules of Wayward Pines:
Do not try to leave.
Do not discuss the past.
Do not discuss your life before.
Always answer the phone if it rings.
Work hard, be happy, and enjoy your life in Wayward Pines!
Everyone looked at Scara, who blinked in surprise and glanced around before clearing her throat and speaking. “Um, hi. My name is Scara. I have healing magic.”
I hate being picked first.....
“I’m Sub, and I’m a master of magic! I’m just here to make sure you know what you’re talking about!”
“Uh huh. What are you good at?”
“Everything!”
“She uses magic pulses,” Scara told him. “She can use them as shields, pushback attacks, or blades. Just not well.”
Yup, that's me, pointing out how things actually are XP
Geluu stepped away from them and shut his eyes momentarily, focusing his energy as he held up his hands, palms facing each other but about a foot apart with his arms extended away from his body. The temperature dropped several degrees and the space between his hands started to glow blue. Geluu’s eyes snapped open, glowing a similar shade, as cold air swirled around him and ice started to form within the glow.
He moved his hands around the stationary form, and, as they watched, more ice expanded outwards and quickly formed the shape that Geluu wanted. A grin lit up his face as he suddenly snatched it out of the magical field, the glow quickly dissipating and leaving the object in his right hand.
A scimitar made entirely of shining, solid, blue ice gleamed in the setting sun. He held it up for them to see and took a few swings with it.
“It took me many years to perfect making this. It can stand up to most normal blades in battle, won’t melt except in flames, and can be reformed in a matter of seconds without using too much energy. That’s the key to magic: learning how to do things using the least amount of energy possible. There are many ways to use magic- some of which require incantations, some don’t- but all of it goes back to the usage of energy. Remember that.”
WHOA! VERY COOL! Pun intended XD
no subject
Date: 2016-07-18 08:17 am (UTC)-Observing Anon