As Alexander began to weave his light about, molding the odd black stone into a more square shape, he could suddenly feel the stone began to eat at the light. As he finished the shape, it became increasingly obvious that the stone had begun to sap away at the light, seeming to take it inside of itself as if it were storing it for later. And as Alexander was doing so, the woman had grabbed a random bit of paper and had been scribbling notes down as quickly as she could manager.
"Ya know, I don't see why the Minister won't just let us have free access to you mage-types. Would make this kind of stuff so much easier. I mean, I could have been here for weeks without anything like this, and here you are doing it on a whim. Do you see or feel anything about it? Is it telling you things as it grows? Maybe sees you as a parent or something, or is it like a plant?" The woman seemed to be writing the questions down as she spoke them, wanting to take particular note of the answer.
In the meantime, another one of the inventors stepped over to see what all the noise was about. "Hey! Whats going on over here? Ya arn't the only one making breakthroughs and things, ya damned girl...."
[hr]
The shadow laughed loudly at Drew as he demanded all sorts of explanations and answers. Stepping about them as if appraising some cattle, the shadow seemed to change to a familiar shape of Raven, and then spoke in a similar raspy tone that she often held.
"Silly flyboy, thinking that reaching the end is a win. Maybe if you actually did something you could answer those questions yourself. Did you ever wonder if those were your companions? Maybe they didn't pass? Perhaps a deserved fate, to be honest, seeing your miserable show of abilities." After saying that small piece, the shadow shifted again, this time to Seth, and shifted his attention to Cale.
"Was there ever a point in the first place? You can be sure the war continued...but not for long, not when everyone was dying at an accelerated rate. And remember, you came to me, not the other way around. So, you can take what you want from the experience....or learn nothing. It isn't my place to teach you, you learn your damned self." And as he moved over to Nydia, the figure shifted again, this time to appearing like the creature of energy from before. The voice it spoke in seemed to echo Nydia's but only faintly as it seemed to be less than a solid tone.
"Perhaps instead of saving lives, taking them? Or maybe you should have turned on the humans as soon as you could? There is always more to be done, though we are often blind to it till after the fact. Such as the war...Of course, I can't expect you to understand that, good healer. You don't understand the sacrifices that must be made..." The figure changed once again, this time being simply the shadow self as it approached Silvana and let off an odd chuckle.
"And then we have you, who became more than just a pawn. Capable, arn't you? As well as not quite as annoying as the others, for which I am pleased... So, I offer you the deal first. What is it you seek in these trying times? Power? Age? Wisdom? Maybe some wings, or more powers to aid you? Maybe you want to know your 'friends' deepest darkest secrets....Or perhaps a companion like they all have? I know you saw it when you fought out there. I'm sure you see how useful it is....Of course, maybe you don't want anything after that ordeal. Maybe what you saw was enough to tell you that magekind was quite good at stopping the war."
[hr]
"Perhaps they did. Perhaps in as good a shape as you two are....But then, perhaps not. Perhaps they made a mistake and are now paying for it. Can't one simply hope so?" The shadow said, tilting the head back and forth as it did so. "So, maybe now that you are out of that small mess, you can tell me what you have come here for....power? Knowledge? Maybe you are just here to prove your love or something silly like that? Wouldn't be the first time, actually.
Seth turned to Raven, giving her a small look as the shadow continued to talk. "Woozy? Need a hand?" Seth stepped over to offer an arm to help her be steady. "Guess we made it, and I guess that's the best info that we are going to get from him about the others." He whispered afterwords, turning his attention back to the shadow. "Maybe now you can....well, do what needs doing. I'm here with you, just as I promised I would be. So...here ya go?" Seth said, giving a small shrug at the last part.
He didn't really know what he could ask for, but he figured this was Raven's task, not so much his own. He was just along for the ride at this point...
