damned_institute | Nightshift 33: F21-30 Hallway

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Nightshift 33: F21-30 Hallway

[F22]

The intercom startled Falis when it went off and thankfully, she'd set the newly crafted spear down or she might have jabbed a splinter into her palm. As it was, she was stading over her bed looking at all her weapons laid out upon it. One sharp spear, still stained with Eve's blood, one fresh spear, and a stake. Maybe she needed another stake. Nah... Namine should remember hers; Namine didn't forget things. This was why Falis liked the girl so much.

Her eyes moved to look at the intercom as the announcement continued, nodding as it pretty much conformed the whole ancient technology thing she'd been pretty certain of in teh first place. And since it seemed like it was on the fritz, whatever it did, that maybe the princess wasn't going to have to use her super-secret sealing Forland blood anytime soon. Maybe there was another princess around with special blood doing it for them.

What was her name? Jill? Jane? Whatever.

Now, if the people that were supposed to be showing up showed up soon. Bounty hunters had to be patient, but that didn't mean they liked waiting.

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Skuld grinned; she was another one in favor of getting praise and lots of it. "No, it's okay--just help out other people. I'm not allowed to ask for anything in return. At least not for myself." Goddesses were supposed to think of others, not themselves.

The fact that she had an ego the size of Yggdrasil notwithstanding; the rule wasn't as strict as it sounded, so that didn't count, anyway.

The gargoyle turned. "You're sure?" That didn't sound like a typical rule for a member of the Third Race to have. Or did it? Not all of Oberon's Children were tricksters after all. Still, there was usually some other price involved. "There isn't a catch of some sort? I'm not used to dealing with changelings that don't ask for them."

There was always the chance, of course, that like everyone else he'd asked so far she wasn't actually a Child of Oberon. This was still weird to him.

"Changelings?" Skuld repeated blankly. Huh? Was that what he thought she was? "I'm a goddess. Not the same thing." At least he was familiar with magic, but...

And come on, if she wanted something in return wouldn't she have said something about it before now, to make sure she got it?

"It isn't?" Brooklyn blinked, still carefully holding the one weapon. "Where I come from, the beings humans refer to as gods and goddesses are generally members of the Third Race. Oberon's children. I've never heard of one that wasn't."

But then again, she probably wasn't from his world. That seemed to be the way things went around here. Had he started to get his hopes up that she might be?

"Oberon?" Skuld asked blankly. "I know him, but..." not exactly well. Actually, she hadn't met him in her current incarnation, she just knew she had before.

Feeling a little steadier, she took her array and carefully tucked it back into her journal. She wasn't about to try standing just yet, though--she could, but it would be way too wobbly.

"What's this 'third race', anyway?"

Wait, she knew him? Was there a possibility she was from his world after all? Unless Oberon could be in more than one world...

He realized his mistake a bit late, though. In order to explain the three races, he'd have to mention the one aside from humans - his own. And if he listed them as he normally did, as gargoyles normally did, with his own race first... it might seem even more unusual.

Well, she had had him weapons...

"In my world, any being of a magical nature is usually classified as a member of the Third Race. Gargoyles, Humans, and Oberon's Children. Three races."

"Just three?" This wasn't making much sense. "What about demons? And those aren't the only beings with magic--and not all humans are magic." To her, being able to cast a spell just meant someone could use magic.

Fortunately enough, as ignorant on this topic as she was, unlike some she didn't consider gargoyles a type of demon.

"I never said humans were magic. Human magic is a whole different thing." And mixing the two was generally bad. "And yes, just three. Usually what people refer to as demons are just, well... the first or third."

She hadn't said anything about the order yet, and he was glad for this.

Somehow, Skuld didn't think they were on the same page here. "Okay, so just the Third Race, Oberon's children, are magic?" That... kind of made sense. It might depend on how they defined magic, but this wasn't the time to get into that (and not the kind of debate she really cared about).

Except... "Wait, aren't gargoyles related to dragons? And all the ones I know of are magic." And in most cases, that was a bad thing... adding to her confusion was the fact that she didn't remember any connection between Oberon and dragons, and while she was sure they weren't talking about the same worlds, since they were talking about the same people, it should be the same, right?

There was the whole dragon thing again! "Hey, I don't know anything about dragons. I've only met one, and that one was here." If he was telling the truth in the first place. He seemed innocent enough that Brooklyn was willing to believe him for now. "I've never heard of us being related."

He completely missed his own slip up this time around. It would be rather sad in hindsight.

"Us?" Skuld echoed, staring at him. "You're a gargoyle?"

As taken aback as she was, she wasn't horrified; he wasn't a demon, and he seemed nice, too. She was getting kind of weirded out, but that was almost normal around here.

Maybe this's how people feel when I tell them what I am...

"Uh...! I mean... It's.. Well, I..." Brooklyn stuttered. It wasn't as if being a gargoyle was a bad thing. He shouldn't be getting used to people treating him normally. He was proud of what he was! "In normal circumstances, yes."

And of course current circumstances were far beyond normal. "I wasn't trying to trick you or anything. It's just kinda awkward... you know..."

"Yeah," Skuld admitted. "I don't always tell people what I am, either, since I can't exactly prove it here." She was still weirded out, but that would pass.

She looked at him for a minute; he looked like any other human here, and didn't have any marks that she could see. "Is this an alternate form of yours, or you're not supposed to look like this at all?" She was familiar with shapeshifters, and all the gargoyle statues she'd ever seen looked like... small dragons with weird faces. She had enough tact not to say that, at least.

Brooklyn eyed the work she'd done again. "Well, you didn't do so bad of a job proving it here," he pointed out. "These aren't exactly typical weapons."

At her question he got a bit red in the face, though he wasn't sure exactly why. "I've been turned human once before, but this isn't normal, no. I can't change forms at will."

Skuld winced. "Yikes. What kind of powers are you missing?" Sometimes, transformations resulted in inherent abilities being lost; there was almost no way this place didn't have that going.

As upset as she was about not having most of her abilities, at least this was her real form. She supposed it was possible this place was supposed to teach her humility, as well... even if in her mind, considering her power level, that made no sense!

"None." Brooklyn shook his head. "I was stronger in my original form, and I could glide... but gargoyles don't really have powers unless they've trained themselves in human magic." Like Demona. The very thought of her made him frown.

He picked up the other weapon, testing the grip of them in both hands. He'd have to make holders of some sort for them, as well as a way to keep his shovel on his back or something. Maybe if he could find a belt...?

Skuld kind of knew how he felt; the first time (this incarnation) she'd met a human with any kind of supernatural power, most of it was the girl's own imagination, and the part that wasn't caused a few problems. And it was almost entirely downhill from there, what with how just about every other kind of spell she saw that didn't originate in Yggdrasil was demon-related.

Still, she had to grin again when she saw how the claws fit Brooklyn--perfectly, as usual. "That kind of thing's too unreliable here, anyway," she said, pretty confident she sounded like she didn't even miss most of her powers. She actually sounded more like she was trying to convince herself... as much as she missed certain people, the real test of her willpower so far was not throwing fits over the loss of most of the abilities she'd worked so hard to gain. She would get them and more back someday... but for now that thought kind of only made things worse.

"Speaking of powers..." Brooklyn turned back to Skuld, not wanting to dwell too long on his own problems. He could still defend himself well enough, especially now. "How are you doing?" he asked. "I don't want to leave you if you're too worn out."

He wasn't sure how much he liked the idea of staying cooped up for the rest of the night, either, but the goddess's safety was far more important. (The fact that she was a young female notwithstanding.)

"I'm fine." Skuld pushed herself to her feet and went to sit on her bed; it was more comfortable, and she did need to rest a while longer. "This happens every time right now, but it hasn't knocked me out yet. Anyway, I'm safe in here."

She wasn't sure if there was any point to leaving her room tonight, but once she was alone she could collapse for a while and see what happened. If she felt better, she'd go out; if she didn't, she'd just go to sleep.

The gargoyle frowned again. He couldn't help but feel like he owed her, even if she said he didn't. He'd have to find a way to pay her back anyway. Sneak it in, perhaps. She'd known this would wear her out and yet she'd insisted on making them anyway!

"It won't hurt me to stay the rest of the night, you know. I could sit outside the door if you wanted." He could only offer. If she turned him down again, he might have to resort to 'wandering' just around this hallway.

Skuld shut her eyes for a moment; on second thought, she hadn't explored the Institute at night much. "No, it's okay. I have people to talk to, and it's probably getting really late." She wasn't some little kid to be protected!

Okay, so she could only identify something like two of the people on her list who still didn't have anything, and neither of them was next up, but she'd manage--maybe she could find Adel.

The weakness she still felt was minimal enough; she went to the closet and grabbed her bughammer.

"You shouldn't go out on your own!" Brooklyn insisted, despite the fact that he'd done that very thing just earlier this evening. Skuld couldn't be at full strength again already, either. She'd be in trouble if she was attacked, and it'd be all his fault! "Let me come with you! ...At least until you find the people you need to talk to."

He watched her carefully as she went to the closet, blinking as she pulled out a... hammer? Well, that was interesting.

If she liked it or not, company might be good, since Skuld did more or less know better than to go out alone. After a pause, she said finally, "Fine, if you want." She didn't intend on needing help, but she knew... a couple of things about plans going awry.

[[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/394449.html?thread=33044689#t33044689).]]

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Nightshift 33: F21-30 Hallway

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