the beach episode (dated before the east mission)

[fallingsand]

There's a small slice of sandy beach between mountains and wasteland, where the South meets Central, only an inlet of ocean between them, and that is where Bruno has decided to set up camp.

Literally.

He only had a simple tent and supplies for two initially. Tatara had asked if he could join him on his little trip out and how could he say no? Unfortunately for him, Tatara may have decided to invite everyone else, too, so, welcome, everyone, to the beach episode and a chance to relax after a potentially rough week in the City of Rain.

The sand is warm and fine, the water isn't too chilly, and scrubby little palm trees and plant life dot the dunes. Sea birds are the most active wildlife out here, not counting whatever fish can be found dwelling in the depths of the inlet between South and Central or further out into the ocean. It's comfortable enough... unless you hate sand, that is! You don't hate sand, right?

Since Tatara's arrival, more than Bruno's humble setup can be found.

- There's food fit for a picnic and enough bottles of wine for the evening.

- In the evening, a (non-deadly) bonfire will be built and there'll be pillows to sit on for those who don't want to sit directly on the sand.

- A few colorful rough wool blankets laid out under umbrellas meant to provide shade.

- There's still only one sad-looking tent... However! Bruno's gone ahead and enchanted it so that, when one pushes the cloth flap aside and enters, they'll find a much more comfortable setup inside.

And, of course, anything the other wizards have decided to bring! Bruno wasn't expecting a party but now that it's here, he sure can't tell them not to have fun however they want.

Comments

[dyingtohealyou]

[Moving to sit/loom over him.]

For not being worried, you're sure stubborn about keeping it a secret. This could've been over with ages ago, you know.

[impacter]

I've waited a lot longer for far less.

Why did you share your situation with me after the incident with Khun and Mika?

[dyingtohealyou]

Hoped - in vain, might I add - that you'd stop pushing for magic around me if you understood why I want to get rid of it the instant I can.

[impacter]

I do. If this weren't a situation where you and the people around you would be in far more danger without it, then I would be supportive in your choice.

Perhaps that's cruel of me.

[dyingtohealyou]

More than just "perhaps."

I study fine on my own. And, as we've established - you aren't my teacher. Any of your little lessons, even if you want to pretend it's from a "peer," just goes to show where the real value lies.

[After all, the purpose of that cruelty is to cultivate his magic, in the end. His most hated, yet most valuable quality in the eyes of magic users.

Not that it's any surprise to him that Solomon would be more of the same.]

[impacter]

You think I see you in the way those who hurt you saw you?

[dyingtohealyou]

You haven't given me any reason to think otherwise. I've seen plenty of magic users obsessed with with research over anything and everything else. You don't even have to be a test subject to see that.

Things like love, relationships, even familial bonds - it all falls to the wayside in favor of research.

All of that's nothing new to me.

[impacter]

[...

The silence holds, and when Solomon finally speaks again, his voice stays quiet.]

I'm sorry.

It must leave you feeling hurt and discarded as a person. Regardless of my intention... I don't know if I've done much to help any of that in the slightest.

...

I'll attempt to tone it back a little.

1/2

[dyingtohealyou]

[Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't an apology of all things and it shows - however briefly - on his face.]

[dyingtohealyou]

[He's quick to temper expectations, however.]

...I'll believe it when I see it.

[He does not sound optimistic.]

[impacter]

Of course. Actions speak louder, after all.

[...]

Do you mind if I tell you a story?

[dyingtohealyou]

...Depends. What kind of story?

[impacter]

About a boy and the ocean.

[dyingtohealyou]

...

I'll listen. But don't think just one story's enough to buy back any forgiveness.

[impacter]

It's okay. You can call it a like for like payment, if you want.

...

When I was young, I had always wanted to go to the ocean.

No one ever really spoke of it. All I had to shape my view were books and scrolls. Stories from places far away. But to me, it sounded like something from a fairytale. Blue as far as the eye could see. Something fine under the feet, that wasn't dirt and wasn't stone. Something so big and incredible that it had its own animals, and that in some places it was filled with more color than you could imagine.

It wasn't possible. At the time, there was nowhere I could truly go. But I liked to imagine it, anyway. Even if I got a little carried away sometimes. [He's not quite done, but he'll pause for a second to let it sit.]

[dyingtohealyou]

[His eyes narrow briefly - "there was nowhere I could truly go," he catches that - but he won't interrupt.]

Go on.

[impacter]

I didn't get there for a long, long while. Things kept... falling apart around me. But when I finally emerged from the other side and had some time to explore without fear, the ocean was my first stop.

It was better than I'd ever thought. Books can't describe sensation as well as being there. How warm sand feels under your feet. How the salt smells and tastes, how far it goes across the horizon... watching the waves move to and fro from their own momentum. How some places can be clear as glass, while others are so dark that no one has ever been able to descend to them.

I was still very fresh to my profession, and I poured myself selfishly into being able to explore under the waves. I found ways to swim and breathe without risking my life. I went to coastline after coastline on my own, seeing what depths the world of the ocean had to offer. I craved it to satiate my curiosity, and so I could share something I loved with the world someday, with knowledge I'd forged all on my own.

Thinking through it with magic was something I'd been doing since before I was old enough to understand. This wasn't any different.

[His expression pains slightly, if only because he knows Ahito's opinion on his next point.]

But I was inexperienced, and I didn't think through my actions. I took thousands of samples and performed millions of tests with the natural ecology. With the water, the the wildlife, the land itself. I was so excited at what I learned, at what I could learn, that I stopped looking at what it was doing to the life around me.

And I was punished harshly for it.

[dyingtohealyou]

[This time, his eyes remain narrowed.

A magic user indeed.]

Sounds to me like you deserved it.

[impacter]

I likely did. The spirits themselves intervened, after all.

I was confined to the deepest parts of the ocean until I had fixed every wrong I'd done.

[dyingtohealyou]

How do you even fix all of that?

[All those lives touched and changed, rippling outwards.

It sounds... impossible. So much so that by all rights Solomon should still be held captive for his crimes.]

[impacter]

Hundreds and hundreds of years of work. All on my own.

[He'll let that sit for a while as well.]

Even then, there was plenty I could no longer take back. I could only reverse what damages were still left, and hope I wasn't drowned for my crimes.

When the spirits finally let me go, the sun felt too bright, and the sand felt too hot. I no longer knew what year it was. No one I had known from my time before my capture was even alive, nor were their children,
or their grandchildren. And the spirits placed a curse on me, to make sure I would never go back.

It's why I say you need to enjoy this day. I remember how precious it was to me at the time to experience it, and my own mistakes were the only thing that led me to now hating something I used to love deeply. Maybe if I'd had a second chance, I would have approached it with more caution. Appreciated it for more than it was, if I knew what my foolishness would have brought. But I can't take that back.

[His smile is thin.]

So you can let this sorcerer bask in the consequences of his crimes. Just do better than him.

[dyingtohealyou]

[His gaze for the remainder of the story is pitiless.]

...To be honest? It sounds like you were let off easy. Still... that's more accountability than any other magic users tend to get.

Guess that goes to show how royally you screwed up.

[He can't even find it in him to be surprised at it all.]

There's nothing to worry about. I'll never be like you. Not even a little.

The sooner I can be rid of magic for good, the better. One way or another.

[impacter]

[He doesn't mind the look, nor how stony Ahito turns in its wake. He does not tell the story for pity, and he knew Ahito would only have his own views hardened.]

You've got your answer, then.

If you do choose to do that to yourself before we have finished our time here, just let someone you trust know. Even if you do not wanted to be treated by your magic any longer, I still won't ignore if you choose to become a liability. And I can, and will, prioritize the betterment of the people.

By your character, I don't think that will be an issue. But if you want me to be clear, then I will be clear. Stay responsible for yourself as a person, regardless of how you choose to do it, and we will not have a problem.

Understood?

[dyingtohealyou]

[That just gets a flare of anger.]

Don't you dare talk to me about not being a liability here.

[He doesn't tend to his scars and get up to work his ass off every day for this.

And he certainly didn't bait that stupid ghost into discarding him, the liability, to free up everyone else's actions - just to be called one anyway.]

Enjoy your beloved ocean.

[It's practically spat before he turns on his heel to leave.]

[impacter]

[There he goes.

It's for the better. Maybe Ahito will continue to find motivation to make it through all of this out of spite.

It just won't be from him.]