networkinthenight | ( audio

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( audio | un: warlock )

Indulge my curiosity for a moment, would you?

( could you deny a face like his? could you? you couldn't. which is good because he's going to ask a somewhat morbid question. )

We're all, apparently, dead. But some of us have died again and been returned via the church. Some of us have disappeared or died and not been returned. Are they still here somewhere? Or have they been sent back to where they came from?

Those are hypothetical questions, by the way. Feel free to try and answer but I think it's going to be a lot of time that could be spent on something more fruitful.

My actual question: could the the way of dying a second time crucial to who stays and who goes? Or did those of us that have been lost end somewhere in this place that we've yet to find?

( he knows that it's not necessarily a fun thing to think about but he recalls the resurrection of his aunt hilda after her many deaths at the hands of his other aunt versus how harvey's brother had come back. two dead people returned to the land of the living but only one went on to live a relatively normal life.

ambrose knows that might be because hilda is a witch herself and tommy was a normal human. but his curiosity still stands. )

Do we need to institute the buddy system to make sure no one else wanders off and doesn't come back?

( he's joking. mostly. )

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Wow. You must have pissed off quite a lot of people to be killed that many times.

( and that painfully to boot. )

I have never died before but I know people who have. Witches, even. They've never mentioned realms for dead witches when they've returned so I'm going to guess this is a difference in worlds.

( or hilda was just being very secretive about it. )

But, I can confirm this isn't just a realm for witches. There are far more people than just those types here.

[ understatement of the century, ambrose. ]

Seems to be a multiverse of people here. [ he watches marvel! kol sighs; ambrose is right — this place does seem to be pulling people from different realities… different times, even. hardly any of it is comprehensible to kol, but it's easier to just go with it than to ask questions that hardly help them get any closer to an escape of this place. ]

The witches you knew… were they consecrated when they died?

[ aka: did some magical ritual take place to send their soul to that realm? ]

Not all of them. Some of them were resurrected.

( such as his aunt hilda but he assumes that's a special case since it was his other aunt doing the killing. )

I know I wasn't consecrated when I died. And those that died at the same time weren't either. We were just...murdered. Unfortunate business, that, but nothing to do about it now.

( fucking witch hunters. )

Mostly we just try not to die.

[ it's unfortunate ambrose can't see kol's reaction. despite being intimate with death, he still finds himself surprised. the murder of a witch (that isn't by his hand) is a tragedy. ]

I'm sorry to hear that you've died before. [ for once the platitude is genuine from him. ] Seems to be that all the best witches take a walk with death at least once in his or her life.

[ it's a badge of honour. the shirts are coming. ]

Something tells me consecration here would be next to impossible. It might be the one thing that needs to happen so we don't end up back here.

[ but where would they go? he doesn't know. perhaps "dying" and being brought back here is the greener pastures. ]

Does that mean I would go back to where I was, still dying?

( because eh. that had been pretty painful and bloody and sad. )

Or would that just put us in some kind of weird limbo?

[ if kol had been resurrected to only feel the sensation of fire licking all over him, he most likely would have granted himself mercy. at least he knows the answer to ambrose's question, even if it's different between witch cultures.

when he speaks again, it's with confidence—he knows what he's talking about. ]

If your soul is consecrated, you move onto a realm for witches. You're at peace—you're no longer dying. Many think that's it for you… but my mother came back from being there, so it's possible to be resurrected with the right ritual. You won't feel like you're dying all over again—you're truly reborn.

Huh. I'm aware of resurrections for witches but the ones I know of didn't go to a different realm. They returned and they were just as they were, mostly, but they didn't say anything about a realm specifically for them.

( but maybe zelda did something special when she killed hilda to stop her from passing over. he'd never asked. )

But, if that's true, that's a place I would like to go to. Sounds like paradise.

[ as much of a monster as kol is, he doesn't have it in him to inform ambrose it's not a paradise. he remembers how he had been so afraid of what was waiting him after life... and he shouldn't have been surprised that it wasn't heaven. that's at least one karma point he's earned. ]

It sounds like witches die over and over but come back where you're from.

[ his favourite thing: learning about witches. tell him more tell him more! ]

Depending on the witch and who's around said witch. Necromancy is a thing but it's not...a recommended practice.

( and it was one of his specialties. )

Can one not be resurrected where you're from?

[ necromancy! now that's something he wishes that had been something more readily available within his witchy culture. ]

My soul was on another plane known as the Other Side. It's where all souls go that aren't mortal. [ not mortal! doesn't that make you instantly think "witch" and not "vampire"? ] It took a great deal of power and skill that many don't have to bring someone back.

[ esther mikaelson, one of the greatest witches in the history of witches, and davina claire. he's known plenty of witches in his time, but none of them have ever been that connected to their magic.

he's already weighed up whether he wants to give the nitty gritty details of his resurrections. there's no harm—perhaps his new friend has a similar story up his sleeve. ]

One witch had to put me in a new body, which required very intense preparation, and another had to resurrect my body from ash. Both aren't very easy feats.

A new body? Now, that is something I haven't heard of before. Resurrection where I'm from happens in the same body, as far as I'm aware. I haven't heard of one's soul being transferred from one vessel to another.

( that's what he assumes happened, at least. )

Was your other body unable to be saved?

It was ash.

[ he says it with such an easy tone, like it was merely a bump in the road. in reality, it had meant everything—being brought back in the body of kaleb westphall had left so much to be desired… most importantly, the weakness of his magic. esther mikaelson had purposefully chosen to shove him into a body that would leave him wanting. ]

Generally the soul needs a body to return to… and I didn't have that luxury. It takes great magic and skill to restore a body. A little less seems to be required for fetching a soul.

Well, I do hope that I don't ever run into a situation where I have to be implanted into a new body. There seems to be a lot of room for error though.

( he supposes that the line of business he's in means he has access to a lot of bodies but he also would really not like to take a walk down that road. )

So, who did your body belong to before?

[ now this is where it gets a little tricky. with the truth, it sounds awful—mother dearest had prepared the body of an unwilling soul for him to jump into—but if he spins it…

kol's still coming to terms with the fact that he had felt like himself for the first time in centuries in another body. all he wants to do is showcase the power of magic and the different types of death and resurrections that are possible. it gets people curious, right? ]

A witch. [ he says it easily, like it's not packed with anything. ] A lot easier to acclimatise to being back in the realm of the living while feeling somewhat familiar. I wouldn't recommend body-jacking, despite my experience. I was a little homesick.

Well, you did pick a rather nice body to have your soul deposited into. Is that strange to say? Too late, I've already said it.

( you were nice to look at, kol. that's what he meant. )

Not that you need my approval but I approve.

[ well… that's a lot nicer than "your face is just fine"! ]

What do you base your approval on? I'm curious.

Oh, a very comprehensive and exhaustive list that I have cross checked, memorized and catalogued over the course of many years.

( what a bunch of bullshit. )

Or maybe I base it on the fact that I am shallow and you have been both interesting to speak with and nice to look at.

Ah—there's your very comprehensive list. No need to be shy about that.

[ kol laughs. while he may posture as though he has arrogance and confidence oozing out of his pores, sometimes it's nice to be reminded of the shallow things. a little appreciation goes a long way! ]

And what is my complimenter's name? Surely not Warlock?

[ he knows he can easily look this up, but that's no fun. and "warlock"... well, he's fun. ]

Ambrose Spellman. I am a warlock but that is not my name. My parents would be quite the unoriginal duo if that's what they came up with.

( he's not sure where ambrose came from but he's grown to like it. )

And yourself? I'm guessing it's Kol but I could be wrong.

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( audio | un: warlock )

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