[text] @imadeyoureadthis; [open]

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever had tried to post something with audio, but anxiety has gotten the best of her. Especially since she doesn't know a lot of people in Beacon, just yet. So Beacon is just going to have to deal with her terrible texting skills unless they respond with audio. Her work emails are beautiful and perfect, like the book nerd she is, but just jotting down a quick something? Sorry. Just sorry. ]

hi everybody! hope you all had an okay new years? can't say i missed the ball drop thing in new york. but i don't think i'm a huge fan of the onion thing the spirits like?

this is elle brandt, if we haven't spoken before. i have kind of a favor to ask of some of you? i'm looking for any musical instruments that we have here in beacon. either instruments you have, if you don't mind me borrowing them for just a little while, or instruments you've seen laying around somewhere (if possible). i found a kazoo in the general store but that's about it.

i won't be borrowing them for very long, hopefully. if they're really important to you, don't feel obligated. we don't have too many good distractions around here. especially if it's from your home.

thanks for taking the time to read this, if you have, i appreciate it.

Comments

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever laughs quietly. ]

Wherever's best for you. You're the one doing the magic. If your room works better, that's fine with me.

[ She's seen him in action before, during the events of November, but she imagines that creating an instrument is going to be a bit different. ]

[necromantiae]

Here's fine. I just wasn't sure if you wanted a private place for your future musical endeavors.

( he gives his hands a shake and then nods. )

Bongos, right?

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever nods. She has a vague memory of needing to tune bongos, which surely means that they have notes. Right? ]

That would be great. I haven't found any percussion instruments, it'd be interesting to see if they work for spirit talk.

[ And they're pretty simple. A bonus. ]

Is it hard to... conjure objects?

[necromantiae]

Not for me.

( well. )

All right, it's a little difficult because this place seems to do strange things to my magic but conjuring is mostly unaffected.

( unless he went for something light based, that is. )

[antiwhat]

[ She arches her brows for a second, her curious nature getting the best of her as she fastens a few buttons on her coat. It's mostly for creature comfort. Cold doesn't affect her quite as easily as it does full-blooded humans. ]

This place? [ Thanks, Beacon. ] How does it make it strange? If you don't mind my asking.

[necromantiae]

Well, if I try to conjure or do any sort of spell involving light, it tamps it down.

( hey, thanks beacon. )

They don't come out right. Some larger, powerful spells are muted too.

[antiwhat]

[ Light. Huh. That makes a depressing amount of sense. Ellever glances at the sky briefly. ]

How rude. [ She smiles slightly. ] I guess there's always the silver lining that at least it [ a vague gesture above them, ] doesn't block out magic or something.

[ Ellever hesitates. When she starts speaking again, it's slower. Measured. She's thinking, hard, about what it could all mean. ]

Before I came here, it was really hard to hurt me. And now most everything can. Maybe that's... related.

[ Before this moment, she's only thought of her new vulnerability from the perspective of the prophecy. That there was an apocalypse, as it said, which would nullify some of her abilities as a Child of the Nine. But if other people are being affected... ]

[necromantiae]

Invulnerable?

( interesting.

he doesn't question it too much before he brings his hands up to start the spell. he has to remember what bongoes actually look like before going to work. )

Or invincible?

[antiwhat]

[ She glances upward, unconsciously, as she tries to think about which word is more appropriate, biting her lower lip. A moment later she decides, ]

Invulnerable. Some things could hurt me.

[ Thankfully, things that she hadn't encountered very often. But maybe if things were altered for other people, with their own abilities, maybe... maybe the prophecy hadn't come to pass. There's a possibility. And it's something she hasn't let herself entertain yet.

Looking back down, she watches Ambrose begin his magic. ]

Not gonna lie, I miss it. Getting stabbed sucks.

[necromantiae]

Do you mind if I ask what made you like that? Was it something you were born with or something that happened to you?

( while he asks the question, he conjures up a set of bongos, blue in color. he grabs them and smacks the tops, checking to make sure the construction was decent. )

I was born as I am.

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever's head tilts unconsciously to the side, fascinated, as she watches him conjure. Woah. That's really damn. When he smacks them, it occurs to her that he'd asked a question.

She answers with just slightly less hesitation than before. ]

Yeah, I... was born like this. I'm only half human. [ A shrug, trying to be casual, like she'd just said her favorite coffee order. ] Are all magic users born, where you're from?

[necromantiae]

What's your other half?

( if only part of her was human, he wonders what the other part is. )

And yes, where I'm from, all magic users are born this way. They might not start practicing for a little while but the ability is always within them.

[antiwhat]

[ She nods as she absorbs what he tells her. It's almost like she's putting off his question, or forgetting it entirely. But she doesn't. Ellever grew up without a name for her 'father', often thinking of it as 'the thing' or other such labels. It's only recently in her life that she's come to learn anything about them.

And that's through no one's fault, really. The Nine are not well known, on purpose.

Finally, though, she answers. ]

There's a name for them, but we're not really supposed to say it. They pay attention. [ Even out here in Beacon, she feels hesitant. Perhaps especially because it's Beacon. ] They're... creatures from another plane of existence? The Nine.

[ Ellever waves a hand, trying for levity. This is more honest than she normally is, but Ambrose is doing her a solid. And for some reason, the fact that he has magic is oddly comforting. Magic doesn't exist where she's from, but something like it does. ]

Let's just say I'm half shadowy monster.

[necromantiae]

The Nines? Never heard of them.

( not that that's all that surprising. greendale was a small town and they had their own issues with supernatural things. they didn't really need to add to it. )

Half shadowy monster sounds pretty cool, though. You can tell people that to freak them the hell out if they ever get on your nerves.

[antiwhat]

There's a whole bunch of people dedicated to making sure you don't know about them.

[ A slightly crooked smile, thinking about the Binding and all of their ilk, not to mention Dewan, as she shrugs. ]

I... Honestly, I try not to bring it up. People don't look at me the same after they know. And it's weird for me to even say it in the first place, [ she admits. ] It's been a secret since I was a kid.

[necromantiae]

I know quite a lot about secrets.

( he finishes the first pair of bongos and passes them to her. )

Warlocks and witches live among humans where I'm from. They have no idea and they're supposed to continue to have no idea. Because they are nasty things out there called witch hunters who would love to kill us if they knew.

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever accepts the bongos but simply holds them without looking as she listens. It's not all that surprising. Almost no one back home knows what's going on behind the scenes there, either. Turns out, maybe humans aren't that perceptive. ]

That's rude. Why? Just because they're afraid of magic?

[ It doesn't really occur to her that, maybe, some people don't use magic for good reasons. Some might say that her mind is too open. ]

[necromantiae]

They think it's not natural.

( he shrugs one shoulder, arms falling back to his sides. )

It's actually how I died. Angelic witch hunter which is exactly what it sounds like. An angel sent from Heaven killed me. It'd be cooler if I survived.

[antiwhat]

[ She sucks in a deep breath. That's why she'd been confined for so long to the warehouse. Or part of the reason. Her father had been worried that people would kill her if they figured out she wasn't human.

Ellever knows, now, that she would have just disappeared into one of the Bindings' black bags and met her cousins sooner. ]

I'm sorry. [ She bites her lower lip. ] Are the angels here treating you okay?

[ Though she has one for a roommate, she knows almost nothing about the other confirmed angel in Beacon. ]

[necromantiae]

Thus far, no one's tried to kill me so...

( that's a step up from what he'd dealt with in the past. )

They're treating me fine. No one's felt the need to cut me down just because of who I am.

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever chuckles quietly. ]

Other than spirits?

[ That's been different, though, according to some people. Some. She turns the bongos over in her hand and pats the top of one experimentally. ]

I'm glad to hear it. Maybe it's because most of us are a little... unusual? We can all hide in each others' oddities.

[necromantiae]

Quite possibly. I would say it's the one similarity but as soon as I say that, I'm sure I'll find someone that is perfectly and utterly normal.

( someone like that had to exist, right? )

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever glances skyward, wracking her brain, and thinks of Midge, but... can you ever really be sure of people? Maybe she's really a comedian vampire? She bakes nice things, so Ellever can't complain. ]

I dunno. [ She grins. ] What's your definition of normal?

[necromantiae]

That's a good question.

( he thinks about it for a second and shrugs. )

Someone who is absolutely not noteworthy in anyway? But, I don't even know if that's possible.

[antiwhat]

By that count, there aren't too many normal people.

[ Her grin softens, just a little. True, she's met a handful of people that meet that criteria, but not a lot. Certainly none in her line of work. ]

But maybe that's just me.