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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/12/2014 2:17 AM

Akala tried to stand up a little straighter, and to look as if he had a legitimate case to make. “I do not think I am mistaken,” said Alain, still in that soft voice of his.

“Well, what proof do you have, then?” Akala was blustering, since he didn't know one way or the other if Alain did have some proof against him. But if Alain had as little to go on as Akala did, then that would strengthen his own argument. If Alain did have evidence, then Akala would be more aware of what he was going against; and it might, after all, still be a case of mistaken identity. The pale man's eyes narrowed still further, giving him a distinctly cat-like look.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/12/2014 2:19 AM

“Then,” he said, “do you deny having in your possession a---” Briefly, a pained expression flashed across his face. He clutched at his forehead with one hand, grimacing sharply. “It's you,” he said, in not one voice but two. The reverb did no favors for its quality, and Akala took an involuntary step back. Alain's eyes darted back and forth, the color in them doing something that bid fair to make Akala nauseous. “It's you. It's here. Come...

Alain reached out a hand, fingers straining, his face a contorted mask of effort and agony. Akala backed away even further, thinking that Alain meant to end it there and then, but no pain came. Instead, the room was suddenly bathed in brilliant light, emanating from somewhere on Akala's person.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/12/2014 2:34 AM

Akala cast about frantically for the source of the light, only to find that it was coming from the fragment, whose cord was still wrapped around his hand. A movement on the periphery of his vision caught his attention, and he glanced to the side, only to be confronted with the sight of the mug on the table levitating in the air. Another mug joined it, and then another. The hanging lights near the front window swung wildly. The machines behind the counter danced on thin cushions of air, just above where they had been resting. A bag of flour floated out from somewhere behind the kitchen door. Akala looked around him, from one side to the other, with growing alarm.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/12/2014 2:35 AM

However, the look on Alain's face was peaceful, almost relieved. It no longer hurt so much to look at him, and the smile on his face seemed like a real one, if breathless and tired besides. It all had something to do with the fragment, but it was beyond the scope of Akala's knowledge to guess at what that might be.

“Is... Is this what you're after, then?” he said, holding the fragment out. Alain's eyes snapped to it. Akala looked at him with something like concern, and waved the shard back and forth slowly in the air. Alain's gaze would not leave it, and he disregarded everything else as if nothing else was worth looking at. A cup floated past his face, and the man did not so much as react. The frown on Akala's face deepened.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/12/2014 2:38 AM

“I, uh... I'm afraid I can't sell it, or give it away, or... It's a family heirloom, y'see; it goes all the way back to my great... er... Back dozens of generations, that is. We--- my family, we've devoted...” Was he really going to tell his life story to a crazy man in a coffee shop in the middle of the rainforest? Was this really what was happening in his life right now? He'd made some bad choices, sure, but how did it come to this? Granted, Alain wasn't looking upset anymore, which should have been a good thing--- and he did feel a little better. But still---

Akala was struck with a sudden thought. Slowly, cautiously, he asked, “Are you... Are you doing that?”

The lights, the levitation, and goodness knows what else. He had never been able to draw enough power out of the fragment to do more than lift a few small objects, wobbling wildly. Neither he nor Faber had ever managed to do anything about the glow of the shard. If this man was what the fragment was responding to, and if he was responding to the fragment, then maybe this wasn't such a bad turn of events for him after all...

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/17/2014 5:19 AM

After all, it wasn't as if he wanted to travel all the way to the Whisper Forest for a lead, if he could avoid it. He hadn't expected such a turn of events, to be sure, but it began to seem more and more likely that this man knew something about the shard. Akala hoped, somewhat disloyally, that Alain knew more than Faber did. The boy was rather reticent with his information, whether he meant to be or not. And even then, what he did know likely paled in comparison to the knowledge of a creature--- a being--- who was able to produce such effects as this.

Alain made as if to reach for the fragment again, and Akala jerked his hand back, holding it out of reach. An expression of wounded confusion appeared on the pale man's face. Akala had expected anger, certainly, but not that.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/17/2014 5:20 AM

However, rather than making him feel guilty, it unnerved him further. Anger, at least, had seemed natural; Akala had no idea what to make of this new Alain, who suddenly seemed incapable of fury. It was true that his acquaintance with the man had thus far been incredibly short, but it had also been dominated on Alain's side by barely-repressed rage.

”Please...” Alain said, in that strange echoing voice. His hand was outstretched, plainly beseeching Akala to give him the fragment.

“Wh-What do you, er, need it for, exactly?” Akala asked. He had no intentions on handing it over, and his question was in all honesty a stalling tactic first and foremost. However, he was also genuinely curious, and if Alain was going to be something other than angry, then perhaps that meant he was in the mood to answer some questions.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/17/2014 5:23 AM

... Or perhaps not. There was a pause, which dragged on for some amount of time. Akala was reminded acutely of Faber, and began to wonder whether the boy's spaciness was some side effect of exposure to the fragment, rather than a novelty of his own personality. The first sign of a reply came not as words, but as the drift of the floating objects in the room. These had been wandering about in a meandering manner, each on its own aimless course, but now one after another they started to swirl in slow clockwise circuits around the room. Akala watched them uneasily, one eye still trained on Alain.

”I am merely demanding... the return of what was once...” Alain's words gave Akala another start at first, but he soon found himself growing impatient. They came slow, horribly ponderously slow, as if he had to think about each before he spoke it.

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Re: Waylaid [Self]

Postby crow » 11/17/2014 5:27 AM

And there was a quality to that voice--- or perhaps it would be better to say the voice beneath Alain's--- that sounded... strange. He couldn't quite put his finger on why just yet, but it made him listen more carefully when Alain spoke again.

”I seek the whole once more,” he said. Akala waited, but nothing else was forthcoming. Alain was watching him expectantly, his eyes still unusually bright with something Akala couldn't understand. Akala did work out, however, the thing that had been bothering him. He'd heard two voices in Alain's speech, one that he had heard before alone. The other, accompanying it, and which had lent such an odd tone to the whole, was in fact a woman's. It had been difficult for him to distinguish it from what must have been Alain's natural sound, and the woman's voice was just as otherworldly as Alain's had been, if not moreso.

"That's... I'm not speaking to Alain anymore, am I?" he asked.

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