1: Video (Seelie)

[incused]

[ Kevin Regnard is seated at a desk. Several books are open before him: thick volumes with heavy vellum pages intricately decorated with illuminated lettering. It’s darker in this part of the library, the Restricted Section, to preserve the ancient tomes. Fairies float about in the air, lending their light; Kevin would be more grateful for this, except they keep making off with his quills. He has been taking careful notes, and has already covered over a stack of parchment papers with his cramped handwriting.

His face, when he looks into the locket, has that pinched look of too much reading, and his shoulders are raised and stiff; clearly he hasn’t moved from this spot for hours. His expression is dubious, conflicted. He glances away from the locket almost as soon as he activates it, as if he were going to shut it off again without saying anything.

But finally: ]

My lords and ladies. Gentlemen; gentlewomen. I am given to understand that any skill we learn here, we might bring back to our lands after this war is won. Thus I… I beg your assistance. If there is any among you with knowledge of magical healing…

[ Now he looks up. His single red eye bores into the locket, burning like hellfire. ]

I wish to learn how to raise the dead.

Comments

Video

[rivendell_lord]

[How well he knows that desire, to raise the dead. Even knowing his kin as he does.]

My knowledge of the healing arts has never, nor will it ever, consist of how to raise the departed.

Little comfort, I am certain. And none to a weary heart. For that, you have my apologies and condolences.

Video

[incused]

[ Experts love to demonstrate their expertise: this the reason he'd decided to ask, in the end. If he found someone who knew how to do it, he could then discuss terms. If not, nothing was lost by the effort. He had expected to be disappointed. ]

What?

I — no. I don't...

[ But he hadn't expected to be so thoroughly seen through. ]

You... you needn't apologize, my lord.

Video

[rivendell_lord]

[If he had a better answer, he'd consider giving it. But he doesn't. Still, Elrond shakes his head a little, gentle warmth in his expression.]

Life is precious. It is understandable for some to wish to learn how to pull it back from beyond.

[Centuries of experience, Kevin, Elrond has it.]

Video

[incused]

[ Quickly: ]

You mistake me. I do not...

[ How to even explain? His inclination is to say nothing, but there's something about the man's... pity? It sounds like pity. He cannot bear it, particularly when it's pity under a false impression. ]

I don't know... I don't know if I will need it.

[ A possibly false impression. ]

Video

[rivendell_lord]

[But it isn't pity. Just understanding.

He waits patiently, wondering how the conversation had turned so awry.]

Is it then an intellectual question?

Video

[incused]

[ And now he feels judged on top of that pity. Teeth clenched, fists shaking: he is suddenly furious. ]

Of course not! It's not the least bit — you don't know anything!

Video

[rivendell_lord]

[Another pause, this one a little surprised.]

I had not intended to offend you.

Voice

[mildly]

You must've lost someone dear to you.

Voice

[incused]

[ Thickly: ]

I seek only to make things right.

Voice

[mildly]

I'm afraid I have no knowledge of it. But such magic must exist here, I know that for certain.

Voice

[incused]

[ There's a scrambling noise on the other side, the thump of books knocked over, and a sharp intake of breath. ]

H-how do you know this? You must tell me!

Voice

[mildly]

[She's surprised by the urgency in his voice.]

There are those from my world who would not be here otherwise, my lord.

Voice

[incused]

Who is that? Who do you know? What happened to them? What do they remember? Who did it?

[ He had been hesitant and tentative in his post, but now his questions come off in rapid fire. ]

Video

[showmeyourwreath]

[This is Complicated, to say the least. Where she comes from, that could mean any number of things, and not all of them happen out of grief.

But, she's never been one to assume the worst of people, and he hardly seems like he's asking because of some sort of power trip. Then again, the wizards didn't seem that way, either. Appearances can be so deceiving.

...

In the end, her voice is very kind and nothing else, yet.]

I'm sorry, if you mean for people, this is not anything I can do, but I would ask why, if I may.

Video

[incused]

[ Ever since arriving in this golden, fairy-lit land, he has had the sensation that he does not belong here. It's a strange thought: to "not belong" to a place, when one had been forcibly kidnapped. Yet everyone here seems to have a light within them; whereas he feels in his heart, by turns, uncertainty, hope, guilt, and bleak despair.

This lady seems light to him, even through the medium of the locket. ]

I —

Because —

[ How to even explain? How dark he feels. ]

I may not need it. It may not be... necessary. But I must be prepared for every eventuality. I was careless before. I won't ever be, again.

oh my god beren i'm so sorry i thought this went through on that one day!!

[showmeyourwreath]

[Some things can be helped, but some things must be laid to rest, but she doesn't know which this is.

She might be able to understand, either way, but what right does she have to ask to know for sure? She doesn't.

Her voice maintains is kindness, and while she tries not to overstep, she doesn't hesitate with her words, either even if she does her best to be gentle with their delivery. What she has to say may not be what he wants to hear, but he should hear it, and she wants him to listen.]

Where I come from, sometimes death can be...a little complicated, because of magic, but at others, it isn't, even if that doesn't make things any better. I'm sorry, but might not find what you're looking for.

No worries!

[incused]

[ "I'm sorry." He'd heard that after they all died. Murmurs at the funeral, in the street. And then everyone melted away. The intensity of his suffering was too deep. And nobody wanted any association with a family who had all perished in such a violent way.

Empty words. So much so that when Albus whispered to him that he might be able to change fate, he'd leapt at the chance without a second thought.

It's enough to make him furious. ]

You are not. You are not sorry. You have no idea. None at all!

[showmeyourwreath]

[She starts a little at the fury, not having expected it, but she's hardly surprised either.

She knows this anger, not from herself, but from someone else, and it's in knowing that that she's able to regain her composure with a sad calm.]

You're right, I don't. I don't know what happened to you, and I won't ask you to talk about if you don't want to. But you want to know this for a reason, you believe yourself responsible, and you're hurting. I am sorry for all that, and I want to help you if I can, but I don't want to give you false hope, either. I've seen what happens when it's lost.

[In her case, an actual hope, one that was quite literally stolen away.]

[incused]

[ He inhales through his nostrils; and then lets it out again. Breathe. He's still angry; but it's unknightly to shout at a lady. Still, his voice is cold when he asks: ]

If you sincerely wish to help, then tell me what you know on the subject. On raising the dead.

[ And then, because it's important that she know this: ]

Don't worry about upsetting me. You won't.

[ He is totally not rash, high-strung and emotional, okay???? ]

video

[devotedqueen]

Sir Kevin. I am trained as a healer but...

[Elincia frowns, looking deeply concerned. If his desire was out of grief, she could empathise. How many nights had she spent weeping to herself and wishing for her dearly loved ones to return when she had been but seventeen?]

Raising the dead has never been part of the healing arts.

[She puts it as gently as possible]

video

[incused]

[ He recognizes her. It is Lady Elincia, who found him at the walls that day, and...

All right, that was probably not his finest hour. He colors, remembering. But when she says she is a healer, his gaze lights up, all shame forgotten. ]

You must teach me —

[ But the words die on his lips when she says it isn't possible. Tentatively: ]

N-no.

No, I don't accept that.

[devotedqueen]

I can teach you to heal but--there is a reason raising the dead is not a healing art.

[She hesitates]

May I ask why you wish to learn?

[incused]

Reason? What reason? I don't —

[ His voice rises in pitch, becoming increasingly unstrung: ]

The will of fate, is that it? Is that the reason? Because I don't accept that, either!

[devotedqueen]

Sir Kevin. Calm yourself, please.

[She frowns and laces her fingers together. This was a pain she could understand but she could not agree with how he was handling it]

I am sorry for your loss.

[incused]

[ ...he has just lost his temper at a lady. How very unknightly behavior. He has nothing in this world, nothing to cling to. No masters but the monarchs of this castle, whom he has hardly seen and severely distrusts.

All he has left is himself, nothing to call his own but his identity: he is a knight. Even though misery and uncertainty are twisting his heart in every direction, he cannot let himself falter. Because if he stops being a knight, then he truly has nothing. ]

I...

I didn't mean to shout.