Iann lowered his head, chuckling ruefully at Ruby’s joke. “See, now you’re getting the hang of all this - when it comes to magic, and demons, and nature in general? It’s all about the bargaining. Does anyone even subscribe to magazines anymore?” The question was jocular and rhetorical, just a punchline to add on to Ruby’s riff.
He looked up from under his brow, quiet as he watched Ruby process everything he’d told her. Iann was grateful to himself, that he’d been able to deliver that information in a way that Ruby could take on board. The importance of it, the way it obliterated idealistic morality and smudged a past that was centuries old. Tuah had not tread an easy path for his entire life - Iann knew Ruby was aware of that, but now she had some more scant details to add further context. This wasn’t about ‘good’ and ‘bad’, except for two instances, as far as Iann was concerned.
Tuah’s Sire was bad. And the Nechrion was bad.
Even the types of ‘bad’ were different though. Alexander was a sadistic, malicious monster who delighted in Tuah’s pain. One could argue that the Nechrion was just a very zealous bureaucrat, hellbent on getting its job done. And the Vermonts? The Hunter clan wasn’t good or bad exclusively, and neither was Kastina’s coven; and most importantly, neither was Tuah.
Ruby sat down heavily on the couch, as her own thoughts seemed to get the better of her. Iann understood that feeling, could almost see her getting overwhelmed. He slid off the armrest of the couch to sit next to her, and he offered her the half-glass of water.
“It’s a lot,” Iann croaked, and he cleared his throat. “It’s a lot to take in.”
As she brought up the idea of a necromancer, Iann grunted. “I’ve considered it. But there are too many unknown factors about what Artemis has become at this point. His spirit - or soul, or whatever energy keeps him technically sentient - has become integrated with this part of the Nechrion. I know that much, I could see it when it manifested itself in - in - in the - in the compound. When we went…ah. Last time.” Iann wiped his mouth, trying not to recall that memory in too much detail.
“But bringing Artemis’ spirit back into this world will give the Nechrion power, just like it did in the compound. It took all of Kastina’s skill to push that thing back, and even she’s not sure she did a clean job. Just enough to get Tuah the hell outta dodge, really. If you stuff that conglomerate into a flehsbag, reanimated it?” Iann shook his head.
“No necromancer could hold that, not without risking their own life or sanity, I’d imagine. That could be enough to grant the Nechrion enough power to break the soul stone, become whole again.”
He inhaled deeply,then exhaled. “I mean. And then there’s the soul stone itself. Tuah still keeps it in his basement, last I know of.”
Ruby glanced at Iann, giving her own rueful huff of laughter at his addition to her comment. She had already been nodding in agreement about the bargaining ideas of magic and demons and what not, but that slowly came to a stop as she tried to wrap her head around all of it.
She had to hand it to Iann for being able to get it all out in one go. Give or take. The whole situation was complicated as fuck. And that was before Tuah’s past was even brought fully into the picture. Though it was that past that had affected his future, wasn’t it? It was Alexander that was to blame for the atrocities that had befallen Tuah. It was Alexander that had set Tuah on a path to potentially having his soul reaped from his body. It was Alexander that should be suffering, and not Tuah.
Tuah had suffered enough. He deserved peace. As did so many others that had been affected along the way. Though she hoped once this was done that Alexander’s soul would rot in whatever Hell would take him. And Tuah would finally be free.
But Ruby knew that demons didn’t care about peace. And freedom almost always came with a heavy price. Just like magic.
Glancing over at Iann as he sat down beside her, Ruby took the glass of water with a small smile. She took a small sip before holding it between her palms and staring down at the surface of the liquid inside. “It is a lot,” she agreed quietly. “But... thank you. For tellin’ me. The not knowin’....” Ruby shook her head. “It was almost worse.”
When he got tangled up in an explanation, Ruby laid a hand on his arm in support, but stayed silent as he pressed on. When he was done, and Ruby thought she mostly understood, she let out a slow breath. “So what this coven did is basically a bandaid on a bullet wound.” She gave Iann’s arm a squeeze, the weight of everything he’d told her filling her with both fear and righteous anger on Tuah’s behalf. But at least now she knew.
The mention of such a powerful magical item just sitting in Tuah’s basement made Ruby frown. But it also had her glancing at Iann. “This stone? You said the Nechrion broke free of it, right? So the stone’s empty? Can it break in? I mean... could you... store Tuah’s soul there for the time being? Would it be safe until this all gets figured out?”
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