#gula ic

[cycleofstars]

@drj-anthem:

Joseph   sighed,   shook   his   head   and   stepped   away   from   the   railing.   About   to   sink   into   the   shadows,   wondering   why   he   even   bothered,   when   something   caught   his   interest   in   the   corner   of   his   eye.   He   glanced   over   and   saw   a   pair   walking   in   with   golden   hair.  He'd   never   seen   the   two   before,   and   while   he   didn't   know   every   person   at   the   party,   they   stuck   out   to   him   with   their   brightly   coloured   hair.   He   couldn't   remember   ever   hearing   about   any   corpos   or   their   children   looking   like   that;   aside   from   the   Crownguards,   but   none   of   them   were   here   today. From   his   vantage   point,   it   seemed   the   two   might   be   related   based   on   their   appearance.   That   or   they   were   clones,   which   wasn't   exactly   far   fetched,   but   unlikely.

Their   existence   piqued   his   interest.   Who   were   they   and   why   were   they   here?   The   woman   seemed   to   be   searching   for   something   or   someone,   while   the   man   seemed   to   be   a   bit   aloof   and   bored   —   A   feeling   Joseph   could   relate   to   strongly. He   wondered   what   they   were   searching   for   and   it   was   at   that   point   he   made   his   choice.   He   needed   to   know   more. Joseph   stepped   away   from   the   railing,   deciding   to   join   the   masses   down   on   the   first   floor.   If   they   seemed   amicable   enough,   he'd   approach   them,   but   for   now   he'd   just   linger   nearby.   See   what   they   did,   and   see   what   they   said   to   anyone   who   approached   them.   Perhaps   they'd   even   approach   him   of   their   own   accord. 

His eyes scan about the room and then to his twin who is still searching. "... Anything?" He asks after lowering his his head a bit to look at her so she could read his lips. The woman shakes her head with a small shake. Her gaze turns from him and she sighs softly. "... I can feel the object somewhere but..." She sighs softly.

He hums. "... Well, I guess we search this place up and down. Shall we go?" She dips her head and with his arm around her waist, the two depart towards the back where another large doorway of sorts lies. "... Should we get Merlin to run a scan?" He asks softly. "Hmm... No. Not yet." She can feel her beloved listening in and observing from afar. The two continue their walk for now.

The man turns his head a bit ever so slightly and sees someone out of the corner of his eye... he stops and there is an aloof, bored expression as he tilts his head ever so slightly. The woman looks up. "... Lochan?" She whispers softly.

"We got a curious onlooker incoming." His grip tightens on his twin's waist and pulls her slightly to where he can shield her as he turns and faces the man.

"Can we help you?" He asks flatly.

[cycleofstars]

@adventurous-fluffs:

"Alright then. Even when with friends, I like to ask before using major magics on others. It is a decent habit to have." With everything said, the old wizard would begin focusing on the spell. The magic circle below them would generate extra outer rings, floating them up to be centered around Gula. There were three in total, one at the height of his knees, one at the height of his waist, and one at the height of his shoulders. Each carried the colors and power from the main magic circle, and they designated Gula as the target. If he was younger, he would need an incantation to pull this off.. But he was an Archmage. A High Crafter. A Mythic Caster. He would speak only three words and the spell would be cast. "Mythic Break Enchantment." In a flash, the spell was active, and immediately began to pulse with energy around Gula. Over the course of about one minute, it would attempt to turn any curse or enchantment that was effecting him into nothing more than magic dust. It would, as he had said, have no effect on any of Gula's personal abilities or Keyblade. All Kabartmak could really do now was watch and wait to see if it actually did anything.

Gula closes his eyes beneath the mask and he waits. It's slow, but slowly a light dust of sorts begins to fall off him like a veil. He raises his hands to his head and winces as a headache of sorts forms. Memories... Lots of them... flash in his eyes and despite his stoic facade, a few years streak down. His breath hitches and he's quiet for a long time.

Swallowing hard... the Foreteller slowly lets his arm fall and he slowly drops to his knees. "... So there was something." He admits, his voice cracking, jaw setting. "... Yeah that'll do it." He sighs shakily. "I um..." He clears his throat. He slowly shifts to push his mask up and off, running a hand through his hair... and to Kabartmak...?

That exact same shade of blonde... is the same as a certain Librarian he met. The eyes are a bit darker, but his eyes are emotional as he sniffles loudly. "... Fuck."

[cycleofstars]

@adventurous-fluffs:

Kabartmak would watch the image change at his touch for a few moments. Oh yeah, it's all coming together. That was near absolute proof that their magic had ties to their emotions. And that, he could probably work with.. But that would take time and theory crafting. For now, he would see if his own magic could handle things. "Truthfully i'm more or less going to test if some kind of magic is clinging to you. The only true way to know if the memory magic is still active is for me to go home. If my memory of you, this world, and the things around it, starts to become fuzzy, then I know it is still active. . . But, there is something I can try something while i'm still here." He wasn't going to go half way on this. He had to be absolutely sure if it would work, so he was going to break out 'the big guns', as people had a habit of saying. Mythic Spells were exceptionally powerful in their own right, but some were just stronger than others. He would open his eyes now, his beautiful amber irises surrounded by that faint blue glow of magic. A magic circle would appear below the two of them. It was extraordinarily detailed in a mix of blue and gold colors. Since he was putting actual effort into this, even non-magical people could feel the energy coming off of it if they were close enough. It was Mythic Break Enchantment. "This isn't one of the highest tier spells, but it is a Mythic cast of a normal spell. Mythic casting brings out the true power of some spells. If there is any lingering magic upon you, specifically a curse, enchantment, or transfiguration, this will remove all of them. . It will not effect your ability to use magic or mess with your keyblade in any way, I will assure you of that. That said, are you okay with this? I do not know if there is a magic placed upon you that you would prefer stay there."

"Test away." That was the first thing that left his lips. He trusted Kabartmak... and that coming from a Foreteller?... That said something. "If something is lingering... well, it'll be in my favor to remove it, yes?" He asked in bemusement. "Besides, we've been friends for a while now... If I consider you a friend, I trust you. It's that simple, Kabartmak."

His gaze shifts to the scroll and then to the Fox Wizard. "... Is there anything I need to do specifically?" His mask tilts with him as he shifts his head. "There's no kind of magic I can think of that would have been used on me. If there is... then I am unaware of it."

( Boy has no idea... )

[cycleofstars]

@adventurous-fluffs:

".. Partially, but not really. It doesn't really answer if intense emotion can have power here. . But, I can lay out my thoughts anyway." The old wizard would take a few moments to cast a handful of Minor Images, except these were a higher tier variant he made that he could move around and actively change. "You mentioned a Keyblade War. You have also spoken of how a Keyblade is manifested. Such a war, I would surmise, would likely be an Incredibly emotion filled event, with all sides brandishing what amounts to their souls." The images would show silhouettes of people clashing in a melee, a light at their cores shining through their weapons. He would have their clashes release a display that represented energy and make it all start to hover above the battle. "If emotion can sway the magics of this world, then my theory is that your war created so much emotion and chaos that it all flowed together into messing with reality. The sheer amount of sorrow that would be created would likely come from people wanting to forget that it ever happened in the first place.. So, it did just that." He would have the energy form together into a volatile sphere before bursting, making the battle disappear along with the rest of the images. He would look back up to Gula and continue. "A tale of Lose and Fire and Faith. Made forgotten by the collective suffering of those who were victim to it.. The lingering effects could very well have clung to you and the other survivors, causing the lapse in memory of those you have met, but not completely removing memory of you."

Gula falls quiet and folds his arms, his weight shifting as he locks his attention onto Kabartmak, listening. He has a point about it being a highly-charged emotional event. The lives lost there... mm... not lost, but thst disappeared... he remembers hearts moving into the sky like a backwards snowfall.

He sighs softly.

He reaches out a hand towards the projection and with a slight touch, the memories fall onto the screen. Children fighting, keyblades clashing. Ira, Aced, Invi, and Ava on the battlefield. A bright moon in the shape of a heart. The hearts indeed, do act like a backwards snowfall as hearts begin to ascend skyward.

He pulls his hand back, his hand moving in a way that it closes into a half-fist. "What you're saying is possible... but if I'm honest?... I never gave it much thought." He's... too jaded and tired to deal with the fact he's looking his trauma in the face on the screen.

He's had time to process it and just... honestly? There's no emotions. Any tears he shed long ago are lost to him now. He simply views it as a war veteran would; a fact of life.

"If it did cling to me... I mean, it's a possibility. Magic systems from different universes clashing can cause... interesting outcomes, so to speak." He turns his head slightly to look at Kabartmak through his mask. "... So my question is; what is it you're looking to test? You say you want to know if emotions can cause those mm, not problems but... what's the word I'm looking for?" He muses to himself. "Ah, nevermind. My point is... I'm all ears if you want to test things a specific way."

[cycleofstars]

@adventurous-fluffs:

"Truthfully, I don't really know how to test it.. I could probably create something that detects mind-effecting magic, or a device that takes the differences to an extreme, forcing it to break the device in a way we can study, but those are just speculations." He would move down in the air, pretty much walking down to a small wall that he could sit on. They had pretty much poured out the base of their lives to each other, so if they weren't close friends before, they definitely were now... Then he had a thought. "The magic of these worlds. . Has it ever been effected by intense emotion? On my world, it is excessively rare, but entities with primal power can sometimes enhance their abilities, or create entirely new ones given the right conditions. I have some new ideas but they are predicated on the answer to that question."

Gula listens. He considers his question and he explains the nature of Heartless and Nobodies; "When a start is split here in this universe, the heart becomes its own entity. Heartless are beings who fell to darkness so to speak... and Nobodies are just the empty shells left behind." He pauses. "Nobodies... sometimes, if given enough time... can grow a heart of their own. It's entirely possible for the Nobody and the Heartless to reunite as one whole being too."

"It is possible to die in this universe, but most of the time people don't." He shrugs. This is his own universe so really, he's unfazed. "In my travels I realized how odd my universe is to the people outside... well, odd enough anyway."

He observes him through the mask's eyes. "Does that answer your question or were you looking for a specific answer?"

[cycleofstars]

@adventurous-fluffs:

The old fox would listen quietly as Gula poured out his past for him. It was.. Unique. He hadn't met anyone much like him, and the time alone somewhat made him remember his solace here and there over his many years. . Maybe, once he was done with that 'True Scrying' spell that he was working on for a certain librarian, he could use it to help find Gula's Ava. He very much doubted they were the same Ava he knew. "...The part about the war and disappearing from history.. I will look into that on my own, as not to put you through any memories. But, I believe that if something caused history of such potential magnitude as an entire war to be forgotten, then it likely had some lingering effect that caused my memory fog. It might have potentially effected the others you have met along the way as well." With that out of the way.. He started to focus on this 'Master' guy. Why build them up just to destroy their unity? To start a war? To ruin a family? .. He didn't have any answer for that right now. He might find it in his searches later. For now, maybe he could try connecting a bit more with Gula. He at least knew about losing a found family. "..When I was younger, and had just started learning magic, the professor I was learning from got into a lot of gambling debt. He had wagered on fights in an arena through some middle man. To pay them off, he had me kidnapped and sold to that arena, since who was going to miss a fox? I got placed with a group of others in that place.. Most of them didn't survive the next few years." Since he had used a Flying spell to make being on Gula's shoulder easier, Kabartmak would 'walk' on the air a bit off to the side, so he could be about eye level with Gula. He was actually rather adept at making it look like he was walking and standing on the air, since wizards couldn't cast Air Walk. "My group did eventually stabilize. Myself, a cat that was a White Necromancer, a kitsune Bard, a catfolk Paladin, and another kitsune who was a Brawler. Oddly enough, the Brawler wasn't there against his will. He was an adventurer looking to get stronger so he could go back and defend his home.. But that's another story for another time." All of their stories were long and rather time consuming to explain, but he would have to get their permission to tell those stories. "My group did eventually buy out our own freedom though. The two felines completely leveled the Arena not long after that. . We continued on as adventurers for a bit, and eventually went our separate ways... Right after we stopped a crisis and I got tossed backwards in time.. It was a bit comical, I walked over from a place I was watching from like nothing happened, having taken the long way back. I'm five hundred years old and was technically born about twenty years ago." Of course, another Arena popped up in some other place, but those kinds of things are like ants. You'll never get rid of all of them. "All of that is to say.. I can understand how it feels to watch people you care about either be driven away or taken from you. . And it really does seem like your 'master' took that family from you with his scheme. . I could probably have made that shorter, but I am old and prefer details."

Gula is grateful for the fox's wisdom, but he reassures him; "I am fine to help you find the answers you seek. I, too, am curious as to why certain magicks work differently... and why you don't remember a lot of it." He pauses. "The best answer I can give is that perhaps the frequencies in our respective world's magicks don't mix fundamentally... or... perhaps it's simply there is some kind of..." He pauses. "... not a counter curse, but more or less that."

He grows quiet for his tale. To think the fox had gone through something similar...

To say he was relieved someone understood was an underestatement. He's even more glad it's his little fox friend. His insight is... He seems wistful as he responds; "... In my wanderings... I've realized that yes, you are correct on that. The only one in the end who I could trust in the end was Ava. She..." He closes his eyes as he continues onward. "... she helped me when she didn't have too... and now she's gone."

He thinks over his 'siblings' and yes, he was close with all of them... some more then others, but Ava... Ava was always a place of comfort. They were about the same age and because of that, they were easily able to get along. Plus, her more playful nature countered his more snarky one all too well.

"... So... the memories... how do we test these?"

[cycleofstars]

The sound of footsteps can be heard this night. Treking his way along the back of Twilight Town, Gula shifts his head, the eyes of his mask catching the dim light in a way that would mistake one to think they were glowing, he rounds a tree when suddenly, the air seems to shift. He stops midstride and turns his head just a bit over his shoulder.

Briefly, his hand reaches for his Keyblade, summoning it. He says nothing, but the point is clear; Whomever is there, step out or there might be a fight.

@dreamlightmagicgarden

[cycleofstars]

@adventurous-fluffs:

Seeing the softer side of Gula was a nice change. If the old fox could allow him such moments to relax and let the chains of the past weigh less, he would. It was then, as he thought about that, when Gula asked a heavy question. It really didn't have a right answer. A place to go would always depend on the person. "When I get burnt out.. I don't really get burnt out these days, but when I was younger.. Let's see.." He would think back a bit. Before the great battle, before he was chosen as the Crown of Heaven's protector, before he was so fueled by magic that he rarely needed to sleep.. "Before all of what I am today.. I believe I would teleport to the top of a castle's bastion, on a cloudless night under a full moon. High enough to be away from the lights below, and it had to be a flat topped bastion, so the sky was visible. The guards there knew me so they would allow my shenanigans. There, I would pull a nice pillow out of my pocket vault, and just lay down and watch the sky. It was very relaxing."

As they walk, he's careful to steady the Fox for now on his shoulder, simply enjoying his company and the calm of the nature around them. As for where Gula had been to begin with; just an open expanse of land, a dirt path, green grass, blue skies. Nothing big. Just as a place in some expanse of the multiverse where Gula had decided to travel. It laid within the confines of is home universe but not any particular one world.

Under his mask, his gaze shifts to look in Kabartmak's direction for a moment. He could imagine the scene he laid out and for a moment... "... I had a place like that. In Daybreak Town." He thinks of those days fondly... before things went into the gutter. "... We lived in the Clock Tower. Me, Ira, Aced, Invi, Ava, Luxu, and our Master." He can't recall if he ever namedropped his family.

"... I was... an orphan. My Master took me in with everyone else. He taught us the ways of the Keyblade. We... were a family." He admits softly. The boy from before is now on full display. "... My favorite place was the top of the Clock Tower at dusk. The world was quiet. Not many people. Then Invi would find me, and then the rest. Then... we'd just all sit and watch the sunset."

He's too tired and jaded to cry reliving his memories, but if he could, he probably would. "... Then, my Master... decided to play a game, for a lack of a better word. For what reasons I don't think I'll ever know, but he gave me a paper from a book. Told me to find the culprit. What followed was me and my siblings tearing each other apart. They Keyblade War happened and we disappeared from the faces of history."

He stops and his head lowers a bit as beneath his mask, his eyes close. "... I began travelling. I sought answers from other worlds for many questions and while I found most, the one I always wondered was simply 'Why? Why force your students to tear each other apart? What were you hoping to achieve?'" He closes his eyes and sighs deeply. "My Master was... a piece of work. He would only ever answer your questions with more questions. He was exhausting in personality. Now that I've travelled and had time to process it... the closest I can tell you is he felt a need to control everything."

His voice drops to a murmur. He's too tired to cry. Too tired to simply exist at the moment. "... Then, I met you. I met some other Keyblade Wielders. I lost contact with all of you and now you've found me and I... am yet one step less closer to finding Ava." His eyes close. "Luxu summoned us -- Ira, Me, Aced, and Invi. We answered. He had taken a new form. He excluded Ava and didn't explain why... so now I'm looking for her... and I don't know where to look next." His hand comes up, carefully avoiding the diadem to gently pet behind the fox's ear.

"... I'm kind of glad you found me. So... thanks, Kabartmak."