|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:55 pm
The cowl dipped forward in a slight nod.
"I would do nothing else," he said quietly, "for something as important as this."
There was a brief pause, and then he murmured, "I am part of the reason Rhea is alive ... I could not live with myself if I did not do for her all that I was able."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 5:40 pm
Cindy nodded slowly at this, it made sense from what she learned about Rhea's birth, which was something else. She sat back and mused thoughtfully before starting.
"I guess the first thing to ask is what is the extent of the gift? I know little about empathy, which is what her parents and I are assume she has."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:02 pm
For a moment, Aragost did not reply to Cindy's question. There was one way he could explain, but it would make no sense to her - or to most of the people who lived in the Borderlands. Ulani, perhaps, would understand ... but no others.
"Perhaps," he suggested quietly, still motionless, "the question should not be of her gift's extent ... but of its nature ... if you are to understand it."
How far it reached, how powerful it was, meant nothing if it itself was not understood. But he did not mean to insult Cindy, or make her feel foolish: simply to point out what needed to be explained first.
"To be an empath," he added softly, though some of the rasp left his voice, "is to lead ... a dangerous ... and sometimes lonely life. Here ... in a place of goodness ... Rhea can grow up pure ... untouched by the evils of this world ... were she in another place, she might not have been so fortunate, for as an empath, she absorbs what is around her ..."
He paused once more, thinking how to make the power more clearly understood.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:17 pm
And growing up with that type of ability would have affected her growth, Cindy wasn't an expert in child psychology but she was sure it wouldn't have been healthy for Rhea at all.
"Not just emotions, feelings though, it's energy and..." Cindy wasn't sure if there was a term for it, but the fact that Rhea grasped ideas quickly in terms of magic, which what Adonai suggested, would have to do with her gift.
But what was the term for it, what else was Rhea taking in?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:28 pm
"An empath - Rhea - has the ability to absorb emotions, energy, magic, pain ... desires ..."
Aragost folded his hands in his lap, his first real movement since Rhea had brought Cindy downstairs.
"Had she grown up anywhere but here," he said quietly, "she would likely have been subverted. It is imperative ... absolutely imperative ... that she learn to control what she takes in ... and to what degree she takes it in. To help ease someone's pain - physical, emotional, mental - is a good thing, and she can do great good in so doing ... but if she takes it all, and leaves them with no suffering at all ... she will destroy herself, her sanity."
He paused once more, then added, in a hesitant tone, "And yet ... if she had ... a way to channel it out of her body ... an item, perhaps, that could ... channel magic ... direct it ... change its form ..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:46 pm
That was the thing wasn't it? How did one teach a girl who naturally took everything and teach her how to control that? Cindy had a few rough ideas, though what Aragost was suggesting had merit as well.
"You mean like a crystal, a glass ball.. or something of that nature," Cindy offered.
She had heard it be done before, and it wasn't an unknown concept, even bottles were used, but the question was, then what? It had to go somewhere....
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:57 pm
Aragost shook his head, a slight movement of his cowl.
"They would shatter the first time she tried to use them," he said quietly but firmly. "No ... she would need something that can withstand magic ... something that can direct it elsewhere."
Perhaps that was where they should start, so that Rhea would at least have some safety when they began delving into the depths of her power, so that she would not be overwhelmed by it ...
"I know where I can get what we require," he murmured. "Let me take care of that. But for your part ... can you think of ways to teach her to ... block out what is around her, magically? Right now she is a mirror of those around her ... she is kind because others are kind ... she thinks first of others because her parents do so ... perhaps your sign that you will have succeeded will be the revelation of her own personality, and not that of those around her ..."
Though who knew what that would be. There was even the possibility that she would be once more a blank slate, completely blank in the absence of the reflections of others ... but it was equally possible that she would be the same as she was now, a sweet, thoughtful, insightful six year old who was that way not only because of her magic, but truly because of her upbringing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:13 pm
"Yes," Cindy replied instantly, she had already been thinking about it on and off as it were, "There are exercises, we can start on those."
They were different from the meditation her mother had tried, it was more making Rhea aware of what was around her, this way working from there working on the building blocks to create mental, magical shields to keep outside influnces out.
Thank goodness they lived out in the middle of nowhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:28 am
Aragost nodded again, though he was lost in thought. "It would also be beneficial for her if you would get her to think of the nuances of magic use as well," he murmured softly. "How the use or lack of it affects things around her, how it would affect her ... how to know when to use it, or when not to ... how to use it ... how not to ..."
He would not teach her himself, however: he trusted that Cindy would do a fine job, and he could not attach himself to more people than he already had.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:52 am
Cindy understood what he was getting at, Rhea had been using magic freely (well as freely as a child could while being under adult supervision).
"Hmm... yes, I think I know what you mean," Cindy murmured thoughtfully, "That might be a bit more difficult, she tends to always think in terms of how she caused something... 'bad' to happen, but that is something we could also do."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:12 am
"It is not something that you COULD do," Aragost said firmly, "it is something that you MUST do. Rhea is quite capable of great destruction, just as she is capable of good. If she does not learn to know consciously as well as unconsciously the proper time and manner to use her magic, the result would be catastrophic."
He didn't mean to be harsh with Cindy - but he was after all Aragost, and he spoke as he thought - and knew - to be true.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:51 am
Cindy winced a bit, it couldn't be helped that she did, "I did not mean I would not do so. I know what you meant by the important of her learning this."
Like she hadn't already had it rammed into her brain already how badly this could turn out if she messed up.
"I'm sorry I made it sound like it was an opinion, I did not mean it like that in the least."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:02 pm
Aragost bit his tongue. He knew Cindy meant well ... and he knew he was being harsh with her. But Rhea's magical instruction was of vital importance ... He could apologize, he mused, but perhaps it was better if he didn't, simply so that he would not forge another connection.
"Perhaps," he murmured, "I should tell you ... of the empath that I once knew ..."
No one of his family, but she had been a great empath nonetheless. And who knew? Perhaps it would help Cindy to understand what a task she had before her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:19 pm
She sat back a bit and looked at Aragost considering him as a person. He was.. well mysterious, it was no wonder why Lin as a child use to be driven nuts by the person known as Aragost (though for some reason the girl seemed to have let it go and all things odd was just put into the catagory of Its Aragost).
"I'd like that," she replied, "I think that would help greatly."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:50 pm
Aragost nodded.
"This was ... millenia ago," the ancient elf murmured quietly. "Near the end of the first age ... she had great powers, indeed ... when I was near death, too filled with pain to do what should have been an easy task of healing myself ... she found me ... and she took my pain into herself, giving me the ability to think clearly and heal my wounds ..."
He had been amazed at the time, though now that he knew about empathic powers, he took it as a matter of course (though of course he was still grateful for it). And he would never forget the utter agony on her face afterward ...
"On the other hand," he added seriously, "she met her destruction attempting to save someone who had died ... she saved the life of the other ... but her own life was sacrifice."
He closed his eyes, remembering. "She had a staff ... as I hope to attain for Rhea ... which she used to channel the things she absorbed into the ground around her ... the pain ... the suffering ... she had attempted to channel the death into the ground as well, but the earth was created to live ... it was rejected and thrust back upon her ..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[T]he [O]thers's avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/fe/ce/f6078ff69cefe_flip.png?t=1432603596_6.00_00&a=1&i=53107&s=stand&f=front)
Reply
