Welcome to Gaia! ::

Albus smiled as he felt the wind on his face, enjoying their little flight just as much as Jewel was, even more so thanks to the lovely lady keeping him company.
However, it was at that point that SOMETHING blasted past them with a loud "WOO-HOO!", causing quite a bit of air turbulence as a result; fortunately, the two winged steeds managed to right themselves before they fell or dropped their passengers.

"Yeah, I'm fine... I'm fairly certain I know that voice, that shouted out, though, and if it's who I think it is, then he's not a threat - just a bit of a nuisance," Albus noted with impressive calm as he similarly righted himself.

"Not a knight - a freelance mage, specializing in the main elemental magics: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Spirit, though he doesn't use the last one much," Albus corrected. "He's a bit odd, but then that's only to be expected, since he's technically four different people stuffed in the same body."

"Well, I never really looked much into magical theory, but from what I understand, elemental magics don't really get along well unless you mix them just right - even more so for opposing elements like Fire and Water," Albus explained. "Normally someone with opposing affinities would have to choose to specialize in one or the other, lest the opposing energies tear their body to shreds, but from what I understand, he used his Spirit magic to split his soul into four pieces - one for Fire, one for Water, one for Earth, one for Air. To use the corresponding magic, the corresponding soul portion takes control, and if he ever needs to use his Spirit magic, he just merges the four portions of his soul together again temporarily... or at least that's what I got from the explanation he gave me," Albus added as an afterthought.

Albus just chuckled as Shadow landed alongside her. "True - it's a lot easier to see in action than it is to explain it."
"Ah, c'mon, now, the technical explanations aren't THAT bad, are they?" a voice quipped from behind them.
Albus sighed. "Hello, Quadrus," he greeted the mage, his voice carefully neutral.
Quadrus grinned; he had spiky white hair and light-gray eyes that spoke of a carefree personality - right off the bat, you could see that he was the kind of guy who moved where the wind took him, and that if the wind just so happened to take him where he needed to go anyway, well, that was completely coincidental - no wind manipulation on his part at all.

(Please make note of the sarcasm in that last bit. mrgreen )

(I have a very, very active imagination. xd He also plays an important part in Albus's backstory.)

Suddenly Quadrus's appearance changed slightly; his hair turned fiery red, the spikes in his hair all clumping together (think the Dragonball Z Super Saiyan hairstyle) even as his eyes swirled with color for a moment before becoming black as coal, giving off the impression they were going to burst into flames any moment now. "Oh yeah? You want a piece of me? Huh?!?" he asked heatedly, glaring at Jewel ferociously, bringing out a strange transparent staff with a gem of constantly shifting colors on the end of it. Apparently he took her words and her hand on her sword as a threat.
Albus just rolled his eyes. "Get the fiery portion of your personality under control, Quadrus, I'm sure she didn't mean it like that."
At that, Quadrus's eyes and hair changed once more, hair becoming blue and in a style reminiscent of waves, his eyes turning a shade of blue reminiscent of a calm sea. "Yes, Ignis, please calm down." Another shift. "Butt out of it, Aquan, this isn't any of your business!" Another shift, this time back to the white-haired version. "Hey, why can't you two guys just get along like me and Terra? It'd be so much more fun that way!" Shift. Another shift, this time to a version of Quadrus with short grass-green hair and brown eyes like stone. "That's enough out of all of you, Aether, Ignis, Aquan. Have some self-control."
As Quadrus apparently continued arguing with himself, completely forgetting about the two knights for the moment, Albus muttered to Jewel, "Like I said - four different people, one body."

Albus shrugged, Shadow similarly going into a trot. "Oh, I dunno - he's not that bad in small doses," he noted, looking rather amused at her reaction.
"Hey! We resent that remark!" Quadrus grinned cheekily from beside the two, riding on his staff as if it were a broomstick, back to his Air Magic persona.
Albus sighed, adding, "However, three fourths of him are rather persistent."

Shadow smacked Sora back just as playfully on her rump, sending her the equine equivalent of a sly grin.
"Hey, that's uncalled for! Albus has always managed just fine, even back when - "
However, Quadrus immediately shut up when Albus gave him a cold, flat, stare, a hint of distant pain and barely suppressed rage in his blind eyes, as well as a strange gleam of something unidentifiable; apparently he hadn't been exaggerating when he'd mentioned the reactions his death-glares induced in people. "We've gone over this, Quadrus," he told the young man in a soft tone as chilling as Death itself. "The past is the past, and that is where it will stay when you are in my presence. What you tell Jewel when I am not around is your business, but I have no interest in reviving memories that I wish to bury. Understand?"
Quadrus had obviously seen the knight in this kind of mood before and immediately switched to his earth persona, murmuring, "Of course, our apologies."
"Good." With that, Albus seemed to relax, returning to his usual calm, gentle self.