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 Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 3:42 pm
Conrad watched her short outburst with a trouble expression, nearing pity. Caoimhe didn't realize, then? Hadn't Airi spoken with her - one of the other Lost Children - someone come to care for these Fa'e, at least taught them about themselves?
Clearly not. He wondered, a bit guiltily, if it should have been his onus at that time. If not then, it certainly was now.
"I'd expect there's a picture for all the Lost Children's home worlds somewhere in here," Conrad mused, a fleeting melancholy on his face. "Anya was very integral in bringing new Fa'e into being, after all; she would take the Talisman to where they had been called. When it was on Gaia, Airi could do it herself; but when it is far off, such as your world," he gestured down to the album, "only Anya could travel there to complete the task. And when it is so far-off and dangerous as your world, too far for her to bring a child back, Anya would also have to undertake the task of finding a Guardian."
Now that Caoimhe was flipping through photographs, though, Conrad began to wonder. "It would have been a few years ago - after you and the other Lost Children were born - that Anya took the Heart. I wonder if there are any pictures of that trip in here as well?" How they would be able to tell which pictures related to that trip, even if they did exist, was an entirely different question - but presuming, just presuming that there was one....
There was an inkling of an idea, some possible chance. "These photographs must have been taken on those worlds and carried back," the wanderer thought, brushing his fingers on his chin. "Sometimes, if you know how to look for them, old portals can be re-opened; you can even find pathways to other worlds on objects that have come from them. I wonder if any trace of the places these photographs were taken might remain...."
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Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:31 am
Conrad's explanation did nothing to stir Caoimhe. Anya couldn't take her? Impossible! Conrad had managed it, hadn't he? Then why couldn't she do it? A dark and sad part of Caoimhe curled up in the corner of her mind to cry. Aranorn was a prison, and for most of her life, Caoi was a slave. Without Gristla, she would have been killed on first sight. Yes, Conrad had shown up eventually to bring the two of them to Gaia, but the idea that she could have gotten out of there much sooner would not leave the selkie's head. How would her life have been different?
For now, she ignored that subject. It was too painful, and she was doing her best to be strong -- for Airi, for Gristla, for everyone. Tilting up her chin, Caoi blinked away the angry tears that threatened to spill over and listened as patiently as she could as Conrad continued to speak. "Traces of the places... like magic?" she asked, turning another page. Her eyes tried to search for some kind of hidden sign, but she saw nothing. It didn't stop her from looking.
Magic was still new to Caoimhe. She had no idea what it would take to accomplish the things that Conrad wanted, but she tried to be useful. "If we need magic, I can do this," she said and lifted up on hand. She rolled her wrist and wiggled her fingers. After a moment, a bubble the size of a baseball rose from the palm of her hand. She let it hover for a moment and then popped it with her finger. There were much fancier magic tricks that Caoimhe knew she was capable of, but the hand-produce-bubble thing was the only one that she had any control over. The others happened when she was mad, or upset, or excessively happy. "If we need to go somewhere, I can travel really fast through water," she added, nodding as if it were helpful. In seal form, Caoimhe could swim like a dolphin, but there was the added bonus of the occasional teleportation through water. She had only done it three times since she grew, and it was always on accident. Could she summon the strength to do it if Conrad asked it of her?
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