CS: Ebon and Animus [Old Blog Repost]
WARNING! LONG POST!
Before you start, some context. This is a character study from a long time ago. A pair of aspiring writers was streaming and I happened to be watching. After some conversation and a few more streams, they invited me to join them for a writing session. This is the result. Two authors that went back and forth in a Google Doc, playing with characters. Unfortunately, these individuals stopped streaming, and I haven't heard from them in quite some time. If you're still out their, friendos, I would love to chat with you again.
Please enjoy this little piece of chaos.
~
Setting: A crowded medieval-style market, filled with stalls of various wares. People are walking around, sampling foods, buying goods, the usual business of markets.
~
A single woman stands in a pavilion area. Long, blood red hair with matching eyes; pale skin contrasting black business suit; bare feet. She keeps an eye out for someone, but it is not sure who.
Amethyst: [muttering to herself] Ani said someone was coming. I’m sure of it. I felt the odd energy signature. They have to be around here somewhere…
A figure in a black cloak saunters through the middle of the street. He seems to be consciously ignoring the eyes on him. He stands easily a foot taller than most around him. A cowl covers all of his face although rags can be seen covering the lower part of his jaw. Piercing blue spots of light shine bright from above the rags where one’s eyes might be.
Ebon: [thinks to himself] Where is she? She told me to meet her here.
Amethyst: [becoming more alert] There’s that signature again. Coming from the other side of the Pavilion. Ani said his name was Ebon. Interesting name. [starts to walk across the pavilion, slowly sliding to Ebon’s side] “Are you lost, Ebon?”
Ebon: [notices the woman with blood red hair in front of him for the first time but keeps walking] She looks like Linda, close but not exactly. The hair is too red and she didn’t have red eyes last time. Could she have changed her appearance again? “How do you know my name?”
Amethyst: [smirking] “You seem uneasy with the idea that I know your name. It’s amusing.” [she glances up and down his attire] “Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Amethyst. I was asked to keep aware of your arrival. You are newer here than most.”
Ebon: [body tenses, magic coming to the surface in preparation for action] “Newer than most? What do you mean by that and who told you of my arrival?”
Amethyst: [tilts her head to one side] “No need to tense, unless you want to test your magic on me.” [she chuckles, as a parent would to a child] “Animus told me that she was bringing someone new to our universe. I was asked to meet you, as I do many others who have come before you. If you would like to know more, this would not be the best place to talk.”
Ebon: [glances around, the lights of his eyes growing dimmer in the approximation of narrowing] “I see.” [he rubs the back of his head, embarrassed] Damn, Teresa. I thought she said that she would send us to the same world this time. I suppose she goes as Animus in this world. “I apologize for my rudeness. I thought you were another person. If you are my contact I see no reason to fight. I am here to solve your problem, whatever that is.”
Amethyst: “Well, there is no problem. Animus just wanted to bring you here to enjoy a new place and -hopefully- some new friends. Is that not an adventure in itself?”
Ebon: “I suppose. I am fairly new to world hopping.” Damn it, Teresa. If you sent me here for a vacation I am going to strangle you. [visibly struggles with relaxing]. “What is there to do around here?”
Amethyst: [smiles a little] There are far too many things that can be done here. [she begins to walk away] “Follow me. We’ll head over to the giant castle in front of us. The nice marble one.”
Ebon: [catches up in a few long strides] “My, my. That’s impressive.” It makes Nyr Keep seem like it wasn’t crafted with thought and care.
The castle Amethyst walks toward is very decorative. A strangely beautiful combination of marble and stone. It makes the city look like a sea port more than an actual city. Colorful banners and trees are carefully placed on the manicured lawn. Different people are tending to work around the castle and give a nod to Amethyst as they pass.
Ebon: “What is the name of this castle?”
Amethyst: “This is the Acropolis. Animus and a few others are waiting for you here. Knowing one of many ways this will go, Animus will probably be asking you questions and making sure nothing horrible happened to you when you hopped universes.” That’s usually my job, but I guess Animus decided to do it herself. The nerve of the woman.
Ebon: [nods] “Very well.” I wonder if all worlds are so aware of the blurry line between dimensions. I can only imagine the chaos that such a revelation would bring to my world. [sighs] Maybe one day.
Amethyst: [hearing the sigh, she turns to him] “Everything alright, Ebon? You seem uneasy.”
Ebon: “It’s nothing. Let’s get going.”
Amethyst: [nods] I wish I could be as amazed as he is by time and reality hopping. It is what it is, as Ani would say.
Both Ebon and Amethyst arrive and enter. As they pass through the large castle, various doorways reveal laboratories, rooms of technology, a curious room where magic weaves itself into crystals. Other spaces seem to expand into vast libraries with a variety of resources. Amethyst approaches a door with strange writing in gold and green frosted glass.
Amethyst: “If you don’t want a headache for the next few moments, you should look away. I have to open the door, and the writing has been known to induce some pain for those unfamiliar with it.
Ebon looks away as instructed. Amethyst begins her whisper of a chant and traces some of the letters on the door. The door glows red at first, then gold. The words pound against every surface possible with an odd echo. After a few seconds, the words and glow stop and the door opens. Inside is a large library. The library is centered around a sandy firepit and a solid oak writing desk with a currently indistinguishable figure.
Amethyst: “Door opened faster than expected, but I’m okay with that. Come on in.” [she walks in casually] “Feel free to get comfortable. There are loungers and chairs around the firepit.”
Ebon: [moves in and eyes the loungers with narrowed eyes and reluctantly sits down in one]. “So, who is this Animus person you were talking about?”
As Ebon sits, Amethyst sits on the desk and notions to the figure with her head. The figure is a young woman. She sits and smiles at Ebon as he notices her appearance: brown hair with two prominent red stripes in the front; her left cerulean eye and right amethyst eye; her black t-shirt and denim shorts; and -most prominently- the ribbons of magic and markings along her arms and what he can see of her neck.
Animus: “I’m glad to see that Ebon made it here safely. Any negative side effects?”
Ebon: [looks at his arms and shrugs]. “Nothing I can feel. Should I be looking for something?”
Animus: “Just making sure you are well. Nothing in particular for the moment.” [looks to Amethyst] “Were you able to find him easily?”
Amethyst: nods, but says nothing.
Animus: “Good.” [returns to Ebon] “I trust there are some things that piqued your interest while you were walking?”
Ebon: [cups his chin in a hand thoughtfully]. “I am sure that I saw some interesting stalls as I walked but the most interesting part of this world is your magic. How does it work?”
Amethyst: [gives a chuckle, and looks to Animus while addressing Ebon] “Depends. Whose magic would you like to see at work first?”
Ebon: [leans forward, resting his chin on his steepled hands]. “Does everyone use different magic?”
Animus: [laughs] “Well, Amethyst’s magic works a bit differently than most magic here. Hence the question.”
Ebon: [blinks]. “Alright. What kind of magic can you use Amethyst?”
Amethyst: [standing up] “Ani, can you quell the fire in the fire pit for a moment?”
Animus: [sensing the mischief about to happen, smothers the fire] “Shall I explain as you perform, Amethyst?”
Amethyst: [looking to Ebon but addressing Animus] “That is up to our friend here.” [she summons a sphere of dark mist, then cracks it open to reveal different color strings tethering the sphere halves together]
Ebon: [stands and gulps]. Wow. “That would be nice.” [coughs into his hand] “Yes, very nice. I always like to try and understand these different worlds.”
Amethyst: [watches one string glow a little and smirks] “This is going to be fun. He’s already chosen a path.”
Animus: [makes a dismissive motion in Amethyst’s direction] “In this world, Amethyst is a Time Walker. She can traverse time at will, looking into alternate realities and -if needed- bending them at will.”
Amethyst: [plucks two strings like a guitar, collapses the sphere, and fades it from her hand with a gentle swipe] “Alright, Ebon. Go ahead and come step into the fire pit with me.”
Ebon: [gulps, wondering about what path she was talking about]. Time Walker, huh? Oh, boy. This job is never boring, I suppose. [Ebon steps into the fire pit, grabbing his cloak and pulling it away from the soot on the ground].
Amethyst: [chuckles as Ebon pulls his cloak] “What? Afraid to get your clothes dirty?”
Animus: “Am, be nice. Not everyone is as detached as you can be.”
Ebon: “This was a gift from my father before he died. I would prefer it not get dirty.”
Animus: “Understandable. Now, how are your feet feeling?”
Ebon [kicks his feet a little, soot flying up in the air, pooling around his feet]. “No different than usual.”
Amethyst: [laughs] “For the moment.” [Amethyst waves her hand, causing the soot and sand to feel as if the fire is still going but with no sign of flames] “How about now?”
Ebon: [looks down at his feet]. “Nothing. Although, to be truthful, this body hasn’t felt anything since the ritual. Handy sometimes.” [looks down at the cloth covering of his boot catching fire and slaps at it with a hand, extinguishing it]. “Sometimes.”
Amethyst: “Huh. Interesting.” [looks to Animus] “Haven’t dealt with someone like him in a while.”
Animus: [if Ebon looks to her, he will see that she wears a red shirt now] “It is rare to find a soul like his.”
Ebon: [chuckles] Damn, the past me would have heard that and instantly thought he was some sort of savior. Now, I know that there are people like Linda, Lord Righteous, and maybe even this Animus and Amethyst. “Believe me, I am not that special.”
Amethyst: [shrugs] “Maybe not where you are from, but here is a little bit different.”
Animus: [nods] “Are you done playing with the fire pit now?”
Amethyst: “I kinda wanted to see how Ebon here was going to react, so I suppose so.”
Animus: “Alright then.” [she waves a hand and levitates Ebon and Amethyst back to their sitting places, then swishes her hand upward and restarts the fire. Her shirt returns to a black t-shirt] “I don’t want Amethyst boring you with her magic. Because of its oddities, it’s hard to show beyond changing realities seamlessly and merging realities together. That and all the mucking about with time itself.”
Ebon [chuckles and then with a sarcastic tone ]: “Yes, yes, changing reality is very boring.” [a small smile hanging on his lips]
Amethyst: “Depends on what kind of mood you’re in. Or how much power you want to play with.”
Ebon: [his eyes narrow slightly, his tone casual]. “So, what happens if you are mad?”
Amethyst: [smirks] “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Ebon: [smiles, but with his teeth slightly showing]. “On most days, probably not. I am strong, but I dare not tempt the hand a person that can rewrite reality to her fancy.”
Animus: “Probably for the best.”
Amethyst: [her smirk changes to a sinister smile] “Or I can change it to your fancy.”
Animus: [in a warning tone] “Amethyst…”
Ebon: [looks solidly at Animus]. “I noticed that I didn’t see any guards here on the way in here....”
Animus: “Not many, no. I don’t need them here.”
Amethyst chuckles but says nothing while she plays with different set of colored strings.
Ebon: [nods, still looking at Animus]. “I understand. I assume that you have similar if not similarly powerful magic, too?”
Animus: “Oh, no. My power is different from Amethyst’s. Mine is more…” [she pauses, thinking of a word] “... elemental.” [she stands from her desk] “Would you like me to show you?”
Ebon: “Sure.”
Animus: [getting up and going into the flames of the fire pit without reacting] “Would you like to battle me, Ebon? Or just watch? I figure I might as well offer before I get to into the show.”
Ebon: [shrugs and cracks his neck, pushing his hood back to reveal close cropped black hair. The rags covering his mouth and neck fall to the ground, revealing skin too pale to be entirely human] “I think that is the fourth time that I have been offered a chance at sparring since getting here. Very well. Might as well not resist any longer. I am game.”
Animus: [chuckles darkly] “Good.” [a ribbon on her arm glows red and a sphere of fire hovers in her hand] “Use whatever you wish.” [she chucks the fire at Ebon, aiming directly for his chest]
Amethyst sees a string and its diversions glow and giggles.
Ebon: [braces himself for the impact, strengthening himself until his bones were pure ebony, like his armor]
The fire splashes against the ebony breastplate, leaving no mark. His skin is the same color and sheen as his armor save for the blue sparks of his eyes. Ebon can see the energy behind the fire return back to Animus as she observes what happened.
Amethyst: [muttering to herself] “Interesting, interesting…”
Animus: [watches and chuckles] “A strengthening technique. Good to know what I’m up against.” [the red ribbon glows again as she summons a scythe and uses the energy to infuse it with fire] “What else can you do, my friend? I’m curious.”
Ebon: [grins]: “Plenty more where that comes from.” [He remembers his lessons with Linda and extends a single finger towards Animus]
Energy gathers at the point of his finger and shoots forth a blue-white energy in the form of electricity, at the last moment aiming over Animus’ shoulder. As it reaches Animus, she brings the blade toward the electricity and lets the energy get absorbed into the scythe as well. With one swing, she swings down and sends this new combination of fire and electricity screaming toward Ebon. The fire and electricity arcs up Ebon’s body, yet he doesn’t flinch.
Ebon: She has quick reflexes. Now, let me test a theory.
Ebon closes his eyes, the blue eye lights vanishing. In his hand appears a little orb of grayish clay. With a thought, he imbues the ball with canceling magic and rolls it towards Animus. Without a second thought, Amethyst makes a copy of the orb and begins to play with it.
Ebon: “Here is a gift for you.”
Animus: “How sweet of you.” [she snaps her fingers and notices the slight drain of energy] “Ah, I see. It’s from your world, isn’t it?” [she grabs her scythe again and touches it to the orb] “Do you like using these in battle?”
Ebon: [frowns]. “Not usually. My style is seeing who breaks first in a contest of strength, but Linda keeps telling me to think more. It has its place. At least I know now that the sources of our power are different. It would have been no fun if I could just cancel out your magic.”
Amethyst: “No, but it would have been funny.”
Animus: [rolling her eyes and speaking in a snarky tone] “Shut up, Amethyst.” [she picks up the orb with the edge of her scythe and rolls it into her hand to study it] “I find it interesting. We have something similar for enchanted weapons, but to see it in a raw form like this-” [she looks to Amethyst] “Did you get a copy of it?”
Amethyst nods.
Animus: “Good.” [she tosses the orb into the air with her scythe, then cracks it so the energy dissipates] “Anything else you want to try? I’m up for anything.”
Ebon: [smiles, remembering a precious moment in the past]. “Anything you say. Funny that you say that. Magic in my world is just that. Anything. One’s imagination is the limit. I once thought it was scary to imagine all the possibilities, but now, it just excites me.”
Ebon’s face stiffens and another Ebon appears behind Animus, a grotesquely large sword gripped in his hands and swings down. As he watches the sword swing down, Animus shimmers out of sight and he hits a rock instead. He can hear Animus giggle.
Amethyst: [smirks] “Oh, now she decides to use something else. I thought she was going to stick to her basics.”
Ebon: “Damn, well I guess that I should think more creatively now, shouldn’t I?”
Ebon sits down on the floor, the grotesquely large sword shrinking down to its regular size on his hip. He taps the ground with his knuckle listening to the vibrations. He can feel a swoosh of energy, then a sudden pressure on his nose as if a finger touched it. He can hear Animus giggle.
Animus: “Boop. Touched your nose.”
Ebon can feel another swoosh of energy as Animus floats backward. Amethyst shakes her head and rolls her eyes. He continues to rap his knuckle on the ground for a more seconds. The grounds seems to bounce with each rap until it finally bursts. Out of the ground, a golem with four arms and four heads pulls itself up and out of the hole. The golem sniffs the air and looks towards a space in the room. Amethyst jumps and begins to do something, but Animus giggles.
Animus: “Amethyst, don’t worry.” [she appears on one of the golem’s heads] “You don’t need to get feisty just yet. I’m fine for the moment.” [she looks to Ebon and swings her legs like a child against the golem’s head] “Nice golem you got here. Do you summon them often?”
The Ebon on the ground continues to rap with his knuckles. Meanwhile, the golem grins and shakes its head before bursting into a million smaller ebony spiders that leap at Animus. Animus jumps back, but not fast enough. The spiders swarm her quickly. Amethyst stands from her spot. She growls toward the spiders, but watches to see what Ebon does with them. The Ebon on the ground vanishes like mist and a majority of the spiders form into a black humanoid form. The swarm of spiders coalesce into a solid pillar around Animus, leaving her face and arms bare.
Ebon: [breaths heavily for a few seconds]: “Phew. What an interesting sparring match. I am being forced to be creative here. You have my thanks.”
Animus: [telepathically with a giggle] My pleasure. It is funny how our powers are near even. I’m impressed. I might have to learn that trick myself.
Ebon: [closes his eyes, whispering in his mind]. Until recently, this would have freaked me out, but having your imagination opened to many things is a blessing, I realize.
Amethyst: “Funny how that works, I tend to find. Don’t you agree Ani?”
Animus takes a moment to let the spiders turn into energy then spins them into an orb before handing them to Ebon. She gives him a nod. Ebon takes the orb. Animus closes her eyes and a navy blue ribbon glows as she appears to restore her energy.
Ebon: [sighs]: “And that is where you’ve got me, I fear. I still don’t have that much energy stored up. [he looks around the room for any plants]
Animus: “Huh… storing energy… seems like a pain.” [she places her hands close to Ebon’s chest as the ribbon glows again and she begins to heal him herself]
Amethyst: “Imagination is a valuable thing to Animus. To the rest of us, not so much.”
Ebon: “Same here. Linda has much more an imagination than me though. It's still a learning process for me.”
Amethyst: “I find it amusing that you use imagination to channel energy for magic.”
Ebon: [chuckles] “I didn’t know for the longest time. Until I met, Linda, I thought that I had everything figured out. How wrong I was." [his eyes lack the focus they had, as if he is remembering an event far in the past. He looks up at Amethyst and then to Animus]. “But you seem to have a boundless amount. How do you keep that amount of energy in check? Sometimes, the amount I have makes me feel like I am going to explode, which is why I store it...somewhere else.”
Ebon holds his hand out and looks at it as a small fireball flashes into existence. He stares at it for a second and then closes his fist around the light, extinguishing it.
Ebon: “Even now, I only have a limited amount. I can’t replenish my energy like others, by sleeping and eating.”
Amethyst: “That’s probably the oddest thing about this particular reality.”
Animus: “For us, energy and magic are always fluid, always moving. We don’t try to contain it or control it beyond what we need it for.”
Amethyst: “It does make for some very interesting uses in magic in this reality and on this planet in particular.”
Ebon: [cocks his head]. “I know that you mentioned reality warping, but are you both reality hoppers.”
Animus: “I only hop between two realities, but it pales to what Amethyst does to pass time.”
Amethyst: [chuckles lowly] “I hop around quite a bit. It is rather fun and interesting for me, and it keeps unnecessary errors from popping up.”
Ebon: “What do you mean errors? Do you correct other realities?”
Amethyst: “If they need correcting, yes. Would you like me to give you an example?”
Ebon: “Sure.”
Amethyst: “First, an example of how many realities I can see. Then a correction I had to do.” [She places her right hand on Ebon’s shoulder. Her eyes glow brightly for a moment, then she pulls a strange sphere from the place she touched him. She cracks it in half and opens it to study the strings inside.] “You’ve lead an interesting life, Ebon. Too many chances to kill too many people. Yet, for the most part, this variation of you is more of an explorer. But you’ve done a lot. More than I was aware of to begin with.” [she looks up to Ebon] “Who is Linda? She seems important to you.”
Ebon: [gulps]: “She is...well, probably the most accurate definition is that she is my soulmate. I don’t necessarily mean in the figurative sense either. I mean that literally, her soul and mine are intertwined.”
Amethyst: [huffs in amusement] “So you’re not the only one soulbound to another.” [she casts a side glance at Animus] “There are ten realities where Linda will join you in this universe. Out of those, she will return with you to your world in five of them. In two, she will stay here on her own accord to study. In three, she will die here.” [she looks up to Ebon] “Now, this is all very, very vague. There are many realities where she isn’t here, but I can’t see those ones. I can only see her when she is here and connected to you.” [She collapses the sphere and places it back in Ebon’s shoulder]
Ebon: [his eyes widen in surprise, but then narrow and looks conflicted] “Wow. That’s a lot to take in. How do you deal with all the possibilities?”
Amethyst: [shrugs] “Just how any mortal would deal with anything. A step at a time. Or, in my case, an error or study at a time.” [she looks to Animus] “Now, the correction bit. A while back, Animus had a rather dark energy in her. One that manifested into a demon of sorts. As it was my duty, I have gone through many realities to either stop the darkness from beginning, or to clean up the mess.” [she sighs] “Sadly, I won’t be able to get rid of all of it, but I’ve gotten rid of about ninety-nine percent of it.”
Ebon: [looks at his hands] “No, I don’t think that the darkness will ever be completely vanquished. I mean, I don’t know nearly enough about your reality to say whether or not it would be bad to get rid of it all or not, but I know that in mine, it is integral. Without that darkness, my reality probably wouldn’t exist, and I wouldn’t either.”
As Amethyst and Ebon continue to talk, Animus is distracted by a messenger coming in. She takes the messenger to the other side of the library to talk without interference.
Amethyst: “There are realities where the light and dark are not integral. Oddly enough, I seem to find that humanoid mortals tend to make sure that light and dark stay intertwined.” [she glances toward the messenger to study them, but says nothing about it] “It is a rather interesting pattern for me to study when Animus doesn’t need me for anything, and I don’t want to cause any chaos.”
Ebon: “Then why do you?” [he eyes the messenger across the way but says nothing]
Amethyst: “Why do I … what? You’re a little vague on that one.” [She takes another glance over and noticed some markings on the messenger. With an eye roll, she re-focuses on Ebon.]
Ebon: [he gives a slight tilt of his head in the direction of the messenger and raises an eyebrow]
Amethyst: [gently shifting Ebon a little further away from Animus and the messenger] “The markings we can see tell him a couple of things. One, that he is a messenger of the Queen. Two, that he is the eldest and most trusted messenger. That probably means that G- sorry, Queen Genieve needs to have an important task or meeting for either me, Animus, or both. Probably me, given my work.”
Ebon: “Do you two get a lot of work from her?”
Amethyst: “Depends on the situation. If she needs actually work done, she’ll get me. If she needs someone who is equally diplomatic or can handle a social situation, she’ll usually get Animus.”
Animus: [nods to the messenger and waits for him to leave before speaking up] “Amethyst, we have a situation.”
Amethyst: “We? She needs both of us?”
Animus: “Both of us for different things. But that’s not the situation.” [she takes a moment to clean her writing desk a little as she speaks] “The situation is a matter of company. I have to go to the Holy City to have a chat with our favorite Dominion Renegade. Gen - sorry, Queen Genieve- has asked you to head to Ludum to deal with your favorite Lord Spymaster Ulric.” [she laughs as Amethyst heaves a growl of discontent] “However, with Ebon here, I have a feeling some of our less people-savvy friends will want to mess with him.” [she looks to Ebon] “Ebon, you have a choice. Either come with Amethyst, come with me, or stay here and wander.”