Starting fires wherever they go (forward dated)

[demjiin]

WHO: Kaz Brekker and Jonathan Sims
WHERE: The Library
WHAT: Kaz has questions about The Eye
WHEN: Right after Billy's hero city, June
WARNINGS: TBD? Talk of fear and or/dead bodies likely


It was quiet here again today, which would still be reminiscent of any other library except that this particular library had no books on the shelves.

When Kaz had found Jonathan here before, Jon had used some sort of verbal compulsion on him. Since then Kaz saw Jonathan's abilities intensify quite a bit. He'd even seen whatever magic Billy created fighting against a reality-warping eldritch power that might not seem to belong to Jonathan, it was definitely something he was a large part of him.

This time there was less silent wandering as Kaz sought Jonathan out on purpose. When Kaz did find him he folded his gloved hands atop his cane and looked at Jon intensely.

"I think we can dispense with the evasions as we both know you are capable of much more than making people tell the truth. So I'll start with something basic; what is your power coming from?"

Comments

[beholding_archivist]

Hearing Kaz approach, Jon looks up from what he is doing, those faintly glowing eyes of his narrow along with the scowl appearing on his face. For a good long while he simply looks at the young man, neither his posture nor his expression giving away his thoughts.

In the end he simply replies: "No."

Then he turns his attention back to the stack of tapes he has been reorganizing. "And now I ask of you to leave my library."

[demjiin]

Kaz did not intend on using any of the information he had gleaned already as none of it could become leverage. So Kaz was going to have to go with a truth that was uncomfortable to think about, much less voice. But Jon was still human, or at least he was human enough for it to still apply.

"So you honestly want to be all alone amidst what you've become, then? Because as I see it, no one else is willing to walk freely down the same road you have and see where you are."

[beholding_archivist]

"You are wrong." Jon informs Kaz in a very matter-of-factly tone. "I am not alone. I have friends here. People I care about and that care about me in return. The Lonely never had a strong hold on me." Even though he certainly has been touched by it and even willingly went into it. Still he emerged, bringing Martin out of it at the same time.

Jon turns his head slightly to regard Kaz for another moment, then he shakes his head. "You are no friend of mine. I have no obligation to satisfy your curiosity. I know you believe learning anything about me will gain you an advantage, something to use. But it won't. The people of this place know who and what I am. The ones I trust, that is."

[demjiin]

Kaz didn't bother denying anything Jon had said since it was mostly true. But it wasn't entirely Jonathan he wanted to learn about. He tilted his head, squinting slightly.

"If you already have people you care about, then I've made a bigger mistake than I thought. You were the first to bring up the Atroma and your suspicions about all of this-"

He gestures with one hand to encompass all of Temba.

"-was just a game for them. If that is what you truly think then I'm not sure what you intend to do making 'friends'. Watching someone you actually care about being hurt or even tortured over and over again is a special kind of sadistic."

[beholding_archivist]

Jon's frown doesn't shift. If anything, it manages to intensify without changing in any way. "We are all victims of the Atroma. Those they brought here as well as the Agrii. Working against one another will not improve our situation in the slightest. Even you should be aware of that. Refusing to cooperate is just as unhelpful. Some of us aim to stop the Atroma. Some wish to return to their home worlds. And some simply wish to live in relative peace."

Turning around to face Kaz fully, Jon crosses his arms testily, his voice, however, is one of certainty. "No one I can think of will simply watch as another of our group suffers. They helped me, they helped Billy and they will also come to your help should you need it." Which may happen sooner rather than later.

[demjiin]

Kaz raised both eyebrows in both surprise and disdain, then spoke slowly, as if to a small child.

"You think I am really against any group in Temba? That I didn't work with several other people to do what they could to get through to Billy? I assure you that is not the case and ask Ezra, Padme, Cayde, or Ikorra if I was if you don't believe me."

And it was all true, but wording was important; 'any group' and 'to do what they could'. The latter meaning it had not been his idea, but he saw the practicality of the plan and helped others make it possible. His brows lowered then, and Kaz had the same cold shark look he always looked at Jonathan with.

"If at any point I decide to go against Temba as a whole, then you would see something entirely different from me."

[beholding_archivist]

"I didn't say any of that. You were the one that implied that making friends meant deriving a sadistic pleasure from observing said friends in peril rather than helping them." Jon retorted dryly, meeting Kaz's glare with a flat, unimpressed look of his own. It's still a look that goes deep, easily gliding past layers of protection Kaz has wrapped around his secrets.

While Jon has been very careful about staying out of people's heads, he isn't one to simply ignore a threat spoken as openly and boldly as this one. And yet in this case he doesn't necessarily have to look anymore anyway. Back in the reality affected by Billy's magic, Jon has known hardly any restraint regarding the use of his powers and he remembers the encounter with Kaz well enough.

He lets out a small exhale of exasperation. "Your threats lack the effect they may have in your own world, Mr. Rietveld."

[demjiin]

The funny thing was that Kaz didn't think he was making a threat. He just talked that way so much it had come across that way to Jon while Kaz didn't even register it. The use of his old last name made Kaz's previously cold look flicker to a true glare then back to the icy neutrality he'd had.

"Kaz Rietveld is dead. And if you planned on actually helping those that don't want their children or themselves to be trapped here, then you would stop impersonating humanity and actually try to be proactive against anyone else getting hurt or being yanked here in the first place."

Kaz did have a lot of his own secrets but if Jon was going to be an ass about using them agianst Kaz, then Kaz was going to have to make use of the truth in response.

[beholding_archivist]

That flash of anger is all the confirmation Jon needs from Kaz. His shot has hit its mark and there is little reason for him to follow up with any further details at this point. He still scowls at the young man.

"And what do you suggest I do?" Jon returns harshly. "For all the knowledge I have, not even I know who or where the Atroma really are. I can't see them. And I am not impersonating anyone. I am only myself and if you don't like that: Leave."

Yes, that offer still stands.

[demjiin]

Kaz would beg to differ on the possibility of Jon impersonating humanity but he did not say that. Instead, he just kept those same sharks eyes and spoke with the same icy neutrality;

"You asked me once what I was doing. Here in Temba I'm talking to different people and finding out what powers they have. Some are only useful to them, but some can be useful to others. My end goal is to find some way to escape this trap - but I suspect the same is true for many people here. The difference with me is I am doing all that I can to learn about every power I encounter."

Kaz pointedly looked Jonathan over.

"Yours is the first power I've seen that can change the reality around you. While you dislike me, and I dislike you, if you don't know what you would do with that power, then show me where it comes from. Even if it takes time to learn it, I'll find a way for it to be of use."

[beholding_archivist]

"You have no idea what you are talking about." The Archivist replies grimly, his voice remaining even. "I know my powers. I understand them. How to use them and what they are capable of. I also know the cost they came with. The misery and dread I caused. I know my guilt." He falls silent for a moment, glowing eyes on Kaz. When he speaks again, his voice is once again laced with that same distortion that had carried it while they were all stuck in that altered reality Billy had created.

"Î̧̞ ̧̘ͮẹ̆͝n̘̔͢ḋ͏͈e͕ͭ͢d̲͛͠ ̡͉ͣm͇̒͞y̖̏͝ ́͏̭w͈͋͝ọͯ́r̡̪̉l̗̍͝ḏ̛̓.̰͂͢" The distortion fades from Jon's voice again, slowly. "Not willingly, but- It remains my fault. I doomed every living being on my planet to an eternity stuck in their worst nightmares. Not even death was an escape." A long, hard look is placed upon Kaz. "If you believe to know better how to use these powers, then you are wrong. They will destroy your mind and leave you a torn wreck. Fortunately there is no way for you to acquire them in the first place."

[demjiin]

Kaz had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. But it was a near thing. Honestly though, how dramatic could you get? It would be rather counterproductive to destroy his own world in trying to get home to it.

"It's not your powers I'm after, especially ones that leave anyone in an eternity of torment. I want to know what your powers come from. Where does it all start?"

It wasn't that Kaz thought he could do better, or even better than just Jon was doing, or that he would choose to have powers at all. The only thing he's determined to do is to find out where the power to shape reality starts?

[beholding_archivist]

It's Jon's turn to roll his eyes. "We all wish to only acquire the advantages with none of the repercussions. But that's not how these things work. There is always a price." For anything. And if Kaz believes that he is getting any more information through rudeness alone, he is, yet again, very wrong.

Jon turns his attention away from his visitor. "You have overstayed your welcome here, Mr Brekker. Good day."

[demjiin]

"I'm willing to pay whatever price I have to if it means those that are trapped here can get out."

Now Kaz was getting honestly irritated. It's not as if he has anything he could use as leverage and it was hard enough to rein in his consistent disgust for Jonathan. If Jon wanted less rudeness Kaz wouldn't be able to muster it up. This is the best he could do under the circumstances.

"Since your throwing me out, I'll let you know now that I'll be back tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that. No matter where you go, I'll find a way to be there. Unless someone else can change reality, you're my only lead. So as long as we're trapped here I've got nothing better to do than be your personal shadow."

With time and patience Kaz would be able to find more; friends, loved ones, hobbies. Anything.