[audio]

[backwordscompatible]

 [Cue the sound of a fifteen-year-old trying to play it cool and not sound nearly as nervous as she was starting to get:]


So...uh...shot in the dark here: is there anyone who's special abilities are acting a little...off?  [Because that was so specific]  Either the ones you've picked up from Jaunts along the way, or whatever powers you had before you got here?

[There might have been a slight emphasis on the latter, which was what she was more concerned with at the moment.]

No reason.  I was just curious, is all.

[She wasn't just curious.]

Comments

[backwordscompatible]

[Huh.]

[Elemental magic wasn't something entirely unfamiliar to her, but was piqued her interest most was hearing all of this in a werewolf. Especially the part about the visions; from her (admittedly, limited) experience, those two rarely went together.]

What did you see? In the visions.

[professorwolf]

Well, when I was the angel, a lot of death and destruction, mostly. Here? I saw the door to a dungeon, before I fell into it.

[That's the only important one, really.]

[backwordscompatible]

...there's a dungeon here?

[She didn't know that; she'd heard people mention dungeons before, but had always assumed they were talking about a different Jaunt.]

What was inside it?

[professorwolf]

Er. Well, it's different for everyone, I believe. Dungeons appear and kind of... swallow one person whole for a time, and then they have to be rescued. It's happened to a number of people I've spoken with, not just me.

[You might notice he hasn't said what was in his. If she really wants to know, he'll give her an abbreviated summary, but first he'll try avoidance.]

[backwordscompatible]

[If she knew him better, she might have pressed for an answer. Right then...it wasn't exactly on the top of her list of questions.]

I wonder how many people have been swallowed. I wonder how they got swallowed. And why.

[Could it happen to her?]

[professorwolf]

The prevailing theory seems to be, because the Trumps want us to learn something. Most dungeons I've heard of relate to the individual in question's past, present, or state of mind.

[backwordscompatible]

...why am I getting sudden flashback to private school?

[She's only joking. Mostly.]

[professorwolf]

[She's going to get a serious answer back, joke or not.]

I very much doubt your private school was much like these dungeons. "Unpleasant" is something of an understatement.

[backwordscompatible]

[You don't know her life ...nah, he was probably right.]

Sounds awful.

I would definitely be willing to forgo my turn on one of those things.

[professorwolf]

[If her school was anything like his dungeon, he will be absolutely furious with said school. And want to hug her (though that would be a bad idea, if her school was like his dungeon, anyway).]

Not everyone has to endure them, but it does seem like there are a couple every break between Jaunts.

[backwordscompatible]

...I guess if they really wanted to punish us, that would be one way to do it.

And here I thought messing with my magic was bad enough.

[professorwolf]

I take it that's what this whole conversation was really about? They have done something to how your magic works?

[backwordscompatible]

[A sigh on her end. There was really no point in pretending otherwise any longer, was there?]

Yeah.

I'm having a hard time focusing it. Even the simplest spells are kind of blowing up in my face right now. It's getting embarrassing.

[professorwolf]

Is this the first time you've tried working magic since you've arrived here? Or is this a new development?

[backwordscompatible]

The first time this Liminal, maybe.

But I've been in, like, over a dozen of these and used my magic even more often than that and never had problems before. Why, do you think it could just be THIS Liminal-specific?

[Now there was an actual uplifting thought.]

[professorwolf]

It's possible. It's also possible that, seeing as we just came out of a highly magical Jaunt, something you learned there could be affecting your magic now, if they operate in different fashions.

[backwordscompatible]

[...well, shit]

That's not usually how it's supposed to work...but, then, I guess nothing around here ever completely works like it's supposed to.

[professorwolf]

As comforting as "supposed to" is, no, it's entirely likely nothing is how it's "supposed to" be around here. How does your particular power work, if you don't mind me asking?

[backwordscompatible]

They were before.

My magic's mostly verbal. There's a...special language my family uses. [We talk backwards.] All I needed to do in the past was cast a spell in that language, and whatever the incantation said to happen would happen. No problem.

[professorwolf]

And what happens when you try that, now? Anything at all, or an unexpected reaction?

[He's a scientist by nature. He needs all the data.]

[backwordscompatible]

[So nosy.]

Oh, something happens all right. A whole surge of magic starts rushing out. Which might sound cool at first, except I don't have the training to handle that much power. Meaning anything more than the easy stuff could get really dangerous really fast.

[professorwolf]

No, no, too much power is far worse than none at all, I believe you in that. More destructive, as well.

[Sounds, to him, more like she's broken some kind of barrier in power, and less like something is "wrong". But best to cover all the bases.]

Have you tried using any magic you might have learned during the Jaunt, since you've discovered the change to your own?

[backwordscompatible]

I didn't learn much. Only blood magic, and only a handful of small tricks before I was turned.

[professorwolf]

Then I suppose interference is less likely, though still possible. If you brought any back with you, you could at least give it a shot.

Do you think it could simply be you've hit a breakthrough of sorts, and now it's time for you to learn the control to handle more power? That's the other explanation that came to mind.

[backwordscompatible]

...great, because that's all I need. Having to go through puberty all over again, only magically.

[She didn't doubt the possibility. She just had no way of knowing if it was true, or even if it could be a thing; her father hadn't gotten in touch with his truly magical heritage until he was much older. And she never knew her mother.]

I need dad.

[The last part was thought mainly to herself, unintended for broadcast, yet slipped through.]