agentlenet | psychic thread

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psychic thread

[The gentle brush against the Strangers' minds comes in early evening. It is, as all mental touches are from Fayura, soft and unassuming, much like a polite knock at a door. Once as many minds are connected as she thinks will open the door to her, she speaks.]

I am curious, Strangers, what you would do with the young man who shot and killed Councilwoman Vera.

Many of you come from worlds where there are laws against murder. While we have no such laws here, when a Blood male in a Queen's Territory kills another without cause, she may demand a price from him. Sometimes, that is his own life if he was negligent enough with his temper and sometimes, it's something less.

My trouble is this: if I execute him according to the laws of the Blood, of which he is not one, the Guilds will rouse their people into a furor and attack not only me, but the people of Draega. If I turn him over to the Ebon Council, the Guilds will do much the same, and that will incite the Council to strike back. And if I return him to the Guilds for accolades instead of punishment for taking a life, the Ebon Council will have cause to rip apart the Guilds and anyone in their way to extract from him the price for murdering one of their own.

Were you me, what course would you take? And please try not to shout over each other; this is as many of you as I could reach.

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[ This is a misunderstanding that Verim knows well. The landen view it the same much as Piper does. When he slides into the thread between the two of them, his presence is dark because of the power of his Jewel, but also warm. ]

Would you like to experience the difference? It will require a deeper connection than a psychic thread meant for communication, but none so deep that I will be privy to anything you want to remain yours.

[ That darkness is something Piper is coming to associate with power, so the warmth is something reassuring. This feels like a very vulnerable and strange method of communication all together, but it also feels -- true. She thinks it would be difficult to hide intentions this way.

But now Verim is talking about something even deeper? And she's only ever just - seen him in the Queen's court. The thought is alarming, but... if it would help her to understand this place better, these people better, it sounds like a risk worth taking. (The little voice in the back of her head that sounds like a frowning boyfriend will just have to deal, tbh.) ]

Thank you for the offer. [ Very polite, because even though she's the one with the weaker jewel here, he's the one offering up the vulnerability of letting her experience something from his point of view. At least, that's what she thinks he's offering. ...on that note, actually, it might be good to check. ] What would we need to do?

[ Against Piper's mind comes a polite touch that hovers at the edge - there but not intruding. The thread is thicker than the ones Lady Fayura used to connect them all. ]

Open yourself to my thread and I will show you two memories. One that I think will mirror your understanding and one that will show what is difficult to convey in words or thought. In the beginning, it will be disorienting, but we'll go slowly and at any time, all you need say is stop.

[ That is such a bizarre experience, it's like receiving a knock inside your mind without a sound, but it doesn't startle her. It's just... strange. She really needs to practice with this whole psychic thing more.

Piper considers for a moment, but doesn't hesitate. ]

Yes. I'll do it. Just - one question first. Would I be seeing it from your point of view entirely, or will I still know I'm - me?

[ The answer is yes either way. She just wants to know what to expect. (It probably should occur to her to ask if he'll see her memories too, but it doesn't.) ]

You will be aware of both, though the memory will be a shade more dominant. [ He pauses, considering. ] I do recommend sitting on something comfortable though. The memory won't harm you, but the experience is assuredly odd the first time.

[ Okay, that was good to know. Then Verim offers his suggestion that she find a comfortable place to sit, and the consideration is so opposite what she was expecting, since she'd been tense throughout this whole - offering of her opinion thing and and starting to brace for what he's assured her would be disorienting, that she actually laughs out loud. Her amusement is bright and clean along their connection, tinged with something like relief and something like the extension of a little bit of trust. ]

All right, one second.

[ She glances around the small room where she's staying and goes to sit on the bed, still grinning a bit. ]

Okay, I'm settled. [ She extends her mental awareness toward that thread he's offered and takes a breath. ] Ready?

[ And if he indicates yes, she'll reach for the thread and open up her mind to him. ]

[ When Piper opens her mind, the thread that she mentally holds gently tugs. Instead of Verim sinking into her mind, he leads Piper into his. He guides her deeper than necessary for communication, but not so far that she can see more than he wishes. A mental shield forms them of Gray power along with the distinct impression that this was for Piper's benefit and the others connected to Fayura's psychic threads. ]

We'll go slowly.

[ In one moment, Piper is entirely entirely herself, just in a strange place. Second by second that changes.

An alleyway in Draega rolls to life under her feet. Only, they are not her feet. The shoes are too big as is the body that she now seems to inhabit. Buildings crawl from the darkness and reach towards a sky that slowly weaves into a sunset.

Dinner time. The thought that isn't hers rolls across her mind with a sense of exasperation and weariness despite the growling in her belly. With a sense that trouble looms, Piper's steps quicken towards an old building that's seen better days. A slap-dash of boards bar broken windows and doors hang sideways from rusty hinges.

A thread of Red Jeweled power that she uses eases them open and then shut once Piper steps inside. The air is musty, but it's a familiar smell that is more comforting now than off putting. The first two floors are devoid of life and a witchlight keeps her steps certain on the stairs - this one is broken, that one isn't. Skip these two steps to avoid the tangled web embedded in them for unwelcomed guests. (A web that Piper made and one that isn't kind to intruders.)

On the third floor, the air clears some and with it comes the smell of food and the sounds of angry bickering.

You have to stop this. That thought too rings clear. She is the strongest Warlord Prince in this building, in all of Draega, with her Red Jewel.

Turning a corner reveals an open room where many youths gather. They are all younger than Piper - a mere 456 at best to her 578 years. Two young men - one is a Tiger Eyed Blood male, the other a landen - snarl at each other over a jar of preserved pears. They're a rare treat for anyone in Draega and even more so for those in this room who the city forgot about before they were even born.

Anger bubbles up in Piper, hot and quick, though there is a sense that this is mild and expected. Foolish to fight over food. Even more foolish to do it when they knew Verim would be dropping by. And yet, by comparison, the anger she feels is the kind that sends others to throwing punches long before they consider if they should.

Verim pauses the memory here, well knowing that the hot-temper of a Warlord Prince isn't easy for anyone to see, much less feel. ]

Are you okay? [ He asks as if he stood right beside her in the memory. ]

[ Disorienting was a good word for this. The shift in priorities, in strength, in body was just... bizarre. She kept feeling as though she was about to trip, but no - there was confidence and unerring purpose in the memory.

The difference in age and experience was also just - weird.

But that was nothing to the contrast of sudden, hot temper in response to what Piper would normally view as a minor annoyance. This felt personal in a way that it normally wouldn't either, as if their fight was a purposeful and planned insult to her power. It is so sudden, so strong, that she's shocked he hasn't already dived in, fists flying and full of confidence that they would fall in front of her.

That feeling when you've been spinning around in a circle and you suddenly stop -- that feeling has her clutching her blanket when Verim stops the memory to check on her. ]

Yes. [ A little breathless, her voice is a little thin. The memory has paused, but the emotions have not, they linger like echoes in strange contrast to the absolutely still Blood males in front of her. ] That's - this is weird. [ She swallows and looks down at herself and it's not her body and that's weird. Piper takes a breath, holds it, then lets it out slowly. Then she looks over at where Verim should be, by his voice, but... right. Right. ] So this is - mild for you?

Edited 2019-03-11 01:35 (UTC)

It is weird. [ Verim's voice is not unsympathetic and it is kind. A stabilizing sensation wraps around her. It's not enough to be called a 'touch', but it is stabilizing as he blunts the edges of raw emotion down to where it doesn't rock Piper off center. A little at a time, he let's that feeling return as she's able to digest it because the sudden severity of anger is the important part. ]

In this context, yes. [ His mental voice chuckles dimly.] You would not want the memory after Lady Fayura wove her web to bring all of you here.

[ He does give Piper a tiny taste of that moment. Fear. Terror. His Lady weak and vulnerable and the need that went to core of him and encompassed all that he was to keep her safe. That feeling too, Verim blunts down the harsh edges, but it leaves the impression that he would have done anything save Fayura. ]

This memory is many years before we had a Queen worth the caste in Draega. I was - [ He paused for a moment, considering what he'd learned of the Strangers thus far and the shorter lived races. ] - in my mid to late teens. I wouldn't meet Lady Fayura for close to another thirteen hundred years. The incident required little more than reminding both men that we all wanted a pear and if they wanted to keep them for themselves, they would have to go through me.

[ Piper takes another breath as the emotions are blunted. It makes it easier to breathe, to think. She knows anger, but this isn't hers. The tenor and intensity of it is different, she can think of only a few times in her life when she was this angry, and all of them were when her life and the lives of people she loved were in danger.

Then Verim gives her a taste of the moment when Lady Fayura wove her web to bring them all here, and Piper's entire body tenses. She knows this feeling. It's just a few shades darker than how she'd felt when her father had been attacked in order to punish her, when an army of monsters had been unleashed by a giant to punish her for not betraying her friends to him. All she'd had was a knife, and the terror in her throat and the anger in her stomach. She feels as though she has to move, to do something--

She doesn't do any kind of job shielding the association from him too busy trying to ride the emotions that aren't hers even if she had the skill to try and keep it from him. ]

...so at 578, you were my age.

[ She holds on to that bizarre fact, trying to ground herself in who she is, in where she is. And it is a valuable fact. Only gods are that old in her world. And they were certainly held to no standard but their own. ]

[ Verim feels the roil of emotion in Piper. Something that feels like ... understanding. The flash of her memory follows emotion and now the feeling coming from her makes sense. He's tempted to tap those moments because he is a Black Widow and the mind is the ground of Hourglass coven. Temptation does not result in action and he makes a mental note to ask Piper later if she'd like further instruction on crafting psychic shields.]

More or less. [ A flash of amusement. ] Though there are some from the shorter lived races that would argue the comparison is flawed not only when comparing the longer lived races to those who aren't, but also when comparing landen to Blood. It's the kind of riveting conversation that I recommend if you ever find yourself unable to sleep.

[ The good-natured humor in his mental voice rings clear. She needs a moment to steady herself and decide if she wants to continue and he can do no less than afford her that time. ]

Uch. [ A low sound of 'please, I would rather go to the dentist.' She wants to know the details about how the people work here, because she wants to help. But to debate who is and is not a teenager is just... pass.

She knows what he's doing, giving her a breather, and she doesn't resent it. This is weird. The strange mix of his emotions and hers as she struggles to understand and relate is draining and a little scary, but it's not going to stop her. ]

Alright. [ And then she tries something a little different, not physically moving to look at him, but shifting her mental awareness toward his. It's less disorienting, and it does give her a better 'sense' of his presence, uniquely dark and strong even in the frozen memory of when he wore Red. ] What's next?

Next, I will show you the time when I first met the Lady. [ Fondness. Love. Both emotions twine around his mental voice along with a fierce sense of protectiveness. ] We'll take this one slower, it's nearly a thousand years after the last one.

[ A spring wind chases away the chill inside the building. The walls start to shift and then to fade as the street once more forms beneath Piper's feet. It's night out, but with winter gone, the balmy air feels pleasant but strangely weighty. Piper's had this feeling before in recent weeks - as if a thread of the Darkness itself now winds through Draega. It prickles over the skin, beckoning and comfortable.

Piper doesn't want to seek it out. Change in Draega means trouble and trouble ends up with the streets running red until the anger and stupidity finally runs for dry for a time.

And yet, and yet, tonight she finds it harder to turn away and put the strange feeling out of mind. It's somewhere near the River North and the slums tonight.

Until it is suddenly, painfully gone.

Piper doesn't need to think, just run with steps aided by the dark power in her Gray Jewel. She knows the streets better than anyone - every nook, cranny, and short cut.

The scene she comes upon is grimly familiar. A group of hot-heads - a mix of landen and Blood - surround a female. The smack and clap of sticks along with the jabs of knives drive her back against a wall. Piper feels the dead space around them - a total lack of psychic scents and power. Muters. They must have muters.

It's not your fight, some part of Piper says with the weariness of one who spends too much time fighting. The rest of her knows this isn't a fight at all. It's a sick game that they'll play out until there's nothing left of the lady who still snarls like a fabled tiger and punishes them when they get too close. Of course, that's part of the game too.

Then, she looks at Piper and there's a moment when their eyes meet. A second, nothing more, but in it is a lifetime. The weariness fades, falling away like heavy ropes suddenly severed and one word, on feeling replaces it. Mine. Piper's Queen. The bond between them fills all of the cracks and holes formed over a life spent battling for simple things like food and scraps of safety.

It's both comfort and utterly terrifying.

Again, Verim pauses the memory. ]

That is what it feels like when a Warlord Prince finds the Queen he chooses - [ The word has an ocean's worth of emphasis. ] - and when he does she knows him too. His life becomes her and he is willing to surrender all that he is. [ Anger colors his voice as well. Just remember this moment is enough to push Verim towards the edge. ] The rest will be....intense. When you're ready.

Edited 2019-03-11 22:23 (UTC)

[ Piper had already been convinced that Verim was deeply in love with Fayura; the way he'd responded to her hurting herself was enough to tell her that. This... this was different. It was love, but it was also purpose, a fierce protectiveness, and completion. It was like, and unlike, emotions that she knew. This was different than her own feelings for Jason - she loved him and knew that love was true, but what Verim felt...

...it was as if there was... an innate sort of... connector -- no, that's not the right analogy. It was different, something in their souls was different. If Verim's life had been written out in notation, he'd been living in suspension and Fayura was the missing note of the chord. She knew what it was like to love, and want, and long for - she knew possessiveness and protectiveness -- and this was still different. It felt biological, like a physical hunger; it felt entwined with her power, it felt... none of her metaphors were working, but she knew it was different.

She's quiet for a long moment, simply shifting through the emotions. Piper is the daughter of the goddess of love and beauty, and these things should be bread and butter to her. She's been able to rely on her instincts to help her navigate through more dangerous waters than this, and in the end she decides -- she's right. It's different. It is not greater than, she does not feel that her own loves are diminished or inferior, because she knows them for a blazing white flame, but this -- there is no separation. That's what it is. There is no separation between will and being and this sort of emotion, it's as though the restraint that she possesses to be able to turn against her love if need be is just... stripped. It's become a part of Verim, seeped into the cracks and holes of his soul as well as the waiting receptor there -- he was made for this.

Even mentally, inhabiting his mental body, Piper closes her eyes. She wants to remember what this feels like. It's so foreign to her understanding, she thinks she'll begin to doubt the intensity of it as soon as she's no longer experiencing it. She needs to remember this, this is important. ]

...okay. [ She opens her eyes and her lips compress into a thin line. She doesn't need Verim's influence to feel angry about what had happened to Fayura. She is certain that she is looking at dead men walking. Her voice is tightly controlled. ]

They deserve what they get.

[ Bullies like this - this won't be the first time they've done something like this. She's killed her share of monsters. She's never killed a human. She doesn't want to, still, though she wants them to stop and she wants them to hurt. This will be her, and not her - she'll experience it like she was the one doing it. But she isn't even slightly tempted to back away from this. And she doesn't want to take back what she said. ]

[ Verim feels the surface of Piper's thoughts. It's inevitable to a point with her deeper in his mind. She's studious. Taking in what she's seen and felt with careful study. He'd not expected that outcome though perhaps he had had allowed for hope. He's tried many times to explain these things to his landen friends only to find it an impossible task. Words simply couldn't convey it.

Still, there's more to what she intuits, he thinks. An understanding that a landen, if Verim could show these memories to one as he does with Piper, still wouldn't fully reach. He will not pry now, but some other time, he resolves to ask. ]

Then we continue.

[ The scene lurches into motion again and tension in Verim - both now and in memory - is unmistakable. In one heartbeat, he's found the Queen for whom a part of him has always searched. In the next, comes pure fury at the men threatening to take that gift from him. The world doesn't paint itself blood red and Piper's thoughts do not grow chaotic or rabid.

Oh, no, not at all. The fury, real and fierce, sharpens the world as her body relaxes. There's no turmoil. No wondering about if they should die or not. Death is, after all, the only option and Piper knows it be true. She knows every building and extends her awareness to encompass them as well just in case there might be another lurking in the shadows.

Wrapping the female in layers of Gray shields isn't easy, but he pushes that power around her holds it though the muters fight him, requiring constant upkeep to the shields. That's fine. He has plenty of power to spare. More than enough.

The men turn and when they see Piper, shock and fear both ripple across their expression. They realize the same thing Piper knows - she is outside of the area affect of the muters. She is the Gray Jeweled Prince of Draega.

One of them lifts a Breaker, leveling it at Piper's chest. But there's no need to worry for in that instant, her plan unfolds. Craft shaped into lethal intent. The effect hits them all at the same time. Invisible hands that push past skin and wrap their hearts. A constant flow of power keeps the muters from dissipating her Craft for the less than a second it takes to crush each of their fetid hearts.

The bodies drop to the ground.

But it's not enough. There are so many people in this city that would hurt her, harm her, and Piper could with a thought, with a single blast of Gray, eliminate - ]

Prince.

[ It's her. Piper's Queen calling to her. A light touch lands on her arm that commands attention without demanding it. ]

I am well, Prince.

[ She says and that potent, burning rage starts to recede. She's safe. That's what matters. All that matters. The sharp edges of the world start to soften.

As the raw instinct wrapped in fury abates, Verim gently lets the memory fade out, yet he doesn't end their connection. Instead, he keeps it steady and keeps his shields in place to give her the space to come back from being in another person's body if only for a little while. ]

Take slow deep breathes at first. Settling back into one's own skin can take a minute or two.

[ Piper, in her body, shivers.

It is the certainty that frightens her most, the absolute - not decision, but knowing. Knowing that their deaths were right and necessary and inevitable. Knowing that she could, would, kill not only them, but every single beating heart in the city, to preserve what was hers, what she'd been waiting for, her purpose and calling and breath and love --

She feels dizzy with the intensity of foreign emotion.

(It's a kindness, she'll later realize, that Verim kept the connection through Fayura calming him. It doesn't leave her stranded in that ferocity of feeling, as he's calmed down, she is too, and it helps - even if it leaves in place that feeling of connection. It's - aloe on a burn, but it's also... sunlight.)

She can hear his voice vaguely, and it takes a few minutes for it to register because of the strangeness of the split. She'd been -- but she was --

Breathe. Breathe.

She bows her (her) physical body over, placing her head between her knees to fight off the dizziness and surge of nausea. She can still feel echoes of that certainty, the rage and killing intent. While she'd felt righteous indignation at Fayura's treatment and the urge to help, for Verim... that hadn't even been in the ballpark, it was like comparing a flashlight beam to a lightning bolt.

Piper reaches for a memory of her own, something uniquely hers to help ground her. It might be embarrassing, but the first thing comes to mind is being high among the clouds, on the back of a mechanical dragon, between two of her favorite people in the world, and that...

She takes another breath, then swallows and straightens before turning her mental attention back to Verim. She is back inside her skin, but feels... very close to the surface of it, still a little dizzy. ]

Are you okay?

[ After all, he was the one who'd just opened up his mind and relived those memories. She had her own to fall back on, but he... he lived with this. Did they all -- they all live like this? ]

[ As Piper settles, Verim waits, though perhaps that is too passive of a term. His mental touch isn't intrusive and it does nothing more than to help filter raw emotion and ease the transition. Her nausea hits him first and when it does, the feeling of Verim changes. That same protectiveness rouses itself - this time for real and not memory. ]

You should rest. [ Though he couches it as a suggestion, there is the distinct impression that he will herd Piper into resting if she doesn't make that choice voluntarily. Welcome to Warlord Prince Fussing 101. ] And eat.

[ He pauses. ]

You are living off residence with some of the other Strangers, yes? [ This might feel like a loaded question because it is. Then surprise follows and the sternness his psychic voice has taken softens. A little. ]

I am well. I am a Black Widow and the mind is the ground we tread. Are you feeling better now?

[ ...if a Warlord Prince couches Fussing as a suggestion, and the person being fussed at pretends not to hear it, does it still require a mental bucket of cold water? Because Piper isn't sure how to do that yet, and there are too many things she needs to process and question before resting and eating. She is sure the shivering will stop on its own eventually, and she's already feeling much better.

Her emotions are still a bit... impressed with his, and feeling the protective note in his presence surprises her. She didn't think that would extend to her. And while part of her is wary of being herded anywhere and she has a fierce need to prove her own ability to take care of herself, she's just been inside Verim's memories. She can't bring herself to mind it.

She is still going to try ignoring his suggestions.

Piper doesn't understand the loaded tone of the question, and answers honestly. ] Yes, I moved in with friends from home a few days ago.

[ She'd stayed in the Queen's Residence for about three weeks before moving out, wanting to get a better sense of who these people were and who the others Strangers were. She might have been tempted to stay longer if she didn't think that doing so would get in the way of why she'd agreed to come here... and if Jason hadn't been here. He'd only invited her to stay with them once, but she could see what it meant to him. And she wanted to be with him, and Leo and Percy too, of course. (Verim may get impressions of warmth as she thinks about her friends, and a certain amount of wry anticipation - she has a feeling that if one of them walked in right now, it would not only be Verim's fussing she has to contend with.)

And what exactly is a Black Widow? Bits of his memory - the web he spun - come to mind. But that's not enough of an answer for her. ]

I am feeling better, thank you. [ It's so easy to say 'feeling better' when a few minutes ago the room had been spinning rapidly. It is now only... wobbly. So that is better. ] And I'm glad you're okay. Is that why you could share your memories like this, because you're a Black Widow?

[ The problem with ignoring the requests of a Prince with his mind set to fussing is that he tends to take that as 'yes'. Piper will discover this annoying fact in just about thirty minutes, when one of the First Circle arrives at the place she's staying with a basket full of food that is still piping hot. It's simple fare, but good and the note, penned by Verim's hand, is to Piper. It's politely worded, expressing his gratitude that she took his offer and that she's 'not as snarly' as witches can be. (The latter seems gently teasing in tone.) The basket also includes a healing brew meant for headaches and another for nausea complete with dosing instructions.

But that hasn't happened just yet and she asked him a question. ]

Anyone with a Jewel can, but Black Widows are better trained. They learn to walk the mind in ways that are safe for all those involved. We also weave webs that can grant glimpses of the future, among other talents.

[ It will take Piper a solid two minutes to connect 'his offer' to 'resting and eating' and not the trip down memory lane. Since she will be completely astonished at the arrival of the food. She will also not appreciate Verim outing her activities to the rest of the house, as she'd hoped to avoid talking to her boyfriend about this until well after the headache had passed. And now she's going to have to explain that not only did she leave herself completely mentally vulnerable to a stranger, but she let herself get impacted from it enough that she required medicine. She will no doubt be forced to sit with a blanket around her while Jason thunderclouds in her general direction with an amount of Fussing that would likely please Verim to no end.

Piper will be very tempted to contact Fayura and request the promised retaliation, but in the end she decides she'd like to see to it herself.

That is for the future. For the present, as Piper is still deep in Verim's mind and so thoroughly connected, he might receive another flash of memory - the blade of a knife, and projected in the metal is a vision of Piper, Jason, and Percy drowning. She has a sense of familiarity in his words - grant glimpses of the future - and a certain amount of fear and frustration. Each time her visions had warned of the future, they'd been horrible. Each time, she'd been able to do nothing to prevent that future from happening... but forewarned, they'd been able to come through.

The mind, though... she'd really like to know what she's doing a little bit better. But first - ]

And make those webs for protection, like in your memory?

[ Weaving, anything mental... she wishes Annabeth was here. She'd be so good at this. Piper wants to ask, but she hesitates. ]

Edited 2019-03-13 22:10 (UTC)

[ That flash and familiarity, no matter how brief, certainly catches Verim's attention. Even among Black Windows, the tangled webs woven for dreams and visions were hard to create and harder still to understand. And her frustration? That he understands all too well. ]

A web can be woven to almost any purpose, but they are used predominately for strong Craft that needs the anchor and structure. A Healer can infuse a brew to aid a cough, or ease illness, but a healing web is needed for broken bones.

[ By slow degrees, Verim takes them up through the layers of his mind, and psychic shields close behind as the ascend. The flickers of memory and emotion Piper has shown were not intentional. While keeping her where they'd been might reveal more to him, it would also be a painful betrayal of trust. But he does send to her another image that he constructs in pieces as he speaks. ]

Like a spider's web, you need a frame. [ And since he's literally speaking of spiders, he shows the branch of a tree. ] The anchor and bridge lines teether the rest and must be strong. [ A shimmer of Red Jeweled power begins to braid itself - one line between two of the twigs. Bridge, the thought impresses itself. Two more lines cord out and each one attaches to one of the twigs and then down to the branch in a V. Anchors. ] These lines give your Craft shape and you infuse them with the general intent you have.

If you want to protect, that is what you imagine. Then as you weave the rest of that web, you add the details - how you want to protect, protection from what. The web in my memory was [ he chuckles wryly ] one of my first attempts and crude. We all had to skip that step because I hadn't yet figured out how to make exceptions. Anyone who touched would have been trapped in the vision I wove into it unless their Jewel strength was dark enough to break it.

[ But of course, Piper knows from his memories that no one in Draega had been then. ]

You can infuse a web into an object or a person. It can be as focused as specifically as you have the skill weave and webs can endure long past the Blood who made them if they've the skill and power.

[ It was a strange feeling, especially as she was still slightly woozy, to ascend back up through Verim's shields. It was dizzying. But there was also a slow... release of pressure, or something very similar to it. She tries to focus on how he's doing it, but there's soon something even more interesting to focus upon.

She's never seen anything like this before. She's sure Annabeth would be able to take to it instantly.

But what he's describing... that doesn't sound so very foreign. Put your intention in the power, spin something. That's a lot like what she does when she uses Charmspeak. ]

So you infuse your power with your intention, and it somehow takes on physical form?

[ The anchor and the bridge lines must be strong. They're the framework... ]

[ Verim thinks for a moment. They've moved slightly beyond the basics descriptions of Craft and in particular webs and into the realm of turning descriptions into reality. ]

Physical form is often times the easiest to envision and create. A wooden frame that we can hold in our hands appeals to our tactile natures. But they don't have to be physical. Some webs can be sung and others... [ He falls quiet in contemplation. ] How serious is your interest Lady McLean? I don't mind indulging curiosity unless you're considering putting it into practice.

[ Piper considers fudging... for about a third of a second.

She responds honestly, and not because she's pretty sure he'll be able to sense a lie, that doesn't enter her consideration. She responds honestly because Verim took her into his memories, shared something that was precious to him with her, and did all that so she could understand: the Blood really are different. She responds honestly because she wants him to understand. ]

I want to learn everything that I can so I be of help here. [ I don't want to be useless. ] I want to be able to protect my friends, and I want to be able to stop things like what you showed me today, and I want... [ her lips compress for a moment, and she gives the mental impression of just - utter earnestness and determination ] ...I want to be able to use what I have as best as I can.

[ And that was the truth. And she knows by telling him that it feels to her as if he won't tell her anymore. And she doesn't want that, she wants to get better at these things, she wants to be able to navigate these new powers without feeling like a clumsy elephant or to be able to simply shield herself in situations like these.

He may also receive the impression that his refusal to help won't stop her. Maybe she won't be able to follow this particular path, and that's okay, but she still is going to do her best to learn as much as she can. ]

[ He says nothing for a long enough time that it might seem as if he'll not respond at all. The truth is that Verim debates how best to reply. The talents of the Strangers span as far as those of the Blood, easily, but they are not so easily quantified.]

The Lady, in her web, included knowledge of the castes to all of you. If you want to learn how to spin webs, then I would advise that you decide first what caste calls to you. A Healing web includes the same basic knowledge as that of a Black Widows, but the outcome is far, far different and the skill in weaving them similar but not the same.

[ He's quiet again, almost as if he's speaking to someone else on a thread that no one else can hear. It is on a thread that only Piper hears that Verim speaks.]

Do not rush your decision. There are many things that you can do that don't require delving into webs. There are many who can teach you basic webs, but if there is a discipline that appeals to you, come to me or Lady Fayura and we will find you a teacher.

psychic thread

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this is all amazing, ty v. much for this story

You're welcome! It was great fun. :)

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