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[evocation]

@kyna.medina | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[evocation]

uh
who is this?

[hiyakai]

oh right
it's the name, huh?
i've been getting that a lot lately
hi, it's me, kai

[evocation]

holy shit
where are you?
are you okay?

[hiyakai]

new amsterdam
woke up at the safehouse

i didn't die so yeah i guess you could say i'm fine

[evocation]

you didn't die?
then how did you
okay wait
just stay at the safehouse
i'll be there in a few minutes

[hiyakai]

sure, i don't have anywhere else to be right now

[evocation]

[Kyna is at Red Wings, as always, so getting to the safehouse doesn't take too long. There's a part of her that wonders how like his Aerie counterpart he is, how much of that casual selfishness was real, but it doesn't feel fair to assume. Most of the people she knows were different there.

So, she's giving him the benefit of the doubt. And that means when she sees him, the first thing she does is throw her arms around him impulsively in a tight hug.]

[hiyakai]

[ the answer's simple: he's worse. like, way worse.

but that has nothing to do with why he lifts his hands up in surrender and his entire body tenses the moment kyna wraps her arms around him. he... was not expecting this. were they close enough in the aerie for this kind of warm welcome? pretty sure they weren't.

maybe this has something to do with him helping her out in the quarry.

in annny case, this sure is happening right now. yep. yep, okay. ]

Heyyy there, Kyna. [ what is the appropriate response for this? ] It's... nice to see you again too? [ he lowers his left hand to pat her twice on the back. ]

[evocation]

[Okay, he probably hates this. That's an "I hate this" response. She pulls back, a little sheepish, and shoots him an apologetic smile.]

Sorry. Are you okay? Like, really okay?

[hiyakai]

[ he visibly relaxes when she finally steps back. ]

I'm peachy. [ he folds his arms across his chest as he looks around the building. ] Kinda weird being back here though.

[evocation]

Yeah, tell me about it.

[She definitely just sat in her room and had a mini panic attack at first.]

What happened? I mean, after I... you know.

[hiyakai]

[ he just woke up hungry, but he sorted that out for himself. ]

Quarry blew up. Then, the Volary blew up. Then, a lot of death, destruction and chaos. Saw some gods in cages. Saw some people free them. Had like the trippiest out of body experience, like if you deep dived into the ocean but ended up in a space safari. It was like... gross one second, painful the next, cold all of a sudden and then just plain gross again. [ he shudders a little. ] And then I woke up here.

[evocation]

Wait, wait—

[That is the worst summary ever.]

You saw the gods?

[hiyakai]

[ best* ]

Yeah, they were locked in these cute, little birdcages beneath the Volary.

[evocation]

[She's laser focused now, eyes locked on his.]

What did they look like? Did they talk to you?

[hiyakai]

They were like colorful wisps. White, blue, indigo, red, orange, and black. There was also a gold one, but it was hovering next to some guy named Prometheus. Old guy with glasses. And before you ask, no, I didn't talk to him. I was a little busy watching everybody fight with each other.

[ SHRUGS. ]

The gods couldn't talk. Not in any way where I could have understood them.

[evocation]

[Kyna grabs his arm over the fabric of his sleeves, gives it a little shake.]

Kai, oh my God. How are you so chill about this? Didn't you hear where our powers come from?

[hiyakai]

[ his eyes darts down to her hand on his arm before they flicker back up to her. ]

I'm assuming that they came from them, but... is that supposed to be something not to be chill over?

[evocation]

But now we have proof, and... Now we know exactly what we're looking for, right? It can help us understand our powers better.

[hiyakai]

Sure, I guess it's useful to know where our powers originate. [ wait for that but— ] But I don't think the gods are gonna be our Yoda.

[evocation]

Maybe not, but... You know, it means our powers aren't just normal magic. There's more to it, right? And you got to see them.

[hiyakai]

These powers were never normal magic to begin with. We don't need gods to tell us that. [ he motions at his chest. ] It doesn't feel natural, like... something that has been forcibly shoved inside of us and it's now clogging up the part of us that does matter.

[evocation]

[Her head tilts slightly, and then she realizes she's still holding his arm and lets go.]

Wait, you know what magic feels like?

[hiyakai]

Yeah. [ he doesn't say anything for a moment and then— ] I'm a witch. Or at least I was one. Not entirely sure what I'm classified under now. The line's been kinda blurred ever since I lost my abilities. Can a witch still be a witch if they can't use magic anymore?

[evocation]

[Kyna perks up immediately. Quite literally, actually—she stands up on her tiptoes a bit. Her face always lights up when she finds out someone else could use magic back home. She can't help it.]

Holy shit, me too. And yeah, duh, of course you are. It's just... you know. Locked away or something.