Conversation Space: The Ultimate

[powersthatbe]

You feel as if you've stepped through a door.

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[iseethe]

There is the sound of someone settling down on the reclining couch. Should Casper look up, he'll see a figure dressed in a silvery-grey tunic and darker grey trousers. They wear a grey mask with a crescent moon picked out in silver--itself only half a shade darker than their silken grey skin. Their hair is a cloud of shadows.

"Like what you see?" they ask.

[helborn]

Casper's head whips to the side at the noise, and he swallows hard. Why did he not hear them before? ... There's something very strange at work here, and he's fairly sure he doesn't like it. "... It's not a reflection of reality." Not how he stands now, at least. "Who are you, and where am I?" He'd prefer to know at least that, so that he can get his bearings.

[iseethe]

"I am the Moon," they say. "You are in my conversation space. It is a place where I may converse with you, before you join your fellow travelers." They indicate the glass of moonshine. "You may drink the beverage if you wish."

[helborn]

He glances over at the glass, and shakes his head, his guard still up. He's not sure what's in it, and he doesn't have any desire to deal with poison, even if he's reasonably sure he can handle it. "What do you mean by 'travelers'? And the moon. The one in the sky, or... ?"

[iseethe]

"Yes," they say, "among other things. And by Traveler, I mean you. You have been selected by chance to take part in Synodiporia as my chosen."

[helborn]

"Archetypical moon, then? ... Interesting." Someone he knows? Maybe. But he's not going to try to read the power level on someone so obviously powerful. He doesn't really want to be blinded, thanks. "Synodiporia... what's that mean?"

[iseethe]

"In Greek, it translates roughly literally to 'Walking Together.' More colloquially, 'Fellow Travelers.'"

[helborn]

"... Right. So where are we traveling to? And why?" He's kind of already busy traveling to Jupiter City.

[iseethe]

"Somewhere that Cairbre and Abaddon picked out," they say vaguely. "I don't tend to follow their matches closely."

[helborn]

"And they would be... whom, exactly? And how many others are traveling?"

[iseethe]

"The seventh and sixteenth," they say. "Do you wish to know active Travelers or those out of Ambit? Actively, there are nearly a hundred. Out of ambit, there are something like four or five hundred more."

[helborn]

"... I see. I meant more... how many of you." It'd be good to know what he's dealing with, at least.

[iseethe]

"Sixteen others remain," she says, studying her nails, which appear to be made of shell.

[helborn]

"You said 'matches'. So this is some kind of game?" If there's sixteen left... then that means a number have already been eliminated. Single elimination, maybe... or maybe some kind of other system that he doesn't know about. "What sort of things are involved in this?"

[iseethe]

"A tournament, yes. We send you to various worlds and bet on the outcomes."

[helborn]

"... And what sort of things are we supposed to do in those worlds? Fights to the death or something?"

[iseethe]

The Moon laughs, rich and throatily. "Not usually. There's always a chance that you may, but of all the worlds and scenarios on our short list, only a few involve copious amounts of murder." They cock their head to the side. "Why? Are you disappointed?"

[helborn]

He waves his hands in front of him. "Noooo. Not at all. I prefer talking over killing, honestly, I'm just trying to know what I'm in for. It's kind of stupid to head in unprepared."

Not that it's ever stopped him.

[iseethe]

Another laugh. Their hand reaches to touch his cheek. "How diligent of you."

[helborn]

He pulls back a little, Bob screeching and flapping and puffing up. "... Please don't touch me."

[iseethe]

Their hand drops, coming to rest on their hip.

[helborn]

He tries to pull his brain back to what he was just talking about. It's very difficult. "... Anyway. It's just the smart thing to do. I don't want other people getting hurt."

[iseethe]

"Mm. Kind as well."

[helborn]

"I... I just want to help people. Alive or dead... keeping the world safe is what I was born for." Not in so many words, but isn't fighting the Titans keeping the world safe? Isn't helping souls move on keeping the world safe? It's all the same.

[iseethe]

They laugh. "And yet you're one of mine. How amusing. But I suppose romantic ideals could be said to be in my domain. Tell me, Casper LeBlanc, is there anything that you might wish to ask of me?"