sixthiterationtexts | UN: Former Pilot

Not really affinities, but more what the body generates. I just happen to be good with my spells.

[It's a good question, the one Billy asks. Nida is cringing and shakes his head. But that doesn't stop the explanation.]

No, we didn't know. There is a belief that some people knew, and there was denial even after we figured it out. But we use them anyway. Just less junctioning now, just have them ready. But the power is worth it. You can take the magic energy you stored to enhance your body too. Speed, strength, durability. Even luck, if you're willing to believe that. And of course there is the summoning of the spirits. Nothing like calling forth Shiva, watching her freeze everything around her and the ice explode and the shards cutting up monsters.

It's part of what we had to deal with. It was what made SeeDs so effective, the powers given to us by junctioning and the paramagic spells.

[Worth it? He doesn't know. But it isn't his place to say that, to make those kinds of judgements. It isn't his world, and he doesn't know the situation or the circumstances. Billy's beginning to realize more and more that his life experience has definitely been in the minority, and just because he can't imagine a cost doesn't mean it isn't worth paying. All he can do is listen, and try and understand. At least he's paid attention so far, and doesn't apologize again, even if he wants to.]

It sounds like an incredible thing to see. There's summoning rituals in certain kinds of magic where I'm from, but it's nothing like that.

SeeDs--is that your branch of the military?

More like... the elite levels of a paramilitary organization.

[Well that was sugarcoating it. He just doesn’t want the guy to stop talking to him because he’s a sword for hire so to speak.]

So I’m kind of like an officer. Anyway there are other kinds of magic too. Paramagic and junctioning is just one kind. Everyone has a limit, after all. Power they can access when adrenaline runs high. Sometimes that is magic too. I can use mine to coat a weapon I am using in elemental energy to attack a lot in quick succession. Boom, weapon on fire. Useful.

[Billy wouldn't stop talking to him just for that, especially since there's also talk about him fighting monsters. Maybe if Nida started talking about murdering civilians for a paycheck that might change, but right now? Definitely no judgement.]

I get you. I'd say you sound kind of young to be an officer, but then I'd sound like Captain America talking about my friends and I. So, SeeDs are elite soldiers, and you're an officer. Got it.

[Despite his attempt to remain cool about the whole thing, some of that impressed tone creeps back into Billy's voice as he listens to Nida talk about limit magic.]

That does sound useful. Also, super cool. I can do something similar, with my magic, but it's more electricity than anything else. Although I kind of wonder if I'd be able to do other elements...

So, paramagic, which used Guardian Forces, and limit magic, which is basically adrenaline-powered magic, right? Are there others, too?

[He sounds young for it, does he? Well, there's a breathy little laugh for you, Billy, because you really are not wrong.]

I am young for it, I really am. Most of the militaries of my world really look down on us for this. You can't even join the military until you're my age. Well, eighteen, but it's all the same when you're a soldier or SeeD and you can die for causes but you can't drink legally. Not that I haven't illegally on the job when it called for it...

[That last part trailed off a bit because Nida realized that maybe he shouldn't admit that part? See, he told Billy that voice might lead to him stepping on his own toes.]

Electricity isn't that bad of a power. A lot more useful than wind or water really. You'd be useful back where I'm from like that. Especially since you're more in the school of natural magics, but I don't know much about those.

There's... the magic of Sorceresses. That's...

[There is no denying the pain in his voice there. The fact that he doesn't want to talk about it.]

If you ever meet someone in town named Rinoa, she'll be wearing lots of blue, she could tell you more about Sorcery. She's closer to being an expert.

[He isn't expecting that laugh. It makes him sound younger some ways, older in others. Maybe it's how familiar it sounds that feels a little strange, makes him volunteer more.]

I...sort of know how that goes. I mean--I'm not a soldier. But my friends and I... we're in the middle of a fight. Our whole world is, constantly. And the adults--I mean, all the heroes over twenty-five, even if they're barely there--they keep saying we're too young to do anything about it. But I mean...Tommy and I are eighteen. So's Eli. Teddy's nineteen. Kate is twenty. We aren't kids. We've been fighting since we were fifteen, sixteen, just...trying to make a difference. And we have. But all they'll ever see, no matter how old we get, is a bunch of kids who shouldn't have had to fight.

[He lets out a breath, a puff of air.]

Sorry--I mean, I know it's not the same. I'm not trying to compare or anything, just--I get being looked at differently because people think you're too young for your life experience.

[He elides past the reference to his magic as anything natural. That's something to be saved for later, maybe, especially when he hears that unmistakable hurt in Nida's voice, and the mention of a familiar name. He can't hide the surprise in his voice at that.]

I know Rinoa. She was over at our place last week, for Hanukkah. I bumped into her a couple days after I first got here, she's really nice. I didn't realize...

[That he was her friend? That Rinoa had that kind of magical power? Both, maybe. And he definitely gets the feeling Nida doesn't want to dwell on the topic.]

I'm Billy. I don't know if she mentioned. And, um, I'm pretty sure I didn't say earlier. Sorry. Kind of rude of me to just start grilling you without even an introduction. You can ask anything you want, though. I mean, if there's anything you want to know about where I'm from. Or about magic, or I can tell you space stories like I promised?

[Wow this got... serious. He'd been asking for bedtime stories and now Nida is setting aside the axe and moving to sit against a tree to listen. And it sounds really similar, even if it's not the same.]

I figured out your name. These devices are useful like that. Nida, in case you're wondering how it's pronounced. I don't know that Rinoa wants to talk about it much either.

But I get it, what you've been through, sort of. We're... young. It's not supposed to be our responsibility. My CO is only a few months older than me, the people who saved my world a year ago, none of them over eighteen. Of course almost all of of them were from Garden like me. We were all young, but most of us were orphaned by the last war. Not like we have anything else.

Tell me about space?

[Orphaned by a war, trained as soldiers from childhood, given magical abilities that took your memories one by one. The picture Nida is painting of the world he and Rinoa are from is grim. He isn't sure what to say about it. Sympathy sounds false, feels like not enough, coming from someone like him. So instead, he gives Nida what he promised: stories about space.]

Space is beautiful, and huge, and lonely, and full of so much more than I'd ever imagined. I mean, I read a ton of sci-fi, but it's not anything like that, really. Parts of it feel like a story sometimes. Like my friend Noh-Varr's ship--the engines, he calls them Kirby engines? They run on belief. You believe in something hard enough, believe as hard as you can, and you can power up anything. After we crashed in Central Park, Teddy and I--

[There's a catch there, a moment where he falters, and his building enthusiasm and warmth are a little more subdued when he resumes.]

We, uh, we fixed them. Got the ship flying again. That's how we ended up in space. Just the six of us. America, Loki, Kate, Noh-Varr, me, and Teddy. One minute we're fighting this interdimensional parasite in a nightclub, the next we're leaving the solar system. I'll never forget how that felt, watching literally my entire planet just...disappear.

[It's not nearly as bad as it seems. Really. Or so Nida pretends. Don't mind him. He does catch the falter and frowns to himself. Pretty telling thing from his experience, that sort of pause. Ask about that later, his mind suggests. But for now he has other questions.]

So... uh, what's a 'nightclub'? And have you been home since then?

[Please just keep talking, because Nida doesn't want to think.]

[Billy will definitely keep talking. He'll talk until Nida nods off, if he wants, honestly, warm tenor rambling about whatever crosses his mind, whatever he asks about. It's just that some things are harder to talk about than others. This isn't about his problems, his mistakes, but it's tough to talk about home without at least touching on them. Clubs, at least, are an easy place to start.]

Oh--uh, a lounge? It's a place with a bar and a big open space, people go to drink and listen to music, and dance. We used to go sometimes, places around here have what they call college nights where you can get in if you're over 18, even if you're not 21 yet. It's a lot of fun, if you like loud music and dancing, and I love dancing, so...yeah. That night wasn't a great time, but clubs are great.

[The cheer in his voice rings a little forced as he answers that other question, but he does at least answer it.]

Uh, no. No, I haven't been home since then. There's been a lot of stuff going on. The parasite that we were fighting, if I go home our families are in danger, and so are we, and I don't want that. So we're hanging out in space, and I'm learning to use my magic better so we can beat it when we go back home. We did come back to Earth for a little while, but that's when my brother's friend David showed up and told us Tommy had been kidnapped, so we've been out looking for him, instead.

I'll go home eventually. When I can fight it. Until then, I just have to keep leveling up, I guess, and space is a really good place to do that. There's always some new weird challenge.

[Well, now he has a rough age range for the voice on the other side of the line. Another detail filed away. Billy, somewhere between 18 and 20, nice voice. Was probably involved in a romantic or friendly relationship with someone named Teddy and that went sideways somehow. Good to keep it all in line. But eh does sit up a bit straighter at the 'dancing' part.]

And now I've just got more questions. One, you have a brother? Two, what sort of magic? And three, this one is the most important, okay?

Is it only formal dancing at these clubs, or... well, less waltzes and the like.

[Billy laughs at the last question, the way it's phrased, a delighted sound and definitely not mean.]

I guess if it's the most important, I have to start there, right? It's usually a lot more informal dancing at a club, I sent think I've ever seen anyone waltz at one, though believe me, if they did I would be so there. There are very few things hotter than a guy who knows how to dance, I mean actually dance. But uh, yeah. It's more just moving to the music, or moving with the person you're dancing with. Whatever you're feeling, you know? Why, do you like dancing?

[He should at least try to answer the rest, even if he's more interested in the other part, but at least the warmth and animation linger in his voice.]

Yeah, I've got a brother. Three, actually. I told you about the two younger ones before, the bedtime stories? Matthew is nine and Lucas is seven. Tommy is my twin. He's actually here, too, apparently when he got grabbed by this shadow thing, it brought him here. He's actually asleep next door, which is why I'm kind of keeping it down right now. And my magic--it's sort of complicated. I can try and explain, if you want. Tommy's kind of part of that story, too.

[And maybe he should add in 'gay or bi' to the list.]

If it's his story too, then it's okay to leave that off, just to be polite. Especially since you can tell me about dancing in your world.

Yes, I like dancing. No, I haven't had much experience with it in a less formalized sense. Part of being trained where I was meant being trained as a gentleman. Which means I know all sorts of ballroom style dances. Anything else I sorta just... had to figure out myself. Most dancing I get to enjoy is at more formal things.

Well, anytime you feel like dancing, let me know, I am always happy to practice.

[The offer is friendly and joking, but one hundred percent genuine. Not that they're likely to have time for it here, but it's nice to think about, getting to dance again.]

I took ballroom lessons as a kid. My parents always knew I loved singing and dancing, I'd watch this tape we had of My Fair Lady over and over and copy the moves, so they put me in classes when I was pretty little. I did other kinds of dance when I got older--modern, mostly, but I did a year of tap and a couple of ballet, but I love ballroom. It can be really fun figuring out other kinds, though. It's just all about the music and how it makes you want to move, you know?

I don't think there's any way to play music in the village, but it might be fun to try and find one.

[Wow, sounds like his new friend has a bit that Nida could learn from him.]

I'm aware of tap dancing. I know one of the SeeDs I work with had that experience. What is modern dancing about? I'm not familiar with it. I mean, I can waltz, tango, foxtrot, things like that. It's gentlemanly. And what people do at big social parties.

[Where he either got to dance or got to watch.]

Maybe we'll have to find an excuse for me to try learning.

Hey, that's definitely something to be proud of. Gentlemanly talents like waltzing, definitely underrated. At least where I'm from. Not that many big social parties that involve a ballroom.

Modern dance is...do you know ballet at all? Modern dance started as kind of the anti-ballet. Ballet is about strict forms and very precise movements, like there are accepted positions and it's very very...regimented, I guess? Modern dance is about breaking boundaries, pushing the limits of the human body. You're expressing yourself with your movements. Everything's about emotion and sharing that emotion with the audience. I really like that part of it.

You don't have to try modern dance or anything, but I can definitely find an excuse for you to learn something new. It's important to have hobbies, I hear. Unwind sometimes.

I'm familiar with the concept, but never seen it.

Hobbies? What exactly are those? Are those things that don't involve weapons training or learning how to fly things? There is something like that? Oh wow!

[Oh dear, honest sarcasm.]

[The sudden appearance of sarcasm is unexpected but entirely delightful, and there's a laugh in Billy's voice he can't quite suppress, even as he tries to keep playing it straight (hah).]

I know, it's a crazy idea, right?? I totally didn't believe in them at first, thought they had to be fictional. But I swear to you, hand to God, they are 100% real. I can show you.

[Too bad Billy doesn't say that. Because frankly Nida would love to say 'you can't play it straight if you never were.']

I'd like that. In fact, it would probably be good for my mental health to have one of these 'Hobbies.' Is that how you even pronounce it? I'm just miming you.

[He wouldn't even be sure what to do with that, but he'd definitely appreciate it. Maybe wake up Tommy with his laughing, honestly. There's always other times.]

It definitely would be. And yeah, you almost got it. The 'o' is a short sound, here, like this. Hob-bies.

[He's definitely laughing now.]

Also known in some universes as recreational activities. Like dancing. Or embroidery. Or board games. Magic tricks, the non-magic kind. I used to be super into those when I was a kid. We should try a few of them out, make sure we find you a good one.

[Honestly, after the things Nida's told Billy and the things Billy's implied himself, well, they could both use a laugh.]

And here I would have thought dancing was business, given it was something I was trained in. I mean...

Well, in my world the closest I got to recreational was card games. Triple Triad. Which of course I don't have here and I don't have the art skills or supplies to replicate. But yeah, I wouldn't mind trying out some of these Hoob-bies of yours.

It's only business if you're doing it for business. You might have learned it for work, but if we dance, it's going to be just for fun.

[There's a mock sternness to the words, but the smile is still there underneath it.]

Card games are cool. I'm not really an artist, but maybe we can figure something out using a different kind of deck? I know people have cards here.

[It's worth a shot, anyway.]

So, we should hang out sometime. Try out some 'hoob-bies' together. I know there's a lot of work that needs to be done before winter, but you still gotta take a break occasionally, right?

I suppose it depends on the deck. If it's one of those decks with 52 cards, four suits and what not, it's not enough cards to work with. But I'll figure something out.

[Hang out? That's... that's an idea. It's almost strange to think about interactions beyond talking like this. The guy is a stranger and yet...]

Yeah. We should. I can probably fit you into my busy schedule of walking around in circles and offending wood spirits or whatever.

Hmm. Yeah, the ones I've seen are those decks. Bummer. But maybe someone will have some ideas.

[Maybe it is a little strange, and they are sort of strangers, but then they've spent a good bit of time already talking about their worlds, where they're from, what they do. It's a place to start, at least, and Billy's grin is audible.]

I don't know, sounds like you're booked solid. I wouldn't wanna come between you and your wood chopping regimen or communing with nature or anything.

Don't forget the working out to make sure that I'm ready for when I can finally get a staff back in my hands. I'm not going to lose my fighting trim just to commune with nature.

[Because that's a fun thing too, keeping yourself fit. Which reminds him he needs to go into the woods to look for nice saplings for practice staffs.]

UN: Former Pilot | Open Text

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