folklorist | ϡ - Chapter ThirtyNine; In a world without color

[ He awoke behind the town bakery today. Not a scratch or mark on him as he sits up and dusts himself off. There’s no rumble or rain or even left over marks that what had happened had even occurred. But he had died and the feeling never got old. It was...strange to say that he's died more than once, stranger to even think about so calmly. Still it left him with a heavy head and an overbearing tiredness as he lay there. It’s only when he opened his eyes that he’ll gasp with surprise. Everything was gray, white, and black. As if someone had come to Luceti while he was gone and sucked it dry of all its color. He’ll flinch and shy away from the bright sunlight almost as it’s too powerful to withstand. He can barely see a thing like this so a spell to darken his glasses is of the utmost pertinence at the moment. Because he really can’t see at all at the moment and his staggering to his feet and wincing with a hand covering his eyes is clearly indicative of this. Still he’ll manage to get as far as the bakery before taking a small break there and then continuing to the item shop to look for a pair of sunglasses or anything to keep the sun out of his eyes. He finds it more or less easier to see in low light that’s offered by the rooms in these buildings and it’s not as jarring or painful for his eyes.

Sometime after picking up his ingredients for his spell to darken his glasses, and performing said spell in his room, he’ll head home to House 44 and pick up his journal. It’s a short while later that he’ll make a voice transmission over the network. ]

I-I’m so terribly sorry I-I wasn’t here to help this week. If-if anyone needs anything I-I can try to help however p-possible. Why...why hasn’t the town gone back to normal, d-does anyone know? It’s just like that time with the earthquakes.

[ The town is still a mess and he feels almost guilty about not being able to help fix it; though he knows that thought isn’t going to help much and he's being far too hard on himself given what happened. Next he’ll try to filter a message to Rue but it breaks after several tries. And then he realizes that she isn’t here anymore. Rue’s gone…

He’ll head out then to the plaza once more making a small detour to the memory garden to help clean it up and also to plant some flowers for her. After that, as the sun gets lower and evening sets in, Helios will be sitting by the fountain eating some sweets, cookies mostly, and Luminair will be curled up and lightly dozing next to him. He makes all different colored birds of light. Some of them are mockingbirds and maybe even a mockingjay or two, most are just regular sparrows and typical little birds you see flying around and possibly other things too. But none of them are colorful to him and he isn’t even sure what colors they’re turning out to be, but he knows they’ll be beautiful for anyone who stops by to watch or see them. ]

Do you think a memory or a world without color is any different than one with it? Hypothetically speaking if we could only see in shades of gray, black, and white would the memories and world we live in be less potent due to them being less vivid and colorful? Or would it be more uniform and peaceful, or perhaps more dull and dreary? There’s other senses of course to make up for what’s lacking and there are creatures out there that live perfectly happy lives with only seeing in monochromatic shades. Ah, that's what it reminds me of. There's a book...called The Giver in my world that has something similar. A world without color, hm, strange to think about really. [ But it could have been worse. He could have come back worse and he's thankful that he hasn't. He'll get used to it and it's only for four months but it will take...some adjusting. ]

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[ Helios looks apologetic as he turns back to Roji with a sad smile. ] Oh no you're not at all! I-I really should relax for a bit anyway. I was iust getting a few things s-so you're not interrupting anything, really.

[ Where does it go from here? ] Where y-you looking for anything yourself?

[Roji perks up a bit, because he feels bad for being all mopey all of the sudden.] All right then.

[And to Helios's question, he glances around the shop.] I was seeing if anything from home popped up since I was here last. Ever since me and Pilouette thought of the possibilities, I've been here quite often.

[ Helios smiles at the mentioning of Pilouette. The young girl has certainly grown on him in the last few months. ] Ah so you know Pilouette? She's a rather nice girl. Have you two found anything then, from your own worlds? I-I confess I have been looking for certain items too at times.

[ A small fluctuation in his smile at that statement. He's missing pieces of his home too that he wishes he could have here with him. Even so things tended to end up here mysteriously. It was all a bit of a chance when he thought about it. ]

She is! And she's the one who thought up the idea, so I really owe her.

[To partially answer Helios's question, Roji pulls out some wards, with his pen attached to them by the clip.]

Pilouette found my wards! Now maybe I can actually do something in the village and not just on drafts.

[He looks pretty darn excited about this. Protection's always important, even if there isn't a lot of spirits around that he knows of.]

We found Pilouette's cellphone, too. And one a picture of me, Muhyo, and some of our friends. [He gives a melancholy smile to that last one.] It was a great haul, I'd say.

She might not think she has many but Pilouette does come up with some very good ideas. [ A smile that turns curious when Roji pulls out his pen with the wards attached to it. ] That's wonder Roji! You weren't joking when you said you made a good haul.

[ Helios gives a broad smile which falters a little as Roji's does also. He'll try to change the subject into something that might draw the other's attention elsewhere. ] I-I know wards are made for specific purposes. But have you ever tried to combine them with other spells and things like that?

[Roji looks thoughtful for a moment when Helios asks him about his wards.]

Usually they're used alongside other Magic Law artifacts like kilns and staffs, but I hadn't actually tried out a lot of them before I ended up here. [He glances at Helios, curious.] What spells did you have in mind, Mister Helios?

[ Helios will pause, thinking for a moment. ] Perhaps something like wind or fire or ice. Things like that. S-So that if the enemy is immune to their normal powers there's at least something else to fall back on.

[ He'll sigh and shake his head. ] But I'm not sure if that'll work or not. [ He'll eye the wards with green eyes. He'd ask to try and experiment with one but these were something that reminded Roji of his home and his life prior to Luceti. He wouldn't want to destroy that simply out of curiosity. ]

Oh, I see! You know, that's one thing I've struggled with in Luceti. It's hard to use my wards since many of the enemies I've had to face weren't ghosts at all. And the only filial magic I know so far is a little bit of healing...

[His eyes light up a little bit at the idea, though.] It'd be so awesome if it could work, though. Then I could be more useful here! Do you think it's possible?

ϡ - Chapter ThirtyNine; In a world without color

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