Asch of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodreign) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
abyssdressing2013-04-18 11:09 pm
bloodreign) wrote in abyssdressing2013-04-18 11:09 pm
Entry tags:
[Fourth Proclamation] Review List of Prohibited Books.
[Anyone working the graveyard shift or otherwise skulking about may notice a brief flicker passing across the library windows. That's because this sanctum of knowledge has a late-night visitor who has taken great pains to choose an hour when the vicinity should have been vacated.]
[Inside, Asch tucks his lantern into a recess in the wall to partially contain the puddle of light now draping across multiple shelves and sets to work. He's never been allowed an opportunity to thoroughly research this particular subject before - certainly, it's not something Asch would read in the company of others. But now that he's been afforded some privacy, he sees absolutely no reason to continue putting it off. It's not as if he's ashamed or anything.]
[When he finally locates the section in question, Asch pulls down the first hopeful-looking title he comes across and flips it open. In fact, within a few minutes he has browsed several volumes and moved on to reviewing a list of what appear to be symptoms:]
[...And so on. The rest of which clearly do not apply to him.]
[One may also find him asleep at a study table bright and early the next morning. It's clear he dozed off while reading, as a two-page spread currently serves as an unintentional head pillow.]
[Inside, Asch tucks his lantern into a recess in the wall to partially contain the puddle of light now draping across multiple shelves and sets to work. He's never been allowed an opportunity to thoroughly research this particular subject before - certainly, it's not something Asch would read in the company of others. But now that he's been afforded some privacy, he sees absolutely no reason to continue putting it off. It's not as if he's ashamed or anything.]
[When he finally locates the section in question, Asch pulls down the first hopeful-looking title he comes across and flips it open. In fact, within a few minutes he has browsed several volumes and moved on to reviewing a list of what appear to be symptoms:]
Food Aversion Dizziness & Fainting Nausea Mood Swings Headaches & Back Pain Constipation Missed Menstrual Period
[...And so on. The rest of which clearly do not apply to him.]
[One may also find him asleep at a study table bright and early the next morning. It's clear he dozed off while reading, as a two-page spread currently serves as an unintentional head pillow.]
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I didn't realize this was a one person library~
[She was teasing now, leaning against the chair as a finger traced coyly across the grain . ]
It is rather dark in here, do you mind if I turn up the light?
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And suit yourself. You're the one who turned it down to start with.
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[After getting him permission, Anise reached over, her fingers barely brushed the dial when-]
Oops, silly me...
[It was now pitch black rather than brighter in the library.]
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[And then the lights went out.]
[In hindsight, Asch should have expected as much. While he can't see a thing, fortunately he isn't dealing with another debilitating migraine. His first thought is the knife in his boot, but he can't just go attacking the girl unprompted! He figures she'll use the opportunity to run. But why would she need to? It's not as if he threatened her.]
[Asch takes a few steps backwards, shifting to a defensive stance, all fidgety nerves. His instincts are screaming at him to prepare for battle. This is too much like another assassination attempt. This is what he gets for giving people the benefit of a doubt!]
...Just what are you trying to pull, Anise!?
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[Well...This is bad. Anise had frozen in place, still leaned over the table. She wasn't particularly fond of the dark for numerous reasons and she was rather sure Asch thought the same. After a moment she dragged the lamp closer to her, touching her fingers to the glass before immediately yanking them away with a small 'ow!']
I'd need to wait a moment for the glass to cool before attempting to relight it...
In the meantime I'm sure we can just think of things two people can do in the dark.
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That hardly sounded like an accident! [His tone accusing, Asch takes a few more steps away from the desk, one hand slightly raised, seeking contact with the nearest bookshelf. It might provide at least some protection in the event of a trap.]
Oh yeah, like what? [Unwanted, Asch recalls there's at least one thing two people often do in the dark. He emits something like a cough.] ...Sharing ghost stories?
[To think that accepting his duties as a father would be so troublesome. If preparatory reading leads to this, what's going to happen later when he's got a wailing child sitting in front of him?]
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[A soft huff could be heard from the puppeteer before she tapped her nails impatiently on the table's wooden surface.
Of course Asch asking what two people do in the dark was a bit priceless to her. One could practically hear the grin in her voice, especially after he tried to suggest something like telling scary stories.]
No way, you'd get way too scared of them~♪ Especially if I tell one of Colonel's super scary ones that are known for keeping both Natalia AND Tear up for two days in a row.
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[...Fingernails?]
Somehow I highly doubt that. [Asch has dealt with plenty of his own monsters and ghosts, after all. There's nothing particularly frightening about a made-up campfire tale. Not that he has a whole lot of interest in them either. It was just the first thing that came to mind. ...Second.]
[The drumming keeps sounding in his ears.]
[Although he has to wonder exactly what it is Jade's been telling Natalia. But he guesses that's a moot point.]
[Drum drum. Drum drum.]
...And stop doing that, would you?
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So boring, now there really is nothing to do while we wait.
[A few minutes could seem like an eternity in the dark, especially if it's quiet.]
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[Asch leans back against the bookshelf, trusting the solid wood to hold his weight. At least now that the drumming's stopped, he won't be nursing a headache later. Not that he isn't still on high alert.]
[He would light up this area with a hyperresonance, but he'd rather not risk losing control and collapsing the entire building on top of them.]
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Oh so you were wanting to hear a story? You seemed so disinterested.
[Anise was silent, thinking about what story to tell before finally deciding on one.]
I'll talk about a personal experience then, one that I had at Choral Castle. Obviously I was younger but I still remember trying to sleep there when we were looking for that chief engineer. All of us were taking a rest break since we had been looking around pretty hard for the majority of the day; I was pretty restless though and decided to do a little bit of exploring around the castle. If you ever been there then you know just how creepy that place can be, especially with all the unexplained noises. That’s not even counting that the sword dancer was there.
Anyway, I was looking around the guest wing when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was white and I thought it was Ion, but I remember thinking ‘why would Ion be here? He should be napping. Maybe he couldn’t sleep either?’ So I walked down the hall to look in the room I thought I saw him duck into…But no one was there and everything was covered in sheet and the room seemed exceptionally cold from the rest of the castle. I called into the room, asking “Ion, are you there?”
…There was no answer, obviously he would have answered me, there’s no reason for him to hide. Before I could step into the room to look further I heard giggling from behind me. I turned around just in time to see a little bit of white dash around the corner at the end of the hall. Naturally I gave chase; I had to see just what exactly was going on. By the time I reached the end of the hall I wasn’t able to quite follow wherever Ion had gone. I looked around, trying to find where he could have ducked off to. I heard giggling again…This time it was from outside, I looked into the courtyard and I saw a white edge of a skirt peeking from behind a large oak tree. I was determined to get him at this point. It didn’t take me that long to find out how to get there, to get into the court yard. In fact, when I made it outside I was still able to see the edge of his skirt peaking from behind the tree. I ran over, creeping behind the tree before popping out to say ‘I got you!”…
…Except no one was there…Only a small cross nestled in between the trees’ roots with a tattered white ribbon tied around it. Naturally I looked around the tree a few times but no one was there…And when I finally got back to the group…well Ion had been asleep the whole time so I don’t know who…or what I was chasing.
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[But there's still an unresolved question: did she see what he was reading or not?]
...Choral Castle was abandoned over a generation ago, but it's been in the family for centuries. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that some of my ancestors were killed and buried on the grounds.
LOL♥
Still, you don't quite go into a place expecting such a thing.
[Well, the long story did provide something she needed, which was time. Delicately she tapped a finger to the base of the protective glass, finding that it had cooled significantly. Carefully she pulled the glass off, gently placing it to the side before feeling around the lamp for the wick turn. Once finding it, she turned it in the opposite direction before focusing the 5th fonon on the wick. A tiny flame burst into life, covering the library in a soft orange glow. She placed the glass back over it before turning up the flame to better illuminate the area.]
There we go~
[And then she noticed just where Asch was at.]
Why are you half way across the room...My story wasn't that scary, was it?
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[Asch straightens, making something of a production about adjusting his cuffs.]
Of course it wasn't! When you've lived through a dozen close calls, you quickly discover that ambushes can happen anywhere. Not that you weren't already acting suspicious before the light went out.
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[The look on Anise's face says it all when he practically accused her of wanting to kill him. She straightens up as well placing a hand on her hip as she canted to the side. She opened her mouth before quickly closing it, her eyes shut as she took a deep breath after swallowing her words. She had plenty to say on that subject but she decided it was better left unsaid. Besides, blabbing about how you could have already killed someone if you wanted to wasn't the most lady-like conversation to have, much less with someone so jumpy.
Once she deemed herself calm enough, she opened her eyes, taking one more deep breath before turning to leave.]
Have fun with your research, it's getting late for me.
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[But it isn't easy.]
[It's damn near impossible.]
...Wait, Anise.
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Probably because he's the king and he and his wife agreed to give Daath large sums of money to keep running. Even if it isn't the same where she's from, she'd hate to damage relations regardless.
After a moment she stopped, turning around to see what he wanted to say.]
Yes?
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Before you go, I need to know one thing. When you came in, did you see what I was reading?
[Asch turns his head to glare at the far wall.] ...It's related to some delicate information that hasn't been released to the general public yet. For safety reasons.
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No, I didn't see anything.
[Regardless if she did or not, well it wasn't her business to tell such things anyway.]
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...Okay.
[A beat.] You're probably tired. Go get some sleep.
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Seeing how you were asleep when I got here, I would suggest the same to you. Goodnight Asch.
[She gave a small wave before sauntering out of the library and into the early twilight of dawn.]