Things That Go Bump in the Dark [Ophelia/Zacharia]

[Zacharia]

Some would argue that the city never truly slept, but there were only few who walked the streets of Arcadia at night. Zacharia was one of them. Magic was difficult to practice in a sealed off-room, so most nights when the mage should've been sound asleep in bed he was out in the streets looking for a place to set up. Somewhere quiet, and out of the way if he could help it. It was difficult to find new places night after night, but more than worth the hassle of having to deal with unwanted guests who predicted his next visit and wanted to rob him blind watch Zach for a spell. Tonight's area was a strangely overgrown town square, with flowers and herbs lifted from the Divide below. Ivy vines wormed their way through the cobblestone and dirt, up the sides of the local apothecaries, then down the trunks of the adjacent saplings trying to soak in every bit of light and water they could. It was a quaint little place, and the stores were all closed - the run of the square was his for the evening.
And he'd need it, too; if he was going to be joining a guild soon, he would need to step up the pace with his magic, and the pace could not stop for people who were trying to sleep.

Blue dyed the walls of the plaza as magic whirled into existence around his head. At a thought the Nether took shape into the form of a bull-esque blob, which mimed pawing the ground before charging into an adjacent wall and exploding into stardust on impact. "Hmmm..." Zach took a moment to breathe after letting out such a taxing spell, and then pulled open his notes. "Less magic, more bull? I guess that sounds good. I'll just put that aside for now." "Okay then, I'm all good and warmed up now, let's try something stronger." Zacharia brushed his hair back and rubbed the tips of his fingers together. There was one spell he'd been dying to try - in the books he had found in Arcadia, some spoke of a magic art that involved bringing tiny pieces together as a singular mass. The spell itself went by several different names, but it was something he never had the chance to learn outside of Arcadia. He had been DYING to try it.

The mage set his notes aside, gently brushing the ground he placed them on first. "This is the moment, Zach." Zach imagined himself, reaching into the Nether for a single speck of Darkness. And it worked! A tiny fire lit up in the palm of his hand, like a firefly. He imagined the one growing into two. Then four. Then sixteen. Soon the individual specks were innumerable. Okay... that was step one down. "And then," he exclaimed. "Form the Nether into the shape of a blade, and-!" A misstep. It might've been him, someone else, or maybe Gaea just felt particularly cruel that night. But something happened that severed his concentration for a moment, and a moment was all that was needed to backfire. Like a bolt of lightning the dark magic flung from his hand and struck the ground, lighting the entire plaza in an unearthly blue light that crackled like a thunderstorm.

Or at least, that was what Zach would've seen, if he hadn't been knocked silly after that flashbang went off in his face. The boy was left sprawled meters from where he'd been casting. His smoldering torso looked like he'd been struck by lightning, and it sure FELT like it too. At least, he didn't think ribs were supposed to have that burning sensation normally. "No.. more... I'm done for to..night.."

[Ophelia]

She still didn't understand the floating city very well, but Ophelia had long since found out that she quite liked it. The air seemed to hum with magic; mostly flavors of anima, intensely Elibean in origin and taste rather than the soothing chill of her home, but it was relaxing in its own right to be so inherently... un-relaxed by power that danced around and through her. The magics that held Arcadia aloft were powerful beyond her comprehension, and as complex as they were omnipresent. She could not make out even a tenth of what the countless interlacing spells and enchantments were supposed to do, and yet somehow the great city, and all its myriad islands and buildings and platforms and people, managed to stay aloft without any real issues that she could see.

It was the corona of magic around Arcadia at night that had truly caught her fascination, though; a strange juxtaposition of natural and man-made beauty spliced into one great working; only really visible at night, and even then more felt than seen in its subtlety. She had no idea why it existed. Perhaps it was simply excess magical energy vented from the core. Perhaps it was some defensive matrix to protect the city. Ophelia didn't think either answer was entirely right, but no one else seemed to know either, and she had asked quite a few people.

Given that she didn't sleep, and liked the outdoors more than the walls and prisons of man, it was pretty common for her to spend the night outdoors, simply marveling at the strange and majestic creations that surrounded her here. Master was many things, but his laboratory had been somewhat... cramped comparatively, following the ideal of function over form, or at least so she liked to think of it. And it was always so dark. Or perhaps it hadn't been, and her memories of it had been damaged as well. Ophelia did not like to think about that more than necessary. She was out here, not to think, but to see.

So it was that she had been observing a human mage, pulled to him by his use of Nether magic in the way that she could never truly explain; it simply was, how the strings of control, the weakened barrier between worlds, called to her. Not like her master had. That had been absolute, overwhelming; the mastery of a physical god, a call that she MUST heed. This was... different. She had chosen to follow it, rather than simply doing so. But follow it she had, and so she had observed what appeared to be some form of magical practice, though she didn't see exactly what it was supposed to accomplish or how. Did the strange boy simply hate walls? They called those people 'hooligans' here, she thought. Or maybe 'vandals.' She had spent some time in a local library earlier and learned a great many words that were floating around her head, waiting to be used, but she really hadn't had many opportunities to use them.

Her wandering mind was brought to heel by the mage's... accident, she thought, or maybe he had simply decided to end the cruel mockery of his own existence. It was hard to tell sometimes. He had either done a splendid job of trying to blow himself up, slightly lessened by the fact he had failed, or a very poor job of NOT blowing himself up, though to be fair he hadn't really done that either, so maybe he had done a better job than he thought. This was all very confusing. And she wasn't sure if he was... well. He seemed to be talking to himself, which was something that apparently crazy people did. Was it contagious? Hm. She was worried though, she wasn't close enough to really inspect him, but he did look hurt. The absentminded apprentice puzzled over her quandary for but a moment before deciding that she should at least check on him, silently rising from her makeshift seat to walk towards him, concentrating as she did so. One step two, three, and on the fourth the world distended around her, all sense of direction and distance fading into infinity, and then everything was normal again and she was fifty feet closer, taking that fourth step as if nothing had happened. And nothing had; she had simply been in one place one moment and been in another a moment later.


Except now she was looming over the fallen magus, or perhaps looming was not the best of words, it sounded very intimidating and imposing and she was apparently none of those things. It was frustrating but she was simply not large or strong enough to be so, at least as far as her preliminary testing had suggested. And she was also looking down at Zach, her face as stony as ever, but there was - maybe - just a hint of concern in her eyes. Or maybe not, maybe there was nothing there, or perhaps the darkness above in the vastness of eternity tinted her looks with something different entirely. Or perhaps the dim lights worked in her favor. She didn't know.

"Hello."

Ophelia paused for a moment, searching for words that conveyed her meaning adequately. She still wasn't comfortable talking much. There had been very little need to do so at the lab, but people in the outside world seemed to like to talk so very much that she could hardly keep up.

"Are you alright?"

[Zacharia]

For a few moments that passed like Father Time had a kidney stone in his timestream, Zach laid in the dirt, stunned silent. Every single bad decision that lead to this instance in time came rushing back to him in a torrent, but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as his rib cage felt. Okay, status report, Zach. Arms? Still there, but they felt heavier than lead. Fingers? He could wiggle all ten, and five of them had his spellbook firmly clutched, that was a good sign. Legs? Definitely still attached. ...Head? The boy stuck his neck out, and was meeted with an unnaturally cold sensation brushing up against his nose before relaxing and letting his head slam back into the dust. Only then did he become aware of the massive bump on the side of his head anGOOD GAEA that stings yowch

"uurgh..." The boy's amber eyes shot wide open, and as the world stopped spinning around him he could see the pair of delicate blue eyes standing over top of him. And the chain they were attached to. "Um... hello." He managed a twiddle of his fingertips. "Um, mind if I ask a question? Can you tell if I'm bleeding or anything, right around here -" the mage emphasized with a pat of his chest. As he did the thought finally occurred to Zach that his arms were perfectly fine, and that he'd burnt a hole straight through his outer robe. "Hold on, let me sit up." Slowly and carefully, his arms pushed his frame from the ground, brushing aside the stranger's chain. Still felt dead inside. "Oh, phew. No blood. Don't worry, I'm okay. But um," he turned his head to take in the sight of the decidedly female figure. Petite, sickly even, but there was an air of elegance about the way she carried herself. There was another air about the woman, too, and one the mage couldn't ignore; the air of dark magic just oozed off of her in waves. And the boy just couldn't take his eyes off of the massive chain around her neck. Zach felt his grasp tighten on his book instinctively.

"I'm Zacha- ahem, sorry, ribs are hurting real bad. My name's Zach. I'm kind of a scholar." With a great show of effort he managed to lift off the ground and stay standing, only stumbling once or twice. "You wouldn't happen to be someone who's also studying Nether magic, are you?? You feel positively drenched in magic. In fact, you're... say, who are you, exactly? What's your name?"

[Ophelia]

Hm. She wondered if the young man had sustained serious brain damage during his unfortunate fall or if he was always like this. Ophelia considered asking, but decided against it after remembering that people tended to get offended when she asked them questions for some reason. She really didn't understand why he'd asked her a question and then answered it himself without giving her a chance to do so. Was that what was called a 'rhetorical' question?

Thankfully he seemed to bounce back from his severe(?) injuries fairly quickly, possibly regenerating his broken body with intense magical power, or maybe it hadn't been that bad in the first place. She considered asking about that, too, but decided against that too after a tortured moment of decision-making. That was good though. Him being safe, that was, not the lack of questions. She didn't know how to heal people and wasn't sure if she could take him along in one of her shortcuts.

"...Ophelia," she settled for responding evenly to his last question, hesitant to interrupt her new friend - were they friends yet? she wasn't sure - and so happy to wait until he had said his piece. He seemed friendly at least, and not mad at her yet, so that was good. "Hi Zach." She wasn't sure which of the two versions of his name to call him, Zacha or Zach, and so went with the safe bet - the short one. Maybe that was just a pseudoynm because he was actually really important and his full name had to be a secret to protect his loved ones?

Eh. Maybe she'd been reading too many novels today. Or maybe there was NO SUCH THING, but if he was, his secret was safe with her. She was very trustworthy after all. But he probably didn't want to talk about his secret identity, if it did exist, so she let it go. Besides, he had more questions for her.

Actually... answering his question was hard, though. She didn't... exactly study Nether magic, at least not any more, her master had and she had helped but she was just an assistant not an actual scholar. If anything, she studied Arcane magic, or tried to at least, she wasn't very good at it. Either the magic or learning it. But she DID like Nether magic and liked using it and liked seeing it, and apparently 'Zach' did too, so she didn't want to say no because that would be bad. "And I like Nether magic too." She almost blurted it out, desperate to communicate the sentiment even when the appropriate words eluded her, and it seemed to come out alright. Maybe she should start talking without thinking more ofte- yeah no.

...Was she supposed to say something else to keep the conversation going?

[Zacharia]

The mysterious girl had introduced herself and they had made nice, but something about their conversation made Zach uneasy. Or rather, too at ease. It was like talking to an old friend that he had forgot ever existed to begin with. And yeah, the whole "dark stranger in an empty street in the middle of the night" thing was kind of a red flag. But Ophelia didn't seem like she meant any harm to him, and she seemed earnest enough about liking magic. For now, that'd have to do.

Zach offered a warm smile to his new friend. Was she his friend? He wasn't really sure if they'd known each other long enough yet.  If they weren't, she'd just have to deal for now. "Well, um, I like Nether magic, and YOU like Nether magic, soooooooo..." The mage shuffled his feet a bit as he absentmindedly dusted off the part of his shirt that was still smoldering. "We could compare notes, if you have those on you. It's been ages since I've met a Nether Magic enthusiast. Or, um, I guess anyone interested in Nether Magic at all. I've actually been practicing this thing called scr- ooh, ooh, I could show you how I practice my magic! That is of course, if you didn't get enough of that when I lit the whole neighborhood up a few minutes ago." The mage giggled for a moment but the laughter quietly fizzled out when the realization hit him like a brick.

"Oh. Oh, Gaea below... I lit the whole neighborhood up, didn't I."

"I have to go! I dunno if there's any patrols of town guards around tonight, but I'm pretty better safe than sorry for us to be not here." The boy's eyes darted across the grounds. Sure enough, there was a warm light creeping towards the pair from the plaza entrance closest to them. The way Zach had come in. It didn't matter who they were, he wasn't sticking around to find out. He took another look at the woman standing adjacent to him, and her seemingly-vacant eyes. "Well, the way I came's no good now..." With ginger steps and a hand clutched to his abdomen, the scholar made his way to the exit to their immediate right and craned his head around the wall. No one there. Phew. "D-Do you have anywhere to go, Ophelia? Even if you don't, you should leave. I'm going this way, and I don't know where it goes, but you're free to come with me."

[Ophelia]

She didn't think she had any notes that he would be interested in. The only notes she had ever had were Master's, and those were for his experiments rather than actually hers, and they had presumably been lost with - well. She didn't have them anymore.

It did feel nice to feel a little wanted though, even if Zach was just being polite, she couldn't tell. Mostly people didn't really like having her around and they didn't like her questions either, so this was... nice. It wasn't much of a smile, but Ophelia nodded to show interest, as vigorously as she could, which wasn't really more than a small nod but by her standards she might as well have been jumping up and down. She had already seen some of Zach's magic but maybe it could be - 'fun' to talk about it and see more?

It was probably for the best that he didn't seem very interested in hers, though. People around here didn't really seem to like Nether magic, or Primordial magic in general. Not hatred, but - distrust. It had a bad reputation with humans apparently, which was probably part of why she had been interested in Zach's use of it.

Ophelia didn't really understand why Zach suddenly started panicking in the middle of a perfectly good conversation, or why the town guard would come and make them not-safe. Weren't the guard supposed to keep people safe? Or were these, like, evil town guards that didn the opposite of what they were supposed to? She hesitated, keeping her mouth shut as Zach said... stuff she didn't really understand, but it wasn't until he offered to take her along with him that she really got flustered. It didn't show much on her face or eyes, of course, but if Zach was watching he could definitely have seen the almost - skittishness that ran through her body, angled it and pulled it away.

And yet she stood. Perhaps not firm, nor full of great courage and self-assuredness, but she swallowed the momentary panic and fear and consumed them. Zach seemed nice, and for whatever reason he seemed to like her. She didn't know if he'd like her if he knew much about her, but for now it was easy to pretend that he might, and it was... nice to have someone at least act like they cared about her again. She hadn't had much experience with that in a while.

So Ophelia just nodded slightly and stepped towards him, following the young mage in his journey into parts unknown. "Okay."

[Zacharia]

Zach moved as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him, only assuming that Ophelia was following close behind. As they left the alleyway, he couldn't even feel the bruise on his chest anymore. The boy just felt overwhelmingly stiff; tiredness was creeping up on him with every step. All Zach wanted now was to find his way home and just sleep for a week. The mage rubbed his eyes and bit his lip to stifle a yawn. "They really ought to start selling more maps of this city... I can't believe anyone finds their way around the place day in and day out." The alley flushed into a fork in the path, of which both ends led to other, different street corners. Zacharia exhaled a sigh of resignation. That nap wouldn't be coming anytime soon.

"Well, it doesn't seem like whoever's out there is coming after us, so now's as good as any time to ask," he said, squinting down the right path before taking the left. "What did you think of my magic, huh? Was it good? Bad? How was my technique. I mean, it wasn't all that much, really, but did you like it? The shape? Size? Color? The explosion? Um, well, the explosion wasn't intentional. Nevermind on that. Was there anything I could've gone about differently? Really, anything at all?" The thought never occurred to his shut-down brain that the boy was just blurting question after question at poor Ophelia. Zacharia was too enamored with the idea of another mage like himself to care about silly things like their feelings. "Sorry that you caught me on a bad evening like tonight. Who knows? We could've even sparred. It's been ages since I and... Well."

He walked silently for a moment. Perhaps it was out of shame, or secrecy, or even his failing memory. Whatever it was, Zach just couldn't bring himself to form his master's name from his lips.

"It's been a long time since I've been able to brush up on combat techniques in a real match." the pupil yawned. "That's all. Most of my studies were for the mundane. I'm pretty new to fighting with magic. What about you? Are you a self-taught mage? Or do you have a master somewhere in Arcadia? Ooh, do you?? I'd really love to meet her."

[Ophelia]

Ophelia followed wrapt in a veil of silence, slipping into her boundless experience as an unassuming assistant rather than making her wn decisions. The darkness was calm and welcoming, as it always had been, and it was so much easier to follow than to lead. The only sign of her continued existence was the occasional slight jingling of chains and rustling of soft fabric, but even that was minor indeed; she had much experience in learning to not disturb others.

She had no idea where they were going there - following directions and tracking her surroundings was - not her strong point. She mostly just wandered Arcadia trying to get un-lost, so it was rather helpful to have Zach take the helm. Until he didn't. Ophelia had no idea why or how he had decided this street corner was preferable to the other, or how he knew that their pursuers (whoever they were) were no longer following them, but decided to trust him on that one nonetheless. He was the expert on being human after all.

His questions were a little more complicated.

The only real reference she had to magic use was, well, her master, and he had clearly been among the greatest of human mages... probably. As far as she knew anyways. Compared to that, Zach's magic had been weak and slow and amateur. But so was hers, so that didn't really mean much. She DID know better than to say that though, people didn't seem to like to hear anything negative about themselves. And she didn't know that much about human magic usage anyways, so maybe Zach's was above average and it would be an insult to imply otherwise? Ah... interaction was difficult.

"It was - pretty," the daughter of the void answered with a tinge of questioning in her tone, as much a question as an answer - she knew not why, whether it had been an unspoken request for validation or simply well-meaning confusion. But what she said was true. She wasn't very creative with her own magic, but his bolt of blue light had looked pretty impressive(ish), unique (maybe), and it was Nether magic which she was admittedly biased towards. So it was an honest assessment. As far as she was capable of. "I didn't understand the... motes," she admitted apologetically after a pregnant pause, though, referencing the explosion that had knocked Zach flat, assuming he had planned that much out but not sure why.

"I don't fight much either," Ophelia continued, trying to hold up her end of the conversation in the wake of Zach's infodump. Following what he said was easy - her master had spoken very quickly indeed at times and as his unofficial scribe she had learned to memorize it regardless. But she was more used to simply listening, not injecting herself into conversations, so that was the real struggle. But it was true. She had been a... bodyguard, sort of, but her master had been infinitely more powerful than her so it was more support than actual protection.

It didn't occur to her to actually go into more detail on the subject, though, or talk about her own strength. Lack of perspective. "Self taught...?" Another query she wasn't sure how to respond to. She just sorta... knew most of what she did. But she had trained, a bit, so... maybe that counted? "Something like that." The statement was a bit more certain than her normal, Ophelia fairly certain that was the correct answer, but she didn't think to qualify it with more information.

"How -" And there was the hesitance again, both from lack of understanding and being taken off guard by his question about her master. But she didn't understand his conflicting statements. Had he not been able to fight with magic in a while, or was he new to it? Was he older than he looked - an ancient mage stuck in the body of a child? Hmm... "Are you new or old at it? Fighting," she clarified. He seemed uncharacteristically fine with magical combat, which was kind of intimidating honestly, she didn't know anyone who really wanted to do it. Fighting was just something you did to stay alive, to prove your existence, not... fun. Or was it? She didn't know. She'd never really tried that.

Her lack of a response to his question about her master might raise questions, if Zach noticed or cared, but it was entirely possible it had simply been lost in her struggle to answer his others.

[Zacharia]

"Oh, it was... pretty? Thank you." Zach's initial eagerness had been slipping away with every second they passed in conversation together. Not that Ophelia wasn't good company-- it just felt like wave after wave of sleep was crashing on the shore that was his brainspace. And wave after wave of pain was crashing on his ribs. That, and trying to form a coherent path out of the alleyways made a pregnant silence between the two for several minutes, only broken by the infrequent yawn or rattle of chains. As the pair came to another fork in the road the mage ran his fingers through his grimy blue hair, exasperated. This path looked the exact same as the last one they went down! It almost felt like they had gone in one big circle. Why did the city have to be so massive and confusing the one time he was trying to go somewhere in a hurry?

The boy turned to glance at Ophelia, her glassy, almost porcelain eyes a million miles away and yet staring right at him all the same. "I, um... Fighting?" He stammered, tactfully robbing the conversation from its grave. "I guess you could say that I'm old and new to combat." Zacharia started to count on his fingers, almost absentmindedly wandering down the path that led them in a roundabout again.

Hopefully Ophelia hadn't noticed and was just, staring off into space or something. The entire time. The last thing Zach wanted was for girl to think that he was misleading her.

"Let's see, I'll be eighteen years old in a little less than a hundred days from now, so that means I've been studying magic for about... ten years? Yes, ten years now. But I mean, I'm still pretty inexperienced with the stuff." Zach had the concept part down, and he knew his textbook practically by heart, and he seldom needed an incantation to create portals to the Nether... but there was still some fundamental part of the equation he'd been missing. Was it practice? Maybe it was a naturally poor attunement to the Nether that'd been holding him back?

Maybe he was just destined to suck forever?

Zacharia took a slow breath, and decided to take the path they hadn't gone down before. Whatever it was that was holding him back, it probably wasn't for him to decide anyway.

"How long did it take for you to get to where you are with magic?" Zach paused to squint his eyes towards their destination. It seemed like there was an opening of moonlight at the end of the alleyway but it could've easily been another guard's lantern. At this point, anything beat wandering around until he collapsed from exhaustion. "Then again, I guess I haven't really seen your magic yet anyway. S-So, um! ...Actually, nevermind that. Is the way you cast anything like mine, or do you come from a different teaching style?"

[Ophelia]

"Eighteen years..." Ophelia was torn between saying that was a long time and not being sure if that was actually true. She didn't really know, and she didn't want to ask. Elibe's day-night cycle was still fairly new to her and she didn't really understand much beyond it. She knew a week was seven days, apparently, but why was seven such an important number? No one had really had answer for that. It just was. What was a year? A lot of days. She didn't know how many and she didn't really see the point in counting them.

But it did sound like a long time, so she nodded sagely, trying her best to look vaguely impressed. It looked just about like she always did, but with a small nod, so... not total disdain, anyways. "That sounds like a lot of effort." It was true, humans did seem to be capable of immersing themselves absolutely in tasks, of their own free will. Master had been like that as well. She had no idea how long their work had taken, in the twilight lab where time was meaningless, but maybe it had been years, too?

"And y-yes, it was - pretty." Her voice had trembled a bit there, Ophelia realized, perturbed by it but unable to change that fact. She was trying to be friendly, but... not very good at it, and communicating in words was still new and strange to her. "I didn't know that Nether magic could be bright?" Arcane magic made light, but her Nether magic was more defined by the absence thereof, tendrils of writhing shadow, portals of drowning darkness - nothing as beautiful and entrancing as what he had done. Useful for self defense, yes, but she didn't know how else to use it, making it a simple tool, a fact of life, rather than... art.

The Abyssal shrugged almost imperceptibly in response to his final question, pushing aside her admiration of his magic to try to be polite. "I don't know." She also didn't know where they were at all. She had been following Zach, but he seemed to only be getting more and more frustrated. Ophelia assumed he knew what he was doing. "My magic is much simpler." Which was entirely true from her perspective; Ophelia didn't really think in terms of levels of power, so it didn't occur to her to mislead him, or see her wording as at all inaccurate. "And I just... know it."

[Zacharia]

"Pretty," Zach yawned in agreement. For a moment his steps slowed as he internally processed the woman's statement. Something about the idea of Nether magic being called pretty rubbed him the wrong way. Not that it wasn't true; Zach had always tried to make his spells look, well, "pretty" and pleasing to the eye. It was just something about Ophelia's approval. Or really, any mage's approval at all. "Well, um, I mean, I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, I just--!!" Zacharia dejectedly hung his head in his free hand, hiding his fluster in vain. "What I mean to say is 'Thank you.'"

Zacharia looked up and picked up his pace by a margin. He could almost feel Ophelia's stare burning holes through his head. It was silly for him to worry about what a stranger("strange" being the keyword here) thought of him, but no matter how obvious it was that Ophelia couldn't care less, it wasn't a thought he could contain. All Zach could do was change the subject and continue into what was becoming less likely moonlight and more likely a bright lantern.

"Um, I think I understand what you meant now." The boy eagerly nodded. "When you say you have 'Self-taught', 'simple' magic... you must be one of those prodigies I always hear about. For someone who looks so much younger than me, I can feel that you've got energy to spare, too. I don't think I've ever had the chance to meet a prodigy until now! I have to ask; what's it like, being so attuned with magic? Is it any different from being a normal human?"

Before his slow-speaking companion could reply, a bolt of white hot light shot at them from the path ahead. The light merely brushed Zach's cheek with a lover's touch, yet searing pain racked his entire body. Light magic. He buckled to his knees, whimpering in tears as he clutched at his burn.

From the distance, a brief shuffle was heard as the light's caster came into view, making the outline of a hunched old figure with a lantern known. "Whosat out there?!" He barked in a kindly voice that sounded seldom used for intimidating others. "State 'cher names 'n business! 'An don'tcha take another step forward, y'hear! I'm an armed an' dangerous ol' fella-- the worst kind!"

[Ophelia]

"You're welcome." Ophelia nodded slightly as if to emphasize her words, not entirely sure if that had been the correct response, but believing it was the polite reaction. She couldn't actually tell if Zach was pleased or not by her comment about his magic, but thought that discretion was the better part of valor for the time being. "I never thought to try that. Considering the aesthetics of magic is an admirable viewpoint, though." Whether it was the self-detonation or the sparkles that she hadn't tried was left somewhat vague, but regardless, she wouldn't have; Ophelia was not an especially creative combat caster at the best of times, focused entirely on winning when necessary and avoiding conflict whenever possible otherwise. Thoughts of how her magic looked, aside from utilitarian concerns, were almost alien to her. Should she be thinking about it? The abyssal did not have an answer to that question, nor did she know how to find one.

She wasn't sure if she was talking too much, but Zach seemed to be talking even more and he kept asking her questions, so she didn't think she was doing anything wrong. And he seemed nice. He talked about confusing things a lot, but most humans did, and he at least was nice about it. She'd learned pretty quickly that a lot of people weren't. It wasn't... objectionable to spend time with Zach. And she didn't really have anywhere she needed to be anyways.

It was probably for the best that Zach's question led only to pain and suffering (for him), because watching Ophelia stumble through THAT explanation would have just been embarrassing for everyone involved. She didn't think she looked THAT much younger than him. The realization that she was actually a little bit mad about it was more surprising than anything else, though. But that was only a side thought - almost subconscious. On a more unconscious, primal level she was already assessing the threat and preparing to retaliate with as much force as necessary. She could feel the Nether's flow, envision the next few actions to win immediately across multiple scenarios - and did not.

"Hello," she instead chose to say in a toneless, small voice that nonetheless carried curiously clearly down the alleyway despite its lack of weight. Ophelia didn't know how to gauge Zach's injuries, so she took a half-step sideways front of him, interjecting her body between his and their assailant. It was less of a calculated move so much as reflex, conditioning; more guard dog than vicious warrior. Master had summoned her to defend, even if she had rarely been necessary given how much stronger he was. It was only natural for at least some part of that to remain. "Ophelia. Zach. It's nice to meet you."

She considered mentioning that she suspected Zach was lost, but thought he might take umbrage to the accusation, and in any case she didn't know if he was trying to lose pursuers or something. Ophelia didn't even consider claiming to be lost herself. If she had no idea where she was in the first place she couldn't get any more lost, after all. That would simply be illogical.

The little Voidborn did nothing further, attempting to avoid escalating the situation and allow Zach or their assailant a chance to do as they pleased within reason. But just barely out of eyesight around them the ground was beginning to crawl and boil, shadows within the darkness that danced at edges of consciousness as the barrier between worlds weakened ever so slightly. Not enough to form an attack, not enough to threaten or overpower, not even enough to really see it given the natural darkness around them. But the distortions were there, and it would not take a great deal of further provocation for her to unleash them.

[Zacharia]

The old man stepped forward, now less than a stone's throw from Ophelia and her companion curled up on the ground. He had a worn out face, above which was a large pair of glasses resting on a bald head. Whether he was cranky from lack of sleep, or just a jaded old soul, Zach wasn't sure which, but what he was sure of was WOW that stung. "W-We're just... lost, that's all." The boy grunted, cautiously rising to his feet. Zacharia had never been very good with defusing angry people. When Master was upset, little Zach ran for the hills. Now, an angry old man with an itchy trigger finger... Yikes. And there was nowhere to run either, short of climbing to the rooftops. Not that their assailant seemed willing to give them the chance to run anyway. Zach turned to his small friend, but curiously, she wasn't at his side. The girl had already moved in front of him. "Ophelia? When did you..."

The elder's voice drowned the boy out. "Don't gimme none 'a that now, kiddo. Yer out 'ere to get me, aren'tcha? I kin see it in yer eyes: A harmless ol' man, late at night, in a back alleyway, just lookin' fer 'is glasses. Easy pickin's fer thugs like you! Well! Old man Phos ain't some fogey what ken be offed by summat you dark magickers!" Phos stomped one foot on the ground. "No sir! I swear, kiddies nowadays are always preyin' on the meek. No consideration for yer elders, you lot. Why, when I wore a younger man's shoes, us Arcadians always stuck up for one another, no matter what! Oooh!! If I had my glasses right now, I could flambé criminal scum like yerselves with nary a thought in my mind!

"U-Um, m-m-mister Phos..." Zach raised a finger from behind his human shield. He wasn't about to fight someone over an imaginary slight, but the longer they stayed here, the more likely something was going to break out. The old sage's voice seemed to grow louder with every second he spent yelling. Someone was going to notice soon, and the night would end with all three of them answering to the watchmen if they couldn't put a lid on his trap. To make matters worse, he could feel... a magical sensation in the base of his spine. He wasn't sure if it was the old man's light magic doing its work, or if it was something else, but he had a very bad feeling regardless. 

"'N I ain't done talkin' yet neither!" "Oh. S-Sorry, continue."

"I get up ev'ryday at the crack 'a dawn, tend m' garden, sell m' herbs in my shop, an' what's the thenks I git? Some hooligan makes a big blue ruckus in the middle of the witchin' hour! Nearly makes me blue in th' face m'self! I'm ol' and tired; I need me sleep!" And Phos rambled on and on. "Psst, Ophelia," he whispered from behind, just low enough that the angry geezer couldn't hear. "We can't just beat up an old man. Any ideas on what to do?"

[Ophelia]

Hm. It appeared they had mortally offended the elderly gentleman currently addressing them. Ophelia had no idea how, she didn't think that saying hello was that grave of an insult. Maybe it was a cultural thing? Something to look into later. She would have asked him, but something told her he wouldn't give a very good answer. She glanced back at Zach when he asked his question, and while it might be crass of her to say it aloud, privately, Ophelia was glad that she wasn't the only individual here who was very confused and definitely out of their depth.

Mr. Phos didn't seem to be interested in casting any more magic at them, though, which was nice. Ophelia didn't want to have to hurt anyone unnecessarily, and she didn't mind listening to the man blather on for however long he wanted if it would defuse the situation, but Zach had seemed fairly tired earlier and after his magic had exploded on him, probably needed sleep - that weird thing humans did sometimes. So he might not be as enthusiastic as her about the prospect of standing there all night. Which was bad, because while she didn't actually know Zach very well at all, he seemed like a nice person, and she didn't want to discomfit him any more than absolutely necessary.

...Not for the first time, the dour abyssal wished that she had been gifted with more creativity than she possessed. She couldn't actually think of anything that seemed likely to extricate them from the situation. Using her own magic seemed liable to end in unnecessary bloodshed, but Zach didn't want to wait forever. Would the man let them go if she asked nicely? Honestly, she didn't think so, but she didn't know what the hell he WAS thinking so maybe it would work. Nothing else he said made sense anyways.

"I apologize for the intrusion, Mr. Phos," Ophelia stated bluntly regardless of what "Mister" Phos had to say or think about her interruption. While her words were as monotone and precise as ever, she was projecting slightly more than usual to pierce through the unnecessary din. Taking responsibility for the problem came naturally to her; she didn't think twice about taking the blame. She bowed slightly, her chains jingling slightly. "If you would be kind enough to forgive my mistake, we will leave immediately so you can sleep in peace."

Ophelia didn't have high hopes for her words having an amazing effect, but it was clear that simply standing there was not an option, and so she had tried to solve the situation as efficiently as possible. Hopefully the old mage would either let them leave or direct his ire towards her and allow Zach the opportunity to escape.

Unlike Zach, though, she had no aversion to beating up an old man. If necessary.

[Zacharia]

"Eh?" The old man stopped mid-rant, craning his head to stare at the girl through shriveled eyelids. He wasn't mad at being interrupted again, rather it seemed like he was more confused than anything. As if to add to that confusion, a soft "clack!" could be heard as his glasses decided they'd had enough and fell to the pavement below. Phos' face fell, tracking the noise, and suddenly lit up as he put two and two together. "M' glasses!" He cried out, slowly bending over to pluck them from the ground. "Where'd you little devils run off to...? Ah! Now I see. I'd gotten m'self into such a tizzy that I plum forgotten I put 'em on m' head. Sorry that I lashed out 'atcha. Hahah, this old brain's not what it used to be." Old man Phos clapped himself on the head, cackling with all the wicked glee of a kid in a candy store. "Hoo ee, I'm not letting you out of my sight again, that's fer cert'n." The apothecary glanced at his quarry. "Not you lot. 'Mean m' glasses."

"...Right."

Zach heaved a sigh of relief. While playing the role of mediator in an imaginary conflict wasn't exactly how he imagined his night would turn out, it seemed that the fates were content with toying with them. For now. He was just thanking his lucky stars that no one had gotten hurt. "Is everything alright now, old man Phos?" The geezer simply nodded in response, with an added "Friends call me 'Pho'." "Pho, then," Zacharia agreed upon with a smile. "You wouldn't happen to know the way to the isle square from here, would you? We're um, we got a little lost looking for a place to stay for the night."

The man stroked his beard with a devilish grin. "'Course I know the way there, sonny! I've lived in this city the greater part 'a four decades. These streets are 'a changin' ev'ryday, but I know 'em like I know the back of m' hand." With a pause, he added, "And I know what you pair 'a kids are too." Zacharia's blood turned to ice. Maybe it had been too early for the boy to start counting his blessings. Had they really been figured out that quickly? "Wh-wh-what do you muh-mean?" he chattered.

"Seen it all too often before. Why, with outfits like those, and chains like 'ers.."

Pho took one hand, then the other, and made a gesture that would scar the mage for the rest of his life. Its image, forever burned into the back of his skull. "Hoh! 'Yer turnin' beet red, sonny. Tell me I'm wrong."

"UM IF YOU COULD JUST TELL US WHERE TO GO THAT'D BE NICE"

"Oh hohohoho! Ahh..." He wiped away tears. "It's good to be young. Don't worry, Old man Phos won't tell a soul. Ennyhow, I'll do y' one better. I'll show ya." With a wave of his hands, the ball of light that'd been following Phos suddenly split itself into two. "Used to use this trick back when I was a young'n and didn't know my way 'round too good. Just follow th' light outta here, and it'll lead ya to the plaza. How's that for a tired old fogey?"