"Why ask the Admiral for things we could handle ourselves? It isn't
necessary. My magic is mostly just limited by understanding and
creativity. And the Enclosure lets me see plants from any world I want,
including yours, which helps with the understanding part."
Ulla smiles wryly. "I'll request things for my inmates, but I hardly ever
need to make requests on my own behalf. Twice so far; adding the ramp and
balcony, in case he didn't want me changing the structure of the cabin
myself, and modifying the transportation device by the door to fix a...
vulnerability that got me killed last year. I have no idea how that
thing works. I couldn't change it myself."
Cloud tilts his head slightly. "What kind of magic?"
He glances down the ramp to the entrance where the wheelchair and the fishbowl thing both sit. He's not sure which one she means...probably the fishbowl, if she has no idea how it works, he decides.
"How'd it get you killed?"
Cloud's not asking her questions to avoid answering any himself on purpose...not consciously, at least. She's interesting, her cabin is interesting, he's curious. It's been a while since he had the experience of running across something new and learning about it. Back home, they've been so focused on rebuilding and figuring out what the future looks like that there hasn't been time for that kind of thing.
"Sildroher have innate magic, and it works through song. I'm a very good
composer with a lot of raw power, plus Hjerte amplifies it, which means my
skill is rarely the problem. It's that to do anything, I need to understand
it well enough to describe it musically. Like a language, but in notes,
not words. The more complex the spell, the more complex the song it
requires."
So Ulla does a lot of studying any time someone asks her for something new.
She grimaces at the latter question, though. "The one with the water.
Energy weapon, heated it and boiled me alive. It's impervious to that sort
of temperature change now."
On Gaia, innate magic is something only the Cetra could boast, as far as Cloud knows. "Sounds...amazing," he says, quietly but with sincerity. When Aerith died, it felt like all the magic had gone out of everything. The Forgotten Capital, the earth, the air, the whole planet. She didn't sing to wield her power, but the feeling the idea imparts to Cloud seems similar, at least. Prayer is a little like song, he thinks, and the voice of the planet is a real, audible thing. Water, too, holds power there.
Hearing what happened with the device, he winces. What a horrible, gruesome way to die. "Shit...at least you were able to stop it from happening again."
Ulla hums acknowledgement, and then she'll ask, "Do you have ideas of why
you're here, or what you'll need to work on? I'm willing to answer
anything you like about my own experience, in case it helps you at all."
On that note, "You don't ever have to worry about... politeness, or prying,
with me. If I'm actually here to help, and if I win magical deals beyond
even the scope of my power for it, it's only fair to offer something in
return. I protect other people's privacy; I'll protect yours. But I'm not
looking to protect my own."
Cloud nods to her note about privacy, but he drops his gaze with a troubled look. "...yeah. I know why I'm here. Came here willingly. Not sure how exactly to work on anything, but...nothing to do but try."
Questions about her experience, huh? He takes a moment to think. "Did you have a general strategy in mind, or did you just...take it day by day?"
"When I came, I didn't want anything but revenge. Being stuck here just
felt like... an obstacle that I couldn't see a way past. I spent six
months refusing to talk about things that mattered, another year and a half
refusing to fully trust anyone, and six months past that struggling
to figure out anything to want from my life beyond vengeance."
So really, he's already doing better than her just by wanting to do the
work.
Don't you want revenge for all that you've lost? You still hear it when you close your eyes, don't you?
"Sounds...rough." His tone is thoughtful, brow furrowed. "Mind if I ask, vengeance for what? And...how'd you end up finding other things to want? I got a...I know someone, who's kinda in the same boat."
"I was betrayed and left for dead by the only two friends I'd ever had. I
survived, but I lost my home and my people and the body I was born with.
Meanwhile, the two of them took credit for my work and used it to claim the
throne." And Signy's betrayal cut much deeper than Roffe's. The person
Ulla loved most in the world.
"My warden always believed I didn't need to give it up entirely to
graduate. He was the first person I willingly trusted after that. And
then I graduated the moment he asked me to go with him after the Barge, and
I said yes."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
"Why ask the Admiral for things we could handle ourselves? It isn't necessary. My magic is mostly just limited by understanding and creativity. And the Enclosure lets me see plants from any world I want, including yours, which helps with the understanding part."
Ulla smiles wryly. "I'll request things for my inmates, but I hardly ever need to make requests on my own behalf. Twice so far; adding the ramp and balcony, in case he didn't want me changing the structure of the cabin myself, and modifying the transportation device by the door to fix a... vulnerability that got me killed last year. I have no idea how that thing works. I couldn't change it myself."
no subject
He glances down the ramp to the entrance where the wheelchair and the fishbowl thing both sit. He's not sure which one she means...probably the fishbowl, if she has no idea how it works, he decides.
"How'd it get you killed?"
Cloud's not asking her questions to avoid answering any himself on purpose...not consciously, at least. She's interesting, her cabin is interesting, he's curious. It's been a while since he had the experience of running across something new and learning about it. Back home, they've been so focused on rebuilding and figuring out what the future looks like that there hasn't been time for that kind of thing.
no subject
"Sildroher have innate magic, and it works through song. I'm a very good composer with a lot of raw power, plus Hjerte amplifies it, which means my skill is rarely the problem. It's that to do anything, I need to understand it well enough to describe it musically. Like a language, but in notes, not words. The more complex the spell, the more complex the song it requires."
So Ulla does a lot of studying any time someone asks her for something new.
She grimaces at the latter question, though. "The one with the water. Energy weapon, heated it and boiled me alive. It's impervious to that sort of temperature change now."
no subject
Hearing what happened with the device, he winces. What a horrible, gruesome way to die. "Shit...at least you were able to stop it from happening again."
no subject
Ulla hums acknowledgement, and then she'll ask, "Do you have ideas of why you're here, or what you'll need to work on? I'm willing to answer anything you like about my own experience, in case it helps you at all."
On that note, "You don't ever have to worry about... politeness, or prying, with me. If I'm actually here to help, and if I win magical deals beyond even the scope of my power for it, it's only fair to offer something in return. I protect other people's privacy; I'll protect yours. But I'm not looking to protect my own."
no subject
Questions about her experience, huh? He takes a moment to think. "Did you have a general strategy in mind, or did you just...take it day by day?"
no subject
"When I came, I didn't want anything but revenge. Being stuck here just felt like... an obstacle that I couldn't see a way past. I spent six months refusing to talk about things that mattered, another year and a half refusing to fully trust anyone, and six months past that struggling to figure out anything to want from my life beyond vengeance."
So really, he's already doing better than her just by wanting to do the work.
no subject
"Sounds...rough." His tone is thoughtful, brow furrowed. "Mind if I ask, vengeance for what? And...how'd you end up finding other things to want? I got a...I know someone, who's kinda in the same boat."
no subject
"I was betrayed and left for dead by the only two friends I'd ever had. I survived, but I lost my home and my people and the body I was born with. Meanwhile, the two of them took credit for my work and used it to claim the throne." And Signy's betrayal cut much deeper than Roffe's. The person Ulla loved most in the world.
"My warden always believed I didn't need to give it up entirely to graduate. He was the first person I willingly trusted after that. And then I graduated the moment he asked me to go with him after the Barge, and I said yes."