[voice, ota]

[wingfic]

Okay.

[There's a sense of low-level frustration from this telepathic broadcast, as though someone has been roused from a state of lassitude by something that turned out to be very, very annoying.]

Does anyone here know what the fuck is going on?

Comments

[equivalence]

More ridiculous bullshit.

[Helpful as always.]

Whatever it is, doesn't look like it should be possible. Souls shouldn't be able to exist in unattached, disembodied states. So it's got to be some sort of trick.

[He might be taking some of this personally.]

[wingfic]

Maybe in your world. We had ghosts too. They just usually need some kind of magic to appear in this world.

[She's a bit fuzzy on the details, but magic is definitely involved.]

[equivalence]

So ghosts in your world is normal?

[He'd repeat "more ridiculous bullshit" but for once in his life he's going to try not to immediately make enemies. That's personal growth is what that is.

But the thing is, what is dead is dead and there is nothing you can do to change that. It's a painful lesson Edward learned, so the ghost thing hits him the wrong way.]

Did you have 'magic' in your world too?

[wingfic]

I didn't. Other people did.

[She doesn't really count the shapeshifting.]

[equivalence]

But it's something that exist. Anything like the way it does here?[If it makes her feel any better, Edward wouldn't count that as magic either. That he's seen before, in his world. Alchemy. Twisted alchemy. But regardless, not magic in his mind.]

[wingfic]

No. You have to learn spells, you don't just magically have them. And mages can do different types of magic, not just one.

[equivalence]

Can anyone learn them? Or does it take a certain skill or something?

[Sorry for the interview. Edward is trying to get a handle on this world and the worlds Qri drags people in from. Also he's basically always more curious and nosy than he should be.]

[wingfic]

[There's a noncomittal feeling coming across the link, a sort of telepathic shrug.]

Some people are better at it than others, just like anything else. I don't really know. It's all a lot of books and studying.

[equivalence]

[Books and studying sound right up Ed's alley.]

That makes a lot more sense than just randomly being able to do something.

Er... sorry. Guess I got off topic. What's going on right now, think it's going to wind up dangerous?

[Or is that just Edward being a cynic.]

[wingfic]

I don't know. You'd think she'd tell us, if it was something dangerous.

But the dead aren't supposed to just be walking around like this. They have their own realm.

[The last time the dead crossed over into the waking realm, things got decidedly hairy.]

[equivalence]

Would she? I don't know if I have much faith in someone who kidnapped me and my brother and refuses to show her face to have my best interests at heart.

But you're right. The dead are dead. Whatever is going on isn't right. Maybe they aren't ghosts.

[wingfic]

They look like ghosts.

And I don't trust Qri, but if we die, she's wasted all that energy bringing us here.

[equivalence]

They look like people out of phase with their surroundings. Depending on how we're brought here, maybe it's like an incomplete transportation. Or some echo...

I dunno. Depends how much energy that takes, and how useful and how disposable we are. People pick flowers knowing full well they're going to wither in a few days.

[wingfic]

Or they could be ghosts, and the veil between the worlds could be down for some reason. Magic can do that.

[She's not touching the stuff about Qri yet. He has a point, but . . . . ]

[equivalence]

Maybe it's me, but I don't want to believe that. Some veils aren't meant to be lifted. And life and death are too dangerous to mess with, without awful consequences.

[wingfic]

Yeah, well.

If it's dangerous, isn't it better to figure that out now?

[equivalence]

It's better to have the truth, either way. And no matter what I want the truth to be won't change what it actually is.

If it's dangerous, yeah. Better to know sooner then later.

[wingfic]

. . . So what do we do, if it's dangerous? I don't know anything about spirits.

[equivalence]

There are enough of us here that someone might have seen something like this before.

And barring that, I guess we stay on guard. Stick together.

[wingfic]

Yeah. I was hoping someone who knew about spirits would answer this, but I guess not. Maybe no one here does.

. . . I guess we can stick together for now, though.

[Although she doesn't sound like she likes the idea that much.]

[equivalence]

No luck, huh? Figures.

At least we've all got some common ground to work with -- co-abductees and all. Something like that anyway.

[wingfic]

Yeah.

. . . I'm Tara-Fay.

[equivalence]

Edward Elric.

Good to meet you, as much as you can call this meeting.