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Today has seen little to no change in my current situation. Including work load. Since I have basically done no work on my papers. This is entirely because I sort of realized that there is no class Thursday or Friday. Which means I have Thursday to write my paper for Hum, and the rest of the weekend to write my Bio paper. Except I seem to have disregarded the fact that that's sort of a bad idea. So my goal before 1 tonight (this morning?) is to at the very least figure out what I'm going to write about in my papers.
I think it's going to be interesting to see which will come first... the release of Xenosaga 2, or my complete obsession with it. I hate to admit it, but Xenosaga 1 really sort of makes me mad sometimes. It lacks a proper main character, for one (because I sort of find Shion annoying, and KOS-MOS is a robot... you can't relate to a robot). I didn't much care for Fei, either... but he had his... trusty sidekick. Which was totally redeeming. And the plot seemed so much easier to understand. I'm not sure if it's the constant criticism by my peers or what, but it's constantly referencing something that all the characters know about, but you don't. And it doesn't tell you! It has resulted in some lovely, lovely inside jokes here, though. Like "'Would you like to go out for some wine later?' 'Whaaaaaaaaaa?!?'" and "'Garbage.' 'NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo!'" Aaaanyway. We'll just have to see how this all pans out between now and like, next December. (Feb-October was 6 months, so it should be December when it comes out in English, methinks). I'm just having a great time speculating on how the whole thing fits together, though. I mean, now that I'm over the fear that Jin dies (because if I had put things together quickly, I would've realized that it was a flashback scene). OK, so you've already got the whole "Huh, dressed in green carries a sword, looks a lot like Citan thing." Plus the whole... looks like he also uses a water-elemental attack. But then you've got weird evil guy who is then the fire elemental. Which screws everything up a bit. La la la. And the gnosis and Wels are pretty much the same. Gosh darn, what a great universe they've got going for them.
Ummm... so, I'm wasting a lot of time right now. Not that there's really anything wrong with that. I'm going to try to take it easy this week, at least. I don't need to be any more stressed out than I already am. Hehe, lately I've ended up in the strangest IM conversations, too. Because now![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chocolatemoose and I are writing the Great American-Canadian novel. And none of you can steal it from us. For posterity (and my own amusement), I'm going to cut-and-paste what we've got right now in here.
It was probably a month or so ago that Alex introduced us to the Darkness. We were young and naive then, and had no idea what we were getting into. Actually, we still have no idea what we've gotten into. At first, we thought it was actually pretty cool, you know? Then we noticed that, as we stared at the Darkness... it was staring back at us. Virginia was the first one to freak out.
"Um, guys..." her voice quivered like a leaf on a tree in the fall with the wind blowing really really hard. ;-) "Do you get the feeling that someone's watching us?"
"Are you stupid?" I replied. "The Darkness can't watch us - it doesn't have eyes!"
Alex stared at us both. "You posers! You know NOTHING about the Darkness, do you?"
"No, I don't, and I don't think I WANT TO!" Virginia cried, almost shrieking.
It was at this time that Craig stepped out of the shadows, making his mysterious near-ominous presence known. "None of you know about the Darkness. No one knows the truth behind the Darkness. They say it just is."
"Hey, where did you come from?" I asked in disgust. Craig was the last person I wanted to see right now. At the same time, Alex huffed in indignation, "I do too know about the Darkness! How dare you say something like that?"
"I know you know that no one knows about the Darkness, Alex. It's been classified for years. I want to know how you found it here." Craig's manner was, as usual, infuriating.
"I turned off the lights!" Alex cried. "Anyone can find the Darkness! It's explaining it that's impossible."
"I hear it has to do with ether," Virginia offered meekly.
"Oh, shut up," I snapped. "Everyone knows ether doesn't exist."
"Oh?" Craig said cooly. "Really now? Are you sure about that?"
"Listen you big fat jerk, if I --"
"Hey, calm down!" Alex stepped between us as though he was worried we would get violent.
Basil stepped out from the shadows behind Craig, hand on his sword. Craig whirled around on his heel. "Don't you have any sense of style? That is a total knock-off of my entrance."
Basil gave him a cool gaze, and walked straight past him, positioning himself between me and Craig. "It is a little-known fact that ether does actually exist. If you like, I could prove it to you. Step into the Darkness."
Virginia squealed and threw herself at Basil. "I just knew someone would come to save us! Oh, I'm so glad!"
I rolled my eyes.
"But please don't make me go in there!!!!" She dropped down and clung to Basil's leg. Even Alex was shaking a little, although only I noticed it.
"Can't you see that he's here to do just the opposite?!" I asked. "Nothing good could possibly come from stepping into the darkness. And anyway, we're already in the Darkness," Alex pointed out. "I just turned off the lights. How did you guys get in my bedroom anyway?"
"Uhh..." I said eloquently. "I thought you invited us?"
Craig chuckled maliciously. "Oh, did wee Alex have visions of bravery dancing in his head? Thought you could show them the Darkness, did you? Didn't count on this little twist?"
"I never invited you in here, Craig. In fact, I locked the door behind me when we came in, so you couldn't follow us. After you chased me around the kitchen with that knife, I was just too freaked out. And why are you carrying a sword, Basil??"
There was a pause.
"It's the ether!" Virginia gasped.
I rolled my eyes again. It was a fun thing to do. "Oh would you come off it, Virginia?"
"No, really, she's right," said Basil, choosing to ignore the sword question. "Would you guys quit acting like frightened little rodents and just follow me?"
Craig smirked. "Yeah. Just follow him." He giggled a little, which sent shivers down our spines.
We followed him. For years, I considered it to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and was the cause of many other memories I'd like to repress. But I am telling you this now, so you too will know what happens when you step into the darkness.
End Prologue.
Enter Ancient Greek Chorus:
From the oak-tree meadow
Son of Adam
Old friend, wise protector
The old town
Blessed to blaze or dazzle
Dweller by the oak-tree ford
Son of pool surrounded by ash trees
Valiant
Bean field
Birch-tree meadow
Barley valley
From the moor, bright
crib
a bishop
glory of the manor farm
from the valley of the boar
the archer, broad
Exit Ancient Greek Chorus.
Chapter 1.
Let me take you back a year, to when we all first met. It was at this party, you see, because that's the way these things always happen. Virginia, the host of the part, was my roommate's best friend. I wasn't too fond of either Virginia or my roommate, but I went anyways, because there was really nothing else to do.
Really.
It had nothing to do with the fact that Alex would be there. Nothing at all.
Alex was one of those people that you always knew as a friend of a friend, but was so super-cool you wished you knew him better. You know what I'm talking about. Everyone at camp knew Alex, but he wasn't the one that had dated every girl there (that was Craig). Craig, indeed, was a notorious jerk, but for some reason everyone seemed to fall in love with him. He'd charm the pants off of some pretty, dainty, delicate little ditz...literally. He'd sleep with her for a few weeks, then move on.
I seemed to be one of the only ones to resist his "charm". Unfortunately, as a result, I was also the one he thought of as the ultimate conquest.
Basil was there, too. I never really noticed him back then, but now that I think about it, he was always around. He hung out with the nerdy clique, and rumour had it that he played Dungeons and Dragons nightly, when he wasn't playing video games. I suspect that it was all a front though, or else there's no way he would have been at the party, too.
But that's beside the point. This is about how I met Alex.
When I got there, Craig answered the door. It was just my luck, really. He leered at me, winking. "Hey there hot stuff. I didn't know you were coming."
"If I realized you would be here, I wouldn't have," I muttered, pushing past him into the room.
"Hey! You spilled my beer!" he called after me. I smirked to myself.
You could call me a bit of a loner, I suppose. I wasn't exactly popular, but I wasn't hated, either. I was just one of those people who hung around with people because they happened to be there at the time. It wasn't that I was trying to be standoffish, or anything - it's just that a lot of the people there seemed to be sort of...devoid of any personality.
With a few notable exeptions, I thought.
I had finally small-talked my way through the crowd to Alex. We were engaged in a conversation about the philosophy of Nietzsche when Craig returned with his second (or third, or fourth) beer. Alex glanced over at him and rolled his eyes. We all knew that Craig could not hold his alcohol, and it was starting to show rather obviously. He tripped on the coffee table, and "accidentally" fell on top of me. I'm sure you can guess where his face ended up. Exactly. Absolutely disgusting. I saw the red glint of anger in Alex's eyes, and knew that it was all over between the two former football teammates.
Alex grabbed Craig by the scruff of the neck, which must have been painful, because there wasn't a lot of scruff. He yanked him up violently and pushed him up against the wall. I was expecting him to throw a punch, or something. In the face, in the stomach, I don't know. It really looked like there was going to be bloodshed that night. Craig looked like he was going to be sick, but I don't know whether it was because of the alcohol or the imminent pain.
But instead, Alex leaned in and whispered something in Craig's ear. I craned my neck, straining to hear. What I heard surprised me. He was whispering something in...Latin? Who spoke Latin in this day and age? I thought I was the only one, being raised in such a religious family. But these words were definitely not from the Bible. In fact, it sounded suspiciously like a spell.
I knew that all Latin was either from the Bible, or from a spell. I quickly thought through those that I had learned in my early teenage years, when I became a Wiccan out of rebellion against my parents. My memory was fuzzy, but I knew that the spell was not one you used for prosperity or virility or one of those other nice -ity words. It sounded like a spell of darkness. Was the Alex everyone was so fond of secretly a dark mage?
There was only one person I knew that might know, and that was Basil. I backed away quietly, not wanting to say anything to Alex just yet. The crowd that had gathered dissipated, murmuring its disappointment at the lack of violence. I glanced around, trying to find Basil. He was nowhere on the main floor, so I thought for a moment, then dashed downstairs. He was right where I thought he would be - gazing longingly at Virginia's father's collection of movie sword replicas. His hand reached out and lovingly grazed Sting.
"Hey, Basil," I said. He jumped visibly and yanked his hand back as though the sword was on fire. "Oh! Uhh...hey. Sorry. I thought you were Virginia."
"Oh, sorry. No, I just came down to ask you a..." I decided not to be so blunt. "Umm... What's up, Basil?"
"Oh, the usual," he replied, glancing longingly at the swords yet again.
"Admiring Virginia's... swords, then?" I asked, half-jokingly implying otherwise.
"Actually, I think they belong to Virginia's father," he replied, not getting the joke. It was probably a good thing.
Basil stared evenly at me. It was unnerving, the way he always stared. It wasn't a gross stare, like Craig's, but this sort of piercing gaze that seemed to slip right past your defenses and right into your brain. Sometimes I thought Basil was telepathic or something. I looked away, hoping that he couldn't read my mind if he didn't have eye contact.
"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" He looked back at the swords, then furtively up at the door. He took a long, heavy Nazgul sword out of its sheath and held it with two hands, shifting its weight. He looked visibly impressed.
"Well..actually...Basil, how well do you know Alex?" I asked cautiously.
"Alex?" He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows appraisingly. "I've talked with him a few times."
"Why do you ask?" He swung around with the sword, striking a pose before putting it carefully away.
"I'm just curious. Has he ever done anything strange, at all?"
"What are you getting at?" This time he was holding Inigo Montoya's sword, from The Princess Bride. He grinned and thrusted the sword forward, scuttling to the side as though fighting some imaginary foe.
I sighed. Basil was waiting for me to explain myself, and he wouldn't say anything further until I did.
"Craig was hitting on me again tonight. He was drunk, tripped, and landed in a rather strategic place." I motioned and looked pointedly at him. Basil looked away. "Anyways, Alex went all macho man, picked him up, threw him against a wall. I thought he was going to beat him up. But he didn't."
Basil sheathed the sword and put it back in its place. He stared thoughtfully at a spot on the wall several feet to my left before replying.
"And...?"
"Well... you're into the whole magic thing, right? I mean..." I mentally kicked myself. But I realized that there was no way I could put the question coherantly without somehow insulting him. And I was right. Basil looked vaguely hurt, and made a point of looking away from the swords.
"You really believe all that stuff people say about me? So, when something weird happens, you assume I'd know about it?"
I felt horrible, he looked so hurt.
"Well, I.. I'm sorry, I just.." I stammered, trying to apologize. "Don't you?"
"It was just a simple curse. Latin, I'm sure you guessed. The Curse of darkness. With a lowercase d. A lesser spell than the true Curse of Darkness, but powerful and dangerous nonetheless."
I nodded slowly, as though I understood. Basil looked at me and I changed my mind and shook my head. "So...what does that mean? What does it do?" I asked.
Basil shrugged. "I've never actually seen anyone perform it, to be honest. I've only read about it. I don't actually practice magic, you know," he said pointedly. I bit my lip, hoping I hadn't hurt his feelings too much. "But anyways. It's supposed to make the victim experience periods of blackness...kind of like blacking out for a few hours, you know? Except...the darkness is supposed to sort of...eat at their soul. It's the best way to describe it. The victim will wake up after, let's say, twelve hours of being out cold. He won't know what happened to him. It'll happen more and more often. And each time, he'll feel a little...colder. A little more...empty."
I shuddered. His explanation was vague, but it raised the hairs on my neck. It was creepy. I mean, eating at your soul? Geez. I wondered what the true Curse of Darkness did, but was afraid to ask.
And that ought to do it for weirdness for tonight... mostly because I'm going to bed as soon as I finish my Hum reading. And my Bio reading. Which shouldn't be all that long. Ah, the work just never ends.
I think it's going to be interesting to see which will come first... the release of Xenosaga 2, or my complete obsession with it. I hate to admit it, but Xenosaga 1 really sort of makes me mad sometimes. It lacks a proper main character, for one (because I sort of find Shion annoying, and KOS-MOS is a robot... you can't relate to a robot). I didn't much care for Fei, either... but he had his... trusty sidekick. Which was totally redeeming. And the plot seemed so much easier to understand. I'm not sure if it's the constant criticism by my peers or what, but it's constantly referencing something that all the characters know about, but you don't. And it doesn't tell you! It has resulted in some lovely, lovely inside jokes here, though. Like "'Would you like to go out for some wine later?' 'Whaaaaaaaaaa?!?'" and "'Garbage.' 'NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo!'" Aaaanyway. We'll just have to see how this all pans out between now and like, next December. (Feb-October was 6 months, so it should be December when it comes out in English, methinks). I'm just having a great time speculating on how the whole thing fits together, though. I mean, now that I'm over the fear that Jin dies (because if I had put things together quickly, I would've realized that it was a flashback scene). OK, so you've already got the whole "Huh, dressed in green carries a sword, looks a lot like Citan thing." Plus the whole... looks like he also uses a water-elemental attack. But then you've got weird evil guy who is then the fire elemental. Which screws everything up a bit. La la la. And the gnosis and Wels are pretty much the same. Gosh darn, what a great universe they've got going for them.
Ummm... so, I'm wasting a lot of time right now. Not that there's really anything wrong with that. I'm going to try to take it easy this week, at least. I don't need to be any more stressed out than I already am. Hehe, lately I've ended up in the strangest IM conversations, too. Because now
chocolatemoose and I are writing the Great American-Canadian novel. And none of you can steal it from us. For posterity (and my own amusement), I'm going to cut-and-paste what we've got right now in here.It was probably a month or so ago that Alex introduced us to the Darkness. We were young and naive then, and had no idea what we were getting into. Actually, we still have no idea what we've gotten into. At first, we thought it was actually pretty cool, you know? Then we noticed that, as we stared at the Darkness... it was staring back at us. Virginia was the first one to freak out.
"Um, guys..." her voice quivered like a leaf on a tree in the fall with the wind blowing really really hard. ;-) "Do you get the feeling that someone's watching us?"
"Are you stupid?" I replied. "The Darkness can't watch us - it doesn't have eyes!"
Alex stared at us both. "You posers! You know NOTHING about the Darkness, do you?"
"No, I don't, and I don't think I WANT TO!" Virginia cried, almost shrieking.
It was at this time that Craig stepped out of the shadows, making his mysterious near-ominous presence known. "None of you know about the Darkness. No one knows the truth behind the Darkness. They say it just is."
"Hey, where did you come from?" I asked in disgust. Craig was the last person I wanted to see right now. At the same time, Alex huffed in indignation, "I do too know about the Darkness! How dare you say something like that?"
"I know you know that no one knows about the Darkness, Alex. It's been classified for years. I want to know how you found it here." Craig's manner was, as usual, infuriating.
"I turned off the lights!" Alex cried. "Anyone can find the Darkness! It's explaining it that's impossible."
"I hear it has to do with ether," Virginia offered meekly.
"Oh, shut up," I snapped. "Everyone knows ether doesn't exist."
"Oh?" Craig said cooly. "Really now? Are you sure about that?"
"Listen you big fat jerk, if I --"
"Hey, calm down!" Alex stepped between us as though he was worried we would get violent.
Basil stepped out from the shadows behind Craig, hand on his sword. Craig whirled around on his heel. "Don't you have any sense of style? That is a total knock-off of my entrance."
Basil gave him a cool gaze, and walked straight past him, positioning himself between me and Craig. "It is a little-known fact that ether does actually exist. If you like, I could prove it to you. Step into the Darkness."
Virginia squealed and threw herself at Basil. "I just knew someone would come to save us! Oh, I'm so glad!"
I rolled my eyes.
"But please don't make me go in there!!!!" She dropped down and clung to Basil's leg. Even Alex was shaking a little, although only I noticed it.
"Can't you see that he's here to do just the opposite?!" I asked. "Nothing good could possibly come from stepping into the darkness. And anyway, we're already in the Darkness," Alex pointed out. "I just turned off the lights. How did you guys get in my bedroom anyway?"
"Uhh..." I said eloquently. "I thought you invited us?"
Craig chuckled maliciously. "Oh, did wee Alex have visions of bravery dancing in his head? Thought you could show them the Darkness, did you? Didn't count on this little twist?"
"I never invited you in here, Craig. In fact, I locked the door behind me when we came in, so you couldn't follow us. After you chased me around the kitchen with that knife, I was just too freaked out. And why are you carrying a sword, Basil??"
There was a pause.
"It's the ether!" Virginia gasped.
I rolled my eyes again. It was a fun thing to do. "Oh would you come off it, Virginia?"
"No, really, she's right," said Basil, choosing to ignore the sword question. "Would you guys quit acting like frightened little rodents and just follow me?"
Craig smirked. "Yeah. Just follow him." He giggled a little, which sent shivers down our spines.
We followed him. For years, I considered it to be one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and was the cause of many other memories I'd like to repress. But I am telling you this now, so you too will know what happens when you step into the darkness.
End Prologue.
Enter Ancient Greek Chorus:
From the oak-tree meadow
Son of Adam
Old friend, wise protector
The old town
Blessed to blaze or dazzle
Dweller by the oak-tree ford
Son of pool surrounded by ash trees
Valiant
Bean field
Birch-tree meadow
Barley valley
From the moor, bright
crib
a bishop
glory of the manor farm
from the valley of the boar
the archer, broad
Exit Ancient Greek Chorus.
Chapter 1.
Let me take you back a year, to when we all first met. It was at this party, you see, because that's the way these things always happen. Virginia, the host of the part, was my roommate's best friend. I wasn't too fond of either Virginia or my roommate, but I went anyways, because there was really nothing else to do.
Really.
It had nothing to do with the fact that Alex would be there. Nothing at all.
Alex was one of those people that you always knew as a friend of a friend, but was so super-cool you wished you knew him better. You know what I'm talking about. Everyone at camp knew Alex, but he wasn't the one that had dated every girl there (that was Craig). Craig, indeed, was a notorious jerk, but for some reason everyone seemed to fall in love with him. He'd charm the pants off of some pretty, dainty, delicate little ditz...literally. He'd sleep with her for a few weeks, then move on.
I seemed to be one of the only ones to resist his "charm". Unfortunately, as a result, I was also the one he thought of as the ultimate conquest.
Basil was there, too. I never really noticed him back then, but now that I think about it, he was always around. He hung out with the nerdy clique, and rumour had it that he played Dungeons and Dragons nightly, when he wasn't playing video games. I suspect that it was all a front though, or else there's no way he would have been at the party, too.
But that's beside the point. This is about how I met Alex.
When I got there, Craig answered the door. It was just my luck, really. He leered at me, winking. "Hey there hot stuff. I didn't know you were coming."
"If I realized you would be here, I wouldn't have," I muttered, pushing past him into the room.
"Hey! You spilled my beer!" he called after me. I smirked to myself.
You could call me a bit of a loner, I suppose. I wasn't exactly popular, but I wasn't hated, either. I was just one of those people who hung around with people because they happened to be there at the time. It wasn't that I was trying to be standoffish, or anything - it's just that a lot of the people there seemed to be sort of...devoid of any personality.
With a few notable exeptions, I thought.
I had finally small-talked my way through the crowd to Alex. We were engaged in a conversation about the philosophy of Nietzsche when Craig returned with his second (or third, or fourth) beer. Alex glanced over at him and rolled his eyes. We all knew that Craig could not hold his alcohol, and it was starting to show rather obviously. He tripped on the coffee table, and "accidentally" fell on top of me. I'm sure you can guess where his face ended up. Exactly. Absolutely disgusting. I saw the red glint of anger in Alex's eyes, and knew that it was all over between the two former football teammates.
Alex grabbed Craig by the scruff of the neck, which must have been painful, because there wasn't a lot of scruff. He yanked him up violently and pushed him up against the wall. I was expecting him to throw a punch, or something. In the face, in the stomach, I don't know. It really looked like there was going to be bloodshed that night. Craig looked like he was going to be sick, but I don't know whether it was because of the alcohol or the imminent pain.
But instead, Alex leaned in and whispered something in Craig's ear. I craned my neck, straining to hear. What I heard surprised me. He was whispering something in...Latin? Who spoke Latin in this day and age? I thought I was the only one, being raised in such a religious family. But these words were definitely not from the Bible. In fact, it sounded suspiciously like a spell.
I knew that all Latin was either from the Bible, or from a spell. I quickly thought through those that I had learned in my early teenage years, when I became a Wiccan out of rebellion against my parents. My memory was fuzzy, but I knew that the spell was not one you used for prosperity or virility or one of those other nice -ity words. It sounded like a spell of darkness. Was the Alex everyone was so fond of secretly a dark mage?
There was only one person I knew that might know, and that was Basil. I backed away quietly, not wanting to say anything to Alex just yet. The crowd that had gathered dissipated, murmuring its disappointment at the lack of violence. I glanced around, trying to find Basil. He was nowhere on the main floor, so I thought for a moment, then dashed downstairs. He was right where I thought he would be - gazing longingly at Virginia's father's collection of movie sword replicas. His hand reached out and lovingly grazed Sting.
"Hey, Basil," I said. He jumped visibly and yanked his hand back as though the sword was on fire. "Oh! Uhh...hey. Sorry. I thought you were Virginia."
"Oh, sorry. No, I just came down to ask you a..." I decided not to be so blunt. "Umm... What's up, Basil?"
"Oh, the usual," he replied, glancing longingly at the swords yet again.
"Admiring Virginia's... swords, then?" I asked, half-jokingly implying otherwise.
"Actually, I think they belong to Virginia's father," he replied, not getting the joke. It was probably a good thing.
Basil stared evenly at me. It was unnerving, the way he always stared. It wasn't a gross stare, like Craig's, but this sort of piercing gaze that seemed to slip right past your defenses and right into your brain. Sometimes I thought Basil was telepathic or something. I looked away, hoping that he couldn't read my mind if he didn't have eye contact.
"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" He looked back at the swords, then furtively up at the door. He took a long, heavy Nazgul sword out of its sheath and held it with two hands, shifting its weight. He looked visibly impressed.
"Well..actually...Basil, how well do you know Alex?" I asked cautiously.
"Alex?" He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows appraisingly. "I've talked with him a few times."
"Why do you ask?" He swung around with the sword, striking a pose before putting it carefully away.
"I'm just curious. Has he ever done anything strange, at all?"
"What are you getting at?" This time he was holding Inigo Montoya's sword, from The Princess Bride. He grinned and thrusted the sword forward, scuttling to the side as though fighting some imaginary foe.
I sighed. Basil was waiting for me to explain myself, and he wouldn't say anything further until I did.
"Craig was hitting on me again tonight. He was drunk, tripped, and landed in a rather strategic place." I motioned and looked pointedly at him. Basil looked away. "Anyways, Alex went all macho man, picked him up, threw him against a wall. I thought he was going to beat him up. But he didn't."
Basil sheathed the sword and put it back in its place. He stared thoughtfully at a spot on the wall several feet to my left before replying.
"And...?"
"Well... you're into the whole magic thing, right? I mean..." I mentally kicked myself. But I realized that there was no way I could put the question coherantly without somehow insulting him. And I was right. Basil looked vaguely hurt, and made a point of looking away from the swords.
"You really believe all that stuff people say about me? So, when something weird happens, you assume I'd know about it?"
I felt horrible, he looked so hurt.
"Well, I.. I'm sorry, I just.." I stammered, trying to apologize. "Don't you?"
"It was just a simple curse. Latin, I'm sure you guessed. The Curse of darkness. With a lowercase d. A lesser spell than the true Curse of Darkness, but powerful and dangerous nonetheless."
I nodded slowly, as though I understood. Basil looked at me and I changed my mind and shook my head. "So...what does that mean? What does it do?" I asked.
Basil shrugged. "I've never actually seen anyone perform it, to be honest. I've only read about it. I don't actually practice magic, you know," he said pointedly. I bit my lip, hoping I hadn't hurt his feelings too much. "But anyways. It's supposed to make the victim experience periods of blackness...kind of like blacking out for a few hours, you know? Except...the darkness is supposed to sort of...eat at their soul. It's the best way to describe it. The victim will wake up after, let's say, twelve hours of being out cold. He won't know what happened to him. It'll happen more and more often. And each time, he'll feel a little...colder. A little more...empty."
I shuddered. His explanation was vague, but it raised the hairs on my neck. It was creepy. I mean, eating at your soul? Geez. I wondered what the true Curse of Darkness did, but was afraid to ask.
And that ought to do it for weirdness for tonight... mostly because I'm going to bed as soon as I finish my Hum reading. And my Bio reading. Which shouldn't be all that long. Ah, the work just never ends.
