Upon Vestia: Chapter Thirty-Four

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"We could stay here and see if Vestia can start getting some movies on file for us." Shane said with a shrug.

"I research." Jarral told him dully. "Translate, seek knowledge, as is my Lord's will." He looked around. "Right now I am researching the demons, though their texts are difficult to find and their books... whisper. " He frowned, whispering books would freak most people out surely, but for Jarral he just found it mildly irritating and distracting. "It is claimed many go mad trying to make sense of their writing, perhaps I was already too far gone for that." He spoke constantly in such a detatched, almost airy manner, he made Esk seem emotional.

"Whispering books, sounds fun," Ethan said dryly. He continued to watch Jarral, there definitely was something off about the guy. "You sure the books aren't driving you crazier? You could switch to reading books that don't whisper for a while, maybe it'd do you good."

Jarral shook his head. "I have had a god in my head, after that... nothing is quite as troubling." He came over to examine the drying book, curious about the repair. "It is important that I research this, the more information we have, the better chance we have of driving the demons back and closing the rift. " He looked at Ethan. "besides, these are hardly the most unsettling books I have had to read during this war. "

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:"i'll just break something if I punch things." Matt mused, and he didn't really need more injuries. Maybe he should just go spend the next week at the bottom of a pool, not thinking. He sighed. "thanks... both of you.. for trying."

"Of course my friend." Armin bowed his head.

Starr dipped her head sadly then frowned and tilted it. "Why not use the holodeck? A punching bag breaking in there wouldn't be messy to clean up or replace as often as you need. It is good to have a way to vent your feelings so they don't bottle up inside." She wanted to help him as much as she could.

Kooshie wrote:(Bumping this in case it got buried )
Ellie and Shane probably hung out for a while with the goats. After that they'd probably go get some movies and see what Vestia had found. Yay movies.

Shane was happy to spend some time with Ellie and pet the goats. He didn't really care what new movie they watched, he was curious about all of them anyway.

"I mean i'll hurt MYSELF." Matt clarified. He wasn't that strong, sheesh. "And I can't risk fucking up my back more." He sighed. "or i'll never walk." Another thing to be damn depressed about.

The book was one of Ethan's beloved middle grade fiction books. It was set firmly in a clamp to hold it steady while it dried. It looked to have all its pages probably, although the edges of some and the cover were definitely battered. Poor book.

Ethan frowned, then nodded at Jarral's explanation. "I see your point, a little more insanity is worth it if it keeps the universe from being destroyed," he said. "Were the other unsettling books magical too, or just gross?"

~~
Ellie would busily search out movies on a computer with Shane, although she wouldn't make them watch them now. She was planning to subject Matt to movies, she suspected he could still use all the cheering up he could get.

"Gross?" Jarral didn't really understand. "I suppose it would depend on your definition of gross." He shook his head. "The Star Marshal believed it would be helpful, when the war first began, to learn more about the demons. At the time the only literature accessable to us were books on demonology, summoning, blood rituals. " He looked away, some of those had been a very bad idea. "I learned a great deal about necromancy and demonology, though not without cost. Summoning demons is, generally speaking, a poor idea."

"All right, disturbing then," Ethan shivered a little. "Not really a surprise it's a bad idea to summon those things." He watched Jarral, still frowning. "You didn't actually try summoning them, I hope."

"I believed if we had one to question perhaps we could better understand what we were dealing with." Jarral shook his head. "I was not strong enough to contain it, I learned a lesson. Even with the best of preparations, things can go wrong. We learned useful information from the experience however, so it was not a complete loss." He had a very odd way of looking at the world.

"What happened?" Ethan was morbidly curious about this. "Did your shadows protect you? Seeing as you aren't dead." He supposed there were worse things a demon could do than kill you though, possession of course, and who knew what else they were capable of.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:"I mean i'll hurt MYSELF." Matt clarified. He wasn't that strong, sheesh. "And I can't risk fucking up my back more." He sighed. "or i'll never walk." Another thing to be damn depressed about.

Starr chuckled softly "Sorry, I misunderstood." She apologized gently.

Kooshie wrote:Ellie would busily search out movies on a computer with Shane, although she wouldn't make them watch them now. She was planning to subject Matt to movies, she suspected he could still use all the cheering up he could get.

Shane chuckled at some of the names of the movies. "This should be fun, should we go get Matt if he's awake and not too drunk."

"Back then I had no shadows, I had only recently been outcast. The Star Marshall did all she could to find me, bring me back, heal my injuries and exorcise the demon." He looked critically at the clips holding the damaged book together, as if that was far more interesting than this story. "She did not intend to stop my heart, things got out of hand. I hurt her, she drowned me. We learned the most effective way to remove a demon from another's mind."

---

Matt nodded. "yeah... " He sighed.

Armin patted Matt's shoulder.

Starr patted his other shoulder. She wasn't sure what else could be done.

"Yeah, let's go find him," Ellie agreed. She picked up the laptop to take with them. "I hope he likes musical comedies."

~~
"She drowned you so long your heart stopped?" Ethan looked a little stunned at that. He'd seen people get tortured using water before, he knew how terrifying it was to organics. "Fuck, that's brutal. So near death experiences are a good way to kick out demons, huh?"

Jarral nodded. "And I gave her severe electrical burns." Seemed fair to him. "Her methods worked, that is what is important."

---

Matt nodded slowly, staring bleakly at the bar and sighing.

Shane chuckled and went with Ellie to find Matt.

Starr looked to Armin then back to Matt again. "I hope you find your personal outlet." She said softly.

"thanks." Matt replied weakly.

Ethan nodded. He was pretty much deciding now that this was just how Jarral dealt with trauma, by dissociating from it. Fair enough. "Well, I'll keep that in mind in case I need to exorcise a demon from someone," he said.

~~
Ellie and Shane reached the bar.

"Oh hey guys, are we interrupting?" Ellie asked. She was surprised to see Starr and Armin, she didn't think either of them had much interest in alcohol.

Jarral nodded. "Reccusitation is the difficult part." He mused. "Some do not come back."

---

Armin turned, bowing his head in greeting to Ellie and Shane. "hello my friends. We were offering moral support."

Matt rested his head on the bar. Great, more people.

"That's the problem with almost killing someone, you never know exactly what the limit of what they can take is," Ethan agreed. "You guys have had to do this a few times then, I take it."

Jarral nodded. "At least five. Two never woke up again." He shrugged, like it didn't matter. "the anti magic generators seem to have limited their ability to reach out of the rift. That or they have become better at hiding their presence."

"Well those are reassuring odds," Ethan said dryly. "When was the last time you guys discovered someone under demon control?"

Jarral thought. "I am not certain. I have not been with the Star Marshal for almost a year now. I no longer work for her, she is no longer my guardian as I am old enough to no longer require one. Fifteen months by my reckoning. Though there may have been others in my absense. "

Ethan nodded grimly. "And I assume those five possessions you mentioned were just the ones you guys tried to cure, and that there have been other possessed people as well?" Five seemed like an awfully small number to him, he couldn't imagine that could be all that had happened in the ten years Vestia had been gone.
"I assume androids are immune," he added. Man, that would suck if he was possessed by a demon. If that ever happened, he kinda hoped someone would just put a bullet in his data bank. Yeesh.

Jarral nodded "Many others were simply shot. It was more efficient. It is also highly possible there were those who hid their affliction better. Demons can be cunning, sitting, biding their time, learning their victim's mannerisms before they take control. I believe you require a soul to be possessed, I have seen no evidence of machines being taken over."