Harlan Halliday (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ghostlocked) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hadriel_logs2019-04-04 08:58 pm
ghostlocked) wrote in hadriel_logs2019-04-04 08:58 pm
Entry tags:
[closed]
Who: Harlan Halliday, Michael Munroe
What: HH and M&M are out doing jungle things and then Harlan spoils Michael's own canon for him
Where: J...ungle???
When: April 1 lol
Warnings: Some discussion of murder later in the thread; will edit as needed
[Truth be told, the jungle planet isn't that bad. It's too humid and a tad too warm for Harlan's taste, but he was expecting worse. At least there's shade, and the rain is alright when he's not getting stuck in it, and, most importantly, there's stuff to do. He can go outside without freezing to death, and that's an automatic improvement.
And since a showdown with the Null is on the horizon, that means training Michael. Training himself too, if he's being honest—he's been a little rusty ever since he died given that he wasn't able to keep up with his magic practicing. But Michael's doing well, especially for a beginner. Harlan's got him lobbing acid bubbles into a cluster of rocks while Harlan stands on the sidelines, flipping his focus idly through his fingers. Michael's aim is getting pretty good. He's all but mastered a spell Harlan started teaching him a few days ago. Yeah, he's definitely a sorcerer.
Or what was the term that Gregor used? A warlock? A witch? Harlan can't quite remember the term, but he does remember what it's supposed to mean. He's been thinking about that conversation a lot lately, especially now that he's got Michael practicing regularly. It's given him an idea that he's hesitant to try, but, well, it'd be good to know once and for all how Michael's magic actually works.
He pockets his focus—a shiny new guitar pick, hot pink to match his guitar—and heads over to Michael.]
Hey, come here. I'm gonna teach you something new since you've got the hang of Acid Splash.
What: HH and M&M are out doing jungle things and then Harlan spoils Michael's own canon for him
Where: J...ungle???
When: April 1 lol
Warnings: Some discussion of murder later in the thread; will edit as needed
[Truth be told, the jungle planet isn't that bad. It's too humid and a tad too warm for Harlan's taste, but he was expecting worse. At least there's shade, and the rain is alright when he's not getting stuck in it, and, most importantly, there's stuff to do. He can go outside without freezing to death, and that's an automatic improvement.
And since a showdown with the Null is on the horizon, that means training Michael. Training himself too, if he's being honest—he's been a little rusty ever since he died given that he wasn't able to keep up with his magic practicing. But Michael's doing well, especially for a beginner. Harlan's got him lobbing acid bubbles into a cluster of rocks while Harlan stands on the sidelines, flipping his focus idly through his fingers. Michael's aim is getting pretty good. He's all but mastered a spell Harlan started teaching him a few days ago. Yeah, he's definitely a sorcerer.
Or what was the term that Gregor used? A warlock? A witch? Harlan can't quite remember the term, but he does remember what it's supposed to mean. He's been thinking about that conversation a lot lately, especially now that he's got Michael practicing regularly. It's given him an idea that he's hesitant to try, but, well, it'd be good to know once and for all how Michael's magic actually works.
He pockets his focus—a shiny new guitar pick, hot pink to match his guitar—and heads over to Michael.]
Hey, come here. I'm gonna teach you something new since you've got the hang of Acid Splash.
no subject
Still, as awesome as this part is, he's already interested when Harlan mentions something new. He's actually getting kind of okay at this, and it makes him want more. It's a weird sensation, actually, not something he's felt in a while. He's actually kind of excited. More than kind of.
And hey, assuming their plan works, which it will, he'll need to know this stuff anyway. Magic is sort of common in Harlan's world, and apparently so are dangerous things that use it. He'll have to be able to defend himself. And then, of course, there's the looming threat of the Null to deal with first. The Visitor is an ace in the hole, but it's also extremely dangerous and taxing on him. He'd rather it was a last resort than the first line of defense.
Michael stops playing around with the acid bubbles and turns toward Harlan.]
How many of these cantrips do you actually know?
[That's all he can learn for now, the lowest effort spells. The ones even kids can cast, apparently. It's like learning a new language and after years of study, finding out you can only talk to five year olds.]
no subject
[He shrugs. It's not a lie, really, but he's hoping Michael won't notice his omission of an exact number, as that's unusual for him.
But, just in case, quickly moving into the lesson! Harlan holds out his hand and conjures a white ball of light in his palm. It's about the size of a baseball, which suits him.]
This is Chromatic Orb. The cool thing about it is that you can conjure whatever kind of elemental energy you want, so it does alright against the Null despite them having a ton of resistances. Usually I go with ice.
[The orb spins until it's crystallized into a solid ball of ice, a haze of cold mist rolling off of it and dripping out of Harlan's hand. He whips it at a nearby tree and it crashes into the bark with much more force than Harlan's actually capable of, but hey, such are the perks of magic. It explodes into a shower of ice shards, splintering a small crater into the wood.]
But you can pick from a huge list of stuff... Acid, if you want to keep doing what you've been doing, or like, fire or lightning or whatever. Elemental shit.
[It's a powerful spell, at least compared to what Michael's been learning, because this is the next level up. Technically, he should need a focus, so... This will be a fun experiment.]
Give it a shot.
no subject
He thinks about it for a minute, trying to figure out what angle to approach this one from. Elemental stuff, Harlan said. So, he could like, make a ball of dirt? Of wind? Those are common magic elements, right? What about a ball of metal? But then, maybe he's getting ahead of himself. Though Harlan did say it was a huge list...
Michael holds out his hand the way Harlan did, and concentrates on just creating the ball of light. This is kind of like Acid Splash, except it's not going to be acid. Once the energy starts to form, he shifts his thoughts to something else. Slowly but steadily, the orb in his hand fills up with clear water.
Now comes the part where he's supposed to throw it, but a thought suddenly occurs to him. How is water supposed to hurt something? Especially something waterproof, like the Null? He doubts he could drown someone by tossing a magic water balloon in their face. The idea of that is both hilarious and distracting, and it makes his concentration falter. The water orb wavers in his hand, and then collapses into a puddle that splashes through his fingers.
Michael snorts.]
Shit, sorry. I can try that one again but you'll have to give me a minute, I thought of something stupid.
no subject
Harlan sits down on a nearby stump and scrubs his hands over his face. Holy shit. Give him a minute. Should he tell Michael? He kind of has to tell Michael now, doesn't he? There's no... That just, like. Oh my god.]
I need to tell you something. It's not a bad thing, so don't panic, it's just, uh.
[He's not sure where to start. This is delicate information, and dropping a bomb on Michael like Harlan usually would is probably not the best idea. So, okay. He holds out a hand.]
Chromatic Orb doesn't come with a water option. Look.
[He does his absolute best to mimic what Michael just did, but the best he can do is another ice ball that evaporates suddenly as it's replaced by fire. Harlan shakes out his hand, shrugging.]
It's not even a cantrip. You shouldn't have been able to cast that, but you did.
[...]
Do you know a guy named Gregor? From home?
no subject
The spell doesn't come with a water option. So what? He just did it wrong. It can't be that big of a deal. Until Harlan says it's not a cantrip, and Michael's left confused. He can't cast non-cantrips without a focus, right? But he just did. It isn't quite clicking, except for some vague notion that maybe his magic is different because he's from a different world. But he's learning Harlan's, so shouldn't it work the same way? This is sort of uncharted territory.]
Gregor? I don't think so?
[He's pretty sure he's never met a Gregor in his life.]
Why? What's going on?
no subject
I ran into a guy named Gregor when all those visitors were coming in through the Door temporarily. We got to talking about magic, and you came up... He said he knew you. He knew about the Visitor, too. And he knows how magic works in your world. It's rare and hidden, apparently, but it exists.
[There's a lot to unpack there, and he's tempted to just let that sit for a moment so as not to overwhelm Michael, but he doesn't want to keep beating around the bush. This is going to be a lot to digest no matter how he spaces out the information.]
Apparently, your magic functions on belief over anything else. It makes sense, looking back. You were only able to cast Mending after I told you your kid self managed it. You were able to cast that... water ball thing just now because you had no reason to think you couldn't.
[...]
I waited to tell you because I wanted you to have more confidence in your casting first. This sort of information could undo all the work you've done.
[And there's a possibility that this still will fuck everything up. He desperately hopes it won't, but there's always going to be that risk. He'll just have to wait and see if he timed it well enough.]
no subject
Some guy knew him? And about the Visitor? That's got to happen sometime in Michael's future back home, but why would he ever tell someone there about it? Maybe because the guy apparently knows so much about magic and stuff? Which, that's a whole other can of worms.
Michael wants to call bullshit, but Harlan's right, it does make sense. He could only do magic after he thought he already could. He's gotten the hang of all the spells Harlan's told him he could do. Including one he shouldn't have been able to.]
But what does that... what does that mean? I can do anything I think I can? [There have to be limits, right?] Or I can't do things because I think I can't?
[He knows he's just restating the same thing in different ways, but he's trying to wrap his head around it. Maybe Harlan was right to keep this from him for all those months. He's not sure he's handling it well.]
Does that mean I shouldn't have been able to do any of this? That I only did it because you told me I could?
no subject
I don't know.
[He wishes he could offer more than that, but the truth is, this version of magic is a major departure from the variety he's familiar with. He's not even sure that other mages in Hadriel have power that works like this. Aside from what Gregor told him, which wasn't much, he knows about as much as Michael does. Hell, maybe less. It's not like he's felt how Michael casts.]
I don't know what it means, but I do know that it gives us options. Your magic is a hell of a lot more malleable than mine, and mine's pretty damn malleable, so... I think the next step is to experiment.
[But, whoa, hey, Michael is getting awfully negative there. Harlan runs a hand over his shoulders.]
Just the opposite, actually. According to Gregor, magic in your world isn't something just anyone can cast. You really are a sorcerer, heh.
i used a real em dash just for u
Yeah, okay, he's sort of gotten used to the fact that he was born with magic, but learning it seemed like the product of Harlan's teaching. Like Harlan brought it to the surface. But now he's not sure. If he's always been able to do whatever he thought he could do, what has he done in the past? It's practically impossible that he never would've used that on accident.]
So that stuff I did as a kid, moving the pencil and all that, I did that because I had no reason to think I couldn't.
[It helps, going back that far. He moved that pencil long before he even met Harlan. Michael runs a hand through his hair.]
This is insane. [He looks up.] What do you think we should try? Do you think— [He stops himself. He doesn't want to get his hopes up, but he can't help it.]
Do you think I could use it to control the monster?