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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Aug 31, 2006 2:18:05 GMT -5
Months ago, Ezra had disappeared from the academy. People did that sometimes, since there was a whole lot of magic, there had to be some mysteries that could never be solved. But for once, somebody had come back from one of those magical disappearances. Or at least some of him. The large golem construct called Grendel, which was deemed excessively durable, hadn't even come back at all. Ezra himself was still in the hospital wing, in a state of coma. Meanwhile, Zeke was the only one that seemed unharmed, but certainly different.
For one, Zeke was wearing glasses, and was nose-deep in the text of some old book in the more unused section of the library. It was even taking notes, dipping it's claw in a shallow jar of ink and writing that way. The books next to him were considered quite odd for even Ezra to be reading. Metallic Transmutation, Eastern Physiology, The Properties of Bio-synthesis were among them, including some religious texts, which seemed even more out of place. But none the less, Zeke the note-taker was there, silently plotting down all the information that was deemed necessary.
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Post by Ziare on Sept 1, 2006 23:14:56 GMT -5
It was time to pick up some more books. She had read and re read the books in her room enough times to be able to quote them by sentence and page. So it was long since time for new books. Jyo had been in a coma for over two months.. now nearing three and she rarely left his side. So reading had basically taken over her life.
She stepped into the silent library and went to her favorite section. The ones where she could learn and read more about magic. She just wanted to absorb as much as she could and her intense love of all things magic would help keep her mind busy. And give her something to read to Jyo all day every day until she fell asleep again.
She turned her arms filled with six new books. Another weeks worth of reading in her arms and she froze. Was that... Zeke? She cocked her pale brow as she looked at him. That was Ezra's construct yet she didn't see Ezra and he had left the academy some time ago. What the ...
She made her way over to the little lion where he sat writing notes and wearing glasses two very new things for the lion. She sat down and scratched the little lion behind the ears.
"And Mr. Zeke what brings you to the library, and were is Ezra?" she asked. She remembered how the girls had fawned over the little lion and brought Ezra the attention he didn't want. Yet, she and Jyo had been able to slowly get to know the guy and she was hoping that with Zeke back so too would Ezra be.
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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Sept 1, 2006 23:35:30 GMT -5
Zeke felt an odd little scratching behind the ear and jumped at the feeling. It had jumped so much that Zeke had fully lept onto the table. The old Zeke would have done something else, probably hug the girl or something. But this Zeke had paniced, like the thing was so unfamiliar. When Zeke seemed to realize who it was, it ducked it's head a little apologetically.
It was hard enough to communicate without voice, but Zeke's normal animated personality was mute, like Ezra's personality. And there were no actions to illustrate just what exactly had happened while he was gone. To answer why Zeke was in the library, it held up the notes it had taken. Six pages so far of scribbled tiny text with a few pictures. The pictures were outlines of vaguely human figures, with lights inside the outlines and arrows pointing towards each other.
After only a few moments of showing, Zeke put the notes back down and closed the book it was reading from. To finish it off, Zeke took off the glasses as well, folding them up and laying them besides the books.
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Post by Ziare on Sept 2, 2006 0:04:12 GMT -5
Ziare jumped a little as the little lion moved with such ferosity before he realized who she was. He bowed and she smiled reaching out to pet him gently again. He moved back to his seat and she looked over his papers yet still she did not understand exactly what he was doing here.
"If you can write perhaps you can speak to me through writing instead of words. If Ezra is not here with you I can only assume that he is hurt or something." she said as she looked at Zeke.
He had always been the cutest little lion like an animated stuffed animal. Any young girls dream come true really. She had always loved the little lion he had instantly won her heart over even if his master was very hard to get to know. She still considered Ezra a friend and she was now worried.
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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Sept 2, 2006 0:54:07 GMT -5
Zeke only needed to write down three words. The claw dipped lightly into the ink, trembling a little. If anything, Zeke looked scared to actually write down Ezra's fate. Line by line, the claw scribbled as neatly as it could;
"I am..."
Zeke redipped his claw into the ink and resumed writing below it.
"After I got lost on a mission, we traveled for quite a while. Ezra lost his prosthetic leg to some quicksand or something. Grendel carried him around on his back. He was really down in the dumps. He began trying to get stronger because he really believed he was pathetic. As usual, he mana drained himself trying new spells. Grendel broke completely. He hasn't woken up yet."
By this time, the ink was fading away. With a re-dip, he added in one more thing; "He wanted to say he was sorry, for all the grief he's causing you and Jyo. Until I can find the spell to undo what was done, he's not going awaken."
Zeke bowed his head again, as if sighing.
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Post by Ziare on Sept 2, 2006 14:06:09 GMT -5
Ziare moved her seat over closer to the little lion. She had definatly missed Ezra he was one of the very first people she had met at the Academy and when Armenius was small he and Zeke had chased and played with each other. It had been sweet and it also brought back memories of Jyo. Of when he was awake.
She read what the lion wrote down. It seemed that her old friend was in more trouble than she thought. In a coma. She understood. She nodded and pet the little lion to offer him some comfort after he dropped his head.
"Hey there buddy, we both have to have hope." she said as she looked into the lion's eyes. "Jyo, is in a coma too. But I can't help him. Not any more than what I've already done. But, I can help you while I"m taking a break from the hospital wing. So what can I do?"
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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Sept 3, 2006 0:17:45 GMT -5
"Jyo's in a coma? How did that happen?" Zeke wrote down, obviously concerned. But there was also the matter of Zaire. Now two of her friends were down and out. She had to have been really sad. Normally, he wouldn't have done something like this, but Zeke felt it necessary to tell her, and only her.
"Zaire, I'm going to tell you something I want to keep just between us, okay?" Zeke continued writing, knowing she'd be able to keep the secret. "Ezra's body is in a coma. But his soul is right here in Zeke. It's been weird having to talk like I'm in somebody else. But what happened out there was pretty much what I wrote down except for one thing. I didn't mana drain myself trying new spells, it was just one spell. A spell to link myself with Zeke, and sort of merge us into one being, if only for a short time. The problem was, the spell didn't work right. Only my soul was placed in Zeke's body, and I can't get out. I tried the spell again, to try and get my soul back into my body, but it didn't work. Now you know the truth..."
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Post by Ziare on Sept 3, 2006 3:02:25 GMT -5
Ziare smiled at the tiny lion and nodded at his words. In fact, it was still very hard for her to talk about because every day spent without Jyo .. seeing him there lying in the bed without any expression on his face what so ever was very hard on the blonde.
"Yes, he is. Almost three months now. He was struck down in the last Beast Revolution. A little while after you left us. He was fighting and I got there and he was almost immediatly taken down. I too was in a slight coma more for shock but it didn't last long. Now, it's just him and I mostly spend all my time in the hospital but I came to get more books as I exhausted my own personal library." she said softly. "I read to him every day. And I basically live there. I eat and sleep there. But so far there isn't a sign of him waking."
She sighed and wiped away a stray tear from her eyes as she hated really talking about Jyo yet it seemed something she had to do often as many people seemed to realize the once happy go lucky girl was indeed sadened by something. She looked down as the little lion began writing again.
"Of course, just between us." she said with a gentle smile. The lion went back to writing and her eyes only grew wider and wider. He was Ezra! Oh my. Now this was making more sense. The sudden intellegence that Zeke had and the disposition. He wasn't the cuddly playful Zeke of earlier he had changed and now it all made more sense than ever.
"Oh my." she said for a moment just blinking. "Well, for one I'm glad to have you back Ez. And for another, we have got to get you back in your body no question about that. So.. the next question is.. how can I help?"
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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Sept 3, 2006 23:49:38 GMT -5
After fully absorbing what had happened to Jyo, Zeke only nodded, like he wasn't hurt or anything. It was a sad story and all, but the part of Zeke that was Ezra knew all too well sadness and dissappointment. In a way, he was desenesitized to loss. But regardless, he gave Zaire a hug, because he knew she needed it. She was obviously more torn up than he was.
For a second, Zeke's paw went over his mouth. There was a quiet ripping sound, and finally it stopped. A few trails of mana were visible flowing from the claws while Zeke was apparently being torn. but when the paw left, there was a mouth formed where there hadn't been one.
"Zaire, I don't know exactly what anyone can do to help. You see..." Zeke's voice was quiet and sounded almost like what a puppy would. "When I merged into Zeke, I discovered way more than I ever knew about constructs. Or at least my constructs. Zeke should have been the perfect indication of what I just recently learned. Constructs have souls, much like we do. When a construct is made, it's like giving birth, in an odd way. The only differences are how they're made and what they're made for. Usually a construct is made for a purpose, in Grendel's case, it was to serve as a protector. In anormal child's case, they are given a much more abstract purpose,to serve as an extention of the parent's life. This abstract purpose is what makes a human so complex. When I made Zeke, I made him with the purpose of being my best friend, which was much more abstract of an idea than a normal construct. Because of the excessive mana that was pumped into him, I was able to assign such a purpose, instead of a simple purpose like cleaning the dishes or what not."
"The thing I'm trying to get at is, when I made Zeke, a portion of my being was made his soul, the excessive mana. When I merged, that piece of soul rejoined with me. That's why I'm stuck here. So unless you know how to rip a soul in half, it's either me or Zeke that can exist at one time. Because of the circumstances, Zeke is a far better body. But if you do know how I can rip my soul apart again, I'd love to know."
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Post by Ziare on Sept 5, 2006 1:37:20 GMT -5
Well that news wasn't good in the least. She could understand what he meant though. No one could or would even want to rip Ezra's soul apart again not like this either. She chewed on her lower lip and looked at Ezra/Zeke. She hugged Ezra whether he liked it or not and smiled at him.
"Well, perhaps we cannot split your soul again, but I'd be lying if I said I wanted that anyway. I think you are a wonderful person Ez but whole you would be even better." she said softly with a smile. "I think though we can find a way to get you back into your body instead of in Zeke's. That is the option we have to research. Though Zeke would become inanimate you might be able to work with that later. Now that you know exactly what to do."
She pet the little lion behind the ears for the minute and thought for a few minutes.
"I'm behind you all the way and I'll do what I can to help. So let me know what you want Ez. Because it's your life. Your soul." she said softly.
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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Sept 5, 2006 1:58:58 GMT -5
"You don't understand. Even with a whole soul, I'm still the miserable, pathetic kid I was when Zeke was alive. I don't want to go back to my body if it means I lose Zeke! It sounds stupid, but Zeke is my best friend... Yeah, he was just some programmed animation born of magic... Considered just a tool for me to accomplish my tasks..." Ezra's construct body, however inanimate it's features were, seemed to get more depressed by the moment. "Back when I first came here, I had to fight to keep him away from people that wanted to study him. They all told me he could just be remade if he was damaged. If I had done it once, I could do it again..."
After taking an animated breath, that relly did nothing for the body itself, he went on. "I know it sounds bad, but I want to rip my soul apart again, so that Zeke can be there for me. I sound like a child, still clutching on to a loved stuffed animal while the world dictates I move on without it. But... I don't want to move on! Life was good enough the way it was. It certainly wasn't as bad as a world without my best friend..."
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Post by Ziare on Sept 5, 2006 2:12:47 GMT -5
"Stop." Ziare said and placed her hand on the muzzle of the little lion.
"Look, if that is what you really want then lets get studying. I wouldn't want to break you apart from Zeke. I want to help you Ez because though we never got close you are one of my few friends from my beginning here at Arcane and I do consider you a friend." she said softly.
She pulled some of the books to her and began to open them. She would stay a while to see if she could help Ez he was a good friend and he deserved any help she could get. In this vast library there had to be something they could do.
"So lets get cracking shall we Ez?" she asked with a chuckle.
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Post by Ezra Emmerich on Sept 5, 2006 2:31:30 GMT -5
"Sorry..." Ezra looked at the ground, ashamed. He had flown off the handle and gone too far. His spell casting, his life, his own words, he had never gained control of any of it. There had been many times he had mana drained himself, and just now, he had pushed Zaire away verbally, and with his current situation...
"I used a theoretical alchemical process to link up with Zeke. Apparently, an alchemist can create a homunculus, an empty vessel, and shove their soul into it, making it act much like a new body. There was apparently somebody who lived for several hundred years past his natural life that way. So I adapted the theory to fit my needs, integrating myself with Zeke. Because I thought he was empty, I didn't count on being permanently stuck, since if I could shove myself in, I could certainly push myself back out. It was arrogant of me to try it without truly knowing what Zeke was."
"Now I'm looking at research on the topic of souls. If there are ways to divide them, what exactly they are, and what happens to an incomplete soul. Eastern, Western, and all other sources all have different opinions though. There's no solid fact when it comes to the soul. I don't know of any magic that directly effects the sould except as a summoning, or a transfer. Summoning brings the whole being, not just the soul, so I can't use that. And transferring my soul doesn't work as far as I'm concerned. Any ideas."
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