ixis | Portal Maintenance [For Katsuya]

"It's reassuring that you wish to discuss it with her at all. Good lad. I personally learned the hard way that even if your beau does not speak frequently does not mean she doesn't have things to say. Or that you should be the one asking after matters and making yourself clear." Is he admitting he does have experience with romantic relations? Who'd date an old wizard like him? Is that even something Katsuya cares to dwell on?

The ward seems to be coming together, Naugus holding it aloft on the tip of his claw, watching it hover and shimmer. Then he waves for Katsuya to come closer. "Now it's just a matter of binding it to you so you'll be alerted whenever someone cares to pass through its doors from the side you live on."

Everyone was young once. Trying to figure out when that could have been for Ixis, or if he's talking about now versus the good old days is a mystery best left unsolved. At least in Katsuya's mind.

Between the webbing and the runes, his door is looking less and less like a destination people would want to check out. Unless you liked decidedly foreboding doorways to another world.

Katsuya will oblige the magi and move closer.

"Thank you." He bobs his head in gratitude. A partial bow of sorts.

"Don't thank me yet." Wait, what's that supposed to mean? A strand of the ward is pulled away between forefinger and thumb and then sharply prodded against Katsuya's chest. It's not painful, but the thread vanishes in a way that's probably disconcerting, slithering inwards and vanishing like some kind of particularly determined snake.

"There. You should get an inkling when someone steps through from your city to the Nexus. Just a sense someplace in your chest, a hunch, if you will. That should be useful either for interlopers or ensuring guests make it back here safe, hm?"

Naugus turns to the door. "Now, just a matter of getting this installed..."

Wait, why not? The officer stares down at his chest, breath hitching when he feels the magic taking effect. It's not constricting the way it is when he's overused his Persona. It doesn't hurt, and he can breathe. But he could feel it for a moment and it was almost like...

How sad is Katsuya's life that the first thing that comes to mind is the stupid zombie virus he and Baofu had gotten infected with years ago? Knowing something foreign was inside you, mingling with your internal organs like the parasite it is?

"...Ixis. What exactly could you do to me with a piece of your magic within my body?" Katsuya why the fuck didn't you ask this sooner? Idiot.

He'd been in the process of tapping the door again, ward suspended still at the tip of his claw as he looks for a good place to insert it into the magicks already at work. But he glances over his shoulder when Katsuya asks that.

"Hm? Nothing, really, aside from cancel it. Which would happen either way if something were to destroy this ward or the door it's affixed to. That might feel a little unpleasant, but what doesn't kill you, right?"

Right.

"..So...why did you say not to thank you?" He doesn't bother pointing out he's had worse things happen to him. Like Las Plagas being removed, for example. Or trying a fusion combo with 0 SP and nearly dying. The point is, Katsuya's baseline for intolerable chest pain is pretty damn high. He's going to have a heart attack some day and not realize it because it 'didn't hurt that bad'.

"Oh, sometimes the infusion of the ward can be equally unpleasant. Glad you took to it so well. Must be some magicks already stirring in your chest. Does this sound accurate?" He might be curious now! He didn't take the tall fellow to be magically inclined, but you learn something new and exciting everyday!

The door seems to have surrendered a suitable spot for installation of the ward, based on how Naugus gives it one last tap and then grins. The ward is held nearer now as the wizard braces his hand against it. The process produces sparks and a loud FZZZZT, as well as the curious smell of ozone. The way Naugus has to set his elbow and slowly push the ward against the surface of the door, it seems this is a process of forcing something to fit where it otherwise wouldn't. Wedging it into a spot that was already meticulously organized. Soldering something foreign onto a piece of art.

Ixis Naugus, however, grins the whole while the process is underway. And when he's done, he steps back to look at his work. There's smoke rising from the angrily glowing ward, the symbols and lines pulsing with arcane heat. Over time, they fade, and look as though they were never there. Except for the acrid smoke and the smell of an oncoming thunderstorm still hanging in the air, of course.

"Oh, I see. I'm the least magically inclined of my comrades, but I still manage to do quite a bit." He says that, but almost all of his magical talent goes toward putting his aura into his blows because there's no other explanation as to why someone as thin as he is can punch holes in steel when he's angry enough.

~~WTF Japan.~~

Katsuya somehow doubts Schon is going to be pleased with this turn of events, but he'll deal with that can of worms when it comes. For now, he's grateful there's one more security measure in place to keep the Chaos that crawls within Sumaru contained to his world.

Naugus doubts Schön will be pleased with this either and that's fine! That's just fine. He dusts off where the ward settled in, clearing what little char there might be.

"You know, if you ever wanted to broaden your magical scope, I've been looking for an apprentice. Just a thought."

Yeah, considering Katsuya's sort of in debt to Schon, he really doesn't want the magi pissed off at him. Or calling in a favor that Katsuya really can't refuse. This could get ugly and fast. He should really wrap this up or at least get them away from the door.

"I'm afraid all I excel in is force and fire." Don't be modest, katsuya! You say that like those are bad things!

"You say that as if it's trivial! Fire is the most challenging and difficult to master in the Ixian arts. Already having a propensity for it speaks volumes of your abilities! You mustn't be so modest, Katsuya. That's for lesser beings." You know, peasants. Chumps. Non-magic users.

"Force I assume is...will? Wind? Two powerful and favourable elements either way! Another I favour especially. Why, with my teachings, imagine how heightened your powers could become!"

Now that his hand is free from its work, his tail passes his staff back into his palm. Giving the door another tap makes the ward glow faintly, giving Naugus cause to snicker.

"What. Did. You. Do?" The words are crisp and flat, as their speaker is suddenly simply there, as though stepping from nothing. His gaze would bore holes in the Ixian mage, if such were possible, before moving past him to the glass-and-metal door.

There is something in his posture and expression that calls to mind a cat which has fallen into a tub of ice-cold water and scrambled out again.

Oh good, the entertainment is here!

Naugus in equally catlike manner pretends nothing is wrong and he's as cool as can be, buffing his claw on the breast of his shirt. "Nothing to be alarmed over. Just installed a ward is all. Something to alert young Katsuya when someone (or something) makes passage from his city to the Nexus. A simple little affair. Please, by all means, inspect the handiwork!"

It's all...there. But it's like that bizarre footage of a heated nickel ball going through ice. Something was shoved and melted and fused to force it to fit.

Oh god dammit.

No, by all means, everyone show up. Maybe some demons? Why don't we just invite Philemon and Nyarlathotep here to so this could possibly get any worse than it's about to be.

Katsuya hates his life right now. So, so much.

"I didn't realize it would be so intrusive. On either the door or my person." The officer offers quietly, not really of any hope that this will end peacefully, but certainly hoping that he doesn't have to take a side, here. And he knows if he does, the decision has been made for him. And he's not looking forward to it one bit.

He glances Ixis' way.

"Let's not fight, either of you...please?"

"I intend to," Schön replies, voice like ice water as he picks his way past Naugus to the door. It's like watching cats puff up and edge past one another.

Katsuya gets a look of reproach. "You let him work his spells on you?" He tsks quietly, before turning to inspect the door, fingertips tracing over the marks left from a half-inch away, feeling the weave of the magic they define.

"Vale's bones, what overreactions. The spell in regards to your person, Katsuya, is nothing more than a binding. Should the ward fail or fall, it will dissipate on its own." Or if the ward is undone violently, it might feel a little worse than that. But no need to be alarmist here! "It does little else other than give you that sense of people or beings leaving your zone. Just as asked."

The magicks Schön should be detecting are sound and solid; there's no nuance in its making. The runes are Ixian in nature and may not translate in any phonetic meaning, but the sense they give off is ones of warning, exit, passage.

"Yes, you've explained." Katsuya assures Ixis. "And I'm grateful that the experience was not as...unpleasant as you said it might have otherwise been. As I am grateful for your explanation when I asked."

He stands aside to let Schon examine what he will. Katsuya has no desire to get in either's way right now. It's a little bit insulting that both of them find the fact that this door is for Katsuya's world to be so trivial, each caught up in the rivalry they have between each other.

"Sergeant Suou," Schön drawls, not yet looking up from his examinations, "if you wanted some manner of alarm upon the door, why did you not come to me? I might be stung at such disregard."

He does look up from his study to cast a sidelong look at Naugus, asking, "and what did you charge, for this... 'service?'"

"Nothing! It was a courtesy to one close to a friend we share." Even if that qualifier is kinda in flux right now. "They spoke of labouring under profound debt for the cost of this doorway's installation, so I thought I would provide a kindness for no cost."

Oh god. This can't possibly get any worse.

"Don't drag me into this, either of you." He turns to Schon first.

"Verity lives with Ixis and the subject came up when we were discussing the demon infestation of the nexus. Ixis was not present on site and wanted to be filled in on the events that transpired. That was when this came up, you should have expected I'd be acquainted with Ixis at some point."

Then to Ixis.

"I said I appreciated the kindness, but I don't want you throwing me under a bus here because of your business with Schon. I am indebted to him for the work he has done for me. But I chose to accept that price. Please don't cheapen that choice or Verity's by using it as ammunition."

It could certainly get worse, Katsuya. They could come to actual blows, the collateral damage of their squabble could include the door... there are any number of ways it could be worse. Don't be such a pessimist when greater disaster still looms.

"Mm. He did miss all the excitement, didn't he?" Schön asks, in response to Katsuya's explanation to him. "I'm not surprised you became acquainted, Sergeant Suou, merely that you accepted an offer of such... nebulous terms, when mine are always so clear. Kindness can be circumstantial."

Interesting to note is Naugus' use, perhaps not conscious, of the f-word to describe Verity. That particular remark was delivered without his signature pomposity, so it might even be sincere. A possibility to examine another time.

Never think things can't get worse when there are distinct possibilities of magic duels and damaged property. Puffed egos and posturing are barely a blip on the radar when it comes to these two.

If the mention of Naugus missing out on the demon incursion is a barb, it's one he ignores with his usual toothy smile. "There were no terms. This is a gesture of good will for those who are already disproportionately burdened." Sorry, Katsuya, he's also ignoring your request to not natter on that point. "And your work still stands, so I'm uncertain what objections you could have to this installation! Other than a wounded pride of not being everyone's immediate go-to. What's it like to need so much external validation? I can't even imagine."

Coming from the world he does, Katsuya should be well versed in the notion of the infinite depth of getting worse possible at any one given time. He sighs and removes his tinted glasses to wipe them off.

All of this posturing is hitting really close to home for him, save that the two fighting are magi and not literal gods. Okay, he just found a way that this is better. They are not, in fact, gods. Let's try some positive thinking here.

Ixis has said he specializes in fire magics, so if this does come to blows, Katsuya should be fine on that front. Likewise, should Schon decide to cash in on a favor, it would be one less that Katsuya owes the magi. So many plusses...and this is still a bad situation.

Would they even notice if he left?

He leans against his door, arms folded, to watch this for a while longer. He's more worried about harm coming to his door than of them fighting. There's no way he's getting in the middle of that unless ordered to.

"Indeed, you cannot," Schön replies, readying a (metaphorical) acid barb. The head of his cane is a silver wasp today, and it seems not unfit. "When you have experienced some validation, external or otherwise, I would be happy to discuss the experience. Do be certain to call me."

But he isn't quite done, for Naugus has claimed not to put a price on his services here, and the thin man wants to press that point into contractual certainty. "Oh? Is your explicit word given on that? No terms, no price, no strings, no favor or obligation to arise at the moment of your convenience? Would you swear to such, on things you hold precious and before a third-party witness?"

"The only type of validation I need is self. It must be a desperate sort of life, not being able to generate any on your own. No wonder you're so active in your Nexus wheeling and dealing! Have to keep priming the pumps for that affirmation."

The mage chortles as he leans on his staff, the end of his tail curling around the base of it. "This really is a cause for projection with you, isn't it, Schön? You can't fathom a simple favour without stipulations or strings? No payments or debt? I would gladly take this vow if it was enough to quiet you!"

His claw moves to cover his heart as he clearly states, "I, Ixis Naugus, master of the elements and sorcerer supreme, do solemnly swear that if there is hidden terms or unfulfilled business OR expected payment that I have not expressed to one Katsuya Suou; if there is any repayment or debt expected on my part now or in the future for the conjuration and installation of one ward, I do rightfully surrender the chaos emerald affixed upon my staff to one Schön, surname unknown."

Portal Maintenance [For Katsuya]

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Those were the days

OH MAN THE GANADO WAR still one of the best weeks of my life

Right?! I had SO MUCH FUN with that

We'll have to run another event someday to top that one. B] THIS IS MY BELIEF

I'd love to do that. We need more villains though!

REMEMBER WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO

ALL THE VILLAINS DEL!

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Sorry! I'm tracking now. D:

S'okay

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