“I just met Damian and Elise and Brea… he’s rude.” She glanced over her shoulder to be sure he wasn’t behind her.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“No.” She looked at him for a moment. “…he's not here.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"How do you know?" he asked. "How can you be sure there aren't hundreds walking this Keep?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Liesel and Abel said they can’t stay all the time. Only when the veil is thin. And once they decide to pass on forever then they can’t change their minds again…”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Who else stayed?" He was writing frantically now, though he kept the same calm demeanor. Inside he was panicking; he could feel his heart thudding against his chest. "Can they make physical contact with us? Why can't any of the rest of us see them?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“No, they can’t.” Ky shook her head quickly. Gods. She shouldn’t have told him. He was playing it cool but she saw the urgency of his writing. “They cannot do anything at all to anyone — I checked a lot of times and she was for-sure for-sure certain that the dead can’t harm the living in any way. The worst they could do is be rude, and, well, none of you can see them anyway so it doesn’t matter.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Who else stayed?" he repeated. "And who moved on? You've only met those five?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Yes…” Ky involuntarily glanced over her shoulder again even though they were alone… for now. “I don’t know who else stayed. I only just met those last three… it spooked me a little but… I feel like if there were a lot of them around, I would have seen more before now, you know? I can see them if they’re around… and they’re not.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Can they touch you?" He set down his pen for a moment to brush back his hair and found that his hands were shaking visibly. He fixed his hair and then folded his elbows across the desk so he could hide his hands.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“They can not,” Ky assured him. “I swear. I asked a lot of times in a lot of different ways to be sure neither of them could hurt you or Tomhas because I was worried too and they said that there is no circumstance whatsoever where they can touch you or physically intervene in any matter in any way. They are strictly spirits. Nothing more. They swore it.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"I meant you--you personally. You can see them and talk to them. Do the rules apply differently to you?" If so, he needed to get Ky out of there at once, back to Caracal Keep. Michael or his father--or even Modestus the Mad--they could all be dangers to her.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Oh…” Ky considered for a moment, remembering the feel of Liesel’s marshmallowy hand of comfort. She had an uneasy feeling that he may be on to something there. But if she admitted to that, then that was one step removed from him — and she wasn’t going to plant the seed of doubt in his mind that any of them may be able to touch him. And she couldn’t guarantee they they couldn’t touch him if she admitted to not being sure they couldn’t touch her. “I don’t think so. I can just see them as they exist now — and they exist as spirits. We’re still on different planes.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Are you sure of that?" He could feel himself growing gradually more tense as he spoke. He hoped he was keeping his face under control. It certainly made sense about Tomhas fleeing to Gaius's room so suddenly after the tunnels. Being so afraid. Gaius himself felt sick to his stomach just thinking about the implications.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“Yes.” Ky nodded, forcing herself to be strong for him and appear more confident than she was. Even though she wasn’t certain at all. Her mind replayed the squishy comfort again and again and again… what if Liesel had been trying to hit her instead? What if…Michael…?
Gods.
That was a terrifying idea. If Michael could hurt her, then be would. He seemed the type to jump on the opportunity to hurt anyone. And she was much, much more of an attractive target since Tomhas and to some degree Gaius cared about her. She… really, really hoped that he wasn’t here. Hoped she’d never find out.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
