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Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:30 am
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


That really shouldn't have been all that surprising - people who were used to sticking to one world tended to be overwhelmed when they visited another. It was something that he had picked up on right around the time that he started his travels. Even he had trouble getting used to at first; being on Earth for so long had made him struggle with taking in customs and cultures of the other places he visited.

He looked around the town and tried to think of a better way to explain things to James so he wasn't as overwhelmed and confused. But it was hard figuring out what to say when there wasn't exactly any equivalents on Nye.

"I mean," he quietly said, "sleeping pods aren't exactly common things. The only other time I've heard of them being found is with the team that Stargate Command has on Atlantis, and that's a completely different galaxy."

He glanced back in the direction of the hotel.

"The Alterans were the group of people who first summoned me," he said. "They...disappeared a very long time ago. I think some of them died, and the rest just kind of..." He took a deep breath. "...ascended to another state of existence? I know it sounds weird, but they kind of became gods. But it's still like they died, since they never interact with us. It's against their rules to. Daniel actually ascended before. It's...weird. I wasn't around for it, but..."

Another look back at the inn. "I don't know why someone like Kalen wouldn't have ascended with the rest of them. He looks like he'd be old enough to, and I think they started ascending more once they had to fit the Ori - they're like the evil twin of the Alterans. I'm not sure if you remember Cameron and the rest of my team mentioning the priors, but the priors work for them."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:08 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James looked back at the hotel with a thoughtful gaze as Maahes tried to explain more of Kalen's situation. To say it sounded tragic and disorienting would've been a massive understatement. He looked back to Maahes with a solemn expression.

"So Kalen... he must feel very out of place here, then. So you don't know why he'd be in a pod instead of ascending to godhood like the rest of his kind? Is it possible... he was put in one by accident? Or put himself in one? Or was he not old enough to ascend when he was put in the pod, and god older? Is that possible?"
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:26 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


Maahes followed James's gaze back towards the hotel. "Maybe," he uncertainly said. Those theories all seemed like they could make sense, but it still didn't explain why he was the only Alteran that had been discovered so far. Even the incident in Atlantis hadn't involved an Alteran - it had involved an alternate reality version of Dr. Elizabeth Weir.

"I think we should go talk to him," Maahes hesitantly decided. "Maybe I could...Maybe I could explain who I am to him. The Ori started attacking right around the time I was first being summoned. He might have heard of me, if he knew the right people."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:28 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James nodded agreeably. "Sounds reasonable."
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Mon Nov 05, 2018 2:33 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


They returned to the hotel and made their way to Kalen's room. Maahes kept running over all the different things he could say to the Alteran; how was he supposed to explain his connection to the Alterans if Kalen hadn't heard of him before? He desperately hoped that Kalen had been a diplomat or scholar that he had forgotten over the years - then he would have known who he was, or at least had some knowledge of his existence from talking with Odris.

But his worry suddenly switched from one source to another as they came closer to the room.

Kalen was sobbing.

It was quiet at first, but grew increasingly louder as they approached. Maahes glanced over at James, then hesitantly went to open the already slightly open door. The sobs momentarily ceased when the door creaked, but quickly resumed moments later.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Tue Nov 06, 2018 4:53 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James slowly followed in after Maahes, wary of the sobbing. In knowing more of Kalen's situation, he felt he understood why the man would be crying, until he saw what was going on in Kalen's hotel room.

Kalen was sitting down on the floor, for one. Which wouldn't have been to odd in itself, but he was sitting inside of a large circle drawn in something that looked like chalk. Across from him was another circle, both of which had writing in them. It only took him a moment to realize what they were as he recalled what Maahes had told him about summoning spirits. They were summoning circles, which meant Kalen was trying to summon someone. And if he could deduce anything about Kalen's situation, he was probably trying to summon someone familiar in the midst of all of the overwhelming newness he'd awoken to.

Slowly, he approached Kalen, and put a hand gently on the man's shoulder.

"Were you trying to summon a friend, Kalen?" he asked softly.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Tue Nov 06, 2018 5:22 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


The moment he saw the pentacles, Maahes froze by the doorway. He would have brushed it off as some ritual from the world that Kalen had come from, but he knew Alteran culture. They didn't have things like that. What they did have was the knowledge of how to summon spirits - apparently plural, considering that Kalen hadn't summoned him at any point -and the pentacles looked identical to the ones he had been summoned in before.

Maahes's first instinct was to jump to the conclusion that Kalen was like Ra - intent on using a spirit's power for his own gain - but then he realized that someone like Ra would have never cried at a failed summoning. Even more importantly, James had suggested the idea that Kalen had been friends with this other spirit - that was unlike Ra, too.

Kalen turned and looked up at James.

"Yes," he whispered. Maahes had to strain his ears to pick up on the answer; it was hard to hear it over the sobs still wracking Kalen's body. "But-But he didn't show up! No one else was ever supposed to summon him. He was my pr-project. It's been twenty thousand years - I-I know spirits are supposed to live for a long time, but-"

He pulled his legs close to his chest and sobbed into his arms.

Maahes comforted people. Even during his time with Ra, he had wanted to calm those who were suffering. But he couldn't get his mind off of the phrasing - this other spirit was Kalen's project. That didn't make any sense at all! There had only been one project involving a spirit, and that project had been him-

Oh Altera.

He felt his legs go weak beneath him, and his essence began to twist and churn as the realization came crashing down on him. It was just a guess, but it made more and more sense when he thought through it. Take away the facial hair. Make him just a little smaller. Cut his hair back. If he could see what Kalen had looked like before he had stepped into the pod, would he be looking at the face of a friend?

"What was his name?" Maahes quietly asked. Kalen. Kalen. He knew that name was from a kid's book, but it wasn't just any kid's book. It was one of his favorite stories as a child, one that Odris would always read to him. It had been about two brothers - Aen and Kalen - and Maahes had always given the younger one's name whenever he needed to come up with a name on the fly.

'"M-Maahes," Kalen replied, his voice muffled by his legs and arms. "His name was Maahes. I-I was supposed to keep an eye on him. But now he's g-gone and that w-wouldn't have happened if I hadn't let them put me in that pod!"

Kalen was Odris.

He walked over to his first summoner and sat down on the floor beside him. It was so strange seeing him after so long; he felt nothing like the child he had been when they last saw each other. He rubbed Odris's back in an effort to calm him down, but the action only resorted in him crying even harder.

"Odris," Maahes whispered. "It's okay."

Odris's head shot up. "How do you know my name?"

Maahes looked down at the goggles hanging around the Alteran's neck. "You should put your lenses on," Maahes suggested. "I think-I think that would be more convincing than anything I could ever say."

Odris put the goggles on, and his eyes immediately widened.

"...Maahes?"

He nodded, and gave Odris a warm, hesitant smile. "It's me."

A second later, Odris wrapped his arms around Maahes and pulled him into an embrace. But, for the first time in his life, Maahes found that he wasn't the one being comforted by Odris - it was the other way around. Odris just sobbed into his shoulder, and Maahes continued to sit there rubbing his back as he waited for the tears to stop falling.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Wed Nov 07, 2018 12:57 am
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soundofmind says...



James


James backed away quietly as the two reunited friends embraced, and respectfully remained silent as Odris cried into Mahhes's shoulder. He was glad that they found out who Kalen really was, and that he was someone of great importance to Maahes as a part of his history.

He could vaguely remember Odris - when he was younger, back in the cottage, when Maahes was just a child. He'd been younger than he expected, and he hadn't known him all that well, but he seemed like a good kid. To see him an older man filled with sorrow was saddening, but at the very least, Odris had found Maahes one way or another. Even if the summoning circles didn't work.
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Wed Nov 07, 2018 10:08 am
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


It took some time, but Odris eventually stopped crying and pulled away from him. Maahes had spent the duration of their embrace marveling over how bizarre this situation was - seeing Odris again when he thought he was long dead or ascended, and seeing him like this. Odris was several years older than he had been the last time that they had seen each other, but Maahes couldn't tell if that was because of the pod or some other reason.

Odris wiped his last remaining tear away. Then he tried his best to resume the tired, mature demeanor he had had throughout the entirety of Maahes's childhood, but it was clear that he was struggling to do it after such a big revelation. He glanced between Maahes and James, but it was James who he stared at for the longest.

"I know you," he said. He got to his feet and walked over to James. Maahes followed suit a few seconds later, surprised that Odris remembered him after so long - or at least recognized him to some extent. "You were in those forests. Are you his summoner now-"

He furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. "That makes no sense," he thought aloud, frowning. "You should have been dead by now, if it's been twenty thousand years."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Wed Nov 07, 2018 1:23 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James looked over at Maahes, feeling that neither of them would be able to give a thorough answer to Odris's inquiry. With the slightest smirk, he shrugged.

"I age well," he answered lightly, before his smirk disappeared. "Time doesn't seem to follow its own rules when I'm pulled out of it to meet Maahes in whatever situations we find ourselves in. Like where we met before, in the cottage, I don't really have control over such things. It just... happens. Time seems to move faster for you and Maahes than myself."
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Thu Nov 08, 2018 10:27 am
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


"Although it has seemed to slow down recently," Maahes commented, looking between Odris and James. The first few times had been about ten thousand years apart, but they had been getting shorter and shorter - going down to a year, a handful of months, and now just one month. He had to wonder if it would only be a week for him before he saw James again.

Odris frowned. "That still doesn't make any sense. How could time run differently for other people?"

He looked imploringly at James, but it was Maahes who answered from beside him. "We're from a different reality from James," he explained, awkwardly clearing his throat before speaking so Odris would change the focus of his attention. "Sometimes we've met in overlaps between our realities or other ones all together, like back with that forest. Other times we end up in each other's realities, like right now. It's hard to say how we'll met until we meet."
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:05 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


"There doesn't seem to be a consistent reason... and though half of the time our meeting had been in the birth of conflict, it has made a way for us to bond in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. So in some ways... we have fate to thank for our friendship."
Pants are an illusion. And so is death.






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Mon Nov 12, 2018 11:13 am
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


"We do," Maahes agreed, smiling as he looked over at his friend. Then he looked back at Odris, and tried to think of what to do next. Clothes were certainly a start, but he wasn't quite sure how he was going to explain his connection to Odris without revealing that he had been lying about who and what he really was ever since he had first come to the planet.

"I think we need to get you clothes that blend in more," he finally said. He definitely had some in the back of The Lotus they could use. Yet that still didn't explain how they were going to get there, especially when the lead archeologist would probably be back in the near future to check on Odris and ask him questions.

Altera, this wasn't going to be easy.

Odris looked down at his clothes, then looked over at Maahes and James. Maahes hadn't noticed it earlier, but his clothes - which he had always preferred to wear on the larger side - just barely fit him now. "I do need some that fit me better," he agreed.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.





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Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:42 pm
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soundofmind says...



James


James looked down at his own clothes, realizing they didn't really fit in very well with the scenery either. He tipped his cowboy hat a little. "Do I need to blend in more? Will that be a problem?"
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Sun Nov 18, 2018 1:29 pm
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Mageheart says...



Maahes


Maahes thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't think so," he hesitantly said. "Everyone that we've met so far knows that we aren't from this planet. They're prepared to see us in different clothes. But if we want Odris to be able to walk around without drawing attention to the fact that he's Alteran, then I think we'll need to find a different outfit for him to wear-"

There was a knock from the doorway.

Maahes slowly turned to see who was standing there.

It was the lead archaeologist.

His essence started to anxiously twist and turn, and he could see Odris tensing up out of the corner of his eye. Maahes nervously look in both James and Odris's directions, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say in this situation.
mage

[ she/her, but in a boy kinda way ]

roleplaying is my platonic love language.

queer and here.








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