Shay sat back, closing her eyes at the feeling of Gabriel's magic sliding through her. Too much. It was too much. Shay felt her own magic reacting, testing, spreading. Faith, strength, warmth or light to be found in darkness.
Shay felt safer with her own presence and the knowledge that Klaus was out there, back in the real world. She'd go as far as to say she was drowsy.
She eyed Gabriel, wondering, suddenly, if his compliment was just as much an insult. Because for all the safety, for all the worship, for every good moment she had, it never left Shay's mind. She did not forget the people would had kicked her when she was down, or who would just as likely do it. Capricious people didn't make good friends or good shoulders. God or no.
"Yes," Shay answered his question. The hum led her to believe he hadn't encountered it before. Go figure. Not the first time, nor the last that Shay would be left to figure out the abnormality that was her body and magic. "On the scar front, yes. Little reminders, only partially. Maybe premonitions, too. Still looking into that."
Shay was quiet, staring around. Slowly, she got up and opened her arms wide. "You once told me that being alive as long as you meant seeing everything. Been there done that."
Shay turned slowly, showing off the tattoos one more, magic flexing just a little as she searched for a non-challenging way to say what she wanted to say.
"Have you seen something like me before? Not just a Reaper. But the other magic, too. Any insights?"
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As Mikhainon felt her disgust at his magic, his own pulled back fully, gone at the first sign of negativity. Worshipers had full control of how much influence he had on them, and as much as his magic wanted to possess her, he couldn't without her full consent. Gabriel felt Mikhainon gurgle unhappily at the back of his mind, to which he responded with nothing but amusement.The magic in the place started to warble and break down, the illusion crumbling at the edges. Worship was a two-way communication, this place built on hers as much as his. Doubt broke it down. It was going to fade soon, so they didn't have much time to talk. He glanced briefly at the cracks in the magic.
When he finally focused on what she was saying, he shook his head. "None exactly like you, but I've definitely seen the theme. Dark and light co-existing. A more common variation would be Ying and Yang, and offspring born from angels and demons. You smell like Death and Life, meant to advocate darkness as much as you do life. You're physically built for a chosen purpose but..." He chuckled. "You're also mortal, or at least stubborn enough like one. And if there's something I know about you people, you don't like the concept of destiny."
He smiled at her. "Anything else before this realm breaks?"
Shay could breathe again when Gabriel's magic pulled away from her suddenly. She feared she'd offended him, but that didn't seem like the case. She hadn't even realized how her chest had tightened at it all.
And then it all began to fall apart around them. Because of her, it fell apart. Should she have cared? She did, distantly. Everything was distant and warped. Both warm and freezing.
Shay stared at Gabriel's smile, wishing she could read it. This, why he was even helping. Because she was his in some way now. Why keep something you didn't like. Power, she guessed. It didn't matter his reasons, in the end. She knew that.
Recalling one of the first things she'd ever heard from Gabriel, to define was to limit. Whether he wanted to brand her mortal, human in mind or Regis wanted to brand her Reaper. None of that mattered. She was those things, but only in part, which was smart to remember. Trying to fit into other people's boxes, fight to prove that she didn't need to be there, that had never worked before. Death gave some serious clarity.
She rose her chin, met his gaze, her own soft but resolute. Her throat felt full of cotton, now or never. "Two things. One, I don't mind destiny, and I definitely believe it. I just wish it was more clear."
She paused, watched as chunks of the world tore open. "And two.... thank you. Sorry about the severed connection. Sensory overload."
And then the world crashed. Images burning away like the end of an old film. Voices garbled and before Shay knew it, she was awake. Not with a start. It was peaceful, and the first time she'd ever slept without the visions of death in her mind's eyes.
Before she and Klaus left, Shay cut her finger and drew a crude rose on the shrine's sacrificial bowl with the little blood she had to spare. They weren't friends, but they didn't have to be enemies, either.
She smiled tightly.
♠♠♠