I said I should be working on it, not that I actually am. And I killed four people, including Junpei - who I actually do like. I prepared their bodies myself. I am a monster; I've never hidden that from you. I just never wanted to be your monster, and I'm sorry if that's what I am.
[Ianthe ran her hand through her hair before standing up, visibly wincing in pain as she reached her arms skyward to stretch.]
I'm not going anywhere. Just too tall to keep sitting on these steps. Regeneration is fucking amazing but it doesn't stop shit from hurting.
[She stuck the bracelet in her pocket so she wouldn't lose it.]
I want to rest. I'm trying to rest. But I'm also bored. Even in the best of times, my mind needs something to work on. It's what makes me a great necromancer. Also makes me a shitty person with no attention span. I don't know what to do with myself right now other than go over my 'safe' notes being as it's the only damn thing I can read here. So if you have a suggestion, I'm all fucking ears.
[ she's staring at the ground and not at ianthe. as understandable as restless boredom is, it's not quite enough to justify messing with things that caused the kind of harm that ianthe has caused.
but the talk of monsters does give her an idea. ]
While you were losing your mind, my monster was sneaking into my bedroom at the boarding house. There's a project for you: keeping him out.
[The casual offer to kill said monster thankfully never went beyond a thought. Ianthe was not going to fight Alina's battles for her. She'd told Nikolai that, despite having ripped into him in a case of outdated information. Okay, she was going to try not to unless asked. Like now.]
[ moving above the tailor's had been her first thought, but that was only a stop-gap — a temporary stay until he figured out where she and genya had gone. ]
[It was noticeable, how giving Ianthe something to put her mind toward, something she found enjoyable, changed how she carried herself. It wasn't paranoia or obsession, skulking over notes, but a light pacing with head held high with a bit of a smirk sitting in the corner of her mouth.]
Bone wards are best for keeping out physical threats. They last a long time - bone is ideal for storing thanergy long-term - and they can also be set up as traps. Blood wards, on the other hand, are best for spiritual threats or those with the skill or shear raw power to dismantle wards.
As you already know, I favor blood wards myself, but they need to be reapplied frequently. The fresher the blood ward, the stronger it is.
Both wards can be set at creation to allow specific people to pass through them. They have to be physically present when a bone ward is set. Same applies to a blood ward or they can supply their own blood to be part of the theorem.
Bone wards are visually hard to hide unless a bone adept creates them. Blood wards are easier to hide but will glow when activated.
[At least Alina had first-hand experience with the effectiveness of a blood ward. Ianthe stopped her pacing so she could look down at Alina for a moment. Then she eased herself down to sit on the steps again.]
Yeah. I'll ward any points of entrance, but you need to know that even if I attune the ward to you, it will never prevent me from passing through it. I will also be alerted anytime it activates. This also means you're going to have to remember to by physically touching anyone you want to pass through it.
...it does require arterial blood to craft. A lot. Lesser necromancers have sacrificed themselves to create wards. I'll be fine, but it won't be-- Some might call it gruesome. You seem to favor 'gross'.
I know you can, but I'll be opening my wrist to do it. I don't want anything to be a surprise. Genya is either going to have to be present when I craft it or provide me with some blood - a standard vial should be enough. And she needs to know the procedure when it comes to visitors. [Which could be a problem when it came to spur of the moment zadza sessions.]
How often are you going to want the wards refreshed?
Immediately, but there isn't a notable drop off in strength until three day have passed. I normally refresh mine once a week. It entirely depends on how powerful your monster is, Alina.
[It was the whole reason bone wards were preferred by most necromancers. Bone held thanergy long-term. Blood did not. She debated with herself for a moment.] Back on the Mithraeum when Harrowhark was being hunted by another lyctor that specialized in creating anti-thanergy spaces, to keep him out of her room - my room, actually - we needed fresh wards daily. But that's against someone specialized in creating thanergy voids. Extremely specialized in bypassing and breaking wards down.
[ she looks down at her hands. picks at her nails for a moment, then takes to rubbing the place in her palm where a scar used to be. where a scar hasn't been for months, now. ]
I'm sure he's studied them. I'm also sure they won't be the same as yours. But ... [ she lifts her chin, looks ianthe dead in the eyes and admits, ] Considering he made something like the Void in Ravka, I would say pretty powerful.
[And there were the last few pieces Ianthe had been missing into place. Because Ianthe knew who Wanda roomed with. Alina could see them slotting into place right there in Ianthe's eyes with some of the other things she'd picked up. Like Alina's admittance that the General had shadow powers yet she never once mentioned any attempt by him to remove the Fold. Well now it made sense. Most of it, at least.
She stared at Alina for a long second.]
And you're fucking him. Alright.
[And with that statement with absolutely zero judgement in her expression or voice, Ianthe moved on from Alina's choice of bed partners. The goal was always worth the cost; that must have been a price Alina had to pay for her goal. Or she was just fucking stupid, but that was Ianthe's own jealousy talking and she'd been suppressing that for months.]
Wanda's magic works on a very different principle than mine does; we fought while I was transformed. Kirigan might learn the basis of how wards work by studying them, but that doesn't make him capable of undoing them. Especially the wards of a lyctor.
[Golden phalanges twitched as Ianthe resisted the urge to reach for Alina"s hand. No touching. No necromancy, she reminded herself.]
For you, Alina, I will apply the wards as often as you wish. I am not convinced you will need it done more than once a week, but whatever makes you feel the safest.
[ there's something so simple and almost helpless about how she says it. a baring of naivete and vulnerability that is so unlike the person alina starkov has become. ]
Not anymore. That's why —
[ she is full of excuses, of justifications. but to offer a real explanation of the circumstance threatens to turn the fire behind her eyes to water. she swallows, bites down on her lip and chokes on the vulnerability and rids herself of it.
then pretends that it's her doing ianthe a favor, and not her hiding away something she would regret opening to discussion. ]
I'm sorry. We don't have to do this now. You have so much more to worry about than me.
No, I don't. Not right now, and the other shit can wait. I thought I ruined this. Us. [And that was unacceptable for so many unvoiced reasons.]
I'm not going to fight your battles for you, but this I'm here. And I can and will do this for you.
[The phalanges flexed in a moment of hesitation before offering the bone hand, palm up, for Alina. Ianthe wasn't sure which one of them the gesture was for. Did it even matter?]
[ there it is. the wetness in her voice. she shakes her head, fighting against the sorrowful twist of her expression. ]
You didn't ruin anything. I wish that you had.
[ she is nothing if not skilled in picking people who know how to ruin what she gives them, whose betrayals should be ruinous, but whom she keeps clinging to despite it.
she smothers herself, palm over mouth, wiping past her cheeks as she looks away from ianthe's hand. the deep breath she tries to draw just shakes and fades into something thin and insubstantial. she can't hold it. ]
[Her hand hung there for a moment before she let it drop. So much for that. It hurt, but she deserved it. She knew she did.
... and now she didn't know what to do aside from what she said she'd do. Be there. So she leaned forward to rest her arms on her knees and turned her gaze to the street ahead of them as Alina cried and Ianthe swallowed the impulse to hold her.
No touching. No necromancy. Fuck, she hated this.]
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no subject
[Ianthe ran her hand through her hair before standing up, visibly wincing in pain as she reached her arms skyward to stretch.]
I'm not going anywhere. Just too tall to keep sitting on these steps. Regeneration is fucking amazing but it doesn't stop shit from hurting.
[She stuck the bracelet in her pocket so she wouldn't lose it.]
I want to rest. I'm trying to rest. But I'm also bored. Even in the best of times, my mind needs something to work on. It's what makes me a great necromancer. Also makes me a shitty person with no attention span. I don't know what to do with myself right now other than go over my 'safe' notes being as it's the only damn thing I can read here. So if you have a suggestion, I'm all fucking ears.
no subject
You're not my monster.
[ she's staring at the ground and not at ianthe. as understandable as restless boredom is, it's not quite enough to justify messing with things that caused the kind of harm that ianthe has caused.
but the talk of monsters does give her an idea. ]
While you were losing your mind, my monster was sneaking into my bedroom at the boarding house. There's a project for you: keeping him out.
no subject
You want blood wards or bone wards?
no subject
[ moving above the tailor's had been her first thought, but that was only a stop-gap — a temporary stay until he figured out where she and genya had gone. ]
no subject
Bone wards are best for keeping out physical threats. They last a long time - bone is ideal for storing thanergy long-term - and they can also be set up as traps. Blood wards, on the other hand, are best for spiritual threats or those with the skill or shear raw power to dismantle wards.
As you already know, I favor blood wards myself, but they need to be reapplied frequently. The fresher the blood ward, the stronger it is.
Both wards can be set at creation to allow specific people to pass through them. They have to be physically present when a bone ward is set. Same applies to a blood ward or they can supply their own blood to be part of the theorem.
Bone wards are visually hard to hide unless a bone adept creates them. Blood wards are easier to hide but will glow when activated.
no subject
[ she nods a little. ]
He'd destroy the bone. Can you put them up? [ a beat. ] Will you, I mean.
no subject
Yeah. I'll ward any points of entrance, but you need to know that even if I attune the ward to you, it will never prevent me from passing through it. I will also be alerted anytime it activates. This also means you're going to have to remember to by physically touching anyone you want to pass through it.
...it does require arterial blood to craft. A lot. Lesser necromancers have sacrificed themselves to create wards. I'll be fine, but it won't be-- Some might call it gruesome. You seem to favor 'gross'.
no subject
[ she thinks of her arm, of the dog, of the hunter. she has seen a lot of blood, lately. she rubs at her shoulder, thinking of it.
then, ] I have a roommate. Genya.
no subject
How often are you going to want the wards refreshed?
no subject
[ she nods, steeling herself a little, drawing careful breaths. ]
How quickly do they start to deteriorate?
no subject
[It was the whole reason bone wards were preferred by most necromancers. Bone held thanergy long-term. Blood did not. She debated with herself for a moment.] Back on the Mithraeum when Harrowhark was being hunted by another lyctor that specialized in creating anti-thanergy spaces, to keep him out of her room - my room, actually - we needed fresh wards daily. But that's against someone specialized in creating thanergy voids. Extremely specialized in bypassing and breaking wards down.
no subject
[ she looks down at her hands. picks at her nails for a moment, then takes to rubbing the place in her palm where a scar used to be. where a scar hasn't been for months, now. ]
I'm sure he's studied them. I'm also sure they won't be the same as yours. But ... [ she lifts her chin, looks ianthe dead in the eyes and admits, ] Considering he made something like the Void in Ravka, I would say pretty powerful.
no subject
She stared at Alina for a long second.]
And you're fucking him. Alright.
[And with that statement with absolutely zero judgement in her expression or voice, Ianthe moved on from Alina's choice of bed partners. The goal was always worth the cost; that must have been a price Alina had to pay for her goal. Or she was just fucking stupid, but that was Ianthe's own jealousy talking and she'd been suppressing that for months.]
Wanda's magic works on a very different principle than mine does; we fought while I was transformed. Kirigan might learn the basis of how wards work by studying them, but that doesn't make him capable of undoing them. Especially the wards of a lyctor.
[Golden phalanges twitched as Ianthe resisted the urge to reach for Alina"s hand. No touching. No necromancy, she reminded herself.]
For you, Alina, I will apply the wards as often as you wish. I am not convinced you will need it done more than once a week, but whatever makes you feel the safest.
no subject
[ there's something so simple and almost helpless about how she says it. a baring of naivete and vulnerability that is so unlike the person alina starkov has become. ]
Not anymore. That's why —
[ she is full of excuses, of justifications. but to offer a real explanation of the circumstance threatens to turn the fire behind her eyes to water. she swallows, bites down on her lip and chokes on the vulnerability and rids herself of it.
then pretends that it's her doing ianthe a favor, and not her hiding away something she would regret opening to discussion. ]
I'm sorry. We don't have to do this now. You have so much more to worry about than me.
no subject
I'm not going to fight your battles for you, but this I'm here. And I can and will do this for you.
[The phalanges flexed in a moment of hesitation before offering the bone hand, palm up, for Alina. Ianthe wasn't sure which one of them the gesture was for. Did it even matter?]
no subject
[ there it is. the wetness in her voice. she shakes her head, fighting against the sorrowful twist of her expression. ]
You didn't ruin anything. I wish that you had.
[ she is nothing if not skilled in picking people who know how to ruin what she gives them, whose betrayals should be ruinous, but whom she keeps clinging to despite it.
she smothers herself, palm over mouth, wiping past her cheeks as she looks away from ianthe's hand. the deep breath she tries to draw just shakes and fades into something thin and insubstantial. she can't hold it. ]
no subject
... and now she didn't know what to do aside from what she said she'd do. Be there. So she leaned forward to rest her arms on her knees and turned her gaze to the street ahead of them as Alina cried and Ianthe swallowed the impulse to hold her.
No touching. No necromancy. Fuck, she hated this.]