bitterguardian | Mending a Split Soul

After tea, of course, and a quick trip home to collect what he needs, Horvath returns to Anna ready to make a trip to the astral plane. He's returned with a bag, and spends a few minutes puttering with dried things in jars and tins, making a sort of potpourri in a stone bowl that's already blackened inside. He does pull a heavy magic tome out of thin air, consulting it briefly with reading glasses perched on his crooked nose.

"All right. Chairs, or floor?" The book is gently vanished back to wherever it came from, and he looks for a good patch of open floor space for the ritual circle.

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From:

dusk_to_night

Anna watches the preparations with curious interest. Anna's dabbling has been instinctive and fragmented. She helps where she can, clearing as much of the furniture out of the way, and keeping an eye on the preparations.

Can your leg handle the floor? I can pull the chair over.

From:

bitterguardian

He gives a weak little smile that's an attempt to cover a wince. It's sweet of her to be concerned, and embarrassing to be an object of concern, but the question is valid. "I... may have some trouble getting up again, is all."

He makes sure he has space, then limps into the middle of it. "Hang on, bring the chair over after..." Still leaning on the cane, he closes his eyes and holds out his right hand, one of his rings beginning to glow faintly. The circle bursts into life around him on the floor, drawn in blue flames, which etch the symbol of Jupiter into the center. After a moment the flames die down, leaving only the charred marks in the flooring. Horvath glances at his handiwork, and gives a mild nod. "Leave space for yourself to lie down without any part of you outside the circle. The chair can go beside you." The circle is at least six feet across, enough room for her to fit, but if he's going to be sitting upright it doesn't need to be wide enough to accommodate his own height.

From:

dusk_to_night

The trick with the ring and fire is impressive, and and she raises an eyebrow before dragging a chair back over for him and then sinks down to the floor, minding her toes and hair to make sure she's in the circle.

From:

bitterguardian

It's impressive, but something about the way he does it is almost offhanded and casual. Making the circle is the very least of the whole ritual, for him. While she settles herself in the circle, he fetches the bowl and lights the contents, which burn slow and give off an aromatic smoke. Limping back into the circle, he sets the bowl down on the floor between her head and the chair, gives her a quick look over to make sure no hair or anything has strayed outside the perimeter, then settles carefully into his seat.

"All right, breathe the smoke, and try to clear your mind. This may be a little disorienting, but once you find yourself on the astral plane, just hold still and get your bearings. I'll be with you." He props the cane securely against the chair, and settles himself with both hands folded in his lap, chin dropping toward his chest as he concentrates. He's quiet for a few minutes, breathing slow and even, and hopefully she won't think he's simply fallen asleep.

Disorienting may be putting it mildly, actually. At first there's just the rolling low tones of Horvath murmuring something in an unfamiliar language, then she is somewhere else, inside herself, with the terrain swirling uncertainly around her until t solidifies into someplace she can't necessarily say she's ever been before, but a place which feels intimately familiar to her all the same.

From:

dusk_to_night

Anna breaths the smokey air deep and then waits. Part of her worries that this isn't going to work but the time she feels she should question it, she realizes that everything around her is shifting and she's sinking. She wants to panic but at the same time it doesn't quite register that anything is wrong. Panic and detachment. She's focuses on that, trying to make sense of how both of those could exist in her mind at the same time. When everything settles and it feels like there's ground under her and thing have stopped shifting, she picks herself up slowly, making sure her limbs all work and then starts to look around.

From:

bitterguardian

Even as she's getting to her feet, there's a steadying hand on one arm, and the familiar deep voice. "Easy. Take your time."

The astral body is, in some ways, a truer image of a person. The man beside her is very definitely the same man; he's still looming a little, tall and broad of build. The rings on his hands and the tweed suit are familiar. The dark eyes and beaky nose are the same, and the oval face, although he's a little greyer in the beard and hair. He's also noticeably thinner, large-framed but fit, and standing comfortably on both legs. The cane is nowhere in sight.

"We're on your turf, so it should feel familiar, but you may need a few minutes to adjust."

From:

dusk_to_night

"It... feels like the house I grew up in."

Nothing around them however look anything like a house. The world in Anna's head growing solid around them looks like rain-blurred landscapes from paintings, never quite coming into focus or being uncomfortable.

"Except..."

She can't quite place the unusual feeling. There are shadowed shapes in the distance. Moving through the rainy landscape.

"She's here too. Somewhere."

From:

bitterguardian

Horvath nods calmly, the grip of his hand resting just lightly at her elbow. He's there, in case, but she seems to be sorting herself out quickly enough so he's not too worried she'll panic, now.

"She is, and I expect she'll be drawn to you. You're two halves of a whole, after all. It's... pretty, here." He's taking the chance to look around, himself. On the one hand, it's a little intrusive since the landscape is dictated by her subconscious, but on the other hand he needs to have some idea of the terrain, just in case.

From:

dusk_to_night

It's disorienting. At a distance the brushstroked world is partially in focus... nearby it is just thick swashes of colour without real form. Once she's gotten used to the shift in reality, she can appreciate it a bit more. It is pretty here.

"If I'd known we were having visitors, I'd have prepared something."

The voice behind them is slightly sharper and cooler than Anna's. There's less vulnerability there and a sharper edge. The same athletic runner's legs, the same red hair but Ana's eyes belong to a much older woman.

Anna's world peels back, like tearing away paper, Ana's her presence re-writing the landscape.

From:

bitterguardian

It's obvious which part of her has better control over the astral plane, but Horvath shows no sign of worry. He's confident enough he could overrule them both if he needs to, but he'd prefer to act as a mediator for now. Besides which the new less urban terrain feels more familiar to him, in some ways. He gives Anna's other half a formal, slight bow, but stays at the younger version's side like a bodyguard- which, in a sense, he is.

"Our apologies. It's not something there's a way to give much notice of." Very subtly, without even a hinting glow of his rings, he draws a gentle warding line to anchor the landscape behind them. Anna has the right to half the space here, and he wants that made clear from the beginning. There's also the thought that seeing the terrain completely wiped of her own influence might hurt Anna's confidence.

From:

dusk_to_night

"Technically, just for the record I'm not actually apologizing for anything."

It's half under her breath though and Anna instinctively keeps close to Horvath, but she's standing straight and looking straight at her double. Neither of the women seem especially pleased that the other is here.

There are only slight differences in the mannerisms but it's clear enough that both have a strong will. Analise however is confident in her superiority here but regards Horvath with a knowing look, acknowledging the slight bow perhaps.

From:

bitterguardian

If Anna doesn't want to apologize, that's fine with him, since technically he's the only one who doesn't belong here. He's just being polite, and taking the chance to assess her other half.

"I know you've been at odds with each other, but a separation would only destroy you both." His tone is calm and reasonable, but not patronizing. He expects them both to be adults about this. "Unless you wish to continue struggling on a daily basis, a compromise is needed, but you must be willing to talk to each other, first."

From:

dusk_to_night

Anna is stubborn and there's a streak of pride. She stared down a fairy queen rather than give an inch and she's drawing upon that stubborness again. The trouble is that Anna and Analise are the same person. Ana has that same refusal to back down.

"This little game of tug-of-war is temporary." Analise replies. She tilts her head slightly and looks past him at Anna. "Once I've regained all my strength my shadow wont be necessary. It is all just a matter of time."

From:

bitterguardian

They may be here a while. Fortunately he went into this expecting resistance.

"Oh? Time... is not always one's friend." His head tilts slightly, and one eyebrow rises. "How long do you really want to do this? Another hundred years? Two hundred? Five hundred? A thousand? It will... wear on you, and if you do succeed, you'll emerge to a world that is alien, in which all you cared about may be gone. Is that worth balking at peace and the chance to live now?" Because he is powerful, and the astral plane is so easily shaped by those who walk it, as he speaks of time there is a quiet rippling out behind him, half-seen images of himself stretching back and back down long ages, to an origin so far back it's too hard to be seen. The weight of his own long life is, for a moment, very heavy on him, his voice tired and the pressure of centuries almost tangible around all three of them. He's a very old man, and he knows of what he speaks.

From:

dusk_to_night

"Your lectures do not impress me, old man. I was an old witch before I was murdered. I had discovered the secrets of immortality and I never regretted using them, except for the attention it brought from the envious. This shadow of my self is an extension of that old power."

She gestures to Anna who is slightly, visibly annoyed by the label.

"Her purpose and task is done. The only thing left is for her to fade back into being a shadow. If she does that, I wont be forced to unmake her completely."

From:

bitterguardian

"Mm. Not yet, perhaps." He doesn't react at all to being called 'old man'. He's all too used to it.

"Perhaps she is more than you intended her to be. I see no shadows, only two halves of a whole. It would benefit you both to be united, rather than continue fighting. She would not, I think, be so easily unmade, and the battle between you will merely go on." He glances at the woman at his side, hoping Anna will speak up for herself, but not respond with the same kind of aggression as her other half.

From:

dusk_to_night

"Yep. I've had kind of a shitty life but I'm not going to conveniently die so you can steal what's mine. I have something good and i'm not letting you take it away. Or from me. I earned it."

Anna has been accused of having a bad attitude. She lifts her chin slightly in defiance and for a moment there's no subtle difference between them. She's stubborn and uncooperative and those labels have always been applied fairly when she's dug her heels in.

"You don't see well enough then." Ana's reply is directed to Horvath before she turns her attention to Anna. It's against her better judgement of addressing her directly, but she does. "You will be unmade then. This is not a choice you get to make."

From:

bitterguardian

Horvath's frown only deepens mildly. He has a hand at Anna's elbow still, just the lightest of touches, but it's an anchor nonetheless. "You have made a life, and set it free to live, learn, and grow. That cannot simply be undone without consequence." He will stand in her way, if need be.

"You will do harm to yourself, if you try this. Why are you so eager to deny a gift, and do yourself injury in the process?"

From:

dusk_to_night

"She was made to buy time, not to live and grow! She should have died years ago. Long before... all of this!"

Anna knows that's true. She knows she should have died thirteen years ago... Except that something had gone wrong. She'd been tortured and murdered, and she had died... but clearly Analise had never anticipated interference from the undead, nor Wade Wilson's determination not to lose her. They had hijacked the curse through sheer force of will and reckless ignorance.

Ana looks startled briefly when he brings up the matter of 'harm' and she is about to protest that, but closes her mouth.

"She will not suffer. I am not a monster."

From:

bitterguardian

"As I said, she has grown beyond your original intentions." He doesn't know the details of Anna's resurrection, but he's heard of her handiwork in warding, and spoken with her enough to gauge something of the strong woman she is.

"You're not listening. You will both suffer. She's a part of you, now, whether you meant for her to be or not. Unmaking her will hurt you, as well."

From:

dusk_to_night

"A brief discomfort. Nothing more."

How much she believes that is of course, debatable, and Anna doesn't believe it at all.

"You are not killing me! I've died too many times to put up with this! If you want a life, go get one of your own and stop trying to steal mine!"

From:

bitterguardian

Horvath's skeptical expression speaks volumes. He has thick, expressive eyebrows. "Quite a bit more, I suspect, although the damage may not be immediate."

He falls silent, letting Anna protest for herself.

From:

what_fourth_wall

Out of nowhere, a dashing, handsome maniac in red spandex appears. He's holding a pair of tighty whities and looks confused, but not as confused as someone who's just been yanked to the astral plane should be. Horvath, likely attuned to these kinds of things, might sense the piece of An/na's soul that is merged with his own. That would explain why he was drawn here, to this calm, reasoned mediation.

"WHOA!!! Hey!! You guys!! A little warning before we do the witchy woman thing!!! I was just in the middle of giving Doc Ock the gnarliest wedgie he has ever had. I swear, that man is so super wedgy-able. I think he was pretty much invented for Spidey to have someone to give wedgies to. And pants. I was pantsing him at the same time. I've always wanted to give a man a wedgie and pants him at the same time. Wait..." He holds up the underwear and looks at it. It's slightly torn and stretched. "How did this come with me? Man that must have been uncomfortable. But now his winkie is on display for all of Times Square to see. Heeey, maybe this was the best wedgie ever!!! High five on an epic tag team wedgie! Eh? Eh? Don't leave me hanging here guys."

Somewhere, Doc Ock is not a happy camper. And neither is Spidey, since Deadpool just completely upstaged him on the Doc Ock wedgie front.

From:

dusk_to_night

Anna's less about to protest and more about to step forward and punch Ana in the face for the way she's talking. She's tired of hearing she's a shadow. She's tired of hearing she should die. Other people have said that to her and she hasn't forgiven them for it. She isn't about to forgive some part of herself for suggesting it.

But Wade appears and both women snap their heads to him, attention drawn away from eachother and to the rambling about someone's underwear.

"Wade!"

Ana can only feel a vague sympathy for Horvath at this point. He has no idea what he's really gotten himself involved in.

From:

bitterguardian

And if the Doc Ock Wade just left bears any resemblance to Horvath, all involved will simply have to ignore that... besides, it might have been the shorter, rounder, more 616 version of the supervillain, who would make an even more unappealing spectacle for any New Yorkers unfortunate enough to be present.

The man at Anna's elbow, noting the arrival, feels slightly annoyed at himself for a lack of preparation, but merely regards the newcomer with a calmly raised eyebrow. The distraction just may be a timely one, though. He'd hate to have to keep Anna from punching her other half.

"My apologies for not giving warning. Anna seemed to want this dealt with urgently, before further fallout occurs." He's trying to keep an eye on both halves of the woman, for their separate reactions.