shadows dance around the room

He had not asked easy questions, and he did not expect an immediate response. It was a heavy topic, and potentially fraught with painful memories, and Hadama was content to wait in courteous silence until Sunjata had decided on his answers.

He had spoken to Noah and Phoebe before, so it wasn't his first time hearing of the experiences of a demigod who followed someone other than Safrin. He listened contemplatively to the Flood's situation, even more unusual than most. Certain information did cause him to tilt his head to the side in confusion, but he kept his silence and didn't interrupt, letting Sunjata speak as long as he needed to share his history and the choices that had shaped it. Floating in the water, his magic maintained his position with a delicate touch while his Academy affiliation kept the chill from his skin as effectively as the orca's blubber.

"The circumstances?" he asked, inviting the Flood to share more of the unique tale of his apotheosis.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

He imagines it’s different, talking to someone who’s allegiance seemed to have changed overnight. It wasn’t the case, though. Safrin had lost him long before he’d taken Frey’s offer. So he meets the Tidebreaker’s gaze as he rolls a shoulder in a slight shrug. “I think had I realized, when I first got here, to call for which deity you wanted to see, I may have never been Safrin’s to begin with.” And what a lot of trauma and drama that would have saved him.

“I spoke to Frey the first time I went to a shrine, and then when I wished to attune I didn’t specify and Safrin came. And I stayed at her side because I felt as though I owed her.” He looks away from Hadama out over the water, tail moving idly in the waves of the lake. “Had it been Frey, perhaps I would have been more willing to become a demigod before I did. And it likely would have gone without all the… Rest of everything.” Because Safrin had tried and tried and tried, and given his previous mistakes with her it was denial after denial. Frey had simply offered him everything he’d wanted, or at the very least, the ability to try which was more than Safrin had given, too possessive over him to allow him to make his own mistakes.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Although he had met many Outlanders in the last several years, it still often surprised him a little to be reminded that those he interacted with had not been born on Caido. They looked no different, certainly, and rarely acted or spoke differently. It was only when talking about their unfamiliarity with things that every Caido child knew that it became apparent. Hadama considered Sunjata with a calm sapphire gaze, reminded anew of just how many Outlanders had been chosen as demigods by one god or another.

There was something that had been said previously which had stayed in the corner of his mind and after a long pause to digest the most recent information Hadama nodded his thanks before speaking again. "What did you mean about 'keeping' your shifts?" he asked, forming each word slowly as the ramifications sank in.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

There’s a part of him thankful that Hadama doesn’t delve further into the reasons Sunjata and Safrin had parted – and how the parting had gone. He doesn’t know how much information everyone else out there knows, but he’s a living figure of do not cross the gods. Even as much as it seems like he’s still breathing and fine, his mind is a tangled web of mistakes and messes he’s still trying to figure out.

So when Hadama latches onto the question over him keeping his shifts, Sunjata shrugs a shoulder and sinks his scarred fin a bit deeper into the water, gaze focusing on the ripples it causes as he responds. “Usually when one becomes a demigod, they have to give up a lot of what they had before. Not everything, usually, but shifts or magic or what not.” Ronin had lost his life before returning as a demigod. Remi had given up magic and shifts. He doesn’t know what Noah gave, if anything, but based off of Sunjata’s knowledge of how it works, it had been a big point Frey had made that had helped sway him. “I didn’t have any magic, I just had my shifts. I got to keep them. Though I am unsure if it's because war was on the horizon and they needed someone.” Perfect timing, at least. It had given him the ability to build the Refuge.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

The details were Sunjata's own to share - or not, as the spirit moved him. Given that Hadama was a stranger to the Flood he made no attempt to pry beyond what the demigod was willing to reveal to him. He had heard the rumors of the end of Wrenzoak's Governorship only after he'd begun to explore the surface, well after the events had occurred and been relegated to the past, but how much of those rumors were truth and how much were hyperbolic invention he did not know.

Nor, in the end, did it matter to the Tidebreaker. It was the present in which they lived now, and a future that they had to plan for.

A future which suddenly became a little more troubling, though Hadama's expression remained calm and serene under the decidedly less than reassuring news that Sunjata imparted. "Hmm. I did not know of that price," he admitted. He scooped a handful of river water into his palm, considering it for a long moment before relaxing his grip to let it run between his fingers.

"Would you accept Frey's offer again, if it meant losing your shifts?" he asked slowly, genuinely curious though also taking the time to think through the revelation of the cost.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

Surprise flickers across his face briefly before he schools it into normalcy once more, regarding Hadama curiously. The questions and the reaction the Tidebreaker has had so far, begin to piece together in his mind. “Have you been asked to become one?” There’s no judgment in his tone, just simple curiosity as he listens for the next question, lips quirking into an easy smile.

“If I had known then what I know now about being their demigod, I would. Even at that cost.” But back then he’d needed everything he could get to try and keep Nate safe — while in the end it hadn’t even mattered. And perhaps if he had done it sooner he might have been better equipped to deal with helping rather than whatever his attuned shifts could do, limited as they are without magic aside from his dragon and Pegasus forms.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

The question that came was only to be expected; the mermanta had not been subtle in his questions, nor had he seen any reason to be. Though he appreciated learning of the experiences and opinions of the demigods he spoke with as simply and honestly as possible, without the bias of expectation for why he was asking. Not, at least, until later. Hadama tilted his head in confirmation of Sunjata's guess. "Yes. By Safrin," he said in forthright explanation.

Given how Sunjata had spoken of his pact with Frey so far, the answer did not surprise the Tidebreaker. In his own way the Flood seemed as content and proud of his bond with the god of sex and nature as Noah and Ronin were of their own respective loyalties. Though his tale carried with it more of a cautionary note in making such a deal for the wrong reasons, and it gave Hadama much to think about.

Silence settled around them for a little while, comfortable and unhurried before Hadama spoke again, perhaps changing the subject slightly as he looked beyond Sunjata's shoulder to the island behind him. "What brought you here today?" he asked, courteously curious.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

It isn’t surprising to the Flood that Safrin has asked Hadama. If anything, it makes sense. But he has nothing to truly note on the goddess, not to one of her favored, so he simply hums a note of understanding in his throat to hear the confirmation. As for the rest of it, though, his shark-bit tail keeps him easily half sunk into the water, his gaze returning to the Tidebreaker when he asks what brings him there.

Truthfully, it’s just as surprising as anything else, he supposes. “I never was well received in the Greatwood before now, and was invited by Phoebe to come and stay for a few days. I thought I’d explore.” Which, being invited by his ex-wife after everything really was the most surprising part of it for the Flood, perhaps it was true that things were on their way of getting fixed. "What about you?"

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Given what he now knew of the choices Sunjata had made - from the man himself and not merely from rumor - the Tidebreaker did not seem surprised or disappointed that the demigod had no further comment. Not when the topic involved Safrin, certainly. His expression remained serenely stoic as he shared the water near the shore and chose to change the subject to one that was hopefully less fraught.

Unaware of the other man's history before he'd become Governor of Torchline, Hadama tilted his head in silent curiosity at the revelation that Sunjata had not been welcome in the Greatwood until recently. Phoebe's name drew a nod from the mermanta, however, and a crack in his neutral expression as the corners of his eyes crinkled in the ghost of a smile for the newest leader of the tree-girt region. "Indeed. It is a beautiful land. In any season," he added, still entranced by the snow after experiencing it in his travels over the two years since the War.

"I come here to think. When I need a new perspective," he explained in answer to Sunjata's own question. "And I had heard this island might offer that. Though the pools are difficult to reach from the river," he admitted.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

It’s a long history before he’d made it to the top of Torchline’s ruling ladder. But one that’s so far in the past now that he doesn’t have any complaints when it comes to not bringing it up. For the rest of it, though, about being here finally, he does have to agree that it is beautiful in any season, able to imagine how each one changed it.

It has him distracted, looking up and back over his shoulder to the trees that still held their leaves and the snow that weighed them down, before he looks back to Hadama with a soft smile. “That’s a good idea.” To go somewhere serene like this to think. As for the pools he nods, exhaling softly. “They’re strange. Not like looking into a puddle. They show you something else.” That’s how Hadama had found him, after all.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Hadama contemplated the island, or at least what he could see of it from the shore as Sunjata spoke. His curiosity was thoroughly piqued, and in the water his tail lashed twice as he considered how best to sate it, and what the risks and consequences might be. "How do you mean, strange?" he asked slowly, choosing the route of more information before making a potentially foolhardy leap into the unknown. "What do you see in them?"

He watched the island for a few more breaths before turning his full attention back to the Flood. Here in the Greatwood the air was relatively still; the winds of Deepfrost were mostly blocked by the great trees that sheltered the region, but though the Will-o-wisp had left the local fauna remained silent or in hiding, avoiding the strange visitors to their peaceful isle.

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

“They’re different in each one. Like viewing different worlds or memories or something.” He starts to say. The fine line between his brow deepens as he tries to put it into words for the Tidebreaker, before he decides inevitably to perhaps make it not make sense in order to just get some kind of explanation out of the way. “One of the pools, I thought I saw what looked similarly to Korofi – where I’m from. Large glass and metal buildings and a lot of rain.” He shrugs a shoulder as if to push past that memory before he clears his throat and leans back, bracing on his hands in the cold snow, melting a handprint underneath his palms.

“The others weren’t reflections either, but one of sunshine and green and another that reminded me of the ocean.” Deep waves, one he doesn’t need to wax poetics on given that if anyone was familiar with the ocean, it was certainly the Mer in front of him.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count

Curiouser and curiouser was Sunjata's explanation. Not that Caido's magic ever needed to make sense, however much its residents might try. Hadama said nothing at first, giving the Flood as much time as he needed to find the words to describe something that defied easy definitions. Not reflections of this world, but of others... or, perhaps, dreams of places that had never been.

It was the mention of the pool that showed an ocean within a puddle that caught the mermanta's attention, and his eyes gleamed with sharp interest as his emerald gaze found Sunjata's. "Have you tried to enter one?" he asked, playing with an idea that was likely foolhardy but ever-so tempting. The Voice's portals were said to be gone, lost in the conclusion of the War, but who was to say that other portals could not exist now that she had opened the way and planted the seeds of ideas in the minds of other gods?

SUNJATA

clipped wings and you're the one holding the bone saw
now things are getting so out of control

It was confusing. Even more confusing to try and describe it. And Sunjata finds his words consistently failing him as he tries to get out exactly what he’s thinking, before he finally settles on something that makes at least a little bit of sense. However, as Hadama’s question reaches him, he shakes his head. “I haven’t.” He understands the thread that’s been put down – but it looks and feels far different from the portals that the Voice had put up.

Either way, he hauls himself back up fully to sit on the bank, to get a better look at the shining surface of the pools behind him, before he looks to the Tidebreaker with a slightly apologetic smile. “I’ve started to think about things before running head first into them.” If it had been years before, he might’ve tried stepping through one. Now, though, he’s wary. Cautious. Careful.

the spiraling starts and we can't pull up, our hands are tied together so,
on the way down, we make every moment count