eswareinmal | Chapter 4 - 11th of Rebirth's Decline

[The orb shows Giles, sitting in one of the fields on the outskirts of Schwanheim, but he's not looking back at the orb, nor showing any sign of his surroundings.

No, instead, he's looking at the mirror he found around his neck, when he woke up before the battle. It's hovering in the air, spinning very slowly, and shadows flicker across its silvered surface. But they're clearly very interesting shadows - Giles doesn't take his eyes off the mirror, even as he addresses the orb.

The only other notable feature of the scene is that Giles is wearing gloves, and occasionally and completely subconsciously tugs on the edge of them, as though reassuring himself that they're still on his hands.]

Um, apparently there is another kingdom, across the thorns. Or, um, there was. We have no way of knowing if it's still there, simply because...well, we have no way of knowing what's happening beyond the thorns.

But I thought, well, if we could get back in touch...

[He draws in his breath sharply, as though troubled by a grim thought. The mirror slowly stops spinning, and then falls to the ground with a soft chiming. Giles curses softly under his breath and picks it up, polishing its bright surface industriously with a sleeve.]

...apparently, um, whatever I am now, it involves the capacity to scry. I'm not sure what the extent of this new talent is, yet, but I thought I'd try and find out. Perhaps, um, if I can get good enough, myself and, and whoever else has this ability, we might be able to combine our talents and, and contact the rest of the world. For assistance, or for information...well, there's no way to know.

This, um, this might seem a silly question, but do any of you mind if I look in on you from here? Knwoing the name of who or, or what I want to see, that seems to help me get a lock on it. As such, I thought I'd ask your permission first, before I went snooping around on whatever you were doing.

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[And it's Giles' favorite strange hermit man.

He nods, stares thoughtfully at JW for a second or so with the air of one trying to memorize a particularly difficult passage out of a book, and then he looks back at the mirror.

Slowly, it stops spinning, to hover in the air at an angle that both Giles and JW can see whatever it's trying to show. The shadows stop swimming across its surfaces, and fade into colors, and the colors take on shapes. It's not a clear picture, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the general shape of things is a rough match for wherever JW is at the current moment.

And JW, for his part, will probably get the feeling that he's being watched.]

Anything? [Just by the tone of his voice, Giles is still concentrating most of his efforts on maintaining even this hazy look at elsewhere.]

_{[As he watches, he feels the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He recognizes those lumpy shapes in the mirror. The fire place. His cauldron. The work tables covered in cages of chittering squirrels because there were no guinea pigs in the land of Once Upon a Whatever.]

[He couldn't help but look over his shoulder.]}

I think you got it...

Really?

[Giles brightens a bit, ending the spell and holding out his hand to snatch the mirror out of the air.] Well, um, practice makes perfect, I suppose.

[...a puzzled expression comes over Giles' face, after a second, and he tilts his head as though trying to recall something.]

...a bit hard to remember whatever it was I saw. But, um, I suppose that will clear up, once I can start getting a clearer picture.

_{[JW shudders. That was a less than pleasent sensation...and it made him think of that Google Street Veiw that Noelle had told him about. Kind of...creepy. Luckily Giles seemed an alright enough individual.]

[Seemed.]}

Yeah, well, honestly what you saw was a big mess. You're not missing much.

_{[James shoves a discarded cage with his foot.]}

[Giles chuckles, lightly - he had gotten the sense of a cluttered space, or at least a room with a lot going on. But:]

How you keep your cottage is, um, is your business. I certainly don't intend to criticize. [Or, and he hopes this only has to be implied, look in too often. The sorts of things JW is rumored to get up to, it would probably be a fascinating look, but...no, Giles is an honest enough sort of guy, at least in that regard.]

I'm only assuming it's a cottage, of course.

Eeeeh, it's got a roof, four walls, and a door that locks. Cottage, hut, castle, whatever. It was free.

_{[And free was JW's favorite!]}

[You lucky wizard bastard. Giles, Ginia, and Helios still have yet to move out.]

I, um, I suppose when you keep quite that many pets, that is all that's important.

[That bunch of other living things he got a sense of were pets, right, JW?]

Pets. Right.

_{[ 8I SUCH ADORABLE PETS. YES. THOSE DOUBLE-HEADS AND WEIRD SPIKEY GROWTHS JUST MAKE HIM WANT TO PINCH THEIR CHUBBY LITTLE SQUIRRELABOMINATION CHEEKS.]}

So what's this mirror mirror business all about? You gonna be a spy for hire?

[At least it should be easy to name them all? "Spike", "Patches", "Lucky"...hey, Giles once had a zombie cat. He doesn't judge.]

Or, um, possibly for free, depending on the circumstances. I thought it might be more useful for hunting up people who've gone missing, as I did a few days ago.

But if someone wants to toss me a bit of change for finding their lost cat, I won't say no.

["Spy for hire"...Giles is a guy who grew up when James Bond was still being written, and finds the thought actually quite attractive. Shame there aren't any tuxedos available in Schwanheim.]

_{[James has to take a moment to admire Giles Not-A-Ghost. He knew that if he had such power, he'd just spy on people and try to weird them out. Or possibly take their stuff. Or sell them out to vengeful ex's.]}

I'll keep that in mind if I ever try to teleport.

Chapter 4 - 11th of Rebirth's Decline - [Orb]

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