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Video; UN: seeingtheworld

[When the video comes up, it shows Reaper and Luca on the cold and frozen beach together. Whoever's filming them is standing back and very low to the ground, seeming almost like they're trying to stay out of sight. Luca is bundled up just in case, even though he's wearing Fern's sun pendant which keeps him warm, and is starting to do some stretches.]

You know...I know I've seen people on the network call you a monster before, but I think they're wrong. I think you're actually really nice. You're teaching me how to defend myself, and you helped me get around all those traps when people were hunting vilebloods, and when you lived in the house with us you cooked food for us every day!

[He shifts positions and goes into another warm up stretch.]

I think they're just scared because you look scary. Like how people are with sea monsters back ho--

[With one of the stretches, he turns his body enough to spot the individual broadcasting this.]

Camilla? What are you doing?!

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[A somewhat throaty but mellow baritone voice speaks, a hint of a British accent and a definite indulgent lilt.]

One person's monster is another person's well-loved companion. I can attest to the latter with the personage you're training with: he's a formidable hunter and warrior. Also... we passed through the door that opened from this world's predecessor into the here and now.

Yeah. And believe me, I know all about people thinking you're a monster.

In your world of origin, or here? The locals here don't always seem friendly toward certain personages with certain blood types.

[And from the annoyed drawl in his voice, the speaker has had more than his share of experience.]

Both. For different reasons. Here it's because I'm a vileblood. Back home it's because...of something else.

Dare I ask if you could elaborate on that 'something else'? If you'd prefer not to, I understand thoroughly.

And don't I know how the locals treat us Vilebloods. The first time it happened, I thought my height had intimidated the shopkeep in question, but it kept happening in different shops. Ever had someone make a hand gesture like a banishing or warding in your general direction?

[He's been getting more comfortable telling people, and he switched the conversation to private, so he feels like he can share. Besides, from what this guy says, Luca has the feeling he'll understand.]

I'm a sea monster. I change when I get wet, and I turn human again whenever I dry out. A lot of humans back home didn't like sea monsters very much.

I did, yeah, so it's definitely not height.

[Seeing as Luca's only 4'7.]

Edited 2022-01-18 04:13 (UTC)

A sea monster, you say? In the manner of a kraken or something else? [There's a curiosity there, but also a desire to ask respectful questions.] I hope I'm not prying, though I've had a curious mind since I was very young. Still do. Don't be alarmed, but I work as a Blood Minister. I'm an old friend of Luz, from our time in Deerington.

[The audio might static a moment, then the video comes up, revealing a tall, blond gentleman in black, dark glasses hiding his eyes, sitting in a library-study, a banker's lamp lighting the space, a small, white weasel with a white aura behind its eyes perched on his shoulder, grooming itself.]

There. This should make it easier to chat.

Oh, I'm not a kraken. I'm more...well, I have a long tail and fins and dome shaped teeth that crack open hard shells really easily! And slit pupils. I guess my natural form is like a cross between a lizard and a fish?

And you're friends with Luz? She's my friend, too!

Edited 2022-01-22 14:38 (UTC)

Somewhat like a merperson, only far more practical than most people's mental image, or am I off the mark?

Yes, we met while we were digging into one of Deerington's mysteries, specifically faring into the realm of the Pthumerian Queen. And most importantly, I've served her as a donor here.

Yeah, that's pretty accurate.

A...donor? Do you mean like the stuff at the body farm?

[He shakes his head, and his lean face may have gone a little pale, enough that the shadows look more greyish than the usual greenish. Someone may be a little too familiar with the Sleeper Farm...]

No. She needed some blood to calm her down, so I offered mine freely to her. She was happy to receive it.

Oh. So is she kind of like vilebloods? Only...way more powerful and Pthumerian? I mean because vilebloods seem to...um...want blood. Sometimes.

I'd say Palebloods are among the most powerful of Sleepers, given their ability to affect the minds and hearts of those around them, so you're close. The time that I offered her some of my blood, the Moon had affected the Palebloods, making them wired and sleepless. She accepted my assistance; for that matter, I needed the practice as a Blood Minister, so we both benefitted from it.

[A mysterious little smirk.] There's no shame in admitting you need Blood from time to time. It's a necessity, like breathing or eating, though it's a more specialized necessity. ...I have ...abilities, superpowers, some might call them, which require a transfusion twice daily if I'm to maintain them. Unfortunately, that Blood requirement is probably what fuels the weird stories that the locals like to tell about our kind. Not that the tales sometimes aren't wrong. It's their attitude toward the subjects of those tales. People do that, alas, with things they don't understand. It may explain it. But it certainly doesn't justify it, does it?

Probably. I definitely have a lot of experience with having a lot of tales and superstitions around what I am.

I don't know if I need blood for my powers to work, exactly, but I noticed I heal a lot faster if I drink blood, and I crave it more when I try to go without it and sometimes lose control.

In your world of origin, I take it? I suppose that's how legends have their roots, but it's not always to the ease of the objects of those legends.

Hmm. I suppose different personages may have different needs and experience different effects from transfusing or the lack thereof.

I take it the loss of control relates to your ...secondary nature?

[He asks this with a hint of understanding a loss of control.]

Yeah, that was back home.

[It's so much nicer being in a place where no one seems to even be able to imagine anyone being afraid of him.]

Yeah, I guess so, but I've noticed most vilebloods I've talked to have some need for blood.

[Though the exact nature of it seems to vary.]

I just figured the loss of control was a vileblood thing. I never lost control like that back home.

I'm sorry to hear you had to endure that. Hopefully people are kinder about it here, outside of the usual weirdness around folk with Vileblood.

Ahh, that would track, as the kids would say. But it sounds like the pull of the Moon or something in the nature of your new Blood type may have effected you.

[As he speaks, he reaches off camera for a journal and a fountain pen.]

Would it bother if I took some notes? I shan't record your name or anything else that could identify you.

Oh, they definitely are. People are way better about things here. No one's had an issue with me being a sea monster at all!

I think it probably is something to do with my blood type. The loss of control mostly happens when I smell blood after I go a while without drinking any, and drinking blood is a new thing since I came here.

[So...it's probably just his body trying to tell him what he needs.]

Sure! I'd love for you to take notes, actually. This place and all the blood stuff is so weird, I'm really hoping someone'll be able to figure it all out so it'll all make sense.

I certainly have no issue. Though if I sound too clinical, call me on it. I've been in medical research for a long time and it's colored my mannerisms a little too deeply.

I was about to ask if you've had any problems with Corruption? I've heard hints that people with Vileblood are a shade more prone to it, but that could be a warning they gave me, since I work in Blood Ministry. I've been careful to avoid that, so far. We'll say I've worked in situations where prevention was the only protection I had. [He says this with complete seriousness.]

Almost sounds like a hunger response only more ...powered, for lack of a better description.

[He flips open the journal and starts jotting.]

Good to hear. If it's any assurance, I'm one of the persons in this town looking to better understand and maintain these conditions and the persons living with it. And you're not alone in feeling a bit weird: the magic here is beyond my range of experience. There's little magic where I came from. Much science that looks supernatural to an outside observer, but there's always a natural, if very odd cause.

Edited 2022-01-27 05:14 (UTC)

I have, yeah...but I'm sure a lot of people here have. It got really bad after the Sleeper Farm. I know I forgot who or what I was for a while there and with the smell of blood I just...

And for a while after I left I'd sometimes start to slip back into it and start to get the teeth and claws again if I let myself think about what happened too much. I...think I have it under control better now? For now, anyway.

[Who knows how he'll be doing when the next traumatic thing happens.]

I had some magic at home, but just the magic I use to make myself turn human. It's instinctive, so I don't really think about, it just happens. Having actual powers I can control is new.

I'm still getting the worst of the shadows of the Farm out of my head. You have my empathy there. [He'll glance away into the shadows of the room for a long moment before regaining his composure.] I hope you have someone to confide in, if the shadows arise in your mind?

So... would you say it's stress that causes the Corruption to flare up more?

[More jotting, more scritching away.] I have the opposite problem: Something happened to me in my world of origin, and it granted me superpowers, so to speak. In the world I came from, I had to take medicine to keep those powers from growing too strong. Here, I have to take in blood, usually by transfusion, to keep my powers working. This place seems to have affected a lot of Sleepers this way, giving them powers or giving them different levels of control over the ones they had.

Oh, yeah. Definitely. That's the thing that causes it the most. And meditation and incense and stuff like that helps keep it under control.

[So a stress link definitely seems to be a prominent feature of corruption.]

And yeah, I have people to confide in. I life in a whole house full of kids, and we look out for each other and stuff, so I can talk to any of them about anything I need to.

I've noticed the new powers, too. I can get a poisonous slime coat now when I need to defend myself, and I can heal much faster as long as I drink blood.

I'll admit, a holistic method has been a little tricky for to adjust to, but I see the merit in it. I just might be more practical than most of the Sleepers.

Ahh, the one they call the Disaster House? I think I heard the name from Luz.

Hmm...! [An intrigued sound of approval, and more jotting.] The only difference I've found is that my blood is more acidic, to say the least. And a healing factor certainly is an asset in this place.

Edited 2022-02-04 06:20 (UTC)

Yep! The Disaster House.

[Which he's becoming aware is apparently rather well known as the house full of kids, since this is not the first person who instantly knew where Luca was referring to when he's said that.]

I haven't noticed my blood being more acidic. Although I have noticed when a monster ingested some of it, it became confused and disoriented, and remember those parasites coming out of the water? I think my blood killed one of them when it tried to burrow under my skin.

[Or maybe it was just extremely unwell. It was hard to tell, and at the time Luca just wanted to get away.]

I managed to take a sample of one of those parasites; hopefully I can find a countermeasure to keep them from infecting others, should there be another outbreak. Thankfully folk like you and I taste terrible to them. [Look, he's trying his best to put a clever spin on it.]

I'd heard some folk with Vileblood report that their blood or tears or other similar fluids turned acidic, but I suppose it's a little different for everyone. I've had something similar happen: A band of pirates captured me when I arrived here. One of them tried to bite me, and I say 'tried' because the pirate fell into a fit, after taking just a nip off me. That gave my captors something else to think about. And it bought me the chance to fight my way to freedom, eventually to the shore, where Luz found me.

Video; UN: seeingtheworld

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