The Two that Lurk Pv Kaegen Deathmote Closed

"As lost as Alice, as mad as the Hatter."

"Yes, that is something else from our old clan." Aku responded to the dhampir's inquiry, tone lightly amused.

The puppet watched as the upperclassmen nodded, as if mimicking him, and his mouth shifted into a more open smile. He mentally replayed the scene to Selim, giving him something to distract himself with. The rabbit observed as the other boy chugged the tea, and seemed to tense as if waiting to fall dead on the spot.

Of course, he didn't.

Idly, Aku observed him as he seemed to go through a session of mental tug-o'-war with himself. His curious nature peaked as he tried to piece together what the inhuman was going through. He was startled when the boy shifted, creeping like a rat circling cheese, and only stopping when he was beside them. The rabbit's motions vaguely followed his course.

He watched as he took a deep breath.

He watched as he mimicked Selim's position, tense as a bowstring.

He put the puzzles together.

It seemed the dhampir's actions correlated with that of a starved animal wary of everything around him. Pondering this he noted that the position the taller boy took was revelling a weak spot... at least in his mind.

Ironically, the fetal position was often used when one was stressed because it protected one's organs and throat, the parts animals, or enemies, go for to assault prey, or victims.

So, Selim and Kaegan were, in fact, protecting their most vulnerable parts, more vulnerable, technically, than the back of the neck. So, Aku reasoned, the tension in the dhampirs frame perhaps related more to his inability to see his surroundings, his possible enemies... the fact that he took his eyes off 'Tea', then, was momentous the dhampir, in a way.

Of course, this was speculation.

He thought back to the older boy's reaction to Selim's visible distress.

After a stretch of silence, he dared to speak his conclusion to this all.

"Are you... unsure as to why 'Tea' is acting like this? Unsure of how to react?" He spoke, tone soft, though not exactly kind. Whether or not the dhampir responded to the inquiry, the puppet would continue as Selim took a few ragged, but deep breaths. Subconsciously the Slytherin was observing his new companion from the corner of his eye.

The hand puppet's head tilted. "I suppose you deserve an explanation. We are, after all, now a part of you." He spoke the last part without any actual conviction, a fact placed down to placate a child's imagination. Selim's harsh shudders lessened, mind focusing on something else now that Aku was taking control of the situation.

"As you likely know. We were harmed in the past. Specifically, we were taken from our clan in the dead of night, by enemies, who made us suffer longer then one should be able to handle." The rabbit paused, voice slightly strained with the echo of Selim's own emotion.

"We could do nothing about it. We were helpless. It left more than physical scars. It left us with mental ones, memories that haunt us." Another pause, a deep breath released from the Slytherin. "Tea is currently being haunted by the memories. During this time he feels trapped in his skin, deeply unsettled, as if his own body is closing in on him. To say the least, it isn't pleasant."

The rabbit's mouth closed as he observed the dhampir's reactions, unsure of whether he should go on. Neither of them had dealt with someone of another species such as Deathmote's. neither of them knew how to tread.

"To keep from being devoured by the memories he relies on pain... it's a release. Usually, he does this by... itching, scratching, sometimes bleeding." His tone was halted as he said this. It was a rather uncomfortable topic to talk about with others. No one ever broached it.

"He's restraining himself from doing so. To say the least, neither of us has ever dealt with dhampirs before. We avoid the ones in Slytherin just like we avoid... well... everyone in this cursed school." He decided to say no more, finishing off bluntly, with a shrug, and removing his discomfort from his words.

Selim let out a low growl, releasing frustration, annoyed at his... tics, at their inconvenient nature. Anger at himself and his situation fueled his free hand to clench around his leg, his knuckles were white with the effort. His nails dug into his scarred leg, not breaking the skin, he let out a hiss mingled with a confusing array of emotions not even he could decipher. At this point, he wished his grip snapped his own bones. Alas, he wasn't as stupidly strong as a particular Slytherin girl.

"Going off your reaction to 'Tea' biting his own tongue, he decided to try and save you the trouble..." A pause as he observed the other curled up boy. Finally, Selim spoke.

"It's stupid. Useless..." His tone was dark with the loathing he reserved for himself, "I apologize. Your 'Hand' isn't in good working condition.... and inconvenience," His voice was slightly muffled due to his position. He grit his teeth at the cliche situation. The upperclassmen that claimed him was trying to understand him, and all he could do was be stuck in the past, caught in his own cage. He knew how he was coping was bad, weak, ineffective, yet he knew nothing else, no other way to release it other than causing himself, or others, harm.

His dark aura returned, nothing compared to the one his new companion boasted, but it was there, born of years caging away how he felt to become an emotionless weapon.

He couldn't deal with emotions as a result, at least not effectively. His mind was a haze of chaos he couldn't sort through nor get rid of. No matter how hard he tried to calm down without tearing his own skin he couldn't seem to. The conditioning his father put him through was only becoming less and less effective. It was breaking, the only proof needed of that was the night Slytherin decided to wander into the mouth of a monster's den.

His own guttural screeches and howls still echoed in his mind.

He grit his teeth until his jaw ached, and hissed at the ineffective harm his state was bringing him. Mental hurt was useless, it only added, it didn't subtract.

He muttered more words, voice strained, "You don't have to it like that if you're uncomfortable. I know some positions make beings like us uneasy. I know it all too well... thank you though." He swallowed roughly, ignoring the coppery taste that made his sore throat sting roughly, just like he ignored the tears leaving muddied streaks down his face.

To him, all it did was show off how weak he was. He hated it, and how useless his body was becoming. He appreciated his upperclassmen's efforts. Better than most had done in wake of these pointless mental breakdowns he went through. The only other who had tried was the Fox, sadly, that had lost all meaning to the snake-like boy.

Everyone was different, their lives were all unique, therefore, no one could fully understand his suffering. Some could understand some of it, but never all of it. Selim didn't know why they tried to do so, he was a lost cause anyway.

He was just, tired... exhausted. He wished that rat-bite had put him to rest, and, of course, it didn't. Death evaded those who wanted it, Selim could understand why the dhampir wanted to end death itself.

He took more rasping breaths in an attempt to ease his stress-driven adrenaline, to calm his rapidly beating heart, to quiet the blood he could hear rushing through him trying to supply his taut muscles with oxygen. It didn't stop though, it wouldn't stop until he was dead, otherwise, no matter what happens, it would always... come back.

He held his breath, stilling any sounds that wanted to escape him, numbing hand losing blood flow from its death grip around his calf.

Yet the deep, agonizing mental stress, never relented. It never would. Not eternally, at the least.

What was the point, in trying to stop it then?

He didn't know, yet he still tried to end it, tried to lay his cage of flesh and bone he was trapped in to rest.

Like a raven with clipped wings, he suffered silently, without notice. He was never going to fly.

It didn't make a lot of sense, to Kaegen. But it didn't have to. He didn't expect to understand, didn't expect an explanation. That was all irrelevant, what good was an explanation here, if it was easy to solve, tea would have done so already. This was a problem that his hand had to deal with, alone. But although it had to ultimately be solved alone, that didn't mean that he wasn't going to follow along, that didn't mean that he wouldn't support his new appendages' path.

"So tea needs a new skin, then. Sounds good, we'll handle it."

There was finality there, simplicity. There was finally some clarity. Ironically, in fear, in blindness, Kaegen's mind started to regain something that was lost. How long ago had it been gone, a year? Maybe more? The presence of childlike simplicity, of wisdom beyond his years. It helped him, grounded him, calmed the fear, somehow. Not all of it, never all of it, but enough for things to make sense. It didn't matter what kind of a skin he was referring to, real or imagined. All that mattered was that it was possible to get a new one. And it was possible. If he could kill death, his hand could get a new skin.

"I would not eat my own hand."

It was in response to mushroom, but it was directed at tea. Kaegen's head had lifted from the fetal position, to lock his eyes on the back of tea's head, whatever was visible at the time. There was certainty, authority, humanity. Something more than an animal, something more than the monster of hogwarts' halls. Kaegen was a boy broken, but he was still a boy. And the shards of humanity that he kept unceremoniously locked away in an iron trashcan shone rarely, if ever. But when they did shine, it was because he truly meant to help. It was because he actually felt some empathy, sympathy, connection, anything. Even just a little.

"My hands are fine as they are."

Kaegen paused, head very much out of fetal position, looking around again, feeling the oppressive dark of tea and mushroom's presence, their hatred, their hurt. He could feel it very clearly, it didn't have to cause physical changes like his did, what they had was enough to make it very clear that they were dangerous. That they could and would survive, because there was absolutely survival in that hatred. When Kaegen tasted the pain, and recognized it for what it was, he recognized himself, and he recognized survival.

"If you would like to get fixed, we will fix you. On your own time. Remember that you are a part of me. Not because we physically share a form like you and mushroom, but because we share a reality, because when you reach out and touch something and bring it into your world, it is also brought into mine."

Kaegen looked up at the cieling, and then back down at the ground, pausing inbetween to cast shifting glances here and there, at suspicious looking dirt, rocks, wall. But it wasn't as much displayed paranoia as he usually expressed. That calming little spark was still alive. His hands relaxed, just a little, his position softening.

"You know, blood is funny. Those who know of me either obsessively keep it away from me, or shove it in my face. Fools. How many students do you think trip in the hallways, how many students cut themselves in potions. Bleeding noses, periods, scraped knees. It's a constant reality, but for some reason, they think that their blood is special. That they are special."

The tea had helped, him relaxing had as well. It was enough to help him get talking without breaking down in a coughing fit, although it wasn't enough to stop him violently clearing his throat when he was done talking.

"I think it's because they assume our world touches theirs a lot less than it really does. A barrier thin as tissue paper and they feel safe."

He could hear the rasping breathing, the subsequent quiet, the breath holding, could see the shaking. He knew that there was a lot of pain that he only vaguely understood. And he knew that he could only really helped it he was asked. Inner hurt was not something anyone had been able to help him with, why would that be different here?

"As lost as Alice, as mad as the Hatter."

Selim looked up as Kaegen responded, eyes glinting in the dark as his frame shook. His solution didn't make sense to him, beyond the idea of literally taking someone's skin and wearing it. Perhaps he just wasn't thinking enough to figure out what it could mean metaphorically

He kept his eyes on the other dungeon dweller, watching him as he spoke.



The assurance calmed him. So he twitched a bit, releasing the pressure. the stress. Old scabs were quickly broken as he eased, thoughts becoming coherent once more. His frame relaxed, the uncontrolled twitching subduing. Idly, he paused, watching familiar red lines trickle down his arm.

"My hands are fine as they are."

He glanced up. Eyes widening for a moment, before a small smile ghosted his mouth. Those words, however varied, were only spoken by one other person. His older brother. For once the two spoke in unison, Selim's voice merged with the one he created for Aku, unsettling sounding to most, but sounding truly sincere.

"Thank you."
"Thank you."

Acceptance was a powerful thing. If used correctly it could gain loyalty swiftly. The Two then listened to his offer, easing as his clawing stopped. The sound of blood dripping to the stone floor, joining the chorus of water with a thick echo.

"I don't think I can truly be fixed at this point." His voice was a low mutter as he watched his injury, unable to see the colour in the dark. It looked black and viscous. Erin's voice echoed in his skull.

"Full of rot..."

For a while, he just watched the 'red' on his arm, almost hypnotized by how it slowly dripped to the floor. The faint light glinting off it reflected in his yellow gaze... he didn't look up as the dhampir spoke once more. When the Ravenclaw finished he spoke up.

"Humans often think that they're all 'unique' in the end though, strip away the personality, the morals, the beliefs they have... and they're all the same, bags of meat and bones that were given too much freedom in their intelligence and independence."

He paused his free hand poking at the slowly coagulating blood, pulling it away and examining it. It shone like tar in the darkness, catching the light of distant torches. His age narrowed at the familiar smell. "In the end, they are nothing, just a plague. A species that tears itself apart as time passes, until, inevitably, they will become nothing more than soil the earth will use to grow stronger. Unnecessary components of the food chain."

After a moment Aku spoke up, turning to the boy beside them, head tilting. "What's it like? Dealing with the urge to consume blood... is it hard? Easier than some humans may think? Does that powder take care of it fine or is there some mental stuff you need to do as well?" Selim also glanced up, gaze curious.

Despite his situation, he always wanted more, more knowledge, more understanding. It was his own craving that he could never escape, and it has led him into many dangerous situations... was Deathmote the same in that way? Or were the two cravings different?

Thanks to the conversation he had been effectively distracted. His breathing had returned to normal, though he still seemed distinctly uncomfortable no matter how much he shifted. Tremors occasionally running through him like ice sliding down his spine.

Still, the moment of internal pain had largely passed in light of possibly consuming more knowledge.

He observed the shift in Kaegen, his easing. He could recognize it clearly for occasionally he did the same, much like now. He didn't feel like he had to constantly glance over his shoulder, or try to decern which noises he heard were real and which weren't. The throbbing of his reopened injury grounded him once more... the whispers had become indiscernible murmurs, his head had been cleared, if only slightly.

This rarely happened around others he knew. He found that strange, and he wondered why he never felt at ease around... well... other humans. Perhaps the statement the dhampir had made upon claiming him was true... perhaps in some way he had indeed simply become something... not-quite human.

And for once the word 'monster' didn't bring back memories of the time that same word was used against him in a hostile manner. It was... nice.

"That's the best part about being fixed. I can take a vase, and break it. And then I can stab someone with the shard. Did I actually break a vase or did I fix my knife."

Perspectives was something that Kaegen was very hypocritical with. On the one hand, the little ravenclaw possessed an uncommon understanding of what perspectives were, of what subjective reality was. He saw hundreds of realities, subjectivity being so tangible to him that he fashioned actual walls and barriers with his mind, a whole world for him to explore that no one else could see. At the same time, his empathy was very, very minimal, at least externally. He simply couldn't be bothered to care, most times. His own life came first.

"Funny, that. Strip away the personality beliefs and morals and you're left with nothing. Logic dictates that your statement means that what it means to be human is entirely tied up with personality, beliefs and morals. That's what differentiates between them and a bag of meat and bones."

Kaegen paused, considering the apocalyptic worldview of his new limb. Philosophy was something he always seemed to have an abundance of, regardless of his position as a monstrous, instinctive creature. In a way, didn't it make sense that humanity faded and died eventually?

"Most things have to die. Especially if they forget how to survive. I think the lightworlders have forgotten that. Blinded, maybe. Humanity will crumble, sure, but I don't think humans will."

Kaegen blinked, slowly. How would he even begin to describe something like the hunger? How could words even touch something like that? Kaegen's spidery finger tapped the stone floor with a sharp sound, dull claw colliding with cold stone.

"It's like a riptide. Further you slip the more it pulls. And at the very end, there's..."

Kaegen looked around for something that could help him with his clumsy metaphor, finally settling on some water that reminded him of the lake.

"The kraken, in the great lake. That's at the end. Eating blood, willing blood, keeps you treading water above the riptide, but even then, it gets tiring. Smaller currents keep trying to pull you down. It just gets worse the longer you leave it unattended. But only unwilling blood drives me deeper. Willingly given, it helps. Magic, I've been told. Powder's blood, of a sort. Helps."

Tapping stone again, this time in a different spot, kaegen focussed his attention back to the present, away from himself.

"There's mental stuff too. A box I keep closed. What do you use? You don't have a hunger like mine, but I can feel something. Do you lose blood to stay afloat?"

Kaegen pointed at the drops hitting the floor. The fog in his head was starting to grow, but it wasn't terrible. He could contain it, he could contain himself. This was his arm, his hand, a piece of him. If biting a piece of himself worked, then he would have just bit one of his original two hands.

"As lost as Alice, as mad as the Hatter."

Selim considered the new perspective, gaze thoughtful. His clarity restored by what he was learning from the older boy. He glanced up, it was something to chew on, that was for sure.

He listened as the other boy gave more thought to his previous comments. Gaze glinting with a light that hadn't been there since he had debated with Jack on subjects of interest. Kaegen was logic, but Jack... well he was emotion. Perhaps Selim had needed that at one point, but now, it was the opposite of what he needed. Emotions are what plague him these days, churning his mind into chaos soup until he couldn't distinguish what was true and what wasn't. Jack oversaturated it, added fuel to the fire... but Deathmote balanced it, calming it if only temporarily.

"Yes. Without emotion, morals, personality, humans would not be humans, wouldn't even be animals, because even animals have emotion. The only difference they would have among themselves is physical appearance, and the world doesn't care about that unless it keeps you safe from preditors. Humans are not special, they know nothing, they are not above the beasts of the earth, above each other, yet they act like they are... it irritates me." His eyes narrowed as if confirming the last statement, and he idly scratched at the floor with his chipped nails.

The Ravenclaw's next comment made him hum. "Nothing lasts forever, not even this world, this reality. Decay will always be undefeated, when this world dies, so will any humans that linger after they've largely eradicate themselves." He tapped his nails on the stone as well, listening to the familiar rhythm it created. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick...

He tilted his head as the dhampir began to answer the question Aku posed, eyes glinting curiously at the metaphor he fabricated, and as more info was given he shifted closer, curiosity burning in him.

"I see. That's interesting, so similar to any addiction yet also different." Aku hummed. Selim shifted at the comment of willing blood being helpful, not harmful.

"The heart may provide the limb with blood, but the limb also sends it back.." He spoke, tone serious, "Just as you have provided me stability in a time of need, so will I if times grow desperate. If ever you need to be pulled back out of the depths of the lake, I will provide you with blood to bring you back." He tilted his head. "Do you accept this?"

Selim was never one to put himself at risk for others, but the Ravenclaw stabilized him, no one else had accomplished such a feat this year beyond Aku, whose help was minimal. This was something he needed to stay afloat, no matter how much he sometimes wished to drown under the waves of life. So if he had to provide blood to do so, he would, the urge to survive was sometimes diminished in moments of time, but it was always there.

So, if Deathmote ever went off the deep end, he would pull him back up, just as the boy was doing for him. Equivalent exchange.

Selim already often wasted his blood, at least this way it'd be put to use.

He then answered the question the dhampir posed to him. "I have many cravings, some involuntary. The one that I've had the longest was knowledge, when I came to Hogwarts, a growing urge to see blood spill from something alive. Losing blood, either mine or others, keeps me afloat even if barely, in madness. " He frowned, "A part of me yearns for it, another abhors it, it gets confusing at times." He scratched his neck absently, "It's a temporary fix, in short term it assists me, but despite that, after its effects fade, the feeling seems to grow stronger." He tensed, grimacing, "It's almost like feeding a beast whose hunger never fades, only growing stronger after the initial satisfaction of eating its meal."

He clenched his hand, "I usually try to satisfy it with my own blood before it devours me, but sometimes that's not enough..."

"Only natural to think that about yourself. Any predator would. To the bear, they are the monarchs of the woods. Marking the trees with their massive claws for all to see. To boast about power, to think that you are the best there is- It's cyclical, it dooms you to fall into a loop, and at the end, is someone better than you."

Logic, well, Kaegen had that, to an extent, somewhere. He thought of things with his own logic, his own presence of mind. It wasn't actually logical if you bothered to look at things objectively, but Kaegen had no need for objective observation. He had long ago become aware that there was no such thing. Objective truth was simply many subjective truths, with a lot of overlap, wearing a trench coat.

"But this reality will last for my forever. Why should I care for the theoretical end of another's world. If decay is all that remains, I will become decay."

Kaegen idly touched some of the moss that was growing on the damp dungeon wall.

"I wonder how many realities this was a part of."

Kaegen's eyes opened wide at the offer, mouth opening quickly, to refuse. But no sound came out. Emotions, such as pride, the hypocritical need to be independent, swirled around in a storm. But the only emotion that truly controlled Kaegen was fear. And even that fear fed into his twisted logic. And it made sense, didn't it? Tea made sense. Sure, he would never take blood from his own limb. But the heart pumped blood out, and then back. This was just a way for that cycle to be more manual.

His mouth closed, and twitchy hands slipped into loose sleeves, to pat down the items that he possessed, the treasures that he carried on his person. There had to be something, anything. But all the little trinkets and baubles felt empty and hollow, like they weren't enough. Slowly, the hands slipped back into sleeves, and slowly, Kaegen's mouth opened again, pausing to complete just how to speak.

"...Thank you."

It was slow and halting, even more so than Kaegen's usual voice. He had tried to pour sincerity into his words, as much as he actually felt, but he didn't know how. How could you make your words reflect a feeling, how could you make a thank you sound like the thank you that you felt? He wasn't sure, but he had tried.

Blood red tears began to well up in the corner of Kaegen's eyes, shining and red and streaking, staining, slowly leaving a trail down the half-vampire's cheeks.

The description of the beast was something that Kaegen knew very well, it was something that he was very familiar with, and something that he didn't quite know how to solve. He had tried to starve his own beast, and had lost the fight. Now, he was resigned to keeping it fed and happy, keeping it placated best he could. He wasn't sure how to help his new hand, what advice to give, but speaking seemed to be the right response, regardless of if there was anything useful to be said.

"The beas- the beast. When it first starts, first appears, it's already stronger. So how do you subdue it? Starving it doesn't work and feeding it doesn't work. So, what I think- feed it just enough for it to not become enraged, but not enough for it to grow in strength- at least, not fast. And then become stronger yourself. If you grow faster than it does, if- if we grow faster- then someday, we'll have the upper hand."

A hand rubbed at the streaks of blood shining on his hollow cheeks, dusty and dirty and smeared. What else was there to do?

"As lost as Alice, as mad as the Hatter."

Selim thought on the dhampir's words, nodding as he turned it over in his mind. Yes, in the end, it was all a matter of perspective. Selim never thought himself the most powerful in the forest, he was more powerful than some, but there were those stronger than him, professors, upperclassmen, the hags that lurked the dungeons, his father... "That is true. Of course, there is always someone stronger, but it does end somewhere. The factors in a fight between two who think they are the strongest are numerous. They may be of equal strength, but one slip-up is all it takes, and the other alpha wins the battle. This does not mean they are stronger necessarily, it just means life didn't favour the other any longer."

Selim steadily watched as the other opened their mouth as if to shoot down his offer, he wouldn't have pursued the subject had the other not truly wanted it... no words came out of the older boy's mouth though, seemingly stuck speechless.

Aku tilted his head, mirroring Selim's internal curiosity. Had no one else ever made the dhampir such an offer? If one had, why was he so shocked? The younger boy silently mused on the reaction as he awaited an answer patiently. He observed the other boy pat himself down, wondering what was going through his mind. He didn't prod, of course, he wasn't one to force someone to make the choice he wanted in a situation like this, his reaction would probably be similar if one offered themselves to be bloodied by him so he wouldn't completely lose control.

The Ravenclaw opened his mouth once again, Selim glanced at the curious gaps where canines would be, then looked into his eyes calmly, studying the stormy grey so different from his warm amber.



He blinked at the words, able to decern the sincerity in them, despite how faint it might've been. His expression eased, and he ignored the curiosity that arose upon glimpsing the red tear tracks, for it would be rather rude to focus on that when he had somehow made such an impact on the solitary boy beside him. His tone was low as he responded, the edge usually held in it dulled in face of the fact that he had made someone cry for once, not of pity, nor terror or pain, but of gratitude.

It was odd, so, so alien to the child who was so used to causing suffering. It made him shift in a vague whisper of uncertainty as he tried to pinpoint what the odd feeling in his chest was, for it wasn't the mass of loathing churning like he was used to.

"It's the least I can do for one who has accepted me as a whole, not a part." Besides, it was not as if he was afraid of what it would be like when the time came for him to fulfill his promise. Pain or discomfort, or a possibility of death were things he was all too familiar with.

He glanced up as the other boy tried to provide a solution for Selim's inner struggle, despite his seeming own uncertainty on the situation, and listened to his words. He didn't expect the upperclassmen to even bother trying to solve the problem, though his attempt to try to do so anyways was appreciated. He nodded at the words, glancing back down at the stone below in ponderance.

"All we can do is hope to grow strong enough in time, I suppose." His amber eyes flickered solemnly, and he clutched his knees tightly.

There was a moment of silence before Aku spoke once more.

"Do you wish for us to dwell in the dungeons at your side the whole time? Not saying I expect you to wish that, but I suppose now that we're bound together we should figure out something when it comes to how often we are near each other." The puppet tapped its chin with a stumpy arm. "Should we set up a communication system so we know sooner if the other needs assistance against foes?"

Selim glanced up at that, they couldn't be at each other's side constantly after all, so if one needs assistance, how would they call on the other? Selim had no technique for such a thing, and if there was a spell that could be used for communication, he doubted he could execute it effectively.

Owls flying in the dungeons would be rather obvious, and Kioshi wasn't swift enough to do what they could effectively either. He suspected that Jack had already set something up with those he had been willing to rely on, but if he truly had, he hadn't made Selim privy to it... which was probably for the best.

If it was some sort of mental connection like legilimens, then Selim doubted his mental space would've been stable enough to control such a thing. Especially if he was linked to someone who was saner than him. Who knows what glimpses of madness Jack could've ended up witnessing had they linked to each other? Perhaps it would've driven him to the same madness.

His eyes lidded in thought as he observed Deathmote. The dhampir had said their realities were similar, and going off what the other boy had revealed of his thought process, he definitely wasn't in the same mindset as normal students.

He wondered if their minds would be compatible if there truly was a spell or ability that linked mental spaces. Would it help stabilize them both? Or make everything more chaotic?

An interesting theory, but Selim knew nothing of that area of magic. Perhaps the other boy would have an idea...

"Exactly. If two individuals face off, one has to lose eventually. A fact that has been used to the advantage of those of us who form realities in darkness since before time formed itself."

It was easier to speak on subjects like this. Not like the arduous process of thanking someone, speaking on theories of warfare and survival was almost relaxing, if anything Kaegen did could really count as something relaxing. But at least it didn't increase the tension and anxiety that constantly built up like a water baloon past its limit.

The other boy's comment made Kaegen pause to consider how you would go about taking only a piece of someone. It didn't take too long, he had studied people long enough to recall decent examples. Those who wanted a friend that only had ears, those who wanted a friend only for their fists. It didn't make any sense, they were uprooting an entire tree so that they could make use of the sap, without killing the tree. It simply didn't work.

"To accept only a part of someone is... stupid. Imagine trying to only use the second finger on one of your hands."

Kaegen held up his own hand, tense, wirey muscles wrapped visibly around bone, covered by tight skin. Spidery, strong, tipped with dull claws that promised substantial pain to a living target, or good purchase while climbing. He flexed a single finger, and watched the others move a little bit, involuntarily. The ravenclaw nodded slightly, as though that was all the proof needed.

"No, you have no reason to rot. You need to grow stronger, as do I. We need the light to see where to progress, despite it's dangers. I've already thought ahead to a good message system. An owl will be employed to deliver a letter, rolled in a tight tube, behind a suit of armor near the entrance to the dungeons. My voice often travels that way, they can bring the message the rest of the way. If there is no response in 1 day, then you will leave a letter in the third chandelier of the small hall. If that does not get a response, then come to the dungeons. If I'm not there, then consider me dead. You will, however, have to let me know how to communicate with you."

Kaegen paused a moment, before continueing.

"I intend to learn how to move between worlds. If I succeed, the owl can come to me directly."

"As lost as Alice, as mad as the Hatter."

Selim nodded in agreement to the dhampir's words. Such topics were enriching to him, forcing his mind to think about things he enjoyed theorizing about. His next comment about the stupidity of only accepting part of someone was met with a similar reaction. "You're one of two people who seem to realize such an obvious fact, from what I've seen. The others have not yet grown in light of tragedy to be open to such concepts, it seems."

His attention shifted as the boy tried to provide a solution to the conundrum, but the given suggestion made him frown. "Would that not be too obvious for our enemies? Owls, while silent, are not subtle within small places like corridors, it would be rather easy to intercept our messages, and perhaps tamper with them or simply steal them completely." He spoke, head tilting and brow furrowing at the thought. "It still would not provide a solution if one of us is suddenly caught in a confrontation, or attacked. You cannot send a letter if you are busy being attacked."

He frowned, trying to think of a solution, but coming upon none. He then sighed, leaning back on his hand Aku temporarily resting face down on his chest. Quite the conundrum, he hoped he wasn't missing some sort of obvious solution. Likely, if he was it'd have something to do with magic...

"If you use different owls interchangeably, it would be hard to link the owls together, and we could stagger, for example, which suit of armor the owl leaves the letter behind. Or we could tie the letter to something that smells strong enough for my voice to find, somewhere that owls would more often frequent. If your owl just drops it somewhere hidden, it would seem like a piece of rubbish. At least to a lightworlder."

Kaegen paused, trying to think of a way to send a message in the middle of combat. There was no way he was skilled enough to multitask that much, and even if he could, how would the owl make it to his head and hand in time? No, it simply wasn't practical, and there wasn't any good way around it that he could think of, aside from simply not getting attacked.

"Maybe have a house elf ring a loud gong in a place where I can hear it? We could set up the gong, and inform them somehow. Then you would just need to figure out a way to get a message to the house elves. They can move instantaneously, so it would be the fastest method, assuming we can figure out a way to get them to help us, and a way to get them to come to our aid fast enough. Yelling obviously won't work."

Another pause, before another solution.

"Explosives? We could triangulate the position of whoever set them off if we change the amount placed in each room. Someone unfamiliar wouldn't be able to do that. And if we have a charge in each room, no matter where we're ambushed, it would be possible to inform each other. But, that would be a lot of explosives. And a lot of time setting up a single-use system."