The logic was... [sighs. a human hand forms long enough to rub at the back of his neck.] "If you are forced to tell the truth, you will reveal the secrets of your subconscious mind."
Hm... [a curious hm, not a smug one. It's an interesting idea, and it makes sense. Where else would you find deep-rooted memories and knowledge?]
I know that it didn't go as planned. And I know it was something you intended to cast on yourself, not all of us. [not going to get Friday in direct trouble on purpose, but there's no point hiding that the conversation happened.] Do you want to tell me what you were trying to learn from yourself?
[He could ask more pointedly, but...
Well, he's supposed to be doing a pep talk, not an interrogation. And that means giving the poor sulking bastard a way to refuse to answer.]
My name, I suppose. It's the most logical answer... [shakes head, a bit like a dog.] The charm tends to take a bite out of, say, the last 24 hours or so... Honestly, I'm surprised I've maintained the short-term memory required for human conversation...
[He feels that. ...which probably isn't a good thing.]
It's tiresome even with enjoyable company. Well, I'll be here all night, if you feel too weak to soldier on at any point... [a little goading never hurts] ...or if you need to go sulk for a bit. Otherwise, I would love to try prying some deep secrets from that void in your skull.
[he would physically pry them out if you told him he could. there's a patch of inky darkness that looks relatively subconscious-adjacent...]
Seems that you've figured out a workaround. Or else I came by just a bit later than I should have to actually make use of the spell... Ah, maybe you're referring to a point of myself where I do have skin?
[as he thinks aloud, he remains with his orbital sockets fixed on the darkness. it's the oddest, most unholy melding of necromantic and eldritch aesthetics he's ever seen. but void-staring has become something of a hobby of his as of late...]
It was more of a positive side effect than anything intentional, but, yes, apparently the memory charm I use can temporarily negate the influence of the elixir. Mixing magics can be like that, sometimes. [like that rhyme about liquor and beer.]
Yes, doubly so if you have no idea what you're doing. [that is definitely targeted at the captain, who is starting to remind Skulduggery of an untrained Elemental living in a dynamite factory...]
What does the charm do to negate the elixir? [that... apparently infected all of the water in reality. That's fun.]
Unfortunate for you. Is there anything you do know about the magic you use? [he's met eleven-year-old girls with more caution and critical thinking than this]
My name is Skulduggery Pleasant, and you are actually... ignorant. [in somewhat awe because wow, did you really stumble this entire way up???] You have so much power and you literally do not even know what to do with it. Is that a result of you giving away parts of yourself? Hard to believe you accomplished this much without any grip on the fundamentals...
I do know some things, you know. I certainly wasn't born knowing how sigils work. Other things... [he looks down at his hand, flexing the fingers as they shift between pale flesh and wisps of black.] I am working in the dark a bit. I can't predict how foreign magics will impact an unknown physiology. I just know what happens when I do it, and then I go from there.
[hmm. he pushes off the wall and takes a step - or two - forward. there's no kicking this time, thankfully (??)]
Those are fair points, I will grant you that. I tend to forget that you're something other than human. Other than only human? I'm not sure. I suppose neither are you...
Pretty good illusions for someone who doesn't know the fundamentals, hm? [slowly but surely, more of the shadows are overtaken by the human form, until the only gaps left are his eyes, stark black in the sockets.] I can't take credit for it, really. Everything else I do, I can remember learning how. From books, from experimenting... But, I could always change my form. Either I was born knowing how, or I was taught. Or both. Who knows?
Don't be too smug about it. [Shapeshifting, though, is so varied across reality and fiction alike that it's no wonder he can't seem to narrow any of it down.]
You should probably know that. But... I can't say I'm unfamiliar with blocking out wide swaths of memory. [He didn't sell any of them, he just has them tucked away, nice and neat. He doesn't even know the amount of stuff he's hiding from himself, to be honest!]
Do you have... I don't know, any leads? An early memory, maybe your first time changing? Anything you've already ruled out?
[this is starting to sound an awful lot like prep work for a case...]
[Contemporary Earth, then. A bay somewhere, perhaps, where ships would come to dock? Or does he mean in the distance -- unreachable? Hmmm.]
When you think about that moment, do you remember anything specific? Maybe about the rockiness of the shoreline, or if there were trees? If it was tropical, or particularly cold? [Unfortunately, considering even Skulduggery knows that Cher starred in that flick, the billboard only confirms the timeline and not so much the location...]
I don't feel temperature. Unless I put active thought into it. Same with pain. And other things. [frowns] Palm trees only grow where it's warm, I believe. I remember those. Date palms.
[His tunnel-vision means he doesn't take a cheap shot at active thinking, nor does he try to push the subject further. Memories are tricky, and Skulduggery has had a crash course recently in how difficult it is to force them into place.]
That narrows it down. A decent starting point, at least. Interesting that you said you decided to look human. And the fact that you can't remember what you were before...
[He knows how that happened for himself. He hates that he wants to attribute the same cause here.]
...Maybe something traumatic occurred. Or, maybe you made a bargain with those early memories. Could be both...?
[that earns a faint laugh] Oh, all the time. Usually when they're rattled by my manner of questioning. But you're not so easily intimidated, I don't think.
he blinks, once, and his eyes return to. normal? for someone, at least.]
I suppose that, after seeing so many promise the world to spare their own insignificant lives, it's... odd, to find ones that may actually be capable of keeping up their end of the bargain.
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[waves hand vaguely]
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I know that it didn't go as planned. And I know it was something you intended to cast on yourself, not all of us. [not going to get Friday in direct trouble on purpose, but there's no point hiding that the conversation happened.] Do you want to tell me what you were trying to learn from yourself?
[He could ask more pointedly, but...
Well, he's supposed to be doing a pep talk, not an interrogation. And that means giving the poor sulking bastard a way to refuse to answer.]
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It's tiresome even with enjoyable company. Well, I'll be here all night, if you feel too weak to soldier on at any point... [a little goading never hurts] ...or if you need to go sulk for a bit. Otherwise, I would love to try prying some deep secrets from that void in your skull.
[he would physically pry them out if you told him he could. there's a patch of inky darkness that looks relatively subconscious-adjacent...]
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Your name is Skulduggery Pleasant. You have human skin.
[and then he just stares at him. half his face shadow, the one eye black against flesh.]
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Seems that you've figured out a workaround. Or else I came by just a bit later than I should have to actually make use of the spell... Ah, maybe you're referring to a point of myself where I do have skin?
[as he thinks aloud, he remains with his orbital sockets fixed on the darkness. it's the oddest, most unholy melding of necromantic and eldritch aesthetics he's ever seen. but void-staring has become something of a hobby of his as of late...]
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What does the charm do to negate the elixir? [that... apparently infected all of the water in reality. That's fun.]
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[pause]
And it has been a few hours, hasn't it. It returns in fits.
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My name is Skulduggery Pleasant, and you are actually... ignorant. [in somewhat awe because wow, did you really stumble this entire way up???] You have so much power and you literally do not even know what to do with it. Is that a result of you giving away parts of yourself? Hard to believe you accomplished this much without any grip on the fundamentals...
[this... explains a lot honestly...]
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Those are fair points, I will grant you that. I tend to forget that you're something other than human. Other than only human? I'm not sure. I suppose neither are you...
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You should probably know that. But... I can't say I'm unfamiliar with blocking out wide swaths of memory. [He didn't sell any of them, he just has them tucked away, nice and neat. He doesn't even know the amount of stuff he's hiding from himself, to be honest!]
Do you have... I don't know, any leads? An early memory, maybe your first time changing? Anything you've already ruled out?
[this is starting to sound an awful lot like prep work for a case...]
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[beat]
The ocean. I can remember sitting on a shoreline, watching ships. I only ever seem to remember things after I decided to look human.
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When you think about that moment, do you remember anything specific? Maybe about the rockiness of the shoreline, or if there were trees? If it was tropical, or particularly cold? [Unfortunately, considering even Skulduggery knows that Cher starred in that flick, the billboard only confirms the timeline and not so much the location...]
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That narrows it down. A decent starting point, at least. Interesting that you said you decided to look human. And the fact that you can't remember what you were before...
[He knows how that happened for himself. He hates that he wants to attribute the same cause here.]
...Maybe something traumatic occurred. Or, maybe you made a bargain with those early memories. Could be both...?
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he blinks, once, and his eyes return to. normal? for someone, at least.]
I suppose that, after seeing so many promise the world to spare their own insignificant lives, it's... odd, to find ones that may actually be capable of keeping up their end of the bargain.
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