♞ 001

[fearbringer]

[Today, DramaDramaDuck is streaming a rather strange video post: it's filming a dark, cavernous cave from the ground up. At first, the place appears to be empty, but if one looks closely they might notice that the darkness is actually moving-- tendrils of shadow swirl through the air, occasionally flicking close to the camera. Not long after, slow, quiet footsteps can be heard, followed by...]

What...?

[It's low and muttered, and the speaker clearly isn't expecting a response; the feed shakes suddenly as the device is picked up, and then it goes black.]

Comments

[video]

[fallen_stage]

[The view behind Kuja is a balcony overlooking a stretch of water, like a lake or a wide river. The sun is shining on the water and flowering plants are in decorative vases about. Kuja themself is half leaning on the balcony.]

Beautiful...

[But Kuja isn't looking at the scenery in their own world, but at the video itself.]

Ah, pardon me, but those shadows: are they a local phenomenon or your own power?

[video]

[fearbringer]

My own. They are beautiful, aren't they?

[He's pleased that someone else notices that.]

[video]

[fallen_stage]

[Well shadow/dark magic isn't necessarily evil in Kuja's world. heck, the most common one is nonletahl. So Pitch is spared that cultural assumption

Kuja leans in for a better look, eyes shining, since the unfamiliarity of the shadows make them all that more interesting.]

Absolutely magnificent! Do you passively affect shadows like that, or is it a talent you have? I've never seen magic quite like that, so forgive my curiosity if it is unwelcome.

[video]

[fearbringer]

Both, but mostly the latter. I can do whatever I want with them.

[video] sorry for the delay!

[fallen_stage]

Really? Magnificent! I have similar control over other phenomena, but it's a deliberate action that can tax me if I exert myself too much.

[Not that it happens often - Kuja has a nearly bottomless supply of magical stamina.]

Might I ask for a demonstration? "Whatever you want" is rather too broad a scope to speculate on, I'm afraid.

[video] no problem!

[fearbringer]

Hmmm... how about this?

[Pitch steps back, and the shadows take center stage. The quickly form into a silhouette of Pitch himself, only about four times larger.]