set a day or two after this thread

A day or two had passed--he wasn't quite sure how long it'd been. But after he'd returned to Cepheus with the rest of the materials, he'd rested, sleeping quietly and, for once, well-rested in the Palace. It seemed the alabaster and cloth there were somewhat immune to the corruptive influence the Sentinel generally had on the earth beneath his feet, so he'd had a very nearly dreamless sleep.

Today--well-rested--he'd set out with the newly-grinded gray dye. Mimosa had set it up, given him a little bottle with the ground up gray berries, and told him to find someone who could cast "Prism." Puzzled, the Sentinel had asked what Prism was; he had never heard of naming magic, before, bar to describe its use or its effects.

Fast forward to today: he was moving through the caves, gradually and methodically on the buoyant flight of ethereal blue wings, while bellowing the following message at the top of his lungs.

"THE SENTINEL REQUIRES RAINBOWS."

@Lior

"Wait!" A voice called out to the speedy Sentinel. It was not a squeaky voice at all anymore, but it was not extraordinarily deep. Rather, it was a neutral voice overall in all aspects.

"I think I can do that," The alligator sounded far more assured than they were in truth. It was not actually a magic they had practiced much- They preferred science over magic, after all. Magic was so uncertain. Science was constant.

"Why do you need rainbows?" Lior questioned, still as curious as always despite being a rather large alligator now and not a child. Knowledge was important. It was the most important, always.

@The Sentinel

He turned, thudding down into the mud with an unpleasant sucking splash that felt as though Cetus itself were trying to swallow him down feet-first.

It took him a beat to locate the speaker: a reptile... an alligator, in fact. He wondered if this were Dragon, for a moment, but... they seemed--younger. "It requires a dye. This is as a payment to another," he explained, approaching Lior. He noted that their jaws looked powerful, their body long--he'd never really inspected an alligator this close-up, before.

He knelt before them, cautious, and held out the small bottle of gray sludge. "The Tailor of Cepheus claims it must have a rainbow pressed into it in order for it to place a rainbow on other things. The Sentinel has asked many, but none know how to create this light. And its magic is-... black." Chaotic. Corrupted. Light was denied to him, as were so many other things.

The Sentinel looked down, reaching into his breastplate; his hand came out with a column of sparkling elbaite in shifting hues of pink, blue, turquoise, green and yellow. Too, he held out a dark green olivine. "It offers either of these in trade, should the creature know how to create rainbows--or the green one, should it know someone who can." He was reluctant to part with the elbaite, but for the dye... he would do so. "They were taken from creatures known as kooru. This--from a blue. This--from a red." He tapped the olivine and elbaite in turn.

It seemed he did not bother with niceties nor formalities: there were no introductions, no pleas, no polite questioning first. Not a "what's your name" or "have you got spare time." He was to the point, at least; there could be no doubt of that.

@Lior

It was interesting, the flood of information that the Sentinel willingly revealed. Yet, it was clear that the being was concealing plenty as well.

Pale yellow eyes observed the dye as it was offered, but the alligator did not act yet. "I can create shadows. And, I can create light. Including rainbows. I am not primarily a magic user, really, though," Lior warned. "But the feat should be in my capabilities."

"Magic is, of course, unpredictable." Lior studied the Sentinel with a keen gaze. They wondered at the mention of its magic and the potential properties of said magic.

"I could hunt a kooru myself," Lior bluntly stated. "However, I will take the stone from the red kooru as payment, if you additionally give an explanation of your magic as you understand it." After all, their primary interest was knowledge.

"Do you accept this deal?"

@The Sentinel

Had he known Lior to think him concealing things, he'd have elaborated. He was just... direct. He gave what he assumed to be the most necessary information; if the alligator had held further questions he'd have answered them. But to the Sentinel, the whole "I'm trading this dye for a child" thing seemed simply beyond the point.

He needed dye; perhaps this stranger could help. And--yes. It seemed he could.

"It wishes an explanation of Chaos," he surmised, eyeing Lior. "Is this correct?"

He'd agree, of course; but he wanted to know that he was understanding this correctly. "If this is its cost, then the Sentinel agrees." He considered demanding that the magic be cast first, but that seemed unfair--he was an experienced combatant, and he knew that he himself was more likely to be capable of taking his side and then simply fleeing. Lior did not seem... fast. For them to have to cast first, and trust him, well.

For once, his sense of social fair play was strong.

@Lior

Lior could hear the importance of the word that the Sentinel spoke, just from the verbal intonations. It pleased them, that they had found interesting information.

"Yes, that is correct. I would like an explanation of Chaos." More than like, because Lior's desire for knowledge was a downright craving that could never be sated.

The alligator grinned with sharp teeth at the agreement to their deal. "Then we have a deal. An explanation and that stone, and I shall cast the requested magic."

@The Sentinel

"It is," he began, with a slow and rumbling, rasping monotone, "the magic of Corruption. It is the magic of the Black Spire, and the Altar in the Hole." -Did this sound like interpretive prose yet? "It brings visions of Chaos. Battle. War. It brings great power. It is why the Sentinel always whispers. It is why he is wreathed in shadows." And he was--he, and his halberd, ever-whispering, ever drifting with wisping darkness.

He reached out almost idly, unfurling clawed fingers and grasping for the air.

Almost at once there was a low crack, one of the orb-lights high above reacting to his magic. It did not darken; it flared, flickering and jittering with mad flashes.

This does not normally happen, he thought, having to squint against its brightness. He did his best to incorporate this into his lesson. "...It is chaotic." There, that-... covered it.

"This magic-" ...The light was getting brighter. He paused, and then pushed on. "...touches those caught in its grasp. It-"

It hummed, flaring even more brightly, until it was blinding, cutting through the mists with an intensity it normally never bore. "...turns others to it. Should the creature be caught within its grip. It would change it. It would find itself wreathed in shadows-"

The light, with a sudden second crack, dimmed again.

He had no idea what he'd done, or how.

He did his best to ignore it.

"It may turn water to Oil. It may turn earth to black stone. It may turn flame to black, cold fire, and light to shadow." When magic obeyed, at least. "Yet, the Sentinel does not use magic, as the creature before it does not. The Sentinel fights with weapon, and with claw."

He held the vial out, then. "It will create... rainbows. And then the Sentinel will grant the stone."

That seemed fair.

High above, the dimmed orb-light sputtered one last time.

@Lior

It sounded more like fancy words than an explanation, at first. But then came the words after the unexpected light show. Lior was fascinated, that there was magic such that it changed a being and a beings magic entirely.

Lior was so intrigued that the reminder of creating rainbows caught them off guard.

Still, the alligator dipped their head in acknowledgement of the deal. Then they focused their magic upon the vial.

They indeed created a rainbow, if one that was weaker than they would have preferred. "Is that sufficient, or shall I try again?" Lior inquired.

@The Sentinel

He waited, watching the rainbow flash dimly across the vial of gray dye he held high. He fell quite still, fascinated, as the light seemed to catch there--the colors settling into the gray, imbuing it with gleaming, prismatic color.

"It is... sufficient," he said, though his tone--such as it was--might be recognizable as pleased. Hunter, he thought, would like this very much.

He tucked away the olivine, offering out the elbaite, as promised. "Should it wish to know more of Chaos. The Chaos Forge of Draco will speak more. Master Vargas..." has better words? He hesitated. How to phrase this...? "...bears more experience."

That would do.

He pushed up, again lifting the new Rainbow Titanium dye to the dim light to examine it. Then he looked to Lior. "Does it require something more." Questions, perhaps, or the like?

@Lior

Well, it seemed as if Lior had done a good enough job with making rainbows. But, the encounter was not quite over. It was question time, of course.

The alligator listened to the words that followed, and the intrigue turned into a wariness that they tried but most decidedly failed to hide. "You serve one of the Masters?" They ask the most important question on their mind at the moment.

Other questions were cast aside reluctantly, since this was...

Lior had heard from Oliver about the Masters. As a child, they had first been intrigued by the potential knowledge that older beings such as Masters would possess, but that had quickly become horror as they learned that some of the Masters killed.

Since, they had not warmed up to the idea of murder overly much.

@The Sentinel