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Another lonely walk for Aya, who came dressed darker colors, blue and green that veered close to black in the pale light of the newly waxing moon. She stepped quietly through the graveyard, walking the paved path as it wound past the rows of stones. Her eyes cast across the field, occasionally catching on to some sign of something that normal eyes could not see. But they kept going back to the Avernian Gate. She got closer to it, but at a certain point stopped.
There was a generous minimal distance she clearly wanted to keep from it, just in case; though she'd seen her share of Gates, she couldn't help but take the time to study this one just for a moment.
(She is using her Death Sight merit, for note.)
Kay in a cemetery, that is a rare sight. Strange for someone claiming to be a Necromancer, of all things, she supposes. She's kneeling at the foot of a particularly damaged headstone, clearing some of the vegetation with a delicate touch, not ripping it off but rather moving the green around so she could read the dates and names more clearly.
She's wearing blue, as well, a blue sweater and scarf, a pair of black slacks and running shoes. She notes the presence of the woman, but it's the peripheral sensation of supernatural effect that draws her attention out.
She raise her hand to draw Aya's attention without startling her, or trying to anyway. "Looking for a particular headstone?"
Aya turned towards Kay and shook her head, "No, no. Just taking time for contemplation." She had reacted to her approach and answered with calm ease, but it didn't take long for an intrigued expression to cross her face, "Are you the caretaker of these grounds?"
Kayla laughs at that assumption, it's a little too loud, too emotional for it to be just 'a little funny'.
"No, I am not. I just was returning from a short visit and I noticed this headstone was pretty worn, just felt right to investigate a bit." Kay stands and dust their knees. "Just a bit of overgrowth and minor neglect."
"Hmm. Rare to find someone with such care for what one might consider a minor details," She says, "even rarer to find someone with the kindness to act. Respect for the Dead is becoming rarer and rarer in modern times." She shrugs and shakes her head again, this time in disappointment, "Though considering how little respect society shows for the living, it's probably to be expected."
"Sometimes, the smallest of details can make a big difference. It's easy to feel small, at the mercy of whatever universal whim you happen to come across." Kay dust her hands too.
"My name is Kay. I think I might have... seen you somewhere around..." they try to remember for a brief moment.
Kay does have some magic active, nothing obvious, mostly shielding and veiling.
Aya chuckled at possibly being remembered, "You may have, I've been known to be around and be seen. Whether I want to or not, sometimes. I am Aya; Aya Jabir. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kay." She offered a hand to shake.
Kay blinks as her memory clicks in place, a gasp comes. "I've read you and heard about you..." There is a bit of star struck-ness in her eyes.
"You inspired me a while ago, after a life-changing moment." Kay explains, swiftly accepting the handshake. Using the moment to provide protection using her Legacy. through there doesn't seem to have any visual to it, no sensation but that of Kay's touch.
"I'm pleased to hear it. I'm always glad to meet someone who's taken the time to read my message." She shakes gently and smiles warmly, with a genuinely kind presence that is far more palpable in person than in her texts. "If you would care to share more, I would love to hear about it. But I understand if you have places to be." Humble, even as a celebrity, speaking as if she was wasting Kay's time.
"It's difficult to share with words, honestly." Kayla looks over to where the Avernian gate is, it's a difficult draw to resist, even with all of what's anchoring her here remains. "I needed something to guide my thoughts in some way, shape or form during a period of great change, great turmoil. And I found it in some of your writings."
"And I don't need to be anywhere"
Her smile broadened, "An ineffable experience often is a part of times of transition; alhamdulillah, it's so great that you found guidance in what I had to say." She relaxed a bit in her stance. "Things are more peaceful for you now, I hope?"
Her attention drifts away from the gate and back to Aya with a smile. "Unfortunately, only in the moment, I know I have struggles and difficulties that will come, sooner than I'd want them to."
"But you helped me find a way, to understand how deep to look at things." A shrug. "I honestly did not expect to find someone like you in a place like this."
Aya looks to the gate after Kay, trying to see if she gets that they see the same thing. "It's important for a believer to contemplate upon their own mortality, just as it's important to consider where you are headed when deciding which way you should go."
She covers her mouth and clears her throat, "And that I am not expected to be here is among the reasons that recommend it as a place to visit." This latter answer might've sounded a bit unserious or half-hearted as she spoke it, an afterthought at best.
"A believer?" Kay seems rather curious about the use of that particular word. There's definitely something that Kay sees there in particular, the way her gaze is drawn there.
Kay does seem to find some kind of humor in what Aya said there
"Yes," She says simply as she looks back to Kay with a tone of mild incredulity at how a reader of her work would question that word choice. But she continued with a playful tone, "I actually do believe all that religious stuff, you know," which she followed with a soft chuckle.
"I have a strange relationship with faith myself, I was mostly thinking of how that word related to me." Kay says "It's obvious you believe it, it's obvious it means a lot to you."
The chuckle goes a bit deeper now. "Ohhhhh, I meant about how you didn't expect me to be here: that is why I am here, as a believer." She nods to emphasize her understanding.
She then gestures towards the Gate, "There is something about this that always has my mind thinking deeply on how I spend my days. How about you?"
"So, have you ever had waffles in this town?" What a random question. "There is a point to my question, don't worry."
The way she looked to Kayla with that smile of hers, it was obvious she grasped the meaning of the question with little effort, "I suppose that would depend on one's definition of 'in this town'. Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area? I think so."
"What I see when I look at this is..." A deep breath "The next step in my journey." Kay looks back at the Avernian Gate.
"Not death, at least, I hope not death." Kay quickly rectify, so as not to give a wrong ideas. "But important progress."
"Also, the name of the person on the headstone I was cleaning earlier is not the name of the person resting there." Kay says. "It's why the plants grew around it."
"Not physical death, you mean?" She tries to clarify. "I've seen many ways people can die while still breathing; some better than others."
"That depends on how you see death, I imagine." Kay says. "The Death I was speaking about was the one where I expire before my time, before finishing my work, even though it's possible that it happens."
"The next step in my journey could be construed as death from this side of the journey, but I know would continue on the other end. It would not be ... Death as the End for me, but a wildly new chapter."
"Oh no, death is far from it. This life is just a pause, a brief one. Death is like a change in state; solid to liquid, liquid to gas. At least, that is what I was taught; and why it's good to have a 'high melting point' and be hard to anger." She laughs softly, talking of death while standing not at all seeming to be odd or spooky to her.
Master Diamond, Necromancer on the Path to Stygia gives a bright, understanding smile at those words. "Death has been the end many times, not every happenstance leaves the departed one in a state of change. A lot of them leaves them in a state of inability to change, or leave their work forever unfinished, incomplete."
Kay speaks "It's easy to see Death as the great adversary, or something you'd need to fear. But it is one more set of problems that would benefit from caring, empathy, consideration. Too much of living is ignoring the Dead or death."
"I know; there are many injustices done, works unfinished, loves unexpressed. I've no ability to ignore the Dead, they've been with me since my study abroad trip." Anyone familiar with Aya and her story would know about the study abroad class that was caught in the middle of a quickly-formed battlefield. One of two found alive out of a class of 10 plus faculty, the only one who made it home alive.
"Now, I'm always available." She sighs, "You ever see the 'gaffe' clip from the Dubai conference? Someone brought something to the conference connected to someone dead, and that dead someone decided I needed to know the something was a stolen family heirloom... in the middle of that panel." She facepalmed.
"When they get the chance to speak, the dead are often full of righteous passion like that." Kay says with a little smile. "It's difficult to deal with how... raw some of what they have to share is."
"I do remember that, but I hadn't connected the dots. Hopefully there was no further issues" Kay says. "Have you ever visited what's beyond there?" Kay asks, looking over at the gate.
"I don't get too close to those. I keep a respectful distance. I treat it as a door to a house I don't live in and to which I have yet to be invited." She raised an eyebrow, "Have you gone through one..?" The hopeful curiosity burned in this question, she can't hide it behind a dispassionate or serene expression.
"Yes. It was the event that sparked my need to seek out guiding thoughts. I still travel to where my presence is needed, wanted." Kay explains, her mind wandering back to the memory.
"There's a place in there that is my duty to keep watch over, when I can." Her attention drifts to Aya again "To know that the dead takes such a place in your worldview, it doesn't quite feel like an accident your writings drew my attention."
"Few things seem to be an accident lately, especially since I've come back home," She looks up, "Things keep happening; I meet friends I know from many places, I find out some of them are exceptional in a way I only had heard the faintest outlines of. All of them connected to each other, and to the issue that brought me here."
She looks down, first to the Gate and then to Kayla. "The universe isn't an accident."
"I'm still uncertain about the whole universe, I'm sure none of what you just described is fully not a coincidence." Kayla stretches a bit. "What sort of friend have you met? Because I'm pretty certain I've heard of one or two of them at the very least."
"Well, my friend Ellie was the first one. She was someone I met up with a while back while on a talk; she apparently knew I could talk to the Dead the whole time and just pretended to not notice," she pinches the bridge of her nose and rubs her eyes in embarrassment before straightening up.
"Then there was Dr. Shanks, we've been academic colleagues in the past. I've met others over waffles who've been excellent sounding boards for ideas I have needed to express but can't exactly speak to less 'broad-minded' people, or provided me with new insights."
"Waffles are a good space to talk about those kind of things." Kay acquiesces, the names do not ring much bells.
"I don't think I know those people, or I don't know them by those names. A lot of different names being used in those circle, for many reasons."
"Yes, so I've learned. I've only the one name for myself." She shrugs, "I'm not sure if that's a bad idea or not."
"If it's worth anything, your fame offers you a certain protection. The reason we conceal our name is because it makes it easier to use abilities from a long range, but those same things also are hindered by the obfuscation of fame."
Kay roll her shoulders. "It can be double-edged obviously."
That explanation takes a moment to absorb as she taps her chin, "Fascinating. That's not quite the case with the things I am capable of, but.. different sources, different water, I suppose." She smiles once more, "I have a feeling I will want to spend more time with you; you might have something to teach me."
"I would love to meet you again in more auspicious places." Kayla reaches into one of her pocket and withdraws a phone.
"As for teaching you, I'd be absolutely delighted to help you along whatever path. The name is chose to represent my more mystical self is Diamond, and it empowers me when I help people perfect their own path."
"For now, my path is a foot in one world and a foot in the other; making speeches, meeting politicians, teaching, and preaching peace during the day while ministering to the Dead and meeting more mystical-minded people at night." She pulls out her own phone, "Trying to make time for sleep and spiritual practices in the midst of all of it."
Kay chuckles lightly. "Yeah, never enough time in a day." Says the time master, but alas, that would be revealing too much.
"Here's my number, if you need to reach out." Kay says, entering a new contact. "If you can give me yours, I'll be sure to contact you if I find any ghostly entities I need help with."
She takes the number down and offers her own before making a playful smirk, "Time is infinite. I am finite; there's never enough me in a day." She caps that off with a chuckle.
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