open post: further up and further in

[magicianking]

Eliot hasn't been depressed, per se, because it's sort of impossible to be depressed in Fillory. There's too much to do, these days: rebuilding Castle Whitespire, helping Josh and Poppy with the baby, and generally trying to run a post-apocalyptic-but-now-pretty-much-fine magical kingdom. Being High King of Fillory is, not to be totally cliche, Eliot's calling, and he's found a peace that he never had before. But it still sucks absolute balls that both Quentin and Janet are gone.

When Janet had first disappeared, Eliot had devoted all of his kingly resources to trying to find her. None of their world-jumping buttons had been missing, so he'd promised a knighthood and a castle to anyone in Fillory who found the missing Queen Janet.

"She won't love being treated like a damsel in distress like this," Poppy had told him.

"Well, if you have a better idea," he'd snapped, and that had been that, until a letter had arrived in the gazing pool. It had been frustratingly contextless, but obviously from Janet.

"Where is she?" Josh asked at the next meeting of the monarchs.

"I don't know. She's trapped, but she seems more annoyed than in danger."

"So she's in another universe? Since she had to use your telegram thing?" Poppy asked.

"Seems likely."

All of them had lapsed into silence.

"Should we call off the Queen hunt? Some of them are getting a little Don Quixote out there," said Poppy.

"No," Eliot had decided. "Just in case." Damsel in distress, Janet was not; but hell if he would ever be the one to give up on finding her.

--

Eliot's on his way to check on the progress of Castle Whitespire, wandering up the path from the comfortable townhouse he's been staying in, when the ground changes abruptly beneath his feet. He stumbles, and when he looks up--Dorothy, he is not in magical Kansas any more. Not in Oz any more? Whatever. The energy of wherever he is is totally different. He doesn't think it's Earth, either, despite the fact that he's in front of a huge Earth-style mansion.

"What the fuck," he mutters, and opens the door.

Comments

[papadopoulos]

"I mean, I guess? I honestly don't talk to a whole lot of them." He shrugs. "She's --uh, fine? Mysterious, I guess, and annoying about it half the time -- she likes to keep to herself, or herself and her Hunters; but I can sometimes coax her out for an archery contest or something. --No. Not the first time I've been asked that here, weirdly enough, but Arty's ace. ...Which frankly sounds boring, but I'm just her baby brother, what do I know."

[magicianking]

"I've just met a bunch of really Wiccany women at school," Eliot explains. "What's 'ace'?"

[papadopoulos]

"Oh, sorry. Asexual. Not attracted to anyone sexually. It's also one of her rules for her Hunters, no 'entanglements', romantic or otherwise. Got a few friends that ended up giving up their immortality for each other that way."

[magicianking]

Eliot makes a face. "Sounds a little Christian to me."

[papadopoulos]

"Hey now, people swearing to be chaste isn't just a Christian thing. We had it back in my day too." He shrugs. "My sister has a good thing going for people who feel like they don't fit into 'normal society' for whatever reason. They know what decision they have to make in order to join her, and it's worth it, I guess, for them."

[magicianking]

"Mmm," Eliot says disapprovingly. "Well, I guess. Controlling people's sex lives just feels cult-y to me."

[papadopoulos]

"Sure, but I wouldn't say that too loudly around a bunch of heavily armed women. I've learned my lesson, thanks."<sup>1


1</sup>????

[magicianking]

"Okay, that's a good point. I'll stick to my own godless world and avoid them, thanks."

[papadopoulos]

"That's a pity. I was enjoying the company."

[magicianking]

"I meant Artemis and her hunters, not you," Eliot says. "Unless you're going to spring a chastity belt on me too."

[papadopoulos]

The look on his face is a cross between disgusted and offended. "No. That'd be incredibly boring."

[magicianking]

"I mean, I could sort of see the kink potential," Eliot muses. "But not for me, I don't think."

[papadopoulos]

"Sure, I guess, but it's not my thing either."

[magicianking]

"What is your thing?" Eliot grins.

[papadopoulos]

"I'm open to a lot of things. Being around for 4000 years makes you pretty open-minded."

[magicianking]

"Tell that to the Republican party," Eliot jokes.

[papadopoulos]

"Hey, hey, I pre-date those assholes," he says, laughing.

[magicianking]

"Barely," Eliot says. "Sorry, not a sexy topic."

[papadopoulos]

"Not exactly, no," he says, amused. "Change of subject, then. What's Fillory like?"

[magicianking]

"It's awesome. Classic fantastical land. Creatures, dryads, talking animals, the works."

[papadopoulos]

"Dryads, huh? I think we've got one of those here. Less talking animals, though, unless you count Temeraire, and he would probably be offended if you did." He is, in fact, going to steer clear of mentioning any dryads in connection with himself.

[magicianking]

"Who's this Temeraire? Don't tease me like that."

[papadopoulos]

"Oh, he's our local dragon. Has a big pavilion outside that you might have seen."

[magicianking]

"I've met a dragon. They're alright."

[papadopoulos]

"I know a mechanical dragon, back home. His name's Festus, he's a sweet little guy." 'Little' being relative, of course, considering Festus is big enough at least to carry three or four teens.