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

[magicianking]

Eliot lets out a surprised snort of laughter. "Oh my god. Okay, not to be too forward, but I've gotta see this. But where are my manners? I'm Eliot, and you are?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"My name is Galahad." He pauses. He's not certain whether he's being laughed at, and he doesn't like the feeling.

[magicianking]

God, this guy is like Quentin. "Relax. A friend of Janet's is a friend of mine. You're officially an ally of Fillory. Which I'm king of, by the way, so that's super official."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes," he says, remembering. It's been a long time, and he's been more than one person since then, but-- he does have the memory of that conversation, on Janet's arrival. "The high king. She said you like dicking around."

[magicianking]

Eliot snorts. "Okay, Janet's fired from being Fillory's PR manager. She'll have to settle for being Queen. She's not wrong, though. I love dicking around, though as I get older I have less and less time for it. It's very tragic."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What does it mean? Is it about sex?" At the time he hadn't been in the right mind to ask.

[magicianking]

Eliot has to stop laughing, especially since he's not sure this guy is the type to laugh casually, but he has really good comedic timing. "No. I mean, not exactly. I assume she means wasting time and relaxing, though sex can be part of that."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad considers. Janet does seem like the kind of person who would call wasting time dicking around, so he's willing to accept that as an explanation, and under those circumstances -- he does see the humor in it. "I understand."

[magicianking]

"She might also say fucking around," Eliot adds helpfully. "Means the same thing. There, another entry in Eliot's Guide to Modern Slang. I'm guessing you're another time traveler, if you're named after the Arthurian guy?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"I am the Arthurian guy," Galahad says, with utmost seriousness.

[magicianking]

"Oh, damn! I didn't think you were real," Eliot says, looking at him with renewed interest. "I'm learning a lot of fictional guys were actually real, it turns out. I met the Les Mis guy earlier. I guess that's after your time. Enjolras. Pretty hot."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Enjolras is not hot," instantly, because the only two people who are hot are Claudius and Gideon. "Are you not also a fictional guy?"

[magicianking]

"That's your opinion. And no, I'm not. The book about Fillory was written about the kings and queens before us, the Chatwins. I mean, the Chatwins are also real. But you get what I mean."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad looks at Eliot with that intent, blue stare. He's doubtful that this is true; if everyone here is truly the result of a story, shaped by the hand of an author as God shaped Adam from dust and mud, then Eliot should not be able to come without being part of his own story, one he shares with Janet. "Why do you believe that?"

[magicianking]

"Why do I believe I'm not fictional? Because I'm real. Cogito ergo sum, or something. Also, it seems a little existentially depressing to think you're made up. And trust me, I don't need more shit to depress me."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I also am real, in my own mind. I also think." He tilts his head slightly.

[magicianking]

"I guess that's a good point. It all depends on your perspective. Man, this reminds me of taking philosophy in undergrad. Anyway, I was telling Enjolras the Apparently-Unhot that I have seen a book about me in a library between the worlds. Two volumes, actually. I wonder if those books just get out sometimes, into other universes. I kind of hope so. I think it would drive Penny crazy if that were true. He's this really annoying librarian I know."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Why is he annoying?" Eliot talks a lot, and very fast, and doesn't explain all of the offhand unfamiliar things he says, all of which remind Galahad of Magnus.

[magicianking]

"Oh, he's the worst. He's fucking pretentious as shit. Several times I've been in the middle of saving the world, and he's like, excuse me, no running in the library." Eliot pushes imaginary glasses up his nose and does a nasally nerd voice, even though Penny has neither glasses nor hands. "That kind of guy."

[onthewillowsthere]

Unlike Magnus, Galahad isn't sure that he likes Eliot. "I don't understand," he says.

[magicianking]

"So obsessed with rules that he doesn't let us bend them to do what needs doing unless we spend like forty-five minutes convincing him first. Which is rich, by the way, since he totally punched my friend Quentin back at school."

[onthewillowsthere]

"The school you attended with Queen Janet?"

[magicianking]

"Yep. Brakebills. North America's premiere post-grad experience for depressive magical smartasses."

[onthewillowsthere]

"She said it is a difficult course of study."

[magicianking]

"It is. I don't know exactly how magic is worked for you, but for us it's a pain in the ass. And the fingers."