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[crossreversed]

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[fogsong]

[ She's not sure how he manages to do this all the time but assumes it eventually becomes natural. Fingers crossed, at least. She keeps at it, refining her technique, and certain things begin to click into place for her. ]

How'd you recognize you could?

[crossreversed]

Some of it's instinctive and natural. It's not unheard of for people, or even animals, to learn one or more of the four basic exercises without being awakened

I did ren first, I think. But I didn't get very far until it was explained to me.

[Chrollo can see the changes as she adjusts her approach. Experience with blood magic and her own powers might help here.]

You have most of it contained, try to keep it closer now.

[fogsong]

Even animals? [ That catches her by surprise and her concentration flickers out for a moment. She's quick to refocus but she wrinkles her nose like she's irritated. ] That still seems impressive. [ It's hard to untangle the near nonexistent appearance of powers in her world with how common it can be in others. Even here in Trench, she tends to assume someone else's world is more like her own than anything else.

She continues to focus and the aura gets tighter and tighter with every passing minute. ] How long does this take to become second nature?

[crossreversed]

Yes. They most often learn zetsu the technique for concealing themselves.

Judging by how you're doing with this, no more than a few months. It depends on how much you practice as well as your natural talent, but eventually you'll be able to maintain it while asleep. You can meditate when it's too much effort to do ten itself.

[Even when not expending aura, manipulating it in any way takes effort that results in a different kind of tired, the way an unused muscle can wear out while the rest of the body is still going.]

[fogsong]

Months. [ She groans the word out. One day she will have an excess of energy in this shithole. Since August, she's been in a state of perpetual exhaustion, some months worse than others. At this point, she's almost used to it. She shakes her head and refocuses herself again. ]

Zetsu. [ Ren. Ten. Zetsu. She's gonna need him to write this shit down. ] Is that just for concealing aura? Can it be extended to other people or things? [ She can tell this is going to take a lot of practice on her end to adjust to completely. Luckily, she's the diligent sort with this kind of thing. ]

[crossreversed]

You'll be proficient enough to move on to the next exercise before then. Ten has other benefits as well.

Zetsu is suppressing your aura so none of it escapes, it has a few uses aside from just being less noticeable, but we can cover those when you're ready to learn it. I'll explain it more when we get to that point.

[fogsong]

[ She lets out a tiny mph of disappointment. She is not the most patient of people. ]

Fine. What exercise will come next then?

[crossreversed]

Ren. But until you're more skilled with ten it will only make you tired even more quickly.

You're doing well enough for now, remember what this feels like. Both your mental state and what your aura feels like held against your skin like this.

Next you need to learn to slow the flow of aura escaping your body back to its normal rate. You'll be able to tell when you're there because it'll suddenly be very difficult to reduce how much you're letting out any further. It's much easier than ten.

[fogsong]

[ She grins when he says she's doing well enough. She doesn't expect the word good from him and will take what she can get.

It strikes her just how similar this is to more physical training. ] I got this shit. [ It might sound a bit overconfident but... Eh. She realizes it won't be instantaneous, nothing ever is, but the experience isn't all that unusual for her. The longer she works at it, the better it gets. ]

[crossreversed]

Once you can lower and increase the flow, you'll be ready to practice the rest on your own.

[fogsong]

[ She'll continue to work and perfect her control in silence for a time. It's more exhausting than she expected it to be but that's easy enough for her to cope with. She'll be a bit more careful exhausting herself over the coming weeks and gives those closest to her a heads up. ]

I know I asked you this before [ Before: back when she'd killed a man in front of him. ] But: why are you doing this? What's the point? [ His answers back then hadn't satisfied her and she never got around to pressing him further. ] You know I have powers already. [ He'd seen them in the pit. He might not know the extent of her abilities but he knows she's got them, at least telekinesis and pyrokinesis. ]

[crossreversed]

[Chrollo isn't ready to explain this completely, and he's not sure any honest answer will satisfy Sharon without giving the complete explanation.]

Because you'll punish and kill the people who need to be killed, and I want you to have as many tools as you can do to that.

[fogsong]

[ Sharon makes a tiny noise in the back of her throat, her lips pulled to the side in a look of frustrated consideration. It looks like there might be an argument on her lips but it's gone after a sigh. ]

I'd say thanks, but... [ It's not like it was done for her. Still, it's not as if she doesn't appreciate it. Even with all the powers at her fingertips, she still feels like it's not enough. ] I should show you how I punish people one day.

[crossreversed]

[It's for Alessa more than it is Sharon. Just as The Spider was never for himself or any individual]

I'd like to see that. Do you want me to find someone for you, or do you prefer to pick them out yourself.

[Sharon reminds Chrollo of Feitan in some ways. Feitan isn't picky.]

[fogsong]

[ Sharon's silent for several beats, her demeanor cooling as she becomes much more serious. She is still working off the premise that Chrollo has no idea what she's capable of. ]

No, Chrollo. [ Slowly. ] There isn't a reason to involve someone else. It's not a typical form of punishment. It's more like... [ More like. No. ] It's Hell. And we all have our own hell in my Otherworld. Even if I included some piece of shit off the street, it wouldn't really matter because you'd still experience what it wants you to. You'd see what it wants you to.

[crossreversed]

And you have no way to prevent it from targeting people who are inside?

[Chrollo didn't experiment much with the weird dimensional power while he had her ability in his book, it seemed like a bad idea given everything else that was written in Bandit's Secret after he stole her abilities.]

You would see the things it would use to punish me, wouldn't you.

[fogsong]

No. The world forms itself around those within it. In this case, it would be the two of us. [ She wants to make it clear it'll be drawing on her as well. ]

But, yes, I'd see what it would use against you. Like you would see what it would use against me. [ She pauses. ] Does that bother you?

cw: mentions of torture, mutilation, child death

[crossreversed]

[Chrollo tilts his head back and looks up for a few moments, thinking about what hell might await him.]

I...

[What should he even say.]

I watched the video they took, and the pictures. I won't tell you what they did, and I have no doubt that any hell made for me will include things I don't want anyone to see.

I could alter your ability further, to make it exclude people, but that seems like something that would take a lot of magic.

cw: torture and monsters made of children whoops

[fogsong]

[ She worries her lower lip between her teeth in a moment of silence, brows pinched in thought. ]

I can't tell you what you'd see or wouldn't see but... It doesn't work like how you might imagine it to, Chrollo. It's not so... forward. [ She takes in a sharp breath and sways momentarily on her feet before she settles herself. ] You might see a... a version of her. You might find pieces of her. You might be hunted by monsters that remind you of the men who killed her.

Maybe you'll hear her in the streets. [ A pause ] I can stay in a safe area in the Otherworld, let you experience it on your own.

But I'd rather you not alter my ability any further. [ Oddly enough, she believes everyone she pulls in deserves to experience hell. Everyone has ghosts that haunt them, herself included, and some part of her thinks everyone deserves to see them. ]