That got a grin from Dean. [color=8dc73f][b]"You don’t say?"[/b][/color] He exchanged a nod with his spirit. [color=8dc73f][b]"No worries, that's what we’re here for. Oh and, maybe be a little more careful when you touch a [Primal Spirit] alright?"[/b][/color] Dean gave Golem another look just to be sure the little guy wasn’t showing off. Really wasn’t a good time to scare a new mage with the full appearance and might of a [Primal]. Golem swayed back and forth, looking as innocent as a sentient earth entity could. Dean shook his head and returned his attention to Yue. 

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Great…"[/color][/b]

He seemed to consider something before giving a shrug. [color=8dc73f][b]"You, uh, you’re free to ask questions if you want. I promise I’ll be the least convoluted and cryptic of any mage you could possibly meet. I’m not the most technical given that I've willingly locked myself into being a [Hedge Mage] but-"[/b][/color] A piece of jade was pulled out of his pocket and flicked around his fingers. [color=8dc73f][b]"I won't just spout bullshit just to sound smart and mystical."[/b][/color] Dean made a face that made it abundantly clear this was too common a thing. Yue’s eyes flicked up and scanned the rooftops like D might be watching this exchange, and then to Golem, then to Dean.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Primal Spirit… Primal, that’s a Primal? Walking Aetherscape shredding natural disaster shaped and brought into being by human emotion and desire Primal? That kind of Primal?"[/color][/b] She asked with a note of not insignificant alarm.

[color=8dc73f][b]"Ah, right. Final Odyssey. Well, yes and no. There is a Primal for every element or aspect of nature and they [i]can[/i] become problems and great disasters. That's why Stewards, like myself, keep eyes on some of them. Some Primals will bind themselves to people though and that can get messy. It all really depends on which Spirit holds the mantle of primal for its given element, the people involved, and a lot of other junk."[/b][/color] Dean motioned down to Golem, who seemed to be content to waddle alongside the two. [color=8dc73f][b]"Golem here, like a lot of earth spirits, is slow to act and fairly docile. That and golems are natural protectors in stories, so his disposition is very ideal. Not the case for other Primals though. Fire, Lightning, and Force are almost always universally [i]intense[/i] and hard to truly keep a hold of."[/b][/color]

Letting her digest that for a second, Dean was a tad nervous since most mages didn’t always react well to realizing the cute spirit they were seeing was in fact the living embodiment of the earth and its power . . . while also being underground.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Huh,"[/color][/b] Yue grunted with interest, tilting her head at the creature. [b][color=#CE2B95]"It’s [i]cute…[/i] in kind of an irrationally disarming way,"[/color][/b] she observed, scratching her chin. [b][color=#CE2B95]"I… honestly would have imagined, I don’t know… an enormous, monstrous, walking craggy mountain with broken canyons for facial features and cloven boulders for hands- what’s [i]that[/i]?"[/color][/b] Yue asked, pointing at the jade piece as her gaze tracked it.

Yue’s eyes flooded with luminous amber, and her pupils stretched with sharp interest as a ripple of silver traveled across her temples and down her spine. She shivered, and seemed to be lost in a moment before she jerked herself out of it with a flinch. The energy faded out of her gaze as she blinked and flicked her eyes up at Dean.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Whoa…"[/color][/b]

Okay, maybe it was a good thing Golem was playing up the cute. The little guy was shaking in a way that indicated laughter. Dean looked at his piece of jade then back to Yue. seeing the look on her face, she probably had taken a peek. [color=8dc73f][b]"Oh, this?"[/b][/color] He held up the piece with two fingers. It was much larger than the one he had given Ash. more akin to a silver dollar and much thicker. [color=8dc73f][b]" Tell me what you see first. I’ll explain, but I'm curious what it looks like to the newly initiated."[/b][/color]

Yue raised an eyebrow, and then paused in her stride to look closely at the object. Amber flickered through her gaze, but she squeezed the corner of her barrier medallion into her palm to help ground her in real-time. Focusing made her squint against, not just the brilliance of the object, but the other sparks of [Light] seemingly speckled beneath Dean’s clothes.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Smells sweet, like caramel?"[/color][/b] Yue mentioned, crinkling her nose a little at the sheer weight of the phantom scent. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Green glow. [i]Bright[/i]. Patterns of lines, like a complex Venn Diagram, burning text in a language I can’t read. A nexus of [i]Light[/i] at the center, moving like electricity through a circuit,"[/color][/b] she explained, pausing and searching for words for a moment as waves of Silver sheen pulsed across her temples.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"It’s vibrating. Heavy: I can feel it pressing against my skin from here. It’s… kind of uncomfortable, like being touched by a stranger. Your clothes are glowing too, like thermal hot spots,"[/color][/b] she explained, indicating a pocket, and pointing out a patch and a badge on his jacket. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Big one here, kinda drowns out the other lights,"[/color][/b] Yue pointed at his jacket, probably at an inside breast pocket. After a pause she reached out and gently brushed a fingertip against the jade piece. It rang low like a crystal bell and she tilted her head back and forth for a moment.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Alto,"[/color][/b] she commented, without explaining.

Well, she definitely was aware of all his charms, trinkets and mana reservoirs. After getting a better [look] at it and hearing Yue’s description, Dean felt confident he knew what he was dealing with. Who knew all those lessons on the more rare and extreme cases of affinity would actually be relevant? A whistle escaped his lips. [color=8dc73f][b]" Never imagined I’d see Swordsong myself, can only imagine what you would be capable of with one of these."[/b][/color] He  considered Yue’s words for a moment before pocketing the coin; what followed was him tapping a few of his pins and patches in a specific sequence. A few mana arrays began overlaying him and dulling each signature significantly. [color=8dc73f][b]"That any better?"[/b][/color]

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Yes, actually,"[/color][/b] Yue frowned for a second, blinking rapidly to clear the artifacts out of her sight. [b][color=#CE2B95]"You know what it is then? Starting to feel like I’m the only one who has no idea what’s happening,"[/color][/b] she muttered, kicking a stone aggressively and forgetting about the jade piece for a moment. It sparked as it caromed off a steel beam reinforcing one of the buildings they were walking past and sailing off into the distance somewhere over the settlement wall. She grunted with a small note of annoyance.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Something… [i]someone[/i] told me recently is bothering me,"[/color][/b] she mentioned, slipping her hand into her legging pocket and touching the blank business card. For a moment she thought to show it to Dean before she reconsidered and folded her arms.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"’Gods are narcissists, and Mages are liars. Both of them have intentions for me. If it seems like everyone around me is one or the other, it’s safe to assume there’s a reason for that, and that reason won’t care about me personally,’"[/color][/b] she paraphrased D’s words. [b][color=#CE2B95]"I’ve… only just learned about the magic world and… that seems to ring more true than I would like."[/color][/b]

He mulled over her words for maybe a minute. [color=8dc73f][b]"Kind of a stupid statement. Everyone under the sun is a liar to some extent. If gods weren’t narcissists we wouldn’t have half the stories we do. Granted some gods are spirits that have been primal in the past so there's a reason for that. AND us mages basically live in a secret world, our entire society is built on lies and secrecy to not have mass witch trials again or accidentally have everyone and their mothers know magic and throw the world and its trigger happy governments into a super-magic-techno apocalypse."[/b][/color] Dean raised an eyebrow and gave Yue a look. [color=8dc73f][b]"You're a mage too now, so technically you were insulted to your face by the way."[/b][/color]

Yue blinked. She hadn’t really considered that being dropped into this secret world made her a “Mage.”

He leaned his head back to gaze up at the plate high above. [color=8dc73f][b]"As for me, I don’t know. I’m a Steward to the Primal Spirit of Earth living underground, enjoying my best life. Can’t really say I have any intentions for you other than making sure you're safe and that you and Alex don’t unintentionally ghost one another again. Though that was mostly on him."[/b][/color] He began leading her back towards Alex and his place, though the route was more private then the one Alex had used previously.

[b][color=#CE2B95]"Yeah, that kinda happened at a bad time,"[/color][/b] she muttered in a somber tone.

[color=8dc73f][b]"I [promise] to be plain with you. Know that [i]that[/i] is binding for me in a very literal sense. Things are new, you're in the deep end and people haven’t been doing a good job keeping you from drowning it seems. Let’s just, make things simpler going forward yeah?"[/b][/color] 

[b][color=#CE2B95]"[i]Please[/i],"[/color][/b] she sighed with a note of exasperation. [b][color=#CE2B95]"If [i]one more[/i] ‘guardian angel’ pops out of the woodwork to speak to me in riddles I might kick a building down,"[/color][/b] she grunted, rubbing her temples.

[color=8dc73f][b]"Just say the word and I’ll bury them up to their neck for an hour or two.[/b][/color] If it wasn’t before, it was very apparent that Dean shared similar feelings and sentiments. Golem “clapped” their hands together, eager at the mention of burying someone annoying.