Antecedents

Killian Waltz slooowly makes his way upstairs, accompanied by the sound of his cane against the steps, used again as a method of support rather than a guide. Fortunately his escort seems patient with his sedate pace! By the time he gets to the top, he's in the process of restraining a soft cough into a handkerchief, which he tucks away as he's lead into the library. "Father Salem?"

Nathaniel Salem turns his head in the newcomers' direction; lightly bent over a large tome penned in aetherial ink, he smiles, and finally pushes himself away from the reading desk. "Waltz."
Nathaniel Salem: "It felt as though you needed me. An issue with the bracelet?"
Nathaniel Salem: "Are you still ill?"

Killian Waltz appears about as ill as expected, and sounds it too with a low, coarse voice; indeed, he looks like he ought to be in bed rather than paying anyone a visit. "Um, no, not the bracelet, and--aye, I'm still sick, but I'll be fine. It's just--ah...I was hoping to speak with ya in private. And--I forgot about it before, with all the people."

Nathaniel Salem keeps his staff in one hand, the focus held as a scepter the kings of eld used to carry, than a walking aide. "...The Flare sees little to no traffic on Firesday," he explains. "Come closer. Just eight steps."
Nathaniel Salem plants the end of the staff to his right, patient. "You can talk freely here."

Killian Waltz does step closer, although he seems reluctant to get /too/ close. He speaks slowly, as though struggling to find the proper words. "Um, I was speaking with Jancis a few suns ago, because--when I knew her before, tings were...a bit different," he says vaguely. "And she made it sound like--I should talk to ya about it. But I'm not sure how much of it matters, since ya didn't know me before and ye've been making yer examinations on how I am now, rather than comparatively..."

Nathaniel Salem places a free hand on the edge of the surface as Killian approaches him, placid. He looks at him up and down, lidded eyes curious. A frown suggests he's eager for the man to move on. "Things were different."
Nathaniel Salem: "Did you forget to mention aetherial antecedents?"

Killian Waltz: "Er--aye...sort of. But--I dunno what they are. Aside from--uh, me brand, the--Bayle mark, I mean."

Nathaniel Salem: "...You don't know what they are," he articulates.
Nathaniel Salem: "And what is /that/ supposed to mean?"

Killian Waltz clears his throat quietly; it's hard to tell if this is because of nerves or just incidental as a result of his illness. "It means I dunno. I dunno what happened, or--what the effects were, exactly. It was..." He trails off, struggling again to find the words.
Killian Waltz: "I--dunno--did Jancis tell ya anyting about me?" he asks instead.

Nathaniel Salem: "Waltz, you don't want me to /make you/ speak."
Nathaniel Salem: "You know my time is precious. Act like it."

Killian Waltz 's expression hardens. "The question is relevant," he says by way of reply.

Nathaniel Salem: "To her, you are charming, helpful, and capable. Now speak."

Killian Waltz: "I am speaking. I didn't know if she mentioned anyting about--who me parents were...I wasn't sure where to begin." Despite his evident weariness, Killian straightens his posture to make full use of what would be an impressive height if not for the fact that his counterpart stands as his equal in that regard. "I'm--half-Garlean," he murmurs quietly. "And when I was...with me father, I underwent...I'm not sure. I was kept sedated, so I don't remember it very well."

Killian Waltz: "But it changed tings...physical tings, like me body temperature is much warmer than it used to be. And aetherial tings, like how teleporting affects me, or the way me aetherial affliction affected me."

Nathaniel Salem listens attentively, statuesque. The hand on the table also stays in place, though only after the metallic claws rake the surface. His grip around his elevated staff tightens. "Were you part of a military project? Or was this business infinitely personal."

Killian Waltz continues to stand stiffly straight, his expression a hard, blank mask now. "I dunno. The only ting I was told about was an experimental procedure that was...supposed to heal me eyes. I suppose everyting else was deliberately kept secret from me."

Nathaniel Salem looks back to the grimoire, head turning ever so slightly. His earrings chime as he does and break the silence, though the moment was long to pass.
Nathaniel Salem: "We'll have to take new measures, then."

Nathaniel Salem: "I do not want you keeping things from me again," He lifts his hand off the table, checking the marks on it with a frown.
Nathaniel Salem: "I will also need your father's name, should you still have it."
Nathaniel Salem: "It's a miracle that you are capable of aetherial prowess as is."

It takes Killian a long moment to process Nathanel's words before he speaks the first thought that comes to mind: "Ye'll--ya still want--to help me?"

Nathaniel Salem: "Why wouldn't I?" He closes the book, and sends it away with a flick of his wrist, the gesture magical in nature. It puts itself back in place, where it belongs.

Killian Waltz: "Because...ach, I--shouldn't question it. Me father's name--at the time I left--was Cyrus lux Merulus...but he might have changed positions since then. And I--why is it a miracle that I can spellcast? Because of me father, or the--procedures?"

Nathaniel Salem: "Blood, first and foremost. These procedures," He adds, turning, a little to face the man. He moves about to browse more tomes, busying himself: "Might have enhanced, or shifted your abilities on a permanent basis."

Nathaniel Salem: "Waltz, pray tell, are you affiliated with any of the Grand Companies? If so, have you participated in the Gyr Abanian campaigns?"

Killian Waltz: "I--...aye, I was affiliated with the Twin Adders and with Ishgard, although I don't work for either now, outside of commissions." Killian shifts uncomfortably. "I acted as a field medic as the Alliance pushed for Ala Mhigo."

Nathaniel Salem: "During the liberation, were the mages of your unit ever demanded in the palace?"

Killian Waltz: "No...not that I know of. Why?"

Nathaniel Salem: "...The Eorzean Alliance demanded consultations from arcanists, conjurers and thaumaturges in a small quantity then. Garlond's men also loitered about. The Empire had been in Ala Mhigo long enough to establish rooms after rooms of test for corporal and aetherial exploration."

Nathaniel Salem: "We found men, Garleans and Eorzeans alike, in boxes, dead for the most part, or mutated beyond physical and or aetherial recognition."

Nathaniel Salem: "Your father was a medicus, and a leader of men, as small as his command may have been. I have very little doubt that his study on your being was tied directly or indirectly to Garlean projects. Scholarly military men of the Empire rarely keep their findings to themselves. Or at least not until they're certain that the thesis is worth a promotion or two."

Nathaniel Salem: "I'll check the Gyr Abanian reports, and compare them to my own study of your aetherial inclinations. Let's hope for your own sake that there is little no parallels there."

Killian Waltz lowers his gaze. "Me father was interested in the...work that was done there. But I have no idea if he was able to even acquire the research to reproduce any such experiments, or the funding for it."

Nathaniel Salem: "I won't pass up an opportunity to study Garlean activity. Not when it could give us a considerable advantage on something we know so little about."
Nathaniel Salem: "The way they corrupt the gift of magic alone makes my blood boil."

Killian Waltz: "Aye, well, I came out of it more aetherially powerful than before, among other tings. I don't tink anyting was--corrupted."
Killian Waltz: "I never cast magic while I was with me father. I suppose everyone just tought that I couldn't, or didn't care to ask."

Nathaniel Salem: "It isn't corrupted in nature, when observed and practiced. But it is, in its horrible principle and concept, something done in defiance of the Gods. The people of the Garlean Empire could not stand the fact that magic was refused to them."
Nathaniel Salem: "To reproduce it with machines with veins of ceruleum, and change a man's very core in the name of progress is monstrous."

Nathaniel Salem: "How long ago was that?"

Killian Waltz: "Is that--what they do?" Killian obviously seems uncomfortable with this idea, having been personally involved. "Um--it was--near the...beginning of this last turn. I was there for a few moons."

Nathaniel Salem: "...Do you /frequently/ return to see your blood?"

Killian Waltz: "No. I only learned about him last turn. And...only when I...I just wanted to be able to see me children," Killian murmurs. "But I'd exhausted all me options here, so me wife--er, at the time--encouraged me to try to find him, to figure out if maybe he could help." Killian shifts his weight again from one foot to the other.

Killian Waltz: "He has--sent people after me since, but not this far away."

Nathaniel Salem: "...We're not that far 'here', from the Empire's perspective. They still claw at every border, something I'm sure you know." He keeps his free hand at his side, relaxing, just a touch: "If you are indeed a precious subject, I can see why he wouldn't want to lose sight of you."

Nathaniel Salem: "You have children?"

Killian Waltz: "Well, the last time he found me, I was--" Killian cuts off abruptly as he belatedly processes the question of his children, his expression clouding over. "I--did. They're with their mother now. Somewhere."

Nathaniel Salem: "If you were to learn more about their whereabouts, would you go to them?"

Killian Waltz looks up at Nathaniel in response to this, the want in his features impossible to deny even with his strangely mild mannerisms. "Aye," he says without hesitation. "But...I doubt I'd be allowed. Their mother wants noting to do with me. Me only real hope in that regard is--to find a cure, so that if they decide they want to find me when they're old enough, I'll still be alive."

Nathaniel Salem: "Doubt is enough not to go. That; and I forbid you to. Especially considering they could be used as leverage by a man
who wants everything to do with you." He adds, sharp. "I need you focused on this life you have here. If an impassioned act leads you to depart abruptly, without my knowledge and without my consent, I'll consider us through."

Nathaniel Salem: "You're lucky we're still early in the proceedings. The weight of the information given today could've shattered my entire study, if mentioned later."
Nathaniel Salem: "Is there anything I should know? An aetherial mishap in your underpants? A voidsent in your right ear?" He adds, thoroughly displeased.

Killian Waltz 's expression falters, and his shoulders droop a little. He lowers his gaze again, staring off at nothing in particular. He doesn't seem to recognize Nathaniel's displeasure, nor the sarcastic nature of his questions. "I would tink ya accomplished enough that voidsent possession is rather more...total than an ear, and that ye'd probably be able to tell, regardless."

Nathaniel Salem: "You're correct. So do not cheat again. I come to know all things, in time."

Killian Waltz: "Cheat? I wasn't trying to hide it from ya. If I was, why would I come and tell ya?"

Nathaniel Salem: "You were /careless/."

Nathaniel Salem: "This is your own life you are toying with. I'll keep my knowledge of your heritage to myself, as I do with most of my patients."
Nathaniel Salem: "But I'd like you to be more... Attentive."

Killian Waltz: "To what?"

Nathaniel Salem: "To your own needs. To your own being. That next time, you are able to tell a man charged of curing you what /he needs to know/."
Nathaniel Salem: "Can you do that?"

Killian Waltz: "I dunno what ya need to know. Ye've been examining me as I am, aye? Doesn't that tell ya what ya need to know?"

Nathaniel Salem: "It would, if the basis had been a /normal/ aetherial imprint in the first place," he sounds like he is losing patience. "You are an anomaly, Waltz. I've met you as such, and I have no idea what you went through. As far as I was concerned, you were born this way; with this imprint. Until now."

Nathaniel Salem: "I need to know as much as possible about the trials you have faced. The volatile nature of your aether does not make anything readable. At least not comfortably."

Nathaniel Salem: "We will see each other for a long time, Waltz. Help me help you."
Nathaniel Salem takes a few steps in his direction. "Do you understand?"

Killian Waltz: "I've always been sick--that hasn't changed. I dunno--I dunno what he did, or what he changed. I was--stronger, aetherially, and better at...I dunno...assessing dangers, responding to them. I don't have that much information to give ya." Killian turns his head to watch Nathaniel again as the man approaches, his brow furrowed in a vaguely frustrated expression.

Nathaniel Salem lets out an audible sigh, and finally pinches the bridge of his nose, "...What you said was enough. Opens a few door for the research. Who knows, might even make things faster."
Nathaniel Salem: "These suns have not been kind to me, Waltz."

Killian Waltz blinks a few times, surprised to hear the words. It seems to completely disarm or at least distract him from his frustration. "They--haven't?"

Nathaniel Salem: "...No." He simply says, with mild frustration. "I hiss, but it's all I ever do. Do not mind me."

Nathaniel Salem: "I'll find new material, in time. You can be helped, without a doubt."

Killian Waltz: "I'm--sorry," Killian says, genuine but also a little confused. "I don't understand. Ye're--not hissing...'new material?' I'm--not sure what this means in regards to the suns not being kind to ya."

Nathaniel Salem: "I had already moved on with the topic, Waltz. The new material concerns you. If your aether has been tempered with, I'll need to look into it."

Nathaniel Salem: "...I'll get in touch with the Flames for it," he explains. "Is there anything else?"

Killian Waltz: "Well, I'm not moved on with it. Ya needn't concern yerself with me health if ye're dealing with yer own troubles." Earnest again, without the confusion this time, his earlier frustration forgotten.

Nathaniel Salem looks in Killian's direction after a pause. "I'll concern myself over anything and everything if it so pleases me. I believe we already had this talk," he begins, "I am to help you. This is not an option; this is something I chose to do. We have an agreement, you and I, as informal as it may be. It is not something I wish to postpone."

Nathaniel Salem: "You take time and energy out of me, Waltz. But not as much as you think."
Nathaniel Salem: "If I can not handle something, you will be the first to know. Yes?"

Killian Waltz: "I just don't want yer helping me to be at yer expense," Killian murmurs. "Ye're working for noting as it is. I would rather lessen the burden if I can."

Nathaniel Salem: "You can't." The man shows teeth, articulate and final.
Nathaniel Salem: "For now, I am simply asking for your consideration /without/ intrusion. If you really want to serve me, continue to study that plague further North."

Killian Waltz withrdaws a little at this, his expression once again blanking into a mask. "Of course," he murmurs simply in response.
Nathaniel Salem seems to soften at that, after a lengthy pause: "...Many things corrupt our world and the hearts of men, Waltz. This is something you know."

Nathaniel Salem: "Educated. Gifted. Strong. Eorzea would lament the loss of such a man, and Eorzea would celebrate his ascension, and his recovery."
Nathaniel Salem: "Do not tell me that I work for nothing ever again. I know what holds value; I know what doesn't."

Nathaniel Salem: "You,"

Nathaniel Salem: "Are not /nothing/."

Killian Waltz: "That's--very kind of ya to say, Father Salem," Killian eventually cedes. He has the good grace not to argue, at least.

Nathaniel Salem inhales and exhales, then straightens his back.
Nathaniel Salem: "I have business in Kugane in just a bell. I need to go."
Nathaniel Salem: "Will you be all right on your own? Should I fetch someone?"

Killian Waltz frowns. "I can get about on me own just fine. Tank ya for speaking with me."

Nathaniel Salem: "Perfect, then."

Nathaniel Salem: "Nald'thal's utmost blessings, Waltz. You're going to need them."

Killian Waltz: "Be safe on yer business, Father Salem," Killian says by way of reply.

Nathaniel Salem disappears.