Practical Fact-Checking

[Knot]

"How do you see Fate and Time then?" He asks. "I get that you're more... practical applications focused than theoretical, but there's some therory behind it right? What does the Arrow teach about them?" There was no way, he thought, that they just saw them as weapons. "I was, probably not suprisingly, taught that Time is a book, or in some cases a vast clock that we can earn the key for. It's all very... inorganic." He pauses. "Mechanistic? Hmm. Time is more about syncing yourself up with the clock or the turn of the page, while Fate is messier, more organic. Everything is strings and it's about pulling the right one in the right place at the right time. Life is oddly inorganic too, very... I guess catalogued would be the best way to say it."

Well how was that for an odd bit of insight? He'd have to look into that someday.

"No, you come off... guarded. I can't tell if it's because of me or something else." He shrugs. It's not, in the grand scheme of things, all that important. "But yeah." Knot gives a meaningless gesture. "Greek's totally a respectable well to draw on for inspiration. What was your Actaeon, if you don't mind me asking?"

[Hamia]

"I wouldn't have expected that." she admits. "That sounds like something I should look into, if you're right." If Life is really as structured as he says, it would fit right into her play book.

"But Time and Fate, for me? Time is control. It's planning made... perfect, I guess. It lets me know what to expect and I can wield it like a knife. Fate is a last-ditch effort, though. It's what I turn to when I'm out of options. When planning fails." She shakes her head. "I know that's not much of a philosophy. And, honestly, being an Arrow is more about 'being an Arrow' than how you view schools of magic. Everything just kind of falls into the same categories. Self-mastery. Adaptability. Service. Whatever you happen to be good at just gets applied to make those things real."

It takes her a moment to remember the story behind Artemis and Actaeon. She'd read up on it after Lacuna proposed the idea. Oh God.. she hadn't arranged for anyone to die, but there definitely had been someone.

"It's not you." she finally says. "There are just... things I'm dealing with."

[Knot]

Knot shrugs! "It's how I was taught at least. Maybe you'll learn it different from someone else, or figure it out on your own in a way that makes sense for you. There's not a wrong way to learn it, as long as you're learning it." To Knot, it always felt like the next step in any Arcana was always out of reach until he had a firm grasp on the potential of what he already could accomplish. The universe was a very complex box and you had to keep messing with the layers you could touch until you mastered them, at which point your barriers dissolved and you had an entire new layer to come to understand.

"Well. Good thing you're Awaken then, isn't it?" He asks. He wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to talk about the things she was dealing with or not, and it seemed pushy to try and figure it out while he was taking notes. "Gives you the tools to deal with pretty much anything, if you can figure out how."

[Hamia]

In spite of a whole mess of issues, Hamia doesn't mind the conversation. Knot is pleasant and insightful. And he hasn't invaded her space in the slightest. "No, I'm good with the explanation you gave. It really clicks with me." she smiles lightly. "I spend so much time face-to-face with obstacles... Life would be a pretty good investment. If I can approach it directly, like a set of instructions or something, it could have all sorts of benefits."

Her smile she follows with is a sad one. "All the 'cosmic wisdom' in the world can't substitute for therapy. You can know the 'how' and the 'why' of everything, but it doesn't really make you feel better about it." The Enchantress decides, in that moment, that emotions are pretty awful distractions. She wishes she could shut them down completely. Without drugs. Taking a pill might take the edge off things, but it also dulls her senses. Anathema for an Awakened living in a constant state of war.

Looking for a way to change the subject, she deflects the focus back to him. "What about you? How does your Order mesh with what you've learned. On... our Path?"

[Hamia]

Hamia and Knot talk for a bit, and then Hamia politely escorts him from the Arrow's Tower.