summerdude: cover art for sword of summer (sos)
Magnus Chase ([personal profile] summerdude) wrote2023-10-24 12:34 pm

Jack Puts Me Through My Paces [open post]

"SeƱor, you really should practice more," Jack says, as Magnus rearranges his mental notes and sighs.

(Anyone else might think Magnus is just lying back on a bench on the grounds, staring at the sky, lost in thought. And technically, he is. But he's working hard!!! He's trying to sort out everyone he's encountered so far!!!)

"You're right," Magnus groans. Being in a weird Mansion with no way out, no established Battle Practice, and no pressing quests to go on is not an excuse to let his limited fighting skills fall by the wayside. He hauls himself upright and shoves his (still largely blank) notebook into his backpack.

Twenty minutes later, he's secured a practice sword from some random closet or another in the Mansion. It's dull steel, not sentient, and heavy in his hands.

"Perfect," Jack decides, so Magnus tramps back out to the spacious lawn, one sword in each hand. Checking to make sure no one is directly in harm's way, he releases Jack and brings the dull training sword up, ready to parry whatever attack Jack decides to throw at him.
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
It's too many questions all at once, and Galahad freezes -- he'd been halfway to his feet, and rather than answer Magnus he says nothing, just gives him a blank look before turning to go back to the mansion.
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
It takes him a little while to dredge up the memory of where he hid the Sword with the Red Hilt, but he remembers the general area: once inside, he's able to locate it fairly quickly.

Unlike Sagramore's two-handed greatsword, the Sword with the Red Hilt is a one-handed sidearm, lighter and more versatile (it would be called a knightsword, if Magnus had a great familiarity with old-fashioned weapons). Galahad wasn't entirely sure if it would still cleave to him the way it did when he was the Grail Knight, but it does: as with Laertes' rapier, it fits perfectly into his hand, an extension of his body.

He's no longer Laurel, and it no longer frightens him to wield it so easily. He was born to this; he's been used to this since he first came to Camelot at sixteen. He tests the weight of the Sword to make sure it feels right: it does.

To Magnus it must look very ordinary, except for the deep red leather that wraps the hilt.
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"It was Balin's before me." He tests it again, letting the blade weave in the air, then sheaths it. Unlike the scabbard for Sagramore's greatsword, this one wasn't made for the weapon. It's decent, but not a perfect fit. Galahad cocks his head at Magnus. "Do you want to?"
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Galahad nods again, and follows him.
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
He hesitates, halfway through putting the scabbard aside. He doesn't, actually, know how he does this. He never trains. It's a gift from God, this ability, and it comes to him like breathing -- his body knows what to do to and he just is.

"I think," he says cautiously, "you could start, and I'll follow."
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 09:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Till disarm?" he suggests.
onthewillowsthere: (soldier of god)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Galahad disarms him. It's over-simple because it's over-simple: the sword is his body and he knows how to act in the same way he knows to use his hands to pick something up.
onthewillowsthere: (soldier of god)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-29 10:43 pm (UTC)(link)
He nods again. The thing is, it's so easy to do this, even if it's something he's never really cared about very much. It's easy and he always knows when he's done it right; there's no guesswork. There are no questions, and no talking. It's the easiest thing he can do with another person.

He takes his stance, waiting.
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-30 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Galahad turns to meet him, and efficiently disarms him again.
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-30 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
"It's because I'm the Grail Knight." He pauses and frowns. "Was. I don't know why I still can."

He waits for a moment before realizing Magnus is waiting for him, and obligingly makes his own attack. The effect is more or less the same as the last two times. Perhaps the most notable thing is that he moves with none of Sagramore's grace; his actions are purposeful, a means to an end.
onthewillowsthere: (Default)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2023-10-30 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
It's safe to say that wasn't what he expected. The Sword with the Red Hilt is -- somewhere, and his instinct is to look for it, it's important, but the blood on Magnus' face arrests him, and he closes the space between them.

"What happened?"

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