C. D. - character development

Leslie
I laughed. So the guy had a sense of humor!
"I'm actually quite young for my kind," I told him. "I know some demons who are a couple thousand years old. Angels age at much of the same rate."

"My species live to about 70," explains Ventrix. "Other humans also age at a similar rate."

Leslie
"Hehe, I know," I said. "I've been living amongst humans for most of my life. I've seen generations go by, watched school friends grow and become grandparents...placed a few flowers on their graves." I frowned. "It's such a pity that you humans are capable of death."

"It could be worse," says Ventrix. "Death is pretty tame compared to some fates."

Andrew sighed, "Ya got a room full of angels...what am I going to do?"

Leslie
"True enough, I suppose," I agreed. "Still, sometimes it can hurt when I think about all the friends I've lost. But that's life, eh?" I shrugged.

Aria
"Hell if I know," I told him. "Again, I'm just being cautious. I like to be prepared for anything."

"Really? I bet your friend over here would have me pinned down in two seconds flat," said Andrew, pointing to Ezekiel.
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"Death is cruel," said Ezra, looking away.

"But so is life," said Liz pointly.

Aria
"I'm just making sure that..." I caught myself. "Never you mind!"

Leslie
"Hrmf," I said. "Death is only cruel to those who are left behind. But it also depends on how strong the people who get left behind are, I guess. And life may not necessarily be cruel; it just depends on the hand fate deals you."

"True, Andrew's one of the strong ones...he hasn't gone insane even though he's been dead for nintey-nine years." said Liz.
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"Making sure of what?"

Leslie
"Been around for nintey-nine years," I said. "Boo-hoo. Again, I've been around for 525."

Aria
"I told you, never you mind!" I snapped.

"But it's diffrent for you...people can hear you, see you, talk to you...Andrew didn't have any of that...till we came along."
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"Why can't you tell me?" asked Andrew, cocking his head to he side.

Leslie
"But I still had to hide who I was," I said. "And I still had to move whenever I was compromised. And I still had to watch my friends die. Plus, it was really just dumb luck that Andrew didn't run into any other ghosts. There are plenty of them wandering around..."

Aria
"Because it's none of your business," I told him.

"I know....too many," said Ezra.

"I think he did but most are a little..." said Liz, makimg the crazy sign by her head.

"But he is nuts!" laughed Ezra, which earned him a glare from Liz.

"So your friend Andrew is a..." Ventrix utters a string of gutturals. "Is he? Apparently he died a cowardly death? That would explain why he never found his way to the Halls of Hrengist."

"He didn't die a cowardly death....he died of hypothermia because the ship sank." shot Liz.
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"Tell me."

Aria
"Fine, if it'll get you to shut up," I snapped. "I need to be prepared for anything, like shadows or flickers."

"Shadows? Flickers? Who are they?"

gh3325 wrote:"He didn't die a cowardly death....he died of hypothermia because the ship sank." shot Liz.
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"Tell me."

"Oh. How odd." Ventrix frowns. "That doesn't make sense at all."

Dan:
I yawn and look at tiny Kiera on my shoulder. "Are we gonna save Andrew or not?" I ask her.

Kiera:
I shrug, "How should I know" I squeak.

Leslie
"Where do you think I'm leading you, kid?" I asked as we walked. "I've been following his scent all this time."

Aria
"Well see, kid," I explained, still annoyed, "the reason that angels and demons are immortal is because their spirits can exist outside their bodies. Demon essences are called wraiths, and angel essences are called spectres. Wraiths and spectres can interact with things in the Upper and Lower Worlds as much as ghosts can, but they can't touch anything in the Middle World. Just like ghosts--which, in case you haven't guessed by now, are human essences. In most cases, ghosts leave the material world when their bodies die. But when the body of an angel or demon dies, the spectre or wraith remains. He or she can then return to the World he or she came from, recreate his or her body, and go about his or her merry way.
"However, in some rare events...wraiths and spectres have, for various reasons, jumped into living but unconcious human bodies. The body's gotta be living, or else it can't be occupied. And the essence that owns the body has to be asleep, or the invading essence won't be able to control the body. So anyway, the wraith or spectre does whatever it needs to, and it jumps out to reconstruct and regain its own form. But its influence has rubbed off, on both the ghost and the body. It transforms the human, creating something halfway between either human and angel, or human and demon. Transformed humans created from the influence of wraiths are called shadows, and transformed humans created from the influence of spectres are called flickers. We don't really know too much about them, or what they can do... I can only think of a few instances where it's ever happened. The shadows and flickers ended up dying, too, for various reasons..."

Kiera:
I interrup David mid sentance squeaking, "You said smell," I tell Leslie, "How can you smell someone who is dead, like Andrew?"

"She's a demon...what do you expect?" said Ezra, growing bored.

Leslie
"I don't smell his body," I explained. "I smell his spirit. Essence. But I can smell physical things, too, of course. It wouldn't be evolutionarily sound if I couldn't!"

"What do I smell like?" asked Ezra.

David:
Puzzled I say, "You believe in evolution?"

(I also believe in evolution but there is no evolution in Palamon. Elves were created from pure magic by the gods, trolls made from stone same as orcs and goblins, dwarves from iron, humans from clay, and dragons from the pure essence and soul of fire)