Fantasy The Passage of Time

[Kazehana]

Please note that posting will not begin until I specify so in the OOC. Thank you!
​

The Known History of the Ancients​

After being imprisoned for a thousand years, the temporal ritual on a collection of magical humans has expired, thrusting them forward through an anomaly known as the Passage of Time. A collection of all ages, these people were placed into the modern age without any indication of what they've missed. The time-locked region occupies a large portion of a well-known park in a large city. The ancient flora and peculiar animals immediately caught the attention of mass media, spreading the story and mystery across the globe within days. The ancients humans scattered either out of fear, confusion, or instinct.

In the weeks to come, sightings of magic took public interest by storm, quickly alerting the mages that their practice was no longer heard of in their current time. Their memories clouded by the Passage of Time, the ancients could not be certain of their status or safety, causing some to lash out at anyone who tried to get near. The government quickly took over considering their volatile nature, actively searching for and reprimanding any and all ancients by any means necessary.

With no time to waste, any and all information that could be gathered was performed using the top research facilities. Books were consulted, ancients were observed, and technology was innovated. Within a month, a majority of the classified information was leaked regarding the progress they had made. It was now public knowledge of their origins and nature, though information could not be confirmed to be entirely accurate. Using this knowledge, the government has begun to develop tools they might be able to use to combat the magic of the ancients.

Without the proper control, they could not be sure they could prevent a civil war or worse, a mutiny over their positions as head of state. This sort of uncertainty and lack of control would not fly under this government's jurisdiction.

The only confirmed facts about the ancients was their ability to form pacts with non-magical people. If a pact was formed, the two involved would be spiritually tethered by red strings of fate. This allowed the mage to increase their power and the non-mage human to have protection. However, if this pact was made, the mage was bound to the lifeforce of the human, making this a last resort for the majority of the ancients.

Even so, a few opted to take this last resort as a means to protect themselves from the onslaught of threats posed to them in the modern world. The humans who were able to land pacts with the ancients quickly became the most powerful and influential aristocrats on the continent. The government retaliated by offering a reward to anyone who could successfully eliminate all ancients not tethered to a single person: their freedom from governmental persecution and to live their lives without constant pressure and fear. If this was not completed within the next quarter year, the government would have to take the matters into their own hands, though they did not specify how. While the rationale of the offer was in question given the particular details they included, it was effective in creating panic nonetheless.

Shortly after this announcement, those who had already created a pact became frantic considering their lives were now at stake. Those ancients who had achieved full power through the pact now became a threat to their peers, as they would be able to easily eliminate any ancient without a pact or just as detrimental, force their hand. On the other hand, the war among tethered ancients was much more volatile and destructive, often leaving chaos in their wake.

As more and more ancients were subject to forced pacts, the rules became more clear. Each ancient could only be bound to one human, but any given human could form pacts with an unknown limit. Each ancient is limited to a specific field of magic that makes them unique among their peers. There are 50 known ancients to exist, with the 3 most influential and powerful, known as elders, to be uncaptured and largely unknown.

While some were able to escape with their lives, 4 ancients have been reported to be eliminated, and 23 are currently under pact with a human since the government announcement a month ago. The elders are all currently untethered and alive, leaving 20 other ancients to be untethered alongside them. The highest known number of ancients tethered to a single human is 3.

OOC --- CS​

 

[Kazehana]

June, Midday, Friday​

A beautiful day, clouds skittered across the horizon as if fleeing the open blue skies above. The sun continued its quest to heat up the city, its rays warm and inviting to those who went with less clothing, even a swimsuit if the beach could entice its victims. The time dictated that most would be out to lunch, ready to relax in the middle of their day. What no one knew was that this day would go down in infamy rather than in rosy retrospection of relaxation and joy.


Caroline waved off the waitress for the second time as she waited for Aaron to meet her at his favorite restaurant. She had no idea what he did during the daytime, mostly because she never asked. As she tapped her fingers sequentially on the table, she stared out into the window beside her in hopes that it would make him come faster.

Aaron, on the other hand, was practically sprinting once he glanced at the bell tower during his very unproductive day. Once he arrived, her threw the doors open and made a b-line for her table, sitting down and sliding across the booth without slowing his velocity. Once seated, he took a few deep breaths before he spoke. "So, how was your day so far?"

"Oh, you know, same-ol' job with the same-ol' computers. You?" "Oh it's been very nice so far," he replied, hoping to avoid a light scolding for being late. "I found a pond in the park today, so I spent a lot of time this morning."

"Really? I thought you had found every inch of that park by now! You basically live there when you're not at home," she retorted, smiling lightly. "Oh yes, I had thought so too. But life is full of surprises!" he chirped, still hoping that he was in the clear.


Once they had left the restaurant, he pulled her to see the pond with him with the remainder of her free time. "look! There are even a few ducks here!" he cheered, very proud of his find. "Oh yes, they really are quite lovely," she responded, mostly to mirror his enthusiasm. "Oh, and here is a good tree for climbing if you ever feel the urge," he continued, walking over to his new favorite spot. He perched himself on the lowest branch and stared at the rippling water, delighted with life.

While Caroline couldn't relate to a life of serenity, she was happy for her friend and allowed him to bask in the largest patch of nature in the city.This weekend, she planned to take him out of the buildings and roads and into the nature preserve she found outside of her little bubble of a city.

With her time almost up, she bid him a farewell and began her stroll back to work.

 

[The Fabulous Emerald]

Meanwhile, a couple of hours prior on the beach, a somewhat small crowd had gathered around the workout area on the beach. It was normal for a guy or two to be using them, but this was different. The man himself was famous around these parts, after all.

Seamus didn't really mind - he was almost used to the attention by now being who he was. He had decided to come to the outdoors workout area since the day was nice, and it would be a shame to waste it in the gym that his boss/manager owns. There was a nice breeze from the ocean, too, which was nice. It reminded him of the time he had first been approached by his manager in this very spot - he was using the same workout bench, in fact. Seamus smiles as he remembers the manager complimenting him on his strength, and his stamina. If only he knew that he was holding back to not seem suspicious and blow the minds of the easily impressed humans...still, it was better no-one knew. He recalls the moment when the manager offered him a job - somewhat close to his heart, he found boxing was. It was essentially the same as arena fighting, except with a few more rules or in many cases, with rules to begin with. With his talents for fighting, and the fact he was strong enough that he had to hold back his punches so that he doesn't seem suspicious on television, he soon climbed up the ranks in the boxing tournament he was recommended to enter.

And here he was now - a minor league boxing champion. He didn't want to risk going up into major just in case someone did some in-depth snooping, and the money he got while defending his belt was good enough for him. While the manager saw a major league champion before him, he completely understood the decision that Seamus had made - of course he was given a different reason, but still a fairly valid reason. After an hour or so of what workout he could manage in-between a few autographs and pictures (he may only be a minor league champion, but he's still a champion from the hometown as the crowd is. He's more of a local sports hero than anything else) he decided to go for a stroll - the heat was starting to get to him anyways.

Seamus decided that instead of going back to the little apartment he called home, he would relax for the rest of the day. It wouldn't do his muscles good if he over-worked himself, after all. As a result, he decided to take a long and slow stroll down the local park. He enjoyed watching the ducks in the pond going about their business, and the birds in the trees flying around. As such, he decided to sit and relax on one of the benches next to the pond.

Kazehana

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie forked over some money to a shopkeeper, "Yeah I have to wear this," he said when the shopkeeper asked him about his clothes and mask, just like everyone did, "I have a contagious skin condition, my parents said I should wear this when I go out cause it covers me all up and stops people from catching it, besides I like how it looks!" He didn't really know what a 'contagious skin disease' meant but he knew it gave him an excuse to wear his outfit. Charlie was handed over the snack item and left them small corner shop, he'd become quite fond of sweets ever since he ended up here- Initially Charlie didn't really know what to do when he found himself in this situation. But he knew that if he was going to survive he needed money, problem was that he couldn't find his mother anywhere- he couldn't even find anyone he knew. So without a job Charlie thought there was only one way to make money: to steal. He laughed to himself as he looked at the couple of shiny coins he had used telekinesis to lift out of the shopkeepers pocket and placed them in his pocket.

He'd been using his telekinetic powers subtly to pickpocket for a while now, he had steadily become better at it but a lot of attempts ended in failure because he wasn't skilled enough to move small objects so subtly from a distance. His outfit worked with this lifestyle too, if he was ever caught then he could just run away and leave his outfit somewhere and appear as a normal teenager to escape a criminal record. He slid a sweet under his mask and chewed on it as he walked back to the extremely small joint accommodation he shared with a roommate, just taking in the unusual visuals of the city, he was also rather idly looking for someone to rob- he was a little low on money right now. Probably because of the amount of money he spent on sweets instead of actual food or saving it.

Charlie noticed a woman (Caroline) walking towards his direction, she seemed as if she was in a hurry and she seemed like she was alone- perfect target. As they walked past eachother, Charlie purposefully bumped into her quite forcefully to see if any loose change she has would fall out of anywhere, he had to play it off though: "Oh I am so sorry," he said to the lady who seemed to be dauntingly tall (compared to him at least) "are you okay? Ugh, I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot." Charlie always had to try and gain trust with his victims if he was going to steal from this this way- the connection he'd bring between them would deter them from believing he had stolen from them.

Kazehana

 

[Kazehana]

Aaron's fascination with the water never seemed to falter, allowing him endless joy in serenity. His pants rolled up to the knee, he waded in the water to a beautiful blush lily floating on the pond. He bent down to examine it closer, smiling lightly to himself. As much as he tried to resist himself, his magic seemed to pull him and define him regardless. But who didn't like these precious, amazing creatures? He could almost hear them whisper to him their secrets, ready to inform him of their gossip.

While Aaron loved being with his friends, he was much less enthusiastic about being with strangers. Mostly, he tended to simply ignore them for his own sake, as it allowed him to live in a bubble where his flowers alone could bring solace. However, if they were threatening or imposing enough, he would make a conscious effort to steer clear and not get involved as a precaution.

This being one of those times, he stepped just out of the pond's perimeter and skirted along the edge as he strolled through the park, pretending like he hadn't a care in the world. Once a secure distance was reached, he grabbed the lowest limb and started his ascent up the comfort of a tree. It was almost like a flower, but sturdier and much larger. Once a few branches up, he dangled his feet as he allowed the leaves surrounding him to soothe his mild and slightly irrational anxieties.

Aaron wasn't too sure if he knew who that was, but the man unsettled him enough as it was that he wasn't about to stick around to find out. While this was a new world full of possibilities and new ideas, maybe taking them in a little at a time would be better. Besides, there wasn't a rush, was there?


Caroline wasn't too worried about Aaron, as she had sufficient communication with him if necessary. Nothing worried her more than if he forgot how to contact her, occasionally sending malicious thoughts during her normally monotonous day. But duty called, and her mission was to make it back to work to continue doing her job, as weirdly boring as that sounded given the fact that magic was a thing.

A simple shove caught her attention from her realm of ludicrous possibilities, sending her focus right back to her reality. Although it really was quite rude, she hadn't the time to get into this. She might have been taken aback and unbalanced, but her purse fasten held fast - she wouldn't carry an old purse in a large city after all. That and her sundress offered nothing for him. Almost by instinct, she grasped her accessory back into her hand as if it offered her some security to do so.

With the whir of the moment behind her, she stared blankly at him for a few moments, not quite sure what she was looking at. "Uh, yeah," she managed to mutter, though she didn't know what she had said. The person - boy? - before her could have been anywhere from 12 to 15 in her opinion, depending on how tall he was supposed to get. But what was with the weird outfit?

"I, uhm, hope you're okay," she replied, very unsure of herself. This was too strange for her, despite whatever she told Aaron. There were a lot of things she would do to spice up her life, but this was by far weirder than Aaron in any capacity.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie's expression sunk slightly as he saw her take her purse back, although he was wearing the mask so she couldn't see this. The fact that she had a purse on her gave Charlie two options, either he continued to follow this woman around and try and lure her into a more secluded area and steal from her there or he could just give up. Although giving up seemed more attractive at the moment, given how the woman had already grabbed hold of her purse as if she was already suspicious of him, Charlie decided he'd try to stick with her for a while and see what he could do to try and get something off her- he shuddered internally remembering the last time he had as little money as he did now: When he said he couldn't pay his share of the rent to his roommate... He stopped thinking about it, traumatic experiences like that were what was fuelling his determination to get some money off this woman right now.

"Yes I'm okay thank you," he said acting a little timid, trying to play at an innocent approach. "I'm-" Charlie stopped mid-sentence, he couldn't give his real name to someone he was going to rob. He paused for a while before continuing "...I'm...R-Ronald?" He said, his tone was really suspicious and it wouldn't have taken a genius to hear the extreme nerves in his voice. "Yeah, Ronald," he said as if he was reassuring himself of this fake name he had chosen to go under. "It's nice to meet you, I wish we hadn't started off like this though!" He said laughing a little, he adjusted his head from looking up at her to down to where she held her purse rather tightly "That's a nice purse you got there, it looks like you're in a hurry to go somewhere," he said looking back up at her. This was the make or break moment.

"It's a big city, someone might try and take that purse from you or something, I can walk with you to wherever you're going if you want- no one is going to steal from you with someone wearing these kind of clothes standing next to you." He gestured towards his outfit as he said this. Hopefully she'd agree to let him accompany her, then he could try and steal from her again later. It was clear that he wasn't the best socially, especially with lies- but he hoped his performance bought at least some of her trust.

Kazehana

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline's first instinct was to simply walk away as weird as all this was. In her opinion, this really wasn't something she'd ever be comfortable with even if she were walking into the police station itself. His clothes and unsettling mask made her almost too cautious, a slight anxiety building up the longer he kept going. Obviously he wasn't going to give her his real name, that much he made clear. It certainly didn't help his credibility as someone she would be comfortable walking with.

Nevertheless, she figured she'd dealt with worse. From his shifting gaze to his obvious lies, she doubted he was experienced in the art of pickpocket anyway. No one could be that bad and do well with such a crime. "Uh, yeeaaahhhh..." she responded hesitantly, very clearly wary of herself. Would it matter if she let him? Probably not unless she sees someone important; she wouldn't want to associate with this person normally. After all, she had her own reputation to place her concern!

She smiled lightly to herself at his mention of theft in a way she assumed was simply to sway her judgement. "Don't you have somewhere to be as well?" she shot back, suddenly aware that this person should at least be in school or something. Even if her assumptions were wrong, he would at least have a job of sorts and wouldn't have time for this type of 'chivalry'. Despite her misgivings, she started to walk once more, afraid of returning late.

Shuttleloop14

 

[The Fabulous Emerald]

Meanwhile, Seamus was happily watching the world pass him by without paying any real attention to what was going on around him. After a considerable amount of time watching several ducks idly swim about in the pond, however, he feels a familiar rumble of hunger in his stomach. As a result, the hulking man slowly gets up from his bench, a few bones cracking as he stands tall and straight, and heads towards the park exit.

A few minutes later, Seamus finds himself at a relatively close café, a small and quiet family run place, that Seamus often finds himself going to since he doesn't usually get bothered by anyone. Ordering the usual - a BLT sandwich and a coffee, he sits and watches the general goings on out of the window as he waits.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

The woman was being totally unresponsive, it was painfully clear to Charlie that his facade was not fooling her. She began to walk away, understandably so but still to Charlie's annoyance. He considered for a moment to simply use his telekinesis on her right there and then, he had already lost all patience for this game. But it was far too crowded around this area for such a move like that. "Yeah you're right I do have somewhere to be," he said to her as she began to move away, he'd weighed up his options and decided that this method was not going to work on her. Perhaps he'd keep an eye out for her in the future, he sighed to himself when she was a little further away- "She better hope that we don't meet in an empty area." He said to himself bitterly as he walked off in the opposite direction in a slump.

He was still kind of broke, Charlie really needed more than the amount that he had with him, he decided a shop would probably be the most ideal place to take some money: either from the shop itself or from some of the customers in it. He had already done so earlier today in the corner shop with very little trouble. He eyed up a few restaurants as he walked by, that woman still annoying him in his mind.
"Too full..." He found himself repeating over and over as his eyes darted from shop to shop, he was just about to give up when he saw a rather empty cafè, it was small too. That was the perfect place. He took a deep breath and entered the cafè with determination to make a profit, Charlie noticed a rather physically imposing man who was there, he seemed to be the only one around other than the employees of course. He shuddered at the thought of having to defend himself from someone like that if they caught him stealing, but Charlie was desperate and he was pretty sure that he could outrun the man, or use his magic to fight him off if need be.

"Get me a sandwich with...actually nah, get me some cake." He said to the employee who came to take his order, Charlie had turned his head to make it seem as if he was looking outside- but in reality he was staring at the large man sitting in the cafè: waiting for some confirmation that this person has money- Charlie hoped that he had been discreet enough or that his mask had hidden his eyes, although it was entirely possible the man had seen him stare behind the mask, given the angle his head was turned at. Regardless of whether he had seen him or not, Charlie had already made up his mind: he'd wait to see what the man did next.

Kazehana The Fabulous Emerald

 

[The Fabulous Emerald]

Seamus was happily watching the hustle and bustle going on outside, when his attention is drawn by a little bell ringing above the door as someone enters. The person was very strangely dressed - like one of the jesters back in his day of arena fighting - as if he was from weird sub-par horror film or something. Maybe there was a fayre going on nearby? If there was, Seamus hasn't seen hide nor tail of it.

Not long after the strange boy arrived at the café, however, a young man comes out of the back with Seamus' order, the BLT and coffee, and. after a brief, but friendly, exchange between the two that seemed more like banter between friends than business between paying customer and waiter. After all, Seamus was a regular here and he has gotten on well with the family who works here and it is clear to see. After slipping a note from somewhere in his pocket (I don't really know how American currency works) to pay for his meal, with the change being the tip, he gets to eating his lunch.

Shuttleloop14

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie chuckled to himself, seeing that the large man had money, it was in his pocket: such an annoying place to try and pull money from. It had been too many times that Charlie had moved someone's trousers up when he was trying to move their money. Thus, it required Charlie's maximum effort and concentration to actually begin to move the money. So he decided to move a little closer to the man. Charlie got up and walked over to a closer seat, hoping this hadn't made the man suspicious. He was just about to begin and try to move his traget's money when the waiter who was serving him food. Charlie sighed and took the plate from him.

"I'll pay after I'm done eating," Charlie said dismissively waiting for the waiter to leave. He didn't. He was waiting for a tip it seemed, Charlie gave him a thumbs up "here's your tip." The waiter walked off with an annoyed expression on his face, as he turned around Charlie noticed the note sticking out of his back pocket, it was the same waiter the large man had paid for. Immediately Charlie pulled the note out of his back pocket softly, it was rather easy considering the majority of it was sticking out. Charlie turned discreetly to face the man again. Then he came up with an idea, seeing as taking money straight from his trousers whilst he wasn't distracted by anything (although the he seemed invested in his BLT) seemed impossible. Charlie gave a small and subtle wave of his hand and caused his coffee to tip over, the contents of the container spilling all over the man's trousers. He then waited to see how the man would react, his plan was that the man would take out all his money in fear of the coffee ruining it through his trousers, and when he got up to get some tissues to lean the coffee up, Charlie would take the money and scram!

The Fabulous Emerald

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline was on her way back to work, still much unnerved by her earlier encounter, when she slowed and pasued for a moment. The street lamps, though not on, began to spark. Before she had time to process what it could mean, a large electrical pulse purged the electrical energy from their sources in a wave of massive energy, then fell silent. The eerie silence to follow only served as a segue to murmurs on the street. Her first instinct was to turn back and check Aaron, but the adventurous spirit in her looked to find answers, anything, while her poor ears recovered.

Within minutes, she managed to locate the suspicious character from before, as shady as ever. She scowled at her obvious naitivité, but resolved to keep herself collected. She pushed the doors open and marched right on up to him, her previous vow to keep collected absolved. "Was this you?" she demanded angrily, her eyes almost popping out of her head. Her stance stood firm as she focused on only him, her hands on her hips and her aura burning with questions.

Shuttleloop14 The Fabulous Emerald

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie pulled his hat over his ears as the lamps outside began to release their massive sound energy from the spark. However, it only lasted a short while in the area he was in, so in little time he let go of his hat and returned to watching the man in the cafe. Just then the woman from before entered the cafe, Charlie was shocked but also rather annoyed at the reappearance of the woman from before. His annoyance became more prominent when she spoke to him, he didn't like her assertive tone. "A 'hello' would have been nicer you know," Charlie said with some bitterness in his voice "and what are you even talking about? If it's the fault with the lamps outside then no it wasn't me." His voice was menacingly calm but also contained a hint of irritation.

"Why would you even think it was me? I didn't do anything wrong when we met earlier." As he continued to talk he began to lose his composure, but realising that now she was in a more quiet area it was possible for him to steal from her when she left, he began to lose his annoyed tone and speak in a friendly manner: "I'm sorry," he apologised with a fake respectful tone "I lost my composure earlier, I just didn't like how you presented yourself. Like I said before, no it wasn't me who had anything to do with the surge outside." A thought popped up into his head that worried him slightly, so he asked: "I must ask, why would you think that I had a connection to the event? By what means would I even be able to cause something like that, you'd have to be supernatural- and we all know that supernatural beings don't exist." Charlie was worried that she had somehow figured out that he had powers, perhaps she had drawn a connection between the several recent reports of people being pickpocketted without being near anyone and the interaction they shared this morning.

Whatever the case, Charlie waited with nervousness at her response- he really hoped she didn't know what he could do.

Kazehana

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline's reaction to both his behavior and his rationale were nothing short of incredulous. She simply looked at him stupefied at his transparent attempt to divert attention, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes squinted in disbelief. "Either you live under the largest of boulders or you think I'm stupid," she replied bluntly. It didn't take an avid news geek to collect enough information about the magical disturbances to know what was going on around their city. Besides, she had Aaron to discount any doubts she had about the matter.

"At any rate, you're clearly the most outlandish person I've seen in weeks despite what's been going on," she started, her eyebrows raising as she dished out the facts. "Your behavior is exceptionally questionable, especially with what you call 'deception' considering you couldn't lie to a toddler," she added. "So did you cause this, or is your little superpower just questionable fashion?" she inquired, crossing her arms in indigence. She liked almost nothing about the stranger, especially since his behavior was so shady. She wanted to call him out on more than just that, but she couldn't without more facts. Despite what she assumed, this confrontation in no way unsettled her; she was ready to whack him herself if she needed.

~~~

Upon noticing the electrical disturbances, Aaron himself became more disturbed. Regardless of what he may have been feeling at the moment, he still felt nervous about his tether walking around without him in such a anomaly. He felt an echo of her anger, mixed with a rising adrenaline that he couldn't ignore. He hopped out of his tree and looked around, trying to remember where her work resided. Although he had been there only a handful of times just to walk her back, he still felt as though he would be able to find it on his own - even if it would be the first time. Cautiously, he started to make his way back to her office or whatever she called it. Almost as if he expected someone to be following him, he glanced around often and maneuvered his way onward, hoping to catch Caroline before anything drastic could occur.

Shuttleloop14 The Fabulous Emerald

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie paused for a while before responding to her, he was surprised by her outburst- but also annoyed with the way she spoke to him again. "Listen," he said finally after a moment of contemplation "a few things: no it wasn't me who caused the surge outside, please refrain from asking me the same question over and over; you should really be more respectful with how you speak because you don't know what your dealing with and lastly, yeah I thought you'd be a little stupid- but it seems I was wrong." Charlie was losing composure as he spoke, his irritation coming out through his words. "You seem so sure about the existence of this magic you keep speaking of, I get that there have been reports of strange occurrences but that shouldn't be enough to sway someone." He lowered his voice so that only Caroline could hear him:

"Let me guess, you've got powers too huh?" He said giving up the act finally "there is no way simple reports would make someone believe it, even if you don't, it doesn't really matter, all that matters is that you keep your mouth shut about this whole thing. I don't need anyone finding out about what I can do, and trust me when I say you want to keep your mouth shut. If you don't, I promise you that I will make you wish you did." Charlie had lost all patience and energy to play games with this woman anymore- she was becoming an annoyance and if he had to dispose of her in order to keep his identity and his abilities a secret, he was certainly prepared to- as well as anyone else who would compromise these things.

"And just to prove to you, which I'm doing because you are ignorant, that I didn't cause the surge outside:" Charlie gave a quick wave of his hand and the knife on the table he was at rose into the air and levitated there at his command. Bringing his hand down the knife went straight through the cake he was eating, cutting through it with force. It was as if he was threatening her with this demonstration "see, telekinesis- how would I cause the surge?"

Kazehana The Fabulous Emerald

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline was too offended by his round of accusations against her intellect, vexed by his blunt and completely false analysis of her character. What made her seem so dumb to him? Whatever it was, it was sure to be fixed as soon as she could help it! As for his comment on her beliefs, it wasn't exactly too far off. Caroline was one to believe in anything if there was enough substance and adventure to be had in its story. Regardless of her feelings, she felt obligated to respond to his rant.

"Well if we're resorting to being a wise-ass," she started, her voice softened to mirror his by instinct, "I could see that being useful at a power plant or something." While it was unfeasible for him to have been able to do so given his current location, it was very important to Caroline to prove him wrong. "As for everything else, I wouldn't divulge any of that for free. I have my own problems to worry about. Besides, I'm not the kind of person to use magic in such a way that anyone could see it. Sounds like a self-sentence to me," she continued, blatantly referring to his use of magic in such an obvious manner.

Just as she was about to continue her counter rant, Aaron shoved the door open and scurried in. "Caroline, are you okay? I heard the noise and there doesn't seem to be any more electricity," he bursted, almost entirely ignoring her previous engagement. He inspected her briefly to assess the need to apply healing ointment; to his relief, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Honestly," she replied, still subtly angry from her previous rant, "now's not a good time." Aaron looked confused for a moment, then noticed how rude he had been to interrupt her previous engagement. "Oh..." he replied in realization, his wide eyes going back and forth. "Do you just want me to wait over here or?"

Caroline sighed and broke a slight smile despite her disposition. "If you would," she responded lightly. After all, this wasn't his fault - or at least she assumed he couldn't cause this. Aaron nodded and sat at a nearby table waiting for her to be done. With no more distractions, Caroline was free to resume her original mission. "Anyway, where were we? You know what? I don't remember but what I do remember was you being a thing earlier today. Wanna explain what you were doing that made you run into me?" While an extended lecture would have been appropriate, having answers to unexplained phenomena was higher in her priorities. And this time, she was getting an answer.

Shuttleloop14 The Fabulous Emerald

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Oh wow yes a power plant! Are you really going that far to accuse me of this random chaos? How rude." He scoffed sarcastically at her remark, beneath his mask his eyes narrowed in anger at her words of referencing how he had jus exposed his powers to her. Just as he had decided he had had enough of this conversational torment and that he was simply going to attack her and everyone else in the room and make it look like their deaths were all caused by a fire in this building because of the sparks, her last sentence caught Charlie off guard. His anger soothed down to a much smaller level and he let out a nervous chuckle.

"Heh, oh yeah this morning," Charlie said scratching the back of his head nervously trying to stall for time whilst thinking of a good excuse. As angered as he was by her obviously condescending insults to his actions and characteristics, he couldn't take his mind of how he had tried to rob her earlier- admitting to this would surely take his place off the moral high ground he was trying to achieve. "You see," he started trying to act confident "I bumped into you earlier because I was kind of distracted by something flying by, probably a butterfly of some sort, and well I guess I bumped into you beca-" he stopped knowing that this lie wouldn't work. This woman was annoyingly smart. He sighed heavily and got up from the seat he was in and looked at Aaron idly, before turning back to face Caroline.

"I was trying to steal from you, there. That's why I bumped into you earlier." He said with a hint of apology in his tone, but it was obvious that the spite for Caroline hadn't vanished from the words he spoke either. "I have a rent to pay and no money to pay it, I tried getting a job once but apparently I don't have the right qualifications or whatever. I don't know how else I can make any money in this world." He sighed again and his posture drooped slightly, seemingly exhausted from the conversation and knowing he had been defeated. "Caroline was it? I heard that dope say your name as he waltzed in here," he gestured towards Aaron as he said this "For what it's worth, which is basically nothing at this point: I'm sorry for being dishonest." it was clear he had struggled to get the last part of the sentence out. "You just really push my buttons." He said to her in a familiarly bitter tone trying to snap himself out of the apologetic and weak way in which he presented himself just now.

He then turned to Aaron again "So, you know this Caroline right? Tell me, does she have any of the magical powers that have been reported about recently? I'd ask her but she's stubborn and won't tell me." Charlie had realised he had gained nothing from this whole interaction- he at least wanted this bit of information.

Kazehana The Fabulous Emerald

 

[Kazehana]

"Oh, well actually-" Aaron was cut off by the death stare shot by Caroline. It was both the fastest and most effective method of reminding him that it was a total secret now, and that it was not to be discussed in the open. Once he was shut down, Caroline's attention returned to the boy. She was ready to fight him right then and there for belittling Aaron, but she didn't want to cause Aaron to interfere with his own magic. Over the last few months, she had worked hard to make him look and act as normal as could be for his own protection. And he was doing too well to throw it all away.

"Look, I'll let you off this time, but don't expect me to be so generous in the future." In all honesty, she knew exactly what he was going through since Aaron had already faced the same issues. However, it was not only unwise to reveal that, but it was also against his own interests to know more than he did already. In her opinion, this was the best option for everyone despite his financial needs.

A brief pause was all she allowed before she had decided. "Aaron, it's time we left. We have some new business to attend to," she called, only taking her eyes off of the hooligan when she was already on her way out. Before she was able to do so, Aaron had grabbed her arm. "Oh come on, you can't really plan to leave like this," he countered, his passive demeanor giving way. She spun to look at him, his eyes sparkling with determination. "Besides, I think something bigger that your petty squabble is afoot, don't you?" he added, his bold nature conflicting with hers.

As much as Caroline wouldn't admit she was wrong, she wouldn't admit he was right. "Maybe, but he wasn't even the one who caused it," she snapped, her face scowling slightly at his countenance. "But that just means we have no idea who it was. What if it's someone even more powerful. For all we know, they could have done it with more than one to cause such a huge commotion," he argued. Caroline had never even considered a unit to be responsible rather than the individual.

"Fine," she grunted, none too excited about his insinuations. "Would you," she began, taking a moment to sigh away her self-inflicted doubt, "want to come with? I mean, since you obviously have nothing better to do." She was fully prepared to leave without hesitation regardless of his answer, this time not allowing Aaron the opportunity to stop her.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Alright, well I'm glad we have come to this conclusion- I promise I won't do it again. Happy ending indeed." He said with a somewhat cheerful voice, it was evident that due to Caroline's forgiveness of his actions, Charlie had become more relaxed and less irritated in his tone.

Charlie watched the slight squabble the two had between them, he still had a somewhat negative opinion of Caroline and her defiance by this Aaron fellow was quite amusing to him. He scoffed internally at the thought of someone more powerful than him, he knew he was far from adept in terms of experience- but he also understood how powerful and unpredictable his powers allowed him to be. He was going to bring this up to the pair but decided it would be more entertaining to watch. Charlie was beginning to grow fond of Aaron, Aaron had stuck up for him even without knowing anything about him other than that he attempted theft- yet he was still keen to get Caroline to agree to let him travel with them.

When Caroline asked him if he wished to come with her he tried to make himself sound busy: "Well actually I should be going to see my roommate right now, she's probably worried and out looking for me." He lied through his teeth knowing full well his roommate wouldn't look for him at this time, maybe if it was night but not now. "But," he began "since I don't have anything to pay her with right now maybe it is best if I came with you guys. She'd only get mad at me if I showed up to her empty handed. Besides, what if Aaron here is right- the real person or thing behind the electrical surge may be too powerful for you guys to handle, should you ever encounter him and need to fight him I think that I would be more than valuable as an asset to this little group of...us." He looked at the two people standing before him, neither of them looked like they could really defend themselves if needed. Sure Caroline talked the part but in the end, what could they really do against potentially electrokinetic troublemakers. Unless there was magic that one of them, most likely Caroline, possessed- that would be the reason she's so confident. She wanted to keep any talk of magic a secret earlier too, so coming along with them could also provide him with the knowledge on her abilities that he asked for before.

"Yes it's decided," Charlie said with a little chuckle "I'm coming with you!"

 

[Kazehana]

Without replying, Caroline swept out of the room, leaving nothing else to pass. Aaron simply watched her go before himself standing and following her out. Briefly, Caroline marched on. Her sudden stop hardly fazed Aaron, as he was mostly used to her behaviors at this point. "Okay," she began, spinning around, "it's time we start somewhere with something meaningful. Since my last hunch was a bit... off, we should think of something perhaps more methodical. Any suggestions?"

Aaron thought for just a moment before he had his own suggestion. "What about Jor-" "We are not asking my ex for any help or any information what is wrong with you?" she countered immediately, her scowl returning at such a thought. "Okay, okay, but we have to start somewhere. And what other means do we have of developing a plan?" Caroline paused for a few moments to consider his plight. "I don't know," she answered plainly, or at least matter-of-factually. "What we really need is an expert that can give us more information on what's going on both between magic users and between the magic users and the physical world. Of course, a number of varying powers could have led to this blackout - if any at all - but we cannot rule out the question of 'why' before we ascertain the method of 'how'. In all honesty, the why might be more important. Then again, knowing what this person or people are capable of is also very important," she continued, mostly just thinking out loud now.

"Ugh, I really just wish this was more intuitive or easily researched," she relented in frustration, mostly just mad at the unfair nature of this new chapter in her life. Neither she nor Aaron knew anything useful about the others, but their goal was to avoid it altogether. "We were so careful to not even give a hint of magic in public that we're so far out of the loop from everyone else," she grumbled to herself, still very vexed with the unforeseeable consequences of their predicament.

Aaron stood silent, he himself not sure what else there could be to do. "What if we try reaching out? I can't imagine that no other ancients are suspicious of this," he commented, thinking more big picture and less about themselves. "If I remember correctly, I believe there was somewhat of a telepath that could retrieve more information, especially considering the lack of communication at the moment."

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie followed the two out of the shop and listened to their little squabble about how to go about searching for the culprit of the crime, they sure bickered a lot for two people who supposedly know and are quite close to each other. He decided to add his thoughts into the conversation, "Regardless of your feelings toward your Ex-Boyfriend, if he is a valuable source we should find him and get the information we need. I could slap him around a bit too if that'll make you more willing to go and find him." Charlie said. Her comment got him thinking about something, he was about to ask Caroline but didn't do so given her rather angsty nature.

"Perhaps the why isn't so important, I don't see why anyone would do something like this unless it was in order to cause an unnecessary problem to others with no real gain except some twisted sadistic one. Nothing like stealing." He said in response to Carloine's long projection of her thoughts. The two of them seemed to know a lot more about what was going on here than he did, they used a lot of fancy terms like 'ancients' and 'magic users and the physical world'. However, he'd once again save his questions for later.

"Telepath? Yeah that sounds like a good place to start for information, but I wouldn't pass up the opportunity that inquiring this Ex-Boyfriend might present. I say we go to both places, not really bothered about the order we do so however." He then glanced at Aaron and thought that he should ask his question to him instead. He went back inside to the shop for a while and took a pen on the desk of the cashier and wrote it down on a piece of tissue paper, he then came back out and subtly slid it into Aaron's pocket. The note he wrote down stated: "are you her boyfriend?"

 

[Kazehana]

"Our only problem," Caroline began as Aaron tried to decipher the meaning of the note, "is that we have no way of knowing where this person is, especially since we don't know who it is. As far as I can tell, all we have to go on is more of a distant memory of the voice and nothing else." Aaron soon gave up and surrendered the note to Caroline, who almost immediately blew it off. "Well we're actually both gay so," she responded dismissively, though she wasn't surprised by the question. "As far as I know, there's no rule that says you have to date your tether," she added, mostly still concerned with their next move. A telephone wire above sparked, making Aaron flinch.

"As for Jordan, our best bet is honestly to try to find the telepath. The last time I saw her, she threw a margarita glass at me." Aaron knew how this went, so he pretended like he wasn't even there for a few moments until he could change the subject. "Anyway," he interjected, regretting his previous proposal, "I think we could start on the north side of town. If I recall correctly, that's where a majority of our 'new age' as they call it areas are. A lady once said I would soon have the most terrifying experience of my life, then we met back up with Jor-" he cut off when he realized he was circling back.

Caroline, however, was too busy trying to get a signal to care. Her face scrunched up in a scowl as if that would somehow help her phone find service. "Yeah whatever you say," she mumbled, clearly not paying too much attention. She got 'north' and that was basically it. Aaron nodded and decided to head out. "Hopefully, since this is a special circumstance, others will pay us no mind if we happen upon others. But we might want to be careful," he said, already nervous that they were about to get pounced.

Before he could get more than a few steps, he stopped in an almost frozen state. A crisp, cold breeze brushed past him, sending his boy hair erect. "We need to leave here, now," he stated boldly in perhaps his most serious and apprehensive disposition yet. He grabbed both of them and immediately started off in a jog, unwilling to let them slow their pace.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie was somewhat shocked to find out about their sexuality, they seemed so argumentative, almost like a couple- however it wasn't their sexuality that surprised him but rather Caroline's direct way of wording it. Charlie was aware of how little attention Caroline was paying to Aaron- she really rubbed him the wrong way, she seemed rude and assertive. At least Aaron was more courteous, he thought that until he grabbed onto Charlie's arm and began to drag him away with little reason. Charlie struggled to try and break himself free from the grasp, but it was quite tight and Charlie was far from physically strong. Eventually he did break free by prying each of Aaron's finger off his arm.

"Ugh, do you mind? There is something wrong with you two. So damn aggressive." He said with an irritated tone as he rubbed his arm wher the grip had been too tight. But it looked as if Aaron was in no mood to stop walking now. It was more like jogging. Charlie was going to be left behind if he too didn't match the rather quick pace so he began to jog with Aaron and Caroline. As they kept going Charlie felt an ominous presence, something like a cold breeze, it gave him a major incentive to move faster. He felt unnerved by the breeze, and began to grow more anxious still as their movement quickened.

"Ca-Can you guys feel that too...?What is it?..." Charlie said his eyes darting around hoping to find the source of this breeze, whatever it was causing it, it seemed like it was not going away.

 

[Kazehana]

Neither of them said anything for a brief time, for their focus had taken them over. Eventually, Aaron piped up. "Look, I don't know what you've been doing since the passage, but we've had our fair share of run-ins with others," he explained, though he didn't expect him to understand. "We're basically always on edge with windows of bliss scattered about. That and Caroline's massively messy breakup with Jordan have made this a very stressful time for everyone. As for our rather abrupt departure," he continued, his gaze flickering among the building's tops, "we have already encountered this sensation once before."

By this point, Caroline was pulling ahead, the determination in her eyes clouding with narrowed vision. Aaron payed her no mind and continued on his way, still scanning the area. "While we're not sure what she's capable of, we do know never to mess with her again," he finished simply, not sure how to articulate the memory that resurfaced the instant he felt that wind. "All I can say," Caroline interjected, "is that she will not be intimidated by anyone, not even the government. Despite her resistance, the threat looming over the ancients has consumed her with defending her life against anyone who even hesitates to take it."

Aaron rounded a corner and paused in the alley, taking a moment to catch his breath while Caroline paced back and forth. "I doubt she's far, but I'm really not physically up to this sort of lifestyle," he breathed, hoping it would only be a brief pause. He froze abruptly before looking up at the building before him. At the top stood a woman whose figure was shadowed by the sun that stood behind her, her hair waving in the wind.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Passage? Excuse me? You people don't really know how to explain things well do you? Slow down for a sec, I'm not as well informed about what's going on as you two are supposedly. I haven't met another person with powers yet in all honesty, so really this is news to me- I guess you two are somewhat reliable sources of what's going on since you at least sound like you know what you're doing." Charlie said wondering about Aaron's words, Charlie had appeared in this world which was not like his own with no explanation as to why. Perhaps it was in his best interest to stick around with these two for an explanation later on. Charlie felt a chill, not of cold, but of nerves shoot down his spine as he heard what they had to say about why the cold breeze was present.

"Not intimidated by anyone huh, well well well she must be powerful. Maybe that's who we're looking for. You know, the culprit." Charlie said with arrogance trying to hide his fear, he was pretty scared right now- he had been in a situation before where he had to use his powers aggressively but that was against humans. Against another person with magic, that was something new to him. "You say not to mess with her again but now that I'm here I'm pretty sure that we can mess with her and get any information she may know." Charlie again tried to mask his fright with fake bravado. It was in his posture as well as his voice. But when he say Aaron freeze up Charlie lost the will to continue his fake confidence.

The woman stood there, Aaron refused to move and for once Caroline was not being assertive, rude or aggressive. They must've been frightened, this gave cause for concern for Charlie but he also wanted to prove useful to the pair of them just in case he could learn about why or how he got here. "Hey you, on the roof- the lady!" Charlie shouted so she could hear him, if she couldn't then he was prepared to levitate himself up there "we don't want any trouble, we just want to know if you know anything about who or what caused the dangerous electric discharge thing that happened in the streets a few moments ago." Charlie hoped he would not have to fight this woman, though she did nothing he was very unnerved at the moment.