auroraexpress | (no subject)

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Who: Everyone
When: Day 20, evening
Where: The train and surrounding terrain

[So after all the earlier excitement.... dramatic organ music starts to play through the cars. There's no obvious source. It's just... There? All around you for a while, before fading.

Of course before the music fades there's more things going on. A mist seeps up from the earth outside the train and within the train simply seems to form like it's produced by invisible fog machines. As the mist grows into a thick fog, you can hear eerie noises. Distant wolf howls, the screech of a fox that sounds like human screaming, owls hooting hauntingly, the leathery flap of bat wings, and other, less identifiable noises of the night, strange and otherworldly.

If you go out in it, breathe it in, the mist will chill you. Make you desire... Touch.

The need to hold another person is an almost growing compulsion, but it can be fought.

However things that are harder to avoid are the flowers, night blooming wisteria in white and purple seems to have grown from nowhere in the train cars, hanging down to brush the heads of passengers with sweet scented blossoms, and the floors of the train and ground around it have become endless beds of gently glowing moonflowers.

The only places the fog and flowers don't reach are team cabins.

Effects:

Mist:

Cold that cannot be dispelled without touch, a desire to touch others.

Wisteria:

Purple blossoms cause an empathetic bond with the next person you touch.

White blossoms cause arousal and a mild to powerful aphrodisiac effect.

Moonflowers:

Share memories or thoughts with the next person you touch.

By morning the mist and flowers will vanish.]

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[She continues walking, barely even noticing as her foot brushes a moonflower.]

I should get myself a coat for times like these.

Edited 2019-04-21 00:42 (UTC)

Coat's not actually helping too much this time, actually.

[ Which strikes him as odd, but you know. ]

Must be some manner of magic. The sort of magic that makes flowers grow everywhere, and mist roll in.

So then the question is if it's malicious.

I don't think it's worse than last night, at least.

[ He nods briefly. ]

Hmm, you've got a point.

[She briefly brushes up against him, and-

Hlasoh is in a cramped little shop packed with shelves of books. She browses among the shelves, humming a little tune to herself. Sunlight floods in from behind her, and the sounds of bustling people and conversation; as she turns to look at another shelf, it can be seen that the shop is an alcove in a busy souk-like marketplace.

She browses the spines of the books, all rendered in a flowing cursive script, but somehow readable to all viewers- Nights with the Vampire King, The Crocodile's Revenge, Trial of the Mummy, Gong Fo: Sage of the North, Book 3, Seduced by a Were-Hyena: Voracious Love- and so on, a mix of fantasy and romance and adventure stories. She starts to take several, when a voice calls out-

"Come on, what's taking so long?" It's an annoyed young male voice. Hlasoh squeaks, and turns around to the outside, where a few teenagers are gathered, looking somewhat exasperated, but not angry. They're all dressed similarly, in blue linen robes that seem to be a sort of uniform, and kohl around their eyes.

"Um, I'm finished now," Hlasoh stammers, taking the books to merchant running the store. The teens enter as well, chattering idly about schoolwork- something to do with the theory of magic- and the books that the see in the store.

Hlasoh fumbles with her money pouch, spilling coins all over the floor. The teens suppress snickers, and the merchant groans in annoyance. She stares at the floor in mortification, cursing. She blinks back tears. But after a moment a couple of her companions come over and start picking up the coins.

One of the girls, who did not laugh, gives a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, Alua," Hlasoh mumbles.

"Don't worry about it," Alua chirps brightly. "Just let me read Gong Fo, alright?"]

[ The memory.... honestly jives pretty well with the Hlasoh he's come to know, but the fact is that it's not his and it's a surprise. What could have possibly--

The flowers. That's his first thought, but the best way to find out is to experiment. He reaches for a flower. ]

You don't really see too many flowers blooming in the nighttime like this though, huh?

[ And he casually bumps into her as he shifts positions. ]

[ Crow's standing in the hallway outside the classroom, whistling softly to himself as he looks out the nearby window. Very softly, because he's also listening to the words gently floating out the open door. Waiting for the cue for his dramatic entrance. He does love a good entrance!

"Anyway," the teacher's voice comes floating from the classroom, "I'll have you know I've got a good reason for being late today. And that reason is... we're going to be welcoming a new classmate today!"

"What?!" Rean's voice comes loud and clear.

"A transfer student?" That would be Alisa. "At this time of year?"

"S-seriously?" asks Machias.

"All right, come on in!" Sara says cheerfully, ignoring the questions for now.

There it is. Crow winks at the small girl standing next to him-- Sara's other surprise-- and turns to head for the door. "Right-o!"

The confusion on everyone's faces as Crow saunters in front of them was great.

"Huh?" Rean asks.

"Crow?" There's Elliot, asking as though he's not sure he believes his own eyes.

"B-but... isn't he a second-year student?" asks Emma, her voice soft but still confused.

It's time for introductions. "I'm Crow Armbrust. Starting today, I'll be joining you fine folks as a member of Class VII. " He flashes a grin at them, his enjoyment all but sparkling from him. "It's gonna be pretty sweet, guys! ♪"

"What?!" Rean exclaims.

Alisa stands, placing her hands on her desk. "Wha...? I mean, how?"

Crow places his hands on his hips, the grin still plastered on his face. "You sure you wanna know? It's a long tale, fraught with the intrigue of school politics."

Sara sighs from behind him. "I don't think I'd put it quite like that. Back in his first year, he slacked off so much that he ended up failing a few of his classes. Then he came crying to me in a panic, like, 'Oh, help me, Instructor Sara, they're not gonna let me graduate!' So as a special exception, he's going to be joining us for the next three months to pay for his laziness."

Crow's grin doesn't even falter through the explanation, nor the stunned disbelief of his new classmates. The truth is, none of that had anything to do with the real reason he'd requested the transfer to Class VII... but he intended to keep that reason under close wraps for now. No one in the school knew a damned thing about his reasons for being here. None of them could know.

"You can't be serious..." Jusis says, his voice dripping with disdain.

"That's an even more pathetic reason than I was bracing myself for..." comes Machias' commentary.

"I think you already know that Crow was one of the trial users for the ARCUS tests they ran last year..." Sara pipes up from behind him. "So I thought he might be a good role model for you. ...In that sense, anyway. And don't forget, he'll also be joining us on our future field studies too."

"Nice!" Crow says, reaching back to rub at the back of his head. "Looks like you saved me the trouble of having to explain it all." He tucks his hands casually behind his head. "Anyway, let's let the good times roll!" He flashes a wink at them. "Oh, and since we're all classmates now, no need for all that sweet talkin' you lay on the other second years, all right?"

"R-right..." Elliot stammers.

"Easier said than done, I fear..." murmurs the elegant Laura.

"If he was any more laid back, he'd be comatose," pipes up Fie dryly.

Gaius and Rean glance over at the still-open door. Oh, it looks like they figured it out! This'll be fun.

"Instructor?" comes Gaius' calm, soothing voice. "I can't help but notice you left the door open..."

"Wait..." Rean says hesitantly. "...is there someone else, too?" There's startled looks on several of the other students faces.

"Huh?" asks Emma.

"Are you serious?" Alisa says, her tone exasperated.

"Aww, I was hoping to catch you off guard." Sara's disappointment is almost palpable. "All right, come on in and say hello."

There's a dramatic sigh. "I thought you forgot I was standing in the hall!"

The cheerful blue-haired girl who had been standing in the hallway beside you comes running through the door to stand in front of the class nearby Crow. She giggles as the rest of Class VII gapes.

"Wha...?" There's Rean, somehow believing his eyes even less than the first time.

"What?!" And there's Alisa, her voice popping out sharply with her disbelief.

"You must be joking." The look on Jusis' face clearly says, Please be joking.

"Hey," Gaius says thoughtfully. "Aren't you...?"

"You're the girl we met in the Nord Highlands..." Emma says as she looks properly at the blue-haired girl.

Oh, so they've met her before. Honestly, Crow's not thrilled she's in this class too but he absolutely cannot let that show for a moment. After all, there shouldn't be any reason he knows about a member of the Intelligence Division like her.

"Yuppers!" the girl confirms Emma's statement. "Long time no see, guys! But I see a couple of you I don't know, so I guess I'd better introduce myself. I'm Millium! Millium Orion." She raises her arm up and a giant silver... combat shell of some variety pops in out of nowhere. "And this here's Airgetlam! ...But we'll just call him Lammy for short."

The silver object flexs its... arms... and says something incomprehensible.

"Wh-what the hell is THAT?!" Machias cries out.

"Hoooooly crap!" Elliot exclaims.

"It's that thing we saw at Auroch's Fort..." Fie murmurs.

"So this is that strange girl you met in the Nord Highlands..." Laura says thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, Sara looks exasperated. "Oh, and a little house rule before anything gets blown up: no bringing that thing out in the classroom. If he accidentally smashes a wall or blasts through the ceiling, I'm the one who's gonna get chewed out for it."

"Booooo..." Millium says in disgust. "Fiiiiiiine..." The silver object lets out a sad sound and disappears. Millium giggles. "Aaaaaaanyway!" She twirls around and poses. "Nice to meet'cha, guys!"

Alisa giggles nervously. "Tell me you're kidding. Please?" Rean asks hopefully.

"I really wish I could..." Sara says, making a face that would be hilarious if Crow weren't thinking the same thing privately to himself.

But Crow just laughs out loud, amusement coming easily from him. "Haha! Well, I can see we're in for some fun times these next three months!" ]

Edited 2019-04-21 03:27 (UTC)

[Well, that was something. Who knew, magical elite academies full of unusual students and instructors are a feature in other worlds as well. She doesn't comment on the contents, though.]

Ah, sorry- I thought that there would be a catch to these flowers, but it's hard to avoid them.

Heh!

[ He shrugs easily, shaking his head. ]

Don't worry about it, I figured there would be too. At least they didn't make our heads explode.

[She hopes that whatever she shared wasn't too mortifying. But she takes a few steps away.]

No offense, I just prefer a little privacy.

Haha, none taken!

[ The words come out breezily even as he stands up and takes a few steps back. ]

There, that should be enough. I'm not interested in poking around anyone's heads.

Nor I.

[She is curious, but, well. She's content to just let those feelings fester like all of her other feelings. She knows Crow isn't exactly forthcoming about much of anything.]

Ah, this will be inconvenient in the train, though. Narrow halls, and all of that.

[ He'd rather keep everything locked up tightly inside of him, letting only what he chooses to come out. ]

I could always just let you go ahead of me. That way, you won't have to worry about it.

[Honestly, she feels the same way, if not always so totalizing about it- she's okay with sharing some things- but she's just not very good at hiding things away, or at least not so comprehensively as Crow.]

Hmm, valid strategy.

Yeah, that's what I figured. And if we staggered the timing, that'd lower the risk of bumping into each other as well.

Right.

Ah, can I ask something of you? Would you be interested in hunting expeditions into the woods? It seems that Kiryuu needs raw meat for his diet, and the sort provided from a recently living creature would be optimal. I think that you would find these expeditions entertaining as well.

[ His lips quirk into a grin. ]

Sure, count me in! Just let me know when and I'll be there.

Ah, good. He will appreciate that. Hm, I actually have not seen you fight yet. What method do you use?

A couple different methods! One's my guns--

[ He summons twin guns from out of the nothingness beside his hips, holding them up to show off. ]

I also have a battle orbment so I can cast Arts.

[How did he- okay she assumes it's magic, but he must be pretty good at the spell to effortlessly use it without command words or some other mnemonic.]

I presume that that is some form of magic? Well, that is well suited to our purposes, as both of us are close quarters combatants at the moment.

Nah, it's not magic. It's technology. Anyway, two close-range fighters and one long-range.... is it just us three or do you have anyone else in mind?

Hopefully, I will regain some long-range magic soon enough. In any case, Naeva has also expressed interest. She said that Eliza and 80H may also be useful, but I don't know how interested they would be.

Regardless, I think that three people should be enough for a hunting party.

Yeah, you're probably right. I doubt anything'll be tough enough to require more than t hat.

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