08/17/2012

[inthatwild]

WHO: 2012 Persona Users
WHERE: The Abaton Museum of National History.
WHEN: August 17th, 1934, around noon?
WHY: Reopened museum? That new paint is suspicious white! Monthly event time!

Comments

[cemetaryeyes]

In contrast with the previous letter he'd received from the principal, this one had almost been a pleasant surprise. It was just as vague as the last, but he got the feeling the principal was trying to look out for them in some small way... or at least trying to keep the activities (and further destruction) off the school grounds. Well, that the old man believed them was just about the best Ezra could have hoped for, and if anything actually came from this event, it'd make the reconstruction work over the weekend a little less of a drag.

Ezra tugged at his shirt cuff distractedly, feeling as out of his element in a simple grey button up and black pants as he did in the school uniform. Upon arriving at the museum steps and taking in the small crowd of people gathered for the event, it was easy to spot the small group of younger people. Lillian was looking very nice, as was Ama. The other two girls he felt a glimmer of recognition towards, though it was nice all the same to see them in clothes that suited them more. It seemed Anthony was the first of the guys to arrive, and Ezra made his way to the other boy's side with a nod and small smile towards the group. "Good afternoon, guys."

[inthatwild]

So they were gathering after all. As usual, she was correct in her assumptions. Emi didn't need to ask them if they had all received the same letter. It would've been too big of a coincidence for them all to be there at the same time to think otherwise. Instead, she stood back and decided to do a head count of the people that did show up. Lillian first... looking as chipper as usual, and then came Anthony looking halfway decent. That almost surprised her, but not enough to show it. Ama and Ezra followed soon after. Now they were only missing... Lester and that other guy? The blond one who was way too nice for his own good.

Emi slipped her cellphone into her small purse and stepped closer to the group. She looked over her room mate, judging her clothing choices as always. It was more of a high-end casual than it was a semi-formal, but she figured that the girl was appropriate enough to be seen with. "Five more minutes and you would've been late," Emi noted, taking her place beside Ama. She was mostly speaking to the other girl, but she directed it to their whole ragtag group. "We should probably go ahead and go inside. I'm sure the other two will show up if they plan on coming." She hooked her arm around Ama's, pulling her along until she reached the main door. It just seemed more secure to have someone she actually liked well enough nearby when venturing into a new place.

The men at the door were taking names of the few people arriving and checking them off of their handheld devices. This event certainly wasn't one that would've struck her as an invite-only, but it was just as well. Any worries about whether or not they'd be able to get in now were dismissed when she gave her name and they let her through. Apparently Ivors had taken care of that little detail ahead of time for them. How he got them on the list would probably be a mystery to her, but it couldn't have been anything too difficult. After all, their high school itself was of a proper class and had a good reputation. Then again, it may have been general admission for the private school students as a whole.

Regardless of his method, any curiosities Emi had were overwhelmed by the sight of the lobby itself. It had definitely been renovated, but in a traditional way. Ionic columns stretched to the high ceilings, also lining staircases and hallways. From the marble floors to the windows, all of the colors fit into a scheme of warm browns and oranges. It was almost a weird mesh of cozy and regal to her, but that was definitely a good thing.

The crowd itself was also not very overwhelming. She assumed that they had the guest list to thank for that. Most of the people there were already wandering around the halls, while a few others were helping themselves to the buffet table set up at the side of the room. Emi waited in the middle for the others to come in and decide a plan of action. Four floors in two hours? This shouldn't be a problem.

[azuranthine]

How odd. Lillian would have thought a grand re-opening would have been an event made available to the public as a whole, especially considering just how big this museum was. This was her first time inside here in quite a while; she supposed this was a prime opportunity to investigate. Still, she didn't feel comfortable proceeding too far without the others. Though it wasn't the borderline panic she'd experienced on the night of the blackout prior to the demons' appearance, Lillian had a weird feeling. Not fear, at least not yet, just a sense of something eerie that came and went.

"Rolf is on his way. We were walking here together. He had to take a phone call but he should be here very soon," she said quietly to the group, glancing toward the entrance. As for Lester, who knew for certain? Lillian wouldn't have been surprised if he'd gotten lost in his music somewhere but she had her phone with her just in case.

[skinnendesol]

And just as Lillian spoke his name, Rolf jogged up to the small group that consisted of his classmates-- some he knew very well, and some not so well. Either way, he gave them all a friendly smile and wave as a greeting.

"Not too late, am I? Had to take a phone call," he sighed. His mother had a habit of doing that: calling at the most inopportune times. She'd probably call again in the next few minutes, having forgotten to mention something before, but he set his phone on silent mode-- museums don't like cells going off, right? Or was that just movie theaters? Either way, he thought he had an excuse.

"Looks snazzy in there," he commented as he managed to catch a glimpse of the inside of the renovated museum. Shiny and clean, old yet new. He wondered what was so special about this place that the principal had to tell them to come here? Oh well, time to find out.

"Ready to look at old stuff?" he asked Lillian, slipping his arm through hers.

[pixelsnlines]

Slowly but surely, his peers were gathering around the front doors and engaging in awkward greetings. Anthony didn't even recognize most of them, minus Heather, Ezra, and Emi, so he generally acknowledged these people with little interest. He shifted his weight and toyed with the cellphone in his pocket -- more of a watch or accessory than anything useful -- as he waited.

Conversations were cut short when Emi decided it was time to enter the building, leaving the stragglers to catch up on their own time. The corner of his lips turned upwards in a subtle smile, shrugging to himself before ambling along behind her, all while pretending not to be so interested in the way her dress moved with each step. Aha, how could anyone ignore it? Perhaps Anthony is just as depraved as everyone assumed he was. Regardless, he found himself admiring the ladies more than he was admiring the shiny architecture and antique furniture, meaning it took him a few moments before he finally adverted his eyes from Emi's backside.

The museum was impressive to say the least. The teen whistled, immediately raping the curved staircase with his eyes. After seconds of inspection, he finally admitted, "Not bad."

But now what.

[azuranthine]

"Sure," Lillian said to Rolf, happily linking arms with him. "You're not too late. We just came inside." She knew better than to ask if everything was all right. With Rolf's mother, it usually was; it was just a matter of persuading her.

Lillian was at a bit of a loss of where to go first. Four floors seemed like an awful lot of space to cover in a short period of time, at least, if they were thorough.

"I guess we could start looking around at what's on this floor and work our way up. We could probably cover more ground if we split up into groups," she said thoughtfully after a moment. "But I'm not certain what we should look for."

Briefly, James's account of the murderous car currently rampaging in his time period flashed through her memory. This was a museum but what were the odds that car would still be around today and that it would be here today? It was true that a lot of highly likely events had been happening of late, like meeting a childhood friend she hadn't seen in years here at Abaton, but that would be pushing it a little beyond the boundaries of logic. Wouldn't it?

And so Lillian kept silent.

[cemetaryeyes]

As the group made their way inside and Rolf joined up, Ezra got out his phone and sent a text to the last remaining straggler. Lester would know to come find them inside, if he hadn't forgotten about the opening that is. Ezra ended his teasing with a smiley face before turned his attention to the new interior of the museum.

It was an impressive sight to be sure, but the aesthetics didn't hold his interest for long. His eyes followed the staircases up, taking in the scale of the place. It dwarfed the museum he and Lillian had explored fruitlessly earlier in the month. There had to be something in here...

"Hmm, sounds good. We could do two to a floor or something." They might be looking for awhile, it seemedthe principal wasn't the type to spell things out. Unless it was supposed to be obvious... Ezra shrugged and turned to the others. "Well, if we don't have any leads... maybe we'll know it when we see it?"

*logs into the right journal* -_-;;

[azuranthine]

"I might have a lead," Lillian admitted reluctantly, eyes downcast. If she was wrong about this, the worst that could happen was that she would look like an idiot in front of her new friends and a bunch of people she didn't know that well. But if she was right, they might be one step closer to solving the mystery at hand. The probability was slim, at best, but honestly, what else did they have to go on? An unlikely lead was better than wasting the opportunity they'd been been given.

"I heard a story about a big, black car that killed people in the city a long time ago. It may have gotten lost and wound up here somewhere. We could look for it while we are here."

[andsheletsgo]

The museum's interior was even more than Heather had expected. It looked so big, so pretty, so regal and impressive that she couldn't help but stare at it with her mouth open for a little while before she realised that the others were already having a conversation about something. More people she didn't know (or didn't know all that well) seemed to have joined in the mean time too, so she quietly made herself into little more than some background wallpaper. Everyone seemed to know each other so well compared to how she knew them, so.. she shouldn't interrupt, right?

It wasn't until she realised what the conversation the others were having was actually about that she spoke up out of the blue in surprise. "A-a car that killed people..?!" Just when the monster things had calmed down again since that one time something like that had to be brought up. Even though Lillian said that it had happened a long time ago it still seemed a bit scary somehow. Or at the very least uncomfortable.

[azuranthine]

"It happened about eighty years ago. I'm sure somebody stopped it." Someone had to have done something about it, Lillian guessed. None of the curators she'd spoken to had mentioned it. "If it was still on the loose, there would have been a media trail following it through history. Or I think there'd be one, anyway."

Lillian stepped toward Heather, arm still hooked with Rolf's, and tried to smile at her reassuringly. "It's just a story that I heard. I thought that someone here might know more."

After all, Jimmy hadn't been able to tell her what had become of the car since the situation hadn't yet been resolved in his time. If she turned up empty again, she'd write Jimmy again with a request for an update and more information. Maybe enough time had passed for some sort of outcome to have been determined there.

[inthatwild]

"A car that kills people?" The thought bothered the small girl. She hid her shutter at the idea by crossing her arms defiantly. "That's ridiculous. There must've been someone driving and that someone is probably long gone if it was eighty years ago." At least, that's how she was able to reassure herself that there was no way something like that could have really existed. Or, well, at least made the idea more logical than Lillian had presented. Given the circumstances it was actually believable, but denial always seemed like the best answer when it came to fears.

Emi shrugged off the notion altogether. "Anyway, so splitting up then? We can just call and text each other and meet back here if anything comes up. Okay?" Rather than wait for them to make a decision or even wait to see who would be going with her, she waved her hand dismissively and started off down the hallway of the first floor.

She hadn't looked at the map, but judging by the hallway signs the floors seemed to have been divided by specific time periods. The one she had started down was obviously focused on more recent history, so it was probably safe to assume that the older items were at the top. It seemed like a rather backwards way to organize things to her, but it was easy enough to look over. That just meant that what they were looking for, whatever it was, was probably on a higher floor.

[azuranthine]

Lillian kept silent. This wasn't the place or time to argue with Emi, especially since she already walking on ahead and it'd just cut into their exploration time. She doubted Jimmy would've been so insistent on being so careful if there'd been a driver. Neither would he have called it a demon car unless he'd been certain that was the case. But Emi didn't know her source and frankly, Lillian wasn't up for discussing Jimmy or the mailboxes just then. As far as she knew, no one besides her and Lester was still experimenting with them.

"I'll go with Emi," she said, slipping her arm out of Rolf's grasp. "You guys can decide amongst yourselves what you want to do." She smiled at everyone, lingering on Rolf and Heather briefly, before following after Emi.

She looked around the hallway as she walked, as if finally noticing the new decor. It was really pretty in here. She noticed the same things Emi had about the way the exhibits were arranged except it made sense to her. Older relics were generally worth more; they'd be harder to steal and smuggle out through lower floors.

[cemetaryeyes]

Now that was an interesting little story. Ezra wondered what had happened to it, whether the driver had ever been caught or if one day he had simply tired of the disturbing game and left the trail cold. It had the feel of an urban legend, though - it was just difficult to imagine a serial killer running loose in what seemed like such a calm city... if you could call what might be a string of hit-and-runs such a thing.

"Guess I'll take the second floor then..."

Ezra glanced over the group, eyes gleaming with some hidden amusement, before starting towards the nearest set of stairs. As he passed, he discreetly hooked a finger into the back of Anthony's vest, tugging him along with. "I'm keeping my eye on you," he muttered under his breath, voice light but promising some dark retribution.

[skinnendesol]

A big, black car that killed people. What popped up in Rolf's mind was the image of a black monster truck he'd found on the Internet, and while something like that could definitely kill people, he doubted something as big as that existed back then (judging from Jimmy's reaction). Well, that just makes things harder, doesn't it-- finding a monster truck in a museum would've been a piece of cake.

Speaking of cake. Rolf's eyes wandered over to the buffet table. Free food-- something he could not, in good conscience, pass up. Lillian should be all right with Emi, and it seemed Ezra and that kid would be heading upstairs.

"Looks like it's just us." He turned to the two girls-- one he knew as Ama, and the other... he wasn't so sure about, so he had to remedy that. "Name's Rolf," he smiled at the girl with the glasses, holding out his hand. "You two wanna get some food before we head upstairs?"

[andsheletsgo]

By the time Heather realised that everyone was already splitting up to see all of the museum most of the people were gone already. The blonde boy was entirely unfamiliar - although she supposed she might have seen him around school a few times - and she had to admit that even though she recognized the girl from the night they gained their Persona Heather had to think long and hard about that night to realise her name - Ama.

The name the boy provided seemed.. quite familiar, though. "Rolf..? As in Lillian's friend Rolf?" She stuck out her hand very nervously, as if she might catch some kind of disease if she would touch someone else, but ended up shaking hands nonetheless with a very tiny and tense smile. "I'm Heather. Um, I think we spoke online once.." She glanced over to Ama with that small tiny smile as well. She felt like she had to at least try in this kind of situation, even though she was more than just nervous with two people she barely knew.