10/08/1934

[notvelour]

WHO: Open to any persona user!
WHERE: The roof gardens of Adessi
WHEN: October 8th, 1934, around 9pm
WHY: Idk, ask the birdramon demons.

Comments

[outawindow]

"HUMANS ARE WEAK. THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO KNOW. THEY ARE NOT WORTH TIME," the Badb Catha replied very matter-of-factly to Evie's question. However, it stared and tilted its head to the side for a moment. It was as if it was giving them some sort of special consideration. Locrine was honestly ready for it to attack at any moment, but that attack never came. It simply did not want to get up. Finally, it spoke again. "MOVE US AND WE WILL LEAVE."

That was a challenge. Wasn't it? A test of strength! Time to be brave. He could do this. Biting his lip, he stepped close to the nearest bird and pushed. It, of course, never budged. It flapped a wing to push him away and he stumbled back. He was only lucky that he didn't fall. Who was he kidding? He was used to using his brain, not... anything else. He let out a heavy sigh. These demons had to be strong. He needed to know how strong.

There was so much he wanted to know in general, but he knew that there was only one way to find out. It was time to make a decision. Not that the word decision itself didn't shake him to the very core. With as much as Evie had already heard, he knew that he may as well take his chances.

It felt wrong introducing another person to what could've been considered a burden, but if the demon wasn't bluffing and she had the power then there was probably nothing to be done anyway. She would figure it out eventually.

"Y-you might be able to do something," Locrine began uneasily as ever, looking back to her. "More than I can do, probably. I can only give you all of the information you need to know about these demons and what to do. J-just promise you won't panic." As if she was the one panicking. It was amazing Locrine hadn't jumped off the building by then. He didn't know her well, but maybe... He really just hoped that he could trust her even if she didn't have a persona.

[carouselburst]

Evie bit back a snappy retort to the bird's comment about human weakness and instead focused on what Locrine was saying. No matter how over-compensating these birds were, this was still a new experience for her and the best way to learn was to let herself be taught.

"All right. What should I do?" she asked, sizing up the birds.

Maybe if I go after the leader of the flock, the others will scatter, she mused.

[outawindow]

Once he was at least semi-convinced that she wouldn't panic, Locrine gave a nod. Now was a good of a time as any to do the only thing he knew he could do.

"Persona!" Shouting to summon his persona was one of those things that he didn't do often, but now seemed like an appropriate situation. The White Rabbit eagerly appeared by his side, glowing a curious bright blue with its ears and nose already frantically twitching. As Locrine's curiosity built, it had been waiting and very anxious to break out and get to work.

"O-oh my. They're ladies," he mumbled, feeling rude for having tried to shove one off of the roof a moment ago. He stepped a bit closer to Evie to quietly give her the information. Well, quietly enough. "They're called Badb Catha. That's Old Irish for battle crow! A name that originated with one of the three major goddesses on the island. Though also actually a goddess of wisdom and life, she is a patron of war. She could cause confusion and rage in soldiers to put a battle in her favor, then she would feast on the dead afterwards. U-um, that is to say... These demons can use status changing spells. But there's no battle for them here today. I don't think they plan on attacking. They resist physical attacks and fire, but I wouldn't advise that anyway... We don't want to hurt them or burn down the building by accident. O-oh, but this is all I can do, too. I can't use any elemental skills." He could've continued, but he caught himself. No sense in rambling on excessively. He would just ask if she needed anything else. "Would you like their height, weight, or wingspan?"

[carouselburst]

Evie's eyes widened in surprise when Locrine summoned the cutest bunny she'd ever seen. He was a magician, too? She looked back and forth between the bunny and Locrine, her eyes taking on a sudden bright sparkle. She never would have guessed this school library's gentle giant would be this amazing.

Evie only heard half of what Locrine said but thankfully, it was the important parts about hitting them not hurting them much and fire being a very bad idea. Locrine said something else about elemental skills that she didn't really understand. She hadn't really understood that word he'd shouted beforehand. Purse? Person? Evie had been too enthralled by the pretty blue light and Locrine's accent to catch it.

"Please," she said almost dreamily. If they weren't going to attack, well, she could listen to Locrine speak a little longer.

[outawindow]

Well, that wasn't panic at all, but once again Locrine failed to feel better about the situation. He gave her a nervous smile. "A-alright. It's-" Unfortunately, before he could finish his statement a gust of wind caused he and his rabbit to once again stumble back. It wasn't aggressive, just enough to blow them off balance. The Badb Catha who had caused the gust with a flap of its wing let out an amused cackle. It was playing, even if it wasn't the most friendly sort of playing.

"Bother... If Jimmy were here..." He looked up, already talking to himself again. Jimmy's water skills would've certainly been useful. It could have annoyed the birds enough without actually hurting anything. Water... wind... or a status. That would be their best bet. But... Right. There was still that option. What was the girl's name... He felt awkward asking something like that in the situation they were in. "There are more people in this school who know about demons. I-it's possible that you can summon something like I just did, too, I think. These demons seem to think so, anyway." Was that what they were waiting to see? They were obviously none to impressed with his own persona.

lame tag is lame <3

[carouselburst]

The sudden gust knocked Evie backwards onto her rump. She scowled at the cackling bird then got back up, her jaw set.

"That wasn't funny," she spat, hands on her hips.

Evie's expression quickly turned quizzical. A golden butterfly fluttered in the air over the birds and her distracted gaze followed it. It vanished quickly and she glanced at Locrine a little uncertainly. She could summon a guardian bunny, too? Well, it was worth a try, at least. If she wound up looking like an idiot, only the librarian and the flock of talking birds would know.

"Persona," she said flatly, as if she were answering a test question.

The same blue light that had flared up around Locrine surrounded her now and a new breeze blue her hair upward. If Evie had looked up, she would have seen a sprightly, young girl with tanned skin and a long, golden braid materialize above her head. She wore a short, faded brown tunic and floated in the air, barefoot.

I'm Atalanta! Let's hunt!

The perky voice that sounded in her mind bubbled over with cheerful optimism but took on a fierce edge toward the end. Evie looked up to see her crouch into a sprint and then race toward the laughing bird. Before Atalanta could connect, a sudden rush of wind rose in front of her and blew toward the bird. The bird cawed as it was lifted out of the flowerbed, feathers ruffled. Unfortunately, the bird wasn't the only thing uprooted, some rumpled flowers and soil flew up into the air as well, raining down on the rest of the flock.

"Now will you leave?" Evie asked, still a little wide-eyed at everything.

<3<3 Not as lame as this one!

[outawindow]

Both of Locrine's hands raised in shock as the Badb Catha was blown upward by the wind... along with some of the flowers. When the garden bits fell down on the rest, they grudgingly raised from their places. For the most part, he could tell that the birds were annoyed, but after they gained some sort of standing composure they seemed amused. The one that appeared to be the lead bird let out a squawky laugh.

"WE WILL RETURN ON A BETTER DAY. I PROMISE." And with that they began to fly off... notably a bit lower to the ground than he had expected. Both they and the school garden was safe...for now. Oh, heavens, what had they done.

Why? When was a better day? Locrine made a mental note that he would have to be more careful about checking the school's roof from now on... For now, though, he would check on the gardens. He hurried over to one, checking on the status of the plants. It was a mess with mulch horribly out of place, but overall it wasn't anything that he wouldn't be able to clean up and salvage. Some things may have needed replacement, but it was far from the worst case scenario. He would just have to work on it as much as he could in the morning. Hopefully he could blame the mess on normal birds...

He managed to smile at Evie despite everything, both he and his rabbit making mental note of her persona's demonstrated skills. "Thank you. That was brilliant!"

<3 <3 <3 Awww, Locrine smile~

[carouselburst]

Evie watched the birds fly off with an almost predatory glint in her eyes. Once they were gone, Atalanta faded away, and Evie walked over to the flowerbed. She winced a little at the damage she'd done. She certainly hadn't meant to make it any worse but at least, the birds were gone for now. Evie dismissed their statement about returning; there was no sense in worrying about it just then. If they came back, they'd just have to drive them off again. No big deal.

When Locrine smiled at her, Evie's heart did a funny little skip and she found herself smiling right back at him.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad I could help," she said. "Do you need help cleaning this up, too? I'm not busy." She pointed at the mangled flowerbed.

<3

[outawindow]

"Oh no, no. I can take care of this in the morning," he insisted. "You've done enough." He stood up and brushed off his clothes.

Locrine's first instinct after that was to pardon himself and hurry back to his own work. He had never really felt comfortable alone and in the company of a young lady he wasn't very familiar with. Or just any female, really. He was forever in the area of not wanting to be rude while also wanting to go hide behind the nearest rock. Not to mention, he knew he had to be a responsible faculty member and advise that she return to the dormitory before curfew. He hadn't really played the responsible faculty member role very well this year. If Ophelia knew the full extent of everything that was happening, he dreaded to think of how she would react. He would have to tell her though... eventually.

For now, he acknowledged that there were many things that Evie should definitely be aware of. Namely... an explanation about what had just happened. "W-we should probably talk though. What just happened... it's not something anyone else can know about. Except for a few other people, this has to stay a secret."

<3

[carouselburst]

Evie nodded quickly then fetched her abandoned shoes from where she'd kicked them off. She sat down on one of the benches, leaving plenty of room for Locrine to sit if he chose.

"I can keep it a secret," she said, looking up at Locrine solemnly. "What else should I know?"

[outawindow]

"R-right." He cautiously took a seat on the bench as well. Not too close, of course. "I'm not even sure where I should begin..." He gave a thoughtful sigh, making hand motions in the air as if pulling words from in front of him and sorting everything out before he could begin. Information was easy for him to blurt out, but it needed to make sense to her, too. "This city is actually full of demons. Most of them are active at night, it seems, but there are plenty who secretly roam about in the daytime. Most people don't know, because they hide themselves well. They're not all bad! They've all gathered here, because they're afraid of something. We... w-we don't really know what that is yet."

"Oh! And by we I mean the rest of us. That thing you summoned is called a persona. Only a very few people can use one, it seems. It's something you can use to protect yourself against demons if you need to. Well... sort of. So far, mine can only find and analyze things," he glanced over to his rabbit that was still sniffing the air, checking to make sure no other demons were in range. Everything seemed to be clear, thankfully. "But... each persona seems to do something different, so it's important that we work in a team. You'll be the tenth... I think. Unless they found others without telling me yet... And unless you count the other group."

An inability to stay seated well while explaining the matters soon had him on his feet again, pacing back and forth as he continued. This was only going to get harder for someone to believe. "Back in June we discovered mail boxes in the dormitory attic that can send letters to the future. The year 2012. There are a few students who can do what we do, and who are experiencing much of what we are here."

[carouselburst]

Evie simply listened without interrupting, trying to process the information Locrine shared. Her forehead crinkled slightly as if she were thinking about something very hard. Memorization wasn't her strong suit so she'd have to write all of this down in her diary in a way that she could remember it all.

"So demons are all over the city," she began slowly, as if reciting a reading assignment. "There are eight others besides us and another group of people like us in the future. And mailboxes are the key?" She finished with a smile.

[outawindow]

"Exactly! O-or... well, we think that's how it goes. I'll give you a key to the attic so that you can try it yourself, if you'd like. I don't have an extra with me now, but..." Locrine stopped his pacing for a moment just to check the time on his pocket watch. There wasn't really time to run to his room and grab one for her. They had to be careful. Curfew would be upon them soon enough. For that matter, she seemed to be taking everything well, but she was bound to have questions later.

Think, think, think. Oh! There were always the girls. The last thing he wanted was to potentially be a bother to any of them, but this was a special situation. They wouldn't mind helping a fellow persona user. Hopefully. "You should talk to the other girls if you have questions tonight! They are probably more available to you in the dorms than anyone else, after all. There's Millie Pierce, Eleanor Campbell, Eileen O'Keeffe, and Chloe Abendroth. I think that's everyone, anyway..."

[carouselburst]

"Chloe? Chloe Abendroth!?" Evie's voice raised slightly with her shock. Her roommate was one of them, too? Quiet little Chloe? The rest of the names went in one ear and out the other.

Somehow in light of everything else, that boggled her mind the most. If the librarian summoned a bunny and she summoned a girl, what did Chloe summon? Suddenly, Evie was wild with curiosity. Maybe she would ask her roommate about it when she got back if Chloe was still awake.

"I'll be studying again tomorrow," Evie said in a distracted rush. "You could give it to me then, Mr. Whittle!"

[outawindow]

Well, it seemed she knew Chloe. He couldn't really tell if her shock was positive or negative, but he was going to bet on positive. They were both freshmen. She probably knew the other girl at least somewhat, even if they had only been in school since September. This would be okay... right? Right. Right. Maybe. Yes.

"A-alright. I won't forget to bring it," he promised with a final nod. Time to pretend for a little while that he was a responsible RA like he probably should've done in the first place. Bother. He needed to improve. "Going back to the dormitories now is a good idea. Will you be alright on your own?"

[carouselburst]

"I'll be fine~," Evie practically sang, clearly eager to get back to the dorms. She simply had to know what Chloe summoned; she just had to. Still, Evie managed to flash a dazzling, bright smile at Locrine.

"Will you be alright on your own?" she asked, suddenly remembering Locrine's rather ineffectual shove to one of the birds.