The New Arrival

[eighteensouls]

Who: Simon, anyone who finds him.
What: Simon Dark finds himself in an unfamiliar place that isn't Gotham...
When: Around 11pm
Where: The grounds and rooftops of Cair Paradisa
Rating: G...ish? Rating will change if the content does.

Comments

[saikyou_saiaku]

Shizuru made it a point to keep her own journal open and pay as much attention as she could to it, save for the occasions when doing so would mean exposing what was going on at her end to whomever could be listening -- doubtlessly the situation Simon had encountered.

One could jump to the conclusion that there was another new arrival, having found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. On the other hand, he might be a resident, or one of those rumoured people mentioned every once in a while, who had encountered some sort of uncharted territory.

There could be only one way to find out.

"Mister? Do you require assistance?"

[eighteensouls]

"Mister? Do you require assistance?"

Well, honestly, Simon didn't expect the book to answer. Or, well, talk. Where he'd come from, books were decidedly silent, and to the best of his knowledge, did not communicate with the reader. He stepped back in his surprise, an action that proved to be somewhat unfortunate as the tile Simon stepped on cracked and broke free from the rest of the roof; Simon slipped as a result, and the sound of several more tiles breaking as he fell with a noticeable grunt could be heard through the journal. Fortunately, he caught hold of the roof underneath with his free hand, something that saved him from sliding down the roof and crashing onto the balcony walkway onto the pieces of shattered roofing tiles. After he carefully sat upright, and made sure he wasn't going to slide down the roof, Simon decided to respond as best as he was able.

"You...can talk?" Simon asked, sounding clearly confused, and undoubtedly under the impression that it was the book that had spoken to him rather than someone speaking

[saikyou_saiaku]

The ruckus and his subsequent response were clear signs of a newcomer. There was a short pause, during which she thought over how to go about explaining things.

"You seem to have mistaken me for the book you are addressing," she eventually said, keeping her tone level so as to not startle him further. "Rather, I own one much like yours, and it allows me to communicate with you, as well as the others who also have such books."

It sounded ridiculous when she put it across like so, but that...could hardly be helped.

[yamanaka]

Ino happened to be lounging about in her room and painting her nails with some hot tea close at hand. Ah, the joys of doing something nondescript and relaxing to wind down from a long(ish) day of being outside in the cold. She was getting really tired of this weather -- was it spring yet? Sheesh ...

She decided to go about leafing through her journal while waiting for the nail polish to dry, though, looking for anything interesting that had happened since she'd last looked through it. She hadn't come across anything particularly exciting yet -- even pausing to stop, yawn, and take a sip of tea before continuing on to the next page.

Ino happened to hear his voice come out of the book once she turned the page, though. With a small sigh, she carefully set her teacup back on the side table next to her bed before speaking up.

"You must be new?"

[eighteensouls]

Another voice? How many did the book have? Simon was thoroughly confused at this point, although he was beginning to sense some magic within the book itself. Not that it helped matters much, he wasn't familiar enough at deciphering such detections to be able to make sense of what that magic signature actually meant. He may have been skilled with magic, but he was far from an expert at dealing with it. Especially the unfamiliar magic that seemed to be everywhere in this place...

"I think so, yes. What is this place?" Simon answered, eventually giving up his search for speakers on the outside of the book and instead turning his attention to its contents. Thumbing through the pages, all he could see was handwriting, and very little of it looked to be in a similar style to the other kinds. Some of it even appeared on the page before his eyes, which led to increased interest in the strange book more than it did any additional confusion. Now it appeared to be some sort of puzzle to be solved, or a riddle understood. Fortunately the

[yamanaka]

She was about to open her mouth to reply when she heard another voice explaining some of what he was undoubtedly confused about.

"You got it!" Ino replied. "They're kinda like walkie talkies, or phones ... well, whatever you've got in your world for communication."

She sighed. Now for the difficult explanation. "You're in a world called Paradisa. It's not where you were before -- but don't worry. Time will stop there until you return."

It was usually imperative for most people to return as quickly as possible - Paradisa had quite the knack for nabbing people in the middle of important battles and missions. It was always good to reassure them right off the bat that they wouldn't miss a thing.

[saikyou_saiaku]

Better somebody else than her to explain all the Things To Know, really -- it wasn't that she lacked the capability to do so, but that spending effort was troublesome and leaving it to another would always be A++ in her book. Extracting herself from the conversation was hardly possible at this point, however.

"I am," she said. "There are many others who have been brought here as you have, and also people native to this world.

From the clattering noises earlier, I assume you are currently at, or close to the rooftop?"

[skullish]

This was, as luck would have it, the time that Sera liked to come out the most.

During the day, people moved about the castle and the grounds like any other place on Earth. The denizens of Paradisa seemed to favor night more than those of Earth did, but still, a majority if people here, well, slept once the sun went down.

And if there was one thing Sera didn't like to do while she was awake, it was interacting with people who were also awake.

She'd spent about an hour just flying around the castle and the grounds, enjoying the "abandoned zombie apocalypse town" sort of vibe that one got from that sort of thing. Finally, she'd come back to the castle to sit and maybe draw something, her sketchbook clutched in her hand as she gently alighted on the roof.

Pushing her goggles back onto her forehead, she took one step forward, and ... oh, suddenly noticed there was someone else up here.

"Um," she said, her voice raspy and whispery, "hello?"

[eighteensouls]

Normally, Simon would have at least detected someone getting so close to him, but the tiny blue-haired one managed to escape his notice. It probably had a lot more to do with his fascination with the strange book he'd found than anything else though, new curiosities always captivated him. Especially since he could sense magic around this one, too. And she wasn't a book! Which was not to say that Simon was not grateful for the conversation he'd been having thus far of course, it was just that a book that happened to be magic wasn't quite as interesting as a person who happened to be magic. It all made perfect sense to Simon of course, but fortunately for him it was unlikely he'd have to explain his reasoning any time soon.

Having to explain why his hair appeared to be attached to the mask and why his eyes quickly changed from a pale gray to hazel as soon as he turned to look at his strange visitor on the other hand, might become a point of discussion somewhere in the foreseeable future.

"Hello," Simon answered, pausing a bit as he

[skullish]

Ordinarily, Sera would be creeped out by this guy's appearance. But, after having seen other, more creepy people in the castle for the past seven months that she'd lived here, she had become a bit more open to ... creepiness.

Sera blinked a few times at that question before she answered it. "Um ... yeah. The journals? They're not really talking, it's ... other people talking, um, through it. So ..."

Oh boy, was this guy new here? She was probably not the best person to be on welcome wagon committee.

[eighteensouls]

Fortunately Simon already had that bit explained to him, he'd just been less clear than he should have been when he'd asked the question. He'd try harder the next time. "I know...I meant does that book talk too?" he asked, indicating Sera's sketchbook with a brief gesture from his right hand before he returned to flipping through the pages of his own journal. Just how Sera had managed to get onto the roof seemed to be a matter Simon was ignoring for the time being, likely far too distracted by the new magical object that presumably did not have the potential to unleash a horde of dark magic infused beasties to devour the world of the living, like the last book he'd come upon.

There were other matters to be addressed with far too little subtlety for the time being anyway. Simon was observant enough to notice the sort of small things most people would overlook, or at least take a while to notice. Unfortunately for Sera, he also lacked the social graces to bring up such observations with any amount of sensitivity or tact. "You have no

[derpish]

Cain was often on the roof. It was one of his favourite places to be, as it reminded him that he was free... or as free as any of them could be in this world.

The town and then the Dead Zone stretching out for miles under a completely natural sky. No dome, no dark space, no stars, no hiss of false oxygen that smelled too clean and sterile.

This was real.

It made his heart ache a little to know this would be his only experience of it, to be forgotten as he returned to his death. But something he was rapidly learning, was how much he should cherish even this opportunity.

There were not often others on the roof, and so when Cain saw somebody appear - and over the side of the outer wall, no less - he stared and pushed his glasses up a little further as though wondering if he had been seeing things.

"...Hello?"

[cricketycricket]

Five didn't often venture up to the roof - the sense of vertigo that the castle had "kindly gifted" him with had seen to that. But the night was clear, and bright, and cold, and the perfect condition to go star-gazing in. So, bundled up in his coat and hat, a book on Paradisa's constellations in hand, he made his way out onto the roof ...

... and saw a very unfamiliar, unique face.

"Well, hello, there."