Walkabout investigators, late week 3

[leftbehindagain]

We have a slight problem, guys. You know that dragon-hunt meeting at the beginning of the week?

The dragon organised it. I've bumped into the kid who knows that actual person a couple times, and she said she spotted the difference right away. It's probably too late to do much with that information, but I'm almost certain it tried to focus people on the Magicians' Quarter on purpose.

I'd bet it's anywhere but there, and I bet it won't be there much in the next few weeks.

Comments

[creativefool]

Beat me to it. I'm gonna be careful.

Y'know ... That kid you were talkin' to? Maria, right?
Did she tell ya about the, uh, crazy animal summonin' stuff she's been doing? The things she's been pullin' off are... pretty damn advanced. I couldn't do it, not on that scale, and I've been workin' on that colour for a hell of a lot longer than she has... she can't've been studyin' it more than a week.

Kinda wonderin' how she learned that fast. And there's somethin' else that's making me wonder... I dunno. Either the kid's a hell of a natural or something's goin' on.

[leftbehindagain]

Good.

Now that you mention it... she was kind of weird this last time I talked to her. 'You can call me' instead of 'my name is,' for one thing, and she had some really strange observations about what green magic covers. Incidentally, it seems talking to the dead falls under that umbrella. [Congratulations, bro, you stumbled into something tied to skulls after all.]

What kind of 'something' were you thinking?

[wholeheaded]

...did she say who has been teaching her? I remember her from the gate, said she was an apprentice of sorts to Beatrice the Yellow.

[ who is apparently the new dragon or something. he shouldn't have spent the last week with his nose in various books. ]

[creativefool]

[Hey, the right books are a good place to put a nose. He's learned that well enough recently.]

Y'know, I don't think I got a name apart from Beatrice's. Do ya know if apprentices often switch colours compared to their teachers?

[creativefool]

She gave me the 'you can call me' thing, too. Didn't really think a lot of it at the time, but... Huh.

Could be some other powerful mages wanderin' around here or something. I dunno how powerful we're talkin' - [He's hesitant to outright think the word 'Illuminant', with his lack of understanding of the situation...] - but if that sorta magic can get into the hands of a kid, something's gotta be up.

Or ... eh, kinda a long shot, but ...Can anyone tell me if she's an Infiltrator? I kinda think I've seen her before, but I ... wanna be sure. 'Cause there's somethin' else that a nice friendly lady with a lion can mean.

[leftbehindagain]

...I didn't even think of the Trump angle, but I think that one's less likely. ROSE is the only one I can think of that went to this much trouble to blend into the setting.

And I think Maria-chan was at the Day of the Dead party.

[Maybe it's just wishful thinking on Naoki's part, considering how many times he's talked to Maria and how much she seems to like him... but still.]

[creativefool]

You got it. Strength card symbolism.

She looks familiar to me, too, which is why I ain't panickin' about the idea. But ... just check for marks if ya get a chance. In case we have got more ROSE type shit goin' down.

[leftbehindagain]

I will. Thanks.

[Private]

I mean, I guess it wouldn't be terrible? But I also don't know if it'd be the right one, either. This whole thing gets a lot more complicated when you don't have one idea fixed in your head anymore.

Private:

[creativefool]

Yeah, I get ya. It's kinda hard to say what the 'right one' really is, huh...

Private:

[leftbehindagain]

No kidding. But I don't regret not trying to argue the point.

Re: Private:

[creativefool]

Yeah. If they don't want ya, it probably means it ain't gonna work no matter what. I mean... I tried the same thing with SAGE back on the Grid, y'know? And he said 'no' too.

Not that I know if this Chariot shit's gonna work, but... got as good a chance as any, I guess.

Private:

[leftbehindagain]

[It's not really a surprise that Kanji tried on the Grid. Crypto fanboy etc.] Pretty much. I'm still glad I at least had a chance to talk to him. It might not have sunk in otherwise.

Oh, I think you'll be all right. You were already halfway there before Nova Venezia. I mean, look at your magic project. You got yourself this far by yourself and you've been going at it for months. Sure, it might've been nice of them to stick around for a chat, but is that really going to be Chariot's style?

Re: Private:

[creativefool]

I guess not, but ... still. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, y'know? We're supposed to mean all this to 'em, at least, if you ask some of 'em, and all I get's a handwave an' a tattoo.

Ugh.

And I know that it all fits, but that doesn't always help.

Private:

[leftbehindagain]

Never said it wouldn't sting. Maybe you'll get a chance for a slightly longer conversation some other time. [Though he wouldn't be surprised if that conversation's entirely with Kanji's fist.]

It may not always help, but it can't hurt either. And hey, look on the bright side - it wasn't Devil.

Re: Private:

[creativefool]

...Maybe.

Heh. Yeah, considerin' the alternatives, I got off alright there.

Private:

[leftbehindagain]

And like I said last time we talked about it, you're not stuck with what everyone else's Kanji would've expected. It's something you can make yours.

[creativefool]

Yeah. I'm me. I ain't them.

But - it's still weird thinkin' about the... other guys sometimes, you know? What the one over where Souji-san 'n Naoto come from's like, or from anywhere else that's out there. The idea that there's a me who's never had to step up and do what I've done... never got things sorted out like that?

I dunno if I envy him or feel bad for him.

[leftbehindagain]

Oh, I know the feeling. [There's a reason he gives Souji-san so much credit, and it's certainly not that he seems to be notably With It. But Souji clearly made an effort to get to know Naoki, back in his Inaba, and that must have been exponentially harder without something to do.]

It's still kind of you. I'm sure they got their shit together sooner or later.

[creativefool]

I hope so, man. I really hope so. But they ain't any sort of me if they gave up, right?

[leftbehindagain]

Exactly. Giving up's not really in your wheelhouse.

[creativefool]

[In his ... give him a second here.]

...Damn right.

[willyousee]

Ah... Maria has chosen her color, has she? I had wondered where she had run off to. A slippery little girl.

[fridgeninja]

I'm pretty sure she was in Liminal Space.

But from what I remember, ROSE was, too, so that might not mean anything.

[leftbehindagain]

They can't possibly make this easy to figure out, can they.

[fridgeninja]

That isn't their style any more than it was Izanami-sama's.