rakuen | On the platform: Meet the new characters

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On the platform: Meet the new characters

For those getting off the train their first impression of rakuen will be gloomy, the sky is grey and there is a fine drizzle that soaks you before you even realise it's raining. There is a group there to meet you: on one side, four students in black and green; on the other, four in red and white. Whilst the green group are all fairly average; all teenagers, the red group are a tad more varied. One of their girls is tiny, the size of a small child, and her wings are beating patterns in the warm air.

When they notice the arrivals, one out of each group steps forward. A young man in red and white looking serious steps forward

"Can I please have your attention." He explains that they're all prefects of Rakuen, from the two battle schools on the island. Fortitude - the long haired boy and the others dressed in green - and Conquest. They all arrived just like you did, weeks or months before this.

"I know you have many questions but first please come to the person who calls your name."

He looks down on his list to double check "For Conquest Apollo Justice and Naesala."

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Loud. Wincing slightly as Apollo's voice assaulted his ear drums, Naesala let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes in order to hide the annoyance that was surely flashing across them right now. Only when he was sure he had his expression under control and his ears didn't hurt anymore did he open them again.

"Then you don't deny your gaze." He responded with an arched brow. What exactly did Apollo mean by 'dye job'? Did he mean the same dye as one would use for cloth? Why would anyone apply that to their hair? What a strange human custom.

He wasn't sure what the other man's pause was for, but Apollo was at least a little quieter now that he wasn't so startled. "Well... no?" He could admit that he'd been staring, a little. Or more than a little, which was probably rude, he realized.

"... Look, I'm sorry. All of this is just a lot to take in right now." Apollo reached up to run a hand over his hair, flipping his damp spikes back up and out of his face.

An apology? The words made Naesala's expression take on an amused note as he folded his arms. Not an immediate enemy then if he would apologize to one of the 'sub-human' race. And while it wasn't enough to put Naesala at ease around him, it was at least enough for the former king to relent in his teasing. ... at least for now.

"Well rest your eyes, little beorc. It looks like we're going to be here a while. You should be able to get your fill of me then."

"I'd rather not do either of those things," he said in a near-mutter, taking another look at their surroundings. Apollo was tempted to turn right around and try to find the conductor for the train to catch a ride back home, but he also wanted to know how he'd gotten here in the first place. He couldn't remember that part, and it was bothering him.

"What's a be-orc supposed to be, anyway?" Apollo was trying to ignore the 'little' part, as irritating as it was.

That remark made him raise an eyebrow. Apollo didn't know the meaning of the word? Even the dullest of simpletons on Tellius knew the name of their own race, as unused as it was. Was it possible he was speaking with someone beyond the Desert of Death? As his gazed flickered towards the people on the platform, he narrowed his eyes. No... perhaps more than that.

"A human." He answered while he pondered, pausing to give Apollo an amused smirk. Bringing up his hand, he used two fingers to imitate the lawyer's hairstyle. "Though I do wonder about the horns."

Human ... so that confirmed that the other man was something different than human, to some degree. Apollo hadn't wanted to let himself think about it, but he couldn't deny that it had to be the truth, as impossible as these things were supposed to be.

"So what does that make you, exactly?" He looked all for the world like some sort of winged elf, but Apollo was hesitating to attribute him to anything quite so fantastic. Elves weren't supposed to exist, either, but this guy still looked like he could poke an eye out with those ears.

"... And hey, they aren't horns! The rain washed out my hair gel, but it normally looks a lot cooler than this."

"Amazing." Naesala responded without the slightest hint of shame as his lips quirked upwards slightly. Despite his initial aversion to the other man for his sense of style and volume, there was something about him that was proving to be immensely entertaining. Something that his laguz half was already immediately attracted to.

More than likely, it was his reactions. The easily ruffled ones were always the most fun to pester.

"Hair gel?" Naesala inquired then, choosing to forego his teasing in order to satiate his curiosity. Besides, it was better to pace oneself when playing with a new toy. No sense in wearing it out too quickly.

"I'll believe that one when I see it," Apollo said, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He would've loved to know what was so funny about all of this. "But no, seriously. If your people have a proper name, I'd like to know. Unless you don't mind me calling you whatever I come up with."

Apollo's sure he could think of some pretty good nicknames, but he's still trying to be polite. It's pretty obvious by now that this guy was poking fun at him, but he'd had worse before. Apollo could handle this just fine.

"Hair gel is... it's a substance that goes in your hair to help style it. It's usually goopy and clear, but - it'd probably be easier to just show you it sometime."

"As tempting as it is to see how far your creativity reaches, I'll pass. My people are called laguz. Sub-human if you're feeling particularly offensive." Naesala replied, a bit of taunt in his words as his wings shifted slightly. The look he gave Apollo then was daring, like he wanted the lawyer to utter that demeaning title and sink to that level.

Truthfully he didn't really care if Apollo used it. He'd been called much worse in his lifetime, after all. But it would make their relationship abundantly clear and set in stone. It would also save him time in getting a better feel for the man and whether or not he was worth anymore more than mild entertainment.

As for the issue of hair gel... the thought was a~~poll~~palling to even think about it. From what the human had described, it sounded like slime from the bottom of the ocean or drool from a dragon's mouth. As his eyebrow arched upwards, making his blatant disbelief clear, his lips quirked into a hapless smirk and he shrugged. A silent 'humans'.

Apollo regarded him with an almost thoughtful look as he explained it, his brow starting to furrow. Sub-human? The word was offensive enough all on its own that the elaboration wasn't really needed. Apollo's world might not have had winged people, but anyone using that term there would've still been very quickly labeled a bigot.

"Uh. Laguz it is, then." The word's a little awkward on his tongue, unfamiliar, but it's still not quite as awkward as this conversation is getting. Not that this guy seemed to notice, with how amused he kept acting about ... well, nearly everything.

"Would I be right in assuming you're Mr. Naesala? It's pretty obvious that we're not from... the same place. Hair gel is pretty basic stuff, but - if you still don't believe that it exists, I don't mind proving it to you."

At Apollo's reply, Naesala was briefly amused as he realized the game would continue. While a small voice at the back of his mind told him such games were no longer necessary- of sorting acquaintances into enemies or tools- another part of him rationalized that it was completely necessary in this foreign environment. One that- apparently- seemed to cross continents if not something more... worldly. The idea gave him a migraine just thinking about it. How would such a thing even work? As far as he knew, even Ashunera hadn't possessed such power.

"Given your reaction to my wonderful hair and mine to your goop, I would say your assumption is correct." He remarked, allowing the emphasis to carry across the fact that he now knew for certain what Apollo had initially meant to say. On a more serious note, however, he did glance solemnly up at the stage. "Our hosts have some awe inspiring magic, wouldn't you say?"

Apollo turned a shade redder at the mention of his earlier outburst, a little ashamed that he hadn't been able to keep his cool earlier. But still, wings! The guy's wingspan had to be huge, but - he wasn't about to mention that out loud. He could only imagine what sort of innuendo that would get twisted into.

"If you want to call their amazing kidnapping skills magic, sure." He keeps his voice fairly low this time, not particularly wanting to accuse the others on the platform of anything. Not that he was going to trust them, either. What better suspects were there than the very people standing there waiting for them to show up? "Do you... remember how we got here? My head's all fuzzy on that one. I think we might've been drugged."

"Not at all." Naesala replied, voice still appropriately serious as he considered their situation.

Drugged? The idea alone made him uneasy. There were a lot of things human medicine could do to a laguz's body and most of it harmful. Up until then, he'd just assumed someone had made use of a teleportation spell and a sleep staff. Those were the easiest and most logical answers, especially when you considered he'd been snatched from inside the castle at Sienne, Begnion's capital. Anyone who could sneak past their Holy Guard was either someone with extensive skills or an insider. Given, while the Holy Guard wasn't overly fond of him, Sanaki had given him her protection and the Empress's word was law. Even Sigrun or Tanith wouldn't defy it.

Still, all this theorizing and worrying wasn't doing him any good. There was really only one way to check if his or Apollo's theory was correct. Flapping his wings once, he closed his eyes and reached within him for the goddess given gift of transformation. Reached for it and- pain! With a startled yelp, he dropped to his feet and stumbled, clutching his head. As a powerful migraine racked his brain, he gritted his teeth and waited for it to pass, all the while letting out aggravated noises that were more animal than human. As his wings closed in around him protectively, he forced himself not to thrash like a wild thing- cutting at anything and anyone close to him like an animal in pain would.

For a moment he stayed like that, at least until the pain subsided and... and what? What had happened? What had he even been trying to do?

Edited 2012-10-13 03:21 (UTC)

The sudden flap of his wings had made Apollo step back, so he was far enough out of the way when Naesala collapsed, quite obviously in pain. The sheer suddenness of it startles the heck out of him, but the lack of blood or visible injury at least means that he doesn't panic ... and when he's not panicking he can still think under pressure, generally.

"Mr. Naesala?!" It was all completely alarming, but he doesn't let it scare him away. Instead, Apollo kneels in front of him, reaching a hand out only to draw it back soon after. If it weren't for his wings being in the way, he might've tried to touch his shoulder ... but as it was, Apollo balked at the idea of brushing against such strange anatomy without permission. This wasn't an emergency yet, just hovering on the edge of one, so he could afford to be courteous about it. Apollo's still in fairly close, unaware of the potential danger there.

"Mr. Naesala?" he tried again, when some of those noises the laguz was making had died down. There's an urgency in Apollo's tone, undercut with a touch of fear. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Exhaling slowly, only when he was certain he had himself under control did he raise his head and look up at Apollo. However, he could not contain the anger in his eyes as his gaze flickered up towards the people on the stage. As his lips thinned in badly concealed wrath, the laguz slowly got to his feet and settled his wings back into place, taking a moment to smooth down his ruffled feathers.

The first note that something had gone horribly wrong was the lingering tingle of pain echoing down his spine. The second? The fact that he no longer had any idea of what they had just been discussing. He never lost track of a conversation, no matter how menial it might be.

"I can hear you." He replied quietly, forsaking an obvious joke in favor of reexamining Apollo. "Although it seems our hosts have some awe inspiring magic."

... which was exactly what he'd said only a few moments ago. Of course, he no longer remembered that, but it was still quite an oddity.

Woah, that was ... understandable, though the ferocity of his gaze makes Apollo draw back. He gets up to his feet as the other man does, frowning, looking between Naesala and the others on the platform.

What just happened? The only thing that comes to mind is that the laguz might have had a bad reaction to whatever they've been drugged with. Not that he had any idea of if he had a medical history or not, but the timing of it was uncanny. Apollo was staying in close, looking him over again in return, not yet satisfied that he was completely recovered.

"... Okay. You, uh, already mentioned that." Brow furrowed, Apollo regarded him a little more critically, "How are you feeling? I'm sure they must have a hospital or a doctor here, if you need it."

That drew his attention long enough to break his irate stare down with those on the stage. As his gaze switched back to Apollo, the crow arched an eyebrow as he considered the implications of having fumbled his speech. "Really." He remarked with notable interest as he considered this new little bit of information. It wasn't so much the revelation that something had effected his memory that intrigued him- that much he already knew due to his losing track of their conversation entirely.

No, it was that apparently whatever had happened had reset his thought process. At least long enough for him to repeat the same point. An interesting bit of sorcery...

"I'm fine, physically in any case. This is more likely just another side-effect of our captors' actions." He replied, brushing aside Apollo's concerns with a wave of his hand. "What about you? Have you noticed anything strange?" Naesala asked then, wondering if this treatment was restricted to himself (unlikely) or to everyone taken as he suspected.

"Yes, really." His reply is a little sarcastic, and Apollo's not convinced that the other man was completely okay ... but if he did collapse again, he's sure he could get someone on the platform to help carry him to a doctor. Keeping that in mind kept him calmer, just a little jittery still thanks to the scare.

They had came to the same conclusion on the cause, at least, which is enough to reassure Apollo that he's not being too paranoid here. After all, what else could it possibly be? Apollo pauses for a moment to think, his arms crossed with a finger pressed against his forehead. Details were important, but despite his eye for them, he just couldn't think of anything that stood out in particular.

"Do you mean other than just being here? ... I wasn't going to take a trip... at least, I don't think I was. I don't remember getting on the train, and the train looks too old to even be something from L.A. And I..."

Apollo's sure he had some sort of dream while he'd been sleeping on the train, but it was far too hazy and indistinct for him to recall. But there was something else, too, and he glanced at the bracelet on his wrist before looking back to Naesala. It was just... a little odd that his bracelet hadn't responded to anything here yet. That must've meant that what he was being told really was true, which was almost more outrageous than being told them in the first place.

"... I guess the strange part is how we could've ended up here at all."

If Naesala were a kinder man, he would have apologized for startling Apollo... or at least thanked him for his concern. Unfortunately, the crow had grown accustomed to being abrasive and conceited over the last few decades thanks to the circumstances of his rule. Even if it was a facade, the personality had stuck like a terrible habit and it was hard to discard it now, especially when faced with strangers in foreign environments.

Assuming L.A. to mean a location Apollo's word, Naesala took more interest in the fact that he could identify the box that had transported them here. As his world held no such contraptions, was it safe to say that this world was more similar to Apollo's? If it was, then there was suddenly a very obvious benefit to staying by the human's side...

"Is it strange? Magic is a powerful tool, after all." He insisted, wondering why Apollo had such a hard time accepting the idea that they may have been hit with two successive spells in a row. Sleep and teleport were very capable of managing this task, as the Black Knight had proven repeatedly. Or he would have if he had needed the sleep staff to coerce anyone into coming with him.

"Uh, yes? You can't call something a tool when it doesn't exist."

This just kept getting weirder and weirder. Weren't mysterious kidnappings and winged guys enough for this place, without the suggestion of magic being involved? Just thinking about it was threatening to give Apollo a headache. There just had to be a better explanation for it all, because then - then it'd be possible to trace those steps backwards and go home. How could you do that with a concept like magic?

"You weren't talking about stage magic, were you? Or is it an expression? Like, 'hah, that was so inexplicable it's magic!'"

Arching one perfect eyebrow at Apollo's question, Naesala was very quiet for a moment as he allowed his reproachful look to sink into the human's mind. Then, only when he was certain the lawyer had been adequately reprimanded with the look, did he speak. Stage magic indeed.

"May I assume from your repeated denial that your world does not have such a thing?" He asked politely, his tone just shy of mocking. He was honestly trying to keep his impolite attitude in check, but there was just something so hard about it around Apollo.

... Oh, great. Now Naesala was giving him a look that echoed the same one Mr. Gavin would give him when Apollo said something a little too stupid. It was an uncomfortable enough thought, but this time his stubbornness was keeping him from giving in. Apollo knew he was right!... even if there was a nagging at the back of his mind reminding him that there were too many odd events going on for him to discount anything so easily.

"Of course we don't! The fake stuff, sure, my assistant does that, but what you're talking about is impossible." Apollo hesitated just a moment before making a vague gesture at him, "I know you have the, uh, wings, but there's got to be a good evolutionary reason for that."

"Such as?" He was beginning to find himself amused by Apollo's stubbornness in the face of what could only be considered as solid proof to the contrary. "Are you about to suggest my people grew from a flock of sparrows and pigeons?" He added, voice holding a mocking bite to it as he shifted into a more comfortable stance and placed his hand on his hip.

All joking aside, he resisted the urge to run his hands down his sides just to make sure everything was still in place. He couldn't lose the sensation that something had just gone horribly amiss with his body. That he was speaking in light tones, however, was merely an act of covering up his true emotions. Something that was only habit now, like so many unnecessary things.

"I..." That didn't sound nearly as bad as the fact that humans descended from chimps, but that tone Naesala's got now keeps him from saying anything further. It really wasn't Apollo's intention to insult the guy, but without that warning he might've gone ahead and done it anyway. Was there anything the laguz wouldn't be touchy over?

- No, that was a stupid question. After collapsing like he had earlier, was it any wonder? Apollo might not have the benefit of his bracelet, but he'd always been naturally observant. It was making himself step back to look at the bigger picture that was a little harder.

"... This isn't the best place to be discussing this," Apollo said finally, looking away from him with a slight frown. "If you think it's magic, fine. We can't know for sure anyway without solid proof."

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On the platform: Meet the new characters

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