Scene #5906: One Year Passed-3

Owner	Pose
Grave Matters	It's a different night, but the same location. The attendance seems to have dropped, most notably with the absence of Eryl Fairfax, but that's totally reasonable. The leader of the Paladins has a lot on his plate. He can't always be running off to attend to things like this personally. And the number of people is largely irrelevant, as long as there are allies willing to see this through. This time, Shiho holds the memory crystal in Eryl's place. Matsuri looks more 'together' than the end of the last session. It was apparently very exhausting to go through some of the most emotionally intense parts of her life a second time, and in front of an audience. She is in her 'work uniform' for the coffee shop, a waitress outfit, but not one of the maid cafe-type weirdo ones that are common throughout Japan. Just... Normal waitress. With pants even. "Anyone want anything before we begin?" she asks blandly. Before she even finishes, Ruri is insistently waving her hand over her head. "Butterscotch toffee, a danish, a large espresso, and all the sugar you can fit in a dish!" "I'm not giving you sugar or caffeine. Anyone else?" Ruri puffs out her cheeks in annoyance.
All-Seeing Eye	Eye is here, dressed in a white dress shirt tucked into impeccably pressed baby blue slacks. Along with a pair of pristine white hi-top shoes, the ensemble is rounded off with a blue letterman jacket just a shade lighter than his slacks. As usual, his long black hair is braided, and he's also wearing a content smile. The Warden raises his hand gently. "A kruller would be absolutely /delightful,/" he says with a nod towards Matsuri. "If it's not too much to ask!~"
Orchid	Once again, Orchid is here, but this time something seems off. She's been hiding her hands, for one thing. "Ahh, I think I'd like a doughnut," she replies to the offer. She's back in something that won't call attention to her robotic nature, given how this world wants to keep things quiet. Maybe it's a good policy, maybe it isn't, but it isn't Orchid's place to disrupt that status quo.
Seras Victoria	"Th-thanks but I have to pass." States the vampire amongst the group, sounding a bit regretful and trying not to let her irritation through. Seras is seated at the table, wearing casual outing clothes. A mixture of awe and 'really, guy?' is visible in her face whenever she takes notice of Eye's overdressed form, but most of her attention is on the Grave Matters gang for this outing, as usual. "Normal food and I went our separate ways about a year ago." The young woman murmurs softly, as if to explain turning it down. Perhaps the full reason will come out later!
Grave Matters	"Sure." Matsuri answers to both Eye and Orchid. It may be after hours, and she's sure not being paid for this, but maybe the familiarity is part of getting her head in order for another expedition into her past. A short while later, she delivers the twisty cake and the doughnut, and, just to show she's not a mean person, she at least gives Ruri her toffee to help dispel the sulking the princess is engaging in. It seems to mollify her, because the pony-tailed redhead starts chowing down on her chewy confection without further complaint or indication she even remembers being denied the other things. "Yes, you do seem to be rather saturated with death energies." Shiho says in response to Seras. "Someone with your physiology might not be able to handle solids. Though I would have thought the same of her, and..." The gray-haired, most mature among the trio, looks at Ruri meaningfully. Ruri, vaguely realizing she's being talked about, looks up with her cheeks stuffed full like a hamster, and strings of butterscotch toffee trailing from her lips to the rest of the candy in her grasp. "Well, it's as you can see." Matsuri sets down the serving plate and removes her apron, and says, "This is great and all, but can we please move forward? I'd like to not spend the entire night lingering on these memories. Shiho, do you know what's next on the agenda?" The witchy girl shakes her head. "They are your memories. I do not know what order they fall in or what transpires within them." Matsuri drums her fingers on the counter, chewing her lower lip, and then moves away to stand in the middle of the dining area. "Okay." she says, instead of some sarcastic remark. "When you're all done eating, I'll be as ready as I'll ever be."
All-Seeing Eye	The Exalt raises his sweet to Matsuri in a gesture of thanks, taking small, measured bites as opposed to Ruri's frenzied approach. He looks over his shoulder and fixes Seras with a knowing smile--he knows how well he dresses! Between bites, he makes a 'go ahead' gesture with his free hand. "Oh, don't hold things up just on my account, darling. I don't know about Chevalier Orchid, but I can multitask!~" Indeed, if Orchid feels similarly, and if Matsuri has no qualms about starting the memory with the two of them just munching away, that's exactly what will happen. If not, though, he doesn't attempt to hurry his pace--he just continues savoring the treat with a certain air of indolence. "Quite good," he says of the kruller. Either way, when he's fihished, he wipes his hands with a napkin and disposes of it promptly, fixing the trio of young magicians with a wide smile. "Off we go, hm?"
Orchid	With a polite "Thank you," Orchid accepts the pastry, but in a hand that... has far too many fingers. Like 12 of the wiggly little things. She starts with one bite of the doughnut, and nods along to All-Seeing Eye's comment. Mind you, she's not going to wolf it down, she's going to enjoy it. No, she doesn't NEED to eat, but she can enjoy it.
Seras Victoria	Yep. One look at Ruri's exuerance hammers home just how Different things can be from one world to the next. "L-Lucky for her!" The vampire exclaims, genuinely trying to not sound jealous, even though she definitely is. Of course, this leaves her now staring at Orchid. "... Aren't you a robot of some kind?" Do robots need to eat? This makes no sense. Seras is just staring befuddledly at her. As if this is just totally unfair! "R-right then. Ready to get started!"
Grave Matters	Shiho is a bit slow to start because she's fascinated by Orchid's fingers. "Hm? Oh, sorry. I was just noticing how Miss Orchid's numerous fingers make your hands look like large spiders. I shall begin at once." When the illusion resumes, whether it's post or during the eating, everyone find themselves moving quickly through a series of events. Almost like a montage of sorts, of the Matsuri of a year ago studying in various classes, trying to perform magic alongside others, but failing where the other students succeed, and growing increasingly depressed over it. Shiho seems to be having difficulty isolating a specific scene to focus on, and says as much. "Mister Fairfax made this look much easier than it is. I can't lock onto a particular moment. Let me try..." Whatever it is Shiho just tried or was about to try, everything snaps into clarity and a clearer flow of time. Eye, Orchid, and Seras, are all out in a hallway, with pristine white walls, floor, and ceiling, looking through a crystal pane of some kind in the wall that is displaying what's going on in a class room. They are adorned in the attire of some wizards or other. Lord Metanoia Faust is standing with them, observing, the bespectacled man in the middle of saying something when it all clicks together. "--clearly has the potential, and she seems to understand the academic side as well as could be expected given her upbringing. But for some reaon, she can't seem to produce any results. Why do you suppose that is?" The director of this wizarding academy turns his attention on the three 'teachers', and seems to be awaiting their reply.
All-Seeing Eye	The flurry of changing scenes and memories is weathered by All-Seeing Eye with a neutral expression, similar to the face of a driver on his daily commute. Rapidly flipping through memories is perhaps something that's familiar to him. When they do arrive at the correct one, he places a hand upon his chin and listens to the director. This conversation doesn't seem like one a headmaster would have in the presence of a student. But, it appears to be one of Matsuri's memories, all the same. He takes a look around for the memory of the young mage, spying potential places where an eavesdropper might hide if her younger self isn't immediately visible.
Orchid	Orchid replies to Seras with a "murph" that was supposed to be a "Yes." She replies to Shiho with a longer mumbled noise, something about her normal hands being in the shop. Okay, back to the present! Or, well, back to the past events. It seems she's become a teacher again. At the question she takes a moment, apparently busying herself with her doughnut, as she tries to think up an answer. Teachers eat doughnuts, right? She clears her throat. "Ah, perhaps that upbringing is the problem. With such illustrious forebearers, there is a lot of pressure to perform at the same level, which clearly is impossible for one so young."
Seras Victoria	Everything's a blur! A disorienting, confusing blur! Seras wants to scream at the hyperspeed montage 'slow down!' but Shiho fixes the problem just as she's reaching her limit. Which means she doubles forward as if to gasp in relief when the ride comes to a halt... or, at least, a more suitable crawl. Oh hey, she's standing. Odd. Seras notices this and starts to look around... and catches the rambling of Faust. Purses her lips. More bad memory material reminders of her own troubled dealings it would seem, if less direct. "So you can have magical potential, but have trouble using it?"
Grave Matters	As Eye looks around instead of replying to Faust's question, Faust arches an eyebrow and glances around briefly, before focusing back on the Exalt. "Is something the matter?" Oh, snap. Past-Faust is reacting to Eye! Well, it WAS stated at the start that the illusion would become more responsive as they became more integrated into it. And also that Faust may have added extra information for context. This might be such context, since there's no sign of anyone else in the hallway aside from the teachers. There's a few other eccentrically clad individuals in the hallway, but they're further down, and seem absorbed in their own discussion. Then one of them puts a hand against a wall casually and a door appears in the solid surface, through which the other group departs, the door vanishing seamlessly behind them. In response to Orchid, Faust says, "Lack of familiarity and pressure to succeed, you mean? But she had already begun to manifest her power even before she was tracked down by the Finders. And many others have naturally manifested magical abilities and been brought here to begin their education 'late'. Some are in the same class as Miss Noriyama, in fact. Surely, you all have not neglected to provide the same tutoring to this student as you have those others?" Faust next turns his attention to Seras -- or whomever she appears as within the illusion -- and says, "Indeed. Being a wizard by birth means we are inclined towards magic. It will develop no matter what, but if unguided, it can tangle and choke the mind and soul, like a plant that has grown so vast that it can no longer support itself, and kills all the other foliage around it. There can be many reasons for this. Psychological blocks, tampering by outside forces, a curriculum unfit for an individual student's needs..." Then he turns to look back at the crystal display, of the past-Matsuri sitting alone in the furthest corner of the room in the tiered-level class room with its series of shared desks and tables. Other children are talking or studying together, while only Matsuri stays by herself, watching, but making no move to join in. "Then, there is the question of affinities." The headmaster draws forth a clipboard from thin air and sends it drifting towards Eye. "This is Miss Noriyama's evaluation, performed by the Analysis department. Please have a look at where they believe her talents lie."
All-Seeing Eye	Well--that does surprise him! "Nothing, sir," replies Eye with natural calm. He accepts the clipboard, gently grabbing it from the air, and though his golden eyes never dip downward, he makes an assessment of its contents. "It's good the Finders... found her, when they did," he states somewhat cautiously, eyebrows raised ever so slightly. "An untrained, uncontrollable necromancer on the loose would be quite problematic. Especially one with her potential..." Though his eyes are focused on Faust, his attention is on the footage of young Matsuri withdrawn from her classmates. "Naturally, I'll do everything I can to make her feel welcome," he says with a gesture towards that footage. "And I'll... encourage my students to do the same. Subtly, of course. Smothering her would be just as bad as isolating her." He looks over his shoulder at Matsuri and smiles warmly--which might be taken as a little insincere, given his behavior on their first outing.
Seras Victoria	At first Seras doesn't quite believe she's being responded to by this Faust. Isn't this a recording? Her whole attitude changes instantly. She straightens and sharply inhales, attention sharpening fiercely. Just in time too, since Eye makes the proclomation that he does. "N-necromancy talent? Is that why none of the normal curriculum's producing results?" She knows very little of magic apart from what she's seen in the Multiverse... and on television shows! But this explanation does make a kind of sense!
Orchid	"Still, that necromantic focus," Orchid muses, before finishing her doughnut. She looks over Eye's shoulder. "There's some perception that such is inherently evil, in popular culture, much have spiders have a malign reputation." Why yes, there IS a spider on her shoulder. "I think a chuck of her issues may be a simple need for therapy, to deal with how she perceives what she has."
Grave Matters	Matsuri is studiously looking anywhere except at the awkward image of her in the class room, surrounded by people, but utterly alone. Her hands behind her on the wall behind her as she leans back, she glances briefly at All-Seeing Eye when he looks at her, nods in brief acknowledgement, if not gratitude, and then returns to looking at the floor. Maybe the scene in the class room is unfamiliar but she obviously knows nothing of this discussion. Shiho whispers, "It's true that necromancy has an ill-reputation. It is frequently associated with unrelated magical fields and practices, such as tampering with souls, reanimating corpses, and so on. In truth, it originally applied only to divination through speaking with the spirits of the deceased. That, by itself, did not incur any positive outlook. But when paired with the wild imaginings, the false associations, or those necromancers who followed dark paths in addition to their divination..." She shakes her head. "That's weird. What does being dead have to do with being evil? Humans are weird." Ruri says, making no attempt to mask her volume. It's kind of reasonable that someone who was raised in the underworld would have a different perspective on death. Either unaware, or ignoring the two, Faust focuses on the teachers. "Possibly." he accedes. "But there is something else that might help. We who do not practice necromancy are in poor position to advise one who is. When a student with a unique and singular focus like this appears, what they typically need is a mentor. Someone with the same specialty, who can walk them through it. Unfortunately, there are no active necromancers in the Wizard's Association right now." He pushes his silver spectacles up on his nose a little bit, causing them to go opaque in the light. "But I know of one we have on reserve. I'd like to ask you three to escort her to this individual, so that she can receive a proper education in not just the mechanics of her craft, but the philosophy and mind-set. It might also give her something else crucial that she is missing." He turns his head and one lens goes transparent again as he glances at the other three. "A bond. It is that, most of all, that keeps us anchored in humanity, rather than allowing our magic to overtake us." He raises a finger, and a new set of information appears on the clip board in glowing silvery letters. A black-haired, pale, sunken-eyed woman with a weary look to her, like she has seen so much that she doesn't enjoy looking at things anymore. Most of her data is listed as 'Incomplete'. Only her specialties, 'necromancy, spirit binding, banishing charms, and hand to hand combat' appear to be complete. "I believe it is Miss Kara who will give her what she needs. And maybe, she will give Kara what she needs as well." He looks back to the screen, and the past-Matsuri whose head is now down on her desk, resting atop her forearms. Asleep, or just not wanting to look at the interactions she can't be part of anymore, is unknown. Present-Matsuri drags her nails up the wall, producing a scratching sound.
All-Seeing Eye	"Nothing--death is a part of life after all," Eye says to Ruri, much more quietly than Ruri asked the initial question. "But there are some who seek to twist it to their own ends, as with anything." After his little stage whisper, he poses a response to director Faust--one informed by the scratching of Matsuri's nails upon the wall. "A prudent course of action," he begins with a cordial nod. "I'll accompany young Matsuri with my colleagues." The Exalt gestures to Seras and to Orchid, then lowers his voice. "Of course, as educators, we must have alternatives in mind when one method doesn't work." He furrows his brow, deliberately moving his eyes towards the image of Kara, then back to Faust. "What will this institution do to help this talented young woman, if Miss Kara cannot?" Given Matsuri's reaction at the mention of her name, something went wrong with her tutelage. Perhaps Faust's response will shed some light on it.
Orchid	Orchid nods. "Solving one problem with another." A smile graces the spell-weaver's face. "I like it. An elegant solution. And Death is what so much of life struggles against. Natural or not, it's easy to see as a villain. Necromacy, on the other hand, is a tool. And a tool is not at fault for the actions of those who misuse it." She lowers her head for a moment, then comes back to the moment. "Yes, I will be glad to help see Matsuri to her new teacher."
Seras Victoria	One thing Seras wasn't expecting is Matsuri to be ANGERED by the idea of this mentor. After all she wasn't getting anywhere! So... did something happen? The Draculina looks at Faust, then Matsuri, and purses her lips in perplexion at that outburst. "And I thought dealing with vampires and ghouls was tricky. Being a wizard is so much more complicated." That's a kind of praise, in a way, for the girls!
Grave Matters	"If Kara is unable to help her..." Faust begins. "I will attend to her tutoring myself. But I sincerely hope that someone with shared experiences can help her see the value in her gift and learn to use it constructively. To be shunned in a community that must, by its nature, remain isolated from the rest of the world, is truly painful. I do not wish that for Miss Noriyama." The image begins to grow blurry, the hum of the soft white light, the echoes of their voices up and down the hall, the shimmering of the crystal screen, the feel of someone else's garments on them, all begin to distort. Faust turns to the 'teachers' and smiles. "Thank you. I'm counting on you." Then everything shatters as Shiho drops the memory crystal onto a table. Her hand is smoldering and so is the memory crystal. Shiho looks apologetically at everyone, blushing slightly, and says, "I'm sorry. I couldn't hold it any longer. The feedback is enormous. I think I know why someone with metal hands was supposed to wield it." Matsuri is still leaning in the same position, though the counter has replaced the wall. She sighs. "It's really hard... Not to say anything." "It's okay." Ruri says, smiling gently. "We'll be with you through it. All of us will be!" For someone so flighty and silly, the princess seems to have the good sense to say a kind word when it's needed.