Scene #9414: That Other Library

Owner	Pose
Tamiel Luxis	The party find themselves on an old steam locomotive, thundering over the terrain, riding through folds in space. Jungle birds flit and scream through the air, in one world. In another, locusts scream their mating call through temperate rainforests. Then, an empty plain, with no sun, and stars unsettlingly bright above them. As the train chugs on, a voice insinuates itself into Vertin's ears. "They didn't kill everyone, when they came. No no, that would be too easy. They found collaborators among the people, some eager for the power, others, too scared to stand in their way. Everyone, terrified of their neighbors. Like there was nowhere to turn. But...There's always someone left, trying build a nest for hope in Hell...Let's just say...Not all crows are bad luck." Eventually, the train whistles its stop, as it rumbles through another tunnel. When it's through, they find themselves lumbering outside the mountains, the sudden cold seeping through the glass. Trails of mist coil like whispers around jagged mountains, rising up enough to scratch the sky. Rita spots, in the clouds, the outline of other shapes solid and massive, hung suspended in the air. Vertin can sense the swirling currents of a slow, grand magical presence not entirely difference from Tamiel's own--something close to a levitation magic, on a VERY large scale. They slow to a stop, in front of a small, rugged mountain town...A mining town, someone might have said. And in a clearing, something looked all the more like some kind of large wooden bug. Like a big fat, silvery moth, the size of a bus, with a large window from inside where its eyes would be, and an emblem of a book, cradled in the shadow of a cresent moon, on either side. The moth-bus had shimmery-glass wings, tucked neatly behind its body, and a ramp lowered to the ground. There, people milled about, with various tents set up. There, two angels were working under a banner with a large green caduceus were sitting, there, some prop-up shelves, set up a little bit like a book fair, some with books. Locals milled, maybe drawn by the books, maybe drawn by the care...But now that they were here, there was little reason not to look either way. One of the angels looked up to them, and raised her hand and--Oh! It's Tamiel. She leaves the tent behind at a brisk jog, approaching. "Thank you for coming!" She smiled. She was wearing a long black, open-backed tunic with that same moon-shrouded book on it, and a pair of gloves. "We're almost there, we just need to ride back on the the next trip. You're just in time!" She led the way onto the 'bus,' part transit aircraft, part aerial bookmobile. There were shelves of books toward the back, and a line of seats up front, with small windows along the sides. "Go on and take a seat!" Tamiel began to strap fasteners across the front of the bookcases, to prevent them from jostling in flight. "Vineta's a floating city," she elaborates, for anyone not in the know. "So we'll need to travel up there...Does anyone get airsick?" A beat. Then, apologetically... "I should have asked that first..."
Storm Investigators	Two new faces are joining those visiting the mining town today, and neither of them truly know what to expect when they arrive. Marcus certainly looks eager to be here and looking all over the place at everything she can get her eyes on, but Greta seems more focused on the moth-bus like she's wary of going anywhere near it even while Tamiel leads the group onto it. "Thank you for letting us visit, Madam Luxis. Ehm... Airsick?" "I'm sure it will be safe. She would not be inviting us here if there was a notable risk associated with the ride." "Air...?" Marcus is a good reader. Maybe trying to read everything she can about the 'bus' will help distract her. She couldn't possibly mean airsick in the same way as seasick, right? That paper sack in Greta's hand does look rather empty.
Riku Asakura	Riku was here today, dressed in his usual fashion sense, wearing jeans. Jean coat, over an orange T-shirt, with a pair of jeans, and sneakers. He's got a bright smile on his face because today it was just a trip to a fancy library, and his first chance to see another world. The train was quaint; he's used to riding trains in his home of Japan, but this was a large locomotive in the style that might be considered old by his world's standards. Off at the stop, he practically bounces off the bus and to the area around the next leg of their trip. Tamiel comes out to greet them herself, while Riku looks at all of the citizens outside getting books or aid from the local angels. It seemed nice and was a welcome reprieve from the normal goings on in the multiverse. "Ms. Luxis, it's nice to finally meet you in person. I'm Riku Asakura, and I'm excited to see the library. And... no, I don't get airsick. It'd be embarrassing if I got airsick as someone who can fly when an Ultraman. Haha..."
Rita Ma	Train ride!! It's Rita's first, actually, and she seems enriched. She's guarded towards Riku as usual; a little surprised to see Marcus and Greta present; and casually warm towards most of the others. Chuyao He gets to put a face to 'sister Rita' now: blonde girl in a ruffly sundress and cute bolero, with just a bit of a tan. She's a couple inches taller and a couple years older than she sounded, but moves just like you'd think. "It's a pleasure to meet you, um, for real, Mr. Chuyao," gets said. "What does the Foundation want here anyhow, Ms. Hofmann?" she asks while wading through the town. . . . "Oh! Ms. Tamiel!" A tippy-toes wave, and then a hustling-over. "Are you running a clinic here or something? For the people who get sick?" Traveling angel-doctors... but wait, what are the books then? Softly baffled, she peeps at their covers. "Oh, I'm not on planes much, but I think I'll be fine," Rita says, with another glance skyward. "When you said Vineta was a 'floating city', I thought... well, never mind. Does it ever travel around?" It's just sensible for cities to travel, Rita thinks. How else would you ever get to do trade?
White	For Wrath, this first outing into a new world- several in fact- is quite a big deal. It was only last year that he was under the impression that neither he, nor any of his classmates would ever leave the world they'd been reborn into. Embarking on the train and during the ride he seems to alternate between two states: A poorly but persistently masked wonder, leaning this way and that trying to see as much as he can without crossing an invisible boundary into being that annoying kind of nosy tourist, and an opposing sort of quiet contemplative distraction, particularly as he's peering out of the windows of the train. He even takes a pause just to take in the full scope of what he can see of the train from the outside before getting in, trying to use an appreciative whistle as code for a more boyish 'wow'. He's doing his best. For those who aren't familiar with him, Wrath is pretty visibly not completely human, but he's close. He looks like an athletic Japanese boy in his late teens, a teensy bit on the short side and fairly lean, his hair is dark green in the front and lighter toward the sides and back like gradually dying grass, and while it's a little messy and curly he's wrangled the back into a ponytail and trimmed the rest so that it doesn't fall into his face too much. But, breaching from behind his bangs are a pair of four-inch horns that curve backward until halfway up, then jut straight upward into sharp points, the color shifting from a pale hue at the base to a vibrant purple in the upper half. He has sharp lower canines as well, but they're just small enough that when his mouth is shut they're not particularly noticeable. It's not hard to tell why he's called an Oni, all together, but he could pass for human in the right situation. He's wearing a neat black jacket with gold trim today instead of his kimono, the collar lifted and fastened to fully cover his neck, and matching black slacks and nice formalwear shoes. Not quite his army uniform, but not comfortwear either, exactly. His weapons are stowed away, which (once he's seated on the train) leaves him twiddling his thumbs, running long clawlike nails over one another as a fidget in lieu of fiddling with a tassel on one of his swords. He's tempted to ask, a few times, whether they've gotten lost along the way. The scenery is quite diverse for what he expected, but after a while he seems to settle into a 'what happens happens' vibe and takes the experience for what it is. He looks a little lost at first, but starts piecing together what he's heard of some of the people present starting from Riku, then Chuyao, and sort of draws an outline in his head to figure out who all is part of the group for today's visit before seating himself somewhere amongst them. "Hey! Uh, you're... Riku-san and Jianya-san? Wow, lotta people showed up for what I expected, huh? I'm uh... I'm Wrath. Good to meet you in person." He offers the fellas (and anyone else who greets him) cautious handshakes, but he's particularly careful about his nails, trying not to even so much as brush them against bare skin. Not because they're that sharp; he's just self-conscious.
White	However the rest of the train ride goes, and however many other people he ends up bashfully greeting, arriving at that little town and seeing both their host and their next form of transport leaves Wrath momentarily... Perplexed? A train ride is one thing, he's been on trains plenty of times... In another life, anyway. A... Flying moth-themed bus, is a bit unique though. And, in his relative newness, it doesn't seem he's caught on to Tamiel being an angel until just now somehow; seeing a halo of all things makes him automatically reach up to pick at his left horn, drawing in a breath as he hopes this doesn't turn into some kind of image-related incident. Somehow it'd slipped his mind until now that looking the way he does might make some people scrutinize him harder... But the best he can do is straighten his back and try to look as upstanding and proper as he can, and pray the angels have grown further past assuming things about people with horns than the humans back home have. "Floating city... Oh, no, I should be fine. I've uh... Fallen. Pretty far, before." he reassures about airsickness on reflex, waving his hands gently before awkwardly stuffing them into his jacket pockets as if to hide them. He awkwardly smiles, dips his head a bit and steps inside the 'bus', finding a place to sit while being especially mindful not to bump into anything or anyone in the process. He really doesn't handle anxiety all that gracefully, but... Well, getting out and dealing with some is probably good for him. "Floating city huh..? Kind of cool... I uh, I don't think there's any of those back home. Erm... I'm Wrath by the way. Sorry, got distracted." Please don't look at the horns, please don't look at the horns...
Timekeeper	> train (!!!!!) "Timekeeper, because the current era has brought us before the dominance of the diesel locomotive that began after the second World War, we may have a chance to ride a steam locomotive on our world as well." "That sounds wonderful, Sonetto." "In 1913, I was assigned to a ceremonial mission where the other field investigators took a locomotive, but I was told to ride in a personal automobile with the head of the Brussels branch." "That's too bad. I'm sure we'll find a solid reason this era." "Do you know how a steam boiler works, Timekeeper?" "No, but I'm interested to learn." "Coal is deposited into the firebox at the rear of the boiler by a railway employee known as a 'tender', and when it is burned, smoke is diverted away towards the chimney while the heat boils a continually resupplied amount of water, and a series of pipes direct that steam to move pistons pulling the locomotive's wheels. The pressure applied by the steam is carefully managed by escape valves that regulate the pistons' movement naturally through mechanical motion, utilizing complex math but simple metalworking." "Are you interested in seeing it?" "... Do you think we can?" Sonetto is also, of course, enthralled by the view out the window. It's harder for that to quite register as 'real' though-- she can't help looking at every new environment, but they're all so wildly different from the world that she's familiar with even from secondhand knowledge that she gets sort of overwhelmed quickly. Vertin stays seated for most of it with her suitcase across her lap, but occasionally she gets up to join Sonetto at a window, holding on to a rail to keep her balance with a faint smile to match Sonetto's enthusiastic one. > weird wooden bug bus Back to normal transportation! Vertin steps off of the train looking essentially identical to always, holding her hat so it's not taken away by the wind. Sonetto is actually, for once, wearing casual clothes: a dark green dress, long all the way down to her ankles with a bow just below her throat. She's got the same Foundation-checkered headband on as always, and maybe shockingly, big circular glasses that she doesn't typically wear. Everyone here, in fact, is someone they know, but Greta and Marcus get a nod from Vertin, and the former especially gets a smile from Sonetto. "Hello, Investigator Hoffman. Are you interested in the library as well...?" "...Does anyone get airsick?" "No," Vertin immediately shakes her head. Sonetto, on the other hand, hesitates and looks uncertain. "Um... I have not had... I am unsure. I will focus in order to ensure that I am not sick."
Chuyao He	Chuyao occupies himself on the train ride by watching the scenery pass in rapt attention for each stint of the journey; travel at so fast a pace through such wildly different locales is still very new to him. Rather than the formal, black-and-white academic shenyi robes he wore at Longqing Town, he has come in a more casual solid yellow zhiduo robe, cross collar with black trim and loose at the back seam, fastened with a thin, elegant rope belt. His hair crown, and the carved orchid-motif coral pin, remain, holding his long black hair in a neat bun. He looks a lot less haggard than he sounded; for Rita's benefit. Although in his thirties, his clean-shaven face bears little in the way of time's ravages, still smooth, brown eyes still bright and inquisitive--though, perhaps she's better than most at spotting when he's dwelling, in an idle moment, being something of a dweller herself at times. Those thoughts vanish when she introduces herself. "Sister Rita! Indeed, it is a pleasure to meet you in person, also. This lowly scholar waits eagerly to embark on a literary journey with you, an avid student of national geography." He remembered her comments about National Geographic! You're Riku-san and Jianya-san? "Indeed, I am he, at your service, brother Wrath." Unfamiliar with the handshake but eager to try it, he grasps Wrath's hand without worry over the claws. "This greeting is new to me. Is it done like so?" He mimics what he saw offered to Riku, fairly well, about the same level of crisp affirmation as one of his fist-in-palm bows, give or take the uncertainty of a newcomer. An in depth explanation of the principles of steam boilers "This is a marvelous and enlightened machine, truly," says Chuyao, who has no idea how widespread 'a thing that boils water to make steam do a different thing' will truly become. "To use the destructive aspect of water against fireis well known, a basic principle of cooking; to utilize the earth and wood as they disperse, just so; steamed food is of course a delight. But to direct it, so precisely, this must have taken much careful forethought and iteration...!" His curiosity only heightens when the train reaches its stop. "That such a conveyance should make so impressive a bellow is hardly a surprise, but, ah, what a wondrous thing!" He likes the whistle. Exiting the train and clearing away from the debarkation stairs so that he can stretch without being in the way, he eyes the moth-looking building. "Is this the library? Will it fly away? This humble scholar is almost worried it will, if not for the patrons outside..." The caduceus is an unfamiliar symbol, but the symbol of the book on the moth-bus is well recognized. We're almost there, we just need to ride back on the the next trip. You're just in time! "What a relief, what a wonder!" Chuyao smiles broadly. "The library is not going anywhere, but, rather, this creature is our means of conveyance there." Ushered onto the bus, he is eager to take his seat quickly. Does anyone get airsick? "'Airsick...' ah, like the sea, the skies have their ill humors, too. No," he shakes his head. "Not that I am aware. This unrefined scholar will look forward to such a marvel as a floating city. May I ask, sister Tamiel, if this conveyance is not the library, what is the meaning of carrying books within it?" He doesn't know about bookmobiles! "Is it another form of aid to the needy, like the healers?"
Chuyao He	Marcus and Greta--of the two, Chuyao recognizes the voice of the first. Having sat a ways ahead of them in the train, the bus is his opportunity to introduce himself. "Sister Marcus, isn't it? I, Chuyao He, the scholar of the late generation, greet you respectfully. May I know how to address the sister who accompanies Marcus?" he smiles politely at Greta.
Regulus	A train! A train!! Regulus arrives with Vertin, a half open backpack slung over her shoulders though her records aren't inside it like during her first meeting with everyone. Instead it's APPLe who is hitching a ride, the top of his ... apple? The top of himself poking out the top side of the backpack. She is wearing a pair of glasses rather than sunglasses, and she's not wearing her hat today, though the rest of her 'rocker outfit' is the same. As soon as she got into the train she immediately brightened upon seeing Rita whom she sees as her closest Watch friend that isn't someone who neither lives nor carries the suitcase. She says, "Rita!" And immediately goes for a hug, barely restraining from a running hug, because Regulus is big on reunion hugs. It hasn't been THAT long in the grand scheme of things but Poltergeist seemed to be rough! Though she will pull back if she senses 'do not want' from Rita. She is vibrating a little either way with her hands because she's cooped up in the suitcase a fair bit and is ANTSY as all heck about that. She's a wanderlust queen! It's not easy just chilling in one space for long even if she certainly hasn't minded the BREAK either. Despite how she's acting, it isn't exactly easy for someone who lost their timeline relatively recently. And maybe she's feeling a little extra friendly because she needs to build a new life for herself. She can't feel that she's rushing it or anything, it's starting over, mostly, she has to hurry. She isn't someone who was really pleased to see Sonetto so miserable, but Sonetto does seem to be ... feeling a little better? It's hard for her to tell because Sonetto is hard to read. "Wrath? Woah... ... Feels a little laid back and small for a guy named Wrath." She blurts out. "Oh but that's okay! Just surprised, love!" She HAS been on trains before but she is just nice to be on her feet instead of sitting down. And moving. She is ambiently wiggling and eventually follows after Tamiel. She barelyh knows what's going on. She just wanted to go outside and has some interest in Tamiel the person. "Wow...! A floating city! That's incredible! Can it move around? Is it like a city ship too?" ''Does anyone get airsick?'' "No adventure is too much for Regulus!" She declares confidently. "I don't get seasick at all, and that's pretty similar."
Tamiel Luxis	Tamiel does the unthinkable, and looks at Wrath's horns. She spends a moment biting at her lip, before pushing a smile across her face and shaking his hand. "Hello Mister Wrath, welcome! Rita! Marcus! Chuyao! Mister Asakura! Timekeeper, miss Sonetto...Wow." She claspes her hands bouncing her index fingers off of each other. "That's a lot of people..." "Oh, I'm not running it," she says to Rita, ever minimizing her role. "But we do provide clinical services for places nearby. We're often close to places that can't really do that well for themselves..." She looks over. "Like, the miners here damage their bodies and lungs a lot, doing their jobs. So we try to lighten their load. When someone's hungry, or sick, they don't need a book. They need help...Only then, can they take this." "My teacher says...Before learning...." She gestures toward the books. "...Comes safety." Its an eclectic collection. There are some picture books...And even some textbooks. There's a pamphlet about various other little towns...Histories...Is someone reading a copy of Das Kapital? "We absolutely travel...We wouldn't really survive if we didn't." She's happy to talk about Vineta to Rita and Regulus. "A lot of what we do is connecting various places in the Quilt that couldn't otherwise talk to each other...Try to build connection between diverse communities. And by being the bridge between them, and serving them in ways only we can..." She looks to the clinic again. "...We can survive..." "I'm sure it will be safe." "Absolutely!" Tamiel said, cheerfully, a little too excited to notice Marcus' trepadition. "Even in the event of a breakdown, these ships generally drift toward the ground rather than fall, unless the wings are completely destroyed." A sturdy, short-ranged, flying machine of the model Cecropia, one of designed by the angel Chazaqiel based on the multiversal records of of Leonardo Da Vinci, as well as angelic wing-forging. Unlike the orinothopter model, the Ceropia is meant to carry loads of large size over small distances, including heavy freight and passenger travel from positions on the ground to nearby Vineta. This model was purchased from Vineta by the Gloaming Anatheum and remodelled as a way of carrying books and foot traffic. "Is it another form of aid to the needy, like the healers?" "A little!" She insists, smiling. "The Quilt is very disconnected...People unify so often, it's hard to build proper infrastructure...But we don't really need to." She gestures at the bus. "If people need a library, and they can't reach Vineta...Then we can take a little bit of it to them."
Riku Asakura	Train Riku listens in to Timekeeper and Sonetto talking about trains. It's nice to learn stuff about history and how trains work. It takes his mind off of his chilly reception from Rita, but that goes without saying. They were at odds over a thing that happened not to long ago, and... His thoughts are broken by Wrath greeting him and Chuyao. He takes the hand, with about as much carefulness as Wrath shows towards him. Riku is strong for his size, and he didn't want to hurt the man by accident. "Nice to put a face to a name, Wrath. How is the trip treating you?" he asks, making casual conversation as their trip goes. Now Riku looks over the assorted books and listens to Tamiel go over what they do here. It's a lot, from helping local communities to miners who hurt themselves over the years in the mines. He enters the moth-bus looking contraption and finds a spot to sit down. Riku notices Tamiel staring at Wrath's horns, which is a little strange. At least to him. Riku isn't Christian and knows very little about angels and demons, really, so it's just seen as a little weird. "So you connect communities that would otherwise be disjointed and disconnected. That's good. I'm glad to see you and your people commit to such a high-minded goal," Riku says with a bright smile.
Storm Investigators	"It'd be embarrassing if I got airsick" Nobody else seems too worried about this airsickness thing. Is Marcus just overthinking it? Or is she truly doomed to being the only one that might get airsick? Luckily, Greta's around to keep Marcus from hunching in on herself way too much, giving her a light tug on the back of the scarf to stop herself from self-asphyxiating. "Breathe, Marcus." The older investigator gives her a simple command, and that command actually does get Marcus to breathe in and out steadily before long. "What does the Foundation want here anyhow, Ms. Hofmann?" "Are you interested in the library as well...?" "Miss Ma. Investigator Sonetto. Timekeeper. According to the reports Marcus and I will be filing later, we are here for outreach and acclimating to Multiversal culture." Greta answers Rita and Sonetto somewhat plainly as she greets them and Vertin with a short nod, but the brief glance at Marcus is probably a good hint as to why she's actually here. It's pretty hard to hide that, especially when Marcus looks stoked to be here despite the airsickness scare. "And yourselves? Are you here for business, pleasure, or other?" "Sister Marcus, isn't it?" After the initial jumpscare at being addressed and having to process how to actually respond in her mind, Marcus finally nods at Chuyao four entire seconds after he actually addresses her. "Y.. Yes, Marcus is me. Um! Yes, hello Mister Chuyao." She greets him, breathing a brief sigh of relief for no apparent reason, although there's still some mild apprehension. Would it have been appropriate to use a more Chinese greeting for him? No, that last flub with Madame Z was enough for one lifetime. "It-it's good to meet you after the.. Ah. Er. The conversation from the other day?" It was definitely more than a day ago. She's already feeling herself second guessing herself again, and she feels another wave of relief when he asks about- "Sister...? Oh! No, no, Madam Hofmann is my mentor." "Try to build connection between diverse communities." Hearing that helps keep Marcus' mind off the airsickness thing, too, and her eyes actually light up a fair bit as she turns to Tamiel. "That's a beautiful goal... Ah. If there's anything I can do to help, p.. Please let me know. That's always been a dream of mine, too." She offers, perking up considerably. "Connecting humans and arcanists through writing... This doesn't sound all too different, does it?"" She looks over at Wrath in particular, too, probably because of the horns. "We really do have such a diverse crowd here today, too... It already feels like we're getting closer to reaching that goal, doesn't it?" "unless the wings are completely destroyed." And then Marcus is back to fretting. She stares at the moth-bus' wings again, really zeroing in on them to see if they're at any risk of spontaneously exploding somehow.
Timekeeper	"I'm uh... I'm Wrath." Sonetto winds up nearby the self-conscious-yet-full-of-wonder guy near her age pretty quickly, given a tendency to clump around the same areas and not being repelled by his demeanor. She offers him a smile, in a rare state of relaxation enough to be leaning casually for a better view-- though she does alert to reciprocate his handshake when he offers one. The name is, honestly, unremarkable to her. That's just how people are named sometimes. The horns are... something, but she's seen stranger from nice enough people. "It is nice to meet you. I am Sonetto, with the St. Pavlov Foundation." Vertin lifts her head up from where she's reading some thick book to look in his direction too. "Hello, Wrath. We spoke in the radio before. I'm glad to have the opportunity to meet you in person." "This is a marvelous and enlightened machine, truly," "Yes!" It's not precisely how Sonetto would phrase the appeal, but that makes Chuyao's appreciation of the steam engine even more exciting to her. She was a little embarrassed at being overheard talking about something so childish, but having a response from someone well-spoken has mostly erased that. "It is a truly incredible machine and its ability to bring you to entirely new locations is... seemingly enhanced, in this particular vehicle!" "And yourselves? Are you here for business, pleasure, or other?" Of course, part of the reason Vertin is here is to walk her Regulus. Sonetto, too, is deeply interested in the library, and in Vertin's opinion, she could use a positive reinforcement of an experience with Tamiel. But even though both of those are relevant for Vertin herself as well, her personal investment in this library is its association with the Watch. She can't say that, though, for any number of reasons. "I've always been interested in exploring new literature," Vertin barely-smiles back. "And I've seen only a few bits of writing from offworld up until now. Sonetto and I are both somewhat denizens of the library back home, in our own ways." She tilts her head towards Marcus. "Marcus is as well, isn't she?" Vertin asides to Regulus while getting onto the bug-ship, at Regulus's full-throated confidence. "Did you ever have a chance to ride in one of the airships of the 60's, Regulus?" She's imagining Regulus seizing control of an airship and using it to broadcast her music across the entirety of London, complete with advertising and lights on the ship... and then likely getting shot down. "So we try to lighten their load. When someone's hungry, or sick, they don't need a book." It's completely impossible to tell from their face, but Vertin internally approves of Tamiel's description, and is sorting her into a category in their mind. "I'd like to commend the addition of education to practical aid, rather than its total replacement. A book alone can't solve the basic needs of a population, but even when in physiological duress, people have a motivation to learn, and through that, can come to sustain themselves. It's quite a forwards-thinking approach."}
Tamiel Luxis	Product of wing-forged design--capability of levitation within the realm of the zeitigeist-- Marcus goes looking for ways that the wing might fail, and she finds something. --In the event that it it is removed entirely from the domain of the zeitigeist, or its influence becomes too weak, wingforged instruments are hypothized to immediately and completely fail. Regardless of Marcus' catastrophizing, Tamiel continues on. As she works, Tamiel settles into a routine. She's done this before, and even with all her guests, it puts her at ease to slide into the routine. "Go ahead and sit down, put on your straps, we'll be ascending soon. Tamiel, however, did not. They aren't alone on the moth. There were a few other librarians, a few locals, and some others that don't quite fit the either group. The ramp pulled back in behind them, shut. There's a soft purr of hidden machinery, and those looking out the window notice the outward folding of the wings. A shimmer of light and magic run along them, like dancing electricity, and there is a feeling of weightlessness. And then, the ground rapidly begins to drift away. Tamiel's stance is easy, leaning on the side of the bus, looking over everyone. She smiled, faintly. "This was my first job." She murmured. "...When I joined the Anathemum, I mean. In flight care. I spent a few years here, before they had me on other duties, during my training..." It wasn't long at all before they saw something else through the windows. Something floating, coming out of the clouds... ...Calling them 'chunks of rock' felt too small. No, what they were was enormous hunks of earth. hung in the air, edges too smooth to have been recently ripped away. Long, feather-like strands of more glass shards ran along their bottoms and sides, like oars popping out of the side of a longship. Only when it came into clear view did it become more clear what it was--rather than a single island, it was like...An archipelago of floating islands, clung together, sometimes with more glassy cords, and sometimes, and sometimes with bridges. houses and buildings interrupted the surface in jagged lines of red roof and stone and wood. "Here we are..." Tamiel said, leaning over Riku's seat to get a better look outside. "We should be setting down soon..." Suddenly, the only thing visible through the windows is rock. There's a THUD. The wings retract. And the sound of moth's machinery slows. The ramp slowly lowers behind them. There's someone there. "Welcome home, little light." Her voice was smooth and easy, and her smile was cool in the way a pleasant autumn afternoon was cool. She wore a similar tunic to Tamiel, her hands clasped neatly behind her back. Her hair was black and perfectly straight. Her halo was a misty black spiral, her wings like shards of obsidian, and she must have been seven and a half feet tall, if not taller. "O-oh!" Tamiel stammered briefly, tense. "I didn't know you'd be meeting us here..." "Oh now," she purred, brushing her worries aside with an outstretched hand. "How could I not meet my dear student's guests? It's such a pleasure." She clasps a hand over her heart, bowing her head to the visitors. "Um." Tamiel takes a sharp breath, and then turns to her passengers. "Everyone, I'd you to meet my teacher, Zazel, Head Librarian of the Gloaming Atheneum..." "So polite," half praise, half laughter, "You couldn't have learned that from me..."
Regulus	''Miss Ma. Investigator SOnetto. Timekeeper.'' "Regulus." Regulus supplies helpfully. She doesn't seem to realize that maybe drawing the investigator's attention to her is not the best idea. ''Did you ever have a chance to ride in one of the airships of the 60's, Regulus?'' "Oh yes! I've flown one once! For a little while! I was broadcasting music all across London and then...." She hesitates, entirely because Sonetto is around. "I legally landed the ship with no problems and everybody was fine. No problems whatsoever!" Vertin might know Regulus a lot better than Regulus realizes. She is bouncing lightly on her feet. It seems like Regulus really needed the walk, actually. ''A lot of what we do is connecting various places in the Quilt that couldn't otherwise talk to each other...Try to build connection between diverse communities.'' "Groovy, Tammy! That's real good stuff! Travel is how you get to know the world. No--the universe!...The universes!" She pauses and then asks, "So how fast is the island?" She glances towards Marcus and grins, "Pretty impressive huh?" She is doing her best to keep track of what Tamiel is saying about her history. She's not really used to worlds stranger than her own but she's trying to file away proper nouns and she's relying on APPLe to keep tabs on the rest. The perfect team, she tells herself, though she always seems so down--this all feels a little too cool for how she acts. ''Welcome home, little light.'' "Little..." Oh well. She IS tall. "Are you going to be tall like that someday, Tamiel?" She wonders openly. But she's a little on edge. Other people purring puts Regulus a little on edge. She pushes back her glasses and doesn't bow her head. "Oh! Her boss!" She blurts out.
White	Earlier On The Train Wrath laughs softly when Chuyao admits to being unfamiliar with handshakes, like the novelty of it has taken him a little by surprise. "Yeah, you got it. People do them lots of different ways, but simple is good. It's good to meet you." It seems like he's a notch less anxious overall after that interaction, even if it wasn't a planned result from Chuyao's end. Rita he first takes notice of specifically because of Chuyao and Regulus saying her name aloud, and a hazy sense of recognition sneaks into his expression before he manages a placid smile and a small wave. They're not acquainted personally yet, but it's clear she's come up around him before in some nonspecific way, and he seems grateful that she thought to ask on his behalf about the horns. Regulus's commentary makes him laugh again a little, and shift forward to slouch with elbows-on-knees sort of casual vibes. "I get that-... Well, not as much as I'd expect honestly. But I haven't gone out in a while, so I bet I'll be hearing stuff like that more often soon..." Riku, meanwhile, gets a half-smile that Wrath seems mindful not to let bare his teeth much, which makes it slightly lopsided. "It's been cool. It's been a long time since I rode a train, man... And definitely the first time with this kind of view. Seems like I'm not alone there, either. Good to meet you too though, man." Sonetto and Vertin introduce themselves too! There's a brief, dread-filled moment when Sonetto is drifting closer and getting a look at him where he doesn't recognize either of them and starts to wonder if he's done something dreadful or sideshow-worthy and embarrassing, and getting a handshake and a pair of names dispels the dread at just the right moment for a small sigh of relief to leak out of him as his smile resets away from 'nervous'. "Oh, I've heard you come up before, Sonetto. And I remember you Vertin, it's good to meet you both. I wasn't expecting to meet so many people today, but it's a nice surprise." He's perfectly polite, but it takes him a few moments to ratchet it down to a more comfortable level. He's maybe a little too gentle with Sonetto's hand, and throws a little two-finger faux-salute in Vertin's direction from above his forehead, since she's sitting further away and walking over to handshake her next seems like it'd be terribly strange of him.
White	On the Moth-Bus Tamiel's attention on Wrath's horns is hard to miss with how self-conscious he's feeling, and Wrath tries to play it off by laughing awkwardly and reaching up to flick the tip of one with his finger with a little tock sound, like knuckles on hardwood. Making uncomfortable things funny is the number one entry in the highschool boys social playbook, which he has a secondhand paperback edition of firmly embedded in his brain. It is, in fact, a subconscious reflex, and the fretting over whether it's funny at all catches up to him in the way his smile becomes lopsided again the next moment. The best thing he can do is swerve from there back on-topic, and follow Tamiel's gaze when she looks at the suffering miners. "... Makes sense. Leave it to angels, huh? It's... A shame there aren't many left back home..." Oof. He made himself a little droopier with that one. "Flying vehicle though, been a while for that too. It's different from the ones I remember... But I bet that's a good thing." Modern Earth airplanes aren't exactly all kept to the same standard after all, and there's something to be said for the assurances of people with supernatural abilities and humanitarian tendencies rather than corporate airlines. His attention very slowly gets pulled in Marcus' direction when she starts fretting again though, and he sort of half-commits to facing her and trying to put on a reassuring smile, crippling his own delivery a bit by half-assing to try and keep his teeth from standing out. "Well uh, Miss, there's lots of people here who can handle an emergency anyway. You'll be fine! 'Sides, this thing looks like it'll hold together just fine." He has no authority to say so, but saying so anyway feels like the right thing to do. He has no way of knowing Marcus could know better than him, in the moment.
Riku Asakura	The trip on the flying moth thing was... Amazing, it was almost like a rollercoaster for Riku, taking off in the thing as he felt the land leave his feet. He looked out of the window with Tamiel to look at the city that they were approaching, and he gasped with wonder at the flying islands all making up one flying city. It was amazing, and something the engineers on his world haven't done yet. "Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful," he says to Tamiel and anyone nearby who happens to be listening. As they make their approach for landing, Riku braces himself, but the landing isn't anything too bad. Just like an airplane or something like that. It is here, as they depart, they run across Tamiel's mentor, who has the angel... well, not spooked, but stammering. Riku returns Zazel's bow with one of his own, making sure to be very polite about it. "Hello! I'm Riku Asakura. It's nice to meet you, ma'am."
Chuyao He	It-it's good to meet you after the.. Ah. Er. The conversation from the other day? "Indeed! This humble scholar is always pleased to encounter others with a love of learning. What a delight it is to have your company on the way to this library." Madam Hofman is my mentor. "Madam Hofman," Chuyao repeats, offering Greta a fist-in-palm greeting and bowing his head. "Chuyao He pays his respects to sister Marcus' mentor. This lowly scholar looks forward to our future meetings with much interest, if our first is to be in the context of a hall of knowledge." If people need a library, and they can't reach Vineta...Then we can take a little bit of it to them. So you connect communities that would otherwise be disjointed and disconnected. "Agreed. A laudable use of a remarkable invention," Chuyao notes with a nod, a small smile and satisfied, briefly-closed eyes. It is a truly incredible machine and its ability to bring you to entirely new locations is... seemingly enhanced, in this particular vehicle! Chuyao smiles, nods, and for a moment, is given to thought. He'd advised Matilda towards a certain course of action, which is ultimately up to her to take or not take. Even so, perhaps some assistance of another sort isn't unwarranted. So, on the bus ride, he offers it. "It comes to mind, junior sister Sonetto--a colleague of yours, Matilda Bouanich, this lowly scholar has known. Perhaps she, too, might enjoy hearing of such a machine from you? Junior sister Sonetto has a certain joy in explaining the complex workings of the boiler, which would be lost in the telling if another were to expound upon it." Chuyao takes his seat and buckles in, looking quietly pleased to have assessed the proper workings of the buckle and impressed with its function all at once. Much as he had been during the train, he is very interested in the sights as the bus takes off. "Ah! What beauty!" Floating little islands -- river-smoothed stones plucked from the collection of a giant. Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful! "Like a mountain range, but sprouting from the heavens to touch the earth..." Thud! Everyone, I'd you to meet my teacher, Zazel, Head Librarian of the Gloaming Atheneum... "I, Chuyao He, the scholar of the late generation, humbly present myself to the venerable teacher Zazel." Another fist in palm greeting, his head bowed as it was to Greta, though in this case the height difference makes it seem more pronounced. On the subject of what she has or hasn't taught Tamiel, "This ineloquent scholar would be so bold as to surmise that teacher Zazel did impart in sister Tamiel a certain hospitality, given the honor she pays us with this surprise welcome."
White	Wrath does precisely as instructed and straps into a seat, only making brief, polite nod-and-smile greetings when coincidentally meeting the gaze of other librarians or the like. He might get caught once looking at someone's halo, but even without being called out he stops himself after just a few seconds; acting like a pest isn't appealing to him, he just gets lost in thought easily. When Tamiel begins talking about her job, Wrath cranes his neck to make sure he's visibly paying attention, leaning with an arm over the top of his seat-back. "I guess it's a good way to... Get acquainted with the philosophy, right? Of meeting people where they live and helping with stuff that way? That's not so bad." He never got to work at a soup kitchen or anything, but he always imagined it might be nice when life wasn't so busy anymore. Of course, life only got busier after he died. Peering out the window at the floating chunks of land, Wrath ends up distractedly imagining how it might be that they remain aloft, despite the lack of any relatable magical workings or machines he would be able to recognize. Mysteries like this are cool. It gives him something to think about in calm moments, when only his hands need to be working. He's still strapped in when the stranger speaks up from just outside, and he once again might get caught looking when the woman-- Zazel-- presents herself with a polite bow. The halo, the wings... It feels like there's a story there, to Wrath, and he can't help but imagine a few possibilities even as he's unbuckling and standing up to return the bow in formal, somewhat stiff fashion. The motion is brisk, but only after he's made sure he won't be poking anyone with his horns! "It's a pleasure, ma'am." Then he's back upright, trying to put on his very best 'I'm a nice oni, I swear' goodboy performance for the first sign of regional authority he's seen today beyond Tamiel. He has a little bit of properness in him, it just doesn't seem to come very naturally unless it's signalled; his wibbly smiles become neater, smaller and less class-clownish... Even if Regulus's question to Tamiel about height challenges him at that. "Thank you for allowing our visit, even with such a large party. It's truly appreciated, and has been... Very well anticipated." He's doing his best not to bring up any of his own characteristics now, as long as Zazel has the social graces not to point them out; don't shoot yourself in the foot, and all.
Timekeeper	"It comes to mind, junior sister Sonetto--a colleague of yours, Matilda Bouanich, this lowly scholar has known." "Ah... you have met Matilda?" Sonetto sounds surprised at first, and then droops a little bit when she puts together why he'd have met her already. Then she tilts her head in confusion, like a dog. "Has... Matilda spoken about having an interest in that sort of thing? I am not sure she would want to hear about something so trivial...." "This was my first job." Vertin settles down in the moth bus, turning her suitcase vertically on their lap so that Sonetto can slide in beside her. Sonetto takes the other seat in Vertin's row hastily, as if worried it might be snatched up by someone-- or god forbid, by Regulus. Vertin watches out of the window pensively, looking at the camp below as it shrinks. "Are there flights many times a day, then?" "I legally landed the ship with no problems and everybody was fine. No problems whatsoever!" Vertin knows this isn't true. Idly, she respects the fact that Regulus managed to not confess to a crime in the company of the other field investigators, moreso than Sonetto. Sonetto, on the other hand, is more dubious but less certain in her dubiousness, narrowing her eyes at Regulus and adjusting her glasses with two fingers to squint. But, she can't just accuse Regulus of a crime with no basis. Instead she huffs a bit and deflects to another bit of nagging. "Licensing requirements in terms of certifications and training for waterborne and airborne ships are very different. Do you happen to somehow have an airship pilot's license, Regulus?" When the island comes into view, even Vertin's eyes widen. Habitually, her gaze drops from the stone and the structures to the glass and the arcane energy running off of it: is this a 'levitation spell', that has to be continually maintained, or is it a property of the island itself to float? Leaning over Vertin in a moment of impulsive unproffesionality, Sonetto softly gasps. "It's beautiful...." "Like a mountain range, but sprouting from the heavens to touch the earth..." Briefly overcome by the sight and Chuyao's description, Sonetto just nods with her hand to her chest and her eyes sparkling. Eventually she breathes out in awe, "Incredible... how the world must look from all the way up here. A view that changes every day, always able to see some new world, and helping them wherever you go...." Her fingers curl to grasp at the cloth of her dress. "Imagine living a life so free." "How could I not meet my dear student's guests? It's such a pleasure." "Hello, Miss Zazel." Vertin responds with a nod, not seeming to think one way or another about Tamiel's nerves. "So you're in charge of the operations here?" Stepping aside for Sonetto to stand shoulder to shoulder with her rather than behind, Vertin continues on a less charged conversational track. "What is the process for checkouts here? As well as returns; do you have an arcane ritual for transporting borrowed books back quickly, or will we need to return physically? If your preference is temporary exchanges, then I've brought my personal library along, though I'm sure it's insignificant compared to your own."
Regulus	Regulus, conversely, is more worried about Sonetto than Marcus and Greta. Greta might have a particular kind of authority (older), but she is starting to feel like Sonetto is her personal Zenigata or at least she would if the manga didn't come out a year after her timeline was erased and also if she actually read manga. But she still gets the vibe of that all the same. So when Sonetto points out that airships and ships require different lisences, Regulus tries to stall out her answer! "Ahh...Oh that island's beautiful, yeah!" She says. She's fine with lying of course she just lied! But she worries about lying too often. She fears Sonetto might have a keen sense for sniffing them out. ''Imagine living a life so free.'' Regulus can't let THAT go. A mischevious smile creeps up on her lips as she says, "Weeell... So you have some interest after all. Perhaps not a sea pirate, but an air pirate all along...!" Then hastily she adds, "Metaphorically! I know you wouldn't break a law--no, perhaps... an ''Air Sailor'' would be more appropriate. The wind in your hair, the open sky, a clearer view of the sky than the earth can show you...! It's a bit romantic, isn't it?"
Tamiel Luxis	"Imagine living a life so free." "I'm very lucky," Tamiel says, quietly, with with the same sideways evasiveness you might as they confess to an anathema. The landing pad outside is rather small, comparatively speaking...Only room for one of the moths. It seemed to have been cut right out of the rock itself, some time ago. "She used to lead people out of the city, through here, when there was nowhere else for them to go." The voice said to Vertin, "She could have bricked it up. Paved it over. Made it something else. But she finds it funny, to repurpose it. Penning her final victory. Maybe she celebrates a little too early. Don't you think?" "Well," Tamiel murmured to Regulus, like someone trying to whisper and avoid the notice of their teacher. "Not for a really, really long time..." "And you must be Regulus..." Zazel spoke, gliding over to the radio pirate. "Child of rock and roll, scourge of the waves of the sea and the radio. What a pleasure that you could join us. Do remember, the things you find in this library are not the property of any single, ungrateful hoarder. If some, say, musical media was to become misplaced, it would not be lost from one person...But rather, anyone in Vineta...Or anyone we associate with...Who might ever wish to hear it." Tamiel sqeaks a little, at Chuyao's praise, "Chuyao He, you name yourself 'Lowly Scholar,' yet you compose yourself with such grace. What flattering dissonance..." She smiles, "If you approach all with such reverence and deference, it seems to me that you will find no shortage of allies in your quest." She stands beside Tamiel, laying a hand on her shoulder. "But it takes two to pass down knowledge; both the student and the teacher." "Sonetto. Marcus. Greta. Rita...Tamiel has told me so much about you. I appreciate your restraint a great deal. Should you ever find yourself in need of incentive, I can always provide." Her gaze on Rita is...Not unkind. "Rest assured, you and Wrath are both safe here..." "Zazel's reputation in Vineta is pristine. She's saved a lot of people. If she says someone's welcome in her library, they're welcome." "Some people in Vineta are not so discerning. The war took a terrible toll on us, and it has left many unkind. 'A demon is a demon,' they might say, without regard of context..." She looks to Tamiel, in silent prompting. "...But every world has its own context. And if you ignore that--" She seems to hit a wall, and then, after an unsteady breath. "--Well! It's stupid. It doesn't even work that way there." An upward quirk of her lip might as well say, 'close enough,' "That's right. If you do not approach people in their own context, you cannot engage with their reality. This is one great barrier of communication we must all content with." Everything's a lesson. Tamiel sighs, resigned. "Ah...Timekeeper Vertin...You will have to speak to one of our libarians at checkout, once you've found the media you require. You may check out any media that is not too frail for us to allow outside, for a period of one month--perhaps longer, depending on your ability to reach us regularly--with options for extensions. Deals for...rarer media must be done through me, though one of my aquisitions agents, may serve as a proxy if we already have an understanding." For instance, for those in the Watch. "It will be wonderful to work with you, I'm certain."
Tamiel Luxis	"Are there flights many times a day, then?" "There are, all the time...Some of them to different places, if all of them are in range...The moth will be on its way back in about ten minutes."
Storm Investigators	"I've always been interested in exploring new literature," "Are you now? That makes a few of us already." Greta answers Vertin with a slight nod, leaning back to just enjoy the ride while Marcus tries to distract herself with further conversation instead of dreading everything she's reading about the moth-bus wings from the relative safety of her seat. "Marcus... She would fit right in at a library, but this is one of the first she's ever visited." After dropping that bit of information that she proceeds not to elaborate on at all, Greta instead looks over at Marcus again as the latter tightens her straps for the third time to make sure she's fully secured in. "Many firsts today, it seems. I'm more curious what kind of books they would consider fiction." She adds, gesturing at the moth-bus briefly for emphasis. "Regulus." Luckily for Regulus, Greta isn't even lifting a figner to try and get her to register! Unluckily for Regulus, that self-insertion to draw Greta's attention does in fact get her to look over with the slightest of eyebrow raises. "... Regulus. You'll behave here, I assume." Surely, that won't ever mean anything. She can't speak for Sonetto, of course. "Pretty impressive huh?" "The craftsmanship is truly something, but the-mmn!" Marcus cuts off her reply to Regulus briefly as she inhales sharply, startled by just about every movement of the moth bus that isn't 'going perfectly straight and still. "The speed... If it goes faster, we might not see the speed at all." A second later, and Marcus lets out another quiet noise. "But if it goes too slow, we'll be in range forever... Which would be better for getting around safely? Have you ever had to make that decision with your... Er. Any of those 60s airships, Miss Regulus?" "This was my first job." "You were doing... This? O-on one of these?" Marcus murmurs in a terrified sort of disbelief, torn between trusting in the process that's clearly been here for a while and worrying about what read just before takeoff. It still remains far too fresh in her mind, and even though she might've skimmed over something about the timing earlier... "Has a wing ever completely failed? How often does... The influence get lost? Or do they escape the influence region...?" Somehow, asking about catastrophic failures does help her calm down just a smidge, especially when she starts to see the chunks of the floating islands. It's better than reading about the potential avenues of failure, at least. "Well uh, Miss, there's lots of people here who can handle an emergency anyway." Thankfully, Wrath is there to try and reassure Marcus as well! That earns him one of those wordless, yet vaguely approving glances from Greta. Marcus is still trying hard not to freak out, and the words do help a smidge! "That... That is true. I've heard of Elites who can fly or manipulate the terrain, perhaps even the skies, so even the potential wing failure... Oh, maybe I'm overthinking things again." Starting to work herself down despite seeing a possibility to the contrary, Marcus takes another deep breath before looking towards Wrath with an uneasy smile that soon turns into a more confused, yet curious stare. It's probably the horns. Naturally, that gets her to start peeking at the text she can see while looking right at Wrath, but she quickly shuts her eyes for a second to fight that urge. "Y.. You are Mister Wrath, correct? May I ask... Er. Are those horns real?" Even Marcus can already feel how awkward that question was in her bones.
Storm Investigators	"Chuyao He pays his respects to sister Marcus' mentor." "Field Investigator Greta Hofmann. A pleasure, Mister Chuyao." She replies with a brief raise of both hands in a similar greeting. That prompts Marcus to start fretting wordlessly again, if maybe she didn't get the memo about it being okay to greet someone in such a way. "I'm sure you're anything but lowly. You've made it this far, haven't you?" She gestures vaguely at said Elites present today. She seems to be looking directly at Vertin and Riku as she says that. "You're in good company, if you're planning on becoming anything more." > IN THE ROCK AND OFF THE BUS With the bus moving into all that rock, Marcus can finally breathe again! There's solid ground beneath her again, after all, and having the bus encased in rock means fewer opportunities for the moth-bus to spontaneously lose its wings and start plummeting. There's also another unfamiliar face attached to someone even taller than Greta. Marcus gawks upwards at Zazel slowly and eventually manages to greet her with a somewhat hurried nod. "Hel... Hello. I am Marcus, Investigator with the St. Pavlov Foundation. Thank you for having us, Madam Zazel." She greets slowly and methodically, contrasted sharply by Greta's speedier greeting to follow. "Field Investigator Greta Hofmann, St. Pavlov Foundation. Your student was well-prepared to bring us here." "I appreciate your restraint a great deal." "Sh.. She has? Oh, um. Th.. Thank you?" Marcus sounds confused, largely because she truly isn't sure how to approach that sort of comment. What could Tamiel have said about her? "I will keep that in mind and.. Um. Oh, if there is anything I can do to contribute to your efforts..." Marcus takes a deep breath to try and get her nerve back up to finish that sentence. "P.. Please let me know. I'd like to help your.. Er. Helping people understand each other if I can." "Thank you, Lady Zazel. " Greta replies far more calmly than Marcus does, even if she doesn't have quite that same growing fire and drive in her tone. "Your student did well explaining the library's purpose to us on the way. If you are in need of writers, Marcus has some experience with that already." That gets a slightly more complicated look from Marcus, but that too settles once Greta places a hand wordlessly across the younger investigator's shoulder.
Riku Asakura	With the bow and greeting out of the way, Riku listens to the other greetings and how much Tamiel has talked about them to her mentor slash boss. He grins a little at Zazel, explaining to Regulus about how robbing the library would be a bad thing for her overall goals. He looks towards the elder angel and speaks up, wanting to know something. "I don't suppose you have any books on Ultramen, or giants of light?" He looks serious and is not asking about a comic book or anything like that, but specifically more about his home. "You see, I'm part Ultraman myself, and I'm looking for anything that might have been left behind..." he says, absolutely serious, but polite.
Chuyao He	Ah... you have met Matilda? I am not sure she would want to hear about something so trivial.... "Indeed, we have spoken, and discussed at some length the different kinds of divination. She speaks of you often, as well, and holds you in high regard--not only for your station or your work, either. This humble scholar... believes that junior sister Matilda would leap at the chance to hear you enthuse on most any topic, boilers or otherwise," says Chuyao, elegantly sidestepping whether Matilda has any great interest in locomotives. It's a bit romantic, isn't it? "Sister Regulus' love of music is no idle air," Chuyao says, gently approving. "This humble scholar appreciates your eye for the movements of the heart and the relationship between man and nature." Chuyao bows in deference to Zazel in the face of her praise. He smiles, but he isn't quite comfortable with it; he is past the stage of wanting to deny it, but not quite able to believe he deserves it. It's easy to imagine that if it were a garment, it'd hang on him loosely, and not in the casual way the back seam of his yellow robe rests. He hides it well enough. "Teacher Zazel is very kind." As she and Greta both now have contradicted his preferred self address, he does offer a smiling explanation. "As teacher Zazel has mentioned, it does take a teacher and a student to pass on knowledge. I, the ineloquent scholar, stand an the shoulders of all those who come before me. Even in my time, there are those whose stars shine brighter--Su Dongpo died when I was a boy; people from all walks of life rightly mourn the passing of the Householder of the Eastern Slope. It is not because I doubt myself that I use such a self-address, but because I wish always to learn and improve." 'A demon is a demon,' they might say, without regard of context... "What a pity, what a pity... A war itself is bad enough. Held in the heart of even one person after its conclusion, it is like an old injury, flaring up and causing new harms, never truly gone unless treated. Should I, the unrefined scholar see such a thing here, I shall correct it, however I may, as a matter of public good." He holds a moment of silence, then asks, "Sister Tamiel advised me of a particular book, 'The French Worker.' Do you have this work?"
Timekeeper	"Metaphorically! I know you wouldn't break a law--" Sonetto bristles up at Regulus's first accusation, but her hasty retraction of it negotiates Sonetto down to a haughty sniff instead. "Of course the sea is beautiful, and so is the sky. Your... misuse of it does not diminish that." Her sentimentality rapidly consumes her antagonism, though, and she sighs again. Looking off of the edge of the landing pad, she's gripped for a moment by fear at the staggering height, and grabs on to Vertin's arm as if to pull them away from the edge. Holding onto their arm for a few seconds, Sonetto quickly collects herself. "... It is romantic. To be perfectly free also means being alone, so that you can see from horizon to horizon without obstacle, and move in any direction you desire... but there is beauty in that loneliness, too. The impermanence of the coast, the solitude of the open ocean, the moon's grip on the tides and reflection on the water at night... these things are beauty in their purest form. Of course I... understand that." "I'm very lucky," "You are," Sonetto reiterates. She breathes it out, somewhat sounding like envy and admiration, but there's a slight hint of firmness to her voice as well, as if she's reminding Tamiel of it instead. > "Maybe she celebrates a little too early. Don't you think?" Meanwhile, Vertin steps back, head piqued to the side to listen to a growling voice no one else can hear. Under her breath, she responds, barely moving her lips with the words whipped away by the wind. "What is she celebrating?" "Her own, greatest achievement." "A noble act, so profoundly and definitively carved into the stone tablet of history that the period mark at the end of its sentence dotted the finale of an era." "Isn't it grand, to win? To know so certainly that your past efforts are the most that will ever be demanded of you? How could you not want to leave every record you can?" "Even angels have pride, sweetheart." "I see." Vertin frowns faintly and shakes her head, dispelling the voice. "Should you ever find yourself in need of incentive, I can always provide." "Thank you, Miss Zazel!" Sonetto isn't quite sure how she's been complimented, but she feels the abstract impression of being praised directed towards her, so she replies with precise, almost military gratitude. The last sentiment of hers is something she has no idea how to process, though. "... Incentive? I am... just seeking out poetry, unless you are in need of some other assistance...?" "'A demon is a demon,' they might say, without regard of context..." "People are marked by their experiences, after all. When someone has been so grievously harmed, one cannot demand infinite patience and kindness from them, even towards those unrelated." Vertin curls a finger in front of her lip, thoughtful. "In your perspective, Miss Zazel, what is a demon?" "--Well! It's stupid. It doesn't even work that way there." Vertin smiles faintly at Tamiel to support her. "It's quite a lot of context to keep track of. It's a hard lesson to learn." "It will be wonderful to work with you, I'm certain." Vertin dips their head in a nod. "I'm looking forwards to it."
White	When it looks like Marcus is more relaxed (and he's getting mild approval from Greta), Wrath seems to relax a little more too in kind. The question is taken with only a moment's surprise, caught as he is while relaxing, but he deploys the Polite Deflection Chuckle technique again to try not to make Marcus feel bad and repeats his stunt from before, flicking one of his horns twice- tock tock. He doesn't make a face this time, though. "That's me. Yeah, they're real. I wasn't uh, always like this, but I've gotten used to it... More or less." Marcus's brief glimpse beyond the blatantly visible before she restrains herself might not show her much, but depending on where her power begins it might not be very pleasant at all. The most obvious surface details might be that Wrath is physically powerful, but his wellspring of magical energy is disproportionately vast compared to the ways in which he physically surpasses normal humans. She might have instead glimpsed a sign of the overriding guilt coloring his recent life, or his passion for creating things, his old aspirations of being a superhero that never quite panned out how he hoped, or maybe the glaring, blood-soaked, chained-down tumor inside his soul aptly named just 'Wrath', like a part of him was quarantined to salvage the rest. Which parts she sees during that moment, short as it is, depend on Marcus's inclinations and the speed of her 'reading'; Wrath doesn't seem to notice anything amiss, at least.
White	Being implicitly grouped with Rita by Zazel gets Wrath tossing a brief glance in Rita's direction. It doesn't seem like he entirely follows, but he doesn't look so thrown off by it that he's without any context either; he recalls what little he's heard about the people White has associated with, and the way she seemed to feel about Rita even if it wasn't spelled out to him. So, it's only a momentary surprise, and he's back to meeting Zazel's gaze in the most respectable way he can. "... I understand. On the off-chance anything should happen because of me, I won't allow it to escalate. Until such a time, I'll trust in you, and gratefully indulge your hospitality." One more bow for good measure, then. He's taking this very seriously it seems like! Even if Tamiel's declaration of 'it's stupid' gets a dumb little smirk out of him. He listens along when Vertin asks and is answered about the checkout process, nodding slightly to noboby but himself as he makes mental notes. A thought comes to mind as his mouth is opening, which makes it close again, then open a second time as he turns toward Sonetto with his head dipped; trying to appear nonthreatening, for some reason, out of some kind of reflex, while giving a piece of advice. "Um, Sonetto-san... I can't speak much for aerial vehicles, but if the idea appeals to you, have you considered looking into paragliding, or... Err, skydiving? I don't know exactly when, but at some point companies started offering services- on Earth I mean- that would teach you how to do it and supply the equipment and venue. If your current Earth doesn't have that kind of thing yet, you can probably find it on another?" Skydiving seems like a slight sore-spot for him, personally, by how he winces; he did say he'd 'fallen quite far' before, or something like that after all. He momentarily pauses, then, trying to figure out why he's only using the '-san' some of the time. He keeps changing his mind for some reason... He's speaking English already, actually. Is there something wrong with 'miss' in his brain? 'Ma'am' had come so easily... He's going to be on that line of thought again later, for sure. But, listening to Chuyao speak with a comfortable level of focus from alongside, Wrath recognizes something relatable in it from a much wiser man than himself, and seems to momentarily fall into dreary contemplation. Even as his thoughts trend away and a small frown creeps in for a moment, he tries to ward it off without fully abandoning his contemplations. "Jianya-san... Well, I'm an Oni for a reason. I can't blame anyone else if they don't trust me immediately. I'm just glad some people are willing to, for now. I'll be following your example, as best I can, if anyone does speak their mind to me." Then, he tries to slide back into the point of the visit, already feeling badly about bringing the mood down as much as he thinks he has with just that much. "Anyway. I was hoping to peruse things related to various crafts; metalwork, woodwork and such. But as I think about it, this might be a good time to research more about your umm... Your people." He says this with a small nod at Zazel, and a glance to Tamiel for inclusion. "... I doubt there's a connection, but there's... An angel where I come from. She's very important, and if there's anything I can do to understand her before me or my allies meet her, it might be very helpful. It... Might be a stretch, though, given they're two different kinds of Angels as far as I know, though..."
Regulus	''And you must be Regulus.'' "The one and only!" Regulus beams, she's clearly and easily pleased by Zazel talking her up in pirate language but her smile falters a little at the suggestion that she'd rob a library. "Well I wouldn't heist a library!" She says, eyes widening. The 'especially with so many Investigators with the Foundation around' is unstated since she JUST teased Sonetto and isn't inclined to push harder. "I mean, you're sharing the music, if the music's free then there isn't any reason to, even." ''Your *misuse of it'' "Hey." Regulus protests mildly. "The open sea's important to me too, you know." But her expression softens as Sonetto lets her own sentimentality, her own romance take her away for a moment. What she speaks about 'freedom' equating to 'being alone' makes her think of Lilian's own words to her. It is a price she never really thought about when she had a world. Now that she doesn't... She has to hold onto what's precious to her. r"Well...If I ever get a ship again, you're welcome to sail along if the Foundation allows it." Regulus promises. "I'll be on my best behavior, even!" APPLe says, "Then it wouldn't exactly be lonely, would it?" APPLe asks. "Ah, well, even with a crew on a ship, you can still find a railing and lean against it and see just how big the world is and even a crowd will melt away." She is kind of fond of upright people like her anyway. Maybe after seeing enough bureaucrats who don't really believe in something... "It might not be something I believe in, but I think it's totally fab you do." There's a little extra emphasis on that do. Like she thinks that's rare. But she spots Tamiel's misery easily. She doesn't entirely get it. Zazel might be a little condescending but this doesn't feel like 'has to deal with a little condescension' to her. "So you're to thank for my reputation here too, eh Tamiel? Thanks, love, that's real sweet of you."
Tamiel Luxis	"Part Ultraman...Interesting, that such a thing is possible." Zazel stroked at her chin, frowning faintly. "We collect copies of newspapers from across a variety of worlds...There have, of course, been stories of so-called 'Giants of Light.' I will see to it that they are collected for your perusal. Perhaps, a recent sighting might leave you with a first-person account...And someone you might speak with. Come, you've stood on the landing pad long enough." She turns, beckoning all to follow behind her. Tamiel is right behind, looking all the more small in her shadow. The doors open into a mazelike mess of corridors, lit by blue, heatless fires hovering in midair. They push through a door, out into the library in earnest. It was all dark wood and cool stone, with shelves surrounded by shelves. Along this wall, glass windows, looking out over the vast expanse of the mountains, painting the library in natural light. Small reading rooms were tucked into corners, with tables--chairs--a woman with dark shadows under her eyes was plopped onto a sofa with a laptop open and glowing across her face, type-typing away. "In your perspective, Miss Zazel, what is a demon?" "As far as our books are concerned...The invaders that came to our world, that we were forced to war with. But I think...This is not what you mean. Boiled down to its very essence..." She murmured. "I believe...A demon is a parasite on 'humanity,', with no ability nor inclination to stop. A wolf when it is hungry, may kill and eat a person, and we kill it for what it has done--but it is not a demon. An ogre...In an ancestral conflict with humanity, who merely desires to survive...This is not a demon." "There are those to whom cooperation is a weakness to exploit," she said, expression turning dark. "For whom negotiation is an avenue for eventual dominance. With no interest in cooperation except as a step toward conquest." "To me...This is what a demon is." She appraises Marcus and Greta with a smile. "Of course, help will always be welcome. Your arcanum could give us access to stories that might otherwise to be lost to us. This is certainly precious." "It is not because I doubt myself that I use such a self-address, but because I wish always to learn and improve." Her eyes smile. "Indeed? Then perhaps we are all of us lowly scholars. Tamiel, I believe you set something aside for this gentleman...? Meet us at the reception." "Oh!" Tamiel perks up, suddenly rushing off. "There are all sorts of books on my people here, of course, both those we have written and those inherited from when the war was ongoing. While we do indeed come from different contexts...There is no way for you to know whether there is a method until you have done the research..." They're interrupted by the sound of footfalls, and then Tamiel comes from around a corner, holding a book. "Here you are, Mr. Chuyao...I hope it's useful." "Now...If there is anything in particular you wish to find, I am certain Tamiel can lead you to them." "Newspaper clippings on ultramen," Tamiel reiterated, "heroic tales, philosphy, books on crafts..." "And Wrath wishes for media on the nature of angels." "Ah...Okay." "Welcome, to the Gloaming Atheneum."
Riku Asakura	'Part Ultraman...Interesting, that such a thing is possible.' "It's... complicated, but yeah, that is what I am," Riku says in response to his lineage being interesting. She might find it very interesting if she knew the depths of how far it goes, and he does not want to discuss Ultraman Belial tonight. He doesn't want to bring down the mood, as it were. "Oh, good, I didn't know if there would be stories of us, or even sightings. It's good to know that people take notice of such things and record them, even if it's in passing..." Riku says, with a smile on his face. It makes him feel closer to who he comes from when he can learn about other Giants of Light. He walks off the landing pad and follows Zazel and Tamiel inside to the library itself. Stone walls and glass, heatless flame and maze-like construction. It was truly a sight to behold, and Riku was awed by how well-designed everything was. How otherworldly it was to a degree. 'Welcome, to the Gloaming Atheneum.' "Thank you for having us," he states with all of the warmth he can muster.