(no subject)

[in_over_his_head]

[Another day, another calamity averted. With the situation now becalmed Calvin was taking the time to return to his on-base office, kick his legs up and continue preparing for Lagardia's eventual trial. It was for all intents and purposes slow going, but like a certain knight said - he made a vow, he needed to follow it. While he was leafing through among one of his planned statements his phone rang. He really should have been more worried when he answered it.]



Edwards Detective Agency. Inspector Calvin Eldred Edwards speaking.

"Hey Gumshoe! You doing alright?"

Eh... Same old, Same old Moira. Any reason why you're calling?

"Aside from checking on my favoritest littlest brother?"

Moira.

"Weeeeell... I was kind of hoping you could do me and Ansel a favor..."

[Calvin couldn't help but roll his eyes as he turns to put away the file and rifle among the rest of the pile.]

...Moira... please.  the only favor you two ever ask me is-

[It was at this point he ceases everything he's doing as a look of alarm goes across his face.]



No.

"Yeeees."

Moira. No. I already told Mom, Dad and Lor what's already going on with me. And I'm pretty sure that means you and your husband should know exactly why I can't do this.

"They're already on their way Calvin."

Moira!!!

"It won't be that bad! Besides the kids really want to see you again and from what I heard the Unity Group's got kids there too! You'll be fine-. Oop! Gotta go! Thanks Gumshoe!"

-Click-

MOOOOIRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

[1]
[When you next see Calvin, he isn't alone. You find him running around with a cheerily laughing kid on his shoulders. What is he running for you ask? Three very excitable children whom he is trying to get under control. His own expression however is VERY serious.]



Travis! Elliot! Stop running around! Its dangerous, you'll both get hurt-! Dana! No! Don't bother the cats!

[Scratch that, he's on the verge of freaking out.]

Moira I swear to god, when I have kids of my own I will have my revenge-GAAAH!

[And apparently in revenge for his niece bothering them, the members of Fl.Cl. that where hanging around launched themselves at his pant legs.]

[2a]
[Meanwhile in the Brig, the two Ancients remain surprisingly well behaved prisoners. Measures had been taken to ensure that they would not cause trouble... but it seemed to be unnecessary. Two weeks have passed since the Gate of Sorrow and they remain true to their word that they would willingly face judgement for all that they did.]



"..."

[Lagardia had for the most part had recomposed herself after the bittersweet parting with her parents. Though whenever one passes by her cell they could almost sense the perpetual discomfort and sense of loss that the ancient exuded. Often she could be seen fidgeting anxiously or burrowing deep into the large sleeves of her coat in an attempt to dull her senses to the world around her. Her meals fared no better, often being poked, prodded and flipped for an extended period of time before finally being eaten.]

[2b]


[In contrast though, Graeme seemed to be far more whole and at peace. As it turned out upon the death of the One Who Waits, the Archivist had recovered from the decay that had been affecting her, allowing her to remember her time as the Mystic Amber's mentor . Along with several choice texts to be translated, Calvin had also brought to Graeme a letter from his old master. Admittedly though that large egg he had next to him was a little concerning-]

-krk- -krlkrlk-

"Hm?... Finally hatched I see..."

'Grieeeek'

[Remember those massive ice spewing birds that the Court had? Apparently Graeme kept an egg of one. The hatchling itself was as small as a parrot and was currently awkwardly flopping about after pulling itself from the sundered shell. The Mage carefully guides it back to its feet after another awkward flop.]

Comments

1

[stupidhonor]

Ah.

[Seeing the children running around, Sielje freezes like a deer trapped in headlights.]

[in_over_his_head]

Sielje... Help... meeee...

[The words were ground out as the cats on his legs were now biting him. Dana, the youngest of the children was now running over to the Ankaian looking curiously at her.]

"Are you a robot? You're all metal."

[stupidhonor]

I make no promises.

[Sielje knows better than to vow the impossible. But she has the childrens' attention now, so there's some pressure off Calvin. And on her. She feels uneasy, being surrounded like that.]

No, I am not a robot. This is all just armor. See?

[She takes off the helmet.]

[in_over_his_head]

"Ooh!"

[Amusingly the child is more interested in making faces at the helmet than actually paying attention to Sielje.]

"Bet I can make the not-robot lady move!"

"No you can't! I can!"

[You now also have two more kids trying to make you budge in their preferred direction with all of their might. The only one that doesn't seem to be doing anything was the one that had just vacated from Calvin's shoulders and was just watching Sielje curiously.]

[stupidhonor]

Ah. Do not push...

[Sielje is hard to budge, but she can't possibly shove back against little kids - and since they continue their assault, she slowly gives in.]

What is wrong? Is there something strange about me?

[She does not like being observed with such intensity either. She holds on to the helmet, surrounded by distractions from all directions.]

1

[cloningblues]

Like I needed more proof that cats and kids don't mix.

[in_over_his_head]

"Nyaaa! Keep those kittens under control dumb coat human!"

I WILL IF YOU GET YOUR CLAWS OUT OF MY LEG! CHRIST-

[One of the kids Calvin was trying to stop from running around look at Asagi.]

"Mister! Mister! Do you have a robot here?"

[cloningblues]

Ack. At this rate I'll just skip the middleman and call the medi-

[Distracted by a kid asking questions.]

Huh? Of course. I'm one of the pilots working here after all. It's much too big to bring into this room though.

[in_over_his_head]

"But you look weird."

"I thought Pilots were supposed to look tough and all cool!"

"You look like a person who showed up on TV... are you an actor who pretends to be a pilot?"

"Funny pie!"

[The last came from Dana, happily waving at Asagi with both hands.]

1

[dignity_kept]

[One of the cats, though, a very large white one, is just letting the kids lift her (as much as they can) and play with her patiently, with her eyes closed in complete lack of worry]

[in_over_his_head]

"Whoooa! Kitty big!"

"Do you think its a tiger? Its big enough to be a tiger baby!"

"But tigers have stripes dummy!"

"Its a white panther!"

[The youngest is happy to just pat Amber as only a little kid can while her older siblings argue about just what kind of cat Amber is while trying to lift her up. As for Calvin... well he's still trying to live through the assault the other cats are enacting on him.]

[dignity_kept]

I'm not a tiger. My name is Amber. [As the big kitty speaks, she moves her head so the pats are better positioned]

A little higher, please.

[She doesn't seem to dislike the attention in the slightest, though, even as the kids try (and fail - Amber has spent the last minute looking like a big white slinky) to lift her up in ways that would probably make the average cat explode into a ball of claws.]

[in_over_his_head]

"Kitty talks! Good kitty!"

[And the petting does go a bit higher. The Older Siblings cease their attempts to try lift the larger than average cat before just sitting around her and occasionally glancing at their Uncle who was now managing to make some headway in removing the other talking cats from himself.]

"How do you all talk? Are you magic cats?"

"Yeah! I mean all the cats in our neighbourhood don't talk."

"Is that why you're so big?"

2b

[star_of_sad]

Hello there...

[Setsuko stares at the cell's contents, eyes open wide. Ancient, check. Egg, check. Hatchling - that's new.]

Umm. Should I call security? Or perhaps medical... veterinarian help?

[in_over_his_head]

[The hatchling flaps its wings as it walks in an awkward gait on its back legs. Its fore-claws were currently too short for it to try support its weight on them.]

"While I have helped raise ones like this hatchling before, I did have help... and much more access to various resources. Their help would be appreciated."

[Graeme as a small, regretful smile on his face as he offers his arm for the hatchling to clamber onto. It lets out another 'Grieeek' noise as it bobs in place every so often to maintain its balance.]

"Of course those were raised for the purpose of combat. This one I think being the last of its kind... I'm sure many would want it to not be trained for such."

[star_of_sad]

No, I think not. The last thing we need now is to train a tiny thing like this to fight...

How come an egg just hatched like this? I assume it's as ancient as everything else about your people.

[in_over_his_head]

"Care, effort and a little magic. There were a few caches with eggs and young being kept in stasis. All of which has been emptied over the course of our journey."

[He scratches under the hatchling's beak, leading it to try preen the mage's hair.]

"The methods that were used to properly raise them however have been forever lost to the realms of mere theory with the true beast tamers long gone. I suppose the Unity Group though will find a different way."

1

[tanktanktank]

Apparently Moira's kids aren't the only kids who are bothering Calvin now. Because Hikari is also standing in front of him excitedly.

Mister, are you really a detective? not just that, a supernatural detective? A metaphysical gumshoe? A psychic private eye? A sleuth of the occult? Investigator of the paranormal? Extramundane bloodhound?

[in_over_his_head]

[And Calvin has to cease in the cat removal because of Hikari's sudden appearance. Curses! He needed to gather up the shattered remains of his pride and reassemble them into something worthwhile!]

You can say that... I've made it my job to find out the truth, be it just plain normal or... something more than that. I've run into more of the latter though. Call it a curse of having a forever interesting time.

"Nyaa! What a bunch of superstitious hokum! This is why humans are dumb! Nya!"

[Calvin gives the cat a very flat look.]

Well if I ever end up in Romania maybe I'll drop by that one forest I burned down that used to be infested with Vampires so their lairs would get flooded with sunlight. Maybe they left behind ghosts that still want to terrorize the living.

"...I'll be good. Nya."

[tanktanktank]

You've fought vampires!? Do you have a long leather coat? Have you ever fought a werewolf? Can you tell me stories about your investigation? Don't worry, I can stand gory stuffs!

[in_over_his_head]

[Calvin sighs, quickly glancing at Moira's children who are thankfully distracted by cats. He carefully removes the one currently attached to him now it was subdued by the threat of being tossed into Vampire-Ghost territory.]

Fought is a bit... strong. They might have torn into me like tissue paper. I had to be clever. Also with some of the places I go to Leather Coats would probably get a lot of damage. Certain kinds of fabrics are easier to maintain and replace... I learned after losing my first one.

[Yeah, Calvin actually looked a little sad there. That one was cool.]

No I haven't fought werewolves. Haven't had to deal with any yet... and my Investigations are... kind of crazy. I'm not sure if I should...

[He trails off a little.]

2a

[empress_without_a_throne]

[An evil defeated, leaving two technically more but shut up survivors behind. Mizuki knows no other way to break the ice save one:]

So then... what now?

[in_over_his_head]

"That is a difficult question. The world can never return to the days I wish for... nor will it return those I have lost."

[Lagardia glances at the hand her mother had attempted to take into hers, only for the Melancholy Emerald to grasp nothing but smoke.]

"...Assuming whatever punishment is placed upon us is some form of imprisonment or reimbursement in the form of lending our skills or knowledge for an indefinite time, I know that Graeme will seek out the archives upon completing his sentence."

"Myself.... I do not know. My sole drive this whole time had been to end The One Who Waits. I did not see the Forest beyond the Trees... part of me believed I would not even survive past the final battle."

[empress_without_a_throne]

That's the problem when you define yourself by the enemies you fight. In the aftermath you're never sure what there's left to do.

That said... I may have a way out for you. Or at least a light at the end of the tunnel.

[melancholy_emerald]

"..."

[Lagardia remained silent on that part. If anything that really was a particularly weighty truth. With how long she had been focusing on that one goal...]

"Is that wise? After all I have done... the lives I have taken, the suffering I have no doubt caused. I know many may still see me as an enemy of mankind no matter what my intentions were. My deeds themselves were still vile."

"Why offer me this?"