Arc 1-Session 4-Mini 8 - Cerulean/Roan/Luis

Kyoko - Today at 7:37 AM
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"So," Luis says, trying to broach the subject as respectfully as possible. "Is this a curse? I mean, do I need to call a witch? Because, I know a witch. She's extremely reliable."
"Curses generally don't make you change your clothes like that. Cerulean's just presenting as more feminine." Roan looks around as the rest of the class starts filing in. It's before the 'opening ceremony', even though Michelle's class is in session - it starts early mostly because, as mentioned before, the advanced combat simulator is way too expensive to leave idle over the summer.
"Well, I just asked. I mean, if this happened at home, 'some sort of gender swap curse' would be my first guess, so-"
"That'd be a sex change, not a gender swap. Gender is your presentation and mental state-"
"Wait, then wouldn't a gender swap curse be what makes you wear a dress even if you don't want to?"
"I concede the point."
Maz - Today at 7:43 AM
I... Can't help but blush a little at the subject, even if I'm laughing lightly.
"Well, it's not a curse okay? I made the choice on my own."
I lean back in my chair a little and look up at the ceiling as memories of my past float by in technicolor waves like light reflected off a pool's surface.
"I've not really had much time to think about myself up till now. It's always been about just surviving each day. When I got down to it I realized I'm essentially just a big block of living metal and I took a form I felt more comfortable in, yanno?"
I flash Luis a bright smile.
"Turns out I feel more like a girl than I do a guy."
Kyoko - Today at 7:51 AM
"All right," Luis says. "I mean, you understand that I'm hardly one of those church lunatics." Something to do with the War, sounds like. "I was raised by a possessed suit of armor, I think I can handle this."
"That sounds pretty cool," says Roan, who you still haven't seen outside their armor.
"I know, right? People are impressed when I tell them. It makes me feel special." Being a vampire isn't special enough for you?
Roan looks you over again. "Did you get the textbooks?" Mistress Er, Daphne printed them for you!
Maz - Today at 7:53 AM
It takes a small bite of the tongue to keep from saying the M word
And it brings an even heavier blush to my cheeks
"H-Huh? Oh! Yeah!"
I pull the books out of my bag and set 'em on the desk.
"So you talk about the church like it's kind of a buncha jerks. I mean, don't get me wrong, lots of churches where I'm from are too. But yours sounds more... Overt?"
Kyoko - Today at 7:59 AM
"Sort of - I mean, we're not like you. We have The Church." It's pronounced the way Bain pronounces The Diamond. "Great-Grandfather declared war on ... it, I guess, a long time ago, and now it's pretty much what humans have on my homeworld instead of a king or a president. This is because Great-Grandfather is really bad at getting what he wants."
"What about what he needs?" Roan asks. Huh, are they a classical music fan?
"I think what he needs is serious psychological counseling."
Maz - Today at 8:01 AM
"Alright, so Big Papa Vamps decided to declare war on the church a long time ago and now the humans of your world have used that to skyrocket up in leadership. Yeah, that sounds... Like it must suck for a Vampire."
I catch myself and grumble.
"Pun unintended. Dangit."
"So what was the war about?"
Kyoko - Today at 8:05 AM
"Hypatia." Luis gives you a look. "Have you heard of her? I mean, obviously I did, it was Hypatia this, Hypatia that when I was growing up. She's a unholy figure to us."
"Are you intentionally identifying as-"
"Yeah, that."
"Just checking," Roan says. "And I don't think so. If she's a historical figure here, I never heard about her."
Luis looks disappointed and looks to you for help.
Darn, if only you had those glasses that Daphne uses to look everything up online the second she hears about it so she seems even smarter than she actually is.
You could also pretend that they send you subliminal messages to keep you nice and obedient. Daphne shared her ... stash... of hypno-stories with you and you probably had a very late night binging on them.
Maz - Today at 8:06 AM
D-Dang it brain, this is not the time! You're trying to look cool in front of the Vampire and Roan!
Especially Roan!
Roan's so coooool~~~
My blush is (hopefully) buried as I shake my head. "Sorry man, I've hardly had enough time to learn the real history of my own world. Tell me about her though."
Questions for later: Identifying as what?
Also for later: Can Daphne make a pair of glasses for me.
Kyoko - Today at 8:12 AM
Probably identifying as 'unholy'. Roan sees it as another form of religion, while Luis sees it as an intentional opposition to The Church. But Roan's never been the kind of person to let someone else define them.
"She was a Greek scholar in the fifth century. Inventor, astronomer, brilliant witch. Great-Grandfather was married to her when... they both were alive."
"Ah," says Roan, starting to get it. "I'm guessing this story doesn't have a happy ending."
"Not in particular, no. There were riots, religious tension between the governors and the people, an angry mob killed her because people love to blame women for everything-"
Roan just nods passively at that.
"And Great-Grandfather did not take it well."
Maz - Today at 8:14 AM
I've heard it a thousand times. They took one of mine, now I'm gonna take two of theirs
They shot her in cold blood, so now I'm gonna torch their entire family
That kinda shit.
Kyoko - Today at 8:15 AM
It's the same the worlds over.
Maz - Today at 8:15 AM
I close my eyes slowly and nod. "Yeah. I'd imagine not."
Kyoko - Today at 8:20 AM
"So he did some... freaky... curse... thing to himself. Made himself into the largest nexus of necromantic energy the world had ever seen. And he decided, well, yeah, I think you get where this is going."
Roan sucks in air through their teeth as they do their best to provide a gentle nod.
"He wanted revenge on the Church, so the Church was the one who fought back against him, but he scared the living shit out of the other humans who didn't want to become cultists, so they just got closer to the Church, so he started trying to fight them, so pretty much all kings were replaced with bishops and stuff, and anyways long story short it's over a thousand years later and we've been so busy fighting and killing and reanimating each other that when I saw my first map here I was all "What's that big continent over there?" and they said "North and South America" and I'm like "I've never heard of that, and Dad's a Baron, it's not like I had a bad education."
Maz - Today at 8:22 AM
I wish I could look more surprised. I mean, I sure as heck am surprised by the whole Necromancy and Bishops thing...
But it's really just the same kind of fights the Fosters had writ large and all encompasing.
And Luis doesn't even have the benefit of getting to say "I'm not theirs."
Kyoko - Today at 8:23 AM
Honestly, a gang is just a really shitty form of government.
Maz - Today at 8:23 AM
Or Government, when corrupted, is just a bigger form of a gang.
"...So, you're here to become a part of the Town Watch, right? What are you hoping to do?"
Kyoko - Today at 8:25 AM
"... I can't stop Great-Grandfather." A pause. "But, y'know, maybe I can stop Grandfather. Give people some room to breathe. I don't know what The Church will do then. Probably nothing good, but... the world's bled enough."
Maz - Today at 8:26 AM
I take a breath.
And just kinda let it spill.
I know I'm going to regret it later, but I can't hold it in.
"I'll tell you exactly what they'll do. They'll push in, they'll kill and they'll torture and they'll fight and raise all sorts of hell and they'll feel justified in doing it. When it's gone on like this, neither side sees eachother as human any more. Neither side even stops to think that perhaps they're fighting things that can think and feel. They just see the 'enemy'."
I sigh.
"And I honestly can't think of a better way for you to handle it. I'm sorry."
Kyoko - Today at 8:34 AM
"Feh." Luis tries to look strong, but you and Roan can both see the weakness and resignation under the cape. "No one ever said unlife was fair." There's a pause. "At least I got to see this angry Oriental girl explode Dad's head. Guns are amazing."
With another flurry of time control, the clock strikes the hour, and class begins again, and Michelle appears in the same leaning-against-nothing pose.
"All right! I've gone over the footage from a few months ago - sorry, three days ago - and it's pretty clear that no one from this universe bothers to teach heroes footwork. We're going to have to go back to basics."
Some groans from the class. Especially from Aleixo.
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"Does Cerulean have to invite you in?"
"Well, if she wants us both to be polite."
You invited the two to come by your dorm slash superbase, right?
Maz - Today at 8:39 AM
Heck yeah!
I mean, check this OUT!
We've got a Library!
And a Pool!
And some sort of weird treadmil that Strike requested!
And it's BIIIG~!
"Come on in!"
Kyoko - Today at 8:42 AM
It's very big. Roan does a double take as they walk through the door. They step out of the door, look at the building, step through the door, look at the foyer, step out the door -
Luis just proceeds past in the direction of the couch. "Come on, act like you've been there before, Roan. You're acting like a kid."
"I haven't been here before," Roan says.
"You've never seen dimensional twisting?" Luis finds that hard to believe.
"No, have you seen TV?"
"Well, twice."
Maz - Today at 8:43 AM
I can hardly contain the giddiness at Roan doing the thing~!
I did it too!
"I knooow~! It's bigger in here! Isn't that awesome?!"
Kyoko - Today at 8:44 AM
"Kids," says Luis, shaking his head.
He then ignores the remote, walks over to the TV, turns it on by pressing the power button, and manually flips through channels looking for Looney Tunes.
Maz - Today at 8:44 AM
I slowly turn my head towards Luis.
Streeeetch my arm to the remote.
Steeeeealthily pull it back.
And activate the cable box's menu.
"Whatcha lookin' for?"
Kyoko - Today at 8:46 AM
He startles, a bit confused. "... A brown thing chasing a blue thing through the Sahara Desert."
Maz - Today at 8:46 AM
"..."
I look at Roan.
Back to Luis.
And I stifle a laugh.
"You got a name for either of these things?"
Kyoko - Today at 8:48 AM
"... Yeah, it looked like fake Latin?"
Maz - Today at 8:49 AM
I can barely hold it in.
Oh god
He's totally talking about that, isn't he?
"Did... snrk Did one of them run off a cliff?"
Kyoko - Today at 8:49 AM
"Yes. Repeatedly."
Maz - Today at 8:50 AM
I select whatever channel has Looney Tunes on and hand the remote to Roan.
"Pfff! Okay! So. We've established two things here today!"
"One: Luis has dealt with spatial fuckery."
"Two! Luis enjoys cartoons!"
Kyoko - Today at 8:53 AM
Luis is laughing madly in moments. Roan just smiles at the two of you.
"Friends are nice," they say quietly near the distracted Luis. They rub the side of their head a bit - a nervous tic you've picked up on whenever they're worried. "Hey. You, uh. You thinking what I'm thinking?" - that we need to get him started on Animaniacs at some point? - "No, I mean, about Luis' home. He may not call himself a hero, but, you know, we do."
"And that means we have certain responsibilities, right?"
Maz - Today at 8:55 AM
I frown a little bit. "Yeah. We kinda do."
"But how the heck do you stop a centuries old war? That's a long time for wounds to deepen."
Kyoko - Today at 9:00 AM
"I sort of figured we could start by waiting for him to go back to try to prove his manliness and get himself into trouble then we burst in and kick ass and save him like in the video games."
Roan is completely serious about this.
Maz - Today at 9:01 AM
"..."
Oh dear. She really is.
I take her aside, just out of ear shot of the one we're trying to help.
"Okay, think about this. Luis has got a lot of pride, right? How do you think us coming in to save him would make him react?"
Kyoko - Today at 9:03 AM
"Well, that's why we don't tell him first."
Maz - Today at 9:03 AM
"Granted, I love the courage you're showing there but- Okay, now..."
I think for a moment.
Kyoko - Today at 9:03 AM
"I mean, if I thought they weren't going to go all 'who will wrestle Gus?' I'd just offer to help."
Maz - Today at 9:06 AM
"Okay... Okay, it's not a bad plan but I think it might take a bit long to get him there. Instead I think it might be best to... Sort of... Break him into being a hero."
I look over at Luis who is... watching cartoons and laughing like a loon. Poor bastard probably didn't even know comedy could be a thing.
"He's got the heart for it in him. He's worried about the blood that's being shed and the people that have been getting hurt, right? That's the basis of being a hero."
"So what if he doesn't want to think of himself as one? We just need to guide him to realizing he already is one. Get him to think about standing in the middle and stopping both sides."
I look back to Roan with a smile.
"Think we can get him there before Winter Vacation?"
Kyoko - Today at 9:09 AM
"Sure." There's a pause. "I think my plan's more reliable, though."
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