Most people stopped believing in monsters under the bed long ago. Most people see fantasy as just that: make believe. But then, you're not most people.
There's a secret world of monsters and magic hiding just below the surface. For your average citizen, that secret world never comes to light. But for some, it becomes their whole life. Gangs of monsters engaging in turf wars, lone creatures wreaking havoc on cities, and guilds of hunters all struggling for control. When things go bump in the night, you bump back.
The year: 2018. The place: Orlando, FL. You've known for a long time that monsters and magic are real, and you've taken it upon yourself to shoulder the mantle of protecting the world from mystical threats. It's thankless work, what with the fact that the vast majority of the population doesn't even know they were in danger, nevermind the fact that you’ve saved them.
You’ve been framed.
That's the only thought you could think of as Bureau of Extra-Normal (BEN) agents broke down your door last night, threw handcuffs and a hood over you, and snatched you away in seconds. You have no idea how far you've gone (they could have driven you in circles for two hours, for all you know), but after what felt like an eternity you were thrown into a windowless cell. It feels like you're in the basement of a concrete bunker, arcane sigils carved into almost every inch of the concrete. The bars are iron, certainly reinforced with magic. Each cell is relatively barren, with a single bed and a solitary toilet. Four cells face each other from the corners of the room. On one wall sits a door, while on the wall opposite are a set of large lockers. Sterile white lights flood the room, which, when combined with your anxiety, prevent you from getting any sleep.
You're also not alone.
A man with short, blonde hair and a hood shares the cell to the left of the door with a scruffy, dark-haired gentleman. The cells don't appear to have been built for more than one occupant, but it appears BEN doesn't care for the personal space of prisoners. The cell adjacent to them contains two men with dark beards, although when comparing the two there is a clear winner and loser for who's is the most glorious. On the right side of the door, a single woman paces nervously. The cell beside her's appears empty at first glance, until you notice a lump in the bed. Somehow, the occupant of that cell has been able to sleep, despite the current conditions.
Nolan glances over to his scruffy dark-haired cellmate and flashes a weak smile as he stares into the man's eyes, pulling his hood down in an effort to look more friendly. "Heh.... strange predicament we've found ourselves in, am I right?"
Lizbeth paced her cell, unhappy with her current situation. She had her arms crossed over her chest, in a feeble attempt to cover herself, as she was dressed in only a thin camisole and undies. Seeing the other cells were filled with men, she moved to the back of her cell and sat on the floor, hoping to go unnoticed.
Looking to his cellmate as the man pulls down his hood, Kieran grunts. "You could say that." He peers around the cell, inspecting the door and lock, before looking around the rest of the room at the other prisoners. He notices the scantily clad woman across the way but tries not to stare.
Not too talkative. He glances around the room, peering into the other cells. His face turns red when he sees Liz and quickly averts his eyes. "So.... are any of you in here for murder?" he asks awkwardly in an attempt to break the ice.
Kieran looks back to the man at that, peering closer and trying to get a read on him. "Can't say I know why I'm here as a matter of fact. Don't recall doing anything to piss off the BEN." His eyes flicker a bit as he makes the comment. "And yourself?"
"I was just chilling on Imgur, trying to get some +1's. When they bashed the door down, my first thought was the FBI had found me due to illegally pirating movies." Nolan glances around the cell, noticing the arcane sigils. "This isn't any better."
As they talk, Kieran walks over to the door and tries opening it, just on the off chance it's not locked. It is locked.
"Who's this Ben guy, and why does he want me?" Lizbeth asked loudly.
Kieran looks to Lizbeth again. "It's B-E-N", he spells it out. "Stands for Bureau of the Extra-Normal. Kind of like self-appointed cops for the magical world."
Nolan is about to begin to explain before he's cut off. He smirks and says nothing, moving to sit on the floor with his back against the wall.
"Never heard of it," Lizbeth said quickly, then began to scream at the top of her lungs. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! HELP! I NEED HELP!"
Kieran winces. "Ow. I highly doubt they've put cells somewhere that anyone else would be able to hear you screaming. And they aren't the kind of people you want to get on their bad side."
"You don't think these cells are bugged?" Lizbeth cocked her head to the side. "They're listening to everything we say."
Nolan shrugs, responding, "They probably are. I don't see why that's an issue though."
“Can you calm down?” A skinny man wearing a graphic t-shirt depicting the Avengers and some plaid sleep pants say. “It B.E.N. They’ll talk to us when they want to. Someone probably did something to set off the magical community and now they’re trying to figure out how to cover it up.”
Kieran shrugs as well. "They probably get a lot of magic users in here. You know how well sensitive technology like cameras or listening devices do around magic..."
"The only thing I want to cover up, right now," Lizbeth said, standing and uncovering her chest. "Is me. I know what BEN is, you idiot. I'm cold, and I want out of this cell. The more annoying I am, the sooner they'll come to get me."
Nolan nods his head in agreement. "That's most likely." With Kieran's back turned, the thought flashes in Nolan's mind of slitting the man's throat. Could he do it quickly... He takes a deep breath and massages his temples, closing his eyes. Lord, help me.
Kieran smirks at Lizbeth. "If you know who they are, then you know that playing dumb about them isn't likely to work."
“Or. They could just let you freeze.” Ryan counters. He then begins looking around at the sigils on the wall and tries to recall if he knows anything about them or what they do. (Arcana: 19)
Lizbeth glared at the two men, then mimed pulling something out of a pocket, and acting surprised when it was her middle finger. She showed it to both of them for a moment, pointing at it with her other hand, then crossed her arms over her chest and continued pacing.
Nolan stands to take off his jacket, weaving his hands in a quick pattern as he mutters something under his breath. A hand, glowing faintly with white light, picks up his jacket and moves across the room with it towards Liz's cell.
“For any of you brash one out there.” Ryan says and then looks directly at the loud girl “The sigils on the wall are wards to prevent us from escaping and are also how they are keeping surveillance on us.”
"No," Lizbeth said, her voice heavily dripping with sarcasm. "You don't say?"
Kieran watches the hand drag the jacket across to Lizbeth, then looks back at Nolan. "Some kind of wizard, eh?"
Nolan's glowing hand floats over with the jacket to Liz's cell. "This might help you," he offers, keeping his eyes averted from below her neck. "Not a wizard. I don't have the discipline to study for what I do," he replies as he sits back down again.
Lizbeth looked at the glowing hand and gently took the jacket from it. "Thank you," she said, grateful, and zipped it up.
Kieran nods slowly at that response, pondering the various types he knows of that could cast a spell like that.
“Magic. Useful.” Ryan says before looking around “I wish they would have allowed me my glasses at least. It might have made things a little bit clearer.”
"Trust me," Lizbeth said, sitting on the floor again. "There's nothing to see."
Ryan just laughs a little “There’s always more than meets the eye.”
There's a small stirring in another cell. A dark leg is seen popping out of the blanket, but then goes back in and remains still.
"So," Lizbeth said from her cell. "Why did you guys get dragged in here?"
"Wards on the walls. Dragged in here Y'all," the deep voice comes from the blankets. It shifts slightly and a bald head peeks out, unsure.
"Good morning, sunshine," Liz said, again being sarcastic. "Would you like some room service? I'm sure BEN would be happy to deliver."
"Like room service. Wards on the walls, room service. Let you freeze, Y'all," the figure responds.
"I think this one's high," Liz said, cringing away.
"BEN high," he responds. "BEN high."
“Send some of that room service my way while you’re at it. I need a drink...” Kieran comments.
Rubbing the back of his head where they clubbed him, "All I know is if someone doesn't explain why I was taken without proper documentation, we are going to have a problem. And where the hell are my things?" Ærik is very glad to see he's still in his boxer briefs.
Ryan, noticing that Ærik is in nothing but boxer briefs, turns a very bright red and is intentionally trying not to look at him.
"What about some pizza," Liz called toward the ceiling. "Maybe some beer?"
Surveying the room and the people talking a little too loudly, considering the throbbing pain in his head. He steps towards the bars, reaches out with both hands, and grabs one in each hand. Testing their strength, but not trying to break them. "Did anyone see a red-haired female in here?" Calling out to the group.
Liz doesn't hide the fact that she's watching the half-naked man, smiling at his futile attempt to escape.
“She’s the only female I’ve seen around,” Kieran nods at Lizbeth. Liz waves.
Ærik takes a long slow glance at Liz, nods his head, and says. "You weren't who I was expecting to see this morning for sure." He turns and looks at the gentleman in the cell with him. Sniffs the air, turns back to Liz and says, "I'll have to thank BEN for the upgraded accommodations. Has anyone seen a BEN agent yet, or was awake enough to see what they did with our belongings?"
"They grabbed me in the middle of the night. Weren't considerate enough to let me gather my gear before we left..." Kieran responds.
"No, and no," Liz said sitting on the bed. "I'm going to be so pissed if they left all my stuff in that cheap motel with the door sitting wide open. If all my stuff is stolen..." She trailed off, and lay down, covering her head with the jacket.
“Belongings. They took me right out of my apartment. And no I haven’t seen anyone from BEN. They should really show up soon.” Ryan says still avoiding eye contact with the man in his cell.
Kieran chuckles at Ryan's obvious discomfort.
"Wake when room service is here," Liz called from under the jacket, then rolled over.
"She's high." The dark figure ducks down deeper into the large blanket. "Middle of the night," it mumbles. "BEN. Middle of the night. Considerate JC. Where's my JC..." The mumbling gets lower and lower.
Nolan can only stare with curiosity as he listens to Kall. He ponders on the message, trying to distinguish anything deep and revelatory.
Ærik turns to face the man in the cell with him. "So none of you were served proper papers either?" He asks a little more loudly than necessary for all the cells occupants. BEN really is up to something, he thinks to himself. "I know it's very unlikely, but seeing that a little magic seems to work here, does anyone have a small forked twig hiding in their pockets?" This time a more reasonable level, but still loud enough for all to hear.
“Eto ne malen'kaya vilka v karmane” Ryan says. (Translation from Russian: that’s not a small forked twig in your pocket).
“Nope. They just appeared in the middle of the night. They were on me before I had a chance to react. All I’ve got are the clothes I’m wearing." Kieran says.
Turning to the voice in the other cell. "And all of us the same, or they would have us believe."
Turning back to his cellmate, Erik attempts to actually catch the gaze of the other man. "You don't seem to mean whatever you said as an insult, so I'm not going to remind you this cells really only big enough for one of us."
“Ummm....ehhhh....ehhhh.” Ryan stutters with a big blush on his face. “No....It....it was a compliment.” Ryan manages to get out.
Erik extends his right hand in the friendly gesture of a handshake, his mouth slowly turning from a grimace to a slight grin. "Sorry, I've had a bad morning you could say. No hard feelings...I hope...?" A slight hopeful uplift on the word "hope". I've seen one of them use magic, he thinks. No reason to make enemies yet. He'll save his angry for BEN.
Ryan accepts it, straining to stare just at Æriks face. “So, do we wait for them to come to get us or should we attempt to force them to come down?” Ryan asks after the handshake.
"They'll come for us, after they discover they aren't going to hear us talk about whatever it is we supposedly did to end up here," Liz called from under the jacket. She popped her head out and looked, upside down, at them. "Just hang out, catch a nap, they'll come to get us soon."
Looking around Ryan decides that if he's at least going to be accused of something with these people he should know their names. "Well, if we're going to be here a little we should at least learn each others names. I'll start. I'm Ryan. Ryan White."
Lizbeth rolls over onto her stomach. "Oooh, are we going to braid each other's hair and tell spooky stories? Look, they're going to come in here, tell us we're bad people, and send us off on our way with a tap on the hand, telling us to be good boys and girls."
"Wow. You obviously don't like people. I think I'll call you Kani" Ryan's voice sounds different when he says the word Kani. He's obviously not speaking English again.
"Sure, call me whatever you want," Liz said, smiling. "It has nothing to do with you. Honestly. I'm just sick of these BEN ******** hassling me when I have important shit to do."
Erik twists his head toward her voice and says "Sick of implies you also have been under their eye." Erik turns back to look at Ryan. "My names Ærik Ulfson." "I've been deciding whether to try to walk thru these bars, or wait for whatever "task" they have schemed up this time. The problem is they have my stuff, and they know it. They've never done this before...."
"I wouldn't just try to walk out. I'm sure the wards on the walls prevent that. Also, they can hear us and will probably send some operatives down to stop you. I say you should just wait a little bit longer." Ryan says as he decides to take a longer look at his surroundings.
Feeling a little calmer in the cage, Erik takes 3 deep breaths, slowly releasing each one. "Your words are true, but this still smells wrong." With that he walks over to the wall, and turns and leans against it. The cold of the wall feeling good on his sore muscles. He starts to bend at the knees, and slides down to a sitting position on the floor, his back never leaving the wall. "Goddess have mercy." He mutters, before 'closing his eyes', and folding his hands in his lap.
Liz watches this, an idea forming. "Hey, you alright? You don't look so good!" Before Erik can reply, she winks at him and starts yelling. "We need help in here! This guy's sick!"
"You have a funny way of napping." Erik mutters. Feeling his pulse quicken slightly. "But I would like some answers."
Kieran watches the others antics, then looks to Ryan. "Name's Kieran"
Liz sat up, pulling the jacket around her again. "Hey! Someone get in here! There's something wrong with this guy! You need to come check him!" She moved to the front of her cell and looked at Kall, hoping her plan would work. Kieran simply shakes his head at Lizbeth's plan.
“Hey, Kieran. Since NOBODY WANTS TO COME DOWN do you think you can get the boy in the cage with you to use his magic hands and see if those lockers are indeed locked?” Ryan asks Kieran.
Kieran looks over to Nolan and raises an eyebrow. "So far you're the only one that can reach em."
"It does seem too easy. I would love to know if my stuff was in those lockers, but I would prefer they gave it back. If I have to take it back, there will be much unneeded bloodshed this day." Exclaims Ærik.
“Let’s not get our hopes up nor should we really plan on bloodshed. I’m just curious is all.” Ryan explain.
Ærik proceeds to stand up and walks up to the bars again. Grabbing one in each hand, he says. "I'm not positive what magics will work in here. I have two options to try to leave the cell, one quiet and one not so quiet. I'll be drawing on the same energies either way. However, my quiet way does not bode well for getting anyone else out of a cell."
"I haven't wanted to commit until I knew I was ready to leave. It's possible me drawing on the energy will be enough to trigger an alarm, and I don't make a habit of putting others in danger. If it doesn't work, then I just wait," Ærik said. "Do we want to just make some noise, or nap? I'm open to opinions today. "
"I'm needed!" he suddenly exclaims as he comes out of a silent trance. Jumping to his feet, he conjures another glowing white hand and moves it to the lockers to check whether or not they're opened. While the hand moves over, he mentions, "Oh. And my name's Nolan. Dodge. I think I missed the whole introduction party shenanigans." He focuses on the hand and tries to open the lockers.
Listening, Liz could hear a voice on the other side of the door, but it was muffled, and she wasn't able to tell what was being said. It was only there for a few seconds, then the person left. "Dammit," Liz yelled toward the door. "Don't walk away! I hear you out there! Get in here and help this guy!" Ærik watches the hand appear from nowhere, and as it moves towards the lockers, he says a silent prayer to the goddess, praying his beloved Staff might just be in this room.
“Hey, Kani. Do you have any hair pins on you?” Ryan asks.
"I hate tests." Ærik bellows toward the door of the room.
Nolan glances over to Ryan as he uses the term Rani. He thinks for a moment, unsure of its meaning before Kieran responds. "Huh. I must've misheard her name," he mutters to himself. The fact that his hand could move in one direction and not the other perplexed him. "Why don't... we just wait?" he suggested with a shrug. "I'm sure they'll come down shortly. It'd be nice if they'd dim these lights though..." Kieran settles down with his back to the wall to wait for something to happen.
Liz digs aground in her hair and pulls out a bobby pin. "I hope you know what you're doing with this," she said, holding it out.
Erik watches with great interest as his cellmate and the female discuss their plan. "If you have a way out of this cell that gets more than one of us out, I will wait and assist", he says. "I would rather save my options for BEN personally, or to protect us if things get even worse. I don't feel physically threatened yet, but this situation... I apologize, I'm usually more decisive, but there is much more at stake today, than my freedom it seems."
"Regardless of plans, I'm pretty useless without my gear." Liz frowns holding out the bobby pin. "I really need to learn to pick locks."
"I also lack the training. I haven't encountered many doors I couldn't just go around." Ærik says. "I don't need my stuff to rip the flesh from their dying corpses, but I will die the True Death before they keep my Staff." This last sentence coming out with a snarl.
"Calm down," Liz said, giving Erik a good long look, before continuing. "Big guy."
“Thanks. Now with these I’m hoping one of two things happen. Either A) I open my cell and then all of yours or B) I trigger an alarm and they finally get their sorry butts down here.” Ryan says as he bends the bobby pins into rudimentary lockpicks and attempts to pick the lock on his cell. As he twisted the bobby pin around, it got stuck, the door remaining locked. “Son of a where’s a .... of course it does.” Ryan let’s put a big sigh and steps away from the door. “The pins are stuck in there now so there’s nothing more I can do.”
"Well that figures, the path is in motion now, there's no way they won't know we tried to get out of this cell." Ærik states. "So let's see what they're using in here." Ærik walks to the center of the room, and sits on the floor. He uses his earring to stab his right pointer finger and draws a circle in blood on the floor around him. "Goddess grant me your vision. " He says, while making a gesture with his right hand. Erik closes his eyes and concentrates. When he opens them, he can see the bars, the walls, and even the floor alight with magic. The main school of magic that seems to be represented here is abjuration. He also appears to be picking up faint traces of enchantment magic as well. The lockers and door seemed to be non-magical. Erik relayed this information to everyone.
"You assume they haven't been listening to us talk, loudly, about how we're going to escape." Liz began to pace her cell again. "Maybe this is just a test of their security system and they're out there taking notes on how to improve." She turned toward the runes and began to yell again. "Take this note, mother****er! I ordered a pizza and beer, and delivery is late!" She flipped off the runes.
"Hey. Sleepy head. You in the blanket. What do you think?" Ryan says aloud while his cell mate is attempting something obviously magical. Kall doesn't respond. He merely shifts below the blankets.
"Don't think we're getting anything out of him," Liz said, cringing at the figure under the blanket. Turning back to the runes, she continued her rant. "You know, I have some basic rights! You could at least give me some pants and socks so I don't freeze to death down here! What will you do when I don't make it home, and my family starts looking for me? You going to explain to them why you let me freeze to death down here?!"
"Do any of you guys have the ability to make acid? Even magical acid or something that can carve through cement?" Ryan asks, after having thought of something else that might work.
"If I had rope, I could make a trap," Liz said, stalking around her cell like a caged animal. "If I needed to, I could track something. But I have no way to get anyone out of these cells."
Kieran remains where he is with his back to the wall, eyes closed. "These cells are designed to hold magic users and magical creatures. Do you really expect us to be able to break out of them that easily?"
"Hey," Liz snapped. "At least he's trying."
Kieran shrugs. "Not much I can do in here. I'm not a fancy spell-caster."
"And no way to make a shiv?" Ryan says already knowing the answer.
"Can't make a shiv, no, but if it comes to a fight, I can promise I won't be useless, nor unarmed."
Nolan shifts positions, opting to lay down on the cold ground with his eyes closed. No point on wasting energy, he thinks to himself. "Fate will come our way," he lazily calls out, followed by a yawn. "Soon, this'll all be in the past."
"Well, my head still hurts, and I'm in need of water, so on that note, I guess I'm going to try to rest." Ærik says. With that, he stands, and walks back to his spot against the wall. Sitting once again on the cool floor, back to the wall. He crosses his legs, rests one hand on each knee and closes his eyes.
An hour passes. And then another. Some of the detainees start to doze. Others deal with the waiting by fidgeting. Still others use the time less...productively. Eventually, each seems resigned to the waiting, though. Finally, at around 8 a.m. the door opens and two men dressed in black suits walk in. The suits are immaculate and very reminiscent of the movie Men in Black. Hell, these guys are even wearing sunglasses. Indoors. They don't say anything as they enter and don't even acknowledge any of the frustrated people in the cells. One of them pulls a small device out of his pocket and holds it against a spot on the wall near the lockers. The energy in the room changes subtly, but perceptibly. The runes and sigils disappear from the walls. The second man mutters a series of nonsense syllables and all four cell doors pop open.
He speaks into the room without really looking at anyone, "You all are free to go. However, we are still actively investigating the Lake Buena Vista incident, so don't leave town. We may need to question you later. Your belongings are in these lockers. When you've collected yourselves, exit the door and follow the hall to the right. The guard at the end will let you out and arrange transport for you." He nods to the other man and leaves without so much as a backward glance. His partner follows him out the door.
As soon as the agent finishes talking, Kieran speaks up. "What Lake Buena Vista incident?"
The first agent doesn't even acknowledge Kieran's existence, but the second man pauses in the doorway. He turns back and says, "Need to know basis. Either you already know, and will be hearing from us again really soon, or you aren't involved and don't need to know."
Once the sigils disappear, the figure under the covers whips the blanket off and stands. She's dressed in fine business attire and wears pumps that make her look deceptively tall. Latin American in heritage, she looks very much like a business woman of the 20th century. Standing, she points towards the agents and threatens, "My lawyers will hear of this." Marching over to the lockers she retrieves what can only be considered a wand by those-in-the-know. It's intricately decorated with a series of wood that reminds one of the fall, summer, winter, and spring.
He smirks, "I look forward to taking their call. I'm sure they know all about the magical world." His smile turns wolfish, "Because you would be endangering them by telling them if they didn't. And you wouldn't want to do that, would you?"
Kieran mutters under his breath at the agents response, then stands. He raises his eyebrows at the woman that stands from under the blanket. 'Business attire in the middle of the night?' he thinks to himself. Then with a shrug, he follows her to the lockers and searches through for anything of his own the agents might have brought.
As each of the cellmates head to the lockers, they find that all the gear that was on them as well as their usual adventuring gear is stashed in the lockers. Even items thought well hidden are present.
"You stole my plant!?" The woman yells, picking up a small plant that coos at her as she does.
With a growl at finding all of his gear present, despite that he wasn't wearing it when he was picked up, Kieran dons his gear and grabs his bow and other belongings from the locker.
"It'll be ok, mi bebé... you're ok," she says as she pets the poor plant.
Kieran gives a sideways glance at the woman. "You seem rather attached to your plant. Why would they have bothered bringing it anyway? It magical?"
The plant turns to Kieran as if looking at him, and the woman gives him a cold stare.
Chuckling, Kieran says, "I'll take that as a yes."
"You will have to sleep, mi bebé. We're going to go outside," she says to the plant. She then gathers up the remaining equipment that was stolen from her apartment before exiting down the hall.
Kieran watches the woman leave, then turns back to the others. "Anyone have any idea what the agent was talking about?"
Ryan walks over the locker and finds his glasses, his bracelets, his hoodie, and a messenger bag holding his laptop and other standard supplies. “You better hope that locker protected my laptop from all that magic.” Ryan says first at the agents but upon hearing Kieran’s question he says “No. But if you want to find out come with me. I’m pretty good at figuring out what I want to know.”
"Sounds good to me. If I'm going to be blamed for something, I wanna know what it was in the first place." Kieran says.
Ærik stands and stretches, and follows the others to the lockers. He pauses and calls out to the last guard, "Policy and procedure seems to have been forgotten today. Let's hope we don't also forget the next time you call us." He turns his back and continues to the lockers.
The moment she's able to, Liz exits her cell, but instead of heading to the lockers to get dressed, she gets into the guards face. "Where are my parents? What did you do to them?"
“Your parents were not present when you were detained,” one replied to Lizbeth. “Their whereabouts are not pertinent to the investigation.”
"Bullshit!" Liz started pushing the guard. "Why would you drag me in here if my parents weren't involved? Where are they? What happened at Lake Buena Vista?"
"You were a person of interest in the Lake Buena Vista Investigation, and you still are," the guard said slowly. "As of now, your parents are not."
Liz shoved him again. "What happened at Lake Buena Vista? I'm not leaving until you give these people and I some answers!"
“They’re not going to give you any answers. But if you want to find them come with me. I promise I’ll get them because I too would like to know what I’ve been accused of.” Ryan says aloud.
"My parents were hunting something here," Liz said, taking off Ryan's jacket, and holding it out for him. She continued to face the guard, not bothering to cover herself. "They stopped answering all calls and messages two weeks ago. I come here to find them, and immediately get hauled into a jail cell. I'll get answers, trust me. I'm going out to Lake Buena Vista."
Ærik quickly retrieves his belongings from the locker. Doing a quick check of his duffle bag. He pulls on a pair of blue jeans, Just tight enough to show off his great assets, and a well worn t-shirt. He puts on his socks and hiking boots and dons a boot length Brown Leather Duster. Quarterstaff in hand, he walks up behind Liz. "I would like to come with you as well, if you'll have me. I've sworn an oath to protect those who can't protect themselves and BEN seems a little out of their league on this, if they're randomly harassing people. I'd also really like to know what the **** is really going on"
Ryan says "This jacket isn't mine." And hands it over to Nolan. He then says "I'm also going to find out what happened. And I can't believe I'm saying this but, I couldn't help but hear that some of you are living in a motel. If you want a hot shower and some breakfast come to my place. I'll dig up all the dirt on what happened and then I too will be at the lake to see what I'm accused of personally."
Liz looks at Ryan and Erik, then over to the guard who has gone silent. "Fine." She walked to the lockers and began to pull her clothes on. A plain white tee and ratty jeans with holes in the knees, then her socks and boots, a leather jacket was finally pulled on, then she pulled two long swords from the locker, followed by a worn duffle bag. Then she pulled out an ancient flip phone, and checked it for any new messages. Frowning, she slid it into the back pocket of her jeans. "I ordered a pizza and beer, but the room service here is shit." She turned to Ryan. "If you have food, I'll join you and you're welcome to join me at Lake Buena Vista."
"I would be greatly honored. I imagine the hotel can't be very happy with me, since BEN broke down my door this morning. Please tell me they handled that at least..... I'm just visiting from Michigan. First time in Florida." Ærik says. "I'm very fond of lakes though. This should be interesting to say the least."
"Oh," Liz said, holding a hand out to Ryan. "My name is Liz. Lizbeth Remington. You can keep calling me... whatever it is that you were calling me. I don't mind. Thought you should at least know my actual name."
"A hot shower sounds great after spending the night in this place." Kieran says.
"Water, anything liquid. I was about to have to start drinking toilet water. This hangover isn't helping much, I'm way too dehydrated." Ærik says.
"Hair of the dog," Liz said, with a grin.
"I'm definitely not opposed to that. You and your parents, you stay at this lake?" Erik asks.
"We..." Liz said, the grin fading quickly. "Don't stay anywhere."
"I didn't mean to offend." Erik noticing the change in her demeanor. "Let's forget I asked, I prefer your grin to the frown I have caused."
Ærik starts to follow Liz, stopping to sniff the guard and commit her scent to memory. He gives a rather toothy grin, smacks his staff once on the ground, and turns and leaves the room.
Pausing in the hallway to allow the others to catch up, Liz pulled out the ancient flip phone from her pocket and began to type up a message. *BEN just pulled me in. Don't know how long I've been here. Info on Lake Buena Vista? Where are you guys?*
Following Liz and Erik into the hall to leave, Kieran turns back towards Ryan. "Where's your place? I'm not living in a motel, but I can meet up with you guys there after I've checked on what my own place looks like after being raided."
"Not too far from the city. Here, give me your number and I'll text you the address." Ryan says pulling out his phone and turning it on. Ryan and Kieran exchange contact info and Ryan gives Kieran his apartment address.
After sending her message, Liz leans against the wall and stares at her phone, awaiting a response of any sort. The longer she waited, the deeper her frown became.
“If you all are quite through?” The guard asks and turns to leave again. He turns back for a moment and looks at Ærik. “Policy and procedure are whatever we say they are. Let’s hop you don’t forget that.” And then he briskly walks out the door.
"Hmmph", grumbles Ærik, not loud enough for the guard to hear, "Ungrateful dick. A Thank you, just f'ing once would be nice."
Liz continues to flip the guard off as he passes her in the hallway. Ryan is on his phone attempting to get an idea of where they currently are in case he ever needs to come back to this BEN hideout.
As Kall walks through the door and down the hall, well ahead of the group, she slips a large stapler into her non-existent pocket. For any watching, the stapler just disappears from sight into her dress. Not one to have a stapler without something to staple, her free hand slides across a desk towards what looks like a manila folder...
The agent at the desk slaps a hand down on the folder. "THAT does not concern you, *ma'am*." He says. The emphasis on that last word suggests to Kall a deeper understanding of her nature.
Kall's plant turns, swiping an thorny branch towards the agent in a rude gesture. "You should think to go electronic," Kall says. "More environmentally friendly." Kall raises her head and continues passed, pleased with the weight of the stapler on her person.
Ryan, unable to get a location, goes about exchanging cell phone numbers with everyone saying that if we’re going to his place he at least wants a way to contact you later.
When Ryan asks for numbers, Liz snaps the ancient flip phone closed. "Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "I don't hand out my number to anyone. Not this one, anyway." She opens her duffle bag, and rummages around inside, finally pulling out another cell phone. "This one will do," she said, looking through settings for the number. Ryan decides not to ask about the two phones and just exchanged the numbers.
Erik awkwardly fidgets while phone numbers are being exchanged. "I can give you my home phone...", His voice trailing of softly. " I don't carry one of those things. They don't seem to last long in my care. But I try to call in often and check my messages. Those computer mail things, I check that at a library once in a while. Maybe I should just stay close" He says.
Ryan’s face was first disappointed at not getting Ærik’s number but at the mention of him staying close he lights up a little bit and says “That’ll do. But I expect that we might be roped into something bigger than all of us soon. And if that is the case I’ll get you an old Nokia. Those things could survive an atomic bomb.”
"Not from my experience," Liz said, grinning once again.
"I really don't have much patience for unreliable magic, but if it becomes necessary we can try." Ærik states with a tone of disdain. "Once I've seen an object or person though, I'm really good at locating them. Usually..."
“Yeah. But what about other people needing to find you?” Ryan counters.
"He makes a decent point," Liz agreed. "We all have someone who wants to find us. Someone we care about." She looked at Erik. "Don't you have someone that cares about *you*?"
"I live a pretty solitary life, people call my house. I call them back. Those who've needed to find me, were able." Ærik says, with a tone of confusion. His voice now growing more somber he says "I agree this situation is different though. It stinks and I'm postitive we've only begin our journey.
"Then why aren't we going back to *your* place?" Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.
"it's in Michigan..." As he raises an eyebrow to her
"So, nobody can contact you," she said, with a sly grin.
"I can be found if I want to be." Ærik says. "Usually people don't want to find me, I mostly prefer it that way."
Liz looks Erik up and down, slowly. "I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to find *you*." She clears her face and looks at Ryan. "If you don't mind, would it be okay if I request we be taken to my motel? I have a car there, and I'd like to get it. I can follow to your place after."
Ryan looks to Ærik saying “Well figure something out contact wise.” He then address Liz “If I give you the address do you think you can find it. I’m kind of eager to get home and start digging around for what happened.”
Liz thinks a moment. "I... don't have a GPS of any sort, so, it might be tricky. But I can follow."
Nolan quickly stood from his position on the floor. While not snoring, and not necessarily asleep, his mind was... *somewhere*. He listened intently as the guards talked, trying to take in as much information as he could. Still, he knew nothing regarding this Lake Buena Vista and why he was implicated in the matter. He accepted his jacket from Ryan with a nod and smile, and then moved to retrieve the few personal items from his locker. He pulled out a long wooden wand, about as long as his forearm and something that seemed straight out of the Harry Potter movies, and quickly slipped it up the sleeve of his jacket.
He listened silently as the group discussed their plans. Some seemed interested in going their own way, while most wanted to discover just what was happening at this lake. "I'd like to join," he eagerly blurted out. Their confused looks made him clarify. "The lake. Investigation. Uhh.... I'd like to go to Lake Buena Vista too." He pulls out a old Nokia, trying to hide it as if embarrassed.
Ryan exchanges his number with Nolan and extends his place to him as well for breakfast and a shower. “That’s fine Liz. Wouldn’t want you to get lost.” Ryan answers her
He nods, inputing the information. "Thanks, man. Ryan, I think? I wish I had a nicer phone... those Galaxy S9 Notes look top notch. A shame they can't magic-proof 'em."
Liz nods. "Well, it looks like we're all sticking together. We should catch up to... that other chick? See if she wants to get to the bottom of this with us." He nods in agreement and follows behind them.
“I could have sworn that was a man’s voice last night but....whatever let’s go.” Ryan says trying to quickly usher everyone down the hall.
"With how things are these days... *anything* can happen," he says with a shrug. He pulls up the hoodie of his jacket and it magically transforms into a long, stylish, tan trench coat that extends to the middle of his thighs. He button it up in front and follows in line.
"And yes, I agree with you. I was hit on the head, but I swore that was a man under that blanket. I'm not one to talk about staying true to form though." Ærik finishes, with a grin on his face.
"That sounds good to me. I really want to see the sky." Ærik says. He turns to address Ryan. "If this takes more than a day to wrap up, I will carry a phone, if you can point me to one that works"
“If BEN is involved. This is definitely going to be more than a day. And believe me. I know a lot of magic users and we kind of figured out a way to get phones to work.” Ryan says
"I have a feeling I was just lied to," Liz said, heading down the hallway, trying to find Kall. "I think they know something about my parents, but aren't telling me."
Nolan looks to Ryan with a face of surprise. "You did?! Well color me intrigued, since it looks like I've been carrying around Bessy here for no reason!"
“Yeah. This Bard I meant mentioned how to do it..” Ryan says.
Kall is seen outside in the parking lot from the lobby windows. She seems to be tracking what appears to be a butterfly. As it lands on her sweet lil plant, she lurches forward and eats it. Turning, there's a large smile on her face. When she sees the others watching from the lobby, her demeanor changes again, back to that of a professional waiting for her ride.
Liz walked up to the woman. "Hey, if you're interested in figuring out what the hell is happening, the rest of us are going to hang at Ryan's for showers and breakfast, then we're going out to Lake Buena Vista. You wanna join us? I'm Liz." She held out her hand in a friendly gesture, for a handshake.
"Yes," Kall says. "I'm worried as well. I have meetings tomorrow morning, though, so I can't be long. I'm sorry," she says looking at the extended hand. "I do not like to touch others." She pets a petal of her plant and the plant coos at her.
"Sure, sorry." Liz quickly pulled he hand away, wiping it on her jeans. "So, I'm going to request the driver to take me to my motel to pick up my car, then head over to Ryan's. He's also pretty adamant about getting everyone's phone numbers, so be prepared for that."
"Numbers aren't my thing," Liz said, hands up. "Give that to Ryan."
"Numbers aren't my thing either!" She says sheepishly.
Liz grins. "So... what's your name?"
"Lillianna Maria Santacruz. It is a pleasure to meet you, Liz." She looks in the direction of the others. "We're to wait here for transportation," she adds.
Liz nods, then turns back where the others are. She whistles loudly, to get their attention. “Is everyone ready to go?” Ryan asks after hearing the whistle. Liz gives him a thumbs up. Ryan ushers everyone together as we wait for the transportation information.
Ærik follows Ryan about three paces behind. Taking in the scene between the two "Women", he wonders what the strange one really is. Feeling much better in the open air, he starts to relax slightly.
“Yeah I am. We’re all going to get Liz’s car and then go back to my apartment for breakfast and showers followed by some information gathering before heading to the Lake. You’re more than welcomed to join us. And let’s exchange numbers while we’re at it. This way we can keep in contact if this takes longer than a day. And with BEN involved I’m sure it will.” Ryan responds to the woman who seems to share his emotions on the situation.
"369-542-6585 extension 32. My name is Lillianna Maria Santacruz. I have meetings tomorrow morning so I can't be too long," Kall responds.
“Nice to meet you I’m Ryan.” He says as she adds his number to her phone and gives her his own.
"This waiting is making me anxious," she sends a smile towards Nolan. "I hope we get our transportation soon." Her attention turns back to Ryan, "Nice to meet you Ryan."
Nolan nods with a smile and curious expression. "Right? I... I get nervous in new situations."
Kall whispers to the plant, "We're outside now. No moving." She whispers lower, "No moving. Shhhh..." Her attention back to Ryan, "This *is* a new situation, I can see why you would be nervous."
“I don’t get nervous at new situation. Just eager to figure them out.” Ryan responds
While the others were talking, Liz moved away from the group, slightly, and pulled out the old flip phone again. This time, she dialed a number. After a few moments, she began to speak quietly into the phone.
"I've dealt with it my whole life," he replies matter-of-factly to Ryan. With a chuckle he adds, "It's just a part of me now."
“As long as it doesn’t get in the way of you doing what you need to do then a little nervousness is fine.” Ryan says before adding “I also hope everyone likes pancakes because I think that’s the only breakfast food I have besides cereal.”
"As long as you don't have that trash Western Family or Great Value stuff we're golden. I prefer maple or fruity, like blueberry," he says dryly with a smile.
"Who doesn't like pancakes? Got some chocolate chips to go on top?" Kieran asks.
"I've got a recipe in my head for scratch pancakes as long as you have buttermilk. My aunt got a guy drunk in Washington a long time ago just to steal this recipe. It makes super good pancakes that are thinner and melt in your mouth. I also got a pancake recipe from a street vendor in Poland. It makes super fluffy pancakes," he mentions. "Iiiiffff... we want options that is," he adds with some light laughter.
“Are you some sort of secret chef?” Ryan asks Nolan.
"I watch Tasty on Facebook a lot. Sooo.... yes?" He laughs again. "I like making food."
“I’ll let you make the pancakes then. I’m not the best at cooking but my food is normally edible.” Ryan says back to Nolan with a slight hint of a laugh in his voice
"I'm not hungry," Kall says out of nowhere. "I had a late night before BEN took me from my home and ate before."
“That’s fine. You don’t have to eat I’m just offering.” Ryan says
Nolan glances over to Lilliana. "Oh? In my *professional* opinion, you don't have to be hungry to eat food. In fact, sometimes the most unbiased tasting happens then. You should still come on over!"
Turning back to Ryan, he says, "I'll head back to my place and scrounge up the ingredients we want. I like the buttermilk pancakes more, so I'll bring stuff for those." He waves to everyone before looking around to find his way back home.
"Sounds good to me. I'll meet you guys there as soon as I've checked on my place." Kieran says.
“Don’t be late. I’ll text you the address.” Ryan says as Nolan attempts to leave.
"Mormon standard time. We're always late," he says with a wink and a chuckle before realizing he doesn’t know where he’s at.
"Can we stop for some eggs or bacon. I like pancakes, but I'm really craving some protien." Ærik asks out of nowhere. "What's that saying. Something about you drive, I pay. I feel we deserve a nice feast after the last few hours. I can help cook some also.”
“Something like that. We can stop and pick up some bacon. There is a Whole Foods only a couple blocks from my apartment.” Ryan responds to Ærik.
Nolan shrugs, "That's fine. I've got space in my car." He thinks for a moment before grimacing. "Kurda. I think my buttermilk might be spoiled, so I'll need to stop by the store anyway."
Eventually an agent comes and explains that they’re going to teleport wherever we want to go within the city. Kieran returns home but the rest of us go to Liz’s motel to pick up her. Nobody says anything about it as we all cramp in there and head to the Whole Foods to pick up stuff for breakfast.
Upon entering Ryan’s apartment everyone notices a few things. It’s pretty spacious for a 2 bedroom 1 bath place. His living room has a couch and a TV that is surrounded by several gaming systems. There is also a small dining table with chairs in there. Placed throughout the dinning room is three bookshelves. One is filled with board game ranging from common games like Monopoly to more obscure ones. Another is nothing but video games and movies. The last is filled with all kinds of different books (novels, textbooks, manga) is the top shelf of that one holding Ryan’s Battlemats and Beholders books. On the walls you see several photos framed. One is of Ryan his mother and his grandparents, another is him graduating from Harvard with his degree framed next to the photo, another is of him in front of a fraternity house surrounded by people, another is his last day of work at Google, and the final one is a photo of Ryan with famous country star Kenny Brown and it is signed by Kenny.
Ryan is quick to notice that BEN only really ransacked his bedroom, and luckily didn’t break his PC. Ryan will clean the mess later. Soon everyone arrives as his apartment is filled with the sounds of people showering , cooking, and talking. Eventually the food is ready and everyone eats their fill. Now they are ready to begin figuring out what happens at Lake Buena Vista.
Ryan’s apartment appears considerably more high tech than the average member of the magical community would be used to, but everyone settles in as Nolan performs his kitchen magic.
Liz snags a remote, turning the TV to the local news. The stories of a man subdued with Taser after being declared incompetent, running out of courtroom; another gentleman who harbored zoo animals in his apartment; a kayaker losing the front half of her craft to a gator in a nearby lake; and a man arrested for *********ing in public and assuring the police he was Captain Kirk are among the strangest to flash across the screen. You briefly wonder how the skinny blonde anchor can keep a straight face while reading some of these news stories.
Ryan takes to typing away on his computer. Lake Buena Vista is owned by Disney; it acts as the mailing address for the company. It’s barely a real city, but the small lake is located just outside of resort property.
After a shower and a small bit to eat, Liz found herself something that looked like a beer, although it said watermelon on the label. Taking a sip of it, she thought to herself, No too bad, I guess. She moved into the living room again, drinking the "beer" and found the remote. After watching the news, she muted the tv. "This explains all the "Florida Man" headlines I'm always seeing. This state is crazy." She stood and began looking at the pictures of Ryan with his family. They all looked so happy, so normal. Looking down at the flip phone in her other hand, she frowned. She'd come to Florida on a mission, and had been seriously sidetracked. She knew she needed to get back on the trail, and Lake Buena Vista might just be the only clue she had. Looking back at the pictures, she lost herself in thought.
Kall spends an extremely long time in the shower. The occasional splash of water is heard as well as some odd chittering as if a conversation were taking place between her and her plant in an obscure language (Sylvan). Eventually the door opens, followed by a cloud of steam, and a perfectly dressed and dried Lillianna walks out in her business attire. Water continues to drip from her clothing (even though it doesn't look wet) as she works her way to the breakfast table. "I ate last night," she comments. Her fingers trace many of Ryan's belongings and the occasional spark flares up as she approaches the more tech-heavy equipment. "I am excited to go to Lake Buena Vista," she remarks, still dripping on the floor.
Kieran sighs with relief as he arrives back at his apartment to find that the door isn't broken. BEN must have used some magical means of entry, or perhaps just picked the lock. Searching through the apartment, he doesn't find anything missing besides his gear that was brought along. "Guess they at least showed some minor consideration, even if the rest of the treatment was rather less than desirable..." he thinks to himself. He hops in the shower for a few minutes, but doesn't want to waste much time so he limits himself to a quick wash before getting out. After taking down what appears to be a bugle from the wall and shoving it into his bag, he looks around the room for anything else he might need, but the rest of his usual gear was already in the bag that BEN had grabbed. He makes one last stop in the kitchen to grab a bag of chocolate chips, then heads out to his car, texting Ryan to let the other man know that he is on his way.
It truly is magic as Nolan prepares the pancakes. With a whirl of his hand, his trusty mage hand appears and begins going to town, grabbing ingredients from different places and handing them to him like a moment from Sleeping Beauty. The kitchen is a whirl of activity, but soon the thin, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pancakes are stacked high and steaming on a large plate. A wide assortment of condiments are available: butter, peanut butter, boysenberry syrup, blueberry syrup, jam, maple syrup, and some bananas and strawberries. He stacks a couple on his plate and sits down on the couch with fork ready.
He eyes Lilliana as her form drifts across the form, dripping wet from her shower. "Is your attire magical like my jacket?" he asks quizzically in between bites of the pancakes.
"No," Lillianna says. "I just got out of the shower." She stretches an arm out to touch one of the photos of Ryan and his family. After a few moments, she sets her plant next to a window that seems to be getting an acceptable amount of sunlight. The plant raises its limbs up to the light, enjoying the solar attention.
Liz turns her attention from the pictures to the plant. "What is that thing, anyway?"
Nolan says something with a mouth full of food, forgetting it's there. Downing it with a large glass of orange juice, he repeats, "But your clothes are dripping, yet dry!"
"This is bebe, my plant," Lillianna answers Liz. "And my clothes are dry. I just got out of the shower." Kall reaches up to her hair as if grabbing something and places it on the plant. The plant seems to wrap it in its leaves as if cradling a baby. Liz eyes Lillianna and the plant, unsure of which she finds stranger.
Nolan blinks for a few times, before responding, "Okaaaaaayyy." He refocuses his efforts to the beautiful stack of pancakes on his lap.
"Can I touch it?" Liz walked over to where the plant was, and began to reach a hand out to it.
"Bebe is thorny," Kall responds. "But friendly." Leaving the plant to interact with Liz, Kall finds herself exploring more of Ryan's apartment.
Liz gives Lillianna a final glance, then turns back to the plant. "Bebe, huh?" She stretches out a finger and gently rubs some of the leaves. She notices how strange the plant looks. It was a little bush, but had tiny little berries. As she rubbed the leaves, little cooing and tweeting sounds came from the plant itself. "Strange one, you are," Liz said, turning her focus to the little berries. "What are you? I've never seen anything like you before." She stretched a finger out to touch one of the berries.
Bebe shies away when Liz's attention turns to one of the berries, but then it pushes the berry into her fingers and the berry falls free. Kall's attention is now on the TV. When she kneels down to look closer, the TV begins to fill with static.
Nolan's mind whirls with thoughts as he eats the pancakes, watching Lilliana with intrigue. Finally, he speaks up again. "You're magical, aren't you?"
"I'm an accountant," Lillianna responds, touching the screen on the TV and watching as the static follows her finger.
"Mmmm..." Nolan muses as he sets the pancakes down. A wooden wall slides out of some compartment in his jacket as he flicks it around a few times.
"Oh," Liz exclaims as the plant pushes a berry into her hand. "Well, thank you, little one." Giving the plant one last scratch, she turns, looking at the berry. It was small and green in the center of her hand. She sniffed it, but was unable to tell if it was poisonous or edible. Walking over to Erik, she held her hand out for him to inspect. "Ever see anything like this before? Can't say I have, but I'm not the most outdoorsy person."
Seeing Lillianna causing most of the tech to spaz out Ryan will usher her on to the couch saying, “Why don’t you sit here and just watch the TV. Let’s not test the limits of any of my equipment. Otherwise, I won’t be able to find out anything about the lake.”
"Can I touch it?" Lillianna asks Ryan as he escorts her to the couch. She indicates the computer and takes a few steps towards it.
“NO!” Ryan says very loudly. He then composed himself a little bit before saying “This is my plant. My Bebe. And he doesn’t like to be touched. I don’t touch your Bebe you don’t touch mine.” Ryan says keeping an eye on Lillianna and making sure she understands. Nolan jerks his head at the command, but smiles and turns back around as he understands.
Ryan's yell startles Lillianna, and something seems to flutter out from the plant. "Oh," she says. "Well, thank you." She takes a seat next to Nolan and his pancakes, making sure he understands, "I ate last night."
With Lilliana sitting next to him, he pulls out his old Nokia phone and hands it to her. "Here. You can play with this."
Lillianna accepts the phone, and after a few moments she slips it in to the side of her dress. "You can play with this," she says, handing Nolan a stapler.
He begins to object at his phone being taken away, but just chuckles and takes the stapler. "Thanks..." He sets it to the side and goes to finish his pancakes.
Ryan realizing he’s unable to get all the info he wants with so many magic users surrounding his computer, I think it’s mainly Lillianna that causing this though. She seems to be more magical than anyone else I’ve ever met. Ryan thinks, he shuts down his laptop and stored it in his room temporarily.
Ærik surveyed the room upon entering, noting the obvious exits. Taking off his Duster and leaving it with his duffle bag by the front door. He decides he will wait till after food to shower. "Ryan sir, " he says, "Thank you for allowing us to join you here, in your home." This is kind of nice he thinks, listening to the pleasant banter coming from the group. He find himself drawn to watch Lilliana, her mysterious nature causing his brain to work overtime. He quitely helps cook a dozen eggs and two pounds of Real Bacon, eating a full third of it with a couple pancakes. He also helped himself to two Coronas, not wanting to try a weird fruity beer. "Wow Nolan, I am impressed, I've never had pancakes quite like these." When Liz approaches and shows him the berry, he thinks for a second before saying "I'm not sure I've seen a plant quite like this. Let me check my notes."
Ærik proceeds to the bathroom to shower, having filled his stomach and his throbbing headache finally receding. He comes back out from the shower, dressed in jeans and a Michigan Wolverines t-shirt. He sits on the couch and meticulously rebraids his hair.
Ryan is the last one to take a shower, graciously letting all his guests in first, and he temporarily puts Ærik in charge of making sure that Lillianna doesn’t fry any of his stuff while he’s in there. He comes out in some tan colored jeans and a Kenny Brown concert shirt along with the same gray hoodie. “Once Kieran is settled in I can share a little bit of what I found out,” Ryan tells the group before grabbing a pancake and eating it.
Kieran arrives at Ryan's apartment about the time the rest of them finish eating. He drops his bag and bow by the door, then grabs a plate and helps himself to a couple of the remaining pancakes, slathering them with butter and putting chocolate chips on top. Several slices of bacon make their way onto his plate as well. Seeing the others are already done, he brings the plate with him and grabs a spot on the couch while he eats. "So, we figure anything out yet?"
“Unfortunately, not much. Lake Buena Vista is a small Lake and community owned by none other than the House of Mouse. It serves as part of the property for one of their resorts but is mainly an empty area of land where some employees of the House of Mouse live.” Ryan explains his findings. “There doesn’t seem to be anything that happened there recently so B.E.N. must have worked overtime to cover it up,” Ryan explains to the group disappointed in his findings.
"If you can't find anything about it online, I guess the next step is to head over there ourselves and poke around?"
"Let's poke around. I need to change first," Lillianna says. She stands, steps around the others that are seated, and heads into the bathroom. Shuffling is heard as she digs through the cabinets.
Ryan gets up at the sound of her digging through his cabinets and makes his way to the bathroom door saying "What are you doing? You don't need to go through my cabinets to change clothes women."
"Oh no worries," A voice responds. "I'm faaane." The Southern drawl is thick as she says this, the voice completely different than Lillianna's. The door opens and you're met by a blonde woman with a ponytail. She's wearing jeans and boots and a buttoned-up shirt that looks similar to one in Ryan's closet. It's tied at the waist showing her midriff. She gives Ryan a wink and a nod and says, "Alright y'all. Lets go!"
Kieran raises an eyebrow at Lilliana. "'Change' is right... Nice trick." Kall pretends she doesn't hear Kieran's comment, instead of heading over to pick up Bebe.
Ryan calls out to her "I want my shirt back." Then mutters something under his breath about this is why he doesn't date women. "So, visiting the lake yeah. Do we want to tackle the few permanent residents of the area or the tourist traps of Disney?"
"Maybe start out by finding a bar and see if anyone is talking about something weird?" Kieran suggests.
"A bar. You do know that it's still early in the day. And I bet most of the drinking is done at the resorts," Ryan says.
"Good point. Being up all night is throwing me off..." Kieran mumbles with a yawn.
"Let's break in!" Kall offers, placing her plant on her hip.
"Lillianna?" Liz asked, confused by the change. She shakes her head, realizing she's seen stranger things. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm going straight to Lake Buena Vista."
Kall points at Liz. "I agree."
"Yes. But it's three square miles of area. Where do you wish to start within there? With the permanent residents that are probably at work right now? With the tourist? Or the actual lake itself?" Ryan asks trying to get a game plan.
"BEN knew we wouldn't let this be, so we do need to be careful, but if people are in danger, I'm not staying away,” Ærik adds. "Not being familiar with this area I will follow your lead, Ryan."
"A game plan? Honey... you're cute. I though a Kenny fan would have more sense about him. Let's just get there first, fly around the area..." She blinks. "Look around the area, and see what we see."
Nolan hangs back, content to listen to the plan. He looks over KALL again, but can only shake his head this time as he stands and brings his dishes to the kitchen.
"You give me something concrete to find and Goddess help those who stand in my way." Ærik turns to Kall, "You... are something special indeed."
"Fine. We'll just go around searching for anything out of the ordinary. But, three square miles is a lot of ground to cover. Do we want to split into three teams of two and each team takes a square mile?" Ryan offers.
"We can stop at IHOb! I'm starving..." Kall opens the door to the apartment and makes her way downstairs, plant in hand.
"I'll just do what I always do," Liz said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Follow the police until I get noticed. I'd something happened, there's an area that's blocked off from the public. Just need to find it." The sounds of a sink running and dishes being cleaned come from the kitchen.
"How are we on transportation?" Liz asked, a look of determination on her face. "I can easily fit everyone into my car, there's plenty of room. But, just in case, anyone else have transportation?"
"I brought my car!" Nolan shouts from the kitchen.
"I do not own a vehicle," Ærik replies. "I run, walk, or take public transportation."
"You're free to ride with me," Liz offered with a smile.
“I guess we’re just going to look for whatever we can find all together. If I ride with Liz and give her directions do you think you can follow Nolan? I don’t have a car. I normally bike where I need to go.” Ryan says.
"I will be happy to ride with you Liz. I call Rifle seat," Ærik says with a smile.
Liz grinned. "You mean shotgun."
“I brought my car as well,” offers Kieran.
"Good, we'll take both. Ryan will give me directions and you can follow." Liz nodded and walked to the door. "Shall we?" Kieran nods and follows Liz out towards the cars, grabbing his backpack and longbow on the way. Ryan leaves the apartment last, making sure to lock it behind him.
"Shotgun... That's it. Big smelly boomstick." Ærik says while following Liz downstairs. Ryan chuckles at broomstick and just shakes his head.
As the others make their way outside, they see Kall sitting on the hood of a random car. Bebe is next to her, enjoying the breeze and sunshine. With the Nokia out, it looks like she's trying to figure out how it works.
"Oh, and another thing," Liz said, pausing in the hallway. "If you have any weapons we'd get in trouble with if they're found, I have a place for them in the car. That way they're safe, and not confiscated again."
Kieran shakes his head. "I'm running old school," he says patting his longbow. "Nothing more high tech than a crossbow in my bag, it's all perfectly legal, at least before I start shooting 'people' with em..."
"Good," Liz said, heading to the parking lot. "Smart."
When Kall sees everyone approaching, she hops off the car and asks, "Can I drive?" She tries the handle of driver's side door, but it doesn't budge.
"Not my car." Kieran mutters under his breath.
"Uh... no. Nobody drives my car." Liz raised an eyebrow. "It's not pretty, but it's gotten me out of a lot of trouble. It's my Bebe."
“My weapons are concealed on me and unless you know about the magical world you can’t see them. I’ll be truthful though I’m not the best fighter. I mean I can handle myself in a fight but my true skills are analysis, strategy building, and finding out weak points.” Ryan says as they’re in front of the cars.
"Okay," Kall responds. "The door is stuck." She takes Bebe and walks over to the other side of the car, trying each handle. Nolan held his breath as KALL kept on trying to open his car. She already had his phone. She wasn't getting his car too.
Liz walks over to the beat up looking, 1968 Chevy Nova 4-door, and pops the trunk. "If anyone wants to hide their weapons, now is your time." The inside of the trunk seems empty, except for the spare tire. Liz reaches in, and the spare lifts up, revealing a hidden compartment below. At the mention of hiding things, Kall wonders over to Liz's trunk to take a peek. She smiles at Liz, then back down at the secret compartment.
"Lillianna, do you have something you want to hide?" Liz looked at the woman, expectantly.
"No," she says. "And my name's Arial. I just wanted to look and see. Can I drive with you?" She asks.
"Arial... Okay..." Confused, Liz motions to Ryan and Erik. "Erik called shotgun, so you can ride in back with Ryan."
“You can tell me about your favorite Kenny Brown song.” Ryan says to Arial.
Seeing that nobody wanted to hide anything, Liz closed the compartment and latched the truck. "Alright." She looked over those that were joining her on this crazy adventure. "I feel that I should tell everyone, one last time, in case anyone wants to back out... I plan on doing some crazy illegal things. If you don't want to be a part of this, speak now."
"Crazy illegal things?" Kall asks. "What kinds of crazy illegal things? I need to get back to feed my horses in the morning." She opens the door to the back seat, then watches as Nolan opened the door to the other car. With a nod and a smile, she waves at him before getting in. Kall adjusts her plant so that it's in the middle and whispers, "Hold on tight lil Bebe."
"Just going to the lake is crazy and illegal for us at this point. I think you're speaking a language I understand very well." Ærik says while sliding into the passenger seat. "Ok. Now this is a car I think I will enjoy. Horses... That gives me an idea." Ærik turns to Ryan. "How big is this lake? Would people be riding horses there? Liz, you sparked an idea also. I wonder if they still have an active crime scene, or if they've finished hiding the evidence... I may need just a few minutes when we get there to try something that could save us a lot of time."
"Going to the lake is crazy and illegal? Why is it crazy and illegal?" Kall asks. "I like horses too," she adds as an afterthought.
“Because the BEN already arrested us on suspicion of being involved and told us to stay out of it.”
"No, no, no, no. We were not arrested," Kall says. "We were not arrested," she assures her plant.
"So, we were told about Lake Buena Vista. I don't think that was a slip of the tongue. I think they want us to go there. In the area, anyway. If there's a "crime scene" that they wouldn't want us to find, then I'm going into it. I don't care about trespassing. I don't care about breaking and entering. I'm going to find out what is going on, clear my name, and find my parents." Liz looked, defiantly, at the others, waiting for protests.
"I don't care about trespassing too," Kall says. "Let's break and enter! But I need to feed my horses in the morning," she adds, wide-eyed.
Liz looks at Arial closely. "Arial, where are you from?"
"I've lived in Florida my whole life. I work at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch," she says. She returns Liz's look, her face serious. "Why do you ask?" She asks.
"Guys. I don't think you have to pay to get into Lake Buena Vista. I'm pretty sure its free with the exclusion of parking." Ryan chimes in from the back seat.
"Well, you were a businesswoman earlier," Liz said. "And you had a business meeting tomorrow. Now you work on a ranch and need to feed horses. Your name is even different. Everything about you is different." Liz leaned down and looked at Arial through the window. "I'm not going anywhere until you can explain this."
For a moment it looks like Kall wants to flee, then there's a slight silence as she cocks her head as if listening. "We're all different. I am different, and you are different." She stretches her arm out and places a hand on the window. For a brief second the hand looks like the clawed talons of a bird. "I'm a tourist," she says, keeping Arial's voice. "Here for adventure. I have one rule... not to be discovered. But since we're all different, it is ok." She cocks her head again as if listening before repeating, "It is ok."
Liz watched as the hand changed. She was taken aback, unsure of what to say. Staring at Arial, she searched for any sign of malicious intent. "You know," she said quietly, in a cool even tone. "I usually kill things like you. But, they're usually trying to kill me first." She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "But, BEN let you go, just like the rest of us. I won't assume they don't know what you are. What I will assume is that they know you are innocent, like the rest of us, of whatever crime they want to pin on us." Liz nodded, as if making a decision. "I guess that's good enough for me." She gave Arial a smile, and got into the car.
Ærik witnesses the hand shift, and it cements his feelings that this one is very special. Not many creatures can partially shift. From his experience that takes serious control. "We are all indeed very different, and that IS OK." He directs to Arial. "We all have special gifts or BEN wouldn't have grabbed us, our duty is to use those gifts for good and not evil.", Ærik says
"The fact that BEN let all of us go tells me that we can trust one another," Liz said, popping the keys into the ignition, and turned the key. The old car hummed to life and the radio instantly started playing an 80's rock ballad.
"So it sounds like we're planning to split up when we get there. I should probably team up with someone with a phone, so we can stay in contact. I'm hoping to spend a few minutes when we first arrive to maybe get a few answers from unconventional sources." Ærik states, while playing air guitar on his leg.
"I like unconventional," Liz said with a grin. "If you don't mind illegal."
“Ærik you should come with me since I have everyone’s number. Liz you can take Arial. I guess that leaves Nolan and Kieran together. I think that pairs everyone with at least one person magical and one a little less magical.” Ryan says
Liz shrugged. "Sure, whatever works."
Nolan pulls up his Subaru next to Liz's Nova to listen in on the conversation. "I can take Kieran! I usually drive by myself, so this'll be new."
Kieran shrugs. “Works for me”. He looks to Ryan. “Okay if I leave my car here then?”
"Yeah. That's fine." Ryan says. "Okay Liz you ready. I'm still new to the area so I have it GPSed into my phone."
"Let's roll," Liz said, revving the engine.
Kieran grabs his gear back out of his car and tosses it in the backseat of Nolan’s, then sits in the passenger seat.
Once everyone was set, Liz threw the car into gear and gunned it, leaving a trail of rubber behind them. "Let's have some fun!"
"I hope you like EDM," Nolan mentions as he pulls out an old iTouch and plugs it into the car's speakers. He's soon blasting Illenium and Seven Lions as he starts his car and races to catch up to Liz.
"Illegal, " Ærik says with a snarl, "Laws were created to protect the civilized sheeples from themselves." His voice now stern but not snarling, " I am neither of those things. I answer to a higher power and do what's right when it's needed. I see why you like this car." Ærik says to Liz, "The rumble is peaceful, like curling up next to a bear"
"I like to take care of my Sweetie," Liz said, giving the steering wheel a gentle stroke.
"That reminds me. Before I forget. Ærik. Liz." Ryan says "While we're working on together on figuring out whatever this is you two are more than welcomed to crash at my place. I have an extra guest bedroom and the couch turns into a bed. It's not the most comfortable but it has to be better than a motel."
Liz looks in the rearview at Ryan for a moment, then turns her focus back on the road. "I... I don't..." she paused sighing. "Yes, thank you. I'd appreciate it."
"I don't require much,"Ærik replies "Staying on your couch honors my promise to stay close. "
Meanwhile... in Nolan's car:
"So I guess the cat's out of the bag," a tiny disembodied voice speaks next to Nolan. A sprite appears, standing atop the vehicle's shifter. "Hi, I'm JC!" He holds his tiny hand out to the man. "Kent Arial Leroy Lillianna's personal guide to the Prime Material Plane. Kall for short." He looks around the vehicle a moment, hand still outstretched. "The other car is a bit stuffy. Too many people."
Nolan swerves from being startled, moving into oncoming traffic as the sprite suddenly appears. He only barely moves back into his lane before hitting a Prius. His heart races as he glances down at the sprite, his hands ablaze in radiant light. The light dissipates as he gets him emotions back in control and tries to refocus on driving with the-now-bleached steering wheel. "My goodness, you can't just do that," he exclaims with a flustered face.
Liz noticed the car behind her swerve into oncoming traffic, nearly hitting another car. Once they had corrected their mistake, she released a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. "I guess I'm not the only one who likes to live on the wild side."
Kieran jumps as the sprite appears and Nolan swerves the car. "What the...?" he starts before getting himself back under control. "Uh...hi JC. Took us a bit by surprise there..."
"Sorry!" The sprite responds, staying low to avoid being seen by any normies. "I was having a conversation with Kall and they felt the need to reveal themself. Well, I only felt it fair I did the same." The sprite hops off the shifter and walks over to a nook at the center console. "This is turning into quite the trip into normie town!"
Nolan can hardly focus on what's transpiring. He keeps his fluttering thoughts and barrage of questions in check as he focuses on driving. "Where are you from?"
"So many places!" JC responds. "And most of them we're not keen on revealing. Just rest assured that I'm here to keep Kall safe and out of too much trouble." As an afterthought the sprite mumbles, "You sell your soul to the Summer Court for a jaunt into normie town, you're bound to get into trouble at some point. So lets try not to get into too much trouble!"
"Well I don't know anything about some Summer Court... but I like to avoid getting into trouble? I like to stay on the law's good side, so I'll make sure... whatever her name is stays safe."
Kieran peers at the sprite. "So you're 'Kall's' guide to the Primal Material plane...I'm assuming that means she's not from around here?"
"Kall is not," the sprite assures Kieran. JC sits cross-legged and gives them both a smile. "It's been awhile since I've talked to humans. You're both much more reasonable than I thought you'd be."
"It's not my first go-around with magical creatures," Nolan casually mentions like it was just a minor fact.
Kieran nods. "I've also had experience with magical creatures." He ponders for a moment, before asking, "Can you tell us more about Kall? When we met last night, she appeared to be a business woman. Now she seems to be a southern farm girl."
"Oh that's an easy question," JC says. "Kall's a Kenku. It makes this vacation much easier when they play a human because they can mimic voices. The pact they made with the Summer Court has given Kall the power to change their appearance to anything. The humans that the kenku chose to play were ones that Kall observed before coming. Quite simple really..." The sprite stretches before adding, "Not a vacation I would have chose."
"I see," Kieran responds. "Can't say I've dealt with any kenku before. Don't know much about them. But changing your appearance at will sounds like a useful ability."
Back in Liz's Car:
"Speaking of living on the wild side Liz,"Ærik says, "Were you and your parents visiting for business, or pleasure?"
Liz opened her mouth to answer, but said nothing. She took a deep breath a tried again. "I'm not visiting." She gripped the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles going white. "My family are monster hunters. They were here on a job. They stopped answering calls and messages two weeks ago. I've been... working jobs elsewhere. When they stopped answering, I came to find them."
As Ærik listens, he hears, no feels, the pain in her voice. "Finding lost people or things is what I love most. I feel a deep pain from your truth that I did not expect. I now have a reason to be here, rather than just avoiding BEN," damn I failed at that he thinks, "Depending on what we find at the lake, I will see this to end. If you parents aren't involved and you split, my offer to help afterwards still stands. Do you know what they were hunting?" Ærik adds before she can respond.
“I might be able to help to. If you have any credit card or cell phone information for them I might be able to track where it was last used. People leave digital trails all the time.” Ryan offers as well, not knowing what he would do if his Mom was taken from him.
"It's... not that easy," Liz said with a sigh. "We tend to find ourselves on the wrong side of the law. The police don't like it when a senator ends up dead, even if that senator is a vampire or a changling. So, we like to keep ourselves as much off the grid as possible. All our phones are cheap gas station pay as you go phones." She glanced at Erik. "I don't know what they were hunting. but if they haven't answered calls for two weeks, and their voicemails are full, it can't have been good."
“It’s worth a shot and takes literally no effort on my part.” Ryan says with a smile
Liz held up the ancient flip phone. "This is literally the only thing I have left of them." She looked at it a moment, then tossed it back to Ryan. "I feel like my parents are involved in this, somehow," Liz continued. "I don't think it's a coincidence they go missing, I show up, and I get pulled into a jail cell by BEN. I've been here a day. How did they know I was here? How could they have found me? None of this makes sense to me."
Ryan looks at the phone and checks to see if the phone has the ability to connect to the internet. It does not. "Does any of your parents phone connect to the internet? Or do they have an email or something they would check infrequently?" Ryan asks
Liz thought for a moment. "No... nothing that I can think of."
"Things aren't going to be easy. I'll see what I can do. Have they been using this same number long?" Ryan asks
"For a while," Liz said, giving him a glance in the rearview. "Can you really do this? Can you find out where they last were?"
"Possibly. Your parents are making it very difficult to do but its not impossible. Maybe with a little luck I can. I'll certainly try at least." Ryan says not wanting to make a promise he doesn't he can keep.
"The point is to be untrackable." Liz frowned at the road before her. "I'm not even supposed to be here." Quickly changing the subject, she asked, "So, where are we going?"
"Lake Buena Vista. You'll want to make right in about 3 miles." Ryan says. Liz nods and continues on in silence.
Kall pulls her Nokia from her pocket and tosses it to Ryan, "I have one too." She says, not sure what the point of the device is.
“You do. But I don’t need them anymore here you go.” Ryan says giving both Kall and Liz their phones back.
Liz took back her phone, clutching it for a moment, before dropping it into her lap. Kall accepts the phone and pushes a few random buttons before putting it back in her pocket.
Once the group finds some free parking everyone meets outside as Ryan explains the plan he came up with.
"Lake Buena Vista is too big of a place for us to investigate as one big group so lets split into three smaller groups. I and Ærik can go to the actual lake. There he can talk to some wildlife and we'll see if there is anything happening at the actual Lake. Nolan, you seem charismatic, take Arial with you to the downtown resort-like area and talk to people. Pretend you're tourist and asking about the best magic in Disney. See if anything sound like actual magic. Kieran and Liz you two can hit up a local bar or something. Talk to people and try to find any local rumors. We meet back up here at the cars in two hours. If you find something don't engage with it. You don't want to fight anything in broad daylight with people around."
"My plant loves Lakes. It can come with you." Arial says putting the pot on the ground where the plant begins to move a leave the pot while JC the sprite rides on top of it.
Ryan just sight. "Don't get caught, anyone. BEN is just looking for a reason to pin whatever this is on one of us and I personally don't want to give them one. Alright. Now let's find something." Ryan finishes with a smile as he begins to lead the bronze Viking holding a plant towards the Lake while the other go in their own respective directions.
(Group Waffle House: Liz and Kieran Natural 20 on Investigation.)
(Group Downtown Disney: KALL and Roland 19 on Investigation.)
(Group Lake: Ryan, Ærik, JC, and plant 23 on Investigation.)
Ærik, Ryan, and JC make their way to the lake that goes by the same name. The druid begins by interrogating the animals, asking if they’ve seen anything strange.
“That kayak wasn’t any of us,” a disgruntled alligator shares. “D’you think we’re stupid? We know what bloomin’ plastic looks like.” Most of the other animals are about as scatter-brained as Æric as come to expect, but that is a certainly interesting development.
Meanwhile, Ryan and JC scour the lake bed for close to an hour while Æric talks to the animals. Ryan finds a single pitch black feather, odd when compared to the local birds.
———
Downtown Disney Group
Nolan and KALL find themselves in a world of magic at Disney Springs. The summer crowds and humidity are staggering, making it almost difficult to focus. Almost everyone seems like a tourist; small children begging their parents to go into the store of their choice.
KALL gets distracted at the Ganachery, spending a good five minutes mesmerized by the gorgeous truffles. When they finally buy a small box, they discover they are just as delicious as they looked.
“Back in the old days, they used to hide the construction,” a bald, bearded man in a Hawaiian shirt complains to his lanky, teenaged companion. The pair enter behind KALL and Nolan, clearly also in the mood for some fancy chocolate. “They were sneaky about it, trying to keep the magic alive. Now they just throw up those stupid barriers.”
”And I thought they were done months ago,” the son adds. “What’s there left to build here?”
Their attention drawn to it, both KALL and Nolan notice that the artificial springs that give Disney Springs its name appear to be under construction.
———
Waffle House Group
Liz and Keiran find themselves sharing a plate of hash browns, not full from Nolan’s delicious pancakes.
“I swear, I saw her!” An old man says in a conspiratorial tone to the sole waitress in the joint. “Right out of King Arthur, the Lady of the Lake! She sang to me!”
”I suppose that makes king, huh sugar,” the waitress replies, unfazed.
Liz looks up, meeting Kieran's gaze. She nods in the direction of the old man, as if it ask if he had heard what was said. Kieran nods back, then whispers to her, “I’d say we have a lead.”
Liz takes another bite of the hashbrowns before turning to the old man, and giving him a friendly smile. "I like fairy tales, why don't you tell me about yours?"
“Fairy tales don’t got nothing to do with it,” the old man says grumpily, digging into his pecan waffle. “I saw what I saw.”
"Then tell me," Liz said, pointing at an empty chair at his table, as if asking permission to join him. "Tell me what you saw."
“She was beautifully, totally nude,” the man gives a wink. “She just came straight out of the lake, singing the most beautiful song I ever heard.” Liz grabbed the plate of hashbrowns and nodded at Kieran to follow. She moved to the old man's table, sitting across from him. Kieran grabs his own plate and follows to the man's table, where he continues eating.
"So, what was this song?" Liz asked, dowsing her hashbrowns in ketchup.
“I dunno, never heard it before,” the man shrugged. “Probably one of those opera songs.”
"Did you feel compelled to do anything when you heard it?" Liz took a big bite of her food, eyes on the man, her interest piqued.
“Well, I mean,” the man grunted. “This is not the kind of conversation one has in a restaurant.”
Kieran enters the conversation. "Do you have a better place in mind?" Liz choked on her food, and began coughing.
“Do I need to spell it out for you, boy?” The man grumbled.
Recovering, Liz continued. "Where did this happen?"
“I was fishing at Lake Mabel,” the man replied. “That’s when I saw her. And I swear I’m not crazy, Di!” The last sentence was directed, pointedly, at the waitress.
"We're not from here," Liz said, trying to get his attention back. "Can you tell me where that is?" Kieran pulls out his phone to look up Lake Mabel.
“Just go down Winter Garden Vineland Road for like six miles,” the man replied.
"Okay. Have you heard of things like this happening before?" Liz pushed her plate away.
“Not from reputable sources, like myself,” the man replies, his mouth full. “You know how those crackheads sometimes see things that aren’t there.”
"Any of those rumors flying around lately?" Liz gave him a charming smile. "I'm curious and love things like this. I love hearing stories."
“No specifics that I know of,” the man scowled.
Liz reached out and touched his hand. "Oh come on," she said, still smiling. "You can tell me."
“I told you what I know, why are you asking?” He frowned.
Liz shrugged. "Just curiosity." She glanced at Kieran.
Kieran sees Liz's look and raises an eyebrow. He looks back to the man. "Where in the lake did you see her?"
“Stop asking questions, I’m having breakfast.”
Kieran shrugs to Liz. "Tell us, and my friend here will buy your breakfast," Liz offered. Now Kieran glares at Liz. Liz returns the glare with a grin.
“Go away, I’m eating. I can buy my own damn waffle.”
Kieran looks to the man. "We're just trying to figure out where to look to try to find this 'woman'. We're interested in...the occult, lets say. Creatures and things most people consider mythical, but we believe actually exist."
“You are crazy,” the man grumbles. “I said leave me alone.”
"We are literally the only people that believe you," Liz said, the grin dropping from her face. "What do you think that waitress is saying about you now?"
“I don’t need the beliefs of crackheads,” he replied.
"Crazy? Crackheads?" Kieran asks with an arched eyebrow. "Is this crazy?" He reaches a hand across to place it on the table next to the man's plate. As it moves, the hand and forearm shift, fur sprouting out to cover the skin, claws growing out in place of the fingernails.
His eyes glaze over, as if he can’t actually see the lycanthropic arm. “I said go away or I’ll call the cops,” he shakes his head.
“Scuse me, dears,” Di, the waitress approaches you both. “I’m going to ask you both to leave. I can’t have you riling up my customers.”
As the waitress comes over, Liz "accidentally" spills the mans drink. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!"
The man feels Liz's hand try to slip into his cargo pants, and he pulls the butter knife on her. The butter knife breaks skin, a burst of pain shooting through Liz’s hand. “What the-“ Di says, reaching for a phone.
Liz jumps up, screaming, "Crazy old man! This guy's crazy! Says he sees naked women from fantasy stories handing out swords then cuts me with a butter knife." She gives a desperate look to Kieran, one that says 'run,' then walks quickly to the door.
The waitress dials 911. “Yes, two people, one man one woman.... I think they’re high... she tried to steal from Jackson.... going on about something.... I’ll stay on the line...”
With a grimace, Kieran quickly follows Liz out the door. Once they get outside he says with another glare “we need to find somewhere to lie low for a bit. Last thing we need is to get arrested. “
"I know," Liz said. "Ditch the car for now. We'll come back for her later." She pulled Kieran around the side of the building, and down an alley. As an after thought, Liz turned off her cellphone and slid it in her pocket. "Cellphone, turn it off," she told Kieran.
“Should we split up? She did say one man and one woman, less obvious if we aren’t together. Unless you can make yourself look like a man?”
"I cannot." Liz spent a second thinking. "Sure, split up. Meet at the car at dark or something." She then went down the next left she came to. Kieran watches her go for a moment, then heads the opposite direction. He continues down the alleyway for a ways, then stops at a dumpster. He stashes his backpack, longbow, leather jacket, hand crossbow, and dagger behind the dumpster out of sight, since the bow and jacket are too obvious if cops find him and the weapons might not go over well if he’s caught.
Ten minutes later a cop car arrives. An armed officer comes down the alleyway, looking for trouble. She breezes right over Kieran, not seeing his hiding spot. But as Liz shifts her weight, loose asphalt shifts under her feet and the cop whips around. “Hands up where I can see them,” she says, making eye contact with Liz.
Liz put her hands up, in a defensive manner before her face. "Okay, okay."
“Get on the ground,” the cop says authoritatively.
"Absolutely, officer," Liz says, cooperating, and laying on the ground. The officer comes behind and cuffs Liz. "Are you going to tell me why I'm under arrest?" Liz asked, laying very still. "That's my right as a US citizen. You have to tell me why you're arresting me."
The officer recites the Miranda rights as she begins cuffing Liz. “You are under arrest for attempted theft and suspected drug use.”
"Drug use?" Liz asked, confused. "You should check the old man that cut me with a butter knife while claiming to have been sung to by a naked woman in a lake."
“Di says you were the ones pushing Jackson, and while that old man is missing a few marbles, he’s no using,” the officer dragged Liz to the hunter’s feet. “And if someone tried to pick my pocket, I’d probably pull more than a butter knife on them.”
"It was a misunderstanding." Liz allows the officer to move her around, not resisting. "I spilled some water, was trying to clean it up, and wipe him down. I don't know why he pulled the butter knife on me, but I got the hell out of there. That guy's crazy!"
“Di says you were asked to leave multiple times,” the cop said wearily. “Where is your boyfriend?”
"Boyfriend?" Again Liz looked confused. "I was asked to leave, I tried, I spilled a drink, tried to clean it up, and got attacked!"
“I’m going to remove you from this particular situation, take you down to the station, and have you take a drug test. If you come back clean, then you’ll be free to go,” the officer replied. “Di and Jackson aren’t going to press charges, but for everyone’s sake I’d probably suggest you stay away from here from now on.”
"Don't have to ask me twice," Liz said. "I will gladly submit to any drug test. Also, any chance I can get some stitches or something," Liz asked. "I don't want to be bleeding all over."
“I’ve got some gauze in the back of my car. After we’re done with you, you’re welcome to check yourself into a hospital.” The officer proceeded to put Liz into the police car, and drive away, leaving Kieran on his own.
Ryan, having seen the feather, is going to look at it and try to recall if there is any magical creature he knows that has black feathers such as these. (Arcana: 17)
JC flies up to the feather for a closer look, landing on Ryan's shoulder. "Hmmm... looks like a feather," the sprite remarks. "A black one." The sprite gestures wildly as it adds the last remark.
"Yes. But I haven't seen any local birds with this color of feather before. So, it is not from here. Maybe it's from the magical world. I'm trying to remember if I've ever heard or read of a magical creature with a black feather." Ryan responds.
"Kall has black feathers," the sprite responds. "And they look just... like... that." "Lemme touch it. We magical beings can tell magic merely by smell," JC adds.
"I don't think that last bit is true." Ryan says looking at the feather before asking "Has Kall been here before?"
"No," JC assures Ryan. "Not in this lifetime, anyway." He paces from one shoulder to the other, fluttering past Ryan's head.
"Hmmmm....do others of his kind normally frequent around here?" Ryan asks JC after not detecting any lies from him. (Insight: 18)
"There are flocks of Kenku that live in this realm. Normally out of sight and just as tricky as our Kall," the sprite responds.
"Hmmmm.....we'll take it back just in case. Maybe its not from a magical being. Maybe it is from this world. That still doesn't explain why it is here." Ryan ponders aloud.
"That is quite the feather! Where'd you find that one? I haven't seen a bird like that here yet. " Æriksays, while approaching Ryan and JC. "The animals didn't seem to know much either, except an alligator saying something about them not "doing the kayak". "Should I ask them if they've seen any blackbirds, now that we have something else to go on, or are you two ready to move along" Ærik adds.
"Yeah. There was a lake a little bit from here where a girl in a kayak got attacked by something. I believe part of it was bitten off. Ummm....sure, ask them if they've seen anything with this type of feather." Ryan says holding out the feather for Ærik to take.
"Oh, they'll likely not look like birds, but they'll leave feathers in stressful situations. It's a good thing you didn't check Kall's cot before she left that BEN cell." The sprite laughs heartily.
Ærik turns to JC. "Does it look like a Kenku feather to you? You are the only one with any knowledge of them among us I would say, but I don't mind asking, the animals are rather friendly here. "
"I can't tell, Ryan is hoarding the feather," the sprite responds.
Ærik takes the feather from Ryan's outstretched hand and offered a closer look to JC.
"Hmmmm...." JC says, inspecting it further. The sprite sniffs it, licks it, rubs the bristles. "I'd say no... waaay too small!"
Ærik spends a few more minutes preparing and casting Speaks with Animals as a ritual, and starts asking any animal he sees it they have seen a creature with that black feather around? Ærik turns to JC, and asks, "This plant I'm carrying for KALL, which has enjoyed our little nature walk I think. Heck, I talked to a couple creatures, that only came to me because of this plant. May I ask what species this is?"
"They're called Ciswoot," JC responds. "They create the berries I use for my arrows." The sprite pulls one from its little quiver and inspects it. "Quite potent! One shot and you're sleeping like a baby." The arrow slips out of its grasp and almost falls into Ryan's shoulder, but the sprite catches it at the last moment. "Whoa! Close one."
"Yeah. I'd rather not fall asleep right now." Ryan says to the Sprite.
"I got it, I got it. I'm a professional," JC says, placing the arrow back in its quiver.
Unfortunately, the animals don't know where the feather came from but Ryan is certain it's magical or comes from a magical creature.
"Well. We got something. Why don't we return to the others and see what they found? And then you said finding was your specialty. Do you think you can track down who this feather belongs to?" Ryan asks Ærik.
"Kall found something shady in Downtown Disney. I told her to go invisible and explore! She sounds like she's having loads of fun!" The sprite grins.
"Oh, man. I hope nobody saw her just disappear. Or that she doesn't get caught when she becomes visible again." Ryan says.
"She'll be fiiiine," the sprite responds.
"I do specialize in finding things, but I need to know what I'm looking for"Ærik adds while emphasizing the word 'what' "I am usually looking for missing persons or objects, and I can see a picture, and familiarize myself with what I'm looking for. The Goddess's gift works in mysterious ways"
"That's fine. We have more information than we had and that's all that matters. Hopefully, the others got something else that helps connect this. Let's start heading back. We can talk along the way." Ryan says smiling at Ærik. "So... you're a Michigander why are you down here in Florida?" Ryan asks.
"Are you hitting on him?" The sprite asks from Ryan's shoulder.
"No!" Ryan says far too quickly and defensively as he looks at the ground. An obvious blush on his face.
"Ok... ok... I'll just be in my house... pretending not to hear." The sprite flits through the air into the awakened shrub. The plant wraps itself around the sprite.
"I did not see you trying to swing a fist at me," Ærik says with a slight grin. "I guess we should head back. The animals and this feather have given us a little too work with."
A muffled voice speaks up from the plant, "Sprites can tell your true feelings!" It says, "Your heart can't lie!" Then silence follows.
"Why don't you see what Kall and Nolan are up to JC?" Ryan says hoping the Sprite will leave.
Soft snoring emerges from the plant, obviously exaggerated.
Ærik and Ryan continue their walk. They pace themselves in a way that any onlookers would think they are just enjoying a leisurely stroll. ” I hope the others have found something more useful. It seems like there's more going on than we thought. The alligator assured me that no animal in that lake attacked that kayak. I'm starting to see a little better why BEN grabbed us. I wish I had prepared differently, but I'm supposed to be avoiding BEN, not working with them. I only have my daily go-to spells prepared." Ærik adds.
"That's fine. I'm sure we'll be back around here to prepare. Of course, I understand why they might have grabbed Kall now. And I guess they grabbed me because I kept hacking into the Police Department online files to find anything that was deferred to BEN. But, hey, you never answered my question. Why are you down here Ærik?" Ryan responds.
"Well BEN and I had a misunderstanding, and I left without telling them where I was going. I failed badly at that task it would seem. I often get called in to assist the Search and Rescue division back home. Usually missing campers or hikers. I sometimes train people in outdoor survival. It's a peaceful life mostly."Ærik replies. "We got a call about some missing campers and I took a group of trainees with me. We found them...." His voice trailing off slightly. "We found what was left anyway. They had been mauled by a bear." Ærik's voice raises in anger as he says "Dammit... It really was a bear. I haven't done anything unsanctioned in a decade." Obviously frustrated as he is speaking. "The campers had left their food in the tent, instead of hiding it in a tree, and the bear was in bad shape." His voice growing more somber, "I can't blame her, I found her dead cubs days later." He stops walking for a minute. Resting on his staff like an old man gathering his thoughts. He says a silent prayer to the Goddess, and continues. "I'm sorry, let's continue. So BEN thought I had something to do with it, the trainees were my only witnesses or I'd still be in hot water. So once the paperwork was done, I decided to leave town for a while. An old woman I fixed a flat tire for, said she was coming to Florida, so I hitched along. I thought I'd play ghost for a while, but you see how that turned out."
"That must have been hard. You obviously have a connection to nature. And you obviously want to help people. But people don't always mix well with nature. And it sounds like wherever you're at BEN is blaming you for any "mysterious animal attacks". Ryan says putting air quotes around mysterious. "Well. Hopefully, we can clear your name of this water attack." Ryan says with a hopeful smile towards Ærik.
"I thank you for that, but about ten years ago, I did give them a reason to "suspect" me. I have paid for my 'mistake' in more ways than BEN could imagine." Ærik mimics Ryan's air quotes at the word mistake. "I don't think I ended up here by accident any longer though. And you are correct. Most people do not appreciate nature in the proper way. It's one of the reasons I do Outdoor Survival training. To try and educate people that nature is very beautiful, but very deadly if underestimated." Ærik says.
Slight humming comes from the plant, followed by the whispered song, There you see him... Sitting there across the way He don't got a lot to say But there's something about him... And you don't know why But you're dying to try, You wanna kiss the guy.
Ryan attempts to ignore the Sprite and says to Ærik "Well. I'd love to take your survival training course. I'll admit that being in nature is a little outside of my element. But I'm always willing to learn. Maybe...maybe you can teach me a little if we have some downtime?" Ryan hesitantly asks.
Ærik closes one eye, and looks Ryan from the eye to the ground and back up. As if sizing him up. "You're not in bad shape, and everyone could learn more about nature. I'd be happy to teach you. It wouldn't kill me to learn a little bit about your tech stuff." He shakes his head slightly side to side disapprovingly, "it's getting harder to be a part of this world without it I'm afraid." Ærik finishes in a more upbeat tone, "Maybe we can help each other some?."
Ryan blushes at the compliment. “Thanks. I do my best to keep in shape. I’m not that strong but I’m pretty quick and dexterous. And I’d be happy to teach you some stuff about technology. We can at least start with getting you a phone that lasts. And who knows. Maybe we’ll find more similarities between technology and nature than we knew.” Ryan says, obviously happy at the prospect of working together.
Happy to find someone not unpleasant to talk to, Ærik replies,"Electricity comes from Nature, so I'm sure you're right, I just don't get the magic to control it. It'll be good to learn a little more about it."
Ryan laughs a little at that “It’s not magic. It’s just knowledge about how it works. Like I said I’ll definitely teach you some things. We’ll start with staying in contact with people and then move to research for stuff about the magical community. You can learn a lot about our community online.”
Ærik waits until he no longer perceives anyone paying them any attention, and pretends to stumble. He stops, resting on his Staff. "Sorry, sorry, I'm ok. Here, will you hold the plant for a minute?" He asks. As Ryan takes the plant from him, he then raises his staff very slightly off the ground, and plants it firmly backs down. Ærik kneels to the ground and touches a small dandelion,"I have reasons for my doubts," he says, making sure to have Ryan's attention. The dandelion quickly doubles in size and blooms. (Druidcraft) He then stands and reaches into his Duster. He is facing Ryan now, as he pulls his hand out of the jacket, his hand appears to be cracking with a green arcane electricity. (Druidcraft again) The hand returns to normal as it comes into view of the sun again, "I'm willing to try though."
“Willing to try is a start. I know your magic makes it difficult. Though I must admit, I am a little jealous of you and all the others that can do magic. It all looks so beautiful.” Ryan pauses for a minute and then chuckles to himself as a memory. “I tried to be a wizard once. Back when I was first learning about the magical world. Those who were teaching me thought I was smart enough to master the arcane. I understood it on a fundamental level but no matter how hard I tried and practiced the magic never came. I was missing that extra something that you needed. It was the first time I failed at anything in my life.” Ryan says, getting quieter at the mention of failure.
"I have to admit, that was pretty fun, I don't usually get to share my 'gifts' with people. BEN and all."Ærik responds while taking the plant back. "Umm. Speaking of which, you really don't seem to uh, well, magic, so why would BEN have grabbed you with us?"
“I guess you didn’t pick up on the hint I laid earlier,” Ryan says with a chuckle. “Well, because I’m not that magically inclined I have a harder time than others seeing where the magical world and ours collide. I can’t be an effective hunter if I don’t know where to go. So, I use my computer skills to find the incidents for me. With my computers, I can remotely gain access to the local Police Stations computer database. While within the database I can look for any open cases that have mysterious circumstances surrounding them or have been taken over by BEN. And then I have the information I need to try and solve what happened. So, in short, BEN probably took me because I keep putting my nose into their work in an attempt to solve what they cannot.” Ryan finishes with a proud smile on his face.
Ærik breathes a small sigh of agreement. "Ah yes, so you use them like they use us." he chuckles as he finishes saying this "Yes, I will teach you. Til heiðurs míns"
Ryan’s eyes light up when Ærik speaks in a language he doesn’t know. “What language was that? I’ve never heard it before,” he asks genuinely interested.
"I'm sorry. sometimes I forget. That was Icelandic, I said On My Honor." Ærik replies.
“Wow. Icelandic. Maybe I’ll pick that up someday. I’ve always had a fascination with languages since my Dedushka, that’s Russian for Grandpa, taught me his native Russian tongue. And now that’s how I make my living when I’m not hunting.” Ryan says.
"Yes, Russian, that's what you were speaking in the cell. I don't speak that tongue myself." Ærik says. He pauses for a minute and asks "People pay you to speak in tongues often?"
“Not speak but more of translating. So, I work for this company where they send me a document, normally a book or journal article, or sometimes even instruction manuals, in one language and then I type up the document in another language using all the correct translation, grammar, punctuation etc. Then I send it back and they pay me for the translation. How much I get paid depends on the languages and the size of the document. The bigger the document and more obscure the language the bigger the paycheck. And it’s really nice because it’s all done via my computer so I can do it anywhere and I can choose how often I work.” Ryan explains.
"Preserving history in other languages, like a scribe, very honorable," Ærik says with a reaffirming nod.
Ryan blushes and looks down at the ground at Æriks comment. He then says “So, I’ve told you a little bit about my life. Why don’t you tell me a little about yours? You say you’re from Michigan. What’s it like? I’ve never been though it’s only a hop, jump, and skip away from where I grew up in Chicago”
Ærik is quiet for a moment, looking away and seemingly to the heavens. "The Goddess has graced that land with her beauty. I don't really talk about me much, but a little history should be ok", he finally says. "I grew up on a forgotten Mohawk reservation with my mother. When I was becoming a man, my 'gifts' started to show themselves. She took me to my father, and he enrolled me in the 'Druid School " He throws up air quotes at the word druid "My father is a member of the Viking Fantasy Football league. Those of us with the gift, worship a different God than most Druids. Our power comes from our Icelandic blood and our bond with the Norse Goddess Freyja, said to have taught Odin himself the Nature magic he uses." Ærik's voice notably filled with great pride. "She gifts us with great power, in exchange for our worship. We take a vow to protect nature, and those unable to protect themselves." Ærik gets rather somber, a lone tear running down his cheek. "I failed her once and lost my gift. That will never happen again."
“I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something lighter. What’s your favorite animal? Mine is the polar bear. They’re very strong but also adorable and smart.” Ryan says.
"I always liked birds," JC speaks up from the plant.
A look of melancholy comes across Ærik's face. "Oh to fly, my teacher could fly, I have not earned my wings yet. To soar with the great eagles would be a Joy unlike any other. My favorites would be either a Gray Wolf, or a Brown bear. Such majestic and peaceful creatures unless you anger them." Ærik is lost in thought and starts laughing. "Adorable... Hahahaha. Polar bears adorable." And he starts laughing again.
As they continue to walk, Ærik manages to compose himself. "Thank you. I needed a good belly laugh. I keep picturing a giant polar bear feasting on the insides of a freshly slain seal. Not an adorable image. Oh, but the little ones are as cute as well a Wolf Cub. So first nature lesson,"Ærik continues, "Don't **** with bear Cubs..." A big grin on his face.
“I knew that. But Polar Bears are adorable. I mean. They may turn a bright shade of pink when they eat but.....then they play in the snow.” Ryan says with a laugh.
"Good, having seen it up close, it's not a thing you forget easily. But good choice. Beautiful Creature indeed. " Ærik replies.
Ryan just beams. “So, Pizza? Does that sound good for dinner.”
"I like pizza." Ærik answers back, "All the flavors right in your hand. Nice and easy."
“Pizza it’ll be,” Ryan says with a nod.
"With extra sausage!" JC calls out.
Ærik shakes the plant just barely, a quick little jolt. "Hey, sleepy head. How's it going in there?"
"Hey watch it! Not too rough," the sprite calls out. The plant follows up in sylvan, Whooooa... I think I almost lost a berry.
Ryan stops. Stares at the plant. And then responds to it in SylvanYou can talk!?!
"Of course Bebe can talk!" JC responds. JC flutters out of the plant as it unfurls its leaves. Seeing as they're getting close to the car, the sprite disappears. Shhhhhh, JC says in Sylvan. We're getting close to the parking lot.
Ærik makes a point of looking at Ryan, and not the plant, while saying "I would love to know more about you and your plant . Maybe we can talk more later." Also mindful of their surroundings. He's not sure where the Sprite went but hopes he can still hear him.
Ærik feels a slight pressure, like something tiny landing on his shoulder. In his ear, JC whispers, "Bebe is just a toddler, but sure! I'm always happy to educate the uneducated."
"I usually get to teach about nature. Hopefully, we will actually get pizza night tonight. I'm looking forward to our talks." Ærik replies, still looking at Ryan.
Ryan, understanding that Ærik isn’t really talking to him, blushes anyways. “We’ll definitely get pizza tonight and I think we can all talk. Now let’s go get the others.
Ærik nods his head and says, "I'm excited to find out what they learned."
Ærik tucks the plant s little tighter into his side, making sure his grip is solid as they near the parking lot. He takes his time, surveying the area for BEN agents he recognizes, or anyone especially out of place. (Perception: 8)
Enjoying the fun of Downtown Disney... Kall found herself enthralled with Downtown Disney. The Ganachery was scrumptious! She'd never actually had chocolate like that before, and when the bald man and the boy started talking about the construction, she barely even noticed. "More?" She asked, cocking her head.
Nolan tensed as he realized he was paired with the peculiar person. Only knowing Kall to be from another plane, he sighed and tried to look at the bright side. You get to pick the brain of an extraplanar being. About to pick her brain, he was interrupted by the pair's chatter about the fountain. Kall cocked her head, asking for more. Nolan feigned a smile, replying, "You'll need to get back in line if you want more. Perhaps we should check out the construction at the fountain and then we can go back for seconds?"
Kall looked over to the construction for a moment, then back at Nolan. Then back at the construction. After a few moments, she responded, "Okay," and started walking towards the fenceline. As she got closer to the fenceline, she suddenly disappeared. While invisible, she scurried up and over the fence and started looking around.
The sudden disappearance shocked Nolan, but he maintained his composure. There was much he didn't know about her, and he needed to act naturally until he could dig out more. Nolan pulled out his wand, feigning pretending to be a wizard from Harry Potter. He waved it around with an extra flourish and cast Detect Magic as he investigated the fountain. He noticed that while the fence itself wasn't magic, streams of magic were everywhere around him. The sight nearly overwhelmed him, causing him to stagger back and then breath in the air deep. I guess when people said Disneyland was magical, they weren't lying, he thought to himself.
Kall's eyes were not as sharp as Nolan's wand, for all she saw was just a normal lake... and not construction equipment anywhere behind the construction wall. An odd fact, given the situation. She dropped to the other side of the fence and started walking the lake, making her way to the bottling company sign, which overshadowed a restaurant.
Dipping into somewhere private, Nolan cast Invisibility, and then proceeded to climb over the fence. He too saw the lake and lack of construction equipment. Intrigued by the water, he changed his jacket into something more water resistant and form-fitting, took off his shoes, and then went for a swim to see what he could find [20 on Investigation].
Realizing that she had to swim, Kall dipped into the lake. She thrashed about in the water, eventually making her way to the other side and out of the water, scrambling to get back out. She shook, water flinging everywhere, readjusted something on her head, then scrambled back up the wall to walk around to the Bottling company.
As Nolan swam around the lake, he spotted something catch the shifting rays of underwater light, hidden amidst a steady stream of bubbles. Diving down, he was the glistening object as a lyre, lying in the center of a bubbling chasm. He swam down and acquired the object, then spotting a flute nestled within a narrow crack. His form too small to fit into, he noted the object and swam back for the surface. Perhaps Kall can shift into a kid and grab it later.
Kall found her way into the Bottling company, only to discover that it was far more boring than the chocolate factory and not nearly as good. She decided that maybe she should head back to meet Nolan and let him know what she found.
Once reaching the surface, Nolan called out, "Marco!" He waited a moment, realizing that perhaps extraplanar beings didn't know the game. He shouted out, "Marco!" one more time before giving up and slipping under the walls, returning to the chocolate factory to see if Kall had gone back for seconds. Once he spotted her amongst the occupants, he slipped into the bathroom, ended his invisibility, checked himself to see if he looked dry, changed the appearance of his jacket to something more suitable, and then slid in behind her. "Where'd you run off to?" he probed lightly.
“Oh, hello,” Kall responded. “I came back for more. You said I can have more after we looked. I looked and I didn’t see anything. I found a lot of water.” Kall gave Nolan a smile, trying a little too hard resulting in a creepy uncanny valley vibe. “It’s good chocolate,” she said to the person in line in front of her. Obviously... this kenku couldn't handle her sugar.
Nolan nodded his head, taken a bit back by the sudden flurry of words. "Yes... I did say that. Let's get some more and then well chat!"
The line moved quickly enough, and once they had their orders they sat down. Kall dug into her chocolate immediately whereas Nolan pulled the lyre out of his backpack. "This was sitting at the bottom of the lake. There was a flute too, but it was in a crack I couldn't wiggle into."
Between bites, Kall lifts the lyre and inspects it [9 on Arcana]. It looked very pretty, and grabbed the kenku's attention. "Ooooh," Kall said. "Very pretty. I can have it?"
Nolan waved his wand around, using its last charge, and picked up a good sense of magic coming from it. He shrugged in response to Kall. "I don't play lyres, but this whole situation smells of Excalibur." He slid the lyre across the table to Kall. She accepted the lyre and played a few chords, strumming it with her fingers.
With the lyre in hand, Kall and Nolan returned to their meeting spot, eager to discover what the others in their motley group of strangers had discovered about the lake.
Kieran waits another hour or so until its about time for the others to meet up at the waffle house, then grabs his gear back out from behind the dumpster and makes his way bakc to find a spot where he can stay out of sight but keep an eye on the waffle house to spot the others when they arrive.
Nolan walked into the waffle house with specks of chocolate on his cheek. His hair and clothes had mostly dried out, offering only the faintest hint that he'd taken a dip underwater just an hour or so ago. He looked around trying to see if anyone else had arrived yet.
Ryan is in the parking lot, with Ærik, JC, and Bebe, and watched Nolan just walk in to the Waffle House and ignore him as he attempted to get his attention.
Kieran watches Nolan enter the Waffle House and spots Ryan uselessly trying to get the other man's attention. He quickly walks to the group, trying to avoid notice. When he is standing behind them, he says quietly, "So...things didn't go quite as planned. We should find somewhere else to catch each other up."
Seeing no one had arrived *within* the waffle house, Nolan goes to the bar to see what he can order. He'd never been, but had heard amazing stories of the filthy goodness that was Waffle House.
Ryan turns around at the voice. “Kieran. Why, are you sneaking around? What happened?” He asks.
Continuing in a quiet voice, eyes darting around nervously, Kieran says, "Liz tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught. We got out, but they called the cops. We split up so we'd be less obvious, not sure where she went."
Kall looks over to Nolan, then back at the car in the parking lot, then back to Nolan. She then orders a waffle.
“What? You got the cops called on you.” Ryan just sighs. “Where’s Nolan and Arial? We need them. And then, I guess figure out where Liz is.”
"You just watched Nolan walk into the Waffle House...I saw you trying to get his attention" Kieran says
"I like waffles," Kall informs Nolan. "They're better than pancakes."
“Yeah. I jus thought they’d walk out once they saw we weren’t there.” Ryan says. “I’ll go get them.” He says as Ryan now enters the Waffle House to get the two and get them out.
Nolan glanced behind him at Kall. "Waffles are great! Just as great as pancakes. No more... no *less*."
Ryan sees the two and walks up behind them. “Really. More pancakes. What are you two doing here the rest of us are outside?”
Nolan turned around in a whirl as he waited for his waffled and fried chicken. "You guys were outside? What're you, hiding or something?"
"Liz tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught," Kall answers Nolan.
He looked around frantically, seeing if anyone overheard. Whispering to Kall, Nolan advised, "Try to keep your voice down when talking about illegal stuff next time... and magic."
"Liz tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught," Kall whispers to Nolan.
“No. Not hiding. You’re just unobservant. Anyways get your food to go. We have stuff to discuss.” Ryan tells the two.
Kall nods to Ryan, then whispers to Nolan, "To go. We have illegal stuff to discuss about magic." She then gestures to the server, "To go."
Nolan shook his head, but couldn't conceal the smile. Once he and Kall got their food, he took it with him and met up with Ryan and the others outside.
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Most people stopped believing in monsters under the bed long ago. Most people see fantasy as just that: make believe. But then, you're not most people.
There's a secret world of monsters and magic hiding just below the surface. For your average citizen, that secret world never comes to light. But for some, it becomes their whole life. Gangs of monsters engaging in turf wars, lone creatures wreaking havoc on cities, and guilds of hunters all struggling for control. When things go bump in the night, you bump back.
The year: 2018. The place: Orlando, FL. You've known for a long time that monsters and magic are real, and you've taken it upon yourself to shoulder the mantle of protecting the world from mystical threats. It's thankless work, what with the fact that the vast majority of the population doesn't even know they were in danger, nevermind the fact that you’ve saved them.
You’ve been framed.
That's the only thought you could think of as Bureau of Extra-Normal (BEN) agents broke down your door last night, threw handcuffs and a hood over you, and snatched you away in seconds. You have no idea how far you've gone (they could have driven you in circles for two hours, for all you know), but after what felt like an eternity you were thrown into a windowless cell. It feels like you're in the basement of a concrete bunker, arcane sigils carved into almost every inch of the concrete. The bars are iron, certainly reinforced with magic. Each cell is relatively barren, with a single bed and a solitary toilet. Four cells face each other from the corners of the room. On one wall sits a door, while on the wall opposite are a set of large lockers. Sterile white lights flood the room, which, when combined with your anxiety, prevent you from getting any sleep.
You're also not alone.
A man with short, blonde hair and a hood shares the cell to the left of the door with a scruffy, dark-haired gentleman. The cells don't appear to have been built for more than one occupant, but it appears BEN doesn't care for the personal space of prisoners. The cell adjacent to them contains two men with dark beards, although when comparing the two there is a clear winner and loser for who's is the most glorious. On the right side of the door, a single woman paces nervously. The cell beside her's appears empty at first glance, until you notice a lump in the bed. Somehow, the occupant of that cell has been able to sleep, despite the current conditions.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Nolan glances over to his scruffy dark-haired cellmate and flashes a weak smile as he stares into the man's eyes, pulling his hood down in an effort to look more friendly. "Heh.... strange predicament we've found ourselves in, am I right?"
Lizbeth paced her cell, unhappy with her current situation. She had her arms crossed over her chest, in a feeble attempt to cover herself, as she was dressed in only a thin camisole and undies. Seeing the other cells were filled with men, she moved to the back of her cell and sat on the floor, hoping to go unnoticed.
Looking to his cellmate as the man pulls down his hood, Kieran grunts. "You could say that." He peers around the cell, inspecting the door and lock, before looking around the rest of the room at the other prisoners. He notices the scantily clad woman across the way but tries not to stare.
Not too talkative. He glances around the room, peering into the other cells. His face turns red when he sees Liz and quickly averts his eyes. "So.... are any of you in here for murder?" he asks awkwardly in an attempt to break the ice.
Kieran looks back to the man at that, peering closer and trying to get a read on him. "Can't say I know why I'm here as a matter of fact. Don't recall doing anything to piss off the BEN." His eyes flicker a bit as he makes the comment. "And yourself?"
"I was just chilling on Imgur, trying to get some +1's. When they bashed the door down, my first thought was the FBI had found me due to illegally pirating movies." Nolan glances around the cell, noticing the arcane sigils. "This isn't any better."
As they talk, Kieran walks over to the door and tries opening it, just on the off chance it's not locked. It is locked.
"Who's this Ben guy, and why does he want me?" Lizbeth asked loudly.
Kieran looks to Lizbeth again. "It's B-E-N", he spells it out. "Stands for Bureau of the Extra-Normal. Kind of like self-appointed cops for the magical world."
Nolan is about to begin to explain before he's cut off. He smirks and says nothing, moving to sit on the floor with his back against the wall.
"Never heard of it," Lizbeth said quickly, then began to scream at the top of her lungs. "LET ME OUT OF HERE! HELP! I NEED HELP!"
Kieran winces. "Ow. I highly doubt they've put cells somewhere that anyone else would be able to hear you screaming. And they aren't the kind of people you want to get on their bad side."
"You don't think these cells are bugged?" Lizbeth cocked her head to the side. "They're listening to everything we say."
Nolan shrugs, responding, "They probably are. I don't see why that's an issue though."
“Can you calm down?” A skinny man wearing a graphic t-shirt depicting the Avengers and some plaid sleep pants say. “It B.E.N. They’ll talk to us when they want to. Someone probably did something to set off the magical community and now they’re trying to figure out how to cover it up.”
Kieran shrugs as well. "They probably get a lot of magic users in here. You know how well sensitive technology like cameras or listening devices do around magic..."
"The only thing I want to cover up, right now," Lizbeth said, standing and uncovering her chest. "Is me. I know what BEN is, you idiot. I'm cold, and I want out of this cell. The more annoying I am, the sooner they'll come to get me."
Nolan nods his head in agreement. "That's most likely." With Kieran's back turned, the thought flashes in Nolan's mind of slitting the man's throat. Could he do it quickly... He takes a deep breath and massages his temples, closing his eyes. Lord, help me.
Kieran smirks at Lizbeth. "If you know who they are, then you know that playing dumb about them isn't likely to work."
“Or. They could just let you freeze.” Ryan counters. He then begins looking around at the sigils on the wall and tries to recall if he knows anything about them or what they do. (Arcana: 19)
Lizbeth glared at the two men, then mimed pulling something out of a pocket, and acting surprised when it was her middle finger. She showed it to both of them for a moment, pointing at it with her other hand, then crossed her arms over her chest and continued pacing.
Nolan stands to take off his jacket, weaving his hands in a quick pattern as he mutters something under his breath. A hand, glowing faintly with white light, picks up his jacket and moves across the room with it towards Liz's cell.
“For any of you brash one out there.” Ryan says and then looks directly at the loud girl “The sigils on the wall are wards to prevent us from escaping and are also how they are keeping surveillance on us.”
"No," Lizbeth said, her voice heavily dripping with sarcasm. "You don't say?"
Kieran watches the hand drag the jacket across to Lizbeth, then looks back at Nolan. "Some kind of wizard, eh?"
Nolan's glowing hand floats over with the jacket to Liz's cell. "This might help you," he offers, keeping his eyes averted from below her neck. "Not a wizard. I don't have the discipline to study for what I do," he replies as he sits back down again.
Lizbeth looked at the glowing hand and gently took the jacket from it. "Thank you," she said, grateful, and zipped it up.
Kieran nods slowly at that response, pondering the various types he knows of that could cast a spell like that.
“Magic. Useful.” Ryan says before looking around “I wish they would have allowed me my glasses at least. It might have made things a little bit clearer.”
"Trust me," Lizbeth said, sitting on the floor again. "There's nothing to see."
Ryan just laughs a little “There’s always more than meets the eye.”
There's a small stirring in another cell. A dark leg is seen popping out of the blanket, but then goes back in and remains still.
"So," Lizbeth said from her cell. "Why did you guys get dragged in here?"
"Wards on the walls. Dragged in here Y'all," the deep voice comes from the blankets. It shifts slightly and a bald head peeks out, unsure.
"Good morning, sunshine," Liz said, again being sarcastic. "Would you like some room service? I'm sure BEN would be happy to deliver."
"Like room service. Wards on the walls, room service. Let you freeze, Y'all," the figure responds.
"I think this one's high," Liz said, cringing away.
"BEN high," he responds. "BEN high."
“Send some of that room service my way while you’re at it. I need a drink...” Kieran comments.
Rubbing the back of his head where they clubbed him, "All I know is if someone doesn't explain why I was taken without proper documentation, we are going to have a problem. And where the hell are my things?" Ærik is very glad to see he's still in his boxer briefs.
Ryan, noticing that Ærik is in nothing but boxer briefs, turns a very bright red and is intentionally trying not to look at him.
"What about some pizza," Liz called toward the ceiling. "Maybe some beer?"
Surveying the room and the people talking a little too loudly, considering the throbbing pain in his head. He steps towards the bars, reaches out with both hands, and grabs one in each hand. Testing their strength, but not trying to break them. "Did anyone see a red-haired female in here?" Calling out to the group.
Liz doesn't hide the fact that she's watching the half-naked man, smiling at his futile attempt to escape.
“She’s the only female I’ve seen around,” Kieran nods at Lizbeth. Liz waves.
Ærik takes a long slow glance at Liz, nods his head, and says. "You weren't who I was expecting to see this morning for sure." He turns and looks at the gentleman in the cell with him. Sniffs the air, turns back to Liz and says, "I'll have to thank BEN for the upgraded accommodations. Has anyone seen a BEN agent yet, or was awake enough to see what they did with our belongings?"
"They grabbed me in the middle of the night. Weren't considerate enough to let me gather my gear before we left..." Kieran responds.
"No, and no," Liz said sitting on the bed. "I'm going to be so pissed if they left all my stuff in that cheap motel with the door sitting wide open. If all my stuff is stolen..." She trailed off, and lay down, covering her head with the jacket.
“Belongings. They took me right out of my apartment. And no I haven’t seen anyone from BEN. They should really show up soon.” Ryan says still avoiding eye contact with the man in his cell.
Kieran chuckles at Ryan's obvious discomfort.
"Wake when room service is here," Liz called from under the jacket, then rolled over.
"She's high." The dark figure ducks down deeper into the large blanket. "Middle of the night," it mumbles. "BEN. Middle of the night. Considerate JC. Where's my JC..." The mumbling gets lower and lower.
Nolan can only stare with curiosity as he listens to Kall. He ponders on the message, trying to distinguish anything deep and revelatory.
Ærik turns to face the man in the cell with him. "So none of you were served proper papers either?" He asks a little more loudly than necessary for all the cells occupants. BEN really is up to something, he thinks to himself. "I know it's very unlikely, but seeing that a little magic seems to work here, does anyone have a small forked twig hiding in their pockets?" This time a more reasonable level, but still loud enough for all to hear.
“Eto ne malen'kaya vilka v karmane” Ryan says. (Translation from Russian: that’s not a small forked twig in your pocket).
“Nope. They just appeared in the middle of the night. They were on me before I had a chance to react. All I’ve got are the clothes I’m wearing." Kieran says.
Turning to the voice in the other cell. "And all of us the same, or they would have us believe."
Turning back to his cellmate, Erik attempts to actually catch the gaze of the other man. "You don't seem to mean whatever you said as an insult, so I'm not going to remind you this cells really only big enough for one of us."
“Ummm....ehhhh....ehhhh.” Ryan stutters with a big blush on his face. “No....It....it was a compliment.” Ryan manages to get out.
Erik extends his right hand in the friendly gesture of a handshake, his mouth slowly turning from a grimace to a slight grin. "Sorry, I've had a bad morning you could say. No hard feelings...I hope...?" A slight hopeful uplift on the word "hope". I've seen one of them use magic, he thinks. No reason to make enemies yet. He'll save his angry for BEN.
Ryan accepts it, straining to stare just at Æriks face. “So, do we wait for them to come to get us or should we attempt to force them to come down?” Ryan asks after the handshake.
"They'll come for us, after they discover they aren't going to hear us talk about whatever it is we supposedly did to end up here," Liz called from under the jacket. She popped her head out and looked, upside down, at them. "Just hang out, catch a nap, they'll come to get us soon."
Looking around Ryan decides that if he's at least going to be accused of something with these people he should know their names. "Well, if we're going to be here a little we should at least learn each others names. I'll start. I'm Ryan. Ryan White."
Lizbeth rolls over onto her stomach. "Oooh, are we going to braid each other's hair and tell spooky stories? Look, they're going to come in here, tell us we're bad people, and send us off on our way with a tap on the hand, telling us to be good boys and girls."
"Wow. You obviously don't like people. I think I'll call you Kani" Ryan's voice sounds different when he says the word Kani. He's obviously not speaking English again.
"Sure, call me whatever you want," Liz said, smiling. "It has nothing to do with you. Honestly. I'm just sick of these BEN ******** hassling me when I have important shit to do."
Erik twists his head toward her voice and says "Sick of implies you also have been under their eye." Erik turns back to look at Ryan. "My names Ærik Ulfson." "I've been deciding whether to try to walk thru these bars, or wait for whatever "task" they have schemed up this time. The problem is they have my stuff, and they know it. They've never done this before...."
"I wouldn't just try to walk out. I'm sure the wards on the walls prevent that. Also, they can hear us and will probably send some operatives down to stop you. I say you should just wait a little bit longer." Ryan says as he decides to take a longer look at his surroundings.
Feeling a little calmer in the cage, Erik takes 3 deep breaths, slowly releasing each one. "Your words are true, but this still smells wrong." With that he walks over to the wall, and turns and leans against it. The cold of the wall feeling good on his sore muscles. He starts to bend at the knees, and slides down to a sitting position on the floor, his back never leaving the wall. "Goddess have mercy." He mutters, before 'closing his eyes', and folding his hands in his lap.
Liz watches this, an idea forming. "Hey, you alright? You don't look so good!" Before Erik can reply, she winks at him and starts yelling. "We need help in here! This guy's sick!"
"You have a funny way of napping." Erik mutters. Feeling his pulse quicken slightly. "But I would like some answers."
Kieran watches the others antics, then looks to Ryan. "Name's Kieran"
Liz sat up, pulling the jacket around her again. "Hey! Someone get in here! There's something wrong with this guy! You need to come check him!" She moved to the front of her cell and looked at Kall, hoping her plan would work. Kieran simply shakes his head at Lizbeth's plan.
“Hey, Kieran. Since NOBODY WANTS TO COME DOWN do you think you can get the boy in the cage with you to use his magic hands and see if those lockers are indeed locked?” Ryan asks Kieran.
Kieran looks over to Nolan and raises an eyebrow. "So far you're the only one that can reach em."
"It does seem too easy. I would love to know if my stuff was in those lockers, but I would prefer they gave it back. If I have to take it back, there will be much unneeded bloodshed this day." Exclaims Ærik.
“Let’s not get our hopes up nor should we really plan on bloodshed. I’m just curious is all.” Ryan explain.
Ærik proceeds to stand up and walks up to the bars again. Grabbing one in each hand, he says. "I'm not positive what magics will work in here. I have two options to try to leave the cell, one quiet and one not so quiet. I'll be drawing on the same energies either way. However, my quiet way does not bode well for getting anyone else out of a cell."
"I haven't wanted to commit until I knew I was ready to leave. It's possible me drawing on the energy will be enough to trigger an alarm, and I don't make a habit of putting others in danger. If it doesn't work, then I just wait," Ærik said. "Do we want to just make some noise, or nap? I'm open to opinions today. "
"I'm needed!" he suddenly exclaims as he comes out of a silent trance. Jumping to his feet, he conjures another glowing white hand and moves it to the lockers to check whether or not they're opened. While the hand moves over, he mentions, "Oh. And my name's Nolan. Dodge. I think I missed the whole introduction party shenanigans." He focuses on the hand and tries to open the lockers.
Listening, Liz could hear a voice on the other side of the door, but it was muffled, and she wasn't able to tell what was being said. It was only there for a few seconds, then the person left. "Dammit," Liz yelled toward the door. "Don't walk away! I hear you out there! Get in here and help this guy!" Ærik watches the hand appear from nowhere, and as it moves towards the lockers, he says a silent prayer to the goddess, praying his beloved Staff might just be in this room.
“Hey, Kani. Do you have any hair pins on you?” Ryan asks.
"I hate tests." Ærik bellows toward the door of the room.
Nolan glances over to Ryan as he uses the term Rani. He thinks for a moment, unsure of its meaning before Kieran responds. "Huh. I must've misheard her name," he mutters to himself. The fact that his hand could move in one direction and not the other perplexed him. "Why don't... we just wait?" he suggested with a shrug. "I'm sure they'll come down shortly. It'd be nice if they'd dim these lights though..." Kieran settles down with his back to the wall to wait for something to happen.
Liz digs aground in her hair and pulls out a bobby pin. "I hope you know what you're doing with this," she said, holding it out.
Erik watches with great interest as his cellmate and the female discuss their plan. "If you have a way out of this cell that gets more than one of us out, I will wait and assist", he says. "I would rather save my options for BEN personally, or to protect us if things get even worse. I don't feel physically threatened yet, but this situation... I apologize, I'm usually more decisive, but there is much more at stake today, than my freedom it seems."
"Regardless of plans, I'm pretty useless without my gear." Liz frowns holding out the bobby pin. "I really need to learn to pick locks."
"I also lack the training. I haven't encountered many doors I couldn't just go around." Ærik says. "I don't need my stuff to rip the flesh from their dying corpses, but I will die the True Death before they keep my Staff." This last sentence coming out with a snarl.
"Calm down," Liz said, giving Erik a good long look, before continuing. "Big guy."
“Thanks. Now with these I’m hoping one of two things happen. Either A) I open my cell and then all of yours or B) I trigger an alarm and they finally get their sorry butts down here.” Ryan says as he bends the bobby pins into rudimentary lockpicks and attempts to pick the lock on his cell. As he twisted the bobby pin around, it got stuck, the door remaining locked. “Son of a where’s a .... of course it does.” Ryan let’s put a big sigh and steps away from the door. “The pins are stuck in there now so there’s nothing more I can do.”
"Well that figures, the path is in motion now, there's no way they won't know we tried to get out of this cell." Ærik states. "So let's see what they're using in here." Ærik walks to the center of the room, and sits on the floor. He uses his earring to stab his right pointer finger and draws a circle in blood on the floor around him. "Goddess grant me your vision. " He says, while making a gesture with his right hand. Erik closes his eyes and concentrates. When he opens them, he can see the bars, the walls, and even the floor alight with magic. The main school of magic that seems to be represented here is abjuration. He also appears to be picking up faint traces of enchantment magic as well. The lockers and door seemed to be non-magical. Erik relayed this information to everyone.
"You assume they haven't been listening to us talk, loudly, about how we're going to escape." Liz began to pace her cell again. "Maybe this is just a test of their security system and they're out there taking notes on how to improve." She turned toward the runes and began to yell again. "Take this note, mother****er! I ordered a pizza and beer, and delivery is late!" She flipped off the runes.
"Hey. Sleepy head. You in the blanket. What do you think?" Ryan says aloud while his cell mate is attempting something obviously magical. Kall doesn't respond. He merely shifts below the blankets.
"Don't think we're getting anything out of him," Liz said, cringing at the figure under the blanket. Turning back to the runes, she continued her rant. "You know, I have some basic rights! You could at least give me some pants and socks so I don't freeze to death down here! What will you do when I don't make it home, and my family starts looking for me? You going to explain to them why you let me freeze to death down here?!"
"Do any of you guys have the ability to make acid? Even magical acid or something that can carve through cement?" Ryan asks, after having thought of something else that might work.
"If I had rope, I could make a trap," Liz said, stalking around her cell like a caged animal. "If I needed to, I could track something. But I have no way to get anyone out of these cells."
Kieran remains where he is with his back to the wall, eyes closed. "These cells are designed to hold magic users and magical creatures. Do you really expect us to be able to break out of them that easily?"
"Hey," Liz snapped. "At least he's trying."
Kieran shrugs. "Not much I can do in here. I'm not a fancy spell-caster."
"And no way to make a shiv?" Ryan says already knowing the answer.
"Can't make a shiv, no, but if it comes to a fight, I can promise I won't be useless, nor unarmed."
Nolan shifts positions, opting to lay down on the cold ground with his eyes closed. No point on wasting energy, he thinks to himself. "Fate will come our way," he lazily calls out, followed by a yawn. "Soon, this'll all be in the past."
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
"Well, my head still hurts, and I'm in need of water, so on that note, I guess I'm going to try to rest." Ærik says. With that, he stands, and walks back to his spot against the wall. Sitting once again on the cool floor, back to the wall. He crosses his legs, rests one hand on each knee and closes his eyes.
An hour passes. And then another. Some of the detainees start to doze. Others deal with the waiting by fidgeting. Still others use the time less...productively. Eventually, each seems resigned to the waiting, though. Finally, at around 8 a.m. the door opens and two men dressed in black suits walk in. The suits are immaculate and very reminiscent of the movie Men in Black. Hell, these guys are even wearing sunglasses. Indoors. They don't say anything as they enter and don't even acknowledge any of the frustrated people in the cells. One of them pulls a small device out of his pocket and holds it against a spot on the wall near the lockers. The energy in the room changes subtly, but perceptibly. The runes and sigils disappear from the walls. The second man mutters a series of nonsense syllables and all four cell doors pop open.
He speaks into the room without really looking at anyone, "You all are free to go. However, we are still actively investigating the Lake Buena Vista incident, so don't leave town. We may need to question you later. Your belongings are in these lockers. When you've collected yourselves, exit the door and follow the hall to the right. The guard at the end will let you out and arrange transport for you." He nods to the other man and leaves without so much as a backward glance. His partner follows him out the door.
As soon as the agent finishes talking, Kieran speaks up. "What Lake Buena Vista incident?"
The first agent doesn't even acknowledge Kieran's existence, but the second man pauses in the doorway. He turns back and says, "Need to know basis. Either you already know, and will be hearing from us again really soon, or you aren't involved and don't need to know."
Once the sigils disappear, the figure under the covers whips the blanket off and stands. She's dressed in fine business attire and wears pumps that make her look deceptively tall. Latin American in heritage, she looks very much like a business woman of the 20th century. Standing, she points towards the agents and threatens, "My lawyers will hear of this." Marching over to the lockers she retrieves what can only be considered a wand by those-in-the-know. It's intricately decorated with a series of wood that reminds one of the fall, summer, winter, and spring.
He smirks, "I look forward to taking their call. I'm sure they know all about the magical world." His smile turns wolfish, "Because you would be endangering them by telling them if they didn't. And you wouldn't want to do that, would you?"
Kieran mutters under his breath at the agents response, then stands. He raises his eyebrows at the woman that stands from under the blanket. 'Business attire in the middle of the night?' he thinks to himself. Then with a shrug, he follows her to the lockers and searches through for anything of his own the agents might have brought.
As each of the cellmates head to the lockers, they find that all the gear that was on them as well as their usual adventuring gear is stashed in the lockers. Even items thought well hidden are present.
"You stole my plant!?" The woman yells, picking up a small plant that coos at her as she does.
With a growl at finding all of his gear present, despite that he wasn't wearing it when he was picked up, Kieran dons his gear and grabs his bow and other belongings from the locker.
"It'll be ok, mi bebé... you're ok," she says as she pets the poor plant.
Kieran gives a sideways glance at the woman. "You seem rather attached to your plant. Why would they have bothered bringing it anyway? It magical?"
The plant turns to Kieran as if looking at him, and the woman gives him a cold stare.
Chuckling, Kieran says, "I'll take that as a yes."
"You will have to sleep, mi bebé. We're going to go outside," she says to the plant. She then gathers up the remaining equipment that was stolen from her apartment before exiting down the hall.
Kieran watches the woman leave, then turns back to the others. "Anyone have any idea what the agent was talking about?"
Ryan walks over the locker and finds his glasses, his bracelets, his hoodie, and a messenger bag holding his laptop and other standard supplies. “You better hope that locker protected my laptop from all that magic.” Ryan says first at the agents but upon hearing Kieran’s question he says “No. But if you want to find out come with me. I’m pretty good at figuring out what I want to know.”
"Sounds good to me. If I'm going to be blamed for something, I wanna know what it was in the first place." Kieran says.
Ærik stands and stretches, and follows the others to the lockers.
He pauses and calls out to the last guard, "Policy and procedure seems to have been forgotten today. Let's hope we don't also forget the next time you call us."
He turns his back and continues to the lockers.
The moment she's able to, Liz exits her cell, but instead of heading to the lockers to get dressed, she gets into the guards face. "Where are my parents? What did you do to them?"
“Your parents were not present when you were detained,” one replied to Lizbeth. “Their whereabouts are not pertinent to the investigation.”
"Bullshit!" Liz started pushing the guard. "Why would you drag me in here if my parents weren't involved? Where are they? What happened at Lake Buena Vista?"
"You were a person of interest in the Lake Buena Vista Investigation, and you still are," the guard said slowly. "As of now, your parents are not."
Liz shoved him again. "What happened at Lake Buena Vista? I'm not leaving until you give these people and I some answers!"
“They’re not going to give you any answers. But if you want to find them come with me. I promise I’ll get them because I too would like to know what I’ve been accused of.” Ryan says aloud.
"My parents were hunting something here," Liz said, taking off Ryan's jacket, and holding it out for him. She continued to face the guard, not bothering to cover herself. "They stopped answering all calls and messages two weeks ago. I come here to find them, and immediately get hauled into a jail cell. I'll get answers, trust me. I'm going out to Lake Buena Vista."
Ærik quickly retrieves his belongings from the locker. Doing a quick check of his duffle bag. He pulls on a pair of blue jeans, Just tight enough to show off his great assets, and a well worn t-shirt. He puts on his socks and hiking boots and dons a boot length Brown Leather Duster. Quarterstaff in hand, he walks up behind Liz. "I would like to come with you as well, if you'll have me. I've sworn an oath to protect those who can't protect themselves and BEN seems a little out of their league on this, if they're randomly harassing people. I'd also really like to know what the **** is really going on"
Ryan says "This jacket isn't mine." And hands it over to Nolan. He then says "I'm also going to find out what happened. And I can't believe I'm saying this but, I couldn't help but hear that some of you are living in a motel. If you want a hot shower and some breakfast come to my place. I'll dig up all the dirt on what happened and then I too will be at the lake to see what I'm accused of personally."
Liz looks at Ryan and Erik, then over to the guard who has gone silent. "Fine." She walked to the lockers and began to pull her clothes on. A plain white tee and ratty jeans with holes in the knees, then her socks and boots, a leather jacket was finally pulled on, then she pulled two long swords from the locker, followed by a worn duffle bag. Then she pulled out an ancient flip phone, and checked it for any new messages. Frowning, she slid it into the back pocket of her jeans. "I ordered a pizza and beer, but the room service here is shit." She turned to Ryan. "If you have food, I'll join you and you're welcome to join me at Lake Buena Vista."
"I would be greatly honored. I imagine the hotel can't be very happy with me, since BEN broke down my door this morning. Please tell me they handled that at least..... I'm just visiting from Michigan. First time in Florida." Ærik says. "I'm very fond of lakes though. This should be interesting to say the least."
"Oh," Liz said, holding a hand out to Ryan. "My name is Liz. Lizbeth Remington. You can keep calling me... whatever it is that you were calling me. I don't mind. Thought you should at least know my actual name."
"A hot shower sounds great after spending the night in this place." Kieran says.
"Water, anything liquid. I was about to have to start drinking toilet water. This hangover isn't helping much, I'm way too dehydrated." Ærik says.
"Hair of the dog," Liz said, with a grin.
"I'm definitely not opposed to that. You and your parents, you stay at this lake?" Erik asks.
"We..." Liz said, the grin fading quickly. "Don't stay anywhere."
"I didn't mean to offend." Erik noticing the change in her demeanor. "Let's forget I asked, I prefer your grin to the frown I have caused."
Ærik starts to follow Liz, stopping to sniff the guard and commit her scent to memory. He gives a rather toothy grin, smacks his staff once on the ground, and turns and leaves the room.
Pausing in the hallway to allow the others to catch up, Liz pulled out the ancient flip phone from her pocket and began to type up a message. *BEN just pulled me in. Don't know how long I've been here. Info on Lake Buena Vista? Where are you guys?*
Following Liz and Erik into the hall to leave, Kieran turns back towards Ryan. "Where's your place? I'm not living in a motel, but I can meet up with you guys there after I've checked on what my own place looks like after being raided."
"Not too far from the city. Here, give me your number and I'll text you the address." Ryan says pulling out his phone and turning it on. Ryan and Kieran exchange contact info and Ryan gives Kieran his apartment address.
After sending her message, Liz leans against the wall and stares at her phone, awaiting a response of any sort. The longer she waited, the deeper her frown became.
“If you all are quite through?” The guard asks and turns to leave again. He turns back for a moment and looks at Ærik. “Policy and procedure are whatever we say they are. Let’s hop you don’t forget that.” And then he briskly walks out the door.
"Hmmph", grumbles Ærik, not loud enough for the guard to hear, "Ungrateful dick. A Thank you, just f'ing once would be nice."
Liz continues to flip the guard off as he passes her in the hallway. Ryan is on his phone attempting to get an idea of where they currently are in case he ever needs to come back to this BEN hideout.
As Kall walks through the door and down the hall, well ahead of the group, she slips a large stapler into her non-existent pocket. For any watching, the stapler just disappears from sight into her dress. Not one to have a stapler without something to staple, her free hand slides across a desk towards what looks like a manila folder...
The agent at the desk slaps a hand down on the folder. "THAT does not concern you, *ma'am*." He says. The emphasis on that last word suggests to Kall a deeper understanding of her nature.
Kall's plant turns, swiping an thorny branch towards the agent in a rude gesture. "You should think to go electronic," Kall says. "More environmentally friendly." Kall raises her head and continues passed, pleased with the weight of the stapler on her person.
Ryan, unable to get a location, goes about exchanging cell phone numbers with everyone saying that if we’re going to his place he at least wants a way to contact you later.
When Ryan asks for numbers, Liz snaps the ancient flip phone closed. "Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "I don't hand out my number to anyone. Not this one, anyway." She opens her duffle bag, and rummages around inside, finally pulling out another cell phone. "This one will do," she said, looking through settings for the number. Ryan decides not to ask about the two phones and just exchanged the numbers.
Erik awkwardly fidgets while phone numbers are being exchanged. "I can give you my home phone...", His voice trailing of softly. " I don't carry one of those things. They don't seem to last long in my care. But I try to call in often and check my messages. Those computer mail things, I check that at a library once in a while. Maybe I should just stay close" He says.
Ryan’s face was first disappointed at not getting Ærik’s number but at the mention of him staying close he lights up a little bit and says “That’ll do. But I expect that we might be roped into something bigger than all of us soon. And if that is the case I’ll get you an old Nokia. Those things could survive an atomic bomb.”
"Not from my experience," Liz said, grinning once again.
"I really don't have much patience for unreliable magic, but if it becomes necessary we can try." Ærik states with a tone of disdain. "Once I've seen an object or person though, I'm really good at locating them. Usually..."
“Yeah. But what about other people needing to find you?” Ryan counters.
"He makes a decent point," Liz agreed. "We all have someone who wants to find us. Someone we care about." She looked at Erik. "Don't you have someone that cares about *you*?"
"I live a pretty solitary life, people call my house. I call them back. Those who've needed to find me, were able." Ærik says, with a tone of confusion. His voice now growing more somber he says "I agree this situation is different though. It stinks and I'm postitive we've only begin our journey.
"Then why aren't we going back to *your* place?" Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.
"it's in Michigan..." As he raises an eyebrow to her
"So, nobody can contact you," she said, with a sly grin.
"I can be found if I want to be." Ærik says. "Usually people don't want to find me, I mostly prefer it that way."
Liz looks Erik up and down, slowly. "I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to find *you*." She clears her face and looks at Ryan. "If you don't mind, would it be okay if I request we be taken to my motel? I have a car there, and I'd like to get it. I can follow to your place after."
Ryan looks to Ærik saying “Well figure something out contact wise.” He then address Liz “If I give you the address do you think you can find it. I’m kind of eager to get home and start digging around for what happened.”
Liz thinks a moment. "I... don't have a GPS of any sort, so, it might be tricky. But I can follow."
Nolan quickly stood from his position on the floor. While not snoring, and not necessarily asleep, his mind was... *somewhere*. He listened intently as the guards talked, trying to take in as much information as he could. Still, he knew nothing regarding this Lake Buena Vista and why he was implicated in the matter. He accepted his jacket from Ryan with a nod and smile, and then moved to retrieve the few personal items from his locker. He pulled out a long wooden wand, about as long as his forearm and something that seemed straight out of the Harry Potter movies, and quickly slipped it up the sleeve of his jacket.
He listened silently as the group discussed their plans. Some seemed interested in going their own way, while most wanted to discover just what was happening at this lake. "I'd like to join," he eagerly blurted out. Their confused looks made him clarify. "The lake. Investigation. Uhh.... I'd like to go to Lake Buena Vista too." He pulls out a old Nokia, trying to hide it as if embarrassed.
Ryan exchanges his number with Nolan and extends his place to him as well for breakfast and a shower. “That’s fine Liz. Wouldn’t want you to get lost.” Ryan answers her
He nods, inputing the information. "Thanks, man. Ryan, I think? I wish I had a nicer phone... those Galaxy S9 Notes look top notch. A shame they can't magic-proof 'em."
Liz nods. "Well, it looks like we're all sticking together. We should catch up to... that other chick? See if she wants to get to the bottom of this with us." He nods in agreement and follows behind them.
“I could have sworn that was a man’s voice last night but....whatever let’s go.” Ryan says trying to quickly usher everyone down the hall.
"With how things are these days... *anything* can happen," he says with a shrug. He pulls up the hoodie of his jacket and it magically transforms into a long, stylish, tan trench coat that extends to the middle of his thighs. He button it up in front and follows in line.
"And yes, I agree with you. I was hit on the head, but I swore that was a man under that blanket. I'm not one to talk about staying true to form though." Ærik finishes, with a grin on his face.
"That sounds good to me. I really want to see the sky." Ærik says. He turns to address Ryan. "If this takes more than a day to wrap up, I will carry a phone, if you can point me to one that works"
“If BEN is involved. This is definitely going to be more than a day. And believe me. I know a lot of magic users and we kind of figured out a way to get phones to work.” Ryan says
"I have a feeling I was just lied to," Liz said, heading down the hallway, trying to find Kall. "I think they know something about my parents, but aren't telling me."
Nolan looks to Ryan with a face of surprise. "You did?! Well color me intrigued, since it looks like I've been carrying around Bessy here for no reason!"
“Yeah. This Bard I meant mentioned how to do it..” Ryan says.
Kall is seen outside in the parking lot from the lobby windows. She seems to be tracking what appears to be a butterfly. As it lands on her sweet lil plant, she lurches forward and eats it. Turning, there's a large smile on her face. When she sees the others watching from the lobby, her demeanor changes again, back to that of a professional waiting for her ride.
Liz walked up to the woman. "Hey, if you're interested in figuring out what the hell is happening, the rest of us are going to hang at Ryan's for showers and breakfast, then we're going out to Lake Buena Vista. You wanna join us? I'm Liz." She held out her hand in a friendly gesture, for a handshake.
"Yes," Kall says. "I'm worried as well. I have meetings tomorrow morning, though, so I can't be long. I'm sorry," she says looking at the extended hand. "I do not like to touch others." She pets a petal of her plant and the plant coos at her.
"Sure, sorry." Liz quickly pulled he hand away, wiping it on her jeans. "So, I'm going to request the driver to take me to my motel to pick up my car, then head over to Ryan's. He's also pretty adamant about getting everyone's phone numbers, so be prepared for that."
"369-542-6585 extension 32," Kall replies instinctively.
"Numbers aren't my thing," Liz said, hands up. "Give that to Ryan."
"Numbers aren't my thing either!" She says sheepishly.
Liz grins. "So... what's your name?"
"Lillianna Maria Santacruz. It is a pleasure to meet you, Liz." She looks in the direction of the others. "We're to wait here for transportation," she adds.
Liz nods, then turns back where the others are. She whistles loudly, to get their attention. “Is everyone ready to go?” Ryan asks after hearing the whistle. Liz gives him a thumbs up. Ryan ushers everyone together as we wait for the transportation information.
Ærik follows Ryan about three paces behind. Taking in the scene between the two "Women", he wonders what the strange one really is. Feeling much better in the open air, he starts to relax slightly.
“Yeah I am. We’re all going to get Liz’s car and then go back to my apartment for breakfast and showers followed by some information gathering before heading to the Lake. You’re more than welcomed to join us. And let’s exchange numbers while we’re at it. This way we can keep in contact if this takes longer than a day. And with BEN involved I’m sure it will.” Ryan responds to the woman who seems to share his emotions on the situation.
"369-542-6585 extension 32. My name is Lillianna Maria Santacruz. I have meetings tomorrow morning so I can't be too long," Kall responds.
“Nice to meet you I’m Ryan.” He says as she adds his number to her phone and gives her his own.
"This waiting is making me anxious," she sends a smile towards Nolan. "I hope we get our transportation soon." Her attention turns back to Ryan, "Nice to meet you Ryan."
Nolan nods with a smile and curious expression. "Right? I... I get nervous in new situations."
Kall whispers to the plant, "We're outside now. No moving." She whispers lower, "No moving. Shhhh..." Her attention back to Ryan, "This *is* a new situation, I can see why you would be nervous."
“I don’t get nervous at new situation. Just eager to figure them out.” Ryan responds
While the others were talking, Liz moved away from the group, slightly, and pulled out the old flip phone again. This time, she dialed a number. After a few moments, she began to speak quietly into the phone.
"I've dealt with it my whole life," he replies matter-of-factly to Ryan. With a chuckle he adds, "It's just a part of me now."
“As long as it doesn’t get in the way of you doing what you need to do then a little nervousness is fine.” Ryan says before adding “I also hope everyone likes pancakes because I think that’s the only breakfast food I have besides cereal.”
"As long as you don't have that trash Western Family or Great Value stuff we're golden. I prefer maple or fruity, like blueberry," he says dryly with a smile.
"Who doesn't like pancakes? Got some chocolate chips to go on top?" Kieran asks.
"I've got a recipe in my head for scratch pancakes as long as you have buttermilk. My aunt got a guy drunk in Washington a long time ago just to steal this recipe. It makes super good pancakes that are thinner and melt in your mouth. I also got a pancake recipe from a street vendor in Poland. It makes super fluffy pancakes," he mentions. "Iiiiffff... we want options that is," he adds with some light laughter.
“Are you some sort of secret chef?” Ryan asks Nolan.
"I watch Tasty on Facebook a lot. Sooo.... yes?" He laughs again. "I like making food."
“I’ll let you make the pancakes then. I’m not the best at cooking but my food is normally edible.” Ryan says back to Nolan with a slight hint of a laugh in his voice
"I'm not hungry," Kall says out of nowhere. "I had a late night before BEN took me from my home and ate before."
“That’s fine. You don’t have to eat I’m just offering.” Ryan says
Nolan glances over to Lilliana. "Oh? In my *professional* opinion, you don't have to be hungry to eat food. In fact, sometimes the most unbiased tasting happens then. You should still come on over!"
Turning back to Ryan, he says, "I'll head back to my place and scrounge up the ingredients we want. I like the buttermilk pancakes more, so I'll bring stuff for those." He waves to everyone before looking around to find his way back home.
"Sounds good to me. I'll meet you guys there as soon as I've checked on my place." Kieran says.
“Don’t be late. I’ll text you the address.” Ryan says as Nolan attempts to leave.
"Mormon standard time. We're always late," he says with a wink and a chuckle before realizing he doesn’t know where he’s at.
"Can we stop for some eggs or bacon. I like pancakes, but I'm really craving some protien." Ærik asks out of nowhere. "What's that saying. Something about you drive, I pay. I feel we deserve a nice feast after the last few hours. I can help cook some also.”
“Something like that. We can stop and pick up some bacon. There is a Whole Foods only a couple blocks from my apartment.” Ryan responds to Ærik.
Nolan shrugs, "That's fine. I've got space in my car." He thinks for a moment before grimacing. "Kurda. I think my buttermilk might be spoiled, so I'll need to stop by the store anyway."
Eventually an agent comes and explains that they’re going to teleport wherever we want to go within the city. Kieran returns home but the rest of us go to Liz’s motel to pick up her. Nobody says anything about it as we all cramp in there and head to the Whole Foods to pick up stuff for breakfast.
Upon entering Ryan’s apartment everyone notices a few things. It’s pretty spacious for a 2 bedroom 1 bath place. His living room has a couch and a TV that is surrounded by several gaming systems. There is also a small dining table with chairs in there. Placed throughout the dinning room is three bookshelves. One is filled with board game ranging from common games like Monopoly to more obscure ones. Another is nothing but video games and movies. The last is filled with all kinds of different books (novels, textbooks, manga) is the top shelf of that one holding Ryan’s Battlemats and Beholders books. On the walls you see several photos framed. One is of Ryan his mother and his grandparents, another is him graduating from Harvard with his degree framed next to the photo, another is of him in front of a fraternity house surrounded by people, another is his last day of work at Google, and the final one is a photo of Ryan with famous country star Kenny Brown and it is signed by Kenny.
Ryan is quick to notice that BEN only really ransacked his bedroom, and luckily didn’t break his PC. Ryan will clean the mess later. Soon everyone arrives as his apartment is filled with the sounds of people showering , cooking, and talking. Eventually the food is ready and everyone eats their fill. Now they are ready to begin figuring out what happens at Lake Buena Vista.
Ryan’s apartment appears considerably more high tech than the average member of the magical community would be used to, but everyone settles in as Nolan performs his kitchen magic.
Liz snags a remote, turning the TV to the local news. The stories of a man subdued with Taser after being declared incompetent, running out of courtroom; another gentleman who harbored zoo animals in his apartment; a kayaker losing the front half of her craft to a gator in a nearby lake; and a man arrested for *********ing in public and assuring the police he was Captain Kirk are among the strangest to flash across the screen. You briefly wonder how the skinny blonde anchor can keep a straight face while reading some of these news stories.
Ryan takes to typing away on his computer. Lake Buena Vista is owned by Disney; it acts as the mailing address for the company. It’s barely a real city, but the small lake is located just outside of resort property.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
After a shower and a small bit to eat, Liz found herself something that looked like a beer, although it said watermelon on the label. Taking a sip of it, she thought to herself, No too bad, I guess. She moved into the living room again, drinking the "beer" and found the remote. After watching the news, she muted the tv. "This explains all the "Florida Man" headlines I'm always seeing. This state is crazy." She stood and began looking at the pictures of Ryan with his family. They all looked so happy, so normal. Looking down at the flip phone in her other hand, she frowned. She'd come to Florida on a mission, and had been seriously sidetracked. She knew she needed to get back on the trail, and Lake Buena Vista might just be the only clue she had. Looking back at the pictures, she lost herself in thought.
Kall spends an extremely long time in the shower. The occasional splash of water is heard as well as some odd chittering as if a conversation were taking place between her and her plant in an obscure language (Sylvan). Eventually the door opens, followed by a cloud of steam, and a perfectly dressed and dried Lillianna walks out in her business attire. Water continues to drip from her clothing (even though it doesn't look wet) as she works her way to the breakfast table. "I ate last night," she comments. Her fingers trace many of Ryan's belongings and the occasional spark flares up as she approaches the more tech-heavy equipment. "I am excited to go to Lake Buena Vista," she remarks, still dripping on the floor.
Kieran sighs with relief as he arrives back at his apartment to find that the door isn't broken. BEN must have used some magical means of entry, or perhaps just picked the lock. Searching through the apartment, he doesn't find anything missing besides his gear that was brought along. "Guess they at least showed some minor consideration, even if the rest of the treatment was rather less than desirable..." he thinks to himself. He hops in the shower for a few minutes, but doesn't want to waste much time so he limits himself to a quick wash before getting out. After taking down what appears to be a bugle from the wall and shoving it into his bag, he looks around the room for anything else he might need, but the rest of his usual gear was already in the bag that BEN had grabbed. He makes one last stop in the kitchen to grab a bag of chocolate chips, then heads out to his car, texting Ryan to let the other man know that he is on his way.
It truly is magic as Nolan prepares the pancakes. With a whirl of his hand, his trusty mage hand appears and begins going to town, grabbing ingredients from different places and handing them to him like a moment from Sleeping Beauty. The kitchen is a whirl of activity, but soon the thin, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth pancakes are stacked high and steaming on a large plate. A wide assortment of condiments are available: butter, peanut butter, boysenberry syrup, blueberry syrup, jam, maple syrup, and some bananas and strawberries. He stacks a couple on his plate and sits down on the couch with fork ready.
He eyes Lilliana as her form drifts across the form, dripping wet from her shower. "Is your attire magical like my jacket?" he asks quizzically in between bites of the pancakes.
"No," Lillianna says. "I just got out of the shower." She stretches an arm out to touch one of the photos of Ryan and his family. After a few moments, she sets her plant next to a window that seems to be getting an acceptable amount of sunlight. The plant raises its limbs up to the light, enjoying the solar attention.
Liz turns her attention from the pictures to the plant. "What is that thing, anyway?"
Nolan says something with a mouth full of food, forgetting it's there. Downing it with a large glass of orange juice, he repeats, "But your clothes are dripping, yet dry!"
"This is bebe, my plant," Lillianna answers Liz. "And my clothes are dry. I just got out of the shower." Kall reaches up to her hair as if grabbing something and places it on the plant. The plant seems to wrap it in its leaves as if cradling a baby. Liz eyes Lillianna and the plant, unsure of which she finds stranger.
Nolan blinks for a few times, before responding, "Okaaaaaayyy." He refocuses his efforts to the beautiful stack of pancakes on his lap.
"Can I touch it?" Liz walked over to where the plant was, and began to reach a hand out to it.
"Bebe is thorny," Kall responds. "But friendly." Leaving the plant to interact with Liz, Kall finds herself exploring more of Ryan's apartment.
Liz gives Lillianna a final glance, then turns back to the plant. "Bebe, huh?" She stretches out a finger and gently rubs some of the leaves. She notices how strange the plant looks. It was a little bush, but had tiny little berries. As she rubbed the leaves, little cooing and tweeting sounds came from the plant itself. "Strange one, you are," Liz said, turning her focus to the little berries. "What are you? I've never seen anything like you before." She stretched a finger out to touch one of the berries.
Bebe shies away when Liz's attention turns to one of the berries, but then it pushes the berry into her fingers and the berry falls free. Kall's attention is now on the TV. When she kneels down to look closer, the TV begins to fill with static.
Nolan's mind whirls with thoughts as he eats the pancakes, watching Lilliana with intrigue. Finally, he speaks up again. "You're magical, aren't you?"
"I'm an accountant," Lillianna responds, touching the screen on the TV and watching as the static follows her finger.
"Mmmm..." Nolan muses as he sets the pancakes down. A wooden wall slides out of some compartment in his jacket as he flicks it around a few times.
"Oh," Liz exclaims as the plant pushes a berry into her hand. "Well, thank you, little one." Giving the plant one last scratch, she turns, looking at the berry. It was small and green in the center of her hand. She sniffed it, but was unable to tell if it was poisonous or edible. Walking over to Erik, she held her hand out for him to inspect. "Ever see anything like this before? Can't say I have, but I'm not the most outdoorsy person."
Seeing Lillianna causing most of the tech to spaz out Ryan will usher her on to the couch saying, “Why don’t you sit here and just watch the TV. Let’s not test the limits of any of my equipment. Otherwise, I won’t be able to find out anything about the lake.”
"Can I touch it?" Lillianna asks Ryan as he escorts her to the couch. She indicates the computer and takes a few steps towards it.
“NO!” Ryan says very loudly. He then composed himself a little bit before saying “This is my plant. My Bebe. And he doesn’t like to be touched. I don’t touch your Bebe you don’t touch mine.” Ryan says keeping an eye on Lillianna and making sure she understands. Nolan jerks his head at the command, but smiles and turns back around as he understands.
Ryan's yell startles Lillianna, and something seems to flutter out from the plant. "Oh," she says. "Well, thank you." She takes a seat next to Nolan and his pancakes, making sure he understands, "I ate last night."
With Lilliana sitting next to him, he pulls out his old Nokia phone and hands it to her. "Here. You can play with this."
Lillianna accepts the phone, and after a few moments she slips it in to the side of her dress. "You can play with this," she says, handing Nolan a stapler.
He begins to object at his phone being taken away, but just chuckles and takes the stapler. "Thanks..." He sets it to the side and goes to finish his pancakes.
Ryan realizing he’s unable to get all the info he wants with so many magic users surrounding his computer, I think it’s mainly Lillianna that causing this though. She seems to be more magical than anyone else I’ve ever met. Ryan thinks, he shuts down his laptop and stored it in his room temporarily.
Ærik surveyed the room upon entering, noting the obvious exits. Taking off his Duster and leaving it with his duffle bag by the front door. He decides he will wait till after food to shower. "Ryan sir, " he says, "Thank you for allowing us to join you here, in your home." This is kind of nice he thinks, listening to the pleasant banter coming from the group. He find himself drawn to watch Lilliana, her mysterious nature causing his brain to work overtime. He quitely helps cook a dozen eggs and two pounds of Real Bacon, eating a full third of it with a couple pancakes. He also helped himself to two Coronas, not wanting to try a weird fruity beer. "Wow Nolan, I am impressed, I've never had pancakes quite like these." When Liz approaches and shows him the berry, he thinks for a second before saying "I'm not sure I've seen a plant quite like this. Let me check my notes."
Ærik proceeds to the bathroom to shower, having filled his stomach and his throbbing headache finally receding. He comes back out from the shower, dressed in jeans and a Michigan Wolverines t-shirt. He sits on the couch and meticulously rebraids his hair.
Ryan is the last one to take a shower, graciously letting all his guests in first, and he temporarily puts Ærik in charge of making sure that Lillianna doesn’t fry any of his stuff while he’s in there. He comes out in some tan colored jeans and a Kenny Brown concert shirt along with the same gray hoodie. “Once Kieran is settled in I can share a little bit of what I found out,” Ryan tells the group before grabbing a pancake and eating it.
Kieran arrives at Ryan's apartment about the time the rest of them finish eating. He drops his bag and bow by the door, then grabs a plate and helps himself to a couple of the remaining pancakes, slathering them with butter and putting chocolate chips on top. Several slices of bacon make their way onto his plate as well. Seeing the others are already done, he brings the plate with him and grabs a spot on the couch while he eats. "So, we figure anything out yet?"
“Unfortunately, not much. Lake Buena Vista is a small Lake and community owned by none other than the House of Mouse. It serves as part of the property for one of their resorts but is mainly an empty area of land where some employees of the House of Mouse live.” Ryan explains his findings. “There doesn’t seem to be anything that happened there recently so B.E.N. must have worked overtime to cover it up,” Ryan explains to the group disappointed in his findings.
"If you can't find anything about it online, I guess the next step is to head over there ourselves and poke around?"
"Let's poke around. I need to change first," Lillianna says. She stands, steps around the others that are seated, and heads into the bathroom. Shuffling is heard as she digs through the cabinets.
Ryan gets up at the sound of her digging through his cabinets and makes his way to the bathroom door saying "What are you doing? You don't need to go through my cabinets to change clothes women."
"Oh no worries," A voice responds. "I'm faaane." The Southern drawl is thick as she says this, the voice completely different than Lillianna's. The door opens and you're met by a blonde woman with a ponytail. She's wearing jeans and boots and a buttoned-up shirt that looks similar to one in Ryan's closet. It's tied at the waist showing her midriff. She gives Ryan a wink and a nod and says, "Alright y'all. Lets go!"
Kieran raises an eyebrow at Lilliana. "'Change' is right... Nice trick." Kall pretends she doesn't hear Kieran's comment, instead of heading over to pick up Bebe.
Ryan calls out to her "I want my shirt back." Then mutters something under his breath about this is why he doesn't date women. "So, visiting the lake yeah. Do we want to tackle the few permanent residents of the area or the tourist traps of Disney?"
"Maybe start out by finding a bar and see if anyone is talking about something weird?" Kieran suggests.
"A bar. You do know that it's still early in the day. And I bet most of the drinking is done at the resorts," Ryan says.
"Good point. Being up all night is throwing me off..." Kieran mumbles with a yawn.
"Let's break in!" Kall offers, placing her plant on her hip.
"Lillianna?" Liz asked, confused by the change. She shakes her head, realizing she's seen stranger things. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm going straight to Lake Buena Vista."
"Shotgun... That's it. Big smelly boomstick." Ærik says while following Liz downstairs. Ryan chuckles at broomstick and just shakes his head.
As the others make their way outside, they see Kall sitting on the hood of a random car. Bebe is next to her, enjoying the breeze and sunshine. With the Nokia out, it looks like she's trying to figure out how it works.
"Oh, and another thing," Liz said, pausing in the hallway. "If you have any weapons we'd get in trouble with if they're found, I have a place for them in the car. That way they're safe, and not confiscated again."
Kieran shakes his head. "I'm running old school," he says patting his longbow. "Nothing more high tech than a crossbow in my bag, it's all perfectly legal, at least before I start shooting 'people' with em..."
"Good," Liz said, heading to the parking lot. "Smart."
When Kall sees everyone approaching, she hops off the car and asks, "Can I drive?" She tries the handle of driver's side door, but it doesn't budge.
"Not my car." Kieran mutters under his breath.
"Uh... no. Nobody drives my car." Liz raised an eyebrow. "It's not pretty, but it's gotten me out of a lot of trouble. It's my Bebe."
“My weapons are concealed on me and unless you know about the magical world you can’t see them. I’ll be truthful though I’m not the best fighter. I mean I can handle myself in a fight but my true skills are analysis, strategy building, and finding out weak points.” Ryan says as they’re in front of the cars.
"Okay," Kall responds. "The door is stuck." She takes Bebe and walks over to the other side of the car, trying each handle. Nolan held his breath as KALL kept on trying to open his car. She already had his phone. She wasn't getting his car too.
Liz walks over to the beat up looking, 1968 Chevy Nova 4-door, and pops the trunk. "If anyone wants to hide their weapons, now is your time." The inside of the trunk seems empty, except for the spare tire. Liz reaches in, and the spare lifts up, revealing a hidden compartment below. At the mention of hiding things, Kall wonders over to Liz's trunk to take a peek. She smiles at Liz, then back down at the secret compartment.
"Lillianna, do you have something you want to hide?" Liz looked at the woman, expectantly.
"No," she says. "And my name's Arial. I just wanted to look and see. Can I drive with you?" She asks.
"Arial... Okay..." Confused, Liz motions to Ryan and Erik. "Erik called shotgun, so you can ride in back with Ryan."
“You can tell me about your favorite Kenny Brown song.” Ryan says to Arial.
Seeing that nobody wanted to hide anything, Liz closed the compartment and latched the truck. "Alright." She looked over those that were joining her on this crazy adventure. "I feel that I should tell everyone, one last time, in case anyone wants to back out... I plan on doing some crazy illegal things. If you don't want to be a part of this, speak now."
"Crazy illegal things?" Kall asks. "What kinds of crazy illegal things? I need to get back to feed my horses in the morning." She opens the door to the back seat, then watches as Nolan opened the door to the other car. With a nod and a smile, she waves at him before getting in. Kall adjusts her plant so that it's in the middle and whispers, "Hold on tight lil Bebe."
"Just going to the lake is crazy and illegal for us at this point. I think you're speaking a language I understand very well." Ærik says while sliding into the passenger seat. "Ok. Now this is a car I think I will enjoy. Horses... That gives me an idea." Ærik turns to Ryan. "How big is this lake? Would people be riding horses there? Liz, you sparked an idea also. I wonder if they still have an active crime scene, or if they've finished hiding the evidence... I may need just a few minutes when we get there to try something that could save us a lot of time."
"Going to the lake is crazy and illegal? Why is it crazy and illegal?" Kall asks. "I like horses too," she adds as an afterthought.
“Because the BEN already arrested us on suspicion of being involved and told us to stay out of it.”
"No, no, no, no. We were not arrested," Kall says. "We were not arrested," she assures her plant.
"So, we were told about Lake Buena Vista. I don't think that was a slip of the tongue. I think they want us to go there. In the area, anyway. If there's a "crime scene" that they wouldn't want us to find, then I'm going into it. I don't care about trespassing. I don't care about breaking and entering. I'm going to find out what is going on, clear my name, and find my parents." Liz looked, defiantly, at the others, waiting for protests.
"I don't care about trespassing too," Kall says. "Let's break and enter! But I need to feed my horses in the morning," she adds, wide-eyed.
Liz looks at Arial closely. "Arial, where are you from?"
"I've lived in Florida my whole life. I work at the Tri-Circle-D Ranch," she says. She returns Liz's look, her face serious. "Why do you ask?" She asks.
"Guys. I don't think you have to pay to get into Lake Buena Vista. I'm pretty sure its free with the exclusion of parking." Ryan chimes in from the back seat.
"Well, you were a businesswoman earlier," Liz said. "And you had a business meeting tomorrow. Now you work on a ranch and need to feed horses. Your name is even different. Everything about you is different." Liz leaned down and looked at Arial through the window. "I'm not going anywhere until you can explain this."
For a moment it looks like Kall wants to flee, then there's a slight silence as she cocks her head as if listening. "We're all different. I am different, and you are different." She stretches her arm out and places a hand on the window. For a brief second the hand looks like the clawed talons of a bird. "I'm a tourist," she says, keeping Arial's voice. "Here for adventure. I have one rule... not to be discovered. But since we're all different, it is ok." She cocks her head again as if listening before repeating, "It is ok."
Liz watched as the hand changed. She was taken aback, unsure of what to say. Staring at Arial, she searched for any sign of malicious intent. "You know," she said quietly, in a cool even tone. "I usually kill things like you. But, they're usually trying to kill me first." She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "But, BEN let you go, just like the rest of us. I won't assume they don't know what you are. What I will assume is that they know you are innocent, like the rest of us, of whatever crime they want to pin on us." Liz nodded, as if making a decision. "I guess that's good enough for me." She gave Arial a smile, and got into the car.
Ærik witnesses the hand shift, and it cements his feelings that this one is very special. Not many creatures can partially shift. From his experience that takes serious control. "We are all indeed very different, and that IS OK." He directs to Arial. "We all have special gifts or BEN wouldn't have grabbed us, our duty is to use those gifts for good and not evil.", Ærik says
"The fact that BEN let all of us go tells me that we can trust one another," Liz said, popping the keys into the ignition, and turned the key. The old car hummed to life and the radio instantly started playing an 80's rock ballad.
"So it sounds like we're planning to split up when we get there. I should probably team up with someone with a phone, so we can stay in contact. I'm hoping to spend a few minutes when we first arrive to maybe get a few answers from unconventional sources." Ærik states, while playing air guitar on his leg.
"I like unconventional," Liz said with a grin. "If you don't mind illegal."
“Ærik you should come with me since I have everyone’s number. Liz you can take Arial. I guess that leaves Nolan and Kieran together. I think that pairs everyone with at least one person magical and one a little less magical.” Ryan says
Liz shrugged. "Sure, whatever works."
Nolan pulls up his Subaru next to Liz's Nova to listen in on the conversation. "I can take Kieran! I usually drive by myself, so this'll be new."
Kieran shrugs. “Works for me”. He looks to Ryan. “Okay if I leave my car here then?”
"Yeah. That's fine." Ryan says. "Okay Liz you ready. I'm still new to the area so I have it GPSed into my phone."
"Let's roll," Liz said, revving the engine.
Kieran grabs his gear back out of his car and tosses it in the backseat of Nolan’s, then sits in the passenger seat.
Once everyone was set, Liz threw the car into gear and gunned it, leaving a trail of rubber behind them. "Let's have some fun!"
"I hope you like EDM," Nolan mentions as he pulls out an old iTouch and plugs it into the car's speakers. He's soon blasting Illenium and Seven Lions as he starts his car and races to catch up to Liz.
"Illegal, " Ærik says with a snarl, "Laws were created to protect the civilized sheeples from themselves." His voice now stern but not snarling, " I am neither of those things. I answer to a higher power and do what's right when it's needed. I see why you like this car." Ærik says to Liz, "The rumble is peaceful, like curling up next to a bear"
"I like to take care of my Sweetie," Liz said, giving the steering wheel a gentle stroke.
"That reminds me. Before I forget. Ærik. Liz." Ryan says "While we're working on together on figuring out whatever this is you two are more than welcomed to crash at my place. I have an extra guest bedroom and the couch turns into a bed. It's not the most comfortable but it has to be better than a motel."
Liz looks in the rearview at Ryan for a moment, then turns her focus back on the road. "I... I don't..." she paused sighing. "Yes, thank you. I'd appreciate it."
"I don't require much,"Ærik replies "Staying on your couch honors my promise to stay close. "
Meanwhile... in Nolan's car:
"So I guess the cat's out of the bag," a tiny disembodied voice speaks next to Nolan. A sprite appears, standing atop the vehicle's shifter. "Hi, I'm JC!" He holds his tiny hand out to the man. "Kent Arial Leroy Lillianna's personal guide to the Prime Material Plane. Kall for short." He looks around the vehicle a moment, hand still outstretched. "The other car is a bit stuffy. Too many people."
Nolan swerves from being startled, moving into oncoming traffic as the sprite suddenly appears. He only barely moves back into his lane before hitting a Prius. His heart races as he glances down at the sprite, his hands ablaze in radiant light. The light dissipates as he gets him emotions back in control and tries to refocus on driving with the-now-bleached steering wheel. "My goodness, you can't just do that," he exclaims with a flustered face.
Liz noticed the car behind her swerve into oncoming traffic, nearly hitting another car. Once they had corrected their mistake, she released a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding. "I guess I'm not the only one who likes to live on the wild side."
Kieran jumps as the sprite appears and Nolan swerves the car. "What the...?" he starts before getting himself back under control. "Uh...hi JC. Took us a bit by surprise there..."
"Sorry!" The sprite responds, staying low to avoid being seen by any normies. "I was having a conversation with Kall and they felt the need to reveal themself. Well, I only felt it fair I did the same." The sprite hops off the shifter and walks over to a nook at the center console. "This is turning into quite the trip into normie town!"
Nolan can hardly focus on what's transpiring. He keeps his fluttering thoughts and barrage of questions in check as he focuses on driving. "Where are you from?"
"So many places!" JC responds. "And most of them we're not keen on revealing. Just rest assured that I'm here to keep Kall safe and out of too much trouble." As an afterthought the sprite mumbles, "You sell your soul to the Summer Court for a jaunt into normie town, you're bound to get into trouble at some point. So lets try not to get into too much trouble!"
"Well I don't know anything about some Summer Court... but I like to avoid getting into trouble? I like to stay on the law's good side, so I'll make sure... whatever her name is stays safe."
Kieran peers at the sprite. "So you're 'Kall's' guide to the Primal Material plane...I'm assuming that means she's not from around here?"
"Kall is not," the sprite assures Kieran. JC sits cross-legged and gives them both a smile. "It's been awhile since I've talked to humans. You're both much more reasonable than I thought you'd be."
"It's not my first go-around with magical creatures," Nolan casually mentions like it was just a minor fact.
Kieran nods. "I've also had experience with magical creatures." He ponders for a moment, before asking, "Can you tell us more about Kall? When we met last night, she appeared to be a business woman. Now she seems to be a southern farm girl."
"Oh that's an easy question," JC says. "Kall's a Kenku. It makes this vacation much easier when they play a human because they can mimic voices. The pact they made with the Summer Court has given Kall the power to change their appearance to anything. The humans that the kenku chose to play were ones that Kall observed before coming. Quite simple really..." The sprite stretches before adding, "Not a vacation I would have chose."
"I see," Kieran responds. "Can't say I've dealt with any kenku before. Don't know much about them. But changing your appearance at will sounds like a useful ability."
Back in Liz's Car:
"Speaking of living on the wild side Liz,"Ærik says, "Were you and your parents visiting for business, or pleasure?"
Liz opened her mouth to answer, but said nothing. She took a deep breath a tried again. "I'm not visiting." She gripped the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles going white. "My family are monster hunters. They were here on a job. They stopped answering calls and messages two weeks ago. I've been... working jobs elsewhere. When they stopped answering, I came to find them."
As Ærik listens, he hears, no feels, the pain in her voice. "Finding lost people or things is what I love most. I feel a deep pain from your truth that I did not expect. I now have a reason to be here, rather than just avoiding BEN," damn I failed at that he thinks, "Depending on what we find at the lake, I will see this to end. If you parents aren't involved and you split, my offer to help afterwards still stands. Do you know what they were hunting?" Ærik adds before she can respond.
“I might be able to help to. If you have any credit card or cell phone information for them I might be able to track where it was last used. People leave digital trails all the time.” Ryan offers as well, not knowing what he would do if his Mom was taken from him.
"It's... not that easy," Liz said with a sigh. "We tend to find ourselves on the wrong side of the law. The police don't like it when a senator ends up dead, even if that senator is a vampire or a changling. So, we like to keep ourselves as much off the grid as possible. All our phones are cheap gas station pay as you go phones." She glanced at Erik. "I don't know what they were hunting. but if they haven't answered calls for two weeks, and their voicemails are full, it can't have been good."
“It’s worth a shot and takes literally no effort on my part.” Ryan says with a smile
Liz held up the ancient flip phone. "This is literally the only thing I have left of them." She looked at it a moment, then tossed it back to Ryan. "I feel like my parents are involved in this, somehow," Liz continued. "I don't think it's a coincidence they go missing, I show up, and I get pulled into a jail cell by BEN. I've been here a day. How did they know I was here? How could they have found me? None of this makes sense to me."
Ryan looks at the phone and checks to see if the phone has the ability to connect to the internet. It does not. "Does any of your parents phone connect to the internet? Or do they have an email or something they would check infrequently?" Ryan asks
Liz thought for a moment. "No... nothing that I can think of."
"Things aren't going to be easy. I'll see what I can do. Have they been using this same number long?" Ryan asks
"For a while," Liz said, giving him a glance in the rearview. "Can you really do this? Can you find out where they last were?"
"Possibly. Your parents are making it very difficult to do but its not impossible. Maybe with a little luck I can. I'll certainly try at least." Ryan says not wanting to make a promise he doesn't he can keep.
"The point is to be untrackable." Liz frowned at the road before her. "I'm not even supposed to be here." Quickly changing the subject, she asked, "So, where are we going?"
"Lake Buena Vista. You'll want to make right in about 3 miles." Ryan says. Liz nods and continues on in silence.
Kall pulls her Nokia from her pocket and tosses it to Ryan, "I have one too." She says, not sure what the point of the device is.
“You do. But I don’t need them anymore here you go.” Ryan says giving both Kall and Liz their phones back.
Liz took back her phone, clutching it for a moment, before dropping it into her lap. Kall accepts the phone and pushes a few random buttons before putting it back in her pocket.
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Once the group finds some free parking everyone meets outside as Ryan explains the plan he came up with.
"Lake Buena Vista is too big of a place for us to investigate as one big group so lets split into three smaller groups. I and Ærik can go to the actual lake. There he can talk to some wildlife and we'll see if there is anything happening at the actual Lake. Nolan, you seem charismatic, take Arial with you to the downtown resort-like area and talk to people. Pretend you're tourist and asking about the best magic in Disney. See if anything sound like actual magic. Kieran and Liz you two can hit up a local bar or something. Talk to people and try to find any local rumors. We meet back up here at the cars in two hours. If you find something don't engage with it. You don't want to fight anything in broad daylight with people around."
"My plant loves Lakes. It can come with you." Arial says putting the pot on the ground where the plant begins to move a leave the pot while JC the sprite rides on top of it.
Ryan just sight. "Don't get caught, anyone. BEN is just looking for a reason to pin whatever this is on one of us and I personally don't want to give them one. Alright. Now let's find something." Ryan finishes with a smile as he begins to lead the bronze Viking holding a plant towards the Lake while the other go in their own respective directions.
(Group Waffle House: Liz and Kieran Natural 20 on Investigation.)
(Group Downtown Disney: KALL and Roland 19 on Investigation.)
(Group Lake: Ryan, Ærik, JC, and plant 23 on Investigation.)
Lake Group
Ærik, Ryan, and JC make their way to the lake that goes by the same name. The druid begins by interrogating the animals, asking if they’ve seen anything strange.
“That kayak wasn’t any of us,” a disgruntled alligator shares. “D’you think we’re stupid? We know what bloomin’ plastic looks like.” Most of the other animals are about as scatter-brained as Æric as come to expect, but that is a certainly interesting development.
Meanwhile, Ryan and JC scour the lake bed for close to an hour while Æric talks to the animals. Ryan finds a single pitch black feather, odd when compared to the local birds.
———
Downtown Disney Group
Nolan and KALL find themselves in a world of magic at Disney Springs. The summer crowds and humidity are staggering, making it almost difficult to focus. Almost everyone seems like a tourist; small children begging their parents to go into the store of their choice.
KALL gets distracted at the Ganachery, spending a good five minutes mesmerized by the gorgeous truffles. When they finally buy a small box, they discover they are just as delicious as they looked.
“Back in the old days, they used to hide the construction,” a bald, bearded man in a Hawaiian shirt complains to his lanky, teenaged companion. The pair enter behind KALL and Nolan, clearly also in the mood for some fancy chocolate. “They were sneaky about it, trying to keep the magic alive. Now they just throw up those stupid barriers.”
”And I thought they were done months ago,” the son adds. “What’s there left to build here?”
Their attention drawn to it, both KALL and Nolan notice that the artificial springs that give Disney Springs its name appear to be under construction.
———
Waffle House Group
Liz and Keiran find themselves sharing a plate of hash browns, not full from Nolan’s delicious pancakes.
“I swear, I saw her!” An old man says in a conspiratorial tone to the sole waitress in the joint. “Right out of King Arthur, the Lady of the Lake! She sang to me!”
”I suppose that makes king, huh sugar,” the waitress replies, unfazed.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Waffle House
Liz looks up, meeting Kieran's gaze. She nods in the direction of the old man, as if it ask if he had heard what was said. Kieran nods back, then whispers to her, “I’d say we have a lead.”
Liz takes another bite of the hashbrowns before turning to the old man, and giving him a friendly smile. "I like fairy tales, why don't you tell me about yours?"
“Fairy tales don’t got nothing to do with it,” the old man says grumpily, digging into his pecan waffle. “I saw what I saw.”
"Then tell me," Liz said, pointing at an empty chair at his table, as if asking permission to join him. "Tell me what you saw."
“She was beautifully, totally nude,” the man gives a wink. “She just came straight out of the lake, singing the most beautiful song I ever heard.” Liz grabbed the plate of hashbrowns and nodded at Kieran to follow. She moved to the old man's table, sitting across from him. Kieran grabs his own plate and follows to the man's table, where he continues eating.
"So, what was this song?" Liz asked, dowsing her hashbrowns in ketchup.
“I dunno, never heard it before,” the man shrugged. “Probably one of those opera songs.”
"Did you feel compelled to do anything when you heard it?" Liz took a big bite of her food, eyes on the man, her interest piqued.
“Well, I mean,” the man grunted. “This is not the kind of conversation one has in a restaurant.”
Kieran enters the conversation. "Do you have a better place in mind?" Liz choked on her food, and began coughing.
“Do I need to spell it out for you, boy?” The man grumbled.
Recovering, Liz continued. "Where did this happen?"
“I was fishing at Lake Mabel,” the man replied. “That’s when I saw her. And I swear I’m not crazy, Di!” The last sentence was directed, pointedly, at the waitress.
"We're not from here," Liz said, trying to get his attention back. "Can you tell me where that is?" Kieran pulls out his phone to look up Lake Mabel.
“Just go down Winter Garden Vineland Road for like six miles,” the man replied.
"Okay. Have you heard of things like this happening before?" Liz pushed her plate away.
“Not from reputable sources, like myself,” the man replies, his mouth full. “You know how those crackheads sometimes see things that aren’t there.”
"Any of those rumors flying around lately?" Liz gave him a charming smile. "I'm curious and love things like this. I love hearing stories."
“No specifics that I know of,” the man scowled.
Liz reached out and touched his hand. "Oh come on," she said, still smiling. "You can tell me."
“I told you what I know, why are you asking?” He frowned.
Liz shrugged. "Just curiosity." She glanced at Kieran.
Kieran sees Liz's look and raises an eyebrow. He looks back to the man. "Where in the lake did you see her?"
“Stop asking questions, I’m having breakfast.”
Kieran shrugs to Liz. "Tell us, and my friend here will buy your breakfast," Liz offered. Now Kieran glares at Liz. Liz returns the glare with a grin.
“Go away, I’m eating. I can buy my own damn waffle.”
Kieran looks to the man. "We're just trying to figure out where to look to try to find this 'woman'. We're interested in...the occult, lets say. Creatures and things most people consider mythical, but we believe actually exist."
“You are crazy,” the man grumbles. “I said leave me alone.”
"We are literally the only people that believe you," Liz said, the grin dropping from her face. "What do you think that waitress is saying about you now?"
“I don’t need the beliefs of crackheads,” he replied.
"Crazy? Crackheads?" Kieran asks with an arched eyebrow. "Is this crazy?" He reaches a hand across to place it on the table next to the man's plate. As it moves, the hand and forearm shift, fur sprouting out to cover the skin, claws growing out in place of the fingernails.
His eyes glaze over, as if he can’t actually see the lycanthropic arm. “I said go away or I’ll call the cops,” he shakes his head.
“Scuse me, dears,” Di, the waitress approaches you both. “I’m going to ask you both to leave. I can’t have you riling up my customers.”
As the waitress comes over, Liz "accidentally" spills the mans drink. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!"
The man feels Liz's hand try to slip into his cargo pants, and he pulls the butter knife on her. The butter knife breaks skin, a burst of pain shooting through Liz’s hand. “What the-“ Di says, reaching for a phone.
Liz jumps up, screaming, "Crazy old man! This guy's crazy! Says he sees naked women from fantasy stories handing out swords then cuts me with a butter knife." She gives a desperate look to Kieran, one that says 'run,' then walks quickly to the door.
The waitress dials 911. “Yes, two people, one man one woman.... I think they’re high... she tried to steal from Jackson.... going on about something.... I’ll stay on the line...”
With a grimace, Kieran quickly follows Liz out the door. Once they get outside he says with another glare “we need to find somewhere to lie low for a bit. Last thing we need is to get arrested. “
"I know," Liz said. "Ditch the car for now. We'll come back for her later." She pulled Kieran around the side of the building, and down an alley. As an after thought, Liz turned off her cellphone and slid it in her pocket. "Cellphone, turn it off," she told Kieran.
“Should we split up? She did say one man and one woman, less obvious if we aren’t together. Unless you can make yourself look like a man?”
"I cannot." Liz spent a second thinking. "Sure, split up. Meet at the car at dark or something." She then went down the next left she came to. Kieran watches her go for a moment, then heads the opposite direction. He continues down the alleyway for a ways, then stops at a dumpster. He stashes his backpack, longbow, leather jacket, hand crossbow, and dagger behind the dumpster out of sight, since the bow and jacket are too obvious if cops find him and the weapons might not go over well if he’s caught.
Ten minutes later a cop car arrives. An armed officer comes down the alleyway, looking for trouble. She breezes right over Kieran, not seeing his hiding spot. But as Liz shifts her weight, loose asphalt shifts under her feet and the cop whips around. “Hands up where I can see them,” she says, making eye contact with Liz.
Liz put her hands up, in a defensive manner before her face. "Okay, okay."
“Get on the ground,” the cop says authoritatively.
"Absolutely, officer," Liz says, cooperating, and laying on the ground. The officer comes behind and cuffs Liz. "Are you going to tell me why I'm under arrest?" Liz asked, laying very still. "That's my right as a US citizen. You have to tell me why you're arresting me."
The officer recites the Miranda rights as she begins cuffing Liz. “You are under arrest for attempted theft and suspected drug use.”
"Drug use?" Liz asked, confused. "You should check the old man that cut me with a butter knife while claiming to have been sung to by a naked woman in a lake."
“Di says you were the ones pushing Jackson, and while that old man is missing a few marbles, he’s no using,” the officer dragged Liz to the hunter’s feet. “And if someone tried to pick my pocket, I’d probably pull more than a butter knife on them.”
"It was a misunderstanding." Liz allows the officer to move her around, not resisting. "I spilled some water, was trying to clean it up, and wipe him down. I don't know why he pulled the butter knife on me, but I got the hell out of there. That guy's crazy!"
“Di says you were asked to leave multiple times,” the cop said wearily. “Where is your boyfriend?”
"Boyfriend?" Again Liz looked confused. "I was asked to leave, I tried, I spilled a drink, tried to clean it up, and got attacked!"
“I’m going to remove you from this particular situation, take you down to the station, and have you take a drug test. If you come back clean, then you’ll be free to go,” the officer replied. “Di and Jackson aren’t going to press charges, but for everyone’s sake I’d probably suggest you stay away from here from now on.”
"Don't have to ask me twice," Liz said. "I will gladly submit to any drug test. Also, any chance I can get some stitches or something," Liz asked. "I don't want to be bleeding all over."
“I’ve got some gauze in the back of my car. After we’re done with you, you’re welcome to check yourself into a hospital.” The officer proceeded to put Liz into the police car, and drive away, leaving Kieran on his own.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Lake
Ryan, having seen the feather, is going to look at it and try to recall if there is any magical creature he knows that has black feathers such as these. (Arcana: 17)
JC flies up to the feather for a closer look, landing on Ryan's shoulder. "Hmmm... looks like a feather," the sprite remarks. "A black one." The sprite gestures wildly as it adds the last remark.
"Yes. But I haven't seen any local birds with this color of feather before. So, it is not from here. Maybe it's from the magical world. I'm trying to remember if I've ever heard or read of a magical creature with a black feather." Ryan responds.
"Kall has black feathers," the sprite responds. "And they look just... like... that." "Lemme touch it. We magical beings can tell magic merely by smell," JC adds.
"I don't think that last bit is true." Ryan says looking at the feather before asking "Has Kall been here before?"
"No," JC assures Ryan. "Not in this lifetime, anyway." He paces from one shoulder to the other, fluttering past Ryan's head.
"Hmmmm....do others of his kind normally frequent around here?" Ryan asks JC after not detecting any lies from him. (Insight: 18)
"There are flocks of Kenku that live in this realm. Normally out of sight and just as tricky as our Kall," the sprite responds.
"Hmmmm.....we'll take it back just in case. Maybe its not from a magical being. Maybe it is from this world. That still doesn't explain why it is here." Ryan ponders aloud.
"That is quite the feather! Where'd you find that one? I haven't seen a bird like that here yet. " Æriksays, while approaching Ryan and JC. "The animals didn't seem to know much either, except an alligator saying something about them not "doing the kayak". "Should I ask them if they've seen any blackbirds, now that we have something else to go on, or are you two ready to move along" Ærik adds.
"Yeah. There was a lake a little bit from here where a girl in a kayak got attacked by something. I believe part of it was bitten off. Ummm....sure, ask them if they've seen anything with this type of feather." Ryan says holding out the feather for Ærik to take.
"Oh, they'll likely not look like birds, but they'll leave feathers in stressful situations. It's a good thing you didn't check Kall's cot before she left that BEN cell." The sprite laughs heartily.
Ærik turns to JC. "Does it look like a Kenku feather to you? You are the only one with any knowledge of them among us I would say, but I don't mind asking, the animals are rather friendly here. "
"I can't tell, Ryan is hoarding the feather," the sprite responds.
Ærik takes the feather from Ryan's outstretched hand and offered a closer look to JC.
"Hmmmm...." JC says, inspecting it further. The sprite sniffs it, licks it, rubs the bristles. "I'd say no... waaay too small!"
Ærik spends a few more minutes preparing and casting Speaks with Animals as a ritual, and starts asking any animal he sees it they have seen a creature with that black feather around? Ærik turns to JC, and asks, "This plant I'm carrying for KALL, which has enjoyed our little nature walk I think. Heck, I talked to a couple creatures, that only came to me because of this plant. May I ask what species this is?"
"They're called Ciswoot," JC responds. "They create the berries I use for my arrows." The sprite pulls one from its little quiver and inspects it. "Quite potent! One shot and you're sleeping like a baby." The arrow slips out of its grasp and almost falls into Ryan's shoulder, but the sprite catches it at the last moment. "Whoa! Close one."
"Yeah. I'd rather not fall asleep right now." Ryan says to the Sprite.
"I got it, I got it. I'm a professional," JC says, placing the arrow back in its quiver.
Unfortunately, the animals don't know where the feather came from but Ryan is certain it's magical or comes from a magical creature.
"Well. We got something. Why don't we return to the others and see what they found? And then you said finding was your specialty. Do you think you can track down who this feather belongs to?" Ryan asks Ærik.
"Kall found something shady in Downtown Disney. I told her to go invisible and explore! She sounds like she's having loads of fun!" The sprite grins.
"Oh, man. I hope nobody saw her just disappear. Or that she doesn't get caught when she becomes visible again." Ryan says.
"She'll be fiiiine," the sprite responds.
"I do specialize in finding things, but I need to know what I'm looking for"Ærik adds while emphasizing the word 'what' "I am usually looking for missing persons or objects, and I can see a picture, and familiarize myself with what I'm looking for. The Goddess's gift works in mysterious ways"
"That's fine. We have more information than we had and that's all that matters. Hopefully, the others got something else that helps connect this. Let's start heading back. We can talk along the way." Ryan says smiling at Ærik. "So... you're a Michigander why are you down here in Florida?" Ryan asks.
"Are you hitting on him?" The sprite asks from Ryan's shoulder.
"No!" Ryan says far too quickly and defensively as he looks at the ground. An obvious blush on his face.
"Ok... ok... I'll just be in my house... pretending not to hear." The sprite flits through the air into the awakened shrub. The plant wraps itself around the sprite.
"I did not see you trying to swing a fist at me," Ærik says with a slight grin. "I guess we should head back. The animals and this feather have given us a little too work with."
A muffled voice speaks up from the plant, "Sprites can tell your true feelings!" It says, "Your heart can't lie!" Then silence follows.
"Why don't you see what Kall and Nolan are up to JC?" Ryan says hoping the Sprite will leave.
Soft snoring emerges from the plant, obviously exaggerated.
Lake
Ærik and Ryan continue their walk. They pace themselves in a way that any onlookers would think they are just enjoying a leisurely stroll. ” I hope the others have found something more useful. It seems like there's more going on than we thought. The alligator assured me that no animal in that lake attacked that kayak. I'm starting to see a little better why BEN grabbed us. I wish I had prepared differently, but I'm supposed to be avoiding BEN, not working with them. I only have my daily go-to spells prepared." Ærik adds.
"That's fine. I'm sure we'll be back around here to prepare. Of course, I understand why they might have grabbed Kall now. And I guess they grabbed me because I kept hacking into the Police Department online files to find anything that was deferred to BEN. But, hey, you never answered my question. Why are you down here Ærik?" Ryan responds.
"Well BEN and I had a misunderstanding, and I left without telling them where I was going. I failed badly at that task it would seem. I often get called in to assist the Search and Rescue division back home. Usually missing campers or hikers. I sometimes train people in outdoor survival. It's a peaceful life mostly."Ærik replies. "We got a call about some missing campers and I took a group of trainees with me. We found them...." His voice trailing off slightly. "We found what was left anyway. They had been mauled by a bear." Ærik's voice raises in anger as he says "Dammit... It really was a bear. I haven't done anything unsanctioned in a decade." Obviously frustrated as he is speaking. "The campers had left their food in the tent, instead of hiding it in a tree, and the bear was in bad shape." His voice growing more somber, "I can't blame her, I found her dead cubs days later." He stops walking for a minute. Resting on his staff like an old man gathering his thoughts. He says a silent prayer to the Goddess, and continues. "I'm sorry, let's continue. So BEN thought I had something to do with it, the trainees were my only witnesses or I'd still be in hot water. So once the paperwork was done, I decided to leave town for a while. An old woman I fixed a flat tire for, said she was coming to Florida, so I hitched along. I thought I'd play ghost for a while, but you see how that turned out."
"That must have been hard. You obviously have a connection to nature. And you obviously want to help people. But people don't always mix well with nature. And it sounds like wherever you're at BEN is blaming you for any "mysterious animal attacks". Ryan says putting air quotes around mysterious. "Well. Hopefully, we can clear your name of this water attack." Ryan says with a hopeful smile towards Ærik.
"I thank you for that, but about ten years ago, I did give them a reason to "suspect" me. I have paid for my 'mistake' in more ways than BEN could imagine." Ærik mimics Ryan's air quotes at the word mistake. "I don't think I ended up here by accident any longer though. And you are correct. Most people do not appreciate nature in the proper way. It's one of the reasons I do Outdoor Survival training. To try and educate people that nature is very beautiful, but very deadly if underestimated." Ærik says.
Slight humming comes from the plant, followed by the whispered song, There you see him... Sitting there across the way He don't got a lot to say But there's something about him... And you don't know why But you're dying to try, You wanna kiss the guy.
Ryan attempts to ignore the Sprite and says to Ærik "Well. I'd love to take your survival training course. I'll admit that being in nature is a little outside of my element. But I'm always willing to learn. Maybe...maybe you can teach me a little if we have some downtime?" Ryan hesitantly asks.
Ærik closes one eye, and looks Ryan from the eye to the ground and back up. As if sizing him up. "You're not in bad shape, and everyone could learn more about nature. I'd be happy to teach you. It wouldn't kill me to learn a little bit about your tech stuff." He shakes his head slightly side to side disapprovingly, "it's getting harder to be a part of this world without it I'm afraid." Ærik finishes in a more upbeat tone, "Maybe we can help each other some?."
Ryan blushes at the compliment. “Thanks. I do my best to keep in shape. I’m not that strong but I’m pretty quick and dexterous. And I’d be happy to teach you some stuff about technology. We can at least start with getting you a phone that lasts. And who knows. Maybe we’ll find more similarities between technology and nature than we knew.” Ryan says, obviously happy at the prospect of working together.
Happy to find someone not unpleasant to talk to, Ærik replies,"Electricity comes from Nature, so I'm sure you're right, I just don't get the magic to control it. It'll be good to learn a little more about it."
Ryan laughs a little at that “It’s not magic. It’s just knowledge about how it works. Like I said I’ll definitely teach you some things. We’ll start with staying in contact with people and then move to research for stuff about the magical community. You can learn a lot about our community online.”
Ærik waits until he no longer perceives anyone paying them any attention, and pretends to stumble. He stops, resting on his Staff. "Sorry, sorry, I'm ok. Here, will you hold the plant for a minute?" He asks. As Ryan takes the plant from him, he then raises his staff very slightly off the ground, and plants it firmly backs down. Ærik kneels to the ground and touches a small dandelion,"I have reasons for my doubts," he says, making sure to have Ryan's attention. The dandelion quickly doubles in size and blooms. (Druidcraft) He then stands and reaches into his Duster. He is facing Ryan now, as he pulls his hand out of the jacket, his hand appears to be cracking with a green arcane electricity. (Druidcraft again) The hand returns to normal as it comes into view of the sun again, "I'm willing to try though."
“Willing to try is a start. I know your magic makes it difficult. Though I must admit, I am a little jealous of you and all the others that can do magic. It all looks so beautiful.” Ryan pauses for a minute and then chuckles to himself as a memory. “I tried to be a wizard once. Back when I was first learning about the magical world. Those who were teaching me thought I was smart enough to master the arcane. I understood it on a fundamental level but no matter how hard I tried and practiced the magic never came. I was missing that extra something that you needed. It was the first time I failed at anything in my life.” Ryan says, getting quieter at the mention of failure.
"I have to admit, that was pretty fun, I don't usually get to share my 'gifts' with people. BEN and all."Ærik responds while taking the plant back. "Umm. Speaking of which, you really don't seem to uh, well, magic, so why would BEN have grabbed you with us?"
“I guess you didn’t pick up on the hint I laid earlier,” Ryan says with a chuckle. “Well, because I’m not that magically inclined I have a harder time than others seeing where the magical world and ours collide. I can’t be an effective hunter if I don’t know where to go. So, I use my computer skills to find the incidents for me. With my computers, I can remotely gain access to the local Police Stations computer database. While within the database I can look for any open cases that have mysterious circumstances surrounding them or have been taken over by BEN. And then I have the information I need to try and solve what happened. So, in short, BEN probably took me because I keep putting my nose into their work in an attempt to solve what they cannot.” Ryan finishes with a proud smile on his face.
Ærik breathes a small sigh of agreement. "Ah yes, so you use them like they use us." he chuckles as he finishes saying this "Yes, I will teach you. Til heiðurs míns"
Ryan’s eyes light up when Ærik speaks in a language he doesn’t know. “What language was that? I’ve never heard it before,” he asks genuinely interested.
"I'm sorry. sometimes I forget. That was Icelandic, I said On My Honor." Ærik replies.
“Wow. Icelandic. Maybe I’ll pick that up someday. I’ve always had a fascination with languages since my Dedushka, that’s Russian for Grandpa, taught me his native Russian tongue. And now that’s how I make my living when I’m not hunting.” Ryan says.
"Yes, Russian, that's what you were speaking in the cell. I don't speak that tongue myself." Ærik says. He pauses for a minute and asks "People pay you to speak in tongues often?"
“Not speak but more of translating. So, I work for this company where they send me a document, normally a book or journal article, or sometimes even instruction manuals, in one language and then I type up the document in another language using all the correct translation, grammar, punctuation etc. Then I send it back and they pay me for the translation. How much I get paid depends on the languages and the size of the document. The bigger the document and more obscure the language the bigger the paycheck. And it’s really nice because it’s all done via my computer so I can do it anywhere and I can choose how often I work.” Ryan explains.
"Preserving history in other languages, like a scribe, very honorable," Ærik says with a reaffirming nod.
Lake
Ryan blushes and looks down at the ground at Æriks comment. He then says “So, I’ve told you a little bit about my life. Why don’t you tell me a little about yours? You say you’re from Michigan. What’s it like? I’ve never been though it’s only a hop, jump, and skip away from where I grew up in Chicago”
Ærik is quiet for a moment, looking away and seemingly to the heavens. "The Goddess has graced that land with her beauty. I don't really talk about me much, but a little history should be ok", he finally says. "I grew up on a forgotten Mohawk reservation with my mother. When I was becoming a man, my 'gifts' started to show themselves. She took me to my father, and he enrolled me in the 'Druid School " He throws up air quotes at the word druid "My father is a member of the Viking Fantasy Football league. Those of us with the gift, worship a different God than most Druids. Our power comes from our Icelandic blood and our bond with the Norse Goddess Freyja, said to have taught Odin himself the Nature magic he uses." Ærik's voice notably filled with great pride. "She gifts us with great power, in exchange for our worship. We take a vow to protect nature, and those unable to protect themselves." Ærik gets rather somber, a lone tear running down his cheek. "I failed her once and lost my gift. That will never happen again."
“I’m sorry. Let’s talk about something lighter. What’s your favorite animal? Mine is the polar bear. They’re very strong but also adorable and smart.” Ryan says.
"I always liked birds," JC speaks up from the plant.
A look of melancholy comes across Ærik's face. "Oh to fly, my teacher could fly, I have not earned my wings yet. To soar with the great eagles would be a Joy unlike any other. My favorites would be either a Gray Wolf, or a Brown bear. Such majestic and peaceful creatures unless you anger them." Ærik is lost in thought and starts laughing. "Adorable... Hahahaha. Polar bears adorable." And he starts laughing again.
As they continue to walk, Ærik manages to compose himself. "Thank you. I needed a good belly laugh. I keep picturing a giant polar bear feasting on the insides of a freshly slain seal. Not an adorable image. Oh, but the little ones are as cute as well a Wolf Cub. So first nature lesson,"Ærik continues, "Don't **** with bear Cubs..." A big grin on his face.
“I knew that. But Polar Bears are adorable. I mean. They may turn a bright shade of pink when they eat but.....then they play in the snow.” Ryan says with a laugh.
"Good, having seen it up close, it's not a thing you forget easily. But good choice. Beautiful Creature indeed. " Ærik replies.
Ryan just beams. “So, Pizza? Does that sound good for dinner.”
"I like pizza." Ærik answers back, "All the flavors right in your hand. Nice and easy."
“Pizza it’ll be,” Ryan says with a nod.
"With extra sausage!" JC calls out.
Ærik shakes the plant just barely, a quick little jolt. "Hey, sleepy head. How's it going in there?"
"Hey watch it! Not too rough," the sprite calls out. The plant follows up in sylvan, Whooooa... I think I almost lost a berry.
Ryan stops. Stares at the plant. And then responds to it in Sylvan You can talk!?!
"Of course Bebe can talk!" JC responds. JC flutters out of the plant as it unfurls its leaves. Seeing as they're getting close to the car, the sprite disappears. Shhhhhh, JC says in Sylvan. We're getting close to the parking lot.
Ærik makes a point of looking at Ryan, and not the plant, while saying "I would love to know more about you and your plant . Maybe we can talk more later." Also mindful of their surroundings. He's not sure where the Sprite went but hopes he can still hear him.
Ærik feels a slight pressure, like something tiny landing on his shoulder. In his ear, JC whispers, "Bebe is just a toddler, but sure! I'm always happy to educate the uneducated."
"I usually get to teach about nature. Hopefully, we will actually get pizza night tonight. I'm looking forward to our talks." Ærik replies, still looking at Ryan.
Ryan, understanding that Ærik isn’t really talking to him, blushes anyways. “We’ll definitely get pizza tonight and I think we can all talk. Now let’s go get the others.
Ærik nods his head and says, "I'm excited to find out what they learned."
Ærik tucks the plant s little tighter into his side, making sure his grip is solid as they near the parking lot. He takes his time, surveying the area for BEN agents he recognizes, or anyone especially out of place. (Perception: 8)
Enjoying the fun of Downtown Disney...
Kall found herself enthralled with Downtown Disney. The Ganachery was scrumptious! She'd never actually had chocolate like that before, and when the bald man and the boy started talking about the construction, she barely even noticed. "More?" She asked, cocking her head.
Nolan tensed as he realized he was paired with the peculiar person. Only knowing Kall to be from another plane, he sighed and tried to look at the bright side. You get to pick the brain of an extraplanar being. About to pick her brain, he was interrupted by the pair's chatter about the fountain. Kall cocked her head, asking for more. Nolan feigned a smile, replying, "You'll need to get back in line if you want more. Perhaps we should check out the construction at the fountain and then we can go back for seconds?"
Kall looked over to the construction for a moment, then back at Nolan. Then back at the construction. After a few moments, she responded, "Okay," and started walking towards the fenceline. As she got closer to the fenceline, she suddenly disappeared. While invisible, she scurried up and over the fence and started looking around.
The sudden disappearance shocked Nolan, but he maintained his composure. There was much he didn't know about her, and he needed to act naturally until he could dig out more. Nolan pulled out his wand, feigning pretending to be a wizard from Harry Potter. He waved it around with an extra flourish and cast Detect Magic as he investigated the fountain. He noticed that while the fence itself wasn't magic, streams of magic were everywhere around him. The sight nearly overwhelmed him, causing him to stagger back and then breath in the air deep. I guess when people said Disneyland was magical, they weren't lying, he thought to himself.
Kall's eyes were not as sharp as Nolan's wand, for all she saw was just a normal lake... and not construction equipment anywhere behind the construction wall. An odd fact, given the situation. She dropped to the other side of the fence and started walking the lake, making her way to the bottling company sign, which overshadowed a restaurant.
Dipping into somewhere private, Nolan cast Invisibility, and then proceeded to climb over the fence. He too saw the lake and lack of construction equipment. Intrigued by the water, he changed his jacket into something more water resistant and form-fitting, took off his shoes, and then went for a swim to see what he could find [20 on Investigation].
Realizing that she had to swim, Kall dipped into the lake. She thrashed about in the water, eventually making her way to the other side and out of the water, scrambling to get back out. She shook, water flinging everywhere, readjusted something on her head, then scrambled back up the wall to walk around to the Bottling company.
As Nolan swam around the lake, he spotted something catch the shifting rays of underwater light, hidden amidst a steady stream of bubbles. Diving down, he was the glistening object as a lyre, lying in the center of a bubbling chasm. He swam down and acquired the object, then spotting a flute nestled within a narrow crack. His form too small to fit into, he noted the object and swam back for the surface. Perhaps Kall can shift into a kid and grab it later.
Kall found her way into the Bottling company, only to discover that it was far more boring than the chocolate factory and not nearly as good. She decided that maybe she should head back to meet Nolan and let him know what she found.
Once reaching the surface, Nolan called out, "Marco!" He waited a moment, realizing that perhaps extraplanar beings didn't know the game. He shouted out, "Marco!" one more time before giving up and slipping under the walls, returning to the chocolate factory to see if Kall had gone back for seconds. Once he spotted her amongst the occupants, he slipped into the bathroom, ended his invisibility, checked himself to see if he looked dry, changed the appearance of his jacket to something more suitable, and then slid in behind her. "Where'd you run off to?" he probed lightly.
“Oh, hello,” Kall responded. “I came back for more. You said I can have more after we looked. I looked and I didn’t see anything. I found a lot of water.” Kall gave Nolan a smile, trying a little too hard resulting in a creepy uncanny valley vibe. “It’s good chocolate,” she said to the person in line in front of her. Obviously... this kenku couldn't handle her sugar.
Nolan nodded his head, taken a bit back by the sudden flurry of words. "Yes... I did say that. Let's get some more and then well chat!"
The line moved quickly enough, and once they had their orders they sat down. Kall dug into her chocolate immediately whereas Nolan pulled the lyre out of his backpack. "This was sitting at the bottom of the lake. There was a flute too, but it was in a crack I couldn't wiggle into."
Between bites, Kall lifts the lyre and inspects it [9 on Arcana]. It looked very pretty, and grabbed the kenku's attention. "Ooooh," Kall said. "Very pretty. I can have it?"
Nolan waved his wand around, using its last charge, and picked up a good sense of magic coming from it. He shrugged in response to Kall. "I don't play lyres, but this whole situation smells of Excalibur." He slid the lyre across the table to Kall. She accepted the lyre and played a few chords, strumming it with her fingers.
With the lyre in hand, Kall and Nolan returned to their meeting spot, eager to discover what the others in their motley group of strangers had discovered about the lake.
Kieran waits another hour or so until its about time for the others to meet up at the waffle house, then grabs his gear back out from behind the dumpster and makes his way bakc to find a spot where he can stay out of sight but keep an eye on the waffle house to spot the others when they arrive.
Nolan walked into the waffle house with specks of chocolate on his cheek. His hair and clothes had mostly dried out, offering only the faintest hint that he'd taken a dip underwater just an hour or so ago. He looked around trying to see if anyone else had arrived yet.
Ryan is in the parking lot, with Ærik, JC, and Bebe, and watched Nolan just walk in to the Waffle House and ignore him as he attempted to get his attention.
Kieran watches Nolan enter the Waffle House and spots Ryan uselessly trying to get the other man's attention. He quickly walks to the group, trying to avoid notice. When he is standing behind them, he says quietly, "So...things didn't go quite as planned. We should find somewhere else to catch each other up."
Seeing no one had arrived *within* the waffle house, Nolan goes to the bar to see what he can order. He'd never been, but had heard amazing stories of the filthy goodness that was Waffle House.
Ryan turns around at the voice. “Kieran. Why, are you sneaking around? What happened?” He asks.
Continuing in a quiet voice, eyes darting around nervously, Kieran says, "Liz tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught. We got out, but they called the cops. We split up so we'd be less obvious, not sure where she went."
Kall looks over to Nolan, then back at the car in the parking lot, then back to Nolan. She then orders a waffle.
“What? You got the cops called on you.” Ryan just sighs. “Where’s Nolan and Arial? We need them. And then, I guess figure out where Liz is.”
"You just watched Nolan walk into the Waffle House...I saw you trying to get his attention" Kieran says
"I like waffles," Kall informs Nolan. "They're better than pancakes."
“Yeah. I jus thought they’d walk out once they saw we weren’t there.” Ryan says. “I’ll go get them.” He says as Ryan now enters the Waffle House to get the two and get them out.
Nolan glanced behind him at Kall. "Waffles are great! Just as great as pancakes. No more... no *less*."
Ryan sees the two and walks up behind them. “Really. More pancakes. What are you two doing here the rest of us are outside?”
Nolan turned around in a whirl as he waited for his waffled and fried chicken. "You guys were outside? What're you, hiding or something?"
"Liz tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught," Kall answers Nolan.
He looked around frantically, seeing if anyone overheard. Whispering to Kall, Nolan advised, "Try to keep your voice down when talking about illegal stuff next time... and magic."
"Liz tried to pick someone's pocket and got caught," Kall whispers to Nolan.
“No. Not hiding. You’re just unobservant. Anyways get your food to go. We have stuff to discuss.” Ryan tells the two.
Kall nods to Ryan, then whispers to Nolan, "To go. We have illegal stuff to discuss about magic." She then gestures to the server, "To go."
Nolan shook his head, but couldn't conceal the smile. Once he and Kall got their food, he took it with him and met up with Ryan and the others outside.