Fantasy The Passage of Time

[Kazehana]

The lady said nothing in return, choosing to simply wait a few moments. She seemed to fade out of existence, almost like a mirage. Caroline rolled her eyes and looked back to her phone, mostly to feign nonchalance. Aaron was less subtle and glanced down the alleyway to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

"Tsk tsk, is that how you greet a new friend? I thought you would have some manners by now," a voice responded, followed by a giggle. "Besides, you're not really in a position to demand answers, are you?" Her voice now came from a discernible direction behind him, almost as if her breath found his neck. She chuckled even more to herself before moving yet again, this time to Caroline.

Her lack of reaction irritated the girl, but that wasn't why she was here. She reentered her physical form and leaned against the wall next to Caroline. Her pigtails were fastened with large red ribbons with yellow linings, her dress a red corset with a black skirt. "My dearest Caroline, how are we?" she asked with a slightly mocking sympathetic tone. Caroline's silence suited both of them, causing the girl to smile. "Oh now, don't be so shy, it's me after all. And it looks like you've been up to a lot. Is this another one of your playthings?" she asked playfully, obviously talking about their new companion. Neither Caroline nor Aaron responded.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie's immediate response to her condescending words was to attack, it would be unexpected given the fact that she believed she had the upper hand. But looking more at the reaction of his companions, especially the lack of any words from Caroline upon receiving a taunt, Charlie decided he'd shrug off the initial insult to his power. But that changed when she spoke of him again.

"Plaything?" Charlie flexed his fingers about, loosening them up and preparing to use his powers to combat this woman- but despite how angry the term 'plaything' made him he was calm enough to not make the first physical move. But if she tried anything else there was no doubt he would attack. "Let me tell you something lady. I'm no body's plaything, and you are most certainly not my friend. You're pretty damned lucky that I'm generous enough to ask you once more in this sophisticated manner- what do you know about the electrical discharge?" He demanded, his tone a lot more confident and bold than before- Charlie was pretty riled up and was letting his rage get the best of him. Scanning the alley Charlie noted it was abandoned, meaning that if this person had magic too (which was most likely) they would have no trouble using it here without being seen- just as he would. That meant if there was a conflict, and it was going sour for Charlie, he could flee to the streets where she wouldn't be able to use her powers and the three of them would be able to physically apprehend her.

 

[Kazehana]

She glanced at the boy briefly before she gave her response. "I will tell you what I want and that's how it's going to be," she replied flatly, giving his 'threat' no second thought. "Anyway," she began again to Aaron this time, "it seems as if you're being sought out by Kale. I could not tell you why, but that's why I'm here. The rest of this doesn't seem like my business." At the news, Aaron was suddenly interested in what she had to say. "You're in contact?" Caroline replied in shock. "Sort of. It's complicated," she responded in tandem with a shrug.

Caroline glared suspiciously at the vague remark. "You've burned us before. How can we know you won't do it again?" she shot back. The girl mulled it over while tilting her head from side to side. "Well we're both from the northern district, so it's not as unlikely as our encounter here in central," she replied, referring to their previous meeting. "That didn't answer my question," she replied blunty. "Look, you can take my word for it or not, but it sounds like you're looking for him regardless. But I can tell you where he is so you don't have to wait for him to find you," she offered, her eyebrows raising.

Aaron hesitated, but nodded in reply. "Are you sure about this?" Caroline asked him, wary of the potential consequences. Aaron gave her a meaningful look that seemed to speak his mind for him. "Good point," Caroline said with a curt nod. "What about you?" Aaron asked the boy, aware of how abrupt this decision was reached.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie took a deep breath in response to the mysterious woman's lack of one to his threat. He decided that she wasn't a danger so that causing any problems would simply be a hassle. They talked for a bit more and Charlie simply let it pass by him, not knowing who Kale was or why it was a surprise that people were in contact with said Kale. However he did pick up on something that Caroline had said.

"Burned? So what you have pyrokinesis?" Charlie said trying to get some form of identification of this mysterious woman beyond her clothing and face. Charlie's attention was drawn by Aaron who had asked him a question.

"Well, ultimately we don't have much of a choice in the matter do we? What exactly is there that we have to go off? We have no choice but to trust her and try to find this Kale guy according to Miss Mysterious over here." He said gesturing to the unknown woman.
"And could someone tell me who Kale is?!" He said becoming rather annoyed about being left in the dark about the details.

 

[Kazehana]

The girl's eyebrows raised. "Enchanting, aren't I?" she replied, smiling to herself. "Anyway, I haven't got all day and to be quite frank, I'd rather be at the beach or something." Caroline scowled lightly at her sense of urgency, or lack thereof. Without another word, she started to follow the girl.

Aaron knew how much Caroline was thinking at the moment, so he decided to be the one to fill in their companion. "It's sort of a long story," he began as they made their way north on one of the less popular routes. "Basically, Kale's a bit of a celebrity if you will among the community. He's able to communicate with people far away, but this is too far if that wasn't obvious." He paused for a moment to discern what would be relevant to what he needed to know. "This allows him to gain a lot of information faster than any of us could. He's sort of like a nexus that connects the lineage of ancients currently running around the city."

As they maneuvered their way around, Aaron was becoming less and less comfortable with the unfamiliar surroundings. "But he's hard to find, making himself nearly invisible so he can't be touched. It's more of a defense mechanism against those who desire his knowledge. He's got a lot of dirt on many of us before the - well genocide of sorts began. As far as I know, not very many people know anything about him besides Izzy."

"Oh," the girl interjected, suddenly interested in the conversation, "it sounds like we're talking about me now - how fun! I'm basically instrumental to Kale's plans and connections with the outside world. Without me, he's nothing~" Caroline rolled her eyes at her need to insert herself, but said nothing. "Yeah, so anyway, we needed to find him, so this sort of works for us," Aaron replied, hoping that was enough. "But it seems he was ahead of us," Caroline replied at last.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Hmmm alright I think it get what's going on here. So this Kale guy is essentially a brainiac who's basically a way for people with magic to communicate: and we're trying to find him. Hm, alright." Charlie said taking in the plethora of information thrown at him by his companions. He mentally noted down Izzy's name, names are always a handy thing to remember just in case someone needed to be framed for something. If no one knows your name then no one can frame you. Simple.

"Are we going to see this Kale guy so we can find out what other kind of ancients, as you and everyone else seems to call them, exist and then decide which one was more likely to cause the power surge?" Charlie thought about this to himself just after he had finished saying it to Aaron. "Or is this bigger than what happened with the power now?"

If this Kale guy really did know a lot of information then it was entirely possible that he would be able to tell Charlie how and why he is here and where his real home is. He sighed to himself as he walked idly beside Aaron thinking of his original home and also his home with Miyu. He started thinking about Miyu and if she was home from university yet- it was around midday so probably not. He also wondered if the power surge had affected her or not, uncharacteristically he had begun to worry about her. Looking around Charlie began to recognise this dodgy looking pathway, it was a little alleyway that led directly onto the road where the university was.

"Are we going to continue going all the way through this alleyway? If so I need to meet someone outside the university, I think she'll be quite useful to us and I'm a little worried about her wellbeing considering the earlier power surge and all. If not then I'll need to go ahead and meet her anyway." He said aloud to no one in particular just hoping someone would agree with him.

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline scoffed, "That's a very optimistic stance on what he is. He invades people's privacy, their eyes, their ears, their thoughts. Not only does he use it to communicate, he uses it to eavesdrop. The only upside for the rest of us is that his presence is obvious and you would feel an invasion in your mind. What we get out of him is almost entirely up to him and what he wants to tell us. I was just hoping he had information that would benefit all of us if we knew."

"Speaking of," Izzy chimed, "it seems as though we're within range, though we still have a ways to go." She smiled and looked to her side, her hands clasped behind her as she walked. "Yes of course," she said, glancing back at her companions. "I don't believe so," she continued, returning her eyes to the road before her.

Aaron hesitated before he answered. "You'd better hurry. I doubt we're stopping to take in the scenery with someone like him expecting us." He began to fidget with his hands in anticipation of what they were about to do. For the longest time, his worries revolved around getting back home in time for dinner or not being able to find the same squirrel twice. Now, it was all about magic and how they were moving forward.

Caroline was more worried about what Izzy was doing, mostly considering her new erratic behaviors. She was always shifty before, but this was different. She had hardly paid any mind to the other boy, as he didn't have any bearing on this in her opinion. But then again, neither did she.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Don't worry, I'll be quick," Charlie said rushing on ahead and passing through the alleyway. He didn't want to leave his new companions behind, the mention of what Kale really uses his powers for certainly frightened Charlie- being apart from them meant that if Charlie was mentally invaded by Kale he wouldn't have anyone around who knew how to deal with it. But despite this in his mind he continued forward, the mention of some sort of range earlier probably meant that Kale could not affect you if you were at a certain distance from him. With this in mind Charlie hurried his pace and soon made it out of the alleyway. The university was literally right in front of him, across the street- and amongst the crowd standing outside it, whom probably evacuated because of the surge, he could see Miyu looking particularly worn out. Although it seemed that she had spotted him first as when he saw her she was already beginning to walk over to him. She looked rather surprised but also confused at him being there.

"Hey Chuck," she said much to Charlie's dismay. She knew he hated that name yet she insisted on calling him that because his clothing reminded her of Chuckie.
"Are you hurt or anything?" He asked, trying to ignore what she had said to him.
"No no, I'm fine- a few people were hurt though. You don't really care about them though do you?" She said almost rhetorically with a little laugh, knowing how he felt about others whom he hadn't interacted with before "So that brings me to asking why are you here?"
"I need you for something," Charlie responded looking back at the alley way, she followed his gaze and with his serious tone she deduced that it was pretty important "do you have your outfit? You know the ninja one, and why are you so tired?" He said noting her somewhat heavy breathing.
"I ran all the way from here to our apartment to get my garb and back, that's why I'm tired, I did that because I was going to go and do some looking around for what caused the power surge too. I assume that's what you need me for right?" She said with her heavy breathing interrupting her sentences slightly.
"Well no, just please follow me and I'll explain it in a bit." Charlie said not wanting to spend any more time here.

Miyu looked at Charlie as he turned around and walked off into the alleyway, she was hesitant to follow him at first. His mood was far too serious for her, it was unsettling and unnatural for him- she felt like something was definitely up. It was clear he was going into the alleyway with or without her so she decided to follow him anyway, letting him go ahead slightly so that she could change into her ninja garb in secret in the alleyway before catching up to him and walking next to him. Charlie eventually returned to Caroline, Aaron and Izzy- they has moved a little bit from where he left them.

"Hey everyone, this is Miyu, she's my roommate" Charlie said pointing to her, she wasn't sure at all what was going on but she figured it would be best to just play along. She gave a a slight nod of acknowledgment to Charlie's companions,
"Nice to meet you all, I'd ask for names but I figured that this isn't the time for that." She said trying her best to match Charlie's serious tone.
"Anyway, are we close to where Kale is or what?" Charlie said not wanting to delay the group any further.

 

[Kazehana]

The trio said nothing upon their return, only sparing a glance in their direction. Neither Caroline nor Aaron had the answer to his question, and Izzy wasn't coughing up any time soon. After about 10 more minutes of walking, they arrived at a run-down building with no discernible purpose other than to depreciate the value of nearby businesses. With no hesitation, Izzy walked inside the makeshift doorway. After an exchange of glances, so did Caroline and Aaron.

Inside, it appeared to be the remnants of what may have been an office building. Some desks with old chairs scattered the floor with some cabinets against the walls. Given the plants that began to grow through the cracks in the floor and walls, it would have been some time since it was occupied by a legitimate business. Izzy paid none of this any mind and pushed forward through a corridor.

After some twists and turns, some staircases and doorways, they arrived at the top floor where the roof had given way. A young man in a cloak sat on the floor with his eyes closed. Izzy walked to the side and eyed the party suspiciously, then faded away where she stood. Caroline and Aaron stepped forward to inspect the man.

"So, I hear you're curious about the discharge," he began, his voice deeper than his frame would suggest. "Funny enough, I'm curious about a few things of my own." He lifted his eyes up and fixed them upon each person, taking his time to gather their images in his mind.

"What do you want?" Caroline demanded, quite aware of his intentions. "Look, we all know that information is valuable since we came here, which is why I'm always on the lookout," he responded, segueing straight into his proposal. "I need more on these two," he said with a gesture to her companions, "and what they're capable of with their tethered power. In exchange, I have information regarding the surge, its motive, and its culprit. And we both know you need it or else you wouldn't have come here in the first place." He smiled to himself and tilted his head.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

The long walk following these new people made Miyu feel almost unbearably uncomfortable. She kept nudging Charlie slightly along the away and trying to signal to him that she was asking who those people were, unfortunately Charlie was too thick to read her signals and after her third attempt she simply rolled her eyes and gave up. Their silence in response to Charlie's question made her grow more suspicious, but it gave her comfort that Charlie seemed to trust these people a little bit- that meant they had earned his trust in some way.

Charlie followed Izzy and the rest through the many twists and turns of the staircase which eventually led to the top floor of a building, along the way Charlie explained everything as best as he could to Miyu: "These people are my companions for now, except for the one in the front," he began "We are searching for some evil telekinetic guy called Kale or something in order to get some information from him about who caused the power surge earlier. Then we'll find that guy and I'd expect we'd pummel him- and if need be then I think we'll need to pummel this Kale guy too. Which is why you're here." Miyu looked baffled by the large amount of information that had breached to her but she simply nodded, she at least did have some understanding of what was going on now. Even thought Charlie wasn't really the best at explaining things.
"Didn't know you were a crime fighter Chuck, but I can see why someone with weak powers like yours would need my help for fighting." She teased the boy trying to lighten up his mood, if he got too serious and angry she knew he could become a real danger. She didn't want that.

Once the group reached the top they saw a cloaked man he must have been Kale. He took in Kale's words and took some time to process them- it would seem that Kale was interested in Charlie and Miyu.
"Hey Kale, you wanna know what I think about your deal?" Charlie said confidently with vigour, confidence was very prominent within him upon seeing Kale since he was so huddled up and physically vulnerable looking.
"I think it's a pretty-"
"Why exactly do you need to know what we can do?" Miyu spoke up, interrupting Charlie knowing that what he was going to saw was going to be rude and annoy Kale. "Is that really necessary? Surely you don't want someone like the culprit of the power surge running around and soiling the name of you magic users. Why not just tell us who to look for and by taking him out or reasoning with him we'll be doing you a favour too. You know, keeping you magic users out of the radar of the press. Surely that's enough." Miyu was very suspicious of Kale, the fact Charlie said he was evil before meant she had little reason to trust him with any extremely private information like their capabilities.

 

[Kazehana]

Kale stared blankly at the girl for a few moments before taking his response. "To be quite frank, my dear, I really couldn't care less what you're capable of. I deal in the art of information exchange between our own kind, our own species. Knowledge is power, especially when it's all you have. And to be fair, you really don't want to take your time trying to figure any of this out for yourselves. The clock is ticking, and your inevitable encounter won't be long. Whether you're prepared for it is up to you."

Caroline grimaced at his threat, completely unaware of how valid his claims were. He might have been bluffing, but she hadn't the foggiest idea where to start, and nothing about their situation sat well with her. She shared a glance with Aaron and nodded lightly. "As long as you share everything, I'm okay with it," she said, her face giving nothing about her disposition away to her adversary.

"Works for me," Kale responded with a countenance that rivaled her own. "But I believe the deal was two to participate," he continued, obviously referring to Charlie. "Look, I don't even need him to agree. As long as his tether agrees I can get everything I want for the same bargain. And believe me," he warned, "I don't need your information as much as you need mine. Our image has already been tainted by the government's cowardly ploy as well as their control over our portrayal. At this point, it's time to do what you gotta do to survive and nothing more."

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Miyu was irked by his response to her, it would seem that his abilities had implemented a sort of superiority complex within him- one where he looked down on those with no abilities for themselves. "Alright then, it's your choice Charlie- I won't make you do anything against your will." Charlie thought about her words for a while, whilst still bearing in mind that they had little time before some big encounter was going to happen.

"Okay Kale, I'll agree to whatever it is you're going to do to me- but you really better tell us every single detail or I won't be so obliging when we next meet- nor will I be passive towards you. Understand?" The boy said trying to strike fear into Kale. His talk of knowledge being the only thing he had implied that in a physical brawl Kale would be helpless against anyone of the four standing on top of the roof.

"Don't take too long, I don't wanna lose to whatever is going to attack us in this encounter because you weren't done." Charlie said, despite what Charlie was doing now- at the slightest sign of deception or hostility from Kale both Miyu and, more so, Charlie were ready to attack him with everything they had.

 

[Kazehana]

Kale's eyes sparkled then let out a soft light as he remained still, staring into his focal point. Within moments, the group's vision faded and was soon replaced by a dimly lit setting with little but a lamp and a computer screen to illuminate their anxiety. Caroline glanced around, quite daunted by the sudden change in scenery. Aaron was less immobilized and instead moved to the young girl at the computer screen. Her long pigtails swayed back and forth as her gaze rapidly exchanged between several textbooks open around her. Her fingers tapped wildly on the computer screen as a bunch of nonsense scrolled along.

Caroline, finally over the - whatever you want to call it - cautiously followed Aaron to the girl's side. "What are you doing?" she asked. The girl did not respond or even hesitate at her presence. "Hey I'm talking to you!" she demanded, quickly becoming vexed at her dismissal of her interjection. Still, the girl did not budge. "Well," she huffed, clearly annoyed. She reached for a book to close it, but her hand simply fazed through its pages. Perplexed, she tried with another book to no avail.

"Wait," Aaron interrupted, putting a hand out in front of her. "She looks scared," he observed, staring at her face. Caroline's gaze followed, matching his. "Why?" she asked as if anyone there had the answer. "Who is this and what's going on?" she asked, finally recovering from her initial shock. A man appeared from the shadows dressed in complete black, hovering over her. "We haven't much time. They're about to retrieve it for use," he stated monotonously, glancing solemnly at the timer nearby.

In response, the girl started to breathe heavily, and sweat began to roll down her face. The timer began to loudly tick as it reached the end of its lifespan, signaling that the final alarm was ready to blow. Within the last 10 seconds, she had pressed her final stroke, causing all the lights in the room to vanish. In the pitch black, the two looked for any sign of light or direction, only to find none.

A few moments later, they were back onto the roof of the abandoned building with nothing but Kale to greet them. "Now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going," he stated plainly as he stood up from his seated position.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

Charlie was instantly spooked by the change in setting and rushed over to Miyu and held her tight, burying his face into her- the dark was something he was not a fan of unless he was totally in control. Charlie's mask felt cold pressed up against Miyu but she simply ignored it and moved an arm around his back, half hugging him just for some reassurance. She proceeded to follow both Caroline and Aaron towards the computer screen, she was rather unfazed by the change in setting that Kale's magic had seemingly brought upon the group but she was still confused as to what was happening.

"Do you think she is the person we're looking for?" She whispered over to Charlie, who still refused to let go of her, she pointed to the screen obviously referring to the girl on it but Charlie wouldn't budge. She gave a sigh as she watched the rest of the scene play out on the screen, taking it all in as Charlie's companions commented on what was going on out loud and even trying to communicate with the girl. It didn't take long for Miyu to come to the conclusion that the girl and man on the screen was most likely the two people that the group were searching for- the culprits of those who carried out the power surge. However it looked as if the girl was the one who caused the surge and the man was someone who had manipulated her to do so.

When the group snapped back into reality Miyu tapped Charlie's shoulder, responding to the light in the area Charlie let go of Miyu and watched Kale with her.
"Going? Are you not going to explain what it was we just saw?" Miyu said, her eyes suspiciously squinted at Kale as he stood up. Charlie watched him too, he felt that it was probably necessary for Kale to answer her question, but knowing Kale- he wouldn't.
"You should probably answer the question, Smarty. Not everyone can interpret something win little context you know." Charlie said rather cluelessly, given that he didn't look at the screen the whole time.

 

[Kazehana]

Kale's face gave nothing of his disposition away to the group. His eyes sat idly for a few moments with only few blinks to signal that he was alive. "I showed you my entire memory. It is impossible to give more detail than what I know. The only thing I might be able to say is that they're both likely somewhere in the western section of the city." He paused again and looked up at the sky. "I do not know their names, nor do I know what they're capable of. It seems as though the pair has flown quite under the radar until recently."

Izzy appeared behind a pile of rubble, her patience for small talk wearing thin despite the lack of small talk happening. "We're very busy people, and we have another appointment to make," she asserted with indigence. Kale looked to her and nodded curtly. "You may believe what you want, but I held up my end of the bargain," he stated plainly. Izzy put her hand on his shoulder, and they both disappeared into the day.

Caroline shook her head lightly as if she had just seen an illusion. "Well, what now? We can't be expected to inspect every building in west city, can we?" she asked sarcastically. She glanced at the other three as if it would give her an answer to do so. "Also, who are you?" she asked suddenly, no hesitation evident in her voice.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"So much for knowing everything huh, unless he really didn't tell us everything. But for some reason I doubt that." Charlie said aloud as Izzy and Kale had disappeared.
"A little girl and a fully grown man, I'd say it'd be easy to find that considering that they'll most likely be hidden, meaning they won't just be around or Kale wouldn't have commented on them being particularly elusive until now." Miyu said to herself as Charlie said his piece. The pair weren't certain on their next course of action either.

Miyu turned around and met Caroline's eye contact when the latter had asked the question. "Me? My name is Miyu, I share my flat with Charlie here. I say share because well, he's supposed to pay me rent but he never does." She said her eye contact moving from Caroline to Charlie as the sentence progressed.
"Heh heh...Well I guess that means I'm Charlie then, forget whatever I said my name was before Caroline." Charlie said rather embarrassed but slightly annoyed at Miyu for revealing his name. "And what's with you telling your name so easily Miyu? Especially with your little ninja mask on." Miyu shrugged at his question.
"They know you have magic so I guess that means they're trustworthy." She said looking back at the pair of them. "Well that's me, if you're wondering why mm dressed like this then well I usually use it to hone my fighting ability but it's also good to disguise myself- and this is a good time for a disguise. Anyway. What're your names?" She asked Aaron and Caroline.

"And where do you two propose we go? I'd imagine that they're probably going to lay low for a while again cause they must've been aware that Kale got through to them before right? Perhaps we should look in some abandoned area in the city for them." Charlie said thinking hard for more ideas as he said this, not having too much room in his mind for small talk.

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline paused and took into account his suggestion. "That would be reasonable, except the western district is highly metropolitan. Maybe if it were the southern district it would be more feasible, but I don't know if there's anything abandoned or anything of the sort west. In fact," she continued, looking off into the distance, "I reckon that any sort of building would stick out like a sore thumb, immediately attracting more attention than they'd like."

Aaron nodded in agreement. "I think we need to approach this as prudently as possible. Although I hate to admit it, we might be most successful coming every block as much as possible before moving on, but that could take ages. I know this is probably an unpopular opinion," he lead, glancing at Caroline then back at the other two, "but we need more help if we want to investigate."

Caroline stared dubiously until she caught on to his inference. "No, we can barely rely on what we have already, let alone more unpredictable, likely scared allies. They could turn on a moment's notice, then where'd we be?" Aaron thought about it for a moment, tilting his head lightly. "I don't suppose that's any worse than letting them find us first?" he shot back in a matter-of-fact tone that almost seemed to mock her hasty response.

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine, but how would we start that? We have no idea where to find the duo, so how would anyone else be easier?" "I believe that the others will be more active considering they are as oblivious as we are to this disturbance. No doubt they all suspect ancient activity like we do, and they might be caught off guard at how inactive they are in comparison. I say anyone that looks average but is snooping like we are should be considered suspect."

Caroline thought about it for a moment with a deep breath. "Okay," she replied curtly, resigning her rebellious attitude. "Well then, are we good to go?" she asked the group in general, not really taking into account that they never asked the other duo for their opinion on the matter. It didn't really sound like they had any idea what was going on anyway.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

The two listened closely to what Aaron and Caroline were saying about their situation, Aaron's words caused Charlie to remember something.
"You guys, or rather specifically Aaron, want another kinda reliable ally?" Charlie said his head moving around, it was obvious even through his mask that his eyes were darting around the area, as if he was expecting someone to show up. Miyu looked at him as he did so and her eyes widened slightly with concern as she realised whom she was talking about.
"You're not really talking about..." Miyu trailed off as she stopped herself from finishing her sentence- both of them seemed rather paranoid about something. Charlie gave a nervous giggle.
"Heh, I can tell we're talking about the same person by the way you said that." He turned back to Aaron and Caroline after he had said that, trying to regain a more confident composure "We know someone who should technically still be in debt to Miyu, she doesn't like us a lot though but if searching in a large area is primarily what we are doing then she might be extremely helpful to us...given that she doesn't show hostility because if that were the case then she would be the opposite of helpful."
"I hate to say it but we probably do need her to speed up this process, if we find her then, Chuck, please don't say a word. I'll do the talking." Miyu said walking towards the stairs that the group had came from "I'd say we're good to go, if you want to know more about who we're talking about I suggest we talk inside the building rather than on top." With that she rather hastily left the area, the last part of her sentence being directed towards Aaron and Caroline. Charlie looked at the Aaron and Caroline before walking a bit faster to catch up with his roommate.

"So you think you know where she is? Cause I might have an idea." Charlie said when he had caught up with Miyu and was within earshot of her, "cause like Caroline said, this might end up being just a wild goose chase in order to aid another wild goose chase. So unless you have another idea of where she could be then i suggest you follow me and I do the talking when we find her." Charlie said rather offended by what she had said earlier. "And why are you walking so fast?" Charlie said, Miyu stopped moving.
"It's darker here then on the roof, it's less likely she's able to keep a tab on us if we're here, let's wait here for our other two companions to catch up." Miyu hoped to explain more to them, but if they weren't interested in trying to find the woman who Charlie and herself had in mind then she wouldn't object to it- Miyu herself wasn't too keen on seeing her again given the woman's violent and unpredictable nature. But her help in finding the mysterious duo would be invaluable and that fact was undeniable. "I know exactly where we can find her, you obviously haven't spoken to her in a long time Chuck. I know where she works and her motives, that twisted woman." Miyu said with a slight disdain in her tone. "I personally don't want to ask her for help. But I know you do and I know she'd be extremely helpful, so if our companions want to hear about our possible 'ally' when they get here and if they still want her help after they've heard about her then I think it's only fair if we go and find her. Otherwise, no- she's too risky." Miyu sighed, Charlie said nothing in response, waiting for the two left upstairs to come down.

 

[Kazehana]

Neither of the duo had any notion of what the other two were referring to. Is sounded like another mage, but neither of them could decipher the pronoun game. Regardless, they vaguely listened to what they had to say about it. As they continued through the building, almost to its base, they silently considered their proposal separately. Just as Aaron was about to say something, Caroline began first. "Look, I don't know what you're babbling about, but it sounds like a pretty shitty idea if not even you are sure of it in the first place," she responded curtly, almost annoyed that they wasted their time discussing an option that was clearly out of the question.

"How about instead we sit on a tall building with a megaphone and scream that we're vulnerable to attack. That seems like a safer bet with about the same results," she continued. Aaron didn't really want to say anything because while he wouldn't have phrased it in such a manner, he agreed with her general notion. "If we're vague enough, perhaps we could ask people if they've seen the girl before without giving away any details? It can't be that uncommon for people to do that in such a large city," Aaron offered, trying to give a viable alternative rather than dwell on the validity of the former option.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"It would be far from the same results Caroline, you know it's extremely hard to not hate you sometimes." Charlie said rather annoyed that no one seemed to agree that going to find her was a good idea.
"She's right though, it's not likely she's going to help us do something that'd be that exhausting for her all because she owes me- knowing her she'd probably just say something along the lines of 'if you're dead then I can't owe you anything' and then impale me. I like your idea though." Miyu said, directing her last sentence to Aaron whilst pointing at him. Charlie mumbled something rude under his breath and looked at the ground irritated.
"Alright fine, we'll do Aaron's stupid idea. But when this gets us no where and takes up our time I'm going to look for Felicity with or without you guys, she can help." Miyu said nothing in return to this, knowing that anything would probably just rile him up more, he hoped that he wasn't serious about going to find her, she'd definitely have to stop him later if he tried it.

Charlie, whom had walked ahead of the group due to his bad mood, exited the building when he reaches its base and saw a person walk by.
"Excuse me sir, have you by any chance seen a little girl with pigtails walking with a kinda large man in all black around here? That's my sister and father, I've lost them." Charlie lied through his teeth in order to divert interest in the situation for the man. The man looked at him for a while, scared and perplexed at his appearance despite Charlie's lack of height or physical presence.
"Sorry but no, you might wanna describe them better- a lot of girls have pigtails and many people wear all black. You'd be surprised at all the fathers and daughters walking together who meet that description." This notion surprised Charlie but it seemed so obvious, the one quick glance he had taken at the computer screen in that room didn't provide him with a good enough look to actually get any notable features down. Charlie said thank you and the man walked away just as the others came down.
"Did any of you get a good look at the girl? Because I can't remember what she looked like for the life of me..." Charlie said trying to make it sound like he wasn't clinging onto Miyu in fear the whole time.

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline shrugged. "She just looked young. It wasn't exactly the easiest to see in the dark. She might have had hazel eyes?" she said, unsure of her facts. In reality, she hardly remembered any details of the vision considering it all happened so fast. Aaron thought to himself, but said nothing aloud. "At any rate, didn't he say she was in the western district? The chances of her being anywhere north is quite low, so I suggest we at least start walking that way anyway."

~~~

Approaching the border between west and north, Aaron was still mostly looking around at the unfamiliar sights and people along the way. "I'm sure that this is west by now," Caroline commented, noting the slight change in overall atmosphere. It was less eerie than north and quite a bit more lively. Most of the people seemed to be in good spirits, many of whom did not appear to be concerned about working or responsibilities. This area was well known for its popularity with the younger generations, as it catered to their need to be entertained.

"Can't say I remember exactly the last time I was here, but there were some good times at least," Caroline mumbled, half to herself. "But I didn't remember it being so lively and busy," she said a little louder, now starting to address her group. "I think we're going to have to split into either pairs or individuals if we want to get anything accomplished," she stated, quite sure that it was fruitless to do otherwise.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Splitting up is a good idea I think, we'd look a bit weird if we were all searching for a girl and an old man." Charlie said liking Caroline's proposal. "Pairs would probably be the safest option, just in case we find ourselves in a bit of trouble." Miyu looked at Charlie expecting him to pick her to partner with him. "Caroline it is probably best if I go with you." Charlie said with a slight sigh.
"Why's that?" Miyu said with a bit of curiosity.
"Simple, she is tethered to Aaron here- that means she is human with no powers and most likely unable to defend herself from an attack by someone with powers. I'm pretty sure I am the most powerful one out of the only two people with powers here, and we already know I can defeat you most of the time Miyu- we've sparred enough times to prove that." The tone Charlie used when addressing the line about being the most powerful was such that he seemed as if he wanted to challenge Aaron and his powers. Though he doubt Aaron would oblige given how he has been so far. Miyu took his point and nodded, she understood where Charlie was coming from but she did have another question for him.

"Surely she'd be safer if she went with Aaron, tethered ability makes the magic stronger remember?"
"Yes but I'd imagine that, like me, too much use of tethered abilities results in a knockout from exertion- if that happened and Aaron could not dispel of his target in time then it's a hopeless situation. Trust me, this is the ideal situation." He said mostly trying to convince Caroline at that point. "I suggest we try to ask about them somewhere crowded like a hotel or something- there are plenty of people there. Miyu and Aaron, please go and find somewhere-"
"Hang on," Miyu interrupted "do you two agree with the groups?" Miyu said not wanting them to feel forced in anyway. If the response given was positive then it was probably best for them to start moving right away to make the most of their time searching- Miyu and Charlie were prepared to do this.

 

[Kazehana]

The two glanced at each other in a mutual uncomfortable tone. Their speechless and shocked reactions were their initial response, followed by a bit of murmuring. "Well," Caroline prompted to the other two, "the only real benefit I see is that if we're caught out, both sides of the same coin won't be together and easy to manipulate." "And no offense," Aaron chimed in, "but it would allow me to focus on defending myself rather than another person since there are no stakes for me if something happened to Miyu." He didn't feel great about saying that, but it was true and needed to be verbalized.

Aaron ignored Charlie's passive taunt altogether.

"But as for where we begin, I don't believe that anywhere crowded would be without windows, do you? Not unless it was like a restricted area or something," Caroline mused, struggling to remember the details of the memory. "We could easily get into a lot of trouble if we snoop too much in too many places. That and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves as potentially affiliated with magic in any way," she continued. Aaron flinched slightly at her comment but didn't try to deny her in any manner.

"Actually," Aaron said to break the momentary silence left open to him, "we may not have had any visual indicators of where they might be, but did you hear the noises?" he asked, causing Caroline to look incredulous. "What noises?" she snapped, surprised that he never brought this up earlier. Aaron shrunk slightly. "Oh, I wasn't sure if they were important since I didn't recognize them. I think it's a technology sound or something. Like, something I can't exactly explain but maybe it sounded synthetic." "Can you tell us anything?" Caroline demanded, slightly annoyed that he was talking in circles. "Would you know if I said it was sort of spurts of brief, loud noises and occasional other sounds like tiny explosions or something?" he asked, not sure if he was explaining it sufficiently.

 

[Shuttleloop14]

"Noises? I didn't hear any noises in there." Charlie said in response to Aaron's comment.
"We couldn't hear anything because you were breathing too heavily." Miyu said to Charlie, teasing him slightly about how scared he was. "I have no idea where any place with synthetic sounding noises in short bursts could be in." Miyu said turning to Aaron, she didn't really take offence to his comment about not having any problem if something bad happened to her while she was with him. He was right but she could tell it'd be impactful on him emotionally somewhat as he seemed far from the heartless type.
"Neither do I, but hang on. The man said something about someone coming to retrieve something from them right? Perhaps we should be looking for government officials acting rather suspiciously in this area. For all we know they could be the people going to retrieve something from those two- that must be it." Charlie was lost in his speculation now. "So if we are able to find a few official looking people in a shady place then it's likely they will lead us right to our culprits. Right Miyu?"

"You're going a bit fast there, we don't know who wanted stuff from them- although government officials is a pretty good idea. We shouldn't devote all of our time to looking for the-"
"Which is exactly why we need to be in different groups, tell you guys what- I'm going to go with Miyu and look around for anything either synthetic sounding or any government officials- I suggest you two do the same." Charlie was in a rush and was clearly becoming impatient with the group's lack of action. "We can meet back up over there in two hours." He pointed to a fast food restaurant on the other side of the street, "we got a deal guys?" He said to Aaron and Caroline making sure that everything was okay with them before they separated.

 

[Kazehana]

Caroline stared indifferently upon the two. "Boy, you sure do change your mind on a dime, no? At any rate, I don't see a problem with that plan. Although," she added just before taking her leave, "I highly doubt they'd send amateurs to deal with such a problem. Best not to focus too hard on finding anyone affiliated with the government if it takes time away from our real goal, hm?" With that, she and Aaron took their leave into the bustle of a city, almost immediately disappearing into a swarm of people side by side.

~~~

At a quarter till une heure into their escapade, the two had no luck in finding anything that could recreate whatever it was Aaron had heard. Caroline abruptly stopped Aaron with her arm as she froze in her tracks. Between two stores, a lone door lay partially open as if signalling to them. Aaron's gaze followed hers as he realized what he was going to have to do. Following her, he walked across the street filled with people as he kept his eyes open to potential followers. Once inside, he replaced the crack as when they had found it before. The door immediately led to stairs that took them to the second floor of the building, the opposite of where he deigned the room would have been. Regardless, he heard nothing still that would resemble the sounds, but still had hope they might be onto something.

The floor itself didn't give much in the way of architectural creativity or even interior decor. In fact, it seemed to him that its only purpose was to lead them up further and further, quite past the third floor and onto the fourth. At the top stood another door, this one closed. Caroline took a small breath and pushed past it to let the sunlight on the other side pour in. The two stepped forward to the rooftop of the building, devoid of life when compared to the life below. From behind a vent, a pair of very dissimilar figures appeared from either side. "A little bit of curiosity," began the man, "can go a long way," finished the woman.