Oracle

Subject: Oracle Thu Nov 11, 2010 10:40 am

A man in brownish clothing walks down an isolated street. His hair is shaggy, but his face is sharp and well defined. His frame, overall, is lanky and tall. Upon his head is some sort of hat, flayed and relatively common for keeping the sun out of the eyes. His eyes are a strangely menacing yellow, almost eccentric in quality. Contrary to his unkept mane of hair, his face is well groomed. He wears something like a trenchcoat. His footwear claps noisily against the cement, before the sound turns soft; the terrain he is walking on breaks into grass.

Mei is working on her garden. Both to demonstrate her talent with flora, and to display the beauty of them, the garden is presumably at the front of the house. At the time, she is working on a elegantly grown rosebush. Of course, she is wary of the thorns. Prudently, she has worn plastic gloves that often refused the thorns' attempts to peck at her skin. After general soil work has been done, she moves for the adjacent watering can. Only then does she hear a sharp clicking noise.

The girl doesn't waver, nor does she turn around to see what is to her rear. "A couple of weeks ago, I seen you around with some pretty shady lookin' people, aye?" Without question, he had a revolver in possession, though she cannot determine where it is aimed. Probably at her head. There isn't a lot she can do in this situation. But...

"What would killing me do? Besides losing your lead, vigilante." Mei smiles in response. It isn't absolutely decipherable whether or not she was previously involved in the activity, or if she was just a bystander.

"Lead? What do you mean?"

"Every flower needs something to grow; you need information to grow, or your efforts will be futile. But, we are all flowers. I can certainly provide you with whatever you may need, but only in return for something that is necessity for...everyone." Mei explains, beginning to water around the base of the plant, initially.

"...Money...How much?" He eases away his firearm, slowly depositing it into a holster. "Hurry, I don't have time for these games. People are in danger."

"Name your price. People are apparently in peril, so make haste." Subtly, she counters.

"Fifteen hundred is the most you're getting. I'm only giving you certain percentiles of it for each piece of information you give." His eyes narrow, and he acquires the irritable expression he had prior. Even though she isn't looking at him, his mood, the grim atmosphere around him, it all implies he isn't content.

"Excellent. What do you want to know?" She asks.

"Who are these people? Whose their boss?" A simplistic enquiry.

"A small group of thugs with big intention. They mainly sell drugs. They also rob the homes of people, or sometimes families who have a member in the family involved in the drug dealing business. They want to get money in order to own a large building, sell their 'products' in larger bulk, and have their base more secure and appealing to other members than just a reserved alley corner or a ratty house. Their boss? His name is Alarico. Well-fed man, white suit, plenty of jewellery. Loaded with guns. Are you sure you want to go after them, vigilante?" Raising the watering can, she makes sure to shower along the top of the plant. Water glistens in sunlight upon descent. To the man, it looks peaceful. Her idiosyncrasies while previously having a gun pointed at her are amazing. Even though her life was at danger, she was able to maintain a certain etiquette. Still, signs of distrust paint his face. It is anyone's guess how she got this information at all. Such implied that she was somehow involved with them at one point. Was it her goal all long to 'telltale'?

"Alright, rat. I'll get this pay or whatever set up while I investigate more on the topic. Look forward to another visit." He says. Mei hears footsteps again, and they get sharper; he'd reached the sidewalk. The become more and more distant, signifying that he was gone. She is still moderately wary seeing as if he decided to shoot from that range it would still kill her. The lady smiles mildly.

"Silly man. You've much to learn."

741.741. [1/5 JC]

Subject: Re: Oracle Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:11 pm

"I see that you're not pointing a gun at me this time. Do you consider guns to mark a lack of integrity?"
Mei has a rather large garden. The neighbours of the duplex she lives in don't seem to mind sharing land with her at all. She does take notice that this man seemed to be visiting her when their car isn't home. Last time, the car was there, so this time he'd thought ahead. He must have been doing a fair bit of observation today to decipher which car is hers, and which car is her neighbour's.

"I'm a patient man, you should be thankful. There's one thing you didn't tell me last time; Alarico, he's been dead for two years!" He attempts to keep his voice stable, not to attract unwanted attention. Despite, Mei doesn't seem to waver. Like last time, she remains calm. Even then, it is slightly reassuring that he didn't shoot her by now; misinformed people could be some of the most dangerous people, especially when they're armed with who knew how many guns.

"So he has. But I did not misinform you. I simply told you what you asked me of." For a second, her smile becomes slightly knavish. Then, it dissipates back into a light expression, almost dumb-founded. He doesn't have to see her face to know what she is doing. He notices that she isn't helping him in a way, she is specifically responding to what he asks. He figures such is a suiting characteristic for a 'rat'. Her mutters a few swear words under his breath.

"Half of my paycheck, fifteen hundred, right now you've got twenty percent of that. Tell me something useful and I'll make that forty." He persuades, making his voice seem a lot more friendly. He seems to be in a hurry. For some reason, he is very into what he does. Sometime in the past, did something inspire him to do this?

"What's your inspiration for doing what you do?" She asks softly.
"What kind of question is that?"
"Well, you seem to be very into it... I have reasons for taking care of flowers so thoroughly. There's reasons for everything, especially things that you do." Mei elaborates, continuing to trim coherently positioned bushes.

There is a moment of silence. She can tell that he is contemplating telling her about it. But she catches him shaking his head from the reflection on her pair of metallic trimmers. "Wait a minute, you're not even close to me! Just answer my question; where are they located?"

"Around the midst of the Lower Commons, in a shabby warehouse. It may not even be that; just a small safety house for them. With your presence, I'm sure that won't be the proper prefix anymore." She answers. In response, he seems to smirk. Obviously, he is joyed to hear such an ego boosting comment come his way. He turns around before he accidentally sparks any sort of conversation. "Thanks. I'll have your money prepared around the end of today." He concludes, before he disappears once again. Mei finds it easy to notice that he'd begun to lighten up slightly. She knows he must have a grim past.

560.1301. [2/5 JC]

Subject: Re: Oracle Mon Nov 15, 2010 9:15 pm

Two years ago
Age: Sixteen
Time: 11:45 PM; November 5th, xx

In Northern Heights, there is a white, large house emanating some classical music. What is notable about this structure is the massive amounts of flowers adorning it. It is fully lit; there is not a window in the entire home that does not have light staring through thick glass. The street is loitered heavily with cars, though overall the street did not appear to have a lot of traffic to begin with. Another car pulls up, headlights slashing across the still, evening darkness. It is average, a Mazda that is not as luxurious as the others. A white haired girl, Mei, looks out from the window as the car parks. Doors open and shut and three additional figures accompany her. She looks towards the large windows of the mansion; she can see silhouettes of women in dresses, men in suits, all dancing. Their own vestments seemed to mirror the exquisiteness of what the people are wearing.

"How long is this going to be, Dad?" Mei asks the tall male of the group. He seems to hesitate with his words as he speaks. "Maybe about three hours? Try not to ask questions about the time while inside." He brushes his hand through his short, greyish brown hair as they make their way inside. There is a smaller girl lingering adjacent to Mei with hair much like her own. "Just have patience, dear," Her Mother adds, even though her face too has a reluctant expression. The little girl is not saying much of anything; a great deal younger, whilst bearing the qualities of the family, needless to say she is Mei's younger sister. Something of note is how her Father seems to have his eyes closed at virtually all times. It is anyone's guess as to why, and why he still seems to be well coordinated of his surroundings; even what things look like visually he appears to have a grasp on. Oddly, he was the one driving the car.

They all enter the building, and it is nothing out of the ordinary. After a few minutes of browsing around and having some guy-in-elevator short conversations with people, they settle in a sparsely populated room. There are still people around, but this room is a lot less crammed. Eventually, as they stand there, the presence of a lanky male adds to their units.

"It's great to have you here, I'm glad you've all had a safe trip." His hair is short, but sleekly fashioned. He is in a suit with a maroon tie. His eyes are brown, as is his hair. There is this excessive etiquette about him. Overly excessive. His eyes cart their attention momentarily upon Mei before back towards her Father. Who does not seem to be overly impressed.

"Certainly, Akio." Her Father replies after a bit of a pause. 'Akio' chuckles, taking a sip from the fine wine he had loosely in his grasp. "Right, right. Little cousin, I'm sure that your daughter here has helped herself to some of the delicacies? Birthdays only come once a year; she should compromise it as the family's way of being here today." Irritated, Mei opens her mouth to say something, but feels a nudge from her Mother. Craning her attention towards her, she sees the desperate look in her eyes. "You know, it is a previlege that I got you in here today, cousin. There's a few things on your record that may have had some interfence hadn't I overlooked those 'minor' incidents."

"Don't you dare --!" Ironically, it is her Mother who thunders that, but she is cut short. Mei grabs her arm, carrying the same look in her eyes that her Mother had reprimanded her with only moments ago. The man seems to laugh it off, almost mockingly so. His pompous attitude apparently brings about laughter to the stray, high classed people loitering the room. The family of four appears to be irritable at the time. Needless to say, being subtly demenaed wasn't exactly specified on the invitation. It is true, however. Mei's birthday happens to be on this day. It is for this reason their beloved cousin had sent off this invitation to them. It is the reason behind how this middle class family ended up in upper class domain.

There is a sudden shattering noise. The lights start to flicker before the electricity buzzes and the lights shut off. People look around, confused. A child begins to cry and the solacing voice of a woman can faintly be heard. "What was that?" Mei asks suddenly, her brow furrowing. "I don't know, but we're out of here." Her Father replies abruptly, presumably taking out his cellphone for lighting. "Mommy, what's going on?" Repeats her Sister. Response is interrupted as a light beams towards them. It comes from someone in proximity, Akio. "Alright, alright. Everybody calm down." He says. "The lights probably just fell. It's no big deal." He chuckles nonchalantly, reassuring the group of people. "Follow the light to the main room and I'll call in the repairmen. There's a very special guest here, and I would hate for her day to be ruined." Flashing the light on Mei, he smiles.

In silence, they are lead to a room. The entire walk, Mei closely surveys a small flower that she got on this day. She hadn't opened gifts yet, but it was attached to a birthday card from her friend before departure. It is comforting; it is a white chrysanthemum, one of her favourites. Her favourite is chrysanthemums overall, but there are a few peculiar shades that have a lot of history behind them. Oddly, it is the symbolization of death; and the chances of such occurring today is high, grimly enough. Her friend is also sick, and chrysanthemums as a whole tend to symbolize long life. She decided to think about this instead of succumbing to the tragedies unfolding on this day. Her mind remains blank and she attempts to ignore everything. It's easier to not think about something if you pretend that it's not there at all. If she could just wash away all thoughts that didn't pertain to long life and this little flower, maybe her sanity wouldn't digress from her mind.

As they arrive, the man smiles broadly. He looks towards Mei, patting her on the shoulder. Her family watches keenly, almost like a flock of still eagles. "Now. We're going to need someone to lure out this problem. Mei here's sixteen now; don't you think she should begin learning about responsibility?" He laughs, a disgusting smile etched upon his face. Laughter amalgamates with his own. "Hey, fuck you!" A hand grabs his wrist, before he is pushed away by Mei's Father. Akio stumbles, though he still has his knavish expression. Her Father's eyes have opened, and they appear to be an off color, the sclera, at least. The pupils completely contrast with the sclera. "Don't you touch my daughter, boy." The crowd gasps, and Akio merely laughs hysterically. He clenches his fist. Suddenly, there is a crunching sound; the tearing of bone, muscle, and flesh, and blood spraying like water from a shower nozzle.

The flashlight hits the ground and slowly rolls. The beam of light shines directly on the decapitated head of Akio, the host of the party. People begin to scream, so loud it could freeze the blood in Mei's body. "Come on!" After a heavy pause her Father says to the family. Mei drops to her knees, inspecting the corpse. Her eyes are wide, fear so ample that even her tears refused to come out of refuge. Blood paints the white petals of the chrysanthemum she is holding. Her eyes catch something glistening in the light of the flashlight. She reaches for it, putting her hand around what appears to be a revolver model. It'd fallen out of Akio's pocket. She isn't one to pick up these things casually, but to assure the safety of her family, taking it along wouldn't be a bad idea.

As they are running, they're suddenly knocked down by something. If other people weren't knocked down with them, they would have been trampled. They look up and there is nothing there. Mei aggressively exhibits the gun, and due to the lack of lighting, nobody sees she is wielding it. It's no good, however, for the lighting is bad and she can't see the attacker. She decides to aim in the general direction where the attack came from. She has a fair amount of experience with guns. Her Father used to take her to the shooting range sometimes. He said that she has a thing for shooting guns despite her soft nature. He stated that he takes after him in that aspect, even though he does not have the same excessively humble nature. The gun fires, and it shatters a light that happened to be off. More panic is risen, and she doesn't hear a body hit the ground. The recoil completely throws off her aim; it is a powerful gun, and she is almost sent skidding from the power alone. It is a decorative gun, definitely specially modelled for the condescending idiosyncrasies of Akio.

"Are you guys alright? That shot sounded close." Her Mother asks in a hush. Let me do this right... Everyone's counting on me... She aims the revolver once again. I can't see it! She thinks as she squints her eyes. She suddenly feels a pain surge through her torso as she is slammed against the wall of the hallway. "Who was that? Mei!" Her Father looks over to her but thick debris from the cracked wall gets in his eyes. For some reason, she feels cold; she feels a throbbing pain somewhere on her torso. Where is it? Did something stab her? She can smell blood. Yet, everything she sees before her, there are strange, blank spiritual entities around her. Is this what being on the verge of death is like? To have one's spirit partially tap outside of the body, struggling to keep inside to keep alive, is this what is is like? She reaches out her hand, and she touches the crushed white chrysanthemum. It is glowing, and upon touching it, she feels some sort of explosive power in her...but it isn't something that could be physically described.

Waking up from her brief black out, she's still holding the gun. Her Father is faintly looking at her and everyone is still scrambling away from whatever. He stares in awe, noticing the phosphorescent markings upon her. Nobody else seems to notice, as they are trying to get away or are recuuperating. She aims the gun, noticing something on the ceiling. It is some sort of chimera yokai, with large teeth and razor sharp claws. It is no wonder that it so easily took off the head of Akio, and wounded her. Mei can see it now, however. Using her heightened strength, she aims coherently. I can see it! She takes another shot, and the round travels through its head and directly out the other side, clipping the tail of the shandeiler. Both the exquisite ex-source of light and the beast plummets towards the ground like boulders. It hits the ground with a thud; though the only thing people hear is the shandeiler crashing loudly. She would then pass out from bloodloss.

Waking up, she is in her bed. Apparently she didn't need the hospital treatment. At the time, it is hard to even remember what exactly happened. "Where am I?" She asks curiously. Originally, she thinks that she is alone in the room, and she is surprised to see her Father before her. He has bags around his eyes, implying he hasn't gotten much sleep. "Don't talk too much. Your injury wasn't too bad, so the doctor just wrapped it up and said you're good to go home. Should be about a week before you're fine again." He explains bluntly. She can however see the relived expression on his face. Mei decides to take his advice not to talk too much, and simply nods in response. He pats her on the shoulder. "Your Mother's cooking supper. You've been out like a light for two days now, so make sure you eat everything. Aye, the meat products, too." The conclusion of his sentence is moderately sarcastic as he makes his way out of the room. The door closes lightly. She remembers that she hid the gun before she passed out. She doesn't know why she had a desire to keep it, but it seemed appropriate after seeing that thing at the party. Being prudent with it would have to be top priority after what she has seen.

2196.2196.
~ Completed: Starting Gear Acquisition Quest [Chose Adorned Pearl]
~ And: Artifact Activation Quest.

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