Nexus Campus Town

[Umbra of Chaos]

Fu Hua

So boring. Who could have guessed that someone so interesting would be swept up by so many meaningless things? She crams another pasty into her mouth, and she more swallows than chews it. They weren't bad, sure, but weren't they all getting a little tired of this? So she reaches over and taps the table with a finger. It pulses at her touch, wood blackening yet strengthening in response to her energies. Her eyes focus on the Headmaster's.

"Are you broken already, you old relic? He might be decrepit now, but him and his like are older than the foundations of this city. They've watched whole eras crumble. Yamada still lives, well, for now anyways. There are people who are more than just people." She tangles a finger in Kore's hair, ignoring the question directed towards her.

"That's much more important things for you to learn than the dirt. If you wanted to make something grow, that wouldn't be hard for you, would it?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

 "T-thanks..." He wheezed feebly, but managed to smile all the same. Yet his eyes betrayed a certain... curiosity, at the sight of lady Fu Hua's display. It was similar to a craft he'd studied long ago, but different... and oh so distantly above his current limits. All in all, in essence... it was utterly different.

But an intriguing display nonetheless.

"That man.... Yamada. I can't say I ever met him, but for a single person to unite all the factions of old... I wouldn't call him a man, no. A calamity perhaps. Something that shouldn't be dared faced head-on. A devil perhaps..." He thought to himself pensively, sipping more of the tea like a snake licks at a gentle stream. "Ah, apologies. Back to the topic a hand... I may know a thing or two about certain plants and how to grow them, if it piques your curiosity. It probably isn't anything you wouldn't find out reading a book though." He sulked and looked down berating himself bitterly, yet with a curious candor.

[YOLF]

Headmaster

She shook her head with a shallow sigh, and pushed the now-empty cup away from her end of the table. "A heart like the heavens is yet a heart. Are you sure you're not the one who's grown forgetful, Fǔ Wúyí?"

The Headmaster slid her eyes away from the shade as if she had nothing to add, shaking her head as she finished the words. With a flick of her wrist, envelope paper and an inkpen floated from somewhere indistinct into her hands, and she set them down to write what she had suggested.

[Who?]

Kore

Kore freezes, unsure if she wants to lean into the touch of Fu Hua's finger, or pull away. The idea of the danger Fu Hua might pose doesn't even cross her mind - she just thinks; "Do I deserve this?" And is not sure on the answer.

It is only the realisation that she has been asked a question, and a vague curiosity about this man, Yamada, that makes her (metaphorically) shake her head, clearing it of the pointless thoughts. If Fu Hua offers it, she ought to accept it, so she reaches up and twines a hand around Fu Hua's finger.

"I did say I could come here later." She mutters without heat. "And that we could leave if you got bored. Besides, I like making things grow myself. Whenever I cheat it... ends badly."

Plants not growing right, having to tear them out before the roots ate of their natural born neighbours. Polluting and hungry not because of malice, but because of their nature. Kore glances at the blackened table, and wonders how many years it took to build it, for the wood to grow. And how little it took for Fu Hua to change it. 

But she has other things to focus on - not least getting Fu Hua out of this place before she actually kills someone instead of just threatening it. She finishes her tea, and stands up, taking the hand Fu Hua has at her head and holding it, letting their fingers entangle. She tries to ignore how nice it feels, this simple, simple thing of holding another's hand.

"I always find personal conversations much more illuminating then just reading." Says the woman who has not had any personal conversations for several millennia. She eyes Fu Hua carefully as she continues; "If you would both be alright with it, I would appreciate you accompanying me to the professor in question, so I don't get lost, Professor Lawrence? And thank you for your kindness..."

Kore pauses and tries to recall if anyone has referenced the Headmasters name. "Miss Headmaster? Mrs Headmaster? I assure you, I will be out of your hair soon enough." She presses her thumb into Fu Hua's palm, running it down in what she thinks is a soothing manner. 

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

"Hmm, tremble in the eternal pits of fear? No, no, that one's already taken. Kneel before me? Nah, too cliché. Maybe something book related, a pun perhaps? My my, what to do..."

While Lawrence rarely acted up, he could sometimes say the strangest things. But even then, he was suddenly turned away from the three damsels, thinking with great focus while muttering what little he managed to scramble through his uninspired husk. Whatever he was thinking about had to be quite important, considering how intently he was taking his notes.

"Kh, I felt like throwing a cool one liner." His frail body trembled in disappointed, looking down in shame. Until he dramatically snapped his fingers, and a serpent large as a tree slithered out of the man's coat, like a misty fog that smelled of greenery and nature and life. With eyes like jewels, and scales that glimmered in the gentle candle light, it exhaled a pleasant aroma, and soon the table was adorned by fresh shrubbery, quickly growing berries and delectable fruits while trees sprouted freely.

Lawrence shook his head, smiling despite the timid act he put up earlier - if it was an act at all.

"Growing things is easy. Anyone with a mind to it could do it. But if you don't know how to tend to your creations, they'll just wither and fall. It's... difficult sometimes. Painful, when you try so hard - just to have forces beyond your control take it all away..." He grabbed an apple his dearest serpentine friend created, and toyed with it freely before taking a healthy bite.

"Its why I try to understand our headmaster. Pests and weeds can be problematic." He gave lady Fu Hua a glance and shook his head bitterly. "But in my humbly worthless opinion, I'd rather accept it. Whether its animosity, love, friendship - they're all welcome compared to silence. When you're stuck alone in the dark pits of regret, even the venom spats between enemies become cherished memories. The agony of being trapped in a dark place, unable to escape your own toughts... to be frank, I'm still not sure if I made it out myself... haha."

His black eyes looked... hollowed. Even now.

"You're all real, right?"

The snake and the bird just happened to be there, but unlike the usually chipper times... they were oddly silent.

[Panda]

Nanako


"So yeah, a bunch of schools and such decided to pool their resources and centralize, and a district sorta grew up around it like your average college town," Nanako explained to her vampire companion, throat dry and eyes flitting between his eyes, his fangs, and the strong arms holding her close. "They've got courses for pretty much everything around here, all sorts of events, and the kinds of whacky hijinks you'd expect with high schoolers and college kids with crazy magical powers. Headmaster's kinda weird though. Then again, weird is probably part of the job description when you've got a trading relationship with the Citadel and there's graduate courses in deck building."

The squirrel girl's tail swished lazily behind her, Nanako looking around for a moment before continuing, "Not quite as fight-happy as the Dojo district, but it's got its own charms. Aside from the dress code."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

"Bro, who the hell cares. Do I look like a literate?"

He faced straight at Nanako and waved his hand across his sunglasses, smiling for emphasis - or because he was loving getting under the squirrel hoe's skin. "Anyways, what the fuck's the citadel? Aren't you missing a few steps here?" He put his hands in his pocket, leering at some of the hot students passing by before barking at them, scaring them off with a psychotic grin.

God, it smelled like shit here.

"Wait, let me guess. It's a nest full of mages, like here too? God, it reeks of witchblood and mana, get me the hell away from here before I seriously kill someone. Actually, forget it. I'll stay. Maybe if I breathe the same air long enough I'll grow a tolerance to their bullshit."

[Panda]

Costin

"Bro, who the hell cares. Do I look like a literate?"

He faced straight at Nanako and waved his hand across his sunglasses, smiling for emphasis - or because he was loving getting under the squirrel hoe's skin. "Anyways, what the fuck's the citadel? Aren't you missing a few steps here?" He put his hands in his pocket, leering at some of the hot students passing by before barking at them, scaring them off with a psychotic grin.

God, it smelled like shit here.

"Wait, let me guess. It's a nest full of mages, like here too? God, it reeks of witchblood and mana, get me the hell away from here before I seriously kill someone. Actually, forget it. I'll stay. Maybe if I breathe the same air long enough I'll grow a tolerance to their bullshit."

Nanako

Nanako's eyebrows twitched a little as Costin spoke. "Well, I'm sure they've got things you can listen to as well," she remarked, tail swishing erratically behind her, "And yeah, it's the Citadel of Sorcery. Honestly, this is hardly a nest, compared to that. We'd need to sit through a border checkpoint if we wanted to visit the Citadel though. Might be easier for you, though, seeing as you've got some magic under your sleeves."

She knew full well that he wanted her riled up, but all the same she couldn't help getting a little annoyed all the same. "Sorry to say, but it's sounding like the Dojo would've been your favorite place. Pretty much everywhere else is much softer. Well, that or the Vampire district."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

"Are you kidding me? I'd rather die. If I see a magus here, I'll rape their fucking corpse."

Of course, he was blind. Hence the point. "They burrow and hide, fill the air with their putrid stench, and crawl about the streets like maggots. They have the nerve to reproduce. Sorcerers are like parasites, there's no cure for it. Only a bullet to their head."

He rolled his sleeve back and exposed his forearm bare - filled with a myriad of cuts and surgical stitches, some of which couldn't fully heal even after he turned.

"And the worst is having that shit blood running in my veins. Have some goddamn empathy, god." He sighed and cooled his jets in a split second. "Anyways, what's this about a vampire district?"

[Panda]

Costin

"Are you kidding me? I'd rather die. If I see a magus here, I'll rape their fucking corpse."

Of course, he was blind. Hence the point. "They burrow and hide, fill the air with their putrid stench, and crawl about the streets like maggots. They have the nerve to reproduce. Sorcerers are like parasites, there's no cure for it. Only a bullet to their head."

He rolled his sleeve back and exposed his forearm bare - filled with a myriad of cuts and surgical stitches, some of which couldn't fully heal even after he turned.

"And the worst is having that shit blood running in my veins. Have some goddamn empathy, god." He sighed and cooled his jets in a split second. "Anyways, what's this about a vampire district?"

Nanako

"Uh huh," Nanako gave Costin a strange look, then shrugged it off. Weird as it was, she wasn't about to question his distaste for mages. The squirrel girl's own experiences with magic here hadn't been all that pleasant either.

"Anyway, vampire district," the squirrel girl continued, "I mean, pretty self-explanatory. It's a district with a whole lot of vampires. Lead by this hot blonde called Valerie. Not sure if they're your kind of vampire though. They've got the district shrouded in constant mists so they can go out during the day, but I don't think Valerie herself needs it, so maybe that's just a matter of how powerful a vamp you are?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

"Hoooo. So she's overcome the daystar as well? Neat." He said that, but he didn't sound all too interested. Honestly, the politics of his comrades were lost on him, he simply wished to destroy back then. "This Valerie babe... is she strong?"

[Panda]

Costin

"Hoooo. So she's overcome the daystar as well? Neat." He said that, but he didn't sound all too interested. Honestly, the politics of his comrades were lost on him, he simply wished to destroy back then. "This Valerie babe... is she strong?"

Nanako

"Strong? Yeah, definitely," the squirrel girl said, thinking back to her brief tussle with Valerie, "She taught one of the dojo heads, among others. Probably the strongest among those heads, at that, but they all seem to have up and left."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

"Neat."

He paused for a second, hands in his pocket and all.

"Aight, enough chitchat. Wanna fight?"

[Panda]

Costin

"Neat."

He paused for a second, hands in his pocket and all.

"Aight, enough chitchat. Wanna fight?"

Nanako

The squirrel girl gave him a curious look as he brushed off the explanation, stepping away as he paused, seeming oddly...sedate.

"Do you really want to now?" Nanako cocked an eyebrow, taking a couple more careful steps back, angling her body for a fight more on instinct than as a conscious choice, "I mean, this whole tour, the dance, the talk. Much as I want a fight, I can't help wondering if you just wanted someone to talk to. Someone who wouldn't break if you looked at them funny."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

The apostle... laughed. He laughed, jovially, even under the sun's harsh rays.

"Pfft. You dumbass, fighting is how I talk! The two were never mutually exclusive, but this is this - and that's that." He grinned and ruffled the squirrelgirl's hair playfully before crossing his arms. "Besides, sick fucks and monsters like me aren't cut out for playing house. You wouldn't dump a carnivorous lion or a dragon in a pen full-o-sheeps, right? That's just common sense."

Yet this girl totally threw that common sense off balance. It made him a bit happier, if only for a short whole.

"But you were nice to me. Since you were itching for it earlier, as much as I love to fuck with you... it just doesn't feel right to blueball you any longer. Besides, its not like I don't have a bunch of pent up spunk in there. We get physical for a bit, go wild past our limits, and whatever happens happens. Tis what you humans call a win-win, no?"

And with a friendly grin, he stomped the ground - and the earth shook. A massive spider-crack formed around his foot, distorting the asphalt. Yet even that was restrained - like a spring, ever so held out and tempered. What would happen if he let go?

"Besides, aren't you a bit least curious? About what an Ancient can do?"