Cross Effects 3.0 - June 23, 2016—April 02, 2018

[Panda]

Annabeth

To the Hunter's annoyance, it seemed that she'd mistimed her attack. There were still more bees coming, a quickly glance confirming that there would likely be more than enough to replace their fallen comrades. Frowning, Annabeth looked around for a few moments before spotting a rock substantially larger than the last one she'd used to attack the bees, this one being more akin to a small boulder. Moving over to the larger stone, Annabeth took hold of the boulder and lifted it up onto her shoulder with ease. To the Hunter's surprise, it seemed that the more of those spirits arrived, the more the temperature rose. As a native of Meteor City, she was fairly used to, but this was worrying even for her. While Annabeth was  feeling thankful she'd dressed lightly today, she wasn't sure if she could say the same for Ron. It would be best to deal with this as soon as possible.

It was at this point that Rikuyo called out, offering her help, to Anne's further surprise.

Looks like she wasn't planning on this either.

"Sure, go ahead," she called out, hefting the boulder up as moved a bit closer to the bees, "This might not do the trick, anyway."

With that, the Hunter focused her aura into her arms once more, taking a moment to be sure that the swarm had arrived in its entirety before flinging the massive rock at spirit bees, letting some of her aura transfer over to the rock as it left her hands, rocketing towards the bees, more than fast enough to ensure that the swarm, clustered together as it was, wouldn't escape unscathed, and would be extremely unlikely to do so without significant casualties.

[Break]

Coppelius

"Well, you're not exactly hiding it, are you?"

The doll pointed at the guitar case carried by Dante, emanating demonic energy just like the white-haired man himself.

"Not that i'm one to talk, but you're clearly not just any kind of street musician."

[SINIB]

Archer

Whether or not he could tell if she was the "real" Rin, what could have made her say something like that? He wasn't really sure what kind of answer he'd give to that. He did know her during the Holy Grail War, but that was five years ago for her, and it wasn't her .

"Are you so sure I'd be able to tell. People change over time." He lectured her, trying extra hard to sound important. Maybe she idolized an image she had of him, that was probably it.

"Good job Sakura, still making sure she doesn't escape, what a good girl." He once more stroked her purple hair as he praised her.

Sakura Matou

Sakura blushed and giggled as her Browner Senpai patted her on the and praised her good work. It felt euphoric. If someone had asked her how she was feeling, she'd simply be unable to articulate it in any of the three languages she knew. She wanted to twirl around and kiss him, hug him, hold him.

But she didn't. She restrained herself. For her sister's sake. She couldn't betray Rin like that. It'd be awful. It'd be the most reprehensible thing she could do, 'stealing' Archer from her after promising to help give her a chance.

So instead, she simply let herself be content to bask in his light and warmth. In his aura of kindness and love. She closed her eyes and leaned on Rin, relaxing until her familiars blared out warnings to her, causing her to tense up ever so slightly and watch what Lizeth was doing through their eyes. The odd girl opened the door, and with a grinding of gears, walked into some hotel. She quickly sent several of her bugs after her, crawling up her clothes and skittering through the door before it closed. And she could instantly tell, she was now in a completely different place.

Controling her largish spider, she skittered up Liseth's leg and up her shirt, before resting tentatively on her shoulder, feeling the vibrations in the air and being ready to dodge an attack at any second.

"So, you have yet another interesting ability, Liseth." The girl whispered in her ear with a bit of humor. "But why did you leave, did you find my house uncomfortable?"

[Kat]

Mitsuba

With the 'funeral' all complete, Mitsuba could relax a bit knowing that she could rather easily convince the girl that nothing unusual happened. The body was ashes, collected in an urn, above which she would hang Katase for now. To make her claims more believable, she of course started a controlled fire in the backyard, pretending she was burning the body, in case Misaka questioned that there was no smell of burnt things in the air.

Mitsuba first headed to her home shrine he kept up for appearances of a normal Shinto practicioner, and placed the urn at it below the sword.

Now everything she had to do for now was to wait for Misaka coming downstairs, so she just sat in the bar.

[Kat]

Mordred

"I think Oren should get clothes first, I mean, she is still naked but walking around in that large towel." Mordred sighed. "What about you then, Oren? Do you have any idea what you possibly want to get?"

[Kat]

Julius

The girl's hit showed clearly to Julius that she wasn't just some feeble child, as he actually could feel considerable force put into it. He staggered for a second, but still he couldn't get himself to reveal the true reasons behind his wandering. He was enough for the quest that he wanted to undertake. And she could have some relatives staying in the city while to his best knowledge he was all alone in this urban jungle. If he died on a mission that wouldn't be too problematic, but he couldn't forgive himself if a child died too in case of a failure.

Then, the strong child mounted his horse in unappropriate way for a lady, and more appropriate for a boy. The gentleman still stubbornly refused to state his reasons why he was in a such a rush.

"No, even if you're strong, you're not in a position to risk your life. Younger ones should not endanger themselves and take responsibility for the failure of their elders. I'm not being disrespectful, it's just I could forgive myself if something happened to people uninvolved because of my past mistake."

[Elf]

Rin

Rin raised her eyebrows with a chuckle as Sakura continued to play.  Let her have her fun, she deserves it, Rin thought as Sakura brought a spoon to Rin's lips with one of her tendrils.  She shook her head and closed her mouth.

She wasn't going to let Sakura feed her.

Rin rolled her eyes and sighed, and then twisted, changing her leverage so she could attempt to slip out of Sakura's grasp.

Gabriel

"So, can I ask you what the situation with your friend is then?  Maybe I can give some helpful insight on the situation," Gabriel asked as he peered at Emily's miserable face.


Forest

This is just . . .

It was amazing.  It was like being starving and suddenly having a gourmet banquet laid before you.  It was warm, rich, and decadent. 

None of the other blood she'd drank over the centuries even compared to it.  Not even the intoxicating ichor that the Wild Hunt had running in their veins.  She heard his heart rate pick up and she felt her toes curl in her boots as she resisted the urge to knead his shoulders.

Then he tapped her arm.

Her eyes widened as she stopped drinking, feeling her cheeks flush.  She felt like a child who got her hand caught in the cookie jar as she leaned forward and licked the bite closed.  Still blushing, she moved away from him, unable to keep from smiling though.

"Sorry," she said, fiddling with the cuff of her jacket with her cheeks turning pinker.  "Are you okay?  I mean . . .  I didn't take too much . . ."

[Panda]

Emily

The Changeling looked up at him, allowing a small smile at Gabe's offer.

"There's not much to it, really," Emily said, thinking back to last night, "My friend, Mordred, and I were hiding out from some unknown creep who Mordred had apparently run into a few times before. We'd been pointed to some Forest person by someone we met after we got away, but Mordred refused on account of her being a vampire. So we ended up getting a room in a motel to hide out in. I'd brought along some alcohol to help lighten things up, but I guess I got a bit impatient and the shock of ending up here got to me and...long story short I ended up stumbling into the shower with Mordred. That was about it, though, no touching involved."

[Elf]

Gabriel

We'd been pointed to some Forest person by someone we met after we got away, but Mordred refused on account of her being a vampire.

So, someone suggested they go to Godmother for help, but Emily's friend refused because she knew Godmother was a vampire.

"So, I take it that Mordred is like most of the population and finds vampires terrifying so that's why you didn't seek this Forest's aid?" Gabriel asked, "And then you had a . . . moment, got intoxicated and tried to seduce her?"

[Panda]

Emily

The changeling took a moment to consider it, remembering that she never did get around to asking about it.

"Well, I wouldn't call it seducing, given that I ended up leaving more or less as soon as I got in," the redhead noted, "As for Mordred...I never really got around to asking, but I don't think she's terrified of them, persay. To be honest, she's more the type to face her problems head-on."

[Elf]

Gabriel

"Well, apparently your actions did upset her.  You need to give her some time and then make amends.  If she is not open to the suggestion then maybe you should move on. Caustic personalities can be exhausting and frustrating to be around,"  Gabriel said as he stroked Emily's hair.

Then he tilted his head and asked, "Have you investigated this Forest?  In my experience vampires can be like people; there are good ones, bad ones, and indifferent ones.  There can also be remarkable ones as well."

[Panda]

Emily

The changeling nodded slightly as she relaxed into Gabe's hand. She'd figured that that might be the case, but sometimes it helped to hear it from someone else. His next question, however, was a bit curious.

"No, not really," Emily said simply, "Never really got the chance to, though I doubt Mordred would particularly care..."

[Elf]

Gabriel

"Well, since you are giving Mordred some space and find yourself alone in a place such as this, generating connections is an excellent start.  Make alliances, gather allies, trade favors.  It's survival after all, and if you work hard enough then you can become more comfortable in your existence here," Gabriel said with a shrug.

He smoothed her hair back with a thoughtful cant of his head.  "I mean, as nice as this place is, I wouldn't want to stay here forever.  One thing is the rent would get extravagant quickly."

[Panda]

Emily

The changeling allowed a sigh at Gabe's explanation, all too aware of this fact herself.

"I'm aware of that much, at least," Emily noted, "Admittedly, I've not had the best of luck with it, but I've not had too many chances either. I guess it's just a matter of getting out and about more..."

The briefest of impulses suggested that maybe she could try doing some research on that Forest person, but the changeling put it to the side for the moment. It wouldn't do well to just focus on one person when she didn't even know where to find that person...

[Elf]

Gabriel

"Well, I can be more than happy to assist," Gabriel said with a smirk as he peered down at her.  "I do have more than a little experience about gathering information in strange lands."