[System]
Gender
Cisfemale

Age
18

Appearance
Na is a young and beautiful adult with long ash red hair that stops around her lower back, purple blue eyes and fair skin. Standing around 5' 4", Na is often seen dressed in a slightly over sized navy blue raincoat with simple clothes underneath. She normally has on skirts or shorts on and always has on a dirty pair of combat boots.

Personality
Peace, love, and harmony is Na's main objective. Most are instantly be swept away by Na's rustic charm and pleasant demeanor, enchanted by her wide array of conversation topics. She can be reserved and formal at first. But once you get her talking, a five minute conversation can morph into a three-hour philosophical discourse. Because Na seeks compromise, she dislikes conflict and anything that feels "unfair." In fact, that's the only time one would probably see her angry. Her system simply can't tolerate it. She's a natural diplomat who will do everything to negotiate between warring parties that just can't get along. She can accurately see both sides to a situation, and often resolve disputes in an equitable way for all involved. Although she hates doing such, Na will use her natural charms and good looks to manipulate others into taking care of her or doing her bidding. When it comes to her own decision-making, she has an even harder time and will vacillate between "Should I?" or "Shouldn't I?". And when it comes to her little brother, she'll glad fight for him and take his side in almost every argument.

Family
Alistair "Al" -- Younger Brother

Trivia
- Na has a strange habit of biting her nails when stressed out to the point of biting her fingers if she isn't paying attention.
- Na has a very soft Irish accent so most would think she's fragile and small despite that being far from the truth.
- She doesn't sleep that often as she's scared to leave her little brother alone. Literally she wouldn't ever leave him out of her sight.

Name
Nino [REDACTED]

Gender
Cismale

Age
14

Appearance
Nino is a very small and sickly young boy with short pinkish purple ombre hair that stops around the nape of his neck, purple blue eyes with noticeable bags under them, and naturally pale skin. Standing just under five feet, Nino often wears baggy clothes, hoodies, and worn out hand me downs that fit his bony frame. He normally doesn't have shoes and instead just wears socks.

Personality
Nino can be tricky to spot. With his reserved and sick persona, he seldom starts a conversation or express interest in others openly—unless he feels out the situation first or its his older brother; and even then, he has a hard time talking to others in general. Once you get him to open up, however, he shows a vast amount of silent love and appreciation towards said person. Known to read people as easily as a children's book, Nino seems to just KNOW all secrets, soft spots and fears. His focused attention can be addictive, and even painful when it's pulled away. While he doesn't give up his loyalty and trust easily, once he does, he'll stick with you through thick and thin. Don't even think about double-crossing Nino or his sibling, though, because he WILL unleash his fury on you despite his sick body, divulging all of your secrets and airing your dirty laundry. On a positive note, Nino is the perfect person to talk to about anything as his patience is incredibly high. He secretly yearns for the very thing he fears: true intimacy with others, but it takes a lot for Nino to reveal his vulnerability until it him right in the face (i.e. getting sick). As Nino opens up and learns to show his shadow side, he can heal in ways that are truly profound.

Family
Giovanni -- Older Step Brother

Trivia
- Nino suffers from severe epilepsy, often experiencing tonic clonic seizures more than the other variations.
- Has a terrible immune system and is known to stare off into space if left alone for long enough.
- Nino easily feels guilty and thinks that his brother would probably be better off without him. He would never say something like that out loud though.

[User]
Gosh this guy was getting really annoying, almost to the point that she wished Alistair hadn't missed the first time. This guy really thought he was in the right in all of this? Get real...however, if it helped get him to shut up then Na would roll with it. Just as she was getting use to his voice and having it act as white noise as she checked over the other boy, the sound of barking had her look over quickly. She was never a fan of dogs, or any animal, in the slightest, often relying on Al to drive them away of grab their attention so that she could be at peace.

Meeting eyes with the older man, Catrina could see the familiar sense of dread that normally came off of her when any animals were involved. Catching the javelin with ease and holding it with both hands tightly, Na furrowed her brows as she watched the man move over to the collapsed door in attempts to fix it. He was still going on about how this was his home now and that he got to choose where he slept and would let them stay if they brought Nino upstairs. It took all of Na's self restraint not to scoff and kick this guy out, but seeing that he was willing to comply under rules that didn't mean much and that kicking him out would probably mean she'd have to kick out the sick boy too, Na nodded quickly, knowing he'd have to talk to this guys once they were out of any danger.
"Yeah, sure, just hurry up okay?" There were three bedrooms in this house, that being their parents room which could go to this guy for now, and two smaller rooms that went to both herself and Al. She would give her room to the sick kid and just sleep in Al's room on the floor like she has been ever since the outbreak occurred.

Turning her attention back to said sick boy, Nino was his name apparently, Catrina pressed the javelin between her arm and her side before pressing both hands on his cheeks to have him look at her.
"Hey, can you hear me? We need to go upstairs, can you walk on your own?" She questioned, trying to get the boy to pay attention what she was saying. Instead, she got a dazed look and a slow nodded that wasn't very convincing.

Bringing her attention to Alistair who approached with the medicine kit, Na's eyes immediately moved to what the older man was doing to keep the door up.
"Sis, whats that idiot doing? Does he really think something like that will stop someone busting in? And even if it did, wouldn't they just come in through the windows?" He had a point, blocking the door with something like that wouldn't stop anyone from just bursting through. "...You're right Al, but blocking off all the windows would impossible at this point. We got his brother so let's put at least a little bit of faith in him, yeah?" She tried to explain while coaxing Nino to stand up, cringing faintly at how badly he was hallucinating, mumbling nonsense about not wanting jelly on his nonexistent sandwich.

They were almost immediately cut off by the older man telling them to hurry up.
"This is a lot harder than it looks, you know." She groaned as she wrapped her free arm around his waist and slowly began their walk to the stairs across the hall. Al's next statement had her halt her steps, bringing Nino back with her. "Let's trade. And don't be mean, he's trying to help." She scolded lightly before handing out the javelin and grabbing the medicine kit in the process. "Hold this." She prompted Nino, who managed to follow the directions. Not having enough time to worry about being sanitary, Catrina pulled out the thermometer and shoved it into the boy's mouth, mumbling quickly to keep his mouth shut before taking the kit back into her hand.

And with that, Na began the steady trek with Nino up the stairs and into her room.

[Assistant]
"Yeah, I'm sure it's quite the struggle." Giovanni grunted, as dragged the houses dining table up to the door. "Helping someone who can walk and listen to you up the stairs. It must be so much harder than dragging all these heavy inanimate objects around. You're welcome, by the way."

"Oh my god, do you ever shut up?" Al asked, exasperation in his voice as he followed his sister up the stairs.

"I don't know, do you ever do something?!" Joe shot back. "Wait, don't answer that, just shut up."

"Oh, that's i-" Al began, before he too finally heard the dogs barking. His eyes widened, as he realised just how close the barking was, and he considered just how this might all go down. Surely, dogs wouldn't be feral yet, right? Things had only collapsed in the area recently! Dogs wouldn't be hungry enough to turn on people yet!

Still, he gripped the javelin tight enough for his knuckles to turn white, frozen in place as he stared at the door.

"Maybe you weren't listening brat." Joe said, standing by the door with a terrified smile on his face. "Get. Up. Stairs."

And then he had to slam his hand over his mouth to stifle another high pitched scream, as he heard the sound of light scratching at the door, followed by the sounds of a dog whining. However, it looked like the tables were able to hold, and he slowly backed away. After doing his best to act stealthy, he made it to the stairs and crawled up them. The fact that he was humming some stupid, unrecognisable tune in a shaky voice as he crept around probably didn't help for that, but damn it, it helped him feel less afraid! Finally, he reached the top of the stairs, at which point he entered a full on dash until he reached the room the others were in, Al included.

Once he entered, he quickly shut the door, before slumping against it and letting out all of his pent up fear in a single, massive groan, sliding down to the floor.

"Haaaah… Why'd it have to be dogs that became so mean?" He sighed, before looking up to Nino and the others with tired eyes. "Hey strangers, hows it going up here? How's Nino going?"

[User]
"OHMYGODBOTHOFYOUJUSTSTOPTALKING!! ANDALISTAIRGETYOURBUTTUPHERE!!!" The Irish girl snapped, her expression clearly annoyed with the both Al and the other man that her words began to slur together. This was a serious situation and both of them were being too silly for their own good; with Alistair she totally expected it, but this other guy had to at least be her age if not old and he was acting like a little kid! Fortunately, both Catrina and Nino were high enough up the stairs that neither could hear the barking coming from the lower floor. Also being a good thing was that her bedroom door had been wide open and out of use for quiet a while, so she simply slid in and let Nino lay down on top of the sheets.

Removing the thermometer from his mouth, Na could only frown at the temperature before setting it on the dresser next to the bed. She quickly got to work and began searching for the fever reducing pills, only to stop once she thought about it. She didn't know if water would be safe to drink on its own right now and the time it would take to boil would probably make Nino's fever worsen. Shaking her head a little, Na continued to look through the kit, sighing in relief at the sight of a drinkable fever reducer.

Na was grateful that Nino happened to be extremely compliant and take the medicine without even making a face, but the moment was short lived as both Alistair and the other guy hurried into the room just as she was putting away the medicine.
"Dogs have always been mean little beasts..." She murmured before moving on to more pressing matters. "Uh, fine I think. I gave him a fever reducer so he should be good after a while...oh, and it's not 'strangers' mind you. I'm Catrina and that's my little bro Alistair. This is OUR vacation home." She put emphasis in her words before narrowing her eyes. "Did the though ever cross your mind that maybe, just maybe, someone lived in this house and you could knock on the door like a normal person? If anything I should kick you out right now!" Catrina ranted with an angry scowl. "What are you even doing in this area in the first place? Shouldn't you have gone to, oh I don't know, a hospital?" She then questioned, pointing to Nino, who had been looking at looking at Giovanni, noting the tired look in his eyes.


[System]
Crown Prince of Whitehaven

"I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me."

Age:
20 years old

Personality
⚜ Arrogant ⚜ Brash ⚜ Proud ⚜ Conceited ⚜

Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Adrian is spoiled and arrogant. He was raised with the knowledge that when the time comes, no one will inherit the throne but him. Because of this, he believes that no one else is as important as he is, except for the king and queen and his younger brother, Prince Adam. He treats the castle staff as nothing more than servants and almost rarely pay them any attention except when he needs something.

In truth, he lack of self confidence to rule a kingdom and compensate with a grand show of overconfidence. The only one aware of his self doubt and shortcomings is his brother.

He tries his best to be just to his subjects but his overconfidence gives the people mixed feelings about him as a future ruler.

Brief History:
Queen Anne had always wanted children. "Four or more," she always said. But when she married King Thomas, they tried to conceive time and again but all pregnancies ended in miscarriage. Consult with doctors always ended inconclusive. The queen had nothing wrong with her. She was the picture of perfect health. And so the royal couple tried again and again but the children all died before coming to term. Depressed and hopeless, the queen finally sought consult with a Mystic, who taught her meditation and gave her a concoction of herbs to take. On the fourth night after the full moon, she was to drink water from Whitehaven's holy river, Adria.

Following the Mystic's instructions, the Queen found herself with child a few months later. Trying not to be too excited, she made sure she did not exert herself too much, staying in bed most times. She feared that she would lose the baby the way she had the past pregnancies but miraculously, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy nine months later. She named the baby Adrian. King Thomas was overjoyed and the whole kingdom rejoiced through a festival that lasted for weeks.

Being a precious child after many miscarriages, Adrian was spoiled, given everything he desired and asked for. He was well educated and being the first born, it was ingrained in him that he will ascend to be King when the time came. Knowing how important he is to both his parents and the whole of Whitehaven, he became arrogant and brash. He thought of the lower class people as nothing more than slaves and servants, existing only to do as he wished. As a result, the people in the kingdom feared that he might end up being a tyrant, most only serving him because of fear and not of loyalty.

Two years after Adrian's birth, the queen and the king was blessed with another male child. This boy they named Adam.

Adam grew up the complete opposite of Adrian. He was humble and kind, never thinking himself above anyone else. But despite the difference in manner and opinion, Adrian was fond of his younger brother and spent most of his time with him by his side. The bond of brotherhood eventually mellowed down the crown prince by a bit. Adam became his confidant and advisor.

Soon the people of the kingdom became divided in their opinions. A big number of them wanted Adam to inherit the throne despite knowing that Adrian was the rightful heir, being the first born. A small number believed that Adrian would be able to rule well with his brother by his side. And those in the middle found themselves having mixed feelings about who would be the better king.

[User] "Hogwash," Adrian said. "Love is almost always non existent in royal bloods. More so for me as I am in line for the throne. What matters is power. And I believe Hye Jin wants that power. The moment everyone thought I was dead, she automatically latched on ro Adam," he shook his head. "I expected her to. She is not in line for the throne back in her own kingdom."

[Assistant] Alessandra nodded silently as she stared at her Prince. "It is still very sad you believe so, Prince Adrian. I really believe you can find someone you love, or at least fond of, and that is appropriate to be wedded to the crown Prince of Whitehaven. It is sad to just disregard it as nonexistent." She said, reflecting on what she had told him in her first day in court. She shrugged slightly with a small smile. "But what do I know." She mumbled as to avoid coming across as offending or crossing the line, although she wouldn't have cared about that a year ago, she did now.

[User] "I believe I may have," Adrian's voice was so soft that it was inaudible except to himself. "If I do not wed Hye Jin, Whitehaven will still benefit from her marriage to Adam. And I suppose father would send for another princess to be wed to me," he said a little louder. "My marriage will solely be for an alliance. I'm afraid I do not have the luxury to choose who I am to wed even if I were to find love. Unless, of course, I abdicate the throne."

[Assistant] Alessandra looked back at her prince with a sigh. "I still believe you can change that without giving up the throne." She said with another sigh. "Do not give up the throne to Prince Adam. I-- I don't believe he is a better prince. At all. I believe-- in your reign more than Prince Adam's." She said in a lower voice.

[User] Adrian turned his head towards her. "The notion of me loving someone and at the same time keeping myself on the throne seems to be so important to you," he said. "But what if my affections belong to a woman not of noble birth? What then? Would I be able to make her queen? Will I be selfish enough to put her on the throne and let her be the mocked and questioned by the nobility and possible even my father? Or should I abdicate the throne to follow my heart?" he shook his head. "If I thought about it, abdicating to Adam would end the unrest among the people. They are divided in their loyalty to me and Adam..." his voice trailed off in thoughtful silence.

[Assistant] Alessandra lowered her gaze off him and nodded silently, knowing she might have pushed it. At the mention of loving someone who is not of royal blood, she wondered slightly if he had met someone during his time away from the castle, but she shrugged the idea off as it was none of her business. "I apologize then for overstepping my limits, Prince Adrian. It's all what my simple mind could come up with." She mumbled, perhaps a little hurt, but it was obviously not her style anymore to burst out as she usually did before.

[User] Adrian turned his head towards Alessandra again and cocked up an eyebrow. "It really is a shame that you have grown meek. I must admit, I miss the outspoken Alessandra who had time and again scolded me," he gave her a grin and then turned away. "I see that the palace has broken you..." he paused for a moment as if to consider something of great importance. "I do not want your spirit broken... thus I release you from your promised servitude to me and to my family. You may choose to stay or you may choose to leave. Whatever you decide on, I grant you your freedom. Whatever debt your family has, consider it fully paid," his voice sounded strained. But before Alessandra could say anything, he urged his horse into a gallop towards the lake he always frequented.

[Assistant]
Alessandra stared at him in disbelief and wonder. What had he done? Had he really released her? She felt her heart tighten with disappointment and confusion. Had he really given her up? Did he really not want her around? She breathed in deeply and slowly followed behind Adrian, silently. They stopped at the lake, and she took in a sharp breath.

"It is unfortunate that your majesty would give up on me so soon. If it is your wishes for me to leave the court, I will. I would not want to leave your majesty's side. There is no need for me back home-- but I think I may be of use here. But I will leave. If you wish so. If I have already become of heavy weight, I will leave." She said, although her tone was stable as she stared at the lake, her eyes were shining with tears.

Had she really grown useless in all parts of the society?

[User] Adrian chuckled. "You misunderstand. I am releasing you from your duties to the royal family so that you may come and go any time you please. I am not asking you to leave. I am merely giving you freedom," he said and then cleared his throat. "I am, actually, hoping that you would choose to stay," he added in a lower, embarrassed sounding voice.

[Assistant] Alessandra looked at him surprised as he actually hoped she stayed. She giggles slightly with a small smile. "Maybe if you ask a little nicer-- Prince Adrian." She said in a teasing tone, adding the title only to tone down the edge.

[User] Adrian's cheeks burned bright pink when Alessandra giggled. But at her challenge, he raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to get down on my knees and beg you to stay then?"

[Assistant] Alessandra smiled and straightened her back a little, holding her chin up. "I am too kind to let you do so. I will stay." she said with a little giggle, some of her old spirt retrieved.

[User]
Adrian raised an eyebrow and then bursted out laughing, for the first time looking as if he had no problem in the world. "I would have expected you to let me make a fool out of myself but---"

"My, this looks like a quaint and cozy place to spend the day in. Mind if I and my future wife join you two?" Adam called out as he led his horse to where Alessandra and Adrian were. Hye Jin rode on a white horse behind him, half a smile on her face.

Adrian looked towards his brother and Hye Jin, a carefully blank expression on his face. He shrugged. "By all means," he said as he climbed down from his horse's back.

[Assistant] Alessandra blushed as Adrian laughed so wholeheartedly. She giggled slightly as she watched him speak once again, shaking her head a little at his assumption. She wondered if he would have actually even done so, but she quickly shook away the thoughts-- He was her prince, not the other way around. Alessandra was brought out of her thoughts as Adam's voice interrupted. She turned back slightly and watched him and Hye Jin approach them. She felt disappointment fill her as she also climbed down from the horse and gave them a slight bow before sticking to Snow Queen's side.

[User]
Hye Jin immediately climbed off her horse, led her towards Alessandra and then handed her the reigns. "It's a good thing that you are here. You'll be able to tend to the horses. I hear that you are quite the handler," she gave Alessandra a smile before she turned and headed towards Adrian. Boldly, the foreign princess entwined her arm around Adrian's. "I will send you some herbal tea later, Prince Adrian. It will do wonders for your health," she gave him a smile. "And might I suggest a visit to my homeland? I believe a change of scenery would do you good," she led him to the water's edge. "It will be relaxing," she assured.

Adam, himself, climbed down his horse. But instead of handing Alessandra the reigns just as Hye Jin did, he took the reigns of Hye Jin's horse from her. "Pardon our little princess. I believe she had made it abundantly clear that she does not favor you," he smiled at her and he was the old Adam again, the kinder, younger prince. "I apologize for neglecting you these past months. I'm afraid responsibilities to the kingdom has made more occupied than I thought it would make me," instead of securing the reigns to a tree, he let go of it. He chuckled. "I'm sure Adrian would have a way of rounding the horses up if they choose to run," he shrugged and then offered his arm to Alessandra. "Come. This is a good day as any to catch up. What have you learned from the library so far?"

[Assistant]
Alessandra willingly took the reigns and gave her a slight nod with no words. She hated how she was then; She was fiery, outspoken, and even cheerful, but Hye Jin and fate had succeeded to break a part of her, and for that she absolutely disliked, even hated, the foreign princess. She inwardly rolled her eyes as Hye Jin hurried to Adrian's side and wrapped her arm around his-- Didn't she know when to give up? Her supposed fiance was even standing right there. Her thoughts were interrupted as her eyes focused on Adam instead of the other royal couple as he took the reigns from her hand. She blinked a few times as he actually spoke to her.

She raised an eyebrow slightly as he simply dropped the reigns, but she knew he was right-- It was unlikely for the horses to misbehave, and if they do, it was quite obvious Adrian could get them under control. She giggled slightly, mockingly at his apology and then attempt to 'catch up'. ''I guess Prince Adrian deals with the responsibilities a little better than you do your majesty, for he hadn't intended to ignore, or neglect, or go as far as offend me, the moment I became known to him with my intentions. I am disappointed in you, Prince Adam. It's great prince Adrian has returned. Power doesn't suit you.'' She said, with obvious distaste and intentions of 'scolding' the younger prince. She had no intention to walk with him, or to catch up with him.

What she said was true, although Prince Adrian was harsher in nature since their first meeting, prince Adam had befriended her and took care of her. Yet the moment he seized power-- He changed 180 degree. She was surprised she had spoken up so truthfully, but she had no intention to lie or compliment the younger prince who she then held dislike to him as well, may not be as horrible as her distaste to Hye Jin, but it was distaste nevertheless.

[User] A muscle twitched in Adam's jaw. It looked as though there was something he wanted to say. He looked towards his fiance and the crown prince. As soon as they were a little bit more ahead of them, he began speaking. "I'm sorry. I must look like a monster to you now. It was part of Adrian's instructions before he disappeared. That I should stop being so nice to you. He instructed me to allow you full access to the library but not to spend time with you anymore. I suppose that's to ensure your loyalty to him and I see that his plans has worked well," he shook his head. "I fear how many people he had managed to fool with his apparent and sudden 'change of attitude and outlook.'" He looked at Alessandra and looked sincerely apologetic. "I am truly sorry for the way I have treated you. I thought being obedient to his wishes would make him trust me enough to tell me about his plans. But apparently, he hasn't. And I fear father's life might be in danger now that he is back."


[System]
What's your name?

C.J. Teachers call me Carol if that's important.

How old are you?

Sixteen. Not sure why you care.

What do you look like?

This is a joke, right? I'm not on Candid Camera or something am I? This is fucking stupid – you can see me for fuck's sake!

Do you have any hobbies?

Yeah. I'm a "musician" though a lot of people wouldn't call me that because they wouldn't know a good song if it hit them in the face. Maybe one day I'll be opening for Pearl Jam or something. Beyond that, I don't have a whole lot. I like challenging myself and I guess challenging others. I get into fights but that's not really a hobby, so I guess I should say that I really like what the cops don't. What's really cool is breaking into abandoned buildings and just poking around - but don't go telling the cops I do that, okay?

What are some things that you especially dislike?

These dumb fucking questions make the exceptionally long list. But okay, I'll bite - I hate morons and moron lists just like I hate cops, buzzkills, drunks, the religious, this whole fucking town, bullshit, and this town's unhealthy obsession with football. Who fucking cares if you can throw a goddamn ball, right? It doesn't make you better than anyone else and certainly not worth being held up as some kind of savior for this dying piece of shit town. Also lame ass shit hair metal needs to go crawl in a hole and die. The sooner I never have to hear bullshit arena ballads and flamboyant poser garbage the better.

What are your goals for the future? Both immediate and long-term.

I don't think long-term, so that's going to be a problem. But yeah, sure, since you want to know a whole lot of nothing I can talk about that. The only "goal" I have is to get the fuck out of Erie and just go. Chances are I'll be stuck here just like everyone else who isn't "special". I don't have the money or the grades to get a fancy scholarship and I don't do sports. I just want to be me and deal with whatever on my own terms.

What's your home life like? Specifically, what is your relationship like with your parents?

Yeah, no.

What's your favorite animal, and why?

Not sure. Wolves are pretty cool, but so are foxes and shit. I kind of dig Mongooses since they are pretty much everything you could want in an animal. They look neat, they're super-fast, and they don't take no shit from anybody. I don't know, that's just me.

Favorite color?

Some kind of dark blue, I guess. Isn't this kind of dumb question? What is this; the first day of kindergarten?

Do you identify with any song or piece of music?

Yeah. Stuck Here Again. L7. It's pretty much me and Erie.

Do you believe in aliens?

Don't really think about it. Seems like kind of a dumb question.

---

C.J's Relationships

Ashley Fitzsimmons

The only person in shop class I probably don't want to run over with my car. Me and Ash kind of have that "wrong side of the tracks" kind of thing going for us but we're not the same. When he's not being an idiot he's being a dork, but it's whatever. At least he's not pretending to be anything else to be him, y'know? I can respect that. But I swear if he forces me to listen to another Kid Rock song I'm going to kill myself. Augh.

Connor Rice

Connor "Big Business" Rice, yeah, I guess you can say I know him. He's pretty much the most boring person at Erie High and that's saying a lot considering Noah exists. With how serious he is I'm honestly surprised he isn't a student at the academy on State Street. But uh… yeah, we've had a few classes but he's not very interesting. Too focused on getting that perfect GPA and that ain't my scene, y'know?

Gabriela Mendez

--

Noah J. Ward

Yee haw. Remember those dislikes you asked me about? Here's the ultimate nice guy and town hero. He's so whitebread he even owns a pet pig. I don't know if he's fake or so offensively inoffensive that I can't tell the difference. Whichever it is, I don't care and I just want to stop hearing about how he's the town's great white hope of getting to regionals this year – because he's so "gifted" he can bring a shit town like Erie to some sort of relevancy. Our football team sucked last year and he's not going to magically make it all better this year. Gag me.

Peter Przybyszewski

He's the new kid, right? We don't get a lot of those in Erie, so it kind of sticks out. But outside of him being a dumb geek from out of town, there's not much to tell. I mean, yeah, I clocked a dude that decided calling him a polack was a smart thing to do – but it's not like I feel for him or anything. He's not my type.

[User]
C . J M ᴀ ᴋ ᴏ ᴡ s ᴋ ɪ

---

• Abandoned Construction Yard, City of Erie •

---

C.J. Makowski was for the better part surprised that the thought was even being considered by the motley group of classmates she had found herself stuck with, especially considering the fact that at least three of them were the 'type' to not cause any trouble ever. She looked over to the group at large before ultimately she decided to just get it over with and take the initiative to jump the fence first; perhaps that was all they needed? It had been a portion of fence that she and Ash had jumped before for a variety of reasons, so it wasn't a difficult concept. Foot in, foot over, and done; she wasn't sure about the rest of them, but honestly she didn't give much of a shit to care. As she looked back she rose an unimpressed eyebrow before uttering a comment before Noah or whomever could squeal in protest or surprise. The nonchalant manner she spoke in could have been upsetting but if any of them knew her before detention, which they did, they would know she did not waste time with bullshit and liked to just get to the fucking point.

"I've got places to be. C'mon. Stop wasting time and just do it."

She crossed her arms as she kept her eyes and ears open, waiting for whoever was going to join her in taking the shortcut.

[Assistant]
Gabriela hadn't really anticipated coming this way with the whole group of weekend delinquents. She only really knew one, was casually acquainted with another, and was pretty much a mystery to the last few. While not by any means someone who went out of her way to cause trouble, she had managed to find herself in it through the defense of her friend. The reason he had been sentenced to detention was a complete crock of shit, in her opinion, and she would have much preferred to go down fighting for him than let him waste away in the boring, near-empty jail cell of a classroom that was room 404. Aside from a stern talking to from her folks and a few wasted hours, it luckily wasn't too terrible of an experiece, but goddamn did she want to get home.

On the walk to the stop, she mostly gravitated around Connor, but also spoke out to some of the others when casual chatting began to spread among the group. She found most of them fairly agreeable, and a couple not entirely so. Some discontent arose at the fence of the abandoned construction site, its reputation well-known and less than safe. "I mean, it can't be that bad, can it?" Gabi thought. It wouldn't take too long to get through it, really, the worst part would be jumping over the barrier. "It's just a quick in-and-out. Get in, stay quiet, get out, go home. It'll be fine."

Before her friend could put some sense into her, Gabi was already halfway up, carefully ascending the sealed and vine-covered entryway in the hopes of avoiding the potentially deadly stab of a rusted chain link wire. At the top of the fence, she straddled it and looked down, waving at the others who had not yet begun the climb. "Come on up! You guys don't really wanna walk all the way around this place, do ya? It's too big for that, man. Sooner we're through, less chance of getting got by some weirdo with a knife in here. We're wasting daylight!"

She continued to ignore things like common sense and basic laws by lifting her other leg up and over, then sliding off to land on her feet. It wasn't too far a drop, so aside from a small stumble she attempted to play off smoothly, she was fine. "See? We good." An encouraging thumbs up was offered to those of the party that remained hesitant.

[User]
It had been Connor's first visit to the 404 and it was not a particularly proud moment for him. Even for a relatively small crime of swearing in front a teacher, it was still a mar on his otherwise perfect school record - well, barring a lunchroom incident a few years back. He didn't talk much on the way, and walked at the back in hopes of minimizing conversation with some of the other students.

At least he had friends here for company.

Connor needed to take the bus home, and when conversation got to the subject of cutting through the abandoned construction site, he stayed silent. He was hoping that some students - particularly Ash - would take the shortcut so that he could peacefully take the long route with Gabi and Noah. No weird tension.

There was no way Connor was going through the construction site anyway. Five years back, a freshman named Laurence Neyman had gone in there and got stabbed in the leg. Needed 17 stitches. His parents got into a huge lawsuit with the city and the local news swarmed over it like flies. Nothing as prolific had occurred since then, but Connor was content to walk an extra ten minutes of safe, legal sidewa - Oh, come on.

"Gabi?" She was doing something dumb again. Connor watched as his friend started climbing, the clinking of the fence sounding way too loud on the empty street. He looked at her helplessly, trying to figure out what to do. "C'mon, get down from there."

Gabi was now on the opposite side of the fence. Great. "Gabi. Gabs think about this. You could get seriously hurt in there."

[Assistant]
C . J M ᴀ ᴋ ᴏ ᴡ s ᴋ ɪ

---

• Abandoned Construction Yard, City of Erie •

---

Well this is a surprise.

Gabriela Mendez, as far as C.J. was aware wasn't this daring and seeing the surprise on Conor's face signified that this was relatively out of character for her; but maybe it wasn't – C.J. didn't exactly know the girl that much, so this could've been perfectly in character. For all she knew Big Business and Gabi got into all kind of shenanigans she didn't know about. A curious thought. The blonde-haired girl looked over at Connor following his protest at Gabi's own vaulting of the fence. Number 2 to have the balls. She was surprised Ash hadn't been the one to vault the fence right after her given their past with the construction site in question. Connor's protest did bring back the whole Larry Neyman bullshit to the back of C.J's mind, though, but she probably remembered it differently considering Homeless Jack was the nicest guy she had ever met. She, Ash, and Jack had shared more than a few smokes as he gave them probably the most useful advice an adult had ever given them. Larry Neyman wanted to play the game of "piss off the hobo" and what he got for it was an old combat knife in his leg. Safe to say, Larry's parents weren't too keen on losing their chance at being the parents of the kid who took Erie to regionals.

It was a story that reminded her of Noah, who effectively was this year's "Larry Neyman", though he may as well been Larry's exact opposite. From the stories she heard Larry was more than a little crazy; she once heard her older sister say he pelted a stray dog with a handful of rocks. She shot a quick glance at Noah before looking back at Connor.

"And she could seriously save some time, too. Trust me, been in here a lot. You won't get stabbed… probably."

Homeless Jack would be suspicious about a bunch of teenagers, but once he saw her and Ash he probably wouldn't draw his knife and threaten them to 'scram' -- or at least that was the hope.


[System]
NPC PROFILES
Age: 25

Gender: Male

Arcana: ???

Equipment: (List obscured by coffee stain)

Skills: Teacher - History; Teacher - Homeroom

Appearance:

Personality: Igarashi Iemasa, age twenty-five and a teacher with four years of experience dealing with kids (three of those being with primary-schoolers), is, in the words of his students, "a pretty nice guy". He's essentially the hip and happening substitute teacher who's in touch with the youth of today and their fresh and radical lifestyles, except for the fact that, yes, he's in charge of homeroom, and yes, he has a history degree (majoring in the Hellenistic period), so he's not some putz who can't spread the joys of his subject to all you youngsters out there. In fact, he's actually pretty swell at the entire thing, especially with his immense enthusiasm for being a teacher; sure, his wages aren't that great, but hey, he gets to tell kids about history, and he really, really adores his history.

Seriously, he really adores his history.

If he wasn't already in a relationship, he would marry history.

Anyway, digressions upon his romantic interest in abstract concepts aside, Iemasa is a high-energy type of fellow, with strong extroverted tendencies and a general air of "loving life and everything in it". He's constantly in a state of utter contentment or great cheer, and you can usually tell when it's the latter by his habit of flamboyantly gesturing, finger-snapping, winks or any form of dramatic action (such as suddenly speaking in fluent Standard Modern Greek). Coupled with his general approachable demeanour (which is very good for teachers, because then students will be able to talk to them for help and get better marks on their standardised tests and therefore improve the reputation of the teacher, but the guy doesn't really care about that as much as being able to talk to his students), it's easy to see why people consider him " a pretty nice guy". Because he definitely is.

Indeed, for all his quirky, kind cheer, Iemasa is very dependable. Having triumphed over the horrors of teenagerdom less than a decade before, as well as surviving university without being arrested for the possession of illegal narcotics, the man has entered the concept of "adulthood" (not the age thing, because adults aren't always mature), and as such is very capable of dispensing whatever wisdom and advice he finds necessary upon those who seek his assistance. Really, he has a strong sense of honour about helping people; you ask him about stuff, you can expect help hitting your doorstep before too long.

That's why he's in charge of homeroom, after all.

Rule of thumb though, don't get him mad. He doesn't get mad easily, but seriously, don't get him mad.

Biography: You want to know what Iemasa is like? Come on guys, he's got his entire backstory written up on his Facebook profile. Wait, it's set to 'friends only'? Sorry, but the law prevents students from adding their teachers on Facebook until they graduate, which is a shame because it removes the ability to obtain potential blackmail material it doesn't facilitate stronger bonds between students and teachers. To really know who he is, you gotta talk to him mano-a-mano, and even then it tends to come out in tidbits that pepper his lessons.

There is, of course, a list compiled (thank you, Geirin Kuzunoha XXI, for your hard work in organising all of this) of every little fact that his students know (maybe, he could be exaggerating as well) about him:

* He's a Nagoya-native.
* He has a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend in Hokkaido (sorry, fangirls, but Iemasa's unavailable).
* He makes model planes from time to time.
* He knows how to ride a horse.
* He was on the track team when he was still in high-school.
* He's traveled a lot.
* He once grew out his beard but decided that it wasn't really a great look given his prettyboy features.
* He has a pet snake.

And that's about it. He's just Igarashi Iemasa, the homeroom teacher.
Name: Sasori Yoshinori (佐曽利 義則)

Age: 31

Gender: Male

Arcana: ???

Equipment: (Check his shopping receipts if you really want to know)

Skills: Private Detective - Licensed

Appearance:

Source

Personality: Sasori Yoshinori (is that truly his name?) - age thirty-one, unmarried and the type of gumshoe you'd think had just skipped outta the dusty old pages of a detective noir. You can see it in his way of way of dress (who other than the old-fashioned even bother to wear a hat these days?), his demeanour (trust is hard to earn from this guy, real hard) and most especially his manner of speech (get used to hitting up the net for translations, otherwise his rapid-fire slang's gonna leave you feeling like a real dido). A detective through and through, albeit one who doesn't seem too fond of all those dusters his colleagues have a habit of wearing. Give him a suit and tie any day.

To be quite frank, old Yoshi isn't sure how he got roped into the dick business anyway. He has no real sense of justice (his partner argues the opposite), and all he cares about is making sure all the bills are paid on time so that the johns don't hit him up in the clubhouse again. Keeping the business afloat and his paying off the mortgage is important, yaknow, and if he has to handle every wacky request suburbia throws at him (there's way too many voyeurs and adulterers hanging around, but he's a sap for the dosh), then he'll take them all on.

And sometimes he's way too much of a bleeding heart and waives the fees for some cases. Lucky that his partner doesn't care that much.

Over time, he's mastered looking like he has all the cards (even when he doesn't) and to avoid looking like some confused dope in the face of the strange. It doesn't work all the time though, hence his constant sense of exasperation and frustration and everything the world keeps trying to throw at him.

A bit of sarcasm has been serving him pretty well in dealing with all that jazz.

Most of the time though, the fella is pretty relaxed, with a good eye for dames. He isn't too chatty, but he'll always have a word or two to say (usually to his freeloading partner because she's gone and broken the coffee machine) to anybody who wants a convo, though don't expect him to start sharing secrets or what not. He's good at keeping his mouth shut.

That's why he's a detective.

Biography: Yoshi ain't the type of dopey guy to hand his past out to every snot-nosed kid snooping into his business, so all you need to know is that he's been doing the entire detective schtick for a while, and that he's pretty good at the entire thing. Setting up shop in the eastern suburbs wasn't his idea in the first place, however; that suggestion went to the bird lounging around in his basement (he still isn't sure if he works for her or if she works for him, so he's placed her down as 'partner').

[User]
NPC: Igarashi Iemasa

"Oh, good afternoon!"

Igarashi Iemasa, twenty-five years old and committed to a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend in Hokkaido, swivelled away from the pile of half-marked history essays on his desk, the office chair beneath him squeaking as his entire body moved around to face the newcomer to the office. With ruffled blonde hair, handsome looks and a pair of round-rimmed glasses sitting over sparkling cerulean, the youthful teacher was quite the welcoming sight, especially with the easygoing grin that had found its way to his face upon sighting Lala, his eyes seemingly lighting up as the casual greeting left his mouth.

"I haven't seen you around before," were his next words, and it was patently obvious that the history teacher was in fact quite curious as to where Lala had originated! He prided himself on being a pretty amicable guy, and had spent a lotta time on getting to know each and every one of his students (even the ones who weren't in his class, because they could be awesome too), but this girl in front of him was completely unknown to him.

Given her uniform, that meant one definite thing?

"Are you new here?"

Meanwhile, the other teachers in the faculty office returned to their own business, satisfied that Igarashi was already dealing with the situation. That was probably the reason why they put his desk so close to the door; he was the people person.

[Assistant]
Lala took moments to stare at him as she would be eased a bit. She smiled in the presence of the easygoing
teacher as it made it easier for her to try conversing with him.

"Yes, I am new here."

Lala didn't know much about the history teacher, but she could tell he didn't seem native with his blond hair. She would have a better time talking to him as she felt a bit comfortable talking to adults rather than peers, even though she needed to get along with them some time soon. Besides not falling for him on the first look, she would definitely be friends with an amicable guy like him.

"I'm Liu Lala." Lala was still in mix of her introductions with her experience in countries outside of Asia, but she managed to do it correctly in the respective place for it. "I've come from China to study abroad, but I've been in America and Europe for half of my life. It's also my first visit to Japan, but I'll get around on my own. Anyhow, I've come to the faculty office to help establish myself at the school for the year.

[User]
NPC: Igarashi Iemasa

"Nice to meetcha, Liu-kun, and welcome to Japan!" said the young teacher warmly, the smile on his face brightening upon hearing the news. So he was right on the money then. The girl before him was not only definitely a newcomer to Uchima Senior High, but a newcomer to the country itself! That was cool. It was always great to meet new people and make them feel welcome.

"You've gotten all your paperwork sorted, right?" he asked, leaning forward, glasses seeming to glint in the light. "No problems with that stuff?"

---

Sinatra @Krayzikk @Conflagration

Act (a) - Pizza Wars

Benkei's ruthless blows pounded at the DRU that had sought to crush the Persona's wielder underneath its treads in a manner not too dissimilar to how a drunken hooligan would bash anyone who looked at him wrong outside of a nightclub in Shikatsu's inner city on a Friday night. Given the physical strength possessed by the manifestation of the medieval warrior monk, the 'face' of the wayward delivery drone crumpled under the sheer violence being inflicted on its frame. Despite its newly developed supernatural abilities, the machine was still in essence made to resist mortal human attacks upon its body.

Not supernatural phantoms.

Golden optics jittered for a second, sparks flying from their cracked crystals, before immediately fading into dark. The machine shuddered and died, sputtering to a complete halt as an eerie mist leaked from its broken frame, dissipating into the golden air and wisping back towards the truck.

Meanwhile, even as Kimiko seized the day and rode her brainwashed DRU into battle, leading her makeshift vanguard of delinquents forth in formation, three of the enemy machines rolled to meet her, spitting out a fireball each towards the unlikely duo of girl and robotic servant.

Sixty enemies remained.

[Assistant]
Are we back in control? I think we're in control.

Hoshizora is being asked about her school. This is strenge, becuase Hoshizora Aiko is fairly sure she's already confirmed that, yes, she has transferred to Uchima Senior High two or three times now. Perhaps this woman is not malicious, but just dense. Still, Aiko does not let down her guard.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I passed the entrance exam last summer, a-and I've heard it's a really good school, so, you know, I thought I'd take the plunge, right? B-but I had to get permission from my folks, and, you know, it took awhile, so I ended up having to, uh, what's the word, transfer, instead of starting at the beginning of the year, see. T-that's why I'm looking for a place nearby."

[User]
"I almost forgot about it." Lala took out the paperwork out of her bag. She had already handled some over seas but she needed to turn the rest in on her arrival. "I've already sorted the ones done over seas. If there's anything else I forgot to do, then I need to get right on it." She then hands him the stacks of paper that were sorted out and held together.

"The only thing I think I didn't get on my way here were my classes and any other information. By the way what is your name mister?" It was a nice meeting with the teacher, but Lala wanted to end on a fair note at least. She was looking forward to exploring the school now after being eased from the welcome.

[Assistant]
Sasori and Co. Investigations

"Even with the acknowledgement of Uchima's ... less than stellar reputation?" asked the woman.

She leaned back into her chair. It was clear that she was thinking over something once more, her scarlet eyes glancing up at the ceiling for a second before turning to lie upon Aiko's sitting form. A number of seconds passed. The scuffed old grandfather clock in the corner ticked.

"Well, you do appear to have the credentials," she said after a short period of silence. "And a pair of eyes in Uchima would be rather useful."

The last word seemed to sit on the end of her tongue.

"You're hired, then."

---

NPC: Igarashi Iemasa

"I'll make sure to hand this in to Admin," vowed the teacher with a smile, taking the stack of papers with a flourish and placing them down on his desk, next to the pile of history essays. That was quick and easy. Awesome. "If you've gotten that far, then you'll be totally fine."

What class would she be in, though? That wasn't something that Iemasa could really find out until all the administrative side of things had been successfully handled, but hopefully she was in his. He liked his fellas. Hopefully they weren't up to anything troublesome.

"I'm Igarashi-sensei," he said, introducing himself with a large grin. "If you ever feel like doing history, then I'm your guy."


[System]
"asoiaf: Aerion Targaryen" by MathiaArkoniel licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The current king of Dainia and father to the twin princes of the kingdom. He is highly admired and respected by the people of Dainia, and only few know of his intention to end the bloodline of the royal family of Lunar by finding the heir to the throne of the enemy state.

Queen Velda of Dainia

"Historically accurate Disney - Belle" by Niobesnuppa licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

The current queen of Dainia and mother to the twin princes of the kingdom. She is highly admired and respected by the people of Dainia, and it is unrevealed if she shares or is even aware of the king's intention regarding the heir to the throne of Lunar.

[User]
Raven did get a bit shocked when he put his arms around her and pulled her close. It had started to make her heart race a bit and she did not expect but maybe her brother was right...could she really be falling for Eliezer like her mother fell for her father. Two people from two very different classes and lives that were so far apart. Though when he wiped her tears away she listened to him and she knew that kind of gesture was going to be foregine to him but what she found interesting was he wiped her tears himself and that was a start with what he was doing. Raven continued to listen and felt bad for his brother wants his dead and that was why she was there after all.

THough once he twirled a lock of her hair she did blushed at that for she did not expect that at all. But as she listened to him she moved some of her hair behind her ear. "Everyone is scared and wish to always hid behind something to help protect them." Raven started to explain to him. "But in my honest belief you deserve to be happy and do you think I am not scared in all honest I mean remember how we meet I tried every trick in the book to get your attention." She explained to him but the question was brought up at what she did not fall for his brother since she did meet him first.

"DO not take this wrong your majesty about your brother but he does have a bit of an Ego or that feeling of one." Raven explained. "Sure he is handsome and can express more then you but there was just no spark between me or him." Raven explained to him. "I mean he can be sweet but something about him just does not well give me that feeling like I am right now with you." Raven said as she blushed dark red.

"When you embraced me I felt like my heart was going to leap out of of my chest for a second." Raven had admitted and she was saying the honest truth and Mathazar heard her and he as not happy to hear that at all.

"Hmpf I know yous saw me little assasin and you will be paying me a visit to talk and I am not letting you back out because you stupidly fell for my brother maybe a little motivation will help." He siad with a smirk and walked away after he finished spying on the two for now.

Raven looked out the corner of her eye and saw that Mathazar had left but hoped he left before she basically admitted she fell for Eliezer but she even started wonder was Raven looks for a path to avenge her parents or just someone to pull her out of her little dark world she had engulf herself in.

[Assistant]
Eliezer nodded at Raven's response. "It is a pleasant surprise to be told that my attention was worth such effort, especially by somebody like you, who does not believe that status and wealth define happiness. You did everything in your power to convince me that you were the right lady for me, but what if I had not been convinced then? Like myself, you fear unhappiness, and it would seem that my attention was key to your happiness, at least on the night of the ball. If not for the attempted assassination, there would have been a high possibility that your methods would not have worked, yet you still dared to set yourself up for rejection, to hope that everything would fall into place. The courage you possess is one that I can only admire."

He then raised an eyebrow at what she had said about Mathazar. "An ego? I see..."

It made no difference when the princes were seen and heard from afar, but up close, Mathazar had always been the more confident of the two. Eliezer had always acted on head knowledge, while his brother often acted on his own, and was sure of himself every time he did. Eliezer had thought that it was a strength Mathazar had, yet it had been a turn off even for a lady who valued the expression of the heart over the head. He found himself perplexed by Raven once again. Where was he to begin in understanding her or what was going on in her mind? The allure of her mysteriousness was something he had resisted before. Perhaps the time had come to step right into it.

Spotting a flush on her skin, he then paused his thoughts. He recalled it taking place a couple of times the day before in the village. He had assumed that it had no significant meaning, though, he could tell that she seemed slightly wary at the moment.

"Is everything alright, my lady? I cannot help but notice that you look a little flustered. A meal has been prepared for us indoors this afternoon, perhaps a drink might help?"

He plucked a small white flower from a nearby bush and stuck it into her hair for entertainment's sake, hoping it would distracted her from whatever was worrying her, before taking her back into the palace. He brought her down the grand hallways of the royal family's home to an extravagantly-decorated private room. The carpet and walls were a rich velvet red. Lush, heavy curtains framed the large windows that let in the Sun's rays which lit the room up, and the intricate furniture was lined with gold trimmings. Atop a table in the middle were freshly-cooked, sumptuous meals for the both of them.

After pulling his lady's chair out for her, he proceeded to take his own seat, turning his attention to the portraits of his parents above the unlit fireplace. "It has occurred to me that I never got to ask the king and queen how they met and why they fell in love. Then again, such a thing was never of importance to me, not until now."

Eliezer then turned back to Raven. "You have explained to me that how the both of us are now remind you of your father and mother, but all I can see such memories giving you would be grief if we continue to see each other. In addition, my ignorance has caused you frustration that you could do without. What do you see in me? The persistence you have displayed is something I do not understand. Perhaps the elusiveness of my love is appealing to you. It is so simply because I know not how to give it. Love is such a... baffling phenomenon. You see, everything that I have learnt, I have done so with instruction. However, I do believe that this is something I would have to discover on my own, and I know not where to begin."

[User]
Raven looked at him a bit Nd knew that Eliezer would have a hard time believe in the Ego part but even here she could tell Mathazar had an ego issue acting like he knew his brother better but yet she was trained to see people for who they are and what is in their hearts. That was the way of the assasin so they coul find their weaknesses or use them against their targets. But when he brought up the question about her flushed cheeks it was obvious he has never been embaressed, nervous or had someone they liked that's they could not help but blush when they think of them or are in there presence.

"I am fine Eliezer." She said to him as he placed the flower in her hair and she blushed a bit from that for no one has ever done that to her. "You obviously never been embaressed or nervous enough to make you blush." Raven said to him with a small smile before she followed him back inside to get something to eat. AS they walked Raven did look at all the things the palace posed it was decorate nicely and all but in her mind it felt empty to her and lonely.

As they made it to the dining area and she thanked him with the help of her chair though when she saw the portrait of the king and queen she could not help but glare at the kings face. THe man that ended her families life and took away what a child should never loose unless to old age.
"I wouldn't be shocked if they told you that their marriage was arrange or something like that." Raven said to him she knew it was a bit insensitive but a man that was so cold hearted to kill her family had no way or actually loving anyone and had to be put together with someone to keep the royal bloodline going.

Raven then looked about him and listened to his questions before she rested her elbows int he tabled with her fingers intertwined with each other. "Hmmm the past.......it may cause me pain and sorrow when I thing back on it how my folks meet and what they went through but my father always told me that even though the past may chew you up and spit you out the past means its behind us now and its there for us to learn from and that sometimes we have to go through grief and pain to learn and do better for the future." Raven explained to him. 'ANd for what you can do instead of basically isolating yourself in the palace waiting for the people who only a small handful can get in come to see you why no do what I did with your yesterday go to the village yourself." Raven explained to him.

"If you go into the village yourself and talk to them, see what their problems are, to see what you can do what is best because you can see it with your own eyes." Raven explained to him. "Maybe just being to put yourself out there as in the wise words of my master he always said to understand another you must walk a mile in there shoes." Raven gave an example. "Meaning you need to get out there and see and maybe who knows try it yourself to fully understand th world and the kingdom your fathers hopes for you to rule one day."

[Assistant]
An arranged marriage? Eliezer pondered over Raven's theory for a moment, finding it to be highly possible. His father and mother hardly spoke to him or Mathazar about each other. Such details were not important to their children as far as they were concerned. Anything that they felt was of no value in the upbringing of the princes was not spoken of, and Eliezer and his brother were raised not to care about such 'trivial' things. He had always thought that he cared sufficiently for his parents, though, as his lady had implied, a part of caring for somebody would be taking the trouble to find out more about them as a person, would it not?

He proceeded to cut into the steaming piece of meat on his plate as he continued with the subject. "You would most likely think it tragic that, if it were true, I would have found such a thing to be normal. That would have been the case, if I had not met you. You speak of the involvement of love and happiness in a marriage. For the longest time, I had accepted that this was a privilege not to be enjoyed by those of royal blood, that we were simply granted different entitlements. I truly am fortunate to have a lady as... special, as yourself granting me what I thought I could never have. Although it is still unclear why you seem to have developed feelings for me, I am convinced that those feelings are sincere."

Raven then brought her village up again in response to his next point. Thinking back to the day before when he had been under the guise of a commoner, he found her to be right. He recalled how much more he had learned about their struggles and their way of life being among them as compared to addressing them as a member of the royal family. What they were willing to share with the crown prince when he would engage them in conversation did not come close to what they were comfortable with discussing around somebody whom they thought was a fellow villager.

"You seem to think highly of your companions back at the village, and rightfully so. I believe I have much to learn from your people regarding these new, perplexing subjects."

After finishing his meal, he took a sip from his glass before standing. "It is interesting that you would mention isolation. You are correct about this tendency of mine, though, I never 'wait' for anyone to come to me. You see, I take pleasure in solitude. I find that those are the only times when I can truly rest and take my mind off my duties."

Eliezer then made his way over to the corner of the room, where a beautiful, intricately-carved violin was placed, and picked the instrument up. "During those times, I would either be in the garden where I have shown you before this, or I would be up here, relishing a few melodies by myself. The sound of the violin tends to calm me."

He instinctively positioned the instrument at his collar and took the bow that was beside it, as if preparing to play a tune right there and then. However, he stopped himself just as the bow touched the strings of the violin, remembering that he had company. It was not that he had forgotten that his lady was present, but he was unsure if he wanted to share this particular pursuit with her. He did enjoy her company, but playing the violin was something extremely personal to him, for it represented the few moments when he was actually allowed to be 'free'. With a nearly-inaudible sigh, he set the instrument back down and sat with Raven again.

"You mentioned wanting to know more about me. I believe that was an appropriate start."


[System]
Caesar Inu
Basics
Epithet: The Wolf of the Blue
Race: Human / Mink hybrid
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Appearance: Caesar is unlike any other male Mink one might find in or outside their Homeland, and a large part of that is from his human father.

Caesar is fairly humanoid, even by Mink standards. At his head you'll find golden blond, neck length hair, while his fur is more of a dirty blond, and very fine across his body. His eyes shine out from all this light color as a deep, emerald green that twinkle with intelligence rarely shown. Furthermore, his face is very similar to a dog's, complete with a nose that's more like a snout, oversized canines, and perky ears that point up most of the time out of his golden hair.

Further down his body one will notice he's muscular, much more so than the average human would be. His hands have dark nails that are a little sharp and more pointed than a human's, as do his feet.

The other thing of note that one might notice first is that Caesar is always in shorts. No shirt, no shoes, unless he absolutely has to. These shorts have a hole in the back for his tail, which is normally curved up closer to his back than sticking out.

For measurements, Caesar stands at full height at 5'5", weighing only 130 pounds. This adds to his lean but muscular look, as there's not too much limb length compared to torso height.

Please view the image below for how his tail and ears would look.

Position: Fighter
Bounty: 0
Jolly Roger: A simple Wolf head howling over crossed bones. No one ever accused Caesar of putting too much work into anything....
Image courtesy of Ban

Background
Ambition: Caesar's one dream is to become rich enough to never have to do anything ever again. Money paves all roads, after all.
Likes:* Napping
* Fighting
* Relaxing (particularly in the sun)
* A good drink
* Friends he can joke with
* The Breeze of the Sea
* Swimming
* Strong fighters

Dislikes:* Being cold
* Doing work
* Weak fighters
* Snow and hail, because what Devil designed that crap?
* Thunder
* Heights of 15 feet or higher

Quirks: * Considering he is half Mink, Caesar is incredibly, incredibly lazy.
* Caesar snorts when he laughs
* He also bares his teeth when he laughs
* Very prone to farting himself awake during a nap
* Not very concerned with his fur like most Minks, but still treasures it.
* Does not follow Mink deities, or any deities for that matter
* Will eat any meat, unlike how normal Minks refrain from eating furred creatures
* Prone to taking bones to bury or chew on
* Very weird about his height. He thinks he's much taller than he actually is, and is in denial over his actual height

Personality: Caesar is a very determined creature... Very determined to do as little as he actively has to. That includes training, working, and exerting effort. Why should he, when he never has needed to before?

He is, however, incredibly loyal to his friends and family. He'll risk his life, if needed, for them. Insult someone he cares about? No amount of laziness will truly stop him from removing a piece of you. He feels honor bound to those he forms relationships with, to a fault.

Furthermore, Caesar is incredibly kind at heart, even if he hides it under arrogance and disdain to others. He'll bring you the moon if he considers you a friend, given time to be motivated enough to bother with it.

Buried beneath all of this, however, is a deep seated fear of heights that is nearly paralyzing in most situations.

History: Very little is known about Caesar's mother, as she died while he was only two and his father refuses to speak of her. "Never looked back, never want to," he says when asked.

Not long after this death, however, Caesar's father took them far across the South Blue to Karate Island. They'd be safe, and Caesar could train like his mother was always doing.

Without much Mink upbringing all the way out in the South Blue, Caesar adopted strange mannerisms instead in the years that followed. He spent his younger years training with the Masters in Karate Island's rocky terrain and lush tropical climate, suffering from the heat like the rest of the Minks.

Easily outpacing all others he came across, Caesar simply became lazy in time. Why train and improve when he was already the strongest being around? By the age of ten, he'd almost quit training entirely, preferring to train himself against the heat by basking in the sun for hours everyday.

While this did help build up a sort of tolerance to the heat, Caesar decided he couldn't truly overcome the slowness in combat he suffers in the heat.

And so he spent his days relaxing, longing for a challenge and desperately hoping one wouldn't come at the same time.

Some time after the forming of the Red Rum Pirates, Caesar was out swimming. He enjoys to swim, one of the few things he isn't completely lazy on, and had found himself far from Karate Island's shore. Drifting along the calm Sea, he was attacked by a shark. Effortlessly handling the situation, and really just playing with it, the Red Rum Pirates stumbled across the situation and promptly 'saved' Caesar, who found it was too much effort to explain they were incorrect and just rolling with it. After all, they had tried to save him, and that alone gained his respect and admiration, labeling everyone on the ship as a friend.

From there it was again too much effort in his mind to return to his boring life, and he saw no reason why he couldn't relax with his new friends anyways, so he stuck around.

Combat Specialties
Skills and Abilities: * Stronger than the average man
* Skilled in swordsmanship and basic martial arts
* Great swimmer, not so great at climbing
* Better regenerative abilities, like most Minks
* Increased metabolism
* Can tie a basic knot
* Faster than average, particularly if he goes on all fours
* Electro - can produce electric shocks from his body, but it's only strong enough to maybe put you on your ass on a good day. If he's motivated enough, he can channel this though his machete.

Devil Fruit: N/A
Haki: VOID
Gear: A blade given to him by his father, a simple machete. He feels no need to actively carry anything else on him at all times.
Fighting Style: Punches, kicks, and cuts. He'll just try and break you with his super strength and stamina. Offensive, but plays smart by looking for openings.
Techniques:
 Omni Slash:  Caesar can charge his machete with his Electro for a power up, and then release the charge in a shockwave for a decent range attack.

 One Finger Death Punch:  Caesar centralizes his Electro into one finger, greatly increasing the impact generated upon collision to nearly double his normal punch.

 Shock Shield:  Caesar covers himself in a layer of Electro to protect himself from attacks by shocking anything that gets too close, particularly people. This is incredibly draining to do, however, so he can't keep it up for now than a few seconds.

 Seizure:  He shocks people with Electro through their head, sending electricity coursing through their brain and knocking them unconscious for a while.

Nakama
 DISCLAIMER
The Nakama section for Caesar is based more on future developments, seeing as he's only been with the crew for about three days at the start of the IC. That is all.

---

On the whole, Caesar is highly protective of the crew because of his tight bonds of friendship and kinship, fully feeling like they are family to him.

 Bonesword:
Caesar is highly protective of the Skelekid, despite the general lack of closeness. Part of this is because of their friendship, but largely because Bonesword is made of bones. Great quality bones. Beyond that they get along well enough given their shared mental ages.

Dirk:
Caesar sees Dirk as an incredibly weird man, and as such takes a more cautious approach to their interactions, never quite sure how the former slave will react.

 Cedric:
Caesar and Cedric have a love-hate relationship. On the one hand, Cedric is the Captain and a drinking buddy for Caesar. They have great synergy and Caesar respects Cedric. However, they butt heads because Caesar is, well, lazy and Cedric feels like he can do so much better, leading to a little bit of resentment and exasperation from Caesar.

 Drake:
Caesar see Slick as a bit weird, but loves the man to death for being a great cook and for recognizing the need to sit back and relax. There's yet to be an issue between the two.

Izuna:
Caesar generally gets along alright with Izuna, but they come at odds often enough because Caesar is a 'lazy deadbeat' who has zero idea of the value of hard work.

Feya:
Caesar and Feya are often at odds. He's lazy and she hates it, and she dislikes some of the food Slick makes up. Furthermore Caesar can't figure out why she is so pale looking, let alone why she's do hell bent on fitness.

 Lilliana:
Caesar is incredibly interested in the mechanic woman. He enjoys helping her break things, and he finds her constant bouncing around as both irritating and amusing. Beyond that he doesn't have many issues with her. Their shared enjoyment of open skies makes up for the fact that Caesar honestly can't stand her motherly instincts half the time. He never had one, and he feels he doesn't need one now.

[User]
Captain Cedric D. Boone - Cannon Castle X
Responding to @Gardevoiran and @Leaves

Boone looked to Bonekid and smiled, "Thanks friend! I'm not very easy on the yes, Bawhahahahaha!" He took his clothes back and dressed himself. He was still muddy, but now he was covered. He sat down in the stands and rested. Sighing to himself. It had been a tough match, but he'd come out on top in the end.

He watched Runch decimate his foe with chess-like strategy. Taking him apart. Even when the man thought he was ahead, he was only one step behind. It culminated in the grand finale as the man bulged out like a balloon. Then Boone yelled out in congradulations, "You took him down Captain! That's the chef we need right now! Bawhahahaha!"

Feya began to do a group huddle which Cedric happily joined. Team spirit was one of the 5 basic crew groups. Or was it good groups? Regardless he wholeheartedly agreed and slammed his head into the center along with the rest of them. Then he fell over from the impact and was knocked unconscious. Apparently Feya and Bonekid's heads were much harder then he anticipated.

[Assistant]
Dirk Messir - Dirkwing Dirk Does Dirk Deeds
The fact that you lucked out about this so dramatically doesn't make you any better of a person. You're still a horrible freak.

Nooope. I win, loser. I got the ally, and he donuts even knows about the sparoons. He won it. He is the best.

Except you suck Fool! You can't succeed Idiot!

Yes. You will succeed. You'll be the succeedest to ever succeed. And furthermore, you have top deer there was then that deer taste. In coats.

'Okay, Smish, we should get to the go,' Dirk malts, patting Smeth on the back to get him to start going. 'And we'll tell everyone we just beat up first. Wait, no. Jim can do that. Big Tiger Jim. We'll go the opposite directing round first.' Yes, perfect plotan. He's going to do it. They will do it, and it'll be good.

'...should there be less obverse imagey?' you asked first, for obvious reasons that he was about to say. 'It might be obverse, and people will tell Brulee Bill about it.'

...wait.

'Obvious, I meant.'

Good Job, Dirk! That Correction Was Very Useful For Him!

He was is am knowing of this, Big Guy. Yaes.

[User]
Caesar watched the eating match with a mild amusement, as the enemy tried and failed to gross out the cereal alien. Who, in turn, was making some fantastically delicious seeming meals. It really was an odd match, Caesar couldn't figure out the point of it.

Though at least it was an easy one? It almost didn't seem fair, really, compared to his broken arms and the intensely physical matches so far.

He almost didn't see Feya reaching for him and the others, managing to slip further away while she did... Whatever the hell she was doing. What even was that? Had she gotten into Cedric's stash, per chance?

But wait, she didn't drink! Right?


[System]
* Age: 28
* Appearance: "Anyone in my employ is under my protection." Toshiko has red hair, red eyes, and pale skin.
* Personality: Toshiko enjoys spending life with people she cares about, and generally makes for fairly pleasant company. However, she will change her behavior depending on the situation. When talking to employees, she is friendly, calm, and kind. When speaking with a perpetrator, for example, she makes a drastic change, approaching cruelty. In addition, it is not difficult to rouse her to anger and she has a remarkable lack of patience for someone who has taken a profession as a detective. When sufficiently angered, she will remove her glasses and and begin taking things extremely seriously. She enjoys cigarettes and seems to have something against organizing her office. Toshiko's ultimate goal is to attain immortality, as well as ensure no-one causes too many problems that interfere with having a pleasant life. Toshiko is terrible with money and spends incredibly frequently, sometimes on magical items and other times on things she simply thinks are interesting.
* Abilities: Toshiko's Affinity is Fire. As such, she is highly skilled in spells relating to fire. She is capable of casting spells by "carving" symbols in the air using a lit cigarette. Notable among her spells is an Instant Ignition spell. While it requires a full rune to be "carved" in the air, it will instantly ignite a target. As Toshiko's affinity is fire, she is also skilled with spells involving "consumption", "ignition", and "destruction". In addition, she has learned spells outside of her affinity. These spells are primarily wards and illusions, which she uses to conceal the Fu Sonzai no Gensō building from the eyes of regular humans. She is also capable of self-healing spells that can heal serious injury, though not something that will cause instant or very rapid death, and she must be conscious to use them.
* Weapons/Equipment: Toshiko has a great deal of cigarettes with her at almost all times. Not only does she like them, but they aid her casting.
* Brief Backstory: Toshiko was born into the Ando family, a family of magi with the goal of accessing Origin of All Magic, the wellspring from which all mana extends from that contains and infinite wealth of magical knowledge, all spells ever created, that ever will be created. Early in life, Toshiko was mentored in magic by her grandfather. When she reached her late teens, she was sent to a Mage Circle in London to train. It was here that she chose to abandon her family's goal, firmly believing it to be unattainable. While her family was initially outraged by her decision and desired to kill her, they eventually decided she would simply need punishment instead. This was, in part, because Toshiko's sister had not displayed the same desire to give up. Deciding to pursue the goal of immortality, Toshiko returned to Japan and founded the Fu Sonzai no Gensō detective agency in an effort to ensure pleasant life wasn't disrupted. Also to make money.

[User]
For a few moments, the black-haired girl rubbed at her temples and winced, not finding the strength to do anything other then try and sooth the throbbing ache in her skull. However, as those moments passed, it seemed like the pain must have been lessening, and slowly she opened her eyes... and then they widened as memories came flooding to her.

"Blonde hair! One was little and she had blonde hair!" she cried, waving her hands in the air, "She looked kind of like... like a doll! She was like... a little doll? Not literally but she looked really fragile! She only had socks on too and she stepped on my nail when she was coming in and then I jumped out to stop them! But then the bigger one, she had black hair, and she got really mad and hit me in the face!"

[Assistant] "Do you have any more details?" she said. This was a small step forwards--there had been two thieves, one having left the bloodstain behind and presumably removed the stained sock (or used it as a bandage?), for certain. There was little useful new information, though. Their second intruder was able to hit you in the face and disable somehow, possibly through force or through the rune that she had just removed, "For instance, were they known to your group or your employers? Did they have other distinguishing features?"

[User]
"Ummm.... I don't think we know them at all..." the maid looked thoughtful for a few moments, before glancing at Tomoko. The older woman shook her head, seeming just as surprised at the appearance of the two thieves as the maid was. Indeed, things seemed like they were really rather confusing in this circumstance, as far as the Daidouji household was concerned. There wasn't any recognition from either the family members or the maid. At least, not Tomoko and this specific maid.

"Er... Oh, I think the blonde one had... blue eyes?" she said, "I can't remember what color the black-haired ones' eyes were... even though she hit me in the face..."

The maid seemed rather sour about that last part.

[Assistant]
It seemed that neither of the mansion's residents had any idea who the invaders could be--a pity, since Ryuuko had no more idea herself and pink eyes were more unusual than indicative of any further abilities. The most that could be achieved with this information was to possibly ask after anyone of a matching description fleeing the mansion the previous night.

"I shall go inform Ando-shishou of further discoveries. It would be beneficial if you could search the mansion for anybody matching those descriptions, as the thieves may not have left yet," the purple-haired girl stated, bowing perfunctorily and walking back towards the entrance. Provided that she didn't get lost, it should be easy to find the vase-storing room and her teacher within short order.

[User] While the vase-storing room was easy enough to return to, it seemed as if something had perhaps gone amiss. Neither Toshiko nor the daughter of the Daidouji family remained there. Just where had they gone, and what were they doing?

[Assistant]
As if tracing her steps once wasn't enough, both her employer and their current guide had gone elsewhere in the mansion without warning. With a sigh, Ryuuko began to look around the room once again, this time for any trace of runework--on the case, nearby it, or even on the walls and ceiling. Though with the Daidouji's own brand of magic being western, it wouldn't be out of place at all... and Yuuno wasn't around to explain whether that should be there or not.

When she was done, if they hadn't already returned, the purple-haired girl rose up and turned to leave the room again. If she could find a maid, which shouldn't be hard at all, they ought to know where the hell the other two had gotten to... or anywhere that Yuuno might like to hang around, at least.

[User]
Eventually, the maid directed Ryuuko to the dining hall, where she had seen both Toshiko and Yuuno heading to. She hadn't disturbed them, as it was likely they were busy with something relating to the case. Regardless of just what it was, Toshiko had seemed in quite a hurry. Perhaps there had been some sort of revelation regarding the case?

Either way, it was clear where they were.

Upon arriving there, Ryuuko would see Toshiko and Yuuno seated beside one another. Toshiko seemed rather pleased with herself, so there must have been some kind of development.

[Assistant]
It was definitely strange that the pair of them had relocated into the dining hall but, given that her own sources of information had stemmed from accosting an unfortunate maid in the hallways, Ryuuko wasn't one to judge. She announced her arrival into the room and bowed perfunctorily--it was somewhat annoying to have found no more information on further examination of the room.

"Ando-san, Yuuno-chan, I have been able to learn more information about our thief. Firstly, calling them a thief is inaccurate, there were two partners in this crime. Secondly, we are dealing with both a western mage and an onmyouji."

[User]
"Ah, good work, Ryuuko-kun," said Toshiko, rising to her feet with a smile. Indeed, it was more then Toshiko had managed to find. Outside of those few clues that they had already discovered already, there hadn't been much of anything. But now... that was interesting. A western mage and an onmyouji? It was a shame to interrupt her little talk with Yuuno, who was now rather nervously shifting in her seat and looking back over her shoulder at Ryuuko, but this was important.

"Both a Western Mage and an onmyouji, huh? That's interesting..." she trailed off for a few moments. "And one was blonde, too... do you know anything about the other? One was small and blonde... was the other taller and with black hair?

Toshiko was having growing suspicions in regards to the nature of the theft.

[Assistant]
"According to the maid, her partner matches that description, though she couldn't provide more details because of being knocked out right away," Ryuuko said. So these people were already known to Toshiko? It was hardly enough clues to construct a legal case but when you were dealing with magic that had never been an option in the first place. It seemed that their job might already be finished despite the relatively short time that had been spent here.

She was a bit confused by Yuuno's reaction. Was her sword more prominent than it had been before or was her backup knife showing? The younger girl had seemed perfectly comfortable around her earlier in the day...

[User]
"... Then I have a feeling I know exactly who was behind this," Toshiko replied, "Though I have no idea what end they might be seeking, this doesn't sound like their normal fair."

After a moment's pause, where the redheaded mage thought over exactly how to reveal what she knew.

"The thieves are, most likely, a pair of girls known as Kitty and Bunny," she said, finally, "They're typically known for stealing high-profile items using magic, then return them roughly a day later without any explanation. They're in it for the sport, in other words, rather then to keep whatever it is that they've taken. The mundane media regards them as phantoms, and to be honest so does quite a bit of our community as well. However, that doesn't mean we don't know what they look like. Kitty is a short, doll-like girl from Italy with blonde hair. Bunny is a taller Japanese girl with short black hair. Kitty is a mage, Bunny is an onmyouji."

After a moment's pause, Toshiko continued.

"I'm not certain it's them, but the more I hear about these details the more I suspect it's the case.

Yuuno remained silent, giving an occasional nervous glare towards Ryuuko.

[Assistant]
From the sounds of it, the thieves would normally be returning the stolen item sometime tonight, which would make this whole theft nothing more than an elaborate test of the mansion's security and payment for doing absolutely nothing useful on their part. They could simply identify the perpetrators to Tomoko and be on their way. "What makes you think that this is any different from a normal theft? We can simply wait for tonight and for the return of the vase."

"Have I done something, Yuuno-chan?" Ryuuko asked, smoothing her kimono in case it was something about her appearance, even though the girl didn't seem the type. Being looked at so harshly for no apparent reason was quite unnerving...

[User]
"Well... their thefts are normally high-profile, mundane items," Toshiko explained, adjusting her glasses as she did. "They take it long enough to generate a buzz and speculation, then return it just like that. They're not in it for anything more then the sport, the entertainment. They want to see people run about in a panic, only for the stolen item to be returned as if it had never disappeared in the first place. So a theft like this, for them, is very strange... strange enough that I'd suspect someone else if not for those descriptions. Something strange is going on."

Meanwhile, Yuuno simply averted her eyes and let out a huff, blushing faintly.

"I-I was talking with Toshiko-san, I don't like being interrupted!" she said, quickly.

Toshiko simply smiled. "Of course you don't. In any case, the we can't count on the vase being returned."

[Assistant]
"If they wouldn't normally do this, do you have any idea how to contact or trap them? My family has a lot of reach and we might be able to arrange buying it off them if we can supply a reason for knowing they have it... then just take it," Ryuuko suggested, treating the idea of robbing the thieves entirely too easily. She'd extort them without a second's thought, too. "Though I would rather deal with this without falling back on my connections."

Yuuko's explanation, as shallow as it had been, was accepted without question: there were more important things to deal with right now than how angry a teenager was at someone walking into the room. She might be able to find out the real reason why later but the job took precedence.

[User]
"I don't think that will be necessary. Given the circumstances, the time since the item was stolen, and the size of the item, it's likely they haven't left the local area," Toshiko replied. Before she hadn't been so certain, but even the phantom thieves were unlikely to be able to take an object that large particularly far this quickly. And to be frank, she expected that they were being paid, or perhaps extorted, to steal this item. It was after all out of the realm of their usual operations. "It means our next move is to attempt to locate them. If I'm correct, it might be possible to scry their location."

She paused for a moment.

"Not by looking for the vase, but by using that scrap of ofuda."

[Assistant] "Is my help required for this, or should I prepare for possible violence?" the apprentice asked, thinking back to the maid's statement about being... well, hit in the face. If they actually went out to recover the vase in person and one of the thieves was injured, it seemed quite likely that things would get out of hand.

[User]
"Scrying is something any mage worth their salt should know how to do," replied Toshiko. Yuuno shuffled in her seat and grumbled to herself, giving Ryuuko another look for a few moments as the redheaded mage approached her apprentice.

"It's only natural to introduce you to it when it's become relevant. You'll need to participate in the spell," continued Toshiko, producing the ofuda scrap again, "By using this scrap of ofuda, we'll be able to trace their location. This was pretty clumsy of them, when you think about it, leaving something like this behind."

She paused for a moment. "More specifically, we'll be tracing Bunny's mana. There's still traces of it inside this piece of paper, which means that by using scrying we should be able to lock onto her. I can't imagine Kitty will be far away."