It didn't take long to get everyone back, for Doctor Lin Cheng to check over Hitomi, and for everything to be okay.<br/><br/>All in all, people didn't really seem to recognize that there had been any trouble at all.  Maybe most had just taken as acceptance that they were safe here.  After all, all the real problems happened off of the island itself...<br/><br/><strong>Friday, August 5th</strong><br/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Clio’s Dorm Room<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Clio<br/><br/>Clio woke up in the morning to the beautiful musical notes of a Glass Armonica playing in her room.  Checking around, it wasn’t hard to find a tiny but beautifully made butterfly of stained glass, rubbing together just so as it flew and carefully designed to play a song.<br/><br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEKlRUvk9zc<br/><br/>Her cat chased the butterfly, and for several minutes, the music synced up between the cat’s rhythmic purring percussion and the harmonic song emanated from the butterfly’s wings.<br/><br/>Eventually, unless Clio stopped it, the cat caught the butterfly and disassembled it, but not in a way that Clio wouldn’t be able to put back together again if she took the time.  The butterfly had no other value or meaning beyond being sentimental, a reminder that someone loved her and thought she’d appreciate waking up to such beauty.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Cyberspace<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Namira<br/><br/>Namira receives an e-mail from Head Librarian Amunet Chisisi, but doesn’t have time to respond before class.<br/><br/><hr/><tt class="bbc_tt"><br/>Dear Namira Laurent,<br/><br/>I have been informed of your desire to repent and return to the library.  Rather than put you through the usual process of expecting a direct apology, I’d rather offer a proposition.<br/><br/>There’s a student, Michaela Garcia, who used to be the warmth and joy of the library.  As of the start of the year, she hasn’t smiled, hasn’t been doing much of her schoolwork, and the light in her eyes is missing.  I believe she’s heartbroken, but it’s never been my way to know love beyond dedication to duty and its inherent satisfaction.<br/><br/>It’s not uncommon for Scions associated with Ishtar, as well as other love deities such as Aphrodite, to assist in the matters of love.<br/><br/>As of this moment, you’re unbanned from the library.  If you head in to speak with her and attempt to help her, I will consider the matter settled.  If you’d like to suggest other terms, you may come and see me.<br/><br/>I have no idea whether this will require an individual or group effort.  The way this often works, if an individual Scion goes alone, they’ll be able to know if they can handle matters and call in assistance if they need it.  Groups being brought usually make sure everyone is aware of the situation from the onset but ensure that the entire group is necessary to handle it.  You understand the nature of your Band better than I do and what would be appropriate.<br/><br/>Written in truth in the name of Ma’at.<br/>Head Librarian Amunet Chisisi<br/></tt><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Mail<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Tian Lei<br/><br/>Luke receives two letters, with one printed out by a minor functionary of Ao Guang.  Although it was several pages of Mandarin, something about his recent experiences allowed him to skim through everything with little issue and focus everything down to the important bits.<br/><br/>According to the letter, Ao Guang does not blame Tian Lei for Sun Wukong stealing yet another staff from his palace.  It took pages and pages to do so politely and without allowing one to take offense, but the letter explained that Ao Guang is pretty much done with the Shen and such nonsense, and has no interest in attempting to continue such a petty squabble to no real gain.  “It is sufficient that the glory of the Great Blue Dragon of the East is such that even Sun Wukong knows where to find the best weapons for his children.”<br/><br/>The letter further claims that the actions of the dragon, Pangxie Daolong, were without his counsel and consent, that Pangxie has been removed from the service of Ao Guang as a crab lieutenant, but that his whereabouts are no longer known.  Past exploits are mentioned where other children of Sun Wukong went to his palace, made a mess, caused all sorts of issues, but didn’t find out any information and came no closer to their goal, so Ao Guang wants to nip things in the bud and just let Tian Lei know that there are no clues to be found by going there.  Thanks is also given that the lives of his crabs were spared.<br/><br/>Even with all the pages spent in the writing speaking of the glory and power of the Great Blue Dragon of the East. offering all the boilerplate and ensuring that nothing in the text would offer offense, it still ends up coming across as nothing more than a plea.  The Celestial Bureaucracy will never stop this from happening and he just wants to be left alone.<br/><br/>The next letter came from Shaw Brothers Studio:<br/><br/><hr/><tt class="bbc_tt"><br/>Dear Tian Lei:<br/><br/>First, I hope you’ll accept my apology for the bureaucratic nightmare that was undergoing the studio recently.<br/><br/><br/>We’re planning a project called Feng Shui, with the protagonists being heroes of the Chi War, protecting humankind’s destiny in a titanic struggle across space and time.  Several pages have been enclosed to allow you to familiarize yourself with the material.<br/><br/>If you’re interested, I’ll be happy to work around your university schedule.  However, I have a request.  <br/><br/>In order to bolster our international markets, we’re also looking for an actress who is not Chinese and who has a talent for at least one form of weapon prowess, whether melee, archery, or firearms.  Acting skill is important but secondary; you know how easily injuries can happen and that acting is easier to teach than combat skill.  Her role as lead actress will be someone strong, capable, and able to hold her own in a fight, with likely shifting to become a love interest if that goes over well in test markets.  Initially rivals, the two of you will end up facing off against a major threat together; scripts are pending.<br/><br/>Should you know someone who might be interested in such a role, discuss it with her and ask her to contact our Honolulu studio for an audition.<br/><br/>Sincerely,<br/><br/>Alexander Wong<br/>Senior Manager, Shaw Brothers Studio<br/></tt><br/><hr/><br/><strong>OOC:</strong>The basic deal here is to make an offer to bring in one of the other PCs and see if they’d be interested in this also.<br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>Location:</strong>Classroom 103<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>All<br/><br/>As the others came in, Hitomi was apologizing to Professor Shamoon, who was more concerned about ensuring that Hitomi doesn’t miss class again than she was about the singular incident.<br/><br/>With the ankh and glasses, one might have expected Professor Tonya Shamoon to have the scent of dry dust and sand, but she did not,  Djehuty, better known to the Greeks as Thoth, had not conceived or Chosen her.  Such was the cruelty of Fate that there was no goddess of making math less boring.<br/><br/>(https://media0.giphy.com/media/l4FB6RbvPkRCrgXmg/200w.gif)<br/><br/>“Class dismissed.”<br/><br/>This time, Hitomi stuck around for a bit, searching for the words in silence.  Her eyes said it all: she wanted to say more to thank them, but all the words in her heart felt so hollow that she didn’t bear to speak them.<br/><br/>Serafiel showed up soon enough in the hallway, wearing a T-shirt that read,<tt class="bbc_tt">I thought Santa was supposed to give naughty girls coal.  Why did he give me lingerie and the key to a cheap motel room?</tt><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>OOC:</strong>Thursday counts as an interval of Downtime.  One of the obvious uses for Downtime regards Crafting rules.<br/><br/>If you’re not doing crafting, you’re free to spend the day as you like.<br/><br/>JD has more than enough time to find another lightning bolt if I didn't put in seeing one fall, which I think I did.<br/>