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daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#301: Sep 8th 2011 at 6:31:40 AM

"I see..." Sakura said before taking another sip of her tea and turning to see Marcel "In other words, Hikaru attracted the ghost of a warrior person from a far away place I don't know about"

"Well, unless Hikaru wants Mikaru exorcised from her I think this is a good development. These kind of spirits tend to be good guides with all their experience"

RevolverJ Hunter from Florida Since: Jun, 2010
Hunter
#302: Sep 8th 2011 at 11:26:19 AM

"She...can talk to a ghost?" Marcel had muttered quietly. There would have been a bit of disbelief in the back of his mind, but that notion died quickly considering the fact that he was having tea with a Goddess. Really, how could he be skeptical about things like this anymore?

"Oh! So that's why she was talking to herself earlier, she must have been talking to him..." Said ghost had also just introduced himself a few seconds ago, speaking through Hikaru. Odd, shouldn't she be the one with control over him?

"Well, unless he's bothering her I don't see anything wrong with it either." He added with a shrug.

ArgeusthePaladin from Byzantine. Since: May, 2010
#303: Sep 9th 2011 at 6:18:17 PM

"Err... if you say so, then I have no problem with that too."

Hikaru said, her perplexity only lessening a tiny bit. She looked to the goddess, her voice turning even more to the timid side as she realized she was asking something completely, utterly weird from a non-meta point of view.

"Say... may I ask if this... person is going to be that dashing shadow protector who is supposed to be helping me from behind the scene and coming to my aid when I am in trouble or something?" she asked. "I mean... all the fabulous magical girls I've known have one of those... who also doubles as both a trusted friend and... and..."

She never said the next half of her sentence, but the way she glanced at Marcel and then back at the goddess with her cheeks absolutely burning might as well have spelled it out for her.

"Please tell me that's not correct," she said very, very hastily. "Right? Right?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Michal said to her with a completely straight voice, one hundred percent sincere with his obliviousness. "But sure, for the love of the Almighty Lord and the sake of our joint missions, let's go with whatever you suggested."

Words cannot describe the horror and embarrassment in her eyes when Hikaru heard that. The next thing everyone in the room would hear was a huge "NO!" from the unfortunate girl in question.

The goddess would, incidentally, be able to hear both Hikaru and Michal equally clearly, though Marcel would likely not hear the latter. Just in case she wanted to correct the girl, she would be more than welcome to, given the present situation.

edited 9th Sep '11 6:20:40 PM by ArgeusthePaladin

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daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#304: Sep 10th 2011 at 12:36:12 AM

Sakura let out a little laugh with her mouth covered by her hand and the long sleeves of her kimono "My, seems like I underestimated you Hikaru. Well that depends on him... though I believe the scenario you have in mind is a little far fetched... After all our good foreign friend seems to lack a body"

Gaunt88 from Australia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#305: Sep 10th 2011 at 6:09:40 AM

Tosh decided that it was probably time to make a tactical withdrawal here - short of dragging the young girl back by the ear, she wasn't going to get her to budge.

That didn't mean she could just sit back and leave the girl on her own, as much as she suspected Allouette would prefer that. She glanced around at the gaggle of students around her. As silly as it seemed considering she'd only just met a few of them, she couldn't help but feel a little responsible for them all now.

"Your grandma, huh?" She asked Alli, in an attempt to get her to at least stay near the group. "Something tells me she's pretty cool, right?"

edited 10th Sep '11 6:10:22 AM by Gaunt88

KiriAme Thom Raiwhat? Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
Thom Raiwhat?
#306: Sep 10th 2011 at 6:21:35 AM

Alouette grinned, folding her arms as she stopped attempting to move away.

"My grandma's awesome," she replied. "She used to be in the army, back when my family lived in New Zealand. Mum reckons that she probably could've kept the whole country from being invaded better than the entire defence force combined, just by squinting at them funny. She taught me how to punch stuff, and she always buys sweets when we go out anywhere." The girl blinked. Normally she wasn't used to spilling details like that, but she was infinitely proud of her grandmother, and it showed.

Anyway here's Blackwall
ArgeusthePaladin from Byzantine. Since: May, 2010
#307: Sep 10th 2011 at 6:37:38 AM

The goddess' words did comfort the girl somewhat - she must be a bit far-fetched and hopelessly romantic to even think of such... things. She let out a long sigh of relief, about to ask the goddess some other questions when again, suddenly, her "guest" decided to speak his mind at her mouth's expense.

"And what is this about my not having a body?" his voice spoke resentfully through Hikaru's mouth. "Like all other brave champions of the Commonwealth and believers of the True Lord, my physical body matters not when in both life and death my soul lies with the Kingdom of Heaven. This might be far-fetched to your kind, but to us, our faith and loyalty to God and King is far stronger than any steel, so much as a body is irrelevant to our resolve."

And then, after making his dramatic declaration, again Michal withdraw, leaving Hikaru to fend off all kinds of embarrassment, knowing full well that her "guest" had missed the point very badly.

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RevolverJ Hunter from Florida Since: Jun, 2010
Hunter
#308: Sep 10th 2011 at 1:49:46 PM

As the conversation went on, Marcel didn't really have much else to add. Hikaru had...interesting ideas regarding someone, most likely that ghost since he was still the subject, and then the girl had shouted in defiance about something. The context was lost to him, since he couldn't hear everything.

But then Sakura had mentioned something about a body, right the ghost can't do much besides advise so whatever Hikaru was trying to get at wasn't going to happen. Soon after the spirit had spoken again, as indicated in the change in the way Hikaru spoke. Most of the context was still lost to him, but his opinion still mattered, right?

"In any case, there's only so much a ghost can do. And she'll most likely be backed up by the rest of us anyway..." He said, before chuckling sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm a little lost about what subject we're on! It's this ghost guy not being able to protect her or something, right?"

Gaunt88 from Australia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#309: Sep 10th 2011 at 6:04:31 PM

Toshiko nodded her understanding, chuckling - the young girl was obviously very fond of her gran. "She does sound awesome." She replied. "I have a few aunts and uncles who are like that, they're always interesting to be around."

"Your family is from New Zealand?" Tosh asked, genuinely interested - apart from school lessons and the tales of two particularly adventurous aunts, she didn't know much about the place. "Were you born there? I've heard its a beautiful place."

daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#310: Sep 10th 2011 at 10:22:46 PM

"I see... that's quite nice to hear, Mikaru-dono. I would please request that you use that resolve to help this good girl here with the trials that come in the future" Sakura said while taking another sip of her tea "And indeed Marcel, you got most of the gist of it"

"Hmmm however I think it's best if you kids get home soon. It is becoming quite late and I seem to have forgotten the spell to make time run slower inside this place"

KiriAme Thom Raiwhat? Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
Thom Raiwhat?
#311: Sep 11th 2011 at 4:32:15 AM

Alouette shook her head.

"I can't remember it," she replied, slowly moving to sit down on the ground. Her legs really did hurt, although she wasn't about to admit it out loud. "My family moved over here when I was one or something. It's sort of pretty from the pictures Aunt Lutetia always shows me, but I don't really care that much."

Anyway here's Blackwall
JustaUsername Weredragon | he/him from Melbourne, Australia Since: Jul, 2009
Weredragon | he/him
#312: Sep 11th 2011 at 7:10:42 AM

Thomas was a bit angry at Alouette's unwillingness to seek help. It took him a lot of courage to say his offer.

When Alouette and Toshiko started to talk about Alli's grandmother, the boy's irritation lessened as he started to have a feeling why the girl his age was acting like this... "You're acting like this because you want be tough as your grandmother" let out Tom.

edited 11th Sep '11 7:20:43 AM by JustaUsername

Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
RevolverJ Hunter from Florida Since: Jun, 2010
Hunter
#313: Sep 11th 2011 at 12:24:36 PM

"Yeah we should be on our way, huh?" Marcel had said, having finished his tea and had stood up. "As...interesting as today was, this wasn't so bad. You should invite us for this again someday!"

He was very casual, despite Sakura being a goddess. The respect was still there, of course, but from what he could gather she seemed very approachable, and was nice enough to be willing to help Hikaru with her problem. He very much wanted to know how the previous deity had acted in comparison...Maybe he should ask one day?

"Take care, miss." He said, before turning his attention to Hikaru, briefly wondering just how weird it would have been if he had a spirit to talk to... "Okay, let's hurry back. After you..."

ArgeusthePaladin from Byzantine. Since: May, 2010
#314: Sep 12th 2011 at 1:28:51 AM

"Ah, yes, of course," Hikaru said to both Marcel and Sakura as she stood up.

If this were one of those typical magical girl anime, she would have been all over the goddess and attacking her with volley after volleys of questions until Sakura would get fed up or she would get bored. Right now, however, the complication of her situation disabled her penchant for being a hyperactive curious little girl.

"Umm... so... See you later, Sa... I mean, Lady Sakura," she said, still looking at the ground. "Thank you for everything today."

She turned to Marcel, her voice turning only ever slightly more upbeat.

"Shall we get going?" she asked, her hand still shivering as she produced the emblem Michal Wolodijowski "gave" her earlier. While she was meant to go first, she was purposefully holding back to wait for him, if her glance at the boy was of any indication.

Assuming that he'd take the hint and just leave the magical dimension first, he would find her closely following behind...

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daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#315: Sep 12th 2011 at 6:02:01 AM

...and then it was next day~!

And so the rest of the night passed uneventfully... A peace that was through the efforts of their new and brave defenders. Each one of them would hurry back to their warm homes... While the mysterious warriors of the past Deity, the spirit that was only known as Ruler would not be as lucky.

Their defeat on this night showed them that things would not progress as smoothly as it was desired... and at least one of them would spend the night filled anger and frustration.

And so passed the night and a new day soon arrived. It was now Saturday, only a half day of classes would our heroes face after they rose from their slumber and prepared for school.

JustaUsername Weredragon | he/him from Melbourne, Australia Since: Jul, 2009
Weredragon | he/him
#316: Sep 12th 2011 at 4:41:30 PM

LAST NIGHT

Thomas stuck with the older guardians until he got home. It was said back in his parents country, one's dream was to own a house...they definitely achieved that dream. The house was a western-style mansion, standing out along the landscape.

When Tom entered the house, he was greeted by his older sister Lisa in English. "<There you are!>" His family tended to each other in that language, it felt more natural to talk with.

Like Tom, the Lisa had brownish skin and black hair, with her hair currently a braided ponytail. Lisa was still in her school uniform, it was the same as the magical girls in middle school.

Turning towards Lisa, Tom responded "<Not the most welcoming greeting Sis.>"

"<What did you expect when you didn't answer any of my calls?>"

"<Calls?>"

Tom picked up his mobile, it was currently off. When the boy attempted to turn it back on, he got a 'out of battery' message. "<I guess I forgot to charge it.>"

Lisa let out a sigh. "<Geez, how can I contact you in an emergency if you forget to charge your cell phone. Why were you out so late?>"

It took a few seconds for Tom to get an excuse "<Extra credit...yeah, I thought doing a bit more work would get me extra credit at school.>"

The older sister accepted the excuse "<I'm surprised the teacher would let you stay that long...anyways, dinner is almost ready. At least you arrived before that...>

Tom was relieved that his excuse worked. If his guardian form looked like something cool like a ninja, Tom might have been more open. But he turned into a puppy and he didn't want any non-guardian to find out he'd turn into something as cute as that...


It wasn't long before it was bedtime. Tom pinched himself to confirm all that happened before wasn't a dream. The pinch hurt.

Tom laid on his bed and turned towards his pet rat, Jerry. The boy was well aware of the name's irony, he named the rodent Jerry because of the humourous irony.

"<I've had a bit day Jerry.>"

The rat was facing his owner when he said those words. It seemed like it was actually listening to his owner. It was a bit strange but right now, Tom was too tired to care, quickly drifted off to sleep.


THIS MORNING

Waking up, Thomas remembered the fact that children in western countries don't have school on both Saturday and Sunday, he couldn't help but envy them right now.

Tom fed his rat and than went downstairs to the breakfast table to feed himself. As usual, his parents left early for work so he was only eating with his sisters.

Eating through his sugary cereal, Tom took a look at his younger sister Zoey. She had the same hair colour and skin tone. She tends to hold a stuffed animal with her when she can and today, Tom couldn't help but note something odd about the toy she was currently holding.

"<Hey Zoey, weren't you holding on to that one yesterday? You usually don't hold on the same animal two days a row because it makes the others jealous.>"

Zoey replied "<Well, I haven't heard on to her in a while and I'm trying to make it up. I'm sure the others understand.>"

Tom nodded at his younger sister. Sometimes with the way his sister acts, he can't help but feel Zoey's stuffed animals are living things.

edited 12th Sep '11 5:39:36 PM by JustaUsername

Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.
KiriAme Thom Raiwhat? Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
Thom Raiwhat?
#317: Sep 12th 2011 at 7:16:29 PM

Last Night

Allie glared at Tom as he spoke up. "It's nothing like that," she retorted, getting back to her feet. "Why would I want to be like my grandmother? I want to be like myself, not anyone else." Shaking her head, she began to walk away once again, legs burning. "Either way, I'm going home. I'm hungry."

Anyway here's Blackwall
Lemurian from Touhou fanboy attic Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Buried in snow, waiting for spring
#318: Sep 12th 2011 at 11:51:11 PM

Last night

In the high-class residential area, Natsuki opened the doors of a large and empty mansion-style house. She warmed a microwave meal for herself. Her parents were out of town as usual, but Natsuki did not care. She had the large house all to herself, and could spend her allowance on anything she wanted. And so she sat alone at a kitchen table big enough for a family of six, eating microwaved curry and rice in a kitchen big enough to prepare the most delectable of foods. Food wasn't important to Natsuki, as long as her belly was filled. Those few times her parents were home, they didn't make any dinner either. It was usually take-away or something warmed. They weren't home for long.

But Natsuki did not think about that. Not any more. As usual, her mind drifted upon expensively scented clouds of fantasies and dreams, caring little about the real world. And so she ate foul-smelling food while an open bottle of aromatic oils made her forget about everything.


The next morning, she slept in until noon. When she woke up, she slowly got dressed and then drifted out the front door. She would go to the botanic gardens today, and then to the shopping district and visit the high-class boutiques of perfumes and oils. They knew her face well there; better than they did at school. The teachers would write her down as being ill again.

She did not care about the school she wasn't going to. She did not care about her parents. She did not care about her home.

Home? No, the house was just the place where she ate and slept.

edited 13th Sep '11 12:08:12 AM by Lemurian

Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
Oni-Lord Since: May, 2010
#319: Sep 13th 2011 at 12:07:07 AM

Last Night

Hagane took as long as she could to walk home, weaving around the streets. Making a quick stop, she bought something simple for dinner. She kept her head down to avoid getting any attention before arriving at her home. The bottom floor of their house was the Dojo where her grandfather taught, but it was closed for now. Without saying anything when she arrived, she immediately went up to her room to eat and then go to sleep.


She was quick to rise in the morning, waking up at what most would consider early. She used this chance to slip out before her grandmother woke up and head to the park. She was content to sit under the trees and wait in silence as she waited for class to begin. When time got close she left the park and head for high school, another day of uninteresting classes.

Gaunt88 from Australia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#320: Sep 13th 2011 at 4:47:05 AM

Last Night

Tosh had made sure everyone stuck together as much as possible while the group made its way home. Eventually, they'd all split up to go to their separate neighbourhoods, and the older student finally made it back to the family home, which was above and behind her parent's grocery store.

After reassuring her parents that nothing bad had happened to warrant her late return, the night continued as usual. It was a little surreal, she thought as she climbed into bed, returning to life's little mundane tasks after what had just happened. The newly minted guardian looked out her window at one of the city's cherry trees, then over at the silvery Blessing sitting on her bedside table. There's so much to think about... to plan for...

If they were going to have a chance defending the city from this Deity, the guardians were going to have to get some practice - a lot of practice. Maybe she should take Uncle Saito up on his offer of self defence lessons? Speaking of the Deity, Tosh was intensely curious about this "uprising" - she made a mental note to check some history books and websites.

Exhausted, Toshiko drifted off to sleep with questions and half-formed plans drifting through her head.


The next morning, Tosh had slipped out ahead of her brother and sister, telling her parents *

she was going to do some pre-class research. It wasn't a lie, exactly - she was going to use the school's library, after all, just probably not for the purpose they had assumed.

As she walked down the street, her school bag swinging from one shoulder, she smiled to herself. She'd woken that morning not entirely sure she hadn't just had a ridiculously livid dream, but a quick check of her bedside table had dismissed that notion - the Blessing still sat there, shining in the morning sunlight. It now sat in an inner pocket of her blazer.

There was always another way to make sure. When she entered her favourite stretch of her route - a boulevard line with the cherry trees that made the city famous - she looked around before speaking quietly.

"Good morning, Miss Sakura." She said, feeling a little foolish.

KiriAme Thom Raiwhat? Since: Dec, 2010 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
Thom Raiwhat?
#321: Sep 13th 2011 at 5:17:37 AM

After that, still last night

As Alouette had more or less expected, her Aunt Lutetia made a scene when she returned home. Allie's own mother had not yet returned from work, and the rest of her family was more or less used to the girl's usual behaviour, but Lutetia still insisted that her niece should be raised well. And that meant returning home on curfew.

The short and short of it was that she was grounded, which really meant only that she would have to be more creative sneaking out of the house for the next two weeks. The bruises on her legs had made Lutetia relent slightly, although not enough to swallow the story Alouette attempted to feed her about the injuries coming from her daring rescue of a cat trapped in one of the many cherry trees that adorned the city streets.

One family dinner later, Alouette managed to slip into bed early. Normally, she would have tried to stay up as late as possible, just to beat her previous record

, but tonight she wanted nothing more than to sleep off her injuries and dream of her cool new powers.


The Next Morning

Alouette woke up rather abruptly to the sound of her older brother, Scipio, shouting outside the door. His words were muffled enough to be indecipherable, but she knew from past experience that he had probably been told to wake her up. With a groan, she began to sit up-

And then promptly felt the pain coursing through her legs. Wincing slightly, she pulled back the covers, pulling up the legs of her pyjamas to take a look at them. From her ankles to her thighs, she was covered in multi-coloured bruises.

Getting through school today would be interesting to say the least.

Anyway here's Blackwall
daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#322: Sep 13th 2011 at 6:53:15 AM

As Toshiko extended her greetings to Sakura a small breeze picked up, causing the branches of the nearby cherry trees to sway and the sounds coming from them almost sounded like a greeting.

If Tosh would have been satisfied with just that ambiguous greeting, however, is not something we are to ever know. Just a couple of seconds after the breeze started up the Guardian would be able to see Sakura's form appearing under the shade of the Cherry blossoms, her body only slightly transparent.

"Gooood morning, Toshiko!" The spirit greeted, apparently quite energetic in the early morning. Sakura was today wearing a light yukata instead of her regal looking kimono from yesterday.

Gaunt88 from Australia Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#323: Sep 13th 2011 at 1:47:43 PM

Toshiko had paused under the branches of the trees as her greeting seemed to stir up a sudden breeze. When the spirit appeared seconds later, Tosh couldn't help but smile at Sakura's enthusiastic greeting.

She bowed politely. "Sorry for bothering you, Miss Sakura." She said, stepping off the footpath and under the shade of the tree. She looked a little sheepish - she'd summoned the goddess partially out of curiosity, which seemed a little flippant now.

"I was wondering, we all should have some time off after school today." She said. "Would it be OK if we visited you again for some magic lessons?"

daltar (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#324: Sep 13th 2011 at 2:21:48 PM

"Ah, of course it would be alright" Sakura said, lifting her her legs so that she sat in seiza in mid air, hands on her lap as she smiled at Tosh "My Guardians can drop by my place at any time they like"

After answering this Sakura looked over at the footpath... and at the rest of their surroundings with a look of quiet wonder "Woah... So this is the scenery of Sakurazaki today... There are so many new things..."

RevolverJ Hunter from Florida Since: Jun, 2010
Hunter
#325: Sep 13th 2011 at 3:44:04 PM

Last Night...

After returning to the normal world, Marcel had walked with Hikaru to her home, he did offer to take her home safely and abandoning her halfway would have been low even for him. He didn't stick around for long though, him dropping her off so late would have looked very suspicious indeed.

When he himself had returned home, he did receive an interrogation from his mother, after all he had been out far too late for him to come up with a logical excuse...and he really couldn't blame her for that. They only had one pair of relatives who weren't separated by continents, it was only natural that she'd worry about her only son. His explanation was that they had to clean up the park and he he sort of dozed off when it was done, it was technically true and after some more convincing she did eventually agree that sleeping in was something that he'd do...Still skeptical, but it was better than nothing.

It wasn't long before he had decided to go to bed, he was involved with a battle, after all. And the entire situation was still a lot to think about...Magic had existed, for one thing, he still didn't know how he felt about being able to use it. It was pretty cool sure, but then came the responsibility involved with being a guardian. In retrospect, he probably would have chosen his words to accepting Sakura's gift a lot more carefully...because now he was going to be expected to live up to what he said!

Shrugging, he let himself drift off to sleep. He'd just have to learn how to deal with these new responsibilities, it seemed.


Next Morning

In what had been a recurring trend, Marcel was woken up by his mom so he wouldn't sleep in, lecturing him about how she was planning to eventually stop doing so and that he'd have to wake himself up. He didn't take her seriously at first, but then again he didn't think she was lying at all...Yet another thing he'd have to start taking care of, huh?

He was then sent off to walk to school early, his mom knew very well that he'd try to have a quick nap if she left the house before he did. You need to break out of those habits! One day you'll need to support a family of your own, laziness won't take care of them! she had told him that morning.

He yawned lazily as he made his way down the street, nearly forgetting that he had still been wearing that pendant he received from the blessing. Right...this meant he'd have to keep himself focused more than usual, or else Tosh would most likely remind him and then hold him to his words...

Speaking of Toshiko, when he had eventually caught sight of his classmate when he had made it to that area, that path that was adorned with this city's famous trees. He could have sworn he had seen her stop for a second and walk under one of them...She must have wanted to take in the sights, it was pretty to look at after all. But upon closer inspection, Marcel could see that she was actually talking to someone, and getting closer would reveal the mysterious person to be Sakura.

Seeing how he couldn't exactly pass by and ignore them, he decided now would be a good time to join in. He had only caught the tail end of the conversation, but still.

"Oh, so we can show up anytime we want, huh? Good, now I won't have to take my naps on those uncomfortable benches anymore!" He said, chuckling at his comment as he greeted the two girls.

"Good morning, you two." He said, before choosing to address the spirit's second comment. "Taking it all in huh? I bet you'll be busy for a while then, but I can't blame you for being curious about what's been going on while you were sleeping!"


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