[Day: Tuesday, January 28th. Time: 2:50 P.M.] [Weather: Cloudy. It had rained in the morning, but stopped around noon. Still plenty of snow on the ground. It's cold.] [After visiting Taki in the hospital yesterday, the group split off on its own. It's now the next day. Our story begins with Satoshi in his last class.] [Session start] * Satoshi sits at his desk, head hanging down, hair obscuring his face. He's barely listening to what the teacher says, and the notebook in front of him has a few scribbles, but nothing resembling actual notes. [The bell rings]. * Satoshi slowly puts his books away, gets up, and then shuffles out into the hallway. * Taki is waiting outside for Satoshi * Satoshi looks up. "Taki?" * Taki fades out of existance as Satoshi realizes she isn't actually there. Oh... Man. Now I'm seeing things. [Near the lockers, Satoshi sees Katie.] * Satoshi half-heartedly waves. "Hey, Katie." * Katie is sitting outside her locker. This time, instead of drawing, she's reading. Hmm? * Katie looks up. "Oh, hi Satoshi. How are things?" I'm hallucinating. But, other than that, I guess I'm okay. [Down the other way comes Jiro. He doesn't seem to have noticed that about 6 girls are following behind a short distance, staring at him.] Hallucinating? * Katie frowns slightly. "That's not good." She glances the other way. "Afternoon, Jiro." Yeah... Oh, hey, Jiro. * Satoshi notices Jiro's "fan club" and blinks. * Jiro looks at Katie and Satoshi, smiles, waves, and approaches. He remains oblivious to the girls following him, even as he is oblivious to many things. "Hey, guys. How goes?" Okay, I guess. Who's your friends? * Jiro blinks confusedly. "Huh?" * Katie points behind Jiro. * Satoshi points. * Jiro turns around to see what they're pointing at. [The girls sigh dreamily as Jiro looks their way.] * Jiro blinks once, and then again. "Uh. Hi?" * Chikako runs up, meanwhile, handing Katie a copy of the school newspaper. "Katie! I brought the paper! It's so cool!" [They seem even happier that he spoke to them.] * Katie blinks and looks over at Chikako. She grins. "Hey! Feeling better?" * Chikako nods. "Uh-huh! I'm gonna do my best on the paper now! It's so cool!" * Satoshi looks between Katie and Chikako and Jiro and the girls. * Jiro kinda' smiles and half-waves, and then turns slooowly back to Katie and Satoshi, now with Chikako. * Katie smiles. "That's great, Chikako." [They gossip amongst themselves, for he both waved and smiled.] * Meimi tears around the corner in a dead sprint, bookbag trailing behind her, and makes a beeline for the group. CHIKAKO! * Jiro looks slightly worried. * Katie starts to scan the paper, then looks up at the girl. "Huh?" * Satoshi looks curiously at the new girl. * Meimi skids to a stop, almost falling at Jiro's feet, and stands there panting for a moment. * Jiro blinks at the new girl. As if his poor slow mind didn't have enough to mull over already. * Chikako blinks twice. "Meimi? What is it?" * Meimi waves back in the direction of the print room. "Press! *pant* exploded! *pant* Only a quarter run done! *pantpant*" Exploded? * Chikako blinks. "...eh?" Exploded? Y'mean, like, kaboom exploded? The print, it just sorta fell apart! Kaput. No longer working. We've only got a quarter run of today's paper! * Chikako tears off down the hall. "Waaah! Not cool! Not cool at all!" * Jiro blinks. "That's no good." * Satoshi grimaces. "Ack. Poor Chikako." * Katie winces. No good at all. * Meimi leans against the wall to finish catching her breath. [The other girls, meanwhile, pout about Jiro ignoring them and talking to Katie and this new girl instead.] * Katie moves to Meimi. "Are you okay?" * Meimi looks around after she catches her breath. I'm fine. * Katie looks like she's about to say something, then just nods. She turns her attention to the paper and starts reading. * Meimi bows at the group in general. I'm pleased to meet you all. Please read my column. * Satoshi bows back. * Satoshi then chuckles. * Katie looks up from the paper again. "It's nice to meet yo-" She starts laughing. "Picked that up from Chikako?" * Meimi smiles. Just quoting her, really. * Katie grins. Yeah. I'm Katie, by the way. Heh. I'm Meimi. Satoshi Watanabe. * Jiro bows back, too. "Jiro. Nicetameetcha." * Meimi looks at Jiro and goes all starry-eyed. [The paper doesn't have much noteworthy in it. In the center, though, is an article written by Chikako herself that talks about how Taki is doing. Beneath that is a petition to delay the school dance until Taki recovers enough to attend.] *_* [The girls mumble amongst themselves some more.] * Jiro nervously looks over his shoulder to see if the pack of wolv, er, girls is still there. When he sees that they are, he smiles and waves nervously again. [They seem quite pleased at that, though ^^] * Satoshi looks at Meimi, then Jiro, then the other girls, then the ceiling. *_* * Satoshi then looks over at Katie. "What's the news today?" * Katie notices Meimi's look and giggles. She nudges Jiro with her elbow. Mmm, nothing much. * Meimi snaps out of it. * Jiro is nudged. Anything on Taki? Did you read my column? * Katie points at Chikako's article. "Yeah, right here." * Jiro looks at Meimi. "Uhm. Meimi, is it?" * Meimi snaps her attention back to Jiro. * Satoshi reads the article. Yes! Meimi Sakazaki! * Meimi bows deeply to Jiro. * Satoshi looks at the petition and smiles a little. "I didn't realize that many people cared..." * Jiro bows back to Meimi, still looking confused. "Well, it's nice to meet you. ...did I say that already?" [The article says that Taki is probably going to be kept at the hospital for a while, but assures that she's recovering well. It also says she might not be released before the dance. Hence the petition.] That's okay, I don't mind. ^_^ [Make perception rolls, y'all.] 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Meimi (2d6-4) and gets 7. 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-4) and gets 6. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Jiro (2d6) and gets 3. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6-2) and gets 3. [Since you all made it anyhow, you all catch sight of everyone's favorite jerk talking to the 6 girls.] Oh, joy. Hibiki. * Katie notices Ken and takes a step away. * Meimi doesn't bother noticing Ken, seeing as how she's got her eyes locked on Jiro. * Jiro turns and glares at Ken. "Ken." * Ken finishes talking to them and looks up, grinning. So, Ken. How're you trying to ruin my life today? * Satoshi folds his arms and glares. * Ken turns around and leaves. "Not at all, dude. Why would I do that? I'm trying to help you." ... That was odd. Yeah. [The girls glare icily at Katie.] * Jiro smakes his head. "Yeah, right." * Meimi keeps staring at Jiro with a sorta goofy smile on her face. * Katie blinks at the girls. "Um... aww, no." [The girls turn about and leave, mumbling dark things amongst themselves.] * Katie keeps an ear to what the girls mumble. ...whatever. * Jiro looks freshly confused, then shakes his head as if to clear it. "Prolly told 'em some lie about me." It's not just you, I think. Huh? * Katie tucks her book into her satchel. I think Ken told them that we're dating, or something like that. * Katie snorts. .......Wha? * Meimi shakes her head and snaps out of her entranced state. Take a second to wrap your mind around the idea, Jiro. It's a lie, and Ken doesn't like me anyway. Rumors are going to start spreading and they'll stay that way for a month or so, then it'll die down. ...Why'd he do that? To hurt Katie, of course. * Katie takes the paper and folds it. "Thank you, Meimi." ...oh. That's no good. He's a jackass, plain and simple. And, uh, thanks, Meimi. Did you read my column? ^_^ * Katie smiles. "Yeah. Horiscopes and advice, right?" That's me! Meimi-sama, Mistress of the Tarot! ^_^ * Satoshi blinks. "Tarot?" * Jiro blinks. "Really?" Tarot? Cool. Yep! So you can do tarot readings and stuff? Well... I usually only do those for my friends... Well, and people who write for advice, of course. ^_^ * Katie giggles. "Of course." * Jiro nods. "Cool." * Meimi idly shuffles a deck of tarot cards that has somehow appeared in her hands. * Satoshi ponders. * Katie tilts her head and watches Meimi shuffle. So... you know what all the cards mean? Sure do! ^_^ Wow. Can you teach me sometime? * Meimi fans the cards in front of Katie. "Pick one!" * Jiro blinks. * Katie nods and holds her hand over the cards. "I pick... this one." She takes one just right of the center. Looks like you should give those rumors some serious consideration. ^_^ Wait, wait. Which rumors? * Satoshi blinks, for it's not the one he was expecting. * Katie turns the card over so she can see it and blushes slightly. The one Ken just started, silly! ^_^ But- but I don't want to go out with Jiro! The future isn't set. You don't _have_ to go out with Jiro. I'd happily take him off your hands. * Meimi winks. * Satoshi chuckles. * Jiro looks confused all over again. * Katie snickers. "He's not mine to give away." She hands the card back. So what does that card mean, exactly? * Meimi starts idly shuffling the deck again. Oh, it means a lot of things. There are only so many cards, so they're all pretty vague. The Lovers is mostly about duality, love, sexuality, and emotions. * Katie hmms and nods. Anybody else? * Meimi fans out the cards. Sure, if you don't mind. * Satoshi reaches out and takes one to the left. Sure. Can I pick one next? ( it's the Knight of Wands. ) Sure! ^_^ (Mine or his?) ( Yours, Sato. ) * Satoshi looks at the card, then at Jiro. "Huh. What's this one mean?" ( "According to the card... You will buy a ticket for either a movie or a plane, and will sit in row 4 seat B" ) Daring and enthusiasm. I'd expect no less from the hockey team. ^_^ Oh, thanks. * Satoshi smiles. Huh. * Jiro rubs the back of his head. "So that's what that one means." * Meimi smiles and idly shuffles the deck again. Yep. Seems like a pretty good one. I guess. * Katie glances at Jiro and snerks. * Jiro looks at Meimi. "My turn?" * Meimi fans the deck for Jiro. Go ahead! ^_^ * Jiro picks one at random and takes a look at it. ( it's the Six of Pentacles. ) Uh. What's this one? Hmmm, the six of pent. Generosity of spirit and wealth, and the dawn of a new day after the darkest night. Oh. That's cool, I think. You do know a lot about those cards. It's a hobby of mine. It's pretty impressive, though. * Jiro nodnods. * Meimi blushes slightly. * Katie grins. "It is." Yeah. 'S pretty cool. * Meimi idly shuffles the deck again and cuts it, showing The Empress. And there's mine. Where do you learn stuff like this, anyway? Think you could teach... huh? Books, mostly. * Katie tilts her head. "The Empress? How's that yours?" It's the only card I ever get. * Katie blinks, then blinks again. She holds her hand out for the deck. "Can I test it?" If I deal a full tableau, the card that represents me is The Empress. If there's no card for me, the one that represents my present is always The Empress. * Jiro blinks. "Really?" Always? Always. * Meimi hands the deck over to Katie. That's... pretty wild. According to the books, it just means you have a really strong connection to the essence of that card. * Katie shuffles it a bit awkwardly, then fans the cards. "Pick one." * Meimi picks one and flips it around, revealing The Empress. * Katie blinks. "Wow." Whoa. Huh... interesting. So what's the Empress mean, then? So what's... yeah. It's the ultimate mother figure. Birth and life, creation, and unconditional love. Cool. Neat. I think. * Katie smiles. "Not a bad card to be, then." * Meimi sighs. I suppose. What's wrong? There's something wrong with it? No, not really. It just irritates me sometimes. Why? * Jiro frowns. "Whyzzat?" Because people who know about the tarot tend to think of you as the card, and not much more. It's not always a good thing to be the essence of motherhood. * Katie blinks, then chuckles slightly. "I think I know what you mean." Yeah, it's silly, but... I kinda understand. * Jiro rubs the back of his head. "Uh, I think I understand. Maybe." * Meimi smiles warmly at Jiro. * Katie starts looking through the deck. "Jiro's a lot like the Knight of Wands." I don't doubt it. Absolutely fearless, daring, enthusiastic... *_* * Katie adds teasingly, "Acts before he thinks." * Satoshi laughs quietly. Heh. Well, shucks, tha... hey! * Meimi glares at Katie. Hey, you gotta take the good and the bad. Yep. Nobody's perfect. * Katie grins at Meimi. "Well, yes." * Katie looks through the deck a little more and pulls out the Page of Swords. "I've been told I'm like this one." You're a free spirit, then? A free spirit? Is that what it is? Yeah. A free spirit, unburdened by material worries. He brings the power to face your fears and see them for what they are. * Satoshi considers. "I can see it, kinda." * Jiro looks like he's thinking and nods. * Katie blinks and looks down at the card. "I guess. And look, there's a flock of birds in the background." She smiles. * Satoshi whispers to Katie. "Ask her about mine." [An old man speaks from near the entrence. "And seeing things for what they are, don't you think it's time you told them the truth?"] * Meimi looks up at the man. Excuse me? * Katie looks up at the old man. * Satoshi looks up. [Just as soon as he catches your attention, the old guy is gone.] * Meimi scowls. What was that? * Katie frowns slightly. "What..." She reaches into her pocket and withdraws her ear helpers, which she puts on. * Meimi speaks to the thin air, "Why should I?" * Jiro looks up. "Huh?" * Satoshi blinks and looks around for the old man. [No trace of the old guy whatsoever.] * Jiro looks around confusedly. "What was that?" Someone... do you know something you're not telling us, Meimi? I don't know, but I don't like it at all. Great... now I'm hearing things as well as seeing them. No, we all heard it. * Meimi twitches. Yeah. I heard it too. Who was that guy? Like I said, I don't know who it was. I wish I knew how he disappeared, though. Hm. * Katie walks over to where the man was and looks around. Huh. He bother you a lot? I've never seen him before. Oh. Weird. It seemed like he knew you, though. [Katie sees no trace of him.] * Katie shakes her head and turns back to the others. "Do you have any idea what he was talking about?" * Meimi shrugs. No idea. Weird. Oh. Well. Very. * Katie walks over to them and hands Meimi her cards back. * Meimi returns to idly shuffling them. * Jiro fidgets. * Katie rubs at her cheek, considering something. Can you cut that deck one more time, Meimi? * Meimi stops shuffling and cuts the deck, revealing The Empress. * Katie nods. "And you have no idea what's going on with the man, and you really don't know what he was talking about?" I think he was talking about your card, actually. Mine? You said you were the Page of Swords, yes? * Katie nods. * Jiro blinks. One of the things it deals in is insight and perception. * Katie bites her lip slightly. "I see. Anything else?" The death of illusion and deceit. Right. So why would someone pop out of thin air and mention that? I've no idea. I'm not accustomed to people popping into and out of thin air. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 9. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 8. (... *smacks the dice*) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6) and gets 2, "That's a critical success, don't think this means I like you." * Katie blinks. What is it? Can you do that card thing one more time, Meimi? It's the last time I'll ask, I promise. * Meimi stops shuffling the cards and cuts them, revealing The Empress. * Katie watches closely. 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (2d6-3) and gets 0. That's a neat trick. What is? What you just pulled. * Meimi blinks. What did I just pull? * Katie puts her hands behind her back. "Why'd you lie to us, Meimi?" * Meimi smiles. * Jiro goes back to looking confused, which he's pretty good at. * Satoshi frowns. * Meimi holds out her hand to Katie. * Katie tilts her head. * Meimi is waiting for Katie to shake. * Katie hesitates for a moment, then shoves her left hand in her pocket as she reaches her right out to shake. * Meimi shakes weakly. Congratulations. You might just _be_ the Page of Swords. * Katie smiles weakly back. "I might. And if you're not the Empress, who would you be?" * Meimi holds up the deck in one hand and wiggles the other above it, causing a single card to extend up from the deck. She plucks it out and hands it to Katie. The card is The Moon. The Moon. Illusion, deception, instinct, and creativity. * Katie takes the card and looks at it. "The Moon. Wow." You fit that pretty well. * Jiro blinks. "Whoa." Yeah. That's... different. Cool. For figuring out the puzzle, you get a prize! * Katie laughs. * Meimi flicks her wrist and a rose appears in her hand. She holds it out to Katie. * Katie looks at the rose closely. * Satoshi blinks. "So, what are you, a stage magician?" Yes, actually. ^_^ * Katie takes the rose and smiles. "Thank you." That's pretty cool. * Meimi smiles and the rose wilts in Katie's hand and starts to wither. * Jiro looks impressed. "Really cool." * Katie sighs at the rose. "Figures it wouldn't last." * Jiro blinks as the rose wilts. It's not done yet. * Katie blinks. It's not? * Meimi smiles happily as the flower turns into a tiny hummingbird and flitters away, disappearing into sparkles on a nonexistent wind. * Satoshi blinks. "Wow! That was great!" * Katie blinks at the hummingbird, then smiles softly as it flies and disappears. Yeah! That was fantastic! ...do it again? * Meimi smiles. Later. * Jiro nodnods. * Meimi peers at Katie. So who told you that you were the Page of Swords? * Katie looks back at Meimi. "An acquaintance of mine." Really? Who? * Katie looks like she's about to say something, then shakes her head. You know, deceit is your territory. * Jiro blinks. It sure is. * Satoshi looks puzzled. * Katie takes a moment to consider, then makes up her mind. "Kyon Sorata." * Meimi blinks. The VP? * Satoshi mutters, "Who we haven't seen yet today, thankfully." * Jiro nods. The one and only. Why would he be telling you that you're the Page of Swords? He told me that... he told Jiro that he's the Knight of Wands, and Satoshi that he's the Ace of Wands. * Jiro opens his mouth, and then, in a flash of blinding intellect (for him), shuts it again. The knight of wands, hmmm? * Meimi gives Jiro a... considering look. * Katie notices Meimi's look and grins to herself. * Jiro nods. "Yeah. That's what the guy said." Well, I certainly can't argue with him on that. ^_^ Personally, I want a second opinion on mine. * Meimi looks at Satoshi, surprised. Why? the Ace of Wands certainly isn't a _bad_ card to be connected with. * Jiro blinks. "But I thought Aces were good? Like, in poker, an' stuff?" Yeah, but doesn't it mean that whatever I start out doing I'm going to eventually lose interest in? Not at all. The Ace of Wands is the beginning, the spark that starts a blaze. Your choices determine whether it's a long lasting blaze or a short burning light. The spark... I like that. So it's all up to me after that. * Satoshi smiles. Thanks. * Meimi smiles. No problem. ^_^ * Katie grins. "About Kyon... why do you think he'd tell us that?" No idea, really. I don't know much about our oh-so-wonderful VP. Ah. Well, he told us that he's the Queen of Wands. Yeah. What's that one mean? * Meimi snickers. * Katie grins a bit more. He must have an awful lot of internal conflict. I think he does. * Satoshi nods. The good about the Queen of Wands is that she's very charismatic and directed, and very... stubborn. That last is a good and a bad point, though. No kidding. * Satoshi snorts. "Well, if that's not Kyon, I don't know what is." * Jiro nodnods. * Meimi smiles. So why did he tell you all this? I'll tell you if you'll be honest with me about two questions, okay? That depends entirely on the two questions. ^_^ * Katie grins. "I figured. If you're not going to, though, I'd prefer you to just tell me that. I'd be really annoyed if you lied to me about this." Oh sure, take all the fun out of it. * Meimi pouts. * Katie holds up a finger. "Now, if I'm really the Page of Swords, it's my job to take all the fun out of it." Her eyes twinkle. * Meimi smiles back. "Do you really think you can cut it _all_ away?" * Jiro looks back and forth between Katie and Meimi. * Satoshi leans back against the wall and watches the exchange between the two girls. * Katie giggles. "Not all of it, no. But I can try, and I'd really like to trust you just for one question, at least." We'll see, Page. We'll see. * Katie blinks at Meimi's working, but doesn't comment. Ask your questions. * Satoshi frowns, as Meimi suddently starts sounding like Kyon. Okay. Pulling the Moon each time... is that one a stage magic trick, or is it something you just do? * Meimi reaches up to the neck of her shirt and pulls on a black leather cord. She takes the necklace off and holds it out so that Katie can inspect the pendant. * Katie takes a good look. ( The pendant is a depiction of the card "The Moon" ) It's my card, and always has been. * Katie nods. * Meimi puts the necklace back on. * Meimi makes sure to tuck the pendant back under her shirt. Okay. My second question is this: what's the truth concerning the old man? I don't know. There, I've answered your two questions. * Katie smiles. "Thanks." My answer to yours is that Kyon told us these things because, like the Moon is with you, they're our cards, too. * Satoshi nods. Uhuh. There's more to it than that, isn't there, Page? Of course there is. * Katie grins. "There's always more." Let's hit the lounge and get comfortable. I've got a feeling this will take a while. * Katie laughs. "Sure." Good idea. * Jiro nods. "Sounds like a plan." * Meimi heads off toward the lounge, sticking her head into the print shop briefly to see how Chikako's doing. * Katie heads that way, keeping an ear out for people approaching. * Jiro follows. * Satoshi follows Katie. [Chikako is busily wrestling with some wires out of a gizmo. Somewhere she got an apron with a bunch of tools in the front pocket, and is holding a screwdriver with her teeth.] You gonna be okay, Chikako? * Chikako lets the screwdriver fall and gives a cheery grin a thumbs up. "Yeah! Everything's cool!" * Meimi gives Chikako a thumbs up. "My next column is in your mailbox. Seeya tomorrow, boss!" * Meimi goes to the lounge. * Katie peeks in and grins. "Take care, Chikako." She heads after Meimi. Good luck, Chikako! * Satoshi resumes following. Yeah, good luck! * Jiro goes back to following. [Ah, the lounge. A place for the students to relax and-... ahem. The lounge is a small room with a few chairs and a couch around a widescreen TV. There's a pay phone and a vending machine at one side, and a plant in the corner. An old Nintendo Entertainment System and a box with two dozen games sits on top of the TV for the students to use.] * Meimi takes a seat. * Katie walks in, glances around, and takes a seat on one of the chairs. * Satoshi sits down. "Don't think I've ever been in here before." So... spill it, guys. Well... it's kinda... hm. It's messy. * Jiro walks in, and heads over to the vending machine, looking at it. [The vending machine has six choices, all of them wierd sodas that Japanese companies invent.] * Katie drums her fingers on the arm of her chair. "There are people and things, it looks like, that are representations or... avatars? of tarot cards. They're called Arcana." [The lounge is quite empty, by the way.] * Meimi quirks an eyebrow. Really, now. Really. * Jiro decides to pass on getting anything for himself. However... "Hey, any of you guys want something?" No thanks. * Meimi looks over her shoulder at Jiro. "Lemon Goop, please." Yeah, really. Most of them have powers or the like. I haven't shown any, but Jiro over there, or some people who aren't with us... * Katie looks over at Jiro and shakes her head. * Satoshi thinks of Taki and sighs. * Jiro nods, and just gets a Lemon Goop for Meimi. He hands it to her with a cheerful "Here ya' go" as he moves to sit on the couch. You saw through my illusions. That's a power in and of itself. * Meimi smiles up at Jiro as she takes the... drink. "Thanks!" * Meimi pops the drink open and lets some of the thick, syrupy liquid drizzle out into her mouth. * Katie grins. "Just had to watch carefully and get a little lucky, is all. Nothing magical about it. I think." * Meimi smiles. Go on, go on. Don't let me distract you. * Katie snickers. No prob, Meimi. ^_^ Anyway, everyone's gravitating towards the Tower, for some reason. Even me; I'm from the States, but a way was still found to bring me over here. Not that I knew it at the time. ...the Tower? Mmm. I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count. * Meimi thinks for a moment. You've _GOT_ to be kidding me. Oh no. You mean CLAMP was right all those times? Nope. Although it's not quite what you'd expect. * Katie laughs. "Go to the south entrance. Take the elevator down. Guess what happens." * Meimi collapses in helpless laughter. * Jiro blinks, then chuckles a bit himself. Mind you, I think Katie's the only one here who's actually tried it, but I'd take her word for it. Okay, so Tokyo Tower is _THE_ Tower, but why would you go down? Hey, you're the one who knows the tarot. It reverses. It seems like it'd be a dangerous place to be, given the connotations of the card. * Katie grins. Yep. Seriously, the snow falls up and everything. Of course. A tower and the tower reversed. Go figure. I still want to see that. * Satoshi grins. We can take a field trip sometime. * Katie considers. "Anyway, people with all of this power can't possibly all get along." Sure. Of course not. Power tends to corrupt. And absolute power... Ha! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! * Meimi cackles evilly. * Satoshi edges away from Meimi. * Katie doesn't seem frightened at all. She just smiles a bit sadly. "Exactly." * Meimi stops cackling. * Jiro blinks. Um. You finished? Absolutely. * Meimi grins like the cat that ate the canary. Riiiiight. That's what's happening, though. Two major groups, really, as far as I can tell. Two? * Satoshi nods. "Sho, and the Band." What lines are they split on? I hope it's not Major/Minor. I don't know. All I know is that the Band is nasty, and so is Sho. From what I understand, Sho is a *very* powerful Major Arcana. We don't know what card Sho is, and we don't know who any of the Band are. Just how powerful are we talking? He's working with Reiji on something else - that's the Eight of Cups - and R eiji has Kyon as an ally. Confident enough that he can handle pretty much anyone who might oppose him. I don't like Sho. Don't like him at all. Neither do I. That could be any number of cards. Hmmm. * Jiro just nods. The Band has at least seven people in it, from what I understand, and they're all Arcana. Kyon has also told us that they're really nasty. So you're the third faction? I don't think we're officially a faction. More like people caught in the middle. * Meimi sips at her Lemon Goop as much as one can sip at sour tasting syrup. Kyon's helping us out... I think that's why Sho hasn't really gone after us yet, since they're sort of working together. Yeah. In the meantime, we're just trying to figure some of this out. I see... * Jiro nods. * Katie shakes her head. "But it gets better." * Meimi smiles. "It always does." Oh, yeah. Boy, does it get better. You know the disappearances? Yes. It's Arcana that are vanishing. That's quite a lot of Arcana there. * Katie nods. There were a lot of cards in your deck. * Jiro nods. No one really knows why, or how to stop it. They think it's Judgement. * Meimi smiles. End of the World. End of the world? Judgement. * Katie tilts her head. "I don't understand." * Jiro blinks. "End of the World?" * Meimi flicks her wrist and produces the appropriate tarot card. Judgement was originally called . * Satoshi looks at it. The Christian end of the world. Nearly every culture has one. Oh. So.... what, the world's gonna end? * Katie blinks. "Ah, . I see." * Satoshi grumbles. "Well, that sounds promising." Oh, I doubt the world itself will end. Going by that... * Jiro frowns. "Can't let that happen." Judgement isn't a destructive card, it's just a transition. An ending for a beginning? Oh. Well, that's not so bad. ...I think. The unification of spiritual reality and physical reality. * Katie nods. Okay, that's not quite as ominous. * Katie stops drumming her fingers and digs out her sketchbook and a pencil. She flips to a blank page and starts drawing. "It's still scary. Change is always scary." And the best part is that unlike Death and Tower, it's under your control. You can change it, avert it, or even ignore it entirely. Of course, ignoring it is likely to come back to haunt you eventually, but that's just cosmic justice. Woo, cosmic justice. Under your control? * Katie nods. * Katie glances up at Meimi, then goes back to drawing. "There's one more major thing, too." What's that? Judgement, or whatever it is, isn't at fault for all of the disappearances. Saki caused at least one. Excuse me? * Satoshi shudders. "That reminds me, though..." * Katie keeps drawing. "Yeah. She... ate Hiro Kasuga." I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're using some sort of euphemism there. I wish I was. * Satoshi looks at Katie, then back at Meimi, then shakes his head. You'd best explain more clearly. * Katie shudders. "I- I was there, Meimi. I saw what she was eating. It was human. I know my biology." * Meimi goes pale. * Katie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then opens them and continues drawing, almost mechanically. So you're saying that Saki is a cannibal? * Katie states dully, "She said that the magic in us makes us taste better." Shingo and I ran into her yesterday. She didn't attack us, but that might have been because we were in a public place. Well, I suppose I'd better stay away from her, then. Where were you? * Katie looks up at Meimi and nods, then goes back to sketching. The grocery store where Taki... * Satoshi 's voice trails off. Were there any other people around? I think so. I mean, I don't specifically remember any, but I'm sure there were. It wasn't a field, if that's what you're asking. I would have known if it was. * Katie frowns thoughtfully. "You know... she acted differently when she took the paper from me back when, too." Yeah. Yesterday she seemed pretty much in control of herself. Even offered some information. Really? * Jiro frowns. "Weird." Yeah, she said that she's investigating the drugs. Said that the guy who... * Satoshi swallows. The guy who shot Taki was an addict. That would explain her reaction to the paper. * Satoshi nods. It's interesting... * Katie looks up and into the distance, tapping her pencil on her chin. "Hrm." I wonder if she knows what she does. Yesterday, and when she took the paper, she seemed, well, pretty normal. As normal as she'd ever get, I guess. Exactly. When she attacked us, back when I first met you, there was definitely something wrong with her. * Katie nods absently. * Jiro blinks. "Wait. You think someone could do something like that without knowing?" That was how she acted when we walked in on her in the warehouse, too. * Katie flicks her eyes to Jiro. "It'd be easier on your sanity." If she's being controlled by someone powerful enough, sure. * Jiro blinks, and then nods. Reiji or Kyon has mentioned that Sho's been contacting Saki, but... Which brings to mind all sorts of possibilities that I don't think I want to consider at the moment. * Jiro nodnods. It's all ugly. Yeah. * Satoshi shakes his head. Sorry. * Katie stares into the distance a bit more, then shakes her head. She turns to Meimi. "So, that's the story." Interesting. I can give you a list of people I'm sure or pretty sure are Arcana, but aside from that... So how many people are caught in the middle with you three? Well, there's Taki. She's the Knight of Cups. * Satoshi looks sad. And Shingo is the Knight of Swords. Ken... I don't know what he is, and I don't think he knows it, but I'm almost positive he's one, too. Right. The field when he was fighting Jiro. * Katie nods at Satoshi. Field? Yeah. Some Arcana can generate these fields. It's sort of like... another dimension, I guess. It looks just like where you are, only there's no one else but you and whoever's generating it inside. * Jiro blinks, then nods. I can sense when we're in one, but I seem to be the only one who can, and I can't generate them. Or, at least, I've never tried. Some fields make people other than Arcana immediately leave. Others don't, but if an ordinary person walks out of it and then tries to walk back in, they can't. Curiouser and curiouser. * Katie shrugs with a small smile. "Always more." It's a good place to fight if you don't want real property damage. Very interesting. That's all I can think of right now. We forget anything? I'm sure there's more, but I can't really think of it right now. I'm sure it will come to you... in time. * Jiro nods. * Katie grins at Meimi. "Oh, I'm going to figure all of this out." Maybe... just maybe. You never know until you try, right? * Katie goes back to drawing. And sometimes not even then. We can either sit back and do nothing, or try something. I'm all for trying. [Session, I cast thee into endth!]