[Day: Monday, April 18th. Time: 2:50 p.m.] [Weather: Overcast, with a chance of rain later.] [School's out for the day. You gather at the lockers, possibly to discuss the events of Saturday night/Sunday Morning.] [Session Start!] * Haruko walks down the hallway. * Katie comes walking down the hall, too. She's looking pretty well, given she got tossed around a couple of nights ago. Haruko likely had something to do with that. * Haruko is moving at her slight slow been damaged pace. Can't heal herself and she'll pass in the risk of insanity, thank you. Afternoon Katie. * Kaede walks towards the lockers with a rather distant expression on his face. Whatever it is, it doesn't look happy. * Katie checks Haruko's eyes, and then she smiles a little and says, "Hi." She reaches Haruko and her locker, and she starts with the book switching ritual that's lasted since session one. * Haruko 's eyes are normal. (Her eyes are normal. Haruko, however, is not.) * Taki stiffles a yawn as she trudges up the hall, she looks like she's been trying to sleep in class again, and failing. (Since when were *any* of us normal? ;p) (Session 1!) (Taki's normal!) (... For a what?) * Haruko would probably be suspicious were Taki awake. "And good afternoon Taki." (Satoshi was normal when we first met him. He had FRIENDS!) (*snerk*) (Haruko was never normal.) (He was! We wonder what happend to them. Oh, wait, it's because we have an NPC surplus. ;p) * Taki stiffles another yawn. "So... can we get the part where we get attacked by crazy people over with so I can go home and have more nightmares about Saki?" (Hell. I forgot to actually write that I was there. ^^;) * Katie stops, one book in hand, and glances in Taki's eyes. "No." You're having nightmares? Why not? * Katie stuffs the book in her satchel and closes her locker, turning to lean against it. * Satoshi walks down the hall at a hurried pace, stopping when he sees the group. He waves to them. * Katie looks to Satoshi and waves back. * Taki nods, and has the same eyes she's always had. "... Happens a lot after the real bad things." Nightmares while you sleep are better than nightmares while you're awake. We get more of the latter than the former. * Haruko nods at Katie and Taki's comment. "Poor Akito. Hopefully we can save Saki." * Kaede closes his locker and takes in a deep breath, closing his eyes. "Anyone know how to contact Shika? Or Soliel for that matter?" * Satoshi makes his way to his locker and does the book exchange thing. "What... happened, exactly? I mean, I was there, but I still don't understand what happened to her." (Did Shika or Yusuke give a number Brett?) I have Soleil's phone number. Don't you? She reverted to her pre-atomic bomb state. Probably the cummulative stress plus Sho's powers. I neglected to ask for it on account of us being ravaged by an onslaught of enraged adolescents. Forgive me if I got distracted. She... was seeing things that happened decades ago when I found her. * Katie shrugs and digs out her phone. She hands it to Kaede. ( I guess they would, although I think you have it anyhow ) ( Righto. ) * Haruko gets out her phone. "I've got Shika's and Yusuke's. Although my promise means I probably call them." * Kaede gets Katie's cell phone and takes out his, flipping his open and starting to push in numbers. Funny how he doesn't open Katie's phone to check. (Not really, knowing what we do about Kaede. ^_~) * Kaede sighs again and lowers his phone a bit. "You've probably got more to say to them than you think." (No, but it's little things like that that make us fun and Arcana!) * Taki moves next to Satoshi and leans her head on his arm. * Satoshi gently moves his arm so that it's around Taki's shoulders and her head is resting against his side. * Haruko shrugs. "I took them in for healing, but I'm keeping my promise. If they want to invite me for more healing, I'll come, not otherwise." She looks to Satoshi. "Ready for healing duty?" Kyon's back, and you're not even going to wait to say hello? Oh, yeah. *looks down at Taki* Do you... want to come? Well, there's planning to do before we go off. ::she smiles slightly and points to the questioning:: Like that. I... I guess so? I... don't know. Session Time: Fri Apr 14 00:00:00 2006 * Katie rubs at her face. * Rowyn has joined #arcana You don't have to, but I didn't want to run off without at least offering. * Kaede walks up to Haruko and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Wait. I think there's something you should know." * Kyon turns the corner at the end of the hall, carrying a new, slightly larger sports bag in one hand and a large stack of paper in the other. He stalks down the hall towards the group. Everyone else is welcome too, if you like. ::She looks rather surprised at the hand and looks more serious given Kaede her full attention:: Yes? * Kaede has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Rowyn is now known as Kaede * Haruko doesn't notice Kyon's arrival. See full attention to Kaede. * Taki nods. "I'll go, but... I'm not... we're taking the long way." That's fine. * Katie glances up at Kyon, making a point to check his eyes. * Kaede takes a shuffle back and takes in a deep breath. "Someone's after her. I don't know if what we just witness was part of that plot and taken care of but, they really should know." * Haruko nods. "You're right, they should. Ready for her number? I very specifically only promised for myself, so the rest of you can tell them." * Kyon comes up to the group, looking down at Katie with red-flecked brown eyes, and nods curtly to her, then to the rest of them. He cocks his head, looking at Haruko and Kaede talking. * Haruko 's tone isn't her giving orders one, just explaining the nature of her promise. * Satoshi glances at Kyon, gives a tentative wave, and then turns his attention back to Haruko and Kaede. (. She's just explaining...) Satoshi can. But it's kind of hard if we don't know how someone's after her. * Haruko nods. "True. But she can do a pretty good job of taking care of herself. I suggest we tell her what we know, and if she asks for help, good. If not..." Haruko sighs, "She's far from the only one in danger." * Katie nods. "I'm just saying." * Kaede raises an eyebrow. "I...guess. I'm..." He looks at Katie for a moment and pushes up his glasses. "Soleil and I were investigating a note we found under the bridge. We chanced upon a phone conversation from someone--" He looks irritated at Haruko's interruption. "I'm not talking that. It's someone trying to assassinate her. And if someone thinks they can assassinate the High Priestess, there's a pretty good chance they may * Kyon nods tersely to Satoshi, then turns to lean up against the locker, putting his bag at his feet. (Cut: there's a pretty good chance they may) (may know *how*") (Cut I didn't see any of it!) It's probably not that hard. I don't think she can't be hurt; she just can hurt. * Kaede takes in a deep breath. "We didn't know who it was at first. We just overheard a phone conversation talking about "eliminating the High Priestess." Someone named "King" was involved, by the note, I think." Probably one of the four Kings. * Taki nods. That's what me and Soleil were thinking. Do you have the note? * Haruko looks mildly puzzled by the castigating look. She waits to make sure Kaede's done speaking despite having not meant to interrupt him in the first place. "Well, you guys can check it out, and let me know if she wants my help. For now, I'll focus on healing current and hopefully future allies." * Kyon nods quickly from by the lockers at Haruko. "Right. Take care of them first." * Taki blinks stands up a bit straighter. "Hi Kyon... uhm... Welcome back?" * Kaede digs through his pockets and then pulls out the note, showing it to Katie. [The note, for the record, is at least half burnt.] * Haruko instinctually glanced over to Kyon with the sound of his voice and beams for a moment and nods. * Katie takes the note. Along with her phone, probably. She stares at it. "What happened to this thing?" (Have you been using notes to light things on fire again, Kaede?) Don't know. It was like that when we got there. * Taki looks at Katie and the note. * Katie nods. She tucks her phone away and unfolds the note, looking it over. * Haruko waits on Kaede finishing his reply and then glances around. "If Satoshi's needed to talk to Shika, I can go unescorted. Except for Senshirou of course. But he can probably wait until tomorrow. Best he'd do is stay neutral against us anyways. * Katie reads. "Did you find the 'usual spot'?" she asks, though she sounds like she already knows the answer. Why do you want me to talk to Shika? * Kaede shakes his head. "We tailed him as far as a bus stop. We don't know if it was King or the person he hired though." * Kyon looks down at Katie and the note, then over at Haruko sidewise. "Should take someone with you." (Wait...) (Actually, scratch that.) * Taki nods. "I....It's probably not good to be alone." (Or did Haruko mean that Satoshi should go with whoever talks to her as backup?) * Kaede looks at Katie for a moment. "We think so. We planted a phone in the barrel where we found the message and overheard their conversation. We tried to tail one of them but..." * Kaede frowns slightly. "Apparently, they were talking about having gotten the Five of Pentacles, reversed, too." * Haruko looks to Satoshi and comments quietly. "Katie's suggestion." She then looks around to see if any escorts are volunteering. * Katie looks up. "But?" She almost folds the note back up before stopping herself and handing it to Kyon, if he wants to take it. (Oh, you beat me to the rest. Erase what she said and keep the action.) * Kyon takes the note from Katie with his free hand, and reads it. (No, that's not the but, really.) * Taki already agreed to go, but she's not showing any sign of wanting to this moment. Did you get your phone back? (your -> the) [It's about now that Eriko shows up! She has a rather worried look on her face when she approaches.] (Haruko interpretted that as agreement with Katie, not volunteering. Which is an IC mistake.) (Maybe Soleil has a phone!) * Kaede shrugs. "He got on a bus and took off. We couldn't really tail him from there." * Katie looks to Eriko, checking her eyes. It's a good practice. * Haruko looks to Eriko and rushes up to her. "I'm so sorry. We'll do everything we can to help." * Kaede nods. "I went by there earlier this morning. I wouldn't want to leave it lying around like that." (Way to jump the gun, Haruko!) (She called Eriko before.) * Taki is watching Katie and thus can actualy look at what she reacts to before it speaks! * Katie smiles a little. "Okay." Pause. "We have to stop talking here like this." * Kyon finishes the note, and hands it back to Katie without looking at her, turning his head to look coolly at Eriko. ( Did she? O.o ) (Check the msg logs.) * Katie looks at the note again before giving it back to Kaede. (Told you she's calling Ryuji and Eriko.) * Katie stops herself in the process. "Actually." (Because otherwise, reverted Saki could kill them, easy.) Should this go to Satoshi? * Satoshi looks lost. Sadly, this is nothing new. If he wants to read it. * Taki is lost and waits for things to start making sense again. (Talked about it back on March 31. You weren't sure if you wanted it IC, but minis largely ended up not happening.) I am here, you know. You can just give me these things. I was just thinking. ( Oh. <.< ) * Katie gives it to Satoshi. ( Well... ) (Haruko left a message.) (That's fine.) [Eriko grabs Haruko by the shoulders. "I want to hear what happened."] (She'd leave one with Ryuji too.) * Satoshi takes the note and reads it for himself! (And then he eats it.) * Haruko nods as she's grabbed. "Okay. Not here." ["Where?"] * Haruko glances to the others. "Roof? It's closer and Taki's too tired to teleport." ["Fine." She starts off in that direction.] * Haruko walks after her, quickly. "Should I get Ryuji too? He'll want to hear this." Her tone shows no romantic hope. * Satoshi hands the note back to Kaede. [Funnily enough, Ryuji shows up just then. He looks around, but stops when he spots Eriko.] * Haruko looks to Ryuji and after a second of awkward pause speaks in as matter- of-fact a tone as she can muster. "We're going to the roof. We'll tell you there." * Kaede has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Rowyn has joined #arcana * Haruko 's tone is more matter-of-fact than you might expect, given the dumping. * Demota has joined #Arcana [Ryuji nods.] (Are people following, or are we splitting channels?) * Katie sighs and says, below Haruko's earshot, "" * Kyon cocks his head, watches them walk off for a bit, then bends down, picks up his bag, and stalks off after them. ( Good question. Consider that we only have half an hour ) * Katie nods to Satoshi before shifting and heading after them. * Satoshi figures that Shika probably isn't getting talked to now, so he looks down at Taki. "Let's go." * Taki blinks as everybody else seems to be headed for the roof and takes a step forward before looking up at Satoshi. Then she goes as well! (Fast forward to roof? Given time constraints.) ( Everyone going there? ) (If Satoshi's not leaving to talk to Shika, I guess so!) (I don't even know *why* I'm supposed to go talk to Shika, or what I'm supposed to talk to her about.) (Uh, what was mentioned before - the assassination attempt?) (Why the Swallows are better than the Giants.) (Unless it's like, "Oh, hey, somebody's trying to kill you.") (Basically?) ( So? Yeah... ... ) (Right. But why Satoshi?) (You're the only one who she wouldn't hit on and isn't Kaede.) (Because she doesn't hate him?) (And she hates everyone else?) (She hates *me*. :P) (You know, you could actually discuss this in character, rather than as asides. =P) (Isn't Kaede? You have so much faith in me!) (And since you were going to go heal people anyway, you could've dropped in under the pretense that you were seeing how she was doing.) [You all go to the roof. Eriko walks out into the middle of it, then turns and folds her arms. "Okay, talk." She decided to light a cigarette while she's at it.] * Rowyn is now known as Kaede (And that's true, but Satoshi didn't say so in character. ^^;) (I *asked* in character. Nobody answered.) (Must be my fault. Okay.) (It was only one line, and I didn't pursue it, but I did ask.) (I missed it too then.) (Besides, it's late and I don't feel like splitting off into another channel at the moment. I can do it later.) * Haruko doesn't flinch at the cigarrette. "Short version: last night many Arcana were sucked into a trap in judgement world. It was a trap for Saki. The Lovers wanted vengence. Sho wanted to revert her and was using the Lovers to that end." (Err. not last night) (Saturday night) ["Who and why?"] * Katie rubs at her eyes, then drops her hand and looks around. * Kyon stands a couple of steps off to the side from Haruko, putting down his bag again, and rocking back on his heels. First, pre-bomb Saki had killed the child of the Lovers. They crawled their way out of being judged because they wanted her dead. They probably didn't know about Sho's larger plan. May not have known about him at all. She's not exactly the same as before. Second, Sho apparently wanted her as a tool. By getting her in repeated fights and giving her flashbacks to the past ::she glances at Taki for confirmation:: he was able to do it. We defeated the Lovers, but that wasn't enough. [Eriko rubs her head. She looks at Katie. "How? I don't get this."] * Taki nods. "She... she was seeing the past." * Haruko then lets Katie explain any differences. * Katie shrugs, and she looks away, trying to remember. "The wings are new. She still has the new powers. And she's a lot... angrier now than she was before. She enjoyed herself before." But I think it's close enough. [Eriko frowns. "Where is she now?"] So, what really happened is the Lovers and Blacks lured Arcana, we got into a fight, some people died, and Saki was kidnapped. Oh. I never saw her in flashbacks. ::She looks back to Eriko:: Sho has her. He took her away after the fight. Except the Blacks don't really exist. Not as separate entities, anyway. * Kaede just stays quiet through the whole explanation thing. It's better this way. * Taki blinks. * Katie shrugs. "They exist like the Jackals exist. It's another gang." * Haruko nods in agreement with Satoshi and Katie. * Kyon shoves his spare hand in his pocket, and just watches the conversation go back and forth. ["Took her where?"] We don't know. He... jumped off the Tokyo Tower. My best guess is we start with the drugs and the Blacks, because Sho has something to do with them. ["Then let's find out! We don't know what he could be doing to her."] I don't think he's going to kill her, at least. [Ryuji nods. "It's a lot of work to go through, just for the sake of capturing Saki. But on the other hand, that's exactly why we should find her as soon as possible."] * Haruko nods. "Given Sho's power, I don't know what it would take to succeed. I suggest a reading." * Kyon smirks. "No leads means time for the cards." He tugs his deck out of his pocket, then sets the papers down on top of his bag and shuffles the cards against his stomach. * Taki watches Kyon. * Haruko looks to Kyon and puts a hand on Eriko's shoulder. * Kyon sits down cross-legged next to his bag, and shuffles again, this time on the ground, then again. [Eriko glances at Kyon with interest. She glances at Haruko at her gesture, but quickly returns her gaze to Kyon, not wanting to lose focus on what he's doing.] * Haruko keeps her hand on Eriko's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. She's watching Kyon, which makes it easier not to make eye contact with Ryuji. * Taki stand on the roof with Satoshi and watches Kyon do his reading. * Kyon shuffles the cards loudly one more time, then packs them together, closes his eyes, takes in a deep breath, and lays the first card in front of his left knee. [The first card Kyon draws is the Magician.] [Eriko stares at it. "That's that Sho Shinjo guy, right?"] * Katie nods. "That's him." Yeah. [She slams her fist into her palm. "When I find him..."] * Kyon glances at it for a second, nods curtly, closes his eyes again, blows out his breath, and lays the second card in front of his right knee. [The next card is unmistakably the eight of swords.] * Kaede takes a deep breath and looks over at the cards. He's being pretty quiet for the moment. * Haruko nods in agreement. She has no beef with Sho beating. [Ryuji speaks. "Izumi Hanagawa. If the card refers to a person."] * Kyon cocks his head, looks at the card thoughtfully, then takes another deep breath and puts the third card diagonally up and to the right of the first card. Cards don't always speak of people though. [Eriko glances at him. "She's that girl in your kendo class?" He nods. "But it could also refer to Saki..." He's silent as Kyon continues.] [Card #3 is the Tower.] That's cheery. * Taki shivers slightly. * Haruko looks unsurprised. What? Did you expect this reading to be pleasant? * Kyon looks at it, then off into the distance for a few seconds, towards the tower. He looks back at the cards, blows out his breath slowly, and lays the fourth card up and to the left of the second card. [The next card drawn is the Devil.] * Katie sounds vaguely annoyed. "No." * Kaede just glances at Katie for a moment then stares at the cards. Only vaguely? He must be losing his touch. [Kyon's hand slips as he draws, though. Death falls out of his deck, landing on the ground, reversed. ] * Kaede then really stares at the cards. "If ever you didn't believe in coincidences...." * Kyon looks at that one with a bit of surprise, then makes his expression return to its calm state, breathes deeply, and lays the fifth card diagonally up and to the right of the third card. * Haruko hmms. [The five of wands is drawn.] * Katie raises an eyebrow. Session Time: Fri Apr 28 00:00:00 2006 * Kyon looks at that one only very briefly before releasing the breath and flipping the sixth card, placing it up and to the left of the fourth one. [The Ten of Wands is next.] * Kyon taps the card, then breathes deeply one last time, puts the whole pile of cards above the fifth and sixth cards, forming a upside-down V in front of him, then flips over the last card to sit atop the pile. * Haruko gets out the Tarot booklet that came with her second Utena tarot deck. * Taki doesn't seem to be making any effort to decypher the cards. * Satoshi got lost a long time ago. It's par for the course. [The last card is a UFO.] [Kidding.] [It's just a hot air balloon.] (That'd be a different deck, for sure.) [Ok, kidding again.] (Ace of Pent!) [It's actually the Emperor, reversed.] (Damn) * Kyon looks over the spread, the V with its extra card, and looks up at the group. He taps the Magician. "What already happened. No surprise." * Haruko nods and keeps her book out as she awaits further information. [Eriko and Ryuji watch.] * Taki nods. * Kyon moves his other hand to the second card, the 8 of Swords. "The current situation." He looks up at Ryuji sidewise. "Know where this swordsgirl is?" [Ryuji nods. "I do."] * Kyon looks back down at the card. "Or, could just be that the biker is being held. Imprisoned. But can help get her way out. Better to cover both options. Where is she?" ["At home, probably. But I'm not certain how she would be of any help. Izumi is still coming to terms with her abilities."] What kind of abilities? ( Uhhhhhhhhhhh ) ( Gooooood question. ) ["I'm not entirely certain."] (Well, that'd be a good reason why she's still coming to terms with them!) (Yep!) * Kaede gestures vaguely. "But any examples? Anything weird, uh, Arcana-ish she's done?" [He shrugs. "She seems to attract trouble. The Knight of Swords originally had a vendetta against her, and last night she happened to be with me when the demons attacked."] If you put it that way, we all attract trouble. * Katie shifts. "It's probably Saki being kidnapped, but still." [Ryuji nods. "That's my thinking."] * Kyon shrugs quickly, and taps the card again. "Fits the meaning. Position of the card says that she's the present of the problem, though. Should call her and see if anything unusual's happened." [He nods. "I'll do so."] * Haruko nods and awaits hearing about the next card. * Kyon nods tersely, and moves to look at the third card. He moves it a bit towards the middle of the V. "The near future. What's likely to happen next." He smirks. "So either we have a field trip, or we have a disaster." [Eriko mutters, "It's already a disaster."] * Taki speaks quietly. "Both." * Satoshi grimaces and nods. * Katie can't help but snicker a little. She quenches it. ( With gatorade? ) ( That stuff wasn't actually made from gators, though. Disappointing. ) * Kyon smirks at her sidewise. "Work on the information you have. Don't know how bad it is. Why we're here now." ( And I'm AFK a bit. Kyon can continue his explanation without me. ) * Kyon looks down to the fourth card, and the card lying next to it. "That's my path. So I probably find her first." * Haruko ponders for a moment. "Was the Devil the card that refered to her pre- bomb life?" * Kaede has quit IRC (Ping timeout ) * Kyon then moves his left hand to the fifth card, and nudges it up towards the top of the V. "Other way around. She's the Devil now." Wasn't... she the Devil reversed? Oh, that might be a good sign. * Taki shakes her head. * Kyon then taps the fifth card. "The path for other people involved." He cocks his head, and looks at the card. "Anyone know who this one is?" * Kaede has joined #arcana (That was from before Taki started keeping her list, so she wouldn't have it.) (Actualy, wait, I'm miss counting, nevermind) Akito Garcia. (What'd I miss?) But... he's dead. * Katie nods. Her expression is carefully neutral. * Taki shivers and nods. * Kyon shrugs quickly. "So. Could be something to do with him. Could be that you'll have a lot of problems quickly, and need to come up with a strategy to work through it." He smirks. "Can help, if I'm not busy over here." He taps the fourth card again. * Haruko looks down. "Perhaps his funeral." Or what he was doing before he died. Does this reading mean you're doing those things alone, Kyon? * Kyon looks up at her sidewise. "Can't know. My path is through her, yours is through the Five. Could be together, could be apart." * Katie blinks back at Kyon, then looks at the cards. "You've done enough running off. What's that mean, anyway?" The five of wands? Competition, obstacles, courage, a quarrel, or.. a lawsuit. Probably not that last one. What do you mean "path" exactly? Why did you even assume there would be alternate paths in the first place? (Lawsuits from beyond the grave!) (They'll sue your PANTS off!) * Haruko looks up from her booklet. Oh great. Arcana lawyers. That's the *last* thing we need. (His parents are going to charge us all with wrongfull death!) * Kyon shrugs quickly. "Because there's not only one way to get at this. Doesn't mean that we must be separate. Just that there are different ways through it." * Taki doesn't so much as blink at Kaede. * Haruko nods and awaits the last position. * Katie bites her lower lip, but she doesn't say anything. Right. But you're assuming this *points at the fourth card* refers to you and this *points to the fifth card* refers to everyone else. Why? * Kyon taps the two different cards again. "I go here. You go there. Doesn't mean we don't end up in the same place." He looks up at Kaede with a smirk. "Because the Devil is in the position for me, and the Five is in the position for you. My reading, my layout. Fourth card is mine." * Haruko rolls her eyes at Kaede's comment, but trusts Kyon to handle the response. * Kaede looks over at everyone else. "That's assuming we're all on the same wavelength." What does the last card signify? (Haruko's just upset because she never questions anything unless Kaede says it.) (Mmm? She's questioned Katie's ideas.) (Well, she doesn't question that either, she just ignores it. ;P) * Kyon rests his hand to the right of the sixth card, and looks up at him coolly. "Study the cards, and then make up your interpretations. It doesn't assume that." He turns to the sixth card. "Obstacle to the paths. Anyone know this one?" (She's not ignoring, just actively refraining from commenting. :P) Oppressive load, pain, ruined plans, complete failure. Ouch. Hopefully a person then. * Katie shakes her head, slowly. I don't...think so. No? * Kyon looks around the group. "No one I know. Card also means burning out or corruption. Could mean this is a long project." Perhaps someone new, or unidentified. ::She nods at Kyon's comment:: So, get the report from Izumi and then check out towers? Corruption. Could it refer to the drugs possibly? * Haruko nods. "That would make sense." * Katie fidgets and plays with her sleeve. * Haruko looks to the last card. "That outcome?" ( Back, sorry ) * Kyon nods curtly. "It could." He looks to the last card. "Yeah. The outcome, if we act. Emperor reversed." Immaturity, indecision, feeblenesss, petty emotions, lack of strength. Hmm... that doesn't seem right. * Kaede thinks. "Corruption could also refer to what happened with the Heirophant..." But yes, that doesn't really make much sense. And it isn't promising either. If we act. If we don't, wouldn't it be worse? It's always two bad things. * Taki nods. * Kyon looks at Haruko sidewise. "Because it means chaos. Perversion of rules." He shakes his head quickly. "Where do you get that from?" We're dealing with Arcana. Of course it's always two bad things. [Ryuji studies the cards. "Perhaps the Emperor could mean Chaos?"] * Kaede closes his eyes. "Damned if we do, damned if we don't. I'm getting used to that." * Haruko holds up the Utena book Tarot. "Looks like I need to get a better deck. What do you go off of?" ( Erm, scratch that. That's what Kyon said :P ) * Katie looks at that. "... Are you getting this from a cartoon?" No. That's just a crosspromotion gimmick. * Kaede opens his eyes. "Chaos for whom? Us or Sho?" [Ryuji does lean back against a wall, though. "What I wonder is... how long has the Magician been pulling the strings?"] Or just the world in general? Since the start. ["Why? All of this to get to Saki.... why?"] * Haruko nods. "Well, she was one of few to survive from the last group. It's also not all he's been doing. He's also steadily getting more druggies and wasting everyone's strength by turning us against one another." * Katie folds her arms. "It's a little weird he didn't do anything about Satoshi yet." She looks at the guy in question. ["There are other survivors. He could have gone after any of them if he'd wanted."] Maybe he doesn't think I'm enough of a threat. * Kyon looks back at the cards, then to Haruko. "Lessons. Yours isn't nuanced enough." He then looks back over the cards, then up at Satoshi. "Not if his mom is protecting him somewhere still. World is a powerful card." They say that the Magician has his past lives telling him what to do, right? [He frowns. "He's targetting Saki, specifically. But not to kill her. He went through far too much work, just to kill her."] No. To use her. * Satoshi scowls at the mention of his mother. * Taki nods at that. [Ryuji nods to Katie. Eriko looks back and forth between them. "Use her how?"] I don't know. But if I can guess, she's like... like... * Haruko nods at Kyon's comment. "Well, her old form killed a large number of Arcana. On her own." * Katie makes a vague gesture. "Boom." Point and click. [Eriko runs a hand through her hair. "Then we gotta find her. Now."] * Taki rubs her arms. * Haruko nods. "Well, let's go to the towers. Together I think. They've got too much firepower to risk splitting up." (Mmn. I am starting to doze off here. Y'all want to keep going and have Satoshi be very quiet?) [Eriko shakes her head. "That'll take too long. I'll go check one out alone. Give me a location."] ( We can end soon, I think. ) H...here. * Kyon gathers up his cards, shoves them back in his pocket, then presses off the ground to stand in one fluid motion. "You check on the eight of swords, then." [Ryuji interjects, "I'll take care of that."] * Katie turns to look at the green haired chick, then Ryuji. "It's not safe by yourself." [Ryuji shakes his head. "On the contrary, she's a shy girl. If I don't go alone, she's unlikely to tell us anything even if she is involved."] I think our best bet is the construction site. Chariot has used it before, and he's apparently working for Sho. ::Haruko glances briefly at Ryuji as he speaks and then looks away:: [And Eriko shakes her head, too. "I don't care. I'm safer than Saki is right now. If it means finding her sooner, I'll take the risk."] * Kyon scowls at Ryuji, and waves at Eriko. "Then take her, and have her waiting nearby. Should have an Arcana backup nearby, too, in case a field goes up." [Ryuji shrugs. "Fine."] Ryuji can call us when he's done. ::She looks his way:: If you don't within a half hour, we'll assume something went wrong and provide additional backup. [Eriko looks like she wants to protest, but she doesn't.] [He nods.] Right. We'll go to the construction site then, unless anyone has a better idea. ::She glances over the group before resting her eyes on Kyon, awaiting approval:: [Ryuji nods. "Be careful."] * Kyon nods curtly. "Good." He looks over the rest of the group. "Can check out the construction site, then go to the tower, if nothing shows there." [Eriko adds, helpfully: "I don't trust that place at all."] [Ryuji says: "It might be more helpful to do that one last, however. If you go before six, the construction crew will likely still be there."] * Katie frowns a little, then says, "Can we have the address, Ryuji? In case you don't call." You too. Both of you. ::She lightly pats Eriko's on the back and then let's go and gets walking towards the stairs and the subway:: True. Well, we have the list. * Taki absolutly fails to volunteer to do anything about the construction crew. (Do we know what they're constructing anyway?) [It's about 3:45 p.m.] (A boondoggle!) ( A boondoogle!) (*beats Greg to it*) (If we don't, I'll ask it IC, but it's been too long.) [Ryji gives it! Woo.] (;_;) (I know you too well, see. ;p) ( I think an office building. ) ( I kinda forget. But I think that's what it is. ) (It's tall enough to be an office) (It is the building that never ends!) * Katie writes it down! Hooray, efficiency! ( Doesn't really matter, it's not going to be completed before the game ends :P ) (Ha! My suspicions have been confirmed!) * Kyon shoves his hands in his pockets. "They're still working on the place?" He blows out a breath. "Right. Then we check the tower first, and then go to the construction site if that doesn't turn anything up." [Ryuji nods. "There's been a number of setbacks, preventing them from making much progress."] * Haruko snorts. "I still think it's a boondoogle." Stupid government make-work programs. (But they keep people employed and are very Japanese. How can Haruko complain about that?) (They mess up the countryside!) (It's Tokyo. There is no countryside.) (It's a port.) (Water's pretty too!) * Kyon looks at Haruko sidewise. "Whatever the purpose of the project, if it's ongoing, we're waiting to go there." Right. (And just for clarity sake, this is entirely about the construction site, and not at all snippiness because she's a tad bitter at Ryuji's dumping her. :P) ( :o ) (Right) (:o) (Ryuji is a boondoggle.) * Haruko then heads off downstairs. She doesn't walk that fast though, incase Kyon wants to lead her to his bike, now that she's returned it. (He keeps people employed?) * Kyon picks up his bag, and shoulders it before looking back at Ryuji. "Contact us when you know what the swordsgirl is up to." [He nods.] [Session End!]