Inside 61

[ThirdEmperor]

[HodgePodge Street]

Sebastian sets the comb aside, rolling his eyes with a resigned sort of exasperation at the imp's petulance. What a disagreeable little thing it's determined to be. "At least you won't look like a furball on my shoulder, then. You really don't think appearances are useful at all to your line of work?"

[Deathkeeper]

HodgePodge Street

Taine's tail flicks at Sebastian rolling his eyes.
"My line of work is organizing books and blowing things up for mortals like you. Why would appearance ever matter in that?" asks the imp.

[ThirdEmperor]

[HodgePodge Street]

"Of course it matters." You might as well argue against good manners, or pedigree, or books. Sebastian is quite clear that some things simply matter - a wealth of certainty conveyed in his voice. "Now, I think we ought to get going. I won't be spending the night in some dusty old crypt." Adjusting the rifle's strap over his shoulder, he offers his hand to let the imp scuttle up onto the other.

[Deathkeeper]

HodgePodge Street

"Now there we are in agreement, Mac." says the imp as he hops onto the young man's shoulder, ready to go.

[Rebonack]

It started with a Christmas Wish.

A simple one, really. A deceptively simple one.

"I wish I was normal..."

The funny thing about Christmas Wishes is that you never know who might listening.

And you never know when someone listening might have a weird sense of humor...

[Hodgepodge Street]

It begins with a pale blue flash, a pulse of light one might normally associate with nuclear reactors cycling on, though in this case without the protection granted by several vertical feet of water to sieve out the radiation. The effect is quite transient, wisps of incandescent plasma quickly diffusing in the cool winter air, their eerie lights soon drowned out by the festive decorations of Thanksmas.

However, it would appear as though this colorful phenomena is more than a simple light show.

Something has been left behind.

"H-hello? Doctor Honda?" comes a child-like voice from a child-sized cloak made of some sort of thick, heavy material. Wisps of electric blue drift out from under the hood with each word. "Miss Miki? Where did everyone go?" The young boy (if his voice is to be believed) calls out into the night. "What's going on..."

And then?

Then his eyes catch sight of the festivities beyond the shadows of the deserted side-street he had been dropped in.

People.

More people than he has ever seen. Some of them wearing... costumes? Maybe?

Overwhelmed at the sight, the boy gives a strangled gasp and stumbles back into the safety and dark solitude of the alley. "This isn't real. Not real, this isn't happening... just another test, I'm not really outside..."

[Fenric]

Dressed somewhat ridiculously in green and brown, a full figured vixen is walking down the street in quite a good mood: greeting everyone loudly and cheerfully.

Katrina sees the newcomer

Hey, kid! Happy Thanksmas!

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Spotted the kid in that side-street hunkered down behind a dumpster clutching his head and insisting loudly that this isn't real?

Those tricky fox people and their tricky tricks.

At the sound of a rather cheerful woman's voice the boy hazards a glance around edge of the dumpster and discovers, "A... a kitsune?"

Welp.

Now he's SURE that this must be some sort of weird psychic tomfoolery. Everyone knows that magical shape shifting foxes aren't real. As opposed to things like psions and SCIENCE! Those are all very much real. But magic isn't. Magic is totally fake.

But just because something is fake doesn't mean he can't be polite, right?

Right.

"Um... happy... thanksmas to you too?"

What's thanksmas?

Some weird new way of saying 'happy holidays?'

[Fenric]

Katrina giggles

Nope! I'm a Vulpan, and I just got promoted to Lead Gardener! There are some kitsune back home, though, if you really want to meet them.

She grins happily but not entirely coherently

Yeah! Thanksmas! You know... like... a... uh...

She tries to think of things that make sense. This doesn't work well for her.

Yule! And ... harvest! And ... New Year's! And... uh... stuff!

Sorry: she's from a decidedly multitheistic world, where her particular goddess is rather personally involved.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

The boy is probably mouthing the word 'yule?' right now, but between his hood and the poorly lit nature of the alley is isn't really obvious. He's guessing that 'Vulpin' is some sort of fox person. Maybe one that isn't magical? But who has heard of a non-magical animal person? Well... aside from Bugs Bunny. Bugs Bunny isn't magical. Unless you count the cartoonish hijinks he takes part in to be magic. THOSE are fairly inexplicable.

But there are kitsune 'back home'.

The boy isn't sure if he wants to go 'back home' with the talking fox. He would MUCH rather be 'back home' at his room at the Institute. Things were... predictable there. Comfortable. He knew how everything worked and what to expect. But this...

"This isn't all a dream, is it?" the boy asks, wisps of incandescent blue plasma winding their way out of his hood before quickly cool and diffusing. "This... this can't be real, can it? Is this another one of Miss Miki's tests? Am I passing?"

He would hate to be failing the test just because it's a really extra weird one.

[Fenric]

Katrina shakes her head

Nope: not a dream. Not a test. I am what you're looking at, without the slightest hint of magic... unless you count how talented I am with getting plants to grow! But that's not magic, as anyone will happily tell you - it's knowing what to plant when, and in what soil, and where!

She preens

And I just got a promotion! I'm in charge of all the plantings, now! Which trees get pruned? Which camillas get replaced? Which ferns need more water? Do the koi need more food? Should we plant cabbages or turnips?!

She strikes a pose

I get to decide, now!

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"Umm... congratulations?" the boy offers.

He's almost certain now that this must be some kind of test. There's no other way he could be in his room one moment and outside talking with a... with a talking FOX the next! This has to be another one of Miss Miki's tests, but he can't imagine what it's testing. Maybe he should just play along?

But...

But what if playing along means he fails the test!

Maybe this is testing what he would do under such strange circumstances? Oh! That's it! The protocol in case he ever got lost outside somehow!

Now... how did that go...

"Umm... my name... my name is Haruo and I live at the Institute for Psychically Gifted Children. I'm lost and I need to get back back, it's very important."

A beat.

"And if you start feeling nauseous you should tell me because that might be radiation poisoning."

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Nope... whatever anime he might be from, Katrina doesn't know it.

Hi, Haruo! My name is Katrina Fitzgerald, of the NefKitre clan, kingdom of Cheritanne, world of Erda, universe is "Tails of a Fox", and yeah it's spelled in the dumb way. This is the interdimensional Nexus and now you're here. If you're lucky, there's a way to get back.. if not... get used to weird.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Haruo kind of... ponders that for a bit.

Yep.

Got to be a test.

No other explanation, right?

Not unless...

"I... umm... I made a wish that I could be normal," the boy offers. "Does that have anything to do with this?"

Weird is certainly normal in the Nexus!

Unless he's talking about some other kind of normal. Like normal as in, 'I wish I was normal and not suffering from psychic tumors'. But hopefully it isn't that because that would be sad.

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina contemplates.

then she giggles!

You poor thing! You wished to be NORMAL?!

Here, we have to pause a bit for her to catch her breath.

I am the daughter of the Head Safety Engineer for a silver mine. My best friend is in the training program for Angels. And there's a guy in my department who just learned that planting a Hibiscus in acidic soil turns the flowers pink!!!

She giggles and giggles

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

And giggles and giggles, presumably.

Haruo just kind of... stares at her.

This is very confusing.

"...so... did the wish have something to do with this or not?" he asks as he pokes himself a few times. "I still feel the same..."

Normal is relative, of course.

Normal here in the Nexus and normal wherever he was originally are no doubt two totally different things. He would probably be normal by Nexus standards, though! So that counts for something. It also counts for the poor kid getting snatched away from everything he knows and loves, everything that gives him direction and stability.

And that's no good.

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina sighs and tilts her head

Yes, yes I think it did. Your wish brought you here: where everything is normal.

she shakes her head

I am a genetically engineered cross between a fox, a human, and an elf. I have a friend from a gothic horror fantasy role-playing game, and last night I slept with a guy from the land of the Tuatha de Danann. Everything here is... "normal".

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"Oh..." Haruo mutters, his shoulders slumping. That really wasn't what he was asking for, honestly. He wanted to... well... different! But different from himself. Not different from the normal children. Even the weird psychic children are more normal than he is! But... if everything is normal here, then does that make him normal too?

...

And how does this figure into the test?

What's he supposed to do now?

What if this IS real?

What if he's NEVER going to get home?

What... what if...

Now feeling quite overwhelmed, the boy does the most reasonable thing he can think of.

He starts crying.

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina Fitzgerald NefKitre has dealt with a great many things... she's even been murdered by thugs! But a crying child brings out the oldest sister in her...

Hey! Hey, there... Come on, now: it's not that bad! Really it isn't!

And she scurries to wrap him in a warm fuzzy hug

It's not so bad... it really isn't. I promise!

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

The boy gives a muffled eep as soon as he realizes the fox-person is moving toward him with huggy intentions! He tries to quickly back-peddle, steps on the hem of the blanket he's wearing like a cloak, and stumbles over backwards with a startled cry. The blanket, of course, flops off Haruo, finally revealing him.

He's black.

No, not darkish brown. Not any human sort of 'black'. But rather black black. Or maybe a dark shade of gray at least. His skin has a rough, almost armored texture to it. His eyes are an almost incandescent shade of orange and his hair is a weird silvery whitish color. Though that isn't the most immediately noticeable thing about him, oh no. The most immediately noticeable something would be the fact that he sports a sinuous, reptilian tail and a triple set of pointy dorsal plates.

A person with absolutely any familiarity with movies from Earth would instantly recognize what he resembles, but given the fox-gal's background she might not make the connection.

"Don't touch me!" Haruo half cries and half yells, waving a hand with scarcely visible claws at Katrina as he scoots away from her. "It isn't safe to touch me without proper protection!"

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina stops: people who yell things like that are occasionally correct about their assertion.

Ok, ok... geez. Come with me to the Temple, there should be someone there who can find out where you're from and whether you can get back or not.

She looks at the boy's vaguely Godzilla-like features

Just out of curiosity... why would touching you be dangerous.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Haruo gathers up his blanket again and hurriedly drapes it around himself. There's nothing quite like the comfort of a lead-lined blanket to help keep the radiation in. Makes things feel nice and snuggly.

"Because I'm radioactive," the boy replies from the confines of his heavy-metal shroud. "Some times I'm more radioactive than others. Sometimes it would be safe to touch me and other times it wouldn't be. My room had a Geiger counter in it to tell if it was safe or not, but I don't think there's one around here. So I don't know if I'm safe right now or not, but I'm pretty sure I'm not because my breath is blue."

That's very true.

His breath is quite blue at the moment. It looks kind of pretty, actually.

"Radioactive things are poisonous. Touching them can make people sick if they aren't protected."

Sort of like licking toxic toads.

Katrina wouldn't lick a toxic toad, would she?

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina blinks

Radioactive? You mean your breath is throwing off high enough energy particles to cause Cherenkov radiation in the air?! Shouldn't I be dead already?

She double-checks herself: you never can tell in the Nexus.

Yeah, still alive. Uh... well... maybe that just means something different wherever it is you're from.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

The boy tilts his head off to the side a bit. "Umm... no, I don't think so? I'm just venting extra plasma because I'm nervous, I think."

It is pretty warm near him. Rather like standing near a furnace. And since he's started talking the wisps of blue from his mouth have been getting notably less pronounced. He's calming down, no doubt.

"The only time I start making Cher... umm... chrna... that blue glow is when I use my plasma breath and I'm not allowed to do that unless Doctor Honda asks me to," Haruo explains.

That's certainly good to know.

No lethally irradiating people unless he's given permission.

"You said something about a temple? Will they be able to get me home?" he asks hopefully.

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina shrugs

Dunno. I know we can get to and from our home without too much trouble, and since you got here from a wish, then I'd think something equivalent could send you back... but like I said: I'm a gardener. I know a lot of trivia and stuff that I've picked up from various friends and acquaintances, but that's all I've got.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Haruo scuffs his foot against the cobbles of the alley way. "Well... do you think you could show me the way there so we can try?"

It's certainly worth a shot!

He sure doesn't know the way there.

Needs a grownup and all that.

To the temple?

[Fenric]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Katrina nods

Yup! That's where I'm going: I live there. C'mon!

And she leads the way to the temple.

[Deathkeeper]

Temple Street

Temple street is extremely festive this time of year, the Thanksmas spirit still filling the air. The temples of various gods line the street, all promising protection. Some in different ways than others, but this half is almost solely ones dedicated to aiding others. Chadwick himself has his just a few blocks down.
Arty, one young centaur of twenty-two, sits at the tables set up outside a bakery, munching on a large pastry the man called a "chocolate cigar." His height allows him to sit at a table without even using a chair. It's nice to be able to relax every once and a while.
[closed]

[Lost_Deep]

Temple Street

A young woman walks past, not all that notable. Not really tall, or beautiful, really the only notable thing is the orange hair and the metal skin. At least, to most people. Arty would likely notice that this person looks like someone he knows: this person appears to be related to Bella. The face is very similar, they're obviously immediate family.

[Deathkeeper]

Temple Street

Arty frowns, and scarfs down the last bite of the pastry, wiping his hands on his lower body's coat. He stands up and walks over to the woman leisurely, with a relaxed smile.
"Erm, pardon me, miss. Do you happen to know Cosiellio? You bear a striking resemblance to his daughter." he says politely, tips of his fingers together.

[Lost_Deep]

Temple Street

Kate notices when arty approaches, but mentioning Bella makes her obviously uncomfortable. "Yes, we're related."