Full Moon Blues (IC)

[GranspearZX]

7:44 pm :: December 19

Marcus Irons had taken a liking to wandering the park. His father might have warned him about being mugged or some such, but he wasn't worried about that--or at least, he was less worried than he would have been a year or two ago. For the most part, it was quiet every time he came, and wandering the park was the only real way he knew of to burn off some of the nervous energy he seemed to be burdened with. He was particularly exhausted that day; drawn into a random pick-up football game on the west side of Liberty Park, he'd lost track of time until his watch reminded him that he had a curfew.

With one earbud from his iPhone stuffed in left ear, Marcus made his way across the park. He rarely carried anything but his phone with him on these excursions, though today he'd brought along a book. It looked relatively new; leather-bound with no discernible title, the gray-covered tome hung at his right side, suspended by a brown leather strap over his right shoulder. It was a little bit unusual, but then, so was Marcus. Still, he looked relatively unassuming; wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans with grass stains at the knees, he really was, at heart, a typical, active teenager.

By the time he made it to the northern end of the park, it was nearly 8 pm. He was fairly certain he wouldn't make it back to Claremont by anything resembling a reasonable time, but he wasn't terribly worried. It wasn't as if he was out doing something crazy, like getting into fights or drugs or something equally ridiculous. He looked up at the moon as a new song started in his ear, smiling faintly as he muttered the lyrics under his breath. He only had one more stop he wanted to make, and he headed north towards the Hunter Museum of Natural History. There was a new exhibit he wanted to get a look at, and he figured a detour wouldn't hurt too much.

[GranspearZX]

The Hunter Museum of Natural History wasn't exactly the sort of place one would expect to find a bruiser like Marcus. He was something of a contradiction like that; despite his size, he was surprisingly adept at things other than physical pursuits. He'd been to the museum several times before, and had even toyed with the idea of becoming an archaeologist. That, of course, was before he'd discovered that he could transform into an eight-foot tall bear. That, among other things, had wildly shuffled his priorities; to keep from being completely overwhelmed, he tried to get back into something like a normal routine. As difficult as that seemed on paper, just being around something familiar made him feel a little less lost.

Even for someone who had visited the museum on several occasions, navigating it took a little bit of effort. Still, Marcus was no idiot; he knew, at least, where to begin, and he didn't mind looking around, even at things he'd already seen. He wasn't sure why he felt so much more at home among old tomes and artifacts; he suspected that it had a lot to do with his mother's profession. All he really knew about her was that she was a researcher, and she had a master's degree in archaeology. As soon as he started to think about her, he tried to push the thought out of his mind; that wasn't why he was here.

Before long, he spotted the exhibit at the far end of the room. He'd expected some sort of grand display, but there it was--a gemstone in a glass case, roped off to keep people away from it. He doubted that would do much to deter actual, determined thieves, but he wondered what kind of thief would steal a rock with nothing but cultural significance. According to the information posted, it was found somewhere in Sri Lanka several months ago. It took him a few moments to remember where that even was; reading further, it was a country particularly abundant in moonstones.

"So this is the Eye of Luna, huh? ...doesn't look like much." Then again, I guess looks can be deceiving... His right hand moved up to tap at the amulet around his neck.

[GranspearZX]

Marcus could've lost himself in the glow of the moonstone. There was something definitely off about it, but he couldn't be sure what. His eyes drifted up to the window and he blinked at the darkness, suddenly reminded of his curfew. Oh crap! Marcus spun around and headed for the doors, shaking his head... He felt like he'd been asleep. It was the weirdest thing... but he hardly had time to think about it when the entire building shook.

It was brief, but it made Marcus grab the handrail of the stairs to steady himself. "...the hell?" The sound of gunfire made him tense, followed by another violent shake, this one harder than the last. The commotion seemed to be coming from one of the upper floors. Common sense told Marcus to just stay out of the way. How hard would it really be just to go downstairs, head out the door, and pretend this never happened?

Don't waste your gift, Marcus.

"Ah, god damn it." Marcus turned around, hauling himself up the stairs as the obvious sounds of combat continued. His father's words reminded him of his conviction to do the right thing, no matter how inconvenient the timing. Exhaling sharply as he crested the stairway, he looked around quickly before moving in the direction of the sound, pausing only momentarily as a loud and violent crash filled the air, followed by the sound of shattered glass. The exhibit room he'd discovered was a mess, at least three of the security guards were on the ground, and there was a gaping hole in the window.

"Kid... hey, kid!"

Marcus snapped to attention when a huge, meaty hand clasped his right shoulder. He blinked and spun around, startled, staring at the heavy-set security guard. He was back in the same room as the Eye of Luna, as if he'd never even left, confused as all hell.

"...you okay, son?"

"Uh... ...yeah. S-sorry..."

"I was just gonna say, it's gettin' kinda late... You sure you're alright?"

A brief flash of recognition lanced across Marcus's mind as he stared blankly at the guard--he HAD seen him before. Upstairs... he'd been pretty badly hurt then, but now he seemed just fine. Had he been dreaming? "...huh? Sure, I'm... I'm good. Sorry. I should probably get goin' though."

He wasn't sure if he'd seen the future or the past or if the entire thing was just him being exhausted from that football game. Marcus gave the moonstone one last cursory glance before he headed back towards the stairs. Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, moonstones are supposed to be used in rituals to see the future. So was that...

"We're gonna lock up here in about 30 minutes," the guard warned, nodding at Marcus with a brief look of concern for him before he headed off to do his rounds. Marcus followed him out of the exhibit room, watching him for a moment as he started to head up the stairs to the third floor. A nervous knot swelled up in his throat, and he started to say something; the earbud in his ear spouted a lyric that made the words catch in his throat.

Somebody save us, I'm seeing futures

So what 's the use of knowing the truth if no one's gonna believe you?

"So much for goin' home..."