Line of Sight (IC)

[Aoiroo]

Taking a moment she started to count out the time on her fingers. She had to sort out when exactly she had arrived to first move in, and when she first visited the campus to gather the paper work.

"Fifteen weeks, I was later then most but only because I had to take private lessons when I first arrived to help me being in a new place."

It was strange how quickly that time seemed to slip by, but than again it was at the very least consistantly doing so. In Avalon it was hard to say whether her absense has been a few days, to a few years by this point.

"There are several places around campus, one serves Chinese. They are very nice and give good portions."

She had to say she liked smaller restuarants better then the more expensive ones Mr. Franklin sometimes liked to go too. All the food at the expensive ones were always so small for such a high price.

[GranspearZX]

"Chinese, huh?" He'd never tried Chinese, but he was willing to give anything a shot once. He recalled his mother had brought him to a Japanese restaurant when he was younger. He wasn't sure he was going to like it then, but it turned out to be one of his favorite places to go before he'd ended up moving to Freedom City.

"So, you just got here this semester too..." He nodded slowly, shifting the weight of his book so that it was resting across his back rather than at his side. "I was at FDR High before I came here. Middle of the semester, too..." Marcus shook his head. That was a large part of the reason his grades were so abysmal. He knew Claremont's classes would be harder, but he wasn't sure how much harder until he'd arrived.

[Aoiroo]

Nodding quietly she started to move towards the gates since it was slightly off campus.

"Let us go then,"

Since his expression seemed to indicated unfamiliarity she continued to take the lead though this required a quickened pace to match his longer stride. But she was happy to continue the conversation.

"I did not go to school before I came here, my mother, she taught me all I needed to know. When I got here, it was not enough so my gaurdian sent me here. She said it was a place with other people like me."

She left the last bit in the air since this school was less choosen for the precedent of training those with powers, and more so for it's accepting of the temporally and dimensionally displaced.

[GranspearZX]

Marcus wasn't even aware of other dimensions--at least, not in the same sense as Etain. He'd come into contact with the 'dream dimension', and after his last little soiree into that madness, he'd done a lot more independent reading on it. Thankfully, it was all in English. Latin was going to have to come later.

"Ah, I see... I don't have a guardian. Legally, I'm pretty much on my own..." Marcus frowned a bit at that. Sure, he could go to visit his father if he really had to do so, but he often had sneak around to do it. No one knew him well enough for that to be a problem so far. Who would really care if 'the new kid' kept disappearing every other weekend?

"Claremont seems like a pretty cool place, so far though... not at all what I thought it was gonna be. Still, it's nice to be able to talk about magic and not have people look at you like you're nuts." He smiled a bit at that as he walked, looking up at the cloudy sky while following Etain's lead.

[Aoiroo]

"That must be lonely."

She let out a sigh thinking how she would of been the same if Ms. Cynthia had not arrived. There was an innate curiousity about the timing of course, but she had promised not to pry.

"Magic is not so easily accepted because it cannot be so easily placed in this world by most people. It comes in many shapes, and from many sources and it cannot be so easily sorted into neat little boxes because one cannot understand it completely. Fickle is a good word for it, static magic like your pendant is hard to make. Though rune craft is very well known for stability, it is a pity that it is often foregone for easier forms like simple spells or offerings to gods, especially since most gods who offer such things are not very nice."

[GranspearZX]

"Lonely... hm." He repeated the word in the brief pause. Marcus earnestly tried not to think about it. Instead, it was much easier to just keep moving forward; in the long run, things just seemed simpler that way.

"Maybe it's easier that way. The nature of runecrafting, I mean. I like working with my hands." It was true, though most people wouldn't know much about his artistic talent just looking at him. He wasn't half bad at most artistic pursuits; that, unlike magic, came pretty naturally to him. It helped him remember the runes from his book, largely because he'd practiced drawing them so often. Thankfully, he hadn't caused any major arcane accidents so far, but there was always a first time for everything.

"If mythology is any indication... most gods are kind of jerks anyway, aren't they? With a few exceptions, I mean..." The first thing he thought about was the Greek pantheon. They rose to power and then... they went a little overboard. Beyond that, though... he wondered just how limited his knowledge was about everything that was out there.

[Aoiroo]

"Well there is a bit more too it than that, but craftsmanship is very important yes. The book will be very helpful I suggest you read it a few times through before attempting actual crafting, it can be really bad if you do not understand everything about it."

Understanding was elusive, but also very important to magic. Given, her understanding was a bit like cheating because of her eyes.

"Most gods are not any better then humans. They are flawed beings who work very much for themselves more then others and have the extraordinary luck to exist with enough power so that they often can outlive any concequences that their actions have brought."

Letting out a sigh she thought of the primary god of this realm. The faith around him almost seemed wholely pleasant but then she remembers those who turned to use his name to summon a demon to this realm.

[GranspearZX]

Marcus nodded, smiling faintly. "Yeah, I've heard stories about people who mess with magic and end up causing all sorts of trouble. I'm not so eager that I'd do anything crazy."

It was true that he was immensely interested in being able to do some of the things he'd read about in stories and fairy tales... but he was a realist at heart, and even in the past few weeks, he'd learned that unchecked and accidental magic could be extremely dangerous--catastrophic, even. "I wonder how many 'natural disasters' were just some one doing something stupid with magic... Or looking for some instant solution to a problem."

He had to admit he was at least partially guilty of that, though he hadn't yet acted on the impulse to try and use a scrying spell to locate his mother. As tempted as he was, he'd calmed down considerably since coming up with the idea, and while he hadn't given up on the idea just yet, he knew he wasn't ready to see her.

"I wonder what it'd be like to meet one... I probably wouldn't know it even if I had." He looked up for a moment; their destination seemed to sneak up on him entirely. "Huh, I think we're here." It seemed like a nice enough place, and he moved forward to open the door for Etain.

[Aoiroo]

"It is rarer then one thinks, the master mage is greatly responsible for preventing a disturbance set on such a scale and I have heard he is good in this realm. We are fortunate that he lives in the city."

Her own magic couldn't cause lasting harm on a physical level, though she could probably drive someone mad. Not really something she'd really try to do simply on a stupid impulse. When they got to the place she smiled and asked for a table for two.

"I glanced upon one once, and I was blind for two weeks, though that was less his fault and more my own."

[GranspearZX]

"The master what?"

Marcus couldn't help but think that he probably should have known who exactly she was talking about. Still, the confusion was very much apparent on his face. He understood the gist of who he was though--the idea that one person was responsible for looking after the entire city magically was rather mind-blowing on its own.

"Oh, so you can see it... Huh. That explains a lot." He kept his voice down, keeping the conversation between the two of them as he followed her inside. Despite being lunch time, the restaurant was quiet in a pleasant sort of way. There was music playing, though the volume was kept relatively low, in keeping with the place's ambiance. "Is that how you could tell that I... y'know." It occurred to him that he hadn't yet shown her what he could do. A demonstration seemed rather inappropriate in any venue, especially here... he certainly wasn't going to go that far. He did wonder, though, since he wasn't even certain how Etain's sight really worked...

[Aoiroo]

"Eldritch is the name more commonly put to him."

Sliding quietly into the booth she picked up the menu and started to skim. She knew the master mage was the guardian type in this realm, though if he could become a dark lord it would probably be rather hard with all the rather powerful interesting nonmagical people. When the conversation came to her sight she peeked her head over her menu and met his gaze,

"Very good, you are the first to have guessed since I have arrived here. Yes, I see it, and I am drawn to it. It pulls me closer so I cannot help but look, it has gotten me in trouble more the once."

Glancing at the waiter as he came by she gave a smile as she ordered some tea.

[GranspearZX]

"Green tea, please." Marcus wasn't much of a tea-drinking person, but he at least knew what he liked. He waited for Etain to order before doing so for himself.

"Eldritch... why does that sound familiar?" He could've sworn he'd heard that name once or twice... somewhere. "Eh. I don't suppose it's something you can just... turn off when you want to, then. Not like mine..." Marcus realized just how fortunate he was that he could at least control his powers. "So... what's it look like exactly?"

Marcus was genuinely curious; he wondered mostly if it would give him some insight on how magic coexisted with everything else.

[Aoiroo]

"He is a member of the heroes is he not? I am not sure myself."

She hadn't concerned herself to learn names of heroes in the city past the basics. It did not seem very important, after all it was not there true names so it felt strange calling them as such.

"I can always close my eyes, but otherwise yes I always see. As for what it looks like, it depends. Magic is varied, naturally occuring and unintentional is is rather blurry and it is just there. Focused magic, it has shape sometimes, sometimes it does not but it does leave a stain on whoever uses it."

The stains were particularly interesting because they almost never faded. Only death could completely wash away the stain of focused magic, and even then a corpse may be restained with necromancy.

[GranspearZX]

"Stains? ...man, that sounds... unpleasant." He shuddered a bit, even as their food arrived. The thought of being permanently marked by magical misdeeds was a little bit terrifying; he had enough problems with his fugitive mother and his convict father. He shook his head. "Maybe I should just start with learning Latin and going from there. Considering that it's the root of so many languages, it can't be THAT hard... I hope."

He smiled faintly and gingerly poked at the cabbage and broccoli stir fry he'd ordered. "Plus, there's one rune in the book I wanted to learn more about. I don't know why, but I felt kinda drawn to it... not in the same way as you and what you see, I'm sure, but it just felt like somethin' I should know."

[Aoiroo]

"The stains do nothing but simply indicate magical presense. There are very few that can notice them the way I do without doing a divination."

She pulled her folded arms off the table to let her plate of sesame chicken and fried rice be set in there place. Quietly, she picked up the chopsticks next to her and slit them quietly as she started to eat.

"Latin is not as hard as English. English is very weird, though Latin is a dead language so very few people speak it fluently."

She ate a piece and swallowed before saying,

"Nisi forte me."

Letting out a light laugh she went to her tea to take a sip.

"Does the rune look like two moons?"

[GranspearZX]

"Yeah, that's the one. That and the Earth rune..."

He wasn't really sure how she knew, though it suddenly occurred to him that his birthmark looked a lot like that particular rune--the Beast rune. That one and the Stone rune--a deceptively simple downward-pointing triangle--seemed to command the most attention from Marcus's reading, though without the Latin passages, it was mostly skimming and theory on his part. Still, they both seemed familiar to him somehow; the Beast rune made sense, given his transformation, but the other, he wasn't so sure about.

"I don't know if it's magic or curiosity though. Kinda hard to tell..."

[Aoiroo]

Listening quietly she started had a few bites of rice before replying,

"Curiousity is magic, well a part of it."

Setting down her chop sticks she picked up her tea and took a long sip before refilling her cup with the pot they had left at the table,

"It is curiousity of self, the rune with two moons is it not the one that is on your back? You very nearly used the runes power when I startled you."

[GranspearZX]

"Is it?" He glanced over his shoulder--why, he couldn't be sure, considering the fact that he couldn't see through his jersey. "...I guess it makes sense. I always thought it was more like my dad's... abilities." Marcus took a sip of his own tea.

"Sorry about that. I'm not really sure how I do it. Hell, the night it first happened was a little bit of a blur." An angry, tazer-filled blur. "Since then, I can just sort of think about it and it... changes me. Problem is, my clothes don't usually survive the switch." He grinned nervously; he still hadn't figured out just how to fix that problem, but he was definitely working on it.

[Aoiroo]

"Not everyone is attuned to changing ones self with magic, there is a word,"

Reaching into her purse she pulled out her pad and flipped through it,

"Predisposition, yes I believe that is right, it is something parents give. I have the same for my eyes, though I do not know whether my parents were similar."

Picking up the end of the stick she chewed it for a second. She did not really know what her birth parents did or did not know about magic. She was very young then.

"The clothing could be spelled to change, but it would be difficult, new clothing seems less trouble if it gets destroyed."

[GranspearZX]

"God, I hope I'm not too much like my parents. Predisposition or not, that could be awkward. For the longest time, my dad couldn't control his... that was years ago though, before I was even born." He's heard his father's story. It was a long conversation that left Marcus with all sorts of questions and emotions that he couldn't even begin to quantify. The truth was rough, and even now he didn't really want to think about it.

"Difficult... but not impossible. I'd still like to try it eventually... or maybe Ms. Cross could give me a hand with it. Tuition is expensive enough without me wasting money on clothes every time it happens. Plus... I need to be able to do something with whatever magic I have. Seems kind of a waste if I just sit around waiting for stuff to happen to me..."

[Aoiroo]

"It is your choice. Ms. Cross is very skilled, so she can help. She also speaks Latin and seems like a good teacher. I might like to help but I have a hard time with English sometimes."

More then sometimes, she was glad her English teacher allowed her to use a computer to check her spelling, though it didn't help much with grammar. She was sure she had homework but she pushed that out of her mind as she continued to eat only to let her eyes drift to the fortune cookies set at the end of the table.

"Ohh, these are always so tasty."

She reached over and cracked one quietly before pulling out the paper and chewing on the slightly sweet fried bread.

[GranspearZX]

"Hey, any help would be appreciated..." Marcus smiled, hoping his suggestion to seek out Ms. Cross didn't offend her. He was just glad to have found someone he could talk to without feeling awkward... although, she still hadn't seen him transform yet. That in and of itself could be rather jarring... but Etain hardly struck him as 'average'.

He waited until his food was nearly gone before reaching for a fortune cookie. "I wonder about these fortune cookies sometimes... whether or not this stuff actually comes true, I mean." Marcus always found fortune cookies amusing if nothing else; he was hardly the sort of person to look to a snack for his future. Cracking one open, he pulled the piece of paper out of it, munching on it quietly while reading the fortune.

"...so, what's yours say?"

[Aoiroo]

Crunching on the cookie for a few more seconds she held the small piece of paper between her fingers and read the printed text,

"Good things come to people who wait."

Any hidden meanings beyond this simple piece of paper was simply an illusion, there was no magic or real fortune, just words on paper. Still it made her had a deep sigh as she thought to what she waited on before setting it on the table,

Looking up she met him with the same smile she always wore with the shadow of weariness disappearing from her face as quickly as it had come,

"Would you like me to accompany you? I have some more books I would like to skim at her shop, she has a very wide selection of works in my native tongue."

[GranspearZX]

Marcus smiled broadly, glancing again at his own fortune.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Cute. Marcus nodded at Etain's offer. "Well, I've never been one to say 'no' to good company... sure, I wouldn't mind if you came along." He started fishing around for his wallet; he had plenty of money, and didn't really spend much on himself to begin with; paying for himself and his new friend didn't seems like much of an issue.

[Aoiroo]

"Then, I will meet you tomorrow in the quad."

Smiling simply she finished up her tea and asked for one of foam boxes for her food. When the check came around, she counted off quickly and pulled out a ten to cover her chicken and tea,

"Half and half then, we both eat we both pay and it is not terribly expensive."