Inside

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

"A... dee vee dee?" Darko glances between the two, uncomprehending. "I guess there's still a lot of stuff I haven't heard about." Which isn't a problem- in fact, that makes the world more interesting, in his opinion.

Then something seems to occur to him. "But on the other hand, I bet neither of you have heard of, say, the atrophic engines or Kolta's vanishing bird cage. So I guess everyone knows things other people don't." Ignore the fact that knowing esoteric occultism and obscure magic tricks is a far cry from common technologies or entire countries.

"But anyway, it must have been cool being here your whole life. You've probably seen a lot of crazy things," he says to Rowan. Darko has already seen some crazy things himself, and he's only been here a few months.

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"They're not rules like laws. More like... why things fall down. And why the sun goes up and such." Simple words, Hiep, simple words. "People who are cut outside of fate can ignore some of them. Nothing they do will appear in predictions, for one thing. And if something is destined to happen, they can just ignore it. Like... if someone is destined to die of old age, they can just stab them and there's not much anyone can do about it."

[Destiny Temple]

"Since the night serpent eats it at night and spits it out every day." Raheeda explains, trying to help Hiep along as she's explaining while also proving that she in fact knew stuff too.

But what she's saying sounds no less bizarre to her. "Huh... that means that some people are fated to find boggers in their nose? Since I do that all the time." She strokes her chin. ""But is fate also a god then? Since it sounds like a god to me by deciding things like that. One of those overgods that rules over other gods. Which is why gods probably hate it I figure. They don't want anything like that tying them down."

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

Mercury, but Raheeda's brain wanders down weird routes. Let's skip past the boogers part.

"Fate is more like a system that even gods are bound by. It has no real will on its own. That's why so many gods and demigods have to maintain it. And now I have to find out who here is messing around with it."

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan ponders the question, scratching his scaly chin.
"Well, the city is pretty crazy. Folks getting poofed into fairies, new kinds of people and animals every day. But I think personally my mindset for weird is a little skewed ever since I got pushed into being a giant pastry-chef dragon surrounded by more colorful dragons and such."
It does kind of change your perspective, doesn't it?

[[brackets lover]]

[Draco Street Bakery]

Tragically for Darko, Asami can barely contain herself as Darko proudly proclaims his seemingly trivial knowledge. She manages to keep quiet enough so as not to interrupt either of them before barreling over with laughter at the first opportunity. She covers her mouth with a hand, jollily teasing Darko, "Oh, man, leave it you to insert something nerdy into your everyday conversation." She playfully pats him on the back, flashing an upbeat smile and a pleasant coronal glow.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

Luckily, Darko has come to expect Asami's teasing at this point, and chuckles along with her. 'Yeah, I'm a little predictable in that regard, huh?" Mainly he's just happy she's feeling better.

To Rowan, he nods thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I mean, just a few years ago I didn't even believe in magic, and now I'm hanging out with two supernatural beings. Little me would go crazy." Ignoring the fact that compared to Rowan, he's still quite small.

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

Mercury, but Raheeda's brain wanders down weird routes. Let's skip past the boogers part.

"Fate is more like a system that even gods are bound by. It has no real will on its own. That's why so many gods and demigods have to maintain it. And now I have to find out who here is messing around with it."

[Destiny Temple]

Raheeda leans in a bit closer as if unsure she heard Hiep correctly. "Ohhh, so they're like rules-rules. Yeah, then our gods would hate 'em. They don't like being told what to do." She stares off into the distance for a moment.
"Which reminds me, is fate the same as destiny or are they different things? 'Cause Ssethris is the goddess of destiny."

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

"...three." adds Ratticus, crossing his paws from his place sticking out of Rowan's apron pocket.
"Aww, it's okay Ratticus. Baby Darko would probably have liked you the best, given that you are the softest and the cutest." Rowan reaches down to lovingly scratch at the rat's ears, earning some flailing paws in his direction.

Rowan considers that properly speaking, all of them are pretty magical. But Darko would probably be uncomfortable if he reminded him about that.

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

The real answer is that they're not, because destinies are plans woven into the Loom of Fate by Heaven. So fate encompasses many of them. But there's no way Hiep can explain it in a way that Raheeda will understand.

"It's complicated, but at the end of the day they're very close together. If Ssethris is a goddess of destiny, it'd explain why she's messing with it."

[Hraithre]

► SHOW SPOILER

[Intersection Precinct]

"I'm sure we still have it in our records." Michalson nods slowly. "What do you expect it to tell him, though?"

► SHOW SPOILER

Intersection Precinct

Lia grimaces as the tea is refused, but she doesn't press the issue. She's also not terribly interested in what Hoshiki thinks about anything, but it seems like Bunny might want to test how much he knows about her. It's probably a good strategy.

"If I see what you looked like, I could always make you a new body that more closely resembles that, as well. If that's something you'd want." She shrugs, picking at a loose splinter in the floor.

[Intersection Precinct]

Bunny stops and stares blankly at Lia when she makes her offer. "Why? There was no point to retaining that shape before, there certainly isn't one now." It takes a moment for her to shake it off and answer the more relevant question to Michalson: "What'd you think? You concluded I didn't know his... Sandels's companion. Well it's true I didn't know her personally. But I do know of her. And the swordsman's the reason she's gone. I thought you'd figured that out by now. If it's possible for the swordsman to remember, maybe her face will... I dunno. Get out a reaction? You have to try to be sure."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

The real answer is that they're not, because destinies are plans woven into the Loom of Fate by Heaven. So fate encompasses many of them. But there's no way Hiep can explain it in a way that Raheeda will understand.

"It's complicated, but at the end of the day they're very close together. If Ssethris is a goddess of destiny, it'd explain why she's messing with it."

[Destiny Temple]

"Ohh, okay. Since she got these... it's like two knives taped together? It's her sacred thingy. Usually she's holding them but not in here." She gestures at the "lactating" statue again. It is indeed not holding anything. "She uses them to 'cut destiny'. But I always thought that was the hide of a beast. Since what else would you use that for?"

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia meets Bunny's blank stare with one of her own. "I don't know. I"m just trying to find ways to help you." And she admittedly isn't very good at it.

After sitting in that uncomfortable exchange for a moment, she waves a claw at Michalson. "If you're dead set on going to see Hoshiki again, then at least let a part of me go with you. For backup, in case he gets it into his head to claim another victim." Lia glowers at the floor. "I'm not going to lose anyone else to him if I can help it. Two is enough."

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

Hiep raises her finger and is silent for a moment. Could it be that simple?

"That... does sound like the exact thing I'm looking for. But this temple distracts people with wobblers, so it wouldn't be on display."

[Intersection Precinct]

Michalson runs his hand through his hair with a profoundly weary expression.

"Just about anythin' those Reapers do seems messed up in some way. Alright. I'll ask the archives for a photo and see him." Then he nods at Lia. "I'm not going to say no. I can't be sure the berk won't try to separate my bone-box from the rest of me."

[[brackets lover]]

[Draco Street Bakery]

Of course, Asami wouldn't quite consider Darko to be a supernatural being in his own right, and you can't hang out with yourself anyways, so he's excluded right off the bat. But then again, what number is three anyways? Asami wonders. It was a curious topic, but then again, why does it matter how many people are considered supernatural to begin with? As Asami debated whether or not to chime in on the topic, she suddenly realizes that its been a good few seconds since she's said anything at all. Having completely lost conversational moment, she simply stares blankly ahead like an idiot.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

"Three, of course! And yeah, you would definitely have been my favorite. I've always loved rats." Darko smiles at Ratticus. He would love to pet him, but the rat seems prickly enough when Rowan does so, and it seems impolite to try.

It hasn't escaped his notice that Asami is zoning out, nor that she hasn't had much fun since coming here in the first place. Maybe it would be better to come back here later on his own. But since he is here now, he'd better get it over with and ask the question that's been on his mind lately.

"So... Random question and this might be too personal, which is fine, but with Granny, has there ever been times where she's really disappointed or mad at you? And if so, how have you dealt with it?" He shuffles awkwardly. "Because, like I said, I'm moving out of the Theatre. And, well, some of the Wizards aren't very happy about that, so I've been trying to appease them. Not the same situation but maybe there's some similarities?"

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan winces.
”Um. Well, no. Granny tends to go with the ‘Granny knows best’ routine so she always pretends that everything is absolutely fine. The only time I’ve seen her upset she was mad at someone else.”
Rowan does his best to kneel down as close as he can to Darko’s level.
”But well. I just gotta point out. If you’re mentally comparing anyone in your life to Granny, who took over my life against my will, warped my appearance to her whims and can theoretically force me to do her bidding whenever she wants, well, kind of a red flag, you know?”

[Hraithre]

[Intersection Precinct]

"It's useless to worry about. If he wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead", Bunny says deadpan, "And if he changes his mind, it's not like you can stop him", she adds morosely. "If you want some guarantee, remind him Reapers aren't meant to take the living before their time. As long as you don't pull a gun on him or something equally silly, that ought to be enough."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

Hiep raises her finger and is silent for a moment. Could it be that simple?

"That... does sound like the exact thing I'm looking for. But this temple distracts people with wobblers, so it wouldn't be on display."

[Destiny Temple]

Raheeda tilts her head. "Oh, you're distracted? Would it help if I covered up?" Since she sure hadn't been catching Hiep glancing at her. But then again, she hadn't exactly been concerned about it either.

However, before Hiep can answer she can see Salestrah slowly making her way towards them carrying some towels. She stops a respectful distance away as if not wanting to accidentally eavesdrop on their conversation.

[[brackets lover]]

[Draco Street Bakery]

Darko expressing his concerns are certainly enough to snap Asami out of her stupor. "I believe the comparison is just the fact they're both patrons," Asami interjects, looking tenderly at Darko, "Darko's a minor, so the wizards are entitled to a certain amount of control over his life anyways. Unless they signed over parental rights to the school?" A beat. "If you'd like, I can talk to them. I did kind of encourage you to move out. I'll be respectful."

[quillpleasant]

Intersection Precinct

Lia glances at Bunny. "Hoshiki tried to kill both me and Michalson at the duel. We're both still here. He's extraordinarily powerful, but he's not a god."

She gets to her feet, stretching before stepping over to the detective. "I'll remain here and look after Bunny, make sure she stays safe. Unfortunately I can't personally be in more than one place at once, but I can give you this." She clasps her hands together, then opens them, presenting a single bright red mushroom to him.

"I can sense things through this, so I can keep an eye on you. If things get dicey, crush it, and it'll create a shield around you before drawing you underground." Lia smiles wryly. "Earth seems to be a barrier that's hard for the reapers to get through. It worked on Sandels, at least."

---

Draco Street Bakery

Darko nods morosely at Rowan. He expected the answer to be something along those lines. He's about to respond before Asami interjects about parental rights, which is an angle that's never occurred to him. He considers his words carefully for a moment.

"Well... yes, it's the powerful magical patron thing, but also... well, there's several Wizards, and they don't all see eye to eye. Some of them are really nice. But there's a couple who are... more like Granny. In that they're a little scary, and pushy. It took a lot of explaining to get them to be okay with me moving out, and they're still really unhappy about it. It's not that they're bad," he adds hastily, "Just not nice."

He gives Asami a half grin. She means well, but the introduction to Rowan did little to assuage his worries about introducing her. On the other hand, the Wizards don't really care about things like politeness. "I appreciate it, but... I'm not sure what you could say to them that I haven't already."

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

"The Wizards are not Darko's parents. They have no right to any control over his life. And
they're not even patrons, since patrons are supposed to give you magic, not take it away." Who would have thought, the warlock has strong feelings about the degree of control patrons should have on your life.
"I did already offer to visit you at the theater. That stands, if you'd like. And now I have a staff so I'm very official." Rowan does a very wizardly pose with his cake peel. Very official.

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

It's really Hiep's fault for bringing up wobblers. Raheeda considers them very important.

"I'm not. I just mean things are hidden here." She stops talking when she sees Salestrah coming. "Hello, Saleshtra. Is it time for the massage now?"

[Intersection Precinct]

"I'm alive mostly because he decided to stop tryin' to styx me. But I won't say no to extra protection." Michalson takes the mushroom. "I'll meet him and hope for the best. I'm a reckless berk, as we've established."

[Shadowcaller]

[Destiny Temple]

"Oh, good!" Raheeda smiles widely and gives Hiep the thumbs up. Feeling relaxed once more knowing that she wasn't distracting Hiep. "But that's the point of a temple isn't it? To hide all the sacrifices that you commit n' stuff."

Then she turns in the same direction as Hiep and waves at Salestrah as she approaches. "Hi!"

"Hello again, and yes. That was my intention if you're still interested. It looks like you've had a good time though. You haven't even moved from your spot." She smiles at the two.

[[brackets lover]]

[Draco Street Bakery]

Asami only gives a tired look as Rowan argues. Unamused, she gestures with the palm of her right hand open and facing left, the index and middle fingers pressed together and pointing in Rowan's general direction. "Shut up," she says flatly.

She turns back to Darko, interlocking her fingers. "Well... If its just that they're unhappy, I really think I can help with that. As a girl, I understand feelings and stuff better t-" she says, acting like that last syllable was just one of the noises she randomly makes with her mouth impulsively.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

Darko hesitates, grimacing as Asami and Rowan clash once more. "I mean, obviously they're not my parents, but they are my guardians. They've looked after me for years at this point, given me a home, kept me fed and safe, so... they kind of do the same things parents do." So he gets where both of his friends are coming from.

Asami's comment draws an amused smile from him. "Yeah, girls are definitely better at stuff like that. From what I've seen."

He considers for a moment, then shrugs. "Okay, maybe you're right. Why don't you both come? If they won't listen to one of you, maybe the other will make them understand. That's if you can manage to work together for a few hours." Which is admittedly a pretty tall order.

[Keeper]

Draco Street Bakery

"No." says Rowan, who didn't even look at Asami for the entire exchange.

"I mean, my shift is still for another hour. If you don't mind killing an hour around town, I'm game. You're a great kid Darko but I can't lose my job at the drop of a hat." he adds, trying to be placating.

Naturally, Ratticus takes the opportunity to make things worse.
"Especially since I'm gonna be honest kid, if the wizards are as cross as you say they are, your friend is unlikely to convince them of doing anything besides kicking her out with that...routine she's doing."
Which is to say she's being an insufferable brat for reasons even the fae can't really comprehend. I mean she shouldn't trust Rowan at all but she didn't even blink at all the warlock stuff which is the reason WHY she shouldn't trust him.

[Morty]

[Destiny Temple]

"Oh, we just got caught up in talking a little bit," Hiep says glibly. "But I'd still like that massage. Feels like ages since I had one."

[[brackets lover]]

[Draco Street Bakery]

Asami raises an eyebrow at Ratticus, slightly annoyed by his attitude.

For the time being, she lets the slight go unaddressed and keeps her focus on Darko. "Ok, that works. But, I will make my attempt after his."

She frowns all of a sudden, worriedly complaining, "Ah... Its cold out, so we should just wait in here."

[Thursday Violist]

[Church of Venus]

Ambrosia was used to this kind of attention. Perhaps not so much so in the nexus but where she's from she was always the talk of the town whenever she went which was why she hid her more unusual features under a hat.

Of course, she was not wearing said hat right now so she just sat down near Rein and started observing as if nothing had happened. Since while there were no dragons here the presence of fey was enough to intrigue her. They were after all her nemesis in a way which made her glad she had come here in her human body. Left her a lot less exposed to their manipulations.

[Church of Venus]

Reinholdt considers momentarily suggesting that he and Ambrosia split up, figuring he could question the woman he knows outside while Ambrosia takes a different approach inside. But he ends up deciding against it, thinking that there'll be time to do that later. Right now, he can listen in on a sermon! The contents of said sermon could be very telling after all. It usually is, exposing the driving force behind the words when carefully analyzed.

That monkey might be distracting though, as the instinct to hunt it down and pounce on it blossoms instantly. Fortunately, as a cat of reason, Rein doesn't have to act on said instincts and merely observes as he takes a seat towards the middle. Close enough to listen but far enough away to whisper if it becomes necessary.

[Church of Venus]

The tiny monkey tries its best to be distracting, but sadly it fails. At best, it just manages to descend the church building's wall a little.

The current sermon continues for a little while longer. The speaker goes on a little more about their recent Riverside trip and then somehow relates it back to...who-knows-what. The speaker gives the impression that the story was related perfectly and anyone who listened to the whole speech would understand the analogy, of how Riverside relates to something-or-other, but...honestly, it just doesn't really seem tied together at all. Some audience members pretend they understand the analogy, but in the end the only one who really understands where they were going with it is the speaker themself.

There's a pause as the speaker leaves the front.

A girl behind Rein and Ambrosia starts whispering a little too loud, pointing at Ambrosia, "Mom, mom! That outfit is so pretty, I want one like that too," before getting shushed and told off for bothering everyone else.

During the pause, others throughout the congregation take advantage of the moment to whisper with the people around them. It becomes clear that the majority of people here are just normal locals who either actually believe whatever this cult preaches, or...at the very least are satisfied enough with whatever blessings they get to still come here.

Then, one of the cloaked people from the front stands to give their own thoughts. To one who can sense such, it's clear the woman who just stood is definitely half-fae. The way her cloak moves around her as she walks implies her body isn't entirely human-shaped, either. Unfortunately for the curious, everything inhuman is covered by the cloak, so.

The speaker introduces herself with a joke: since the usual speaker was injured in a conflict with another cult, the back-up was arrested for rioting, and the back-up's back-up and the fourth choice after that were injured during a fertility rite, she apologizes for being uninteresting enough that she has no excuse to not be here.

Her eyes linger on Rein for a moment (the cult was well-aware of where Venus has been for the past several months, so it's no wonder the higher-ups would recognize him on sight, but she doesn't even seem to notice Ambrosia, let alone know who she is, just assuming that she's probably a date he brought with her or something) and then after a few moments of talking about other things she says how she welcomes all the visitors here, and how she hopes all their special guests would see how amazing their goddess is, and goes on a bit more to the other visitors about how she knows the goddess will bless them.

The two other cloaked guys at the front seem completely uninterested in what the speaker is saying, but at the very least the speaker herself seems to really believe what she's saying as she gets into the meat of her sermon. Mostly, it's about her conversion and the miracles she's seen – although her parents were believers in the goddess decades ago, the speaker herself was apparently a rebellious teen and young adult and didn't care about it at all until just a year or so ago when the church was miraculously revitalized and the goddess reappeared, and then a high priest (specifically, she mentions, the higher-up guy behind her, who is still completely disinterested in what she's saying but at least feigns interest when she references him) ... And so on. It actually becomes a pretty standard sermon about how to properly treat others after that, complete with a little bit of audience participation (mostly the people who sat closer to the front; there's no microphone here, after all) to act as a better teaching aid and to keep interest.
You can criticize that high priest about not caring about the sermon, but at least he can delegate the sermon-making pretty well.

With the way the other half-fae mutated/cloaked person up front is looking around, it seems he's been tasked with keeping watch.

((Going to cut myself off here before I end up writing a whole treatis with no chance to react))

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

"Oh yeah, I don't mind waiting!" says Darko cheerfully. He's a little nervous about the meeting, so a delay is welcome.

At Ratticus' comment he screws his face up in thought. "Ehhh... the Wizards don't really care about normal human decorum, so who knows? Maybe Asami really will win them over." It's worth a try!

"And yeah, we can wait in here, if that's okay. We won't cause any trouble, I promise!" And he's hoping the same can be said for Asami. The less bickering, the easier this is all going to be.