Plots: Serious, silly, random, oh my!

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Darko hating on himself never goes unnoticed by Asami, it being enough to get him to pause his game. He begins to stealthily approach Darko, suddenly prouncing from behind and playfully launching himself headfirst into Darko's back, arms outstretched forward as he harmlessly tackles the taller boy to the ground in a tight embrace. Of course, any Asami hug comes with that exuberant aura of divine light brightening up the room. "You gotta read less, little bro! Its just gonna make you think more. If you wanna not have bad thoughts, try doing more non-thinky activities!"

[TeChameleon]

[Aikobaz' Very Bad Day]

Library

Eddie had a vague awareness of Aikobaz' difficulties in looking at both him and Darko at the same time, and unconsciously stepped closer to Darko to fix the problem. If Darko were to look, he might now be able to see inside Eddie's hood and realize that Eddie's skin was made of stone, and that his eyes were glowing faintly.

Said glowing eyes actually brightened a little as Eddie looked into the magical spectrum, wanting to study Aiko, and the little golem's head jerked sideways in shock, as he gave Darko a look of mingled concern and surprise. Darko's magical aura, even just seen out of the corner of his eye, was all-but-blinding.

After a moment, when Darko failed to either explode or produce a rabbit from a hat, Eddie shook his head and re-focused on Aiko.

"You seem to be rather magically depleted." Eddie said after a moment. "At a guess, it is because of the split. If I were to scan the students in the hallway for similarly-depleted students, we might have a lead on your missing alternate selves, unless you have a better idea?" he finished, looking from Aiko to Darko and back.

"Oh. By the way, I'm Eddie." he added. Looking to Darko, he continued "And if I'm remembering what I read right, what you just described is depression, and it's absolutely not normal- something in your brain isn't making the right chemicals, or at least not enough of the right chemicals. I believe it can be controlled, or at least mitigated, with medication, though. Once we've dealt with this physically-split-personalities, situation you are going to come with me, and we are going to find a medical professional who can start the process of getting you help with your depression."

Eddie's tone didn't suggest any opportunity of refusal. As far as he was concerned, this was a solveable problem (or at least one that could be helped somewhat) he knew how to solve it/help, therefore he would attempt to solve it and/or help.

EDIT- simulpost, please assume Asami-ness happens after Eddie has said his bit.

[bc56]

Aikobaz's Very Bad Day
Hallway
"If that's all you did, and it wore off, why are you a succubus now?" Mary questions. It's an important question. "Succubi have dream powers. Tell me about this dream." It might not be insignificant. Of course, Aiko's current state is hardly one that can be trusted to give a good description of what happened.

[Rebonack]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Huh.

This is getting more and more outlandish.

And well out of Juibi's realm of experience.

She steps back from the pair of demons and drops back to all fours, stowing her box of baking soda for later use.

"I was mostly just looking for you to give you the lowdown and hey mission accomplished! Bismuth has got our next class covered and I was planning on doing some flying practice for the next period but if you two wanted me to stick around...?"

She draws that question out into an offer.

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Considering that his most recent friend is a rapidly multiplying slime, Darko is completely unphased by both Aiko's orclike traits and Eddie's stoney skin. There's just too much weird stuff in the Nexus to get hung up on it all.

Darko scratches his head. "Well, I doubt that you'll be able to solve this problem without finding your other pieces. I love studying... probably more than the next guy, but you can't know for sure what's going on unless you test it." That's solid scientific reasoning. "How long ago did you wake up? Maybe we can conduct a search or something, try to see if anyone else has seen your others." And Eddie's plan of scanning people sounds good too, even if Darko isn't sure how it works.

Speaking of Eddie, he gets a little wave. "Hi! I'm Darko the... just Darko." He raises an eyebrow at this talk of brain chemicals, shuffling back slightly. "Ehh, a medical professional? I'm not sick. I haven't seen a doctor in years and I've been just fine. It's a kind offer, but I don't even know who you are- oof!"

Darko collapses under the Asami-tackle, and once he's over the initial surprise he laughs and ruffles the younger boy's hair. "I do non thinky stuff! Like archaeology. It's not wrestling or sportsball, but it's... reading lite." He ends that thought there, since Action Archaeology does actually involve quite a bit of reading, mostly in the form of history and deciphering old manuscripts.

[Ironsmith]

[Aikobaz's Very Bad Day]

Hallway

"I, um... I don't think I want to do that." Koko mumbles, kicking at the floor with a guilty expression on her face. "You'd get, like, really mad if I told you. I, um..." She trails off, not seeming to know how to finish that sentence.

And then Juibi makes her offer to stick around, and Koko is on her like a fly on paper. "Oh yes please!" She burbles, seemingly already forgetting about the dangers of touching the slime. "I'd love it if you stuck around! You're so nice and everything!"

Meanwhile, just up the hall, now that the students are clearing out, Mary and Juibi can see someone coming toward them. That someone looks considerably more familiar than the succubus bouncing between them; Aikobaz looks much the way she did when she left fencing class this morning, apart from some glowing orange sigils on the back of each hand and another on the back of her neck. She's determinatedly marching toward the trio... only to stop every few feet at one of the lockers, kneeling next to it and fiddling with the lock before continuing her increasingly-tedious march up the hall.

Library

"I was already magic-depleted." The aged empress explains to Eddie. "I have been since my arrival in the Nexus, a few years ago. What magic I do possess is all external in nature, the product of careful rituals and planning, rather than any power of my own. It has been a point of some frustration among my parts."

Her attention then turns to Darko. "I woke up here approximately fifty-eight minutes ago." She explains. "In that time, I have not left the library, nor halted my research, prior to engaging with you. I do not know if the same has held true for my counterparts." She pauses, then, "Additionally, I would not recommend avoiding stimulation if you are experiencing depression. Asami is correct in that a healthy outdoor regimen can be a significant mitigating factor, and Eddie is correct in that the services of a mental health professional and medication may prove to be necessary. I will not compel you toward either, but that is my thoughts on the matter."

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Eddie pondered for a moment. He briefly considered suggesting to Asami that the two of them chase Darko around the building a couple of times before herding him into the Nurse' office, thus fulfilling both of their suggestions, but decided against it as he knew that his sense of humour didn't always come through clearly.

He nodded to Asami, saying "I don't know if you heard, but I'm Eddie. And Darko really should do what both of us suggested- a medical professional would help with the brain chemical imbalances, and some time in the sunshine moving would help mitigate the symptoms as well."

To Darko, he added "And I just told you, I'm Eddie." Then he was struck by a thought. "You said you like to study, right? Here." Eddie grabbed a piece of scratch paper off the library counter, then returned to the table that Aiko was sitting at. Pulling a pen out of his hoodie pocket, he scribbled out a list of book titles, in improbably perfect caligraphic script. "This is a list of psych texts that are in this library that should explain what I was talking about. I rather suspect that you'll find it sounding more familiar than you'd necessarily like. And if it does, think carefully about what we said. After all, I am fairly certain that you do not wish to spend the rest of your life with your own brain as your worst enemy."

Finally, returning his attention to Aiko, he said "Whatever the cause of your magical depletion, it sounds like it is common to all your parts, so it should be a valid way to track the other yous. Perhaps you could lead the way towards your best guess as to the area that others of you might be likely to venture towards?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Asami made no attempt to get off Darko, but he wasn't restraining the older boy either, flopping away to the side if necessary.

Eddie's comments cause Asami to tilt his head to the side. "What? No, Darko's worst enemy is Darryl the Forgotten from his cursed hero classes. Remember him, Darko? He... huh?"

Asami now looks a bit lost, like she doesn't know what the current conversation is about.

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Darko looks between Eddie and Aiko warily. Why are they both so focused on the fact that he's a little depressed? He did not show up expecting or wanting to be the center of attention like this. And Eddie is clearly dodging the question of who he is, to which a name alone is not a sufficient answer. Still, he begrudgingly accepts the list of books, tucking it into his pocket.

"Okay guys, it's appreciated. But there is a much more pressing issue here than me being a little sad, okay? Besides, it's not about my chemicals or exercise, it's about my life. I have reasons." They mean well, but as far as he's concerned, his feelings are more justified than pointless.

"Darryl the Forgotten... yeah he was... yeah. Right?" Who was he again? It's like at the tip of Darko's tongue, but he shrugs it off. "Anyway no, my worst enemy is my magic."

Shrugging off this conversation, he tries to keep focused on the problem at hand. They're not exactly making it easy! "Okay, so fifty eight minutes isn't that bad. Hopefully they're still on school grounds. Maybe we could split up and look around?" He's definitely not just suggesting that to get away from the badgering, no sirree.

[bc56]

Aiko's Very Bad Day
"Aiko, this is serious, I... WHAT THE HELL!?" Mary spots Aiko coming up the hallway towards them... And apparently trying to check whether every locker is locked. She wouldn't be the only protagonist to do that, but it's unusual for her. "Aiko, why are there two of you!?" she asks the friendly Aiko.

[Rebonack]

[Aiko's Very Bad Day]

Lots of sticking around because hugging Juibi just got Koko sticky again.

The slime dragon gives a good natured sigh and shakes her box of baking soda at the succubus again.

BUT THEN!

A surprising development!

"...I've got nothing. I have no idea where this came from, how exciting! Aiko, did you figure out how to split, too? I know we're both green but JUST being green isn't usually enough to be able to divide into copies of yourself."

[Ironsmith]

[Aikobaz's Very Bad Day]

Hallway

"What are you talking ab-"

Koko's face pales to a leaflike color and she quickly hides behind Juibi, letting out a little "eep!" of fright. "I don't know who that is!" She hisses worriedly. "...But she gives me a super bad feeling. Like... primal kinda bad. Please don't let her see me."

That ship has likely already sailed. There aren't many things in the hallway here that could serve to obstruct Aikobaz's view.

But, at the very least, the arriving empress doesn't address the succubus right away. She seems far more interested in Mary.

"Good morning, your highness." Aikobaz greets, without a trace of irony in her voice and with a shoulder-deep bow. "Always a pleasure to see you."

And then her attention goes to Juibi. "Likewise, miss... hm. It occurs to me now that I have never heard your family name." Aiko gives her a little bow, as well. "...For now, I suppose the appropriate address would be 'Miss Juibi', until such a time as you declare otherwise. Regardless; good morning again to you, as well."


Library

"...That would seem to be the logical course of action." Aikobaz agrees, standing up. "Though there is the matter of how we intend to split up, and what will constitute our search pattern. If we follow Eddie's suggestion, that would take us to my next class, which on today would be either Numerology 101, Home Economics, AP Alchemy, or Principles of Relationships, depending on... hm." She pauses, her fingers on her chin as she thinks. "...I do not see a clear pattern. I would appear in a class certainly if I have an exam, but that is not the case today. I do not know what would drive me to one over any other."

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Asami shrugs his shoulders, confidantly walking towards the entrance door. "You nerds always tend to miss the obvious answers."

He crouches low to the ground, getting into a running stance. "I'll just use my powers to search everywhere in the school at once!" He takes a single step off the ground, dissolving into a blur before all of a sudden, he reappears face-first on the ground a few feet from where he started. The sound of wind blowing could be heard as a goblin student shows up at the doorway, holding a portable fan forward that blocked out their face entirely. "Excuse me. Would anyone here happen to know where fan club is being held today?"

Asami shivers on the ground and mumbles, "_{Cold-cold-cold-cold-cold-cold-cold...}"

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Eddie gave Darko a bit of a side-eye, although, once again, hood, so it was kind of wasted.

"How are we supposed to let the rest of the group know if one or the other of us found the missing parts if we split up?" he questioned. "As one final aside regarding your mental health..." he continued, oblivious to Darko's desire to get off the topic, "sadness in the face of difficulties is perfectly normal and healthy. Your own mind repeatedly telling you that you are worthless and a failure is not. However, you are right that we have more pressing concerns for the moment... although that doesn't mean that we are simply going to forget about you."

Eddie started to stand, then Asami-ness happened and he was left staring blankly at the nonsense, completely nonplussed and without a clue as to how exactly to react.

[bc56]

Aikobaz's Very Bad Day
"... Hi. Aiko..." Mary looks around, bewildered. "Someone's got to be pranking me. Two Aikos and both of them are being nice to me?" She scrutinizes any students who happen to be watching the exchange. "Am I on camera? Which of you is the real Aiko? Or are you both shapeshifters?" This has pushed her so far away from knowing what's going on that she can't even make sense of it.

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Darko thinks deeply for a moment, tapping his chin. "Let's see, are there any parallels... Numerology is probably too vague, economics is a no... the alchemical magnus opus has four stages, not three... maybe Principles of Relationships, just by process of elimination." They have to start somewhere! "And maybe splitting up isn't a good idea, we can search an area faster in a group anyway."

He returns Eddie's side eye with one of his own. The golem is a strange little guy for sure, and despite his appearance he feels like most of the adults Darko's talked to- very concerned with fixing what they perceive as his biggest problems, while not understanding what would actually be helpful. But... maybe he has a point. It's not like it would hurt anything to read the books he suggested, at least.

"Okay, I'll listen to you- after we help get Aiko back to normal," he says firmly. Of course, if he changes his mind, he can always just do a magician's disappearing trick to get out of it later.

Then Asami proceeds to fail to search the school at super speeds, due to her one weakness. And it's a pretty big weakness at that. Darko quickly steps between her and the fan goblin.

"I don't know where fan club is, but it's not here!" he says, as politely as possible. Shrugging off his school jacket, he drapes it over Asami's shoulders in an effort to warm her up.

[Ironsmith]

[Aikobaz's Very Bad Day]

"...That is unfortunate." Aikobaz comments as Asami comes back in, shivering. What exactly are the odds that a random student would be standing right where she needed to go, carrying exactly what would prevent her from going there? Probably either a million to one or one hundred percent, depending on whether one factors in the rules of drama.

"I do not see how that would explain my counterparts' preferences in the slightest." She continues, not getting up from her seat. "They may not even be fully aware a split occurred, much less willing to pursue an attempt at reversing it. I may well have a counterpart in economics through sheer random whims."

[Rebonack]

[Aikobaz's Very Bad Day]

Well!

This is a pretty exciting development!

"Primordial bad like big goopy Uncle Jay sort of bad?" Juibi inquires of Koko.

She mostly just hangs back while Mary is busy being bewildered by this development, though she does offer, "Brewer! My parents made beer before my home city got eaten by green goo. It was mostly just cover for their unspeakable abyssal alchemy."

There!

Now they're formally introduced.

Anywho! Juibi turns her attention back to Koko, who is hiding (not very well) behind she and Mary at the moment. "How do you know she's bad?" Juibi whispers to the succubus.

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

The goblin student shrugs his shoulders and leaves. With the immediate threat gone, Asami sighs with exasperation, glaring daggers at Aiko. "No shit," he snaps, clinging onto Darko's jacket and standing up, "Thanks for the concern, by the way!"

Darko's attitude earns a look of admiration from Asami, who leans close and whispers to Aiko, "When the hell did Darko-senpai become the cool one?" Notably, Asami has never whispered before in her life.

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Eddie unfroze after a moment and finished standing up, looking at Aiko.

"It doesn't really matter what the probability is of getting things right on the first try, every minute we sit in the library without actually going and looking decreases our odds of ever finding your duplicates. Pick a class- flip a coin twice if you have to- and lead the way to that one; if none of your doubles are there, we can try the next one."

Once Asami had apparently recovered from... whatever that was... and gotten back up, Eddie gave Asami a questioning look. "What on Earth was that?" he asked. "Are you... allergic to what that fan was made from, or goblins, or something?"

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Darko hovers by Asami for a few moments, making sure he's starting to recover from the cold weakness. Then he turns back to Aiko, completely missing the younger boy's admiration.

"I mean, yeah it could be random whims," says Darko thoughtfully, "But I've been learning about this kind of thing in my Narrative classes, and it's highly unlikely that it's purely random due to the theory of narrative causality. Plus, even if they're not aware or willing, wouldn't you want to know?" She's working with only a third of the possible information here, so it's not like she'll get very far in her research anyway.

He nods at Eddie's input. The golem makes good sense, and Darko is generally in favor of determining a course of action by random chance- since, as previously mentioned, nothing is truly random.

"I... have a coin, if we want to do that." He holds out a hand and snaps his fingers, and a large tarnished gold coin appears as if from nowhere. He flicks it across his knuckles, seeming to defy gravity, before tossing it into a neat spin across the table, coming to a halt and falling flat directly in front of Aiko's books.

[Ironsmith]

[Aikobaz's Very Bad Day]


Library

"Asami has a notably averse reaction to cold temperatures." Aikobaz explains to Eddie, massaging her forehead as though attempting to dispel a migraine. "Ranging anywhere from moderate to extreme. I once saw her get frostbite from a decorative fountain on an otherwise warm spring day." She shakes her head slightly. "A minor breeze from a handheld fan should not present a serious problem, but if he needs it, we have found that a bowl of steaming water works as an effective counter to the phenomenon."

She then picks up the coin and rolls it over her fingers, seeming to need a moment to decide how she wants to parse this.

"Hm... heads, Economics or Numerology. Tails, Principles of Relationships or Alchemy." She mutters aloud, before flipping the coin up in the air. When it lands back on her hand, if it's a fair coin, it'll be on tails.

"And again. Heads, Principles of Relationships. Tails, Alchemy."

ping!

"...Alchemy it is." Aikobaz says finally, again moving to get up, and to return the coin to Darko. With that, she'll head out to the hallway, presumably toward her Alchemy class... though it doesn't seem as though they'll get that far.


Hallway

"...I don't know who that is." Koko says after a moment. Juibi had an uncle Jay?

But then her attention abruptly returns to the present. "I don't know how I know that she's bad." She shudders, still hiding behind Juibi. "I just know she's the worst."

"It's rather rude to talk about someone when they are right in front of you." The sigil-wearing Aiko points out. "Or more accurately, to leave them out of the conversation when-"

"I don't care! You're awful! Go away!" Koko lets out a string of indecipherable Japanese-like sounds, which from the context and tone are clearly rather profane but mercifully left untranslated.

"...You certainly are an emotional girl, aren't you?" Aiko notes with a frown. "...Your highness, if you did not look to be as confused as I am, I would have assumed this was some form of defamation attempt. As it stands, I'm afraid I do not have an explanation for the origins of this... caricature."

"You're a carry-creature!" Koko snaps back, attempting to climb up onto Juibi to get some more distance between the two of them.

"...However, I can assure you that I am very much 'the real Aiko', inasmuch as such was ever in question."

"She's lying! I'm the real Aiko!" The succubus protests.

[[brackets lover]]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Asami glares daggers at Aiko. "That is not what happened! Its not even spring yet, you fucking baka." he snaps, stepping back from Aiko.

"Aiko doesn't have the greatest grip on reality. Y'know she thinks she's an empress?" he tells Eddie.

[Rebonack]

[Aiko's Bad Day]
(Hallway)

"The sort of bad is really important! Is she 'oh no that villain is stealing cakes!' sort of bad or 'oh no that villain is releasing the binding on Blorgag the Annihilator' sort of bad?" Juibi asks. Because these are important questions!

"Maybe you're BOTH Aiko kind of like me and Le-hey!" Juibi begins, only to stop abruptly when Koko climbs onto her back.

The slime dragon doesn't buckle under the weight. She might not be a BIG dragon but she's definitely still a dragon.

[TeChameleon]

[Aiko's Bad Day]

Library

Eddie snapped out of where he'd been staring at Darko's sleight-of-hand when Aiko spoke. The little golem had almost never seen stage magic before, and was honestly a bit fascinated, especially since he could 'see' that there was no actual magic involved.

Aiko's explanation of Asami's vulnerability got a head-tilt, then a nod, and finally Asami's outburst got... well, it was probably a frown, but it was kind of hard to tell under the hood.

"Seems like Asami's cold vulnerability relies more on Asami's perception of the temperature differential than an absolute measurement." he said after a moment. "Then again, magic tends to run on that kind of nonsense anyways, so whatever, I guess?"

"And Aiko wouldn't be the first teenaged empress I've met. Not even the first one I met at a foreign boarding school. Granted, Aiko... or at least this bit of her... seems kind of calmer than the ones I've encountered in the past. Then again, there isn't an eight-story dragon made of trees and druidic magic trying to stomp the school flat this time, so that might not be a fair comparison."

Eddie would follow Aiko out into the hallway and whatever insanity waited there, bringing up the rear of the group for preference, although he wouldn't make an issue of it.

[quillpleasant]

Aiko's Bad Day

Library

Steaming water, huh? Darko makes a mental note to remember that bit of information. He watches with interest as Aiko proceeds with her coin flipping.

Alchemy! "Cool, I've been thinking of taking that class," he says, nodding. Since it's not magic per se, or at least not sorcery- alchemy is more a blend of science and spirituality. A far cry from what he can do.

He glances over at Eddie, deciding to politely correct him before Asami can do so impolitely. "Oh, Asami-kun isn't magic. He's not a human, so it's just how he is." Darko doesn't have much to say about the empress thing- there's so much weirder at PREP that either way it's not really a big deal.

When Aiko tries to return the coin, Darko holds up a hand to stop her. "No no, keep it. I'm supposed to keep giving these out anyway." Cursed coins! Gotta love em. He will however follow her out towards the hallway, presuming she knows the way to the Alchemy class better than he would.

[bc56]

Aiko's Bad Day
Hallway

"From my perspective, neither of you are acting anything like the real Aiko," Mary points out, "So something's not right here." She shrugs. "Do you have any idea at all why there are two of you?"

[Halae]

[Undertree Manor]

"If you seek the treasury of the duchess then you must prove yourself worthy," the shriveled corpse replies. "If you survive the trial of summer you may proceed."

Hoo boy.

There are sunflowers shaking and earth churning as a small army of armed mummies begin popping out of the ground like-

Well.

Not like daisies.

Like sunflowers, maybe.

Two of them raise their weapons and advance on our heroes.

[Undertree Manor]

A test of worth, hmm? Skye can get behind that. She pulls her spear up so that the head of it is facing the skye, and with both hands slams the butt of it into the ground. The intent should be obvious after a moment - this is a salute.

And then she lowers her spear once more and launches herself forward, powerful legs carrying her into stabbing distance with the nearest mummy, with the shining yellow motes of the Golden Janissary style sparking up from where her feet move off the ground. One of the mummies is very suddenly going to have an empowered spear launching right for its midsection at high speed!

[Rebonack]

[Undertree Manor]

Lex stands tall at the challenge! "We can beat whatever you throw at us!" be boasts in typical hot-blooded hero fashion. Even though he doesn't have any blood to speak of. When the pair of mummies appears he draws his crossbow and fires a single bolt at the foe Skye DIDN'T charge at! A single bolt that will spread alchemical fire all over the undead!

Skye's foe is run through, its fragile body torn asunder by the force of the impact! Lex' target doesn't fair much better, burst into flames and collapsing into a blazing husk.

Huh.

That was really easy?

Two more mummies step forward, weapons raised. Where the first two shambled like an old man with back problems these two move with the confidence of a common mortal guard.

[Ironsmith]

[Aikobaz's Very Bad Day]

The debate over which Aikobaz in the hallway is the real one is presently interrupted by the emergence of a third, much older Aikobaz from the school library, along with her serendipitous entourage. She's the same height as her counterparts, but with an uncharacteristic pallor to her skin, her hair greyed to an almost steel-like color, and wrinkles starting to form on her face, particularly in the form of crow's feet by her eyes and marionette lines under the corners of her lips.

Said entourage will find themselves staring at the two Aikos already in the hallway; one mounted on Juibi's back, with visible horns, spade-tipped tail, and a pair of batlike wings sprouting from her back, her hair bound up in a set of loose pigtails, while the other looks more like the empress they all know and... well, that they know, with the one major exception of a brand-new set of glowing orange sigils on the backs of her hands and neck.

"...That is... less than probable." The older Aikobaz notes, staring down her younger counterparts.

Koko jumps off the dragon's back and bolts toward the newcomers, still covered in green goop. "Asami!" She calls, just about the only warning the boy will get before being glomped by a sticky succubus.

"...I do not think I was prepared for today." The Aikobaz with the sigils notes, looking on in plain disbelief.