radio ;

[omnivident]

So, does anyone else find the never-ending winter annoying or is that just me?

[ Yes, he is kind of fed up with the constant cold, sleet, and snow. It's May for Pete's sake. ]

Ahem, besides that...[ a momentary pause-- he really doesn't want to be considered crazy for what he's about to say. ] did anyone else get visited by a small child that didn't say anything?

Private to Klaus

Sir, are you, uh, busy right now?

Comments

[Private to Leo]

[purered]

Not at the moment. Is something the matter?

[omnivident]

I was wondering if we could talk; it's about the Turtle. Where are you right now?

[purered]

Presently at the greenhouse. I can come meet you, however.

[Now he's worried]

action!

[omnivident]

[ Klaus keep your ulcers under control ]

I know where that is! Don't worry, sir, I'll be there soon. Everything is fine. [ MAYBE?

at least Leo is in one piece, because he's knocking at the door of the greenhouse in a matter of like five minutes. ] Sir, are you here?

Re: action!

[purered]

[Too late, he's crossed the threshold and is now one big ulcer.]


[He hears the tapping on the door and hurries over to let Leo in.]

I am. Did something happen, Leonardo?

[omnivident]

[ Yikes. He's definitely taken aback by Klaus' expression...he kinda screwed up there, didn't he?

Mental note: assure Klaus beforehand that everything is alright? ]

Well, something did happen, but it's nothing bad, I think. Just strange. [ He fidgets a bit before adding: ] I think someone...or something is trying to tell us some sort of message.

[badly_behaved_priest]

[No hint of his suspicion and concern carried through in Sanzo's voice as he replied. He sounded almost bored.]

Small with big creepy eyes? Disappears like a little creep if you try to get a hold of the thing? Turns out the lights for your efforts?

[Sanzo had seen weirder, but not by much. Something about that "child" wasn't right...]

[omnivident]

Oh good, so I'm not crazy. [ It's the first time in a while that an illusion has actually gotten past him-- let him be a little weirded out. ]

Yeah, that's the one. Kinda thought something was off since illusions don't really have an effect on me but...what do you think it is?

[badly_behaved_priest]

[Sanzo paused a long moment to reply. That really was the question wasn't it?]

Unusual for this place, obviously enough. I believe if any answers are to be found on this child it will require looking into various legends. Old ones, I have a sense this creature has been around a while.

[omnivident]

A creature that is powerful enough to cause an illusion like that...

[ That also gets him thinking, humming softly as he searched for something else to say. ] If that's the case, then it probably isn't dangerous, I think. If it was, then I'm sure that we'd be seeing a different type of illusion.

[badly_behaved_priest]

That's not wise to assume. Without knowing its motives, we can't determine what its illusion might mean, it could well be taking the form of a child to appear less threatening.

[Trust nothing...]

[omnivident]

Well...if it was able to turn off all electric appliances, then maybe that has some sort of energy? Or...or something? [ He's kind of just blindly guessing here. ]

Maybe someone with more experience in, I don't know, spirits or something should try to figure out where it comes from. I mean, I have an idea...I think, but it's probably stupid.

radio

[unetrustworthy]

[The cold never really bothered her before. But...that part about the visit...]

You mean...like one of the kedan children?

[omnivident]

Yeah, basically. One of the kedan children, except with bigger, creepier eyes and...less physical.

[ He pauses for a moment. ]

Or well, the child disappeared once I tried to reach out for them and stuff. And none of the other kedan around me saw them either.

[unetrustworthy]

[She frowned, leaning a little more into the screen. Of course, there was nothing for her to see, but it was the sense of...the physically closer she got to her radio, maybe she could better make sense of what she was hearing.]

So it was either a prank they're pulling--[Which she was willing to believe, given their temperament at times]--or...what? A ghost? A vision?

You were awake at the time, right?

[omnivident]

Considering the fact that it happened half an hour ago, yeah, I'm pretty awake.

[ Of course someone was going to throw that question at him and he's not really going to make an effort to hide the sass in his tone. ]

I dunno if it's a prank-- my, uh, powers kind of make me immune to illusions and stuff. But a ghost could work, I guess; don't they mess around with electric appliances and stuff? A vision could be a good explanation, too, but...

But why do something like that? And who?

[unetrustworthy]

[Now that was something she would love to know.]

I don't know.

If you'd been sleeping, then maybe... [But, no, that was impossible. They'd only ever communicated via Dreams. That she knew of.] But there are people here with...strange powers, right? It might have been something like that.

You said they didn't say anything, but did they...do anything? Gesture at all?

[omnivident]

Gesture? [ He takes a moment to think back on the occasion. ] Nope. Just stared at me with those big eyes. It looked like it was trying to see through me, or something like that, but it didn't do any gestures.

What it did do, though, was turn every electric thing off when it disappeared. That's why I'm saying that maybe a ghost could be the reason, but don't they usually stay because they unfinished business or something?

[skeletonenigma]

Yes. Twice now.

[At first, that's all Skulduggery intends to say; questions over the radio network are usually looking for a series of quick answers from as many people as possible, not in-depth conversations. But a couple of other answers come back, and he frowns.]

Why are you asking? Did you have reason to believe you weren't the only one?

[omnivident]

I see...

[ Two other people have seen it, now? That makes it a little more than just a coincidence and more like something was definitely up. ]

Well, I just kind of thought it was strange. None of the kedan around me were able to see the child, but I was. Don't you think that would be a little unsettling?

...Not like it's much better, knowing that this more people have seen it, since that means that this could be happening for some reason. Unless we're all hallucinating, which is pretty unlikely.

[denyamenti]

[ One grumpy winter-disinclined thief checking in. ]

Yes. Why wasn't the plan to steer the turtle toward somewhere temperate?

[omnivident]

Beats me. I mean, I'm used to winter for a couple of months but we're in May now. We should at least have some flowers blooming or something.

[ SIGH ] All more reason to try and get the Turtle awake as fast as possible.

[denyamenti]

Aa, all the more reason. At least it's not sinking any longer.

[ Bakura considers Leo for a moment; he doesn't really know much about him. ]

Where are you from?

[omnivident]

[ Considering that no one besides Klaus probably knows what the hell Jerusalem's Lot is, he'll just keep it very simple. ]

Uh, New York City, United States. It's pretty north, so of course winter is normal, but this is an exaggeration.

You?

[denyamenti]

Egypt, originally. Japan, most recently; winters there were bad enough.