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ALLAN'S ANIME & WEAPON EMPORIUM

This place was SUPER INCREDIBLE. The tall boy was right, and Sherry nodded at him with wide eyes.

Sherry had helped herself to at least three band-aids, one was already stuck on her hand because why not, and she was at the moment helping herself to the Pocky. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but it was okay now - there were plenty of odd new snacks to try.

She did glance at the door when it opened again, and she stared at the face that peeked in. He looked maybe just a little bit too old to be one of the kids. Maybe. It was hard to tell. Though, there seemed to be nothing but kids here, aside from the few adults on the messenger device.

Sherry walked towards the door and held out some Pocky to the newcomer. (The move had worked for Allan, after all.) "Are you here to watch anime, too?"

"That's more than weird." Otto grunted, "Even out in the boonies you still get the odd truck goin' by. There ain't nuthin' out here." A phone.. he hadn't considered finding a phone. The other blonde kid had a cell on him it seemed, although the dumb s**t looked like he'd never handled one before.

"Your cell don't work? Maybe theres no reception this far out.." He looked around, and couldn't even find a tower. "Ain't no power lines neither. Hows this place get its electricity?"

Maybe if they split up they'd cover more ground. There had to be a way out of this place.

Outside Deus Dormitories


Chance squinted at the phone Mel was holding; it certainly looked fancy. "Have you tried like, pressing buttons on it?" he asked curiously. "Maybe they like, drugged us all or something, we're all from all over the place, so I dunno what we've got in common besides ages."

Even if the others were two years younger, it wasn't that far off.

"Generators?" he suggested, in terms of power. "Anyone else hear a funny sound in their head, maybe that's the drugs..."






ALLAN'S ANIME & WEAPON EMPORIUM


There was a kid in the room that Mark's tracking device had led him; in fact, there were several kids, though one was wearing what looked like a cape. The other sort of looked like himself, except much younger and a girl, with pale hair and a box of chocolate held out to him.

Gale squinted at her, trying to figure out who she was.

"Er...hello," he said, reaching out and accepting a piece of pocky as he sidled into the room. "Y...yes, that's exactly what I'm here for. What's your name?"

He glanced at Allan. "Is that boy's name Allan?"

Town

A 'magic' weapon seemed unlikely, and Mimsy pursed her lips in thought, trying to arrive at a conclusion that made such a thing possible.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." The quote was where she had ended up, and it suited this just fine. "I found no watch when I awoke. I did observe many rings on the bed in which I had been sleeping. I did not recognize any except my father's wedding ring."

In the palm of her right hand, extended towards her, was the plain gold ring. The other hand was lifted in response to America's fist, her fingers curling and uncurling with uncertainty. There was no precedent for this, so she opted to mirror the other girl's actions, making a fist and gently placing it against her knuckles.

"I confirm this deal." Another twitch of a smile. "I additionally agree that I would miss you."

Town

Everything about Mimsy suggested that she didn't get much in the way of fist bumps and high fives, and that maybe any hesitation or standoffishness wasn't so much a choice as an uncertainty. It's taken a little while since meeting the other girl, but Mimsy's Mimsyness begins to register past America's Americaness,

The reaction to this was a hug, brief and strong and ignoriong the other girl's lack of experience with this too. It's followed by a firm, "Okay, after this we're gonna have like a slumber party."

And then she's up and searching the house, commenting as she goes through drawers, "Do you think it glows? It sounds like these things should glow."

I don't glow.

"Okay then what do you do?" America asked the air.

I go to school. But right now I'm by a toilet.

"Hey Mimsy...do you get the voice in your head thing here too? Mine's talking about going to the bathroom."

Opening a door she find a Boy on the bed. "Oh hey, I found a guy here, but he's not glowy or anything."

Scalpel in one hand she nudged him with the other.

"He's kinda fat but not like, ***** attacker fat," America assessed.

There is a brief, terrified introduction from the boy and a less than careful explanation of events by America, who performed an Epic Hairlfip when he asked, in a brave stutter, if they needed help.

"Naw, we can handle ourselves. You might want to meet up with that Caroline lady soon, though. She's a mom and is taking care of stuff." She talked like moms were something she had total expertise in, and like having that expertise was something to brag about.

It's a little hard to doubt her, confident with a scalpel in one hand and Mimsy towering at her back, so he doesn't put up much of an argument, instead retreating back into the little bedroom like they might change their mind and attack him with knives or worse, feminine wiles.

It doesn't take long for them to find the pendant in the bathroom.

"Well, since this isn't our private girl fortress anymore, we should probably see if there's a voice where you woke up at. Do you think mine turns into a gun? I'm a hella good shot, you know."

Town

It was fortunate that America had attained some awareness about Mimsy's lack of experience with any of this, because her response to the hug was not immediately welcoming. She stiffly stood for the majority of its duration, and was only returned by an awkward attempt to kind of wrap her arms around her in return. This was only partially effective, as she couldn't manage to do anything but keep her arms straight and try, like a robot that was never built to hug.

"I would like to have a slumber party," she agreed, only hearing of them as some sort of mythical event to which she was never invited (nor allowed to attend, even if she had been). She would have to be especially careful to behave, and her daddy might be proud of her success, even if she had broken a rule by attending without his permission.

She didn't answer the question about the glowing, and blinked at the one that followed, uncertain if she was supposed to answer that. The next was clear enough, and she inhaled with a little gasp of recognition.

"Oh. Yes. I think that it is saying my name, but it is saying it incorrectly." While America moved, she trailed behind her once more, keeping enough distance to be respectful of any personal space, but enough to be qualified as following. This was beneficial in an unintended way when America found a boy - she remained at the same physical distance and allowed her to explain the situation, preventing herself from being at risk. Preventing him from being at risk.

Her grip relaxed on the handle of the scissors...and tightened again as America spoke of Caroline. It slowly loosened again over time, calmed by the time that the other girl's pendant was located.

"Please do not make me return to that house. I did not want to be touched. I did not." She rocked back and forth on her toes, rapidly searching her mind for any way to avoid going back there. It was the voice that finally filled in the blank.

"The Jabberwocky..." Her whisper was more of an exhale, and she moved as though the answer was the only thing she could think about, drawn directly towards the table and the bag that had been emptied. She hastily picked through it all, shaking her head with each incorrect item, until a cameo pin dislodged itself from the bag's lining. Triumphant, she held it between her fingers and showed it to her friend. It bore a carved image of a dragonlike creature and a young girl, not in combat, but coexisting.

"The Jabberwocky."

[ H'S OFFICE -> TRAINING FIELDS ]

Rep got as far as hearing the first syllable in "disabling" before he felt arm being yanked hard from his hand and his world twisted, similar to the feeling of tearing through a portal but a thousand times cruder. For a moment it just felt like he was collapsing through infinite space, entire body being pulled all directions before he finally landed on firm grass.

The training fields.

Carl was right next to him, and he looked incredibly pale, clutching his fully summoned weapon with both hands. With a great amount of difficulty, he stood up and tilted his head to one side, as if listening to someone - and Rep could hear it, could her her humming like a siren song.

She had awoken.