Welcome to Gaia! ::

Two signatures of Pages erupted a street over, and Targovishte paused, glancing over in some surprise. She didn’t feel any youma or any sort of danger nearby, she had been looking for it after all, but…still. She should at least go and say hello, even if there wasn’t any danger.

Knights should stick together after all, and it seemed like these two Pages had understood that just as she and Belmont had.

Breaking into a swift run, the Squire turned the corner to see the two…very bright young boys standing there, the blue clad one seeming to be trying to reassure the pink clad one. “...Oi, you two okay over there? Nothing attacked you, did it? I mean I didn’t feel any agents or youma or anything.”

She paused and looked the blue clad one in the eye, hesitating for a moment. “...Is he like…okay? He’s super red and I think he’s crying? I’m Targovishte, and like, if you need help I can call someone or like…just tell me what’s going on and I’ll do what I can…”

Luke stiffened when he heard a strange voice talking, asking strange questions…did they look okay? Absolutely not. They looked like freaks. But…something about her tone made him try to at least kind of listen. She wasn’t being patronizing, and she wasn’t laughing at their clothes…

Glancing up, he managed to hide what was trying to be a sniffle with a curt nod of his head and the tears gathered in his eyes were brushed away roughly. “We’re going to be attacked? Why is this city so ******** up? WHat’s going on?”

Maybe she had answers. Or, something like answers. She was also in a strange, overly pink outfit too…so at least they had that in common.

Hearing the emotions in his brother's voice, Jason was torn between acknowledging it with a comforting gesture versus pretending he didn't notice for the sake of Luke's remaining cache of manly pride. He went for what he considered a nice medium and let go of the other's arm in order to give him a firm pat on the back. There.

The rundown on what was happening sounded like a lot of nonsense, but Jason still listened to her all the way through without interruption, arms across his chest. It sounded...flimsy. Like the starting quest for an MMO. A free-to-play one. Some magic thing shows up out of the blue to somebody just going about their day and surprise you're special! Here's your gun, badge, and faction. Good luck and don't die.

By the end he was pinching the bridge of his nose, counting down from ten and trying to remember to just breathe, Jason. Just fridgin' breathe.

"So if I've got this right, ma'am: we're special good guys now, and we have to fight special bad guys and monsters?"

And then, by the time his internal countdown reached zero, he was hearing something. Again, but clearer now. It sounded like...Holler? Did that make Luke, Hoot? Wait no...yes...Halle. It wasn't even an American name, and again, the sense of this being like a cheap adventure game edged in. Even the names had to be weird.

The other thing that registered was the odd feeling the lady gave him, which was a lot like the sense Luke was giving him right now? Only more so. Not bad just, noticeable.

Targovishte nodded in some sympathy and glanced around the area, trying to make sure that there were no sudden and unwanted Chaos auras popping up before she looked between the two. “It’s not difficult to go back to who you are, you just have to think about who you are in your normal life. Concentrate on it and the magic will fade, but it’s still going to be a part of you, no matter if you don’t want it to be or not. You were born to have this power. At least that’s how I’ve understood it.”

Giving a slight shrug, she made one last check before closing her eyes and letting her own power fade, spreading her arms to show them that she was just a normal person as they would be. “My name’s Sadie, and like I said, I stumbled into all of this magic s**t a few years ago…there’s a hell of a lot to it, and honestly I’m not sure I’ve scratched the surface, but I’m happy to take questions if you all have any.”

So they weren’t stuck like this. That was the biggest takeaway that Luke…Lisse? Got out of what she said, and he did as she instructed, she managed to stop looking so strange and looked normal after just a moment so…he could to…right?

Giving his brother a small smack on the arm, Lisse shook his head and shut his own eyes, trying to think of who he was, and finally…finally he could no longer feel his brother beside him, and when he looked down…his clothes were back to normal, and honestly? He almost felt like crying in relief. “Oh s**t. Dude, dude look, it works. She’s not lying.”

Jason was asking some good questions, sure but…damnit, all Luke wanted now was to go home…and though that wouldn’t ever happen...it was still…what he wanted more than anything. “Look dude just…let’s go. We don't need to ask questions this was obviously just a fluke anyway…” And in all honesty, Luke didn’t want to know, nor did he care about the answers to the questions.

Seeing his brother's relief, Jason allowed himself to relax a little as well, enough to consider what Targuviss was saying without so much suspicion. Yeah, magic and strength seemed genre appropriate. A special, personal place, though? A Wonder? That sounded uniquely interesting. It sounded like a habitable pocket dimension or something?

Of course they would not go anywhere with her, as friendly as she seemed. At least not anytime soon. And she didn't ask them to go anywhere right now, either. A point in her favor.

The combination of new city, the incredibly dire School Situation that didn't feel quite so dire right now, and magical transformation along with inherent threats had clearly worn Luke out. And maybe, just a little, Jason also needed a bit of time and the safety of home to think about this...Halle. And what if would mean.

"Thank you ma'am, for coming to explain this stuff to us." And after a moment of focus, he too was back to normal, and thankfully still had his phone in his pocket. Pulling it out, he went on, "I think we should go home for now, but is there a number we can reach you at for questions?"

“Oh, yeah of course!” Targovishte reached into her subspace pocket and withdrew a notebook and a pen and swiftly wrote down her number before handing it back to the boys. “s**t, that’s something I forgot too, and since you’re like. The age you are. You also get this neat like…place to just store things? It’s not big but…it’s great to have some supplies and things in when you’re powered up. I always keep some drinks and snacks in there as well as paper, it makes life so much easier.”

Winking, the Squire handed the paper to Jason and gave Luke what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I hope to hear from you both soon, this isn’t the end of the world, I promise. It’s just the beginning of a new adventure, and I bet you two will both be great.”

With a final wave, she took off, leaping up onto the closest building so that the two could make their way home without her seeing.

They would be fine. They seemed willing to try, and honestly…that was all a person could do in this city.