paixaorpg | Wolf in Sheep's Clothing [active/open]

Entry tags:

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing [active/open]

Character(s): Kefka, open
Content: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. But don't let them know you're there.
Setting: Paixao Central Station
Time: Week 12
Warnings: Kefka

Magic was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful thing. There were so many tricks that could be done! So many morons to muck with, so many fools to... well, let's just say he would enjoy this little information-gathering distraction.

Or so Kefka hoped. Suckers, suckers everywhere and only so many actually worth his while. Of course, he couldn't pry information from cold, dead hands. He needed them all alive for once. Pity so many of them seemed to know his face now (no it wasn't). But there were solutions to those sorts of minor inconveniences.

And that was why magic was a wonderful thing. Just a teensy-weensy little illusion was all it took--something to make him look like one of the brainless citizens walking around.

And now he needed only to wait until someone interesting came by. There were so many people who needed to wait for the train. Surely one person could have something to say.

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Neirenn looked up at the sunny domes of the city as she headed for the train station. It was true, she could easily teleport to whatever location in the city she wanted to, but the trains were so fascinating. She'd never seen such complicated machines before in her life--it was hard to believe that they could run without magic.

She waited by the tracks, looking around the small crowd to see if there were any people other than the native citygoers. After a couple of weeks in Paixao, Neirenn had basically tuned out the presence of the mostly empty-headed and faintly luminous population. It didn't look like anybody was here at the moment, so with a shrug she decided to practice a bit of magic, tugging and bending the light breeze that was blowing through the station with gentle hand movements.

Oh goodie, someone different! Although she didn't look to be too interesting from what he could tell. Another bust. Booooooooriiiii--oh? What was this? Now that he thought about it, he could feel some sort of change in the wind. And what was that she was doing with her hand?

Oh... Oho... So he HAD found an interesting one after all! Or if not interesting than someone who at least had some sort of skill. Maybe something he could add to his collection? If he could figure out how. There was only one Esper in this city as far as he knew (and a couple possible ones) but no device he could use to draw out their magic for himself. But it was always good to have a plan in mind in case he ever stumbled upon the latter.

The mage sidled up to the young woman, casually peering over to watch her move her hand. "What an interesting trick, my dear--moving the wind like that! ...Wherever did you learn it?"

Neirenn looked up at the man who approached her. He didn't appear to be any different than the other men who were standing on the platform, aside from clothing details. And... was that magic? It was a very small spell, hard to say for sure.

"Just some simple elemental magic," she said, shrugging lightly and turning to talk to him as she stopped moving the breeze around. "It's actually a beginner's level air spell, but it's very handy in the summertime." Despite the fact that Neirenn felt as though there was something odd about this man, it was hard for her not to elaborate on exactly what she was doing.

It wasn't exactly bragging--but if he was suspicious, she didn't want him to know she was suspicious, did he? And she was rather curious about him despite her wariness.

Beginner's level. It figured that was the case, but at the same time, that was encouraging to hear. Simple, beginner, and nothing along the lines of "just learning." Check, check, and double check.

"Beginner or not, it's still quite, hmmm... amusing," the mage continued. "You..." Kefka twirled his hand, his brow furrowing as he tried to think of a suitably stupid word, "'out-of-towners' are just so remarkable! So many of you with your special gifts. Sometimes it's just too much to handle!"

Of course some of his dialogue sounded contrived, but as far as Kefka was concerned, he was being kind in his portrayal. "Contrived" was practically a compliment.

All right, there was something weird about this man. The sense of magic around him combined with his strange inquisitiveness combined to put Neirenn more on-edge. "You know, I've never met a townsperson who's taken so much interest in magic before," she said.

"So have you seen many mages around here? I'm curious to know what sort of abilities people have in this city. There seems to be quite a variety of magic--certainly some things I haven't seen before." All of that was quite true; Neirenn had only asked over the network if there were any other mages or similar in the city. "Are you a mage yourself? I don't think I've ever seen one of you guys using it."

"Really?" Kefka asked, feigning surprise. "How many of us have you talked to? It seems like all you out-of-towners do is keep to yourself. How positively cold! And after all we've done... Tsk, tsk." He shook his head.

Kefka brought a hand to his chin, lightly tapping a finger against his jaw as he thought to himself. "Let's see... Maybe a few. One or two, three or four, as many disappearances as there are, I've lost count. As for myself, I might have a few talents, but let's just keep that our little secret, hm? Wouldn't want anyone else to overhear and get too curious, would we?"

Well, maybe that was true, Neirenn thought. But it wasn't as though the townspeople were particularly sociable towards her themselves, and frankly they weren't very interesting to talk to. This man was the only one who had taken the initiative in asking about her magic, despite how frequently Neirenn used it.

However, a conversation about magic was enough to overlook the oddness of this person for the moment. Even if he had ill intentions, Neirenn was fairly confident in her ability to deal with him if she needed to. "I've never seen one of you using magic," she said. "What sort of natural magic exists around here?"

Kefka shrugged. "Who's going to show off to people they barely know? You never know when someone's going to... steal your secrets away." He paused a moment, continuing with a more lighthearted tone. "But that seems to be only a small risk anymore. No one really seems to be very interested in any of us. Despite all the rude people, you could say it's a blessing!"

"The simple sort. A little fire, a little ice, a little thunder, just the basics," he sang, punctuating each element with a small display--a tiny flame hovering above his finger, a small icicle that fell to the ground and shattered, and a brief spark. "Nothing I'm sure someone like you hasn't seen before."

Secrets? That caught Neirenn's notice. She hadn't thought any of the people here had any secrets--maybe their blandness was simply an act. "I didn't realize you had anything to hide," she admitted. "To be honest, I haven't met any townspeople who are interested in talking about anything beyond weather and their daily routine." Really, it was like talking to one was talking to all of them.

She watched with interest as the man demonstrated what were indeed very basic elemental spells. But it was still much more than she had seen from someone like him. "Well, even the basic magic is better than no magic at all," Neirenn said. There was a somewhat different quality to how it felt than her own magic, but that was only to be expected. "What about that other spell you're using right now?" she asked.

Neither did Kefka, really. He was saying whatever he thought would get her to talk and keep suspicion off of him. It seemed to be working fairly well so far, even if the act of asking the question to begin with had nearly blown his cover (really, did the people here have to be so stupid?).

He stared at Neirenn in confusion as she asked about the "other spell," wondering what exactly she was talking about, and as he realized she meant his illusion, it took every ounce of self-control he had to keep a look of shock off his face. He just needed to relax. She hadn't said a thing about illusions. All he needed to do was lie, lie, lie. "Just something to keep a spring in my step as I go along," he told her. "I woke up a bit tired this morning, you see."

Though Neirenn still didn't quite trust the man, the opportunity to learn more about magic in the city had outweighed that by this point. She was eager to learn more if she could, even if this guy was more than a little weird. "Oh, I see," she said. Whatever the spell was it was small, enough that she could sense it was there but not the particulars. It wasn't a shield or anything that would hurt if she touched it, but that was all she could say.

She wasn't sure she trusted his explanation, given his hesitance, but it was more important to find out what she could. "Are there a lot of mages like you?" she asked. "The map didn't show any kind of magic school." But maybe it was more like a secret society? Like that "organization" she had been told about when she'd first arrived. But if that's what it is, why is he talking to me about magic at all?

Kefka frowned. Asked a lot of questions, didn't she? The mage hardly minded creating elaborate webs of lies (it was always so much fun when they found the heartbreaking truth), but normally he had much more information than this. Those mindless morons... Why couldn't they have something he could use?!

In any case, silence was definitely not the right response to this question. He'd just have to guess at a response and see if he could turn things around in his favor. The frown was wiped from his face in an instant. "It's a family practice," he decided, "There are many more off the island, but here it's just little ol' me," he replied with a despairing sigh.

"But enough of about me. I'd like to know a little bit about what you can do."

"So it runs in families here too? Interesting," said Neirenn, a thoughtful look on her face. Off of the island... this city wasn't exactly a prison, not in the sense that it was impossible to leave its boundaries, but it still trapped them away from their homes. She wondered about the countries around here--were all the people as flat as those in Paixao, or was it something that the city did?

She needed to get to that library she'd been told about to find out. This man was still acting... off.

"Well," she said, considering what she wanted to tell him aout herself, "I just graduated from the academy in my home city not long ago." The pride in her voice wasn't an act--being a graduate at fifteen was quite an accomplishment. "Let me show you...."

Spreading her hands and concentrating, a ball of bluish light appeared before Neirenn, spreading into a long line that finally coalesced into a staff as tall as she was. It wasn't a particularly difficult spell, but one that was good at making an impression.

[ooc: Visual (http://inverloch.seraph-inn.com/viewcomic.php?page=326)]

"Oho, now that is impressive!" He didn't see much use for it in the long run, but it certainly looked nice, didn't it? The mage strayed a little closer to Neirenn, leaning in to examine the staff. "Haven't ever seen anything like that before. Any other special tricks you have up your sleeve?" he pressed.

He did hope she wouldn't just give him the boring, passive spells. Things like that weapon summon could possibly be useful, he would admit, but they just didn't have the same flair. What use was the spell to him when it couldn't help make that sweet music he so loved? "Ooh"s and "ah"s were nothing compared to the shrieks and wails of the dying.

Neirenn resisted the urge to lean away as the man moved in closer to have a closer look at it. She seemed to be see-sawing mentally about this conversation. On the one hand, she was talking to a resident of the city who was a mage and who might be able to tell her quite a bit of information. On the other hand, he was creepy. It was a dilemma.

As was how to answer his next question. Back when Acheron had asked her about magic the first time, Neirenn had been quite eager to show off what she could do. But she wasn't so eager to let this stranger see everything she could do. The dark magic, certainly, she was keeping under her hat. But lightning was always impressive, wasn't it? Raising a hand, she called forth the energy and sent a bright yellow bolt crashing onto a lightpole that didn't have anyone standing close to it.

There we were. It wasn't something he hadn't seen before, but it was definitely a step forward. She had something on the more offensive side of things. Something that could do a little damage. Something fun!

"What else, what else?!" he asked, eyes shining with excitement as his voice rose a little in pitch. "You don't even have to do a demonstration, I just need to know!" The court mage suddenly stopped, however, holding up a hand and backing away, his face becoming the image of seriousness. "Sorry, ma'am," he began again in a much calmer voice as he quickly came up with an explanation, "You don't know how long it's been since I've seen another mage."

Neirenn resisted the urge to step back when the man practically started jumping up and down with glee. "Plenty of things," she said, only half-successful in keeping the surprise at his reaction out of her voice. "Most of it is elemental magic, even the summoning and utility spells. It all depends on how you use it. Actually, things like that lightning bolt are among the simplest spells. It all depends on how strong you can make them."

Maybe she could give him a boring lecture on magic theory and application like the endless ones that she had had to sit through in the Academy before he'd graduated. She felt that following her urge to show off what she could do would be a bad idea with this person. "What's your name, by the way?"

Kefka nodded. "Oh, I understand completely," he assured her. "That's how the magic I know works, after all."

A name? A name... He had a name, all right. "Call me..." a sickly sweet smile spread across Kefka's face, "Leo."

"Well, it's good to meet you, Leo," said Neirenn, still very unconvinced that it was. "So has your family always lived in Paixao? Have people from other worlds always been brought here?"

She figured that if Leo had asked her questions and she had answered them, she was entitled to some of her own. And they were rather pressing questions as well, to her--that on top of wanting to figure out just how trustworthy he was.

Nosy little brat, wasn't she? Kefka was beginning to think he should have taken a little more time on his cover story than he did. It looked as though beating a hasty retreat would be the best course of action at the moment. He just needed a little distraction and off he could go! ...Too bad leaving now would look suspicious. At least these questions were easy enough to make up answers for.

"Oh no. We moved here when I was a child. These people didn't start showing up until just recently, as far as I can remember."

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Wolf in Sheep's Clothing [active/open]

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ffff I thought I replied to this. x.x

No worries <3

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sorry again x_x

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OH KEFKA, you are so cruel.

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