Why do you always have to make things difficult, Finn?
-Ashley Avenir
Ashley frowned when she saw Mika’s text about offering to pick up the various agents, rather than meeting at GEMINI HQ and moving out from there. While the Knight of Tomorrow understood and respected the need for caution in light of the deeply unsettling fact that there was likely a mole among their ranks, she had no great desire to have the perpetually annoyed Mika cross paths with her perpetually chatty neighbor. Thus, she had requested that Mika park a block away from her apartment in an effort to curtail such a meeting. As if to validate her concerns, no sooner had she stepped into the hall, then a nasally voice called out to her.
“Hi, Ashley!”“Oh, hi, Olivia,” Ashley greeted the bespectacled brunette with what she hoped was a friendly smile.
Despite the fact that the talkative girl had been nothing but personable, if a little annoying, Ashley still couldn’t help but feel that there was something
off about Olivia. While her recent mission to rescue the kidnapped Marrywell students had confirmed that her neighbor was in no way involved with said incident, Olivia’s interest in espers and anything related to the paranormal, to say nothing of the bespectacled brunette’s frequent talk of single-student field trips, magical girls, and her “darling Xolys”, seemed far more than merely the products of an overactive imagination. Indeed, when returning from late patrols, Ashley could sometimes make out the faint sounds of conversation emanating from the other side of Olivia’s door. One voice was female, but sounded far sweeter and more melodious than Olivia’s normal, nasally tones, while the second was
male, and sounded quite polite and cordial. Still, Ashley wasn’t about to investigate this oddity, not when there were far more pressing matters in need of her attention…
“It’s really getting stormy out there, huh?” Olivia observed.
“It’s a really good thing I remembered to bring my umbrella!” she added with a giggle/snort.
Ostensibly the result of two approaching severe weather systems, the worsening conditions were actually an early warning that a pair of Behemoth-class monsters would soon arrive in Pax Septimus. After the catastrophic damage the Diver had so recently caused, GEMINI wanted to ensure that this latest pair were stopped well short of the city, and Ashley had vowed to do all she could in pursuit of that goal. Yet, she couldn’t exactly tell
Olivia that, even if the strange girl
was more than she appeared, and so the Knight of Tomorrow forced herself to maintain a casual demeanor.
“It’s supposed to get a lot worse later on, so I’d recommend staying indoors for the rest of the day,” she advised.
“Oh, don’t worry, I will!” Olivia reassured her.
“Plus, I’ve had lots of experience with extreme weather,” she added.
“Like I was telling that person when we first met, my home town would frequently get buried under a considerable quantity of snow during winter storms, and it rained a lot in London during my time there, especially when this one Pageless that could control the weather showed up!”“I see…” Ashley replied, not exactly sure what a “Pageless” even was.
“So, um, how have your explorations of the city been going?” she inquired.
“Oh, they’ve been great!” Olivia replied with an excited smile.
“I mean, I haven’t seen any ghosts or monsters up close yet, but with my tour guide’s help, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time!” she added with another giggle/snort.
“Like, the other day, we went down into the catacombs beneath the historic library via a secret tunnel in its archives, and we almost saw a real ghost! Well, I think it was a ghost,” Olivia added with a frown.
“I mean, we only caught a few glimpses of its cape and never actually caught up to it, but we heard the laughter of a young boy, and there wouldn't be any young boys in the catacombs unless they were a ghost, right? Then again, I suppose he could have been an esper…” she reflected, her visage one of thoughtful contemplation, before brightening up once again.
“Oh! And speaking of espers, my guide actually is one!”“H-He is…?!” Ashley asked, more than a little taken aback by this revelation.
“Yes!” Olivia confirmed with an enthusiastic nod.
“I know you warned me about them being dangerous, but Finn is super nice, and I felt very safe with him!”Finn?!“It was actually rather fortunate, too, since if we ran into trouble down there, I don’t think darling Xolys would have been able to help much, since he’d have probably been too big to fit!” Olivia continued before giving voice to another giggle/snort.
However, Ashley barely heard her. The Knight of Tomorrow’s mind was reeling.
Finn?! Finn’s her tour guide?! And he revealed himself as an esper?! What was he thinking?! Indeed, it was bad enough that GEMINI’s Pax Septimus branch had been compromised, but now a fellow agent who had already proven himself to be a discipline problem was also becoming a security risk?! This was bad. How much did he tell Olivia? Did he mention that he worked for GEMINI? Had he given away classified information about recent operations? Ashley had no way of knowing, other than asking Olivia or confronting Finn directly. Doing the latter right before the start of a pivotal operation was decidedly less than ideal, but asking her chatty neighbor was out of the question. Even if Olivia was utterly innocent, her naiveté, coupled with her talkative tendencies, made the idea of revealing herself as an esper a
very bad move. There was no telling who she might go on to inadvertently reveal that information to. It was problematic enough that
Finn was potentially compromised, and Ashley wasn’t about to add herself to that number…
“Well, he seems nice enough,” Ashley conceded, doing her best not to show the considerable annoyance and worry she felt.
“Yeah, he really is!” Olivia reiterated.
“And he has such fascinating abilities, oh, and his esper form looks sort of like a jointed doll! Isn’t that cool?!”“Uh, yes, very cool,” Ashley agreed in a slightly awkward tone she hoped Olivia wouldn’t pink up on.
“So, um, where are you heading off to?” the bespectacled brunette inquired.
“I’m helping some colleagues from work prepare for the storm,” Ashley replied with practiced ease. Plus, it wasn’t exactly a lie.
“Well, stay safe out there!” Olivia told her with a wave.
“I’ll do my best,” Ashley replied with a smile as she headed for the stairs.
She only hoped her best would be enough…
18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow
Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow
Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow
Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow
PRO-TEK 4000 Defensive Surgery Implement | Kevlar Coat, Kevlar Padding, Medical Supplies x 2, Flash Bang, Tazer, Clip Light
[Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2), Purify (6), Homing (2), Avoid (2)
DAMAGE: A | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: C | 1000
PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: B | 1000
Shinny
FaithfulMuse
CitrusArms
Lime
Villamvihar
Shadow Dragon
twave
BrokenPromise
Noctis
