Archive World of Darkness: The Academy - Chapter 3a: Holders of the Keys [Lancaster]

[Frida Ricci]

"No.. they're not."

Frida's deadpan voice cut through the room, as it had a tendency to do when she bothered to speak. She had finished her sketches with remarkably disturbing detail for such a short period of time, so she closed her sketchbook and tucked the pencil into the spiral as she continued to educate the newest arrivals.

"The two visitors that you see before you are Lheskian. The people that were at the social yesterday were Caramines. They aren't the same thing, though both groups seem different to us. Today some of us were shown by Brihn here how to use doors to travel between different worlds, like the ones her and her brother come from, or the world of the Caramines. It would appear that during the "troubles", people from the school stumbled upon a door, and went traveling. They met the Lheskians, who told them about the Caramines, and what they were like. So we went and tried to kill them, which initiated a war. The truce was apparently only for thirty years, during which time I would imagine that Mr. Dalton, the founder, meant to destroy or block off the door in some way. However, now they're back and have started the harvest again. Does that sum it all up properly? Are we all caught up now?"

Frida blinked with apparent patience as she waited, inwardly hoping they wouldn't have to go through this any more tonight. She glanced at Brad, and addressed him in no different of a tone of voice than she had just explained the situation in.

"I hope you don't mind, Mr. B. But since everyone seems to have had equally odd experiences today, I don't imagine anyone is going to lock us up for being crazy because of our own."

[SalmonMax]

Renata stood there, open-mouthed, during Frida's long, confusing spiel. Then she said, "Uh...I'm gonna say that my day wasn't even a fifth as odd as what you just said, and I imagine that kind of thing is -exactly- the kind of thing they lock people up for being crazy about."

She pointed at the Lheskians again.

"So you're aliens?"

[Dawn OOC]

The gray skinned twins frowned. "What does that word mean?" Brahn asked. "Aliens?"

[Frida Ricci]

Frida looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"I suppose you would be, in a sense. An alien is someone who is "not from here". We use it often when talking about people from other countries that have different laws and governments - ruling organizations. But most often it is used to say someone from a different world. We usually picture an alien being from another planet, somewhere far away from here. You don't come to us the way we usually think an alien would visit us, on a ship that flies through space.. but I suppose it is the most appropriate description for what you are to us."

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean snapped his phone closed with more force than necessary, irritated. He always got the his dad's voice mail.

"Yargh!" He punched the wall with a strong left hook, then stifled a cry when he hit a stud. He brushed the crushed drywall from his reddened knuckles and inspected the damage. Nothing serious he decided with a snort.

He walked back into the dayroom, squeezing pass Lucia and Renata and retaking his place on the love seat, next to golden Lorelei.

Noticing the looks aimed his way, Sean gave the room an obviously forced smile - more of a grimace, in truth - waving his cellphone. "Couldn't get a signal."

[Logic1]

At the sound of Sean returning to the room, Everret snapped his head in his direction. He followed him with his gaze as he moved past the two most recent arrivals to their little gathering and reclaimed his seat. Returning his attention briefly to the two young women Everret gave a polite wave, nod, and smile.

He looked again at Sean, "Couldn't get Buffy or the Ghostbusters huh?" Everett joked in an effort to bring a small bit of levity to the otherwise somber discussion.

"So we've established that the Lheski and the Caramine are 'alien'. How do we protect those who have been selected from falling victim to this...invasion?" he asked as he looked about the room at those gathered.

"It seems as if there's far more at stake than just the lives of my classmates. It also seems like there's not much standing between the Caramine and their goals." Everett fixed his eyes on Brihn and Brahn.

He knew he sounded like a crazy person, hell they all did. Aliens, doors to other worlds, human harvests, and interdimensional wars. They couldn't all be suffering from the same delusions and hallucinations could they? Mass hysteria was an option, but what would have brought it on?

[Lorelei]

Sean's presence was both a comfort and a distraction, and she could not have said, as he returned to sit beside her, which impression was strongest. The discussion continued around her, however, and a dull throbbing between her eyes increased by degrees until she was sure it must be visible.

Lorelei sighed softly, briefly pinching the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. At this rate, everyone on campus would have heard some sort of rumor by the morning, and the likelihood that the students and faculty would remain calm and reasonable seemed poor, at best.

"Ladies, gentleman," she began quietly, addressing both the Daltonites and their otherworldly guests. "Before this discussion progresses further, I think perhaps we should determine how much information is to be shared." She glanced meaningfully at the newcomers, her pale blue eyes unusually cool and appraising. "...And with whom. I daresay it would cause something of a panic if we simply told everyone who happened into the room. Do the students and faculty really need to know, right now? Should we explain everything to the cleaning staff, if they should walk in? I ask only because there would seem to be a grave risk in being too free with our information, when so much is already at stake."

[Deacon Knight]

"Well," Deacon clapped his hands together, gathering the attention of all the rooms' occupants. "I think we had a breakthrough here tonight. We've heard some interesting stories, we've suffered through Alex here's misguided rage and bitter, jaded reprisals, and we've even taught the Lhesk some very insightful vocabulary."

"But," he thrust his finger into he air. "This hasn't helped us a single bit with the problems we're facing now. Sure, we know what happened, but we're still now left with nothing telling us how to move forward and solve the problems that are ahead of us."

There was very little Deacon could do about the information leak at this point, whoever this new guy was people just gave him the rundown in all thirty-one flavors and even invited him to have a seat and join in. "If we plan on taking a fight to the enemy, then those wit the balls and the weapons need to get out there and do it. If some of us want to gather more information to support the rest of us, then they need to get out there and do it, but all of us, sitting here like this, is accomplishing two things: diddly, and squat."

"So, ideas." He walked by Brahn as he moved about giving his speech. "Love the outfit, really, very few people could pull off that footwear with that outfit, nice work. Loosen up though, you're too serious... you'll have wrinkles by the time your forty."

"We need to focus on what we're going to solve the problems at hand, and no Alex..." he gave the father a scolding finger. "Slinging insults doesn't help. "Perhaps a few of us, with the help of the Lhesks can be taken somewhere where we can study not only our opposition, but how all this came to pass, it has to be documented somewhere, it's a treaty for crying out loud is it not? We need to understand our enemy."

Brihn was next on his little stroll about the room. "Ya know, there's a party at one of the Fraternities this weekend, how bout you come along, I'll introduce you to some people we can get to know each other, it'll be a great time." He winked at her and let her consider his proposal. She was about as dense as uranium so flirting with certainly worry him. She wouldn't know what a party was if it bit her on the ass, let alone attend, but his goofy nature refused to let the opportunity go by.

"What's next people? We going to waste more time sitting in a room where we're all easy to find and ripe for the pickins, and fearing these Caramines guys, or are we going to start working towards solutions?"

[z022]

Lucia arched a brow back at the blond, her demeanor just a icy cool. "The students and faculty," she gestured around the room, "already seem to be in the know. And I'd say, if someone's going to be the target a kidnapping or murder attempt, the more people that know the less likely it is to be successful." She pursed her lips as her gaze flicked over to Alex, she made sure everyone was out of the way as she closed the door firmly behind her. "Although, given the way the sheriff and others have responded to this situation, I would be cautious about what officials or authority figures to include."

Her eyes stayed on the older man as she contemplated her next question, then she gave herself a slight shrug and asked, "So who was it that was buried in the barn? And what were they buried with? I don't mean to sound insensitive, but if this all has bearing on a war restarting on our campus and students being in danger, then at least for those of us involved full disclosure is the safest starting point we can have." Her eyes flicked over to Lorelei again as she spoke, emphasizing the unavoidable entanglement of the two newest members of the conversation.

She nodded to Dean's enthusiasm as well. "Perhaps you could start with a list of those already....Selected? They shouldn't be left alone if at all possible until we get this sorted out. Also, I assume this Door is open again? Could someone venture in and seek at least an extension to this treaty, if not a full peace negotiation?"

[Lorelei]

"We aren't referring to a single instance," Lorelei continued quietly, tipping her chin up as she regarded the student council president. "Is it wise, in the midst of a huge crowd, to suddenly inform everyone that there may be an explosive device hidden somewhere nearby? Certainly, a few may escape, but more innocents are likely to be hurt or killed in the panic, which may prevent anything reasonable from being done to handle the situation. Telling the students that some of them may or may not be selected to be hauled off through some extra-dimensional doorway to be killed, or... worse... is one of the worst possible things we could do, in my opinion. Do you truly believe that the knowledge will empower them? That they will be better for it?" She shook her head, willing the scorn in her eyes to fade. "I don't think that's the case at all. I think that the situation should be remedied as quickly and quietly as possible, and that the best way to protect them, ourselves, and the efforts of our allies, is to keep them out of it unless absolutely necessary."

Lorelei was not particularly surprised by Lucia's self-possessed haughtiness, or willingness to force herself into a situation; these were qualities she had come to expect from those who clawed their way into positions of authority. She was slightly taken aback, however, by the admission that she knew of the girl buried near the stables, and wondered silently whether her pride or her bravado would crack first under the pressure she was bringing on herself.

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean looked around the around, trying to appraise everyone's mood, his fingers flicking his cellphone open and close with a soft clicking sound. His gaze was tugged between Lorelei and the Student Council President and their growing dispute. He gave Lorelei a light, one-armed hug of support; he didn't totally agree with what she thought, but he understood it.

"Ladies, how about a compromise?" Sean spoke mainly to Lorelei and Lucia, but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "You want to know who was selected, right Lucia? And you Lorelei, you want to keep the knowledge contained to prevent a panic. How about this? I confronted the Caramine Shovat, envoy - whatever - first, and I got 'selected' as number one. Lets leave it at that for now, eh?"

Sean focused on the Lheski next. "Brahn, Brihn, I guess that means they'll be coming after me first - fine, let them, I won't hide and I won't make it easy." Sean clenched a fist with the audible sound of popping tendons, holding his cellphone tight. Though his face was worn with forced healing and a barely suppressed anguish, his stormy eyes were dark and hard with a resigned determination. "What I want to know is - are the Caramines anal enough that they'll keep going after me before going after anyone else? Do they have to take number one before hitting number two?"

"Deacon, I'm with you on that Treaty deal. I really want to know how that was made. Mr. Hunter mentioned Rod Racker - I got three more names to add: Sherry Bolling, Harvey Scherff, and Elias Beckett. Brahn said they were there back then."

Finally, reluctantly, Sean turned to Alex Hunter, and locked gazes with the older man. "Mr. Hunter, this Dean... ... what's his full name? Describe him. Please?"

[SalmonMax]

Renata glanced at Alex, raising an eyebrow a bit at the 'old guy' present.

"He's the Sheriff now, right?" she asked, hitching a ride on Sean's question. "Or the school principal."

[Dawn OOC]

"Rod's the sheriff here? I can believe that. He was always drawn to positions of authority."

Alex blinked and took another look at Sean, and inexplicibly, his gaze hardened. "His full name was Dean Cassidy," Alex said, "and he had blue eyes and dark hair. Had an athlete's build. He was on the football team."

He glanced at Lorelei. "I don't know if you guys want my advice, considering how badly we screwed the situation up last time. But you're right, you should keep it from all the other students. Tell only those already involved. And contact the Neri - they'll be much more helpful than the Lhesk will be, and the price will be sustainable."

[z022]

"Alright, then. I suggest we pursue all avenues available to us: a group should contact these Neri, another should seek out the Caramines to see if the treaty can at least be extended, and another group should stay here on campus and keep an eye on this door and those students that have be Selected. Are there volunteers for any of these groups?"

Her eyes flicked over to the two strange people that had been identified as 'Lhesk', back to Alex, and then around the room to the others involved. "Unless there's more actual new information to be added to the conversation?"

[Sylvia Dorn]

"Hmmm." Sylvia thought for a moment, then pulled another folded paper out of her pocket and with an apologetic look, held it out to Alex. "You remember these, I take it. Can you tell me which o these keys leads to the Neri?"

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean's head hit the back of the love seat with a thump, his fist clenched tight about this cell phone, his eyes closed.

"Fuck..."

"... "

"Dean's my father."

[Zack]

Zack looked up. "I'll go along too to make contact with the Neri."

[Sylvia Dorn]

Sean's words hit Sylvia in a wave of realization... but not nearly as hard as what hit a moment later.

"Wait a second. Sean, I have a question for you." Trepidation and curiosity mingled in her voice, and she asked, "Is your mother's name Vena?"

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean's eyes snapped open, their stormy colouring a dark tempest. Lorelei could feel him trembling beside her, and his breath came in quick, ragged gasps. There was something in the way that Ms. Dorn's asked her question that traced a line of dreadful fascination up his spine.

"I - I've always called her Vanessa. Vena, Vanessa... " The others could see the gears turning in Sean's head, things starting to make sense to him even as it filled him with apprehension. "... Why?"

[Deacon Knight]

"I'll go with this treaty group." He looked at Sean, his eye brows raised and he shook his head in mock disbelief. It's one thing to be slow, but Sean was either genuinely dumb or was one hell of an actor. "It's obvious thinking is not what you guys and gals do best. My guess is reading will be involved so I better go with the people who will face the challenge of 'literacy'."

"Let's just hope it's in english."

[Sylvia Dorn]

The past few years had seen a number of confrontations between Deacon Knight and Sylvia Dorn, the usual result being a blistering comment from the latter that was both painfully correct and scathingly cold. So it was a definite sign that things were were no longer the norm when she simply sighed and said with only a trace of annoyance in her voice, "Deacon, knock it off. If you want to help, fine, but you can start by leaving the sarcasm behind."

With her strangely laidback admonishment of the class cut-up out of the way, Sylvia looked to Sean and tried to decide how to deal with the situation. Her eyes flickered over to Alex, one brow raised with the obvious question. Regardless what was happening here - and to herself, growls and all - enough of the teacher and house mother remained of Miss Dorn for her to stand and start toward the hallway. "Sean, would you come with me for a moment?"

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean ignored, was baraly aware of, what Deacon said, his thoughts still on his mother and father. It can't be...

Sean staggered to his feet, almost against his will, and headed towards the hallway. "Er, sure Ms. Dorn, no problem," he said, a curious inflection to his voice.

[Sylvia Dorn]

Away from the others, Sylvia turned to Sean and tried to figure out how on earth to tell the young man the truth of the situation. After a moment, she sighed and tried to explain.

"When the events happened thirty years ago," she said in a quiet voice, "there were a number of people from these other worlds who worked with those from Dalton. Alex Hunter - Zach's father - wrote a letter about it, one that was in the little tin box with the bones we found."

"Those bones were of one of these otherworld people, name Heja, who was very near and dear to Alex. Another from a different world worked with your father, and according to the letter, was willing to wait for him to be old enough to marry her." She looked into Sean's troubled eyes, and said, "Her name was Vena."

[Dawn OOC]

Alex sat there a moment, then hugged Zack again. "I'll be right back, champ," he murmured, falling back on his old nickname for Zach when the boy had been ten. Standing, he went into the hallway, and was just in time to hear what Sylvia said.

"Actually, Vena isn't Sean's mother," Alex said softly, his expression uncertain. He finally put an awkward hand on Sean's shoulder. "She can't be. Her people can't breed with humans. It doesn't work the same way for them that it does for us." He frowned at Sean. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but if Vena is truly married to Dean, then she only raised you. She's not your biological mother."

[Logic1]

"I'll stay behind and guard the door", Everret offered to the group as he stepped forward.

He folded his arms across his chest and surveyed those assembled in the room.

[Lorelei]

Lorelei winced slightly as Sean arose, narrowly resisting the urge to follow him. Just when things had begun to make sense, and fit together logically (even if in unpleasant ways), they started to unravel again, it seemed.

When Everett made his announcement, she blinked and finally looked in his direction, as if she had only now realized he was really there. Who in God's name is this? was writ clearly across her pretty, elfin face.

"Do you even know what you're volunteering to do?" she asked finally, her voice quiet and faintly lyrical. "You walked into this conversation only a few minutes ago, and now you're fully prepared to keep watch over a dimensional rift you've neither seen nor experienced, against beings that even we, who have dealt with some of them previously, don't understand?"

The slim girl shook her head, in either disbelief or disparagement, and turned to regard Frida.

"We must not forget the promise you made to Oreili," she added coolly, glancing pointedly at the trinket the artist had taken. "You chose to take the necklace, so its use is now your responsibility."

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean leaned against the wall, then slid down till he was sitting on the floor, his knees pressed to his chest, his face buried in his hands. The two adults could hear him emitting a faint sound. As it grew louder, it resolved into laughter, bitten by the edge of hysteria.

"You're telling me Vanessa, my mother, is a... a... an alien-whatever? So what does that make me? A fuckin' alien hybrid? What about my sisters?" Sean barked out another snort of laughter, this time filled with anger.

"And she waited to marry my dad? Guess that was a mistake, since they divorced when I was ten. I never knew why. I wonder if it was because Vanessa is a creature of myth - the Mythicus Bitchus Maximus. You know, I can totally believe she's not human."

Sean leaned his head back against the wall, and turned his glistening eyes on Alex Hunter.

"I have an older sister and a younger, Mr. Hunter. If Vanessa - Vena - isn't my mother, I don't have the slightess clue who is. I don't think Vanessa would bother taking in another woman's son. My dad only starting dating again a little over two years ago. And Vanessa didn't so much as raise me, as... tolerated my presence. My sisters got everything - all I got were looks of disdain. Like I was a total disappointment, regardless of how well I did in anything."

Sean jumped back to his feet, leaning against the wall for a brief moment of support - his forced healing still had taken a toll on him. He wiped his eyes with his shoulder, then straightened with new determination.

"Fuck this! Dad didn't get my call when I phoned him, and I know Vanessa won't take any call from me - but she can't stop me from seeing her. She's only down in Denver, barely an hour away. She owes me answers. She was there, she can tell us more about what happened."

Sean turned and began to head for doors outside. "By the way, what are Vanessa's - I mean Vena's - people called? And the place she's from? I'm not gonna give her a chance to deny this."

[Dawn OOC]

"Your sisters are her daughters, but you cannot be her son," Alex said, and his voice was not unkind. "She's Chideran, like the legends of the Amazons, and they look human, but they do not reproduce like humans. Asexual is the closest term for it, but that's not right either." Alex sighed and looked tired; no doubt the night had taken a toll on him. "I don't understand it, I just know what Dean told me. He loved her, loved her enough to never have a child of his own, or at least he did then.

"I sorry to hear they didn't last. Seems like none of the off-world matches were meant to be."

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

"Well, if she's not my mom, she'll know who is," Sean said with total conviction. Sean tried to make his voice more light-hearted, and failed miserably. "Chideran, huh? Amazons. Vanessa and Cassandra are pretty tall for girls, as tall or taller than me, and Savannah shows every sign of joining them. Can't picture them in chain-mail bikinis and swinging swords though."

Sean turned to head for his Wrangler, keys swinging in his fingers, when he remembered something else.

"Er... Ms. Dorn, you got the pass code for the parking lot?"

[SalmonMax]

"Oookay," Renata said as she stepped back out of the doorway. "Lucia, I think we have a major case of bad timing. Maybe we should come back a bit later."

[Logic1]

The musical, lilting quality of her voice was distractingly beautiful. He found it almost hard to listen when Lorelei spoke. She'd posed a valid question, one that deserved an answer.

"No I don't know exactly what I'm doing" he said, "it doesn't seem like anyone does, but I do know that you all are bent on doing something insane and I can't stop you so I can at least do my part to make sure you are safe. If all this is true there are 'alien armies' threating us and the world maybe and I'd like to stop it if we can" he looked to Lorelei to respond and hoped his answer would suffice.

[z022]

Lucia bit back the sharp and scathing comments that came to mind for the blonde girl and looked over to Frida, "Necklace? And who is Oreili?"

She shrugged at Renata, "Go if you want, there's obviously little cohesion here, so I doubt anyone will try to stop you. I'd rather know what's going on, however chaotically I come by the knowledge."

[Lorelei]

Originally Posted By: Logic1

"No I don't know exactly what I'm doing" he said, "it doesn't seem like anyone does, but I do know that you all are bent on doing something insane and I can't stop you so I can at least do my part to make sure you are safe. If all this is true there are 'alien armies' threating us and the world maybe and I'd like to stop it if we can" he looked to Lorelei to respond and hoped his answer would suffice.

As he admitted to being utterly clueless, Lorelei's expression softened, with a faint smile playing about her lips. They had all been ignorant of the dangers, hadn't they? Even now, having experienced the chaos and confusion of the past few days, she had a feeling they had only begun to scratch the surface of the truth.

"There is an excess of bravado, these days, and so genuine courage is a rare and precious thing. I hope, for everyone's sakes, you can retain your conviction."

She spoke soberly, but not unkindly, as she glanced toward the door where Sean had disappeared.

Originally Posted By: Lucia Blake

Lucia bit back the sharp and scathing comments that came to mind for the blonde girl and looked over to Frida, "Necklace? And who is Oreili?"

With a slightly weary sigh, Lorelei shook her head once more, her tone even and, perhaps, a trifle too patient, too long-suffering.

"My words were for Frida, Madame Council President. Not for you. You will have your role to play in this, it would seem, but this one is hers." With a measuring gaze at Lucia, she continued. "I imagine, however, that you will not be satisfied with that answer, and so the short version of the tale is that Oreili is the leader of a tribe of women in the other world we visited. She seeks someone, Frida accepted her request, and the amulet will help us find her."

There was nothing in the tone or cadence of the singer's voice to indicate dislike or enmity, but the cool blue of her eyes as she regarded the other girl was positively and uncharacteristically glacial.

I will never, for the life of me, understand that girl's absolute need to be in the very centre of everything, to control everything, she reflected unhappily.

[z022]

Lucia rolled her eyes at the blond girl, her tone measured venom. "You're pretty full of yourself, Lorelei. How about helping or leaving, instead of just sitting and making depreciating comments about people? Or would that be too much of a challenge for you?"

With that, Lucia absolutely dismissed Lorelei from her mind, at least for the moment. She took a breath and turned to Frida, her tone neutral to friendly now, "Would you like help? Or is this something you're supposed to do on your own? And do you know if the person is here on Earth, or if you're going to have to galavanting around through this Door to find them?"

[Lorelei]

"Certainly, Madame Council President. I will of course defer to your greater experience, wisdom, and sense of altruism," Lorelei replied neutrally, dipping her head in a polite farewell to their otherworldly guests as she moved toward the door.

[Frida Ricci]

Frida watched the exchange between the other girls with an expression of bland disinterest. After the quibbling had stopped, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace, holding it for a moment in the palm of her hand and studying it. It was an uncomfortably long moment before she finally responded, though that uncomfortable silence wasn't unusual for Frida. Then she turned her attention to them both, addressing them in the order that they had addressed her.

"You're right of course, Lorelei. I should get started on that task immediately. Of course, I would welcome assistance, and see no reason why I would be required to do this favor on my own. We should go speak with Sean, before he leaves?"

The voices in the hall had grown loud enough for Frida to have been able to pick up on some of the conversation, and so she had heard some of the louder bits of the discussion.

"It would seem like he harbors suspicions that his mother may be this woman. That would certainly make the task easier."

[Deacon Knight]

"I'll be in my room," Deacon walked to the door. "Call me when things actually get moving. I'd love to stay and chit chat the night away but the longer I'm here the more and more people that arrive and derail any progress we've made towards seeking solutions. Get with me when you're ready to accomplish something people."

[Frida Ricci]

Frida stepped outside the door, not waiting to find out of the other girl intended to go with her or not. She approached Sean, and held out the necklace that was pooled in her hand.

"Excuse me, but.. I think this will help us determine if your mother is, indeed, the being that you're looking for. And if she is, I have a message to deliver to her anyway. After all, I made a promise."

She watched him indifferently to see what his response would be. One way or another, she would be finding her way to the woman the pendant led her to. Whether Sean wished her to accompany him to the most likely possibility was entirely his decision.

[Tatiana di Jadzian]

Sean's attention was pulled from Ms. Dorn by the appearance of the uncanny Frida heading straight for him, a rustic necklace dangling from her hand. She's sorta cute in a weird, Tim Burtonesque kinda way. Why do I keep thinking she should move in stop motion?

Sean was a little unsure, but - though he wouldn't admit it to, even to himself - he didn't relish facing his mother alone, especially if she was... not human. "Um...Shhhhure? If you made a promise, you should keep that. I guess I don't really want to see her by myself anyway."

Sean reached out, and flicked the necklace with a finger, making it spin. "So how does this thing work? Sorta like a compass?" I can't believe that I actually think this is gonna work and that Vanessa is an alien and so far my only company is the 'weird' chick.

Seeing Lorelei come out into the hall, Sean gave Frida as friendly a nod as he could, then hustled up to the elfin blonde before she could turn the other way.

"Oh, hey! Lorelei, can I speak with you a moment?" Lorelei turned around a gave Sean a gracious, aristocratic nod. "You were the first that mentioned the Narnians - I mean the Chiderans - to me, so I think it's only fair you get the chance to meet the possible one here too. And well, looks like you can use some time off campus."

Sean nodded his head toward the dayroom, then looked down at his feet, almost sheepish. When he looked back up, his blue-grey eyes were intent, his smile both shy and almost rogueish. "I guess, what I'm asking is - do you want to meet my mother?"

[Frida Ricci]

"I do believe so. I suppose we're going to find out for sure, aren't we? The woman told me that if I hold it like this, then it will.."

Frida's voice trailed off as she dropped the claw pendant portion of the necklace from her palm, holding it between her thumb and forefinger the way one would hold a pendulum.. or perhaps something really icky. Whereas part of the beads had been hanging before from her hand that Sean had flicked, this time the claw itself dangled in the air, and she waited, watching.. completely oblivious to the fact that Sean had, in fact, moved on to more interesting diversions.