Oskana Sonnen's Story

Throme - Friday, September 27 (4:30 PM)

How fast the clock does turn when there’s nothing important to do.

That is if one was normal. Just a few Fridays in the past, Masked and Itex met each other in a dramatic showdown, not unlike a fight between rival gangs. The thing at stake this time was not territory, but a small nondescript package. What exactly was inside that thin box? No one really knew for sure. Only that it was important.

It would take eight minutes for those on Earth to notice if the sun went out. It would still be warm; it would still be bright. It took longer than eight minutes for the conclusion of this fight to be seen.

Was the package worth it? The Masked were the ones who walked away with the package, and Itex was left there empty-handed, but no one side came out of the proceedings unscathed. A game with a wounded victor. This was the breaking point for the poor stability of a certain Miss Coraline Starlings. A few days after, the harried looking maiden turned in her resignation from the Student Council. This was almost like bowling; the first pin to fall. Liesel Moringmer was murderous.

The Vandergear family was next in line. Chasing some illusory job in nearby Lore, the family burned its own roots in Throme and moved for the sake of greed. It was fortunate for Liesel that her heart possessed a remarkable capacity for wrath. The delicate tea cups were not so lucky. Neither were the flowers.

But this strand of bad luck did not allow Itex to leave without its punishment for failure. A certain female who went by the name of 'En' claimed Oskana Sonnen's blood, time, and responsibility. While she did not disappear per se, Cenriel Academy was without a student when she was transferred to rival Thromain Institute of Fine Arts. But her partner was not spared either. Treia Rawler, with her lucky stars shining from the heavens, remained relatively untouched, with only a warning to show for her troubles. Itex, like Liesel, was not a believer of keeping their murderous intent bottled inside.

The beautiful observatory was without its owner for a week, before she reappeared, looking none the worse for her time. Perhaps there was something hidden under that smile of hers, but nothing was visible to the average eye. The clear nights kept the popularity of that rooftop attraction high.

Friday, August 16th. A day that would mark the transfer of humans from the thrifty Maybelle Avenue to more reputable Sagaro Mall. Many wallets became far lighter due to the ever-growing paranoia. Hector Mason, a man with two daughters who worked nights as a security guard, was seen in a puddle of his own blood. Was there a serial killer hidden in the depths of that brilliant district? The police found no leads or evidence. Despite attempts from shop owners to catch more customers, those that dare enter that shining crime scene were few and far in between.

Judgement did not have anything interesting for the Itex for the longest of time.
Liesel had no leads.

Perhaps they were waiting for today. The day that the package pointed to as important. So what exactly was in that package of Itex? It was with hoping expressions that the Masked had opened the case, to fall downtrodden.

A letter.

To whom it may concern:
After months of research, we may have stumbled upon something of great importance. The previous sample that we have received is an enigma, to say in the slightest. Despite weighing like an average granite shock of the same size, its chemical bonds are completely nonsensical. Instead of forming bonds in order to gain eight valence electrons, many of the carbon atoms possess nine or even one with six. Perhaps you were right in saying that this was a strange rock.

When attempting to find the volume of the sample, we were astonished to find the rock glowing upon contact of water. We were unable to find the source of this energy, but it is believed it is some sort of chemical reaction. Other than the output of light, we have discovered no other abnormalities. Our sample glowed red, bright red, but we shall be asking for further samples to support this hypothesis. It would not surprise me if it was a fluke. If it wouldn't be an issue for your organization, if you'd send us another shard, we would be much obliged. The things we do for science. Until then, we'll be sending back the sample on 9.27. Please do send a messenger to pick it up. This cannot fall into unaligned hands.

Sincerely,

The letter was signed, but illegible and smudged, seemingly on purpose. It appeared as though the writer was unwilling to give up his or her name. The letter continued with an address.

Nivcien Science Institute, Throme
Research Division

It is now September 27. Yet another Friday afternoon. The weather had mellowed in the months, with the leaves already in the process of dying. They were dull brown, many of them withering in the streets and on the trees. A steady wind made its way through Throme. Life is unfair, but yet it brings hope and excitement. Perhaps their adventure will beat reality television's entertainment value on this blustering November afternoon.

Those whose souls belonged to Itex ought to be making their steady way to the back rooms at Brio, where that violent angel of doom, Judgement, was doubtless waiting for them. The Masked had likewise, been summoned by Liesel to deal with their recently collected information. How will both sides dance this afternoon? That is a story to hear.

Kaden Jannsen; Sagaro Mall Floor 6 - Nebula Ice Rink (??? - 3:55 pm)

It was a warm day outside, fitting for the shorts and t-shirt that Kaden wore. A calm breeze struck up every now and then, a reminder that summer had ended to bring in the beginning of fall, only to die down quickly. The latter half of classes had been skipped over, forsaken in order to spend time writing, doing something relatively important to real life. And so Kaden had somehow ended up at Sagaro after wandering the town on this gorgeous day. And from there, the next seemingly logical place to go was the Ice Rink, on the sixth floor.

Kaden had started a new book, or at least had a few ideas for it. There was no name yet, and the main character was simply a young woman, with some power yet-to-be-determined. It took place in a strange world, on a southern continent, filled with ice and snow. It had previously stayed separate from the rest of its world, with the natives calmly going about their lives, doing what they always did. Until recently, when explorers happened across it and reported the strange powers they witnessed there. Thus started the main storyline, the interactions between the outside and inside world, between this young woman and an interested adventurer.

So the Ice Rink was of course where he needed to go, in summer clothes, no less. Not for skating, no. He'd surely fail at that. He'd tried a few times before, somehow always ending up ble- staining the ice. It was unlikely he would try again in the near future. He was still not quite over what had happened with Lucas. It's not like Kaden was avoiding him or anything, but they just happened to never meet, not since the last time Judgement had given them a mission... It was just coincidence, them never being at the same place at the same time. And he wasn't the reason Kaden had taken to skipping the latter parts of school, no. He simply saw no use for the classes. The fact that Lucas was in one of those classes hadn't even begun to register in his mind.

But yes, back on the topic of missions, Oskana and Treia had failed. Treia was punished somehow, and Oskana was taken for someone's servant, taken away from school and every aspect of her previous life. Little was accurately revealed about what had happened to her; a cover story made that said little. And they weren't the only people who had disappeared from the school recently. Coraline had been showing up less and less as her condition, whatever it was, worsened. Victor Grayson had also been sick recently, or so it was reported. At any rate, he had been absent from school for a few weeks now, and no one had heard anything from him. Gage Vandergear had moved away, to another town, leaving his friends and school behind. Many people gone in a short time, and only the beginning of school.

Oh, yes. The Ice Rink. It made sense: getting a feel of the cold, of how a newcomer would feel when experiencing this environment which he'd never before known (did I mention the newcomer came from a continent near the equator of the world? an extremely hot, desert- and volcano-filled place?). From hot to cold, suddenly in the unknown, completely unprepared for what he'd experience. And contrast that to those people who had lived there for eternities, believing it to be normal, the complete opposite of the abnormality that this explorer believed it to be. It was hard to get the full experience, but this was the closest he could think of wi-

BEEP! BEEeeEEeeEEP! Beepbeep! Beepbeep! BEEEEEEEE- *click*

It was time. He'd bought a watch, an ornate one from a strange peddler on Maybelle Avenue. It had many knobs, some which didn't seem to do anything, and it was extremely hard to read. But the alarm worked very well, and it never seemed to run slow (or fast for that matter). The key selling point had actually been the obnoxious alarm... It could actually break him out of his reveries, if at the cost of angry glances from onlookers (in this case, the ice skating class). He generally just ignored them, rushing away on to his destination, to wherever he needed to be reminded to go. Sure, the watch cost him an arm and a leg, but it was definitely worth it to not anger Itex any more than necessary (read: at all). He could always get the money back somehow.

3:55, time to start heading to Brio. Judgement would be waiting, as usual. There may be a job, there may not, but it was always best to be on the safe side and not be late. Not like the first time... He had somehow come out of that with little repercussions... Somehow... But he knew better now, for sure. Kaden Jannsen packed his bags and began the long trek to Brio and Judgement.