[x] "Well..."
"Well, King Arthur was a girl," you say offhandedly, "so it's not like there isn't precedent for that kind of thing..."
Your words trail off as your father, along with just about everybody else here besides Akkiko, Miss Akasha, Lady Gyokuro, and Lu-sensei turns to regard you with a mix of surprise, disbelief, and incomprehension.
You call for support without a moment's hesitation. "Briar, back me up, here."
"It's true," your partner says, for the benefit of all those with the ability to perceive her.
"She really was," Evil Briar adds helpfully, and to a more general audience.
You glance at the illusion, a little surprised that it's still here after everything that just transpired.
"And it's precisely THAT reaction that makes the whole thing such a good prank," your hijacked devil-fairy goes on, looking around and pointing at all the confused faces with a gleeful chuckle.
Briar glances at her evil twin, and then shrugs. "She's not wrong..."
Your father's response to all of this is to reach under his coat, take out the dented flask he included as part of his private eye costume, and open it up to give the contents a suspicious sniff. Then he holds his empty hand up to his mouth, exhales sharply, and scents the resulting breath.
Shaking his head, your father mutters, "I don't THINK that punch was spiked..."
"Perhaps we should discuss the matter on the road?" Lu-sensei suggests. "We do have a fairly long trip ahead of us, and it would be more private."
When your master punctuates his statement with a glance over his shoulder in the direction of the community center, your own gaze is drawn that way as well. You immediately see what caught his attention, as something like two dozen supernatural types are all but hanging off the edge of the roof, watching your little limo-caravan with unabashed interest. Another six or seven people are standing around near the ground entrance, looking a bit awkward at being noticed; either they were on their way out and all but walked into your meeting with Celty, or they deliberately tried to sneak up on and view the proceedings.
"Master Tze has the right of it," Gyokuro says. "I would so hate to be accused of spreading rumors."
Lady Shuzen doesn't turn her head towards the building, doesn't even give off a warning flicker of youki, but her words nonetheless cause all the watching monsters to quickly turn away and walk out of sight - and in the case of those downstairs, to hurry back inside.
Damn. And you thought you were scary.
Gained Commanding King F++
Gained Intimidating B+
Your father takes all this in, and then tips his fedora to Gyokuro and heads for the nearest car.
Once again, you find yourself sharing a vehicle with Kahlua, Emiko, Cordelia, and Akkiko - and also Briar and Evil Briar, the latter of whom has taken up her place on your "bad side" and otherwise resumed acting like you'd expect her to.
Truth be told, this does not put you at ease.
"So," Cordelia says. "King Arthur was a girl, huh?"
Neither does the way all three girls in the car are looking at you with the same expression of moderately well-concealed interest. Akkiko's smirk isn't exactly helping.
You wonder how to proceed.
On the one hand, you have a Spell of Illusion that's been hijacked at least once, possibly twice this evening by forces unknown. While your meeting with Celty worked out alright - at least thus far - you're annoyed, intrigued, and concerned by how someone managed to steal control of one of your magical creations right out from under your nose. An examination of Evil Briar is probably in order, though how deep and far-reaching said investigation should be is open to question.
On the other hand, you have three friends, all girls, who now know that YOU know a piece of interesting supernatural lore - you will not use the word "gossip," no matter how accurate it may be - and would clearly like to hear it.
And on your good shoulder, you have a fairy partner who knows as much about that particular tale as you do. Briar could easily bring the other girls up to speed on the truth behind the Arthurian legend; they just might prefer to hear it from you, or at least to have your input to compare with hers.
How will you pass the ride back to Castle Shuzen?
[ ] Talk about King Arthur.
-[ ] Dismiss Evil Briar before anything else happens.
-[ ] Leave Evil Briar for later.
[ ] Leave the tale-telling to Briar, and examine Evil Briar.
-[ ] Stick with your supernatural senses.
-[ ] Break out the Divination Magic, but keep it to what you can hide.
-[ ] Use your most powerful Spells of Divination to find the truth.
Akasha said:
OOC: And now we know what costume Alex will be wearing for Halloween next year.
solodark said:
OOC: Yeah, this. I figured if there was any time when Celty would get over her usual shyness enough to show off for a crowd, it'd be Halloween. This is a big night for the Fae, especially those of the darker persuasions, and Celty IS Irish.
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