forum The Golden Child of Eretien // O/O // Closed

Started January 15, 2022 by @MarDeColores this is not it kids

tune

"Well, I know that!" Garnet turned to face Greg, throwing his hands in the air. "Doesn't mean I don't want to!"
"Who are you talking to?" Someone yelled. "There's no one there!" Garnet guessed they were new to the crowd, or maybe just didn't catch onto things as quickly as everyone else.
"Garnet, do not engage with them. Go to the sewers and figure out what's going on with the city," Greg warned, waving his finger at Garnet.
"I will figure out how to save the city later, Greg." Garnet faced back towards the crowd and was about to explain in detail all about Greg and the wizards when a butterfly with peachy-colored wings fluttered right in front of his face.
"Hey, how's it going?" The butterfly, aptly named Peach, started fluttering around in circles in front of Garnet's face.
"…Peach." Garnet frowned, a sense of foreboding coming over him.
"Garnet. Uh, just letting you know Yeba hates the color orange but wears it all the time because his crush loves it."
"Right. Peach, I've told you countless times to only come to me if the secret is important." Garnet gave the butterfly a look. "Now shoo. I'm arguing with people."
"Whatever," Peach said in the most sarcastic voice it could muster. Garnet considered swatting at it, but the butterfly flew away before he could.
"Did you just talk to that butterfly?" Someone else shouted, voice slightly incredulous.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Garnet sighed heavily and focused back on the crowd. He should really leave, he should really leave, but… it was so annoying when people did this. And there was a 100% chance he was making it worse, but if people just accepted that he was 'crazy' and moved on, maybe they wouldn't crowd around every time he started talking to glass butterflies or the empty air.
"Madman!" The shout started up quietly at first but got louder very quickly. It took a surprisingly short time before the first object was thrown at Garnet.
"You're on your own," Greg said helpfully. Garnet quickly pursed his lips together and let out a loud, lilting whistle. He flicked his arm up, stopping the projectile–it looked like an apple, which would actually make a wonderful snack later–dead in its tracks.
"Old Magic!" Someone gasped at the same someone else shouted, "Wizard!" Well, it seemed Garnet had really done it now. He could do with one of Cathy's invisibility charms right about then.

Nevertheless, Emery was drawn in. The scene was captivating; a perfect example of societal othering. They knew the concept well. But what was this? Something about saving the city, is what Emery heard. They slowed their bike, despite the the fact that there were places they needed to be. Moving to get a better look, they watched as the youth spoke to the butterfly, vaguely adjusting the tissue in their nose. Around them, the crowd began to stir and rumble. Emery began to feel a strange sort of dread. Why did the youth linger? They would have slipped away long ago.
It was barely a flash of green in the air. Before Emery could really understand what had happened, the lilting whistle cut through the air. The green thing dropped to the ground, and the accusations began. Old Magic. Emery had heard that before, once. Was that what had happened? Why was the man using it? This was far more interesting than simple madman shenanigans, at least to Emery. I should talk to him. Well, maybe later. I can’t waste anymore time…

Unfortunately, he didn't have one of Cathy's invisibility charms.
"Greg, do you happen to–" Garnet started, turning back to where the wizard had been sitting. 'Had' being the key word there. "Ah, you've got to be kidding me." He turned back just in time to see another apple being thrown–a red one this time. Garnet gave another whistle, slightly lower this time, and swept his hand towards him. Both apples flew towards him, though in a much more controlled manner. "You should really not be throwing food at me. Don't you want to eat it?" He asked, opening the pouch hanging on his waist and guiding the apples in. "It's been lovely, I really hope you liked the demonstration of Old Magic, but I've really got to go now. There are cities to save." Garnet pulled the pouch closed and turned towards the very crowd-free side of the roundabout. He could have handled that situation a lot better, but that's why Greg and the others had taught him all sorts of magic. Just in case he needed to stop apples from flying at his head.

Emery watched the madman control what they now saw were apples in midair, mouth slightly agape. The idea of talking to him filled them with apprehension, and that feeling battled with their curiosity and need for knowledge. Then, at last, the man turned away from the rumbling crowd. It was too late. Emery was on the other side of the roundabout, and they could not go after him without really pushing the time that they arrived at Mr. Nakayama's place. They paused, taking out the tissue before pressing it to their nose again. It seemed the bleeding had stopped. Spotting a trash can some feet away, they went over and threw the tissue in, then pushed off into the street. Mr. Nakayama's house was still some ways away. They needed to get out of the merchant sector as quickly as possible.

Garnet needed to leave. Quickly. The crowd behind him was getting restless again, and more people were joining it just to complain about there being a crowd. They were separated from him by a road, of course, but it still made him nervous. Garnet quickly checked the road before sprinting across and taking off down the sidewalk. He didn't really have any particular direction he was going aside from 'out of the merchant sector'. Anywhere other than there would be perfect.
Garnet considered going to the docks as he slowed his pace into a casual stroll. He could get more help there from the Gang of Greg. And maybe Greg himself would be back there so Garnet could ask him more questions about the mold and the sewers and all that. Then again, Greg might be annoyed that he was still asking about it when he'd clearly said everything he thought Garnet needed to know. Maybe it would be better to just head straight for the sewers. Though they were quite large and Greg hadn't specified an area to start searching. Garnet let out a long sigh, already envisioning the days-long search he was going to have to do. Well, he'd better start it as soon as possible so it could be finished as soon as possible.
Garnet finally looked up to take in his surroundings, letting out a slightly disappointed hum. It appeared he'd wandered into some sort of neighborhood while he was debating his next steps. He knew the neighborhood, just like he knew every other part of the city, which meant he knew there were no sewer entrances around there that were easy to get into. Wonderful. Maybe he should just start the search tomorrow and give himself a day of rest and relaxation. He'd earned it after doing all that yelling and Old Magic for the crowd. Speaking of Old Magic… Garnet opened his holding case and pulled out one of the apples he'd been gifted earlier that day. What a perfect snack to treat himself to.

Emery, now in more familiar streets, biked slower than before. Mr. Nakayama’s was just up ahead, and their legs were tired from biking uphill. Their eyes drifted over the houses, looking for a particularly large home that looked slightly more expensive than the others. It was a rich neighborhood, after all, all of these houses must be worth a small fortune. But Mr. Nakayama’s had a certain character about it, not just of wealth, but of elegance and poise.
Eventually, Emery’s eyes landed, not on a house, but a person. It was the madman from before. Emery nearly wobbled on the bicycle. What were the chances that he ended up here, eating the apple that had been thrown at him? They pushed on the pedals to go up to him, taking action before hesitation and anxiety took hold.
Up close, they could see the youth’s freckles speckling his face and his deep purple eyes. Emery pressed on the brakes when they came beside him. Swallowing down the feeling that this would be very awkward, they said, in their timid but formal voice, “Sir, I would like to speak with you. I have business at the moment, but could I have your name?”

Garnet wasn't paying any sort of attention to his surroundings, instead focusing on the very crisp apple he was eating. It was one of the best ones he'd ever had. Usually the apples he ate were a lot more squishy since they were the only ones he could ever get his hands on. No one wanted squishy apples, so they didn't mind him having them. Garnet was taking another bite of the apple and relishing in the sweetness when someone spoke beside him.
"Wah!" Garnet yelped, jumping away from the person with a startled little hop. "Oh, uh… what?" He blinked at the individual who'd just spoken to him. They were on a bike and sounded like they didn't do this very often. Why him? Why now? Had they followed him from the roundabout or were they just some random person? Either way, he should probably answer their question instead of continuing to stare at them with a comically shocked look on his face.
"I, uh, I'm Garnet. Why do you want to talk to me?" He took another bite of apple, raising his eyebrows at the person. Over their shoulder, Garnet spotted a butterfly with rich brown wings flapping towards him. It looked like it was on a mission. He tried his best to give it the 'do not come over here under any circumstances' look, since he was currently talking with someone who seemed at least mostly normal. Soil ignored his look and had the audacity to land right on the bicycle person's shoulder. "Soil, get off of them at once. I've told you, you're not allowed to land on random people. What if they turn out to be Ulric?"
"Right, Ulric." Soil heaved a sigh and fluttered onto Garnet's shoulder instead.

(Sorry, had a busy weekend ^^;)

Emery winced. “S— sorry, I had no intention of startling you,” they said. “Nice to meet you, Garnet. Is there a surname, or…?”
They saw his gaze slide over their shoulder, and they looked back to find the brown butterfly flying in their direction. When it landed on their shoulder, they let out a small breath of wonder. It was a beautiful butterfly, Emery rarely saw butterflies like it. They wondered if the butterfly the man talked to earlier was as beautiful up close. “Ulric?” They muttered under their breath as they watched it fly over to Garnet. “Soil,” they repeated, louder this time. “It suits it.”
Then they remembered themself. “Ah, right. Um, I need to talk to you, Garnet. Because you’re crazy. And I’m probably crazy too.” They blinked. “Oh, um, I’m Emery, by the way.”

(You're fine, mine was pretty slow too. :)
"I, uh, you're fine." Garnet waved his hand at the stranger, giving the butterfly a quick glare before turning his attention back on them. "No surname. Greg doesn't believe in them." A small smirk appeared on his lips as the stranger stared at Soil. At least they didn't seem to mind so much. He could cross another person off the 'could be Ulric' list. "Oh, Ulric's just a guy who's allegedly deathly afraid of moths and butterflies, so I've advised for all the butterflies to not land on anyone in case they end up being Ulric. Just in case." Garnet shrugged. His eyes narrowed at their reason for talking to him. "I'm not crazy. Everyone always calls me crazy and I'm not crazy."
"Totally not. By the way, Erenth Cavriel has been thinking about using his son to secure his power. He’s planning on arranging a marriage to the eldest child of the Luiza family."
"That's not helpful, Soil! I don't even know who those people are." Garnet waved a hand at Soil, shooing the butterfly away. "Go bother someone else for a while."
"Meanie." Soil grumbled, fluttering past the person apparently called Emrey and disappearing.
"So, Emrey. Why do you think I'm crazy, and why are you also crazy?" Garnet crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes slightly at Emrey.

“Oh…” They took in all of this information, unsure what to do with it. “Interesting.”
At this point, they remembered that the word ‘crazy’ was an insult. They stuttered, fumbling with their words. Luckily though, Garnet was busy talking to the butterfly. A vague feeling of anxiousness came over them again. Looking around, Emery found Mr. Nakayama’s mansion just up ahead.
“Sorry,” they said, smiling nervously. “I cannot stay and chat just now, I have to go.” They pushed on the bike pedals and started pedaling away. “I will send you a letter! Thank you!”
They briefly raised a hand in farewell, then looked in the direction of the mansion. Approaching the gates, they got off of the bike and examined the lock, which was sealed with magic. Emery dug into their bag, revealing a stone that had been carved into the shape of a key. Placing the key in the lock, they muttered a chant, a kind of spell that acted as a password, and unlocked the gate. The guided their bicycle inside, then took the key and closed the gate behind them.

Of course the moment he got a moment of peace, the stranger apparently named Emery had to go.
"What do you mean, letter?" Garnet called after Emery. "Are we penpals now? I don't have any paper to write you back!" He watched as Emery disappeared into one of the huge houses with a confused look on his face. What in the world had just happened? Garnet sighed and went back to eating his apple. He couldn't worry about that weird encounter. It was a relaxation day. That meant it was time to wander around the city wishing very hard for a bath so one of Sarah's Safehouses would show up. They normally only showed up for people when they really, really needed their help. He'd gotten to know the god, however, and they generally opened up a room for him when he asked for it. Garnet cast one last look at the mansion Emery had disappeared into, then started off down the street in search of dark blue doors.

The house was like an old man to Emery. Old and dark, with spiraling staircases and tall pillars that you could hear ghosts whispering in between, intricate carvings in the dark wood and marble that were like wrinkles in the house’s skin. It was, of course, far older than either of the current residents and had belonged to earlier generations of the Nakayamas, and before that, the Okamotos. The house was an old, distinguished man, one that you had to act your best around. It made Emery nervous, sometimes. And now was one of those times.
They found Mr. Nakayama in his study. The large window was open, letting diffused skylight spill into the room. The man was a mere shadow at his desk, the light behind him contrasting his stiff, rectangular form. A pair of glasses flashed upwards at Emery’s arrival. He had apparently been going over some papers.
“Emery,” he greeted, the gentleness in his voice out of place with his harsh appearance.
Their eyes adjusted to the light. They could see his face now; an upturned brow, a concerned gaze behind those rectangular glasses.
“Sir,” Emery muttered awkwardly.
Just then, a pealing cry came from outside. Something flew in through the window; Emery thought it was an object that had been thrown, but no, there was a flap of wings and a cackling sound, and a smile came to their face. The bird landed on their shoulder, it’s talons digging into their clothes and skin. They winced, but the smile didn’t fade.
“Hey girl,” they greeted fondly, and the falcon clacked her beak. “Thanks for taking care of Flint for me, sir.”
“Of course,” Mr. Nakayama said. “But where have you been? Dinner will be ready quite soon.”
It was then the smile fell.

His search didn't take very long. Most of the time spent was him just trying to find a proper alley that he could access. Garnet had to leave the neighborhood first since it was way too fancy. He found a dark blue door in a brick wall almost the second he left the neighborhood.
"Thank you, Sarah," Garnet whispered, giving the door a soft tap as he opened it. The room inside was small but in a cozy way. There was a door in the wall opposite him, a bed in the far corner, and a table set with a warm meal near the center of the room. Gods, that food smelled delicious. But he was taking a bath first. It had been the reason Sarah had let him in in the first place, after all. Garnet crossed to the door and opened it, letting out a rush of steam. There was a bath already drawn, along with a fluffy towel and a change of clothes. "You're spoiling me, Sarah," Garnet laughed, closing the door with a smile.

Dinner was… awkward. Emery picked at their food, afraid to look at Mr. Nakayama in the eye. They had let Flint outside again so she could find her own food, but they wished they could be out there with her.
They heard Mr. Nakayama clear his throat. “Emery, you know I’m a busy man.”
Not this again. They weren’t thirteen anymore. Emery quietly braced themself.
“I cannot accept anything less than punctual from you. You understand, yes?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, please explain your lateness.”
Emery suppressed a heavy sigh. “I fell asleep. At the Academy.”
“I see. This isn’t the first time?”
Defensiveness rose in them. “I’m working hard, sir. I have to stay up late. It’s not that I’m lazy, I promise.”
“I didn’t say that, now did I?”
“Yes, but…”
“Emery, listen to me. You are doing so well. I do not think you’re being lazy, I think you are getting… distracted. You can’t let yourself become distracted from what is important, yes?”
Both of them seemed to have stopped eating entirely. Emery could feel their heart pounding in their chest, their lips pulled tight.
“If this about my project…”
Mr. Nakayama was silent.

Garnet slipped into the bath with a satisfied sigh. It had been a while since he'd been able to take a nice bath like this. Usually, all he could afford the time for was a quick shower. Greg and the others always had him running around doing something or other. Garnet was fully intending to spend as much time as he could in there before the water got cold. He would have, too, if two familiar voices didn't jolt him out of his thoughts.
"Hey, you know that place you were just at? There's something growing under the road." Garnet's eyes flew open to see two butterflies doing circles in front of his face.
"The Family Luiza has three children, not two," The other butterfly said, a hint of satisfaction in its voice.
"Almost Empty Honey Pot and Velvet Skies! How'd you get in here?"
"Sarah let us in. She sensed it was important."
"Wonderful. I'm guessing I have to act on one or both of those things?"
"Just mine," Velvet Skies did a loop around my head. "Go check those cobblestones out, and fast." The water started draining out of the bathtub, which apparently means Sarah agrees with the butterfly's words.
"Alright, fine, I'm going."
"Make sure you're ready to run. I doubt those uppity-up people will like you destroying their roads." Almost Empty Honey Pot laughed, fluttering out of the bathroom.
"I swear to Jo. It's almost like you're trying to get me arrested," Garnet sighed and pulled himself out of the bathtub, drying and dressing in record time. He really didn't feel like pulling up the road back where he'd met that weird person Emery, but if it had something to do with the mold Greg had told him about, he supposed he didn't have a choice.

His silence was answer enough. Emery looked away, returning to picking at their food and eventually eating a bite. They almost wished they could eat in their old room, but they had agreed to eat with him. But eating with him would be unbearable if they left it like this.
Emery gripped the fork in their hand, then set it down. “You are not my father,” they said quietly. “I have my own priorities, alright?”
A sigh could be heard from across the table. “I thought your priority was to get into the Academy. Learn what you could there.”
“I have, sir. I have gotten into the Academy. I’m not going to ask you what I should do next because I think I can do that for myself.”
Mr. Nakayama adjusted his glasses. “Yes, certainly. But I still think you need guidance. The Academy will not tolerate any of this… falling asleep and looking into things that have been proven false.”
It was Emery’s turn to be silent. He wasn’t wrong, even if they wished he were. Professor Birdwhistle seemed to be the only easygoing one among her colleagues, and even then, the work that accumulated in a single week was a lot to keep up with. They could not afford to slack off. But of course, it was deeper than that. If they failed to keep up with the work load, of their scores started to slip, would they still be the Academy’s Golden Child?
“Emery.”
They looked up. “Sir?”
“Your ear is bleeding.”
Sure enough, when they gingerly touched their left ear, their finger came away coated in blood. Emery took the napkin to the side of their plate and pressed it to their ear.

It didn't take Garnet long to retrace his steps. He hadn't been far, after all. Once the street started to look familiar, he slowed down and started staring intently at the road. According to Velvet Skies, there was something growing under it. It didn't take long before he saw the first signs of something amiss. Growing between the cracks were sparse patches of something sickly-looking. It looked vaguely like moss or something similar, but Garnet was sure it was nothing like it. True natural things were full of magic, and this thing almost seemed like the opposite. Like it was sucking the magic from the earth and air around it. Garnet followed the trail of moss-like stuff down the road, stomach sinking as the stifling feeling got worse. How had no one noticed this? There was obviously something wrong with it.
He had a feeling there was something worse under the surface of the road, but he'd have to do some destruction to get to it. Garnet glanced around the road furtively. He'd have to be quick about this. It would make a lot of noise and he was 100% sure people around there wouldn't like it at all. It looked clear for the moment. Garnet took a deep breath and focused on the section of road that had the least amount of magic surrounding it. He let out a few short whistles, flicking his fingers up. With a loud crack, a section of the road rose a couple of feet into the air. Garnet quickly guided it onto the road beside the new hole and dropped down next to it. The entire hole was full of moss. It might have been his imagination, but Garnet was sure he could feel something like a breeze coming up from under it. That shouldn't be possible, unless… unless the moss was eating through the earth. Hmm, he should really go check out the sewers at this point. Garnet shook his hand a few times, letting out a lilting whistle as he did. A small ball of magic dropped from his hand towards the moss. He was intending for it to be a marker so he could find this exact spot from the underside, but the magic vanished the second it came in contact with the moss. Garnet frowned, pressing his lips together. It seemed he'd have to do this the hard way.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Garnet glanced up to see someone staring at him from the corner of the street.
"Uh, street repair!" Garnet called back, quickly guiding the section of street back into place with a few whistles. The person narrowed their eyes at him and started walking towards him. Yep, it was definitely time to leave.

They fell into awkward silence, the only sounds being the clinking of silverware scraping against plates. The longer the silence stretched, the more miserable Emery felt. They could practically see themself slumped over the desk in their dorm at the end of the week, piles of work around them and a cup of coffee going cold at their fingers. Shaking their head to get rid of the premonition, they focused on eating.
After a moment, they spoke again. “Um, the food is very good, sir.”
Some of the tension in the air seemed to dissipate. “I’m glad you like it,” Mr. Nakayama said, his voice warm. “Has your ear stopped bleeding?”
Emery took the napkin from the ear and examined it, then shrugged and pressed it to their ear again.

Once dinner was over, Emery excused themself to their old room so that they could ‘take care of some business,’ aka write and send a letter to that Garnet guy from earlier. Being in their old room was rather strange, but nostalgic. Their dorm at the Academy was smaller, so they were quite unsure of what to do with themself in the larger space. After looking around a bit, they moved over to the writing desk that sat in front of the large window and pulled out a piece of parchment and pen from their bag. This time they could just do it the old fashioned way.
Before they could even begin to start writing though, a shout from outside caught their attention. Peeking out of the window, Emery could make out a silhouette that looked very similar to the one they saw in the roundabout. The weird Garnet guy. Someone was approaching him… what was going on? Why did he come back?

"Street repair? You don't look like someone qualified to do that. You look like one of those no-good beggers always hanging around and asking for money."
"I beg your pardon?" Garnet paused, glancing down at himself. He'd just taken a bath and gotten a change of clothes and they still thought that about him? Gods, what was even the point? Well, the point was to feel good and relax and not smell terrible. But it still annoyed him. "I'm not a beggar. I don't ask for money."
"Then what are you digging around under our streets for?" The person fired back, stopping a few paces away from him with an accusatory look on their face. "Trying to disrupt the public order?"
"Trying to find the weird mold and/or moss, actually." Garnet shrugged, taking a step away from them. "It's there, alright. It's been found. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go now."
"That's a flimsy excuse if ever I heard it," the person said, hands starting to move in a very specific pattern that Garnet recognized as the start of a Modern Magic spell. "There's no mold or moss under our streets, and that," they nodded towards the admittedly very obvious square in the road, "is illegal to some degree."
"So you're going to deal with me yourself?" Garnet hoped they would. He could take them, or at least disrupt whatever spell they had going on long enough to make a run for it. Probably.
"No, I'm going to take you to the Day Guard and let them take care of you. This," the person finished the movement, producing a shimmering golden rope of magic, "is just a precaution. You look like a runner." The person was entirely correct on this account. Garnet was a runner. Mostly because he didn't have the money to pay the fines the Day Guard would surely land him with. He would run now if he wasn't sure it would end up with him wrapped in magic so tight he could barely breathe.

(Gonna be pretty busy this week, just fyi)

Looking closer, Emery caught sight of the hole near Garnet’s feet. Again, a wave of confusion and questions came over them. It looked like the man was in trouble, but what had he been doing? For the moment, all they could do was watch until they noticed a faint golden light coming from the other person approaching him. Oh, no. Emery leaned further out of the window. Whatever Garnet had done, they still needed to talk to him. Talking to him would be very difficult if he was handed over to the Day Guard. But they were too far away.
Suddenly there was a flash in the window, and Emery flinched away. “Ah—“ but it was only Flint, who made a whining noise and landed on their shoulder.
“Hey girl— I, um—“ they quickly looked at what was happening below them and had an idea. They moved their hand over to her, letting the falcon perch on it. Holding their hand out of the window, they aimed her so she could see what was below them.
“The one with the glowing, golden rope,” they muttered, and made two clicking noises. They released Flint back into the air.
The falcon flew down onto the person’s head, screeching and scratching at their face with her claws. Hopefully it would give Garnet enough time to get away.