aterat | They May Offer you Fortune and Fame

Llewellyn moved towards the northern part of the city, keeping his eyes on the world around him carefully. There wasn’t much to note down in his book at first, aside from the market bustling with life and people going about their day. Asking around hadn’t yielded much more than the odd comment about the moss and mold, it seemed like that was still the main topic among the locals… Not surprising; it was still quite thick in some places as he moved up further north and skirted by the cemetery walls before heading west towards the noble district to get a look at the conditions there.

He retraced his steps more than once, wanting to be thorough and needing the walk to get his mind turning on the issue. On his second time through the market, near Raimon’s shop, he found another bulb nestled among some shrubbery in a planter. It blended rather well, which left him wondering how many more might have been out there but were harder to see… So he snapped some pictures and continued, moving along some of areas accented with more plants and up through the noble district again.

He nearly walked by a hedge that had one in it when he noted a metallic glint, which turned out to be discarded trowel that’s handle had broken off and wasn’t left much further. Taking a couple pictures of the placement of the plant and the trowel, he grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wrapped it to tuck away to show his colleagues later.

Not as much as I’d like, but enough to be concerned. A couple more bulbs, and a broken trowel. What have you two found?

Yuki had asked those he knew that planted or sold seeds. A few had reported seeing something similar to what he had in his hands but simply passed it off. Some figured it was children who were doing it such as to be a joke to the adults later and had passed it off as that. But no one seemed to have taken it seriously and that bothered him. The plant he held in his seemed to look at him almost and try to speak. But he steadfastly ignored it in case it was something way beyond what they already knew.

But when he heard the beep on his tellphone, he set the plant in the pot onto a nearby tree stump to type a reply.

People have seen it or a few of them scattered here and there and weren't concerned. My next stop is the Wizard's Tower.

It was a long walk down to the market district from the Harbor, and he hired a cab to get there, which gave him time to look over the messages from his colleagues, nodding to himself while the found feather weighed heavily in his pocket. He wasn't sure if it even meant anything, but his instincts were rarely proven wrong. Even through his gloves, he could tell the feather meant something significant to the owner, but he was going to wait until he was safely back at the office before he used his abilities to prod any further into the item's origins in order to understand where it came from.

I found a bulb myself, and a feather
Might not mean anything, but it might have a story or two to share
I'll take a look at the trowel, too.

Keep us posted on what you find in the tower, yeah?

I suppose if the locals aren’t concerned, then we may be worried about nothing… But it still seems rather odd. I look forward to hearing if you find anything at the tower, Yuki.

Llewellyn was still walking, taking a very careful look through planters now that he’d found a couple and wasn’t sure if he’d missed them. Wondering if there was some rhyme to reason or connections based on where they were located or spread out across the city. Even if they’d only found a few now, the area was widespread to different areas of the city and that was odd enough.

What does the feather look like? Perhaps there’s something to be learned from that.

He wondered if Yuki might be able to find something on that while he researched at the tower, or one of them might recognize it as a local species or it wasn’t local at all. Llewellyn perhaps was a little more interested in the feather, as he’d had cases involving something similar in his world. It had been something decidedly more mundane than this, of course, but a lot could be learned from something like that.

I have the trowel wrapped carefully. You’re welcome to look at it when we meet back at the office. I’m retracing my steps to check a few more places, they blend rather well so I'm worried about how many there may be.

It felt like he had pulled down every single book on flora and fauna here. He referenced and cross referenced and the piled books were opened to the pages he was researching. He didn't dare ask for any help because this plant seemed to be doing odd things at him. So Yuki just kept it on another table away from him and had found a small ray of sun.

He was hesitant of course but he put the little thing there and it seemed to be almost dancing. And for some reason he could picture teeth as its little mouth opened as if 'eating' the sunshine.

I'm still researching, but I put the plant in a small patch of sun and it looks like it's dancing. If it had vocal cords, I'd swear it'd be singing,

But then he looked away and kept forcing his attention away from the thing so he could look at a few more references.

True enough, but it wouldn't be the first time something messed with our heads.

Jagger himself was taking his time walking back, observing the atmosphere of the harbor himself as he made his way back toward the gate.

I'll upload a picture.

He transmitted an image of the feather: it was large and bright blue with black specks along one edge. All total, it was nearly a foot long, which meant it was a large bird.

Once I'm back at the office, I'll give it a touch and see what happens, same with your trowel.

The plant is...dancing?

No, and in my experience, these worlds tend to do so with alarming regularity…

And he really did hate that. Mind games of the normal variety were bad enough in his world… Being messed with in these worlds tended to be even less pleasant. But he looked at the image of the feather, slowing his step and squinting a bit at his phone as he took in the details. It didn’t look like one he’d seen, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Might be more common outside the city than in it.

It’s rather big… Doesn’t look like a chocobo feather though, so something else? Can’t say I’ve seen the like, but I haven’t gone too far outside the city since arriving here.

Llewellyn nodded at his phone. Before remembering they were texting and no one could see… Jagger’s abilities might yield more information, give them a detail or idea that they didn’t have access to. Moving back to resume looking, he began working his way the way he’d come, moving through the noble district and market to skirt the cemetery walls where the mould was still rather thick but ineffective at least. He stopped to poke among planters and hedges for more plants or other evidence left behind by their culprit.

I look forward to hearing what you learn from them both. I’ll probably head back once I’ve finished re-covering the grounds in this area and checking near the cemetery and...

His texting ended mid-thought as Yuki’s message came through. The plant was doing what?

It’s… dancing? I’ve heard plants reach for the sun as they grow, but… I’ve never heard of that sort of behavior before.

He had looked at the feather and looked back at a book, still keeping an eye out for the plant. He really wasn't sure what it was doing but it sure looked weird to him. He'd never seen the likes of it before and was pretty sure he'd never want to see something like this ever again.

I don't think I've seen a chocobo in that colour so that can't be it.

It was all pretty puzzling and he glanced over another page or two before getting both of the confused messages. "Yes, give me a moment, let me see what I can do here." And he tried to get the video function to work so he could show the other two what it was doing. "Hold on." And then he tried to show them what he'd caught the plant doing.

Edited 2021-10-09 01:56 (UTC)

Yeah, whatever bird it's from is big. And I don't know much about birds, but I think it's a flight feather. Chocobos have pretty small ones.

At least they did from what he could remember. He couldn't rightly say he spent much time looking at them. Maybe he should change that, or at least invest in some books on birds. He wasn't sure how useful they'd be in the future, but it was something to think about.

It might be from the forest. I hear that place is huge, and I'm not sure any of us have explored even a fraction of it.

At least not according to any information he'd gathered. He might have to contact some of the hero types about giving the place a good look over in either case. They really needed some fighters on staff.

He paused in his own walk, watching the image that Yuki sent, frowning. Maybe there was more to these plants than just being, well, plants.

I've got a bad feeling about these plants. Keep an eye on it, Yuki. I'll be back to the office within the hour.

Well, at least they were in agreement that it wasn’t from a chocobo… He still rather wondered what sort of bird it was, hopefully some research would yield results, he hadn’t come across an ornithologist like in his world yet… And maybe it was worth learning more about the forest when all of this matter was settled, he’d been meaning to anyway given they were a frequent escape back in his world.

Hopefully, we can find more about it… Seems significant if none of us have seen one or a bird matching the feather around the city before…

He was quiet as he watched the video Yuki sent through, about as unsettling to watch as it was to imagine. That really didn’t look natural… It was unsettling behavior that he hadn’t seen the like before.

Nope. Don’t like that at all… I’ll try to meet you both back at the office in an hour then, if anything changes though, do let me know.

He tucked the phone back in a pocket not already occupied by the trowel or his snacks and resumed his search, finally ending at the cemetery, as he mentioned before the matter of the dancing plant came up. His brow wrinkling again at the heightened concentration of mold and mildew, still glad it wasn’t presenting the same issues it had been before as he peered past the gates. Llewellyn didn’t like cemeteries in general. He’d been in them too many times for too many people now, but it felt like something worth looking at, considering there could be a link between the plants and the mold.

His head down as he looked around headstones and grimaced at their rather grimy appearance from the growths, the expression deepening as he realized the concentration almost had a path as he was drawn along.

Then his steps slowed. Another plant and… The detective pulled his phone out again.

I’m… coming back soon, but this seems odd. Has anyone considered the mold from before and the plants might be related? I’m… a little concerned.

And he sends pictures of the greater concentration, clearly from deeper in the cemetery than one would be on a quick stroll. Then another plant, and finally a very odd archway coated in mold and mildew and looking rather ominous in the detective’s opinion.

Edited 2021-10-10 13:49 (UTC)

Yuki read the conversation about the chocobo even if he really didn't know much about the birds, despite the fact that he was raising one, of sorts. Sometimes it seemed the bird was a pet, sometimes it seemed it just did its own thing. But it always knew somehow when it was going to spend time with the other birds and tried to tug too hard o the the leash he'd purchased for it.

I haven't seen a chocobo fly. They seem to jump and glide and flap their feathers, but as far as them actually flying..I can't say I've seen them do it at all.

And of course he kept to the city and familiar paths because who the heck knew what was out there. But to Jagger's words, he nodded and typed. I'll let you know and I'll definitely keep an eye on it.

But then he felt cold all of a sudden with what the detective said about the mold. No, but I'd hate to say we probably should see if they're connected.

Where is that? The arch? Is it in the cemetery?

It would serve to reason he hadn't seen it before. When they'd first come to this place, it had been closed for their protection, filled to the brim with the moldering undead. Now that Athony had cleared them out, though, he realized he hadn't yet made it priority to see what there was to see in there, a fact that was proving to be folly.

You know, I've never, until this very moment, thought we needed a microscope in the office, but I think we need a microscope in the office.

He'd only had the most basic of experience with them, but they could at least see if the two samples of moss were similar. He wondered if Raimon carried them.

Yup, it was my last stop when retracing the path I took. Never really been here before, not fond of them… But it seemed negligent to not look in on the place. The mould concentration here seems quite high. It's further in.

He responded, moving closer to get a better look at it himself.

I’m going to turn on the video function, just one moment.

Llewellyn turned on his video feed to show it and communicate a little more easily than texting. He moved the camera to sweep the area and give them a better view of how far in he was, and then stopping to show off the archway again. “Uh- there we go. As you can see, it’s quite far from the main gate… And there is a lot more mould and moss… Especially around the archway. Can’t even read some of the headstones.” He observed with a little distraction.

Jagger’s comment gets an absentminded nod of agreement as he switched off the video function.

Murdoch, the other detective I used to work with, always had a microscope in his office. It usually came in handy…

Not his area of expertise, certainly, but he’d learned how useful they were in the hands of someone who knew what they were looking at.

If either of you know where to get one, I can probably get some samples before I return?

Edited (I'm sorry I'm having a weird typing moment lol) 2021-10-17 15:35 (UTC)

I thought I saw a microscope in the wizard's tower here. If I'm not wrong, I'll grab one on the way.

He wasn't sure if there was more than one, but he was pretty darn sure he did see one. But it made him wonder how safe this place was if what Llewellyn was showing and Jagger was wondering was any indication. It almost gave him the creeps as he thought back to the night that Jacob had died and all of the panic and confusion of the regular populace.

Back home cemeteries weren't anything like here. They were quiet and peaceful and people brought picnic lunches like Miss Honda and her friends had done. This place in comparison was a nightmare.

I wonder if the wizards will mind if we take it for our office.

By all reports, the tower was abandoned and he doubted anyone would miss it. He had to admit, also, to a bit of curiosity regarding what he might learn from touching one of those microscopes. Were their imprints to be found on any of the things in the tower? Could they learn something about this place?

Watts, see if you can gather a bit of that moss near that archway. If Yuki can find us a microscope, we'll see how similar it is to the stuff around here. Connect dots, you know?

If no one minds, that would certainly be convenient. Excellent idea, Yuki.

[Nodding to the request, then remembering that he was texting again, Llewellyn turned back to the arch and moved close to it to start taking some scrapings of the moss to wrap up in a handkerchief to put in his pocket.]

Right, I’ll grab this sample and start heading back to meet you both at the office.

[Humming a little, he looked the sample over quietly for a moment. It just looked like moss to him, but appearances were always deceiving… And he doubted any of them would want to overlook something just because it looked normal at a glance. Folding it up carefully and putting it in a pocket, he resumed texting.]

With any luck, this may yield some answers, or point towards some… And we can always investigate this area more thoroughly afterwards. The arch was a bit odd and out-of-place looking.

I'm sure they'll be fine with it, but I'll bring it back at once, this plant dancing is really creeping me out.

[Yuki knew all too well how to charm his way into someone's good graces if there was anyone to charm at all at this point, because he'd been doing it for ages.]

I'm collecting the microscope and the plant, and I'll be heading back, so I'll meet you both back at the office.

Brilliant. I'll see you both back at the office.

After securing his own specimens, he made his way back to the office in order to unload what he'd found. It was likely either he or Watts would make it back first, but he kept his phone out on his desk to await Yuki if he ran into any problems. Hopefully he didn't.

Llewellyn arrived back at the office a short while after Jagger, having stopped once or twice to double check a few areas on the way. Once he arrived, he offered Jagger a nod in greeting. “Hello, Jagger. I’ll uh- just sort the tools and such out here?” He gestured to the space where Jagger had set down the things he’d found.

To his credit, he at least was a little neater about it rather than dropping everything in a pile like he normally would have on his own desk. Sorting through the bag to pull out the broken tools and then carefully setting the moss samples beside them. He would be glad when Yuki returned, curious if they’d find anything of interest concerning that, as much as he wondered what Jagger would get from the other items.

Yuki came in with the microscope, but it just so happened someone was giving away apples. So on his way back to the agency, he brought a small wooden bucket of freshly picked fruit and set it on the desk.

Then he carefully unwrapped the microscope, setting the plant down too. To Yuki's ears it almost sounded as if the plant was trying to talk with the way it was moving. This whole thing was just getting stranger and stranger the more time he spent here at this place.

But he wouldn't trade it for the world.

Watts only arrived maybe ten minutes after Jagger himself and he nodded at the other man's question when he inquired as to the location of their specimens. "Without a lab, that's as good a place as any."

He'd never thought about securing a laboratory before. Back home, he had a friend who worked in forensics who took care of any sort of lab work he might need, for a cut of course. He had every intention of touching whatever it was they'd both brought back, to see what they could tell him, but he thought about doing it with a bit of trepidation. Depending on what the instruments had been involved in, there was no telling what he'd see, and if the vision was powerful enough, he might need someone to pull him out of it.

The microscope was handy, so long as he remembered high school biology glass, and he nodded at both his coworkers.

"Yuki, you might need a promotion, mate."

“Quite right, we’re fortunate you were able to find and bring one back… And the apples, as well.” Llewellyn added and offered Yuki a smile as the young man returned, nodding in greeting before his eyes darted to the microscope curiously.

He’d seen Murdoch and Ogden use them before, and looked through them when instructed… But unless someone could tell him what he was looking at or looking for, he wouldn’t know what it was. So as much as he’d like to offer his assistance to Jagger, he doubted he could provide an observation of value. He only even knew how to collect samples, thanks to Detective Murdoch. The most he could provide was a watchful eye if Jagger’s ability gave him a hard time, since he at least knew how that worked by now.

Yuki felt his face turn slightly red at Jagger's words and then a little more at hearing the compliment echoed by the detective. "Thanks." The apples were sort of a side quest, but they'd been fresh and the merchant was pretty insistent that his apples were the best. And while Yuki didn't really say anything, he figured the merchant must've just been trying to drum up some sort of business.

Well it would give them snacks, so it couldn't hurt.

So he quietly set his desk up with the wiggling plant and rinsing the apples off because that's what he'd been told to do.

"I mean it." And he did. Yuki might have been hired on to handle their paperwork, but he was proving to be a fair hand at investigating himself, and they could always use more detectives. That could all wait until they knew something about what they were dealing with, though, and how to track down the source. The microscope was just their first addition to more intensive detective work, he suspected, and he was actually looking forward to their office taking on the appearance of Sherlock Holmes' workspace. A guy could enjoy his work, right?

He moved to the microscope in question, taking stock of the knobs and nodding. There were a few differences that suggested Jagger in his own world the device would belong in a museum rather than an office, but for the most part he could work out how to adjust the magnification, but they were too delicate to work with through his gloves. Swallowing, he pulled them off, steeling himself for whatever he might read from the machine.

He reached for a knob on its side with the intention of seeing how easily it adjusted, and then took a sharp intake of breath as his fingers touched the cool metal, as his other senses explored the psychic imprints scattered there. It was old, older than anything he'd had business to touch in his profession, and the impressions were layered and intermixed. There were superficial things: apprehension, excitement, uncertainty, nervousness. Yuki, he assumed, and his curiosity tricked him into pulling back those new impressions to get a look at what might be lurking beneath them.

He gasped as an emotion so intense flooded his mind that he pulled back, pressing a hand to his forehead. He might have cried out but he wasn't sure. Afterward, his breathed lapsed into ragged breathes as he tried to force himself to swallow, to push away the intense feelings of horror and pain, to separate them from his own.

He offered a small smile to Yuki, nodding to affirm the comment as well. What Yuki had accomplished was no small thing, in Llewellyn’s opinion. It should be noted and remembered for later. Once all of… Whatever this was, had been put to rest. A good team was something valuable, after all, and Llewellyn hadn’t been a part of one in a while. He liked working with both of them quite a bit, and there was a lot of potential there.

Llewellyn stood by curiously, letting Jagger get a look at the microscope, though a brow arched as the man took off his gloves. “Er…” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck a bit uncertainly rather than interrupt. He recalled what Jagger had mentioned about how his abilities worked when Illyana’s imps had been stealing things, and the gloves seemed more than a little important if he was going to be handling something that was secondhand.

But, the detective reminded himself, Jagger knew what he was doing. It wasn’t his place to interrupt, not unless it seemed pertinent…

And at first it seemed alright, and he cast a glance to Yuki to mention something… When Jagger dug a little too deep on the impressions from the microscope itself and very clearly reacted to it. “Uh- well, that’s not good.” An understatement, certainly, but he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

He was a little hesitant to approach, instead stopping near the desk and pulling out a chair for the man if he needed it with a furrowed brow. “Perhaps one of us should adjust the device itself, and put the sample in place, hm? You… uh- you might want to take a seat. Looks rather like you got something particularly unpleasant from the microscope.”

It was really nice of the others to consider him part of the group. Funnily enough back home he didn't want to be a part of the group of cursed Sohmas. But that hadn't happened and then there was the stupid cat fighting to become one of them.

What a stupid cat.

But now he watched with interest as Jagger took hold of the microscope. He had no idea what was going to happen or what the other would find, but he was still very interested all the same.

Detective Watts had been about to talk to him it seemed, but then Jagger seemed to have something wrong and while he didn't dash for a chair, he immediately went to the other side of it, trying not to crowd Jagger, but at the same time trying to be there in cast the man fell or something.

Whatever had happened, it didn't look good.

"Jagger, are you okay?"

There were people talking, in the here and now, and he was vaguely aware of it beyond the waning sensation of horror, of panic. He swallowed, and that physical action brought him back to the world around him and out of the, well what he assumed was the past. He ran a hand over his hair, stepping back from the table and taking a moment to get a feel for the people around him, the real people.

"They were terrified, but I don't know why. Yuki...where did you say you found this thing?"

“Terrified…?” How far back did this particular microscope go? What had it been around for…? His eyes turned to Yuki as Jagger asked him for confirmation about where it had been found. It might be a good idea to follow up with that location and see what else could be learned there…

Yuki blinked at Jagger as he asked his question. But he shook his head. "It was on one of the desks near the information desk at the Mage's Tower." He wasn't sure whether or not swiping it had been a good thing but no one had been around for him to exactly ask if he could borrow it either.

He caught the detective's gaze but he was just as baffled as the other man.

"Yeah." His mind was reeling from the possibilities, but it was better than being flooded with that feeling. "...something happened there. Something big. And unexpected."

He was quite certain about that point. Whatever had happened, they hadn't been anticipating it.

“Mm… That thing that the locals keep talking about happening before we arrived, perhaps?” His brow furrowed. He knew Jagger had indicated before that he only got mostly a feeling or sensation rather than actual information… But it was clearly a large something for that kind of residual… whatever it was. “Has anything like this ever come to your attentions before?” He asked, directing the question to both Yuki and Jagger.

They’d worked at the office longer than he had, after all, and it was hard to not wonder if this was a first for Jagger here.

Yuki had absolutely zero ideas as to what was going on here. But one thing was for certain, Jagger seemed to be able to know things and it wasn't as creepy as Hanajima's electric waves.

So he looked over at the detective and shook his head. "I've never seen anything like this."

They May Offer you Fortune and Fame

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