darkSpyro

Justine nodded, taking the cosmetic to a mirror and applying it, gently patting her face with an applicator, careful not to leave any trace of her emerald hue shine through. It felt heavy, but after a few minutes, she was covered. As long as she kept her hood up, it'd be like nothing changed at all! Satisfied, she looked over in time to hear Shadme express her surprise out loud. "What happened?" she asked, tilting her head. "Also, do i look convincing?"

"Apparently Shada's gonna try to come to America!" I explained. "Not to see me, unfortunately. She wants to see her brother. I asked if he was infected as well, but she didn't like that question. Boy, she's being touchy about this! Maybe she'll cool off if I give her some time. I really want to discuss the specifics of meeting up with her, but she doesn't even want to talk about where she is or where she's going because she's sure the government's watching our messages or something! But, like, how are we even supposed to talk about where to hide if she doesn't even wanna meet up in the FIRST PLACE?" I tried to toss my hair, but it didn't really achieve the "dramatically indignant" look I was going for. I really wasn't used to short hair.
Getting all that off my chest felt good, even if it was pointlessly angry and embarrassing. "Crud, that's Noire speaking," I sighed. "Sorry. Anyway... nice work with the foundation! I think you'll be fine if we head back. I'll try to keep myself in check..." If I just dismissed it, I was hoping we could move past my outburst. I reaaaally wasn't looking forward to that new part of my personality. Come on, I wasn't trying to be upset! It was understandable that Shada was paranoid! ...Right? Or was Shada going crazy? Was I going crazy?

Shadme's outburst was met by a series of rapid blinks from Justine. Well that was a lot to take in! "Yeah, just give Shada some time to calm down, she's probably just as freaked out about this as we were. Though I am a little curious how she'll even get here. Unless her character can fly or something. At any rate..." She could've commented on Shadme's little Noire moment, but perhaps it was best she let it be. Justine patted her pockets to make sure she had everything- yep! "If we've got everything we need here, let's head back."

I nodded numbly, just for the sake of a response. Yeah, Shada had to be going through some serious crap as well. Of course she'd be secretive. It was fine. I was her best online friend! She'd have to let me know sooner or later. And I'd protect her, too, if that was necessary. I hoped intuitive archery and/or sorcery skills came with the whole "turning into Noire" thing. She wouldn't be scared of me if I could defend her.
"I have no clue who she's turning into, but I'm sure she's got some idea of how to come over," I commented. "Either it's not enough of a change for anyone to notice, so she'd be able to book a plane easily...or, y'know, she could fly. Or maybe she could, like, summon something to carry her over! Goodness, there are so many possibilities. I sure hope my friend is okay!" I'd made it down the stairs by now, so I tucked my phone away and looked up expectantly at Justine. "Looks like you've got everything! Time to put our disguises to the test and head out!"

OoC: Shadmé's thoughts are getting so scattered! Noire's not the most sane individual... X'D

Feeling a little more whimsical than usual, Justine descended to the first floor via sliding down on the handrail, and sticking the landing to boot. "I guess Felis can catch up later," she shrugged, placing one hand on the front doorknob. Pausing, she took a moment to mentally prepare herself. Just act natural, Justine. There's nothing wrong here. Just a couple regular girls going for a walk. You got this. With a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped out into the sunlight, that familiar feeling of refreshment returning once more. By now, people had begun to go about their daily business, unaware of she or her friends' plight. So far so good, no going back now.

(I go away for the weekend and then everyone shows up why does this always happen hahaha)

Diasi looked around. When was the last time she’d eaten? It was hard to tell, she’d been in such a state of confusion all day. Maybe it was Selkie’s appetite? Maybe she was just regular hungry. She didn’t know what she could blame on... whatever this was anymore. She was hesitant to ask for food, she didn’t want to be rude, but she was pretty hungry.... Did Evan have any pets? What was she thinking? She put her head in her hands. No, she was not going to eat anyone’s pets. She was not that hungry. Yet an instinct in her called her to hunt...

OoC: I was wondering where you were! Welcome back.

"Nice slide!" I said with a grin. "Quite theatrical." I followed Justine outside, the light feeling a bit harsher than I remembered. Exposure. We were now exposed to the world, and having to be completely aware of the changes I could not control was making me increasingly anxious. There were more people out and about than there had been before. If any one of these people looked a bit too closely, connected some dots perhaps, we'd be finished.
Guess we had to make sure that didn't happen.
I manually adjusted my gait so that I wasn't moving too fast or too slow. Walking in line with Justine ensured that I was hiding her from those walking by on the other side of the street. Juuust in case. "Man, what a normal day it is today!" I couldn't help but joke nervously.

"Yep! Sure is a nice, normal day!" Justine joked back with a playful nudge. "I'm sure nothing out of the ordinary will happen today! Nothing at all!" She giggled nervously, her eyes darting back and forth. No negative attention yet. "I think we're trying a little too hard," she whispered out the side of her mouth, as if it wasn't already obvious. Shadme was using her as cover, a decent idea, as the soon-to-be plant girl maintained a steady pace. Nearly back to Evan's home...
She almost didn't notice that she was becoming gradually shorter.

I idly drummed my fingers on the couch's armrest. Hopefully they'd be back before long. A cursory glance at the wall clock revealed it was a little past noon. As good a time as ever for some lunch. "Hey, Diasi, I'm fixing for some lunch. Want me to get you something?" It was then I noticed she appeared... restless. Almost a little dismayed. "You alright, mate?"

“Yea, I’m fine,” she smiled unconvincingly. “Just a little... confused? I don’t... I don’t know what word to use.”

I raised an eyebrow, a little puzzled by her choice of word, and apparently so was she. “Can’t say I blame ya. This whole thing is all kinds of weird.” I certainly wanted to get to the root of it and figure out how and why we were transforming, but for the time being, we didn’t have any leads or really any information at all. The only constant was that we’re all becoming characters from the last game we played. Not much to go off of. “I’ll fix us something,” I proclaimed, wandering into the kitchen, my mind swimming with theories and ideas.

“Meat?” Ah, dang it. She was hoping to avoid this. Were Kitsune carnivores, or did they just prefer meat? Either way, she was craving it.

“Meat... right, s’pose that makes sense,” I replied to Diasi, unable to shake the idea that she was becoming more Selkie than herself. “I suppose kitsunes are at least partly carnivorous. I’ve got turkey, chicken, ham, beef, take your pick.”

“Whatever’s fine,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “Thanks.” Diasi found herself licking her lips at the thought of meat, and she frowned.

With that said, I went to work, throwing together a chicken breast sandwich for my kitsune companion and put a pot on the stove to cook some canned bacon soup for myself. I added a slice of green lettuce to the sandwich in case she wanted more than just meat. "Here you are, mate," I replied with some pride, handing Diasi the sandwich on a plate. Though it wasn't readily apparent, perhaps I turned the barbie's temperature up just a bit too high...

OoC: Soo, out of curiosity, since Asuka's in a different country, I decided to see how she's doing, timezone-wise...uh, it's a little past midnight for her. Let's just pretend I knew that all along. X'D Sorry for all the edits...

"Maybe a little," I whispered back. "At least nobody's questioned us." I could see Evan's house in my sight now, so thank goodness for that! I turned back to Justine, only for something strange to occur to me. Justine had always been taller than me- I am short for my age- but now, for some reason, I could make eye contact with her without having to look up. "Uh..." I said, trying to figure out how to voice my observation without alarming her or attracting attention, "Have I gotten taller, or are you getting shorter?"

How. Did. Shadmé. Know?
Asuka had been glaring at her phone for several moments now, angry at herself for dropping the slightest bit of a hint... at least, enough for her online friend to pick up. She didn't want to be upset at Shadmé, too. But if she had to choose, she definitely valued protecting her brother over trusting Shadmé, and in order to do the former, she had to hide his condition better than this.
Between her conversation with Haruto and Ura, and her communications with Shadmé, time had moved quickly. It was past midnight. She should've been exhausted, but Asuka felt exhilarated instead. Her parents would definitely be asleep right now, so there was no better time to leave the house. She headed over to her window, briefly considering, then decided against jumping straight out. She didn't have wings yet, but she knew she'd be eager to test them out the second they grew in. Knowing she'd be deliberating forever if she spent too long saying goodbye to her house, Asuka instead took a deep breath and turned away. Now was the time to flee. To explore. To embrace her new life. Off to the barn, and soon, off to America.
She began to head down the stairs. It was now or never.

"Uh..." Justine blinked her emerald eyes, also noting that she was at eye level to Shadmé. Peculiar, but not unusual given that the girl had grown a bit taller already. But upon a second inspection, Justine noted that everything looked a bit taller than she remembered, not just Shadmé. "Yeah, I think I'm getting shorter." And with that, she ever so subtly upped the tempo of her walk, soon arriving back at Evan's front porch.

Well, thank goodness we'd been close to our destination after that realization. I was wearing my extra few inches with pride, but I figured getting shorter was probably not as fun an experience. Arriving at Evan's porch, I knocked gently on the door. "Evan, Diasi, it's Shadmé and Justine! We've got some...news."

As soon as Haruto gave Ura his number, he bid the soon-to-be Phosphora girl farewell, then headed back to his hotel room. Even though he'd just had his phone out, he checked it anyway- nothing new from Asuka.
Makes sense, he tried to tell himself. It's one in the morning for her over there. She's bound to be sleeping. And then he remembered with dread the plans they'd made about her running off to the barn to hide.
Well, she's got time before she has to resort to running away! We agreed to that. And she can explain a haircut. She should still be at home. Surely. He glanced at his phone again, some sort of twinge telling him that his sister wasn't asleep at all.

Asuka expertly weaved around the creaky floorboards of her house, and quickly reached the back door without a sound. Seeing as the whole house was dark, it was hard for her to double check to make sure she'd brought everything. Alright, Asuka, she thought, for the last time, it's time to stop hesitating. You are about to become a confident, arrogant, dark angel who never thinks twice about anything. Start embracing that bravery. You will rule the night. And so, she swung the door open and headed out.
Not too many were out and about at this time of night. Asuka was grateful for the cover of darkness, but even so, she seemed to know exactly where to put her feet and move her body so that her movements were swift and graceful. Wow. I'm starting to pick up on how to be stealthy. This is awesome! She charged up the hill, knowing well that nobody would be out there, and strained her eyes for the silhouette of the barn.

Okay, good. They made it back alright. I was getting worried. Leaving the kitchen unattended, I went to let the two girls in, sighing with relief that they seemed unscathed, albeit changed. Shadmé's hair had altered from its signature length and color to resemble that of Noire's, and was now the same height as Justine. Meanwhile, Justine had shed her hood, revealing her bright yellow mane and green-tinged skin, a hallmark of her plantification. "Welcome back," I greeted, ushering them inside. "I was just making some lunch, should be done soonish."

Justine gave a lighthearted giggle. "Nice accent, Helena."

I just rolled my eyes, suppressing a grin. "So, you've got news, huh?"

"Lunch? Ahh, that sounds good to me! Thanks! But whoa, that's quite the voice change." He sounded much more feminine now, and the accent was pretty overpowering! "You doing alright?" I closed the door behind me, glad that we'd reached a place of solace. Kicking my shoes off and settling on the couch, I figured I'd tell the group about Shada after Evan enlightened me and Justine about what had happened while we were gone.

Asuka reached the top of the first hill, the only source of light being the moon and stars far above her head. She took a deep breath, delighting in the stillness and fresh air that the location brought to her. For all she knew, she was the only one awake- the only one experiencing the bliss of the night.
After her moment of peace, she traveled onward, aiming to clear the second hill. She found it much easier to do than before, and after that, she started up the final hill. Despite her enthusiasm, her inner systems were beginning to catch up with her, and she was panting by the time she reached the top. But at least the barn was right there, on the other side! After taking a breather and taking a swig of water, Asuka started down the hill, having finally reached her destination.

"I'm alright," I assured her, sitting down in my chair as I retold what happened. "You didn't miss much. I'm still mostly myself, from the neck down at any rate. Diasi's gotten an appetite for meat, and the teeth to match. Kinda cute, actually." With that report taken care of, I leaned forward. "So, Justine, you're becoming a plant, huh? Wager a guess what kind?"

Justine held some hair between her fingers in thought. "I'll go out on a limb and say I'm becoming a Sunflower of some kind." It wasn't a bad hypothesis, Sunflowers are one of the more iconic plants in the series, and not many other plants had the same bright yellow as her hair.

"I see," I nodded. "So, what did you want to say, Shadmé?"

OoC: I'm supposed to be doing calc homework but here I am, researching Japan's geography. The things I do for the RPs I love...

Whew, that's a relief. I'm sure once the obvious signs of male to female genderbending start kicking in, things will get mighty uncomfortable. Thank goodness he hasn't experienced that...yet. I tried to ignore my own thoughts by smiling and paying attention to the rest of what Evan was saying. I looked over to where Diasi was sitting- she did indeed look a lot more like Selkie now. Seeing everyone's progress made me reflect back on my own changes. I probably didn't have much more transformation left to go, if any at all. My hair had changed, my eyes had changed, and my height and body shape had changed. Noire was human, so the end result was not too far off from where I'd started. The only exceptions would be if my clothes hypothesis was false or if my personality decided to get even more overwhelming...
"Well," I started off, "turns out we aren't the only ones transforming. My online friend from Japan- the one who was having 3DS trouble- is going through it, too. I guess that would explain the whole 3DS malfunction!" Even though it was kind of rude to be on my phone during a conversation, my own words had lit up a lightbulb in my head, and so I scrolled through our Skype conversation from earlier. "Oh dear," I said, thinking aloud. "Sorry. Something occurred to me. I was texting her while Justine and I were at Felis' house, and she was acting really out-of-character. Suspicious, secretive, curt. She told me that she's going to come to America to meet up with her brother, and left it at that. However...I just realized that the last game she was playing was Kid Icarus: Uprising...and it was an online match with her brother. If I had to guess, what she really didn't want to tell me is that she's transforming, he's transforming, and she wants to find him so they can hide together." I shook my head. "Man, I wish I'd put this together when I had her on the line!"

Asuka quickly worked to set up shop in the barn. She went up to the hay loft, sneezing at the accumulated dust and old hay. Even though there was a low possibility of her being found here, she wanted to take as many precautions as possible. Therefore, she figured that hiding away up high was the best possible option. The only downside was that there really was no escape route if someone were to come up to the hay loft, but she doubted her situation would come to that, anyway. Laying some blankets down, she made herself comfortable, but found quickly that she couldn't sleep. Her mind was whirling.
I know Haruto said that hiding in the barn was the best possible option. However...it still is very close to my house. If Mom and Dad put it together that I ran off, this place will definitely be close enough to be worth checking. Therefore, I really can't stay. I've got to head east.
Thankfully, heading east would be easier than it seemed. Which made it all the more tempting for Asuka. She and her family had taken vacations to the eastern coastal city Kujukuri, and by car or train, it was only an hour to two hours away. From there, if she had the ability to fly, she'd be able to take on the Pacific Ocean. However, Asuka wasn't sure how long it would take by foot, or whether it was worth risking being caught if she decided to hop on the train for the ease of convenience. She supposed she'd find out based on whatever her state was in the morning...

(OoC: Ahh! You're awesome, Shadmé . Don't let this distract you too much though, you should get your work done if you need.)

Well, that's a kicker. "So this isn't an isolated thing then, if it's effecting those clear in Japan," I pondered. "And she was playing Kid Icarus, huh?" A mildly amusing idea popped into my head. The description of Shada's odd behavior brought to mind a certain somebody from that game. "Maybe you'll be able to meet Dark Pit, Shadmé," I teased with a slight chuckle. And although I was teasing, there was some sincerity in it too. At the rate things were going, it wouldn't surprise me.

"And she has a brother going through the same, maybe?" Justine added, scratching her arm; the conversion from blood to chlorophyll was a little itchy. "Did she say what he was doing?"

(And speaking of the inevitable genderbending, I'm still trying to think up a way to write it without making it too weird )

(SHADME DO YOUR WORK)

“Japan?” Diasi was just now timing in, having finished her sandwich. “Maybe she could bring me a cute souvenir! Or, uh, that was probably really disrespectful...”

OoC: No worries, I've only got one problem left. I also have tomorrow still! ^.^ And haha yeah, I need to figure out genderbending too for poor Asuka. I suppose we could just do what Prex did and chuck 'em in the bathroom when it goes down...

"Ha! Maybe." If Shada wasn't in a really weird state right now, I would probably jokingly ask her about souvenirs.
To Evan's comments, I gave a thin smile. "Heh heh, I guess her turning into Dark Pit would make a lot of sense..." That was a thought that would have brought me tons and tons of excitement if things were normal, but knowing that Dark Pit was going to be my former friend that currently wanted nothing to do with me at this moment... well, it made me nervous. Maybe a tad jealous. Dark Pit was my favorite fictional character, after all. Why did Shada get to be Dark Pit? I was the one who introduced her to the game in the first place! If only I'd been the one playing Kid Icarus instead of her...
Whoa there, Shadmé, I thought to myself, trying to calm down. You want to go through the weirdness of turning into a guy? A really young guy? Noooo, you definitely have it good here. Shada's gonna be suffering! Just be super nice and accommodating to her when she comes back, and then you'll be able to convince her to come this way. Seems like the best plan. Don't let your emotions control you like that. Don't give in to Noire's personality.
I realized my smile had faded as I'd waged this inner battle, so I quickly tried to project happiness on my face, hoping my friends wouldn't question me randomly zoning out. "Uh, um, you said something about her brother, Justine? Er, I have no idea where he is or what he's doing. Shada mentioned her brother to me before, but never in much detail. She said she really adored her brother. He was kinda shy, though, and never bothered me and Shada when we Skyped. He's a pretty dead end, so my only choice is to see if I can get Shada to tell us anything more about him whenever she decides to text me back."

Having decided on a more specific course of action, Asuka felt her mind settle down enough for her to start to feel drowsy. After setting an alarm on her phone, she yawned, finally starting to become aware of the weight of all she'd done today and what she was planning to do. For the first time in a while, the adrenaline from the Dark Pit parts of her personality was starting to wear off, and her more normal personality returned. "Oh my god," she muttered to herself, "What am I getting into? Am I insane? I'm just gonna walk to the edge of my country, take a flying leap out into the ocean, and hope that I don't die? Why, again, did I convince myself this was a good idea?" She pulled her blanket more tightly around her, feeling tears well up in the corner of her eyes. "What did I do to deserve being a fugitive...I'm only sixteen, for god's sake...normal sixteen-year-olds are doing chores, or shopping with their friends, or walking to the park, but here I am, freezing and alone in a barn..." She pulled her phone out again, on the verge of texting her big brother, the only person she could trust in all this, but decided against it at the last moment. Utterly worn out and utterly defeated, Asuka gave in to sleep.

Haruto made his way back to his hotel room, still worrying for Asuka. To distract himself, he decided to turn on the TV for some background noise, but the news station it had put on was...alarming, to say the least.
"Breaking news! Some sort of disease is being spread to people all over the globe! Symptoms vary, but no matter the case, they seem to be having a transformative effect on those affected." The images on the TV cut to people in very thick decontamination gear- to the point Haruto could barely tell they were people- strong-arming people who looked to be half-transformed into all kinds of video game characters. There was lots of chaos and pandemonium all over the screen as transformed were fleeing, being chased by the suited people. "Due to its sudden onset, it is unknown how it is spread, but those identified as being Transformed are currently being quarantined until more research has been done. If you have seen anyone you suspect is a Transformed, let someone in authority know right away so the situation can be handled. And if you are a Transformed yourself, please call this number so that those in higher power can help you!" A number flashed on the screen, but Haruto had no intention of calling it. "There will be no consequences for the Transformed that turn themselves in..."
Ignoring the rest of the report, Haruto cussed, several times, in Japanese, then ran to his bathroom mirror. Just his hair and eyes so far. But all someone had to do was check his passport and ID to realize that these colors were not normal for him. And if they drew that conclusion, he'd be taken away, just like the people on the TV. There were bound to be people all over this town looking for Transformed, like him. The question was, how long did he have to find a safe place?

(OoC: Ooh, the stakes be raising!)

"Right, right," Justine said, clasping her hands together. "I guess the only thing left to discuss for the time being is where we'll camp out while this blows over." Her eyes seemed to light up a bit as she began formulating, grabbing a piece of scrap paper and a stray pencil to illustrate. "So, like I said, my parents have a vacation house we can probably use as a base. Sort of remote, but close enough to a town to get supplies if we need them. Unfortunately, getting there's going to be a long shot- I'd say about a day's worth of travel under good conditions."

"I could probably drive us," I offered, wanting to help any way I could. "But we'll also need supplies. Food, clothes, maybe even disguises, and whatever trinkets we want to bring with us." After that, though, I couldn't help but notice that Shadmé had momentarily gone silent, seemingly in thought. I would've asked her about it, but then Justine said something that got my attention.

"Do you smell something burning?"

I sniffed the air, and indeed there was a sort of burnt smell in the air. My eyes widened. "THE SOUP!" I dashed back into the kitchen; I had no idea soup could burn so fast!

OoC: There's always usually at least one post where someone sees a news report. Surprisingly, there wasn't one this time around. Now there is!

"Yeah, I recall your vacation house being the reason Evan contact you in the first place!" I agreed with Justine. "A day's worth of travel, huh. Well, it's a good thing Evan can drive us there! I don't know much about...Helena, you said it was? But hopefully that transformation won't interfere with driving. I know for a fact my character's personality would! Not only do I suspect that sudden fits of rage are probably a bad quality for a driver, but cars don't exist in Noire's time. Sooo...if I somehow lose my mind and become 100% Noire, that's something to think about." That grim thought was quickly and mercifully cut off by the sudden stench of burning food. Choking a little at the acrid odor, I followed Evan into the kitchen, eager to do what I could to help just in case something was dangerously on fire.

And of course, timing could not be worse. Haruto heard animated voices outside his door- by the sounds of it, the hotel owner was ushering everyone out of the hotel in a hunt for Transformed. Haruto quickly moved to lock his door in order to buy himself more time, then, frantically, he searched his room to see if there was any way out.
Haruto had one single option: the window. All things considered, it wasn't a bad method of escape by any means- thank the gods that his room wasn't on the second floor- but even so, if but one Transformed was discovered in this hotel, Haruto imagined that the suited people would be upon them, surrounding the house, and then there would definitely be no way out. He'd have to get out fast. Hands shaking at the thought of taking such a risk, he gathered his things together in his suitcase, then steeled himself for the escape. Some knocking on the door scared him out of his wits, but he didn't stick around to hear the hotel owner's demands. Haruto propped the window, lifted the screen, and slipped away.

The second I set foot into the kitchen, I dashed to the oven to turn the dial off, then glanced down into the soup, stirring with a wooden spoon. Thankfully, it didn't look to damaged. That's a relief! With a sigh, I looked up in time to notice that Shadmé had followed me in. "I think it'll be okay. I hope you don't mind having slightly overcooked soup for lunch!" I chuckled nervously, segueing into the next topic. I had heard her mention the prospect of our personas completely taking over. A scary idea no matter how it's sliced, but maybe it could have its advantages... anyway. "I'm pretty sure we'll be safe in that case. Helena's from the modern day and pretty level-headed, so I'm pretty sure I'll still be able to drive."

(OoC: I'm considering chancing a new character. Should I go for it?)

OoC: I think that'd be sweet! We're gonna run into the same problem as Avatar Mishap, though, in which we need Prex to come back. ;~; I'll have to go poke her sometime...

"Heh, that's fine..." I chuckled back. "Burned soup won't kill me!" I watched Evan stir the soup for a few moments more before I nodded slowly. "Well, that's good to hear that your character's mentally sane. I admit, I'm a bit concerned about Noire in that regard. Her mother used her as a training dummy for spells when she was younger, which made her really timid, suspicious and clingy as an adult. Not to mention the mood swings! You're just gonna have to bear with me if I act...irrationally."

Haruto knew he'd been thinking in the short term when he'd fled through the window. He hated that. He always liked to think before he made huge decisions, which is why he'd deliberated long and hard before coming to America. Everything had been carefully planned out when he'd made his way here. But now, thanks to this stupid virus, all his plans and hopes and dreams were crushed. He could never return to the life he'd lived. He'd constantly have to hide from people. And how would he even know where to hide? He didn't know a thing about this country! He didn't have a place to stay or any contacts to get advice from. Those suited people would find him before he could figure this out!
Well...he had one person he knew...
As he walked further and further away from the hotel, he opened his phone to Ura's number and sent her a text. "Hey, this is Haruto. Did you see the news report on TV? It's not safe to be out here. I'm heading back to your house, but we might not be staying here long. We need a new plan."

"Poor Noire," I sympathized, ladling the toasty soup into bowls. "I'll keep that in mind. I've dealt with irrational people plenty, I'm sure I can bear with you." I passed a bowl to Shadmé, and Justine as she joined us. "Nothing springs to mind about what to look out for with Helena, but I might as well offer some insight. She authored the Dino Dossiers and was one of the survivors to tell her story through Explorer Notes, especially notable since she's one of the few to Ascend and move on to different ARKs; from the Island, to the deserts of Scorched Earth, to the radioactive caverns of Aberration, and finally to the corrupted post-apocalyptic Earth- when the DLC for it comes out, at least." I smiled a little at the last one; I wonder what DLCs would translate into in reality? I took a glance into the living room, where that notebook I found was still laying. I could draw more info from that if need be.

Diasi has kinda tuned out, her ears twitching as she listened for anything, suddenly on edge. “What if... what if we’re figured out? How do I hide a tail? Oh god, what do I do?” The reality of the situation was finally setting in at the mention of disguises, and she was starting to panic, though Selkie’s personality felt like another person beside her, somewhat comforting despite the weirdness of it all. “No... I’m not worried. Right, this is all fine. No one knows about this, right?”

What? No! What’s going on? Ura put her phone down as she felt the familiar crackle of static like if she had rubbed a ballon on her arms too long, every hair on end. Oh. Oh no. That... could be a problem. There’s not much to change with me, physically. I think it’s gonna be awfully hard to hide lightning. Okay, static. Not a big deal yet. Just her body building up charge... out of nowhere. Oh gods. Get over here ASAP she texted the still somewhat stranger before she grabbed her keys and prepared to defend herself if anyone walked through that door. She checked the TV, noting the broadcast and cursing quietly.

"Ohh, she sounds like she's been through a lot, then!" I replied to Evan. I wasn't quite sure what half of the stuff he'd been talking about meant, but it sounded important indeed. Helena was a survivor. And we would definitely need survival experts if we were gonna survive this thing. I took a bowl from him with a quick thank you and blew across the surface of the soup to cool it down.
However, I was jolted out of the interaction as Diasi began to panic. "Whoa, whoa, calm down!" I tried to comfort her, looking her direction. "It'll be okay! Once we get to Justine's place, we'll be out of sight and safe. We can definitely last till then! I haven't told a soul about what's going on...aside from my online friend, but otherwise, we're completely safe. My family's out for the day, so nobody in my house knows, nor would they turn us in."

Well, that was abrupt.
Haruto doubled his pace, recalling the directions to Ura's apartment. What would he do once he got there? He had no idea. But surely he and Ura could get through it together. Her message chilled him. He prayed that she wasn't in danger and that she was just worried for his sake, but he wouldn't be able to tell for sure until he reached his destination.
"Hey, you!"
Haruto froze, shocked that someone would talk to him. Some sort of officer or important person strolled up to him, glancing him over. "Sorry, sir," he apologized, trying to move around him. "I-I'm in a rush, I can't..."
"Hold on just a moment." The officer stopped in front of him, looking him up and down.
Haruto trembled. He knew he looked so suspicious, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling fearful. "Wh-what's wrong?"
"Oh...nothing. Just a rampant virus and all that. I'm sure you've heard the news." The officer's tone didn't change at all. He spoke neutrally, with an edge of sarcasm and callousness that made Haruto even more nervous. "It's not too safe to be out here, you know..."
"I-I know," Haruto stammered. "I'm just out to visit...a friend. To ask her what she thinks of all this."
It wasn't a lie, but Haruto knew he could have told it in a better manner. The officer gave him one more look, then shrugged. "Alright. You seem nervous, kid. Guess I don't blame you, since all this stuff is a bit new and dangerous. But do swing by the station if you see anything suspicious, okay? It's a citizen's duty to keep an eye on their family...their neighbors...their friends..." He affixed Haruto with a meaningful look, then headed the other direction.
Haruto breathed out a sigh of relief, then huffed indignantly. Kid? He was no kid! He was a fully grown adult!
...Well, maybe not anymore. A tremor of nervousness went over him. He was turning into Pit, after all. Maybe something had changed in his features to make him look a tad younger that he'd realized. He hated that. But if his youth was what had gotten him out of being interrogated and taken away...well, maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Heart racing, and knowing he had little time to waste, he made his way over to Ura's apartment and knocked gently, trying not to imitate the rough pounding that the officers had done in the broadcast. "Ura? It's me, Haruto!"

"Yeah, we'll be fine!" Justine said, offering Diasi some words of encouragement. "Just gotta make it to my place and wait this whole thing out. I mean, assuming this is only temporary, but let's not worry about that. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Everything alright in here?" I asked, peeking around a corner. Diasi sounded upset.

"I think so," Justine confirmed. "Anyway, after lunch we should pack our stuff and maybe stop by the store before we head out. I might have to visit the gardening center, too."

"Gardening center? Why would... oh, duh! Right!" I chuckled, having a bit of a dipstick moment there. "Almost forgot you're becoming a flower."