ITP: Astrology for Dummies

[maybe_a_king]

Who: Arturia and Atsuro
Where: Aquila Library; Aquarius Ward
Summary: Arturia and Atsuro hit the books to find out more about astrology and the history of Hinoto-Ri.
Warnings: Too many books?
Arturia stood outside the Aquila Library, waiting for Atsuro. The day was young and the pair had a lot of research to do. True, she'd heard the girls at school back home speak of astrology quite often, but with it looking like the star signs held some significance here, there had to be some merit to it, right? Why would their star signs be on their ID cards if there wasn't some kind of basis for it? Or the wards being named for the Star Signs? Or any number of things.

Not to mention the history of the city itself. True, it might not give them much information on the actual situation, but having an idea about the city and possibly the state the world was in before it became cut off might help in some way. If nothing else they might find out which star signs might become affected if another beast like the one her Uncle had spoken of arose again.

She waved when she spotted Atsuro's hat in the crowd passing her by. Good. She'd been worried he'd decide looking this up would be a waste of time and not show. Now they can begin conducting their research.

(ooc: If you'd prefer action spam, just post with action spam and I'll follow along. o7)

Comments

[otakuro]

((Log is fine!))

After spending most of the morning compiling the various star signs of those affected by the events, Atsuro had a fairly good idea of what they were after - on a whim, he'd passed by a corner store and picked up a trashy magazine as he'd been advised. Today, apparently, Libras were, like, totally in alignment with the outer planes of Capricorn insecurity, which meant about as much to him as advanced integral calculus. He wonders off-hand if the person he was going to meet was a Libra.

Their conversation over the COMPs had been the first time they had come into contact with each other; it takes him a split second to recognize Arturia after she calls to him. He returns her wave as he approaches the knightly figure.

"Hey! Hope you haven't been waiting long. ...I don't think I ever introduced myself. My name is Atsuro - Atsuro Kihara."

[maybe_a_king]

"Arturia Pendragon, at your service," she said with a brief incline of her head, "I apologize. I should've introduced myself before inviting you out like this."

She glanced at the trashy magazine in his hand and managed not to laugh. She'd meant finding a proper book on the subject, not a magazine, but it's as decent a place to start as any.

"And, no, I didn't wait long. Shall we go inside?"

[otakuro]

His face reddens slightly as he notices the direction of her gaze; the magazine is surreptitiously kept low to his side thereafter. "It's not a problem. To be honest, there were so many people calling in that I'd probably have needed to ask again, anyway." That came out slightly more impolite than he'd intended it to; the flush deepens as he turns towards the library. "N-Not that I... didn't like getting to talk to everyone. Ah."

A brief pause. "Yeah, let's go in." Atsuro briskly strides inside, concluding that she was most decidedly not a Libra or otherwise aligned with his insecurities.

[maybe_a_king]

"It's all right. It was a lot of people who replied. You were actually smart in collecting data like that. I'm surprised no one else had thought of it before."

Despite his awkwardness, she keeps her cool, even if he reminds her a bit of Shirou and how he got around Sakura or herself at times. It makes her walk a touch closer to him than she normally would with someone she just met, the old protective instincts for her friend kicking in.

The library itself is one of those places that is an academic's dream. It's clean, but there's enough wear and tear on both the books themselves and the furniture to tell it's been used. Students of all ages and species wander among the shelves, some gathered in groups around careworn tables, some using their COMPs in a section designated for their use. The place even contains that strange combination of cleaning supplies and the musty smell of worn paper, aged ink, and well-cared-for leather that most libraries have.

"Where do you think we should start first? The history section? Or should we ask where the astrology section is?"

[otakuro]

He's been inside before. Even before it technically existed. A passing conversation had led to necessitating research about a certain kind of demon, and he had developed, then, a basic sense of the organization of the library. Atsuro glances off towards the public-use computers briefly (old habits die hard) before turning back towards Arturia.

"...Let's head for the history section. I have a feeling we're not going to find much - if information on whatever happened here was sitting around in the library, they'd have told us by now. But it won't hurt to check."

Probably. ...If they weren't total jerks, anyway.

[maybe_a_king]

Technicalities. Technicalities. She follows behind Atsuro toward the history section. Hopefully they wouldn't be complete jerks about the history of this place.

"I was also thinking of looking into how this world's history differs from our own. History was not my best subject, but if there's any kind of major difference anywhere, it might give us some kind of clue as to what happened here."

[otakuro]

"Alright. I'll keep an eye out for books that casually mention things like the All-Encompassing French Empire ruled by Dictator-for-Life Napoleon." Atsuro is, as always, a riot. "Since the city is so much like modern Tokyo... I'd say any differences would have to be pretty recent. Something technological - something that allowed for nanotechnology to be developed."

Theorizing about it wouldn't get them anywhere, though. He glances around the shelves and snatches one at random, more to get a sense of how they were organized than anything.

[maybe_a_king]

There search was fruitful, if only because they found how close their history was to that of this world and that the people here were just as confused as they were. 1900 is when things started to diverge, but it's hard to get specifics and Arturia can only guess due to how sparse the books were getting.

At least they won't have to search for the astrology books since there were a few in the "Possibly historical significant" section.

[otakuro]

((Holy wow.))

And at the end of three hours or so, Atsuro closes a book (The Chthonic Mole People And the Subterranean Descent of Earth: A Study on What Definitely Absolutely Happened to the Rest of the World What Are Empirical Facts Shut Up) and leans back in his chair with a sigh.

This had been... surprisingly informative. But his eyes were about to fall out of his head and his hand was sore from taking so many notes. Atsuro stifles a yawn as he glances towards Arturia.

"I think we've got a pretty good idea now of how things've gone down here... So what it boils down to for us - what we're looking at outside the dome is... giant monsters and sandstorms."

A pause.

"Suddenly, I don't feel trapped anymore at all. ...Maybe we could add more layers to that dome."

[maybe_a_king]

((Hence why it took Pixle a bit to get them to me.))

Arturia's own hand ached from how full her notebook was. She'd done decently in school and history had been one of her better subjects, but she'd never done a study session this long before. Then again, studying history had never seemed quite so vital before. At least they now knew the proper reason for the dome. It wasn't a part of the city being cut off, the people here put it up themselves for protection.

Some part of her wanted to go out and see if what it said in the books was true, try to find those lost cities out there and if anyone else had survived but the residents of Hinoto-Ri. Yet without some kind of destination in mind, without an entire team of people involved, she wouldn't be able to get anywhere. She'd need to get more people on her side anyway. Maybe question a few residents as well.

Well, questioning the residents would have to be the next step. Arturia shook out her hand to try and get the cramp out from it.

As to feeling trapped: "I'd like to look into how the dome was constructed. If for no other reason than to see if it's truly a stable fixture or if we'll have to worry about, I don't know, a giant monster whale smashing through it and raining more mindless creatures down on us."

[otakuro]

"Giant monster whales will probably wait for Aquarius." Atsuro helpfully points out with a weary smile. "I've forgotten all my astrology already, but I bet that's practically a half-year away." He idly occupies his hands by beginning to stack some of their books together while he considers what Arturia has said.

"There must be more to it than just a physical barrier - think about the 13th Hour. The demons and monsters just... pop up out of nowhere; there wouldn't be any way to prevent them from popping into the city even if we did have a big glass dome surrounding us."

[maybe_a_king]

"Aquarius is in January," she pointed out, "My birthday is celebrated on the twenty-ninth and I assume that's why that sign was assigned to me."

"As for the 13th Hour, it's possible it's a point in time the barrier is weaker? We'll have to return another day to research it more in depth. Possibly ask a few residents who would know about the dome's construction and how it relates to the 13th Hour. For all we know it's simply collapsing on some mystical level during that time." Which needs some mod input at a later date.

She pulled over a book on the zodiac. They still had some time before the library closed and as much as her hand was cramping, it couldn't hurt to look up what the original purpose was. Besides, it just occurred to her to double check:

"Yes, Aquarius is January twentieth through the eighteenth of February."

[otakuro]

((Sorry for the wait! I've been on mini-hiatus for the last few days; feel free to ignore if you'd rather drop the thread!))

"...You know, I actually think the symbol of Aquarius is a goldfish. A very small, easily stepped-on goldfish." Atsuro is too bushed to be more amusing beyond this cursory attempt, though he leans forward as she pulls open the astrology book.

"Right. ...Can you take a look in that book and see if it has anything about compatibility? For Scorpios, especially."