destinystrings | The Search for the Newcomers, December 2012 Edition.

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city! They appear where you want them to appear.
Summary: Newcomers arrive and by now the Government is more ready and sends everyone out to go people hunting.
Warnings: ARRIVALS. Also assume the first thread is the ones who tell you about the city, and the other tags for the character can be talking with others in the city and learning more about it.

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
They were getting much better at this, it was for certain.

Last month's initial testing of the HORUS system had worked really well. The device which allowed everyone to spot abnormalities; and now even more refined, they could hone in on newcomers at a much faster pace. The leftover energy from the travel (commonly called Magatama Residue) gave them a few minutes to find them before it would flicker out.

Combined with the fact they could appear in most parts of the city, it made finding the newcomers was both easy yet frustratingly difficult.

As the blips appear on your own radar function, it was also nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there. Speed was of the essence, after all.

[FOR THOSE WHO JUST ARRIVED:]
You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

[OOC: As stated above, only new characters can start a thread, but feel free to jump in any of them. characters arrive with their clothing and whatever items they had on them the moment they were taken; the remaining items will be later found in their apartments.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was the music that drew Arturia in. She'd been between deliveries and was looking for a small shop to get a snack at when she heard it. Strange, this wasn't the Scorpio District and the last time she'd heard music such as this it'd had a super natural quality to it.

Upon investigating Arturia was surprised to find the woman playing the ocarina to be a woman she could only describe as regal. It had nothing to do with the fine clothing and the jewels she wore, but with the way she held herself, the sheer focus she put into her art was one that Arturia couldn't help but to admire and once the woman was done playing, Arturia couldn't help but clap. It was the polite thing to do, was it not.

She removed her helmet as she approached the woman, her moped safely parked near the curb.

"That was lovely playing, Miss."

Polite, maybe, but not something the regal woman was expecting. Really, she wasn't expecting to stay around long enough to draw in an audience at all, but something is blocking or disrupting the Ocarina's magic...

She sighs, frustrated as she draws the instrument from her lips, but she does look up to acknowledge the audience she unwittingly gathered. She bows her head politely in return, though there is no real joy in her eyes as she does so.

"Thank you. I had not meant to draw in an audience, in truth, but I am glad someone appreciates it, at least."

Because she herself is a little disappointed.

The lack of joy or, really, anything, clued Arturia in just a bit, as did the fact this woman hadn't meant to draw in an audience. She took a step closer to be able to speak more easily with her, but keeps a respectable distance to not invade her space.

"I take it you've just arrived here as well, then?" She'd made the mistake in the past, but if this woman was new here then she would need answers. Lots of answers that Arturia felt she had to provide for the sake of helping people.

"Ah, forgive me. My name is Arturia Pendragon, what would your name be, Miss?"

Don't worry, Zelda. Overly formal is Arturia's default.

She appreciates that, really. Though she hadn't meant for the fact that she is quite lost to be so obvious, she supposes it's for the best that she find people who know what's going on as soon as possible if she cannot just warp back to Hyrule.

"I suppose I have, yes." It's still a bit odd, thinking herself as a "new arrival." Arrive implies some kind of purpose - something she doesn't really have since she has little interest in 'protecting' a city she has no connections with.

She bows her head, in greeting. "A pleasure, Arturia. I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."

Arturia's back goes a bit straighter upon hearing the title. Royalty, here? Well, she did practically exude an aura of nobility about her. It shouldn't be surprising to Arturia Zelda would, in fact, be a princess.

"It's a pleasure to meet you--" she pauses, feeling the 'Your Highness' on the tip of her tongue, but something stays her. She knows nothing of this Hyrule and its etiquette and she knows nothing of Zelda herself. Would she be the type to demand formalities or would that make her uncomfortable? She knows, more from her uncle's anime than anything, that some princesses don't like it and what was this place if not something right out of one of those anime?

"Forgive me, but would you prefer to be addressed as Your Highness or some other title or would you prefer being called 'Zelda'? I've never spoken to royalty before."

... And for the briefest of moments, that aura of nobility doesn't quite drop, exactly, but it freezes, as though the person it surrounds has been caught off guard by Arturia's question.

"Ah..." And she has, really. In truth, she doesn't know the protocol for sch things any more than Arturia does. Even before she went into hiding, she saw outsiders so rarely that people attempted to sneak into the castle just to see what she looked like. But, of course, she cannot explain such things, so the best she can do is fake it and hope the girl believes her.

"... You may address me in whatever way would make you most comfortable. So far away from my country, I do not know if my station truly holds any weight here."

"I don't know if it would, Your Highness," she answered honestly. It felt weird to say that, as if the words were not only foreign to her, but just didn't fit. Such a queer feeling, but Arturia mentally shook it off. She'll have to settle for something slightly less formal if that was the case.

"Has anyone explained the situation to you yet? Or pointed you to where all the other guests are being housed for the time being?"

"I recall a man in a butterfly mask saying that this city requires protection, as well as something about 'persona'."

A strange word, to her - one she cannot begin to comprehend without outside help. Though, she supposes, the rest of this strange land is much the same.

Once again, she bows her head, this time in humility. She has no choice but to trust in the kindness of strangers, it would seem. "If it is truly impossible to leave this place, then I would appreciate knowing where I can find shelter for the time being."

The Search for the Newcomers, December 2012 Edition.

Don't mind me being over a week late.

Psh, backtagging is what all the cool kids do.

ALL THE COOL KIDS! ALL OF THEM!

INTO ETERNITY!

Frak. What's larger than eternity?!

... infinity and beyond? /shot

Infinity and beyond apparently means "day after Christmas."

... eh, close enough.