Out Shopping (open)

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Setsuna let out a sigh. She was, at the moment, just wandering aimlessly in the shopping center, not entirely sure where to go next. She had already achieved what she came here for. A new volume of one of her favorite manga had just come out, and she came out to pick it up. Then, she hit a game store and found a few games she had always been wanting to play for sale, so she ended up not spending as much money as she had planned to. Needless to say, it was a bit of a pleasant surprised when she noticed this. As such, she figured she could go somewhere else...she just wasn't sure where that would be yet.

However, this ceased to be an issue the moment her stomach let out a rather loud growl. Looking at her watch, she blinked...it was 1:17 PM. "Holy crap...it's this late already?" Letting out a sigh, she decided to head over to the food court to put her angry stomach at ease. Deciding to get a fast food place with a surprisingly-good fish sandwich, she bought herself a couple of those sandwiches, then proceeded to an empty table. As she looked around, she, much to her chagrin, found herself remembering the incident from the other day. Namely, when she discovered just what was on the other side of the safe zone.

It had been about three days since that happened, and Setsuna was doing her best to forget the whole ordeal. Of course, this was proving to be much easier said than done. No matter how much she tried to suppress the memory, it always found a way to come back to her. Letting out a sigh, she muttered loudly to herself "Ugh...why do I keep remembering that?...and seriously. What the hell was all that even about?..." She quickly realized she had been speaking out loud. As far as she could tell though, no one had paid her any mind. Even if they did, none of them would have any idea what she was talking about. After yet another sigh, she just continued eating her sandwiches, doing her best to return the whole thing to the back of her mind

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Was this really the best she could do? Fast food? Even with a surprise source of money that lifted her just above 'destitute' and into the range of 'dirt poor', this was still all that Jaelyn could manage on normal days. A simple fast food place with food that was edible but not very good. Once upon a time that would have been 'normal' for Jaelyn, but that girl Luka had spoiled her with her stew. After that, the fast food and instant meals she was used to and still ate when she didn't blow everything she had on some expensive restaurant just didn't measure up anymore. And yet, that was all she could manage. It was like nothing had changed at all.

She'd come out looking...well, a bit ragged. The school uniform was the neatest, cleanest, and fanciest thing she owned, but she couldn't stand wearing it so much. She already had to wear it on school days, so why the hell would she want to do it on days off too? So instead she wore a black dress she brought from home that, while combined with her mature and well-developed figure made her look a couple years older than she actually was, was also fraying at the hem and along the sleeves. It also had a few dangling threads that thankfully were not completely obvious to anyone looking at it. Looking like that, Jaelyn supposed that it was only fitting she'd be getting a chicken sandwich from the cheapest place in the food court. But she still hated it. So, after looking for a couple minutes for an empty seat, she sat down and ate with a sour expression on her face.

Jaelyn foul mood persisted for most of her meal, only to be disturbed only by the voice of someone talking to herself behind her. It wasn't her business. That was what she told herself, at least, but curiosity nagged at her. And nagged. And nagged. And nagged, until finally she turned around, stood up, and walked over to the next table back. There was a girl sitting there, by herself, eating fish sandwiches as though they were actually good. Well...maybe they were. Jaelyn hadn't had them. And...the girl was kind of pretty, too. But neither of those were the point. "Hi. Is something bothering you?" she asked, trying to sound friendly. Which, admittedly, was a challenging proposition.

[Setsuna Hanamori]

To tell the truth, Setsuna would rather be eating a nice sushi platter right about now. Her family, while not rich, was well-off enough that she was able to do so on a semi-regular basis. At the very least, it allowed her to keep up with her samurai hobby with little effort. However, she was also careful not to take it for granted. She knew that she was a bit more privileged than some, but she was under no delusions regarding the chance that it could go away at any minute, regardless of how unlikely it seemed. As such, she did her best not to flaunt it...or, at the very least, she made an effort to not rub it in anyone's face.

As far as the food she was concerned, it was actually pretty good as far as fast food was concerned. By itself, the fish wasn't anything to jump up and down about, but everything else in the sandwich complimented it rather well. Usually, when it came to fast food, she'd only eat something for the sake of not being hungry anymore, but this particular item was one of the few things she actually enjoyed. Admittedly, her love of fish (and seafood in general) might have had a little influence on that. Okay, maybe a lot of influence. Still, even she has had some bad fish sandwiches. Until that point, she didn't think such a thing was possible, but it happened nonetheless. Go figure.

Letting out a sigh, she was almost finished with her first sandwich when someone approached her, asking if something was bothering her. Taking a look at this particular person, Setunsa couldn't help but blush a bit. Indeed, this person was quite attractive...like, insanely attractive. t didn't help that Setsuna had a weakness for older women. Yet, at the same time, there was something about this person who made Setsuna feel a bit uneasy. She couldn't quite place what it was, but there was definitely something. Frankly, if she knew, she would have gotten up and walked away the moment she noticed this person was even looking at her. However, she had no clue, and could only conclude that it was just her imagination.

Of course, then there was the question itself. What was Setsuna supposed to say? "Oh it's nothing. I went past the border set up by the military, and I was attacked by these strange blob creatures. Then a magical naked woman showed up out of nowhere and destroyed them!" Yeah. She was pretty sure that if she told someone about that, she'd be locked up in the loony bin faster than she could say "crazy person". So, she chose her words carefully. "Oh...it's nothing, really. Something happened the other day, and it's still on my mind...but it's nothing I can't handle." While what she said was technically true, there was just enough hesitation in her words to make it clear to anyone observant enough that there was far more going on than she was letting on. At this point, all she could do was hope and pray that this would be enough to sate the older woman's curiosity.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

The girl blushed the moment she looked at Jaelyn. Not when she heard her, but when she turned to look at her. Interesting. Was that how she was, then? Jaelyn had been with a girl before. She did mind it, even if their relationship ended up not even lasting the whole night. But that wasn't important. What was important was that this girl had something strange and interesting. It sounded normal enough, on the surface, but she seemed unsure of herself. Combined with what Jaelyn had overheard, the 'what the hell was that about', it wasn't normal at all. Jaelyn was certain of that much.

In fact, it sounded a bit like...well, no. That was jumping to conclusions. A lot of inexplicable things had happened lately, and they weren't all shadow or persona-related. Or maybe they were. Jaelyn hadn't managed to figure that much out yet. Still, if it was, was it fair to leave someone who had gone through that in the dark? Even she, with her owl-headed guardian and fire magic, only survived her first encounter by running away. Anyone else...well, normally she wouldn't care. But if there was still a shadow running around in the form of her mother, that made it her responsibility. Besides, there was something interesting about this girl.

She leaned over the table, resting her elbows on its surface as she thought of how to word it in case the girl's situation turned out to be completely normal. People already thought she was crazy, after all. No need to make it worst. Finally, she thought of something. "Seems like strange things have been happening all over lately," she said. "I've run into a few of them myself, so maybe I can help. What sort of something was it?" That should do it. If it was something normal, she wouldn't be able to help...probably. Otherwise, the mention of strange things should catch the girl's interest.

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Crap...so much for sating her curiosity. Now she really had no idea what to say. Setsuna wracked her brain, trying to come up with a way to explain it without sounding like she was insane. Or making herself look like an asshole. Letting out a sigh, she spoke once more "Look...it's nothing personal...I just...it's really hard to explain. Even if I did know how, I doubt anyone would believe me anyways." That was the best she could do. All she could do was hope that this would be enough to get the older woman off her case. Ironically, she didn't even consider the possibility that someone else, let alone the person in front of her, might have gone through the same thing. If only she had a way of knowing, she wouldn't even feel half as awkward as she did right now. Unfortunately, Setusna wasn't quite that lucky.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

More dismissals. But this one led Jaelyn to think that her first guess was right on the mark. Statements like 'you wouldn't believe me' were pretty indicative like that. Jaelyn doubted anyone would believe her if she told someone about her own experiences, but then again, she didn't really care. People already thought she was crazy even when she hadn't said a damn word, so why did it matter to her what they thought when she did say something. And with that in mind, she got an idea to coax a little more out of the girl. If she was wrong...then, well, she'd be a crazy person. Nothing new to her. Better to be known for insane ramblings than for putting out someone's eye with a pencil, at least.

"Well, you're in luck," she said in a hushed voice, giving the girl a small smile. "Because I'm not anyone. A month or so ago I was attacked by some kind of creature that looked like the ghost of my mother and fought it off by summoning an owl-headed demon. After an experience like that I'm willing to believe just about anything that anyone tells me." After one second worth of careful consideration, she decided to leave out the part about not actually being able to defeat the 'creature' and having to run away. She'd had more success since then, so what did it matter?

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Much to Setsuna's chagrin, even that didn't dissuade the older woman from continuing to pry into the matter. Setsuna was officially starting to feel uncomfortable, though she at least had the decency to make an effort to have it not show on her face. However, when Jaelyn went on to mention fighting a ghost by summoning some sort of owl-demon, she blinked. It was still pretty different from what she experienced, but, at the same time, she couldn't dismiss the possibility that this person might have had a somewhat similar experience. As crazy as she would probably sound if she was wrong, she decided it would be worth taking a shot in the dark and asking her about it. Hopefully.

Regardless, she spoke in a low tone, so that only Jaelyn would be able to hear. "So wait...by any chance, did you go past the border set up by the military? Where the sky was all messed up? Because, while it was different, that actually sounds pretty similar to what happened to me. Only...for me, I was attacked by a bunch of these...shadowy blob-monsters. Also, I didn't summon any sort of owl-demon...instead, I summoned a naked woman with blue skin that was surrounded with water...or, at least, I think I summoned her. To be honest, I still don't know what that was about...I just...for some reason, I can't shake the idea that she's somehow a part of me..."

Setsuna let a sigh of frustration. Just thinking about all of this was giving her a headache. And what's worse, now she was telling a complete stranger about it. An admittedly very attractive stranger, but a stranger nonetheless. Either way, the more she spoke, the more insane she felt she sounded. Even after experiencing it first-hand, she could barely believe the things she was saying. Maybe this was all some overly-long and drawn-out dream she was having. At any moment, she'd wake up, realize the whole "naked woman shooting blob monsters with ice" thing was just some weird dream, and everything would be back to normal. Well, it was nice to hope, at least.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

As it seemed, Jaelyn had nailed it. The girl finally started actually telling her things, rather than insisting that she wouldn't believe her, and her story was a very familiar one. Going past the border, seeing the ominous purple sky, blob monsters...okay, so the blob monsters had actually come on a later visit, but Jaelyn recognized them as well. And her own personal guardian, so to speak, was something entirely different but still shared some similarities with what Jaelyn had experienced. Jaelyn dropped into a chair across from the girl, still leaning forward so that they could more easily talk without being heard.

"She was a part of you," she said. "Of a sort. I don't really know the details, but it's called a Persona. It's your 'other self' or...something like that...but you could think of her as your own personal guardian if you want. Only, it only seems to come out in places where those...'blob-monsters,' as you say, come out. Those are 'shadows', and they're nothing but trouble...good for getting stronger, though." She let out a sigh of her own. The only good thing about the whole ordeal she had gone through was the power she had gotten out of it. As soon as she went back and was able to summon Andras again, she knew she had stumbled across something good. The power was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. What normal person could say they had shot fireballs at monsters? And...well, the money she had gotten out of it was also a plus.

"Yeah, I understand why you don't think anyone would believe you. I'd have thought it was a dream myself, but I nearly got the shit beaten out of me when it happened and was feeling it for the next week. Kinda hard to imagine that." She tried to laugh, but it came out as weak and unpleasant-sounding. "Does that help at all?"

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Setsuna was, to say the least, pleasantly surprised when Jaelyn responded positively to her question. So she wasn't the only one to go beyond the border set up by that so-called "military". She also confirmed her lingering suspicion that the woman she had summoned actually was part of her, and that it was called a Persona. Though, from what she gathered based on what Jaelyn told her a moment ago about her own Persona, it seemed like Personas were different for each person. Granted, she had only seen her own and not anyone else's, so she couldn't really say for sure whether or not this was the case.

And then there were the monsters she encountered; apparently, they were called "Shadows". The more she thought about it, the more that named seemed to fit. Though there was one thing that Setsuna couldn't help but notice as Jaelyn was speaking about them. "Wait...when you say they're "good for getting stronger"...does that mean you go out and fight those things?" The more the thought about it, the more sense it made. They were, for whatever reason, granted the ability to summon these creatures capable of fighting these Shadows. Still, it was a little hard to imagine that anyone would willingly going up against those things.

She frowned a little at the last bit, especially with the weak laugh that followed it; no matter how she looked at it, that didn't sound like a very pleasant experience. Hell, from the sounds of it, it seemed like Setsuna had gotten off a little easy, since none of the Shadows that attacked her were able to land any noticeable hits. Still, she was grateful to Jaelyn. Thus, she nodded in response to her last question "Yes, it does, actually. Frankly, I still don't get it...but, at the very least, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who went through that. Now I don't feel quite as alone..." Smiling softly, Setsuna let out a soft sigh. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

As awkward as this had started out, Setsuna was happy to have met Jaelyn. Even if she still had no idea what was going on or why it was happening, it was nice to have at least some light shed onto the whole thing. At the very least, she wouldn't be quite as worried about the whole thing. "Anyways, thanks for explaining all this, Miss...er..." It was in that moment that Setsuna realized she didn't know this person's name...well this was nice and awkward.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Questions. Naturally, the girl would have questions. Although, Jaelyn was surprised by the one she picked up on. Go out and fight them? Of course she did. There had been one night almost a month before where she'd woken up with a really bad feeling about...something, but gone back to sleep and heard about a huge hole that had appeared in some graveyard the next day. It could have just been a bomb, but if it had been a shadow instead, then someone would have to be able to put it down. Besides, if she ever ran into the 'ghost' of her mother again, she wanted to be able to fight her off without having to run away.

"You can. I do...sometimes," Jaelyn answered. "If they showed up inside the lockdown, everyone would know. So they haven't yet...probably. But that doesn't mean they can't. And I'd rather be able to fight them if they do then not. Besides, getting attacked by psycho-monsters that want to kill you and being able to lay waste to them instead just feels so good." So did shooting fireballs in general, actually. But since she couldn't summon Andras inside the lockdown, going out and finding a good target was Jaelyn's best chance for that. "Besides, there's something I'm probably going to have to do eventually." She could already hear the oncoming question before it was ever spoken, and added "It's not important."

When she asked if her explanation helped, the girl responded in another answer that Jaelyn could have easily expected. Of course she didn't get it. Jaelyn readily admitted that her explanation sucked. But that damned woman in the terminal had been so unhelpful beyond selling her the evoker and telling her how to use it that even if Jaelyn hadn't been half-unconscious at the time, she still wouldn't have been able to understand enough to explain it well. "Neither do I," Jaelyn said. "I don't think anyone does, unless they've somehow lived through an incident like this before. And as for being alone, I don't think it's just the two of us either. There's an old terminal leading outside the lockdown where some crazy lady hangs out. She's got a junk shop and a mission board there. Gotta be more of us to have something like that."

And finally, the girl prompted Jaelyn for her name. It was only then that she realized that she hadn't given it. "Oh, it's Jaelyn," she answered.

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Setsuna nodded quietly as Jaelyn answered her questions, as, for the most part, it made sense. The part about being attacked by and laying waste to these "Shadows" feeling good was a bit unnerving though. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't think of a single way in which anything like this could ever possibly be enjoyable. But, then again, maybe that was just because she hadn't actually gone out and done it yet. Maybe there was some something about actually fighting that that you couldn't experience just by hearing about it. Maybe she would give it a shot...eventually. She wasn't in any hurry to rush out there now, but perhaps she'd consider doing so one of these days.

Upon hearing about some woman running a junk shop and a bulletin board for these thing, her initial thought was to question how in the world most of the civilians had never noticed such a thing. Maybe there was more to it than what she was imagining...and, to be fair, the "military" had managed to keep their true nature hidden, as well as that of the world outside the border of the quarantine. So maybe it wasn't all that unbelievable after all. Still, the more she thought about it, the more it made her wonder. As much as she didn't like the idea of going out and risking her life to fight some monsters, she found herself intrigued by it. At the very least, the creature she'd be able to summon would be able to protect her, right?

Either way, she still wasn't entirely sure what to think of this whole thing. The more she knew about it, the more unanswered questions seemed to pop up. It seemed like if she was going to learn any more, she'd need to just go out there and fight. Either way, she nodded quietly as Jaelyn introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Setsuna." She paused for a moment, as if contemplating something, then nodded. "Um...Miss Jaelyn. My parents are expecting me home fairly soon, so I won't be able to go today. But...one of these days, do you think you could show me where this junk shop is? I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to it...but, the more I hear about this, the more I'm tempted to try it at least once."

Almost immediately, she was beginning to wonder whether she should have asked that question. But it was too late now. Maybe she'd be getting in over her head, but at this point, her curiosity was getting the better of her. Now that she had at least a vague idea of what was going on, there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She didn't like it at all, but, all the same, it refused to let her just sit and do nothing.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Well, the girl seemed to get it a little more, at least. That was the best guess Jaelyn could come up with from the way she nodded and didn't ask any more questions. And from the looks of it (mainly the fact that the girl hadn't hurriedly excused herself and left), she hadn't managed to creep her out too much either. That was good. Jaelyn was in a rare helpful mood, owing to the fact that it was something she was actually interested in helping with and the fact that the girl asking was actually pretty cute. She didn't want to go and scare her off already.

Now then, what to do to keep this girl from leaving right away when she was satisfied...

Surprisingly, as soon as she introduced herself, it was Setsuna who provided the answer to that question. She continued on to ask if Jaelyn could help her find the junk dealer she had mentioned (there was that 'miss' again, though). Not that day, since her parents were expecting her home, though. Jaelyn mentally noted at that point that having to be home at a certain time was one thing she most definitely did not miss since moving to Mosaic. "One condition," she answered. "Don't call me 'Miss'. It just sounds weird. Just Jaelyn is fine. You do that, and I'll show you anything I can find. I'll even guide you through fighting shadows, if you want. I'm not all that experienced myself, but I've done it before at least, and it's better than trying to stumble through it alone."

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Setsuna was feeling a little conflicted at the moment. She was please to have met Jaelyn, and grateful that she was willing to go out of her way to help her out like this. Not to mention that she was quite attractive, and also seemed fairly nice. But, at the same time, there was just...something about her. She didn't know what it was or why she felt it, but there was something about this woman that made her feel a little uneasy. As much as she wanted to tell herself she was just imagining things, she couldn't shake this feeling. But, at the moment, the pros were easily outweighing the cons, so who knows? Maybe she really was imagining it.

Either way, when Jaelyn stated that there was a condition for her helping Setsuna out, she got a little worried. Thankfully, all it ended up being was that she wanted her to stop calling her miss. Easy enough "Ah, sorry. Force of habit..." Thus, Setsuna fell into a somewhat awkward silence. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything to say, what with her not being very good at small talk. As such, she decided that, unless Jaelyn had anything she wanted to say, now would be a good time to excuse herself. "Anyway...I should probably get home soon. But thank you though...I actually feel a little better about this whole thing." Although she didn't want to admit it, she was kind of looking forward to spending time with her.

But, for now, she'd grab her remaining sandwich, having actually forgotten that it was there, and gave a small, polite bow to Jaelyn before leaving. All the while, her heart was pounding. This...was kinda bad. If things continued at the rate they were going, Setsuna might actually start liking this person, and that was the one thing she was trying to avoid right now. It was too late to do anything about them exploring and battling Shadows together, but now she was a little worried. For now, all Setsuna could do was hope she was just over-thinking things.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

She'd actually managed to help someone with something, and it didn't even involve violence. Well, it didn't involve violence yet. There would still be the whole 'fighting shadows' thing eventually, but for the moment all Jaelyn had done was answer a few questions and make a girl feel better. Was that a step up? It certainly wasn't business as usual, and Jaelyn was also feeling a little better from it, but she still couldn't know for sure if she was making any kind of progress yet. Trusting people was dangerous. Trusting herself, most of all.

As Setsuna thanked her and stood up to leave, Jaelyn called out to stop her. "Wait, before you go," she said, hastily writing down her room phone number on a napkin. "For whenever you want to do this," Jaelyn said, holding it out for Setsuna to take. "It's not a cell phone number, so I can't promise I'll be around to answer, but if I am around I'll be sure to." That was two girls now she'd given her number two. Two more people in the last couple weeks than she had in the whole time since moving to Mosaic.

[Setsuna Hanamori]

Setsuna blinked as Jaelyn suddenly called out to her. She felt a slight chill go down her spine as she found herself wandering what else she wanted. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around her. It was just...she kinda wanted to be home now. Chalk it up to that unexplainable feeling of uneasiness. Either way, when Jaelyn revealed that all she wanted to do was give Setsuna her phone number, she let out a soft sigh. Of course, this just made her feel awkward in a different way.

Since coming to Mosaic city, she had never bothered to get anyone's phone number. Even on the rare occasion that someone actually asked for it, she just lied and said she didn't have one. In all honesty, she barely even used her phone at all, mostly just to call home whenever something comes up while she's out. But now, here was someone giving her their number. Someone she barely just met, no less. And it made sense. Since she had promised to take her out to explore the strange world beyond the border, she'd need a way to contact her.

However, she was afraid. Suppose Jaelyn wanted to call for a different reason. Would this make them friends? Would they end up becoming too close? The idea terrified her, as she didn't want to experience the bitter feeling of betrayal she once felt before. Already, she was finding herself interested in this person, despite having just barely met her. There was just something about her...she didn't know what, but it both intrigued her and intimidated her at the same time. She wanted to know more about her...but she didn't want to get close to her.

But, in the end, she couldn't refuse. So she forced a smile and accepted it. It wasn't because it was Jaelyn. It was because there was a strong chance she might become attached to this person. It was exactly the opposite of what she was trying to. Still, she did her best to hide her feelings. The least she wanted was to seem as if she didn't like Jaelyn's company, or the idea of spending time with them...which, granted, she didn't, but not for the reasons one would most likely assume. "Thank you...and, if I do end up calling at a bad time, I apologize in advance..." And, trusting that there was nothing else, she was off.