Percy sighed, rather heavily, as he walked home after school. There were strange customs in Japan, such as, you couldn't be seen with your uniform anywhere except home and the ways to and from school. Your bag had to be worn on a certain shoulder depending on which way you were going on that path. It was all too much! And with they day he had, Percival had had enough of Japanese customs, Japanese people, Japanese magic, and Japan period! He wanted to go home, but since that wasn't an option, he decided to go to his Japanese home. At the very least, Osaka had a nice park in the city, which he was passing at that moment. He sighed again, as he was once more reminded of home.
As Percy walked under one of the trees on the outside edge of Utsubo park there was a faint rustling of leaves. The next thing the young welsh boy knew a small figure was hurtling dangerously close to his shoulder, but mercifully didn't actually hit him.
There was a muffled "ummph" though as the cloaked figure did hit the sidewalk. As the boy's failed attacker rolled further away from him the hood it had been wearing slipped down revealing the dirt-stained face of a young child.
After rolling a bit more the kid managed to stop and get into a sitting position. Somehow she seemed to have prevented much more than a few scrapes and scuffs - and possibly had her hair ruffled a bit more, but with how dirty it had already been that seemed almost impossible. Remaining sitting, the kid just swiveled around and looked straight at Percy's face, a big smile on her face despite her plan having failed.
"Heya! Got any food?"
"No." said Percy, who continued to walk on by. Only giving the girl a passing a glance as he continued on. Living in Bangor, he learned to let the professionals handle any homeless individuals, or at the very least the non-profit organizations that managed him. Still, it was a rather heartless no, and likely brought on by the horrible day. He also wanted to get out of the uniform, because all it did was remind him of his troubles. Probably just some vagrant mage... The Occultus will pick them up eventually.
No matter how heartless the no from the stranger had been Riley just shrugged it off. Watching him walk by for a second she looked at the tree she had been in and then back at the boy. Nodding as she made up her mind she stood up and dusted her clothes off before following after Percy.
Afterall, she thought, anyone with a hat that spiffy has to be a fellow adventurer.
As they came up to a roadcrossing blocked by cars Riley stood directly next to the welsh boy. Deciding she might as have a little stretch and spark up some conversation the girl position herself in a handstand, slowly moving her right arm up so she was just on her left.
That done, she tried to figure out what would be a good discussion topic - since the food route had been closed. The young girl's eyes brightened as she hit upon exactly what should open up something interesting.
"Hey -" Riley's voice cut off momentarily as she almost lost her balance. "Hey, where'd you get your hat?"
Percy hadn't paid the girl any mind. In fact, he didn't even know she was still there until she had finally decided to speak up. He looked down at her surprised to see her, and then looked up at his hat. He sighed, seeing the little beggar child had decided to follow him. The boy looked at his pack, and then at her, and then pulled off his hat and looked at it.
"A wizard gave it to me." he said, giving an unbelievable response, in multiple ways.
Riley's eyes genuinely sparkled at this. The boy had a wizard's hat, the adventures it could bring! She sprung out of the handstand and rushed towards Percy to get a closer look.
But, quickly, her looked darkened and the girl took a step back, eyeing the beret out of the corner of her eyes. Despite the looks of the hat, and the fact that it was a wizard-given gift, the boy seemed to neither be of the adventerous spirit type, or even the happy type.
Riley's voice was almost glum as her mind took her to dark, cramped places. "Not cursed 's it?"
"Nope. Just a regular old hat." said Percy, dashing whatever hopes she may have had of it being magical, or whateve reservations of it being cursed. He looked down at her, a rather bored expression on his face. He didn't seem amused in the slightest by the conversation, not even by someone else who could speak english! Maybe if she had been a little older, and smelled a little better, and not looked like she hadn't taken a bath in a few days(weeks), it would've been better. But now, his usual tolerance and mature air had been blown away. "There something you want?"
So the hat is not cursed, but it is definitely magical, was what Riley gleened from Percy's statement of "just a regular old hat". Once again her mind soared off to better places and her mood immediately proved.
Jolted from her thoughts by his question, the girl stroked her chin in thought as she rocked back and forth on her feet. The boy had obviously forgotten he had already confirmed that he did in fact not have what she had wanted - which was still food - and therefore she must still be around simply because she wanted to.
Her thoughts finished just as the crosswalk cleared and the sign told the two of them it was safe to walk by. Riley folded her arms and looked up at Percy expectantly. "I was thinking we were just out for a walk my dear Watson!" Due her having no idea where they were going the girl once again stroked her chin in thought. "But, I also believe you'll have to be the leader for this one. I haven't had a destination in mind the whole way, but you've been walking with more than enough determination in your stride for two."
"At least you're educated for a bum." said Percy with a seething bite to his tone, before taking the crosswalk. He went across the road, and stopped at the other side, turning to see if she had followed him across. This girl was only thinning whatever politeness he had left.
This comment actually hurt a bit and the bright smile slipped from Riley's face. The little girl had always feared that despite her love for reading and her best attempts to keep herself constantly progressing in all subjects, the fact that she had never been to an actual school always worried her.
Still, even with a hurt look in her eyes, the small girl followed Percy across the street. As she reached the other side she began to shift around under cloak until she had brought her bag around front.
As if evidence was needed the little girl pulled one of the volumes on biology out of her bag - the cover was worn and had no words on it and the cloth covering the spine was faded, the two bands of silver at the top and bottom almost completely flaked away. Riley opened the book and read a few lines of the tight, small text and then snapped the book shut but kept it in her arms just in case it was needed.
Looking up defiantly at Percy she tried her best to speak confidently, but her words only came out in a mumble. "...plenty education. ...not a bum neither... when you ever seen a bum with such nice books..."
Percival had had his guns ready and loaded to tell the little girl off and to have her turn back to what ever hole she had crawled out of. Though, as soon as he got a glimpse of that hurt, defiant face, and that heavy book... Suddenly, he saw a little bit of himself in her. A victim of circumstance, though very different, but still the same. He looked down at the concrete sidewalk, and almost began to cry. How could have been so harsh to such a little girl? His mind was going to answer, 'but you had such a hard day!', but he knew that was no excuse. He bit his lip.
"I'm sorry." said Percival, bringing up a hand to wipe his eyes before they could get too wet. "I'm just... I'm..." He was trying to offer an excuse, but nothing seemed appropriate. It was an awkward half-minute of silence before his eyes lit up. "Say. You said you were hungry, right?"
As Percy all of a sudden began to act more like a normal person, Riley's normal and bright smile returned to her face. As he asked her if he was hungry, the little girl looked towards Percy - who honestly still looked pretty bad - then took a little glance at her stomach.
While she was currently worried about the fact that she hadn't eaten to what was slowly getting closer to a whole day, she was even more worried about the boy in front of her at the moment.
Tucking the book back into her bag, but keeping her possesions still in easy reach, Riley scratched the back of her head. "I'dunno Watson, you still don't look to good, I would rather see you home instead of going off for a snack." Stopping to nod - and ignore her belly again - the girl continued with more confidence than before. "Afterall, as my dad always said, "A bad day is a bad time to be without company, and a stranger makes rather bad company when your not feeling too good, so it would be best to go home, right?"
"You're right, I've had a terrible day." sighed Percy, glad that she was able to notice that, since no one else seemed able to. Still, the smile was a little infectious, and was nice to see on such a dreary day. The boy decided to adopt the young girl's theatrical measure in his own. "But... if you really don't want anything to eat..." He turned to walk off, "I can understand."
Just as he turned around, Riley stuck her very last Breakfast Bear, breakfast bar into her mouth. She had been keeping it as an emergency ration for if she had really not been able to find any food in the next day or two - and, well, it had also remained untouched due to it being one of the chocolate flavoured ones. While the girl had no problem with chocolate as a treat, it should never attempt to be a meal in of itself, as that was just wrong.
Catching up to Percy and standing in front of him she smiled even wider past the bar, her voice lisping due to half of it being full with food as she spoke. "Not sho fasht Watshon! Ahs you can shee I'm a bit of a hold out, sho this should lasht me a while yet. But, you don't seemed to have lishtened much! A bad day ish a bad time to be alone!" Reaching up and snapping the front half of the wiggling bar off from the part in her mouth, Riley chewed quickly and swallowed. As she spoke again she jabbed the broken bar towards Percy, her smile even wider now that her mouth was empty. "Therefore, you're stuck with me 'till we get you home and in better company Watson!"
Percy laughed a little bit at that, the little girl successfully pulling out a more joyous part of him with her performance. "Your one of the most active, starving, homless people I've ever met." He continued down the way leading her toward a less metropolitan part of Osaka, in towards the sub-urban areas where he lived, places where the houses had walls to keep people out and preserve the privacy of the folks inside. "It's Caxton, by the way." said Percival, "Like William Caxton."
Not exactly sure who William Caxton was, Riley added his name to the list of people she needed to buy books about. Gulping down the last of the chocolate bar, and grimacing a bit at the idea that she had just had chocolate as a whole meal, her smile was quickly replaced by the fact that she had been able to make the morose welsh boy laugh.
Looking over at Percy, and then at the houses around her for what was most likely the fourth time - this was a rather nice area of town - the girl spoke up again. "Active, homeless, and starving - with how good your observations are you've surely figured out what am I then my dear Caxton!" With a grin, the girl cartwheeled for a distance ahead of Percy and then did a little flip - which proved to be a bit too much and she ended up once again on her butt.
Shaking her head and laughing she looked back at Percy. "Despite that bad performance there, I'm an actor!"
"That would explain why you're poor." joked Percy dryly, but of course, actors didn't make much as it was, so it was almost a factual statement. "Still, I don't think I recall seeing a little girl acting out scenes from Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in the park this morning." He came up to one house, a place who's wall had a unique design on it, magical runes skittering across the trim of the wall. Their meaning would mean nothing to anyone, but a real mage. They were barrier runes, likely placed to make sure not even a crashing 747 could break through the wall.
"And here we are, home sweet home." the Welshboy pressed a keycode on the door's pad, and it unlocked. He opened his way into the walled front-yard to witness an alchemist's dream. There, splayed out in neat rows, was about about every ingredient an alchemist could ever want, all in the front yard. The front door opened, and out stepped a wavy, brown haired woman wearing a blouse and long khakis.
"Percival! You're home! How was your first day of--..." said Elizabeth Caxton, stopping when she took sight of the little dirt-trodden actor standing next to Percy. "...--school. Percy? Who's that?"
"Ah... well... Would you believe it just followed me home?" joked Percival lightly, gesturing forth for Riley to actually take the stage here and do something.
Riley waved widely and then turned it into a grand flourish and twirl of her cloak, which ended in a stately bow. When she stood straight again she smiled broadly as always.
"Good afternoon Madam!" Motioning stately with one arm to Percy behind her for explanation she continued. "Watson here and I just happened to meet up on his way home and he was looking rather morose, so I decided to acompany him until he could be turned over to your quite capable hands!"
Then sliding closer to Percy's Mother and lowering her voice, Riley added in a much more childish voice. "Plus, he's got such a spiffy hat I knew it would bring adventure with it."
"Oh, aren't you precious!" squealed Elizabeth as she practically surged forward and scooped up Riley's cheeks in her fingers and pinched them tightly. She looked up at Percy and smiled, "Watson, hm? Where did you happen to find this little star?"
"By the park, she tried to attack me, and then asked me for food right afterwards. Lept from the trees, I think." explained Percy, trying to recall that lightning moment, from which he was very weary of. Elizabeth only squealed further.
"Oh you're a precious little assassin, too!" went the mother, pinching Riley's cheeks again.
Riley tried to take the physical contact in stride, but on the second round of pinching she got a bit uncomfortable with it. Trying to find a polite way to disengage herself from the Caxton Mother the little girl made a small coughing sound.
"Not to put you off or anything Mrs. Caxton, but, ah - well, a bit of my grime seems to be coming off onto your hands. It might be best to not get anymore dirty than you have to - ?" Riley's statement trailed off into a question awkwardly, and she sincerely regretted put on such a show if this was reaction it was going to get.
"Oh, there's only one solution to that!" said Elizabeth with a strange twinkle in her eye, she turned back and called towards the house, "Allistar!" There were a few seconds inbetween that and a dashing, brown haired man bursting forth from the closed door way, almost as if he had slammed the door open.
"Yes, my love?" he exclaimed, as if calling from a stage!
"We're having a little homeless girl with us for dinner! What do you think, love?" asked Elizabeth.
"Absolutely wondrous! I'll set the table for four!." said Allistar, slamming the door shut. Elizabeth turned back to Riley with a grin. "Well now, since you're here for dinner, you're going to have to wash all that grime and dirty off your body. We can wash those clothes of yours while you bathe!" went Elizabeth in delight.
Percival put his face into his palm, as his eccentric parents began saying hello to people.
Bath, dinner, clothes washed? This was a stage that was very quickly out of Riley's control. When she looked back at Percy to see a that he had a helpless look on his face to partner hers the girl deflated a bit.
Nodding slightly to Elizabeth the girl tried to clutch her bag and her cloak at the same time. Her voice was mumbling again. "...don't wash these... 'cially not my cloak..." That would be particularly bad, Riley wasn't sure if she could keep the cloak around if both she and it had to go through a wash. And if it was gone when the wash was over... the girl knew that would bring up a set of rather pointed questions.
"Right, just leave whatever you don't want washed in one pile, and whatever you do want washed in another. I'll take care of it." waved the hand of Elizabeth as she couriered the girl inside, Percival in tow. The interior was slightly beguiling, but not by much. The family definitely lived in a well-decorated home, that was plenty spacious, but was easily apparent that there were few rooms as a result. Elizabeth pointed off towards a door by itself on one wall. It had 'LWC' in nicely burnt in letters on the room. "That's the Ladies W.C., c'mon now." she ushered her forth towards the door. There was a terrific smell of a beefy stew in the air, definitely nothing of an oriental variety, judging by the spices.
"Mother, you think you could just be a little less overbearing in this? You could at least ask if she wants to take a bath." said Percy, trying to defend Riley's case here.
"Now now! You know the rules of dinner! Dirty hands do not get to partake of clean food! So off off you go, into the tub!" said Elizabeth as she gently pushed Riley towards the door.
Seeing that Percy was worried, Riley turned her head a bit as she was pushed forward. Her voice was still quiet and a little unsteady from all that was going one. "I'm... I'm fine with it. I am dirty, and I do smell and -" And I've never had a mother. The little girl finished to herself.
As her eyes began to tear up a bit, Riley mumbled 'excuse me' and shut the door to the bathroom. She was extremely confused at the moment, and felt almost as if she was betraying her Father by accpeting the Caxton family's kindness.
All-in-all not sure how to proceed in the whole situation the little girl just stripped off her clothes and put her bag of books and her cloak off in one pile and everything that could be washed in another. Letting water start to fill the tub the girl climbed in and grabbed a bar of soap and simply watched the water level rise, her knees up against her chest.
Elizabeth hummed a merry tune as she scooped up the grimy clothes and began to take them to the washing machine. Percy left standing rather incredulously as the family went on about the their business after throwing a homeless girl into the tub.
"Mother, you think you could've been a little more polite?" asked Percy as he followed his mother to the washroom.
"Polite? I was plenty polite! Was I polite, Allistar?" asked Elizabeth as she passed him in the Kitchen, a big pot stewing a large broth of meats, vegetables, and utter magical deliciousness.
"Polite as a queen in a foreign court, love!" said Allistar as he stirred the stew.
"See? Your father thinks I was polite." said Elizabeth, somewhat childishly as she tossed all of Riley's dirty clothes into the washer.
"Father always agrees with you! And you always agree with him!" growled Percy, almost throwing his fists into the air.
"Oh, no we don't! We just agree after we've had our private time." said Elizabeth with an impish grin.
"Private time? When? I never see you two go off on your own at this time of day." said Percy, rather clueless to the true meaning. The two went back into the kitchen, to where his mother entered with a giggle, signaling her husband to turn around just in time for a peck on the lips.
"That's because we do it right before you get home! That's why you're not allowed in our room after school!" said Elizabeth, explaining in a now more adult tone.
"What? What in the world do you do during private time that makes it to why I can't go in you room after school?" asked Percy, completely clueless to this.
"Oh that's because we're boiling a stew!" said Allistar, jutting in from the kitchen while mother and son went into the living room to wait for Riley.
"A stew? Why would you be making a stew in the bedroom?" asked Percival, still completely clueless.
"Because it's fun, son! But your mother gets it all over the place." laughed Allistar, leaving their son even more confused for thinking he missed a joke.
"Now stop, Allistar!" giggled Elizabeth profusely, "I don't think he needs to hear any more about our cooking ventures!"
A bit later, Riley stepped out of the bath, her clothes hadn't finished washing yet, so the little girl reached into her bag and pulled out a long shirt and an extra pair of undergarments she hadn't worn yet, over that she threw her cloak.
Walking out of the bath her feet slapped wetly against the floor. Riley followed the smell of food and the sound of voices towards the kitchen. As she came to the doorway the girl peered around the corner.
Elizabeth and Percy's backs were to her, but Mr. Allistar had a clear view of her face. Riley gave a little wave and fully exposed herself, her cloak swishing around her legs.
"Ah! Hello there, little homeless girl!" said Allistar as if he was greeting his next-door neighboor. "Dinner and clothes aren't done yet, so you can sit in the living room for now." He picked up the ladle with succulent, beefy juices running down it's sides, dripping off the end of the dome into the delectable, steaming pot. He shook it in the direction of the living room.
Riley nodded and turned about to head the way that Mr. Caxton had directed. When she arrived in the living room the girl was stunned by how big it was. To be honest the whole house had been nothing but suprises to her.
Back home she and her father lived in their theatre, and while that might sound grand in just a sentence it really broke down into them only having three rooms. One was for the stage and the audience, and the other two for personal use.
Sitting on one of the couches, Riley found it to be a little high so she swung her legs back and forth and wondered how long it would be until dinner.
Percy eyed Riley as she made her way in, much cleaner than she had been when he had met her a while a go when she leapt at him from a tree. She seemed remotely more civil, and hopefully safe from Elizabeth as she forced herself to resist the urge to pinch her cute cheeks. The young boy tapped his fit and decided to ask the first question.
"What's your name?" said Percy, in a rather matter-of-fact fashion.
Riley looked up from watching her legs swing back and forth, she hadn't really noticed that Percy and Elizabeth had also been in the room despite having watched them leave the kitchen. The question was an easy one for her though, she had always been proud of her name.
"Riley Erin Alstad!" The small girl replied cheerfully.
"Alstad? Now... why does that name sound familiar?" said Elizabeth bringing a finger to her lips. "Has a very nostalgic ring to it. Hon! What do you think?"
"Of what?" asked Allistar as he stuck his head in for just a moment, "Dinner's almost ready, by the way."
"Of Riley's name?" informed Elizabeth, with a tilt to her head. Percy had a strange feeling that this was going to go somewhere.
"Who's Riley?" queired Allistar, with a questioning look on his face. Though, before any of them had a chance to respond, "Ah! Stew's done! I need to get that!" declared the current cook of the house, "Everyone, into the dining room!"
"Argh." groaned Percy, denied this strange coincidence of knowledge. He looked at Riley, and motioned her to follow as he slid off his chair, and went along towards the dining room. The room itself was vibrant, earthy green, with paintings hanging from the walls and beautiful view of the backyard as an added benefit.
Riley didn't notice the paitings or the backyard - although she did find the colour of the wall quite nice - her full attention was on the food that had been prepared. It was a far step up from the breakfast bars she had been surviving off of.
Before she could start drooling the young girl remembered her manners and positioned herself behind Allistar's chair and pulled it out for the man. A look of confusion entered the girl's face as she realized she couldn't attend to both Allistar's and Elizabeth's chairs without leaving one unattended.
"Oh! Such manners!" complimented Elizabeth, bringing a hand to her mouth. She stood next to her chair and waited patiently. Though, Percy came from the side and tended to her himself, allowing her to sit. "Ah, thank you Percykins!" she pecked her son on the cheek, who tried to rub off the light lipstick immediately afterwards.
In came Allistar, holding a large tray with four bowls of delicious beef stew on it, he came to each seat, setting down each bowl before rolling the tray back into the kitchen. He looked down at Riley, who was holding his chair in preparation.
"Ah! Thank you, Mehser!" Allistar bowed to Riley before taking the proffered seat.
Nodding to Allistar, Riley waited until he had fullu seated himself before she went to her own seat and scrambled into it. Looking into the steaming stew for a few seconds Riley's beaming face turned to look back and forth between Mr. and Mrs. Caxton before finally alighting on the stew again.
"Thank you!" The girl stated sincerely.
Eyeing her spoon hungrily Riley contented herself to quietly blowing at the steam rising from the bowl while she wondered if Watson (who had apparently been named Percy by his parents) and his family had any customs of prayer of blessing before they could eat.
"Ah, let's see. There's supposed to be something you say right before a meal here in Japan..." mentioned Allistar, thinking for a moment, as he eyed his delicious dinner. He simply traded glances with Elizabeth, while Percy just shook his head and clapped his hands together.
"Itadakimasu." blessed the boy, before grabbing his spoon and digging in.
"Ah! Spot on, Percy!" said Allistar, pointing at his son, he and Elizabeth clapped their hands together and said it unison, before going into the stew.
Clapping her own hands for effect but choosing to skip trying to pronounce the foreign word Riley instead bowed her head and mouthed a prayer for the health of her father before digging into her own food for relish.
After a few moments of quiet eating though, the girl was uncomfortable with the silence and looked up from the bowl while her spoon was still halfway to her mouth.
"How was everyone's day?" Riley asked innocently.
"Ah! Thank you for reminding me!" said Allistar aloud after getting his first spoonful in. He turned his attention over to Percy. "Son, I got a call from the nurse today. She told me you dropped someone down a flight of stairs." Percy spit out his soup back into his bowl in shook at that. "I take it that it's true?"
"Oh my, Percy! You're more of a rascal than your father was!" giggled Elizabeth as she went into her next spoonful of stew.
"There's a perfectly good explanation!" said Percy, holding up his hands, looking between the three of them. "It's just... I can't explain it... With... Ah..." He looked at Riley, rather strained, and then back at his parents, "You know... a nonmag around."
Hearing the term 'nonmag' with her as the target Riley was happy for a split second that her cover hadn't been blown by meeting the family. But only for a split second.
A bag materialized on Percy's head almost as soon as he finished talking. The girl had gone with her gut reaction and was trusting the family not to overract to the fact that she could do magic. From out the bag a small black and brown tabby cat climbed onto the boy's head and did a pose that wouldn't be odd on a mountain climber who had just reached his opponents peak.
Then just us quickly as he had climbed out of the bag the cat back-flipped onto the table and did an energetic jig - tapping its feet to and fro - before freezing in an explosive stance, its tongue sticking out at Percy and a copy of his beret in its right paw.
On her side of the table, Riley was grinning, another spoonful of stew almost to her mouth.
Percy nearly fell out of his chair at sensation of something appearing on his head. As the cat flipped off the top of his head and onto the the table, he fell backward in his chair, nearly hitting his head when he fell. He stared in shock up at the cat, in total disbelief of it's existence. He hadn't had much experience with illusion magic, so it was hard for him to comprehend that the Cat 'wasn't' real or that it wasn't actually holding his hat. The boy surged up to reach for it, before Allistar made a wave of his hand, causing a blue surge to overtake the cat and fade the illusion.
"Now now, Percival. That there is an illusion." said Allistar with a chuckle on his lips. Elizabeth leaned forward, and her fist glowed. Shortly following, a glowing hand appeared over Riley's head and tapped her.
"No magic at the dinner table." Elizabeth said, in a cuddly tone.
"Though, that was an impressive show!" said Allistar, leaning over the table and sticking another spoonful in his mouth, "Tell me, what school of magic are you? Illusionist? Mesmer? Trickster?"
Relieved that everyone had accepted her little display of magic positively, besides Percy who still might be in a bit of shock, Riley shook her head at all the 'schools' of magic that Allistar named as she put her spoon back into her bowl and let go of it.
"As a first Sir, I have to tell you I've never been to a school a single day in my life - magical or otherwise." The little girl responded in a cautionary voice, a lot of adults balked at that kind of statement so she hoped they would take it as easily as they had accepted that she could use magic. "The type of magic I use is named Stagecraft though!"
Giving a pilot nod to both Mr. and Mrs. Caxton Riley and holding up one finger to motion that she needed a second crawled off her chair and went over to Percy's side of the table and picked up the chair he ahd abandoned when he had surged up towards the illusion. After dusting it off for him the girl quickly made her way back to her seat and sat down.
Percy blinked as Riley came over to dust off his chair. He nodded a mention of thanks and sat back down in the chair, still trying to figure out what exactly happened.
"Stagecraft?" went Allistar, tilting his head to the side, before he looked at Elizabeth, who seemed to have gained a moment of a clarity.
"Ah! Alstad!" said Elizabeth aloud.
"What about him?" asked Allistar, arching a brow. Percy's eyes lit up as he seemed to hear the name again and what their parents may have known abou tit.
"That's her last name. She's Riley Erin Alstad!" the mother clarified for her husband. Allistar turned his head back at Riley, blinking a few times before eying Riley closely. He seemed to be inspecting her closely, searching for details.
"You're... You're Joseph's little girl, aren't you?" said Allistar, with a genuine look of surprise. Percy's head was simply going back and forth.
Riley blinked in surprise before smiling, an extremely happy look on her face. "Yes Sir, Joseph Alstad's my dad!" She gulped down a quick spoonful of stew as she nodded. "He's doing well Sir." Riley's speech had less of formal tone to it now that it seemed the Caxtons new her father.
"The whole world wondered where old Joe went. That flashy cad's name was on the tongue of every mage in the Occultus! Hah! I don't think anyone fought harder for the recognition of a non-traditional craft like he did." said Allistar, leaning on the table with an elbow to support his hand under his chin. He grinned at Riley as he seemed to reminence about what could've been the old days. "He was always a showy fellow. Always seem to have a fantastical way of spinning his words to people."
"Oh, and he was such a handsome devil, too! The Stagecraftsman always had an unnatural charm about him." said Elizabeth, also thinking back. She gave a less dreamy look at Allistar as she seemed to recall something. "Hon', didn't you head up his investigation?"
"That's right. When Joe dissappeared, they picked me to hunt him down and found out what happened to him." Allistar leaned over the table and gave Riley his attention. "I barely found a trace of him, and the investigation went cold, sadly. You wouldn't happen to know what happened to him, would you?"
Riley's smile waivered as her mind took her six years in the past.
She could still remember clearly the door to their house booming open and her father, Joseph Alstad strongest of all the Stagecraft mages and an expert at the style's form of combat, lurching through the doorway, his Mantle blackened with soot and seeming much more worn than it normally did.
When he had reached his daughter Joseph had fallen to his knees and grabbed her shoulders with bandage covered hands. As he had fallen his hood had tugged backwards revealing his burn covered and bald head. Her father had pulled her crying face into against his chest in a tight hug and in a dry, raspy voice whispered, 'Just in time... for one last look of you... my precious, precious little girl.'
As if he had been taxed of all his strength by that one last sentence her Father had collapsed and the only thing that had kept him alive was the healing magic he had bound to his body. It had been unable to save his eyes.
Not a week later, Joseph Alstad, finest of all Stagecraftsmen, had abandoned his magic and hidden the little theatre he had grown up in and moved him and his daughter to from the magical world.
Shaking her head and realizing that a full minute had passed since Allistar had asked his question, Riley rubbed her burning eyes and gave the ex-Inquisitor the explanation her father had given her.
"He had an accident and lost his sight." The little girl sniffed as the memories tried to surge forward again, "He said it was due to his own arrogance in his craft and so he decided to abandon his magic and hide what happened so he could still live peacefully."
Looking away from Allistar's eyes, Riley swished her spoon around in her bowl, hoping that no one would push anymore on the topic and they could talk about happier things.
"Ah, damn shame, that. He was a prime fellow." said Allistar, detecting the discomfort from her from where he was. The room followed into a short silence there, before Elizabeth perked up.
"Well, Percy, since we know Riley's a mage, you can tell us why you dropped a boy down a flight of stairs!" said Elizabeth, clapping her hands together cheerily. Her son took a defeated expression of disgust as he rebounded her accusation.
"I didn't actually do it! It was a lie! I told them I dropped him down the stairs to keep him from the truth." defended Percival, with an equally defensive face.
"The truth? You lied about dropping someone down a flight of stairs to hide the truth?" asked Allistar, rubbing his chin.
"Yes! There are more mages than just me at Nishi-ki! First, this one girl, who I am sure is a mage, set off the Fire Alarm with some kind of fire-focus! Then, some troublemaking idiot used a form of Raise Dead on the animals in the science lab! The boy that I 'dropped' down the stairs was at the Science Lab. Right now he thinks it's a hallucination brought on from Fromaldehyde. Dropping him downt he stairs was just to explaint he bruises. Honest!" said Percy quickly, slapping his hand in his palm to emphasize the pressure here.
"Ah, your very first magical cover-up! Good show, Percy! The Occultus would be proud!" said Allistar giving the boy a thumbs up. "It's a little sloppily done for professional work, but fantastic for someone at your level. Did you confront the mages?"
"No sir, I had no way of knowing if they were for real or not. One of them is a little full of herself, so I'm afraid of confronting her about it." said Percy with an observant tone.
"Even better, keeping the situational awareness, yes sir! You are an Inquisitor's son!" said Elizabeth, "Subtlety and situational control, oh yes! You take after your mother!" She got up and embraced the confused looking Percival.
"You're... not mad?" he asked, pressed in the cleavage of his mother's chest.
"How can we be mad? You turned a terrible incident into a beautiful cover-up, from the Occultus no less! You've made us proud!" said Allistar, beaming with that same pride. Percy's face went a little flush red, and suddenly everything that had gone wrong today felt like it had gone 'right'. He almost felt like crying as it was such a turn around. "You even found Riley here and brought her home like a good Occultus would do! We never leave our own out to the elements."
Riley coughed a bit at that and looked a bit embarrassed as she spoke up. "Ah... I'm not actually registered, Sir..." The girl mumbled her words, speaking quickly and her face only get redder as she finished speaking.
"Oh? Well gee, now that's a shame." said Allistar rubbing his chin. He sighed and put his hands in his lap. "I guess you'll have to vomit what you've eaten back into the bowl, and be on your own way, then!"
The girl's eyes widened as she clutched at the spoon she was biting down on protectively. I already ate my last bar when I met Wat - Percy.
The girl's mind raced and she thought back to one of the slim volumes she had in her bag, it hadn't made for very interesting reading - except for the parts about familiars - but her father had told her to familiarlize herself with it.
Talking around her spoon the girl's words held a frantic edge to them. "Ah... page forty-forty-three of the sixth edition Occultus Magica guid book -" Her face once again scrunched up in concentration and she closed her eyes and pulled out the spoon, still clutching it like a tailismen. " - article eighty... eighty-one; no mage is required to be registered, as long as they have a valid sponsor, until the age of... thirteen!" Riley let out a relieved sigh and smiled at Allistar. "I'm only eleven, I get to keep the stew!"
"Only eleven and out on your own?" said Elizabeth in shock, while Allistar seemed to laugh it up so heartily. Allistar slapped his hand on the table as he stowed his laughter for a moment.
"Dear Riley, I wasn't being serious! Besides, that rule only pertains to official sanctuaries. Here, in our home, you're a welcome guest." said Allistar holding his arms open wide in a welcoming fashion before bringing his back to an empty bowl, and picking it up. "Now, who wants seconds? I'm stuffed, personally." said Allistar, looking down at the rest of the people in the room.
"Oh I couldn't eat another bite!" said Elizabeth, now hugging Percival's facing tightly into her stomach, giving her boy oh-so-much love.
"I'mh rahther fuhll tooh." went Percy's muffled voice as he tried to seperate himself from his mother.
"What about you, Riley? Still hungry?" asked Allistar, grinning widely.
Holding up a finger with the one hand and picking up the bowl with the other Riley slurped down the rest of the stew. Letting out a second sigh of both satisfaction and relief that she wasn't getting turned into the Occultus - the guide book had a rather extensive and sometimes worrying vague section on punishments.
The girl shook her head, her hair ruflling itself with the movement, to say that she herself was also full. Then looking over to Mrs. Caxton she grinned and answered Elizabeth's earlier question.
"I'm on vacation ma'am! I was wondering what Japan was like and so far - despite them both being islands - it and Newfoundland are really different!"
"That so? Then why did Percy find you in the park?" asked Elizabeth, releasing Percy from the prison of family love. The young boy was gasping for air and went to helping his father with the dishes, if not to make a little distance between Elizabeth and himself.
Rubbing the back of her head and knowing what she was about to say wasn't going to get any approval Riley said it anyway. "I've been sleeping under some bushes - I was trying to be frugal."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed closely, giving a Riley a very discernign stare, one that would make one under that very uncomfortable. She walked around the table and sat down backwards in a chair next to her, resting her chin on the back of the seat.
"So. Where are you going after you leave tonight?" asked the mother, still eying Riley closely.
"Well...ah... the Park Percy found me in?" Riley said uncertainly.
"You certainly are not, young lady." said Elizabeth, half surprised and unsurprised at the answer she had received. "No friend of this family is going to be spending the night in a bush."
"Ah, ah... yes ma'am." Rilye muttered, entering unsure territory again.
"No! This won't do at all! Allistar!" said Elizabeth, and in burst Allistar, like he had done when Riley had first seen him.
"Yes my love?" asked Allistar.
"Riley will be staying with us for the duration of her vacation." said Elizabeth, sitting up straight and rigid, looking directly at Allistar, "Is this fine with you?"
"Fantastic! She'll fit right in!" said Allistar, grinning his pearly whites as wide as the sun, and perhaps just as bright. The man dissappeared back into the kitchen, and from there was an enormous BLAST of energy. Following that, Percy and Allistar walked right back into the room. "Dishes are done!"
"What's going on?" asked Percy, apparently absent from the conversation while he was helping his father clean up..
"We're letting Riley stay with us!" said Elizabeth, as she clapped her hands together. "She'll be like temporary daughter to us, and a temporary sister to you! One who's not even from the same country!"
"W-wait! Wait wait wait!" said Percy, holding his hands up in the air, stopping the unusual flow of atmospheric energy that his parents seem to toss around in these rapid-decision sessions. "I'm all for giving Riley a home, but where would she sleep? We only have two bedrooms, and you don't even let me in yours!"
Just as overwhelmed as Percy, Riley tapped her index fingers together. Thinking about the living room she was pretty sure it would make for a decent sleeping place - despite the lack of any comfy bushes to stab twigs into her side.
"If you have a spare blanket or two I can just take up one of the empty corners by the couch." The girl's voice was hesitant, Riley was pretty sure this idea wouldn't be suitable at all to Mrs. Caxton's sensibilities.
As expected, that sugggestion was not suitable at all to Mrs. Caxton's sensibilities.
"What? We're living in a comfortable house! With beds! I will have no daughter of a friend sleeping on the floor like the house pet!" said Elizabeth, throwing her hands up into the air, "Augh! It's like you suffer from a disease of humility! What you need is insensitivity! Percival! She'll sleep with you!"
And then, the room was silent.
"WHAT!?" cried Percy, his face aghast, and his eyes wide open. Sleeping? With a girl? In his room? Who's also underage? I've only been in Japan for a few days! This doesn't even happen to the people who've lived here all our lives! "B-...But!"
"No buts!" said Elizabeth abruptly, keeping her son from objecting. She looked sweetly at Riley, "Well, what do you think, Riley?"
Still not sure how to deal with the kindness Mrs. Caxton was thrusting upon her Riley turned to Percy, her fingers squirming back and forth nervously.
The confident girl from dinner seemed to have disappeared and Riley's voice came out small and embarrassed, a stark contrast to Percy's outrage. "If... if you don't mind a... ah... a bed would be nice. I-I haven't slept in one in awhile ev-ever since we moved I've just had a little pallet." At revealing this the girl's words sped up and became defensive. "It-it really is nice though, comfortable... b-but a bed would be nice for a change. It wouldn't be too ba-bad I don't snore or-or turn-about or anything. Still, I wouldn't want to-to force you or anything so it's ya-your choice Wa-Watson."
Riley had added the last bit to try and regain some of the casualness from before, but the stutter just ended up making it seem worse. Looking down at the ground the girl kicked her left foot back and forth at the ground.
"Hey now! I can't... I j--..." Percy found himself in a very debilitating position. Even if Riley was saying he could refuse, that was one of the things that made it impossible to refuse.
"C'mon boy! Turn her down, so you can have your soft, feathery bed. She'll be fine on that lovely smooth stone floor, nice, cold, and uncompromising as me! Ah ha ha ha!" laughed Aurus in his mind, taunting the boy from the Elementalia Magicus.
"Silence! I don't want to share my bed with anyone!" growled Percy inwardly to Aurus, making it seem like he was giving a great deal of thought while he argued it out with the gods in his mind.
"Percival, I know our burden is difficult. You've already sacrificed the sancitity of your mind to us. Even when we offered you freedom after the incident." spoke Zulan, pausing a moment before continuing. "But this little girl could use the same comfort as we do, and perhaps deserves it moreso."
Zulan's words carried credit, and Aurus' carried sting. Percy would've refused, simply because it was weird, and sharing a bed with a stranger like that just didn't seem right. Though, having two or three extra voices in your mind helped mature you in the right moments, when it was absolutely necessary. Percival sighed.
"How about we go look at the room?" said Percival, with a mild smile to Riley, "Might as well see what you're agreeing to, right?"
"O-okay, I'm sure it will be nice - b-but it would be great to see it." Taking a deep breath to calm herself Riley returned Percy's smile with a beaming grin of her own. "Thanks for being nice about it."
"Of course! It's not that a big a deal, really." lied Percy, holding up his hands as he walked off towards his room. When he turned around face front, he had to force another inward sigh. He was lying more and more lately, and scarily enough, getting fairly apt in his creativity.
"You two get to know eachother. Your mother and I are going to go warm up in our room." said Allister, grinning at his wife. "I hear it's supposed to be cold tonight."
"Oh my, I sure hope we don't freeze to death!" said Elizabeth in faux-fright.
"We'll bundle up." said Allistar, scooping the woman up, and running off with her to the bedroom. Percival sighed as he got to his door. Unlike the rest of the wooden doors in the house. His was made of solid stone, with finely cut engraving on it. It was in ancient Anglo-Saxon runes, spelling Percival.
"Please ignore how eccentric mother and father are. I don't even think they know what they're talking about sometimes." groand Percy as he turned the polished stone nob and pulled open the innappropriately light door.
As Riley walked in Percy's room, her thoughts on what Mr. and Mrs. Caxton had been talking about (and she had had some idea due to her familiarity with a broad range of plays), exited her mind as her eyes found the form of Percy's tightly packed bookshelf.
Carefully dropping her own bag with the books she had brought with her by the door the girl rushed over to the book case. She began to trace her finger along the spines of the bottom row, reading the titles. When her finger hit upon a volume with no name she almost pulled it from the shelf to open it up and see what it was about before she remembered she was in someone else's room.
Looking back to Percy, Riley's face turned crimson again. "I like books." Was all the girl said in way of explanation as she took a short and guilty second glance at the shelf before finally looking at the rest of the room. Taking in everything, especially the comfortable and large (to her) looking, Riley's voice came out in a mumble. "'s a very nice room."
One thing that could be noticed rather easily, was the heavily celtic and stony design of the place. It felt more like a well kept room for a dwarf, rather than that of a human being the walls appeared to be smoothed grantite, the floor consisteted of shiny marble tiles that seemed to sink into the floor when you stepped on them, even some of the furniture was pure, polished stone, with delicately carved oak furniture here and there. The bookshelf that Riley had taken interest was of Basalt, and smoothed to a paperlike finish. Though, this didn't mean the room was devoid of color either. It seemed Percy kept painting on his stony walls, full of rich color and life, with a few pictures of real people inbetween. One in particular had three people, himself, a brown-haired boy, and curly-haired blond girl, all wearing the same berets with the exception of their rank.
"Thank you, my father knows some Crafting Mystics here in Japan. This stonework was done for free, since it can be done so easily with magic." said Percy, sliding his feet across the floor, the sinking panels cusioning him as he went. "And feel free to look through all the books you want. It's mostly myths and Alchemy."
Looking from the books to the painting of the three people Riley shrugged and spun around, leaning her back against the book case to look at Percy.
"course most of the books are about alchemy, your an alchemist - well at first I had my doubts, you said a wizard had given you your hat so I wasn't sure if you had earned it or not -" Stopping to take in what she thought was surprise on Percy's face the girl grinned. "Those spiffy berets of yours end up in quite a few plays and a couple poems. I've even had practice making illusions of them before today when me and my dad put on one of the shows."
Looking about the room once more, Riley seemed to relax more and more the longer she was away from Elizabeth's overpowering personality. Still, the reason why she had been invited to the room in the first place brought up a bit of nervousness.
"You- Your sure you won't mind having me in here? I have my Mantle and despite being marble the floor is soft enough that I should be fine..."
"No, you're not sleeping on the floor." said Percy flatly, waving his hand. "One, my mother would kill me. Two, that wouldn't sit easy on my conscience. Your dad knows my dad, and apparently they were good friends. So I can't imagine us getting along any less well." He smiled as he climbed up on the bed, which was set along the wall with a window right next to the mattress. "Plus, it's not like you're gruesome hag. You're..." Wait, if one were to continue down this line, it would sound weird. The pause was awkward, especially with his suddenly confused face, but he managed the next word. "Cute. You'll be like the sister I never had! Except we'll be sharing a bed for the lack of two."
"Thanks Percy." Riley replied, taking the compliment for its actual value and not confusing it with any awkward, deeper meanings.
With a yawn the girl climbed onto the edge of the bed. Sitting crosslegged at the end for a few seconds the girl closed her eyes, concentrating. Almost as it was un-fading back into existance the ragged, grey cloak she had been wearing earlier appeared. Wrapping herself in the Phantom Mantle and using its hood as a pillow Riley curled up where she was at.
An even bigger yawn than the last one momentarily escaped from the little ball at the end of Percy's bed. The yawn was followed by a few mumbled words of, "Thanks" and "G'night".