Sight of Truth [Open]

[hattersgonnahat]

Who: Puella and ???
What: The mask Puella obtained from the Subcon Forest is now fully restored and enchanted. Why not go looking for mysteries with it? (Because it's a magical school necessity)
When: First week or so of Spring Quarter
Where: Campus
Warnings: Invasion of privacy? With a dash of ~ADVENTURE~


[If there was one thing Puella was looking forward to upon returning back to Daybreak, it was to try out the new 'toy' she had gained. After all, her home had only a small amount of weird phenomenons to test the mask on, and huge magic school was bounds to have hundreds of little secrets waiting to be uncovered. It was going to be just like a fun scavenger hunt. Or...something.]

[So, it wouldn't be hard at all to notice a little girl in a fox mask with eerie green eyes wandering the halls, and even into classes until a teacher finally demanded her to put in away. And while yes, it was not the easiest to see out of when everything looked like a shade of green. But if Puella found anything that looked particularly interesting, the eyes could cast a greenish light outward, one that would have unusual effects to the otherworldly. Those that were supposed to be unseen by humans would be as clear as day...well, as clear as they could under a sort of UV light. It still had some limitations.]

[Puella was determined to find at least one ghost. At least. A place like this had to haunted and possibly only a few people knew about it. Either she was going to be sorely disappointed or find out there's far more stranger things than that.]



((The Dweller mask will be able to see through any glamours your character might be wearing. Feel free to opt in or out if you want Puella to find out about it.))

Comments

[spelleton]

[ Ekkehardt is working again, as usual. He's a fixture of the infirmary, even with more children to look after, and is therefore easy to find.

Puella's footsteps are easy to recognise by now. They're distinctive. (It's a little trick that requires no magic, only the kind of hearing he has.) ]

Miss Tempus. [ He doesn't even look up, which means he doesn't see the mask. Even if he did, he wouldn't recognise it, or what it does. ] You're not coming to see me as a patient, I hope?

[hattersgonnahat]

[She not too sure how she feels about being noticed before even entering the door. However, Puella couldn't really contain the excitement for what she had to share either. ...That and an infirmary seemed like the most likely place to find what she's looking for.] Nope~!

I just wanted you sho--

[....]

[What the heck.]

[spelleton]

Ah, good. [ He looks up to see...an animal mask? With glowing green eyesockets...? ] You were busy on your visit home, I see.

...Is there something wrong?

[ He's acting like this is totally normal because...it is. Most things can't even pierce his glamour. It's made to withstand most magic and mundane detection, and it does a wonderful job of that.

But some magic is old and unexpected. ]

[hattersgonnahat]

[What was going on? Puella was thinking that maybe the mask was messing up somehow. This was not something it was supposed to be doing. Unless...]

[Well, if it was actually happening then she might still see the same thing if she does take it off, and she's a bit too afraid to do either right now. All she can do is take a step back.]

[spelleton]

[ He stares, puzzled. For a moment his face flickers into 'normalcy' even under the mask's sight, as he tries to adjust his own glamour, but it doesn't hold for long.

...Well, if she wants to talk about it, she will. Otherwise, he'll...just...keep doing what he's doing? ]

This is a strange prank. [ He turns back to his desk. ]

[hattersgonnahat]

[The glamour was able to power through the mask for awhile. Now she was even less sure what to believe. But as Ekkehardt turned back around she finally pulled the mask up. It still looks the same Ekkehardt she had always known.]

Who... [Puella backed further but this time into a cupboard, which is somewhat convenient because now she could 'totally pretend not to rummage for something useful', although was still going to come out empty handed. Despite being confused and shaken, she tried to hold some sharpness in her voice.]

[spelleton]

[ He glances at her with confusion, clearly puzzled by her odd behaviour. Luckily he's not reaching out to try and check if she's cursed or compelled, or it would probably make things even worse. ]

Just don't break anything or hurt yourself, [ he concludes, with a slight sigh. He doesn't keep anything very important in cupboards that can be easily opened by small children, anyway. ]

[hattersgonnahat]

[It's hard to tell if he was still just playing this charade or actually didn't know what she found out. And there was apparently nothing in the cupboard she could potentially to defend herself, so she quietly closed it again without looking.]

Where's Ekke?

[Finally, Puella asks.]

[spelleton]

[ ...He gives her an even more bemused look, and sort of...gestures to himself. ] I've been in the infirmary all day, if that's what you're asking...?

[ But he has a feeling that's not what she means. Call it a hunch. ]

[hattersgonnahat]

N-no, you did something to him. Ekke isn't dead!

[spelleton]

[ Oh. Well, with that said, it's easy to guess what that mask had shown her...

He sighs, quietly.

No theatrical reveal, like he's done before for others in the past. The glamour simply dissolves, revealing his true face.

He avoids showing he's dead for just this reason - to avoid having to explain it. But sometimes it happens anyway. What is there to say? ]

I've been dead for years, I'm afraid. It's just that the spells I use to disguise myself are very good.

[ There's a rueful tone in his voice. A mask worn by a child is able to pierce his glamour, of all things. It's not something he'd ever expected. ]

But it seems that the ones you've put on that mask are even better.

[hattersgonnahat]

[Still hesitant to believe him. And despite already seeing it once, Ekkehardt going to his skeletal form managed to get a bit of a reaction out of her. The mask hadn't been lying at all.]

[The mask was certainly more potent than most enchantments would be. Beyond what a child could possibly make on their own. It would have taken one of the best of the best to know the best kind of runes to use.] ...My mom came up with it.

[Puella was doing her best to stand her ground. Although, not the best choice of words if she actually wanted to be intimidating.]

[spelleton]

It has some of your power in it. [ Just a simple statement of fact, now that he's looking for it. He might not be able to do much with more general areas of magic, but he can certainly feel it, and separate it. ] Your mother's, yes. And something of its own.

[ Another little sigh. Not the way he wanted to bring this topic up (preferably, not at all). ]

So. Is there something you'd like to ask?

[hattersgonnahat]

--My own? [All she used was runes and some mist from an hourglass to fill them with. ...Some of Puella's own innate power most likely leaked in during the fusion, but that doesn't even seem fair when she couldn't even use that magic yet. ...Not fully anyway.]

[She was staring at the mask face to face, as though pouting at it long enough was going to make it give her magic back.] She only made the final design so I did the rest.

[She was also still pretty wary of skeleton Ekkehardt but she was slowly warming up to him. He seemed like he was telling the truth now.] ...Does it hurt?

[spelleton]

There are traces of it, yes. [ He's not focusing on it, and it's not his area of expertise, so he can't be certain. He can only say what he senses. ]

No. Being dead is painless. [ Strange? Yes, a little. But pain is a different thing entirely. ]

[hattersgonnahat]

[...The fact that he knows there's traces of it there means he knows what her magic is normally like and that is weird.] -? What does it look like? [Still an awkward thing to ask, but maybe she'll finally get some answers!]

... [Being dead being painless was...a sort of nice to know. Better than hurting for all eternity probably. Can't be sure if that might a lack of other senses though. She stepped a little closer now that it wasn't quite that scary anymore.] How long have you been like that?

[spelleton]

[ What does it look like? A good question. He focuses on the mask for a moment. ] ...Purple, mostly. Sparks...or perhaps they're stars. Other than that, not much.

[ It's about what he expected. Magic has a fingerprint, to his eyes, that suits its user.

How long? The answer is immediate, as if memorized. ]

Ah. Sixteen years.

[hattersgonnahat]

Stars? [A hopeful tone was in her voice. Stars are one of her favorite things so this is good news. Was her magic going to let her make stars? Oh please so.] I'm...gonna have star magic? I wanna see it now..!


[But, she also pouts.] ...That's a really long time to be dead. [Anything that's older than yourself counts as 'old']

[spelleton]

Is it, now? It's not much to me, but I suppose it's a matter of perspective. [ He's been dead longer than she's been alive, after all. ]

[ The comment about stars gets a small laugh, when it happens. ] I'm no magic tester, so I can't be certain. But it seems a safe bet.

Do you like stars, miss Tempus?

[hattersgonnahat]

[Maybe it would seem like nothing if you have been dead for that long.]

...I-I do! I like to watch them anyway... [Come to think of it, had she really shared that with anyone else? Héctor only knew because he kept letting her see it some nights.] They're pretty.