Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

Brigit
"Great," Brigit replied to the woman as she rolled over to her side and pushed herself off the floor. As she got back on her feet, she could hear a loud raucous just outside the shop. There was the unmistakable sound of someone casting hewn. Brigit's eyes widened.

"What in the name of Camineet is going on out there?" she gave the pink-haired girl a quick glance and then reached for the shop's door. She opened it just in time to see Jakob collapse in the street and an owl land on top of him.

A little further down the street were three unconscious men, two of them looked like they had gone through a category 4 hurricane. She realized Jakob had taken on the three men by himself. He did all this to rescue an owl? she wondered.

Brigit and Bo
She nodded for the other woman to follow her as she sprinted over to Jakob. The owl looked up at her and suddenly extended his wings defensively.

"Don't get too close!" Bo warned.

Brigit momentarily ignored the weirdness of a talking animal and replied, "I'm not going to hurt you; I'm here to help Jakob."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Bo reassured her. "If you'll stand back, I can take care of him!" Bo began to shake violently, surrounding himself with a golden aura. The aura grew until it had engulfed Jakob.

That's... what is that? That's not a technique. Is it magic? Brigit wondered.

Jakob's eyes fluttered open.

"This has been the weirdest day I've had in a long time," Brigit muttered to herself as she grabbed a cigarette, not caring about the city's ban. A half-dozen of Neo Paseo's guards came running towards the group, but Brigit redirected them.

"Over there!" she pointed at the three pirates. "They're carrying illegal weapons and stole Esper property!" She made up the part about the weapons--though it was probably true--but she had noticed the owl's silver Esper tag, indicating the bird was not theirs, nor a Motavian animal. She lit the cigarette with a small amount of foi and took a long drag.

"I just wanted to listen to some music," she sighed, releasing a cloud of smoke into the air.

Jakob felt an unfamiliar warmth. It was relaxing and yet it had the tingly sensation of magic. Magic, he thought. I'm one of the few in all of Motavia who could probably even do it. Most people don't even know it exists. Great. Why the hell did I even use it?

Jakob opened his eyes, staring at his shop. He felt something on his back. He slowly strained his neck so he could see what was lying on his back. The owl stood there, it's wings in a defensive pose. "Mind getting off me?" Jakob found himself saying as he sat up slowly. A guard came running towards him.

"Mr.Daze, are you alright?" The young guard said. "Dammit Jimmy, how many times do I have to say to call me Jakob, hmm? Anyway, I hope you don't mind, but I had to do your job yet again. How many times do I have to tell the NPG to do their job? It makes me wonder if I shouldn't just join the Guard just to straighten your lot up." Jimmy looked down. "Stop sulking Jimmy. I've almost completed it."

"Have you Jakob? You mean-" Jimmy began to say excitedly as his face brightened up. "Yup, the communication devices I promised I'd try and make. I just got the main module today for the base which will help extend the headset devices for up to an extra- I mean, well," JAkob gave a small laugh as he found himself getting caught up in the excitement of electronics again. Jimmy smiled until it was wiped off his face as he pointed at Jakob's nose, "You're bleeding."

Jakob felt at his nose and felt something warm, his nose was indeed bleeding. "Don't worry, it always happens when I use ma-" Jakob coughed, "That skill."

Bo
"Oh, thank you, Mister! Thank you!" Bo excitedly thanked Jakob. "I am forever in your debt! From this day forward you are my new master!" He bowed before Jakob in an overly dramatic fashion. "Master, I am Bo, short for Bubo, a third-class Esper skytiara, here to serve you." He looked up from his his bow and saw Jakob's bloody nose.

"Oh, no!" Bo started flailing in distress. "I thought I cured you! Let me cure you again, Master. I must heal you!"

Jakob just waved his hand and shook his head as Jimmy looked shocked at a talking owl. "Mind giving us a minute Jimmy?" Jakob said as Jimmy nodded dumbly and walked away. A quick glance around showed that nobody would be around within earshot for what he was about to say.

"Bo right? Anyways, don't worry about it, this always happens when I use that which only Espers should use. Though of course you should know all about it since you used magic as well," Jakob said softly as he looked at the sky, "You know, I accidentally stumbled upon a tomb containing magic about a decade ago, after the meteorite wiped out Mile and nearby farms. That's why I can do what I can, even though I don't have proper training. Only reason why I know about Espers is because of the first page. What am I saying though huh?" Jakob let out a small laugh.

"But enough about me. There's something I don't get about you. As much as I think a talking owl is pretty sweet, it isn't natural. But we can talk about that later."

OOC: Brigit can be a pretty blunt person, not to mention she uses techniques in manners they weren't really intended for. She doesn't have a lot of respect for techniques. More on that in the future.
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Brigit
As Algo's last rays were dipping below the horizon, Brigit knew it was too late to set up a tent outside the city. Looks like I'll have to rent a room tonight. I hate spending cash on rooms, she grumbled to herself. She looked in Jakob's direction, who was having a private conversation with the... owl. She took another drag of her cigarette, flicked it into the air and instantly disintegrated it with a crackle of tsu.

"Listen, I don't mean to break up your chat with Hootie, there, Jakob, but we're running out of daylight," she called down the street to Jakob. "I was trying to tell you earlier that I'm going to the library in the morning to check their archive... if they have one. I thought maybe you might want to come so we could find out more about the, um, "message" you discovered." She looked down sheepishly and kicked the dirt with her boot. "You know, if you want to, that is. No pressure or anything."

What am I saying? I don't hang out with people!

"I guess I gotta head to the inn. Would anyone mind showing me where it is?" she looked around at all the random acquaintances she had just met. "And, um, anyone want to split the cost of a room?"

Shut up! You don't hang out with people, Brigit!

Bo
Bo listened to Jakob's exciting tale of his discovery, nodding along with great interest. Bo leaned into Jakob and whispered, "Don't worry, Master. Your secret is safe with me," he winked a strange owl wink at Jakob.

(Sorry I haven't posted- it's been that kind of week.)

"Oooh! Oooh!" Shalelu started waving her hand frantically. "I know where it is! I know where the inn is! Four Leaves Inn! That's halfway down Avenue d'Argent, and that's..." She started counting on her fingers, then drew a map in the air. "Carry the upsilon... heeey! Three blocks that way-"

She pointed down the street, past Jakob and the talking owl. "Three that way, hang a left, and another half a block. I'm goin' that way because I need a place to stay, too!" Then she sweatdropped. "Of course, I, uh... I might need to break into my emergency Meseta, because the Guild didn't pay me yet," Shalelu sighed. "But no biggie! C'mon, ma'am!"

Jakob looked at his new companion. He never did like animals that much, but he thought that perhaps one that talked was alright. He was against the whole "Master" title but kept that to himself. Brigit than butted in before he could say anything else and then he considered what she said.

Jakob thought a moment as he looked towards Shalelu who seemed to to have appeared from nowhere. He was going to say something about that fact but decided against it. "Well you know, if you prefer better quality while being slightly cheaper, and don't mind walking a few extra blocks, I could point in the direction of the best inn in Neo Paseo. I'm actually heading that way anyway because I live in a room there, though I'm not exactly sure the owner believes that."

Bo
"Well, Master," Bo said to Jakob as they neared the inn, "We owls don't really sleep that much, so now's my time to look for food. But I'll be back in the morning, I promise!" Bo took off towards a dark alley, where he was sure he could find a mouse or two. If there were mice on Motavia...

Brigit
On the way to the inn Brigit finally learned the name of the pink-haired woman she "bumped" into in Jakob's shop, Shalelu, and a learned a bit about her journey to Neo Paseo. Shalelu seemed somewhat concerned about money, and by the time they were climbing the stairs to their respective inn rooms, Brigit's conscience got the better of her and she quietly slipped Shalelu 300 meseta while Jakob was chatting with the innkeeper and her friend. It wasn't much, but thought it would buy some food and lodging for her travels.

"I think you might need this," Brigit whispered to Shalelu. "Don't worry; I made a good sum during my last repair job in Krup. No need to pay it back."

"Oh, thanks!" Shalelu said as she pocketed the money. "This should help keep me afloat for a few days until I get back to the Guild, so I can get the real pay. Yay Meseta!"