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Post by mugenginga on Feb 27, 2010 6:39:08 GMT -5
Atem turned away from Adachi as he said something. He didn't like the man, and he believed what Souji had said about him. The fact that Adachi had attempted to kill again (twice, he told himself, his hand over the pocket with the Ring) was proof that he hadn't changed. No... not true. He was protecting someone other than himself. Atem sped up and passed Lucius, who had stopped as Souji was telling him not to jump to conclusions.
Lucius watched their backs for a while. One of the two Persona users Izanami had taken a shine to was walking rather fast. He was almost too easy. Lucius made sure Atem and Souji were focused ahead before he turned towards Adachi. He gauged the two (well, three. He almost smirked at that) presences behind him to make sure they weren't observing him before he looked Adachi in the eyes.
His expression was darker than any of the group was seen. It was more than a bit dark. His eyes shifted from a smug cockiness to a far too mature for his apparent age. He walked past Adachi with the expression and paused for maybe half a second. The words sounded like they should have taken longer than the pause, but it hadn't been more than a second. The voice was far more mature and knowing than the body and in a volume only Adachi could hear.
"There are methods to obtain that Ring. Follow me after you are sure they are gone if I have your interest..."
And then the moment was gone. Lucius was a few steps away from Adachi. Nothing seemed odd now that the space between moments had passed. The only one who could have possibly sensed anything was the dormant of the two entities that used Souji's body. Even the god would have only caught the faintest of hints, and it would be impossible to pinpoint... if he caught anything at all.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 27, 2010 7:56:45 GMT -5
Adachi had continued scowling at Lucius the whole time he walked away. And then Lucius had looked toward him, and Adachi felt a chill go down his spine. There was something odd about his eyes now. They seemed too mature for his body. And his expression conveyed to Adachi a knowledge beyond that of a normal human. It reminded Adachi of when he'd met Ameno-Sagiri. Adachi called it a disco eyeball, but that hadn't been the form it had approached him in. The form it had approached him in had been different. It had almost reminded Adachi of that shrine maiden who was really a gas station attendant who was really Izanami.
He didn't break eye contact with Lucius until after the teen had started walking away. What had that been about? He'd said he knew other ways to get the Ring. Adachi hadn't been planning on giving up. He wanted to get the Ring as far away from Bakura as possible, and make it stay that far away.
He looked back toward Atem and Souji, and scowled. "I've got other stuff I need to go do today. Why don't you two run along somewhere?" He continued walking away, still rather quickly.
Souji scowled back at Adachi. "I thought all you had to do was try to put the Ring in the TV? Whatever. Go talk to your boss, though. Before you get into anymore trouble."
Adachi didn't acknowledge that he'd heard Souji.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 27, 2010 8:07:30 GMT -5
Atem watched Adachi go. His gaze turned to Souji, who just seemed to be annoyed by the man. Had he missed the shift in his stance. He continued walking until he was sure Adachi was out of earshot. He held out his arm to stop Souji from advancing and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.
"He seemed more anxious that before. I didn't see anything happen, but that was an odd switch to happen so quickly."
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Lucius had turned left at the first opportunity. It placed him in an alley. It was like any other city. Countless ways to get in to the maze of alleys, often only a few to get out. He leaned against the side of a brick building and crossed his arms. He'd wait five minutes, no longer. It was no skin off his nose if Adachi listened to the little voice inside of his head and didn't come. He smirked. Assuming the man even had that little voice. Then again, he had been protecting someone named Bakura by what he and the Egyptian teenager had said.
After all, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. His smirk was anything but what a teenager would wear as that thought crossed his mind. He lifed up a hand and looked at his fingernails. No need to go all out with revealing things just yet, but he could play a little game of mindscrew without too much risk...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 27, 2010 15:12:17 GMT -5
Souji nodded. Actually, he had noticed something was up. He had chosen not to comment on it due to how odd everything was right now. Especially Lucius. That guy bothered Souji a lot, and it wasn't just because he seemed to know a tad too much.
"I think Lucius said something to him before he left," Souji said. "Dunno what; I didn't catch what it was."
Hmph.
...? What is it, Izanagi? Souji hadn't honestly been expecting any response from Izanagi. The god had been rather quiet.
I just barely sensed something off about that boy when he passed by Adachi. It was only for a second, but the mere fact that it was there is something to be concerned with, Izanagi grumbled.
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After a few minutes, Adachi walked back into the maze of alleys and over to Lucius. He was still scowling, but at the same time, he still seemed anxious.
"Hey, you said you could help me, right?" Adachi asked.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 27, 2010 15:20:57 GMT -5
Is he easily upset...? He seemed disturbed, Souji-kun," Atem paused, a thought occurring, "Did Izanagi pick up on anything there?"
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Lucius looked up as Adachi walked into the alley. His expression was normal for a few moments as he glanced past Adachi. Then it went straight back into creepy territory. That self assured smirk and eyes more mature than any human alive should have. In that regard, they even managed to just outdo Cain. He straightened up and took a step foward.
"That artifact is demonic. Maybe not the spirit inside, but the Ring itself is. I have... 'experience' with that kind of thing, you could say," Lucius grinned and it rivaled Adachi's own "Creepdachi" expressions.
While the issue with the spirit could have been inferred by the conversation, maybe even the fact that it was an artifact, the rest could not. Demonic was the word Lucius had picked, and very much on purpose. He'd also mentioned experience with implied quotes. He'd considered saying more, but he was the sort that enjoyed drawing things out. So he'd let Adachi react before moving on.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 27, 2010 15:40:02 GMT -5
Souji took a moment to answer Atem. "Yeah, he did. But he didn't catch exactly what it was, just that it was there."
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Adachi still didn't like the expression that had crossed Lucius' face in the very least. Reminded Adachi a fair bit too much of not just Ameno-Sagiri, but himself during some of his darker moments. That look of uncanny maturity was still there, as was that smirk. Adachi shivered a bit.
"You have experience? With demons? How the hell did you know all that anyway?" Adachi asked. The part with the spirit being inside of it could have been inferred with the previous expression, but the rest of everything, not so much. Then again, Adachi was getting his own suspicions about things now.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 27, 2010 16:39:07 GMT -5
"You still need to make that report to the police station, Souji-kun. Do you want me to look into it?" Atem stated.
Izanagi had caught something. Even if the god didn't know what it was, it was reason to be concerned. Coupled with the fact that Lucius had been playing with Souji and the shift in Adachi's attitude, it was more than a reason to be concerned. Atem had stopped and was looking where Adachi had gone. He'd already turned off the main path it seemed.
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Lucius gave an exaggerated shrug. He noted how tense Adachi was getting. Well, if the man ran off it wouldn't benefit anyone. He took a step back and showed lifted his palms to either side. It was kind of a relaxed version of sticking his hands in the air.
"I really can't see how any of that is important. Was I mistaken in thinking you wanted to get rid of that artifact? No one's stopping you from walking out of here if that's the case," he chuckled, "Although I doubt another such opportunity will come up for you..."
Another issue that had arisen. Before, Lucius had been speaking in flawless Japanese despite his apparent ethnicity, but he'd had a slight country dialect. Now the "teenager" had no such dialect. His voice carried more authority to it as well, and was a bit more mature. He looked Adachi in the eyes. He'd move on with his offer after this if Adachi didn't get scared and run off.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 27, 2010 22:29:17 GMT -5
"Yeah, that would be great," Souji said. "Be careful. We don't know what that Lucius guy can do. I still think it's possible he attacked Teddie."
He started walking toward the police station. Hopefully Takahashi didn't freak on him or anything. Then again, Takahashi knew he didn't like Adachi. It was possible he'd understand that they both had some pretty huge beefs with the man, and that Souji wouldn't be trying to at least slightly defend Adachi (as Souji didn't quite want Adachi to get arrested yet, not until after the deal with Bakura was sorted out. Damn Bakura and his stupid attachment to Adachi, or whatever remained of it after Adachi had told Bakura the whole story) unless something major was going on.
Souji, your internal monologing is hard to follow, Izanagi stated. I got lost halfway through that.
I didn't say you had to listen, Souji grumbled.
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Adachi clenched his fists as Lucius spoke. The man still bothered him, especially with the change in mannerisms. What the hell was going on here? But he had said he would do anything to finally get rid of that stupid piece of shit known as the Ring for good. And if this guy could help him, that was great.
"I do want to get rid of that damn Ring. If you can help me get rid of it, then I'll do anything I have to," Adachi said. The worst part about Lucius' shift in expression to Adachi was the man's eyes. Something about them seemed off, and it wasn't just the dual colors, though blue and red weren't what one called normal eye colors. Adachi couldn't tell exactly what it was about them that was bothering him though.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 27, 2010 23:15:50 GMT -5
Atem nodded. He made sure Souji was on his way and then began trotting in the direction Adachi had gone. The man couldn't have gotten far, they would have heard him running. So he was probably in the first place one could duck out of site. It was to the Egyptian teenager's disadvantage for once that he wore tight pants. Had he not, he might have noticed the slightest bit of (attempted) movement by the prongs of the Ring...
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Lucius chuckled as Adachi spoke. Anything. Mortals never understood the extent of those words, did they? The chuckle was as dark as his mannerism were tipping towards. It was more adult, and just like the expression his eyes carried seemed far beyond his apparent teenage years. He opened his mouth to say something more when he stopped and turned towards the opening of the alley. In an instant the darkness that had seemed to be building up around the teen was gone and he once again seemed like a normal kid. A punk, but normal nonetheless.
"I thought I told you to make sure you weren't followed," Lucius rolled his eyes.
He stuck his hand in both pockets, keeping an eye on the area past where Adachi was standing. That artifact had reacted with the energy he had been slowly building up. While he knew it was demonic and housed a soul, it would appear there were still things he didn't know about it. He scribbled down some kanji using the pen and notepad he had pulled out of his pockets. He folded up the plain black spiral pad and tossed it towards Adachi.
"Meet me there at that time, we can discuss the details then."
Lucius had given no warning he was about to throw the pad. As such Adachi would be fumbling to catch it. In that moment of distraction, Lucius turned around. When Adachi looked up, the teenager would be gone. The oddest part was that the alley they were in went straight back for at least twenty feet. There was no way Lucius could have left... unless he'd vanished. Well, in a less fanciful imagining it was possible he'd ducked behind some of the obstacles as well.
Atem reached the alley and stopped when he saw Adachi. He didn't see anyone else there. He closed his mouth and focused on not making noise. He wasn't as good at it as Anpu was for obvious reasons, but if he could observe for even a few seconds without Adachi knowing he was there...
Once Adachi opened the note pad, the message would read as this:
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 0:38:54 GMT -5
Adachi shuddered at Lucius's chuckle. Even that sounded disturbing. Who was this kid in front of him? He definitely didn't seem human. Even considering this was the Island, this seemed a bit much for Adachi. It hadn't been until Lucius suddenly dropped whatever it was that he had been showing around Adachi that he broke eye contact with Lucius. Even the air didn't seem to be as heavy with some sort of energy now.
"I-I didn't think I had been!" Adachi stuttered out. He looked behind him to see whatever it was that Lucius had seen that indicated he was being followed, but he didn't see anyone. He almost missed the notebook, only realizing that it had been thrown just before it was about to hit him in the head, and attempted to grab it. Adachi fumbled to get a good grip on the notebook.
Once he finally had a solid grip on the item, he looked up, but Lucius was already gone. Adachi scratched his head. Where the hell had that been about? He opened the notebook and raised an eyebrow at the time in it. Twenty... five o'clock? Not midnight. After midnight? What the fuck? And at Club Lobazotah. Adachi had never really liked that place. Okay, so they had beer. But there were other bars in Void City.
Adachi suddenly slammed the notebook shut, remembering what Lucius had said, and wheeled around. "Who's there?!"
He hadn't expected to see the spiky-haired Egyptian kid. In retrospect, he probably should have, but at this moment, he hadn't expected that kid to be the one to follow him. He scowled. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 0:44:59 GMT -5
Atem said nothing for a few moments. Adachi really was flustered now. Atem leaned to the side and looked past the man. No one was there. He looked back at Adachi with a critical stare.
"Did that blond say anything to you, Adachi?"
Lucius had passed him. And once again, Atem couldn't shake the issue that Izanagi had sensed... something. And Adachi had seemed nervous. He seemed nervous now, too. He was holding a notebook Atem hadn't seen him with before. He didn't expect an answer, but Adachi was not unknown for slip ups. He'd managed to reveal his past to Bakura, after all...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 0:52:54 GMT -5
Adachi didn't lift his glare at Atem as he slipped the notebook into his jacket. The spiky-haired kid was suspicious about something, that much was clear. Probably had trailed him because of Lucius, especially considering what he'd asked him.
"Even if he had, you actually think I'd tell you?" Adachi asked. He started walking away from Atem. He had no intentions of getting into a conversation with Atem. And Atem couldn't follow him where he was going anyways. Right now he needed a drink, and dammit, he was gonna get one, to hell with the fact that it wasn't even noon yet.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 0:56:09 GMT -5
That confirmed it. He had. Atem narrowed his eyes at Adachi's retreating form. He glanced back towards where Souji had gone. The other teenager had either turned a corner or gotten absorbed by the crowd. Atem gave a quick look towards Adachi before turning towards where the Apartments were and heading in that direction. There was no need to force Adachi to tell him. Whatever Lucius had said and/or done, they could deal with it later if it effected them.
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