[Action]

[cardinalrule]

WHO: Elliot and Hunter!
WHERE: Kaisou High School
WHEN: Shortly after this conversation Hunter has with Raine.
WHAT: Hunter does some investigation into very familiar people.
WARNINGS: None atm.


[After one very awkward conversation with a Coven Head who doesn't remember him at all Hunter gathers himself, then races to school with his coffee. Luckily, he had left the Zodiac apartments early, so it's still a bit before class starts and there aren't that many people around when he arrives. That's probably for the best, since he isn't sure how much sneaking around he's going to have to do.

Raine had told him to check out the music department's awards, and that's where he's starting. He suspects the reason is because their name is going to be on some of them, which doesn't help his theory that Raine's memories have been altered rather than being a whole other person, but he can't very well just ignore a suggestion from a Coven Head.

He heads into the building, letting Flapjack fly off to relax in one of the trees on the grounds for the rest of the day, and goes straight to the music room. When he gets there he peers inside, making sure it's empty before entering and making a beeline for the trophy case. He starts scanning for names, looking for anything familiar, completely fixated on his little mission.]

Comments

[fiddlestick]

[Well after a pretty awkward conversation on Libra, Elliot heads out of his office and into the music room to set up for his first period class. He was expecting it to be empty, like it usually is at this hour. So he's rather surprised to see Hunter. Hunter didn't even have music for first period- so what was he doing here? ]

Hunter? Looking for something?

[cardinalrule]

[Hunter visibly starts at the sound of Elliot's voice, instinctively turning and raising an arm at the same time. Of course, once his brain actually processes that it's only Elliot he relaxes.]

- Mr. Craig. [He looks a bit sheepish, then pulls off his backpack and opens it up so he can start digging around in it.]

Someone I know from the Boiling Isles is here, but they don't remember anything about the demon realm. I'm positive some kind of magic has altered their memories and appearance, but they weren't convinced, and - they told me to look at the awards. [He huffs a little.] I suppose to try and prove a point.

[fiddlestick]

[Well that's surprising]

What, really? [Someone else from the Boiling Isle, and so soon after Luz appeared? What were the odds] That's...

[Well, there was a lot to unpack. But first, the whole award thing is pretty random]

Those awards are from years ago, when they had a music prodigy in the school.

[cardinalrule]

[Hunter nods vehemently. Yep, this isn't a joke or a prank, he isn't very good at those things. This is serious.]

Raine Whispers? [Who else would be the mysterious music prodigy?] They're the Head of the Bard Coven.

[He pulls out a binder from his bag, opening it up and flipping through the papers until he finds what he's looking for.]

They're a music prodigy, having mastered every instrument in the demon realm. We had a lot of Coven Head meetings together. They're... [Pausing, Hunter debates if he should mention this. It's on the personal side of things, but it's a nice kind of personal.] ... the only Head who didn't just ignore or growl at me.

1/??

[fiddlestick]

[Elliot has never been a morning person, so he doesn't fully think as he speaks, setting his own stuff down on the teacher desk]

That's the one. They play with the Kaisou Orchestra now, and is pretty famous for being their best violinist-

2/??

[fiddlestick]

[Wait a second. Rewind a moment to what Hunter just said.

They're the Head of the Bard Coven]

3/??

[fiddlestick]

[But that would mean-

No way. No way!! They're a part of this too?!]

4/??

[fiddlestick]

[But how?? How could a famous person get caught up in this?? Like some kind of normal person??

Wait oh crap- what if this means they're on the app?!?]

5/??

[fiddlestick]

[OH NO WHAT IF THAT AWKWARD CONVERSATION WAS WITH RAINE WHISPERS THEMSELVES?

Hooooooly crap he doomed himself didn't he?? He was overly awkward and now he destroyed hid chance of entering the music world forever? Oh God oh god oh--

6/8

[fiddlestick]

[Were he alone, this would be the part where Elliot would let himself spiral into a mess of anxiety and probably turn into a cat.

But before he has a chance to do that? He does remember Hunter is there. Hunter who looks well pretty unhappy about this.

"... the only Head who didn't just ignore or growl at me."

...Oh. ]

7/8

[fiddlestick]

[Pull yourself together, Elliot Craig. You can't spiral right now.

Save it for later and be an adult. ]

8/8 DONE AT LONG LAST

[fiddlestick]

[.... Right, ok.

He'll step closer to Hunter, talking in a soft voice and reaching out to gently put his hand on his shoulder]

...Hey.

Let's go to my office to talk, okay? As long as you need.

[Better than risking someone walking in to see them. He can ask one of his coworkers to watch his first period, if need be. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Hunter, meanwhile, has no idea what's going through Elliot's head. He assumes this is all brand new information outside of this strange 'Raine Whispers attended this school' problem that he needs to solve.

While Elliot is silent he pulls several papers out from his binder, then shoves it back into his bag. Of course he's one of the few students in the school still writing out papers by hand instead of using a computer.

This time he only tenses up a little when Elliot's hand settles on his shoulder, and he's even faster to recover from that reaction.]

I don't need to talk about this, I need them to get their memories back!

[fiddlestick]

[As soon as he feels the tensing, he'll immediately pull his hand off his shoulder apologetically. Right. Physical contact is out with Hunter. He'll instead play it off so it's less awkward, moving that hand to hold out for those papers Hunter has in his hands. ]

...Hunter, it's not a spell that erased their memories. They've always lived in this world.

[Elliot can verify that much. What music student in the Kaisou U's music program hasn't heard of Raine Whispers? He's even seen them in concert a few times. ]

The Raine you met is a different person from the one back on the Boiling Isles.

[cardinalrule]

[He'll happily shove those papers into Elliot's hands. There, that awkward shoulder touching never happened and he's free to be upset.]

That can't be right! The Owl Lady is here too, and she has the same problem!

[Not that he wants Eda getting her memories back, but that and Jun's situation points to a pattern to him.]

Back home there are spells that can cause this. I'm sure it's the same here, I just need to figure it out, and then they can help in building a portal out of here!

[And he has someone from home who is at least civil towards him and isn't a criminal. That's pretty important, too.]

[fiddlestick]

[He'll take those papers and only glance at them briefly before setting them with the rest of his stuff. He can read it through more thoroughly later. ]

Hunter this is their home. I saw Raine Whispers perform live four years ago - long before any of this started. They couldn't have done that if they were in the Boiling Isles.

I don't know how, but I think there's just multiple versions of people. The Madrigals have been dealing with something similar.

[He can't say he knows every detail but you know, when you teach half that family, you pick up on some things]

TIMESKIP: THE THEATER (disaster accelerando)

[fiddlestick]

[The school day passed without incident. After school, when it was nearing time of the concert, Elliot drove both him and Hunter over to the Entertainment District. Getting into the concert hall had proven easy enough too, using a combination of Elliot's knowledge of the venue, intern badge, and Hunter's teleportation. Soon enough, they were settled in a nice spot out of the way where they could listen to the concert without being noticed.

And man, what was concert it was! All the musical performances were incredible, but there was no doubt that Raine stood above them all. Elliot knows they were just there to observe Raine for any signs this was the same person that Hunter knew or another version, but it was hard for Elliot not to get captivated by their performance like the rest of the audience was. What was meant to be a quick peek? Turned into them sticking around for the whole show. It wasn't every day you got to witness a Raine Whisper's performance, after all.

When it was all over, Elliot was in good spirits. He had proof that Raine really did grow up in this world, and he got to listen to an amazing concert. He'll start to shepherd Hunter out of their spot and towards the exiting crowd]

Okay! We're almost through. Now we just move along with the rest of the crowd an-

[Oh. Oh no. That was Raine Whispers directly ahead of them. They'd definitely recognize Hunter if they were spotted.]

- Ah, frick.

[All those good feelings he had from the concert? Were quickly becoming fuel for anxiety]

[cardinalrule]

[Thank the Titan the rest of the day is calm, because Hunter is practically vibrating with anxiety through all of school. Despite the whole incident with Horse when he first arrived Hunter isn't used to the idea of committing crimes, and sneaking into a
concert without paying is definitely a crime.

But it's worth it, and he has Elliot with him, so he goes through with it. And honestly, a part of him is glad that he did, since he likely wouldn't have attended a concert of any kind on his own purely for his own enjoyment. They normally aren't productive in any way, so what's the point? This one does though, and there's the added bonus of getting to hear Raine play. Even in another realm they're very skilled, and Hunter can respect that. Elliot is also incredibly into the concert, and that's nice to see.

He's still nervous when the concert finishes, and his heart sinks when Elliot tells him Raine's magical signature doesn't match his own. That isn't good, and it means he needs to come up with some alternate plan for - for everything, and he's kind of focused on that as they make their way through the crowd, so he doesn't notice Raine until it's a little too late.]

[magicmusic]

[The show itself was all right. A few moments of timing that need to be resolved. Nothing some focus and practice won't fix. But that many people all watching still makes them too nervous to focus on anything else except what they're doing. The lights burned brighter and hotter, the room was both enormous and claustrophobic...

It's good these are only one performance a night. Raine likely wouldn't make it if it were more than that. Which is why they're more hurriedly trying to get to the green room to be alone. Not exactly paying attention until too late. They stop and blink once. At the clearly-what-is-a-nerd and over to-]

Hunter?

[fiddlestick]

[Elliot had tried to get Hunter's attention about the oncoming danger- but it was all for naught. He freezes when Raine says Hunter's name, giving a deer in the headlights look as a small "Eek!" comes out of his mouth involuntarily.

Frick frick frick this was a bad idea!!! He knew Raine Whispers is famous for never doing meet-and-greets so Elliot thought it'd be safe!! Ohhh no, ohhhhh no. What does he do-]

[cardinalrule]

[Elliot isn't the only one to freeze up. Hunter does at the sound of his name and he opens his mouth, then shuts it again, then opens it again as he tries to think of something appropriate to say that isn't admitting they've committed a crime and snuck in here. Not only that, but they did it because Hunter is so adamant about proving his memory alteration theory right.

So he falls back into what he's used to, and that's to straighten up.]

Coven Head Whispers! I mean - [Good start, great start. He glances nervously at Elliot before continuing.]

We were just - here. For the concert.

[magicmusic]

[So he's still on about that, then. Their eyes focus rather intently on Hunter for a second before he looks to Elliot. They're still very aware of where they are and what's going on around them, so they smile.]

I hope you enjoyed it. Everyone worked very hard to bring this performance to the stage tonight.

[fiddlestick]

[A piece of Elliot's soul screamed and died as Hunter calls Raine Whispers "Coven Head", recognizing that any chance of them pretending things were normal was oh so very dead.

Not that he sure won't keep trying, more for Hunter's sake than anything. Were he alone, he probably would've screamed and run. ]

O-Oh yes we did! The entire orchestra harmonizes so well together and the solo parts were breathtaking. It was just so captivating.

[Well, at least that was just Elliot's honest thoughts. ]

[cardinalrule]

[Don't worry, Hunter is going to be mentally kicking himself for a loooong time after that slip-up. He's so bad at this, why did either of them think this was a good idea.]

Right. What Mr. Craig said. Your... level of skill is something any student should aspire to?

[Music is so, so not his forte.]

[magicmusic]

[It really is not. Raine can tell that, at least.

They take a quick glance around, looking for someone before their eyes land back on these two. The crowd is starting to get to them, and they'd rather find her before more people realize they're out here.]

Thank you. I've had quite some time to hone the skill but it all comes from practice. So if it's something you have a passion for, don't give it up.

[That's. Totally normal right? That's what most other talents say in situations like this, isn't it? God, they're horrible at this. Why didn't they just tell Eda they'd meet her somewhere else after the show, it would've saved so much trouble-]

And is this your... [Wait Elliot looks too young to be parent?] Guardian?