A new beginning

[Guest]

With the new surroundings Oni is facing, he noticed there was a forest not far from the grounds. Seeming as if he was relief to see some familiar surroundings, he heads off to go explore by himself.

Upon entering, he immediately felt the atmosphere around him change to a more calm, peaceful nature. Whatever that was on his mind which made him seemed timid or worried immediately vanished. With each step, he gave out a sigh in relief. 'Peace at last...' He thought to himself. Ever since coming to an unfamiliar setting, he hasn't had any time to relax, mostly because he was deathly worried that his sister might cause some damage either with property destruction or a visit to the infirmary.

After walking in deep of the forest, he gets next to a tree, sits down under the shade it was casting over, and pulls out the book he was carrying. He begins reading to himself.

[Guest]

Adelphie had just been walking through the forest. She enjoyed walks because they allowed her to clear her mind. And it had been one of her walks through the forest when her Lord had come to her. She touched her neckless with a smile, the gift of His.

Just then she got startled out of her (quite pleasant) thoughts by the sound of rustling leaves. She peeked out from behind a tree with curiosity to see quite the strangely clad boy, reading.

"Hello," she said curiously. "You're a dryad aren't you? My mother's a dryad, I could recognize them anywhere. And you must be a first year too, I've never seen you before! What are you reading?" She inquired, rambling a bit with her words.

"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Adelphie."

[Guest]

Slightly jumped from the sudden appearance of another, Oni, quickly turned around to see that it was another person. "A-ah...H-hello there....Ahem." He quickly regain his bearing, turned to Adelphie. "I'm Oni...Y-yeah, you're correct that I'm a dryad. And a first year as well. Heh...You got a good eye to point all that out, but I suppose it would be pretty simple with seeing someone you haven't seen before."

Oni gave a slight chuckle, though rather nervous with seeing someone he's never met before. Meeting new people that he isn't use to throws him off his usual self.

[Guest]

"It's rather easy, you have that unusual haircolour, and this manner that's just so entirely Dryad. It's hard to explain, but it's quite obvious. Do you mind?" Adelphie asked, the last bit as she pointed to a spot against the tree next to him. She didn't wait for his answer and just sat down anyway.

"You seem a bit nervous, you're not from here are you? Your clothes are so very odd too, no definitely not from here. And you've still not told me what you're reading."

[Guest]

"Erm..." Oni noted that to him, she was rather impatient with sitting down next to him. True, he was nervous, and with someone that's a bit bold wasn't exactly helping.

"A-ah, it's just a medicine book, just catching up with some studies with different tree roots that can cure different kind of poison, injury, or even the simplest sickness. In other words, herbal medicine...And no..Not from around here...New, as you can tell..."

[Guest]

"Oh, are you from the earth? I've always wanted to go there you know? Tahi goes all the time with Kal but of course he never takes me with him. Maybe now that Tahi's a mentor she'll take me! So who's your Sponsor? It's probably Demeter or Hestia right? You don't look much like one of Persephone," Adelphie cocked her head regarding him a moment. "No, definitely not Persephone."

"Oooh, you like that kind of stuff? You should talk to Iva then, she's the doctor around and she's simply a miracle with roots and nature stuff like that," She continued her rambling, not at all aware that she might be less than wanted.

[Guest]

Being bombarded with questions and info, Oni wiped his forehead, trying to soak in what Adelphie was saying. "Earth, yeah, that's where I'm from...." Oni pauses for a moment to remember who his sponsor. "My...sponsor...is......Uhhhh....Hestia! Yes, that's the name..."

Right when she spoke of Iva, his head tilted, curious to who the person can be. "Iva, hmm? Care to tell where I can find her?" He was slightly thrilled to have someone that he can possibly relate to at the Athenaeum.

[Guest]

"See, I knew it!" Adelphie said triumphantly. "Wait, what time are you from? Not ancient times, your clothes look too weird from that. Maybe close to Cedric's time, I've seen hi wear a shirt like that, but you still look odd. And that book you're reading about Medicine, did you take it with you or does it come from the library?"

"Oh, Hestia! That means Tahi's your mentor! The lady Hestia is very kind, you're lucky. I suppose that must mean that you and your sister are both under the same mentor, I don't think Lady Hestia would do otherwise, that's very interesting. Wait, how come her eyes are so strange and yours are not. Not two-coloured at least. What was that word again, hetero... hetero... damnit I lost it!" She always got frustrated when she couldn't remember things, and the book she'd read it in was so interesting!

"Iva? Oh she's usually in the infirmary. Barely a day goes by without at least someone getting hurt," she giggled. "I suppose that's to be expected with so many boys and girls swinging sharp objects around don't you think?"

"Heterochromia, that was it!"

[Guest]

"Uhm...Is...time really that important?" He said, with a sweatdrop. "If you must know, it's the late 1800's. "

"Er...Um..Y-yeah, me and my sister have the same mentor." He gave out a sigh in relief to know that his mentor has a good stature of being kind, so it makes it that much easier on his stress. "Ah...Well don't ask me about our different eye color, I blame it in our genes."

An infirmary...Perfect...A place where maybe he could go to study up on more direct medicine. "Right...Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

[Guest]

"Not important, no, but still interesting to know," she answered with a sly smile. "Ah, 1800, I don't know anything about then, only really of earlier times, much earlier. Like medieval times, or dark ages? Are they the same? I can never tell. Do they practice the same kind of medicine in your age? I read that the physicians then opened up a vein and drained blood to cure, but it doesn't sound like something that would work, but they seemed to take it. Oh and they drilled in the backs of people's heads when they were scrambled in the attic," Adelphie smiled at the last bit. "I wouldn't fancy getting that kind of treatment at all.

"Ah I was right! I thought I would be. Oh, genes, what are those? I've not heard of genes yet! Do tell more!" She demanded excitedly, she really loved hearing more things.

[Guest]

Letting out a sigh, Oni rubs his forehead from all the questions he's being thrown at. But now having the mental images of some procedures she was speaking about wasn't helping at all. In fact, it made him flinch, shudder, sweat from the thought. "One...question...at a time...please..."

After a few moments to gather himself, Oni cleared his throat. "Well, see, I focus more on herbal remedies and magic healing ten...erm....all that...And genes are like having bits of your DNA from your mother and father. More or less a reason why we may act like them. Probably a simple answer for something that's rather difficult to wrap ones self around...But I'll leave that to the expert to work that sort of thing out."

[Guest]

"Oh, I'm sorry, I lose myself in talk sometimes," Adelphie said with an apologetic smile. She noted his reaction curiously. "Am I right to assume they do things very differently in your time? You don't seem to like the procedures in your history."

"Oooh, that sounds really interesting. Maybe I'll ask my lord for a book on DNA, he gives me books sometimes," She explained excitedly. "So you're saying that these genes make us act the way we do? And a little like our parents? Hm, well I act nothing like my mother," she huffed a bit at the though, though of course she didn't know about her father, for all she knew she was the spitting image of him.

[Guest]

" In my time, everything was pretty well laid out; the law, our rights, and all that seemed to be well thought out. I wouldn't dream a better way to run a country." Of course with Oni, he isn't one to question any authority. If the system worked, then there's no need to temper with it.

"Well sure, it's possible to not act like your parents. I mean...You have a whole family history that goes all the way back to your ancestor's time. It's more of a possibility of acting like one side or another...But I could be wrong with the way I'm explaining it. I think you'd be better off learning about it if there is such a book."

Oni stretched, perhaps he could be asking her a question himself, but he wasn't exactly one to go around and ask what was on top of his mind, so he just thought to himself if there was one to ask...but at a good time to.

[Guest]

"If your country is so great, why, then, did you leave?" Adelphie asked. "Hestia is not one to force her pupils to compete so it must have been your decision, so why did you choose to leave?"

She nodded. "I think I understand, but I'm thinking that I'm asking for that book anyway, it all sounds very interesting for sure," she smiled at him. "So which one of your parents was so quiet and shy like you? Or I'm assuming that you're both quiet and shy, you could just be quiet..."

[Guest]

Oni looked away for a second, before giving a thought to the answer. There was always one answer he would give if anyone asked him that question. "...My sister....I want to make sure she's safe..."

"Well mother wasn't exactly quite, but rather gentle to everyone she knew. I could've gotten that attribute from that...And...along with my shyness, I suppose..."

[Guest]

"With your sister you mean Eri, right? Of course you must," she chided herself for the foolish comment. "But how so do you mean, why would she not be safe if you didn't come here? Did something happen to her? I have absolutely no troubles imagining the kind of scenes she could get herself into, as energetic and naive she is. Slightly foolish too, if you ask me. But do tell!"

"You say 'was'," Adelphie noted. "Does that mean she's not alive anymore? Or do you simply see her as gone because she's on another plane of existence from you?"

[Guest]

"It's..." Oni sort of choked. He didn't want to keep talking about what happened with his sister back then. "It's a sibling thing, I suppose. You know, brother protecting his sister from the danger of the unknown."

"No, she is still very much alive, just...Not here. She wasn't exactly quiet when we left though." He gave a bit of a smile, looking upwards towards the sky. "Ah, our worried mother...When something happens to us, she'll rush over to make sure even the littlest scratches were treated...But anyways, yes, she is still breathing."

[Guest]

Adelphie could see he wasn't telling her the truth, but she could also see that it hurt him so she didn't push through, for once. She nodded. "I can see how she needs protection," she said with a small smile. "But she certainly livens things up, that's for sure."

"Mother's instinct and all, I would expect her to not want to depart with her children, especially not to a land unknown and, if you will, a tad dangerous for those who do not know their way around. The forest," she motioned around her. "For one, is crawling with monsters when you get a little deeper. However, that's also where the dryad populations are."

[Guest]

"Yeah, as long as she's safe, neither I or my mother would need to worry." Oni gave a quick look around him, knowing that it was possible that anything can come out and try to attack. But since it was his turf, he has more of an advantage towards a random encounter, though he really hopes that nothing does come out. "True...But that's why I didn't venture far. Just enough to get some peace from the others." He looks over to Adelphie. "What are you doing out here, anyways?"

[Guest]

"Don't worry," Adelphie said quickly as she saw him look around nervously. "As far as I know we're still on Athenaeum ground. Monsters can't come here unless a mentor takes them. Or, well, unless it's really big and has outside help." She shrugged. There'd been stories of monster invasions in the past, but the most recent one would have been way before her birth.

"Oh, me? I just like walks," Adelphie replied innocently. "And, well, good things tend to happen on walks," she said with a small smile. "But talking about me is so dull, tell me more about you! You and your sister are mighty interesting you know."

[Guest]

"Ermm...Me and my sister...? Eh...heh heh...I'm not one to really talk about myself...You know, actions speaks louder then words." Oni scratched behind his head, this being a nervous tick of his when he tries to talk about himself. "Well my sister is a head strong person that goes for what she aims for. She risks a lot to gains a lot. Me? I'd...Rather sit back and try to do things in a less dangerous manner. But back home, she wasn't able to do most of the tings she wants to, but here she feels more free." Oni muses over what he's saying in his mind. "But again, rather difficult to explain someone's personality with just words. Best to see what they do to truly see what they're like."

[Guest]

Adelphie sighed but then smiled. "I got that yes, I've been trying to get you to talk for a while now but making a brick reveal its secrets might be easier than you!" Yet she listening patiently as he talked more about his sister then him. Fair enough, at least he was talking about something.

"So you're more of a bystander then?" She said, continuing to focus on him. She'd talk to his sister some other time, the girl seemed like she'd be more easily made to talk anyway, maybe Eri could tell her some more about her brother. "That's interesting, although you never really looked like someone who'd enter a conflict unless forced."

((Pfft, Eri already told her about most of the things she's been trying to get out of Oni in the other topic xD ))

[Guest]

(( Oh I've seen >w> heh heh heh))

"Well if my sister's involved, I'm involved." Oni reacted, a bit more on a defensive tone. "It's in my nature, you could say. Can't stop worrying about someone that I care for." He shook his head, after realizing that his tone has changed. "But anyways, I don't want to be a bother to anyone, hence why I can be a bit....non sociable."

[Guest]

"Oh you're no bother, you're very interesting indeed," Adelphie said quickly. "So reserved yet you seem quick to stand up for what you believe in. Like a contradiction of yourself. That's it! You're an Oxymoron!" She said excitedly.

"Still, I think it's sweet how protective you are of your sisters, though she does seem like she'd need it," Adelphie giggled. "But I do understand, I'd do anything for my brother and sister."

((I'm just going to pretend that the topic with Eri happens after the two with Oni xD))

[Guest]

((Hehe, alright then~ ))

"Well glad you can see it that way." He added with a smile. Although the girl seems to be a bit of a bug with all the questioning, he sees that even she can be understanding with his thoughts. "So...you have any siblings that comes to this school?"

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