concoursec | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Character(s): M'gann, Open to everyone
Location: Starting in the lobby, then anywhere!
Rating: PG
Open/Closed/Finished: OPEN!
Summary: M'gann finds herself in Balamb Garden. Backdated to the day before classes start.

With all the humans walking around, this place certainly looks like Earth...

M'gann looked down at the letter in her hands, her expression a mixture of confusion, worry, and wonder as she read the words over and over again. A military academy? How had she wound up in such an establishment? And Time Compression? She closed her eyes as she delved into her memories to see if another episode similar to what had taken place in Bialya had happened again; but, as far as she knew, all her memories were in tact. In fact, it was only yesterday when they all had returned from the physically and mentally tolling mission in the desert.

And while the change in setting was alarming in itself, M'gann biggest worry was whether the rest of her team was suffering the same fate or not. This couldn't have only happened to her, right? Her auburn eyes lifted from the letter to look around, but all she saw were the stares of people passing her by. M'gann couldn't help but blush-- of course she would stick out like a sore thumb, considering her green skin and all. And while she had the option of shape shifting her skin to a more human-like appearance, she also wanted to be noticeable in case the rest of her team was in fact in the school and were currently seeking her out. The least she could do was morph her clothing-- the civilian attire she usually wore during down-time shifted into the cadet uniform she noticed that the girls passing her by had all been wearing, complete with the yellow bow and all.

Satisfied with the transformation, M'gann looked up once again only to find that the people who had caught the transformation of her clothing were now openly gaping, eyes wide and jaws dropped at what they had witnessed. Mildly uncomfortable with all the attention that was being drawn to her, M'gann began to move; after all, it was probably better for her to try and actively look for her teammates rather than to wait for them to come find her.

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"Oh hey, that was a pretty neat trick!"

Approaching is a shirtless bronze man-god, grinning as he lifted a fist in, probably, some sort of salute or approval or something.

"Y'new here?" Because he PROBABLY would remember a green girl who could change clothes... but not definitely.

M'gann was more than surprised to be approached by a stranger, but he seemed like the friendly type so she gave a small nod, looking up at him with a hint of shyness.

"Thank you. I arrived here just this morning."

"Well! Welcome to Balamb Garden!" Giving the concept of personal space no real notice, he reached out to give her an (entirely too hearty) slap on the back as a welcoming gesture.

The impact of his welcoming slap on the back had thrown off M'gann balance-- she stumbles forward, but upon looking up and seeing the smile stretched across the older man's face, M'gann can't help but return it.

"Thanks for the welcome. Are you a student here, as well?"

That question moves Jecht to a moment of surprise -- then laughter. Outrageous laughter that has him leaning back with a hand pressed to his forehead as he tries to hold it together.

"A student, she says! I don't know if I oughtta be flattered I look that young or mad I look that green!"

He looked out from under his wrist with another grin, which suddenly got real awkward. "Uh, no offense on that green thing. Anyway, name's Jecht, and I teach here. Swimmin' and fitness!"

His laughter was loud and booming, but she found it oddly pleasant, the friendly quality to it. So he was a teacher here? If all teachers were as friendly as him, then she looked forward to meeting the rest.

"Oh, I'm not offended at all-- I don't think anyone else here has green skin. My name is M'gann M'orzz-- but you can call me Megan."

"Not that I've seen. Don't let THEM get to ya though." He jerked his head at the gaping crowd. "It's not the weirdest thing and it ain't even really a bad thing. They're just easily spooked!"

"Oh-- I'm use to it. Back at the planet I was last staying on, people weren't really use to green skin, either." And with that, her skin slowly started to turn a pale peach hue starting from her toes and moving up, until she adopted a much more human-like tone of skin. "Luckily I can blend in pretty easily."

Edited 2011-06-12 05:02 (UTC)

Jecht watched this transformation, then crossed his arms with a frown

"That kind of seems like a waste. You looked just fine before! You shouldn't haveta hide and blend in around here!

"...unless ya want ta, but still."

"It's better to try and blend in, at least for now. I had to do it back on Earth, as well-- whenever I went out somewhere in public when we weren't on our missions, it was always easier to blend in and try not to stick out." She gave him a smile though, to try and show him that it didn't bother her all that much.

"Still seems like a waste to me. 'Specially since green skin is downright normal compared to a bunch'a our cadets." Entirely-human Jecht (or... well, it was far too complicated!) didn't seem bothered by it at all. "But you do whatever makes ya the happiest and most comfortable."

The advice made her smile-- at least she knew someone who wouldn't judge her by her extraterrestrial qualities. "Thank you, Jecht-- I appreciate that."

She gave him a curious look then. "Are you... a native here? Or are you also someone from 'Time Compression'?"

"Naw, I'm from another world. Well, two other worlds, I guess. Kinda a long story." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's just say that showin' up in weird new worlds ain't a hobby you wanna get."

Long story? One that M'gann certainly could certainly relate to. She teetered on the edge of telling Jecht about her own complex story of her origins, but thought better of it. Maybe later on, when she felt more comfortable with her situation.

However, that certainly didn't mean she wasn't interested in Jecht's history. "Did you end up in another world because of 'Time Compression', as well?"

"Oh boy," Jecht muttered. How to explain this. "Uh, turns out the city I lived in was actually just some crazy dream, and a giant monster dragged me into Spira from it."

Probably the least-helpful explanation ever given.

Alright, so M'gann might have to give Jecht the award for the more complicated situation. Her eyes widened at his tale to reflect her shock. "You lived in a dream? So does that mean you were sleeping all that time?"

"Hard t'say, really. More like... everyone who lived there is a dream."

He looked, talked, acted real enough, but if something ever happened to the fayth...

"Does that mean that you're a dream, too?" Was that even possible? He was living and breathing right in front of her, and she was sure this wasn't a dream despite how bizarre the situation was.

"Now that's gettin' real complicated," Jecht said. "I ain't even sure how I'm here in th' first place."

Being a dream, then an aeon, then Sin, and now here? Better men then Jecht would have trouble figuring it out!

"Aren't you here because of Time Compression?" It seemed like the default answer as to why any of this had happened to any of them. But could Time Compression make even dreams manifest into reality?

"Yeah, but, uh, before I got here I kinda lost my body, more'r less, an' became a giant monster'a nightmares named Sin, roamin' the planet an' causing death and destruction ta everythin' I saw. An' that was after I became an Aeon, which is kinda like a Guardian Force here. Which of course was after I fell outta my Zanarkand inta Spira. So..."

He shrugged broadly.

"You ever figure out how all that works, you explain it to me, but you'll haveta use little words t'do it."

Okay, so that was a lot of information to take in. Not to mention she couldn't understand half of what Jecht told her. Nonetheless, M'gann listened attentively, nodding every now and then and wearing a sympathetic expression. It sounds like whatever he had gone though, it had been a rather rough life...

"If I do find out, I'll be sure to tell you. But how did you become 'Sin'? And what's an 'Aeon'?"

"Oh, boy. I'm no good with this sort of thing," he said, running a hand over his hair awkward. "Uh, long time ago Zanarkand was at war with Bevelle. Zanarkand had summoners. They summon Aeons. Big monsters that fight for the guy who summons 'em. Bevelle had machines, Zanardkand was losin', so the boss of Zanarkand turned everyone inta Fayth and then made Sin. That snapped his mind, Sin went berserk, so his kid came up with a way ta beat Sin. Someone volunteers ta be a fayth for a summoner's 'Final Aeon', and then the summoner uses that ta beat Sin. Then Yu Yevon pops outta the old Sin, takes over the Final Aeon, an' builds a new Sin around it."

M'gann listened to his explanation with wide eyes and her mouth slightly agape. Even if she had no idea where these places were, the things he told her sounded extremely destructive, and even hit home a bit too close to home.

"So it's an endless cycle...?" That didn't seem to be a proper solution to the war at all.

"Yeah, pretty much," Jecht said. "Beatin' Sin like that gives Spira a little peace for a while, though. 'Bout the best ya can do."

"There's no permanent solution?" There had to be a permanent solution to such a situation. There was no way that something that horrible could continue forever...

"Sin's too big and too strong ta be stopped," Jecht said, a bit roughly. After all, its depredations were his depredations, now.- "'Cept by the Final Aeon, an' Yevon just takes it over to make a new one."

"If Yevon is the thing that keeps the cycle going, isn't there a way to defeat that?" It seemed logical that if Yevon was the reason the cycle was continuing, eliminating the source would solve the problem.

"Heh, 'cept he's got all'a Sin as his shield. Can't get t'him without beatin' Sin," Jecht said. "Can't do that without the Final Aeon, an' as soon as Sin goes down, he grabs it."

"That doesn't sound very fair..." But then again, M'gann has experienced first hand that life isn't exactly fair.

"Lotsa things ain'." Jecht shrugged. "Just how it goes. Gotta make the best outta what you got, right?"

One last day to make certain everything was mentally laid out as well as possible. Mitsuru intended to make the most of it, even if it meant she'd be walking circuits and exploring every single spoke on the main wheel.

At least, that was the plan, until she reached the lobby for one more review of the map. (To ensure that everything was properly memorized.) She noticed the ripple in the crowd before she actually saw what was causing it, but adjusted her course so she was moving nearer.

...And, once she got close enough, another face joined in the staring. Although, Mitsuru liked to think that she was at least a touch more discreet, and less rude. Even after encountering pink talking animals, seeing someone with green skin came as a shock. As well as just catching the tail end of that clothing transition.

To her credit, she managed to not focus just on that; once the newcomer started walking, Mitsuru was quick to notice that searching look on her face. And, was also quick to fall into step with her.

"Hello. Are you looking for something?"

Plus, it was economic to use this to orient herself at the same time. Mitsuru kept her face perfectly composed as she asked, as if speaking with green tinted people was all part of the days itinerary.

After all the attention she had drawn in the lobby, M'gann had figured the students of the school would steer clear of her for some time, but was proven wrong upon being address by the girl. She paused from her walking to turn and face the stranger, her auburn eyes first taking in her red hair-- so much more vibrant than her own! -- before giving her a small smile.

"I'm trying to look for my friends. Have you seen..." Well, it'd be strange to try and describe the group of masked heroes. But Wally was a rather public figure, wasn't he? And if she happened to still be on Earth and had just wound up somewhere she wasn't familiar with, surely they'd at least know who Kid Flash was. "Kid Flash?"

"The name isn't familiar, no." Although her eyebrows did arch up for a moment when she heard it; not the common sort of name one would hear in Iwatodai.

"Mind you..." The next bit of information was a bit awkward to say. "I haven't been here long myself. But, I'm certain I would have noticed a name like that, at least on the class lists if nowhere else." And with that bit of confessed ineptitude out of the way, it was clearly time to follow it up with something that showed confidence and competence.

"What about directions? Are you familiar enough with this place to look for them?"

She was a bit surprised that the girl hasn't heard of Kid Flash-- wasn't he always on the news with Flash, doing interviews about a situation they had just fixed up? It only served to confuse her further on where exactly she was.

"No, unfortunately I'm not. I only just arrived here this morning. So this place... isn't on Earth, is it?" Her expression was a troubled one as she looked at the redhead, brows knit.

"You're from earth?"

Mitsuru couldn't keep from sounding a bit doubtful when she asked that, but quickly recovered.

"My apologies; no, as far as I can tell, this isn't earth as I know it. None of the names match up, for cities or for continents. The...Attitudes of people here are also starkly different."

By which she meant 'you can talk about magic and the paranormal without anyone batting an eye.'

"Oh! I'm not originally from Earth-- I'm from Mars, actually, but I'd been living on Earth for a little bit before arriving here." But she had caught the little bit in the other female's words that hinted she, too, was from Earth, and couldn't help but grow curious.

"So are you here because of... 'Time Compression', as well?"

"...Mars."

THAT made her stop in her tracks for a moment, and even have an astonished blink or two before her feet remembered to keep moving. Green tinted skin was odd, but could be processed; she could even accept coming from some odd, alternate dimension that allowed for skin tones and clothing like that.

Once other planets in her own solar system were brought into it, though, Mitsuru started to doubt her hearing.

"You're...Not referring to the fourth planet from the sun, correct?

Ah, and yes. That was the explanation I was given." She managed a slight nod at the Time Compression question, but kept her focus on the 'mars' part of the discussion.

M'gann was positively beaming when the girl correctly identified her home planet. "Yes, that Mars! Does that mean you're from Earth? Did you just get here, as well?" She was practically humming with curiosity and questions now, eager to know more.

"Yes..."

'Could we backtrack to the part about being from a barren planet?' her expression said. It was just a question on how to be TACTFUL about asking that.

"You...Are aware that on earth, most people don't consider Mars to be habitable, correct?"

Not the best way of handling it, but M'gann wasn't the only person puzzling over other planets.

"I am, but then again Mars isn't really a place for humans to to live on. I'm a martian, which means my physiology is use to the conditions of Mars which makes it habitable." She smiled then, as if it were a simple explanation that doesn't take much to absorb.

Simple, Mitsuru couldn't argue with, especially with how easily the information was stated. Easy to absorb, however...That was proving to be something else entirely, and she stated as much. In that, at least, she could afford to be a little honest.

"I hope you'll pardon my saying this, but that's a lot to take in. You don't appear very different from a...A normal person."

Aside from the green skin, but a red haired girl certainly wasn't what came to mind when thinking of the word 'alien.'

A normal person? Those words caused M'gann to absolutely beam. Did she really pass off as an average, ordinary girl? Not at all a (literal) alien to this place? There were no words that could fully captivate how ecstatic she was to be told that she could actually pass off as someone who belonged with humans.

"Really? Thank you! I really don't want to stick out." But then her expression became troubled as she finally realized all the information she had so carelessly shared with a stranger. She had essentially told this girl her place of origin, where she was from, clearly giving her all the details about how she was an extraterrestrial, and they hadn't even exchanged their names. Was there a way to cover it all back up?

"About that... I know I just met you and I told you a lot about myself and where I'm from and what I am--" M'gann caught herself before she began one of her nervous rambles, and slowed down her speech as she eased into a more wary, careful tone with a touch of shyness, "But... could we keep that just between us? I have a feeling the people here wouldn't really be too excited about the idea of someone like... me being here."

Out of forming S.E.E.S., experiencing the Dark Hour and summoning Penthesilea for the first time, having her motorcycle destroyed by Shadows, and the unfortunate events of July, this day wasn't all that remarkable.

However, compared to a normal day, it still measured up on the oddity scale a great deal. One thing Mitsuru was promptly grateful for, however, was that she suddenly had a favor being asked of her; that was far, FAR better then trying not to stare and compute how mars was supposed to support alien life.

"It shouldn't be a problem." Besides that, she was quite familiar with being tasked to keep secrets.

...Granted, that hadn't always worked out for the best. She quickly shied away from that thought before she had long to dwell on it, although there was a flicker of uncertainty that played across her face.

"As long as the faculty knows whatever they need to, I don't see why the student body should need to hear about it from me."

Her gratefulness was more than obvious with the way her shoulders relaxed and her entire face lit up, a smile stretching across her lips. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Don't worry, I won't keep my information from the faculty, I promise!"

It wasn't until after her bout of glee did M'gann realize that she was missing a vital piece of information, and she couldn't help but give a small noise of surprise. "I just asked a huge favor from you and I haven't even introduced myself! My name is M'gann M'orzz, but you can call me Megan. It's nice to meet you!"

At this point, the best Mitsuru could do was nod politely; doing so was better then staring or looking bewildered, at the very least. That much enthusiasm was quickly placing her outside of her comfort zone when it came to introductions and conversation.

"It's...A pleasure." She managed, before quickly latching onto the idea that giving her own name would be the proper thing to do.

"I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, currently enrolled as a Cadet. I'm a first year, much like you." Another polite nod, to cement the introductions in place.

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