Tourist Attraction

[Verity Lohlepher]

Verity would admit that she had always wanted to go to the Akane Resort. She had heard of it's wonderful beaches, giant amusement park, five star hotel and casino. So now that she was finally here, she took a few moments to admire the sights. The resort was the most visited places for tourists. That was spot on. There were throngs of people loitering around the place and they all looked like they were having fun. Usually the blonde haired mage wasn't one for travelling but recently, she had found joy in visiting places. She had spent so long in one place, that place being Magnolia, and never traveling out beyond the woods that the mere difference of place was refreshing. It was interesting to see how the different cities and areas were like and it was fun to explore. She loved exploring and she decided she had enough of exploring one place.

After she looked around, she decided her first spot would be to pay a visit to the giant amusement parks. She wasn't in the mood for beaches at the moment and she hadn't brought anything to swim in via her bags on hand or her pocket dimension. She was wearing a white logo t-shirt and denim shorts. Nothing special but outstanding in the fact that she wasn't wearing the same shirt for the billionth time. Perfect clothes for going on rides.

Verity's first opinion of the park was that it really was giant. It was brilliant. The excited atmosphere was also thrilling. However, before she lost herself in all the joy, she wondered where she should go first. She loved roller coasters. She also loved all the mini games and prizes that could be won. But they weren't her favourite things. She wondered if there was a haunted house in the amusement park. She hoped there was. There should be one. Amusement Parks just weren't the same if they had no haunted house. To her relief, there was, in fact, a haunted house. She asked one of the stall owners and they pointed her to the direction of apparently, the most scariest one in the park. That sounded interesting. And so Verity followed the lady's instructions.

Once she got the outside of the Haunted House, her face fell. She cursed the existence of queues and lines in her mind. Why? She asked this universal question to the world mentally and received no answer. Stupid lines. She really didn't want to line up and she refused to come back at a later time. Her mind got to work. What other way would she be able to get inside without having to wait?

[Zahn Skye]

Most people would be pleased as punch to be in an amusement park. Most people. Most people didn't wake up in the park after having been knocked unconscious and had all their valuables stolen.

Which I suppose makes me lucky as I hadn't a single jewel to my name...

The thieves had taken almost nothing from Zahn. His clothes were still on his body, though slightly dirtier than they had been beforehand. The two small daggers he'd usually carry with him everywhere were gone as was his new cloak that he'd just purchased after having fought Fayte.

So nothing of value, yes, thank you head voice. Such pleasant conversations we always have.

We'll you are kind of pathetic, you have to admit...

Zahn sighed to himself. Why was he dropped off here at an amusement park?

Maybe the thieves thought they could make me enjoy being robbed... or this is some sort of punishment for being ludicrously poor... Either way...

The Jinz mage picked himself off the bench he'd been unconscious on and looked around him. He must've been hit hard as the park was bright and noisy, as one would expect of an amusement park. Especially one of it not the biggest in all Fiore. Or at least the area surrounding Fiore. Zahn sighed. His mind was working as fast right now. He was still a little groggy, and sore, from the attack that had taken him down.

... I wonder who was powerful enough to take me do- Ah, who am I kidding. I'm pretty average. Any strong dark mage could rob me blind in seconds if I wasn't always so paranoid. Shouldn't have dropped my guard...

As Zahn began to wander around the park he noticed a nearby sign indicating something akin to a haunted house ride.

"Joy..."

The Jinx mage eventually came closer to the attraction and saw lots of people. Ugh, lines. He hated being around people normally, and he'd get antsy and bothered by just one or two. There was a huge crowd and the brightness and noise of the park were wearing down his patience even faster. This was not a good day so far....

We'll guess I'd better find somewhere else to b- Huh...

Zahn noticed a pretty girl with blonde hair dressed in plain clothes. There were plenty like her around, but something felt off about her. The Jinx mage could feel the magic in his eye pulsing lightly. She must be a mage as well. She also looked like she was having a bad day.

Welcome to the club...

Zahn walked up to her and stopped beside her. Maybe making conversation with someone would be nice for a change. Misery loved company and all that, He'd choose his words carefully, though he expected that randomly talking to her might give off the wrong impression. Honestly, he was just looking for something to distract him from the fact he'd been knocked unconscious and dumped in an amusement park.

"You look like you're having fun."

Sarcasm. The only way to start a conversation. Zahn's little naggy head voice returned, berating him for being such a moron but the Jinx mage chose to ignore it this time.

[Verity Lohlepher]

Verity was in the process of concocting her plan, that being to just break a window and join the show when a voice beside her snapped her out of her thoughts. The first thing she noticed was his weird clothing choice. The next thing she noticed was that he was being sarcastic. Yay. She just luurved sarcastic people. Sarcastic people tended to be mean. She looked at him and wondered what to say. Oh who cared? Anything would do.

"Hi. I am having a lot of fun which of course I guess you can tell," she said sarcastically. Talk about being a hypocrite. Unsure of what to do next, her mind wandered off. This ultimately lead to her mouth losing its filter and connection to the brain.

"What kind of clothes are you wearing?" she asked absent-mindley. "They're really strange. Has anyone ever told you that your fashion sense is somewhat weird? Especially for going to a theme park. Or maybe not. Are you a clown or something?"

She doubted that he was a clown though. Clowns were either scary or sad. They always attempted to be funny but they were simply off putting. She didn't see any wig or painted face either. She decided to ask another question, not waiting for his response or hearing it if he did.

"What are you doing?"

She had a tendency to do that sometimes. Rattle off her mouth without listening to the other person. She didn't see it as much of a problem but her sister did when she was alive. She always told her off when she was like 7. Later on in life her sister had more of a problem actually getting her to talk.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn noticed the girl's eyes sweep over his outfit. Obviously he stood out like a sore thumb, even her in an amusement park. He expected a scathing return remark as he'd been something of an idiot as he made his opening remark. However, he found that she played along and answered him just as sarcastically. His eyes widened ever so slightly. So... here was a girl who could give as good as she got.

Bad day or not, this girl is interesting... No one responds well to sarcasm. Not usually anyway. Especially if they are having a bad day. Yet, she brushed it off like it hadn't even registered. Maybe I should try talking to people more often...

Once again, in the back of Zahn's mind the naggy voice reminded him that a person returning sarcasm meant that Zahn had flubbed his opening line but Zahn brushed the opinion aside. Even if he'd mistakenly opened with a snarky remark the girl had humored him and responded without malice. That was something he found to be incredibly rare... then she asked about his clothes.

Oh, here we go. I bet now come the insults.

Surprisingly. however, there were no insults hurled in Zahn's direction. Just questions. Two stuck out. He smiled at the girl when she asked if he'd ever been told if his clothes were weird.

"Once, twice... hundreds of times. Yeah, it has been brought to my attention that when I put my clothes on some sort of curse is placed upon them to assault everyone else's sense of fashion and sanity."

More sarcasm, though really it was more like snark. Zahn realized it could be mistaken for sarcasm, but he had no ill-will toward the girl. After all, she was pointing out something he'd already known. He looked, at the very least, slightly ridiculous but he'd be damned if he ever thought about dressing any other way. This was just his style. However...

... a clown? What sort of clown dresses like.... well, me I suppose, but I'm not a paid clown!

The Jinx mage was at a loss for words for a moment, but then decided that being candid was probably the best way to go about having this conversation.

"I'd like to tell you I am not a clown. Granted, as I said before the total lack of any sensibility in my own clothing choices might qualify me as a clown. I would ask what sort of clown would dress like I do, but I guess that's already the answer itself. I would dress like this. I like it, even if it is a little too eye-catching. To be fair to me though, I would say I'm under-appreciated as a clown. I don't even get paid... most of time..."

Zahn sort of trailed off after that. He didn't usually talk at such length, though it had been happening more often as of late. He'd have to find a way to avoid people in the near future, he supposed. Didn't want to become a chatterbox.

"As for what I'm doing... I have no idea. I just kind of found myself here a short while ago. I guess I'm exploring the park... and talking to you. I hate to say it, but it seems like we could both use the company..."

There was no edge in Zahn's voice. Just compassion, certainty and maybe a little sadness.

"Sorry about the sarcasm earlier. I... I'm not to good at talking to people. I know I tend to rub them the wrong way, and I'm sorry if I pressed the wrong button. I was kind of - sort of - hoping if you were distracted from whatever you were thinking about you wouldn't look so unhappy but it seems like I managed to be an idiot about it. Sorry again."

Zahn bowed his head sincerely, and then took a breath. He really needed to find a way to gain psychic powers. Then he could just communicate with people's minds directly and always say the right thing. Talking to others was not only exhausting, it was difficult to do without accidentally hurting someone else's feelings.

"So... mind if I ask what's up? Whatever you problem is... maybe I can help? Oh, right, I'm Zahn. Zahn Skye. Nice to meet you."

The scatterbrained way Zahn spoke reminded him that he was indeed, as the girl had said, very weird. He preferred the term unique but really, he was weird. No way around that truth.

[Verity Lohlepher]

At first Verity was confused about the random guy's statement about his clothes being jinxed to assault everybody's fashion sense. Why would anybody do something stupid like that? She was about to ask him when it dawned on her that he was simply being snarky. Oh. Sometimes she hated the slow pace of her brain. Other times she didn't care. Today was one of the days she didn't care. She simply shrugged her shoulders and shut her mouth.

He went on to talk about how he was a very underpaid clown if he was, which he wasn't. This time, the girl didn't detect any sarcasm in his tone. From the way he talked she gathered he didn't socialise much. She wasn't a skilled conversationalist herself but she didn't she sounded scatterbrained when she talked, unlike him. The more she listened to him, the more she was getting confused.

"Wait, so you do get paid to dress like that sometimes?" she asked, grasping at his last few words and not being able to relate it to the beginning.

She scrunched her eyebrows slightly, giving up trying to comprehend him. To her surprise though, she managed to understand what he was saying when he went on to answer her question on what he was doing. She noted that he didn't seem like a very happy person.

"Why would you hate company?" she asked, thinking that was what he implied, "I think company's great. It makes things more fun," She paused for a second to think and remembered some unsavoury moments with people "Well usually. Not all the time," she added.

She waved his apology away. Just because she related sarcasm with mean people didn't mean everyone who was sarcastic was mean. Sure he kind of just said she looked annoyed but she could deal with that. She didn't particularly care about how she appeared like to others. "It doesn't matter. I don't think you're bad at making conversation. You've been making majority of it for the last few minutes after all." she said kindly. She was facing the haunted house at that moment so she turned back around to face Zahn when he introduced himself somewhat strangely.

"Well I'm not doing much. I was thinking of ways go into the Haunted House without waiting in line but just before you came I just had an idea," she said with a hint of the devil in her voice "It's not that complicated. Do you wanna hear? And I'm Verity but you can call me Vera if you want. I don't really mind. It's nice to meet you too Zahn," she said, deciding to put her hand out, leaving it up to him whether he wanted to shake it or not.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn noticed that Verity was getting lost as he spoke every single one of his thoughts aloud in his quickened, scatterbrained way. Whoops. However, that was a problem for another day. Contrasting his way of speaking with his new companions, it was fairly obvious that his mouth could not keep up with his brain. Everything that came tumbling out of his mouth was deviating from the thing said right before it. Time to slow down.

I don't want to seem even crazier than I already am. Granted, it would be nice to just ramble on for once, I suppose. Still, the matter at hand is...

Zahn's thoughts were interrupted by Verity asking, in utter confusion, if he got paid sometimes to dress the way he died.

"... heh."

This was certainly shaping up to be a more interesting experience than he thought it would be. Maybe the day wasn't a total loss after all. However, Verity continued to speak, mistaking his statement about company for something else. However, he couldn't quite claim to himself that she'd totally misunderstood him. Zahn wasn't too used to being around other people. He was fairly inquisitive on his own, but shied away from social interaction.

I wonder if there are a lot of people like her in the world. If there are, maybe the world isn't such a scary place after all...

The girl waved off the Jinx mage's apology and went on to claim that he was fairly good at conversing because he'd been able to do so previously, taking up the last few minutes all by himself. Zahn grimaced. Whatever she might think of herself, she certainly knew how to point out the truth easily.

Ouch... Well, she does have a point. I was rambling like a crazy person just now. However, I don't usually, so I guess that's somethni-

Again Zahn's thoughts were cut short by Verity, who finally introduced herself after mentioning she had a plan for getting into a ride without waiting. Normally, Zahn might try and dismiss that idea for the sake of not getting into trouble, but right now he was feeling a little devious himself.

"... sounds like fun, actually. So, we're breaking into a Haunted House?"

The Jinx mage shook Verity's hand while turning his attention back to the park attraction. He had offered to help so maybe he could do something, just this once. He never liked telling people directly about his magic but if it was to help out another person, maybe having these powers wasn't such a bad thing.

"... um... I can do magic. It could be useful... especially since it can cause a bit of a distraction..."

Zahn slowly unfastened his eye-patch and directed Verity's attention to his previously covered eye. The glowing symbol for "bad luck" shone brightly and he smiled at the girl.

"Well, Vera, how 'bout we cause some trouble and slip into the Haunted House after? I could use a nice, fun distraction from my usual routine."

[Verity Lohlepher]

Verity had assumed she'd be breaking into the haunted house by herself but it turned out Zahn wanted to tag along as well. Sure she was surprised but she wasn't complaining either. She nodded in consent when he said breaking into a haunted house sounded fun. "We sure are! Of course with your clown clothes I'm sure it'll be pretty easy to fit in once we're inside. I've been told clowns are scary," she said cheerfully. She was glad that he shook her hand. She hated being left hanging.

She pursed her lips when he said he could do magic that might be useful for a distraction. "What can you do?" she asked, following his directions to look at his eye underneath the eye patch. It was a different colour from his normal eye but either than that she didn't get the significance of removing the patch. "Is there something specific about that eye?" She decided to ask another question. She honestly had no clue why he had done that and if there was something she like, it was finding out new things. His eye would fit her criteria.

She smirked at his next sentence and nodded. She agreed full-heartedly. Except for his last sentence. Coming to amusement parks weren't her usual routine nor would it be a distraction. "Well, I'll tell you my idea. It's not particularly genius but whatever," she begun "I was thinking that I should go around to the back of the haunted house and then break in but now I'm thinking that's not particularly fun," she said. She inherited some of her sister's taste for stirring up trouble and now it appeared. "Sooo maybe with your magic, whatever it does, it could cause some distraction at the line and then we'll just enter, any ideas yourself?"

None of her ideas were particularly ingenious but she didn't care. It sounded like they were easy enough and that was good enough for her. If he had an idea he could tell her.

[Zahn Skye]

The Jinx mage noticed how happy Vera was when he metioned he'd be willing to help her break in, and possibly even join her for the moment. He was glad that she was so happy, but he did wish she would stop referring to his outfit as clown clothes. His own fault, sure, but it still annoyed him a little. Granted it was only a little irritating. Her perky demeanor was rather contagious and Zahn found himself smirking regardless.

She's a strange one alright, but nothing too bad. I wonder if this is just a mood that's normal for people...

The Verity asked what could do. She followed that up almost immediately with another question about his eye and if it was he earlier comments about his mage were directly affected by his eye. He waited until she was finished talking about her plan before he responded. Admittedly, her plan was simple and straightforward but because of its simple straight-forwardness it would probably go off without a hitch. Once again, however, Vera continued speaking and asked him if he had had any ideas. Zahn smiled, a little sad but also a little happy. He didn't like talking about his magic usually but here it could help without hurting anyone. At least, that was the idea. The Jinx mage took a deep breath before answering.

"Why don't I answer all your questions at once to save us a little time. I can hex something and cause 'bad luck' to things. The symbol in my eye means 'bad luck' and that's basically what my powerset is... As for my eye has to do with it, while my body might be filled with magic like everyone else on Earthland most of my magic is concentrated in this eye. I have to be able to see what I'm hexing otherwise I cannot cast the magic. Since it is hard to keep the eye close all the time I wear an eye-patch just in case. Right now, it isn't anything to serious, but I can cause a speaker to malfunction or magical pitfalls, stuff like that. So, if we need a distraction, I'm your mage."

Zahn stopped and gazed at Verity, flashing a smile at the girl.

"As for you plan, I like it. Simple, straight-forward and no harm to other people. Going around the back might not be flashy, but it certainly works. However, if we want to distract people and walk in from the front we'll do distract people and walk right in. Live the way you want to, I always say."

The young Jinx mage finished speaking and waited for his companion's response. He hoped she didn't mind his bad luck powers. He'd been shunned before and wasn't looking forward to the day he was shunned again. Verity seemed nice enough. but Zahn had learned not to completely trust people too quickly. Still, the day was shaping up to be an interesting one. First waking up with all his "valuables" stolen (not that he really had anything valuable on him), then meeting someone new and finally planning a amusement park ride break in. Sometimes, life was good.

[Verity Lohlepher]

Verity smiled wider for a second when he commented on her bombarding him with questions. As far as she could remember, the way she annoyed people the most was her tendency to pry into their business by asking too many questions. She tried to avoid doing that nowadays but she never managed to stop her mouth running its course nor did she particularly bother. The end results were lots of questions at one go. At least she wasn't as bad as before. That's what she thought.

The blonde mage listened to what Zahn could do and grew fascinated. Bad luck magic eh? That sounded like a real handy magic to have. She could think of a couple things she would have done in the past if she had that magic. Of course if the user accidentally jinxed something they didn't want it could end badly but overall, pretty cool. It was especially interesting the way it worked. She had never heard of something like it and she wanted to solve the mystery behind. It was the same with anything she found curious. On her list of things to discover, his magic was up there. She wanted to speak almost immediately but maintained her brain and mouth connection enough to listen to the rest of his words.

She grinned fully when he said he liked her plan. Most people probably would have judged her intelligence level. She hated that. Just because someone was dumber than another didn't mean they were any less better. When she was young people bullied her because of her dumbness. She remembered recently she berated herself because of her dumbness. She didn't have to like being dumb but she just had to accept it and not change who she was just because she didn't want to be viewed as dumb. When the other mage finished, her constraint released immediately and a torrent of words fell out of her mouth.

"Yay! Someone who agrees with me! Usually if I proclaimed that idea to someone else they'd think I'm an idiot. I probably am but who cares? Not me! Anyways, your magic is awesome! Not to mention unique with the specific eye thing! It's one of those I think could be handy in day to day life and in a fight. Not to mention it'd be wicked against your enemies. Imagine the things you could do if you didn't want to wait in line. Just jinx the people in front." she babbled on for a bit before coming to a halt and pausing. "I was going to say something else..." She frowned for a second, trying to recall what she was going to say about her plan. She caught hold of it a minute later and smiled again. "Oh yeah, I remember. I think lets go with going to the back of the house. They'll be less people hanging around there," she said before nodding and gesturing to the back. "Let's go now before more people come!" she exclaimed, waiting for the guy to come with her.

[Zahn Skye]

((Sorry about the long wait. I've been super busy with things. Working on writing my novels, my webshow, trying to follow up on a job offer, and a whole bunch of other stuff keeps getting in the way...))

Contrary to what Zahn thought would happen Verity actually seemed interested in his magic. He blushed a bit as he spoke, Verity's gaze causing him to cast his eyes downward. He wasn't used to people wanting have anything to do with him.. He noted how happy Verity seemed and decided that he wanted to help her even more now. He liked making people happy, and this was the first time he felt like he could use his powers to do just that.

Never expected that... and she does seem genuinely curious. Oh, well, a story for another day I suppose. Though it's unlikely I'd ever run into her again after this, it would be nice to look forward to meeting a friend...

Verity started talking about how awesome Zahn's magic was and how he could use it in battle and Zahn smiled a bit helplessly. His visage was little grim, even though he was smiling. He wasn't necessarily proud of his own power. In fact, he always believed he was cursed himself with this magic. It was fairly useful in battle, but he'd only developed these powers after he lost most of his family and used his lost siblings advice to train himself. Recently he'd told another friend of his, Atrum. that his siblings had trained him, though he hadn't said that directly. However, even that was essentially a lie. His brothers and sisters had been dead a while. He and his younger sister had been alone since the first year of the war two years ago.

It feels weird being complimented on this power I have...

Zahn look at his hands as Verity continued to talk. He felt out of place in his own body, and his self-loathing tendencies started up once more. He shut his eyes, but quickly pushed his thoughts out of his mind. He didn't want to show his weak side to Verity. Not when she needed him to help her.

"Going around the back it is."

The Jinx mage followed Verity toward the back of the Haunted House. However they decided to make their entrance, it certainly was turning into a very interesting day for Zahn. Both his eyes scanned the area, looking for anything that might cause them trouble later on. After reassuring himself that for the time being no one was going to bother them Zahn made sure to catch up to his new companion and keep pace with her.

[Verity Lohlepher]

Verity was the kind of person who noticed nothing or everything. Today she noticed nothing. Not surprising judging from her level of engrossment with complimenting his magic skill and coming up with a genius idea. If she hadn't, she probably would have detected his change of moods. It wasn't that she needed to know; it was just that she probably wouldn't be as cheery and happy faced as she was right now - instead she'd be more curious.

She nodded when Zahn gave the okay sign before spinning around and making her way to the back. It was only halfway when she realised she should have waited to see him follow after her. As such, she turned around. A momentary siege of panic hit her when she didn't see him but relaxed soon after when she saw him. She then resumed walking.

When they arrived, Vera turned around and gave Zahn a big smile. "Okay! Now let's start operation get-inside-the-haunted-house!" She exclaimed, coming up with a random title on the spot. "So here's the deal. You distract anyone who notices us while I'll make a way inside, got it?" Excitement was growing in the pit of her stomach and she barely stay still. She darted a glance towards the security guards and back towards Zahn. "Whenever you're ready," she whispered. If he had any ideas he wanted to put in place, she'd be ready to hear as well.

[Zahn Skye]

((Sorry again about the long delay before and the lackluster post last time. I'm still busy, but my life's settled down a bit for now so I'm making sure to keep up with posting for the time being.))

Zahn noted how Verity retained her high level of enthusiasm all through the conversation, and his smile one again became a little bit more genuine. Her excitement was almost infectious and he couldn't help but admire the way the girl carried on without letting herself get bogged down by random happenings.

And here I thought I knew a lot about being mature... seems like I still have a long way to go.

As Verity check back top make sure Zahn was still following her the Jinx mage gave a nod and a small smile, trying to reassure Verity as well as himself that the plan was going to go off without any hitches. They arrived at their destination without any incident and Verity flashed a big smile at Zahn, prompting him to nod back. She stated that operation Get-Inside-The-Haunted-House was starting and the young Jinx mage couldn't help himself any longer. He was having fun, and he was going to hold on to this feeling for as long as possible.

"Roger, Captain Verity. Commencing strategy in three... two..."

His teasing tone denoted his genuine happy feelings, which was rare for Zahn. He was usually quiet and somber and often even grumpy. However, something about being in this place relaxed him and his companion was fairly disarming herself. He'd not met many people quite so genuinely alive and he felt like he'd be missing out if he didn't join in the merriment while he had the chance. Maybe it was because Verity reminded him a little of his sister, maybe it was because he'd been conked on the back of the head. Who knew and more importantly...

Who cares? Fun is fun, and dammit I deserve a day off of being worked up and tense!

Zahn smiled even wider as he finished his countdown, aiming his gaze at a small stand nearby.

"... one. Go!"

Without another word, Zahn began to work his magic over the area, causing a little grease from food to spill here and there, causing some wind to slid a loosely held leash of an animal out of its owners hand, and generally just inciting small, harmless little incidents here and there. Zahn concentrated on this for a few seconds, long enough to cause enough mischief that any guard who saw it would be focused on helping the park-goers instead of focusing on Verity. After he was done, he took a deep breath and prepared to proceed upon Verity's discretion. He had to admit, it felt good to be playing pranks again to have some fun. He hadn't used his powers like this since he was younger and feeling like a kid again was oddly enjoyable.

"Now let's get inside!"

Zahn's hushed declaration was directed at Verity, letting her know the deed was done. He could only hope none of the incidents were resolved before the two made their way into the Haunted House.

[Verity Lohlepher]

(OOC: No need to apologise twice (or really to apologise at all), I responded on my phone which means bad standard post from me too, not that your post was lack of luster :P)

Verity giggled at Zahn's transition into serious army soldier or crew member in an important mission (the choice is there). She seemed like he was having fun. She knew she was having fun. She had no previous intention to make their little mission like a secret spy one but she was glad it turned out that way. It was funny. She waited for his count down and started making her way to the window. She held her breath. When he got to one, she started getting her magic prepared. At go, she went into action immediately. She requipped a ladder (never knew when one of those was going to come in handy) and used it for easy climbing up to the window. Once there, it was all easy.

"Requip!" she said as quietly as she could, touching the window. It glowed for a second before disappearing into her pocket dimension. She noted that her ability was really handy sometimes. Once her deed was done, she looked back to see what Zahn was doing. She struggled to maintain silence. She clapped her hand over her mouth and grinned widely inside. But she wasn't done yet, she had to get rid of evidence. She slipped through the window crack and held herself on the ledge. It was a bit precarious but she'd manage.

Soon Zahn came back and she gestured towards the ladder. "Hurry!" she exclaimed, waiting for him to get up. Once he was there, she'd store the ladder back again and replace the window. When that was done, they land....whoops. She hadn't thought about how they were going to get done. Acting quickly, she requipped a trampoline (for when she needed a bit of solitary fun) along with some random pillows and blankets below.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn smiled as Verity went along with his soldier act. He was glad she was having fun, though he was concerned for a second when she held her breath. He then realized she was trying not to laugh. He watched her as she magically created the means to get inside the Haunted House.

Wow... her magic. What a useful talent. By comparison, my magic feels pretty mundane. Even though she appears to be pulling common household items out of thin air... I'd love to be able to do that! How handy would I be if I could do that instead of having to live like I was some sort of evil wretch with demonic hexing powers...

The Jinx mage sighed softly. Well, no use pining for something he didn't have. As he watched Verity climb in and out of the Haunted House, he saw her watching him and continuing to struggle not to laugh. His powers were well under control right now, and he was only creating a little mischief here and there so it was easy to see how his magic could be pleasant to the eyes... Still, even as he performed his spell he could hear his sister in the back of his mind...

No matter what, you are a cursed being. You lack control over you powers, and the disasters you could... no the disasters you did cause have caused our family to come to the verge of collapse. You could've gone to fight! Even if you weren't allowed! Damn the rules, isn't that what you've always said. Well, why didn't you...

Zahn shut his eyes tightly and shook his head, trying to force his sister's voice out of his memory. As he opened his eyes he saw Verity gesturing to him to follow her inside.

Whoops. Looks like that little flashback took longer than I thought... Time to get moving it seems.

Zahn made his way over, climbed the ladder she'd summoned and then jumped into the building. On his way down from the window he saw her summon a trampoline and a bit of fluffy pillows and blankets. Smirking, he decided to show off a little and aimed for the trampoline, bouncing off into a twirling somersault and landing perfectly, gracefully on his feet.

"... and the crowd goes wild! Guess I really could be a circus clown after all. Still, your magic..."

Zahn looked at Verity with wonder, amusement and admiration. Her magic was beautiful and amazing, and his... his was just a selfish, useless power... Still, the joy of seeing Verity use magic was washing away any ill feelings Zahn had toward himself at the moment.

"Your magic... it's... wonderful..."

The Jinx magic trailed off, aware he'd been staring and just now remembering their mission was to have some fun inside the Haunted House. He blushed a bit, knowing he'd been a bit rude.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have stared like that. You were pretty cool back there, though. I'd love to have your magic instead of mi-... mine."

Zahn hadn't caught himself in time,. but quickly put on another smile. He didn't want to ruin the moment. Time to have some fun.

"So, what now, boss?"

[Verity Lohlepher]

Vera couldn't help the giant grin on her face as beckoned for Zahn to hurry. There was nothing that beat the thrill of getting away with something. She held her breath in anticipation and once he was safely off the ladder, she stored in back away and slipped off the ledge, requiping back the window, and landing gracefully on the floor. It was nothing compared to Zahn with his acrobatic tricks though. She stared open mouthed, and once he landed, clapped and cheered, eyes sparkling. "That's amazing!" she exclaimed. She laughed slightly at his saying the 'crowd went wild.' She stopped laughing soon after though and tilted her head in confusion. "My magic?" she asked curiously, gesturing at him to continue on.

Her cheeks turned slightly pink when he finished saying her magic was wonderful. She didn't hide the big grin on her face though. She was proud of her magic and she rarely got complimented on anything. "Thanks," she said, for once having nothing more to add. It was nice to have her magic recognised. Most people thought she was an idiot and she agreed on that. She powered through life as best as she could ever since her little mishap. While she brooded on Kuroha's death sometimes, she tried to keep on going for her sister and didn't care when people got in the way. She began to move deeper into her thoughts when Zahn's voice brought her back and she waved his apology off with a smile. "No, no, that's fine." she said "And your magic is awesome in it's own way." she added. While she'd have her magic over his any day, his was definitely cool. No buts.

The former energy and fun returned when he asked what next and her brain went straight into planning mode. She leaned forwards towards him "Okay, so we're inside. Now, let's explore!" she whispered happily "I've always wanted to see a haunted house without the roads!" She was about to traverse but reminded herself that she needed to store away the things she had put for safe falls. She quickly did that and returned. She was about to traverse again but a faint sound travelled to her ear and by an instinct, she grabbed Zahn's arm and pulled him to hide behind some kind of fabricy thing she didn't know. There was someone coming. She waited in anticipation.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn was pleased that Verity was having fun, and he was happy as well. He didn't often get to relax like this. Verity strode back and forth, making sure to leave the scene as they'd found it. It was smart, cleaning up after yourself after sneaking in somewhere.

And it looks like my distractions worked. So far, we haven't been found out and I hope we can keep it that way.

Verity reassured Zahn that his magic was awesome in its own way, which the Jinx mage appreciated. However, now was not the time for brooding, now was the time to plan some more of their little adventure. However, before they could hammer out any details, Verity grabbed Zahn's arm and pulled him aside. As they hide behind a sheet Zahn opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. He sensed a presence now, and was quite sure that was why Vera had pulled him aside.

Crap... someone else is in here? Well, I suppose that makes sense. This is a park ride after all...

The Jinx mage grumbled to himself that the universe never let him have anything nice for a long time, but his head voice returned and explained that he was kind of asking for trouble this time.

Yeah, but I didn't actually EXPECT it!

Nagging head voices aside, Zahn realized that the presence he felt was actually two and as he peeked out from behind the sheet he saw two park-goers, probably a boyfriend and girlfriend, walking around the Haunted House.

Oh, man... how much do I want to scare them... However, I think we can leave that to the ride. We should start having some fun in here ourselves.

Zahn turned to Verity and let her know in hushed tones that everything appeared to be fine.

"We should do something while we're here too. Any ideas? Off the beat path is fine, but... hrm... how about we find the zombie exhibit?"

Nothing like zombies to start off a scare-fest. Zahn waited patiently for Verity's answer, looking around to make sure they wouldn't be spotted by any guards peeking their heads into the Haunted House. Best to act natural though, if they did get caught. Act guilty and people will assume you are.

[Verity Lohlepher]

((Sorry about the late-ish reply...was pretty busy this week))

Verity saw that the people she had heard were a boy and a girl who were most likely more than just friends. She guessed that from their holding of each other like they were each other’s lifeline. She stifled a laugh into her hands. They must have been really scared. She sneaked a glance towards Zahn. He seemed a tad wistful…as if he was thinking how much fun it would be to scare them further. A sly smile slid onto her face. Awesome. She was thinking the same thing.

The girl was about to mention her idea to the guy next to her when he talked to her first. She pouted and started to shake her head before he even finished his sentence. Why didn’t he just say what he was thinking? She knew he was sooo thinking about other things besides the zombie exhibit. As much as she thought that sounded like the most fun thing in the world to visit (not), it wasn’t what she wanted to do. It wasn’t what Zahn wanted to do if she had read him correctly.

“I think,” she said slowly, a mischievous twinkle in her eye, “that we should prank…them!” she pointed towards the unsuspecting couple.

She hoped Zahn would agree. It would be fun. She already had a few ideas on what they could do. As always her ideas were simple. They involved scare them, dress up in costumes and scare them, don some kind of scary outfit and scare them and etc. Maybe they weren’t particularly detailed but at least she got the rough skeleton.

[Zahn Skye]

((Sorry for taking so long AGAIN. I've been stupidly busy the last week. Helping my friend with his full-time delivery job and having to post in the tournament every day...))

Zahn looked at the mischievous girl in wonder. Had she read his mind or something? He thought she would've minded, but apparently she wanted the same thing he did. So, while he was terrible at opening up to people he'd finally found a person who thought the same way he did. They seemed to be on the same wavelength. That was nice. It was nice to be understood, for a change.

"... amazing. It's... like you know exactly what I'm really thinking. Sure. Let's prank 'em good."

The Jinx mage was smiling from ear to ear now. He had a few ideas of his own, but he'd wait to hear Verity before he made any suggestions. After all, he was perfectly well and happy letting her take the lead on this one. She'd mentioned people thought she was stupid, but honestly Zahn couldn't see it. As far as he was concerned, Verity was one of the most brilliant people he'd ever met.

"How do we want to start? I don't think one prank is going to be good enough. This is a Haunted House after all... The people who come in aren't supposed to be all lovely dovey until after they get out, and only because they were terrified, right?"

Zahn felt like he didn't have to explain his reasoning to Vera. She seemed to get it anyway. However, he'd become so accustomed to having to explain and apologize for himself that the words just kind of came out. However, one look into Verity's eyes and he knew she was just as happy as he was about getting to cause some trouble. It wasn't often he met people like Verity. Today had started off pretty bad, but now... he wouldn't want to spend it any other way.

[Verity Lohlepher]

((It's fine, I'd be the one apologising if you had done a post :P)

In all honesty, Verity had been slightly nervous about whether she had read him right or not. Chasing off new found friends weren't in her dictionary of fun. She broke into an even wider grin when he commented on her seeming to know what he was thinking. Even if she didn't realise it, she was quite a perceptive person when it came to others. As it stood, she didn't so instead, she felt a glow of happiness swell for her friend. It was good to know someone who could admit their thoughts despite it maybe being a bit wrong. Even if they had admitted it after she had decided to 'make' him in a way. She nodded vigorously at him, still grinning, when he said they should prank them good.

The girl heard him ask her what they should do next. Immediately she got into thinking mode. At the back of her mind she noted that she was thinking lots that day. Usually she hated that but for some reason, she was finding it fun. Maybe it was because she was doing something she really wanted to do. "Hmmm..." she said in thought. "You're definitely right about one prank not being enough, that would be wayy too boring..." She also agreed with his statement about the lovey dovey couples. It wasn't right to be in a haunted house and not appreciate the horror. She nodded her head in consent when he had brought it up. "I think, we should blend in with the whole 'horror scheme'..." A light bulb went off in her head. "How bout creating a dead body or something on the path where no one expects it? So many people come inside multiple times expecting to see the same thing so if something new happens...they'll be scared!"

Whether her new idea was a stroke of genius she'd have to see for Zahn's reaction. She was willing to hear his ideas too. If they combined their ideas she'd bet they'd have the best plan ever. And then everyone would be scared and it would just be one pile of awesome. She realised her voice had gotten a little louder than hushed whisper and dulled it down again. "How bout you? Do you have any ideas? Maybe we could combine!" She whispered again. The couple was getting closer. To her, that wasn't much of a problem since they could also stalk quietly after them again after formulating a brilliant scheme or standard plan. Whichever would work for Vera really.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn continued to smile back at Verity. This girl was amazing. Most of the time, people just played by the rules. After all, that was a good way to keep safe. However, Verity seemed want to test the rules as much as she could. The Jinx mage had never met anyone like this. He'd had any number of ideas before Verity even responded, but he waited until she finished.

"Actually, thinking about it, we have the perfect magic for this sort of thing. After all, I can make stuff move, and you can conjure some pretty useful stuff. I mean, can you imagine if a speaker playing ghost noises hide under a floating sheet...?"

Zahn said this conversational, but it was clear from the grin on his face he was looking forward to putting his full effort into scaring the pants off of everyone in the building. He gazed at Verity and spoke once more.

"And imagine if, oh, a witch riding a broom just happened to appear before people with the power to move the equipment in a ride with MAGIC? But it is so sad... I guess we wouldn't know anything about that, right?"

Zahn's grin grew wider. He was seriously enjoying brainstorming the best way to scare a bunch of random people. Hey, sometimes he just wanted to do something he never normally did. This girl... Verity. She seemed to bring out the childlike excitement he could feel at playing pranks, and just enjoying life. Zahn felt like he could trust Verity with his feelings and thoughts. Even if other people might scoff at him, or berate and accuse him, he was really starting to believe that Verity would be happy just hanging out with him. He blushed as he realized that the space he and Verity were hiding in was fairly small and they were fairly close together. He looked off into the distance.

"We should see how many people come by. We'll scare them all!"

While he really meant that, he was also trying to hide his blushing. Maybe he was starting to feel attracted to Verity, but he didn't want to say anything. After all, right now he was having enough fun just hanging out with her. He wasn't very good at sharing his feelings. So for now, it was best to not do anything he might regret or screw up. He was sure he could handle scaring a bunch of lovey dovey park-goers though.

[Verity Lohlepher]

Vera waited patiently for Zahn to contribute his ideas to their soon-to-be awesome plan (or already awesome, either way it didn't matter). She didn't actually have to wait that long since he started nearly straight after she had finished talking. She nodded enthusiastically. He had great ideas. She wanted to cut in but she didn't want to interrupt. Instead, she'd store her idea till he was finished. This was fun. His next idea was just as catching as his first - possibly even more so and the blonde couldn't contain her laugh any further. Several giggles slipped through her mouth before she clapped her hand over it. She didn't want to alert anyone to their existence. She guessed it wasn't so bad if they were caught. All they'd do was say they got lost...although in all honesty, it didn't sound like that plausible of a back-up plan. So really, it was just 'not get caught' instead of 'if we get caught we-'. Her mouth quirked up once again when he said they were going to prank everybody. Zahn was a pretty awesome person.

And now to recall her ideas. It was almost like playing kites. Once she lost the string, she lost them unless she worked really really hard to retrieve the string by jumping up and down. Of course she wasn't going to regain hwe ideas by jumping up and down physically, but mentally? Pretty good description.

"Well you're right about the magic," She started off slowly, trying to rack her brain for the ideas that came. She really couldn't be bothered. How bout... "How bout we do them all! And then no one would be missed!" she said. Yeah, that sounded good enough. Why do one when they could do all? It wouldn't be that hard would it? Maybe she was being selfish since he'd probably be the one doing the most work. Oh well, she'd figure that out later. But she could see all three working so well it was amazing. She couldn't wait to see the people's expressions.

She turned to look at Zahn. She noticed he looked a little red in the face. She grew concerned. Was it too hot in the hiding corner they had chosen? She decided to share her concerns. "Are you okay? It's not too hot right?" She wasn't pretending to be concerned. She didn't want her partner in crime to drop off from dehydration or heat exhaustion. More than that she didn't want her new friend to do any of these things.

[Zahn Skye]

((*kicks himself, multiple times* Dammit. Sorry I took so long. Lots of reasons for it, but none I forgive myself for. Sigh... Well, at least I got around to it...))

Zahn took a moment to collect himself, trying to pretend he wasn't acting awkward. He re-focused his efforts on thinking about the pranks. Or at least, he tried...

"Aaah, hot? No, no. I'm fine. Just a little distracted, is all. Sorry."

The young man paused for a second or two, then cast his gaze back over the Haunted House.

"I think you're right. We can do all of the variations. Nothing's stopping us, at the very least, from trying. I suppose the only problem now is where we want to set the first one up? Unfortunately, I don't know the layout of the Haunted House. I can grab the supplies we need along the way, but you're going to have to tell me where you want to set the prank up. It should probably be somewhere isolated so people don't go running out immediately and calling security on us. That would certainly ruin the fun, and we don't want to have to quit before we've pranked everyone we can."

Zahn stood up and motioned for Verity to follow,.

"I think better when I'm on the move. You lead the way, and I'll pick up anything laying about that we can use."

The jinx mage waited patiently for Verity's response. The young man was telling the truth. He'd never been to this amusement park before, so he didn't have the best grasp of where anything was. He'd leave the task of finding a good spot up to his partner-in-crime.

[Verity Lohlepher]

Distracted? The blonde's concerned gaze lingered for a few more seconds before she turned back to view the couple. She didn't think distraction caused people's faces to flush. Flushing red was caused by heat or embarrassment. If he wasn't hot that he must have been embarrassed. She nodded decisively. That must be it. There were plenty of reasons for that. At least she thought so. She looked at Zahn once again and smiled.

"If there's anything on your mind, don't hesitate to tell me." She told him reassuringly. Hopefully if there was something bothering him to the point of embarrassment, he'd tell her then.

The young man next to her had tons of good safety ideas and she continued to nod enthusiastically. They were all great points, better than anything she might think of and she intended to follow his advice as best as she could...which wasn't necessarily that well but at least she would have tried. While she had already gone into a thinking mode, Zahn had stood up. She jerked her head upon being gestured to follow suit and scrabbled to her feet.

"Right!" She exclaimed before clapping her mouth with her hand. That was a little loud she had to admit. She gave a quick perimeter scan of the area and looked back at Zahn. She smiled a little sheepishly. "We better hurry before anyone comes," She said, referring to the fact she probably drew the attention of others to their current location. She stepped out of their hidey hole and turned her head back and forth to see if there was anyone coming. There were none so far and so the girl continued to creep forwards. She reached some way in front where another good place to stop was before turning back to see if Zahn followed.

"Okay, I'm think..." Her eyes widened. A massive clown face which certainly was not her friend's appeared right in front of hers. They definitely pulled off the creepy smile well enough. The girl screamed initially from the surprise and by instinct, punched the person in the face. The person collapsed on the ground.

Oops.

[Zahn Skye]

Zahn was following closely enough for the most part, but at the end Verity pulled in front of him a good amount. Enough that he lost sight of her for a few moments. Then he heard a scream. She started the prank already? He rushed to find out, and saw Verity standing over an unconscious body. He couldn't help it. He started laughing. This girl was just amazing.

"Ahahaha... Are you... are you alright?"

He came upon Verity and offered his hand, ignoring his attraction to the girl. For now he just wanted to have a bit of fun. He might tell her someday, but today he felt like just hanging out with Verity might help him become a happier person. He noted there surroundings as he lead the girl to another hidden spot.

"Hopefully that doesn't cause too much trouble. If you want we can cancel the prank... or... we can actually use the clown as bait now. With him unconscious we can actually lure people to this location. If one of us wants to get the supplies, we can set up the prank right here."

Zahn pondered their options for a moment before turning back to Verity.

"What do you think? I'll follow your lead on this. I'm happy to help in any way I can, but I'm having too much fun to care how we pull it off. As long as we prank someone that will be good enough for me. After all, the day's been so much fun already. Started off pretty bad for me, honestly, but now I'm glad I came here..."

The Jinx mage nodded, mostly to himself, and his voice was honest and happy. He was enjoying their little adventure and Verity's incident made him have even more fun. The girl seemed like an easy person to get along with, at least to him. He found himself wishing he didn't have to move on after their time together ended today, but knew that staying in one place would be bad for a Guildless mage like himself.

"So, how do we proceed Captain?"

Zahn's voice was back to portraying the playful military officer he'd pretended to be earlier. He knew that as long as he gave Verity a little direction she seemed quite capable of her own sort of brilliance. He appreciated her frank, fun personality and even if her plans were a little odd he found it fun to brainstorm along with her.

[Verity Lohlepher]

Vera pouted at Zahn's laughing at her. She had punched a random civilian in a clown suit! "That's not funny," She stated, refusing to give into her urge to laugh. It was true, it was sooo not fu-
Okay it was slightly funny. Especially when he was laughing. Damn. Why did laughter have to be contagious? She'd say it was a valiant attempt to avoid laughing but really it wasn't. She couldn't withhold it any more and soon, the laughs can tumbling out of her mouth in a fit of highly suppressed giggles and a twitching grin. She nodded quickly and grabbed his hand, letting him lead her to a hiding spot while she recovered from her 'incident'.

The blonde was still trying to suppress her smile by folding her lips inside her mouth. Her eyes still glimmered with amusement. But despite her attempts to avoid laughing, she still managed to listen to Zahn. He was being serious so it wasn't hard for her to blend in with the mood and become more serious as well. Well seriousness failed. She shook her head vigorously, not wanting to interrupt him when he spoke about giving up the prank but soon bobbed it up and down excitedly when he then said to use the clown as bait. That was a good idea. Zahn had fabulous ideas.

She had to admit it was nice being told that it was fun playing pranks in a haunted house with her and smiled happily at him. "And I'm glad you came with me! Two people is always so much more fun than by myself..." Her voice trailed off slightly at the end but she shook it off quickly. She wondered if they would ever meet again after today. He was the first person she'd actually made friends with, and someone whom she could safely say got along with well. Other then that, she was virtually alone, she had no one.

Her grin returned after her sad spell in no time though. "We may proceed by...following your idea! I like it, my adviser! I think I'll get the stuff cause it's easier for me to carry it and then you can set up this area for the prank!" She exclaimed this in a hushed voice because they were still technically not allowed to be in here but still maintained a playful tone. "Good?" She asked, giving him a thumbs up, thumbs down signal. If he thumbed up or otherwise did something like that, she'd nod and start collecting stuff. Thumbs down (or anything like that)...well she'd stay and they'd figure something out.

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