2017-03-19 A tale of two balloons
This scene is rated Everybody
Warning: N/A
2017-03-19
Players: Illyana, Kent, Mike
GMed by .
Title: A tale of two balloons

Wayne Tower is the central key figure of Midtown Gotham City. It is the tallest building in the skyline and it shines brightly at night with countless twinkling lights. During the day it gleams like a shining beacon of hope in the sunlight (when there is any sunlight in Gotham), its the most notorious building in all of Gotham and its not uncommon to see throngs of tourists down at street level taking photos.

Sheal Docklands on the west side of the Midtown island, the Gotham City Opera House on the lower east side. Saint Mary's Church and the park that accompanies it not far from the Opera House, Midtown Manhattan is loaded with some of the biggest points-of-interest in the entire city. Expensive apartment buildings litter the center of the island around the parks fine dining restaurants, shopping centers and art galleries are common as well.

But like all of Gotham City, the darker corners of Midtown are filled with crime that often spills out into the main streets.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that. This appears to be the case here. Sure, worlds have merged and a lot of Jersey folks are having to get used to being Gotham-ites now and there are some culture clashes from time to time, but it has been now established that there is at least two things that both worlds have in common. Irish festivals around St. Patrick's Day and curiousity.

Green adorns the midtown area, in particular the street area that has been fenced off to allow pedestrians the chance to linger in the streets in various green garments while the color of their beer help Identify the real deal from those playing along. A stage is set at the end of the street with various acts with some semblance of Irish connection within their rankings.

As for the curiousity, this festival has tried something different. While initially being planned when Gotham was just Gotham, additions to the lineup have been made to represent the world that is new to them. One such act would be Nick Drago, Mike Hannigan's stage persona, as he provides vocals for a Gotham based Irish band that tragically lost their own vocalist to the merge. Considering his own history with losing bandmates, it wasn't hard to get him to agree to help. Currently the group is in the midst of performing their last song of the set. A classic. Poor Wayfaring Stranger.

Cultural celebrations are always a good place for new things. Unfamiliar foods, drinks ( though beer doesn't count). People you've never met and customs youve never heard of. All of it fascinating to a man like Kent Nelson. He enjoys see's others perspective on things. St. Patty for instance. A boy forced into slavery by pirates centuries ago, who joined the catholic church and was sainted in his elder years. Now a reason for people to dress in green, celebrate leprechauns and drink themselves stupid. Odd how customs can shift over the years.

Kent walks slowly through the parade, a plastic stein filled with rootbeer in his hand, sipping from it as the urge strikes him. His other hand holds his cane, of course leaning on it to walk.. that's what canes are for silly. Although.. this particular cane is special. Enchanted by Kent himself, you could throw it in a wood chipper and it come out shiny and polished. He's rather fond of it.

As he walks, he's taking in the sights. The true Celtic symbology and drunken buffoons alike.

Illyana is not normally a crowd person. But she is here anyway. She was doing some scrying, looking for a tutor - one who can teach her magic. But she isn't finding anything. Just… a premonition that coming to this party could be of use. She is daintily eating a corndog as she walks along, just studying the sights, her senses open for the touch of magic.

"…I know dark clouds will gather around me, I know my way is rough and steep…" The sounds of the soft guitar and violin travel well, assisted by the nearby buildings and speakers. Mike, dressed more conservatively than most of the revelers seems to only have a green and blue shirt peeking out of the black leather jacket he wears over it. Hands cupping the microphone to protect it from any gusts that may pop up in the city streets, his lips stay near to the mic as he sings gently. A sharp contrast to most of the songs he's known for. "…Yet beauteous fields lie just before me, Where God's redeemed their vigils keep…"

Kent's cane would likely shine to Illyana's senses, a beacon in the dark. Aside from a dim glow of the odd protection talisman here and there. Celtic witches. Real ones..

The cane is held by the man who created it, who himself stands before Mike's stage, listening to the song and the lyrics, wondering if perhaps they have a double meaning. A drunken frat boy looking boy of perhaps twenty bumps Kent from behind and he almost spills his root beer. The drunk man mumbles something resembling an apology and keeps moving through the crowd. Kent scowls after him but the look fades after a moment. Just another youth living in the moment.

Illyana widens her eyes as she senses that cane. It's… what she was hoping to find - the answer to her premonition. She doesn't know what it is, but the bearer of such an artifact can help her iwth her quest as she heads inthat direction, caring not if she is rude as she pushes pepole out of the way that impede her - including a few little kids. On a singleminded mission - it's just too crowded for stepping disks.

"I'm going there to my mother, She said she'd meet me when I come…" The musician, while not in the form of Phantasm or casting spells doesn't set off too much. However, the abilities that run in the background while he's human still are going. Perhaps another reason why his eyes are closed while they perform in the center of a crowded city. There are just things one doesn't need to see. "I'm only going over Jordan, Oh I'm just going over home." The voice lingers on the last word, dying away slowly as the instruments follow suit. They still for a few moments before Mike/Nick opens his eyes. Pale eyes glancing aside as the lips form a slight frown.

Kent smiles to himself as the song ends. He'd clap but the hand is occupied. "Well done sir." He calls up and out, though if Mike hears him.. there's no telling. He turns away, and see's Illyana making a beeline in his direction. He see's the several people getting pushed aside as she approaches. And the child who loses her balloon when Illy bumps rudely into her. The shamrock balloon drifts up into the air, and rises up and up. Lost in the wind of the days weather. The child starts to cry.

"Some people have no manners." He remarks, and focuses on Illy.. wondering of her intent. And immediately his nose crinkles as if smelling something foul. "Ugh.. This truly is spoiled day.. Demons ruining our fun." He mutters to himself.

The violinist leans over to their own microphone. "Nick Drago, everyone." With small clusters of applause stirring Mike out of whatever thoughts he was having, he turns back to his microphone, gesturing towards the band, "And The Curk." He gives a small smile to the band members, "Thank you for having me." He turns back to the Microphone, "Alright, Our time here's done. Please come back in 10 minutes when Chancer takes the stage." Announcement done, the band and guest vocalist start to leave the stage. As he overhears the mention of Demons, he stops at the bottom of the stairs, looking around for signs of DemonInfest. Times like this it'd probably be good to see auras again.

Illyana stops near Kent and starts talking excitedly… in Russian. She then blinks, realizing you don't understand. "I have been looking… for one with powerful magic. Who can help me. It is vital… important…" She doesn't seem to have any regard for the crying child behind her. That aura of wrongness persists about her.

Kent has been watch Illy approach, and can.. more or less smell what is wrong. " No." He states and turns away. He finishes his root beer and tosses the cup into a nearby bin that is somehow not overflowing just yet. One hand on his cane, he turns his back on Illy, and offers a warm smile to Mike whom he is passing. "Very well played young man. You have a real talent. " He tells him in passing.

Seeing nothing amiss or any creatures setting out to attack anyone. Mike's attention turns more towards the crying child and then to the balloon. He frowns, momentarily tempted to go behind the stage an- Oh hey! Someone's talking to him. Blue eyes shift over to look to Kent. "Oh, thanks." The musician replies, glance shifting back towards the crying child and then, towards, thin air. No… no… that won't do. He starts looking around. Where the hell is that damn balloon vend- There he is. "OYE! BALLOON BLOKE!"

Illyana frowns. "Oh - you can sense it. Of course you could. I'm trying to save what's left of my humanity…" she whispers. "I need the help of a powerful magician." She slumps. "I know what you sense in me - it's kinda obvious. But… I don't know what else to do." She shrugs. "I am the one who saved the cities from the crashing starship when the planeshift happened after all…."

Kent offers a smile to the musician kind hearted enough to care about a child and her missing balloon. Kent does care, but he's not going to make a scene calling the balloon back down when an entire city block is watching. CCTV's and cellphone cameras catching the whole thing. "Good to see." He says and watches the man go to find a replacement.

But Illy wont let up. Turning to face her he leans, both hands on his cane. "One.. Lower your voice. They.." He starts quietly, casting his gaze all around at the parade go-ers. "Don't need to know our business. "

He says this frowning at her.

"Two.. thank you for the bit of heroics during the planeshift. But one action, no matter the magnitude.. makes up for resorting to consorting with black magic and demonic taint… which reeks by the way. Like a corpse in a sewer line. Not a pleasant scent in the least… You stink of it child." He tells her this curling his nose again as if offended by her literal smell. Perhaps he is.

"Third.. and perhaps the most pressing.. You are rude and self centered. Character flaws which I dont abide. " He tells her, raising the tip of his cane to guide her gaze back to the child crying over the lost balloon. "If you wish to save your humanity.. Perhaps start with being a decent human in the first place." He thrusts his cane towards the child slightly, then plants it again. So he can lean on it.

As the balloon vendor starts to wade over in the crowd, Mike makes his way over to meet the man halfway, having not heard the verbal exchange going between Illyana and Kent. Hand sliding into his pocket, he leans in to whisper something into the vendor's ear before noding towards the crying child and less than happy mother giving Illyana the dagger eye. There is the sliding of something into the Vendor's hand before Mike turns and walks back towards the stage.

Illyana sighs. "I am not like this by choice. I was corrupted by evil forces," she murmurs, barely audible. "I am trying… to heal myself, but it is no easy matter. My soul was ripped out against my will - three-fifths of it, leaving behind… this taint." She sighs. "It leaves me… not caring much." She heads over towards that mother and child, a flash of light coming through her hand, sighing as she puts a twenty in the mother's hand - and a lollipop in the child's as she returns to Kent's side.

Kent watches this, and gives Illy a nod. Then pulls her aside, into the doorway of store front which is closed for the festivities. "If you want easy, then abandon magic here and now. Because it starts out impossible and only gets harder. " He tells her, quoting his own tutor almost a century ago. "A soul is life at it's most basic. It's the spark that makes us more than flesh and bone and a chemical cocktail. Things that live tend to grow on their own. It's my experience that souls, when stolen or torn, can be mended by reuniting them with the lost peices."

"OR.. To coax it into regrowing on it's own. If you know you are tainted. Less than whole. Than perhaps your struggle should be one to be decent.. to regrow your humanity as muscle regrows when torn and allowed to heal. Rather than to peice together some almighty spell or ritual to wrestle what you lost away from whomever took it. Would that be easier? Or harder? I think it depends on your perspective." He shares this, in a tone of a dissapointed father. She came for guidance and he'll oblige.. to a point.

At this point, he smiles again at Mike making his way back up. "Thank you sir. Decency is hard to come by these days." He tells him, spareing a side glace in Illy's direction.

The balloon vendor approaches the mother and her child, pausing a bit as Illyana makes her amends with the pair before he approaches as well, bending down to tie a replacement balloon on to the child's wrist.

Mike, who was walking back to the stage when this is going on, turns his head, glancing to the scene around the child, smiling slightly as he turns away only to blink as Kent directs a statement towards him. "Huh?" He stops, looking to the pair. Thanks over a balloon? "Oh are you related to him?"

Illyana sighs. "My soul isn't just missing… it's been… replaced… with something else. I've tried to fix it - it doesn't work." She shrugs. "And… magic is not something I can forsake. It's… more complicated than… than…" She shrugs. "It'd take hours to explain. Or… I could show you… but I'm not sure you'd appreciate it - you don't seem to like me."

Kent shakes his head at Mike. "Not at all. Just nice to see a little kindness in this city. Seems to be in short supply is all." He says and shrugs.

He waits until he believes Mike is out of earshot then turns his attentions back on Illy. "You're not wrong. But dont take it personally.. I have been around a long time. Seen things that would turn your hair white. I dislike people who resort to calling on them and thier kin to further their own gain. If it's truelly not your fault as you say.. you are the victim of unfortunate circumstances, then why not seek help from the heroes?" He asks, motioning upward. "The heroes in tights who patrol around looking for faces to punch in the name of justice. "

Mike looks at Illyana, brow raising a little now as he's picked up enough pieces of conversation to know she's speaking about magic. Attention piqued, he looks to the two more attentively. Small world.

But alas, the potential for eavesdropping goes away as Mike sees something,that no one else can see, going on. Frown deepening, the musician moves towards the back of the stage area to retrieve the bag containing the exorcism imbued Escrima sticks and slides it on. After making sure no one's looking, he shifts slightly before stepping into the dream realm as Phantasm.

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