Meet the Preserver (Gabby/S. Cyril)

Seems this world had something for Cyril after all. The idea that he betrayed his uncaring creator and acquired this newfound power still made him shiver with joy sometimes. However, he did understand that he would have to hone this power for the moment. After his constant screwups, it became clear to him that he was rather weak. He contemplated going into Limbo himself to fight some Shadows to consume them, but even his concern for his own life gave him some hesitation. As much as he hated to admit it, he could not do this alone. The thought caused him to grit his teeth in annoyance. That means he will have to look for people that he could talk to, or worse, ally with. The most likely suspect seemed to be whichever female seemed to ally with the God with him. But he had no clue what she looked like, only how she sounded. And that would be an extreme bother. He barely talked much, but he was going to have to break some of his boundaries if he was going to keep true to his deal with the God. He raised his head from the sidewalk he was staring at while walking through Shibakuzoi to look around. He was still a decent way away from the hospital. He didn't seem to figure why he went here of all places, except perhaps the other Cyril's mother remained here, as little as he cared to remember. He let out an annoyed sigh and continued to walk, his golden eyes looking around for young-looking females that could match the voice. He had searched in other areas, but to no avail. ‘Great. I am becoming a pedo searching for something I hate…’ he thought.

So Gabby had sold herself to another god. She was starting to question her own existence if she couldn’t even stick to one side in this fight. Even so, she didn’t question if she had done the right thing or not. Her loyalty lay in only a few places, and that loyalty had not been shaken even once. However, it meant she actually had to start doing a job. She felt as if she had heard one of the voices from that red area before, but it was so long ago that she couldn’t place it. But, considering she didn’t do much outside of school, she could narrow that voice down to a student. Just who was it? It was definitely a man, so the question was how many men did she know. All this thinking was making her brain hurt. She had to take a break from all of this to give her brain some time to rest. She leaned her backed against the seat she was sitting in and stared into the sky. Clouds were passing by slowly above her, making shapes, twisting themselves around. She had forgotten what the sky looked like after living in Iwaigodai for so long. At least here, she had some peace. Well, for a little while at least. She still watched the hospital in case something happened. Today, though, she was just taking a break. She needed to build up the courage to tell Lori what she had done. At least she stood a chance. She could possibly get everything she wanted. As soon as she figured out whose voice that had been.

What timing Cyril must be having this day to come across a young-looking person walking down the streets? Now he won’t have to move his head much looking for other people. Yes, it bothered him that much. Though, it would be a bit of a chore for Cyril to simply walk up to him, asking for her to speak like he was some serial killer. He already finds it troublesome to talk to other people entirely. Though, he nonetheless would begin walking down the steps a bit quicker to catch up to the young person. The person looked enough like a girl. Small stature, not too large. Though, it’ll be annoying if again this turns out to be a failure. He would walk up beside her and turn to her, getting a quick glimpse of her face before speaking. He hesitated for a slight moment before opening his mouth, halfway in disbelief that he may be wasting his time on her. “Hey. I am looking for someone. Do I know you?” he asked, his voice half weary-sounding. It was clear he did not know proper introductions, but he had nothing else to go on. He was ready to just return and find a place to rest for the day, but even he could not take a break from this. Finding the other half would very much be helpful. The easier they could work together, the better.

A man came up to Gabby. She had seen him wondering around for a while, so she assumed she had been looking for something. It was worse than that, however,  “Hey. I am looking for someone. Do I know you?” To her, it sounded like a horrible pick up line. She was never a fan of men who hit on anything with a heartbeat. She would have usually ignored him, but that could mean he’d stick around. She had no intention of holding a conversation with this man. She waved her hand and tried to make him go away, “I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve ever met, you should keep looking.” She was too busy dealing with her own issues to bother with him. There was no reason for her to stick around here for much longer, so she went on her way, attempting to put some distance between the two of them. Normally, men wouldn’t hit on her because of her age and the fact that most people thought she was a boy. She looked at the ends of her hair. She had stopped cutting it short lately, so maybe it was starting to give away the fact that she was a girl. She would have to find a pair of scissors soon. Her hat wasn’t going to work for much longer.

The response Cyril got both irritated him and surprised him a bit. That voice, it very much sounded almost exactly like the voice who called her a Shadow in that red world. Cyril was one to hold a grudge, and small things like that tended to stick with him. Cyril was almost positive that this was finally the one he was looking for. He gave a half smirk before looking at the street for a moment. The response however seemed to him that she wanted him away. So it would not be easy to get some sort of answer out of her. He could not show her the Persona he had received from her, unless they were alone. But even then, he had no reason to try. This woman could easily be stronger than her, which already annoyed him. As she started to walk away he would follow her slowly sighing loudly. “Does the ideal world mean anything to you?” he would simply ask. If she made any kind of response, he would stop walking and give a tired look. He had to get something out of her. Surely this woman would not just walk away without responding. He would have to resist hitting her should that happen.

She continued walking, until he mentioned the ideal world. She would look at him as if he were a fool, but would smile to hide her real feelings, ”That’s a video game, right? I heard it came out just recently. It’s apparently not the popular, so I’m surprised you know about it. Personally, I’m not a fan of video games.” She would go up to him and start whispering, ”You have to be careful what you say in public. You never know who is playing the same game as you. Especially when you don’t know who is on the same team as you.” She had gotten his hint, hopefully he would get hers. As long as he kept talking about it as if it were just a game, they wouldn’t have to worry about who heard them, ”Are you a fan of video games like that?” If he didn’t get it, she would have to knock him out and pretend he was just some crazy man who was stalking her. She wasn’t going to let his loose lips put her in danger.

Cyril was confused at first at her response. Until she closed in on him, which caused him to take half a step back in confusion. What was her game now if she already did not seem to know……though what she said previously changed his mind, giving Cyril a new opinion of the girl. ‘Clever, just like the moment she joined the side of the God,’ he thought to himself. Cyril was not stupid, at least he fancied himself an intelligent person for someone who had origins as a Shadow. He grinned a bit, playing up the image she tried to make. “I understand. I am a fan of games of that type. I was looking for a player that I met some time ago. But I haven’t been able to find her,” he said rubbing the back of his head and sighing. “You reminded me of her, so I was looking to say hello. Forgive me. I need some help so to speak,” he said, his eye twitching unnoticeably at the acting. Cyril would leave the area if he didn’t know this was the very person he was looking for. Maybe he will be able to get along with her after months of speaking, as these introductions seem to be going as well as they could be going.

She let a little hum leave her lips as she thought about what he said. So, he was the other one. He was the one who was there and took the gods offer, just like her. That meant he was her… partner? She almost groaned at that thought. She was not ready to have a partner. At least she could figure out something about him, “How strong is your character? I heard that game had a rather difficult leveling system.” In other words, could he take out somebody by himself or was he useless, “I also heard that the enemies were quite something. You could take them out in any order you wanted, isn’t that right? I hear it’s best to start with two in particular, since they are obviously against you. The problem is, I only sort of know who one of them is supposed to be.” She was starting to remember where the other voice was from. It was a boy she had met a while ago. Someone she only met briefly. If she saw him again, she knew she could take him out. She only had to find him. Maybe this shadow could help. Yes, she remembered that he spoke as if he were not human. That meant he was a shadow.

At least she understood that he understood what she meant. ‘But why the groaning? She’s probably not as excited as I am…’ he thought. He laughed slightly, though it almost made him growl. He knew he was weak. He had to admit it, or he would never grow any stronger, and fall just like every other time this has happened. “I have yet to have a chance to work on my character. It bothered me,” he said, sighing and walking to the wall of a building and leaning back against it. The less people see him the better. And the same most likely went for the woman. “I agree. Which is why I request some advice from yours. Help from your character would be splendid. I have some things to do apart from my character’s goals. But if he doesn’t get better, how am I going to succeed?” he asked. But then he thought for a moment about what she meant by her last words. He would nod calmly. “Can you describe them for me? I may or may not know who you mean?” he said. He guessed she was referring to the loud fool in the red world that spoke so foolishly against the God. He knew very well who that voice belonged to, as that would certainly not leave his memory. The confusion and the God had interested him enough to keep him less violent. But now that she may be referring to someone he knows, he would be happy to learn and use her help to find the boy.

She was not happy to hear him say that he didn’t have a great deal of power. She had a partner who couldn’t fight and it meant she would have to pull her own weight, plus his, “I’m not much of a gamer, but I suppose I can try and help you.” This conversation was going better than she thought it would. Aside from now knowing she had to do more than she had hoped she would, “Perhaps our two characters can join the same team. I hear that’s very easy in games today.” Team up, do their job, celebrate when the ideal world came true. It was an easy goal. She followed him as he went to lean against a wall, “I may even know where they are.” It was simple deduction. He wasn’t from Iwaigodai, she doubted he was in the red zones, she hadn’t seen him around Shibakuzoi, that left Hayabusa or the dorms. They could check out both of those areas without much effort, “One is a loud-mouthed red head. The other is… Someone I don’t know But easy enough to find.”

Cyril gave a small nod at her reluctant agreement to assist him. He had no choice. ‘One day I will get over this. Just not right now…’ he thought to himself. Though, he would listen intently to her description of the man, and it turned Cyril’s fake smile into a sneer. Even the woman must have known through the face that Cril had a history with the guy. “I….” he started, shaking his head and turning his expression into something less manic looking. “I know exactly who you refer to. And I know exactly where they can preside.” The memories of the foolish other self getting killed off by him and his foolish team. There is no way Cyril could not find him. “We can always try to find them when you need to. As for the other one, I do not know how to tell. They could very well be allies though. So who knows,” he said. It would be for a moment that he looked to the side thinking about it. He would really need to strengthen himself in order to prepare. For all he knew, Kahn would have some kind of bodyguard with him like the silly pink lady.

Gabby gave a large, honest smile as he mentioned knowing where one of them was. If they were lucky, he would open the doors to taking down the others who were planning to stop the ideal world. She was almost giddy at the idea, “I think we are going to make a very wonderful team. When you are a bit of a higher level, perhaps we can start taking down the enemies.” She needed to make sure they didn’t wait too long. The more they waited, the more likely it was the others would get close to stopping the ideal world from unfolding, “Do make sure you call if you need me. I’m at a very high level for my class, so I can help you while you rank up.” She didn’t know enough about games to keep up this code for much longer, “As long as we make our move quickly, there should be no problems.” She gave him a smile, trying to hide her devious joy behind an innocent face.

Cyril grinned in response to the woman’s proclamation. For once, it seemed like his plan was going to go smoothly. All he had to do was train up and get stronger. It would not be too hard at all. “Gladly. I do not have a phone myself, but I am sure I can contact you somehow,” he said. If the girl had any methods of contact, now was the time to speak it. She could still end up giving him her number and he could just find a phone to use in secret. The problem was not that massive. “Yeah. We should probably move fast. But I have learned patience can work wonders for you,” he said giving a sigh and a slightly glum look, remembering his defeats. It was the only thing keeping him going as of now, but now he seems to have found someone to keep him going even further. She was lucky enough to not be subjected to his hateful ways so easily. “I will be going to check the place out soon, perhaps later in the day or tomorrow. I shall let you know,” he said resting his head against the wall, which was surprisingly comfortable. “What’s your name, if I may ask?” he said, giving a half smile, Cyril not even attempting to hide the wicked eagerness in his face. The ideal world could only come sooner if their plans go as well as they predict?

Ways of contact? Gabby had not thought of that little issue until he mentioned it. She had nearly forgotten that he wasn’t human, and probably didn’t have any of the standard technology at their disposal. Unless he wanted to use the public devices, but he didn’t seem all to eager to do that. She would reach into her bag and pull out an old notebook and pen. She would write down her cell phone number and the address that she had been staying at since she was cut off from Iwaigodai. She paid for room and board, told them she had been out shopping when the red zone hit, and they didn’t question her. After all, she was only 14 and, as far as they knew, she had lost everything. She ripped out the piece of paper she had written on and handed it to him, “If you need me, that’s how to reach me. A warning though, if you want to not catch the public’s eye, you’ll have to make sure you call me at reasonable hours. Play human, see how it works for you.” He was going to have to figure out that patience wasn’t the only thing he needed. He needed to learn to bluff and blend in with everything happening around them. Show panic at the red zones, keep a relatively normal schedule, and not make it obvious he was planning to murder a high school student. She yawned and stretched, “If you’re going, make it sooner rather than later. We don’t have time to waste.” She was ready to be on her way when he finally asked the one question she would have thought to come up sooner. She grinned at him, “Gabby. And what do you want me to call you?” As soon as he gave his answer, or didn’t, she knew they would have no more business. She was ready to leave and go back to her normal life. Well, what passed for normal anyway. Besides, se wanted to rest up before she went back to Limbo.

{EXIT}

Taking the slip of paper from her gently, he would nod with a grin. “I can try, who knows, by the end of this I might be,” he said laughing a bit. The woman went by a name after all. Gabby it seemed. Such an unconventional name for a girl such as her. “Cyril will do just fine. Actually here, I have a “parting gift” for you as well…” he said. He would then move to her ear before she left and softly describe to her every detail about the boy’s look including his name. Cyril would never forget those features as long as he lived. Pulling back, he would smirk and walk off when she left. What a day this turned out to be…

((Exit))