Seekers Of The Round Table [Lucian - Alice - James - Cassiel - Lilly]

The time left until their guests arrived grew thinner and thinner, and as Lucian waited he sipped gently from a coffee cup while reading the news – two items from his homeworld he was beyond glad still existed within this one, even if in different forms. He rested patiently on the living room couch, his daughter and best friend probably getting ready on their own rooms. Thankfully for himself, the President had been ready to greet the doorbell for about half an hour, and dinner (if you could call it that) was waiting hot and fresh in the oven. He just hoped they hadn’t forgotten the directions…

As Alice descended from her room and joined the others, Lucian turned his head towards the proverbial elephant in the room. “You really should put something on, you know. Our guests will be here any time n-“ Lucian’s berating was cut short by the sound of the doorbell. He gently put down the cup of coffee on the nightstand next to him and went to get the door, thanking the world for its assistance in proving his point. “And maybe put off the cigarette; for all we know it could be ten times as poisonous to them as it is to you.” Getting James to stop smoking was something Lucian had long since given up hope on, but one little request for the sake of his guests couldn’t be the most grudge-worthy of actions, could it?

Opening the door, Lucian found himself face to face with not one, but both of his expected guests; certainly more punctual than he predicted. “Ah, Cassiel! Lilly! Thank you both so much for coming. Please, step inside.” Stepping to the side, the man motioned for both of them to set foot in his home. The boy and the pup would find a regular middle-ward home, but one redesigned and changed to resemble houses as Lucian and his family knew them: the first room was a wide living room with cream-colored walls, a couple of dark green sofas and chairs sitting around a small, translucent coffee table and facing a TV on the wall. From the ceiling hung a chandelier-styled lightbulb set that gave the benefits of electric light with the fanciness of olden light sources, and scarcely laid out on the walls were a few tapestries from diverse cultures of the multiverse that Lucian bought with a surplus from his stipend. On the other side of the living room there was an oval-shaped fancy flourish oaken table with six equally fancy-ish seats (two on each wide end, one on each narrow end) and dinner gear already set in place for the event, presumably taken straight from the cup and dish cabinets parallel to the table. “Go ahead and take a seat at the table, I’ll bring out dinner and then we can get started.” He commented, sweeping a bang away from his face then heading into the kitchen. If the four others wanted to mingle pre-dinner, this would be their chance.

Moments later, Lucian stepped through the kitchen door, in his hands a broad silver platter with a bowl, a baking dish and a jar. After putting them down on the center of the table, Lucian sat down on one of the narrow-end chairs and cleared his throat. “Well, first of all, thank you for agreeing to have dinner with us. I know a lot of people would simply want nothing to do with us after… what happened.” He started off, begrudgingly. “I suppose we should start with proper introductions, considering our previous meetings were either fairly short or, in some cases, non-existent.” He hated having to be so formal during what was basically a family dinner, but he couldn’t afford to be unorganized at this time. “You might remember my name as it stands, but I’m Lucian Clarke. This is my daughter Alice and my best friend James, and his uh…. his AI J.U.L.I.A.” Maybe a day would come when he’d get used to her, but this was not that day. “We’re humans; we arrived in Junction three jumps ago.” And with that, he’d let Alice and James make their own introductions if they wanted to, and then it would be Cassiel and Lilly’s turns.

Once introductions were over, Lucian pointed at the food at the center of the table. “Alice and I tried replicating some dishes from our homeworld, but we had to use alternative ingredients. This here is Lasagna Bolognese- it’s basically a cheese and meat cake – and if you can’t eat meat, that there’s Caesar Salad. That-“ He prefaced, pointing at the jar of liquid. “That’s just soda I bought from the market.” He admitted sheepishly; even if it was just soda it felt wrong not to put it in a jar for a meeting like this. “Please, help yourselves.”

“Now.” He called to attention after everyone had had enough time to serve their plates and try out the dinner. “I hate to be so blunt, but… does anybody have any idea what in Christ’s name has been happening?”

“Honestly, that’s just customary for us. No need to make a big deal of it.” Lucian commented at Cassiel’s remark about a full course meal. Was it not like that in mixed Junction culture? With all the different foodstuffs and culinary styles it must have accumulated over the years, Lucian would have thought it to be natural for its citizens to want to share conversations over different meals.


Er... What? "Ironically, you wouldn't be the first person to call me Lucy." Maybe it was some sort of joke he didn't get? It would have been rude to point it out and thus he would refrain, but joke or not the young man's inability to remember names correctly was... interesting, to say the least.

Lucian couldn’t help but chuckle at Cassiel’s outbursts of… eagerness? Curiosity? It was hard for the man to tell, but whatever was the source of his energy, it was oddly endearing. “Well, I myself had to have my appendix surgically removed years ago, but that’s neither here nor there.” He entertained the young Virtue’s line of thinking out of a combination of amusement and the sheer pleasure of cultural exchange, although… “What’s this about hearts though? You have… more than one?” A little odd, but not the strangest thing he’d seen in the past few days by far.

Meanwhile, sitting opposite to James and next to Lucian, Alice quietly fidgeted in her own seat, far too absorbed in her own thoughts to provide much insightful commentary other than her own introduction, which consisted entirely of simply waving her hand quietly as Lucian brought up her name. Honestly, it was a little awkward to be introduced so abruptly to people she’d barely even met, even if she already knew that they too were seekers.

“Common, huh?” That would explain why Cassiel knew those little factoids about human anatomy. Judging from how human-like a lot of the species he’d encountered in the city were, perhaps the human gene was the simplest or basest form of intelligent life, with other evolutionary developments being harder to achieve and thus less common? Food for thought, that was. “Well then. I’m not sure if I should be proud or humbled.” He commented with a signature gentle chuckle.

As the conversation continued and the man sternly ate away at his own plate, Lucian’s hopes steadily decreased as it was revealed that nobody had much information on what exactly had been going on. There was something, however, that Lilly said which piqued Lucian’s interest. He made a short vocal noise as he swallowed a bit of dinner, as if to signify he was going to say something as soon as he was done wiping his mouth. “Lady Anabelle?” He questioned. “That name… isn’t that the current head of state in Junction?” Judging from the “A vote for Anabelle” pin he’d found during the fungeon, it seemed that Lady or Lord was Junction’s equivalent of the President title. What political powers and duties made the difference between the two positions, though, remained beyond him for now. “You are affiliated with her? Do you remember anything she might have mentioned about the situation?”

Lucian nodded in understanding at both Cassiel and Lilly’s explanations of their respective statements. Whatever had been going down, Lady Anabelle seemed to be getting her hands dirty with this whole affair. Not that Lucian blamed her; she was the highest authority in Junction, after all, so it only made sense that she’d be the first to work towards a resolution. Alice was more interested on finding out why the government was so sure it had originated in the lower ward, but it didn’t seem like they’d have any way of really knowing, so she’d keep to herself for now. If anyone knew, after all, they would’ve spoken up already.



“About that…” Lucian interlocked his fingers and rested his chin upon the resulting surface as he contemplated how to proceed. “I think it’s safe to say that nobody in this entire city is going to give us direct answers; at least, not anyone that would be approachable without complex consequences. I do however…” Lucian paused to bring out a book from a nearby cupboard and place it upon the table. If the others bothered to look at its cover, they’d see that it was a small journal with the number 1 printed square on the cover. “…believe it is possible to learn about the situation ourselves.”

“This journal contains a word for word transcript of the message that was broadcast over the Fungeon right before the failed jump. Everyone heard that message, but as it turns out we’re the only ones with the journal from which it was read. I’d like to know why it was lying there in the first place, but… more important to me is the big “1” on it coupled by the mention of other journals and the need to find them. It seems that whoever holds all the journals holds the answer."


“Um…” Alice fidgeted in her seat, mumbling something to herself about impulsivity. “…I dunno if I should bring this up, or if it’s even really related to the topic at hand, but…”

“Hm?” Lucian turned his head towards his daughter, not having expected her to chime in. “Yes? What is it?”

“…When we first got our powers, most of us – or, well, at least James and I – saw a vision of a weird man in a garden. The other day I somehow managed to find a way back into the garden, and I saw that man, but… as soon as I brought up your surname, he turned hostile and eventually kicked me out with no way of getting back in. Considering that multiple people saw him before the jump and he reacted to me bringing up my surname, maybe he has something to do with all this? Iunno, I didn’t get many answers out of him, but I think somehow you having gotten the first journal might have angered him… or something among those lines.”

Lucian seemed concerned but also interested. “I… see. If this way into the garden is what I’m thinking it is, then yes, he has been rather rude to me as well. I never imagined I’d make an enemy by simply picking up a book… why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“Iunno. It didn’t seem important until now.”

“Well, whatever the case…” Lucian turned his attention back towards the general layout of the table. “These events and these consequences are what I called you both here for, in reality. I want answers and solutions, but it’s apparent to me that I’m horribly outclassed by this mystery. I need allies, seeker allies that will help me find the journals and solve the mystery of this failed jump and these Personas. You’re the only other seekers I know, so… consider this me formally asking you for help.”

Alice stared with anticipation at the two guests. She and her dad had already talked it over in private, and they both agreed that it was best to make as many seeker connections as possible. If they formed a formal group with established members, managing would be easier and collecting and organizing information would go along much faster and smoother. “We don’t really have a team name thought out yet, but we’ll think of something eventually.”