Soul Food With a little Wonder Bread [Louie/Cassiti]

Out of all the cities in Fiore she’d visited so far, which hadn’t been very many, the capital of Crocus was the one that made her the most nervous.

There were people everywhere. They crowded the streets in literal droves, packed together like a school of fish drifting through the ocean, moving together in a synchronized dance that they had known their whole lives. It was graceful and chaotic at the same time, both mesmerizing and terrifying. Cassiti felt like a seahorse among the fish, watching them all with the uncertainty of an outsider that could never mimic or understand their patterns, feeling more than a little claustrophobic. They twisted and turned and swam gracefully among their peers without getting in each other’s way, while she hopped along a bit at a time with her small fins doing her best not to be a bother to anyone or to interrupt their flow.

Even she couldn’t deny how captivating the city itself was, however. It certainly wasn’t Avalon, but there were a number of tall structures with exotic architecture that were quite wonderous to behold. There were exquisite cathedrals that took her breath away, and down the main streets were rows upon rows of shops and stalls with food, clothing, jewelry, and all sorts of products the likes of which she’d never seen before. The fashion in this era of Fiore was exciting and fun, and the foods drew her nose like a moth to flame. The problem was that she didn’t exactly have any money. It had not taken her long to learn that bartering here was done almost exclusively with a currency known as jewel, which was earned through working jobs. Since she did not have a job, there were very few things she could do to get jewel. She had not necessarily become desperate yet; she’d brought more than enough seeds to grow food for herself so she could eat. However, the seeds would not last forever, not even with her magic.

That didn’t stop her from at least doing some window shopping. She loved admiring the clothes and the jewelry especially, fascinated by the intricate and detailed work that must have gone into making them. Not for the first time since she’d gotten here, Cassi wished she had some sort of practical skill that she could use to make items like these and sell them, or even to just wear for herself. At the moment she was wearing the same outfit she’d had since she arrived in Ishgar: A black, long sleeved top that left her stomach exposed, and a matching pair of black pants. A white belt sat loose around her hips and a white robe was draped around her shoulder with an oversized cowl covering her head. She had thick black hair that was done up in large braids, and vivid emerald colored eyes that were bright against the contrast of her dark skin. There were gold adornments on her hair, wrists, and ears, as well as trimmed into various pieces of her clothing. She had a small, petite frame that stood slightly over five and a half feet, and she looked fairly young. Not a child, but certainly an older teenager teetering on the verge of womanhood.

Cassi was so distracted by the sights and the noise, that she didn’t really think all too much about stepping out into the street. Plenty of other people had crossed throughout her time there, and since she had not seen anything like a lacrimavehicle before she had no idea to look out for such things. With her hood blocking her peripheral vision, she had little to no warning of the golden car that came screaming around the corner until it was far too late to try and stop it. She didn’t even get a chance to gasp before she suddenly found herself getting launched into a nearby stall.

The young woman was only out for a couple seconds before she came to, her vision hazy and her body on fire. The entire event had been a blur that she didn’t altogether recall right away. A number of people were standing around her, trying to wake her up and asking her if she was okay. She had completely smashed the wooden counter with the weight of her body, and there were cuts and bruises already forming in the places where her skin was showing. Her head was so foggy trying to catch up to the last few seconds that Cassi didn’t even have the wherewithal to heal herself right away. “Nini kimetokea..?” she asked in a deep, raspy voice, her confusion causing her to speak in her native language rather than the common she had learned to communicate with the Ishgarans.

She was barely aware of the people around her, struggling to sit up without moving too fast for her already shaken equilibrium to handle. A masculine voice shouted something at her that didn’t entirely settle in her brain, which felt like it was still rattling between her ears. Forcing herself to focus, she reached into her magic. A fine emerald colored mist began to glow around her entire body. Before their eyes, her cuts and bruises shrank and disappeared, leaving her unharmed. Similarly, any minimal amounts of blood she had shed disappeared from both her flesh and her clothing, which similarly had knit itself back together in places it had been torn until the entire garment was pristine and appeared as new as the day it had been made.

Once the healing had been completed, the mist evaporated and Cassiti’s head was feeling much clearer. By then, the man whose car she’d run into had already scared off the rest of the people that had been crowding around, which was more of a relief for her than anything else. This whole situation was already embarrassing enough as it was without having a crowd of strangers gawking at her. The man leaned down over her, causing her attention to be drawn up to him where he loomed. He had bright, yellow hair and fair skin, with bright red eyes that glared down at her with more ire than concern. If his looks were any indication, the man was about her age, perhaps a year or two older. He was certainly taller, that much she could tell even while sitting. Granted, most people were taller than she was. He wore suitably rich clothing and jewelry that matched what she could only assume was a rather expensive vehicle, and overall he was admittedly rather handsome.

But Cassiti could see more than just his appearance. Her abilities as an Oracle gave her the power to read a person’s aura, both actively and passively, which allowed her some insight to the natures of those whom she met. Cassiti rarely used the ability actively, as it could be quite invasive to the one she studied. However, her passive perceptions weren’t something she could really stop or control. There was a… darkness about him. She got a feeling that was deep seeded and bitter, with tones of… spite. Anger. Violence. That alone would have been enough to give her pause, but for as overwhelming as it was there were other sensations that lingered beneath the surface and caught her attention: Pain. Sorrow. Loneliness. Cassi had met people before with heavy and foreboding auras, but she’d never met anyone who’s spirit was as chaotic as this man’s was.

If anyone else had been in her position, the man likely would have expected to get reamed about how he had been driving, about his reckless behavior, and about the audacity it had to blame it on the pedestrian rather than take the responsibility on himself for being so careless. They probably would have gotten in his face and yelled back before calling the Rune Knights and insisting on pressing charges, particularly given how obviously wealthy he was. Instead, what he got was an almost forlorn expression as Cassiti’s shoulder drooped slightly in shame and embarrassment, her dark flesh hiding the slight flush in her cheeks.

“I ahm sorry,” she told him, her deep voice soft and kind with genuine regret. There was a thick accent to her speech unlike anything he would have heard before, the exotic tone a clear indicator that Ishgaran was not her first language. Equally obvious was that she was used to people not fully understanding her as she seemed to be focusing on her enunciations as she spoke, in order to communicate more efficiently. “I ahm naht from dis place, and dere ahr no t’ings like dat where I come frohm.” Cassiti nodded to his car meaningfully. “I beg forgeeveness. It was an error frohm ignorance. I promise to be moore careful.”

Cassiti looked up at him and asked, “Ahr you hurt? Deed I damage your… erm… how you say… cahr? I cahn feex et or heal you if needed…” Carefully, she pushed herself up onto her feet and stepped out of the rubble. Turning to the broken pile, she stretched a hand toward it and closed her eyes. Once more the soft emerald mist appeared around her, and then around the demolish stall. In a matter of only seconds, the rubble reverted itself almost like it had been a movie that she’d rewound, the pieces flying up and fitting back together until it was whole once more, with no cracks or dents to serve as evidence to it having ever been broken in the first place.

He didn’t seem altogether interested in her apology, taking only a moment long enough to observe how cleanly she’d fixed everything before turning his attention back on her with better focus. She couldn’t sense his thoughts, but she didn’t really need to at this point. She’d already gotten a passive read on his aura and it was exceptionally chaotic -- perhaps the most chaotic soul she’d ever met. It was almost nauseating to her, like the chaos was seeping into her head and threatening to give her vertigo. Luckily, she was able to keep that expression from her face -- or at least, if anything was there, he would likely mistake it for still feeling a bit woozy after being hit, despite healing herself.

The man brushed off her offer to reverse any damage to him or his car, closing the distance between the two of them to lean in closer to her. Cassi leaned back a little in a mixture of intimidation and instinct from her upbringing. An Oracle was never to be too close to anyone physically, not unless it couldn’t be helped. But even then, Cassi really didn’t pull back too much, clearly not having the same concept of personal space that most Earthlanders typically did, appearing not to be too overly bothered despite his looming smirk.

The man offered her a ride before asking for her name. Or well, it was more like a demand, really. While her face was relatively neutral, his behavior didn’t go over her head. As an empath, she could sense the desire in him. He was extremely selfish, evidenced in quite a number of ways over the last couple minutes alone, but primarily in his disregard of her words and the way he was looking at her like she was a piece of meat on a skewer. The priestesses had warned her of people like this, men and women that viewed other people as possessions or prizes or challenges, and there was no doubt in Cassiti’s mind that he was such a one.

That being said, however… it was the chaos of his nature that kept drawing her attention, that kept her from immediately rejecting his offer. It was her duty to restore balance where she saw a need, and this man greatly needed it. Cassiti could never force him to change, of course -- she wasn’t that naive. But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t at least try to nudge him in the right direction, if indirectly. There was an opportunity here, one that would bring much glory to Aryannrhod should Cassiti play even a small role in reaching for. She didn’t know how, and she was fairly positive that she wouldn’t succeed, but she had to at least be able to say that she earnestly tried and that she hadn’t shrank away from her responsibilities out of fear, or worse: disbelief.

“Forgeeve me for my roodness.” Crossing her arms over her chest with one fist resting gently against each shoulder, she bowed at the waist to him. “I ahm Cassiti Calixte of Avalon. Et eez my honar to meet you, mister..?” Without breaking from the bow, Cassiti tilted her head up just enough to meet his crimson eyes with her own emerald ones, politely waiting for him to provide her with his own name. Only once that was done would she gently rise. She glanced almost a bit nervously to the car. “Eez et safe..?” the Oracle asked him, visibly uncertain -- which shouldn’t have been a surprise, given how the vehicle had literally just attempted to make a pancake out of her -- but also not turning the offer down outright. In fact, it seemed like she was going to say yes, if anything. She just had never ridden in a lacrimavehicle before, and was a bit intimidated by his at the moment, but he would likely talk her into it very easily.

The blonde haired man introduced himself as Mr. Klein, declining to offer her a first name. It was a bit rude, particularly when she had given her own, but that was to be expected. Mr. Klein commented on her own introduction, specifically on her homeland and how he may have to vacation there soon if there were more girls like her there. Cassiti was fairly certain he was flirting with her, though her experience with such things was nonexistent. “Et woold be rathar deeficult for you to get dere, I’m afraid,” she told him gently as she straightened out. “Avalon eez naht a place dat you will find in Earthland today. Et requires as vary speceefic magic to reach. Et eez quite beautifal, though, so I ahm shoor you would enjoy et if you found a wey to get dere.”

Avalon was not against travelers by any means. However, they were not used to getting them. It was only possible to reach the island through the use of time magic, and even then the mage would have to know what they were looking for as well as where -- and when -- to find it. Very few mages over the years had managed to stumble across the place by accident. But, the Avalonians were hardly concerned with keeping their home a secret. They were a magic rich community that was more than capable of defending itself, should anything malevolent attempt to overcome it. But outside of that, any well meaning visitors would find the island exceptionally welcoming and accommodating.

Mr. Klein pulled back from her immediate space and wandered over to the driver door of the vehicle, patting the roof like it was a well trained pet. With a sure confidence that was ill fitting to a man that had literally just struck a pedestrian at high speeds, he assured her that she would be perfectly safe while he was the one driving. Opening the vehicle and allowing the roaring music to once more pour out into the streets, she somehow heard him over the thudding beat as he coaxed her to join him, teasing her as to if she believed she would somehow hit the car again while inside of it. Well, he had a point there, she had to admit.

After just a brief second more of consideration and trepidation, Cassiti carefully moved over to the passenger seat and opened the door, taking a seat inside and securing the door behind her. It was just as flashy within as its exterior suggested. Whoever this man was, he was clearly an individual with a great deal of wealth. She didn’t have to be from this Era of Earthland to assume that. Wincing slightly at how loud the music was, but politely refraining from complaining about it, the Oracle took a moment to look around in appreciation. Since she had never ridden in a car before, she was unaware of the existence of seatbelts and thus made no effort to put hers on. “Do… I need to do anyt’ing..?” she asked, betraying the fact that she clearly had never been in any car before, let alone one as expensive and gaudy as this one.

The music was so loud that Cassiti honestly wasn’t sure how her ears weren’t bleeding. In fact, she wasn’t sure how his ears worked at all. Did he always listen to it so loudly? Louie turned down the volume a bit, but only enough so he could be heard over it as he informed her that he was going to teach her about what he claimed was one of the greatest things to ever happen. She could only assume he was talking about the music, the song starting over and shaking the car with the sheer amount of bass thumping from the beat.

He took off then, the engine of the vehicle roaring to life as he zipped right back onto the roads. Cassiti was tossed against the back of the seat as the car surged forward, the smaller woman instinctively latching on to the handle on the door beside her in surprise and mild panic. She continued to sway in her seat with each twist and turn he took, unused to the movements of a vehicle. Louie, on the other hand, was right at home, talking up the song and inviting her to just go for it and sing along with him, despite the fact that she’d never heard the melody before. If one could call it a melody. It was unlike anything Cassiti had ever listened to before, though admittedly the beat was catchier than she had expected.

Still, she wasn’t sure what he expected her to do here. She could hardly sing a song that she didn’t know, so instead Cassi just listened as he sang along, trying to get a feel for the music and listening to the lyrics. She had never been great with music or singing. They weren’t exactly her strong suits, and she didn’t pick up on such things very easily, though she did enjoy and appreciate music. Still, the song itself was a bit confusing. There were parts of it that were hard to understand, and not just because the artist was singing the words at a million miles a second. While she spoke Ishgar very fluently for a woman that had really only learned it a week or two prior, there was still a lot of slang words she had yet to add to her vocabulary, and that was leaving her at a loss with this song.

Frowning lightly as she tried to understand, she tilted her head at him. “What eez a… whet az poosy?”