A Day Off (OPEN)

[Creda Shields]

After a few wing beats, Creda touched down on the long stretch of sand. Wings fully unsealed, she shook them out slightly once she was firmly on terra firma, loosening the joints there a little and enjoying the feeling of having them out. It was much more convenient to have them sealed away, obviously, but letting the grey wings air out sometimes was somehow... refreshing. She wasn't hiding anything and she was proud to show it.

And this island. Unconnected from the hustle and bustle of the main Academy island, it seemed ideal for Creda to just have some time for herself and recollect her thoughts. Said thoughts?

Everyone on these islands are, quite frankly, useless.

There had been such potential. Thoughts of people begging at the chance to join His cause and yet, not one matched her strict criteria. It was frustrating to say the least. They were all unworthy. Dullards and imbeciles, the lot of them.

Wings flaring in anger slightly, the white eyed girl calmed herself, before walking along the sands. Dressed in a white tank top and long grey shorts, she was barefoot as she wandered the beach.

"Although these islands are beautiful. Definitely worthy of my presence. Living here after it is all over would be nice..."

[SarahSyna]

It was a bit strange that Perdu was so completely undeveloped, Gabrielle thought as she walked along the beach, just where the sand met the jungle. Granted, the other island was hardly packed with enough buildings to need another island and the view here was a lot better because of the lack of development, but what was the point of having a whole second island, that was apparently school property too, if it was going to be there, all useless.

Still, it was a nice walk, kind of like Capri with the sheer blueness of the water and the beach with sand so hot that she hadn’t been able to walk on it barefoot when she’d arrived at noon. After a week and a half of her room (with occasional journeys out, fair enough), she’d been about ready to throw herself out a window, and had figured that hey, checking out the deserted island might have been a better option.

She'd been actually quite relieved to find that there was no official school map for the damn place, so had brought a box of chalk that she'd taken from one of the classrooms instead, marking trees with small arrows. And for the first damn time, she hadn’t gotten lost.

There was a small, short breeze, barely enough to rustle the trees. Gabrielle looked up and saw nothing, then around. Some distance away, she saw something large with wings land neatly on the sand and start spreading its’ wings. She couldn’t quite see what it was from that distance. It could be anything, maybe even an Atlantean. She smiled at the idea, then squinted as she got closer.

Was that a fucking angel?

[Creda Shields]

Wings folded neatly behind her back, Creda just closed her eyes and enjoyed the slight sea breeze. Thanking Fate for guiding her to this peaceful island, she crouched, kneeling in the sand, but far enough away from the sea that she wouldn't get wet.

Brushing her hair behind her ear, she just kept her eyes closed and thought to herself.

If it wasn't for Him, I would never have come to this place. I really need to send Him a photo or postcard about what these islands are like. Maybe if I show Him, He'll come here Himself? That would be nice. Though I have a mission and I can't let Him dow-

She whirled back to her feet, wings spread, white eyes opening and glaring a hole through the girl who had snuck up on her. Three quivering feathers were now in the ground, speared through the sand as a warning shot, clearly sharp to the touch and dangerous by the heavy THUNK noises they made.

"Who are you?"

[SarahSyna]

As she walked closer to the angelic creature, Gabrielle clutched her crucifix. Should she hide it, or leave it where it was? If the damn thing really was an angel, it might attack her for wearing it while unworthy.

On second thought, she took it off and wrapped the chain around her fingers, leaving the crucifix itself dangling down. There were probably few blasphemies worse than beating an angel with a blessed crucifix, but she was ready for it.

She really hoped it wasn’t.

She got close enough to see that ‘it’ was definitely a she, before there were three sharp thuds by her feet and she leapt back for the safety of her toes.

“Mother of-!”

She stared at the girl, who was now standing with those frankly beautiful wings wide, and fucking sharp looking.

“Hey, n-no need for that.” Gabrielle said, as soothingly as she could. Dealing with crazy bitches was really Artemis’ thing, not hers. She held up her hands. “I-I’m unarmed, see? Just w-walking.”

Her eyes flicked to the wings then back. If she hit those wings hard enough, she’d probably unbalance her, knock her down, maybe break one if she could do it hard enough. Then, depending on how staggered the girl was, she could either head into the trees for cover (how would those things do against wood?) or just try curbstomp the girl into oblivion and leave while she had the chance.

“My n-name is Gabrielle.” She said, trying again. “Gabrielle Viaris.”

[Creda Shields]

The girl who stood before her towered above her, also with black hair and was clearly impressed or in slight awe of her wings. Though whether that was for the safety of her appendages or for actual respect of her flying equipment, Creda couldn't tell just yet. Her eyes were locked onto the girl, ruthless in their analysis. Her wings were primed to fire more feathers at the one who had startled her and her head was angled very slightly.

Unarmed means NOTHING on this island. Not with all these Blessed about.

Her eyes trailed down her arm until they reached the crucifix.

...Another? Perhaps I acted too hastily. Let us test her worship.

Without warning, Creda spoke, voice calm and collected as she recited the frst half of a well known prayer.

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon..."

She left it hanging, looking expectantly at Gabrielle, seeing whether or not the girl would finish it.

[SarahSyna]

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows, not sure why this angelic looking woman was reciting the Prayer of St Francis and giving her a look that suggested she was meant to know exactly what to do. What exactly was being expected, and, she looked to the wings again, just how bad would it be if Gabrielle didn’t supply it?


It wasn’t even the full prayer anyway, just under ha- Oh. Oh, right. Maybe she was meant to finish it. That was kind of logical? Probably completely wrong, but after all, nothing ventured, giant razors shred you to bloody strips.

Gabrielle coughed and cleared her throat. “Where there is doubt, faith.” She began, speaking slowly. A stutter here might be taken as not knowing the prayer for all she knew. “Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy.”

Her hand twitched as she repressed the urge to automatically clasp her hands together for the Amen.

[Creda Shields]

Creda's wings folded in. She gave Gabrielle a small smile, eyes still challenging as the winged girl finished the prayer herself, confidently. Until eventually...

"...Amen. Miss Viaris, wasn't it?" she asked. "To finally find someone who shares the faith. It has been far too long. My name is Creda Shields."

Introducing herself to the girl had been easier than she first thought, but still kept her wings showing. Just in case the girl tried something. She didn't move any closer to Gabrielle, neither did she back away. The angel held her ground.

"That, however, doesn't explain why you felt the need to try and sneak up on me when I was merely trying to enjoy my solitude. Is there, perhaps, an issue to be raised here?"

She's on the islands. She's like you. A Blessed.

[SarahSyna]

When Creda did say Amen, Gabrielle clasped her hands together and made the sign of the cross.

“Uh, n-nice to meet you too.” she said warily. The woman has apparently relaxed, but not enough to drop the wings and threatening demeanour, and it was making Gabrielle herself want to start squaring up, bare her teeth and clench her fists. She was going to smile, before she remembered the fact that she had a mouthful of creepy, sharp teeth. Maybe that wouldn’t look good.

“I w-wasn’t t-trying to sneak up on you, I was really just w-walking.” she said and looked around, always keeping Creda at least in the corner of her eye. “I’ve spent m-most of the time inside, and this place was j-just too beautiful not to have a look around at s-some point.”

She scratched the back of her head “Plus, I thought I wouldn’t run into anyone here. Guess this was some coincidence, huh?”

[Creda Shields]

"There's no such thing as coincidence." Creda replied, almost instantly after Gabrielle stopped speaking. "All things are designed by Fate, we just walk the paths set out for us."

Nodding slightly at the girl's excuse, however, the winged girl kept her eyes trained, just in case. For a few moments more, the tension mounted until Creda turned away, facing out to the ocean once more, wings fluttering slightly behind her as she sat down, being careful not to sit on them by mistake as she had done many times in her youth.

She's been cursed with a speech impediment. Clearly she must not be worthy of her gift. Or God would not have bestowed this condition upon her. That being said, I am slightly curious as to her gift. Perhaps another time, when she proves herself.

"Continue your walk." was all Creda said.

[SarahSyna]

“Well, then i-it’s a pretty f-frivolous fate that set this up. Lot of time on its’ hand.” Gabrielle said jokily, then paused, a little surprised at herself. Not because she was being teasing about the words of a crazy woman with razor wings, that was really to be expected and she was a little confused she hadn’t done it sooner.


“Wow, I didn’t even realise I knew the word frivolous.” ase said as she started to untangle her necklace from her hand and put it back on She settled the heavy crucifix back in place on her chest, the weight of it more reassuring than anything else.

“Well, nice to meet you.” she said, waving at the womans’ back. Did God damn people for white lies?

[Creda Shields]

Creda ignored her first point. Fate would deal it's hand and punish her accordingly for calling the vague sense of destiny "frivolous".

"I suppose I should respond to the courtesy. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Viaris." the winged girl responded,keeping her eyes closed.

A possible recruit? We shall have to see.

"You do know God's work, however. I suppose that does separate you from the rest of the chaff. Tell me, what do you think of this place?"

[SarahSyna]

Gabrielle would have raised her eyebrows at Creda suddenly being a bit friendlier, but they were pretty high up already and getting kind of tired of it anyways. She shrugged. It probably couldn’t hurt to answer her.

"What do I think? Of j-just Perdu, both islands or the academy?” she rubbed her chin and thought.

“Well,” she began, “Perdu is beautiful, nicer than the main island. Both are gorgeous though. It’s like...”

She gestured vaguely with both hands, a little flailingly, not really sure if she had the words for it. “H-have you even been to Capri, or s-seen a picture of it? It’s a s-small island, off the coast of Italy, expensive as fuck to live in, but so divinely b-beautiful that it could break your heart. Lot more buildings and p-people than here obviously, especially during t-tourist season, but it’s the same kind of beauty. The vibrancy of everything, the intensity of colours that can’t be matched by anywhere else in the world.”

Her voice was soft and wistful and she was quiet for a few moments before she came back to herself.

“Anyway, uh.... As for the Academy... It’s interesting. The people are nice. S-some of the teachers aren’t that good though. The power control one r-reeks of being a substitute, you know? I hope we get a better one soon.”

[Creda Shields]

Creda was still as Gabrielle spoke about what she called the beauty of the islands. Creda simply kept her eyes closed at she listened to the girl, as though concentrating on the sound of her voice.

Creda had hoped that the girl would reveal something valuable in the clamor of her speech, something that Creda could find useful. Perhaps she might even unintentionally prove herself worthy through careful use of her words... but this was obviously too far a stretch at the moment.

Perhaps if Creda pressed in a different direction she might discover something more interesting. "What brought you to Solstice Academy, Gabrielle?" She asked. Her voice was somewhat cold, as though she was reading the questions off a sheet. She opened her eyes and glanced at the girl, awaiting an expression or some form of look that would reveal something to her.

What she had said about the Power control teacher was intriguing. Creda decided inwardly that it would be a piece of information to report back to Cody. Power Control was a serious subject matter, and Creda was slightly disgusted that the most important subject of the campus was not being properly taught.

"Indeed... If Solstice Academy has any sense of priority it would acquire the staff necessary in order to train it's pupils. However, perhaps this was meant to be..."

She considered her own words for a moment, wondering to herself what was meant to occur from all this.

[SarahSyna]

So she was actually in the mood for talking. Gabrielle bit her lip, unsure of what she should do next. Granted, Creda came off as kind of a weirdo (understatement and a fucking half), but maybe she was just really socially awkward? God knew Gabrielle herself wasn’t exactly good with this social shit. Hell, she’d reacted pretty damn similar to Rust’s interruption of her own little beachside wandering.

Right. Friendly mode it was. Dear God, please don’t let this end in blood on the sand.

Gabrielle walked over and sat besides Creda, though not too close, and on her knees rather than crosslegged. It would be a lot quicker to get up that way if something did happen, and due to years of Mass, she felt slightly more comfortable on her knees anyways.

That sounded so bad, now that she actually thought about it.

She bit her lip again, a little harder, as she actually thought over Creda’s question. Friendly mode or not, that was a bit godamn invasive, wasn’t it? Well, she wasn’t going to lie, but no fucking way was this girl getting all the details.

“I hurt someone accidentally, so I came here to learn how not to.” she said bluntly then added, her tone and expression more than a little defensive now, “And it was her fault anyway. She started that shit, I just finished it.”

She shifted a bit in the sand.

“To be honest, I think the administration here is kind of stupid.” She muttered, “Full on fucking retarded. I haven’t seen any fucking CCTV cams anywhere and all these kids have superpowers, and none of them have any limitations put in or chips or anything? There’s more security for people on house arrest! What if one of them goes mental, what if one has a mind control power? There’s no safety here.”

She looked over to Creda. “A little girl got fucking gangraped. And far as I know, no one’s done shit. I can’t even find out if the guys who did it have been kicked out or anything.”

She snorted derisively. “I’d do a better job of actually fucking protecting the people I’m meant to protect, and I can barely take care of myself.”

[Creda Shields]

"I see." was all Creda said, tone neutral. The girl looked back out to sea, he wings fluttering slightly with the soft breeze, small clinking sounds coming from the strange material as it rustled. Instead of sounding like keys jangling, it instead was like that of wind chimes, an infinitely more pleasing sound. It soothed her and apart from her prayers was her only source of solace in the dark times before her guardian had saved her from the PCG. Which raised a point.

It sounds as if she was attacked for her gift and merely defended herself. A lot like myself in that instance.

She had hoped another of the church would turn the other cheek, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Why SHOULDN'T she have proved her superiority to those lesser than her? Who didn't understand?

"That is nothing to be ashamed of." Creda admitted. "You just proved that you were the better. There's no harm in that. That other person obviously overestimated themselves greatly and you merely put them in their place."

The notes on the administration, however. Those were interesting to say the least.

Perhaps, my Guardian... Perhaps you will be here sooner than you first thought... she pondered, eyes glazing over slightly as the raven haired girl lost herself for a moment. No CCTV? Hardly any security? It sounded too good to be true.

"Hmm..." was all she said in response to the gangrape. Unfortunate, but that was the hand Fate dealt. Not Creda's problem. "And just how would you protect them against a world that already ostracises our kind, Viaris?"

[SarahSyna]

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow at Creda’s words. Little bit... over the top, maybe? Then again....

“...Put her in her place?” she pondered this for a moment, settling into a more relaxed position as she did, with her legs out but knees together and her arms crossed.

“That’s one way of putting it, I suppose.” She said hesitantly, then grinned despite herself. “With the way Artemis tells it, that bitch should still be picking shards of mirror out of her face. So if that’s what it was, I guess I did.”

It was hard not to feel a little pride about the situation after all. No one could blame her, not really, not when the girl hadn’t been hurt that badly. Gabrielle had stopped a bully; surely that was a good thing. It just wasn’t good to be prideful about it in most polite company.

Gabrielle coughed awkwardly, trying to lose or at least disguise the grin.

“I don’t know if I proved I was better,” she said with a shrug, “but I know I proved that she should keep her bullshit to herself in future. That’s as much of a win in my book as anything.”

She drew a couple of vague, wobbly lines into the sand besides her before realising what Creda had said.

How would she protect them? Well, that was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? She looked down at the sand doodles, as if they have the damn answer for her.

“I don’t really know.” She said, her voice uncertain. “Anything, I guess. I’d show regular people that we’re not fucking monsters. I’d actually put some godamn effort into the schooling.”

She frowned, then said with anger, “Know what? I’d work on finding them before they do some crazy shit and nearly getting lynched for it instead of just barely cleaning up the mess after and chucking them into some bullshit school that doesn’t give a damn about them and just hoping they won’t want to leave. And just for fucking kicks, I’d beat the shit out of those anti-power psycho fuckheads without using my power, just to prove you can be a fucking horror without being a ‘mutant’.”

[Creda Shields]

Inside her own mind, Creda smirked in victory.

Perfect.

"I have the same dream." was all she said, still staring out to the horizon, face impassive. "God gave us these gifts, did He not? Fate gave us abilities beyond the scope of the 'normal' people. And instead of accepting us, they try to hold us back and, in your own words,chucking us into some BS school."

She wrinkled her nose as she swore. Creda still wasn't used to the more common language they used here. But, when in Rome...

"My dream is another's dream...but it's a noble goal nevertheless. Gifted rights. We do not let those lesser than us treat us like outcasts or lepers. We take care of our own."

Finally, Creda looked over at Gabrielle.

"Viaris... Does this sound like a worthwhile endeavour to you? It sounds impossible, but there is One who can achieve it. You can see it in Him from the moment you meet Him. He can change this world. Change Fate. It's incredible."

Speaking with absolute passion, she nodded to herself.

"The only difficulty we face is numbers..."

She left that sentence hanging, the unasked question hanging in the air.

[SarahSyna]

Gabrielle, being socially astute for once in her life, got the unasked question straight away. She stared at Creda, a little freaked out by her without knowing why. There was something about the sheer fervency of her words or something about the words themselves that together just niggled at the back of Gabrielle’s skull, cold little warnings darting through her mind. Was Creda a cultist or something?

Gabrielle moved to stand up and opened her mouth to say no, she really did. Then she stopped.

She’d just been talking about how shit needed to be different, about how the way they were being handled right now was stupid, that it was godamn dangerous for things to be left the way they were. Hell, her own life kind of indicated that the system was broken.

Creda’s words seemed freaky as fuck, yeah, but that was just the way Creda was talking, with absolute passion and faith. And if you’d had to ask Gabrielle just what freaked her out, she couldn’t really point at any one thing and say ‘that’.

Gabrielle looked down at the sand, then sighed.

You can’t say that you’d do anything to protect people and then back out because the person asking you to really fucking believes in it.

“Look,” she said finally, still looking at the sand, “I’m not making any promises here. I might not even be what you want.” –she was kind of glad about thinking of that. Sort of a hey it’s not you, it’s me if something was weird- “But if you’re genuine, and this... ‘Him’ is genuine then....”

She looked over to Creda and held out her hand.

“I’m in.”

[Creda Shields]

Creda gently shook her head.

"You're more than what He would want, Viari-no, Gabrielle." she replied. "You want a change. You want to be accepted by people like yourself, am I right?"

Creda just smiled. There was a hint of something deeper, but it looked genuine at least. The winged girl stuck out her own hand and gently shook Gabrielle's own.

"He's more than genuine. It's...hard to describe. But I appreciate you seeing it His way..."

A successful recruitment! I need to let Him know. My guardian... I did it!

"This is going to be a long road that Fate's set out for us..." she muttered aloud. "But maybe it's that which guided us here today? This island is not visited often and it can't just be coincidence that we met."

She looked once more at Gabrielle.

"You are sure about this?"

[SarahSyna]

Gabrielle couldn’t help but glee inside. Two friends. Two! Within as many weeks. Holy fuck, even if one was kind of crazy, she was on a roll with this socialising thing.

“Well, I hope I don’t disappoint you.” She said sincerely, then grinned in all her pointy toothed glory and put her heart on her chest. “All this faith in me when you don’t even know what I can do? I’d be heartbroken if I let you down.”

She smiled a little at Creda’s wistfulness when she spoke of this mysterious ‘Him’. Now that she’d decided it wasn’t so creepy, it kind of wasn’t. She knew people like that, the ones that they hadn’t invented words for yet, with a presence that had the solidity of an ice cold punch and a personality that filled the room like a tidal wave. She couldn’t really fault her.

“I’ll get it when I meet the guy, right?” she said, trying to be helpful since Creda was apparently overwhelmed by His sheer Himness. “I’m sure he’s an incredible guy, if he can make you act like that. Hey, I look forward to it.”

She went serious for a moment. Was she sure about this? This might be anything. Was she certain she wanted to get involved? Well, she had better be. No going back now. Shake the hand, you make the deal.

She nodded.

“I’m sure.” She said firmly, then laughed. “And if God’s behind it, who am I to say no?”

[Creda Shields]

"Well, I can only assume that your gift is notable. You came to this Academy, did you not?" Creda began to deduce. "And you want to protect your own kind. It's more than enough, though I wouldn't mind a demonstration."

It sounded blunt, but that was Creda in a nutshell.

"And you will. Hopefully soon. I still need to contact Him and give an update to the situation. He's going to be very pleased by this."

She gave a small smirk at Gabrielle's final statement.

"Who are you indeed. Gad intended for this meeting to happen and I must say, I was beginning to wonder if Fate had planned for me to run into nothing but time wasters and antagonists. I see now that those were merely tests and trials."

Smirk fading back to her impassive face, Creda flared her wings a little to emove a kink, before they glowed a silvery gray and sealed themselves back into her shoulder tattoos.

"And so it begins..." she quiet;y said to herself.