World Tree MUSH

    It's a beautiful day in Toad Town. Honestly, how often is it not? This world is like an idyllic paradise compared to most places. I mean... the Mushroom Kingdom is, anyway. In places.

    Whatever. The sun is shining, the clouds are fluffy, there's music in the air that seems to be coming from some sort of concealed PA system... And the castle has put on a nice little 'block party' in the center of town! It's not really a festival and not really put on for any particular reason... Peach just decided she wanted to throw a party outside the castle grounds for once.

    There's snacks, of course. Sandwiches, little tarts, cocktail sausages, and... cake. So much cake.

    Also tea, a cup of which the princess is currently sipping as she chats pleasantly with the mayor of Toad Town. She's dolled up in full regalia today, crown and all, although it's one of her more casual dresses rather than one of her extra official ridiculously pimped-out ones.

And then suddenly... Darkness flowed along thr ground. Behind the princess of mushrooms, a great, evil looking raven of darkness rose up, unleashing a mighty caw before spreading its wings and dissipating. 

To reveal a small, teenage goth girl in a dark cloak. Who's eyes seemed to glow from beneath her hood. Which... Was probably useful. Since it showed she was almost... As confused to be here as they likely were to have her here.

ALSO OH MY GOSH WHY WAS IT SO BRIGHT?!

 She lifted yer hands up to shield her eyes so she coukd see.... Only... To a moment later... Be hit by the wave of emotions from the party goers. Confusion and likely a few other emotions. She squeaked and quickly shuffled back, trying to hidr in her cloak and... Then... In a voice so soft she could barely even be heard, she gave a squeak oddly similar to that of a mouse... And...

"Hi... Sorry... "

The Mushroom Kingdom is pretty different from what Demi is used to. Then again Nurvus is designed for survival not social interaction. As much as she respects Wren, he's not exactly the talkative type. Of course the mushroom people were pretty strange too, were they people who been infected with some kind of spore? She remembers a pre-collapse species that did that.

 Of course the people seemed pretty friendly for someone who had been infected. Maybe some kind of mind control mushroom...her train of processing is disturbed by a woman yelling and shielding her eyes from the sun.

 "Have you been hurt miss?"

And Anna has been doing her homework, of all things! She's sitting alone at an outdoor table, working on some Statistics 101 worksheets. (A few things required an internet connection, but she's already done them.) Next to the worksheets is a plate with a half-eaten angel's food cake dripped with strawberry frosting, and a not-yet-eaten slice of devil's food cake. Spiral is off down the street with a pouch of gold coins hanging around her neck, sampling the various wares.

At the Sudden Surge Of Darkness, Anna looks up and blinks. Oh, it's Raven! "Oh crap," she mutters, practically jumping to her feet as she suddenly realizes what it must be like for an empath to teleport right into the middle of an entire actual festival ... and then she realizes she has no idea what to do next or how she'd actually be able to help Raven.

    Darkness washes over the... small town square!

    There is confusion and panic amongst the various toads as a giant raven appears from nowhere, but the princess just seems... nonplussed. Is this another of Bowser's schemes to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and/or get her to wed him? But she's entertaining offworld guests right now!

    And then the raven resolves itself into a cute little goth girl. "...Ah?"

    The panic... mostly subsides. The toads are a somewhat wary bunch, but the princess just strides on over to Raven with a bright smile. "Well hello there! Aah... you don't -look- like you're from around here so... if that's the case, welcome to the Mushroom Kingdom!" If Raven lets her get close, she stoops a little bit to be at eye level with the teenaged half-demon. Smiiile! Oh gosh even without empathy powers that sheer positivity is almost overwhelming...

Raven was beginning to panic and get scared. Where was she? It wa sso bright. There were strange people and SO MANYOF THEM WERE STARING AT HET AGGGGHHHH! She was trying to make herself as small as possible but she felt her darkness beginning to form under her as she struggled to keep it under control. To keep herself under control. No no. She wasn't a monster, she wouldn't--

And then princess. She blinked at her in confusion. "W-what?" She whispered. Then cheerful. Unearing positivity. She... The girl was awash in it. She stumbled back a bit, raising her arms up as if to defend herself. Then realized the girl mesnt her no harm. Her eyes widened and... "H-hi. I'm sorry. I didn't... Mean to... I'm... I'm raven..." She mumbled sheepishly, her eyes lowering and nervously fiddling with her fingers in a manner similar to how a child who just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. "I... I was...btrying to.... I misteleported... And... Sorry... I didn't mean to... Interrupt your um.... It's.. A party, right?" The way she said it madr it sound as if she wssnt sure... Well. Parties hadn't exactly been a big part of her life. Considering every birthday was her bringing the universe one step closer to destruction.

Her eyes were now locked on the princess, a little fearful, a little hopeful, a little... Trusting. Just a little. If she noticed anna being there, well... She didn't react to it.

Well, on the plus side Raven likely wasn't getting much from Demi. Sure, the android girl has emotions but unless she can read binary she's not going to get much out of her mentally. The woman with the rather cheerful voice gets her attention and she notices the crown, was she the ruler of the mushroom infected people? It was strange that she was lacking one herself, but it could be underneath the hair.

 Her attention goes back to Raven and her awkward social interaction. This was pretty normal for teenagers right? At least the ones Demi's met. "Yes, it's a social gathering."

Anna quickly stashes her homework into her backpack and hurries over to Peach and Raven. "Hey, careful!" she says. "She's an empath, she's probably overwhelmed by the emotions of everyone around here!" Her emotional state consists entirely of worry and concern -- for Raven's sake. "Her name's Raven, she's a friend of mine, she's the one who helped me figure out which type of magical girl I should be!"

... She doesn't seem to have the slightest bit of trouble casually chatting with a Princess.

    Peach smiles brightly at Raven. "Oh, that's a really cute name! I'm Princess Peach Toadstall, but you can just call me Peach~" she chirps in a friendly manner.

    As Anna hurries on over and explains things, Peach stands up straight and wraps an arm around Anna's shoulder - seems this princess has nothing against commoners chatting casually to her either. "...An empath? Oh... ooh, I see."

    She brings her spare hand up to her chest, breathing in deeply, and then 'pushes' down while slowly exhaling. Calm... temperance... purity...

    When she fixes Raven with a smile again, it's a far more sedate one. "Would you like some cake?"

    Demi is given a friendly wave, but Peach is being very careful to restrain her enthusiasm right now.

Raven glanced over and... "Anna?" She asked, even more confused. Had... She been trying ti come to anna? Was that what her--

"wait... You want to be my friend?" She askrd sounding... Very confused. Anna considered them... Friends?she looked shocked. Not mad or upset. But... Jist surprised.

A social gathering. She just kind of nodded as she stared up at the princess. "I ummm... T-thanks. I've never... Seen one... Before..." She said sheepishly. "Thank... You anna... Friend. For... Explaining..." 

Then she turned to peach and asked a question that may haunt the woman for years.

"Um... Sure? Cake's a food, right?" The fact she was double checking... The horror.

Demi waves at back at Peach, "Magical girl? Aren't those just from old entertainment media? From what I've researched magic is rare and you're usually born with it." Of course Demi's knowledge on the subject of magic is quite limited, it's not like she can naturally use it.

 Of course her Raven's statements get her attention as well. She might be even more social withdrawn than Wren. Demi doesn't eat herself but she knows what cake is. "Are you sure you're feeling well?" Maybe the girl had lost her memory?

"Well, yeah!" Anna is genuinely affronted that Raven might think Anna *doesn't* think of her as a friend. "How else am I supposed to think about you!" She reaches to grab Raven's arm, then quickly lowers her hand halfway as a spike of contrition goes through her. "C'mon, let's get you somewhere less ... crowded. Um, Peach, any suggestions?"

She grins at Demi. "Let's just say magic is a lot more commonplace in other worlds. The Mushroom Kingdom is just chock full of it!" she says. "My name's Anna, by the way!" Her voice is a bit androgynous.

Spiral floats up next to Demi. "Oh, it's Raven," she says, relieved. She looks over at the android, idly curious. "I'm Spiral. The magical warriors from our world actually *have* patterned themselves on fictional examples, although the media isn't that old on our iteration of Earth. Where're you from?"

    Peach looks shocked! "You... don't know what... cake is?!" Her mouth hangs open in amazement - then she unwinds herself from Anna's shoulder, spinning slightly in the process, and steps away from the two younger girls.

    Most girls are younger than Peach. Peach is like 32.

    She digs out a bright pink cell phone. "Hello Toadette we've got a code five-one-two - yes, yes I know you didn't expect my Cakeless History Emergency Contingency Plan to ever actually get used but you know what to- yes, of course, meet me in the library as soon as you can." Beep!

    She whirls around. "Raven if you would please come with me, we can go somewhere a bit quieter so you can relax a bit~"

    She then turns again and heads for a building with a bright sign happily declaring itself to be the Mushroom Kingdom Central Library. "You can join us if you wish to learn more about magic!" she calls to Demi. "We have quite a lot of it here~!"

Raven just felt very over whelmed. Someone wanted her to be their friend. A lot of... Toadstools? No hostility. Then. 

Turned scarlet. "I-it's not a cute name," she said, her fsce burning now. Oh my gosh, delayed reaction much? She was a good ten, twenty seconds behind right now. Poor goth.

She nodded. "Why... Would you want me to be... Don't you think I'm weird? Creepy?" She swore the world was spinning. It was... Oh. Oh it was spinning. She grabbed on anna and held on and the girl might feel... Raven had almost... Passed out. She was a LITTLE overwhelmed right now. She gave the girl a nod. "Quieter... Sounds... N-nice... M-ma'am...." She pulled back, careful to keep her barriers against anna tight. Deep breaths. Deeeep breaths. As they walked, she kept her hand agsinst the wall, trying to keep steady.

She followed the princesd snd... Upon the door opening... Raven was suddenly AHEAD of them. All the over whelming, all the confusion, all of it... Temporarily forgotten.

Books. So many books. And raven... Well... She was gone. Books were disappearing off the shelves as raven's inquisitive nature drove oit all her discomfort and drew in every written word she could get her hands on. Entire rows of books had already disappeared by the time she'd finally stopped in place, across the library and in a dark corner, sitting with her nose buried in a book and surrounded with... A veritable fortress kf books. Even her hunger was forgotten in all this knowledge.

"I'm Demi, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. So you dress up like them and cast spells? That generally takes years of practice even for those who are capable of magic. There are techniques where I'm from as well which are more common but those come from the mind and not magic." She does her best to explain how it works on Motabia despite the fact she's incapable of both.

 I'm from the world, Motabia." It's more complicated at that but she decides to keep it simple for now. "People are generally more concerned with day to day survival and the technology to produce mass media has mostly been lost. So what I've been able find is mostly almost a thousand years old." She can certainly talk about technology when the subject is brought up.

 "I'm getting some unusual scans from you, but I don't find you imposing." Raven's been pretty non-threating so far.

Anna supports Raven carefully! "Of course not," she says earnestly. "I told you your powers were cool, didn't I?" She's descended right back to concern. "It's okay, Raven, we're gonna get you somewhere less overwhelming --"

And then she blinks as Raven just ... zips away. "... well, looks like she's in her element now!" She grins knowingly at Peach.

Spiral nods to Demi. "I think it's more accurate to say that it is, verbatim, exactly like the fictional magical warriors," she says. "There's a transformative costume change, and *then* you have access to magical combat powers." She give an odd cat-shrug. "Of course, some people in our world naturally awaken to magical powers. Anna's 'Windrunner' lets her run at super-speeds, for example. Our world doesn't really have any 'powers' like that which don't fall under the header of 'magic', although that might just be some sort of semantic weirdness."

    Peach is about to say something dramatic and princessly when Raven suddenly seems to... vanish, along with an entire bookshelf's contents. "Uh... so she's a bit of a bookworm huh...? Hm. I suppose that matches her general demeanor pretty well..."

    Peach shrugs her shoulders, and heads on over towards Raven - but picks a table a few paces away from her to sit at. "...I wasn't even aware this library HAD dark corners..." she murmurs to herself.

    She smiles at Demi! "Aaah, well, see, in this world... anyone can learn to do magic, pretty much. It's just a skill like any other. Of course, there are prodigies and such, people with immense natural talent but... I mean, some people have an immense natural talent for basketball. Or calculus. Is it really so weird that some would have a talent for magic?"

Raven was in heaven. Her hood eas back, and she had five books open, reading, cross referencing, and just... "Could i perform such a spell... Homongus... Funadias..." After a bit, there wws a pop...

And raven shrieked as she was buried in a whole wagon of mushrooms. She coughed and sputtered, sliding out from under it after a few moments, coughing up one. Off in the distance... 'My mushrooms!' Could be heard.

Raven groanrd... And looked up at the princess. And then remembered where she was. WHO'S library she was in. She got to her feet and quickly wiped the mushrooms off herself. "I-i'm sorry. I've just... Never seen so many... Books in my life. I mean... We had a lot of books in Azarath but... I don't think i could fill up an entire book case kf this place with the books we had... And it's just..." She sheepishly lowered her eyes.

And then her stomach rumbled loudly. Making her turn even redder. Yeah. She uhhh... Wasn't going to make the best impression. And since the hood was down, the nervousness, the shyness, the fear of being disliked was evident against her face. Amd a few mushrooms were in her hair. "Sorry..." She said sheepishly. "I... I should go... I'm sorry. You've veen so nice and i..." Though her eyes wavered back to the books. Could she leave them?

"I would assume she's some type of magic to generate the darkness. I can understand having an innate talent for magic but everyone being able to use it?" Demi thinks that's a bit of stretch. "I mean you have robotic beings such as myself who don't generate any kind of magical aura." Yes, she's trying to provide a scentific explanation here. Her attention turns Raven has she not been eating? That would explain why she's so pale. Then again she's not likely the best person to handle this. She's been told her own cooking tastes blend at best.

Anna nods to Peach ... and whatever she was about to say gets interrupted by mushrooms, and by Raven's general self-deprecation. "Whoa, hey, it's okay!" she says, rushing to Raven's side and then ... stopping herself from touching her uninvited again. "Peach is the kind of princess whose reaction is to a growling stomach is to feed you, right? We can get the mushrooms back without any trouble!" And then she frowns. "... and ... also I just realized I left my cakes outside, whoops. Um, hang on a second ..."

Spiral sighs theatrically at Anna, then just shrugs at Demi. "I've found that worlds tend to have differing levels of magic," she says. "The world we're in now ... has a *lot*."

    You'd think Peach would be used to mushrooms randomly appearing out of nowhere by now.

    But, nope.

    "BWAH!" she yelps, jumping back in alarm asRaven manages to summon an entire cartload of mushrooms above and around herself. "What the stars..!" She just kinda freezes in a 'surprised' pose for a few moments, before managing to compose herself. "...Um. When testing new incantations the Mushroom Kingdom would like to remind you to follow all relevant safety guidelines such as working in a fully thaumatologically grounded laboratory with all the appropriate safety equipment. ... And not in a library. Please."

    She rubs the back of her head, looking over at Demi with a nervous smile. "Why should a robot not be able to use magic...?"

    But before she can start wondering about that, the door opens, and two toads - one with pink spots and clearly female, and another with red and clearly male - cart in a... well, a food cart. Piled high with multiple different slices of cake.

Raven blinked a few times. "I didn't... Generate my oen darkness..." She's just incredibly good at finding it. And then anna said that. 

"What? NO! I can feed myself!" She snapped, defensively. "I don't need your pity!" Oof. Pride. Maybe... A bit of her demon side showed up. "I've been scavenging just fine. On my own."

And then the cart opened. With... Cakes. The scent was... Mouth watering. Sweeter than she'd liked. Probably not the best thing for her considering her lack of proper nutrition but...

She couldn't help but stare and... Idly... Taking one if offered to her. Well. A slice. Of a colorful frosted, chocolate one. And then... Just... Stared at it. " it's... Very...." She searched for the word. 

"Colorful. Like this place. " still... It wss only polite. She reached down and... Pulled off a small bit of frosting. Pushing it to her lips and...

She shivered. "V-v-very.... Sweet...." She managed to choke out. "This is... C-cake?" Maybe a bit over whelming for the poor girl. "It d-definitely... Tastes like it... Looks." Then tried some of the cake itself. Chocolate. Snd froze. Her eyes widened. "This... What... Is this?" She asked. "It tastes... Incredible!"

"I have to admit I'm not an expert on the subject of magic. It's not common where I'm from and I've only been able to find limited information." Demi's an android but even she doesn't know everything. She smiles upon hearing Raven's reaction and can't help but to wonder a bit what it does taste like. It does look appealing to the eye from what she's able to tell.

Anna grimaces at Raven's outburst, but she brightens visibly at the *huge amount of cake!* Leaving Demi and Peach to their conversation on magic, she turns and grins. "Raven? I will now pass onto you the wisdom that was given to me by the daughter of a friend of my mom when she was giving me a tour of Brighton Community College's campus," she says. "She said the two most important words you will ever hear are 'free' and 'food', *especially* in conjunction." She gets to work on digging into two new slices of cake. "And that's all there is to say on the matter."

Spiral wordlessly floats back out to the library's entrance.

    "Well, I should hope it's sweet. It IS like... half sugar." Peach can't help but giggle a little bit. "You're still a teenager so eating lots of cake is probably fine but... try not to make a habit of it if you don't exercise a lot, okay~?" Peach pauses for a few moments, then lowers her voice slightly. "It's not 'pity'. It's 'empathy'. She cares about you, dummy."

    Well. She should leave the friends to their exploration of Free Cake. Back to Demi! "I'm not an expert either, but I do read scientific journals penned by people who are~" She holds her hands behind her back and sways a little. "Of course, they're only experts on magic as it exists in THIS world. I'm sure every world is different. Some might not even have any magic, as hard to believe as it is!"

Raven looked very confused. "Free... Food?" She mumbled. "I have been studying magic since i was a child. I'm not an expert, though. Just... Talented." A bit of an understatement. "There weren't many mages there, aside fron those who could do the healing arts," she added quickly.

"And i think that... Wouldn't apply to me. While my body does require nutrition in order to work properly, sustenance isn't a..." Shw then decided to dumb it down a bit. "I don't believe i could starve to death even if i wanted to. It's just incredibly uncomfortable," she mumbled. She looked uncertain and... Guilty. Finally, reaching up to push the hood over her head and at least... Hide some of the guilty feelings she felt. "You don't need to worry about me... I'm... Fine. Really. I am." No she wasn't. She didn't eatuch of the frosting but... The solid cake part? She... Nudged her plate a bit. Finally... "Could.... I have another slice.... If that's okay?" There weren't many of them and there was a lot of gave and it wss a kind of solid food and the chocolate tasted good! "Maybe with less of the... Sticky... Wet stuff? Reminds me of mashed yams, just a lot sweeter... And not as thick," she mumbled.

Gosh she'd kill for some mashed yams.

"Most of the knowledge I've been to locate is over a thousand years old and from a time where magic was more common." Demi's not really been able to find much. "I'm capable of healing organic begins to a limited extent, but it's through photonic energy." She can't really talk much about the subject of food so she decides to focus on what's she's capable of.

"Hey." Anna puts her hand down right next to Raven's. "Just because you've done everything by yourself before, doesn't mean you have to *keep* doing everything on your own," she says gently. "All right? You have at least two friends now, me and Spiral. And probably Peach, too, at this point. You are *really* obviously not all right." She smiles. "It's fine for you to get help from your friends. That's what friends are for, after all!"

... Even *she* knows how cheesy this speech is. Still, though, she means it.

Spiral flies back in at that point, carrying the plate with the cakes Anna had before. She sets them down off on the edge of the new cake tray, and sets to work eating them herself.

    Peach waves a hand. "Just because you don't need to do something doesn't mean doing it is a waste. We have plenty of food, don't worry about it. Nobody's going to starve because you ate a cake." She beams. "...Sure, dig in. This is meant as an educational experience! You've got to try plenty of different types to see the wide range of cakely delights~"

    She can't help but giggle. She really enjoys this sort of thing. "So. Photonic energy? Is that some sort of magical light or something?"

Raven glanced to the... Robot. Huh. "If... You like. I could teach you the azarathian method kf healing magic. It's... I can't guarantee you'll be able to do it. But i could try...." 

And then Anna.... Lectures her. "But i can--" But she was cut off. Her eyes lowered. "I'm sorry. I've never really... Had friends before..." She mumbled sheepishly. "B-but... Fine... If my... F-friends... Desire to help me... Amd it is not pity.... I.... I will a-accept it... That... That is what friends... Do..." She tried to sound exasperated.... But the hood didn't hide the small smile. Or the rosy glow in her cheeks.

And well... She'd been really hungry. So she was happy to accept all kinds of small slices kf cake... And... Well... Her eyes almost exploded when she tried strawberry. Cheese cake. "This has to be the legendary ambrosia... What... What is this?" She asked. "It is incredibke...."

"It's basically the energy from photons." If because magic can be the explantation for things, Demi figures why not science. She comes from technological background. "Azarathian...? I've never heard of that civilization before. She can't but to laugh a bit at Raven's comment about cheesecake, it's a high digitalized laugh.

Anna just smiles knowingly at Raven. "That is strawberry cheesecake!" she says. "It's made with cream cheese and ... strawberries. Uh. I'm not that well-versed in stuff, I just sort of ... I basically follow the 'canned soup and takeout' culinary school."

Spiral looks over at her, too-pointy ears twitching. "... I'm glad *you're* the one who said that."

Anna blinks at Spiral, and then just laughs out loud. "Are you eating the cakes I bought before and then left out there!?"

Spiral giggles, then turns to Demi. "Interesting!" she says. "I haven't heard of any technology that could use photons that way. My people, the Starbringers, generally just use magic since that's the easiest for us."

    "So... yes. Some sort of magic light. Okay, sounds neat! You should show me this photonic energy some time, I might learn something~" Peach answers Demi with an enthusiastic tone. "I'm always happy to learn about other worlds! Although I haven't found one yet that beats home~" she teases.

    Peach giggles at Raven's reaction. "That is cheesecake! Which... isn't really a cake, strictly, but it IS made with cheese. I didn't make that one but I expect it's made with cream cheese, butter, eggs, sugar and strawberries. Maybe cream, too! The base looks like it's crushed cookies." She holds her hands behind her back and smiles. "I can teach you how to make it if you want!"

Raven glanced to the android. "Azarath. It... Was my home. The monks there raised me after my mom..." She stopped. "... Azar trained me in their arts and... Kept me safe. And taught me to control my powers and theirs. We didn't... Have cskes and such there. It was a far simpler and... Calmer life. It was... Different. But i am unable to return there," she mumbled with a hint of homesickness. 

"canned... Soup and take out?" She asked, staring at the girl. "I've... Are cans like... Jars? We did make jarred jams, on occasion. I liked them on the roasted bread. Sorry," she added quickly. "I always liked cheese... Is there other... Cheese cakes? Perhaps one with chocolate?"

And then peach offered to TEACH her. She squeaked and shook her head. " n-no. I couldn't ask you to do that. You've been generous enough and I've already caused you so much trouble. Besides, I've never even cooked before, it'd be a horrible waste of your time. "

"I would prefer to save it until it's actually necessary, it's a huge energy drain." It takes a while for Demi to recharge after using it. From the tone of Raven's voice she realizes it's best not to ask more about Azarath. "I don't think it would be too difficult to bake a cake with chocolate and cheese." Just don't ask her to make it.

"Cream cheese," Anna corrects Demi, then turns back to Raven. "'Takeout' means I order stuff from a restaurant and then take it home with me, or wherever else I'm actually gonna eat it," she says. "Canned soup is ... there's mass-produced soup that comes in metal cans, and all I need to do to prepare it is to heat it at a fixed temperature for a fixed length of time." She grins. "Great low-cost, low-energy alternative to making it all from scratch. It's not the healthiest way to live, but, like, I'm a busy college student."

Spiral pauses. "... a busy college student who can commonly be seen in every world except the one which contains your college," she says dryly. "Not that I'm any better about all this."

Anna gives a grandiose shrug. "Yeah, yeah, I've been doing my homework here!"

    "Chocolate cheesecake is totally a thing, although..." Peach glances at the cart. "It's... not present right now. Hm. I could ask to get some delivered if you like? It might take a while if they don't have it on hand, but I'm sure someone in town DOES have some on hand. We have three bakeries!"

    She smiles softly. "Raven, sweetie. I have all the time in the world. I have commitments, of course, and I keep getting kidnapped but like... most of my time is my own! So I do what I want. And one thing I like doing is cooking, and helping other people, so teaching you to cook would help with BOTH of those hobbies~"

    She looks... very slightly appalled at Anna's dietary habits, but doesn't say anything.

Raven nodded, eying anna."college? I've heard of that. It's... A really advanced type of school, correct?" She asked. Welp. At least they made sure she knew about school back home.

Then shook her head. "N-no. There's no need for that. Please. Don't. You've already shown me more kindness than i cpuld ever deserve. Don't go to any more trouble. Please. I don't need to try such a thing. I was curious! The many delights you have given me have already been plenty. I've probably already eaten more than i should have." And considered sll she ate was sugary foods... She would likely regret it later.

Of course then peach said *that*.

An extra pair of eyes appeared over her own, all four of ehich glowed red as her voice echoed through the library."Kidnapped?! Who would dare to hurt you in such a manner?!" Ahem. So. It seemed the princess had made quite an impression on the girl. Judging by the dark envelopi g her form and being ten feet tall... But... It quickly died as raven realized what she'd done. "I-i'm sorry. I... Got angry and... I... Lost control.... For a moment."

Demi looks over at Anna's statistics homework and is able to caculate all of it in less than a second. It reminds her of the time she filled in for one of the professors at the academy in Piata. Of course she could likely teach the course herself, but she's too busy with Nurvus to do so. Of course the thought of teaching math is quickly placed as Raven briefly lashes out and grows in size. "What just happened?!" She was just about to reach for her impacter when Raven returned to normal.

Anna notices Peach's expression. "It's not *all* I eat!" she says. "The college's food court has ... better stuff, and I drop by my mom's apartment for dinner all the time!"

Spiral deadpans, "And so, the reason Anna moved to the Mushroom Kingdom was not for better education or for greater access to magic, but so the local head of state would feed her properly."

Both of them flinch back from Raven's sudden outburst, but Anna's quickly back over to Raven's side. "Hey, hey hey hey!" she says. "It's okay, everyone's safe here, Peach has, like, a whole kingdom to protect her and rescue her and all that!" She turns over to Peach. "I mean. For the record, once I become a full-fledged Star Mage, I'm totally cool with helping out with that sort of thing if you need it."

Spiral murmurs, "Anna has a scorching case of hero-itis, by the way."

    As soon as Raven's demeanor - and appearance! - changes, Peach's casual attitude shifts considerably. She raises her left hand, palm facing out towards Raven, while her eyes glow a bright gold, like sunlight. Sparkling white energy starts to coalesce in her hand...

    But then Raven is back to normal, so Peach drops her hand and lets the magic dissipate. Welp, turns out this princess is also coincidentally a ridiculously powerful sorceress of some sort, who knew?

    Peach takes a few moments to relax again. "...It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it, okay? Bowser's a total softy when you get to know him~"

Raven nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't.... mean to... I'm sorry... I'm a pacifist..." she said softly, trying to shrink down as small as she could, her face burning with shame.

Then... her eyes glanced towards Peach's hand. The one that had held all that radiant energy. That shining light. That kindness. That softness. All of it.

Everything she wasn't. And she steeled herself. They were nice. They wanted to be her friends. But she was dangerous. She was a monster. This... girl was kind. She wasn't like that... Her mind, oddly, drifted to sheik. She wondered why they compared them... No. It was because they both just had this... air about them. But this girl was pure. This girl was kind. This girl was everything Raven wasn't.

"I... Thank you for your... for your kindness. But I think I've... overstayed my welcome. You've been nothing but kind to me, and I've caused you nothing but problems. I'm sorry. That's... just the kind of creature I am..." she mumbled.

She finally made some friends... And then she went and showed them what kind of a monster she was. Now she was certain they'd want nothing to do with her....

     From the small pile of books one begins to shake and shift slightly following the slight outburst. First it's a slight shake and then it grows stronger and stronger before the book flips open and out from the depths of the pages form a small portal which spits out a horrifying mortifying... man in a pinstripe suit from the other day. Benito Bontade clutching at a small crow with 6 red eyes. He blinks slowly for a few moments face partially covered in the shade of his hat before he comes back to a stand looking around with shifty eyes a bit confused.

    Out of a random book, a burst of energy announces the arrival of someone. A white haired man with red coat and a massive sword claws his way out, gasping for air while looking like he's covered in soot, three-day stubble growing in on his otherwise modelesque features. His red coat, as well as the rest of his clothes, are pretty badly worn down, blackened with soot and dried blood as well as torn in places.

    Dante flumps onto the floor, and he takes a few seconds to compose himself. "Well...that's the last time I try reading *that* thing." He says, dusting himself off as he sees Benito arrive the same way. "Oh hey, there you are! Figured I'd lost you a few chapters back!"

Raven stared. And then... She pulled back. Fast. Oddly, right against peach. She gave a cry of... fear. It was fear. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the bird.

The glowing eye'd bird. "I-I... impossible... I... I escaped you. I ran. You can't be here. It's not, not yet, I-I had more time... I.... YOU CAN'T!" She screamed as dark energy enveloped her hands. "I WILL NEVER SERVE YOU!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Raven... was powerful. She didn't have experience. She didn't know the methods of fighting. Heck, she didn't even have a will to fight. But...

But those were were about to learn just how powerful she truly was. As she flew her arms down, and a wave, no, more like a tsunami of dark energy erupted out from her. Around her friends, so they were safe. The two people, and bird? Not so much. A wave of dark energy thrust out and... took table, cake, tray, books, book cases, and likely those people out and across the room... and demolishing quite a few windows, and cracking the walls. And not letting up as she hovered in the air, her hands held out as she tried to CRUSH them. To DESTROY them. Back to the four glowing eyes. "DIE! TAKE YOUR MINIONS AND GO BACK TO THE LIMBO WHERE YOU BELONG!" she screamed, anger, rage, pain, hatred and fear all flowing around her hands and unleashing her power to its maximum power...

 The 'pacifist' she said.

>> GAME >> Raven spends an Edge for: Raven having a RSOD moment upon seeing a crow that looks remarkably like her dad's.

Well, it's a good thing Demi didn't get hit by the dark energy or she would be in a fair amount of trouble right now. Still all logic goes out the window as two men and a bird come out of a book before Raven loses it again. From what she's able to piece together someone wants Raven to become a servant of the darkness. Thankfully Demi has no idea who Dark Force is right now, or things would be a lot more awkward.

    CRy of fear, sputtering, shouting...

    "Oh hell." Dante just says, as Raven suddenly powers up, and hurls EVERYTHING IN THE STORE at him and Benito. "Catch up later." He just says, before drawing his sword.

    Rebellion is a MASSIVE blade, for those unfamiliar with the Son of Sparda, twirling in Dante's hands like it weighed a fraction of its true weight. Gripping the blade, Dante digs in his feet and moves to block the wave of energy with said sword. "CHILL OUT!" He yells, trying to deescalate things to very little success.

    Doesn't help Dante's giving off a demonic aura himself...specifically a hybrid's aura if Raven can sense it. It's not exactly malevolent, either.

     The force of the blast causes Benito to have his jacket blown open, knives pistols magazines, clips and grenades go flying out from his jacket as he tries to hold onto that spot. He's not fully grounded but he's holding his own... for a few moments. The bird in his hand caws out loudly as he does his best to hold onto that. "Oh no you don't. I just stole this th-" and then POOF in a puff of feathers it's no longer there. As if it weren't in his hands in the first place. Benito looks down into his empty hands more knives and munitions blown out of his jacket. Yet the force isn't enough to knock the cigar from his mouth nor the hat from his head as he goes flying backwards into the air. He catches himself against the wall and bounds back end over end before landing next to Dante. "Alright on the bright side now we don't need to find a buyer for that thing. On the downside I feel like we fought a five story titan for nothing."

Spiral blinks in surprise at Peach, and her eyes briefly flicker with a pearlescent light as she scans Peach's magical potential. "... oh," she says, her curiosity sated.

Anna doesn't react to the initial outburst. She just ... gently, and carefully puts her hand next to Raven's again. "Hey," she says softly. "It's okay. You can't help where you came fr--"

...

Anna and Spiral fall over backward when the table goes flying, but Anna quickly gets back to her feet. She grimaces against the onslaught of darkness, and a pale blue light surrounds her body for a second ... but only half of it at a time. It flickers out after a couple of seconds, and she lets out a frustrated growl that sounds even more androgynous than her usual tone ... before she runs forward, leaps into the air with a burst of pale blue light around her legs, and throws her arms around Raven and hugging her tightly.

Is Anna afraid? Yes. Yes she is. But more important to her is her concern for Raven's wellbeing. She's more worried that *Raven* will end up hurt by all this. That is where her emotions are, and that is what she tries to convey to the empath through her physical touch.

>> SUMMARY[Anna Freeman] >> ACT > Hug, MERCY

    Peach facepalms. "...Raven, sweetie, stop talking like that. You clearly have deep-seated self worth problems you need to deal with, and we want to HELP you, you silly girl."

    And then... a familiar man and an unfamiliar man erupt from a pair of... books. Peach just sort of stares at them dumbfounded. "...What," is the most she manages to say before Raven is suddenly freaking out and unleashing dark sorcery on the two newcomers.

    Oh hell no.

    Peach's body is surrounding by a shining yellow aura as she bends her legs into a crouch for a moment - and then with a blur of speed and enough force to crack the tiled floor, she leaps into the wave of darkness towards the two men. She doesn't really care who they are or what Raven's beef is with them - this is her library, and there will be NO FIGHTING.

    The moment she lands, in front of the two men, she raises both of her arms and lets loose a wave of Purity. It's sparkly!

Raven was scared. Sent wave of dark energy after wave of dark energy, unleashing her might. Unleashing her fury, her powerful. Such a good pacifist... Attempting to destroy them and... "S-stop! You don't understand!" she yelled at Peach. "They're helping Trigon!" As the wave of purity hit hers, there was a momentarily stop in the wave... and the wave was dampened considerably. "You don't understand what he is! He is a monster! He will destroy you and everything that is good in this universe!" she screamed.

And then... Anna hugged her. The wave floundered, and then poofed. Clearing out and... Her eyes widened. Trigon was... gone? The bird was gone?

Then she looked around at the destruction she caused. It wasn't as bad as it could have been... Thanks to peach's movements.

And then she looked down at Anna. "Anna... please... stop..." she whispered. "I wouldn't hurt you. I wouldn 't hurt any of you... I swear. I'm fine... Please... don't be scared... please... I-I had to... the danger is..." And then her eyes fell on dante and Benito... She gulped and... 

"You. LEAVE HERE! Your master, Trigon, has fled! And if you remain... I swear.... I... I will destroy you..." AND IT WAS REALLY HARD TO SAY AND THREATEN THAT WITH ANNA HUGGING HER! AND PEACH BEING ALL... AWESOME!

Demi draws her Impacter from its holster this time and points it at Dante and Benito. It seems like she doesn't know all the details but if they wewre a threat to Raven they needed to leave before things got any worse. "It might be best if you left before there's any more trouble." She rather not ruin the party by shooting anyone but things have taken a turn for the rather serious.

    Dante digs in, bearing the heat as suddenly the bird escapes and Raven is interrupted. "...who the hell is Trigon?" He asks, genuinely confused as he stares at Raven, sheathing his sword. "I think I'm missing some context here. Me and Benny both."

Anna shakes her head, keeping her arms tightly wrapped around Raven. "They're not a threat, Raven!" she says. "They aren't connected to this Trigon guy!" She's still worried and concerned for Raven's sake, but ... she glances at Dante and Benito to check if they're all right -- okay, right, they're basically fine -- before looking back to Raven. "It's all a big misunderstanding!"

    Peach brings her hands together once she relaxes her magic - almost like she's praying - before dropping her hands down to her sides. "...Alright. What in the Underwhere is GOING ON?" She wheels on Dante and Benito. "What were you doing in... those books? What was that six-eyed bird?" Then she turns to Raven. "And who the Minus World is Trigon?!"

Raven glowered, anger rising. "Impossible! How can you not know about Trigon, he--" And then... blinked. 

A six... eyed bird. Trigon had... four eyes. And she didn't sense his presense, And she... And then... She eeped as she realized... "That.... wasn't trigon..." she whispered. And Anna's words tore through her... "A misunder...standing?"

And then looked to Peach. She guklped and... pulled back to her normal self... And moved back. "Trigon is... a universe destroying demon.... trapped in limbo..." she said sheepishly. "I thought that... bird was one of his minions... or... him and... I panicked..." And it was... kinda... hard to not panic a little here. "I thought he tracked me down and...." She was TOTALLY using the hugging Anna as a shield. Empath or not, she kinda... scrrwed up. And knew it.

Demi holsters the Impacter it seems like she wouldn't need to shoot anyone after all. "If that bird wasn't after Raven then where did it come from?" While's she's glad that Raven is safe that doesn't answer the question of what it was doing here to begin with.

     Benito rolls his shoulder finally speaking up as he adjusts his hat, and flips his hand now holding a new cigar. He pulls a match from his sleeve and strikes it off a shoe. Quietly he puffs a few times lighting up a fresh cigar. The Clint Eastwood bodydouble looks back over to her. "That was, emphasis on was, a Hornbrowed hex crow." He flicks his hand down to one side putting the match out before shoving it back into his sleeve. "We just spent the last six mon- He looks around or apparently 5 minutes by this place... well whatever we spent a long time hopping through books looking for it." 

     He motions over a shoulder. "We fought a titan to get our hands on that thing." A light pause as he chuckles to himself. "Trigon just sounds like some sort of a musical instrument if you ask me."

    "We got stuck in some hell realm. Had to fight our way out." Dante explains. "What he said." He cocks a thumb toward Benito. "Anyway...uh, guess that Trigon's someone to keep an eye out, huh?"

Anna protectively interposes herself in front of Raven. ... to protect her from Dante and Peach. ...... even though she currently isn't actually able to *do* anything to protect Raven better than Raven can protect herself, if things devolve back into violence. Well, the point is, she's in front of Raven, and still hugging her.

Spiral floats back over to hover off to one side, out of any potential crossfire. "And you two were inside a book for the duration?" she says cautiously.

    Peach takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. "Okay. Okay, this is obviously all a terrible misunderstanding - Mister Bontade MUST you smoke in the library?" She closes her eyes, then claps her hands. "Alright! Library's closed. Please follow me outside," she announces, in her Authority voice, before turning to head for the exit.

    "Raven,s weetie, you've clearly been through a lot. I don't know what your connection with this... Trigon person - another universe-destroying demon, like we needed more of those... But it's clear you have some sort of... personal history with him." She taps her chin, crossing her arms. "...Well, for now, I'd ask that you come with me to the castle so you can get some rest. You could probably use it. I would also ask that you write a letter of apology to the poor librarian whose collection you damaged. I don't think any of the books in that room were irreplaceable, but... the poor man's nerves are bad enough as it is."

    To Benito and Dante, she says: "Mister Bontade and... associate. The Toadstool Crown humbly apologises for your inconvenience, and we will grant monetary compensation for your lost property, in return for not pressing charges against miss Raven."

Raven didn't really know how to respond to this. It... just.... Her mind was... a little frazzled. And... You know what? She reached up and gripped Anna's wrists and pulling her off. Slwly. "You're. Hugging. Me," she finally said, pulling away from her. She then turned to Peach and was ready to object. But then... Looked around at the stuff she just... wrecked... Then glanced to Peach and... "Yes. O-okay. I'll come... write a letter... Ma'am..." she mumbled.

Well, she'd never been in a castle, so it'd be kind of fun she imagined. She glanced to the others and... "I am sorry... for ummm... destroying your bird. It... yeah..." she said softly. She supposed there was... something she could give of value. But nothing she was willing to give up. She nodded and then glanced to the castle... "I... will meet you there...." Darkness enveloped her, as she turned into a massive black crow, only to disappear into wisps of darkness.

And reappear just outside the castle. Listen, she didn't teleport because she wanted to get here fast. SHE TELEPORTED BECAUSE IT WAS REALLLLLLLY AWKWARD OKAY?!!

    Dante is about to wave it off, but then Raven disappears. "Uhhh, I wouldn't worry about that." He says with a shrug. "It's Dante by the way. Demon Hunter." He approaches Peach and just produces a card for a place called 'Devil May Cry'. "Never know if you need someone to go kick some demon ass, yknow?" He grins with a chuckle, trying to play it off. "Don't sweat it, it's not the only time I've had someone flip out at me over the demon thing. Dad was one, but he's a special case."

Anna sighs with relief. And then quickly lets go of Raven the instant she voices her concern. "Sorry --" ... and then Raven teleports away. "Oh well," she says.

Spiral blinks at Dante. "Oh! I was actually kind of wondering about that 'winning the genetic lottery' thing," she says. And then she clears her throat. "Anna, we should probably get ready to head back to Earth," she says. "Or ... *our* Earth. You know what I mean."

"Well ..." Anna looks like she's about to object, then sighs. "... Peach, could you do me a favor?" she says. "I'd like you to tell Raven ... it's okay if she doesn't like where she came from. The fact that she's working towards making herself better makes all the difference in the world."

... She almost sounds like she's speaking from experience with something like that. (Well ... sort of.)

    Peach sighs a little bit as Raven teleports away. She's going to have to be careful with this one...

    Dante's business card is tucked away in a pocket. Yes, her dress has pockets. She's not some sort of savage. "...I'll make sure to tell her that, Anna." She gives the girl a smile. "Well. Feel free to stop by any time you have some free time from your studies, dear~" Humming lightly to herself, Peach begins to stroll back to the castle, leaving the others to enjoy the winding-down of the mini festival. She has a half-demon sorceress to basically adopt.