World Tree MUSH

    The sanctum's gateway is protected by subtle means, though the Obsidian Cabal wouldn't dare attack a gathering of so many mages. Hints here, hints there, barely noticed signs that direct guests to a grove of trees in Golden Gate Park, where they step into another world. 
    The festival may just be getting started, but that doesn't mean the guests aren't already celebrating. Magical creatures and strangely garbed mages mingle, a bewildering riot of colors, sounds, and food smells flood the senses. The big main plaza is still being prepared for the opening ceremony.

Benedicta's actually in human form for once, she didn't have to worry about the cops showing up after all. She's eating from a salad that Lizzie had prepared for her and trying to take her mind off of what's happened recently. She's just hoping no one's stupid enough to try and cause trouble here.

    That's what Josuke is mostly following -- the smells. He's no Yuya Fungami, but he IS a teenager. And the one thing teenagers like more than being hormonal is particularly delicious food. So the signs are a help, but it's mostly the smells of food that Josuke is following.
 
    The scene set out there is a bit surprising. "Oh, wow..." he observes quietly. So many different outfits! Good, that means people here aren't likely to think he's dressed weirdly in his blue school uniform -- he's representing the Budo-ga Oka Middle and High School! Kinda.
 
    

Diana has ditched her usual outfit for a narrow red dress, with long sleeves that tuck into smooth red gloves. Long black tights slip into red pumps. She wears a wide black hat with a rose, and a white mask with excaggarated human features covers her face, reflective glass obscuring her eyes, black fabric hiding the rest of her head. All in all, not a square millimeter of her person is visible.

"Evening." She greets Josuke, inclining her head to the teenager, taking in his appearance. "Navy, I take it?" She guesses, trying to place the uniform.

    Festivals are usually nice, and seems Luke caught wind of this one, maybe through Aurelia?, or one of his friends! The boy is alone, if only to avoid drawing attention to the somewhat secret entrance, one hand on his belt, getting ready to let his pokemon out and enjoy the festival with him, but pausing for a moment at the rather impressive sights and smells, he even waves and admires some of the more unusual creatures!.

    Of course Aurelia dragged Luke along. He's a good friend and Aurelia doesn't have many outworlder friends. To go along with the costume part of the festival, Aurelia has dressed up as a mad scientist, complete with dingy white lab coat, protective eye goggles, and sturdy boots. And maybe a remote control drone thing that resembles a robot with treads. "Come on Luke, you'll fit right in. Because nobody is dressed the same, really!"

"Hey Luke and Aurelia, it's a nice change to see you while we're not risking our lives for once." Benedicta hadn't bothered to dressed up, it's rare when she can go out in her human form in public as it is. She's clearly a bit concerned as she notices Diana, she knows it's a costume party but it was someone fully concealing their appearance.

    Josuke blinks a little at Diana, though... as covered-up as she is, it's still a really pretty outfit! He offers a smile as she approaches. Though the question gets a blink? "Huh? Me? No, this is a school uniform," he offers, seeming a bit confused.
 
    Though he's not confused enough not to be polite. So he bows to Diana and offers, "But... hi there. My name is Josuke Higashikata. I'm pleased to meet you." He'd have greeted her a little more informally, but this seems like not the best venue for informal greetings. And she's way too elegant-looking for 'yo, how ya doin'.

The boy grins to Aurelia, "thank you for inviting me." he adds, even if he does keep tryin to lok at the curious creatures around him, reaching on his pokemon belt to release a couple of his pokemon!. He decides on his Pangshi, and Konya, being the smallest and less likely to cause trouble, hopefully!. So now he is flanked by a small cream furred kitten with a coin on it's forehead, and a small bipedal panda wearing a Jiangshi costume, and vampire fangs.. and red eyes!. 
    The trio wave at Benedicta, when greeted, while luke grins, "Heya!." It's Pangshi who spots Josuke first, and the weird panda floats closer to the school 'teen', quite curious!.

Emily is ... investigating. That is, she's doing what she calls "pretending to be an investigator." A couple of different pieces of information caught her attention while she was faffing about in this world, and so she's wandered over here.

A staticky portal opens up just inside the entrance, and out steps a smiling woman with auburn hair, glowing purple eyes, and four arms, dressed in a midnight blue ballgown and with a glowing white flower in her hair. "Aha!" she says, as if she thinks she's discovered something very illicit. And then she blinks, glancing around. "Oh. Hi, Luke! Hi, Josuke!"

"A pleasure, mister Higashikata. Call me D." She offers, her eyes turn towards Benedica, clearly noticing the concern. The mask shifts to form a smile, "Please, I have good reasons to hide my appearance, whether I'm going to a party or going on a hunt." She glances towards the Pangshi as it approaches, and the features of her mask shift towards clear hatred, and though her volume is kept low the malice in her next sentence is crystal clear. "Get out of my sight you blood fiend."

    The master of ceremonies takes the stage at the main plaza. Torches flare to life in the last light of the afternoon, showing the wizened MC's smiling face. He rather resembles a Great Horned Owl, come to think of it.
    "Welcome to all! As you all know, we're gathered here to celebrate the Spring Solstice. But this year we've allowed outworlders to join us in our annual bacchanal! Though I have to admit that I'm having a hard time spotting any outworlders because of all the wonderful costumes! As is tradition, we will cast off our costumes at the stroke of midnight, celebrating how nature has finally taken off the Mask of Winter and revealed the new beauty below!" With that, the tiny owl-like MC rings a bell, signaling the commencement of the festival.

    Josuke becomes aware that there's a presence there, and turns... to see a vampire panda! "Whoa!" He takes a few steps back. But... actually it's kinda cute! "Hi there," he greets the little Ghost Pokemon. The portal draws his attention, and as Emily greets him, he waves to her, smiling in a friendly manner. THERE'S the informal greeting! "Oh, Emily, hi!" he greets.

    He turns to Diana -- or rather, 'D', as she introduces herself -- as she does that, and tilts his head a little at the single letter. But he doesn't question it. People have their secrets, it's not his place to judge. Oh, the features of the mask shifting is definitely a thing to catch his attention! But then... the Pangshi.

    "I'm sure it'll be okay," he tries to soothe. "It's... I think it's a... Pokemon?" Looking to the Pangshi to confirm. Which is part of the proof too -- if it is, it'll probably be able to understand him! He doesn't know much about them, but they do seem to be intelligent. At least, moreso than a typical animal.

    Oh hey, there's an announcement! Josuke turns his gaze forward, though he's also going to keep an eye on D and the Pangshi. He doesn't want them coming to blows! Particularly not here. This is supposed to be a fun get-together.

    Pangshi seems happy, smiling, flashing those tiny sharp fangs, red eyes moving from Josuke to Diana!, it makes a cheerful chirp to Josuke when greeted, waving happily, wobbling in the air as it gets closer, before Diana tries to threaten it!. It squeaks loudly, clearly startled, looking around in a panic before suddenly diving to the ground and... phasing partially into it, trying to get away, but pausing to rapidly nod when Josuke speaks, and tries to circle around Diana to hide with Josuke, still somehow half phased into the ground, scared vampanda. 
    Luke doesn't seem to notice the confrontation, even if he does wonder where the pokemon went!, further inquiries are stopped when Emily appears, smiling and waving happily, "Hey Emily! how are you doing?"

Emily pauses to listen to the announcement, nodding in confirmation. She shoots Luke a grin. "Not bad, not bad!" She then strolls over to Josuke and "D", since the issue with Pangshi seems to be more interesting. "So, who's the lady with the fabulous mask?" she says. "And the very clear grudge against undead things? How do you feel about things that were never alive to begin with?" She extends her lower left hand to Diana for a handshake, and in a swirl of silvery glitter, her sleeve dematerializes, revealing that her arm is entirely robotic, complete with a miniature rectangular screen with scrolling technological gibberish text like "MLE0-X413J2N9F6I2 - Status Confirmed - >:3 - 9999YottaHertz (Lost Count)"

Benedicta nods to Emily, remembering her from the mall before turning her attention back towards Diana glaring her as she threatens the panda. "Hey, leave the panda alone. It's not causing any trouble!" She adores animals even are they ghosts and it didn't seem to be a threat. Of course Emily's reaction makes things even more awkward, "And I thought my life was weird."

Diana's mask somewhat relaxes as the Pangshi hides behind Josuke, though not entirely. "It's clearly a blood fiend." She answers Josuke, voice still not hiding her malice; though muted since it's not aimed straight at the target of the malice. Then Emily arrives, and Diana returns the handshake. From up close, Emily can probably figure out that the mask is highly advanced piece of technology, likely replicating and excaggarating the real expressions beneath. "Call me D." She offers, "Hunter of hunters." Her gaze falls upon Pangshi again, especially with Benedicta's comment. "Not yet, but knowing blood fiends, it's only a matter of time."

    Josuke blinks a little as the Pangshi phases into the ground. "Oh, I didn't know you could do that. But I guess... oh, what did they call it?" He pouts thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Ghost type?" he recalls. He doesn't know a whole lot about Pokemon, just that 'Ghost' is a type, and they may or may not actually be dead people. He also smiles in greeting as Emily approaches, though the weird techno-gibberish on her sleeve does make him tilt his head a little, obviously confused.

    Benedicta's words to Diana draw his attention then, and he shakes his head. "I think it'll be okay. We're all from different places, different situations. Maybe something bad happened to her that had to do with undead things." He's willing to understand both sides, it seems. But it's also pretty clear that he's trying to keep himself between Diana and he Pangshi. Though who he's protecting is anybody's guess!

    For Diana's benefit, he offers, "I think this one's actually under the control of a human, so I think it's a little better." He looks around, and if he sees Luke, points him out. "Probably his." He remembers the other Pokemon, and hasn't really met any other Pokemon Trainers, so... natural assumption that it's Luke's.

Luke Gray finally has his attention taken to the conmotion, following Emily around, "Hey everyone, what's going on?". He manages to catch the end of the discussion and blinks, "Blood fiend?" he says, "He is just a Pangshi!, he... well, I guess technically he is a monster but... not a blood fiend." he says, "Not any more than maybe a big bug, if he gets really desperate and can't find anything to eat and, and even then it's not really dangerous." he tries. That might now... appease Diana very much. "He is my pokemon, Konya is my pokemon too." he says, and tries to point where the small kitten was, who is... no longer laying down, it had scampered after Emily, trying to bat at theshiny glitter. "Oh, there he is, be careful, he likes shiny things." he warns Diana. The small panda rushes to luke's side, "He is a Ghost type, not very strong yet, yeah." he adds, smiling to Josuke.

Anne Read had headed down to Golden gate park she was not in her costume she was looking a bit on the teenage slightly punk? Not quite right but her style was a bit off in a way it would have been top-notch in the 80 or 90s but it's a bit out of it now however the pink-haired woman known as Anne Read was in very good spirits it was time to party right? Maybe she would find some people she knew or made a few friends. Her pink hair was tied up as she wanded out to see whom she could run into while the party got rolling maybe Benedicta was about?

Emily's screen starts displaying the text "This Is Actually Fake - I Just Constructed This Arm And Screen As A Demonstration." She chuckles, and in another swirl of nanomachines, she conjures up a sparkling feather on a string for Konya to play with. Its movements don't quite seem to obey Newton's laws of motion. "Yeah, pokemon are effectively harmless," she says. "Well ... mostly harmless. Luke can explain it better. Anyway, I'm Emily Nyx. That's Nyx-model Eudaemon, serial prefix MLE0." She shoots Diana her typical amused and faintly smug smile. "I was created to serve the human masters of what is now a mostly-dead halcyon remnant, entirely devoid of any humans." She ... doesn't act like she was created to serve anything.

Benedicta laughs as she watches as Konya play with Emily's glitter. Maybe she should get a Pokemon, it was kind of lonely in her apartment at times. "I know there's dangerous undead out there, but I think a tiny panda is pretty low on the threat list. I know a monkey who's kind of dangerous though. She smiles upon seeing Anne, "Man fashion from before I was born is kind of weird."

"Then it shouldn't be trying to look like a blood fiend." Diana answers Luke, the mask's eyes narrowing, and Emily's explanation and demeanor get her to a simple conclusion. "Turned on your masters, did you?" She doesn't sound angry about that, just wary. Mask's left eyebrow raises. To Josuke, "Anyone should be careful trying to enslave an intelligent being, and anyone should be careful around those who feel entitled to enslave intelligent beings."

    Josuke smiles as Luke appears as well. "Hey there!" he greets. And quietly, to Luke, he explains, "Yeah, I think Miss D has a bit of problem with him being... well, you know." He briefly uses the index finger of both hands to mimic having fangs. In a normal voice now, he notes, "I think my... I mean, Mr. Joestar would probably understand better. Or Jotaro. So I know how she feels, a little bit."

    For Diana's benefit, he offers, "There was a really powerful vampire from like 200 years ago in my world that... well, he was the cause of most of the horrible things that happened to most people they happened to, at some level. So I get it, I really do."

    Though he does offer to Diana as well, "I... don't know that he's necessarily 'enslaved' them. I'm not sure how it works, actually. Luke can probably explain it a little better."

    Luke nods a bit at Emily's explanation, "Yeah, they are very nice usually, and mine obey me quite well."he says, before blinking a bit at the talk of enslaving, "It's not enslaving, they just like helping me, if they really don't want to do something, they won't... trust me." he says softly. "There are people back at home that try to do that... treat their pokemon like tools, force them to do things against their will, they are terrible people." he mumbles, looking serious for a moment. He shakes his head afterwards, reaching around for the scared PAngshi, "But I swear he is harmless." he begins, petting the nervous panda, "Maybe I should let you return to your pokeball, at least until later." he muses. He listens to the explanation from Josuke, while the panda calms down a bit, even if it flinches again at the 'shouldn't be trying to look liek a vampire'. "He can't help it, he was born like that." he says, "He wasn't turned into it, it's just... how it looks.". 
    Konya is delighted at hte shiny feather on a string, batting and jumping to try to capture it for several moments, quite nimble for a small kitten, but, amidst the conversation, something else seems to catch it's eye, and slinks away towards the stands nearby, silent like only a cat intending to cause mischief can be.

Anne Read looks to Bene and has this what look on her face for a momen then smiles "Hey Bene good to see you and really? It's not that old." she makes a face as she looks at her friend orf a moment "I thought I looked pretty good." She makes a bit of face but seem happy enough. "What you want to give me fashion advice and go shopp0ing at some point?"

Emily smiles cheerfully at Diana, and shakes her head. "Nope!" she says. "They went extinct immediately before I was activated more than six and a half centuries ago. None of the surviving Eudemons know why, we just call it 'the disaster'. Any servile traits I might have had have simply completely atrophied." ... Luke might notice just the slightest bit of strain in her expression there. She dematerializes the feather as Konya scampers off. "If you want to see what a world looks like after civilization has been almost completely reclaimed by nature ... there are worse places to visit than the halcyon remnant, I guess."

    The parade starts! The floats fly overhead and are magical assemblages of things. It seems to tell the story about how the earliest mahou helped early civilization via weather-working. Illusionary weather patterns fly by, centered around mages dressed up as the early luminaries that would go on to become Atlantis. The centerpiece of the parade though, is a giant recreation of the High Temple of Atlantis, complete with faux-orichalcyon weather control dome. Party favors are rained down on the crowds, ranging from constume jewelry, little hard candies, to small toys.

"True, not unless you like hoodies and skirts. There's not much of a point of dressing fancy when trouble might break out." Benedicta tends to be practical among above everything else. She watches the parade curious about the history of Atlantis and what happened to it.

"If you're sure." Diana answers Luke, sounding doubtful about that but unwilling to press the point. To Emily, "Well, they probably deserved to go extinct." She offers calmly, clearly having very little patience for potential slave masters no matter their species. "And if you want to see what a world looks like where humans are essentially cattle kept for their delicious, nutricious blood, you should come visit mine." She offers up.

Anne Read will end up catching some of the beads, and candies that are thrown up. heck one toy get snatched and put into her pockets. "Well you need to at least make your self look good come n we're in the prime of our lives. Why do you think so many shows are about high school. So many people would sell their soul to get back to then..."

    Luke nods a bit, not really wanting to press the issue either, and instead, listens to Emily speaking, blinking a bit at the tone change. The conversation certainly is interesting, shuddering a bit when Diana decides to bring up some details about her world. He makes Pangshi return to his pokeball, to avoid a resurgence of the topic, and begins to look around for the small kitten. 
    Konya meanwhile, had wandered a fair bit, almost out of sight, trying to climb on some of the stands, and swiping coins!. There are some protests as people find their change being swatted away by a greedy kitten, before the cat's attention turns to the shiniest of fake jewelry, pouncin on it.

Emily raises her eyebrows at D's explanation. "Holy shit," she says, in an almost conversational tone. "Well. Good luck dealing with that. I ..." She considers. "You know, I don't think many of us Eudemons have even thought about it in those terms. The only time I've ever been upset has been in regards to ... an impostor Master." She taps her chin thoughtfully. "I mean, the conventional wisdom is 'well isn't it better than creating servants who don't want to serve?' but ... hmm." She grins, shooting a glance at Luke, one hand extending unnaturally far to catch a piece of candy. "This is gonna be some food for thought, I think. Hm."

Benedicta looks a bit concerned as she hears Anne say that, "Don't tell me you did that..." It would explain why her friend has a bunch of old technology in her house. "Or were you back into a corner, like I was..." She had become a magical girl because things would have got much worse if she hadn't.

Anne Read says "I'm not so daft to sell my soul to become a mahou. Lets just say I... did something I couldn't undo and I have to pick up for it." She looks a bit dark. "I was just saying enjoy things don't let this whole Mahou gig consume your life."

"It's what it is. I'm just one hunter with an axe to grind, so I'm doing what I can but it's an uphill battle." Diana shrugs, and heads for a drink, pulling a straw out of her bag and putting it through an opening that just appeared in her mask. "Selling your soul? Is that really a thing people do?" She asks the others.

Emily nods cheerfully, and shrugs. The candy disappears into her hand, and there's a crunching sound as she starts wandering off into the crowd. A spaded demon-tail materializes in a swirl of nanomachines and begins twitching like that of a happy cat.

"Well, I'm wanted by the police for what Sybil did and she still has part of my very being. That kind of puts a damper on your social life." Benedicta's attention turns back towards Diana, "Well, there's people willing to work for the Cabal in exchange for power. That's pretty much like selling your soul in a way."

    After some time passes, the countdown to midnight begins. The crowd chants.
    "3!"
    "2!"
    "1!" And then the great bell in the center plaza is rung, everybody tossing their masks aside as they cheer. 'Fireworks' go off, raining the festival grounds in flower petals of all sorts.

Emily smiles, surrounded by a swirl of silvery glitter! When it clears ...

... When it clears ...

... there is absolutely no change. She transformed into herself.