Griffalo

Mercury took his seat on the sled, then paled when Cobalt Templar mentioned what sounded like a very real possibility of falling off. "Yay." He kept his voice quiet, and it was said through gritted teeth. He reached down, giving his Talaria a reassuring pat, making sure they were laced tight. If he was going to fall out of this ephemeral blue deathtrap, he was at least going to take every sensible precaution. He tried to take his mind of the ride by scanning the streets below, his cloak pulled tight around him; one of the things they never illustrated in the comics very much was being this high up was damn cold...

Mercury looked slightly confused at some of the parlance they were coming out with. Glowies? Clicking? Was this some kind of hero-speak he hadn't come across yet? He listened to the summary though, trying to form an accurate picture of the layout in his mind. "So, do we..." At that point, Wisp and the other two literally vanished in a puff of smoke. "Hooray." His voice was quiet - he was talking to himself - and laden with sarcastic enthusiasm. He took the keyring from his belt, inserting it in the lock. A less showing magic this time, but no less impressive as the levers of the lock magically engaged at the touch of the key and the door opened. As he stepped through, he looked at the three of them. "Seriously guys? Totally not cool."

Mercury shrugs apologetically. "Uh, sorry. Not entirely sure. Something methodical seems best though, like a grid system? Obviously if we hear or see trouble we head straight for it, but... anything else and we're just going to end up wandering about aimlessly." He tried not to look at Wander, despite his natural inclination to seek out her advice and tacit approval for his actions. In this exercise she was his observer and examiner, and wouldn't be assisting unless things took a turn for the worst...

The roof access door behind the two of them opened, though it revealed a Claremont dorm room behind it. Mercury was stepping through, though it seemed he was approaching from a much larger distance very quickly, an optical illusion as if he was crossing a water-air barrier. He shut the door behind him and smiled at the two of them. "Well, hope I'm not too late. I was kind of expecting this to be easier."

He pats his keyring. "Well, this should be able to open most locks, but..." He nods to the girl. "I like Wisp's idea better. Gives us the element of surprise." He gives it some thought. "Then again, if there are guards on the other side, there goes our advantage..."

Stepping through the doorway and closing it behind him - the teens would notice that this side of the door was the kind of rusted and scabbed metal edifice you'd expect to see in an alleyway - he shrugs, the keyring going back on a catch on his belt. "Well, one or two. Let me know if you ever need a trip to the Underworld, for example." He looks up and down the alley, pulling his cloak around him a little tighter, feeling the temperature difference now that they'd gone from warm school to draughty alleyway. "So where to now?"

I assume there's a door up at the top of this building?

Ushering the teens inside, Mercury shut the dorm room door behind them. He briefly inspected the lock - good, same as mine - then took the keyring from his belt. The fob that hung from it appeared to be for a Mercury car, and keys of various shapes and sizes hung from it. He flicked through the bunch, selecting a key that seemed like it could conceivably fit the lock. Grasping the doorknob, he closed his eyes in concentration. 11th Street... the alley in 11th Street... He turned the key in the lock; pins and barrel seemed to find a happy configuration and there was a clicking noise of a bolt being disengaged, despite the door not being locked in the first place. He swung the door open after taking out the key, to reveal the alley on 11th Street beyond. With a slightly self-satisfied smile, he swept his arm in a grand gesture, presenting their means of transportation.

Mercury nodded in agreement with Rene. "With dreams, they're usually about the symbols. And something like that..." He nodded towards the castle. "...is probably not gonna be full of baskets of puppies and unicorn giggles. It'd be a good place to start for whatever or whoever is keeping her here." He raises his hand, and with a snap of his fingers, bright green fire dances harmlessly across his hand. "Well, that still works, at least." With a shake of his wrist, the flames are extinguished.

Evander returned to the room just about the same time as Wisp, wearing his tunic, bronze breastplate and red cloak. The shoes, his talaria, he'd naturally kept on, and Mercury's keyring hung from his belt. "So, where are we headed? If it's not too far I should be able to get us there pretty quick..."

Evander grinned at the short precis. "Sounds like fun. What could possibly go wrong?" He looked over Crow's outfit. "I guess this is a full costume deal, huh? I should go get changed." He turned to Brian with a friendly smile, extending his hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Evander. Don't think we've officially met, yet."

Evander stepped off the bus just in front of the Eastern Seaboard Bank, looking up at the building. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder, though he'd wisely left all of his important documents safe in the kangaroo pocket of the hoodie he was wearing. He hoped he wouldn't have to step through any metal detectors - he was wearing his armor underneath the garment, which had necessitated it being several sizes too large. It was giving him something of a 'homeless' look, but he had to roll with it. He'd briefly considered coming out without it, but he was starting to think that being constantly prepared for action was the better bet. The last few weeks had certainly been crazy. He stepped through the doors, looking around for someone in the banking hall that might be able to help him. He knew that Friday afternoon wasn't the best time to open a bank account, but it had to be done some time and this was the first chance he'd had to get away from school. Laying a hand reassuringly on his documents against his stomach, he smiled politely to the smiling young woman in the pantsuit that approached him. "Hi, I'd like to open a checking account?"

In the spirit of cohesiveness with other Claremonts, I'm down for this with Evander.

Mercury Occupational Hazards Just Beneath The Surface Radical Dreamer Sparring Practice The Measure of a Hero

I love Supercape's idea of an Emotion Control (Fear) power, sort of a non-lethal defence system via magical illusions.

Mercury was the first to look out of the window after a moment's recovery; he didn't seem nearly as disoriented as Arcturus. Clearly he'd been somewhere like this before. "Well, here we are..." He turned back to look at the girl, fascinated by her translucent form. He reached out hesitatingly to touch her, wondering if his hand would pass right through. "So, I guess we... go out there and explore? Did we come up with a plan?"

Mercury had been halfway down the corridor when the commotion had started. He'd heard the yelling, and recognised dimly that people were employing other languages; ever since his powers had emerged, all languages sounded the same to him anyhow. He finally approached, giving Crow and Wisp a smile and nod of recognition. The other kid he didn't know, though he'd seen him around on the way to class. "Hey guys, what's up? Anything I might be able to help with?" He turned up the smile on Crow and Wisp, hoping they'd invite him along.

"Learning some moves would be great, but... I get that I got to get my general fitness up a little more." He nods, heading towards the door of the boys' locker room. He turned back just before he entered. "Once again Erin, thanks a lot. I really appreciate the time you've spent on this for me." He entered the locker room after giving her a smile, finally able to let go of the façade and move a little more stiffly, now that there wasn't anyone else watching.

He nods. "Maybe that's something I can bond with him over. I know Dad has a kind of friendly rivalry thing going with Johnny Rocket, after all." He smiles, picking up the breastplate that he'd left on the floor earlier as he continues. He pauses just before the entrance to the boys' and girls' locker rooms - this is where they'd go their separate ways. "It's not your area of expertise? Which part, watching yourself or getting on with people? You seem to be doing fine with the second part, and I have a hard time picturing you not looking out for yourself."

He couldn't help but grin in response to the laugh. "Right, okay. Thanks for the pointer. He seems okay so far, don't really want to taint relationships with any teachers just yet." He turns back to look at her. "Any other teachers I should watch out for? Or students? Everyone seems really nice so far, but you don't know when you've got a stealth a-hole on your hands."

Evander nodded. He could sense the tension that had the possibility of growing between them, and he didn't want to spoil anything. "I think it's best we call time on it for today. Don't want to strain anything, after all." He gave her a smile. "But thank you for today - for everything." He ran a hand through his thick hair, mussing it with sweat. "Man, I probably stink now. Not like you, hardly even broken a sweat." He began to walk back towards the main building. "At least I've got something positive to tell Coach Archer next time i see him, that I've trained with you."

Evander stands, his hands on his hips, still catching his breath. "I'm not wrong in thinking you didn't have much of a childhood, huh? Had to do a lot of growing up fast where you came from? You didn't learn to fight like you do from Jiu-jitsu books and sparring dummies, I can tell that for sure." He pauses, not really expecting an answer from her on such a sensitive topic before he continues. "I suppose you're right. It's mainly my mom and dad treating me like that. Mom's pretty unashamed about it, but I guess it's nice to know that Dad actually cares." He shrugs, a half smile. "Ironic, isn't it? You spend your childhood envying adults, then most of your adult life wishing you were a kid again."

He gave Rene a smile of greeting, speaking to him in perfect and accentless French. "Ah, welcome Monsieur De Saens. It's good to see you again." He looked back to Arcturus, switching back to his natural English. "Well, whatever you think best, man. I guess you're taking point on this one. I'm kind of worried that I'm talking to someone with prior experience of walking around in another person's nightmares. You don't have a striped jumper and a fedora hidden about your person, do you?" He looked over Rene again at Arcturus' comment, wondering what interesting item he might have brought.

After a few minutes, Evander slowes to a jog, though a jog that was still an appreciably good speed. "Yeah, I guess. Hard to know when that's going to be, though. When you've got an immortal calling the shots... well, let's just say they can have a bit of a skewed perception of time." A pause, his face slightly more serious. "And it's not a matter of control, he wants to see if I can use it responsibly. I can control my powers well enough. That's not why I'm here." Despite the exertion, there's a slight edge to his voice. He slows, then stops, resting by placing his hands on his knees. "People insist on treating me like a child. I'm not a baby, I'm sixteen." He shakes his head. "Sorry, Erin. I didn't mean to start ranting. Just ignore me."

He laughs, setting off. Even at a slight jog he was fast when compared to a regular person, and he let her keep pace with him as his speed increased to a full on run. He was topping nearly 40 miles per hour when he was running full out, and was slightly disappointed to look over and see Erin keeping up with him easily. Between deep breaths, he managed to smile. "Like I said... speed limiters." He seemed happy enough though; what she'd said was right, this was a damn good track for running on. It felt good to be outside and running, something he knew how to do fairly well without the benefit of divine ichor or magic shoes.