GranspearZX

Arcturus was hardly about to admit how scared he was; just the idea of submerging himself more than waist-deep was disturbing. With his free right hand, he backhanded a group away from him, backing into the water with extreme reluctance. It wasn't the cold of the water that was bothering him, at least, and he managed to force himself further into the lake.

Thankfully, he was taller--much taller--than Rene, and even standing next to him, the water wasn't terribly deep. Yet. Arc wasn't sure if he wanted to go any further than he already had, but from where they were standing, it seemed as if the spiders were even less willing to traverse the water than Arcturus was. Inwardly, he was somewhat relieved, but given his luck lately, he certainly wasn't going to revel in it.

"I don't like the creepy crawlies either," he replied with a curt nod, looking over at Rene. "I'm gonna assume you've got a plan..."

Arcturus's Reflex Save:

1d20+10=27

Good lord, how many books does she have?

The difference in experience was light night and day. Marcus, of course didn't know a thing about Etain apart from the fact that they were both students at Claremont, but he still felt as if he was a little bit behind. Ignorant of his magical heritage, he felt like it was someone's fault. Whose, however, was much more difficult to say. There was no use in blaming anyone though... all he could really do was move forward.

"Thanks," he replied with a smile, looking at the address. The place seemed more or less familiar. He'd been on the north end of town before. In fact, he seemed to be spending a lot of time there in recent weeks. Committing the address to memory, he adjusted the strap on his book, repositioning it on his shoulder. "I'll probably check it out tomorrow. In the mean time, I should probably get somethin' to eat; been at this all morning. You're... ah... welcome to tag along."

It occurred to him that he didn't have many--well, ANY--friends at Claremont. It seemed like an appropriate gesture, considering how much insight she'd given him.

"I guess it was silly to think that this would be easy. Just, y'know, wave my hands and make stuff happen..." He smiled nervously and nodded slowly. The whole conversation made him consider that he was, perhaps, trying to start a little bit too big. Learning Latin seemed like an excellent start. The idea of a magic shop that was more than just symbolic trinkets caught his attention as well...

There was also the off chance that she knew his mother. He wasn't really aware of how big or small the magical community was, and the thought of people finding out the exact circumstances behind his enrollment at Claremont scared him a little. It was one reason why he never took that pendant off--apparently, it was designed to keep people from reading his mind, as well as keeping him safe from more obvious magical effects. It was a risk he would have to take, however.

"I guess this shop would be a great place to start... where is it?"

Arcturus had the girl cradled in his right arm, running as fast as his legs would take him. He wasn't, however, going to let Rene lag behind, keeping a watchful eye on him while he ran. "Just hang on, kiddo, and don't let me go, okay?" She hung on for dear life around the bear's broad neck, her face buried in his fur.

"The lake! Right... wait, what?!" He ran in that direction, but the hesitation was evident in his eyes. He was NOT a fan of water by any stretch of the imagination, and the first thing that popped into his head was him drowning. He hesitated for a second--long enough for Rene to catch up--and waded waist-deep into the water. Hopefully that was enough to avoid the arachnid invasion. As long as I stay calm, she'll stay calm too... right? Right.

Etain's magical demonstration had Marcus's full attention. It was surprisingly subtle, and he smiled a bit as the bird landed on his shoulder. It felt and looked pretty real, but she explained that it wasn't. "Well, there's really only one thing I can do magically, and even that's not perfect."

He wasn't even sure if he should show her his bear form. It wasn't some debilitating secret, but he wasn't exactly certain if that sort of display was appropriate at Claremont. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd seen someone using their powers out in the open, but if nothing else, Marcus Irons was a modest person. Mostly, anyway.

"My dad says it's a lot like his... very physical. No tossing fireballs or conjurin' wind gusts. That's more like my mom's thing... or so he says."

Rene had, in fact, guessed right. "Silly? Look here, y-..." He stopped when Rene put a hand on his arm. He was a little more surprised that Rene would put a hand on him that anything else, but he knew the universal 'back off' signal when he saw it. Nothing seemed real in this place; it reminded Arcturus vaguely of that dream he'd had back at the museum, but this one was different. He hadn't been able to interact with anything at the museum, but he had a recently healed acid burn to prove this one was, at least on some level, real.

"Sleepy place...?" Had he been caught in someone else's dream? He frowned; as if his own weren't bad enough, dealing with someone else's subconscious baggage was far too much for him to handle. "...and did she just say sp-"

To say he was creeped out by the sight of the spiders would have been a gross understatement. He'd seen enough horror movies to know how these sort of things went, and there appeared to be no end to them. One giant killer ooze was one thing, but a swarm of spiders was something else entirely. Real or not, he didn't want to stick around to figure it out. Holding out his paw, he beckoned the little girl forward. "...I think this is the part where we run, kiddo."

And now... bear talks to creepy little girl!

Arcane Knowledge roll: 1d20+9=19

Diplomacy roll: 1d20+1=9

Sense Motive roll: 1d20+9=19

"...huh." He blinked; he hadn't been paying attention before, but there was a definite surreal quality to everything around them... except the girl. That by itself threw up some red flags, and as she asked her question, his frown grew deeper. "Ah... scary place? Um... no, I'm not."

He looked at Rene and nodded slowly, sniffing absently at the air. "Definitely not in Kansas anymore."

His eyes went back to the girl and he started to approach her. He tried not to look menacing--difficult considering his size--and crouched down as best he could so that he wouldn't seem so huge. He wasn't exactly the best with kids, but he would give it a shot nonetheless. "Hey, kiddo... where'd your parents go? We should probably go find 'em... what do you say?"

The rune had, in fact, expanded to repel the knife. It made him pause as she explained herself, and suddenly he felt incredibly stupid. He almost didn't realize he was still holding her, and the moment she said something he immediately let go, mortally embarrassed. "Oh god... Sorry, I didn't mean to... ah... crap."

He frowned as the knife faded away; magic really was a lot more than his fragile mind was prepared to deal with. His head was throbbing a little bit from having to hold back his transformative reaction, and he rubbed at his temples with the middle finger and thumb of his right hand. "I'm... really not used to his 'magic' stuff. I can barely tell what's real and what's not anymore. I don't even get how you made that appear out of nowhere."

Arcturus just watched Rene carefully. He didn't seem terribly threatening, and he had, in fact, helped Arc out of a rather dire situation. He sighed and his large shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "My name's... ah... Arcturus." He certainly wasn't going to give this guy his REAL name, although it occurred to him that he might have to change back eventually. He wasn't even sure how long he could stay this way--so far, he guessed could stay as he was as long as he wasn't asleep or otherwise incapacitated.

"Thanks, I guess... not that I needed your help. I had it under control." He wasn't exactly the best liar either. He headed back towards where he'd been sitting earlier, picking up his discarded sketchbook. "...so all that flashy magic stuff was you, huh? ...hm." He wasn't sure what else to say about it, though he had to admit a distinct amount of curiosity to himself. He looked down at himself for a moment, frowning at the condition of his clothes. "...not my day at all," he muttered, rubbing at his stout muzzle while he tried to figure out what to do next.

"...the hell kinda question is that?"

Arcturus turned to face the older gentleman, eyes narrowed a bit. Clenching and unclenching his right hand to make sure it still worked, he remained in his bear form--better that than dealing with being half-naked in the middle of Liberty Park. It was hard enough to not look threatening, but he at least made the effort, sniffing absently at the rapidly healing burn. "I'm gonna assume that didn't belong to you," he muttered, his bulky form relaxing a little as he spoke. His eyes moved from Rene to the girl and her parents, not entirely sure what to say to either of them. He had, in fact, saved their lives, but what was one really supposed to say after doing something like that? He decided that saying nothing would be best; at least none of them had screamed yet.

"Whoa, hey!" He reared backward as he saw the knife--when the hell did she have time to pull out a knife--and he reached to grab her wrist. To say he was agitated was an understatement, and he had to actively fight his first instinct--to change forms. She pulled a knife out to test the amulet, he assumed... Still, it was a weird thing to do and he'd never known the amulet he was wearing to stop physical damage; he'd been in one or two situations where that would have certainly been nice. For a brief moment, his brown eyes brightened into a distinct, crimson hue before settling back to their normal pigmentation.

"Somethin' tells me that's not the way to test how magic works."

There was magic coming from everywhere; first a lightning bolt and then a burst of flame. He wasn't sure it was magic, but then again, he really didn't know how to explain it. It was just as strange as the old man that suddenly arrived--was all that coming from him? Still, the fire seemed to weaken the beast considerably, and Arcturus was hardly one to miss an opportunity. He launched himself forward with a bellowing roar, rearing back and tearing into the beast with a disturbing amount of reckless abandon. It shuddered once and then its entire form relaxed into a puddle; this time, at least, the burn wasn't anywhere near as rough on him.

He stood upright as the monster fell, chest heaving a little from the effort. He looked around, first at the elderly gentleman that had recently arrived, and then at the bystanders. He wasn't sure what they were more horrified by: him or the monster. The OTHER monster.

Arc's Toughness Save, for one last shot at the ooze vs that nasty acid:

1d20+10=26

The smell was bad enough--especially considering his close proximity and his sensitive nose. Tucking that injured right hand under his left arm, he blinked as the lightning bolt came down on the giant ooze, fur standing on end a bit from the residual static. He wasn't even sure right away where the lightning bolt had come from; but he was still grateful for the fact that it saved him from something potentially worse than just a burn to the hand... and even that was startingto clear itself up.

He was genuinely surprised; Arcturus had never actively tested just how much his regenerative power was capable of. He certainly wasn't going to make a habit of it, however. He shook his paw out and took a quick glance around, wondering where the proverbial bolt from the blue came from...

No objections to lethal damage here. Gonna save the HP though.

Arcturus's Recovery Roll (Con +7 plus +1 from his bear form's regen):

1d20+8=17

Now that was a much easier question; he'd read enough on the rune he was actually wearing to know what it was for, inside and out. "Sure. The Shield rune. It's supposed to be pretty basic though. It's used to protect someone from harm. Physical or otherwise... It's not absolute, though." Marcus couldn't help but be a little bit impressed with himself. After all, this time last year he didn't even know magic existed... and then it turned out that both his parents were pretty well versed in it--his father a more physical type while his mother was... well, not.

Part of the page was, however, in Latin: more advanced applications of the Shield rune that referenced several other runes. It strung several runes together to create quite a few barrier-like effects. It went on for several pages, building on earlier references in the book about rituals and magic circle arrays to describe applications to protect and ward entire buildings--things far beyond Marcus's level of comprehension for the moment.

"I don't REALLY know how it works... I haven't tried it, and I don't really do anything to this to make it work. It just sort of happens on its own."

Arc's Toughness Save:

1d20+7=11

Yeah, that's gonna sting. Failed the check by 9, meaning that he's stunned on top of everything else. Ow. o.o

Here we go... ^^

Arcturus's Attack:

1d20+6=15

The entire situation was just making Arcturus grumpy. A quick survey of the situation lent itself to the realization that he really didn't want to be here, but now that he was... well, there was just no helping it. He wasn't even sure where this monster had come from, but it was menacing enough that someone had to do something about it. This was the first time he'd actually had to use his power for something like this; hauling that AEGIS agent off of his father didn't really count.

Tearing away the remnants of the ill-fated black t-shirt he'd been wearing, Arcturus saw the ooze threatening the girl and her parents. A distraction was in order. He didn't have time to think; if he waited, bad things were certainly liable to happen. He charged forward, surprisingly agile and quick for a huge, furry menace weighing upwards of 500 lbs. Without so much as a growl of warning or a snarky quip of introduction, Arcturus closed the distance between himself and the blob, choosing to introduce himself with a clawed swing at what he could only assume was the monstrosity's body.

The second he made contact with it, though, he regretted it, as the sharp smell of his burning paw hit his nose. He immediately recoiled and pulled his smoking paw back, wincing at the acid burn he'd managed to inflict on himself. The pain was jarring; it was difficult to say whether it was because of a lack of combat experience or just the shock from the acid burn. Either way, he suddenly found himself in a rather unfortunate position...

Arcturus's Initiative:

1d20+6=15

Marcus yawned, chewing on the end of his pencil with an open sketchbook in his lap, watching the world pass him by. People watching seemed like a colossal waste of time when he could have been studying. In reality, that's what he was doing--drawing runes from his book by memory, and trying to recall what they were supposed to do. It was an exercise that was mostly inspired by Etain's interest in his magic--not that he could do anything with it just yet, but he was coming to much more of an understanding of the function of his abilities.

He hadn't even considered the thought of his more physical capabilities. He was pretty comfortable with his own strength, and had even gone so far as to venture into a few random basketball games with other students--who, much to his surprise and relief, were just as resilient as he was. The only reason he wasn't on campus now as because he felt as if he needed to be at the park; he blamed the vision he had at the museum a few days ago for that. He was still convinced he'd seen a future robbery, but he had no idea how to even begin to figure out when exactly it was supposed to occur.

The day, over all, seemed rather quiet. Marcus enjoyed days like it, but lately, they didn't last long. One minute, he was sketching the Shield rune, and the next, an ear-splitting scream from a nearby jogger caught his attention. When he looked up, there was an amorphous green blob shambling across the grass, sending people scattering in all directions. He scrambled to his feet, and for a moment, he had to decide whether he would follow suit or actually do something... But do what, exactly?

There was no one else around to deal with it, and the creature wasn't exactly slow, killing the grass as it worked its way across the grounds. He was more concerned with the blob than the fact that there was someone else standing there, watching; usually he was worried about someone seeing him transform, and he didn't like audiences, but that seemed like a rather selfish problem that he'd resigned himself to deal with later. He dropped his sketchbook as the mark on his back started to glow. He mentally braced himself as the circle of power he'd become familiar with appeared on the ground beneath him, changing his form in a matter of seconds from Marcus Irons to the eight-foot tall Arcturus.

"...I see." Instantly, Marcus dropped the subject. It would've definitely been rude to press the issue any further, and he was never the nosy sort when it came to other peoples' business. He let her take the book again--it wasn't as if she was going to steal the thing, after all--and watched her flip through the pages like it was nothing. Just what was she seeing that he wasn't? Jealousy gave way to genuine curiosity, and if she could help him understand just what was going on, both within himself and with the magic was supposedly inherent to him, then what was the real harm? The pursuit of knowledge, especially when progress was being made, always had a profound effect on him. He smiled broadly as she searched and stopped on a specific page, and it faded a bit as she suddenly quizzed him.

"Ah... hm." He paused for a moment as it started to come back to him; it took him a moment to remember. "Runes are... well... the language of magic, I guess. Specific symbols that have a meaning or effect or... something like that." Marcus frowned at his own lack of articulation; he knew what they were but explaining it made him feel awkward. It was why he never asked questions or raised his hand in class--and probably why his grades looked so terrible in subjects he was struggling with. The answer itself sounded right, although it wasn't word-for-word what he'd read in the book.

Maybe I ought to find a ritual in there that'll make me smarter.

Marcus could've lost himself in the glow of the moonstone. There was something definitely off about it, but he couldn't be sure what. His eyes drifted up to the window and he blinked at the darkness, suddenly reminded of his curfew. Oh crap! Marcus spun around and headed for the doors, shaking his head... He felt like he'd been asleep. It was the weirdest thing... but he hardly had time to think about it when the entire building shook.

It was brief, but it made Marcus grab the handrail of the stairs to steady himself. "...the hell?" The sound of gunfire made him tense, followed by another violent shake, this one harder than the last. The commotion seemed to be coming from one of the upper floors. Common sense told Marcus to just stay out of the way. How hard would it really be just to go downstairs, head out the door, and pretend this never happened?

Don't waste your gift, Marcus.

"Ah, god damn it." Marcus turned around, hauling himself up the stairs as the obvious sounds of combat continued. His father's words reminded him of his conviction to do the right thing, no matter how inconvenient the timing. Exhaling sharply as he crested the stairway, he looked around quickly before moving in the direction of the sound, pausing only momentarily as a loud and violent crash filled the air, followed by the sound of shattered glass. The exhibit room he'd discovered was a mess, at least three of the security guards were on the ground, and there was a gaping hole in the window.

"Kid... hey, kid!"

Marcus snapped to attention when a huge, meaty hand clasped his right shoulder. He blinked and spun around, startled, staring at the heavy-set security guard. He was back in the same room as the Eye of Luna, as if he'd never even left, confused as all hell.

"...you okay, son?"

"Uh... ...yeah. S-sorry..."

"I was just gonna say, it's gettin' kinda late... You sure you're alright?"

A brief flash of recognition lanced across Marcus's mind as he stared blankly at the guard--he HAD seen him before. Upstairs... he'd been pretty badly hurt then, but now he seemed just fine. Had he been dreaming? "...huh? Sure, I'm... I'm good. Sorry. I should probably get goin' though."

He wasn't sure if he'd seen the future or the past or if the entire thing was just him being exhausted from that football game. Marcus gave the moonstone one last cursory glance before he headed back towards the stairs. Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, moonstones are supposed to be used in rituals to see the future. So was that...

"We're gonna lock up here in about 30 minutes," the guard warned, nodding at Marcus with a brief look of concern for him before he headed off to do his rounds. Marcus followed him out of the exhibit room, watching him for a moment as he started to head up the stairs to the third floor. A nervous knot swelled up in his throat, and he started to say something; the earbud in his ear spouted a lyric that made the words catch in his throat.

"So much for goin' home..."