[h1][u]Ciara Ventura[/u][/h1]
[i][color=gray]Wingram Academy, Walkway[/color][/i]
[@Nanaya] [@ERode]
[hr]

The quietness in her mind after ghosting away from the plaza led Ciara to believe one of two things. Her new friend had excellent mastery over his inner thoughts. Or, the inner rantings of a mad mind weren't shared. Only willful thoughts.

At this revelation, the Voices relaxed a bit as Ciara took in her new surroundings. Briefly, she looked behind her. It was peaceful, despite the utter chaos she could hear faintly echoing through the campus. None of the mannequins had followed her, to which she was grateful. They had focused all of their attention on her new friend, she assumed.

She had to attribute the otherworldly stillness of the moment to the raised circular platform with its "Leyline Attunement Zone" sign. It had caught her eye the moment she stepped off the walkway. 

The next thing that caught her eye was the humbly dressed man sweeping the pathway. He waved, and she self-consciously waved back. She stared at him curiously as he spoke, taking in his worn and slightly torn leather armor and his tattered cloak. Most importantly, she took in his aura. Curiously enough, it was simply... heavy. 

[i]"It's not appetizing..."[/i] The Voice, childlike, had a slight whine. She had to agree. She couldn't tell whether this man's aura was light or dark. She could only tell it had a certain... quality to it. She couldn't place it.

[b][i]"Ya didn't hear it from me, but the auditorium's somewhere in there. I mean, probably, anyway."[/i][/b] he said nonchalantly, to which Ciara faintly smiled at.

If that was true, it meant her search was nearly over. She wanted to confirm it for herself, and then she would let her new friend know. The dark aura didn't [i]actually[/i] shoot her, after all. Clearly, in this academy, good friends meant either facing a swarm of 'mobsters' alone, or having someone else take the brunt of the attack.

For Ciara, that meant quite a bit.

[b][i]"Blue, by the way. The blue crayons definitely tasted the best."[/i][/b] The man said, hands tucked in his pockets. She watched the broom clatter, wrestling with herself to refrain from catching it with a tentacle. She disliked senseless noises, after all. She had to assume it was impolite to mess with a tired and trusted tool of someone who worked at the academy, and so left it be.

As he spoke of blue crayons, her head tilted curiously. For a split second, her mind blinked out, and she vividly saw little hands scrawling over a tattered piece of parchment with the worn stub of a blue crayon.

She blinked, her eyes tightening subconsciously. Memories were... hard to remember.

There was a pause as the man fell silent. Her head perked up. It was her turn to speak. Her eyes flickered to the "Main Building," down the walkway, the street, back to the golden pillar, before settling back to the man.

[b]"I think... I'm in the right place, then."[/b] she said softly. [b]"Thank you."[/b]

This rugged adventurer put her mind at ease a bit, but she had to remember the events leading up to her arriving on the walkway. Nothing in this academy was as it seemed. 

Now, she was faced with a dilemma. Her eyes stared longingly at the raised platform with its golden pillar. She ached, yearned for, and was beside herself with raw emotions. She [I]had[/i] to go touch the pillar. It wasn't out of want, but out of necessity. After all, she had spent two days sitting on the outskirts of the academy, trying to adjust to the artificial leylines here. If there was a way to calibrate herself even more closely, preferably without falling paralyzed for an unknown length of time, she had to have it.

Her eyes shifted back to the main building. 

No.

She had a mission. The chaos of the campus grounds wouldn't allow her to think too selfishly. She had to locate the auditorium. Quickly.

Ciara stepped up closer to the main building, turned, and gave the man a polite bow. [b]"Thank you for guiding me, I'm going to go look for the auditorium now."[/b]

As she stood, she lightly smiled. [b]"I'm Ciara, by the way."[/b]

With that, she opened the door to the main building and entered, eyes tentatively scanning for another indication of where the auditorium was, if the cloaked man's information was right.