Saint Joseph School

((OOC: This thread story is about Francis’ making the final step into “growing up” into the superhero she will become after graduation from St. Joseph’s School. I will begin the story here and as she progresses I will add to it. For a long time Francis was unsure about where her superpowers were taking her (much like many high school students with life in general) but a series of events will be taking place to mold Francis into the superhero Witch Warden. I would love to include my fellow students in this ongoing story…let me know if you are interested!))

A large book flew across the room and landed in a pile of dusty candles and trinkets with a heavy thud. Francis snarled as she tossed another, smaller red tome over her shoulder and nearly tore, literally, into another.

“It’s gotta be in here somewhere, I just know I’ve seen those markings in one of these..” She moved past a wall decorated with a Diving Rod, a small gold wedding band, and a cracked wooden whistle..a small collection of trophies from her recent endeavors against the Cabal.

The Cabal was becoming more and more active these days and Francis was growing worried. Her last contact in the misty woods of Croatoa had told her of a spell that was being prepared in a warehouse and when he had babbled out all of the components she knew it could only be one spell…a spell she had hoped never to hear about again.

Francis slumped into her computer desk chair and began to massage her aching forehead. The chair was the only clear space in the entirety of the small dorm room that was now covered from floor to ceiling in stacks and stacks of books, candles, papers, magic trinkets, and something that looked suspiciously like a real Tuatha de Danaan skull. The air hung heavy with the scent of old books and incense, the dust covered everything in sight no matter how often she tried to clean it. She picked up the photo that sat in a cheap gilt frame next to her laptop…the only semblance of the modern world within the confines of the tiny dorm room, every modern witch should have one. The photo was a simple one, a small, smiling girl of eight and a tall, handsome man with dark hair and thick glasses.

Dad.

Francis wiped a tear from her eyes as she brushed the dust from the picture glass. He’d been gone nearly four years now…the victim of a deadly Cabalist spell bent on breaking down the barriers of this world and the next..to bring the dead into the world of the living. That’s what she had found in that warehouse in Croatoa, imprisoned spirits and tortured ghosts just like her father had been, after the Cabal had sacrificed him. The Cabalist that had drawn the killing blow, had been her own mother..Mary.

Needles to say, her introduction to the ghost of Jeremy Wingra at the Spring Dance, a boy she admired and had a somewhat odd crush on, played all that much more into her need to see and learn more of the worlds beyond.

Luckily for Francis the Rikti invaded soon afterward her father’s death and she had been lost into the city where her foster parents had found her…unfortunately these would be the same foster parents whose house she had burnt down while studying the magic texts they had forbidden her to read and thus landing her here, but she was digressing.

The rumors going around SJS about her being a closet Cabalist upset her more than she let on. In truth, she hated the Cabal and its black magics more than any thing in all the world and she had taken to magic in order not only to understand everything about the Cabal but to know how it could be undone. Her own mother was one of them..and now Francis knew where she was. It was time Mary met her daughter…..

But she couldn’t manage this alone. True, the artifacts of power she had collected while fighting the Initiates of the Cabal would be invaluable she needed something more. She flipped open her laptop and clicked onto the St. Joe’s Intranet. It was time she sent out some e-mails…

TO: Mimi@StJoesephSchool.edu
FROM: FCross@St.JoesephSchool.edu

Heya Meem,

Listen, I really need to talk to you. There’s some things going on and I really need some friends right now. I have something that needs to be done and I’m ready to admit I can’t do it alone. Meet me in the boiler room at midnight after the late mass. Please Mimi!

Francis

((OOC:I'm in if you need me! p.s. Cricket is magic too,remember? ))

(Ah, what the!? What's going on! Does that mean this Super Group is going to end soon? Oh man! We're not going to pull a Saved By The Bell thing with "Collge Years" are we? DID WE JUMP THE SHARK?)

( not at all Bell..just a bit of character devlopment.. can't play the same angsty teen forever.. there has to be some movement one way or another)

((With Kris' impending return, I'd like to get her involved. I think learning of the loss of her best friend, after her experiences for the past 10 days will be enough to throw Kris even deeper into this sort of thing. So, I wanna... okay?))

((OOC Reply: No this is not the end of St. Joe's by any means. This is the story where Francis is becoming more of the super hero she will be at say..level 50 or so. (I might even become a faculty member IC). It's just character developement..so no one panic))

Francis finger's hovered above the keyboard and her already pale face glimmered with the blue glow of the monitor. She once again began to type.

TO: KVMandrake@BloovineAcademy.edu
FROM: FCross@StJoesephSchool.edu

Good Evening Karl,

I didn't properly thank you for the wonderful evening I had at the dance last night. You looked great, but then again you always do.

Listen, I have no intention of being rude but truth is I need your help. I need a very powerful magic component, possibly illegal, no questions asked...and well...I thought of you.

It's called the Cross of Lorraine. It's a small amulet about the size of a rosary and I need one that was made by the 16th century papal watchmaker Vincente De Medici...not a cheap knockoff. Magic demands you know....please Karl...can you help me? It's serious.

Vielen Dank,
Franky

From: KarlVonmandrake@yahoo.com
To: FCross@StJoesephSchool.edu

Francis,

While normally I would love to observe the proper etiquette of "small talk" after spending such a wonderful evening with you, your request has caught me off guard (a feat which you know is not easy).

A De Medici cross? I know all too well what those are used for, and I should hope you are not asking me out of some perverse joke. Nein, I take that back, I KNOW you would not joke about a De Medici, especially if you feel you need to ask me.

I can look into the antiquities and occult trade here in the Isles; I am fortunate to have made the acquaintances of a few who would have the proper resources. Also, I can try… other means.

I will not lie, dear Francis, this will not be easy. But, I feel you are worth it.


I will keep in touch,
KVM

((Actually, there has already been some discussion of a third SG called "Saint Joseph School Alumni". We're not there yet, but Lion has been thinking a lot about bringing Lion into semi-retirement. He wants to stay active with SJS in an RP sense (hence why it would be a third coalitioned group), but feels a little guilty about taking up the slot in SJS with a growingly-inactive 50. Plus, we'd get to see the debut of 'Kheld Lion'!

Anyway, just a little input on this. Nothing set in stone, stay tuned, as always.))

I'd like to see that.. the alumi school.. i've got my 50 with no home to call his own and i'd like to put him somewhere.. not sure how to rp him in there. but i'm sure that we could work something out..

Mimi read the email three times. She wished Francis had said more... 'something that needs to be done.' That didn't say anything! With everything that had been going on, Lycia's death at the top of the list, Francis could be talking about anything.

But still, it was her friend writing, asking for help. That was enough, even if she was being vague.

Mimi stood up from her computer and walked to the mirror. She had already changed into her uniform for mass. Ever since the terrible news about Lycia, Mimi hadn't missed one. Even Mary Moltar had cocked her head when she started seeing Mimi in the chapel twice each day.

There was no sense to it. Nothing made sense at all.

Mimi undid her tie and started to slip out of her uniform when the door opened and Yulia came slinking in. Used to be the day that Mimi would have jumped into the bathroom or swung open the door of their armoire and hidden. But those days were over. Yulia didn't scare her anymore.

Yulia didn't say anything, but she looked both elated and a little guilty. She sat on her bed, waiting to speak. Yulia did that, sometimes. Waited to be acknowledgeed before she spoke.

Mimi draped her bra over the back of her chair, then opened the armoire. She retrieved the tight black-and-green uniform that hung there, and started to stuggle her legs into it. She looked backwards over her shoulder and smiled. "Damn, Yulia-- talk already."

Yulia beamed. "Things are better now," she began simply. "Pad and I are speaking again."

Mimi frowned, and Yulia opened her mouth to protest, but said nothing. "Yulia," Mimi said sternly, "you know what I think about that. I like you, I like November. But I hate the two of you together. I know we're both worried about her. But until we figure out what to do about that damned bell's control over her, I still don't think--"

"Mimi, please!" Yulia interrupted, her voice breaking a little. "Please let me try!"

Mimi nodded. "I susually do," she said. "And I tell you what: if it goes well, I'll be here to congratulate you." Mimi smiled halfheartedly, but Yulia seemed to buy it. And if it goes like I think it will, Mimi thought, I'll be here to pick up the pieces.

Yulia seemed to notice for the first time that Mimi was putting on her spandex. "Is everything alright?"

Mimi pulled her plaid skirt up over the leggings, then carefully folded the spandex until the hem of the skirt hid the green fabric. It felt tight. "I don't know," she sighed, pulling her white shirt and tie back on. "Francis needs some help with something. Figured I'd be ready."

Yulia nodded, biting her lip a little. "You want I can come?"

Mimi shook her head. "No, it'll probably be fine." She tied the tie again, and buttoned up her jacket. In the mirror, it wasn't so obvious. It just looked like maybe she had gained a little weight. She started to giggle at the idea, then she thought of Tawney, and she frowned. There wasn't enough time. She had so many people that needed helping.

Yulia grinned. "It does not look so bad, Mimi."

Her voice snapped Mimi out of it. "No, it'll work. Chances are Mary Moltar will notice, but she knows enough not to ask."

Yulia chuckled at that. "I think you are one of the only ones here that talks like that about the Sisters."

Mimi grinned. "We have an understanding," she said. How true that was. Mimi stepped away from the mirror. "Yulia, I have to run."

"Again, you go to the late mass?" Mimi nodded. "Mimi," yulia continued, "God knows. You know. I don't think that the eucharist will help any more than it has, yes?"

Mimi smiled. "It helps, a little," she said, walking to the door. "Yulia, I really do want to hear about what happened." The blonde girl nodded. "Okay, good. I didn't want you to think otherwise."

And then the green-haired girl was out the door, and Yulia sighed. She looked over at Mimi's stuffed bear. "And when, Mr. Snugs, will we see Mimi be happy, do you think?"

The bear had no answer.

Francis paced nervously through the boiler room checking her watch at a frenetic pace. It was three minutes past midnight and although Mimi was far from being late, it made her anxious none-the-less. As the second hand tapped out its staccato pace closer and closer to the minute Francis had to remind herself to breathe.

The door to the boiler room tentatively slid open and Mimi’s unmistakable locks poked up over the piping and mechanics. Francis let out a heavy breath and murmured, “Psshhhht, Meem…over here!” knowing Mimi’s ultra-sensitive hearing would easily pick up her words.

Mimi sauntered over looking about the boiler room as though something were lurking through the pipes ready to leap out in a moment of inattentiveness. Francis thought Mimi had put on weight, she looked bigger for some reason….but there were other matters at hand.

“Thanks for coming Mimi, I don’t know who else I can talk to about this and I figured if not you, than no one.”

“What is it Franky?” Mimi looked concerned, “Your e-mail was pretty vague but you sounded pretty serious.”

“Yeah…ummm..sorry about the weird e-mail but I wasn’t really ready to type it all out.” Francis idly scratched her shoulder.

“Well…” came the reply, “What is it?”

Francis took a deep breath and began. In the span of over forty-five minutes she talked about her investigations in Croatoa with the Cabal and the strange occurrences in the spirit world. As she talked more and more about the battles and near misses she had survived and witnessed she couldn’t stop as the tears began to drip from her eyelashes. She began then to tell Mimi of her mother and father, about her mother’s descent into the Cabal and the subsequent sacrifice and death of her father at their hands. She told of the ritual to break the bonds of the spirit world and how her investigation had revealed a plot to enact the ritual a second time. Francis sniffled as she told Mimi how she had found the name of the Cabal leader in charge of the new ritual…and how she had come to believe that the Cabal leader called Mary, was none other than her own mother Mary Cross.

“So you see Mimi,” Francis continued, “I can’t let this happen again. They did it to my dad and now their gonna do it again. Please Mimi, I need help…I can’t do this by myself. Who can I trust?”

From: KarlVonmandrake@yahoo.com
To: FCross@StJoesephSchool.edu

Francis,

As I promised, I have researched the movements of the works of Vincente De Medici, and I have found the artifact you seek. As I sure you would wish, I shall not say where I have found this item, but I will have it to you within 2 weeks time. I would not care to simply ship it via postal service, so please tell me how you would care to receive it. I also will warn you now that brandishing it about in public, one it is yours, would be most detrimental to your health.

I do not know the specifics of what you are about to do, but know that I am not the only student of the arcane that seeks this cross. I have possibly garnered attention from outside parties for my inquiries, but considering my reputation, I doubt that my movements should be traced back to you.

This is your last chance to reconsider your request, dearest Francis. I will do this task which you ask, but you know that all things have a price.


In service to you,
KVM

Mimi held Francis as she cried.

Things just kept getting worse and worse. How could she say she didn't know who to trust? Had it come to that? That now everyone was suspect? And if that was true, how could Francis possibly ask her for advice? Mimi didn't say a thing at first, she just held her friend. "We have to help my dad," Francis repeated, weakly.

Mimi nodded and thought. "Francis, we will, don't worry." She pushed Francis back gently to arm's length and looked at her. "We can do this, and of course there are people you can trust."

Francis wiped at her face. Mascara stained her fingers, and she sighed. "I must look like a raccoon."

Mimi giggled as she started to roll down her spandex tights from where they were hidden under her skirt. "Only a little. And only the most cutting-edge of all raccoons have a pink 'do."

Francis couldn't help but laugh. She watched with a certain pleasure as Mimi pulled her patrol suit into place: her friend had come prepared to fight for her, even before she had told her what it was about. She hoped that she would always be able to count on Mimi that way. She wondered if Mimi knew that she could count on her as well.

After adjusting the spandex suit, Mimi took the rubberbands from her hair and shook the green locks free. Reaching to the back of her neck, she pulled her mask up over her head and into place. Her uniform she folded and piled on the floor. "Okay," said Screaming-Mimi. "Let's make some calls, and get to work."

Francis dashed into her dorm room quickly gathering up needed books and spell components, she needed to meet Mimi out in the quad in a few minutes. She swerved around the computer desk narrowly missing the odd looking mushroom plant she had left there from her last mission. She paused..

"Wasn't that plant over there?" She shrugged, "Oh well"

The last few items were being tucked securely into her pack when she noticed it. A piece of translucent paper rested precariously on the end of her bedside table. As she carefully lifted it up she realized that the strange side-long markings that covered the fragile surface were writing. Her brow furrowed as she turned the paper from side to side and then angled it under the soft glow of the lamp, the words were nearly impossible to see. It was a letter...

To the Lady Francis of the Cross,

I've been watching you Francis, your meddling in dangerous affairs. please be careful. you are getting in way over your head, you put yourself and your friends in terrible danger. I will try to help in any way I can to see that you come out of this alive and well. Bravery and Nobility are admirable traits, and I shall not talk you out of doing what you must.

BE WARY, your friend VonMandrake is a vile creature, not to be trusted, he has an agenda that he follows. He disturbs me greatly. I fear he will harm you at a pivotal moment.

Worry not Francis. the powers that be know who you are, your destined for true greatness, your name will be remembered for your heroics. again I'll be there with you the entire time, even if I can't interact, you'll know I'm there.

Jeremy

The letters faded into nothingness almost before she had finished reading it. Francis slowly sat on the bed, deep in thought. A moment later a wicked smile played across her features as she snatched up the package left for her this morning from Karl and headed out to the quad. She had some people to talk to.

((Scheduling Mary Macomber Task Force for those Levels 29-33. Sunday April 23rd, 2006!! Gather at Croatoa Greenline beginning at 5pm CST))