Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

[zerotohiro]

'Busy, leave a message!
...oh, you've reached Hiro Hamada. Whatever. Still busy!'

Hamada art by D-Joel, found on tumblr

Comments

[zerotohiro]

Trust me, it's not gonna go away just because you throw it. Some of us already tried that. [And by some of us he means Yu. Still, he's puzzled by this change and he eyeballs the mask again before he's frowning in thought.]

...come with me. I wanna test something.

[discard]

[He regrets it, okay.......

Also naturally he's not going to be that easy to deal with.]

Excuse me?

What do you want to test.

[zerotohiro]

The mask? What else would I want to test? [Leon why are you suck a dick omg...]

[discard]

[He doesn't know!!!]

... ... Fine.

[He can't do anything else with it, after all, and he wants it to be taken care of.... somehow...]

This had better not be a waste of my time.

[zerotohiro]

I'm a scientist. How would this be a waste of your time? [It's more like it may be a waste of his time, but he gestures for Leon to follow him to the tech shop which isn't too far from them.] It'll be fine, it'll take maybe 10 minutes.

[discard]

The fact that you are a scientist does not mean that you will find something.

[But...fine. Fine. He's following, and only mildly grumpily, because he's getting more and more curious as they go.

What if Hiro does find something?]

[zerotohiro]

Maybe not, but the fact that I am means I probably have a better chance at figuring something out.

[Curiosity seems to always win and Hiro leads Leon through the building toward his workshop. It doesn't take them long to get to his shop, a small room crammed to the max with equipment, computers, books, papers and other things. He shuts the door behind them and turns to eyeball the mask closer.]

First thing's first. We should figure out whose blood is it. Think you can take a step back?

[discard]

[He suuuure can. He'll do that silently (even as he glances around somewhat, curious a little despite himself). Despite being from a Tales world, he's not unfamiliar with a lot of this technology; he would be a pretty pitiful heir to the biggest technological empire if he didn't have a solid grasp on tech of a lot of sorts.

But at least he's not arguing, even if it means he's silent instead.

Count your blessings.]

[zerotohiro]

[Good job Leon, that's a step in the right direction. Almost lazily Hiro says "ow", activating Baymax and allowing the nursebot to step out of his case.]

Hello, Hiro. And Leon. […a pause.] You have never visited before. Are you in need of assistance?

[Hiro waves a hand to get Baymax to silence for a sec.] Baymax is gonna scan the mask and see if we can figure out whose blood it is and where it's coming from. Any objections? [May as well ask since…Leon. Is particular.]

[discard]

No, I am certainly not.

[That answer to Baymax comes immediately, and probably unsurprisingly, because it's Leon and Leons are gonna Leon.

But...that seems fair. It's a robot, after all, so maybe it will be able to tell something...? Leon doesn't know, but he simply nods, holding up the mask.]

I have no objections.

[zerotohiro]

[Hiro ignores the irony of Leon insisting he doesn't need help and yet telling him it's fine for Baymax to scan. Baymax scans the mask briefly, things lighting up on his stomach as he searches for a solution. On the one hand, there's Leon's blood type because of the fact he's still holding the mask. On the other...]

The substance is unidentifiable. It is not blood.

[Which is weird. Since it sure looks like blood.] There is not a match found.

[discard]

[Sadly, that's no surprise to Leon, but there was always the possibility that the scan would reveal something. He sighs, flicking his hair from his face in a quick, almost subconscious gesture.]

Naturally. If it was a real substance, it would be dripping on your floor right now.

[But... it isn't.

It's weird.]

[zerotohiro]

Since it wasn't dripping what made you really think it was blood anyway? It could have just been some other red substance.

[discard]

That is because--

[..Because Stahn's has bloody fingerprints on it, and those are even more obvious. But he's not going to say that, because he doesn't want people to know that Stahn has a mask that is bloody in any way.]

--blood pools in a particular way. It was a familiar enough sight to me.

You made the same leap of logic, didn't you?

[zerotohiro]

Only because Cerealia's not exactly the least violent place I've ever been in. [He frowns, still examining Leon's mask.] Let me run some other tests now that Baymax has the data and see what I can find out.

You don't know anybody else with a mask like this, do you?

[discard]

No.

[That answer comes immediately--he has yet to see anyone else with the exact same mask as him. But... If other people do have them, there's definitely a pattern to them.

He wonders about it.]

Do what you want. I am already here, so it hardly matters.

[zerotohiro]

Mind if I ask you some questions about your world? [It might seem random, but he's had thoughts about this already.]

[discard]

[There's a long pause, and then--]

If I do not like your question, I have no obligation to answer.

[He's probably one of the harder people to get info out of, but... it's worth a try...]

[zerotohiro]

[Why isn't this surprising in the slightest?]

Fair enough. I'll just have to draw my own conclusions. [Shrug.] What did you guys do back home? You and Stahn, I mean.

[discard]

[Well.

Well. Stahn's........a criminal............. okay no that's not true.

Anymore.]

I am a Knight Captain of Seinegald.

[Tiny pint-sized 16 year old captain, roll with it.]

Stahn... [is saving the world???] ...I believe he herds sheep. [yeah.]

[zerotohiro]

...Stahn's a shepherd? [Stahn is not Sorey, no. But he's more impressed (and also a little concerned???) that Leon's a knight of anything.] Okay wait this isn't really about Stahn then. What exactly does a Knight Captain do? And what's Seinegald?

[discard]

[Yeah he is somehow. Leon just nods at that, and will focus on the questions about himself anyway. 16 is a totally legit age to be a knight captain shut up.]

Seinegald is my country. [Duh.] As a Knight Captain, I handle whatever missions my king might require of me. More commonly, I capture dangerous criminals, escort important figures, and lead soldiers when required.

[He's a special snowflake knight who does whatever the king wants, really.]

[zerotohiro]

[Hey, there's no judging from the 14-year-old superhero. Even if he's a little more concerned why Leon in particular is a knight of anything. He nods along, making some idle notes as he assesses that information.]

...did something go wrong on a mission for you? [When he died, he means. Was he on a mission, or was that unrelated?]

[discard]

[His brow furrows at the question, expression tensing--and then he just shakes his head quietly, glancing away.]

... It was nothing as honorable as that.

[He really doesn't even have the right to call himself a knight--but he can't bring himself to say that here and now either.]

[zerotohiro]

[…ah. Well that certainly explains a lot. He's not sure what to say at first, and he's aware that this isn't going to go well but:]

What makes you say that?