recolle | [Closed] Creature Feature

[Closed] Creature Feature

WHO: Augustine and Ainsley
WHERE: Recolle University
WHEN: April 3
WHAT: A college professor's package contains much more than a ball.
WARNINGS: Expect screaming and dragon roaring. That's all.

While it's another Monday for everyone in Recolle University, a certain college professor is about to get a surprise of a lifetime.

As Augustine arrived at his office early at 8 AM, he brought most of his lecture materials for his upcoming lectures today. Right now, he has 2 scheduled in the morning and afternoon so he has enough time to work on the paperwork for the rest of today. However, there is also one new item he brought today as well courtesy of Retrospec.

Before he arrived at the university, he received a package from them. Of course, he is curious at what kind of unusual item they sent to him this time, so he opened it to see what it is, which he was then surprised to see that it was a strange red and while capsule-like ball. His first reaction to it was confusion as he wondered why he was given a strange toy. But then again, he decided to take a closer look at it later as he brought the ball with him.

Of course, as he just finished his preparations for his next lecture, he is still curious at the ball from his new Retrospec package and decides to use his spare time to take a real closer look at it just in case. When he did, he also took a few minutes to contemplate about the button on the center of it, which he decides to try pressing it cautiously to see if it might do something.

He then wished he didn't press it.

Because once he did, some of the students and professors will start to hear his screams of horror just outside his office. If a certain someone can rush into his office on time, she will see not only Augustine on the ground slowly backing away as he stares at it in fear, but she can also see a dark blue dragon with a dorsal fin sticking out of it's back and curved fins on its arms, which it then roared at the top of its lungs. And judging how it approached the professor, you can either guess it is about to maul him or worst.

Regardless, it's best to help Augustine before it is too late.

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Other than seeing Ainsley still controlling her happy sparkles, he is also surprised at the dragon's intelligence. Not to mention that she somehow knew him like an old friend.

As he accepts another cream puff from her and gives it to Modeste, he starts to think about how will they hide her from the public. While he agrees that he can't let her stay in his apartment forever, he is a little guilty at where she will stay after that.

"That's true. The mascot excuse might not able to work when I let her live in my place. Not to mention letting her live in the animal shelter would cause any trouble for the animals and employees." But as he said this, he starts to realize about how she was realized from a strange ball he got from the package. "Then again... She might have lived in this capsule ball before I can even release her from it."

Now this is the part where Ainsley raises her eyebrows in genuine doubt while finally passing the bag of pastries to Augustine. These days, anything is possible for her but... there are times that she has to pause and take some things into consideration.

Looking at the ball and then back at Modeste, she has a hard time imagining such a big creature could fit in that.

"That thing? It's smaller than some of the toy balls I have for Kara." How can anything live in there? It didn't seem comfortable at all. "I feel like, if anything, that's more reason Modeste should be allowed out. You can't keep her cooped in that all the time! You want to stretch your legs, don't you?"

He is also asking the same question as well. Why in a world can a large dragon like Modeste can even fit inside the ball. Not to mention that it looked very cramp inside. "I agree. Who in the world would made something like this and why was she trapped inside the ball in the first place?" He said this as he raises the ball in an attempt to take a closer look.

However, as the ball's button is pointing at the dragon who is currently enjoying her pastry snack, it emits a strange red beam that hits her, which somehow turns her into red energy before she was sucked into the ball. Of course, his first reaction upon seeing this is a gasp of horror. "Oh my! Modeste?!"

Now it's Ainsley's turn to terrify the people who are passing by Augustine's office.

She screams and pulls back when the red beam of energy comes and envelopes Modeste. Then Modeste is gone before she can do anything besides scream. Just gone.

In her eyes, she thinks she just watched a potential friend of hers just die thanks to some sort of laser that came out of nowhere. She's trying not to hyperventilate now while looking around the office wildly, unsure if her sudden headache is from the spike of stress or fear.

"What did you do?!" She looks over her friend and sees the ball in his hand, trying to catch her breath while also trying to speak at the same time. It's harder than one thinks. "What did you do?! Augustine!"

"N-N-Nothing! The ball just acted up on its own!" He wasn't lying, he didn't touch the ball's button or anything when he's taking a good look at it. He even panics at the the thought that he just returned his potential dragon friend back into her cramped home.

But just as he panics even further, Augustine realizes something. He accidentally released Modeste when he pressed the button on the capsule ball, so maybe it will happen again? Without any second thoughts, he pressed the said button and lo and behold, the ball pops open to release a white energy, which transforms into the same dragon they saw as she just wonders what just happen.

The sight of the dragon made him sigh in relief now that she's back. "Thank goodness, you're back. I'm so sorry about that Modeste..."

The dragon is somehow a little annoyed at what happened, but she growled without any animosity after Augustine apologized.

"-You're back!"

Ainsley is no longer screaming anymore so there's that.

The moment she sees their dragon friend back with them, she shuts her mouth by slapping her hands over it and muffles her screams. The poor people passing by this office- They must be thinking there's a horror movie marathon going on or something with how much ruckus is being made here.

She wants to say something to Augustine - an apology or a question, perhaps - but she feels the sudden rush of vertigo wash over her and it takes all her strength to not pass out right there and then. This is too much excitement for her. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions to go through in such a short amount of time.

"Um... Can you get me a chair? Or something to keep me from knocking my head over."

For once she's sure this doesn't have anything to do with visions! It's just pure stress and she's torn being very happy about this or being very distressed that she's happy about this.

At least Ainsley managed to calm down from her freak out over Modeste's short disappearance. Besides, the worst thing than having her sucked into the ball without a warning is that anyone might barge into his office in any second as her screams might be loud enough to get attention.

Once everyone is calmed down, Augustine grabbed his office chair and pushed it near Ainsley for her to sit on. "Here you go," he said before he picks up his Poke Ball that he threw and stares at it. "Still, how can a small ball like this even tr-"

His eyes quickly widened in shock as he clutches his head and quickly fell to his knee. But this time, instead of a vision, he sees a small glimpse of a memory, a memory related to his package. As Modeste saw her new friend fell, she quickly rushed to her aid to help him.

"Don't worry, Modeste. I'm fine," he said as he recovers from his short shock.

She honestly feels so attacked right now.

Just as she sits down to rest, Augustine falls to his knees and she's immediately back up on her feet because remember when this was supposed to be a relaxing chat between two friends? Remember? Ainsley can't with how she's so worried for everyone in the room right now as she heads over to Augustine's side herself, kneeling beside him while trying to help him get up.

"What happened?" She looks around, trying to find a first aid kit in case anything else happens. Why did she never get around to reading actual first aid books? "Are you okay?"

Of course, he had to make Ainsley worry as well. Once he recovered, he decides to stop her worrying as well with Modeste. "Like I said, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Despite his attempts to ease their worries, Augustine on the other hand still wonders about the glimpse of a small memory that he got. "A Poke Ball... Is that... what this capsule ball is called?"

Her own head was spinning now thanks to the sudden visions she had but did her best to march on, knowing it could be worse. Maybe it was a good thing she was getting this so often. It almost feels like she's getting used to this happening.

(Which is a frightening thought but let's focus on the current situation.)

Looking at the small ball again, she looks back at her friend and rubs her temple. Part confusion, part attempt to ease the pain. "Poke Ball? I never heard anything like that. Did you get another-"

Vision? Memory?

"Memory? Yes." It's not like him to use this word for his latest vision. But this time, he felt that this is really a memory considering how he suddenly knew about the capsule ball's name.

"But that's not the only memory I have. I also remembered that the Poke Ball's main function is to store creatures like Modeste as well capturing them."

Yet as he said the last line, he suddenly grew worried at the item he's holding. A item meant for capturing creatures like Modeste? Thinking about it makes him very uncomfortable, especially when he looks at the dragon once more.

Really?

She looks over at the 'Poke Ball' with obvious skepticism, wondering how that worked because... Listen. This has been a wild few months for everyone involved but she has to limit her expectations a little bit. She'll accept the Chocobos, the dancing fruit, and the hordes of reporters. A small red and white ball hosting a friend the side of Modeste is starting to stretch it for her. bJust a bit.

But- She'll focus on that some other time. Something Augustine has made is making Ainsley a little bit worried: "Creatures like Modeste? So there could be more... Poke Balls out there in the wild?"

That's what his memory said it would be. Yet, there are many holes in it as he still doesn't know what are these creatures other than Modeste. Although, he did remember his last vision regarding this, especially that he drew them for the network post.

"That... I don't know. But I did have a vision of three creatures a few weeks ago." He then shows the exact drawing to Ainsley as Modeste approaches him to take a closer look at it as well. "Only that these three are very different than Modeste."

"Oh! Would you look at that."

She looks at the drawings with curiosity, her head tilted as she took in the details before her. They certainly would stand out for her if they were here in the city. Meaning, at some point, their existence would have been known to them if they didn't personally run into any of the three.

"Do you know these three, Modeste? Are they your friends?" Maybe it's a little tactless to assume Modeste would know about this creatures but it never hurt to try.

If she didn't know any of them then they'll... keep an eye out for the animal shelter? Leave food out of the university in hopes they'll go to it? They'll figure something out. Long as they had each other's back, they can do almost anything.

After Ainsley asked if those creatures in the drawing are her friends, Modeste then wonders about it as she looks at the drawing again. Yet as she did, she felt a sense of familiarity to them.

"Well, Modeste? Do you know these three?"

While she did felt like she seen them before, Modeste just nodded no as she can't pinpoint where did she even knows or sees them. "I see. Guess that means you can't remember who they are as well, huh."

"Does that mean she has amnesia or something like that?"

Would she gain visions like them too? Feel faint and everything every time something reminded her of something else? Ooooh Ainsley hoped that wasn't the case. She'll have no idea how to help a faint dragon-creature if they passed out or felt sick. She's still Googling things about Kara, for goodness' sake.

For now that's a bridge they'll cross some other (hopefully long) time. She looks back at the drawing, taking note of their appearance. "They look... small, I suppose. If they are around, I hope they're hiding themselves well. I hate to think what would happen to them if they got caught by someone."

A dragon creature having amnesia? He never thought it would have one despite being a different species. Yet, upon he sees Modeste's mixed expressions of confusion and dismay, he realizes that it might really have amnesia.

"I'm guessing that's a yes. You really don't remember everything before you came?"

The dragon creature nodded yes, which he felt some regret at what she had been through. "I'm really sorry to hear about that."

As for the small creatures from his journal drawing, he is also worried about these creatures as well. Sure, they looked like fictional creatures, but with these strange changes happening around the city, he wonders if they are safe as well. "Well, if they will appear, I hope I can try to help them to protect them from hunters and any dangers. That's what the Recollé Zoo and Aquarium's Endangered Animal Preservation for."

Modeste is just impressing her more and more with how responsive and clear she is in these conversations they're having. She smiles at the creature, trying her best to be the face of positive possibility despite some clear setbacks all three of them had to work with. Long as they had each other and backed the other one up in moments like these, nothing can stop their progress towards something that must be worth all of this.

"We can do it! I can hope wherever they are, they're fine…" And the proverbial lightbulb lights up over her head. "Unless Retrospec has them already and won't give them to you or someone else yet."

For… reasons. Retrospec Reasons. (Yes. She's actually had to make that up whenever trying to think about the motives of the company for what's happening. The best way to easily boil down the strangeness of the company's actions that didn't involve curse words. She's proud of that.)

"I mean! How on earth did Modeste get in there and get to you while still in the Poke Ball, unharmed?" The Poke Ball looks clean with no scuff marks or signs of damage on it that she can see. "There's no way they didn't know about her existence in there yet."

He hopes that he will help these creatures if they will appear soon, yet he is also worried that Retrospec might send these creatures without any warning. Then Modeste isn't going to be the only one he will take care of.

As for Ainsley's question about how Modeste got to him while inside the Poke Ball, that one made him wonder the same thing. How did Retrospec manage to send him without the knowledge that the dragon creature was inside it?

"You made a valid point there. They should have checked the Poke Ball's contents before sending me these packages. Then again, it did look like an ordinary capsule ball to everyone else..."

"There's no way they didn't know about this. They must have done this on purpose." Now that she said it aloud, she realises how silly that theory is. Really? Would they really risk sending a possibly dangerous animal to someone else if they could be hurt?

She knows Retrospec doesn't give a whit about them but goodness gracious you think Jim would want to live long enough for his and Janet's wedding.

"... Hmmm..." A thought occurs to her as she tilts her head to the side, looking at the Poke Ball before looking back at Augustine. "I wonder- Will this work on all sorts of animals as well? Or only creatures like Modeste? It doesn't hurt to experiment with this if Modeste is okay."

Ainsley what on earth are you implying here.

She might be on to something. Besides, this happened after he had a vision of Modeste beforehand. Also, he wonders if these packages have to do with the repressive memories theory.

Then just as she wonders about the Poke Ball will work on animals, Augustine's face is mixed with confusion and shock when he thought of this. Even his dragon is having some doubts when she heard this as well.

"I don't know. I did remember this ball can work on the creatures like Modeste, but I don't know if testing it with some animals would be a bad idea."

"Okay. Then we don't have to do it then." Sighing, Ainsley decides to let this slide because, well, she supposes there's no need to confirm everything about the ball.

Long as their friend is safe and no more surprise disappearing tricks occurred, they should be fine. Which does leave one important question hanging over all three of them. She crosses her arms, wondering what they can do at the moment. "It's only a suggestion What's the next step for us then?"

Now that's a good question. He knew that freeing this mysterious creature into the wild would mean trouble, so he feels that there's no other choice.

"I think the next step is to make sure nobody else would see her. If they did, we might have a mass hysteria in our hands." It might be a good idea since he feels that law enforcements might mistake her as a wild animal and capture her. "Also, I might try to rearrange my apartment so Modeste can sleep in with me."

"Hmm..." She needs a moment to think, considering the options they had. "Sounds like I won't be much help with the former for now but! I can definitely help you out with the latter."

It was something similar she had to do for Kara after all- Make it habitable for a dog. Modeste is... most certainly not a dog but the principles are the same. This shouldn't be too hard to do, more so if it was the two of them working together and Modeste probably letting her feelings be known while they set the apartment up to her preferences.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." Then again, she is happy to lend a hand or two just for a friend like him.

But when the alarm on his phone starts to ring, Augustine realizes that he forgot something. "Oh, my! I still need to prepare for my next lecture in 30 minutes!"

Thirty minutes? Goodness! He's going to be pretty busy preparing then. She laughs and nods, deciding it's probably best that she depart and let Augustine get to work on his next class.

After gathering her stuff and waving goodbye to Modeste, she wishes Augustine good luck for the day ahead of him. "Take care, okay? Don't be a stranger!"

"I will. See you then."

With that, he continues his preparations as soon Ainsley left his office. And despite there is now a dragon in his office, he feels that he won't be little lonely thanks to his new friend with him. Sure, it might be difficult since he still needs to find a way to hide her and she was sent by Retrospec, he feels that if he helps her, then she might do the same with him in the near future.

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[Closed] Creature Feature

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