Dormitory; Krikor's Room

"See you!" Krikor called out to Yumiya before he shut the door to their dormitory behind him. He headed for the elevator and pressed the button to call it, looking around while he waited to see if there was anyone else going down to the main plaza area.

Seeing that no one else was coming, Krikor waited for the elevator to arrive.  When it did, he stepped inside and pressed the button for the ground floor, heading back to where he and Tear had been the day before.  He figured he'd look around the school proper until it was time for him to go to class.

(Pass)

A gentle, but very powerful wave of distortion spread across the entire land, causing the school of Pandemia to be hit. This caused a wave of energy to carry with it all sorts of lost time, cluttered space, unsettled feelings and clouded thoughts by brushing through the corridors of the school, itself and cleansing everyone's minds and spirits. The entire school should have suddenly come to a complete calm once the wave came and went.

Krikor got back to his dorm after a long day of learning, wondering to himself where Tsubaki's room was after her examination earlier that day. He opened the door to his dorm and called, "Yumiya? You here?"

By the time Krikor made his way home, Yumiya had already gotten the groceries, put them away and had been working on other things. It was relatively late in the evening now, and it seemed like he was studying quietly in the living room. It wasn't until he heard Krikor's voice that he suddenly looked up and greeted him. "Oh, hey there Krikor! You've been gone all day! Must have been pretty eventful to keep you out so long, huh?" Yumiya hoped so. Even if all he did himself was get some groceries, it was probably good for Krikor, being a newer student, to get familiarized with the school environment.

"You can say that again," Krikor replied, sitting down on the couch with a deep breath. "I was Tsubaki's opponent for her entrance exam, plus I learned all about Resonance today," he explained, scratching the back of his head to try to get the buzzing sensation that was still present to stop.

"Anyway," Krikor continued, "what are you up to?"

"Oh, I was just here studying a bit," Yumiya said with an exasperated sigh, "I figured that I should since I haven't been doing very well in developing my own abilities recently." Yumiya had been a bit too stoic recently and he was not satisfied with his own progress. Fortunately, another Class Session hadn't started yet, so time wasn't up quite yet.

"But if you'd like to sit and talk, I'm here to listen." He smiled warmly at Krikor in a friendly manner, but still stayed relatively engrossed in his studies... as best he could.

"Well, if you're studying, I shouldn't interrupt," Krikor replied. "Mind if I ask what you're studying, though? I used to be a biology major back on Earth-1282, so I might be able to help if it's about that," he offered. He didn't want to disturb his friend, but he did want to lend him a hand if he could.

"No, it's fine," Yumiya insisted, placing his book on the table, "I wouldn't mind hearing more about you. You must have loads of stories, being a warrior, and all." If Krikor was really an experienced warrior, then he should have been very good in combat. "You could always help me out in the combat department." Yumiya laughed.

Before he got off track, he would respond to Krikor's question, "I was actually looking at the diagram of a soul, trying to get how it works a little better so I can start forming my own Techniques with the things I learn from each Class Session." Yumiya adjusted himself to a more comfortable position on the couch and affixed his attention more directly at Krikor. "Since I learned what my soul does, I can start to make them on my own, but we're supposed to take what we learn from every class session and utilize it to make new abilities for combat. The classes are so infrequent because we're supposed to spend our time developing ourselves and our abilities." He was unsure if Krikor knew about that since he had only gotten in just yesterday, but it was a very important part of how the school environment functioned.

"Heh, OK, if you're sure," Krikor chuckled. "And I'd be more than happy to teach you how to fight anytime you want. Same goes for whatever you want to know about me -- just ask," he said with a smile.

"So," he continued after Yumiya had finished explaining what he'd been studying, "did you come up with any ideas for techniques yet?"

"No, not yet," Yumiya said with a sigh, "But I may take you up on that offer. Maybe we can develop some techniques together, huh?" He knew that it was easier to develop a technique more effectively when you had a partner to spar with or that would support you with the learning. "But that's only when you have some free time. I know that you probably have a lot of adjusting to do..." Pandemia was a pretty big place with a lot to do, and it was rather unorthodox, but still retained some sort of orthodox structure that allowed it to continue to function. Yumiya found it fascinating in his short time here, but he was curious about Krikor's interpretation. "And speaking of, how do you like Pandemia? Did you look at the entire campus?" Yumiya remembered that Krikor hadn't been with him all day and wanted to know how his day had been.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Krikor said with a nod. "I'm sure we could come up with something good together, but best to learn the basics first, right?" he asked.

"I don't think I've seen the entire school yet," Krikor continued, rubbing his eyes, that buzzing still present in the back of his skull, "but I did get to see some more today. I went into the Resonance Room, as well as the Rosary Garden. I also got to see some more of the exterior of the school." He wanted to tell Yumiya what he saw there, about the fight Tifaret had gotten into, but he thought better of it. He'd already fought her once today, and he'd rather not have to do it again in the future if she got mad at him for telling Yumiya what he'd seen.

"Sure, sure," Yumiya agreed, knowing that there would be more than enough time, since classes were not particularly scheduled, but more so were held like a school assembly so that everyone who was in a particular class could all be working on the same things at the exact same time with the sessions only needing to be held once. He enjoyed the freedom of having that lack of pressure like one would find in a normal school environment. It felt nice. "You know I have a few books from the library that I've been looking at, myself. A lot of things that help with basic training and terminology." Fortunately, the library was vast enough to supply all the needs of the school in terms of text, both for class and for reference. It really seemed to be a much more effective manner of studying, which the students could do at their own leisure with the selection they had before them. "You should also check that place out, too. There are tons of books about the things you learn in class and some you don't." Though Yumiya wasn't fully familiar with the full breadth of the Librarium, he was certainly aware of its general content. He'd seen the layout somewhere or another on a map, probably in a brochure or on the wall.

Yumiya hadn't been paying much attention to it before, but after focusing on Krikor for a little while more intently than usual, he would be able to see mild waves flowing from his head. It seemed strange. "Oh... Well that sounds eventful. What's up with that strange aura coming off of your head, though?" Yumiya, who could see wavelengths a bit, was able to pick up on it and found it peculiar...

Krikor was surprised that Yumiya could sense the buzzing sensation he was feeling. "Huh?" he asked, "oh, it's nothing. Probably just overtired, that's all," he continued, trying to assure himself of that more than he was Yumiya.

"I sure hope so," Yumiya added on, returning to his book. "Maybe you should just take it easy and rest. I won't keep you." It was probably best, anyway. Still, it made Yumiya a bit curious and slightly estranged to the entire situation. It seemed odd, but he would keep it to himself rather than go on about it and keep Krikor up. "Maybe it'll go away in the morning."

"I hope so. I think I'll turn in early tonight, see if it goes away. See you tomorrow, Yumiya," Krikor said, heading to his room.

As Krikor walked to his room, the buzzing in the back of his head turned to throbbing pain. He opened the door and staggered to his bed, sitting on the edge. "What the hell is wrong with me?" he thought, the throbbing getting more and more intense. Eventually, the throbbing was accompanied by a high-pitched wailing that Krikor could hear, but it didn't seem like it was coming from outside; rather, from inside his head.

As Krikor began massaging his temples, the throbbing began to fade, and the whining started to get lower in pitch. Eventually, he started hearing something else.

"...lo? Hello?" a familiar voice inside his head asked.

"...Durun?" Krikor asked telepathically, snapping upright. "Is that you?"

"Krikor! Thank the Gods, I can contact you again!" the familiar voice from his left gauntlet spoke in his mind.

Krikor breathed a sigh of relief, his headache now completely gone, as a smile spread over his face. "Good to hear from you again, old friend," he said.

"I feel the same way," Ashcroft replied. "Welcome back, Durun."

"Yes, goodnight, Krikor!" Yumiya bade him, continuing on with his studies for a little while longer whilst Krikor did his own thing. After a while, Yumiya would also turn in and went to sleep, himself.

(You can post without worrying about me. I'll jump in again whenever)

Though the buzzing in the back of Krikor's skull subsided, in his room, be would be able to suddenly see very faint distortions, something like vibrations, that would linger about and emanate slightly from his actively conscious armor. It was extremely slight, but noticeable if he were to focus on it.

Now that Krikor had regained contact with Durun, he decided to fill him in on what had happened. Sitting cross legged on the floor, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his lungs to the brim. "Alright, Durun, how much do you know of what's going on?" he telepathically asked his left gauntlet.

"Not much," Durun admitted. "Everything's been dark since I lost contact with you. I've been trying to get in contact with you and the others. I take it there's been no luck in that regard?"

"Not yet," Ashcroft answered. "Krikor's currently enrolled in a school on the world we're on, called Veritas. The school's devoted to the use of beings like us."

"Indeed. I was able to regain contact with you on my first day, no less," Krikor said mentally.

"Good, good. Hopefully that'll mean we won't be without the others for too much longer," Durun continued. "How does Lorelei feel about this?" he asked.

It felt as though all of the air was suddenly sucked from Krikor's body. He felt crushed, utterly broken. He'd never thought that someone mentioning a name could do this to him until now. "We...were separated. Remember how we had to make a quick escape from that last world?" Krikor asked, trying to keep even his mental voice calm and even.

"Yes..." Durun began.

"She got separated from me sometime when we were traveling from that world to this one," Krikor said, a hard lump beginning to form in his throat.

"Which is why we need to regain contact with the others," Ashcroft interjected, not wanting his student to have to talk any more than he had to. He could tell how painful this was for him. "So we can try to meet up with her at the rendezvous point in Central City."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm so sorry, Krikor, but don't worry, we'll find her again," Durun said.

"I hope you're right," Krikor replied. "I don't know what I'll do if she's not at the rendezvous point."

Krikor's telepathic interaction with the beings within his gauntlets, as well as his distress from the conversation between them, would irritate the wavelengths flowing from his mind and out into the atmosphere. The distortions were slight and faint, but could possibly become something like a nightmare or trauma for him when he went to sleep if his consciousness was not clear and his turmoils were unsettled beforehand. Yet, even through this, his awareness of the wavelengths would heighten gradually the longer he actively utilized his own via telepathic communication, allowing him to see the patterns of energy in the atmosphere slightly more clearly.

Krikor sighted and opened his eyes, rubbing his temples with his fingertips.  When he pulled his hands away from his head, however, he noticed a slight distortion in the air coming from both Durun and Ashcroft.  "Must be their resonances," he thought.

Upon closer inspection, Krikor noticed that while Durun and Ashcroft were both resonating, they seemed to be doing so at different frequencies.  "Why would they be going at different frequencies?" Krikor pondered.  Then inspiration struck.

Knowing this would probably only work for as long as he had contact with two pieces of his equipment, Krikor tried to resonate at a frequency that was in-between Durun and Ashcroft.  By doing so, he hoped to achieve harmony with both of them at once, with the three of their resonances acting like the three notes of a chord on a piano.

The telepathic communication that Krikor had with the beings within his armor was the perfect conduit for establishing and maintaining resonance with them and resolving the distortions in the air between the three of them. Taking into account their natural compatibility and their relationship in the past, resonance between them should not have been very difficult to maintain at all. However, due to the events of the day, the longer he did so, the more he would be drained; especially from having to keep a connection between two rather than just one. Before he went to sleep, though, the air should have been clear and his connection with his two partners should have been better than ever, even if having just awakened Durun. The fact that he resonated with him at this time would keep them all on the same wavelength relatively consistently until something within either of them or outside of all of them disrupted them. This would likely be useful in furthering his training in Pandemia later on.

Feeling a little better, Krikor decided to turn in for the night. He removed his armor and changed into his pajama pants, then climbed into bed, opening up his locket like he had the night before. "Hey gorgeous," he whispered to the picture inside. "Good news. I regained contact with Durun! Not bad for my first day of class, huh? I guess that means I'm one step closer to seeing you again. But for now...goodnight," Krikor continued, kissing the picture once he had finished.

After that, Krikor closed his locket, shut his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

Some time after he'd gone to sleep, Krikor would have a very strange dream. He would see the very same image that he'd witnessed during the day, with the tower off in the distance and the lightning dragon flying about. He would be in the field, just outside of the Mezzo Villa, and there would be a strange man garbed in a black cloak-like jacket, something like a mix of a mage's cloak and a scientist's lab coat. The man standing before him was hooded, but there was an electrical aura about him that made him glow.

"... If you're interested in bettering your magic... Come find me at the Dragon Temple across the way... Where you saw the Dragon." The electrical surge that came from the cataclysmic battle was the residual buzzing in Krikor's skull, and would be what triggered this dream to happen in the first place, and to help Krikor to remember it even after he woke up. "Consider it... An invitation, if you're up for it. An offer that will be on the table whenever you want to take it, if at all." The strange man would flash a bright smile, before he would disappear in a bolt of lightning, taken straight up into the sky, then crashing down upon the Dragon Temple. Without being given a chance to respond, Krikor's dreams would return to normal, and if he dreamt nothing else, then this one, at least, would come to an end. The image of the Dragon Temple would be etched into his mind, causing the electrical buzzing to be no more.

Krikor snapped awake after this dream, bolting to an upright sitting position covered in cold sweat. He looked at his alarm clock and saw that it was still the middle of the night. "Mr. Sandman's a dick," he muttered to himself. He made a mental note to ask Tear about this dream and the tower he'd seen earlier, then rolled over and went back to sleep. What could it have meant?

The next morning, Yumiya would start his day early, making breakfast. He hadn't disturbed Krikor, nor would he make anything extra for him, unsure of when Krikor would be up and about anyhow. However, the aroma of bacon, eggs and pancakes filled the house. Seemed as though when Yumiya had gotten groceries whilst Krikor was out the day before, he stocked up on some really good treats. The sound of bacon sizzling could be heard on the skillet.