Sistren (Reivan)

It’s been a beautiful day so far. While people in this region were not exactly throwing festivals, they still went about their days without plight and suffering. That was enough for a certain tranquility, especially around midday, where life seemed to slow down in a way. Sure a lot of people were still busy and working, but Minerva had found a nice, quiet place for a rest inside this park. There was hardly anyone around, and the few that were had no business being noisy or annoying. It had been quiet, peaceful, and she had no reason to believe anyone would try to rob her in broad daylight. Even her parents would not have had any objections to what she was doing, then.

A nap was a fine thing, after all. The young woman, clad in her usual travel attire, consisting of long, black boots, a skirt of the same color and a white shirt, had simple sought out a nice, big tree and made her temporary home there. Backpack and jacket had become makeshift pillow and blanket, as comfortable as anything at that point in time. This hadn’t been the first time for her, by far, but fate decided to make it something special nonetheless. In a way, this was a first time for her, as there had not been a single person seeking her out, ever since she had left home. And who should, anyway? She knew of none who would have business with her. In fact, even if that woman had yelled out Mina’s name aloud, the latter would not even have considered being the Minerva in question.
Then again, for that to happen, the other would not only have needed to know her name. Mina would have had to hear it, too, which was quite unlikely. No matter how much attention that woman might have drawn, it did not reach all the way into Mina’s dream, who blissfully and subconsciously ignored anything going on. Sleeping wherever, whenever had always been her strength. A pretty useless skill, but who cared? Minerva sure didn’t, as she just lay there, dozing peacefully.

“And don’t you dare lay a hand on the chipmunks!”, Minerva explained as she jolted up into a more sitting position. She obviously was not really awake by the, being ripped out of such a nice dream in a somewhat rude manner. Then again, she did not immediately realize just what had awoken her, just some loud noise. Voice, maybe? Minerva blinked, adjusting back to the midday sun and absentmindedly began to stretch a little. That was just her standard reaction, so it meant little. Scanning her immediate surroundings, she found the most likely source of waking: a woman, looking at her somewhat sternly.
Yeah, had to be her.
She was wearing white, it appeared, but that could mean any number of things. Heck, sleepy Mina did not associate that with Quincy at all right away, and just found it out. Possibly because she had not seen any other Quincy aside from her parents before. Thus, this was just a slightly militaristic looking woman, giving her a glance as if she had done something wrong.
Now, had she?
Before she answered, Mina looked around, but could not find any kind of sign that would prevent her from sleeping here. Had to be something else. She looked down herself, but could not see anything out of order. Even her skirt was behaving, so it could not be that, either. In the end, she simply decided to ask.
“You aren’t a suit of armor. But yes, is something the matter, officer? I don’t know what’s going on, but I can assure you that I did not mean to be a bother to anyone or break any rules, I just wanted to take a nap.”

Okay. That was kind of not the reaction Minerva had expected. If she’d been confused to be awoken like that, she clearly lacked a word to describe her state after seeing this. Minerva blinked some more, as the situation got a little more surreal, but also relaxed slightly. No one who laughed this hard could be a stern officer reprimanding her. However, she would have never expected her to be a Quincy, so much was clear.

“You are a Quincy?”, she asked, somewhat innocently in return. Minerva did not have much contact with Quincies other than her parents, so she would not be able to tell. Still, hearing that, this person’s attire made quite a bit of sense. Mina did not exactly try to make a secret out of her scanning this woman up and down with unveiled interest. A Quincy roughly her age was pretty much the most exciting thing for her in weeks. That was not supposed to devalue all the other things she had learned and people she had met. But, compared to this, they looked kind of pale.

“Because if you are one, that would be pretty much the greatest thing. I’ve never met a Quincy other than my parents. Do you live here, or are you on a journey yourself? I really have a lot of questions for you but….right, my manners. Excuse me. My name is Minerva, pleasure to meet you.”

“Ah, wonderful, Miss Lafragola.”, she replied, getting the pronunciation a little bit wrong, simply because she was not used to Italian, after all. Despite having grown up in a neighboring country, she had been taught more Latin than Italian, so when she said it, there was a decidedly Greek touch to it.
“Hmm, let me think about it. I want to start with the most important question right away.”, she begun, while getting into a more comfortable sitting position. The other woman did not seem to have much of a problem with that and was more than welcome to take a seat as well, if she really had that much time on her hands. Regardless of that, Mina furrowed a brow for a bit, as she tried to discern which question was most important to her. But that came to her really quickly, so she asked right away.
“Okay then. Can you tell me how you found me? My parents told me there is such a thing as feeling someone being near or the like, but I never quite understood that. I mean, sure, now that you stand in front of me, I do feel that you are…different from most people, like my parents. But I’d never been able to tell from, like, the other end of the park. Is that some sort of secret technique?”
There was pure, unaltered interest in her question. She really wanted to know, and she did not care much about other things right then. All those people, walking by and giving them odd glances? She did not care at all. Those had become extras in this play, and she was talking to the main lead right now.

“Lah Fru Go La.” Minerva repeated it somewhat absent-mindedly a few times, getting closer to the real spelling, but not nailing it perfectly just yet. It wasn’t too hard, she decided, just needed some practice. At least she would not have to torment that poor name any longer. Thinks got slightly more serious though, as she got an explanation, or rather, an answer. It was both, really, and she listened intently. It was kind of like the lectures she had gotten, only more visual, easier to depict than the complex stuff she had gotten before.

Minerva did close her eyes upon hearing that, and just tried to imagine what she was told. The results, though, did not actually tell her much. Yes, she could picture it, but even this close up, she could not really measure that person’s pressure. She pictured a bonfire of sorts, but she just knew that was due to her already being convinced of the other being strong. She could not just trust that.

“I see. I am not sure if I can do that, though. I mean, I can picture you right now, but I can see you already. This is not exactly my forte, I think. Then again, I never had real training in that kind of field to begin with. Anyway, maybe you can tell me….what do Quincys do, actually? I mean in general. My parents just kind of lived on and trained me, but they didn’t really do anything special with their gifts. And now I was sent on this kind of journey to see the world, but I do not know what I am supposed to do, anyway.”

Listening. Listening and nodding whenever she felt it appropriate. That was all Minerva did for the moment, as she tried to take in that long speech she had been warned about. It was actually a tad bit disappointing that she could not ask some more questions about their apparently kind of similar circumstances, but the load of information she got there was enough to keep her occupied. Her expression grew a bit sterner, but not in a bad way, more akin to someone who, well, was taking mental notes and compared those to what she knew already. After all, some of these things she’d already known or read about, just never in such a direct context. Some in more detail, some in less, but now those tidbits helped her follow everything more clearly.

Still, she took a few moments to herself, after hearing that. Just so she didn’t say something rash or stupid. Once she was done with that, she nodded once more, a bit more fervently than before, and allowed herself to think a little loud this time.

“I’ve heard of Shinigami and Hollow before. Never seen any of them in, um, whatever they might have for flesh. But my parents trained me, so I could be ready in case they ever came to me, a bit like horror stories you tell small kids, but they were always dead serious. Anyway, from how I understand this, both of these are sort of ghosts, right? I always thought people just go to heaven after they die, and only bad people, and those unable to let go, become ghosts. Anyway, if the only thing that determines what you become, Hollow or Shinigami, are they not pretty much the same? I mean, this sounds an awful lot like two kinds of bad people who just try to draft whoever they can for their war or whatever. I am sorry if that sounds a bit too naïve or confused. But I would be happy if you could teach me some stuff in either way. I know a bit here and there to protect myself, but I would feel much safer with someone who actually has experience. I mean all that sounds kind of like some really heavy stuff.”

Minerva finished her own little speech and sighed. Yes, the knowledge to fight monsters, which had been given to her. She’d kind of put that off until now and just assumed she’d deal with such stuff once it popped up. But the things this woman talked about, they sounded big. Bigger than Minerva, for sure. So while she still was happy to have found someone like this, hearing all that did diminish her mood a bit.

“Well, I guess they did it to the best of their skills and knowledge. Neither of them are really all that powerful, at least according to them, they mostly taught me from hearsay, books and translation. Maybe they even used the book you mentioned before."

 Minerva kind of defended her parents there, but then again, which child would not?
However, once she was not only offered a helping hand, but also some free ice cream, Mina just could not say no and lightened up a little, although she was intent to get this discussion going on. Or, well, at least she considered the option of getting some for free.

“Ice cream’s always good.”

For now though, she only replied that and took the hand offered to her, grabbing her belonging with the other. That backpack was not heavy, after all, and she did not want to just leave it here. As nice as the people here seemed to be, some black sheep were everywhere. Or some hollow or shinigami could come by and steal them.

“Anyway, what is the real difference between Shinigami and Hollow then? Both take souls for themselves, one say to purify them, the others say nothing. But in the end, they do the same thing. And according to you, one seem chaotic, the other oppressive. That would make both of them bad, then, right? I mean, what is the point in calling one type of unnatural ghost a monster and the others not? Even if they look humans, aren’t they ghosts too?”

Continuing her query, she would take the other on her offer and walk and talk beside her. Since Phoebe apparently knew this place better, it was only natural to let her pick the best store to visit. Already one of the advantages of having someone with more experience around.