Scene #2339:

Owner	Pose
Ainsley	Dressed in a pair of black pants and a black sleeveless shirt as well as numerous ribbons around her wrists, ankles, around her neck and tied into her feathers, Ainsley is currently aimlessly floating through the library, carefully brushing her fingertips over the spines of the books while she moves. The ribbons aren't tied into girlish bows, and all of them have gothic colors like black, red or purple. Her pale slate-colored eyes scan over everything as she moves, and her mouth stays in a slight smile. She comes to a halt at a little reading area, and finds a chair to sit in. She offered the exact location to Ayako after inviting her for a chat, and just came back after wandering around, waiting for Ayako to get to this spot.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako rides cheerfully on the freshwater stream that runs through the library! What? How else do you expect a water spirit to get around in the Infinite Library? Her head pokes out of the surface of the water once in a while to look around... and then she makes her way over towards the location that Ainsley gave her. Once she's close enough, she hops out of the stream and lands lightly on her feet. Ayako takes a moment to look around to regain her bearings, and then walks cheerfully over towards Ainsley. Her mouth opens wide to call out to her-but then quickly closes! This is a library! She shouldn't shout! But there's nothing wrong with waving cheerfully towards Ainsley as she approaches her. "Hello Ainsley~."
Ainsley	Ainsley turns in her seat and her face brightens up immediately when she sees Ayako. The lizard girl greets, "Hi, Ayako," and then gestures to a nearby chair for her to sit down so they can talk more naturally. "I don't know your story," she admits to Ayako, "I partook in your fortune telling but I don't know very much about you, beyond what you've said over the radios. Wanna talk a little about yourself?" She widens her smile sweetly, "This isn't an interview, though, so I'm fine with you keeping it to yourself. No pressure." She turns while Ayako gets situated after that, and picks up a bottle of some kind of fruit juice and begins to sip from it.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako smiles softly and sits down in the offered chair. Her head inclines to the side gently. "Oh? My story?" She smiles brightly. "Oh, I don't mind talking about myself. I actually looove doing it, but I usually don't want to talk people into submission with boredom." She giggles softly. "I like it almost as much as answering a good question!" She inclines her head to the other side. "Although... I have to wonder... where should I start?"
Ainsley	"The best place to start is always the beginning," Ainsley answers, resting both of her hands in her lap with her fingers interlocked around the fruit juice bottle. The lizard girl's tail twitches with her apparent latent energy, and her gaze focuses on Ayako with a warmth radiating from her sweet smile. She watches, friendly, patient and, most of all, curious about the water spirit's story.
Ayako Hasekawa	"The beginning?" Ayako smiles softly and nods her head slowly. "That is the best place to start, isn't it?" She glances upwards for a moment... and then takes a deep breath. "Well... I hope I don't get you too alarmed over what I'm about to say then." The soft smile returns. "I was originally created as a water weapon made to kill people. You could think of it as a water bullet." She places her palm over the table and faces her palm upwards. A tiny bead of water emerges from her palm and floats in the air. "I was like this, really." She thinks for a moment. "A magical construct with an ability to learn."
Ainsley	Ainsley listens patiently. Where the revelation that Ayako was a weapon is given, Ainsley displays no alarm. The smile fades and her brows lift, but mostly it's with an interest due to the apparent contrast in Ayako's nature. The lizard woman slowly nods at Ayako after that, and sips from the bottle of fruit juice while she watches the floating bead of water. She doesn't interrupt, though, since there's clearly more to it.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako continues on while staring at the floating water bead. "I wasn't unique at all, there were lots of us!" She giggles softly and shakes her head. "In fact, these water bullets were made en masse and were expendible even. I well..." Her amber gaze moves off to the side for a moment. "I was pretty much average in performance." She flaps her free hand while giggling awkwardly. "Well... slightly below average, actually. But I was still pretty good at the killing of things!" The water spirit nods her head once. "Over time, I learned more and more, and became bigger and bigger." Ayako grabs the floating bead of water and absorbs it back into her hand. "And then, I got chosen to be modified! It was completely random, and my creators wanted to test something." "It was a self-preservation program." Ayako glances upwards and off to the side for a moment. "I think they were trying to help save the knowledge of the more successful water bullets and... well... I got chosen for it." She giggles a bit awkwardly. "It broke me. I started to destroy things almost indiscriminatly." Her head nods once. "So then I got placed into an area where such a thing would be useful. I got placed into a river and sort of became a violent river spirit."
Ainsley	After the initial information about Ayako originally being a weapon, Ainsley smiles gently at the water spirit again, having regained her friendly mood. The rest of it is just an addition to that first tidbit, elaborating on her existence leading up to becoming a sort of river spirit. "Mm-hmm?" she prompts for Ayako to continue, still interested in the rest of the story.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako nods her head slowly. "I basically just killed anything that entered the river." She raises a pointer finger up into the air. "Oh. I wasn't even self-aware yet, by the way." She shakes her head slowly. "But then something odd happened." A bright smile crosses her face. "Some humans tried to sacrifice a girl to me to try to appease me. But there was something really, really strange magically about the girl. Something strange enough to make me not want to kill the girl. It was enough to trigger the self-preservation program inside me, anyway." Ayako nods her head slowly. "The humans saw it as a sign and made her my priestess. Well... after I killed a few of them when they tried to get her out of the river. But anyway... I officially became a water spirit." She smiles softly. "And then another weird thing happened. The girl kept trying to communicate with me. And slowly, slowly from her, I learned how to see, hear, feel, talk, and shape myself. That is when my consciousness started."
Ainsley	Ainsley smiles with what might be amusement at the part of the story that talks about the misunderstanding the humans nearby had toward Ayako as she was. The lizard woman tilted her head after that, her brow furrowing as if part of it confused her, but that quickly passes when the part where Ayako was officially 'born' is reached.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako smiles brightly and then gestures at herself. "My name... is the same as hers. You know how I look? Well... I resemble how my priestess looked like when she was alive." She pokes her pointer fingers together and glances off to the side. "I say resemble because I admit... I make her look prettier than she was." A soft giggle follows, but then she shakes her head. "I'm afraid the... wrongness around her wasn't benign. She died while she was quite young." She smiles softly. "But... from her I gained a lot. Including my desire to help humans." Her head inclines to the side gently. "Am... am I forgettin-Oh!" Ayako startles slightly. "Yes. While I was learning, a village sprang up around my river. And the humans started using the water for agriculture. And... well... I ended up becoming a water and agriculture goddess." She sighs softly. "I hate to admit it, but... once my priestess died, I started getting kind of... arrogant." Her amber eyes move off to the side. "Because... you know. You get a lot of people singing your praises and... you start to get a big head."
Ainsley	Ainsley makes a face of hesitant amusement when Ayako reaches the point where she admits she had an ego at some point. The notion seems very strange. "You were young," she assures the water spirit, "If that's what your life was until then, you just didn't know any better." The lizard girl shrugs, apparently understanding that much about why she'd become like that.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako nods her head quickly. "It's true, it's true." She sighs softly as she glances downwards. "You do a lot of stupid things when you're young..." She flaps a hand. "Like end up angering another deity." Her head shakes slowly. "If my priestess was still alive, she probably would have kept my arrogance in check, but... ehh... To put it simply, I got put in my place." Ayako nods her head once. "I ended up losing. And ended up losing the village and my followers." Her amber gaze moves off to the side. "From that... well... I try to avoid the whole 'goddess' thing. And... well, I try to keep humble too." She giggles softly. "And that is my beginning!" Ayako nods her head quickly. "After that, I went all around, trying to help humans and improving my water control and appearance. Sometimes even to other worlds!" She thinks for a moment. "Oh. And my creators were keeping tabs on me the whole time. After a while, I got called back and basically set free." Her palms are gently placed on her cheeks. "Their little water bullet had grown into something else entirely." She giggles softly.
Ainsley	"And your creators? What's their story?" Ainsley wonders, fascinated by that detail since it really wasn't covered in the story beyond Ayako's vague mentions. "It seems like they are very powerful, but the humans you interacted with as you grew were not even close to aware of what you could have actually been. That's a big contrast."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako blinks her eyes quickly. "Oh them?" She thinks to herself for a moment. "Are you familiar with the TSAB that Vivio and Zephyr are a part of? They're sort of like that." Her amber eyes move off to the side. "Were." She sighs softly to herself.
Ainsley	"So they were magicians that were... originally meant to maintain order across a variety of dimensions?" Ainsley wonders, "I admit I am not completely clear on what the TSAB was made to do. What happened to your creators, then?"
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako nods her head quickly. "That sounds about right!" However... when what exactly happened to her creators is brought up, she becomes quiet. Very quiet. "A-ahh... hmm... they... they aren't around anymore." Her amber gaze moves off to the side. "I... sorry, Ainsley. This... this subject... I... I really don't like talking about." Ayako's eyes slowly close. "I... I... maybe... well. Maybe I can talk about it one day..."
Ainsley	Ainsley lets her smile fade. She reaches over to touch Ayako on the rest, a couple of brief pats, as if to say 'it's okay,' and then leans back into her seat again. "You don't have to say anything that makes you uncomfortable, not to me." She finishes off her fruit juice, and then breathes a soft sigh through her nose. "It makes sense now, to some degree, some of the behavior I've seen out of you. The urge to retain a humble form, the endeavors to be kind and helpful, and joining the Union. Especially the non-violent tendencies. Thank you for explaining."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako slowly opens her amber eyes and nods her head slowly. "S-sorry..." She then slowly watches Ainsley... and then blinks her eyes. "Am I that easy to understand?" A soft giggle escapes her lips. At the very least, she seems to recover from that hesitant mood quickly. "It's not a problem at all!"
Ainsley	"Your story just neatly explains your outward behavior enough to understand some of your potential reasoning behind it," Ainsley tells Ayako, shrugging at her, "I cannot understand you completely." She shines a bright and mysterious smile, as if she were completely okay with that. "Do you have a favorite genre of book?" she wonders, swiftly and smoothly changing the subject.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako giggles brightly and then nods her head quickly. "Well, I like all sorts of books! But... if I had to choose a favorite... it would probably be fantasy." She giggles softly. "It's not kind of weird is it? A water spirit liking fantasy." Her head shakes slowly. "But you know. For me, words are kind of a miracle in themselves. I mean... I never was really meant to communicate... at like all. So books, no. Not just that. Reading, writing, listening, speaking, seeing, being seen, feeling, being felt. Even now, I still think it's amazing!" She claps her hands together softly once and smiles brightly!
Ainsley	Ainsley displays a bright smile as Ayako speaks, and nods when she says that's all amazing. Then she wonders, "Can I show you something? I've been working on a spell, and I want to know your opinion of it." She leans over to pick up a book and place it in her own lap, a hand on the cover. "I've spent all day in the Library trying to find uses for this new magic I have and this is the first thing I came up with."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako blinks her eyes quickly and leans forward slightly. "Hmmm? What are you going to show me?" She looks over at Ainsley and the book in her lap. "What's the magic going to do?" Her eyes are bright and almost glitter in excitement.
Ainsley	"This..." Ainsley closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them again, her eyes seeming to fill with impossible shapes, like a magic circle on each iris. Then she carefully draws her hand up from the book and turns it over, drawing a faint light up out of the book. Then that light collects into the shape of words, in a vivid orange light, as if being drawn from the book and projected through her hand and into the air. "It's not... particularly useful," she admits, deactivating the strange eye ability as the information scrolls through page after page.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako blinks her eyes quickly and watches carefully. She watches the light come from the book and then draw itself into words that are floating in the air. Her head inclines to the side gently... and then claps her hands together softly. "Hmm... well... maybe you can find a use for it!" She nods her head quickly. "Words and pictures have a power of their own, after all." She smiles softly.
Ainsley	"Books are a tool to communicate information to others through written language," Ainsley murmurs, as she dispels the effect, making the light vanish like smoke with a couple waves of her hands, "I read the thread of information," she points to her eyes, "Then I draw it out and translate it into the most well-known communication tool: Light. It took some practice to change the color so it isn't hard on the eyes." She quirks the corners of her mouth into a smile and looks down at the book, "It is a simple task, however, to just read the book by opening it."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako giggles softly and nods her head slowly. "They can hold a loooot of words. I didn't know this for the longest time, but when I learned about it, it was amazing." She smiles softly and nods her head again. "Who knows? You might be able to use that to quickly draw magic circles with light by reading them off of a piece of paper or something like that." Ayako then waggles her fingers. "Do you know how I usually read a book?" She giggles brightly. "Here's a hint! Most librarians look really alarmed when I show them how I do it the first time!"
Ainsley	"Please enlighten me," Ainsley replies, showing a big toothy smile at Ayako. She even hands the book she was using for her own demonstration over to the water spirit, to simplify matters.
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako giggles brightly and gently takes the book in her hands. "I do this!" Her normal human hands rapidly lose their color and become transparent, perfectly clear water. Although they fade back into her normal skin color at her wrists. The watery fingers quickly meld together and then begin to rapidly expand. Soon, there is a watery sphere completely engulfing the closed book. Yup. Definitely alarming to a librarian! Ayako's amber eyes then unfocus as she reads the book. In a few moments, her eyes blink and refocus on Ainsley. The watery sphere withdraws from the book and reforms back into her 'normal human fingers'. She then smiles cheerfully. "And that's how I usually read! I didn't read too much, though." Ayako carefully hands the book back to Ainsley.
Ainsley	Ainsley accepts the book back and nods lightly at Ayako. "That's very interesting. Using any surface of your body to read light information makes sense for someone who is essentially amorphous such as what you are capable of." She doesn't seem bothered at all, since she's fairly sure that the water spirit has enough practice not to damage the book while she's doing that. The lizard girl carefully sets the book down on a nearby table and stands up. "Let's go find some books to read. I want to try to adjust this spell."
Ayako Hasekawa	Ayako nods her head quickly. "Un!" She points at her amber eyes. "These are mostly just for decoration. But I think I've slowly gotten better at acting like I see through them." A cheerful wink follows. "Alright! I love spending time in here! There's always something new to read and the stream in here is wonderful to rest in too." She gets to her feet as well and happily follows after Ainsley.