Momo's eyesight is pretty good. She catches glints of shine where they shouldn't be, subtle shifts in color.
This makes for scrounging for coins around Penguin Park a relative breeze!
Dog is keeping relatively close, sniffing around and wagging his tail. He chased a stray cat not long after they got here and actually caught it. Momo was scared! Until Dog gave the stray kitty kisses and let it go...
Kyouko's room is clean, laundry done, and the eldest Sakura sibling doesn't get off work for another couple hours yet. So, what's a girl who hasn't discovered the joys of YouTube to do besides going treasure hunting in the part?
She's found a ring, a set of car keys, a bunch of bottle caps. But she's also scrounged about 500 yen's worth of coins.
It's fun! It's exciting! And that's what makes it easy to ignore the weird looks!
Okay, she always gets weird looks, so maybe that's why it's easy to ignore them!
She wonders if this would be as fun if she had a metal detector.
Also, what does she do with the ring if it turns out to be real?
There's a kid, walking through the park. The raven-haired girl with red-flecked eyes is taking the opportunity of the post-homework saturday afternoon to take a walk, and then she spots someone who is behaving a little bit strange, this peaks her curiousity.
"Hi!" She greets, walking straight up to Momo, "I was wondering what you were doing." She smiles brightly, the girl's necklace the only thing that seems unusual. That's a pretty big, red gem. what's a girl her age doing wearing jewelry like that?
Dog pauses his exploration and tail wagging to look at Nicola for a moment. When he gets back to it, his tail is wagging again but it's obvious he's keeping an eye out!
For her part, Momo's busy digging up something that had been shiny at just the right angle. It's bigger than she thought it would be!
She's an archaeologist!
She looks up when someone talks to her. For a moment, she wonders if the other girl is a Puella with the big red gem around her neck, but then she's distracted by Question! "Hi! I'm just scrounging!" She goes back to unearthing her treasure! What is it? A flattened soda can? A piece of a UFO that fell off? There's only one way to find out!
"Nee-chan's still at work and I got the cleanin' done, so I wanted ta see if I could find more moneys!"
VICTORY!
It's a tarnished, old belt buckle. "Wooooooah!"
She looks up and beams. "And I've been finding treasure! See?"
She reaches into her pockets and pulls out a handful of coins, the wedding band, and the car keys. And now the belt buckle!
Nicola looks a little scared by dog, taking a nervous step back. "Oh. So you're taking good care of your sister, then?" The foreign-sounding girl appears to be a little sad, like the idea of family causes her to have bad memories. "That looks neat." She says, looking at the treasure, and then she takes what to her seems the next logical step.
The girl mutters a few things in an alien language, the melodic speech showing all the grace and ease that Nicola's Japanese lacks. <Initiating Wide Area Search> The now slightly glowing gem replies in a feminine sounding monotone that is inaudible to anyone who lacks magic, and then a handful of little glowing magical orbs fly out to scan the environment for more treasure.
Momo shrugs. "I think so! I did her laundry so she doesn't hafta worry! And I made her room nice and clean! She's been makin' sure there's food in my tummy!"
Another beaming smile!
And she's happily cleaning off the buckle when suddenly she looks up. And the gem's talking and lights fly around!
Oh noes! What if the girl wants all the treasure?
But to tell her not to take it would be mean!
So her eyes are large and trying not to be sad! "You like treasure, too?"
Dog lopes after a few of the lights, trying to see if they have a flavor.
When Nicola notices Momo can tell, that creates a smile. The increased distance of the scary dog helps, too. "I thought I'd help. I don't need any treasure, but I like going on adventures." She waits for her device to tell her it's come across and found something else interesting.
"If you want any treasure I find, I'll happily share!" She seems to be in a better mood now, sadness fading quickly. "I'm Nicola Esprit! Fourth grade in Seishou Elementary School, nice to meet you." The lights taste like nothing (or magic, if the dog can taste that.)
Dog can't taste magic. He's just a regular Dog.
Eventually he grows a tad bit bored and goes over to plop heavily next to Momo, letting out that exhausted doggy sigh of a Dog who's had a long, hard day. Of playing. And chasing flavorless lights.
Assured that possible shinies won't be pilfered, Momo's happy once again! "I'm Momo Sakura! I'm...uh...thirteen? Yeah! Thirteen! I'm not in a grade anymore. So I come here!"
She stands and dusts herself off and tries to look nonchalant! "Okay! But what if, you know, you find coins?"
Play it cool, play it cool!
Nicola makes sure to stand on the opposite side of Momo to the dog. "Nice to meet you, Sakura-san. I'm nine years old." She looks up at the sky, "That's what Jessamine says, anyway. I think she's probably right, but I dunno..."
Nicola shrugs, "I don't need money for anything, my guardian buys me stuff when I want it." Guardian, not mom or dad. <Search Complete> The gem emits a little hologram of the park, with lit up red dots on it for all the treasure the search has found. "So you can have it!"
"Well, I was born thirteen years ago, so that's how I know I'm thirteen." A nod! It makes sense!
With a happy squeal, she runs around and starts digging up treasures! The first one is a rusted metal spoon...
A SHOVEL!
Hunting for treasure is now more easy!
"Kyou-nee would buy me everything in the world if she could! I don't think I'd want her to, though. Ooooo, a wallet!"
It's pretty much falling apart, and the driver's license is a few years expired. She puts it in her satchel. Kyou-nee will know what to do!
"I guess so." Nicola doesn't elaborate on the reason for her uncertainty, and instead helps dig up treasures with Momo, easily finding joy in the simple act of looking for shiny stuff and the like. "Kyou is your sister?" She asks, uncertainly, followed with the question, "What is it like to have siblings?" She doesn't even look at the treasures much, she just hands them all straight to Momo.
Momo takes the assortment of treasures and puts them in her satchel, each time with a beaming smile and a thank you!
She nods. "Yep!" She leans back on her heels as she hums in thought. "It's like...I know when I was dead, it hurt her lots. I don't know how she feels now, but now that I've found her, I feel...complete! Because she's always been a big part of my life back when I was alive the first time."
She hums and digs some more. "We also wanna beat each other up sometimes, but we're the only ones allowed to beat up the other!"
"... when you were dead?" Nicola takes a few hurried steps back and stumbles, hitting the ground butt-first, and looking quite terrified all of a sudden. "They told me the dead are supposed to stay dead and that it's bad when they don't..." She says quietly.
<Keep your distance> The feminine voice from the gem warns, with an added <You will not approach my Master. You will regret making the attempt if you try. You have been warned. No further warnings will be issued>
Momo looks up at Nicola with raised eyebrows. "Ummm...until a few months ago an-"
Momo rolls her eyes as the gem speaks. "Yes, yes, I'm a zombie, wooooo, I've already had those nightmares before."
For his part, Dog is standing now, hackles raised and growling at the gem.
"It's okay, Dog. And does it look like I'm making an attempt on anything here? Treasure! Yay!"
Sulk sulk harrumph.
"Hush, Ruby." Nicola says softly, chastising the gem. "Just because I'm a little scared doesn't mean there's a threat. If Sakura-san wanted to harm me, I'm sure she wouldn't have waited to reveal she's formerly dead before doing something." The way she says that, sounds like she's also trying to convince herself. "Sorry, Sakura-san, I still don't quite understand how this world works, it's weird and scary, and I miss home..."
Momo keeps grumbling as she digs. Words like 'stupid' 'buttmunch' and 'gem' is heard quite often.
And she catches the way its said, and while she appreciates the attempt, it also makes her more annoyed!
"If I wanted ya dead, I woulda done it sooner!" She pulls out her gunlance and shoves part of it in the ground.
It's bigger than Momo is...
"But I don't because all I wanna do is dig up treasure."
A few more moments of digging!
"Of course we don't understand how the world works. We're young. I don't think we're ever supposedta know how it works comepletely. What's the fun in that?"
"Ruby Rose, Set Up!" Nicola says quickly, and she's engulved in a gentle red light. When the light fades, she's wearing a different outfit, floating in the air and holding a pair of futuristic looking revolvers. The gem is embedded in the one she's holding in her right hand. "If you wanted me dead, I wouldn't make it easy." She counters, guns points at the ground.
She lands, and looks around a little bit, nervously, dismissing her barrier jacket as her device returns to standby mode around her neck. "Let's go dig up treasure." She then says a little softly, "I'm not from this world, home was much simpler."
Momo watches Nicola with unimpressed eyes.
Truth be told, she'd probably be impressed if she weren't feeling grumpy.
"So was mine. Then one day, father snaps and bam."
She stands up and dusts off her pants. Its a piece of scrap metal, and into the bag it goes.
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
Nicola doesn't really seem to care that Momo seems unimpressed. She's not trying to impress people, so instead, she heads for the next spot that was on the map her device created, and starts digging through. "My dad died when we crashed on Earth, some stupid people arrested him and took me with them because they thought he was a bad man. But I swear he wasn't."
Momo makes a sort of grunty noise. It's a commiserating kind of grunty noise. "Father killed Mama and me because he didn't like what Nee-chan became. People thought he wasn't a bad man, but I think maybe he was." She looks up a bit. "Actually, I think I died last. Because I didn't want him getting Nee-chan."
Instantly, she perks and cheers up! "Oh, look! Someone lost bunch of coins! Maybe I can get Nee-chan some ice cream!"
"I don't think a good man would kill his own daughter." Nicola says softly, and then the coins, and she eagerly takes the distraction to help Momo collect the coins. "Do you have a phone or something? I'd like to meet again sometime, you seem interesting."
"I do! Not sure how long I'mma keep it, though. I got it to help me find Kyou-nee. But I have a bit left, and if I get rid of it I'll let you know!"
She scribbles her number down and just sifts through all the coins! "I wonder if there's more!"
And Nicola gets out her own phone, using it to text Momo a quick message so the other girl has her number, too. "I think Ruby said there two more spots that looked interesting." She quickly bounces towards the nearest of the two, standing near an old tree, probably one of the oldest in the park. "Huh, I don't see it..."
The phone beeps, but she's engrossed in treasure!
She looks up and hums in curiosity. Coming over, she brushes off her handy new spoon! "Do you think it's buried a bit?"
"The map is weird, it's saying it's above ground, but where..." Nicola looks around, walking around the tree and overall looking quite confused. "It should be right here, Ruby wouldn't say there was something here if there wasn't..."
Momo shrugs! She is very confused.
Granted, that's not hard.
"Is it...in the tree?"
"... maybe." Nicola sounds like that might actually be a fair point, and she experimentally knocks on the tree. Sure enough, the knocking results in a hollow bass rather than the far sharper sound of solid wood. "Sounds a little hollow if you ask me..."
Momo hums in thought. She starts to climb the tree. "Maybe there's one of those knot hole things up here?"
She explores with her hand, reaching in whatever hold she could find!
There's in fact a hollow spot to be found, but it's very high up and very deep. It's going to be hard to get anything out if it's at the buttom of that gap. The hollowness also makes the tree creak and groan under the weight of someone climbing. "Be careful!" Nicola says from below.
"I will!" She ignores the creaks and groans, reaching her long, skinny arm down the hole.
"I don't know if I'm even close!"
If Momo reaches then maybe, just at the edge of her fingertips, she feel something smooth and metallic. It's a bit larger than most of the treasure they've found so far, it feels round, but it's hard to tell exactly what it is like that. Getting a grip on it is going to be rough. "Okay." Nicola looks like she's getting ready to catch Momo in case things go wrong.
Just...a...little bit...!
Momo pulls her arm back with a groan. "Yeah, I don't think I can get it. I almost dislocated my face or something."
She hops down from the tree and sighs. "Well, maybe I'll think of something to get it out with!"
"Maybe. It's all the way down there, then? I wonder what it is..." Nicola sounds disappointed and curious all at once, "How big is the hole anyway, do you think I could fit through?" She couldn't, not that it'd be a good idea to begin with...
Momo looks the girl up and down. "Nah. I don't think yer much smaller'n me. At least not enough to squish in a tree hole."
Momo looks up at said hole and sighs. "Oh well. I'll figure a way, just you wait!"
"I'm sure you will, let me know what it is when you do, then?" Nicola's curiousity has been thoroughly sparked, the girl looking in the direction of the final treasure, she starts to walk that way, stopping right before the koi pond. "I think it's supposed to be in the pond..." She looks sad.
"I will!"
At the edge of the koi pond, Momo peers in and hums. When Nicola confirms her suspicions, Momo looks over at her. "Welllll it may have to stay in there, then. Unless you know how to swim. I don't."
"I don't either." Nicola admits softly, sounding slightly uncomfortable with the idea of even trying. "The underground rivers back home had too strong a ... uh ... I forget word. Went to fast to swim in, and the seas and lakes above ground were full of monsters."
Momo blinks at Nicola and shrugs. She doesn't exactly know the word current, either. At least not with the familiarity to be able to say it.
"We were just too poor."
She counts out her change and her eyes go wide!
"Wow! I can also buy eggs! I think!"
"Enjoy your treats!" Nicola says cheerfully, looking towards the to her alien sky to estimate the time. "I should probably start walking back soon, I wouldn't want to be late for dinner..." She says this in a tone that this isn't related to the potential lack of food, but the potential punishment.
MMomo peeks toward the same sky.
She's bad at telling time by the sun!
Pulling out Sammy, she looks at the time.
"Yeek! Yeah, if I wanna surprise Kyou-nee, I'd better get going!"
She beams at Nicola. "Thanks for helpin' me treasure hunt! Sorry I got grumpy. I'm not a zombie."