"Limping? Me? Whatever gave you that idea, Kahlua? Look." You straighten up, quit acting like you've suffered a severe wound - because your attempt to induce a guilt-trip was having zero effect on Cordy anyway - and take several steps back and forth. "See? I'm perfectly fine."

Kahlua regards you a touch suspiciously, and glances at Cordelia, who is looking flinty-eyed at you.

"As for why I didn't show up before now... I intended to be here about five minutes ago, but that was before I learned a rather valuable piece of information. It seems that every time I take five steps into the long grass - or in this case, a dark and empty hallway - I have an honest-to-goodness Random Encounter. A cheesy one, at that. I have to ask, is this a thing? Like, a Japanese thing, or a martial arts tournament thing, or both? Because it seems like a thing. This is like the fourth time it's happened. A ninja outside the infirmary on the first day, giant-kin in the bathroom and a summoning gone sideways on the second day, and now more ninja in the halls. I'm not even going to start on the squid."

"'Squid?'" Cordelia, Kahlua, and a suddenly, surprisingly nervous-looking Akasha repeat in unison. Even the younger Shuzen sisters appear curious, though you have to wonder how much of that is due to their elder's reaction.

"Not going to start," you repeat. "No real point - it was a thousand miles from here, and the ugly thing exploded anyway."

That appears to reassure Akasha, but at the same time, Cordelia gets even more visibly insistent on hearing the whole thing. Kahlua's reaction is somewhere between the two.

"And all of these incidents have happened in the last three days?" Moka asks, before any of the older females can say anything.

"Four days, but yeah. I'm just wondering if that's normal."

"That depends on what 'normal' is for you," Akasha replies. "Tell me something, Alexander. You mentioned the other day that, prior to attending this tournament, you'd gone to some lengths to avoid getting noticed by the supernatural elements of Sunnydale. Am I correct in guessing that you don't usually employ as much of your ki or magic there, as you have here? Even in training?"

"You are, ma'am. Is that important?"

"Power draws power," she says simply. "The more of it you have, and the more of it you use, the more you'll find events... shifting around you, well beyond the normal bounds of coincidence, and sometimes to the point of absurdity. I'm reluctant to give the phenomenon a title like Destiny or Fate, because it's far less mystical and much more changeable than either of those. It's just something you'll have to be prepared for, if you intend to seriously pursue magic or the martial arts, let alone both."

That makes sense, you have to admit. Dedicated martial artists are supposed to always be on the lookout for worthy opponents that they can test and develop their own skills against. Talented magic-users inevitably want to find allies and apprentices of a certain level of ability, to say nothing of potential rivals or active threats. Demons, as a rule, want to kill anything that might be able to kill them first, and even normal people are far more likely to freak out if they see you summoning a dragon than they are if you whistle up a palm-sized lizard that could have been hiding in your pocket or up your sleeve.

"Is there any way to cut down on that?" you inquire. "Aside from not doing flashy things in public, I mean?"

"Well, aside from that, it's a matter of control. The better you're able to manage your powers when you're using them, and restrain and conceal them when you aren't using them, the fewer strange things there are likely to happen around you at random."

You make a mental note to look into better control in the future, and also about applying some of the tricks of concealment you've seen at work during this division's matches. That's assuming that you want to bring your personal random encounter rate down, of course.

Gained Ki Concealment F-
Gained Mana Concealment F-
Gained Spiritual Concealment F-
Gained Spiritual Control F-
Gained Strength Concealment F-
Gained Strength Control F-

"Speaking of strange things," you say then, thinking of your promise to Altria, "there's the reason I wanted to come talk to you. It's about that redheaded sorceress, Beryl..."

Gained Honest E

You proceed to explain to Akasha and the girls about yesterday's incident with the giant creature of darkness, today's discovery that Beryl was the one who summoned and either unleashed or lost control of it, and the details of your earlier meeting with Altria. Akasha is definitely not happy to hear that somebody let a summoned monster run loose in the arena, and when she questions you about the creature itself and then about what you know or suspect of Beryl's other capabilities, the answers you provide leave a worried frown on the avowed Dark Lady's youthfully lovely face.

"Right, then," Akasha says, rising from her seat. "I believe I have to go break some heads. Kahlua, you'll be in charge until I get back. Moka, Kokoa, listen to your older sister and do as she says. If something suspicious or violent happens outside the ring, I expect the three of you to make your way to the car and head home, not to go looking for trouble. Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," Kahlua replies smartly.

"Yes, Mother," Moka sighs.

"Hmmph," Kokoa pouts. "Fine."

Akasha turns to you. "Alexander, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hope you'll take care not to get into any more trouble yourself."