pawnstorm | OPEN: but a fire within

Entry tags:

OPEN: but a fire within

Who: Lux Crownguard, and you!
When: Mid Delphine (July); before dungeon shenanigans
Where: Caissa
What: Monthly catch-all, I'll be adding to this as the month goes on! If you don't find a prompt that interests you, or have an idea for something fun, message me on

sheepyton so we can plot!
Ratings: PG for the most part, but will change this if need be.
Warnings: Accidental charming may happen, depending on the direction of the thread. Please let me know if this is something that you are okay with when tagging!

♕ o1. A CHARMING DISPOSITION (OPEN)

[ All she wanted was a nice afternoon in the city. A little window shopping, maybe treat herself to a bit of ice cream. Since her promotion a few days ago, she had been working hard, shuttling between the training grounds and the library like a woman possessed. And she was, really. How could she not be? She had power now, and she needed to learn how to use it.

Unfortunately, she learned a few other things first, before mastering her magic. ]

[ There was something about a Queen that was hard to ignore. And for some reason, people really liked to give you things. Like flowers, chocolates, random curios (seriously what is this thing, someone please tell her) and most of allattention. All she did was smile at a few people! Why was everyone suddenly so nice?!

It was getting to be a bit much, her arms were full, and yet, people she met kept piling it on. ~~How was she going to fit all of this in her room?~~ There was a girl behind that horde of things, rest assured, but she wasn't going to be able to carry much more without toppling over at this rate. Please help. ]

♕ o2. WITH HER NOSE STUCK IN A BOOK (OPEN)

[ She was no Bishop, but that didn't mean that Lux wasn't a voracious reader. As a newly promoted Queen, she had a lot to learn about how her new(ish) powers functioned. This meant that she would be hitting the books, hard, and the young Hero could be found in a number of places, buried in a book.

The library, a corner bistro, the cafeteria, the courtyard; in order to master her magic, she had a lot to learn. And not just from magic books—a good magician could draw inspiration from anything that they saw or read.

Which... might explain the odd-titled book she currently held, intently reading. They say that when inspiration hits, one should follow it, but this... was a little odd. ]

[[OOC: Feel free to either come up with a book she's reading, or I can random it for you.]]

♕ o3. MORE OF A CANDY CRUSH GIRL (OPEN)

[ Lux rather liked griffons. While she had never seen one in person, she had come across them in books (maybe some of the books she was reading earlier?), and often the authors romanticized them to be beautiful and majestic creatures. Graceful in the air, their plumage gold as the sun, they were like art in motion. She wished that she could witness such a stunning creature in the flesh.

And today would be her lucky day. ]

[ Today, Lux would learn all about griffons, for better or for worse.

How dirty— ]

[ Bad-mannered— ]

[ And how utterly unmajestic they could be.

They were told to just make sure that the griffons didn't make a mess of anything. Just steer them away from unsuspecting passersby (please watch your heads, that isn't rain you're feeling...), and do so peacefully. And at first she tried. She really, truly did.

But after lobbing a large number of handmade charms at the pretty pests, they still wouldn't go away! They seemed to like the color of her hair (somewhat similar to their own feathers). Or maybe they just liked trolling her, it wasn't actually that hard. Nevertheless! Surrounded by a clutch of beastly beauties, she seemed to be in a bit of a pickle. ]

♕ CLOSED TO ALLEN.

[ Her breath came out in short, measured bursts, her body moving with a rhythm she had nearly forgotten in this place, in her previous state. Since her arrival here, she felt weak. Vulnerable. Like she had lost a part of herself.

She was a Pawn, then. Ordinary. Disposable. The powerful, and at times somewhat wild and uncontrolled, warm and real and powerful magic that coursed within her—a feeling she had known since her childhood—was gone. Severed. And what was left instead was the power of a Pawn. The limiting, dull light of a Pawn.

As if losing her home were not pain enough.

But when she awoke a few days before, she felt something different. Heavy and weightless, tense yet freeing, a light that threatened to swallow her whole if she did not learn to respect it, to master it. It was a startling sensation, not altogether unfamiliar, but different—so very, very different. She had learned to control her own light, reign it in and make it hers. Like the heart of a child, playful and curious, she nurtured it, taught it to sing, to dance, to fight. It served her well.

But this feeling was different.

It burned deep within, fueled by some seemingly unending force that she could not name. Passion. Intensity. And something else... what was it?

She had become lax with her morning training since arriving in Caissa. She understood her body, understood its new limits, and was disgusted by her limitations. But now... She had purpose, she had a drive, she had power. Power that guided her. Power that protected her. Power... that terrified her.

The sun had yet to rise, but light danced over the training grounds, sweat dripping from her face. Her breathing slow, methodical, and her staff twirling in her hands, the crystals on either side shining brightly, she flung each bolt with every fiber of her very being, constantly moving in a dance, a pas de deux with the light. Her light. The light that threatened to burn her alive. The light that she would have to break, like a wild horse, lest it break her instead. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Truth be told it was for similar reasons Allen had generally gone out either at night or very early in the predawn to train since his arrival in Caissa. For him, it was born out of the very humbling frustration of suddenly feeling weak. And while that wasn't out of the ordinary for him, being the apprentice to such a powerful exorcist General he could render a single enemy powerless where before it had been besting an entire team of them... it stings because he knows he's been nowhere near capable of fighting on the level he once could before.

Also that to be without both the Innocence he was born with yet still carries inert as his left arm and akuma.. means a dead sort of feeling in his left arm, and that his blood's cooled and less alive without them to rouse that sense of needing to exist. Two symbiotic relationships severed.

But as that is something Allen can do nothing about, he's done a very good job of putting his feelings on the matter aside and focused on learning what he can do and how he can fight in a way that's true to himself. And since his new badge a few days prior..

..it's different. Beyond some of the musical inclinations that have been leaking out. Like waking up brighter and more alert; finding himself less breathless when wielding The Fool.

Even if the new (piece of armor??) weapon they bestowed upon him is so frustratingly useless as he's not figured out how it's supposed to do anything he's decided to just train with his sword again today. Though funnily enough, upon first glance he doesn't seem to be carrying any weapon, wearing only the lower half of his issued uniform and a stretchy sleeveless black shirt.

( How strange, his left arm is entirely wine red, disappearing as what seems to be a sort of tribal tattoo up his shoulder and ending in his usual white gloves at the wrist. )

But he has to blink upon entering the courtyard and finding it far more lit up than he would have thought. Bright light projectiles flinging stark shadows against the stone walls as the sun's not yet up. And at the forefront of it, her own shadow flung back so large and sharp by the intensity of the light show she's weaving— ]

Lux..?

[ He doesn't quite call out in full greeting, not wanting to startle her. She looks almost if she were fighting with herself, so great is her concentration. ]

[ That was because she was fighting with herself. Pushing herself hard, a bit harder than she really should, was the only way that she could come to understand, come to control, this power given to her. Her body had grown accustomed to a different sort of magic—similar, but oh so different—and before she could master it, she had to conquer it, learn every little peculiarity. How she could bend it, mold it, shape it to do what she wanted.

To the casual observer, each spell looked the same, prismatic bolts of pure mana crashing against the stone wall. But every few bolts, something would subtly change. The coloration. The speed. The intensity of light. Testing how she could change the flow of her own mana through her staff, and what results she would get, she was more scientist than fighter. She had to know more...

Her body dancing and spinning to some inaudible beat, her movements were light and agile, her blond hair, tied into a simple ponytail, caught in the motion. It was a dance she had done so many times before, but never with such intensity.

But even in deep concentration, she was not completely cut off from what was going on around her. She expected to have the grounds to herself, as most Heroes seemed against early morning training (she really didn't get it...) but hearing a voice echo through the otherwise quiet courtyard, Lux turned, the crystals on either end of her staff still aglow. Breathing a bit heavily, she stood there, looking at him in the dimmed lamplight.

Was that..? ]

...Allen?

[ Allen has been a 300 push-ups before dawn while balancing one-handed and upside-down on the edge of a precariously leaned chair kind of person since he was 15... Getting up dark and early for that is habit. If she pushes herself magically, he does physically.

That she moves like it's a dance draws a curious pause from Allen, head tilting to the side. Lenalee would do that too, as her style of fighting was to dance on the air. She was also the only other exorcist at least as and in many respects more nimble than Allen, though hers was with grace and his more acrobatic.

She was also somewhat terrifying to spar with. And he gets a lopsidedly sheepish grin at the memory, scratching a little at the side of his scarred cheek.. ]

Aah. Good morning. [ Said with brightly polite congeniality as he lets his hand drop, and he'll approach and enter the light now that she's noticed him. He hadn't wanted to startle her before and end up on the wrong end of one of those bolts...

And smiling a little wider, he sweeps a gloved hand to indicate the courtyard. ]

Do you mind company?

Edited (grammar...........) 2016-07-15 05:12 (UTC)

[ Whereas he was comfortable enough in part of his uniform, Lux was dressed much differently, abandoning her typical skirts and feminine style for something more utilitarian. Wiping her brow with the back of her hand, putting a bit of damp hair back in place, her expression softening as he drew closer, settling into a gentle smile. This was a pleasant, somewhat unexpected surprise. She hardly expected anyone to be here so early, and yet... ]

I didn't think anyone would be here so early. Usually people are still sleeping.

[ It wasn't until he was closer that Lux noticed his arm. The color of blood, it looked almost inhuman, unnatural, giving her pause. Another unexpected surprise from the exorcist, and while she did her best not to stare, her gaze kept falling to that arm.

But she pulled herself away when he engaged her again, shaking her head simply. ]

Not at all. Please.

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of course i am okay with charming.

/thumbs up! we can either work up to a moment, or have it be instantaneous, whichever you prefer

I'm just going to have him be charmed instantaneously because it could be funnier

o7

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1; a somewhat slow burn charming okay with you?

sounds great!

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