pawnstorm | 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

"Leak" out?

[ Lux frowned a bit in thought, looking at his hand. Abilities that could just "leak" out, or have a mind of their own? It... was a possibility, certainly, but not one that sounded particularly encouraging. ]

Gravity?

[ Well, that would explain why she suddenly went hurdling toward him. But that was interesting. Huh. ]

So you can change the push and pull of an object...

[ ...Could he change the velocity? Weight? What other properties did it have? Curling a hand at her chin, she was in her own little world of thought, staring off into space.

Well, no, she was still staring at his hand technically, but the space past his hand. ]

[ Eh?

He blinks a bit. Did she space out? ]

Something like that... [ He waves his hand in front of her face a little. Hello? ]

Is it that different for your abilities?

[ She blinked in surprise, becoming somewhat animated. ]

Quite a bit, actually! All I can do is bend and manipulate light—which, honestly, isn't too terribly hard all things considered. Light is a form of energy, which can be manipulated just like any other form of energy or matter. All you need to do is understand the structure and properties of light—how it interacts with objects, particles, other forms of matter—and work within the general laws of physics, and it's easy!

[ ...Lux.

No, never mind. Keep going. The brackets have no words for you right now. ]

But gravity is a force of nature and can affect other objects despite the fact that we can't see or touch it. Its interactions with matter are entirely different from those of light.

Does that make sense?

Edited 2016-07-17 04:13 (UTC)

............

[ no ]

Ehhhh... [ He tries to play it off lightly, waving a hand airily. ]

Somewhat. [ Lux. Did you know Allen was an orphan abandoned to a circus in Victorian England before he was adopted by a less than sane clown who took him on the road as a traveling team of Pierrots, only to be adopted again when clownfather died by a womanizing exorcist-sorcerer-whoknows that spent most of his time drunk in red light districts he made 11 year old Allen gamble/work to pay for the bills of when he wasn't physically training to be an exorcist himself?

Who also then died.

What's an education.

But Allen's a diplomat: ]

This is something you care a lot about then, isn't it. [ Before she came here. It had to have been. No one could get that excited that quic—no, nevermind, Allen knows people who would... ]

Edited 2016-07-18 00:12 (UTC)

[ ...Allen, she knows you, but she doesn't know you like that. How could she know? And if she did, she may have some issues with the idea of a child gambling to survive. But details.

Had she spoken a little too fast? She had been told she did that when she was particularly passionate about something. That must be it. Not any of that stuff from her past. That was the reason why he was confused. Surely.

Don't worry Allen, she'll repeat it if she has to.

~~Whether you want her to or not~~ ]

Oh? Was there something you were confused about? What parts?

[ She smiles pleasantly, blissfully unaware. How well can you bluff, Allen?

His question... gave her pause, and her smile changed from pleasant to nostalgic. She nodded gently. ]

Even when I was a little girl, this power has been with me. It's a part of who I am. I wouldn't be the person I am without it.

Edited (let's fix code now that I'm not on mobile) 2016-07-18 02:21 (UTC)

[ Bluff, you say.

Her comment gives him pause though. Part of who she is...

(I wouldn't be the person I am without it.)

He smiles gently, his right hand still at the hilt of the sword lying beside him, and looks to his left hand again, flexing it. Bittersweet nostalgia, and he gives a nod to Lux. ]

Even if it's a different sort of thing, I think I can understand that.

[ Allen couldn't tell you all the technical reasons behind why Innocence was so important for doing what it did... but it didn't change the outcome of it, the part that mattered to him. The part that drove and defined him. But it's just passions that happen to run different.

And it is kind of charming that she gets animated over it like that... ~~shit what's wrong with him.~~ ]

[ That he said gave her pause. That... wasn't something that she was used to hearing. That someone understood. Usually she would get strange looks when she rambled, when she threw herself into her research, when she insisted that she had to learn more, to know everything about what made her powers tick.

It was nice. ]

I'm glad that someone does.

[ It was meant to be almost a throw-away comment, a bridge between conversation points, but the way she smiled. It meant a lot, hearing that from someone. It made it feel a bit less strange.

But lingering on that, it felt a little awkward, she bent down to pick up her staff, throwing out an over-exaggerated sigh. ]

Still, I can't believe that I lost by accident. Ahh, that's disappointing. I think you might have bruised my ego a little bit.

[ While she retrieves her staff he's going to rub again at his head for a moment and frown a bit to himself. Why does it feel like something foggy is going on in his head ever since he used that ability... (Or, well. More like when she fell on him. But. That wouldn't do it...)

Either it's a blessing or a curse he's never heard of Queen's charms.

But, oh. ]

Ah! [ That's right!! ]

[ He's going to smile ever so brightly at that and sit up a little straighter, deactivating his sword and tucking his card aside so he might sit up and let his arms cross in his lap.

That's right! He did win!

... shit, he was actually going to let her win probably too. ]

It's alright, Lux. There isn't any need to be a sore loser. [ Teasing. Good-naturedly. ]

I'm not a sore loser—

[ She was rather quick to deny that claim. He might have been teasing, but there may be some truth there. Whoops.

She put her weight on one hip, letting her free hand rest there. ]

But that does mean you at least deserve something. It's not often that someone manages to get the better of me. But what is the question...

[ Looking off in the distance, she started to think. The sun beginning to rise over the horizon, there may be a few shops that would open soon. Likely a few restaurants as well. Hmm. ]

How about something to eat? I know of a good cafe in town.

[ ...She was going to learn to rue those words. ]

Edited (I realize I didn't actually give you a hook for this whoops) 2016-07-19 17:25 (UTC)

[ Did she just... ]

[ ...offer to buy breakfast??!

Allen sits up a little straighter, suddenly quite intent. ]

Do you?

[ She wasn't expecting him to sit up so fast. Huh. He must have been hungry after their sparring match.

Well no matter. She nods with a smile. ]

If that counts as a suitable enough prize for winning. It's my treat, of course.

[ ~~Oh little does she know~~ ]

OPEN: but a fire within

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