thestormishere | ☈ strike #14 (action / voice)

☈ strike #14 (action / voice)

[ After the whole fiasco with having to take down Jack Horner's dragon form, Lightning's been thinking a lot lately-- namely, about her own trouble with maintaining a human form and fallout from failing against her will several months ago- both things which, frankly, she's been trying to avoid.

However, she can't just keep ignoring it forever, can she? Especially considering that ever since then, even if she's continued to grow slowly stronger and is currently safe from the ramifications of an active l'Cie Brand... the 'penalty' she was saddled with makes using her powers a lot harder than how it used to be.

And so she practices, attempting to get a handle on the magic that's there but no longer instinctive like it once was. Healing magic is fairly easy to figure out, the weaker elemental things like Thunder and Water are simple enough if difficult to aim now, but as for the more complicated spells...?

As for learning new ones...?

She can be found alternately in the battle dome and outside near the edges of town quite a bit during these last few days, with and without her gunblade and various other weapons from before and during her time spent here. She's not really doing much actual fighting, though; it's obvious she's trying to do something, concentrating for sometimes minutes at a time, before casting something that just seems to flicker in the air around her, or light up the edges of her weapons with bright-colored energy.

After some time and a lot of deliberation, she turns to the journals. ]

-- Filtered to House Lucky occupants --

Hey. Have a minute?

-- - --

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sure thing. What's up?

... Think you can meet me at the battle dome?

Looking for a spar? [He already sounds pleased. A chance for a fight? Hell yeah.]

Something like that. Bring your sword.

[ In other words, yes, you're probably going to find this pretty "interesting," Zack. ]

Got it! I'll be right there.

[And off he goes to retrieve that sword and scamper on over to the dome. Be there in a flash~]

[ And she'll just be... kind of hanging around the center of the place when he gets there, considering she didn't really specify a room or anything. She has no idea if what she wants to do has any chance of being successful, but... won't know at all until it's tried, right?

She looks up when she catches sight of him... but doesn't wave or anything because that's just not her thing. ]

[And since that is his thing, she gets a wave anyway as he jogs over, rolling his shoulders.]

I made it! Have you been waiting long?

Not really.

[ But uh... she pauses kind of awkwardly, pressing her hand down on the handle of her gunblade behind her, so that the straps on the holster pop with the sudden return of tautness when she releases it...

Then she just turns, giving a final glance to the control console before gesturing with her chin towards an open room. Weird mood today over here, obviously. ]

[Yep, he's definitely getting the message there. Hmm, how to handle this...

Well, for the moment, he'll just follow along, hands clasped together behind his head.]

So, what's the game plan?

[ Nowadays, even if she's still pretty reluctant to explain the why except in certain situations, she's a lot more open with the fact that she can even use magic in the first place. However, she still pauses a moment anyway, trying to figure out how to explain... ]

Well... the thing is, the way that using magic as a l'Cie works is that, for all the different things that can be done, there's... different 'roles' that the spells all fall under. [ She glances at him, trying to determine if he's following this. ] One for attack magic, one for healing magic....

[He nods; for someone who doesn't use magic very much, this is lining up pretty well with what he already knows.]

Materia's like that, too. Different colours for different magic types, that kind of thing.

[ She still kind of finds the concept of materia fascinating, so... she pauses a moment, then dips her head in a nod before continuing. ]

Before I came here, I only had three 'roles.' [ She pauses at the room's door. GUESS WHERE THIS IS GOING ZACK YOU'LL NEVER FIGURE IT OUT-- ] Now... I've got four.

[Ah-ha! And the full story reveals itself.] So that's where I come in, right? You want to give that new role a test run.

[ IT'S LIKE MAGIC! Uh... literally. ]

Right. There's really only so much I can do myself. [ But though the confirmation is relatively light in tone if a bit dry... honestly, she's also not entirely sure what she's doing, too - she should just be able to do them immediately, but... thanks a lot, death penalty. ] Plus... if these strengthening spells work on other people, then I definitely want to know as soon as possible.

[ Just in case. ]

If you want to give it a try, I'm okay with it. What kind of magic do you get with this role?

Synergy. [ Despite her odd mood, she lifts a hand, the very corner of her mouth turning up at that. ] Enhancing strength, upping defense... and adding elemental magic to your weapons for a bit more punch.

...I think I like the idea of trying it out, then!

[Heck yeah, power enhancement! He's looking forward to this now.]

Thought so.

[ Not hard to predict that a guy like him would probably jump at the chance- he's a lot like Snow, in that regard. Buuuut in any case, let's take a look at what's in this battle dome room, huh? ]

This is the same simulation that Aerith and I were using a few months ago, but... I've changed it around since then. [ A short pause and a little frown, though it quickly fades. ] Today I just turned off all the AI for the combatants, since I don't think fighting back's really what we want here.

[ Not now, anyway. She looks at Zack a long moment, thoughtfully. What to try first...? ] How about some Water? [ It's her secondary element, so it should be pretty easy. It's... also less likely to go horribly wrong. Hopefully. ]

[He follows her in, glancing around briefly before focusing on her again. Water? Sounds safe enough.]

Sure thing. So you want me to let you do your thing, and then attack these guys?

[ She gives a single nod, momentarily putting both hands on her chest and heaving a breath. She's distracted and unsurprisingly, that isn't really much of a help here. ]

... You might want to hold your sword out.

[ Which she'll give him a chance to do, though she's already going through the motions mentally- it feels like Aquastrike but isn't, and she needs to focus on making this benign to him...

She takes a step back right before casting it, bracing her feet, and then throws it at him. It should work, covering his weapon with the bright, bubbling blue-green magic of Enwater.

Just don't drop it or something, dude. ]

[He doesn't drop it! He does oogle it though, because it's all shiny and win. He's never had an effect on his sword that reacted like this before - the accessory mods from SOLDIER just wered the same - so he's interested in how it works.

He doesn't waste the whole time admiring her spell, though; after a few moments, he goes to work attacking the dome's simulated drones, tearing through them with ease.]

Whoa, that's a nice boost!

[ She herself might have been tempted to drop the weapon the first time she had it done to her- it's strange to have something you're holding covered in what looks like it should hurt but doesn't!

But in any case, interestingly enough, Lightning actually looks kind of pleased for once! She follows after Zack at a slow walk, watching him take out the simulations with admittedly impressive ease; at the remark, she's... actually smiling?? ]

I think... this could be pretty useful, yeah.

[ Lightning: on her way to becoming COMPLETELY INVINCIBLE. ]

[He's smiling right along with her as he works his way through the enemies, fascinated by the way his blade tears through the simulation with ease. And look at her! He hasn't seen her this please since- ...actually he's not even sure now. Maybe the experiment. But we don't talk about that.]

No argument here! This is awesome, Light!

[ "This is awesome" = definitely not something Lightning hears very often. "Good work" or similar, maybe, but nothing like that, which immediately causes her eyes to widen slightly-- and a flush to appear on her face before she has the chance to realize what's going on beforehand.

...

Hopefully, Zack is distracted by the fact that the Enwater spell doesn't last forever- while it quickly begins to glimmer and fade out, Lightning blinks and then ducks her head, smile faltering, gaze aside.

Must be the heat getting to her or... something. Otherwise, she's really not sure what to make of that reaction- it's been... quite a while since she's been in any sort of position to get abruptly flustered by compliments. ]

[Zack pauses as the spell fades away, glancing over his shoulder at her. Why's she looking down like that? Was it not what she expected?

Though Luceti does tone down abilities- maybe it's supposed to last longer than that.]

You okay over there? Do you want to try it again?

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