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[ Okay, so thanks to Luceti, Lightning has now accomplished the impossible: not only coming back from the dead, but coming back after becoming a Cie'th- something that is not supposed to happen under any circumstances. Despite that, however, everything is not as peachy as you'd think. Now? She's left in the aftermath, trying to sort things out without suffering some kind of breakdown in the process.

This is Lightning, though- she's not okay, but she is better than she was at first. Fortunately, her memories of the whole incident and leading directly up to it are relatively fuzzy-- or depending on your viewpoint, unfortunately, considering she feels like she should try and figure it out... and yet doesn't want to think about it too much due to the sheer level of awful being in that state felt like.

On top of that, her main problem now is actually not her l'Cie Brand that has burned its way to completion... but its sibling set onto Hope's arm that is very likely working its way into doing the same. She needs to do something about him, before it's too late.

But to avoid or put off her other 'obligations' at this point could seem cowardly, and Lightning is not a coward. Therefore, as soon as she's reasonably alright, she kicks herself into action, searching out those she knows and 'needs' to see, trolling around community housing building #4 and the village in general.

... She may or may not actually hunt down Zack, Aerith, and possibly Raine specifically-- at their work places, even, just in time for their shifts to end. Yes, she's just that stalker enough to have figured that sort of thing out.

In addition, she soon turns to the journals as well, making this short message aimed at the last draftees- the filter is not particularly strong, save for locking it away from Hope as well as she can manage: ]

Anyone who saw this on the battlefield... I need to talk to you.

[ A picture is pressed into the journal directly afterward: a crude rendition of two wings- one non-colored, the other filled in with blood-red marker. There's a short pause and then a sigh in the background, but Lightning withholds further comment until responses - if any - come in.

And to avoid the headache of figuring it all out... each piece of this is backdated to just whenever this stuff would have happened. Seriously: any time. And if anything's been missed, just make something up. ]

[ Lightning looks particularly tired today, although even with it obvious that she's got her journal open, she's clearly not looking at it- something that might explain why she doesn't seem to notice that she's 'recording' herself. ]

I'm not tired.

[ She seems pretty frustrated, too. After a moment, she literally tosses the journal aside- the image spins wildly... and yet keeps going even after it lands. A view of Lightning's legs strolling away can be seen, and then Aerith, standing a short distance away and fiddling with the staff in her hands. Lightning stops next to her, hand on hip, but their conversation - if any - is seemingly too low to be caught.

They're in the battledome, and anyone who happens to be around out there or tuning in curiously will quickly see that what they're doing doesn't seem very interesting: like many others, preparing for the draft by fighting simulated Third Party combatants. Lightning takes point, wielding her gunblade with practiced ease as Aerith calls on the magic of the Filial spirits, firing jets of water and following up with her staff. Those familiar with spirit energy may also recognize that she's gathering and is close to unleashing it, a very faint glow of light around her body.

Eventually the last soldier collapses, the body fading away, and Aerith turns to Lightning. There's a slash on her arm, bloodied but shallow, but the brunette doesn't pay it mind for the moment, looking at Lightning with an earnest expression. ] All right, I'm ready.

Right... [ Lightning seems at once determined and uneasy as she folds her gunblade and slams it into its holster, shifting in place. Aerith pauses, then holds her staff in front of her, concentrating with her brow furrowed. The energy goes out from her, surrounding Lightning and surging forward as beams of light-- going specifically for her chest, from which a different glow starts to appear: bright blue, seemingly shining from a small but elaborate something beneath her sleeveless tunic...

But almost immediately after that, it's obvious that something is extremely wrong. The lights flare, almost seeming to clash, and what looks like it should be a magical healing of some sort causes Lightning to suddenly stagger back as if struck, pressing a hand into her chest.

And as if that wasn't enough, the pink-haired girl screams in pain. The sound abruptly cuts off just as the glow fades, Lightning wavers where she stands, and then just collapses, straight down with zero effort to catch herself- not a good sign, considering the former soldier could probably do that in her sleep.

OOC: Both video and action open! ]

[ So. Even though there seems to be an 'experiment' in full swing this week, several days later Lightning still has yet to be affected for some reason. Not that she's complaining, of course, considering she has several new problems on her hands anyway-- namely, the recent appearance of both Hope and Sazh to Luceti. Talk about complicated. Needless to say, Soldier Girl here needs another outlet; therefore, she has decided to develop a new skill:

Knife-throwing.

Because clearly, being a superpowered, magic-slinging former-sergeant trained in the use of a gunblades and bazookas and airships and who knows what else doesn't make her quite dangerous enough. Yeah, she knows the basics of using a knife in hand, and she can throw one fairly decently already, but that... is not enough.

And so she's practicing, outside near the forest and in a particularly snowy patch of ground- this is because not only is she working on her ability to toss sharp objects, but is trying to improve her maneuverability in the snow at the same time as well. After all, you never know when something like that might become important.

She probably makes an interesting sight too, holding a knife out in front of her like she's taking aim, but then turning around completely and launching herself backwards into not just one flip, but two - briefly touching down between them, off-hand braced in the snow - before flinging the knife mid-flight. However, although the weapon hits her target, once Lightning has bounced to a stop and surveyed the throw, she still seems unsatisfied (you know, despite pulling that off at all in the first place).

So she does it again, and again, and again, until finally, she feels like she's gotten a little better and gets ambitious enough to try something a little different. Setting her feet, she picks up a knife in both hands, jumps back again and-- abruptly loses her equilibrium in the air, so that the knives go flying off-course entirely, and she goes crashing down unceremoniously with a bark of surprise. A moment later, she's rolled to her feet, looking bewildered and displeased, and a moment after that, she looks down and notices that she's no longer herself. Again. ]

... Oh.

[ Yeah. "Oh" is right, considering she's suddenly several years younger, with longer hair and a face that's far more used to smiling than frowning-- her little sister, Serah's, actually. Furthermore, despite so many others getting to keep them, for the time being she's been stripped of her powers completely. If you... just got a knife to the kidney, then sorry, blame the Malnosso, and hopefully it didn't go too deep?

Replies will come from strikingusdown. ]

[ After all the stuff that's been going on lately, it's probably no surprise that Lightning has already been pretty on edge for quite a while now... particularly the last few days. Imagine her joy then, when halfway through making breakfast she opens her journal to find that yet another bout of insanity is going down.

Just... great.

As soon as she works out the basics of the disturbance, she quickly begins to clean up what she had spread out, addressing her journal mid-action. So far, she seems a bit irritated, but... otherwise, pretty unimpressed. ]

Alright... whatever's going on, everyone needs to just stay calm. We need to figure out who these people are, where they're coming from, and why.

[ Yes, she's using her Important Voice, even though there definitely hasn't been time to really think this through. There's a pause while she finishes gathering up her breakfast, but if nobody interrupts she then picks up her journal and makes an additional, somewhat reluctant 'command' as she moves to leave the eating area and go back towards her own rooms again. ]

... If they're not enemies, make sure none of them are left wandering around out in the snow.

[ Aaannnnd fourthwallstuffgo. As soon as she revisits her apartment, you just know she'll be tromping outside to see this whole mess for herself too. Go ahead and harass her at any point over journal or in person or both or whatever. ]

[ It may be snowing and looking like a good day to just take it easy, but life for this particular Luceti resident is... by no means very peaceful right now. There's a dull fwump as a journal falls open onto the ground with something heavy on top of it... and a moment later the sound of a horrified shriek and panicked panting pierces the air as someone scrambles to their feet up and off of it.

Unfortunately, the journal's view remains fixed on nothing more than the sky for several minutes, white flakes slowly falling onto the open pages, but then finally, lured in by the sound of voices, a rather alarmed-looking face sporting strikingly blue eyes and severely-mussed black hair appears. ]

Hello? Help! Wh-what's going on?

[ And anyone who's out in the snow right now might notice a particularly distressed and cold young man holding his journal close to his chest as he peers around him. He doesn't look like a New Feather, but he also seems... rather lost.

That would be because not only is Lightning Farron suddenly quite a bit younger, but she also happens to be in wingenvy's full grown and very male body right now. Oops.

FFXIII spoilers only if you happen not to know Lightning's real name, which... isn't even plot-important anyway. Replies with notfairron. ]

[ Amidst the chilly but otherwise relatively nice weather, out of the forest there's suddenly evidence of several small explosions: first a blaze of light and smoke, then directly afterward an even brighter flash and what sounds suspiciously like a clap of thunder... as if a storm had struck right there despite it being reasonably clear. When the echoes die out and birds stop screaming warnings and flying away, there's only a young woman, pink-haired and severe-looking, standing near the center of the blasts.

Good day Luceti, Lightning's just arrived, and she's already killed a random deer- within the first quarter hour of her waking up here, even, although at the time she thought it was out of self-defense. The animal just came too close, and anyone who cares to investigate the disruption would soon discover Lightning first stamping out any small fires she inadvertently caused, then cautiously half-kneeling by the beast as she checks it for life. What was such a weak animal doing out by itself in the wilderness, anyway?

Several minutes later finds the very confused-but-hiding-it former-soldier - already changed into her regular clothing - finally making her presence known on the journals. Initially she just flips through the pages and listens in on what little can be heard at the time, but she does eventually speak... her tone very flat and to the point, of course. It's more of a demand than a question, really. ]

Where is this?