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[ Lightning's actually not much of a morning person. Military girl or not, on most days it's usually the sun that beats her up- especially once the daylight hours start lengthening a little, and she has no real obligations except to get an early start on going out to run or something...

This time, though... something's been bothering her all night, and sleep in general hasn't come easy at all. It's still mostly dark when she tumbles out of her room, on edge because even if she doesn't yet recognize the source something is wrong--

It doesn't take her long to figure out why, that her current family in Luceti number has abruptly dropped, four total to three instead. After all, she's been around plenty long enough to know the signs that someone has left, even if she's never experienced it firsthand.

In this case, it's an empty bedroom- the only sign that it's ever been lived in at all the color of the walls and several of the dog's things left behind.

And to say that the woman's upset is like saying water is wet, or really, that Luceti is unfair. Rather than alerting anyone else, however, there's only a distinct SLAM of the front door as the pink-haired l'Cie flees the scene, taking Baldr with her - even now she's not cruel enough to make the animal think two of his people have left him.

Whether her housemates choose to go after her immediately or discuss amongst themselves first or whatever, regardless, eventually there's brief audio message that gets thrown out to the winds of the journals, delivered in a voice that's deceptively flat. Considering the general sentiment behind such a common type of report here, however, she's probably not fooling even those who don't know her personally. ]

Hope Estheim's gone home.

[ ... Someone just try and be smart with her about the teen's name right now. She's not in the mood. ]

ARIES
- You'll get 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia' stuck in your head for the next week.
- You will find a turtle in your laundry.
- Just go sleep on the couch tonight. You don't want to know why.
- Hide it, no one saw!

[ Like everyone else, Lightning wasn't really sure what to think about the odd message that showed up at the front of her journal recently, but it's fairly late in the evening before she makes an appearance on there too-- publicly, without even any filters in place to exclude certain people! An unusual decision perhaps, but... here she is anyway, looking as mildly annoyed as ever as she brushes hair from her face and frowns deeply. Her words are clipped and serious. ]

A few things.

Anyone care to explain the reasoning - if any - of this experiment? [ A beat. ] Actually, I'd just like to know if there's a pattern between the words listed at the top and the sort of guidelines everyone's getting beneath them. Is there anyone looking into this?

[ No, she doesn't understand the concept of a zodiac or the point of astrological horoscopes, shut up. Something like that is a little difficult when nobody else from your world has seen stars or even the real sun in five centuries, you know!

But in any case. ]

Second, does anyone have information on something that's called... [ Another slight pause, this one perhaps a bit embarrassed? Naaaah. ] 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia'?

... Third, this creature...

[ And here is where she leans aside slightly, rustling in what's apparently an 'off-screen' cardboard box a moment before she lifts this handsome beastie up- just long enough for the journal to capture the slow, cautious paddle of its legs in the air, as well as the pink-haired woman's dubious expression as she stares at it.

Then-- nothing, save for a soft sigh. Even though something's obviously eating at her about this, apparently that's all she can think of to say on the matter before giving up and just setting her journal aside to wait for any responses.

Also, to continue moping on the couch, with roughly half a dozen blankets around her. ]

[ It's really just the icing on the cake that, after everything's that happened to Lightning here- trapped away from her home, failing her Focus by force, conscripted to fight in a war she has little stake in, turning Cie'th on the battlefield of all things... she's finally returned to Luceti, not a week following her eventual death like what's supposed to happen, but ten days after the fact instead. It's not as bad as it could be, of course, but it's definitely enough to cause worry in a way she really wouldn't approve of at all.

And not only that, but it's raining as well. It's quickly approaching evening, and huge drops are heard landing heavily on the pages of a 'recording' journal laying open somewhere outside... and then suddenly a shriek- not unlike another one heard two weeks earlier, although this time it's localized not far from the center of the village. A minute later, and anyone then paying attention to this particular 'video' will get treated to a rather erratic view of the sky, an overhead structure of some kind in passing, and the occasional fleeting glimpse of Lightning, wearing a white dress and with most of her hair plastered wetly to her face.

There's also the sound of ripping, as someone in a state of acute distress begins tearing the pages out of said journal in handfuls. Overlaid on that is the sound of heavy, uneven breathing, what sounds suspiciously like the occasional sob, and-- ]

Stop it. Stop it!

[ ... Obviously, Lightning is not well right now- a fact that is not only apparent over the journals, but in person as well. It's certainly not normal for a woman in what looks to be New Feather garb to be sitting in the middle of the school's playground in the rain, hunched over and trying her best to destroy her own journal. Please help? ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]