5 ☣ boom

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[Until a moment ago, there was a small tree at this corner on the Quad.

Crack!

Someone just unleashed some kind of strange concussive blast nearby it. It is now in two pieces.

Quite nearby, there is an elf, lacking his usual tattoos and looking rather shell-shocked. Oh, and he's glowing in the evening dark and floating a good foot or so off the ground.

Do you approach?]

Comments

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Even the finest dish falls flat if half of it is on the ceiling.

[Champloo hasn't lost his powers to appear and offer words of wisdom, primarily because that's part of his nature as Mentor Side Character, not anything supernatural.]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[With effort, Fenris lowers himself to the ground. Somehow. He looks down at his bare feet as if it's the first time he's seen them.

Then he looks up at Champloo, frowning.]

Is that supposed to mean something?

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

[Rikku, who was just minding her business in the Quad, jumps up when she hears the crack, only to spaz too much and fall down again]

That wasn't me this time, honest!

[focusedfate.livejournal.com]

[It's actually the glowing and the floating that draws Cid's attention, even more so than the newly split tree. Considering how a certain friend of his is now bedridden and decidedly not glowing, he can't help but be curious about this.]

Excuse me, but those powers... [A pause.] Would it be safe to assume that you have not always had them?

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[Still floating, but now Fenris is starting to look less stunned and more disgusted.]

I'm aware.

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

Just making---Fenris?!

[She manages to get up and get over to him without falling this time]

What the heck?! That was you?

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[A valid point of concern. Fenris looks at Cid with the frustration on his face barely hiding the panic beneath it. His voice is still calm, but seething with anger beneath that calm.]

That assumption would be correct, yes. I have not always had...

[He looks at a hand. A small ball of light appears in it, glowing serenely.]

...this magic.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[He spreads his hands out and looks down at them as if they were stained with blood, except that would certainly disgust him less.]

So it seems.

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

D'you need help? I mean you're kinda...floating.

[She gestures the the space between him and the ground.]

And what happened to your tattoos?

[srslytoopretty.livejournal.com]

Whoa! [Laughs.] I haven't seen you do that trick before.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[He starts to crouch in midair and finds himself lowering to the ground in the process; he hastily stands again.]

That's because I am not normally a--mage.

[srslytoopretty.livejournal.com]

[That kind of statement's relevant to him, but he just raises an eyebrow and keeps his usual smirk.]

Oh yeah? Been practicing?

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

I think I can control it.

[And he starts to lower to the ground as he speaks, but not before he jerks his head a little to the side, bitterly, and murmurs to himself.]

How many mages would say the same thing? ...I cannot be trusted. I am more tainted than ever.

[What was Rikku saying?]

Gone. Ensorcelled away, by the same forces that saw fit to grant me this magic.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

No!

[He visibly recoils at the idea.]

This is something inflicted on me by this world's foul magics. I've traded one plague on my soul for another.

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

[Oh boy. Now Rikku's concerned]

Fenris? Are...are you okay?

[She shifts from foot to foot]

You're not the only one who got freaky powers, y'know? [She holds up her hands, gloved] I can't touch the machina around here without it talking to me.

[srslytoopretty.livejournal.com]

Hey, hey, don't get so mad! It's just a question. [Placing a hand on his hip]

You don't like magic?

[kitchenfistfirechaosstyle]

Hyahyahya! Just that breaking the tree might not have served the best purpose.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

It wasn't intentional.

[And he's trying not to panic.]

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

[He jerks a little--he didn't really mean for Rikku to hear that part.]

I'm fine. I will--

I won't speak of it.

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

That is one way to put it, yes.

I don't like magic.

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

[She just nods]

So...how'd you end up blowing the tree up?

[freewolfmoon.livejournal.com]

I don't know. It was blocking the light from a lamp, and I--

[He looks down at one hand with yet another expression of barely-contained horror.]

I simply waved it away, not thinking to do anything. And there was a blast.

[greeneyedmecha.livejournal.com]

[She winces]

Surprise explosions are the worst. They're like thunderstorms: pretty, but really, really scary. You didn't get hurt in the blast, did you?

[focusedfate.livejournal.com]

[Maybe he's reading too much into that pause there, but Cid finds himself wondering whether Fenris' frustration and anger is directed at his new powers or magic as a whole.]

Do you know an instructor here by the name of Elika? I'm of the belief that you've acquired her abilities.

[srslytoopretty.livejournal.com]

How come?