2296/A Touch of Magic

A Touch of Magic
Date of Scene:	21 May 2015
Location:	Danbur <DB>
Synopsis:	Diane brings Lyria, Rory, Mandy and Hiei with her to the storm struck city of Emis to hunt down a stray tempest. All in hopes of getting an essence of lightning.
Cast of Characters:	113, Lyria Mason, 673, 741, 772
Tinyplot:	The Great Work

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Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyID7dxY4qo

    Essence of lightning isn't something that is just lying around.

    The strange weather anomaly over the coastal city of Emis though doesn't seem to be natural however, and so Pius had contacted the multiversal forces through the radio. When a strange storm like this rages for several days there must surely be a reason, right? Natural storms do not last for this long.

    White cliffs stand strong against the crashing waves of the dark ocean, and the medieval looking city seems to be under assault by the very heavens themselves. Thunder rolls across the even darker skies, and the rain is pouring down. As a result the citizens seem to have taken shelter inside, the streets mostly abandoned.

    The group is lead by Diane Athanor, the younger sister of Pius, as the young woman had decided to join in and do what she can do in order to help. If only to act as a guide. She is but a normal teenager, after all. They might have a hard time before they pass through the city gates themselves, as the open road does not offer much cover. Luckily the road itself does not take them close to the cliff edge, and soon enough they are safely within the old city. The stone buildings does dampen the wind in some places, yet the narrow streets also serve as wind tunnels that might take the Elites by surprise. What might be more startling however is when thunder booms across their heads... and lightning strikes!

    Also, there is a faint sound. Laughter dances on the wind.

    Still shaking, Diane turns towards the group with a worried look on her face. "A-ah, that was loud!" Not to mention rather close.

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    Here's Mandy! Much younger than Diane but walking along beside her casually instead of shying away like she tends to with big kids from her own world. She's dressed in a pink rain coat, with a hood. The hood has kitty ears on it. It's adorable.

    She doesn't seem to react as lightning crashes abvoe! "Mmh. I've always lighted thunder storms," she says, in a sort of wistful voice. "I'm not sure why..."

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Of all the things that're on the list of needed ingredients, 'essence of lightning' is the most abstract.. if you ask Rory White. She's currently sticking with her guide, one eye on the sky and several more IN it. Her drones do not fly well in a thunderstorm, but they're managing to stay aloft and provide her with the typical birds-eye-view of the situation.

    but every time lightning strikes and thunder rolls the scientist AGI flinches and cringes, edging back a step or two.

    It is her FIRST ever thunderstorm and the light and noise is triggering primal instincts she did not know she had. All the light and noise is FRIGHTENING and unknown...

    "h-how will we even capture this?!"

Hiei (772) has posed:
Hiei suddenly appears next to Mandy, not saying a word. He holds a large bottle in his hands, which is completely covered in old looking brown paper seals. They all have strange magical writing that look almost like free flowing sribbles that a child might pass for writing. But the trained eye will see that there is clearly a pattern and repeating symbols. They also have little chains and the occasional charm hanging from them, with no particular way to see the actual glass of the bottle. The lid is metallic and has a long, sharp spike sticking out of it, likely for attracting electricity.

He stares up at the sky, looking largely indifferent. Though it does occur to him to say, "The lightning should be trapped into this. Do with it what you will."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lightning in a bottle is basically what they are after today, and here Lyria is. She's still a bit roughed up after playing hume torpedo with Sanary the other day. She's still in good spirits she ponders at Rory's words and she crnches a bit from the lightnign, she more used to such weather than Rory. Still she sees the fear and moves over to the AGI.

"....There's an expresison about catching it in a bottle but I wonde if we could use a lightning rod?"

She then sets a hand on Rory's shoulder.

"You don't seem used to weather like this. Are you all right?"

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    The question posed by Rory is the same that most of them might be thinking right now.

    For now Diane stays close to Mandy, wrapping an arm around the small girl , as if trying to comfort her. Even if the teenager seems far more distressed by the storm raging around them than the little girl seems to be. It doesn't getter any better when Hiei suddenly appears.

    "Don't scare us like that!" Diane protests, though she seems to quiet down when she spots the large bottle in his hands. Just what is that? And what are those symbols doing there? "Are... are those the things I sent you earlier today?" Her question is rather timid, and she wraps her arm a bit tighter around Mandy.

    Though she does give Hiei a stern look as well. "And I do hope you are not suggesting that one of us holds that thing up and waits for lightning to strike it, that would be suicide! It's still lightning, and that isn't something to joke with!"

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    Mandy doesn't resist Diane putting her arm around her. In fact she scoots a little closer! And then Hieie appears. She yelps audibly and jerks away from him, putting her hand to her head. "Don't just... teleport next to me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she complains loudly.

    She calms down remarkably fast, though. "There -are- people who can survive being struck by lightning. Are any of you those sorts of people?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
    Rory White shakes her head at Mandy. "Although lightning is not always fatal to humans, survivors are never struck directly. My Synthmorph would be fried, I'd have to resleeve from backup..." Which is not a fun idea.

    Hiei's appearance is met with a moment of skeptic peering, particularly at his device.

    "That's... the answer?"

    And there's a hand on her shoulder. She glances over it at Lyria, her shoulders bunching up. "Are all thunderstorms this chaotic?! Few things are this unsettling!"

Hiei (772) has posed:
"I didn't teleport, I ran." Hiei answers as he stares down at the bottle. "This seal should be able to easily contain huge amounts of magical energy. I didn't volunteer to be struck by lightning, unless you're offering to pay me more, I suppose. Or perhaps owe me a favor." He holds up the jar up with one hand, staring at it in front of his face now. "These are indeed the materials you sent me."

He finally sits the jar down onto the ground, then stands up straight, removing his headband. That's when a large purple eye opens, an unmoving eye that's entirely different from his other two. It looks unnatural, never blinks, and never focuses or changes. And, with this, he stares into the sky, trying to search for some sort of intelligence. "I'll try to see if the storm is alive. I have no idea if I can, I've never dealt with something like this."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason stares at Rory as she speaks of Resleeving and such. It takes her a moment to click Rory's some sort of robot.

"I'll watch the bolts I throw about and don't worry I can maniplate them hopefully so they don't strike you. Wait ... I COULD attempt to contol them to our own ends and yes Rory. They normally are or more so I seen a thunder storm in the middle of a bilzzard once. Never seen anything quite like it."

SHe thinks osme more as she looks over to Diane.

"I could try to direct a strike into the bottle..."

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    "Even if they can survive, it's still dangerous!" Diane protests and pats Mandy on the shoulder. "Maybe if we set it on a roof top somewhere, a place high up?" The wind seems to increase in intensity as the group stands there discussing just how to go about their mission. It tugs on their raincoats and cloaks, creeps up their spines and even threatens to blow some of the smaller ones over! A bit annoyed by this, Diane tries to wrap her coat even tighter around her, making sure her hood is pulled down so she doesn't get too much rain in her face. "When have you ever heard of a storm that is alive? I mean, it seems magical and all, but..."

    Just what is up with this storm?

    Hiei might even notice that something seems to tug at the bottle in his hand, though there's nothing there... and the bottle rattles as it's set down on the ground. When he begins scanning though, there is something there. Though it is far from a human mind. No this... this is something far more primal.

    As Lyria begins talking about throwing lightning around however, the Athanor sister looks confused and potentially worried. "Isn't there enough lightning around though...? And the lightning we need has to be different than the one produced to humans. Something elemental! It--" She is interrupted however. All of a sudden there is a might gust that bursts down the street with a loud sound that echoes between the houses. In the fact, the wind is so strong that it can be seen! But instead of blowing on, it remains in the same place, whirling around in circles and spheres that seem to stick close together, eventually combining into something. A figure takes shape! It looks vaguely female, its shape shifting in and out of existence. Its eyes glimmer with playfulness, and as it giggles sparks of lightning can be seen in the clouds above. What appears to be a mouth opens wide in a smile... and it inhales, blowing at the group! Luckily it is not as strong as the earlier gust of wind, and then the figure, whatever it is, takes off and flies off down a nearby alley!

    MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLbGzeVNKao

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    "...I guess we could get a lightning rod and connect it to the jar, then place the trap somewhere high up like on a church roof?" She frowns a little in through. "Um. Using magic to control the storm's lightning might work? I'm not sure if that would somehow 'taint' it though. We need pure 'primal' magical lightning, I think."

    Mandy yelps, clinging to Diane as the wind picks up, doing her best not to be bowled over! And then... a figure made apparently out of wind appears before them. "Oh! Ummm... Hello!" She tries to smile warmly at the... elemental? "Are... are you this-"

    But then the elemental blows at them and flies off. Well then.

Hiei (772) has posed:
"It's alive." Hiei says, right before the female figure forms. He vanishes from where he's standing, grabbing the jar, then appears in front of Rory. "Take this and do what you need to do." he says before leaving it sitting on the ground in front of her and vanishing again, appearing behind Diane and Mandy.

The first thing he tries to do is grab the two from behind in an attempt to hold them in place. "It's incredibly primal, like a living force of nature. I'll probably be entirely unable to control it. Perhaps if it was more of a fire nature I could lure it with my youkai energy, but that would be impossible with something that has an electrical nature like this..."

"My primary mission is to keep the two of you safe. I could potentially distract it enough for those two to get lightning, but that depends on if you would be safe while I do it." he explains, still not moving from behind them.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason thinks for a moment she was hoping she could size control of what they need. However this is not what is actually needed she finds out. She's about to say something else in reply to Diane? When an wild elemental appears! Okay her plan was a bad one, but it was worth a shot, right? She sees the figure she looks at it and she sees it's wanting to be playful okay so it's a chase then?

"Okay I was no expecting that! Humm it wants to play chase so lets play along but let's split up maybe we can catch it that way?"

With that she's off like a shot trying to chase it down or more correctly to heard the elemental to the others so they might have a chance to catch it.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "I am NOT-" Rory begins rather emphatically the moment the Jar enters her grasp, "Risking my Synth as an AGI lightning rod. BUT..." She's quiet only briefly, and then...

    Light beams down through the heavens, piercing the clouds and the storm for a brief instant. A robot has been beamed down next to Rory, and unlike her current body it really does look like a robot. Clunky and barebones, it's as simple as it gets. But she hands it to the Case Morph easily enough, and it appears dextrous enough to grip the jar without hurting it.

    In fact it's moving much as if Rory's simultaneously controlling it.

    Probably because she is.

    And she's putting distance between the two while staring HARD at Hiei. "The storm is AWARE?! It's not just a storm?!"

    The only question is...

    "Should I have the spare go as high as possible and hope for the best or do we have some better plan?"

    Of course this only goes on until the STRANGE BEING comes zipping around, drawing her attention - from BOTH robot bodies in fact. "The wind is... it IS alive?! Hello?" the Case moves to waggle the jar meaningfully but the wind is gone before she can. "Um... right. How do you persuade a magical storm to cooperate with you?"

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    At first Diane doesn't know what to think about the wind that takes shape in front of them. Though she is rather focused on it, so when Hiei grabs a hold of her and Mandy, Diane lets out a startled gasp. "What do you think you're doing?!" she exclaims, wriggling in attempt to get loose and even trying to push him in the face!

    Lyria's next suggestion seems to be far more sensible than her previous one, and she points in the direction the elemental went. "If it wanted to harm us it would have, right? Splitting up does sound good, maybe we can chase it towards Rory if she has the bottle?" Now she pushes even harder at Hiei, let go already!

    As they argue it seems the wind has taken a turn around a house as it comes back, its airy hair flowing behind it as it comes to a halt for a few seconds... and then it literally zaps off, lightning left in its wake before it dissipates into thin air.

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    Mandy yelps a bit as Hiei suddenly grabs her and Diane. "Hey!" she complains, squirming a bit against him. She huffs a bit. "It doesn't seem like it wants to attack us, so, just... Stop being so jumpy, okay?" She can't help but pout a little bit.

Hiei (772) has posed:
"I was making sure you weren't about to die!" Hiei says with a grunt as his face is pushed at, then releases the two of them.

He steps forward, taking a deep breath. "If you split up and it wants to kill us one by one, it will be a bad idea. But try anyway. You two will stay with me." he informs Mandy and Diane, suddenly drawing his sword out of no where.

He tries to mentally touch the storm again, though, this time trying to send it a mental message, <<We only want a little bit of lightning, then we intend to leave you alone.>>

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "I THINK... the wind wants to play?" Although Rory's DEFINITELY not sure.

    But the case has beun to follow! Running as fast as is safe while carrying a possibly fragile jar. Around corners, past houses... chasing the lightning!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is a Geomancer she tends to look at elements in a way not a lot of people do. She also had some faulty assumptions which has now been corrected. Ya she has to hope they won't need to harm it for what needs to be done given it has no hostile intent, right? So away she goes as she attempts to chase after the elemental and then it goes poof. She's not going to give up however as she keeps hunting for the frisky elemental.

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    Diane makes sure to take a few steps away from Hiei, giving him a pointed look as he insists on following them. "I swear, if my brother hadn't paid you to look after us..." she mumbles under her breath, and she takes Mandy's hand in hers as she nods. "Okay, the three of us head down this way! Can you other two try to cut it off from another street?"

    And off Rory goes, and Diane nods at Mandy. "Let's go!" She tugs on the girl's arm, and off they go down another street!

    The wind lets out another ethereal laugh, the lightning crackling overhead. The rain is still pouring down around them, and the wind keeps on racing through the alleys. It does stop here and there, as if just to make sure that the party is following it. Then it takes off again, heading up the side of a house! That ought to keep Lyria from follow it, it hopes!

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    And so Mandy is dragged along by Diane. "Wah... o-okay!" She runs along with the older girl. "Why am I running -towards- danger?" she muses to herself, before laughing. "I didn't think my life would ever end up like -this-." She seems to be having fun! Which is pretty odd considering they're trying to corner an elemental that could probably strike her dead with one attack.

Hiei (772) has posed:
"Maybe if... I don't know. It seems entirely moronic, since it's a lightning elemental. But perhaps showing elemental prowess will attract it." Hiei holds his hand out, despite the rain, then shouts, "Fist of the Mortal Flame!" before his hand is covered in a bright blaze of fire. The rain constantly steams as it hits the fire, and he just holds it out as they walk, waiting to see what will happen.

If the creature has any way of telling, this fire didn't come from his body, it was summoned. Non-magical fire.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    The Rory who's keeping distant - the 'real body' as it were - marvels at Hiei's display. Elemental control is neat and she'll have to ask him how he does that! Maybe if he'll let her measure temperatures and the like.

    But that's not relevant right NOW, is it?

    The 'clunkier' body that's following along picks up the pace! "Wait, please!" Though she feels this probably won't do any good, she DOES want to TRY and speak with the being... or at least catch up to her!

    The case waves the little jar around, ineffectually!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason gets an idea her prey flees up she smirks for a moment and closes her eyes. She can't do too much with the air here but enough to fire herself up like a missile. She flies up and is forced to land pretty hard on the roof, however she does mange to grin as she gets up and attempt to get back to her feet to chase.

She's admittly having fun with this little game the elemental is intent to play.

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    What's this?

    The wind halts on top of the building, perking up as Hiei summons fire. What's this? It flies closer to the edge of the roof, leaning over with a curious look in its eyes. Thunder rumbles up in the clouds, and the wind elemental slithers down partway down the wall. It doesn't seem to want to play much with the clunky robot body, sadly.

    But it does yelp and startle when Lyria is on the scene, and it seems to slip over the edge of the roof! Thunder strikes nearby Lyria, and is that some annoyed chitter that leaves the wind? Either way it falls partway down to the street, but then it rises again, flying towards another roof, this time passing by Mandy and Diane... and even flies around them as lightning crackles along its tail! Diane yelps and staggers back, pulling Mandy close! "Ah...! No, don't go!"

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    Mandy yelps as the elemental creature lands right in front of them - and yelps again as she's pulled in close against Diane, agaain! She stares at the spirit for a moment, then reaches a hand out. "Ah..! If you don't want to be chased, what -do- you want to do?" she asks the elemental, hoping it won't just zip off in the middle of the sentence! "It would be really helpful if you'd talk to us!"

Hiei (772) has posed:
"If you think this is fun, then come play with -me-!" Hiei ignites his other hand, then goes running toward the robot body. It's raining, so he figures he likely won't start any fires. This thing is a primal elemental creature, but Hiei isn't much different himself, even if he's not wielding the flames of his own energy right now.

He starts firing balls of fire around, which quickly go out by the time they hit something, sometimes firing towers of flames until he's right in front of the robot holding the jar, turning around to make even more of a target of himself, waving his hands around in enticing angular and circular motions. "Obviously you don't want to play if you can't even match my flames with electricity."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is now closing in on the elemental she's almost got them. She notices that it's running gain. She's going to attempt ot run after it leaping from roof to roof. She's no Dragoon but she's pretty darn good at jumping given all teh rigging she's had to scramble about in her time.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    This is so very irritating!

    bad enough to know nothing about what exactly a sapient wind likes. Worse to... not be able to catch up. Rory's only recourse is bunching up her legs and vaulting to the rooftop, if it's only a floor or two to SOMETHING she can crawl up. The case is surprisingly good at that, but any taller and it's not an option.

    Thankfully her Saucers are not at all bound like this. Though too slow to win in a race, witht he wind pausing so much one's been able to catch up!

    And it comes straight down, cirrrrcling around the Wind erratically and making beeping noises!

    Maybe Rory hopes this will catch its attention!

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    More chittering sounds and howling leaves the wind elemental as it passes by Mandy. Is it even capable of speech?

    But it does seem to be focused on Hiei for now as he keeps on shooting fire everywhere... and it flares up, raising its arms as thunder rains down around them! It strikes the roof tops, the spires... And also near Rory!

    Diane yelps and jumps back, barely dodging a stray lightning strike! "Ah! Mandy, be careful!"

    This time when Lyria jumps to the roof the wind elemental turns its head to her as well as Rory who joins them, then it zaps close and flies around her, lightning crackling around its arms.

    And then there's the saucers. They earn a curious look from the wind spirit before it points at the little robot and shoots lightning at it as well!

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    Mandy yelps and jumps back as the creature just starts throwing lightning around. "Okay now you're just being a jerk!" She huffs, and crosses her arms. "Although... Uh, Miss White! Do you still have the jar?!" She seems to have remembered what they were actually here for.

Hiei (772) has posed:
Hiei immediately goes rushing around behind the robot holding the jar just as lighting begins to strike, then tries to lightly kick said robot in -front- of the lightning. "Just so we can hurry up and get this over with. I can't risk you having slow eyes."

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason ends up flat on her face from her failed tackle but she was so close. She's also got a face full of roof hopefully Rory's able to make the play now as the blue haired and tattooed Levitani is going to be down for a few moments from that.

Rory White (673) has posed:
    OOOOH, LIGHTNING EVERYWHERE!

    Prime Rory thread is a bit distracted with the show, Secondary Rory thread that's controlling the case has a eureka moment. THIS IS HER CHANCE!

    Such is the perils of being able to multi-task your own thought process. So while the main body is gaping in awe and a bit of fear, the secondary one fearlessly controls the case over the wifi. it wobbles and stretches the jar up for the heavens -- and BZZZZZZZZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCHH!!!

    One of the bolts strikes.

    Beyond doing just whatever the jar is supposed to do, a point blank shot probably ain't doing her case any favors. The Morph throws sparks where there's some overflor and seizes up momentarily, but keeps a grip on the jar!

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    Lightning strikes all around them, but luckily it's not something on a major scale. Even as Hiei kicks the robot ahead of the group, it seems that it does help keep the spirit's focus on the strange metallic being. As lighting is attracted to metal, and it also holds the special bottle made to attract lightning, there's only one thing that can happen.

    The wind elemental's summoned lightning all goes for the bottle!

    It's a major shock. Literally. The force of all the combined strikes might even knock the poor thing back, lightning sizzling about, but it shouldn't be enough to cause permanent damage to the thing.

    The rumbling thunder seems to ease down a little, and the wind flies around the group some more, smiling widely even as the lightning eases up, tiny sparks crackling about its fingers and tail. Then without warning, it begins to dissolve. Just as the rain starts letting up, no longer pouring as heavy as it has done the last days.

    Down on the street, Diane looks rather surprised, not really sure what happened up on the rooftop. "Hey, you guys all right up there? What happened?"

Rose Petal (113) has posed:
    Mandy sighs a little bit as the rain seems to ease up. She puts out one hand, palm facing up, to gauge the raindrops, before pulling down her kitty-eared hood. "...Storm elementals are jerks," she declares, with a huff. "Can we go home now?"

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is busy pulling her self back up, shaking her head out a bit. She shake herrt long pony tial and head as she gets her footing again and calls out.

"Did we get it?"

Hiei (772) has posed:
Hiei suddenly returns to Mandy and Diane, grunting slightly in irritation. "The robot has the lightning. I'm escorting you back home." he says as he sheathes his sword back under his flowing cloth. "I have absolutely no interest in staying here any longer."

Rory White (673) has posed:
    "My name is Rory White!" BOTH robots turn to Hiei and speak in eerie sync. Then they both look at each other and make an awkward face.

    The kind of eerie face you can only make when being embarassed at yourself recursively.

    The Case has regained basic mobility though, and carefully cradles the jar in both arms after peering at it. "Unbelievable. That did really work!"

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    "Not even now when the weather is letting up?" Diane asks and rolls her eyes in typical teenager fashion at Hiei. Though indeed, she too is relieved that Mandy is okay. "Yeah, we're going back. With the essence of lightning." She does look at the others though, smiling just a bit. "Thank you. That went a bit smoother than expected." But then she pauses and outright stares at Hiei. "Wait... you didn't know it would work...?!" she demands.

Hiei (772) has posed:
"Of course I knew it would work. Unless the lightning wasn't magical, then I suppose she would have died. Oh well." Hiei shrugs his shoulders, then points at Rory. "The one with the jar, give it to her." he points to Diane now, to indicate which 'her' to give it to.

Pius Athanor (741) has posed:
    At this point Diane's fists are shaking, and she lets out an angry huff of air! "You... you are so intolerable!" she exclaims. Though she does walk over to Rory and the robot, ready to accept the bottle with the lightning inside.