Test Drive #1

[magicademymods]

Test Drive #1



The Airship There

By carriage or coach, spellwagon or ship, perhaps even on the wings of magic, the Sundered heed the call to gather at the Tenzin High Dock of Vulbaria. On this, the appointed day, a great passenger airship sits in the dock, the seals of the six Houses fluttering from flagpoles along her length and her wooden planks atremble as if it is eager to be off. At last, the gangplank descends, and the Hand of Diatu opens her doors to the Sundered so they can take their first step on the path towards protection and salvation.

Inside, you may choose from long comfortable couches, broad circular tables surrounded by straight-backed, cushioned chairs, or viewing seats at the glass front of the ship. Sundered who need special accommodations are quickly provided for, ensuring everyone travels in comfort. Trays drift through the air periodically, offering snacks and drinks to the passengers.

This may be the first chance you've had to truly relax since being swept to this strange world. Certainly it is the first chance you've had to meet your fellow Sundered. As the airship lifts gracefully off from the High Dock, your journey to Diatu begins. Excited? Nervous? Simply angry? Or perhaps searching among the crowd here for a familiar face or some sign of hope?

Rain, Rain...

Welcome to Diatu Magicademy. It's raining.

Seriously raining. One of those downpours that feels like a curtain has dropped on you, that soaks to the bone within a second of stepping into it. Obviously, this won't do, and a civic-minded cluster of Purifeul students has taken it upon themselves to solve this problem. No sooner do you step through the gates then you practically run into a giant and complex runic diagram being drawn out with long staffs by several students, all of them speaking seeming nonsense about derivatives, limits, and equations. Magic! In action right before your eyes!

And yet, just as their mathemagics wind towards the center of the diagram and they all make their final stroke -- one student slashes his line off on a weird tangent, speaking an equation that sounds nothing at all like what his fellows utter. The spell completes... weirdly, as the students look in horror at each other. The temperature abruptly drops seventy degrees, and a cold wind begins to blow.

Welcome to Diatu Magicademy. Please get out of the blizzard before you freeze.

Thaumaturgy 101

After some fifteen minutes of grumbling from Professor Loshakle, followed by half an hour of theory and basics, the grouchy old man finally gets to drawing a magical symbol on the board. "This is straight out of Fundamental Principles of Wizarding," he says, writing Sense Magic next to the symbol. "As is everything you'll learn here. I'll emphasize yet again, you MUST know the name of the spell and the proper gestures. You can't simply wave your wand in any old pattern and say any old words. That isn't how it works," he says, glaring around the class as if daring someone to question him.

But he gives no one the opportunity, instead producing a wand and making the gesture to trace the symbol he'd drawn in midair. "Sense Magic," he intones, and the air and his wand both shimmer.

"Now. You all try." Just like that. What the Professor doesn't mention is that this spell can produce some very interesting results if the symbol is off, or the timing...

Bala-inlota Practice

Bala-inlota is the main interaction the Magicademies have with each other -- the sport of wizards! Two teams take the field, with the goal of heaving a ball through their opponent's hoop. The rules primarily revolve around not inflicting lethal injury, because bala-inlota is a free-for-all at best, where each team relies on both physical and magical might to win the day.

You kind of wish someone had told you this BEFORE you got hauled onto the field so the coach could see if you've got what it takes.

Now half a dozen players are charging down the field at your ragtag group of semi-willing recruits, while another half-dozen are preparing spells that you've been absolutely assured aren't as nasty as the ones deployed in actual play. On your side: the ball, your wits, your physical ability, and maybe three classes's worth of magical education.

On the upside, magic is pretty good at healing.

Comments

[revidolize]

Saix...? Is that a person's name? Sakura becomes a bit lost and wonders if she did misinterpret somehow, but... Seeing this girl here like this, she does indeed resemble a broken mirror— one that reflects Sakura's current state. Even with her own misfortunes, there's still her core that longs to be a better person, and she wants to help. Her own worries become background noise to this girl's plight, and she feels energy welling up within her as she gets on her knees and slams her hands on the ground, closing the distance to this stranger.

"You can't say that about yourself!" she yells, partially at herself. "I— I always felt the same way! No matter what, nothing was going to go right as long as I was around! I thought I'd done it again... and maybe I did. But—! You have value! You have what it takes!"

And she remembers the precious words that rekindled this flame inside of her before her arrival here... How could she let them go so easily again? She's found her footing quicker this time, but... She looks as directly towards the hooded girl as she can and shouts.

"Even if you feel like you don't, I'll have it for you!!"

[nobodys_puppet]

"I am only saying what I was told," she said, softly, "by the ones who made me. But I was a failure. Useless to them. As for feelings..."

She took another breath, hand closing more tightly in her pocket. "Don't you need a heart to feel?" She tilted her head to look at the other girl. "My only value is in returning to Sora. Where I belong."

[revidolize]

She says a slough of things that are beyond Sakura's comprehension, but the important parts hit her hard. Being told such things by... her parents? That's way worse than the harsh things Sakura has been telling herself. At least she's had people who were understanding and didn't fault her for it, even though she accepted full responsibility.

And not having a heart? She's feeling all of this pain right now, so how could any of that be true?

Furthermore, though, her attempts to cheer her up prove to be useless. It looks like she can't just parrot someone else's words that were meaningful to her and expect it to have the same results without the proper context... This girl must have them, too. Words that she desperately needs to hear. Sakura wonders what they might be. She doesn't know, but she can't just leave her like this.

"That's awful, saying those things to you..." she says sympathetically. "I understand how much those feelings can hurt, how hopeless you can feel. But, you know— It isn't over yet. It isn't over until you decide it is! Don't let someone else tell you what your value is! Show them what it is yourself!"

[nobodys_puppet]

"I can't feel," she said with a small shrug. That lie had been driven into them so hard that she could not see the truth. "And it is over. It has to be. I did what I was supposed to do, to undo the damage of my life. Namine erased me from everyone's minds, and then Roxas killed me. I was fading away, I thought I was returning to Sora. Apparently I cannot even cease to be, correctly."

[revidolize]

She understands. She understands each emotion so well— feels it so deeply within her own heart. The futility of it all, and the overwhelming numbness that comes from accepting that you can't fight against an unfair destiny. Sakura clutches at her chest, remembering each time she's felt so helpless.

"I'm the same," she reminds her. "Even when I should have died, I somehow became a zombie instead... But! Because I was able to go on, even in this form, I met new people who changed my life— who changed me."

She stands up now, tall and proud as she proclaims these words for the both of them to hear. That's right... She was able to change, even if just a little! If she works at it, bad things might continue to happen, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world!

Manners... Manners are so important! Isn't that what her manager is always saying?

"I'm Sakura Minamoto!" she shouts suddenly, clearly putting all of her strength into it. "Good morning!!!"

... It may or may not be morning.

Working on her app, I realized she knows the word zombie, at least a little. Whoops.

[nobodys_puppet]

A faint memory. Roxas after the first time he was in a coma. Saying he felt like a zombie. She had laughed a little, at the time. Hard to remember what that was like. Laughing. But Roxas had been someone, once. He had been Sora... hadn't he? Hadn't they all been Somebodies? All of them except for her? Was that what she meant by dying? Was that just her verifying she was like Axel and Roxas?

"Sakura.... Minamoto?" What an odd name, having a gap in it like that. Her head tilted. "What is your number?" If she was a Nobody... she would be part of the Organization, right? Maybe that was why she had noticed Xion. But what was she doing in those odd clothes, then?

oops! oh well lol :) good luck on the app!

[revidolize]

Well, she responded! Sakura's face already lights up, happy to see that her persistence might be paying off, after all... Of course, she's still worried about her bad luck problem, but it doesn't seem like she has a chance of making things any worse for this girl...

But that questions she asks— It might confuse anyone else, but the members of Sakura's idol group happen to go by numbers in order to disguise that they are zombies. So does that mean... She knows her idol group? Is she from Saga as well?

"I— I'm Number 1!" she proclaims proudly, though still a hint of flustered hesitation in her voice. "Do you know Franchouchou?"

Ty, and no worries about the edits. Sorry for the delay, am now at dad's so should be faster.

[nobodys_puppet]

"Number One?" she asked, confused and more than a little afraid. "Xe.... Xemnas?" She tried to pull away further, to vanish into the wall. This girl was Xemnas somehow? Was he... she.... they? was Number I about to destroy her? Was this all some sort of game?

Np!! sorry for my own delay!

[revidolize]

She doesn't register "Xemnas" as anything, since it's out of her familiarity. However, she does indeed notice the immediate discomfort her announcement has made the girl. No, more than that, she's downright afraid. Did she not really look at Sakura's face before? It's true that when acting as Number 1, she wears makeup to look like a living human. Her real face is rather frightening, and perhaps she ought to remember that, though it stings a little to be treated with such fear.

"Sorry... I know I look terrifying," she apologizes, giving the girl proper space so as to not appear threatening. "I'm a zombie, so that can't be helped, but... I promise I'm not anyone scary."

No worries. App posted. Terrified. Also that is totally a roman numeral one not an I at the end.

[nobodys_puppet]

"What?" she asked confused and startled. She swallowed, still pressed into the wall behind her. "You...." This couldn't be Xemnas. Couldn't be. But then.. what was going on here? "Number one, Xemnas. After Kingdom Hearts," she said, her voice hollow, as if repeating a fact to avoid the reality. Mostly she was trying to see how this person reacted. Was it possible that this wasn't Xemnas in disguise? But who else would call themself I?"

sorry this is so late!

[revidolize]

The girl starts saying some incomprehensible things, but it's clear that she is indeed terrified. Sakura slinks back a little, knowing that she can't do anything to change her appearance and likely the girl's opinion of her based on that. She wants to help... She honestly just wants to help, so why is it turning out like this? Should she leave her be? But she clearly needs... someone, anyone.

Anyone but her, maybe.

"Sorry..." she apologizes yet again. "If you really want, I'll leave you alone. But if there's anything I can do for you, all you have to do is ask! Okay...?"

No worries. Are we moving this forward into the game, or redoing their meeting?

[nobodys_puppet]

Xemnas... wouldn't make that kind of an offer. This was going too far for a trick. Wasn't it? "It... is better if everyone leaves me alone..." she said finally. "And forgets that they met me."

Trick or not, whoever this was... was offering to leave. Xion couldn't allow anyone to have memories of her, or else this was all pointless.