Plank Sinatra

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Nicole's breath left her lungs for a moment at the sight of the Void's savagery. It was strange - an airship crash, the screaming and gnashing of metal and wood around her, had left her serenely calm, and yet this...this...an airship crash sucked, but at least it was an act of God. This was something else.

Penny, no doubt similarly terrified beyond measure, charged right in without consulting any of them. Before Nicole could even call out for her to wait, the bespectacled girl ran in with a war cry to haymaker the Void with as much lightning and power as her little body could cook with. Dana was doing her thing on the guard, probably saving his life, which almost brought a smile to Nicole's face despite herself. Even Astrelle's snide, panicked barbs didn't quite touch the fuzzy feeling that Dana's act of altruism gave her...

...although it did make her roll her eyes a little.

“I’m so excited to be an Ars Magi. Wouldn’t it be so fun to be impaled by a Void like the poor guard? Unfortunately, my abilities aren’t suited for fighting. The most I can do is act as a guard dog for your backs, or I can go and try to find Victoria.”

Nicole tilted her head and smiled back.

"Well, you and me both. So why don't we both go ahead together? Maybe find Victoria, maybe find some answers, maybe die screaming. Your date, your call, babe."

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Maybe she should have asked one of the sailors if it was okay to invoke a doomed ship on a voyage, because when Laurus jolted underneath them, it reeked of such perfect ironic timing that Nicole wondered if she'd cursed them all.

She had never before felt the surface buckle underneath her the way that the ship did then, a sudden lurch that left her with the sick feeling of her organs having to catch up with their proper positions. She watched the other girls lose their footing one by one, heads and limbs slamming into the room that had been so comforting moments ago. Even with the ship's screams of protest overwhelming her ears, somehow she could make out the yelps and cries of pain from her fellow would-be students. Wait, would-be?

Is this it? We're not even gonna see the school? Fuck, dude.

Fuck, dude? The strange serenity of her reaction surprised her, even in the split second she could register it. She supposed that was who she was: Nicole Cognoscenti, queen of vibes, always going with the flow. Even at the end, her smile would be on the wind.

--and then the gods noticed her, and decided it was her turn to be tossed about.

The ship bucked again with a squeal of metal, and Nicole was launched off her feet, thrown in the same direction as the table she'd been snacking from minutes previously. One of the other girls hurtled past her, and Nicole reached for her hand out of desperate impulse - Astrelle's, maybe, or Dana's or even Vanna's - but the girl was gone before their fingers could do more than brush. The table had slammed into a wall, two of its wooden legs snapped off. It was a recipe for impalement; at best she would slam into the table face first, and after that any case she might have had for being the prettiest girl in the class would be dead in the water.

My smile is on the wind.

Nicole closed her eyes, let go of her body, and smiled.

She felt herself curl up into a ball and undergo a single, controlled somersault. When she had finished her rotation, her legs outstretched, and the tip of her boot bounced off the shrapnel-studded wooden surface as easily as it would have bounced off a trampoline. While she was in the air, the ship's uncontrolled fall into hell finally halted, and the girls began to haul themselves upright from whatever they'd grabbed onto or fallen against. Nicole, the lone girl still suspended in the air, was panting softly when she landed on her feet, but it was hard to wipe the goofy, exhilarated grin off her face. The whole thing, from initial turbulence to her graceful magic gymnastic routine, felt like the longest hour of Nicole's life.

It had only been six seconds.

She looked around to see if everyone was okay. Most of them looked sore, slightly ruffled up, but like they could handle themselves in what seemed like an imminent fight. Vanna was already giving out orders about as effectively as any veteran Wing of Justice, even though inside she must have been as taken aback as the rest of them. While she was talking, Nicole bent down to pick up her beret. She pouted slightly when she saw a couple condiment smears from one of the sandwiches, but pulled it back on, just facing in a different direction from the rest of the girls. Hopefully her hair was enough of a mess to distract from that kind of thing anyway, and besides, who was she going to be vain for? Vanna? Astrelle? The giant demon eye from the blackest flames of hell?

If that was her audience, she would rock her mayo beret with pride.

"Speaking of people, and uh, help, and all," she said, once she had collected enough breath and felt the tingles of her instinctive magical display fading from her extremities. "How far could the Wing of Justice have gotten? Hopefully she's not too beat up to pitch in, but either way, I kinda want a couple answers. 'Cause I'm feeling a little screwed right about now. Anyone else feel like she definitely knew we were getting perved on by that giant eye? Not just me, right?

The Zephyr Extinct

I R I S

Shit. Oh shit.

"Get to Archer," she ordered urgently, pulling away from Cedar. "Tell her about the ring, tell her, uhh, I'll bring it back with me. That--"

She jerked her hand up to the rooftop the guy had landed on. The confluence of healer's robes around this initial assignment today can't have been a coincidence. The sky over Rig was growing murkier; the storm she had scouted out was growing closer, and she could tell it was connected to this corpse, and to the orange robes she'd seen standing out amidst orange flames. They almost burnt that girl up there.

Determined, Iris' brow set beneath her ornate mask.

"I gotta handle that," she said. With the easy grace of the city's high-fliers, and with a speed and agility that belied her size, the big girl leapt from alley to vine and began clambering up the side of the spice shop. If she hurried, she could keep track of him. He was wearing a pretty big target, after all.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Nicole grinned at Penny's enthusiasm. She guessed that if her image of Hasta came from what she was able to see on the Web, it was understandable how it would seem like paradise. Hell, it was paradise. Coming where she'd come from, more privileged than most but not as well-off as some, it was hard not to feel almost...almost like she was living within a snow globe. Just an everyday girl going about her life beneath lights that were always perfect, and so never felt the need to change.

"It is pretty cool," she agreed, winking at the other girl. "But not exactly like what you might see online. The reality is that heritage buildings like that, especially ones that survived from the old days, require some real upkeep, even in this day and age. Even people who live there can't always visit. Lotta magitech goes into keeping them functioning, and there's always some support or observation deck that needs restoring every year. But yeah, prrr-etty cool. Romantic, if you ever get the chance."

Here she was, giving out romantic advice like some kind of wise older sister, when the best she could do was bump knuckles with a boy she'd loved since elementary school. Romantic. Yeah. So you can do your best Eradicator impersonation and shoot finger guns at a boy when he's saying goodbye. It's basically a frickin' proposal...

"It's definitely the City of Lights, too. I think it's prettiest in the rain, when you can see everything in the city fizzle. Not so great if you like to stargaze, but I never really minded. You should stick with Hasta, though," she advised knowingly. "You'll sound like a real tourist if you call it Paris, though."

The Zephyr Extinct

Post will be up tonight or tomorrow!

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Yikes. I guess people aren't into goth girls because they're chatty, right?

Nicole let it be for now, half because she was trying to decide whether or not she dug Astrelle's vibes, too, and half because she was currently wondering whether invoking the name of a crashed airship onboard one currently in flight was, itself, a case of bad vibes. She gulped down the nibble of sandwich she was working on - just in case they were really crashing, so she wouldn't have to die with food in her mouth like a slob - and, when the turbulence settled itself, took a bite of another. In the absence of the Wing of Justice, the girls started to talk to themselves about daytime cartoons and their families, in the same breath.

It was interesting hearing everyone's backgrounds and perspectives. They were all so alien to Nicole. The vibe philosopher finally set down her sandwich and chimed in, a little sheepishly.

"I guess I'm the weirdo," she explained. "I was an only child, and uh..." She looked around, especially between Penny and Dana. "I don't really know what you're talking about with Alexis and Glenda or whoever. I'm an Eradicator II: See You in Hell kinda girl."

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Nicole giggled too, sitting up straighter and kicking both her legs up over the armrest of her chair. She decided to try and enjoy her sandwich a little bit, since she wasn't sure when they would get to eat again upon arrival. Her stomach fluttered between bites, though, and she already knew she would be unable to finish even half. In the relative solitude of her cabin, between thoughts of excelling in school and dropping the ball on kisses, focusing on the occasional pangs of hunger had kept her grounded. But now she was here, and he excitement of it all - new classmates, new cities, a complete shift in the course of her life - had pretty much killed those cravings. Instead, she settled for breaking off little pieces of focaccia and nibbling on them while Astrelle spoke.

"Two years ago," she responded in the affirmative. "My parents and I went as a reward for, uh..."

She snapped her fingers, still trying to remember. So much of her childhood revolved around one good cause or another. They were all worthwile, but each demanded its own energy from her parents, and each had involved Nicole in whatever small way she could. The scope compounded; sometimes it could grow exhausting juggling it all, and that was for her as a kid, handing out stickers or selling chocolate bars or whatever. She knew it had to be worse for her folks. So by the time she had discovered her magical potential...well, that just meant she had to find the energy somewhere.

"Some benefit or another. I think it was, like, funds for the Castor families?" Now that she thought about it, that sounded right. Castor had been an airship that had disappeared around that time, carrying some minor dignitaries amidst a flock of innocent civilians. Since the brunt were from Valentia, multiple benefactors from her sister city had gone about raising funds as relief for victims' families, the Cognoscenti family among them. Riiiight. "We spent about a week. I spent a lot of the time with my parents or at the arcades, but I managed to sneak into a club or two and hear some music between all the speeches." She grinned playfully.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Nicole watched the other four girls introduce themselves, each of them getting a big smile and a cocked head to denote varying interest levels. Penny and Dana seemed like sweet girls, a pair of chatterboxes that reminded her of the kids in her neighborhood back in Hasta. Children had always sensed something about Nicole that she herself was ignorant of, and had tagged along with her in the hopes that she would invent an adventure for them to go on. When she was twelve or thirteen, it used to bother her more. After she discovered her magical potential, though, she found it more exciting. Children were super-spreaders when it came to adventure and fun, and Nicole had found herself easily infected by their zeal. Penny and Dana seemed like two such fun-loving girls, and Nicole was sure they would be friends in no time.

On the other hand, she definitely wouldn't need Victoria Glass' help to point out the nobles. They were both gorgeous, and completely at odds - light and dark, both seeming to want nothing to do with the other. Vanna's lineage would be familiar to almost anyone alive. She had never seen a member of the Duodecim this close before, and Nicole would be insane not to be a little bit starstruck. But Vanna seemed down-to-earth enough for a member of one of the planet's most celebrated, powerful families. Maybe it was a 'second daughter, not an immediate heiress' kinda thing. Secure the bag and forge your own path, that sounded good.

The other girl, Astrelle, was the only one who hadn't called out where she hailed from, but if Victoria's words to her hadn't clued Nicole in the Lennox daughter's accent definitely would. Her eyes brightened when she realized there was a girl who was (in a global sense, anyway) just down the road from her onboard. It would be nice to have someone else who had some idea of things she was talking about, if she ever talked about home. She waved her fingers at the other Venusian, with her cheek still balanced on her knee, and shot her a big, friendly grin.

"Hey," she said good-naturedly, lifting her cheek up to balance her chin on her crooked knee again. She wrapped both hands around her right ankle after she was done with her greeting wave, rocking back and forth slightly. "I know who you are - well, like, your family, at least. How often do you make it over to Hasta?"

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

---

Flight. Real flight. It was hard not to be enraptured by the sensation.

She had been on an airship once before in her life. Gullfaxi. It was a name she would probably always remember, like she remembered her mom's name or the street she had grown up on, one name among many that were integral to the young woman she had become. She and her parents had taken Gullfaxi from Hasta to Valentia as part of a delegation on a charity drive. Her parents had been involved in so many over the years it was hard for her to remember what they had been campaigning for, but whatever it was they had pummeled their own prior fundraising efforts and were rewarded with a trip from one end of Venus to the other via the skies. The ship had been overcrowded and noisy, buzzing with activity, and occasionally the ship's speakers had erupted with feedback-laced instructions or unhelpful points of interest about the two Sanctum Cities their voyage would take them through. Nicole had loved it. She had also reconciled herself to the journey being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So chalk up the current voyage as another reason to be stoked beyond measure about the whirlwind path her life had taken over the last few years.

Still, she would miss Hasta. From her secluded cabin on Laurus' port side, with its token little viewport above the bunk, she could see bands of rain so fleeting that she could still count the individual drops on the glass. It made her think of home, of how the rain would pour and pour, kissing the city's famed magitech lights until each light source was framed by its own halo. At night, during storms, all those lights seemed to meld into one ethereal jewel. Many a couple had been minted under the glow of Hasta's lights in the rain. Nicole was a sucker for that crap. In her last month at home - whenever her parents weren't smothering her in joyful tears and hugs, anyway - she had resolved to kiss a boy from her neighborhood under those lights. She'd been planning it in her head since childhood, down to the second, and with her future uncertain she decided this was her last, best chance to let him know how she felt. So four nights ago, the last time it had rained in Hasta, she went out for a sandwich and a pastry with her childhood sweetheart, and there, under the lights and the pouring rain--

Nicole Cognoscenti, future Ars Magi and champion of humanity, freaked out and fist bumped him.

Fist. Bumped. You frickin' loser.

She had spent the four days since in a fugue state, stuck between wonder and horror at her two divergent situations - at her future at Nova Lux, learning alongside other girls like her, and disbelief that a spineless loser such as her hadn't just melted into a puddle and fled down a storm drain in shame. She had been replaying the moment in her head for all four of those days, and here, in the solitude of her cabin, she was replaying it now. Her mother's reaction had only made it worse. She could still see the look on her mom's face fall from glee to sympathy to stifling laughs at Nicole's pathetic justifications ("Hey, a fist bump is...basically knuckles kissing, right?") for her cowardice. Her own mother knew what a simp she was. As much as she loved Hasta, she knew there was no staying after that.

She was thankful for the knock at her cabin door, pulling her from her thoughts.

When she, and a small assortment of other girls, had assembled in one of the larger cabins, she took a minute to look them all over with an excited little grin. She leaned onto one of her bare legs, knee drawn up underneath her chin while the other stretched out, and took a sandwich half. At a glance, it looked like she'd taken ham. She took a couple halfhearted nibbles, but most of her attention was on the gorgeous woman before them. A real Wing of Justice, tall and graceful and offering guidance. She had never imagined herself cut out for anything like this, so when she left the offer open for questions from the floor, a quiet lull settled over the recruits. Nicole wondered if they were all as awestruck as her, but given the noble bearing of a couple of her fellow girls, she doubted it. It seemed like everyone was just waiting for someone to break the ice. Only the next bands of the storm filled the silence of the cabin.

Leave it to Nicole Cognoscenti to...well, if not seize the moment, fist bump the hell out of it.

"Hey, guys," she said amiably, lowering her sandwich from her mouth and stretching her other leg out. They crossed at the ankle, and she gave a little wave in the direction of a couple of the girls. "My name's Nicole Cognoscenti, out of Hasta. So if any of you want a line on next season's fashions or anything, as long as it doesn't break my bank we can go shopping for them together. Che fai? I hope we can all be friends soon."

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

Nicole

The Mundane

Name: Nicole Cognoscenti

Age: 17

Sanctum City: Hasta

Description: Nicole is a girl of average height, a slender build, and irrepressible good cheer to cram inside it. Blue-eyed and always grinning, her sharp features are framed by scarlet hair, cut fashionably to the bottom of her neck with bangs that occasionally fall into her eyes.

Hasta is one of the world's most fashionable Sanctum Cities, with all but its poorest denizens dressed beautifully in casual, flowing fashions and bright colors. Nicole is no exception, although she does her best to dress fashionably casual. Whether oversized hoodies or cropped tops, tight jeans or her school uniform's skirt, one of her only sartorial mainstays is the peach colored tassel scarf she's almost always thrown haphazardly around her neck. Sometimes she'll top her head in a cute little beret.

Nicole

Personality: A laid-back and cheerful girl who always tries her best at everything. Nicole may not be the most zealous fighter or the most charismatic presence, but she's a stabilizing force among what may otherwise be a chaotic ensemble of students. She exudes a quiet calm about most things, a playful energy often expelled through practical jokes, and a willingness to laugh at herself and others. She's grown up into a fairly privileged life and tries to keep that knowledge in the back of her mind, so it allows her some measure of empathy for other girls who may not have had it as easy as she did. It makes her a solid, unifying presence among friend groups and just a generally good time to be around.

Though she plays it close to the chest, Nicole is a deeply idealistic, romantic girl, with notions of true love and eternal good vibes that she tries not to espouse too often. She has a headful of dreams about some kind of nebulous "better life," although what that life would be like and how it would be an improvement over her own free-flowing existence is something she hasn't quite figured out.

Background: Nicole was born among the upper middle class of the beautiful, fashionable, (sort of) sunny Sanctum City of Hasta. One of the cultural capitals of the world, her childhood was cosmopolitan and largely peaceful, with a large pool of friends across all walks of life. Her parents did what they could to shelter her through much of her childhood, but they were politically active people, often taking up the causes of the downtrodden and unfortunate who were unable to share in Hasta's joys. Eventually, as she grew older, Nicole came to share their passion for altruism.

For a time, like most girls, she dreamed that she was a secret princess - some long-lost member of a Duodecim family, someone who could achieve great heights and make a difference in a scary world. Eventually, she had given up on that dream and resolved to make change in meaningful, realistic ways somehow. It was realizing her magical potential at the age of thirteen that helped give her a sense of wonder again, made her dream of stopping Voids and serving as a paragon for all the world's helpless - someone with the power to make people listen.

Having decided her dream was worth pursuing once again, in a decidedly more fantastical direction this time, Nicole applied to Nova Lux Academy with stars in her eyes, and was overjoyed to be accepted.

---

The Magic

Armgaus Name: Twinkling Scarlet Emerald

Gladius:
Vedfolnir
A blued steel sabre balanced to Nicole's hand, with a small, polished chunk of red beryl at the hilt. Its size belies the potential reach of the blade, as combined with her Elementum Nicole's slashes can seem to extend three times longer than the length of the blade would suggest.

Parma: Nicole's eyes and hair glow a brighter orange, her skin begins to twinkle slightly, and she wears an all-white ensemble of her normal beret, a midriff baring top and shorts, with thigh high boots and a holster.

Super Nicole

Elementum: Wind

Elementum Abilities: In keeping with her elementum and her own breezy personality, Nicole has a great degree of agility and levity, often joking that she can dodge any attack thrown at her as long as she's not feeling lazy. It may not be an entirely empty boast; though not a particular powerhouse, her agility makes her a capable duelist with her sabre. She can also use her ability to make great leaps, bordering on sustained flight if she can keep her concentration - although doing so obviously limits her effectiveness in combat.