The World

Myriad Reality

Apologizes if my prose is a bit off. I've just found out a close friend of mine was put in an acute care center for a minimum of 14 days, no I'm not going into that further, so it's kind of on my mind at the moment.

@ZAVAZggg

Momentai. I'm sorry to hear that; condolences. Don't worry about how you sound, it's fine. Feel free to take a break too if you need.

Myriad Reality

The Bleach OC for consideration. Gonna be playing it close to how the abilities are listed from the CYOA, as I don't know Bleach lore in-depth enough to deviate too far from the selections I've taken.

Also please disregard the second-person format, it was just more convenient to type.

Gundyn Vranair.

Finally, for those here who do know more concerning the lore, feel free to correct any mistakes I may make.

@Caldizar

I happen to love CYOAs too, went through like a year+ of doing them constantly, and occasionally still do.
Plus I know Bleach really well so I can help if you need any.

Secundi Lux

---

Crystal sat, once again silent after the last two joined, and ate. She was paying much less attention to her food than the other girls, which led to her wincing slightly when Selma clapped Chie on the back. However good natured, that must have hurt. Once Selma had finished talking, however...

"Aoife is right, though, Chie. Though I wouldn't base it on your survivability, it's still entirely possible that any number of us sitting here aren't actually cut out to be Ars Magi." She gestured around the room as she said this. "Just because we passed our first test doesn't make us invincible, and the mental side of things is the worst of it. If you have any doubts, now is the time to talk it over with professionals in the field of your concerns, trust me, you don't want to let it slide and have to deal with it later." Perhaps uncharacteristically talkative, but Crystal knew what a shaky mind could lead to. And in their case especially, she didn't want anything that could lead to further harm, or even death, to poke its head up.

She just finished eating when she finally parsed Selma's statement and smiled. "That's right. Though that makes me wonder... Have any of you been told anything further about that incident? I almost doubt that they'll inform us unless it just so happens that we go up against the same group as part of our duties. Even so, I'd hope they'd tell us if they learn more about those things."

With that, she popped in a piece of sugarfree gum. No special codeword or passphrase this time, just simple spearmint for after a meal to get any food flecks out of her teeth. She offered a piece to each of the other four girls as well.

---

'How did it feel to use your powers for the first time?'
"... As well as expected, I'd think. It felt freeing. It felt like I could handle whatever was thrown at me."

'Do you feel any different since your transformation?'
"No different, really. I do like the idea that I can go back into that state of freedom at will now, though."

'What are your thoughts about your encounter with the Void?'
"I think that it's a lot easier to deal with them as an Ars Magi than it would be otherwise."

'What are your thoughts on how your teammates preformed?'
There was a moment of silence as she thought about it. Finally, she grinned slightly. "They're fantastic."

𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔊𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬'𝔰 ℌ𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔊𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰 (In Memory of My Friend Queen)

So I was wondering, anyone wanna try to revive this or no?

@Dark Cloud

I figured we would just continue when Queen gets better and back online.

Secundi Lux

---

There was a burst of sparkling blue as Crystal's transformed state reverted to her natural one and Hiems seemed to melt away. Her right arm hurt a little, but it was practically nothing. Much more concerning was that she apparently had a predisposition towards letting herself hurt her limbs in such a way. Still, she could move it just fine and without much pain, so she was sure it would heal just fine.

"Chie, are you bleeding badly? And how are you feeling, Crystal?"

Crystal gave a thumbs up in response with one hand while the other dug into her pocket for a piece of raspberry gum. There was something about raspberry's flavor that lent itself well to post-workout, or post-battle in this case. With the password accepted, she felt the stress of combat melt away just as her Gladius had and turned to observe the new girls. First was 'Noel Nilsson,' the girl who had punched the Void, hard enough to send it flying a few feet, for that matter. Electric Elementum, from what she saw, which (fittingly enough) sparked a mild interest in the girl. But more than that was the other Ars Magi, this 'Aoife Sturmgaard.' Her name, her Elementum of water, her apparent proclivity towards a long-lasting candy, even her mannerisms and speech patterns... There was something that made it so that Crystal couldn't look away from the girl, observing her with a cold calmness to see what she did next.

That is, until the spell was broken and she processed what Rivka had said. Too slow? She was falling. And does that mean... Then, as if she was thinking backwards, other comments filtered into her mind. 'Drop in?' Crystal's eyelids half closed in what could best be described as a lack of being impressed by the pun. Again working backwards, she glanced at Chie. Theoretically the smaller ones we fought could have been a larger one instead. Perhaps it's best I don't mention that. she thought to herself. And finally...

"Sorry." She said quietly, almost too quiet to hear, to no-one in particular.

Advance on Distant Proxima (Mecha RPG)

@Krayzikk

Momentai~ That's all totally understandable, and at least you didn't just drop off the face of the earth (like I did because I didn't know what to post) or anything. I'm still willing to go on if that's alright.

Secundi Lux

---

Crystal did a quick headcount. It seemed that everyone was safe, Chie included, and she could now see the enemy as well as it appeared on the ground. As it stood there, everyone could see it form three more of the balls of power that put a hole in the tower. If those hit anyone, it was game over. And judging from what she saw when Selma had countered one, they were liable to explode on impact as well. Which meant...

Despite her history of training for battle, when it came down to her first real fight as an Ars Magi, the safest strategy slipped her mind. Not knowing exactly how to summon her elementum in such a way as to be useful at the moment, she instead rushed forward, heading directly towards the first projectile. She saw Chie's two chakram fly past her to hit two of the missiles as she ran. Crystal turned her body so that the ball was to her right and swung out with her Gladius, extending its reach with a rod of ice, striking it and causing it to explode long before it reached the others. Unfortunately, she was still within the blast radius and was sent flying back, skidding to a stop a short ways in front of the evacuees with a damaged right arm and some torn off skin from the slide.

This is getting to be a bad pattern. Crystal thought to herself as she pushed off with her left arm and leapt to her feet. It looked like two other Ars Magi had appeared, one riding a wave of water and another having punched the Void to the ground. Soon the water user tore through the Void's leg, and it appeared the Chie was holding the damn thing in place with her power.

"Attack it... while I've... got it locked up!"

Crystal looked up; the meteor that was Selma was still a few moments away, but Chie looked like she couldn't hold it for much longer. Instinct instead of strategy took over and Crystal's form blurred to those watching as she bolted towards the Void.

It took only an instant to reach it, the gravity around it holding it in place forcing Crystal to stop short, but she was well within range by now. The poor facsimile of life tried to attack, but it was too late. Hiems had already pierced its core, glittering particles of ice flowing in its wake. And if that didn't finish it off, well...

Crystal rolled out of the way of the incoming crash, pulling Hiems from the ice sculpture that was her foe, certain that the impact would finish what she started if it somehow survived her attack.

Secundi Lux

---

Crystal was knocked off her feet by the explosion, ending up against the wall opposite the newly formed hole. In the moment it took to regain her senses and her footing Rivka had already transformed and jumped off Selma's back to fight.

"Hey Crystal? You noticing a pattern here, or is it just me?"

Crystal gave a small smile to that, but quickly shifted her focus when Selma threw a large chunk of rubble out of the hole in the building. Which told her all she needed to know, that something was shooting at them from there. She transformed as well and took stock of the situation, walking up behind Selma to see what she saw. There was a Void there, yes, and Rivka on another building ready to shoot it. But what else? Chie seemed to be making her way back, and the officers who were with them in the room were down for the count, hopefully still alive. Crystal knew that she wouldn't be any help unless she got close, so instead she chose the other option, namely getting non-Ars Magi to safety. She picked up the nearest officer and slung them over her shoulders before shouting behind her.

"Cover me, Selma! I'm going to get these two out of here!"

She began her way down as quickly as she could before coming back up for the other officer.

"Selma, it might be more strategically viable for us to get out of here, but if you want to stay, I won't force you. I'm going to be at ground level with these two to keep them safe, so if you stay here, good luck."

Having said that, Crystal took the second officer down to the base of the tower as well. When she arrived, she carefully looked around the corner, but without the height the tower gave, she couldn't see the enemy. Still, she was on guard and ready to move if there was any movement from where she remembered the Void being.

𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔊𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬'𝔰 ℌ𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔊𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰 (In Memory of My Friend Queen)

@Dark Cloud
Truuuuuue

𝔚𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔊𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬'𝔰 ℌ𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔊𝔦𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔰 (In Memory of My Friend Queen)

@Dark Cloud
Yeah of course! I'm always up for whatever happens IC. So if you want to steer things towards it IC go for it and we'll see if it works out, since I'll just be playing Belle as she would be if she was real.