AlteredTundra

World Beyond the Lexicon

@Matsuri Caelum is turning out to be quite the fake bitch when it comes to Alberta and I'm loving every minute of it.

World Beyond the Lexicon

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Location || Genelogia Train Station • Interactions || @Matsuri

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Caelum was wide awake and fully alert despite how early he woke up this morning and especially because he was the first one of the four of them that shared a single dorm. Being a morning person was one of the few strengths he felt he had and being able to consistently spring up even before the sun finished rising was a feat not to take lightly. The benefits of it meant he could enjoy the scenery, which he did. The downside, obviously, was that he didn’t get to enjoy breakfast with his roommates (if they did) but it warmed his soul like a toasty summer day with the refreshing tip of a cool apple on his lips to see they made it on time.

The same couldn’t be said for a few others.

“Sekhandur, Kress, and Alberta,” Caelum muttered as Nyx inquired about their whereabouts. He looked around for them and spotted neither of them.

Oh wait, there’s one.

Caelum turned his head to see the dark-haired boy arrive. He was always so flashy in how he dressed. Of course, maybe that’s what made him stand out. It was something Caelum had grown to anticipate with glee whenever Han’s name was mentioned. Han was what he called him. It was easier than trying to pronounce his full name. Han was a good guy even if he came off a little strong. The way he held himself was what Caelum liked about him. He had no shame and he found that appealing.

As for Alberta, whether it was just the right time, right place, or her ability to do what she needed to do at the last second, despite how terrible she’s been to him for the past two weeks, Caelum exhaled a surprisingly noticeable chuckle when Alberta came panting in. “Glad you could join is, Bert!” Caelum gave her a wave, caring not for how obvious it was that he did it with the intent to rub it in her face. “I hope you slept well, Queen of Thorns!”

Meadow University

_{a @metanoia & @neoaj collaboration
featuring Joey | Jade}
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

The laptop sat on the desk, silent save for the low hum of the cooling fan. The screen was mostly white, save for the black words at the document being stared at by the room’s lone occupant. That was one of the perks of being a star athlete. There was no sharing with anyone if you didn’t want to, and Jade Scott preferred her privacy.

She certainly preferred it this past week. It was impossible to ignore the energy that had been sucked out of the sorority in the last week or so with Lottie’s abrupt departure from the room across from her. She didn’t even say goodbye to anyone. By Monday evening she was gone, off to who knows where? Probably shacking up with that gravy-blooded skate licker. Good riddance, then. Joey deserved better anyway.

Of course, Jade didn’t know what state Joey was in either. They hadn’t really spoken since the incident happened. Jade didn’t want to push the attack on anything, especially since there was a slight possibility that she might be to blame for that fractured relationship. Instead, the Golden Girl focused on her studies. Since the university head honcho still hadn’t rescinded their bogus probation ruling, she figured she might as well actually try for some As while she was here. It’s why she was pouring over her notes from Kinesiology 303 with a bit more concentration than usual.

That is until there was a loud knocking on her door.

Did I remember to lock that before I came in here…

The answer to that question was no, as Joey freaking Hart herself confirmed that no, it was not locked. She burst into the room with a verve that had been missing from the building the entire week. “Jade!!” The pixie plunked herself on Jade’s relatively luxurious queen-sized bed. At least it was by general university standards. Certainly by the tiny twin that Jade slept on as a freshman. “We should go out clubbing tonight!”

Jade turned and raised a Spockian eyebrow. Where did Joey find all this energy all of a sudden? She glanced over at the clock that rested by her bed. Well, I guess it is a Friday. Makes sense that she would be finally letting herself indulge a bit. It’s nice to see her so active again. But clubbing…

As one of Meadow University’s elite athletes and a budding star on the verge of the USWNT, Miss Scott had to be careful when she went out and indulged. There had been a few careers derailed by some select photographs of starlets in various states of inebriation. It’s why Jade was more than happy to let herself go at the bash. No paparazzi. Or at least she thought until that video was shared to the masses. Still though, she liked those chances to let loose. Plus, this entire week sucked. Studying isn’t for this earlier in the term!

She leaned forward and folded her hands, resting her head on top of them. “Clubbing, you say? Well, I think I could be convinced to go out tonight. I mean, I do have practice tomorrow at one, but hell, that will give us more than enough time to do some things, right? Although… I think I’ll probably need to fuel up here before we go out…”

A hyperactive Joey cheered from where she laid on Jade’s bed, widely smiling at the girl. “Perfect!” Her voice cracked slightly, oozing positivity. Like the distraction prone pixie she was, Joey hopped off Jade’s bed and made an immediate beeline for her closet. “We should see what you have to wear,” she said, opening the small closet to see Jade’s selection of apparel. She quickly paused and turned around, glancing at Jade “I mean, we have to look hot, don’t we?” She winked at her, giggling.

As much as Jade recoiled at the thought of someone going through all her stuff, it was nice to see Joey acting more like herself again. Maybe that meant she was turning the corner on the whole Lottie situation. Granted, Jade would have expected it to take a little more than a few days if that was the case. It was hard to tell with Joey where her head was at sometimes.

Maybe that’s what made her so exciting. The inability to anticipate what was going to happen next.

Jade let the neon girl do her thing, but gave her a fair warning. “I haven’t been out shopping in a little bit so I don’t know just how on trend I’ll be, but you know looking hot won’t be a problem for a couple girls like us!”

Joey smiled, giving Jade a quick glance up and down. “Oh you know it, girl!” She grinned, humming thoughtfully. “You know what? Yes, I think this could work.”

She walked forward, grabbing Jade by the wrist. Despite Joey’s smaller frame, she was able to successfully grab a doubtless, temporarily noisy Jade as she tugged at the taller girl’s arm with her across the hall to her room. Immediately after, Joey rushed to her own closet. It was the same size as Jade's but outstandingly different in the variety of what joey had to choose from. She was always experimenting with styles and colors. Different leggings with tops that might reveal too much.

As she frantically tore the closet apart, a pile of clothes gathering on a section of the floor a few feet behind her, Joey was muttering to herself. On a dime, she stopped and turned around, seeing Jade just looking at her. “Do you think you’re more glossy or casual sexy? Or maybe full on Dirty Christina Aguilera?” She mused. Joey’s mind was usually all over the place, but even though it might appear she had gone crazy, fashion was extremely near and dear to her heart and, well, if they truly were going to go clubbing tonight, it was important to Joey that they do it right. It was 2019, after all. Nobody needed to apologize for being a little extra. “Or perhaps short skirts and low cut blouses?”

Jade did indeed object to the rough treatment she received as she was yanked out of her chair, and out of her room. But as she ventured into the formerly-shared room of Joey Hart, she couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer volume of options that were at her disposal for the evening ahead. It made sense, given Joey seemed to live and breathe fashion whereas Jade was more than happy to rock a track suit if the situation wasn’t any classier than homecoming. Joey’s options seemed limitless, whereas Jade would have been stuck with the same two choices: the black dress, or the kinda grey but still black dress.

Joey seemed to have some ideas anyway, and while Jade fondly remembered the music video in question, she doubted that she had the ability to truly embody Miss Aguilera’s all-out, fuck-you mentality when it came to the outfit in that video. “Probably more casual sexy. I don’t know if I can give everything away up front,” she finally answered. “But, if I’m being honest, it’s not like I really had to try to be sexy to attract people. Most people just figure I’m a famous athlete and all and they just try to come right up to me. Which, I mean, given almost all of the people who do that are males, it’s just funny.”

“Funny how?” Joey asked, curious. “I mean, did you have any boyfriends at all?”

Jade shook her head. “Nope. Never had a boyfriend,” she confirmed. “I was always super focused on soccer when I was a kid, so I wasn’t really dating. Even then, my dad would have scared most high-school boys off pretty quick. Then here… I don’t know. Not a lot of guys I’d be interested in. Besides, I learned pretty quickly the company I prefer.”

It was a little bit of a reckoning for herself, but it was true. Jade just didn’t see it happening. There were so many strong women in her life she could look up to, and they seemed very happy in the company of other women. It made sense. Besides, guys couldn’t do what Joey was doing right now. “What about that top?” she asked as she pointed to the red spaghetti-strapped garment still hanging in the closet.

An audible “a-ha” noise left Joey’s lips, redirecting her attention on the closet and the top that Jade suggested. She quickly grabbed the hanger and ran over to Jade, pressing it against the girl’s body to see how it looked. “Yes that’s perfect!” Joey nodded, approving of Jade’s choice in tops. “Low cut enough but not too much. It’ll compliment your natural caramel tone!”

Already the Pixie’s mind began churning ideas for a skirt. She didn’t know if Jade was the type of gal to wear skirts at clubs, but with her legs, it would be a crime to not showcase them. “And for the bottoms...” She handed Jade the red top to hold as she sprinted back to her closet, sliding over a third of the hangers over until she grabbed a clipped hanger with a black, leather skirt.

As she stopped in front of Jade, she smiled, leaning down on her knees and placing it firmly at Jade’s waist, somewhat smirking as the bottom of the leather skirt ended about an inch past her mid-thigh.. “This is too hot not to wear. And with how great your hair will be after I’m done with it, you’re going to be a stunner, Jade!”

Jade looked at the skirt that her sorority sister selected and one, was stunned that Joey would have something like this in her arsenal, and two, thought it was a brilliant choice. There was no doubt that the skirt was made to show off her best feature, which was her legs. Years of training had made them finely sculpted pieces of art, although she never bothered to put them on display quite like this before. But it would work, right? Joey was a trendsetter, the style guru. She had to know this was the right choice.

She took the chosen clothes in hand but did a double take when Joey mentioned the next step. “Hair? What do you want to do to my hair?”

Joey stared up at Jade for a few seconds, smiling. “Oh, nothing big!” She promised, standing up. Jade was a few inches taller than her. She ran her hands through Jade’s silky hair. “Just going to give it a proper wash, spray it, dry it, and style it.” She immediately saw how wary Jade was and again tried to assure her. “Relax, Jadey! Remember, this is my specialty.” She lifted herself up to her tippy toes to give Jade a quick kiss on the cheek. “Leave it to me and I’ll make damn sure we’re smokin’ hot from head to heel!”

It was hard not to trust Joey in this instance. Again, she was well tuned into the modern looks, something Jade didn’t bother with at all. Plus… it was hard not to think it was cute the way she was fawning over her. Just the lift of the toes to run her fingers through Jade’s hair. The little peck on the cheek. That confidence that she only saw fall for that brief moment in time by the lake. It was endearing to be sure. What was Lottie thinking?

Jade flashed that megawatt smile of hers and nodded. “OK. I trust you 100 percent, JoJo. Let’s get ready for the club!”

Whenever she heard anyone call her JoJo, it obviously opened up a fresh wound. Lottie always called Joey her amazing JoJo as though she was an enigmatic act about to wow and astonish a crowd. And, of course, she knew it because Joey herself was always so lively and full of contagious energy. But what clicked in her mind was a moment of sadness, a moment of loneliness that was too fresh for her own liking, but she shut that out. She hurt when called that name but Jade wouldn’t see it. Even if she had to bury it as deep as the Grand Canyon, she would and put on a smile.

At least, once she found something else--or someone else-- to focus on, she knew it wouldn’t be difficult. “Yeah. There’s a lot of work to do for the both of us!”

World Beyond the Lexicon

@metanoia hope you don't mind me just casually setting up a rivalry for the ages

@Matsuri

You kidding? I'm living for this! Bring it on, plant lady!

Project Untamed

_{Interactions • None - just a lot of introspection and observation
Mentions • Dwayne @Ejected | Tyler Jane & Leo @Melissa | Quinn @Filthy Mudblood | Sol @Rosalia}

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As Nicholas sat high up in the bleachers, which was a rare move for him, or at least it felt like it was something he wouldn’t do. Whatever the case, there he was, high in the bleachers, away from most but able to see them all and gauge their reactions as Headmaster Wayman began speaking.

Like past assemblies, there was an emphasis on positive relationships with both student and faculty alike. Nicholas couldn’t say he ever thought of hitting up one of the teachers for advice. He had done so once and it was absolutely terrible advice. That’s how he found himself not only involved with Dwayne, which wasn’t to say there weren’t obvious benefits. Dwayne was like the sweet hersey’s kiss that has a surprising spicy note in the middle. But the advice Nicholas was given was now a bittersweet memory because he now found himself in the middle of wanting to see where things go with D and testing the waters with Tyler Jane.

“It’s such a burden being this good looking,” Nicholas muttered to himself. He wasn’t blind and clearly those who had looked at him weren’t either. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder just how long these interactions with Dwayne and Tyler Jane would remain a secret from each other, or god forbid, they become information that reach a certain foxy blonde’s ears. “A whole lotta nope there.”

As he let out a quiet sigh and refocused on the headmaster who was now talking about Halloween. “One of my favorite occasions. With so many with the looks of supermodels and the fashion sense of strippers, the world was our oyster.” The thought immediately brought a smirk to the boy’s face. Whether it was about what others would dress up as would remain a mystery as the final topic Wayman finally arrived.

“Lastly, and most importantly, on Wednesday the administration will be hosting a school-wide scavenger hunt to promote community on our small campus. All students will be split into small teams and will complete both physical and mental challenges together. The goal is to complete each task and do so with the fastest time. The winners will receive a prize, which is still to be determined, but I assure you it will be worth your efforts.”

“Scavenger hunt, huh?”

Nicholas had to admit that was the M. Night Shamalan twist he didn’t expect, but just like Glass, it was a surprise hit that he welcomed with open interest. He leaned forward, taking in the final words that Wayman had to say.

“And just like that, this eventful Monday wraps up nicely.”

Letting it set in, Nicholas made his way out of the auditorium, certainly following the crowd of people gathering outside and by the bulletin board. Quickly, he gracefully slid between students and looked for his name. There were six teams of three students per. Laughing at the thought of Leo and Francesca on the same team, that was one guy Nicholas didn’t envy. He had a wider smile when he saw his team.

Sol was a good friend and an occasional confidant about the trivial things in his life. He wouldn’t call her his best friend but he felt they had great chemistry. His only worry was Quinn. He knew how he was with her but he couldn’t say how Sol was. “I suppose we’ll find out just how well we all click.”

Hands fell into his pants pocket, and Nicholas just drifted away from the crowd.

World Beyond the Lexicon

@Dezuel forgot to tag you in my post so doing it here.

World Beyond the Lexicon

_{12 Hours Ago — Training Field C}

For two weeks, Caelum had been pushing himself to the brink. Between classes and making sure he was rested enough, if he wasn’t sitting in Professor Nyx’s classroom or taking care of his body, he was right where he needed to be: out alone in the training field.

Ever since his loss to Alberta during the 1v1s Nyx placed them in, Caelum was out in the training fields, increasing his power in any way that was manageable. At first, he wanted to build up his stamina and see how long and how fast he could run with his mana at full blast. He was fortunate that the fields were far away so he could increase the pressure of his mana all he wanted without causing any real harm to anyone around.

But that wasn’t his only issue.

“It happened again.” Caelum was on his knees, panting and sweating from the fatigue of overusing his mana again. “Seventy seconds,” he muttered, taking deep breaths as he collapsed on his back, his sword jangling as the metal of Stormbringer’s handguard scraped against the dirt. “Seventy seconds at full blast is my limit.”

This wasn’t to say that it wasn’t an improvement. Before he started this high voltage training, Caelum could only keep his mana at full blast for sixty-five seconds. It might’ve been a slow improvement but he was getting stronger. The problem was that it just wasn’t enough, “not to accomplish what I want to.”

It was true. CAelum had developed a new technique, something to give him an edge. In his fight with Alberta, the one thing that cost him his victory was how much mana he could expel and how fast he could react. The lesson he took from that was to increase not only his output but the amount of time he could keep it steady. A week’s worth of training - a week! - was only for five seconds longer. Sure, that might be life or death in some cases, but--

“--But I need to get stronger. I have to get stronger!”

He forced himself up, using Stormbringer as a cane of sorts, digging it into the ground as he stood up one leg at a time. He managed to keep his vertical base when his sword was no longer supporting him. Caelum felt weak and was still taking consistently deep breaths, but he wasn’t going to allow himself to quit - not yet.

As his arms bent themselves and stayed close to his body, fists tightened, and a determination that wasn’t going to let up, he gave it another try. “This time I know I can do it.”

---

_{Present Day — Genelogia Station
@AThousandCurses @Relin @TheWendil}

Caelum was used to waking up early, so when the sun rose, so did he, noting that he was the first one of his roommates to be up. He quickly got dressed, made sure everything was in order before he quickly left and headed straight for the station. In his bag was the money he had gathered throughout his travels and had leftover from expenses during the first weeks in the dorms, a journal for observations in the places he has traveled, and some snacks for the road (mostly mixed berries and nuts).

On the way there, his mind, as it often did, wandered to his training and the lessons he’s been learning from Nyx. With such a smaller class than when they started, the attention Nyx paid to the lucky, or in some cases, unlucky, thirteen was valuable time. While some in Class-C were stronger than others, Caelum knew he had a long way to go. The progress he made in the past weeks, while he has learned to appreciate it, doesn’t line up with where he wants to be.

So he’s been asking all sorts of questions, some of them directed on mana control, some about simple things that he could do to increase his power, and some were probably so obvious the rest of the class rolled their eyes at him. Caelum knew there was no such thing as a stupid question and he wanted to know as much as he could so it could be applied to his training. And so far, despite the results being minimal at best, the knowledge gained proved to be useful after all.

As the station came to view, Caelum allowed his eyes and head to follow the height of the station and three sets of tracks. He had noticed it a few times in the past, but it didn’t feel as impressive as it did right now as he stood in front of it. His pace slowed as his eyes were glued on the scale alone.

He gathered his wits and pressed forward, immediately noticing that some of his classmates already were standing outside the entrance. He gave them all a wave as he approached. “And here I thought I was going to be the first one here.” Caelum expelled a laugh, grinning more for himself. “This is pretty cool, huh?” His eyes fell on the station and the trains. “I’ve only ever traveled on foot. I’m excited to see what it's like on a train!”

World Beyond the Lexicon

I'll be working on a post here in a few.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Full of ideas

The Satsuma Rebellion - A Magical Incursion RP

_{Seven Days Ago — Carthage Plant, Carthage, Missouri}

Midwest America was always a hot and sometimes unbearable place to be, especially in the middle of summer, but especially in the outskirts of Carthage. Despite most of the city being surrounded by trees, which often help with the humidity frequently felt at the Carthage Plant because of the high, daily temperatures created by the steam, the dry summer heat did nothing to quell those working at the plant nor did it bring them comfort for their hazardous working conditions.

Among manufacturing electrical equipment and providing the entire town of Carthage with electricity, the plant, which sits upon a massive land with mines and oil rigs spread throughout, was also the largest dynamite manufacturer in the entire country. It was where boxes that carried over a thousand sticks of dynamite per around the country. And today was when they were going to be shipped off to the first round of destinations.

“Truck #2, do you copy? This is dispatch. Over!”

“Truck #2 to Dispatch, we read you loud and clear. Coming into the loading bay in three minutes. Over!”

As trucks lined up trailer-first, plant workers loaded up the crates full of dynamite into the trailers via the use of a forklift. One by one, they were loaded up and one by one, the trucks left the loading docks and hit the road. It was like watching professional chefs display their knives skills as their students watched in awe. The way the pecking order from dispatch to the workers that loaded the crates to the forklift drivers, and to those behind the wheel, it almost was too perfect to disrupt.

Almost.

When Truck #2 was about sixty miles out from the loading bay and was on the highway, alone and isolated due to the time of night it was, a thud was heard from the top of the trailer. “What the--” The driver, who was male and sounded olde due to the nature of his raspy voice, looked up quickly before shrugging it off.

No more than three seconds later, as the man behind the wheel pushed on the gas pedal as he had been, it only took him a few moments after the fact to realize that, even though he was pushing on it, he wasn’t going anywhere. As he quickly glanced around, peering his head out of the window, he saw that his trailer was missing, his wheels were punctured, and he was stranded, unable to do anything but watch as a hooded figure flew away with some form of weird magic or whatever it was behind them and the trailer floating above them with one hand under it.

“Uh, Dispatch,” the man said, eyes glued to the sky, “we have a problem…”

---

_{12 Hours Ago — Washington DC, Maryland, Undocumented Warehouse}

Inside an abandoned warehouse in Washington DC’s self-named “poor” district, which was really to say that it was a defunded section of DC that was abandoned due to the rise in gang warfare, crime rates going through the roof, and housing being unstable at best and a hazard to simple living at its worst. To those wanting to have a roof over their head, it was the worst place to be, but for groups such as Enlightenment, an Anti-Government, Anti-Corruption, far-left Eco-Terrorist group, it was the perfect place for them to meet in secret. Nobody but criminals and thrill-seekers came to this run-down area of DC.

Enlightenment had been active in recent years and especially after the current administration decided to take shots at the environment, rolling back a certain Democratic president’s regulations and laws only to stick it to him, they wouldn’t stand for it. So since then, their plan was simple: to undermine any and all efforts the current administration and those enforcing the laws put out in any way that they could. In the beginning, it was mostly causing some riots here and there, stealing documents from trucks leaving the pentagon, but then everything changed when they refused to hold far-right groups accountable for their heinous actions across the states and especially when it came to silencing minorities. Enlightenment knew they had to spread their message in a more radicalized way.

“Are we almost ready?” A man asked, hovering over a group of five people in hazmat suits as they applied triggers to seven bombs. His voice sounded eerily like that of a Scottish man, though hints of southern influence was present.

“Almost sir. Another hour and they should be ready,” one of the people at the table, a woman who sounded like she was in her mid-40s, replied, though she remained focused on the task in front of her.

“Make it quick and efficient!”

As he walked out of the quarantine tent, around him was like a system that was tightly ran and ruled with authority — his authority. To his left were crates of dynamite stolen from Missouri and several members of Enlightenment brandishing the same leather jacket he wore, unloaded every crate, carefully placing them on tables spread across nearly twenty feet. And to his right, he couldn’t help but smile at the woman sitting in a lawn chair, legs crossed and planted on a table as she watched global news, snacking on a bag of trail mix, avoiding the pretzels at all costs.

“Shouldn’t you be helping them unload?” He asked her, taking a seat on the stubborn table next to where she had her legs.

She offered him a shrug and took her eyes that were nearly covered in black eyeliner off of the television and looked at him.. “Jerry, if it wasn't for me, that shipment of dynamite would be somewhere in a storage facility on the west coast,” Phoebe told him sternly, returning to the TV, “I’ve helped enough.”

Well, that comment didn’t sit well with him. “That’s the only thing you’ve done for our cause--”

Before he could finish that thought, the table started to vibrate and Jerry was jerked three feet away from the table. “And that’s all I needed to do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some--”

Before she could finish her own thought, the program she was watching, the new program was talking about how a neighborhood in Satsumasendai was lit on fire, pillars of black smoke intensifying after towering flames repeated over and over, causing unmeasurable damage to one small residential block.

The anchors were calling it arson while their co-anchors suspected it might be the work of faulty wiring. They had a fire expert on their program giving his own expertise, but Phoebe knew exactly what this was. She knew what this meant and exactly what was going to happen in three, two, one…

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Her ringtone went off and her phone vibrated face-down on the table. She lifted her hand up, using her vibration magic to pull the phone to her and she quickly answered it.

“Yep, I’m watching it now,” she replied to the person who was saying a lot of words she visibly had to roll her eyes at. “So what do you want me to do?” She asked, getting her answer in less than three seconds. “Fine. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Annoyed, Phoebe stood up, which caused a raised brow from Jerry . “Who was that?”

Phoebe didn’t acknowledge his question as she walked by him and went to the back of the warehouse where she kept her belongings. She heard Jerry call her name in a tone that made everyone around him stop -except Phoebe.

A few minutes later, she came back out with her backpack on and her jacket with hood up as though she was about to leave. “Where are you going!?” Jerry demanded to know.

Again, she ignored him as she started to walk for the only door that led in or out of the warehouse by foot. This time, however, Jerry wasn’t having it and ran in front of her and positioned himself between her and the door. “Damn it, Phoebe! We’re this close before our biggest statement yet. You can’t just leave now!”

She offered him a smile. “Take a breath, Jeremiah,” she urged him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, “I have to be somewhere right now, but it shouldn’t take long. I’ll be back in a week tops.” As she smiled at him, he felt vibrations emit from her hand, which in turn paralyzed him with fear. He knew she had abilities and had always appreciated that about her, but he also feared her for it. “The operation doesn’t happen for ten days, right?”

Jerry nodded. “Y-yea,” he said, stuttering due to his body partially vibrating.

“Then there’s nothing to be so pissy about. I’ll handle this thing and I’ll be back with plenty of time to help out. Sound good?” She asked, smiling but Jerry knew that was the expression she gave when she had already decided on what she was going to do, regardless of what anyone else said.

And it worked. Jerry stepped aside and Phoebe Chang disappeared into the summer Maryland night.

---

_Outfit

_{Present Day — Satsumasendai, Japan}

Phoebe has spent most of her time since joining — I mean being forced to join or else face the wrath of the higher council —the guild in New York. Due to her own personal ideologies and choice in assignments, she was given some leeway to operate on solo missions. She’s been with the Guild for about a year now and proved herself to be a capable mage with enough strength on her own. She’s always used that time to venture out on side projects. Her work in Missouri and DC were just a couple of passion projects close to her heart, but she’s realized that, while the identity of those involved remain a secret, the waves she’s creating might be on the cusp of too much.

After she received the call, an hour after the fact to be exact, Phoebe hailed a cab to the DC airport, and took a plane to NYC. Another cab later and she was at the New York safehouse. Word spread quickly about what happened in Satsumasendai and immediately after Phoebe had made her arrival known, two mages: one at the New York safe house and one at Izumi, Japan safehouse began the minute-long preparations for the Teleportation Spell.

As the floor beneath her began to shake, particles of magic appeared around her and they floated slowly like leaves in the wind. The individual particles started to take shape; with their new form came images of the other side. Another mage chanting a similar incantation as the one next to her was but it was in reverse. Phoebe had to assume the teleportation spell worked when two spoke the same incantation but one had to recite it inverted to act as some sort of stabilizing agent.

Or maybe my psychoanalysis was completely wrong.

Either way, when they both nodded to her, she gripped her bag and jumped through the portal. To her, it felt like hours and inside her body, specifically her stomach, it was twisting like she went through one hell of a whiplash. When she landed on the other side of the portal, Phoebe’s body was lunged forward and she was one one knee. Panting.

“What the hell?” She huffed out, gasping for breaths.

“It must be your first time, Phoebe-Chan,” Ryo said with a sly grin.

“Yes very funny,” she rolled her eyes, taking Ryo’s hand as he offered it. She was still disoriented but with Ryo’s help, she was able to quickly regain her composure.

Phoebe had gone through the teleportation portal in the past and she never lost her wits like she had just now. Being someone who was usually observant over such things, she had to assume the amount of distance she covered had some setbacks that not even the magi who performed the spell anticipated, let alone Phoebe being so arrogant as to think there wouldn’t be side effects. Still, now that she had time to really take it in and readjust her equilibrium, that was one hell of a roller coaster she wouldn’t mind applying to her own magic.

“Maybe someday,” she muttered, looking at Ryo who was glaring at her. He heard her and she knew he did. “I’m kidding. Of course, I am!” She smiled at his unphased expression. “Mind if I rest here for a few hours? I’m beat.”

“Feel free--”

Phoebe heard him going to speak and already she was taking that as a yes. So for the next ten hours, she slept, showered, and helped herself to the local cuisine. Truth be told, passing through the portal had sapped her of more than just her physical stamina. She was completely sapped of her magical energy, as well and she needed to recover.

And when she was completely rested, she hailed a cab and within an hour, Phoebe was outside the safehouse that was detailed in the email she received. Compared to the others she had stayed at in the past, it didn’t look like much. Honestly, it was a shithole. She expected something a little sleeker and less like it was a prison. Given recent events, though, Phoebe couldn’t be a chooser. She knew it would serve its purpose.

With her bag over her shoulder, Phoebe walked through the door, brushing past those still outside. Being the only other person inside other than the Baja Blast Bitch and some other lady, she scanned the inside. It wasn't much but she would make due. “Hey blue, do me a favor and put something on that’s a little less depressing, yeah?”