Connection: Avira

Connection: Avira
Date of Scene:	26 November 2013
Location:	Traverse Town - Cloud Nine - First Floor
Synopsis:	They've run into each other far too many times for her to believe it's coincidence. Now the leader of VALKYRI and the eponymous Flower Girl of Goug have a heart-to-heart, during lunch hour at Cloud Nine. Oh, and some guy named Raine butts in too.
Cast of Characters:	Avira, Aerith Gainsborough, Raine Arland

---

Aerith has posed:
For once, Aerith was not on the clock here at Cloud Nine.

No, she was here as a patron, trying to take her mind off of what's been happening for the past few days. They'd gotten a few more helpers at this spot, and they were busy working the grill and the bar. With that said, she'd ordered a nice baked potato and some fries with a soda, found the quietest corner in the pub, and made her best attempt to be alone with her thoughts.

But this was Aerith, and she didn't like being alone all that much, so she'd sent a specific letter to a certain someone...

Avira, we need to speak, face to face. It's not serious, I just want to get to know you a bit better. We run into each other far too often not to have at least an understanding. Meet at Cloud Nine, whenever you feel ready for it, and we'll get down to being friends. Or at the very least, being something more than acquaintances.

- Aerith

Avira has posed:
Eventually that letter made its way to Avira by way of courier. It actually results in a written reply, telling Aerith when would be a good time for her since not only is she busy but she often has to avoid certain places due to the whole bounty situation. Heck, she even ran into such a situation a few days ago!

But since she had yet to run into problems in Traverse Town, she does indeed come show up at the Cloud Nine. She comes dressed in different clothing with her signature weapon carefully hidden beneath a green cloak around her shoulders. It doesn't take long for her to find Aerith because she knows pretty well what the flower girl looks like.

Grinning, she slides into the seat next to Aerith. "Hey there."

Aerith has posed:
It wasn't like she knew about the bounty. Otherwise she'd have picked a different spot. Still, this was one of the only places she knew that was relatively safe to talk at, so Cloud Nine it was. Sure enough, Avira came as expected, and Aerith gave her the best smile she could. Not like it wasn't genuine, but she had ten different kinds of smile, and this one was labeled 'meeting someone for the first time,' at least in her head.

"You want anything? Stuff here's pretty good."

Avira has posed:
Avira can deal. Enough people in Traverse Town seem amenable to Avira and disinterested in helping Baron. She's been back a few times to pick up supplies without problems.

As she sits down, she brushes her hilted weapon to the side and crosses one leg over the other. Avira grins, "I'll take a sandwich and whatever soup they have today."

She leans back in the chair and threads her hands behind her head. "So how have you been?"

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine Arland. Man of Mystery. Dark Swordsman extraordinaire. Master of the blade summoning sty--hrgk. AHEM, nevermind all that; back to business! The doors of Cloud Nine come swinging open as Raine stepped through. "Look out! Raine Arland is on the scene!" Pause as several other occupants stare at the new arrival. Expressions range from incredulity, annoyance, irritation, and amusement as they behold the young man who just so loudly proclaimed his arrival.

Grinning at the various reactions he got, Raine strode on through and plopped down at a table, incidentally near Aerith and Avira's table. He hailed a waitress over and placed an order cheerfully. Wow this guy was in a good mood, wasn't he?

"Ahhhhh, nothing like kicking back and relaxing after making a damn good breakthrough! Ahahahahaha!" And to top it off, he put his legs up on the table and leaned back in his chair, adopting a lazy pose with his arms crossed behind his head. Wow, this guy...

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gives a nod and flags down a waiter, giving the extra order. Soon as he walks away, she props her elbows on the table, her features settling into a resigned look. "I've been terrible, honestly. Been in what amounts to a war out in the Land of Dragons." She huffed, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I'm not going to talk about that, though." She smiled. "What I want to talk about is-"

And then another guy bursts in, causing her to glance toward him with wide eyes. After hearing him speak, she shook her head with a chuckle. "Now then, before the good sir made his big entrance..." She cleared her throat and focused her attention back on Avira. "What I wanted to talk about was you. And in return, you can ask anything about me that you want. I'll answer as much as I can." She smiled again. "So... Who are you. Not your name, I know that. I mean... who are you?"

Avira has posed:
Avira's eyebrows lift when she hears Raine announce his entrance. She frowns, recognizing the name, and looks over her shoulder, following him as he walks through the room and sits down at the nearby table. "Hah, it's you. Been a while." Avira sounds smug, "But I still remember what I did for you back in the swamp."

She then frowns at Aerith, "Oh, you were involved in that? Maira told me all about it, so no worries."

She looks thoughtful for a second. Well, even her name was something that could be shared, but not now. "Me? I was a chiropractor's assistant from Brooklyn that was tossed into Ivalice when my world fell. Now I'm an awesome huntress and guild leader."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith chuckled. "Really? I suppose that explains your interesting weapon." Aerith sighed. "I wish I could lead a guild or something... I just don't know what we'd do, or what we'd be named." She shook her head. "Never mind that, though. You said something about Maira..." The tips of her eyebrows shifted upward. "How is she?" She'd only gotten one good look at her from the aftermath at the Great Wall... and that one brief look was enough to cause her concern.

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine's good cheer immediately froze the moment he heard Avira's voice. Like a statue, he froze up, and then rigidly turned his head to look. "...I-It's....It's yooooooooooou...!" He pointed, an indignant expression on his face at the moment. "You're the one who--!"

He trailed off at that moment, thinking. "...Wait, who are you again?" Poof. All dramatic tension: lost. "No really, who are you?" Raine asked, straightening up in his set and taking his feet off the table. "You LOOK familiar, but...For the life of me, I can't recall! What's this about a swamp?"

Seems he forgot!

Turning his chair to face the two women, the young man grinned amicably enough. "And I don't believe I've met you either." He spoke in regards to Aerith. "Name's Raine. Raine Arland." Not that it was necessary, considering he announced to the entire establishment seconds earlier. Avira's abridged story is heard meanwhile and he arched a brow.

"Wow, got enough hands to pat yourself on the back with there?" Raine asked wryly, crossing his arms after.

Avira has posed:
"Yes! Me!" Avira beams at Raine. That look on his face...priceless! "I-" she looks annoyed. "I saved your life! Remember? My name is Avira. You know, from VALKYRI? There was that mark about the gator in the swamp." He forgot! He totally forgot! Then again, it was so long ago so Avira starts to wonder if it was really worth reminding him anymore.

"...well sort of." Yeah, there's a story behind Avira's weapon too but it wasn't something she just shares with anyone. Only VALKYRI and TDA members seem to know it right now. "Maira's fine, we've been taking good care of her. She was pretty roughed up after that fight in China."

Turning, she gives Raine a quick glare but it quickly disappears, replaced with a grin. "Why, did you want to lend one of your hands to help? I'm proud of all the stuff I've done this past year and I'm not gonna be modest about it~"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith chuckled. Well, these two seemed to know each other.

The food came to the table without too much fanfare, and Aerith smiled at the waiter, saying she'd pay for it. With that, she sat back and observed the back and forth for a moment. Maybe she could learn a bit more about Avira from observation than conversation. They'd talk a bit more about Maira later; she seemed to be a common thing between them.

Raine Arland has posed:
"Saved my life? Huh..." Raine brought a hand to his chin, thinking on it for a few moments. "...Nope! Doesn't ring a bell!" He responded after, grinning an idiotic grin. How convenient. Having been mostly out of the loop and off on his own business, Raine wasn't the go to person for current events. It was kind of embarrassing how little he actually did anything in the forefront.

"What's this about a fight in china? Was there a rice shortage or something?" He asked, voice rife with snark. Avira's comeback to his other comment earned her a smirk. "One of my hands?" The young man raised one of said hands, staring at it thoughtfully for a second. "Weeeeeeell, I dunno. I think you've got enough already." He decided after, shrugging nonchalantly. "But if you insist..."

Avira has posed:
"Tch, you owed me one." Maybe if she got Shiki around to vouch as a witness, she could force him to remember-and pay back that favor. A favor in her pocket was always something Avira liked to have on hand in a pinch. An annoyed look followed though:

"Uh, no, China was invaded by the undead. Are you that out of the loop on things? There's been talk about that all over the place." She looks him in the eye, clearly CHALLENGING him.

"Oh yeah, Raine." she pushes, "I insist."

Aerith has posed:
Right, this could get interesting very quickly. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to involve him in their conversation, seeing as he seemed a bit clueless, and Avira was rather easily provoked. She had to remember that fact for later if she wanted to get along with the clan leader.

Aerith cleared her throat. "While I'd love to watch you two settle your differences in here, I don't think either of you would like to pay for the damages you'd do to one of my best friend's bars." She glanced at the both of them. "Please. Stop."

Raine Arland has posed:
Raine arched a brow at Avira's response and just- "Well, I guess I can't say no then!" And then he reached out, patting her pack. "There there. You are awesome and I could never hope to compare to the heights of greatness that you've risen to! Oh woe is me!" Raine spoke, sarcasm thick in his tone.

"But one day, one day I WILL and when that day comes, the tables will turn and you'll be the one patting me on the back!" Withdrawing his hand, the young man put on leg over the other, leaning back in his seat as he considered the china situation. "Huh. Invaded by the undead? Sounds like it was a blast. Maybe I should have showed up."

Looking aside, Raine just smiled wryly. "And yeah, I guess I am that out of the loop. So much of my own stuff to get to, you know! No time for undead invasions, rice shortages, and peasant revolts. Or whatever's going on right now." Shrug!

Aerith was given a glance after and Raine shrugged flippantly. "Hey, hey, hey~ I didn't do anything! Yet."

Avira has posed:
"Good, I'm glad you can recognize that." Avira continues to smirk all through the back patting. She's a little surprised he actually did that but she'll roll with it. The issues she had with physical contact from other humans over a year ago have all vanished. "Ho ho! Bold declaration there, kid! We'll see!"

Aerith decides to intervene at that point and she lifts her hands, "Oh, hey, I'm not looking to start anything in here. If anything, I'd make him take it outside so it could happen."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith had to take in a soothing breath to try and calm things down. It certainly didn't feel like they wouldn't start anything in here, at least not this Raine fellow. Avira on the other hand, she trusted to keep it civil. "Now then. About Maira." She glanced toward Avira. "I have no doubt you understand what all she is. She trusts you, after all. But I have to ask anyway... do you know her whole story?"

Raine Arland has posed:
"Whoa, hey hey hey" Raine started, holding his hands up in a defensive manner. "We're just having a little fun here. Who said we were gonna suddenly start throwing fists? I mean, I know I'd win, but come on! We've got to be more civilized than that!" And that statement was accompanied by a teasing grin.

He let his hands drop after, listening to Aerith as she mentioned a 'Maira'. Another familiar name, but he couldn't put a face on it. Weird. Oh well, not his problem. As Aerith asked about this mystery girl's story, his food had arrived.

"Oh sweet!" And with the arrival of his order, Raine turned and began to dig in, leaving the women to it.

Avira has posed:
"...pfff, really? You think you'd win?" Avira waves a dismissive hand. "For the sake of not causing any more strife in the bar, I'll let you have that fantasy." There's a sly smile on her face at that which disappears when the food shows up.

"Maira? I-" she puts a hand to her heart, "Understand very well what she is. She is, in fact, the most important thing of all..."

Avira slips her hand up to her neck to tug a small gold chain free from underneath her shirt. It has half of a heart pendant on it, "...my best friend."

With that she nods and lets the necklace drop back onto her chest. "Yeah, she's told me everything."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "Well, the first thing you need to know about me is this. Everything she told you about herself..." She took in a breath. "...you can equate some of it to me as well. But that would depend on what all she told you about her."

Raine Arland has posed:
MEANWHILE IN THE BACKGROUND:

"Oh sweet lord in heaven! This cake is to die for!" Raine was having the time of his life. No really, he was. Even if it was for a single moment, he would savoring every last bite. It was the most delectable thing he'd ever have the pleasure of assaulting his tastebuds with since....since....he couldn't remember!

Oh wait a second, there was a seriouss discussion happening right at the next table. The swordsman ainfully tore his gaze away from his half-eaten cake, and towards the two women, arching a brow in curiosity at the mention of 'equating what she said to her'. "...?" And then a stupid smirk came onto his face. Oh no, here came something stupid.

"Wow. Out of context, that sounds pretty hilarious, you know?"

He wasn't helping.

Avira has posed:
"Uh..." Avira says awkwardly, looking at Aerith. "Seeing as how I don't really like talking about Maira's personal stuff while she's not here with me, could you care to explain? I mean, what things, really?"

She doesn't want to bring up 'princess of Heart' in this setting since that attracted all sorts of unwanted attention. For the moment Avira was doing a good job ignoring Raine and his cake molestation.

Until he butts into their conversation again! "In context it sounds like a perfectly normal conversation." ...vagueness aside.

Aerith has posed:
"And if one wanted to invite themselves, perhaps they should ask what exactly is being spoken of." Aerith's face retained a mask of placidity. Still, this one was starting to annoy her, her amusement at his bravado being replaced with irritation. She wouldn't let him see it, though.

"In any case, I think I should take a few guesses." She cleared her throat and began counting off the points she figured the young lady talked of. "Avira told you about her parents. She told you about her time at a certain orphanage. She told you about the day she saw a specific entity, only to have him follow her wherever she went."

She tilted her head to the right. "She told you about the day her world fell..."

Raine Arland has posed:
In response to both of their replies, Rain just chuckled, either not getting the hint, or just completely ignoring it outright. Evidence pointed strongly to the latter. He opened his mouth to make another dumb comment, but something stopped him. "...?" Left eye glowing an obvious red at rapid intervals, Raine looked away as a voice in his head spoke to him.

'Kid, how much longer are you going to take here? We've come too close to zeroing in on one of them to take a break now.'

The swordsman just shook his head and refrained from commenting. Talking to himself in public tended to make people think he was crazy rather than just an idiot after all. "Not a discussion for here." He replied in a low voice before turning to face Avira and Aerith again, taking his plate of cake into his lap to eat.

What? This was a interesting discussion, even out of context! Filling in the blanks with his own assumptions was hilarious!

Avira has posed:
"Yes, she's shared stuff about all these things before." Avira seems a little confused. "And her ghost. Who is no longer with her since he crossed over. I know who that ghost was and I know where Maira is really from. I know these things. I told her about what happened when my world fell. We were also both there when we saw the world fall a second time."

Avira's hands clench a little bit. It was almost the one year anniversary of that.

She glances to the swordsman, seeing a flicker of red light as the kid's eye pulses. She turns to watch him fully now. "Hey, are you alright? What's up with your eye?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith took a sip from her soda. She didn't see the eye come to life, but the air around him tingled something fierce with an aura that was not his own. "I would tell the other one you're talking to that this is not his conversation to participate in." She looked straight at him. "Or would he mind introducing himself instead of hiding?"

Raine Arland has posed:
"Eh?"

Raine looked between Avira and Aerith, dumb smile on his face; his usual disarming tool. But it seemed like it wasn't going to work this time. "Ehhhhhahahahaha...." The young man started to laugh and rub the back of his head. "What are you talking about? I'm the only one here! Really!" He claimed, holding a hand up in a placating manner.

"And there's nothing wrong with my eye!" At that moment, his left eye lit up red yet again as the voice in his mind made another comment.

'Give it up, kid. The unscarred one can sense me. She's got some kind of power...' A faint chuckle echoed after and the voice added. 'Interesting.'

"....Well, crap. So much for that." Raine sighed and held out his free hand, palm facing the floor. Immediately, a bloody red glyph formed on the flooring and expanded a bit. From there, a black steel blade rose, sporting a creepily spiked hilt. "Welp, there you go." Don't blame me for what happens after. He spoke casually, taking a bit of his cake.

The summoned sword took on a sickly red aura and the voice from Raine's head now spoke clearly, heard by all.

"You. The one who sensed me; who are you?"

Avira has posed:
"Dude." Avira says, slipping into her old New Yorker turn of phrase. No longer needing to keep up that charade she could use it at will anyway. She points at Raine's glowing eye, "You are shining bright red there like Rudolph's nose. And I didn't..." her eyes narrow.

Avira puts down her sandwich slowly and watchines Raine carefully, her hand dropping downward. "Well that's one creepy-looking sword."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "There, that's better." She gave the sword just enough of a bow to be respectful. "I'm no one special, just a flower girl named Aerith." It only took a few moments until she composed herself. "You do seem to have a bit of a deepness about you, an age if you will." She tilted her head to the right. "But I suppose I shouldn't ask how old you are. Impolite. The thing I should ask is your name."

Raine Arland has posed:
"Ahhh man..." Raine sighed, fork hanging from his mouth. It always got to be a headache when someone found out about 'him'. He just sighed again and turned away, resuming molesting his cake.

The sword meanwhile turned on it's own, 'facing' Avira spikes-first. "I'm not just a creepy looking sword, human. Watch your manners." The sword then faces Aerith as she introduced herself, letting a moment of silence sink in. "My name." A chuckle echoed out from the weapon and it seemed to consider this for a moment before answering. "You may call me 'Laevateiin'." With introductions out of the way, the sword went on to ask a question. "If I might ask, how were you able to sense my presence? Very few are capable of that."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gave a nod. "Very few indeed. Let's just say I have certain methods by which I can divine things that can't be picked up by any other sense. I was just about to explain to my friend here..." She glanced toward Avira. "How that was possible." She turned toward the sword. "But, Laevateiin, I don't know you. I haven't even heard of you before. Thus this knowledge is not reserved for, or open to you." She gave a nod. "Whatever it is you're looking for, it's not here. Please, go your way in peace."

Avira has posed:
"Okay, talking creepy sword." Avira abandons her sandwich and stands, leaning forward to examine the blade. "Though I like Laevateiin. Very Norse-sounding. I can always appreciate that."

She glances back at Aerith. "So, what, you're done asking questions about me now?"

Raine Arland has posed:
"Ah geez, so much for that." Raine mumbled, shoveling the last bit of cake into his mouth. "Whatever!" He stood then, leaving the empty plate on his table, along with his payment. "Looks like we're done here, Laevateiin. Time to go chase down some Apostles." That said, he reached out and grabbed the sword's handle, hefting it up and onto his shoulder.

"I am not finished here, put me down, kid. That woman and I still have--" Laevateiin complained as Raine took hold of and lifted him. Raine ignored his complaints however and just glanced at Avira and Aerith, giving them a two fingered salute, and an idiotic grin. "Seeya ladies sometime, somewhere!"

And then he marched out of Cloud Nine, drawing a few stares due to the red trail the sword, and his left eye was leaving as he moved.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed and turned toward Avira. "He's out of the way. Good." She turned toward Avira. "Now then, before we were so rudely interrupted by the noble sword and his irritating friend, where were we?" She placed a finger on her chin. "Oh, right. I was just about to tell you about me."

Aerith propped her elbows on the table again. "Maira and I aren't just from the same world. She told you where she was from, but not what she *was*. Understandable, but I think you need to know." She gave Maira an honest smile. "She and I are the last of what people in our world call Ancients. The real name though is Cetera. If this is nothing new, please stop me now."

Avira has posed:
"Oh I'm sure we'll meet again, Raine Arland~!" Avira calls back as he leaves with his sword in tow. "Good luck and don't get yourself killed!" She smiles the whole time he's leaving, even as she returns to her seat.

"I dunno, he was kind of adorable in his own irritating way." Avira says, leaning an elbow against the table. "He seems like he'd be fun to spar with. Maybe I should challenge him to some arena combat someday."

Avira listens for a moment, then holds up her hand. "Uh, actually, Maira's not really from your world, she's originally a part of Palmecia."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith blinked for a moment. "Well that's new..." She placed a hand on her chin. "I don't know if she just found this out, or if she hid it from me. Either way, I had no idea." She tapped her chin for a few moments, then shrugged. "I guess there are a few more things I need to find out."

Aerith smiled again. "Well, since I started, I might as well keep going." She sounded as if there were nothing wrong with being told she was wrong. "As of now, I'm the last of my kind, again." She chuckled. "Explaining what all is behind what I am would take quite a bit, and isn't for casual conversation. I'll just sum it up..." She leaned back in her chair. "I could sense what was in that sword, because it's in my blood to do it. Ghosts, spirits, other sources of intelligence, or anything else... it's energy. All of it. And once you figure that out, you can speak to just about anything." Her eyes narrowed. "It's why what happened in China made me somewhat angry. I couldn't hear anything... at all."

Avira has posed:
"It's actually pretty personal." Avira mentions, looking slightly worried. Maybe she shouldn't have shared that out loud and saved it for Maira to talk about, if she wanted to. "I'm not all that sure if it's something Maira wants to talk a lot about. Honestly, I don't know anything about Ancients and Maira's never mentioned them."

Aerith goes on and Avira nods slowly. "That's great...seems really useful."

She spreads her hands out in a disarming fashion, "Near as I can tell, I'm just a regular ol' human. Most of the time at least." Did Aerith remember when Avira was a mutate? Maybe.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith almost cringed. "I'll try to be tactful when asking her about it then." She took in a breath and continued onward. "Oddly enough, the things we call light and darkness are energy as well... which was how I could tell something was wrong when my world started to go dark." Aerith shivered. "Suffice it to say that it happened all at once, and I almost had my heart eaten."

Aerith shook her head. "But enough about that. You're just normal Avira, at least as far as I can tell. Though..." She tilted her head to the right. "You've lost something."

Come to think of it, what exactly happened when she'd missed the big restoration of Manhattan? She'd wanted to know, but hadn't come across any information besides the problem had been resolved without her assistance. Well whatever. So long as it was back, that was fine with her.

"You know what? Never mind that. As long as you're still you, everything will be fine." She smiled again, and this one wasn't reserved for those she just met, but friends. It was brighter, a bit wider. "Tell you what... I'll show you a neat trick that I've learned how to do recently."

Avira has posed:
For a moment, Avira stares off into space. "Yeah. I think it was like that for a lot of people when the worlds went dark. I was lucky enough to survive the shadows and stumble free." She shivers, "It's not a stretch of time I like thinking about."

Focusing once more, she picks up her sandwich and pauses, looking at Aerith. "Lost something?" Avira looks a little put off, "You probably sense a void inside me. I had to donate the majority of my light to start up Manhattan's world heart again."

Avira finishes up her sandwich, "What? A magic trick?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "That's the thing, all right. A void." She leaned forward again. "Truthfully, you answered a question that I'd asked myself, so thank you." Several of them, in fact. But that was for later.

"There's still light within you, and you should keep what's left, no matter what." Aerith's features lit up in a smile. "So! The trick. While I wouldn't say it's a magic trick, It should explain what exactly I can do." She sat back in her chair and seemed to calm herself with a breath or two. Then, she lifted her right hand, palm up... and stared at it.

It took all of about five seconds for a mote of pale green light to appear. "This is the smallest form of what you might call a spirit."

Avira has posed:
"Yeah I am or was the Princess of Heart for my world." Avira explains. "Those tend to have lots of light within their hearts so...it just kind of all happened. Like instinct."

Slowly, she nods. "Others close to me have told me that too. It's...encouraging."

Aerith produces a spirit and Avira leans forward to look at it. "...what is it's name?"

Aerith has posed:
There it was. The term she'd been meaning to ask about, but never really got the answers to. But she wouldn't ask for now. She'd have to inquire about it after her demonstration. "I don't ask their names. In fact, I'd rather not do so; I'd rather let them tell me if they have the inclination to." She took in another breath. "Spirits have all shapes and sizes, but in the end, they're like snowflakes. This one won't do much, besides maybe light my way and warn me about things." She smiled. "But get a lot of them together..." Her eyes narrowed with a bit of concentration, and it seemed that more of them came from thin air itself, joining the one floating above her right hand. The mote of light grew in size, from the width of a dime... to the size of a baseball.

In half a second.

"...Get a lot of them together, and they turn into something you can use." She turned toward Avira, her features no longer so intense. "I can throw this at someone and it'd hit with the impact of a punch."

Avira has posed:
Avira says, "Strange. How do you invoke them if you don't know their names?" Avira's brown eyes remained pinned upon the tiny spirit. "I could imagine...each one is different from a different and unique living thing, right?" She starts to squint a little as the ball becomes large and brighter but after her eyes acclimate, she stops.

"And ultimately, they are energy, right?" she tilts her head, "Like any other spell?""

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "Yup. Exactly. A spirit is the manifestation of someone's personal energy when their thoughts are still occupied with this side of the veil. Once those issues are resolved, that energy can go back to where it came from."

She smiled. "So I'm not really calling up spirits, but spiritual energy. But as you can see, it does still have a life of its own." She lets the sphere fade away with a sigh. "I even have a new staff on me... my old one was made of metal, and I could barely use the thing to defend myself. Things have changed these days, though.

"My new one, I've been trained properly to use, and the wood it's made from takes in all sorts of energies, making it harder to break, and multiplying the force you can deliver with it."

Avira has posed:
"Ahh, that feels like a different thing entirely." Avira rubs her chin, "But still people. Well made of people. Soylent energy and all." She smirks privately to herself at this little joke.

The topic shifts to weapons and Avira nods, frowning a little. "You didn't get used to the metal one with time? Hm. Weird, I find myself able to adapt to new weapons given enough time. Sounds like a pretty special staff there. Made specifically for mages I guess?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head. "It's not just for magic, it's for pretty much anything." She smiled. "I don't think you know a certain mouse, do you? Little guy, jumps high, really good with a blade?"

Avira has posed:
"Good with a keyblade you mean?" Avira smirks. "Or are we talking about Faruja here? He jumps too after all." She's met both "mice"...though Faruja counts more as a rat, doesn't he?

Aerith has posed:
Aerith giggled. So they both knew Faruja, and they both knew Maira. Her mother might have been right about several things, including that everyone was connected in some way.

"No, this one's smaller. And yes, good with a keyblade." She tilted her head to the right. "I'm not going to say his name. You know who he is. He gave me something interesting, and I'm not sure what it means yet."

Aerith raised her right hand again, and a mote of light the size of a ping pong ball appeared. Once she closed her hand around it, a six foot long white wood staff appeared in her grip. "Watch closely." Within moments, a pale green aura of energy surrounded the weapon. "This is me using spirit energy, channeling it into my weapon. I've already told you what I can do with this."

She pulled the energy away, and looked toward the staff again. "But with a bit of focus... I can do this." Her eyes narrowed again, and the weapon began to have another aura... but one that was a golden light instead. "Our mutual acquaintance gave me this... and I have no idea what else it does besides burning away Heartless and this other thing I was able to do." She wouldn't talk about Chita, not yet. They were still... at odds.

Avira has posed:
"Heh." Avira emotes on the subject of Faruja. She folds her arms over her chest and leans back in her chair, watching. A thought crossed her mind though. Why not say King Mickey's name?

"If I had to guess..." Avira points out, "I'd say that was light energy. I've seen it come up in other places before." Like beyond those huge double doors and in the World Heart of Manhattan. "You've got a lot of light inside of you and I think this staff is actually drawing upon it."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "If only that were the case. But King Mickey literally put this into my staff; gave the energy of his keyblade to my weapon." Her head tilted to one side just a bit. "This is more than just my light into this staff. It's something else entirely. I just don't know what."

Avira has posed:
"Interesting." Avira says, then pauses to frown at something. The expression on her face quickly turns into a distressed one. "Um. Aerith, I think I need to go. One of my friends is getting a little distressed about something and I think I need to go be with her."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith blinked for a moment. Wait, what did that mean?

She turned to regard Avira for a moment, a puzzled look on her features. Could she somehow sense these things too? Then again, it was no real surprise. Being in direct contact with a World Heart meant strange things happened. "I'll take your word for it, go on."

Avira has posed:
"Thanks." Avira says hastily, getting up from her seat. There's no offer to pay since she's pretty sure Aerith intended to cover her meal today for their little meeting. In minutes she's pretty much gone!

Aerith has posed:
Aerith glanced after Avira with a frown. This was not the way she'd wanted to end things... and she'd just been given more questions. But she figured the answers would come in good time. She glanced toward her meal with a sigh. "Probably cold..." She smiled and dug in anyways. Turns out it was still pretty good after all.