[ open ]

[invocate]

WHO: Li-Na & OPEN
WHERE: Various places around town
WHEN: Throughout April
WHAT: Li-Na practicing with her boots & Li-Na acting a bit...off due to fire spirit possession
WARNINGS: n/a

A -- I've been staring at the edge of the water

[Li-Na has recently acquired some new techniques to use with her boots. Techniques that need either a lot of space or a large body of water. Luckily, Peach Beach has both. So if you go down to the beach in the late afternoon, you could catch sight of Li-Na with her boots configured for walking on water or super speed. With the former, you might spot her walking on the surface of the waves, jumping up to avoid a crest, before landing lightly on the other side. With the later, she'll be trying to see just how high she can jump... which is pretty high with the boost Sound Shackles gives her. Like... so high she practically disappears.]


B -- But the voice inside sings a different song

[After coming back from Respatrum, Li-Na has been acting a little... off. At first she thought she might be coming down with a cold, as she kept feeling a bit warm... but that worry soon passed, forgotten within a day. At school the difference starts to manifest as a sudden desire to be the first to speak up in class. Where she usually only voices her opinion if the teacher asks her directly, or raises her hand if no one else does, now she thrusts her hand up as quickly as possible. She's even started to interrupt other students giving answers if she thinks they're wrong.

At the dance studio, she's always been certain of her abilities, but modest about showing them off. Now when the instructor asks for a volunteer, she steps forward first, her eagerness to be seen actually causing her usually precise steps to border on sloppy. While she is naturally a strong, athletic dancer, she's not reining in the energy of her movements, causing them to seem a bit wild.

Probably the biggest tip off will be when she sends the following text to her friends one day.]

The weather is so nice today! Want to skip class and go out for bubble tea?


WILDCARD

[If you want to run into Li-Na at one of her usual places: Expressive, Dancinerate RRFC, etc... just let me know (PM this acct or hmu @ anacrusis) and I'll write up a separate prompt for that!]

Comments

a

[reaquila]

Are you serious?

[Nanashi just witnessed Li-Na jump several feet into the air without any issue at all. He narrows his eyes and tries to keep track of her movements by squinting a little. ]

How are you jumping so high? Is gravity not real anymore?

[He's both confused and impressed. This must be an ability from her past life. It seems interesting. ]

Re: a

[invocate]

[Li-Na doesn't realize she has an audience until she lands, barely making a dent in the sand. She turns, a little startled at the questions.]

It is the boots. I cannot explain it very well, but it has to do with sound waves.

[which explains nothing]

A

[infreefall]

Whoa!

[ Ochako is staring openly by the time Li-Na makes it back to the ground, wide-eyed and clearly amazed. How high was that? Once Li-Na looks settled enough to talk to, Ochako rushes up, practically sparkling with curiosity. ]

That was so cool! You were so high I couldn’t even see you! Was that some kind of ability that Retrospec gave you? Do you have gravity powers now??

[ She's a little excitable, sorry Li-Na. ]

[reaquila]

[It explains nothing but that's okay.]

What the fuck, really? That's kind of awesome.

[He's impressed.]

It's an ability from your past life, isn't it? What were you doing back then? Do you know yet?

B

[redarm]

[ Noah had noticed her outspokenness in the classes they shared, but he didn't think TOO much of it. It wasn't like he ever participated in class discussions unless he was called on.

This message however, sure catches him by surprise. ]

You serious?

[invocate]

[Li-Na nods in response to the questions]

Yes, it is something past-me was able to do. She was... part of an organization that hunted for monsters called Akuma. The boots were her weapon.

Re: A

[invocate]

[Li-Na isn't sure which question to answer first, but settles on the shorter answer and then the longer one.]

No, I do not have gravity powers. And yes, I got the boots from Retrospec. They help me do all sorts of things, though what I have been working on recently is a sort of... super speed.

[how to actually explain Sound Shackles...]

Re: B

[invocate]

[Li-Na looks at the reply with a little surprise. She would have thought Noah would agree right away.]

Yes! Completely! The teacher will not even notice we are gone.

[reaquila]

[He's intrigued.]

So you can jump high and kick people in the face? It's a useful ability.

You won't have to worry about monsters if you see them!

[Li-Na will be safe when there's some sort of monster invasion.]

[infreefall]

Super speed? It looked like you were just jumping.

[ Ochako considers that for a moment. There must be some physics at work here that she hasn't thought about, though she has to wonder how, exactly, the boots are helping with that. ]

Oh! Unless the momentum helps you jump further...?

[redarm]

[ SOMETHING FEELS WEIRD, Li-Na was usually a much better student than him. But...if she seemed okay with the idea ]

alright
i wouldnt mind getting outta a couple classes.

[invocate]

[TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS NOAH]

yay!
meet out back in five

[invocate]

[Li-Na nods. It is a little hard for her to explain the physics, because the boots are already bending the laws pretty hard to start.]

Yes. I can jump really high with just the boots. But when I use the... the speed attribute, I can go so high it is almost like I can fly.

[invocate]

Yes! It has been very useful. Though, with monsters, it depends on the kind of monster and how many there are. When I went to Bosuma in February, I would have been in trouble many times if not for my teammates.

[As good as she is, she still can't take on a horde on her own.]

[redarm]

seeya in five.

[BUT HIS INSTINCTS ARE REALLY REALLY DUMB.

But sure enough, he'll be there in five minutes. It...is scary easy for him to sneak out of class.]

[infreefall]

That’s amazing, Li-Na!

[ What’s it like, being able to fly? Even if it’s technically not flying… Seeing the city from so high up must be really cool, Ochako thinks, though maybe a little scary. It’s a good thing Li-Na seems to know how to land safely. ]

How does it work, though? Do your boots have some kind of magic?

[reaquila]

A single person can only do so much, yeah? It's not bad to ask for help sometimes.

You've got your back covered.

[He's glad that she wasn't alone for that.]

ACTION

[invocate]

[Li-Na simply used the old 'I need to use the ladies' room' excuse, which her teacher was all too happy to allow. Only, instead of going into the girls' bathroom, she headed for one of the exterior doors and made her way to the back of the school]

Noah!

[she waves at him cheerfully]

[invocate]

I do not think they are magic? The organization she is a part of, there is a 'Science Department.' When the weapons are damaged, that is who repairs them.

[they're still basically magic]

They're made from a substance called Innocence. I control them with my mind. I think what I want them to do, and they do it. At first all I could do was jump and kick things really hard. But then I remembered other things she does with them.

[invocate]

[Li-Na nods]

Correct. We can do more together than apart, especially when it comes to the monsters.

[she gives Nanashi a curious look]

What about you?

[reaquila]

I know how to use firearms and I can summon demons.

[Other app users have some sort of summoning ability so it's not all that strange.]

I can defend myself just fine! No worries.

[redarm]

[He spots Li-Na and approaching. He looks at cheerful as Noah...ever does]

Hey!

Ready to go?

[invocate]

Summon demons?

[Li-Na's eyebrows raise. Not at the summoning part, because she has met others with a summoning ability, but at the demon part. But after her... misunderstanding with Souji, she's trying to be more open minded about anything that even vaguely reminds her of Lenalee's situation.]

How... does that work?

[invocate]

Ready!

[she pulls her school bag across one shoulder and points at the back fence]

The cafe is this way.

[and then she Activates her Boots so she can just vault over that fence]

[redarm]

[He follows along but uh

He does not have vaulting boots]

Uh...Li-Na?

[He can climb the fence (which he even seems to be moving closer to do) but that'll take some time]

[invocate]

[Oops... Li-Na hops back down next to Noah and offers him her hand.]

Take my hand. I will give you a lift.

[reaquila]

All I have to do is call for them and they come. My past self had some connection with demons. They were his friends.

[It's still crazy to think that a human could ally with demons. Nanashi will never understand what his past self was up to or how it came to be this way.]

Do you wanna meet one?

[redarm]

Okay?

[Takes her hand! Please go easy on him Li-Na]

[invocate]

[Li-Na hesitates]

I... am not sure if I should. Past-me... she was an Exorcist and fought monsters called 'Akuma'. The boots she used, that I have now, they are made of a special material. I do not know if it would hurt your demons...

[invocate]

[Li-Na grasps his hand firmly, wraps her other hand around his wrist, gives him a grin... and then jumps a little harder. A small crater forms where her boots had been moments before, as Li-Na does a backward hop over the fence... clearing it by at least ten feet.

Noah arm will get tugged on a little, but since Li-Na has both hands on his wrist, the sudden force is mitigated some. And whens she puts him down, she'll almost seem to hover in the air as she arrests their decent so he can drop the last couple of inches to the ground without slamming into it feet first.

When she touches down herself, barely disturbing the dust, Noah will probably notice the two silver disks hovering next to her ankles.]

[redarm]

[Holy shit Li-Na. He was not expecting her to go so hard it forms CRATERS in the ground. He has to stop himself from screaming as they go over the fence. Noah's done a lot of flips and jumps doing acrobat work, but this felt like there was a jetpack attached to it.

When he drops to the ground? God, he's almost grateful for the ground. He stumbles a little in his landing, his hand covering his mouth just in case he gets sick, but luckily he doesn't fall. He just...needs a moment. ]

H-Holy fuck...

[reaquila]

Oh, I get it.

[Nanashi contemplates on this for a bit and decides to not show her demons because of her power.]

I don't want you or my friend to get hurt over this. Let's not.

[He nods in understanding.]

[invocate]

Neat huh? I kind kind of fly now.

[completely unconcerned over the number she just did to Noah's stomach]

[invocate]

What do they look like? Do you have any pictures of them?

[that way, if she does ever see them, she can do her best to avoid crossing paths with them]