IC Contact: Recollé

[notyourutopian]

Eleanor Lamb

Hello you've reached Eleanor Lamb's voicemail. I'd explain what's next but I can't imagine you don't know what to do at the beep.

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor took another step back as the door opened so abruptly, but nodded at the request.]

Alright. After you.

[She quickly bent over to give Al Capug a scratch before moving to follow after the other girl. So, something had happened. But what...]

[burningblossoms]

[Yukiko leads the way, quickly making tracks and not really saying a whole lot on the trip. Not that she's a particularly talkative girl at the best of times, but still. Once they get there, she heads towards a more open if somewhat isolated bit of the park, away from all the trees.]

Okay. So...you know how you can...um. Move stuff with your mind? [A frown.]

I...woke up with superpowers too, apparently. Though they're not quite the same. Which is why I need you to back up just a little bit, okay?

[notyourutopian]

I do recall my magical and impossible power, yes.

[Eleanor's voice was wry as she said this. But then she was stepping away as requested, even if she looked reluctant to do so. Yukiko had been so understanding when she'd revealed her new power, she wanted to do the same, but her paranoid had been ramping up a bit lately too. So she couldn't help but be a bit nervous.]

You're starting to worry me here, Yukiko.

[She moved to catch Al Capug's leash as she stepped away, since whatever Yukiko was doing, if it was dangerous for her, it probably wasn't great for puppies either.]

[burningblossoms]

Don't worry. I don't think it's anything to be scared of. Just cautious of.

[She's grateful for Al being taken care of though, because when she steps back and holds up a hand it's easier when she doesn't have to worry about the pupper. Concentrating on it is hard, but after a few seconds, a ball of fire about the size of a tennis ball appears over her outstretched palm. Her finger traces a pattern in the air and the fireball rolls along after it.]

I...can do this.

[Sweat beads on her forehead, and it's obviously straining to keep it up, so she flicks her finger and sends the ball crashing out into the damp grass where it rolls and fizzles out in a puff of steam.]

It's hard, but I can do this.

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor's eyes went wide at that, and she didn't say anything until the steam was fading off the grass, though she did step in front of Al Capug to make sure he didn't run over to the spot where the fire had been. Finally she looked at Yukiko again.]

That is amazing.

[She probably would've been more freaked out if she hadn't basically had the same thing happen last week, to be fair. But after a week on the internet researching weird powers, well.]

Does it, like...does it feel like anything?

[burningblossoms]

[Yukiko had freaked out when she'd almost reflexively lit a candle in her room. In fairness though, she'd taken a day to process and experiment and here she was, playing with fire.]

Like anything?

[She shakes her head after a long moment.]

I'm not sure what you mean by that. It doesn't feel bad, I guess. Or good. Just...like it's a part of me. What about with you?

[notyourutopian]

I don't...I'm not sure what I mean. [Eleanor made a noise somewhere between a huff and a laugh as she walked over, taking a second to examine Yukiko's hand. Nothing like burns or anything...]

I guess, I thought...I mean, I didn't think, just...looking back. I would've thought waking up with superpowers would...feel different. Instead of just...nothing. Except when I'm using it.

So I was just...like...did you know? Or did you just, do something by accident?

[burningblossoms]

[Yukiko nods, getting a better understanding of what Eleanor was getting at now.]

I...was going to light a candle in my room and instead of using a match, I just waved my hand over it. Sort of like a reflex. And bam, there it went. Nothing really crazy. Thank Gods for that too. I could've made a real mess of things.

[You know, set the B&B on fire.]

But since you say that, you know. It does feel sort of like I'm borrowing the power when I use it. Maybe it's coming from my guardian angel.

[notyourutopian]

Yeah. Better that than figuring it out in your sleep like I did...

[Waking up to her bedroom being on fire would probably be worse than her bedroom being messy.]

Borrowing. Hm.

[Eleanor wasn't quite sure what to make of that.]

It doesn't feel like that at all for mine.

[burningblossoms]

[Just so. She's pretty glad it happened the way it did...]

No? Well maybe they're from different sources.

[Yukiko had probably spent the last few days looking through old comic books.]

Maybe mine's magic, and yours is something else, I mean.

[notyourutopian]

Maybe. [It wasn't that Eleanor disagreed. It was just that the idea opened up even more questions.]

I don't even know what that would mean.

[She shook her head.]

Every time I think we'll learn something new, it all just gets more confusing.

[burningblossoms]

You aren't kidding.

[She's all the more confused now than before, if her powers didn't feel like Eleanor's.]

Have you had anything else happen since the gala? Memories or anything?

[notyourutopian]

Nothing...really worth mentioning. [Eleanor hesitated. There had been one, but she was still processing it, really. It made even less sense than some of the others.]

What about you? I mean...aside from the obvious.

[burningblossoms]

I...had a really weird memory crop up.

[Stooping, she ruffles Al's head a little, earning a lick for her troubles.]

Have you ever heard of anyone in Recolle named Chie?

[notyourutopian]

Chie.

[Eleanor thought it over, then shrugged.]

No? Not that I can think of anyway. We do have a lot of kids around with Japanese names though.

[burningblossoms]

I haven't either, and I've asked all over the immigrant community. It isn't a really common name, even in Japan.

[But that told her something more.]

I...had a memory about this girl. I fought for her, against this weird copy of herself. It was in some arena, and I was throwing fire around like it was nothing.

[notyourutopian]

Well. [After a couple seconds, Eleanor grinned.]

You're certainly giving my 'fighting crazy people in masks' story a run for it's money in the weirdness department.

[Hm.]

You said some of your memories were in Japan right? Maybe she's from there too.

[burningblossoms]

Well, yeah. That's why I'm not really sure what to make of it. I was...definitely attacking that girl to keep her away from her...I don't know, clone? Real self?

[It's confusing and weird and she's not sure what exactly it all means.]

But maybe she is. I just...I haven't been to Japan since I was six or seven. And in this I was definitely around my current age.

[notyourutopian]

You were attacking her, or her copy?

[Eleanor mostly asked to get a better picture in her head, her eyes narrowed.]

I don't know. Was there anyone else there? Anything you...did recognize?

[burningblossoms]

The copy. It was saying all sorts of horrible things about the real one. So I...put a stop to it?

[notyourutopian]

With your fire powers. [Eleanor smiled.] I guess that means you'll get pretty good with them if you want to, huh?

[She didn't know what to offer about the strange girl, so for a moment she tried something else.]

[burningblossoms]

Not just that. Some sort of...bladed fan. I don't really know how to describe it, but I've seen it in some fantasy books.

[Which is weird, of course. Really weird...]

[notyourutopian]

Bladed Fan? [Eleanor wasn't even sure what to picture.]

Like, the 'fan yourself' kind of fan?

[burningblossoms]

Yes. Like...

[Yukiko pulls out her phone and pulls up what appears to be a D&D manual. In it is an illustration of a bladed fan. As in a wooden fan with metal blades in place of the middle bits.]

This. It's in this game book, and that's all I can find on it in any modern sense. Apparently some generals carried them in ancient Japan though.

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor stepped closer to look at the picture. Huh.]

So you fight with fire powers and ancient razor weaponry.

[She just shook her head.]

It's certainly weird. But it's also cool?