The Nineteenth Trial

[hot_mess_express]

Who: Everyone
When: Day 43, evening
Where: The Mermaid's Beach

Come on, come on heroes...! Come hither!

[ There's a playful giggle and the sound of splashing as the Mermaid's beach appears in the clearing. ]

Let's play a game...!

Comments

[time5kip]

[ with a musical conduit seems to get his attention way more than everything else, and he's staring at her, thinking. Then, finally ]

I'd like to know more about your powers, if they're tied to music. How you use them and you channel them through them. Keep me updated as you figure it out, it's important.

I'm willing to help you test them out too, of course.

[daydreamshimmer]

At least for a manifestation, I'll need to figure out if it's just activation or if it's everything. But I have some spells tied to magic that I can test with, see what is and isn't different, might have to test with emotions, see if it's stronger with ambient music. I'll need to get some notebooks.

[She was babbling a bit, but]

Important? Do you have a magical or musical problem?

[time5kip]

Both. But it's not for me.

I'm asking to help someone else.

[daydreamshimmer]

[Nod nod.]

I can see what I can do.

But yeah, I can keep you updated. Especially if you're helping, sometimes just having a sounding board can help solve a problem.

[time5kip]

We could always exchange musical numbers and see where that gets us.

[daydreamshimmer]

Sure. I.... [Pause.] I do know how to write music. With bars and symbols like a clef? [Does that cross dimensional barriers?]

[time5kip]

[ He was about to say he wasn't actually serious because like hell he's singing again, but he did ask for a very specific reason, and maybe if he helps her he can help when he's back home too, so shit, that just became a serious proposition ]

I might need to brush up on all that.

[daydreamshimmer]

[She just did a magical girl musical number, this is all very legit.]

We can go over it while working through the magic stuff. Plus whatever you've experienced might explain something or inspire a solution, trading notes is very important to find new solutions.

[time5kip]

My sister destroyed the world with a violin concert. That's as far as my experience goes, so. You're not going to get much from it.

[daydreamshimmer]

.....hayseed.

[Because damn man.]

[But frowning, rubbing her chin.] I might. In that kind of situation, the details may show more for someone who knows that kind of magic. First guess would be some kind of break in cosmic harmony.

[time5kip]

She wasn't really herself at the time. Pretty sure destroying the world was her actual objective, and not an accident.

I haven't really been around to see what triggered it. All I know is that the more she played the more powerful she became.

[daydreamshimmer]

Now see, those are very good details to know. If she was out of her mind, then it takes away a few things it could be.

And more she played, the more power she got means there's a probably harmonizing affect. Something to make a feedback loop or able to stack pieces on top of each other.

Do you know what the destruction results in? Like is it just blackness, an explosion, all laws of physics break?

[time5kip]

She shot a beam to the moon so technically, it's the moon that destroyed the world. But I was struck by her powers and it seemed to absorb our vital energy.

[daydreamshimmer]

That narrows things down a lot more.

...how exactly did it feel, to absorb the vital energy? The affects?

[time5kip]

I couldn't move and it was the most painful thing I ever felt. Wasn't pleasant.

[daydreamshimmer]

No, I imagine not.

[She's got a very focused face.] Physical damage or just energy and pain?

[time5kip]

Just energy and pain. Once she stopped I was fine again.

[daydreamshimmer]

[Perks up.] You still felt the lost of energy once she stopped?

[time5kip]

Just a second after, maybe. But I recovered quickly enough. I even used my powers to a capacity I hadn't before, so I'm sure enough they got back.

Vanya was interrupted by a bullet shot next to her ear. She wasn't harmed physically, but the her focus on the sound was interrupted. I think that's what did it.

[daydreamshimmer]

Now that is very interesting. Both energy and interruption. So that happened, but she still released enough power to hit the moon?

[time5kip]

[ Nodding at that ]

All the power she was collecting was released in a beam - hitting the moon itself was an accident. Or so I think.

Does any of this actually make sense to you?

[daydreamshimmer]

Using magic or energy to destroy isn't hard in concept. An out of control spell can do a lot of damage, so finding something to work with is fairly simple. The big thing is just how much she got. That is a lot of raw power and most living creatures can't contain it without....side effects.

But she seems to exist as a conduit, so what's key is finding how exactly she's gathering the energy because once you know that, then it's possible to counter or reverse the flow of energy. Because that's the problem. She was stopped, but she already had what she needed, so it needs to be cancelled out somehow, or at the very least, make sure she keeps control of herself and that power.

There's a few things it could be that comes to mind. How viable a counter is in question.

Is your power likes hers at all? Even if it's not music base, same source, or related somehow could tell a lot.

[time5kip]

I'm not interested in learning how to stop her. I want to help her use her powers. Properly, this time. She seems to use music and you seem to use music. That's all I'm after.

And to answer your question, no. I can manipulate space and time and I don't need any source to do it. My siblings and I all have different powers.

[daydreamshimmer]

Practice makes perfect and being able to counter a disastrous practice is still a good thing to have on hand. And in this case, it could be all connected. Conduits means being able to relate to things outside yourself and the more you understand that, the easier it is to control it.

You're manipulating something. You're messing with the source.

Same parent or is this an adoption thing? Same radiation accident? Drank same super juice?

[time5kip]

[ with the tone of voice of someone who heard this story 7 billion times, kind of exhasperated ]

On October 1 1989, 43 women around the world gave birth simultaneously, despite none of them having been pregnant at any point prior to then. Sir Reginald Hargreeves decided to look for these children and adopt as many of them as he could, to train them into a super hero team. The story says he got six. Vanya was the seventh.