Take Your Heart

Jericho says, "Uhh..."

Jericho asks, "Seven?"

Séven says, "Well Jericho...I know that you've been through a lot these past few months."

Séven says, "A retainer of the Morneau family, well not officially but your...-skillset- is different than a maid."

Séven asks, "What kind of skill set do you actually have? Combat wise?"

Jericho says, "So.."

Jericho says, "Thing is.."
"I'm actually not allowed to reveal all of that - my father had a very specific set of rules, and for that reason, I don't reveal anything." He says seriously, nodding his head. "Make sense?"

And that was the truth.

"An' frankly...I ain't allowed to talk about, or show off any of the stuff he taught me. Why do you ask, Seven?"
(Jericho)

____________________________________

This was to be expected, she didn’t know Jericho that well but for now he was trusted as a servant for the Mornaue family.

“I understand, I’m asking because I myself am not very equipped to defend myself. I don’t want to be a maid forever, I know I can do more, but I can only go so far on my own merit. Getting a little nudge in the right direction helps sometimes”

She smiles only for a moment and looks on into the void, she thought about her direction, what she wanted…

“I don’t want much for myself, I don’t think I’ll be able to amount to much..that being said I can at least do what I can to help others that have more promise amount to something great. I don’t see myself as a shaker in this world, maybe even this life…but I can at least be a stepping stone, or maybe even a guide somehow. I just need to get past this plateau now.”

She looked down, she had been trying hard to have more pride in herself, but she wasn’t going to lie to anyone, she was part of the supporting cast, not a principle character, and it weighed heavy on her ego.

(Séven)

____________________________________

"What the hell're you even sayin' right now?"

Jericho seems appalled by her wordage. Downright upset by it, in fact. He's actually completely bothered by this notion, this concept that this girl before him genuinely believed that she could possibly never amount to anything.

"You know not everyone is born with magic, right??"

He's upset by the words that are coming out of her mouth right now. The fact she could actually see things like this, believe herself worthless...it was simply nothing short of astonishing to him. Someone through whom an excess of magical power pulsed - someone who could warp the terrain and perform acts that may have at one point been believed to be exclusive to the realm of gods.

"You talk about bein' a stepping stone. About being the guide, to something much greater...an' you say all these bad things about yourself, too, and make it sound like you need somebody else."

Everything about the way Jericho had been raised, everything that he had ever been taught, was in complete contradiction to everything Seven was saying. This was truly painful for him to bare witness to - someone who didn't believe in their own inner strength.

His fist balls.

Light swells from inside of him as raw mana thrums to life. An ethereal aegis, a mantle formed by the might of the soul - Energy magic. He's cloaked in this veil of mortal magicks as he stares dead into Seven's eyes with effusive, glowing blue irises that emanate thin, wispy trails of smoke...

"You don't need nobody to give you a nudge. Nobody to help you understand. Look at you. Fought to be here, alive, all this time...and every day, you keep on fighting. That's enough. You'll find 'yer calling. You'll hear it in your blood and your soul will scream it to you until you can't take it anymore. That's what it means to be a mage, Seven."

The boy shakes his head from side to side.

"All you need is to let yourself go a little crazy...an' then everything you do, everything you touch, it'll turn to gold. You want to defend yourself? Find that strength inside of you - find that fucking lion - and never lose sight of it."

Even his very voice sounds supercharged as he manages a manifestation of an energy shroud without even knowing it....

And then it dwindles back down unto nothingness, and there's nothing there but a lanky, scrawny boy from the wilds, staring at her in a way that expresses without word, an art lost on and overlooked by many of those in the city, who took their command of language for granted. An art that animals could never, ever forget - body language. And that body language screams, loud and clear:

I fucking believe in you.
(Jericho)

Jericho asks, "You don't need me, or Cicero, or anybody for that. All you need is to find what you're good at, push it until you're at the limit, and when you get there?"

Jericho says, "Break that shit."

Jericho says, "You got this."

____________________________________

She was taken aback for a second, she didn’t have much in this life, she didn’t have many friends even though she was kind to as many people as she could but…it was nice to have someone really have confidence in her abilities as a person.

“Truly I appreciate everything that you’ve said to me. It’s nice to know that there are people willing to push you to a higher standard. I guess I have been down on myself without really realizing it, that kind of motivation is what I want to give other people. Have people feel great about themselves! Make them feel like their own power really is something to believe in! I never expected this from you and it’s a welcomed response Jericho.”

Maybe he was right, maybe all she had to do was literally, -break that shit-

“Ok, training, swinging swords and taking names! WOOOOO!”

She screamed in jest, trying to keep the mood light and free. “Thank you so much Jericho, I feel a lot better, I think I WILL be able to do this. All I have to do is…Break that----“

She hesitated for a second, could she really say it?

“SHIT!” She held her hand to her mouth, looking around if anyone heard what she said and erupted into boisterous laughter.

(Séven)

____________________________________

Cicero cos Morneau drops Runic Scroll.

Cicero cos Morneau has enchanted the Runic Scroll - Vitality (Exalted)!

Cicero cos Morneau picks up Runic Scroll - Vitality (Exalted).

The stray pyres of blue light, the expression of his raw soul, they spin around him every so often. He seems unaware of them, grinning at her while tilting his head - it's laughably characteristic of him. Like the one thing that character does in that one sitcom you like, time and again. It's his trademark.

To see her fired up, motivated, where she'd been down. To have inspired her inspires him - that magic that is reflective of his innermost thoughts and feelings, finally sprung forth from the restrictive cages of modern civilization...It seems so much less distant than before. It seems so much closer than it ever was.

"Hey," he says simply, scratching his nose. He seems amused that she'd liked his little speech so much, and also moderately embarrassed. "You got it, kid."

Jericho turns, taking a spot at the table where Cicero'd been.

"Break that shit."

And at last, when he sits, the adrenaline that'd come crushing through him dies down - the surge of energy, for now, was abated. But perhaps...perhaps, he could bring it back.

You're not sure what, but something has changed about you. The colors are just a bit brighter.

You've got this.

For a moment, he swears he can see his deceased father, spurning him to go talk to people, knowing he was nervous. The man so many had labeled a beast, a monster, demonized until he was more of a symbol of terror than anything resembling a mortal creature, had encouraged him to talk to people.

And now, it appeared, some of them were starting to think he was pretty damn good at it.
(Jericho)