Last Firesmols session

#MGChronicle [06:02:18:08] <Reikim>
"You know. Destroying things so that they can't be *sullied*." Cordelia reaches the next monolith, pokes it, then crouches and starts digging around at the base.
"Usually themselves, but not always. And then, of course, destroying things that have been 'corrupted'. Which is one and the same, really."
She reaches into the dirt and pulls out a rock, then flicks it casually to the side. It goes sailing waaaaay out, before plopping into the ocean.
"Sacred sites, sacred relics…sacred people. I'm sure you've heard stories about it."

<~Wander>	 Belinda scratches at her arm.  There’s that word again.  *Corruption.*  The formless, unceasing enemy of Beacon… and from what she’s been told, of all Magical Girl-kind.
“…Well, I hear people’s monster-hunting stories here and there, but never anything that emphasizes destruction of people or artifacts,” she admits. “Really, my Mentor has never been the type to share stories and the Commander is… well, I like her, but I know she’s tricky to get answers out of, sometimes.  I think most of the people around the base would hold off from sharing anything especially grim with me, too, because I’m…”
Belinda hovers a hand over her own head, pats it once, and then makes a sweeping gesture from head to toe.
“W-well, you get the idea.  I’m not a full-on Beacon anyway, so I’m usually not exposed to that kind of stuff.  Call it not wanting to scare a kid… or at least that’s what I imagine some of them probably tell themselves.”
She sighs, then sits down while Cordelia works.  Just to have something to do with her hands that isn’t that habitual scratching, she starts trying to skip little stones across the water.  Even if it wasn’t the ocean, she probably still wouldn’t be doing terribly well at it.
“I guess…,” Belinda says after a little while, “…I guess that you’re *right*, though.  Beacons destroying themselves to stop the spread of corruption is… something I’ve personally experienced the fallout of, now.”
Saying this, the next rock she tosses leaves her claw – her *hand* – with a great deal more force.  She doesn’t watch to try and see how far out it hits the water.

<Reikim>	 "If it bothers you so much, then do something about it." Cordelia sniffs. She puts the earth back and pats it in place.
"But at least you see. Either way, this is *my* island - ever since Lily died - so I'll do with it as I please."
She eyes Belinda challengingly.
"Unless you'd like to take it from me to stop that, little Beacon."

<~Wander>	 “I *can’t* do anything about it but wait and *hope* for my mentor to recover… to whatever extent she recovers,” Belinda mutters, gripping her arms. “Heck, Commander Hikari probably gave me this vacation leave to try and take my mind off of all that…”
She trails off, looking down at her lap until Cordelia invites her to challenge her over the island.
At that, Belinda climbs to her feet to stare up at the dragoness for a few moments.
Then, she starts giggling.
“Ah, no way! I’m not gonna challenge you over that.  It’s still a *shame* and all, but you put it into perspective for me and… and it’s not like you’re actually *hurting* anyone with whatever you decide to do with it, s-so… sorry about my knee-jerk reaction.”

<Reikim>	 Cordelia snorts. "At least you're not a suicidal little pup."
"I was referring to the fact that you look like a child and are treated like a child, though." She walks away. "If it bothers you so much, do something about it."
"Take a new form. Or force everyone else to respect that form." She tilts her head thoughtfully, watching Azaria's next pillar of flame.
"…Within reason, that is," she amends, ruefully.

<~Wander>	 Belinda squints at Cordelia.
“I’m pretty sure I’m stuck at this size for as long as I live, given how I haven’t even grown an *inch* in the past couple years?  And it’s tough to be taken seriously when I can’t reach high shelves without asking for help or fetching a stool…”
She sighs.
“W-well, I guess people might take me more seriously if they knew I was a lot more powerful than I look, but…” Belinda looks away, over toward Azaria’s dramatic fiery displays. “I don’t want them to be afraid of me or… or *resent* me for having power and doing what seems like *nothing useful* with it?”

<Reikim>	 "Then do something useful with it," says Cordelia.
"…As for your form…" She stops and regards Belinda critically.
"…Why do you think you're stuck like this?"

<~Wander>	 For a moment, Belinda looks like she might voice some excuse for why she can’t, but the words die in her throat, smothered by shame.
“…I *will*,” she says quietly, as much to herself as to Cordelia. “Once I’ve got a better grasp of actually working with my power to its proper potential, I’ll use it right.”
The question about her form prompts a blink.
“Um… honestly, with what I remember from Puka and my similarities with Melissa, I think Puka can only make little fire mages.”
She scratches her head, considering the question some more.
“…I guess that’s not what you asked, though.  I mean, fire magic is a far cry from shapeshifting and as far as I’m aware, *most* of us magical girls probably don’t age?  I mean, Hikari looks maybe fifteen, but I’d almost put money on her being the oldest person in Prisma Lantern, definitely older than the base itself… or at least, like, *second*-oldest if Jasmine’s secretly a dragon?”
Belinda gives a shrug.  She really has no idea how it works.

<Reikim>	 "I'm not aware of any of our sisters going by Jasmine…" Cordelia ruminates. "Perhaps she's part of the new brood." Her eyes narrow. "…That could be bad."
The last monolith - at the top of a seaside cliff that ends in a sheer drop to rocks and foamy water - get a brief inspection, and a few new runes carved into it.
Cordelia taps it once with one of her talons, and there's a *pulse* of power, echoed by the others all across the island.
"That should hold another century," she mutters.
She turns to Belinda and smiles down at her.
"Now, I have some time to attend to you. What would you like to see, little one? No parlor tricks in my repertoire, I'll tell you that much!"

<~Wander>	 “Nah, I don’t think Jasmine is all that young.  She’s too peaceable and nice, like she’s the whole base’s cheerful aunt,” Belinda muses half to herself, until the pulse of magic pulls her back up from her thoughts.
“*O-oh, w-what would I like to…*” she trails off, trying to figure out what kind of magic to behold, now that she’s been presented the opportunity.
It takes her half a minute, but… “You, um… you talked about me changing my form like it should be something *simple*, s-so…”
Belinda taps her fingertips together as she works up her courage to ask.
“Does… does that kind of magic… work on *others*?”

<Reikim>	 "…Hmmm…well…*yes*…" Cordelia tilts her head, thinking.
"Like how witches turn people into frogs and newts, that kind of thing?"
"Oh, I also knew a wizard once who was stuck in the shape of an owl. He was not kind to the one who did it to him…"

<~Wander>	 Belinda frowned, momentarily unsure whether she was being teased or Cordelia just hadn’t grasped what she was hoping to suggest without embarrassing herself.
…Considering who she was talking to, *of course* it had to be the latter.
“A-ah, that’s r-really interesting, but what I meant was more like…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “Ah, n-never mind.  It was a silly idea, anyway…”

<Reikim>	 "Ha. Got you!" She smiles. "No, I know what you're asking about."
She comes over to Belinda, and looms over her for a moment, before crouching down to…well, loom a little less.
She tilts the little girl's head up, and looks into her eyes.
"…I'm…not sure," she says quietly.
"Changing a human, who is barely aware of his own anima, is one thing. Changing someone like you would be harder."
"I could do it, I think. If I had time to research. And perhaps an interview with the little acolyte who made you."
"It would be easier if you understood more of your magic, too…otherwise anything I do might be temporary."
Her tail wags.
"…The more I think about it, the more interesting the problem seems…"

<~Wander>	 Belinda presses her hands to her face, trying to hide a blush when it’s clear that she’s been fooled.
When Cordelia gets down closer to her level, she uncovers herself, unsure what to think.
“I… I wasn’t thinking of anything *permanent*, really.  I at least know enough to realize that’d be pretty complicated to do and I’d have to *explain* the change to everyone and- and now I’m *used* to being like this and it’s not like it’s entirely *bad*.  I just…”
Belinda smiles weakly. “I didn’t take any pictures with me that were recent before the change. I *want* to think I look mostly the same as I was at, like… the shorter end of *nine* or so, I guess is how I look now? I mean, I know my hair was black and half as long and my eyes used to be brown, but…”
She sighs.
“W-well, I guess it’s not like I have a camera to preserve the picture even if it *could* be done, and if I can’t remember all of how I used to look, then converting the age I *should* be to *this* version of me wouldn’t work anyway…”

<Reikim>	 "Why do you need to be a specific…"
Cordelia pauses, then grimaces.
"I'm starting to sound like Azzie, damn it."
She straightens, then begins to pace.
"We could look into your past, maybe, to find what you looked like…"
"No, the best we could do with that is…an illusion…"
"And I still can't just change your body, even if it's just to-"
She clicks her talons, and a smile comes over her face.
"Aging mist! Perhaps that would work. Though where to find some..."

<~Wander>	 “*Aging… mist,*” Belinda repeats, clearly unfamiliar with the concept. “That’s not like, *permanent*, I assume?  Or I guess it’d at least be reversible with magic? …Ah, shoot, this is definitely turning into something *complicated*…”
She scratches at her arms. “*…Jeez, I half expect it would be easier to look more dragonish rather than older,*” she mutters.

<Reikim>	 "…Well-" Cordelia starts.
She's interrupted by Azaria falling in from the sky.
She's grown. Now she's almost as tall as Cordelia; and like Cordelia, scales now cover parts of her body, and her tail thrashes behind her.
She's a little farther down, though; her hands are fully claws, as are her feet; and she's also grown a pair of leathery, pale-red wings.
The landing kicks up dust and rocks, which Cordelia reflexively blocks with a barrier. She sighs.
"Dramatic as always," she complains.
"It is what I am," Azaria says proudly.
She crosses her arms and stands tall and proud.
"It's been too long since I've been able to stretch."
"Well, that *was* your own fault," Cordelia retorts. "Shoo. We're discussing important technical matters."
"Such as?" Azaria raises an eyebrow.
"Making Belinda look older," says Cordelia. "I had a thought to use aging mist…"
"...Didn't Seiryu have the last tamatebako?" Azaria raises her eyebrows. "Which means-"
"It would be suicide to get, I *know*." Cordelia sighs. "I've wanted to study it for centuries!"
"Well *I* don't think she needs to change a bit." Azaria smiles down at Belinda. "Neither do the children."
"Speaking of which…"
Cordelia looks around.
"Where are they? I've been away from them for too long~"

<~Wander>	 Belinda reflexively shields her face with an arm at Azaria’s landing.
“*Looking kinda like that would be super awesome…*” she mumbles as she takes in Azaria’s half-draconic appearance.  Not that Cordelia’s look isn’t cool as well, but it’s much easier to picture herself like someone with similar colors.
She falls quiet as she listens to the dragons bring up and then dismiss the prospect of an incredibly dangerous heist… which is apparently a *requirement* for the aging mist?
Azaria at least gets a smile and a blush in return for telling her she’s fine as she is, though.
“Ah, the little ones?  They’re…”
Belinda takes a deep breath, closing her eyes to focus on the threads rather than doing the more conventionally sensible thing  of just calling out for them.
“…Over that way!” Belinda grabs at the imaginary thread as she points.  Perhaps she ought to consider how strange her frivolous usage of scrying magic must look an outside observer, but instead she just skips along like a child toward her little friends, tracing the metaphorical string as though it were something more tangible.  In this regard, perhaps her childish appearance is the most natural for her, even if she might sometimes long to be different…

<Reikim>	 Cordelia shares a look with Azaria, behind her back. The latter shrugs, and smiles.
They find Kiara and Singh fighting over a particularly pretty flower, while Kaur watches with disdain. Petals and broken stems are strewn everywhere.
Cordelia rushes forward and scoops them up. "Hey! Getting a little too rough, there~"
She ignores their scratching at her, and tosses them at Azaria. As in, throws them in a lovely little arc…
Then she picks up Kaur, who grudgingly accepts the pampering. She turns to Belinda.
"So, sorry. We can't alter your appearance for you...not yet, at least. But perhaps we can show you something else…?"
"I'm all warmed up," says Azaria, grinning - and showing off some pretty sharp teeth.
"To be honest, I wouldn't mind an excuse to stretch a little~"

<~Wander>	 By this point, Belinda has learned to expect tossing and similar things with the hatchlings.  Dragon children are obviously more durable than human children, so it’s presumably fine… especially when they’re not being tossed at *her*.
“Ah, it’s okay.” Her eyes brighten at the offer to show her something. “You were gonna give some kind of fire-based *dragon-magic* lesson, right?  I’m totally excited!”
Of course, Belinda isn’t *so* excited that she’d forget to first give the hatchlings some affection, first.  Friendly scratches for all, though mostly for Kaur, since she was presumably being a good girl.

<Reikim>	 "I offered a *demonstration*, not a lesson," snorts Cordelia. "And as if I'd ever owe you anything!"
"Oh, relax~" says Azaria, folding her wings and coming back over with Kiara and Singh. "Don't you want to show off a bit?"
"Hmph! I don't *need* to show off," retorts Cordelia, looking away from her cousin. "…But if she asks nicely…"
"-Anyway!" she snaps, turning on Azaria. "You! You're the one who needs a lesson here! You have all that power - at least equal to a second-generation! - and all you can do with it is-"
She raises a hand up and to her side. A burst of green flame blossoms into the air - truly *blossoms*, starting as a bud, then unfurling in a carefully controlled spiral, before whisking away into nothing.
The wave of hot hair bends the flowers.
Kiara and Singh watch it go with awe, and hiss appreciatively. Kaur pretends not to notice, but totally does.
Cordelia sniffs and raises her nose. "A waste."

<~Wander>	 “A-ah…” Belinda decides not to point out how Cordelia said she could learn something, even if it was difficult.
She takes a deep breath, clenches her hands beneath her chin, and looks up at Cordelia, as big-eyed and pleading as she can.
“*Please teach me, Lady Cordelia!*” the tiny girl says, before promptly flushing with embarrassment and covering her face.
If Belinda hadn’t been peeking through her fingers, Belinda could almost have missed seeing the fire bloom into being.  Seeing it definitely makes her eyes light up with interest.
“*Huh… I didn’t expect it to be green,*” she mumbles to herself.  She doesn’t flinch at the heat.

<Reikim>	 "Hmph." Cordelia smiles smugly. "You can't *learn* this kind of thing."
She crosses her arms.
"…But as the scholar I am, I suppose I have to *try*."
Behind her, Azaria rolls her eyes, and gives Belinda a wink.
"Show me what you can do, first," she demands. "Then we'll see how much you have yet to learn!"

<~Wander>	 “Something that can’t be *learned*…” Belinda repeats, seeming unsure. “I… o-okay, I’ll see what I can do.  Give me… just a minute, please, then I’ll have *something*?”
Belinda nods once, then closes her eyes to focus.  She draws her pendant out of her collar, holding it comfortably within her hands as she tries to muster some manner of complex fire, more than a simple candle flame or a fireball.  Deep breaths, in and out, in and out as she reaches for the molten heart she’s rarely drawn upon in recent memory.
For the moment, Belinda just tries to visualize the fiery flower that Cordelia made.  She exhales a deep breath upon her pendant until it starts to glow, draws in another, and…
…This is difficult.  The sealing shackles probably aren’t helping, throttling Belinda’s power as they are.  Even so, she can feel her throat burning a bit, as her next breath comes out as more steam than air.
That meant her next breath would probably be fire, but… instead of breathing out that fire, Belinda just tries to let the warmth disperse out across her body toward her hands, feeling out how it travels.
She doesn’t immediately realize when the fire outwardly manifests, golden flames threading through her long, messy hair in the vague shape of flowers and vines, then culminating in curiously antler-like branches of gold atop her head. Her arms, too, are glowing slight gold, save for the area immediately around the shackles.
When Belinda opens her eyes, she looks unsure. “…I wanted to try and do that fiery flower thing you just showed, but these shackles are kinda not cooperating,” she says.  The fact that the fire redirected elsewhere to manifest apparently isn’t something she’s noticed, yet.

<Reikim>	 "Hm? The what?" Cordelia looks her over curiously. "Your power seems to be manifesting just…oh. Oooooh."
She grabs at Belinda's wrist, hauling her hand up for examination.
"The Beacon binding rings! I thought they were no longer produced!"
"Cordie…" Azaria warns.
"Ahem. Yes." She releases Belinda's arm before she's dragged right off the ground.
"I've always wanted one of those…" she says, her eyes eyeing the trinket…hungrily.
"If it's a problem, though…why not just take it off?"

<~Wander>	 Belinda tilts her head at the mention of her power manifesting, then gives a startled squeak when she’s lifted onto her toes for a moment as Cordelia examines the shackle.  With her concentration disrupted, her fires shrink and the antlers fizzle out.
“I didn’t know they weren’t still supposed to be made.  Someone helped make these for me not long after I got there, as a sort of power limiter to make sure I wouldn’t *hurt* myself or anyone else if I messed up while learning better control.  They aren’t the full-strength kind, I think I’ve heard, but…”
Belinda trails off for a few moments, fidgeting and scratching at her wrists where the shackles touch them.
“I’m still not sure how to take them off on my own, and… and I’m probably not *supposed* to.”