victory_road | 02 ; Open Log

Entry tags:

02 ; Open Log

WHEN? Backdated January 06th - ????
WHERE? Cherrygrove City, with potentially visiting the outskirts of Route 29.
WHO? Jinx, and you! Will likely include references to Jinx's traveling partner, Razor, but it may not!
WHAT? Jinx and Razor have arrived in Cherrygrove and are still looking out for each other, but also it's important to meet new people.
RATING? E (mild swearing aside)

[ A: NETWORK, 1/6 ]

[ Jinx is sitting at a table before the Gear, an espurr sleeping in one arm that's leaned against the surface. It looks like an inn most travelers are likely familiar with, being the first most people stay at! She looks incredibly relieved to be there, and hey! She's got some new friends it looks like. ]

I'd like to say clearing Route 29 is probably not the most amazing accomplishment, but considering I lived in a very sunny beach city, I think I did good. ... Admittedly, not on my own, but I think universal displacement allows for accepting help, if you're not an ass about it.

[ Prideful, aren'tcha. ]

Now that I have more opportunities to make money and get supplies... I do consider myself a good cook, but I also am used to a more stationary life. I know what meals keep for a week at a house, but I admittedly don't know a lot about preparing food for travel. So, what did you guys make?

Oh! Also, on my way here I found a disk? [ And here she holds up a TM for a moment, before setting it down quietly so as to not wake the sleeping espurr. ] I'm not entirely sure what this is supposed to be, so. ... What is it?

[ B: NETWORK, 1/7 ]

[ It's late at night, and the girl is by a window to admire the night sky initially, before the idea hit her. ]

So, I'm from a world where people can have magic, as well as naturally born or acquired superpowers... Though, I've also seen a couple aliens, so there's not really discounting that. I, personally, was magic but... it's gone now. But I can't be the only one from such a place, so I'm curious. Anyone out there who had powers too? ... And, since I'm nosy, what were they?

I could make charms and potions, but due to personal circumstances I'd rather not go into, the only spells I could cast were hexes, or manipulate peoples' luck for the worse in short instances. It did well for a fight, but God forbid I ever needed a light in the dark... but it was mine, and I miss it.

[ C1 : CHERRYGROVE, INN LOBBY ]

[ It's not unusual to see patrons relaxing in the lobby, and Jinx is no oddity, there. If anything, it's probably very normal to see a teenage girl curled up in a chair by the window, sketching. Now and then, she looks up to see if anything's changed outside... it looks as if she's drawing what she sees in the plaza. And as she draws, she's lost to the world around her... so uh. If you're trying to catch her attention, you'll have to try a couple times. She does, eventually, jolt however. ]

[ C2 : CHERRYGROVE, STREETS ]

[ Having made some money from selling her sketches and even some battles, Jinx has been carefully going from store to store for supplies. While she keeps an eye on her Gear for her shopping list, she artfully dodges through the crowd, for the most part. ]

Now where am I going to find another cot...?

[ C3 : OUTSKIRTS ]

[ Given that over the past few days Jinx has come to care for a tiny unicorn, a thousand-yard-stare kitten, a... fruit and a tiny snow yokai- and two eggs- she figures it might be time to stop mothering them so much. Sure, she's awkwardly started accepting challenges, but she can't help but worry. So, it's training time. So on the verge of Cherrygrove and Route 29, Jinx has been going over her Pokémon's moves and types, and is finally putting things to practice. But some of these things are pretty... baby mode. ... Welp. ]

[ D: WILDCARD ]

If none of these prompts really work for you but you want to do something with Jinx, hit me up with a PM so we can plot something out! I'm completely fine with that, and am looking forward to it!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In my world, magic is a skill. Different people have different affinities, but to harness it requires years of study and practice. Elemental magic, anyway. Faith magic is something else entirely, but I never had any talent or inclination for it.

But I worked hard to learn thunder magic for combat. And here, all that work is going to waste. It's frustrating.

In my world it could be learned or natural- mine was natural, so it had been with me from birth. However, most natural-born magic users don't have it actually manifest physically until they're at least six. I suspect this is mostly because not even the powers that be want to deal with babies throwing fire or lightning when they're upset.

I definitely get that frustration though- not only is a part of me gone, but I worked all my life to get to the level I was at. And now... nothing.

A six-year-old throwing fire or lightning wouldn't be any better. One of my childhood friends had monstrous, inhuman strength at six years old. He was a terror even when he tried to be careful.

He's here too, actually. He lost that strength and he's happy about it.

It's not just the magic. I spent my whole life training to be a warrior. It's all I know how to do. Here, the best I can do is a pathetic wooden sword.

Oh, no, I agree. Seeing as my magic is primarily causing misfortune, I was nowhere near prepared to handle it or its consequences. Some people get kinder affinities, but. It's still a lot for children to handle, and some parents can't either.

... I'm glad that worked out for him, at least.

[ And admittedly, she herself is a bit relieved to no longer cause accidents with her mere presence. But a piece of her is still missing. She feels hollow. ]

Yeah, I can imagine. ... I had... just left that sort of life, the night I was brought here. I was going to figure out what I wanted to do with myself if I wasn't a fighter, but I guess this world decided for me.

Causing misfortune, huh? I once knew someone who thought she was cursed to cause misfortune to everyone. I didn't know her well enough to know whether that was true or just all in her head.

[Felix leans forward a little, attentive in a way he wasn't quite before.]

Hm. What made you decide to leave that life?

I was the leader of my small squad. From strategy to making sure they were training and healthy. I had lead them for years and eventually they just... stopped taking everything seriously. When I wanted to run drills, they wanted to play games. When I asked if they cared about our futures, they said no.

[ For a moment, she looks tired. At first she'd been so angry, but when the anger simmers out, eventually only exhaustion will remain. Maybe abandoning the squad was cowardly, or selfish, but... ]

I can only try for so long before it kills me. I can only be taken for granted for so long before it kills the soul. It built up, higher and higher with every dismissal. It would have been detrimental to everyone to keep trying, honestly.

... I don't know what I'm going to do now, though. Here, or if I ever go back.

[Felix furrows his brow at how familiar this sounds. How familiar the exhausted look on her face seems.]

Back when I attended an officers' academy, my-- [Oh, he's still not used to saying this.] My boyfriend, who at the time was my best friend. He was a lot like that, back then. Always fooling around, never taking anything seriously, never training when he should have. Never thinking about his future, because he thought his future was already decided for him, and he hated it. I was furious with him, but nothing I did or said convinced him to get his act together.

I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't gone to war before we graduated. And there were times I considered leaving the army, too, for...a lot of reasons. I probably would have gone mercenary, if I'd done it.

Here...I'm making the rounds at the gyms, but after that? I don't know either. This world has no place for warriors.

It sounds like you worked out better for you, at least.

If it had been just one, maybe I could have handled it longer, or better. I don't know. But five of it- I wasn't just their leader, I was their mother!

[ And she takes a moment to just, huff and calm herself down. Not that it's hard with the somber reminder that even if she left crime behind, she was still a fighter in a world where no one needed punching. ... For hire, that is. There were always those sorts of annoying people, after all. ]

It doesn't, and fighting is all I've done, for as long as I can remember. Be it survival, grades, or just to make a living. It doesn't feel right throwing a baby unicorn into the field, but... what else can I do?

I read about the Gym challenge. Do you think it's worth it?

Better, yes. I would have preferred it if it hadn't taken years of bloody war to get him to grow up, but...yes.

[Felix isn't sure how old she is, but she definitely looks too young to have been acting as a mother to anyone. No wonder she's frustrated.]

Mm. Living weapons...it's taking some getting used to. The gym challenge...is something to work toward. Something to train for. It's better than nothing. I've found it can be...satisfying, if you crave a way to test your skill against others and get stronger.

It has no greater purpose, but it can serve as one. For now.

[ Oh yikes. She definitely winces just a bit at that revelation. Fights were hard sometimes, but it hadn't been a bloody war. ... Not that... the Brotherhood had been doing anything kind. That it had taken that much for his partner... ]

I'm sorry to hear that. [ And she is, truly. ] There may be right wars, but there's never a good one.

[ ... Well, that's enough of that subject. For the kid's sake. ]

I've heard there are plenty of good reasons to pursue it. And it's been so long since I've done anything just for myself, without influence from someone else.

Edited 2021-01-18 06:30 (UTC)

[Felix nods in agreement. The kid's got her priorities in the right place, at least. ...she's really starting to remind him of himself. It's a little eerie.]

Influence? What kind of influence?

[He frowns. He knows all about doing things because other people want you to do them, and he'd hate to hear that she had to put up with that nonsense, too.]

Edited 2021-01-18 09:19 (UTC)

[ Ah fuck. She said too much. Jinx is quiet, for almost a minute, before she sighs. ]

My teachers weren't good people. They were the sort to find kids with powers that got them rejected by society, and twist them. And because we were angry and bitter, we let it happen.

I didn't just walk out on my team, when I left. Their hold had been weakening for a while now and honestly, when I did leave everything behind? My head never felt more clear.

[ Not that that clarity actually stuck for too long. Anxiety and confusion and a bitter grief had filled her mind in no time at all, and then she'd gotten plucked from one reality and dropped into another before she could truly find time to self-reflect, let alone anything else. To be perfectly honest, she always knew that what she'd just said was true. She just stopped being okay with it. (Funny how just a little bit of faith from someone else did that.) ]

It takes strength to cut ties with a bad situation when it's all you've had. That's admirable.

[Felix didn't have that strength. It turned out to be for the best in the end, but for the many times he considered leaving the Kingdom, leaving Dimitri, he never found the resolve to actually do it. Not that he's not glad Sylvain stopped him. But it's something he's thought about a lot since then.]

Those teachers of yours. I hope they get what's coming to them.

[ There's something startling about his words- one of those things that you know is true, but for other people. For yourself, it never sinks in, not really, not on it's own. For a moment she almost reels back, eyes wide while she struggles- looks like you hit a bit close to home, Felix. ]

... Thank you. That really does mean a lot.

[ Especially since she did just confess, in a roundabout way, to being a villain. ]

They were starting to fall apart at the end of things, so I wouldn't be surprised if the end of their operations was coming. ... But I've always been good at making sure people get what's due. Bad luck and all that.

[Her surprise is palpable, and it isn't hard to imagine that she was truly alone when she left. She must have had doubts. But she pushed through them--she should know how rare a will she has.

At her ominous words, he just nods.] Good. Preying on children is despicable.

They were good at making it sound like something you wanted.

[ And she's not sure how long it will take to separate what was her and what was them- if there was ever any distinction. And if there was, or wasn't, did it even matter? She did what they commanded with a smile, after all. ]

Glad to see you're not blaming yourself. Many in your position would, and they would be wrong.

[ ... yeah she's not gonna tell him he's kind of wrong there. ]

That's the sort of damage this sort of thing does. At the very least though, I know I don't want to be like them anymore.

For right now, that will have to be enough.

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02 ; Open Log

B (technically they haven't spoken yet but time is wibbly-wobbly sdkfjg if that's cool w/ you!)

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