Video

[hearsthesea]

Who: Shirley
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Huntress
When: April 15 (backdated slightly by a few days!)

[It's been a while since Shirley made a public broadcast, but to anyone who sees her face it's easy to figure out that something happened - she's got a frown on her face and she keeps on glancing down at her hands, which she's wringing occasionally.]

Has anybody ever lost their--abilities? Magic, or fighting, or anything of the sort. I know I was able to use my eres just a little while ago, but I can't anymore. I don't know what happened, I...I just don't know.

Comments

action forever;

[misconceived]

That's... what I came here to ask you.

[ He moves over, sets the comm aside and gives her his attention. ]

Are you okay?

[hearsthesea]

You saw?

[Well, it's not like she's intending to keep secrets.]

...It bothers me more than I'd have thought. I've only been able to use my eres for a little while, but since I lost my quill I've always considered it my strongest connection to home. And after all this...

[misconceived]

Of course I did.

[ He might not seem like it, but he takes his captaincy fairly seriously. Any of his crewmates in trouble is something he's going to notice sooner rather than later. Especially loss of magic. It's a terrifying thought for him and he's secretly impressed with how Shirley's holding up despite it. ]

Do you have any idea when it happened?

[hearsthesea]

It had to be sometime while we were here. The last time I used them was a little while ago, when I was practicing in that dome. I went back today to try again, but that was when I realized my power was gone.

[That had made for an interesting moment, since she'd already called up the monster holograms. Thank goodness for voice commands.]

[misconceived]

Here?

[ Not even during the attack or something? He exhales. ]

All right. If you want, I could try some kind of... calling-to-lost-powers spell or something like that. Maybe get an idea of where they went or... what happened.

[hearsthesea]

You can do that?

[That's...pretty specific. Does mysterious power loss happen often where Chris comes from?]

[misconceived]

[ More often than you'd think. ]

Yeah. If not that exactly... I can at least modify something else or start from scratch to make something that will work. Not that it's a guarantee out here, but better than nothing. Right?

[hearsthesea]

[Man, it's much simpler back home. The ocean doesn't like you, you're rejected. The end.]

Yeah. If there's anything you can do, I'd like to give it a try. Will you need anything from me?

[misconceived]

Depends on what I come up with, but it shouldn't be any more than holding your hand while I cast it or maybe some of your hair.

[ Something like that, anyway. ]

[hearsthesea]

My hair?

[Shirley reaches up to touch at one of her braids. It won't be hard to give him some, but it seems like a weird thing to ask for.]

[misconceived]

Yeah, your hair. Not that much, though. Just... like a lock or so.

[hearsthesea]

Oh, all right.

[Still weird, but that's definitely not hard.]

Will it take long for you to come up with something?

[misconceived]

It shouldn't. Calling to lost powers isn't that difficult. It's figuring out what kind of power I'll need to invoke out in space that might take the longest.

[hearsthesea]

All right. I appreciate whatever help you can offer, so take your time. Meanwhile, I...

[And here she looks at her hands, still unable to summon her eres again.]

I'll see if anything else comes up.

[misconceived]

[ He hesitates, licks his lips, looks away for a moment. ]

You want me to stick around?

[hearsthesea]

No, that won't be necessary. You do what you need to, and please let me know if I'm needed. Otherwise...I'll be fine.

[Honestly the company would be comfortable, but comfortable isn't always better for the long run. Shirley's still wary of making the mistakes she used to.]

[misconceived]

[ Chris looks like he really wants to say something, but... this is out of his depth. The only time he's lost his powers was kind of a terrible experience all around, better off not thought about. ]

How good are you with rhyming?

[hearsthesea]

Um...I'm all right, I suppose. Why?

[That's a weird question.]

[misconceived]

Well, it's how we write our spells. Cheesy, I know, but it works. [ He looks a bit embarrassed here, shrugs. ] I thought maybe you'd want to help. Two minds are better than one, right?

[hearsthesea]

They are. It sounds like fun, actually.

[Shirley's used to dramatic incantations and appeals to Nerifes. Rhyming sounds...pretty cute, really.]

[misconceived]

[ It can be hella cute, but don't say that to Chris's face. It is just his life, he's over the cute factor by now. ]

Yeah, see? [ He glances around assuming they're in the lab and considers. Yeah, it isn't super messy but there's enough things out of proper place that this could work. ]

Let the object of objection
become but a dream,
As I cause the scene
to be unseen.

[ There we go. Magical glowing lights whip up out of nowhere and sweep up any mislaid objects before depositing them in their proper place with a proper amount of cleanliness and Chris turns to Shirley with a grin on his face. See, he can help and they'll figure this out and it'll all be okay. ]

That's kind of a repurposed one, but you get the idea.

[hearsthesea]

Oh!

[Shirley looks very impressed - that's so cool, you can't do that with eres.]

That's very useful.

[misconceived]

Sometimes.

[ Sometimes magic is just a pain in the ass, and Chris is more than willing to admit it. ]

Still, you see what I mean? If we do it right, we might be able to find your powers.

[hearsthesea]

Yes, I see. So it goes like this, right? Source of power, gone without a trace--um...

[Rhyming is fun, but maybe she ought to have put a little more thought into it before starting.]

[misconceived]

[ He raises a finger, tapping along with the start. He hears the cadence, can definitely work with that... ]

One second.

[ He shimmers away! Comes back moments later with a pen and some loose paper to write down what Shirley's got. Working on spells out loud isn't the best idea for him. His first thought to follow through is Give us a clue, punish them their haste and he scratches that out soon after. ]

Nah, not specific enough. Hm.