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

[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.

[hearsthesea]

How about finding a path to follow? If we can do that, it just might be what we need.

[misconceived]

Like a breadcrumb trail. Okay.

[ He starts writing more down. Source of power, gone without a trace, We ask for guiding hands, to find its new place, And then he stops, taps at the pad with the end of the pen. ]

We're getting there. Could probably use another verse, though.

[hearsthesea]

So that we might find...the ocean's grace?

[It sort of works. Normal eres incantations would be longer, but then again this isn't an eres.]

[misconceived]

[ Hey, that's a good one. He gives her an impressive nod, then writes it down. He squints at the notepad, then shrugs. ]

Won't know until we give it a shot.

Source of power,
gone without a trace,
We ask for guiding hands
to find its new place,
So that we might find
the ocean's grace.

[ There's a light around the room, soft and unassuming, before it coalesces into a thread starting from Shirley's chest and leading out through the outer wall. Not even down the hallway to be nice, but apparently it's a straight line to wherever the powers went. ]

[hearsthesea]

Oh!

[That's helpful and...also not entirely helpful. But it's definitely something.]

So it must have gone somewhere. How long will this last?

[misconceived]

Um... until we find what we need, usually.

[ aka, he has NO IDEA. Welcome to magic. ]

[hearsthesea]

Well, I suppose I should start following it then.

[Shirley starts wandering towards the door, since getting out of the ship is a start. This ought to be like following a compass, except...more visible.]

[misconceived]

[ More visible and... as it turns out, a lot more erratic. After following it for a few minutes, it becomes obvious there's a problem when the line abruptly snaps to face another direction entirely. ]

Whoa. What was that?

[hearsthesea]

Um...you don't know either?

[Definitely not what was expected.]