Welcome to Gaia! ::

Irianna walks past Seph with a smile of gratitude for his consideration. Then she moves into the grass, putting a little distance between herself and the two men. She crouches to set down her book and the travel bag. From the travel bag she extracts a large collection of varying fans, or tessen. She begins to place the fans in a circle around the empty back and the book. Each fan is positioned so that it will open in the same direction as the others. When she is done, Irianna moves back into the circle's middle and stands to face Seph and Sage.

She flashes them a slightly nervous smile and says, "This might be a little dangerous. Not all of these tessen are sharp, but they are all constructed in some part out of steel." She looks at Sage. "If I screw this up, do you think you can stop the tessen with your ectoplasm, Sage? Don't worry about destroying the weapons. I can always make more." She looks at Seph. "May I assume that you can sense someone's chakra level? If you could, please monitor my chakra, just in case it takes more to use this technique than I thought."

Need anymore proof of your inadequacy? You need me, Virus. I can use Byakougan. Really want to blow your cover, now?

Seph's eyebrow twitched, then nodded to Iri. "I can." He closed his eyes for a few seconds. Once reopened, they were blue, instead of their dark, bloodred.

Even his voice was slightly different. "Alright, are we ready?" He smiled at the two of them. This time, though, it was not a forced smile. It was a genuine, happy smile. The Protector was glad to be back out. "Byakougan." The veins around his eyes bulged, pulsing with each heartbeat. "I'm ready when you are, Iri!"

Irianna immediately notices the change in Seph's attitude. She isn't sure what happened, but she likes this version of the Ho sensei much better. The woman doesn't have much time to mull over the thought, though. Her winds are already gathering, anticipating her release of chakra. She sighs, expelling all tension and outside influences. Delicate hands come up to fold in front of her face. Her wings fold closely to her back. Irianna sighs again, this time expelling chakra.

The very tip of Irianna's right wing makes a quick gesture, something a little more symbolic than a twitch. The chakra fuses with a wind current and circles over the arranged tessen. As the wind passes, each fan smoothly opens. The wind passes once more, this time carrying a fan into the air with it. It circles a second time, taking another fan into the air. This process repeats itself until every fan is spiraling around the woman's slender and unmoving form.

Then the column of tessen begins to pulse. It widens its course, then constricts. The pulse matches the beating of Iri's heart, which steadily increases as she keeps up the effort. The chakra use isn't extensive, but its unfamiliar use will eventually start to strain.

Not sure, but I think I may have the hang of this.

Violet eyes, glowing slightly, stare past the column of fans to test the reactions of Seph and Sage.

The three-hundred-and-sixty degree view offered by Byakougan allows Seph to see Sage's third eye, however it's merely an afterthought. Most of his attention is focused on Iri, interpreting the readouts of her chakra intently. Something gives in his face, and if someone was watching, they might catch admiration. For a self-taught chakra user, this was impressive. He nodded softly, not allowing himself to drop his bloodline limit until her technique was completed.

Did you catch any of that?

No..

Ah. Well, in any case, do you see my value, now? I'm much more useful out here than I am cooped up inside this hollow shell. Sephiroth doesn't even talk, anymore. He doesn't threaten you. What do you say? Keep watch while I control the body? I have no use for Sephiroth anymore--a lost cause, if you will.

He dropped Byakougan and returned Iri's smile, putting his hands behind his head. "Impressive! I did notice the small fluctuation in control when you lost focus, but that's easily remedied with more practice!" Everything about Sephiroth was now more relaxed, more at ease. Even more sincere. The Protector knew this Dojo as well as the Real Sephiroth, and had taken many of his more-likable quirks. He looked around and added playfully: "And nothing was leveled!"

Sage nodded to Iri and replied with, " sleep well...and keep up your practice. when you do practice though, practice with fewer fans...when you get the hang of them, it will be easier to get the hang of using them all."

Sage nodded to seph as he departed. Once seph was gone though, Sage made his way back to his cupboard in the kitchen. After climbing into it, he began to meditate.

However, unlike his other meditations, This one caused Sage to gain a slightly visible aura. As well, he was chanting as he meditated. His tone hushed, and barely audible.

Meanwhile, within his mind he was hard at work.

((going to call it a night here, and yes, Sage is doing his psychic training, I'm going to roll dice for this post, and have the result when next I'm on.))