[RP] The Plains of Torment (Open to all)

[Gareus Fletcher]

"Hmm... Looks like it'll take some doing though."

Gareus took another gulp of water, gargling a bit.

"Some places are like old sins... You can never really cleanse them fully."  

[Azana Brown]

"It's taken two and a half years just to get to this point," she said, hearing his comparison and offering a nod. "Gaia has scars...not just here, but Barton Cliffs. There's a huge crater there...and, now that I recall, a strange temple off the coast that almost no one can get to."

She opened the container, offering Gareus a single strawberry.  

[Gareus Fletcher]

He accepted the strawberry, smirking.

"But picnics with attractive young blondes who beat me up seem to take the damper out of the place somewhat, in my opinion."  

[Azana Brown]

"Why, thank you," Stella answered confidently, sipping her own bottle of water. "I do try to keep things lively. So, you seem to be big on heavy light when you cast. Why is that?"  

[Gareus Fletcher]

She was that edge of the overflowing cup, so he imagined, the surface tension of water meeting it and unsure whether it was gonna overflow and send another blast at his head. He played safely this time, answering her question.

"Habit I guess, mental imaging."

He looked at his left, flexing the fingers out more. He wasn't sure about the whole Law of Contagion thingy, but it was starting to grow on him.

"The magic seemed to come more naturally to me when I thought about what it was like back then, so i tried to stick to that more often. I could make the light do whatever I wanted back then... I could make it physically painful, I could make it pass through clothing and straight to soft spots, I could make the light do both... So when I was practicing last night I just used the mental referencing, and boom goes the dynamite. Whatcha got now."

He held up a gun finger, blowing at the tip to make a small dust cloud of light blow off it.  

[Azana Brown]

"Everybody has something that calls to them," Stella nodded. "Yours is based a lot on comfort...what you've gotten used to using. It works for you...a good application of the Law of Pragmatism right there. I, personally, like the stars, not that you couldn't tell. I actually changed my name to reflect that."

She chuckled, slicing the strawberry and dropping it into her water. "It suits me better, anyway."  

[Gareus Fletcher]

"If by stars ya mean me seeing stars, I guess I get it."

He finished his water, taking a breath afterwards.

"So... what's your real name then?"  

[Azana Brown]

"Stella Stevenson," she answered slyly. "I did have it legally changed. As for my birth name...well, that's classified. Sorry...but it's not really something I wanna talk about."  

[Gareus Fletcher]

"Uh huuuuh. No worries, no need to. We all have our stories."

He hummed to himself as he finished the last parts of his meal.

"Anyways, Miss Stevenson. Thank you very much for the lesson, the meal, and a bruise that'll take me a couple days to get over."

Gareus crossed his legs, leaning back on his hands.

"Anything else you'd like to hide?"  

[Azana Brown]

Stella sighed, giving a bittersweet chuckle. "Fine...embarrassing as it is, my folks named me Bonnie. It never quite fit right, as far as I was concerned...so I changed it when I got old enough, and when I finally settled on star magic as my weapon of choice."

She looked to him, finishing her strawberry water. "We're not quite done with the lesson, you know...unless, of course, you've already dedicated that glove of yours. Does it have a name?"  

[Gareus Fletcher]

"Awwwww. You even look like a Bonnie, don't know why you'd ditch a name like thaaaat."

He looked at his glove, thinking. A name? He'd named it before. What was it...

"...Trueshot. Its name is Trueshot."  

[Azana Brown]

"I guess I just don't like what it symbolizes for me," she said with a shrug, watching him as he attempted to remember its name. "Good...giving something a name can give it power. The more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. For instance, there's fine carvings in my wands. You might embroider them, someday, or whatever."

She smiled, packing the picnic basket and dropping it through another small portal. "So...I suppose this is your chance to make requests. And considering your bruise, I'd suggest you be careful what you wish for."  

[Gareus Fletcher]

She'd brought something up that slipped into his next request.

"...What was Bonnie to you?"  

[Azana Brown]

She stopped...she had associated Bonnie with her old self, though she was Stella, too, when she remained little better than a powerful puppet. Yeah, but Stella's the one who broke it.

"Bonnie was a beautiful doll," she answered, gaze distant as she described it. "She was a performer, a good student...all to impress an audience who, in the end, was only concerned with the show. Bonnie's empty...hollow."  

[Gareus Fletcher]

"Hrm. I see."

Gareus nodded slowly once.

"...Welp. I'm pretty sure that besides a few other potentially gut-busting requests, I'm fresh out."

He gave a rare gentlemanly bow, the reason unclear whether he meant it out of random chivalry or sarcasm.

"Shall we away... Stella?"