Shock Mark (15) : Thunderstorms are common this time of year, but what’s not common is the number of people reported being struck by lightning. Strangely, people are surviving with only minor, if any, injuries at all. Being struck can feel like a static shock, or can feel like a sudden flash of heat, and targets are left with a strange lightning mark across their body. Though the marks will fade, for their duration–up to a full week after being struck, you might notice that you are more prone to static shocking yourself or others, and you may notice electronics charging or overcharging and malfunctioning. The marks can take longer to fade at player discretion, or players may choose for them to leave pale scars, but otherwise there are no lasting effects.
The rain was back and coming down in full force so Aoede took to the streets with her umbrella to drain much as she had the other week. This time she was being much more vigilant when it came to looking for order auras. This time her brother demanded she keeps her location app on when draining just in case so he could come to aid her if needed. She felt like she had been grounded by her brother in a way when she had treated him like such a child when she first became a senshi. At the same time, she felt reassured because the scars she had received from that crazy firebug of a senshi were still very apparent on her skin. They still hurt and were raised, so she carefully wrapped them day and night so they wouldn't get bothered by the fabric of her clothing.
It hurt her to look at them more than they hurt now but each day they were starting to fade a bit and if she followed the instructions that Alexandre's doctor had given her, they would potentially disappear completely with time. She really hoped that things would work out that way. It had been hard seeing how her brother reacted to the state she had been in when he pulled her out of that bad situation, it wasn't very ladylike in the slightest. She had still smelled of smoke and burned flesh, he had even thrown out the rug she had crumpled onto when she had landed.
It wasn't a pleasant memory and she was deep in thought as that came to the front of her mind as she walked. The rain pelted down on her umbrella and if she had been paying attention she would have noticed her hair starting to stand up a bit like it was getting statically charged. The next moment there was a crack and her umbrella sizzled from the shock of it as it fluttered to the ground. She let out a shriek as it sunk in that she had just gotten struck by lightning. Shaking, she made her way down an alley to power down and make her way back to her car.
Once she was safely back in her car she checked all over to make sure she was ok, there was a network of faint white scars going up her arm from where she had been holding the umbrella. They traveled all the way down her side and to her foot, she smashed her hands into the dash as she scream even more. This time it was in anger at the s**t luck she had been having, she was still dealing with the burns from that crazy pyro, and now this? Couldn't she catch a break as of late?
Crying and screaming, she just let it all out where nobody was really watching. If she was home, the neighbors would hear or complain about the noise. Tomorrow she would go to the doctor and get it looked at to make sure nothing else was wrong. There wasn't any burning other than the singed remains of her umbrella that were back in the alley. It was so weird that it hadn't hurt either.
After a bit, she started to calm down and turned on the overhead light in her car to get a better look. The scars were barely noticeable against her skin, they were only slightly lighter and didn't have that raised feeling that the angry burns on her stomach had. They looked like they would at least fade faster than the others or she could cover them with a little bit of medium coverage concealer or foundation and some makeup magic.
On the drive over to Aloysius's house, her car got struck by lightning too. Although it seemed to be ok other than a quick blip on the radio and flickering of lights. That was way too weird to be normal lightning, it was rare enough to get stuck even just once but now it had happened twice? The storm was becoming relentless so as she pulled up and parked in the garage, she waited to see if the house would get hit by lightning next.
Luckily, nothing happened and she made her way inside. It was there she stripped down and took a look at the damage reluctantly. It was hard to see her once smooth and blemishless skin marked with scars and the new batch didn't help at all. They almost looked like the network of branches on a tree, fanning out and filled with little bits here and there. Poking some of them softly, they didn't really hurt either. Another plus compared to her other scars which still looked very angry and ugly.
There was a thunder crash outside and she shrieked again since it was quite loud and sounded like it was just outside the window. Tonight she was going to stay here in the guest room, the house was empty and the other car was gone which mean Aloysius and Liam were at the other house probably breaking in the bed again. Truth be told she was glad they weren't there to see her so out of sorts again. She really took pride in giving off that in charge and able to handle anything aura she had worked so hard to cultivate. Looking weak just wasn't an option and any time she needed to just get things out she made sure to be far out of earshot from people. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest way to deal with stuff but it was the only way she really knew.
After replacing the burn cream and putting on new gauze to help with the healing process, she put on some PJs and went back down to the kitchen to make some tea. It was going to be a nice relaxing night if she could do anything about it otherwise she was gonna just scream into the pillows again. Tomorrow the storm would be gone and hopefully, she could get checked out just in case.
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