13/Meet Your Mentor

Meet Your Mentor
Date of Scene:	02 July 2023
Location:	Penguin Park
Synopsis:	In which Zepyhr finds Francesca trying to hide from her problems and starts the steps towards a whole new magical journey for a lost and confused girl.
Cast of Characters:	Francesca Leon, Zephyr Windstar

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Francesca Leon has posed:
    It's been like. Not even a day. Not even a full day since the incident with the Terribad and Francesca Leon has kind of gone into hiding.
    Thing is, you can only hide in so many places in a park, and when your Device is now active, there are probably people who can track that and find you.
    Not that Francesca knows that.
    The girl herself is sprawled out on her back on a bench staring up at the morning sky. Probably exhausted and confused no doubt.
    <Hey, so.>
    "No."
    <No?>
    "I'm not doing this, this isn't happening."
    <Pretty sure it's happening, Kitten.>
    "Nope. Nope you're all in my head, I'm just going crazy."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    < Device Located. Coordinates are Specific. > comes a resonant chime somewhere nearby. Misofelees gets a ping from a familiar source. The same one from the previous day as that brown-haired foreigner comes along with that same soda cart again.

    "Guide wisp... lets go say hi."

    Zephyr locks the cart in place with a bicycle lock around the wheels and a lamp post, ensures the cover is padlocked and then walks off the path and straight towards Francesca's position, with a purple lightball guiding the way.

    The ball appears first, floating in front of the girl and her Device before the older girl breaks through and leans against a tree, hands in pockets.

    "Overwhelming, huh? Whole new world you didn't even know existed just opens up and BAM, thrown in the deep end without any kind of floaty to keep your head above water." she says, looking the girl over with those mismatched eyes of hers.

    Her accent is thicker than before, and some of the words sound a little weird, like they're being filtered through the Device.

Francesca Leon has posed:
    Closing her eyes, opting to ignore the incessant pinging and chiming of the sword-shaped necklace around her neck, Francesca does her very best to ignore Mistoffelees. ... It's the mote of light that appears before her that makes her slowly sit up.
    "... The hell?"
    <She found you.>
    "Oh dammit."
    <You're welcome.>
    "Traitor."
    And there's Zephyr approaching now.
    "I already knew magic was a thing." Francesca replies a little pettishly. Only now does the notice the accent, though; things were too hectic the day before, and she heaves a sigh.
    "Let me guess. You're *really* not from around here."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr chuckles. "You could say that I'm from... way up north." she remarks, ignoring the previous comment. "Honestly? I'm not even meant to be here. I got dumped out here because of some weirdness and now I'm kinda stu<span style="color:k."

    ccyan">< Chief. > "Yeah yeah I'm getting to that." the older girl looks witheringly down at her Device on her wrist, before looking back up. "You're brand new to this, and if you don't get at least some instruction in how to do... this..." she gestures vaguely. "Someone more dangerous than mister talks-a-lot'll come along and you'll end up on the wrong side of something nasty."

Francesca Leon has posed:
    "That's the thing, 'Chief'." Francesca replies at first, holding up her hands, palms out. "I don't want any part of this." She says.
    Before she pauses. Curiosity nags at her.
    "How far up north are we talking?" She does ask after a beat, before shaking her head. "Next time someone more dangerous shows up, I don't *need* to be there; I can just bail. Any time I want." Except for the situations where she can't. You know.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Except when you can't just bail." replies Zephyr. "Running away from your problems only works so long, before they start to overtake you." she adds, taking hands out of pockets and folding her arms over her chest. "So, 'Kitten', you need some level of training because this." she nods to the pendant. "Isn't going away."

Francesca Leon has posed:
    <She's right. I'm not going away.>
    This. This pauses Francesca.
    And then she scowls, clutching at the blade-shaped pendant that just spoke up.
    Sigh.
    "Francesca. It's Francesca." She gives her name after a beat as she hugs her knees to her chest.
    "I didn't ask for this."
    

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Not everyone does." Zephyr replies softly. "Zephyr." she adds as she moves to sit down in the grass across from the other girl. "I don't use the same base as you do, but some of the core concepts translate over." she begins, lifting a hand to show the rhombus-shaped spell seal. "Try summoning a basic spell circle, just focus on building it and maintaining it."

Francesca Leon has posed:
    There's a moment. A hesitant beat in which Francesca glances left, then right, as though to make sure no one is around.
    <Come on, Kitten. Show her.>
    With a sigh, as she prompted by her Device, she holds out her hand. There's a beat. A moment of concentration before the lines of a Mid-Childan magic circle start to from at her fingertips, flickering and fuzzy at first, the work of a novice, sure, but she clearly understands the principles behind it.
    "I already said I knew magic is real. ... My mom taught me some stuff before..."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Makes things easier. If you know the basics... refine them. Get a stable foundation to work from." Zephyr says, then forms a tiny sphere of purple magic, and attempts to disrupt Francesca's spell cirle with it.

    < Our magic comes from synergy between Mage and Device. Work together with your Device, he can help stablize your output. >

Francesca Leon has posed:
    Sweat beads on the girl's brow as she strains. She knows the basics, but it's clear she was running on instinct and prodding from her Device the day before rather than knowledge and skill, and she strains as that sphere makes her spell circle start to crack.
    But. She's putting everything she has into maintaining the sigil; even as fracturs and cracks of light begin to form through it, the Device on her necklace chiming softly as it bolsters her spell.
    Before it shatters and Francesca heaves a huff of exertion.
    "Ugh, I can't believe I'm even trying this, I just... Mmf."

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr lets her own spell seal break, then rests a hand on Francesca's shoulder. "You're trying, because you believe you can change this world for the better. Deep down." she says, then leans back and rests her hands on the grass.

Francesca Leon has posed:
    The hand on her shoulder causes Francesca to tense for a beat before she looks up, eyes half-lidded.
    "I'm... Not sure I want that. I just want to live. On my own terms." She mutters, planting her hands on her knees with a tired sigh.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    "Maybe that's all you need to do." replies Zephyr, before standing up and turning back toward the path. "I brought my cart... I can give you a soda, since you missed out yesterday." she says, gesturing toward where her cart was sat.