1258/Light Conversation

Light Conversation
Date of Scene:	10 March 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Directly following scene 1218 'Glorious Misunderstandings', Stellar and Glorious Beacon have a chat.
Cast of Characters:	Kyouka Inai, Sachiko Yamashiro
Tinyplot:	The Game

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Kyouka Inai has posed:
    On the rooftop of a building somewhere in Mitakihara, quiet reigns in the newly-darkened night. Lacuna has left- to say she fled would be an exaggeration- and Stellar is alone, on one knee trying to catch her breath while clutching one arm across her midsection. That initial gut-punch had hurt. She is somewhat certain she has a cracked rib. Though she's no doctor, it wouldn't be the first time and she's familiar with the feeling. A cut over her eyebrow also leaks a line of blood down the side of her face.

    It takes her a few long moments, but eventually she forces herself up to her feet, arm still across her middle but standing more or less straight. She turns her grey-eyed gaze across the rooftop to where Glorious Beacon kneels over the civilian she had saved, though Stellar was not here to witness that part. That might be why, as she moves closer, she asks, "Hey, she alright?" With a gesture at the downed girl.

    Her voice sounds breathy due to the pain in her ribs, but she walks with a steady if slow pace that suggests her injuries are otherwise superficial.

Sachiko Yamashiro has posed:
    Near the center of the rooftop Glorious Beacon hovers carefully over a girl with chin length black hair and reasonably fashionable glasses. The literal smoking has long since abated. The question she'd posited only moments before, that Stellar now voices herself, goes unanswered.

    "Hmm. It's taking her a while to recover, but she'll be fine." With a short laugh she notes, "The fact she's even around is a testament to that. She'd been turned into a Vilekin," a hand goes up, intending to ward off any proclamations of concern, "but worry not! My magic was able to unmake that dastardly harm." Now a shrug, with much of the pretentiousness dropped, "They usually pop back up quicker than this, but I'd say she's still well within the error bars. Might be best to carry her down off the roof; she won't remember how she got up here and that might be annoying to explain away."

    As she spoke the blonde magical girl wearing gold had been looking over the girl. At one point she pushes a deck of cards that had nearly slipped out of a pocket further in, but now she notices something under her hand. "Aha! Got one." She picks up a shard of clearly broken, jagged crystal about half the size of a finger, closing one eye and holding it up to the starlight and the moon, watching the way the light bounces around inside it. This gets flipped in her hand a few times before she catches and palms it, now turning towards the bleeding, bruised Stellar.

    "So!" her tone is cheery, not obnoxiously so but also not as distressed as someone who had been dangled over the edge of a skyscraper maybe should be, "What was the deal with your 'totally not a friend' there? The both of you came on rather strong, and after the important bit was over." Her eyes close and she opens her other hand, palm up with fingers extended towards Stellar, "Not that there was much time for that. If you know what you're doing Vilekin are a bit of a 'one and done' kind of deal as far as the fireworks and lightshow are concerned."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar listens to Glorious Beacon without much of a clue what the hell she's talking about, but that's not entirely unexpected. It's also, in her mind, not terribly important at the moment. She's still reeling from exchanging blows with Fuyuko, an event which is never easy but also hasn't occured in earnest in quite some time. Her mind is racing with implications for her, personally, but she's trying to push them down long enough to make sure that the girl she had been trying to save (and the girl that girl had saved, apparently) are indeed saved.

    What's clear to her from the girl's words is that she is not, in fact, a Lux Tenebrous. This is something that Stellar was already pretty sure of, based on what Corona had said to her, but it's reassuring to have some confirmation. She isn't sure exactly what kind of magical girl Glorious Beacon is, but she's not a Lux Tenebrous. Fuyuko had been wrong. Which means Stellar was justified in her actions. Y'know, mostly. Maybe that unprovoked backhand had been a bit out of line. But she'll deal with that later.

    She huffs out a breath, then winces, reminded of the pain in her middle. "'Came on rather strong' is one way to put it, after I show up to her dangling you over the edge of the roof." She says, dryly. "I.. am sorry. For her." Wow, it's really a good thing Fuyuko isn't still here or that would cause an entirely new dustcloud to erupt. "She's my partner. ..ex-partner. She apparently jumped to some conclusions based on faulty information and thought you were someone you weren't. Something you weren't, I guess I should say. Something she erased a long time ago and wants to stay erased."

    "I think she realized she was wrong, by the end. So you probably don't have to worry about her coming after you again."

Sachiko Yamashiro has posed:
    No interest in the sparkly crystal bit? Well, that's fine. Not needing to answer questions about it will make this conversation quicker. This goes into a pocket-- probably some kind of standard simple magical storage space. "You know, I had that same impression. To be honest I'm pretty sure I made things worse. She was talking about partners too, asking where mine was and, well," a polite laugh, "My partner is a little flame guy about this big." She waggles an open hand, fingers together. "She acted like she knew about him and I took her word for it so," Beacon shrugs, "I made it pretty clear I was the power behind our little partnership, rather than the one handing the powers out. Though I don't need to repeat that, do I? You heard my little speech, after all."

    Seemingly ignoring the downed civilian for the moment she wanders back over towards the edge of the roof, peeking over the raised edge and humming to herself. A glance is made towards the door that leads to the stairwell, then she shakes her head. Why do something the slow, boring way when she do something in a flashy, fun way? Especially when it means a chance to show off. "Hm, hm."

    A moment of consideration and she snaps her fingers, waving an arm at the roof edge. In a small burst of sparkles, honestly rather restrained for an invocation of her powers, a small crane appears, seemingly made of a few metal beams, a pully, a long bit of rope and a suitably dubious looking wooden platform. Save for the fact that everything is a pale golden color and mostly transparent. "There we go! That should be safe enough."

    Back over to the downed girl she goes before crouching down with all due care and scooping her into her arms. Not entirely limp it seems, so not fully unconsious, but clearly still out of it. "This should do nicely. Room for you too! Unless you want to do that thunderclap arrival again. I wouldn't judge you; it's a sure fire way to make an entrance!"

    She gives Stellar a quick look over, humming, "If I had to guess I'd say you're the one she might be coming after. Ex-partner, clashing magic of light and dark? Yeah, there's got to be more than a little history there." It might have been the fistfighting that gave that away.

    Yeah. Definitely the fistfighting.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    It's not that Stellar isn't interested in the little sparkly bit of crystal. More just that she doesn't view it as currently important. Clearly Glorious Beacon knew what it was and was putting it away, therefore it must have something to do with her magic or her origin or whatever. That's fine, and in other circumstances Stellar might have tried to find out more, but she's currently rather focused on her imploding relationship with her best friend and the cracked ribs.

    She watches Glorious Beacon create a crane out of light to lower the unconscious civvie back to ground level. She doesn't show any obvious signs of being impressed, but see above re: out of sorts and broken ribs. At least it's becoming more apparent to her why Fuyuko might have made the mistake that she did in thinking this girl was a Light-side Lux Tenebrous. She doesn't move from where she's standing as Glorious Beacon loads the girl onto the crane. It hurts to move, so if she doesn't have to do it she isn't going to. "Thanks, but I can find my own way down." She responds to the offer, not commenting on how flashy her entrance was. Honestly the whole thunder thing isn't even conscious, she was just really pissed at the time.

    "She thought you were a new holder of our line of magical power," Stellar says, after Glorious Beacon has finished speaking. "A line which has been extinct, other than us, for a decade. Because she made it that way. Thought she had made it impossible for others to be created, so when she saw you I guess she.. had a bit of a reaction." She shifts a little, then breaths out and leans an arm on an air conditioning unit nearby. "Our kind always come in pairs, Light and Dark. That's why she was asking about a 'partner'. I.. really thought she was going to kill you." She shakes her head slowly. "Maybe. I'm not sure."

    She seems uncertain for a second, then glances up again as Glorious Beacon mentions that she might be the one in danger. "Don't worry about that. We've been doing this for years. One more spat isn't going to change anything." She hopes that's true. In the moment, it doesn't feel like it. It's not her life she fears for so much as her connection to her oldest and best friend. She hopes that hasn't suffered terminal damage here tonight.

Sachiko Yamashiro has posed:
    The crane wasn't just for the girl. Beacon had intended on hopping onto the platform itself but... well. It doesn't take a genius to see how little Stellar is moving while clearly favoring a rib. Sachiko has taken spills, and plenty of them, and she knows exactly what that feels like. She can't exactly diagnose exactly where or what got hurt, but she can tell something's hurting enough to make moving painful. So instead of hopping up onto the platform she settles the girl down onto it before slowly letting out the hardlight rope.

    Really though, isn't the Veil great? Something like this would be crazy if all the random people walking around could actually process that some girl was slowly descending from the sky on a glowing platform. It's the kind of thing that can start false religions, and nobody wants that!

    Besides, if anyone is going to be mistaken for a god or angel descending from heaven on a cloud of light it's going to be herself, dangit!

    "Extinct for a decade? Wow! So I was definitely right about the Magical Aunty thing. Anyway, she seemed to care way more about whatever partner I might have had than in myself." As for the killing? Glorious Beacon waves a hand dismissively, "Oh, that? I mean, she could have tried, but it's not like I was even trying to struggle. Pretty rude damaging my outfit like that," her voice lowers and she looks down, actually frowning while remembering that yes, there's quite a chunk shadow-melted and torn out of the top of her dress. "Kill me though? Nah!" A short pause, "Well, dropping me. If she tried to power slam me or something I'd have had to get creative." Another shrug, "I mean, don't get me wrong, it'd have scared me silly for a second or two but," She flourishes the rope of hardlight in her hand, "A parachute, a hang glider, or if I got desperate a giant pillow or some netting. I'm sure I'd have thought of something before I made a big red mess on the pavement."

    She is her amazing self after all is left unsaid.

    "Light and Dark though, huh? Pretty neat. Especially since I'm pretty sure she wasn't using that extra nasty corruptingly evil magic. That's the first time I've had darkness magic used on me that have that 'extra poluted' feeling to it." Using it on her dress counts; it's a form of magical armor, after all! "I'm curious though. Does all your line do that whole 'speak with your fists' thing? Or is that maybe a more recent thing. Maybe with the whole 'making it impossible' part? I mean, I'm not trying to pry. I don't really care, but I am kind of curious since she came after me and, well," her gaze tips downward, raising an eyebrow towards the girl on the platform, now halfway to the ground.

    "That just seems like a bad idea with someone defenseless around. I could have taken the hit if one of you had put the other through a wall into me or something, but her... not so much. I can destroy an evil infiltrating influence easy as that," another fingersnap, "but I can't do anything more once it's removed."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Yeah, I'd refrain from using the term 'auntie' in future. With anybody under the age of fifty." Stellar says as dryly as she can manage, giving the girl a look which says 'try that on me and I'll be finishing Lacuna's work for her'. The girl's bravado about her likely survival is, in Stellar's mind, unwarranted but she doesn't bother to argue. After all, in the girl's shoes she'd probably be saying much the same. Ironically, considering she just almost got killed for being mistaken for someone like her, this girl reminds Stellar of herself at that age to an uncomfortable degree.

    Sachiko's observations about the nature of Lacuna's magic earn her a somewhat respectful glance, even as Stellar remains leaning on the AC unit with one arm. She can teleport, so it's not even like she needs to move in the traditional sense to get home. But she feels she owes this girl some explanation after she was just treated so roughly. While Sachiko may not believe she was actually in much danger, Stellar knows full well what Lacuna is capable of. "It's not Dark Energy, no. That's a different can of worms altogether. Our magic is based on the cosmic light and darkness, you know, like space and shit." Very eloquent, Stellar, thank you.

    She has the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed when Sachiko points out that they may have put the unconscious woman in danger by fighting. "No we..." She takes a breath, winces as it causes her side to stitch, then goes on. "I know it might not have been obvious from an outside perspective, but we're actually not allowed to use offensive magic. It's part of the price we had to pay to dodge the Fade. Hell, that's why we were punching each other rather than throwing lightning bolts or void spears or something. There wasn't any serious danger to anyone else at that point."

    She shakes her head, glancing away briefly. "We both have fairly powerful defensive magic but ironically, our defenses cancel each other out."

Sachiko Yamashiro has posed:
    "I know, I know," Beacon replies dramtically, "it always hits harder when it's true. I should have recognized that and held my tongue." There isn't glance or a smirk in Stellar's direction as she says this. There's no comment about her, and the lack isn't pointed. Stellar is offering her explanations and answers, not aggressively pressing her for them.

    "Space? That's good. If it was the other kind I'd have turned this rooftop into a second sun without a spare thought." Bragging? Definitely. Honest? Also true. Just, uh, forget what she was just saying about fighting with an unconscious civilian around. No standards to be double here!

    "Yeah? But if you'd hit each other hard enough to knock that HVAC you're leaning on onto her it'd have been a problem. It didn't happen though, so maybe you were being more careful than it looked." Another peek over the edge. Almost to the ground. She slows how quickly she's letting out the rope, keeping an eye on to make sure the impact upon reaching the ground is a gentle one.

    "Void spears and lightning bolts, huh?" The platform reaches the ground and the rope slackens. Sachiko looks towards Stellar for a moment, then does actually smirk a bit. She holds her hand up like she would if throwing a spear or javelin, and a hardlight parody of a lightning bolt appears in it. "You want to throw a lightning bolt? Catch!" She tosses it. Gently, not with force. It arcs lightly through the air towards Stellar, which might not be very nice given the leaning and the injured rib. "What do you think? Would it surprise her?" This is little more than a bit of amusement. The 'bolt' is long and thin, and only sharp at the tips. Easy enough to hold. It's also not lightning at all, but hardlight. If it struck something it would deal physical damage. ...of the light element. And purify.

    Look, it's magic. It doesn't have to make sense.

    Even Though it does if you think about it hard enough.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar glances at the HVAC unit she's leaning on. It's easily as tall as she is. She supposes she should be flattered that the girl thinks either she or Fuyuko can punch hard enough, sans magic, to knock something like this over. She doesn't bother to say anything aloud- maybe she doesn't want to disabuse the girl of her misconceptions. "If it had been the other kind, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Stellar says, with another wince as she straightens herself up somewhat. She doesn't clarify why that might be. Suffice it to say that the situation would have been markedly different.

    She raises her eyebrows as Glorious Beacon summons a fake lightning bolt in her hand and tosses it towards her. Injured though she might be, Stellar seems to have no trouble reaching her hand out and snatching it smoothly from the air. She eyes it, hefting it in one hand, then shrugging a little bit and tossing it aside. "It might surprise her. But trust me, surprising her isn't what you want to do. She reacts poorly." A pause. "So do I. At least in adversarial situations." She's never stabbed anyone at a surprise birthday party. Though it might have been a close thing once or twice.

    "Look, kid," She finally shifts herself away from her support, huffing out another pained breath though she seems stable enough on her feet. "I'm sorry for what happened here tonight. You were minding your own business and you got caught up in a feud older than some mahou actively working these days. Maybe you needed my help, maybe you didn't, but Lacuna is my responsibility. I couldn't just let her threaten you because she can't stand the thought of her past deeds being for nothing."

    "But do me a favor. Don't antagonize her again. She's dangerous. More than you'd think. I'm not saying you can't handle yourself, so don't get all offended on me. Just take my word for it. Pick your battles."

Sachiko Yamashiro has posed:
    "Oh, it wouldn't be me surprising her with it. It'd be a gift to my most magnanamous defender. Though I think you're right, she's got a chip on her shoulder the size of a mountain, so if she got poked even a little by my light magic it might send her into something of a tizzy. Of course for you that might mean ~an opening~!" A pleasant enough smile, followed by a graceful shrug of her shoulders, "Not that I expect it to be a problem, but it's useful trying to think outside the box. I don't have a real problem with her outside of the way she tried to treat me though, so if she wasn't interfering in my actually important business or making me look bad in front of people I'd probably just try to blind her and get away.

     A short click of her tongue, "I probably should have tried finding out if her magic cancels mine out so easily in the same way it does yours. It's always good to know what options are available." She's used to her own magic countering the powers of those she fights, not the other way around.

    With a small wave of her hand, unneeded, the small crane and rope, and platform down below, disappear into quickly dissipating glolden glitter; unnecessary. "Yeah, I getcha. No harm, no foul though. If I had to pay for this dress I'd hunt her down and make sure the bill followed her to the end of her days but I don't and it won't be permanent." She crosses her arms, one finger taping on opposte elbow, "Your Ex-Partner's keeper, though. Hmm. If I ever do get an actual, fight alongside partner I'll have to make sure to let Buster know to steer clear of anyone who might end up like that with me. I do not intend to spend the rest of my life mending fences like some kind of magical Dr. Jekyll and Auntie Hyde."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar snorts in mild amusement. "Well I appreciate the thought but surprisingly, I'm not actually trying to kill her or anything. I'd rather not fight her at all, but if she's going to start shit I'm going to finish it. Still, Id' vastly prefer if we were both still breathing at the end of it. Just so you know." She does seem relieved that Glorious Beacon indicates there is no desire for revenge on her part or anything. Now is only she could be sure that was the case for Fuyuko as well, things would be peachy.

    "It shouldn't." She notes, on the question of whether Beacon's magic would nullify with Lacuna's the same way Stellar's had. "I think it does that because they're from the same power source. Yours might look similar, but it's not the same. So the effect probably wouldn't be either." This is just guessing, but it's educated guessing.

    She watches as the crane is dismissed. "It's not.. supposed to be this way." She sighs a little bit. "Look, we're just having a bad time recently, okay?" She pauses. "My name's Stellar, by the way. I realize I never introduced myself."

Sachiko Yamashiro has posed:
    "I'm not out to kill anyone that doesn't use some form of that 'Dark Energy'. I guess a surprise attack might be enough, but if she really does have strong defensive magic I doubt it'd get that far." It is, after all, an improvized weapon at best. Then again maybe Stellar's actually really good at shanking people; Sachiko doesn't know whether she is or not!

    Then she nods, stowing the information that her magic shouldn't have strange, unexpected properties when interacting with Lacuna's. It's not a sure thing so she'll still hedge a little should it come to it, but it likely won't unless the void magic wielder decides to try dangling her off a ledge or something similarly dangerous again. In the end what she wanted wasn't revenge, but the chance to feel morally superior to someone who screwed up and put their foot in their mouth by making assumptions. This she was denied, but that just makes the situation a wash. Kyouka and Fuyuko got the bad end of the deal after knocking each other around. In the end she was little more than a particularly involved bystander.

    "Stellar, huh? 'Space and shit', right? Nice name. I'm Glorious Beacon." She'd said it before, but not actually in a 'nice to meet you' kind of way. "Nice chatting with you, but I need to go make sure that girl down there finds her way home. Wouldn't want her to get up confused and walk into traffic." The 'lightning bolt' dissipates into glitter and then a grappling hook with what looks like a thousand feet of rope appears in Sachiko's hands. She attaches it to the ledge, tests to make sure it'll hold, then hops over the edge as a pair of hardlight rollerblades appear on her feet, the sound of rolling and grinding against glass and window frames quickly receeding downward.

    Showing off again? Partially. It's more the fact that it's fun as heck and in her line of work you really never know when practicing some random skill is going be the difference in a slam dunk victory or a long, hard knock out drag out slog of a fight.