Beams of Light (Era)

[Maxwell Tendas]

Maxwell Tendas leaned against the wall of the dead-end alleyway, heaving out a sight of frustration. He had been here for hours now, in the dead of night, trying to figure out his new ability to use this foreign magic he had suddenly found himself capable of calling upon. He had no problems figuring out how to create spheres of light in his hands, nor had it been a real challenge trying to make the lights dim or brighten at will. At this point, it was something he could do fairly easily provided he could gather the concentration he needed to accomplish it. What he was finding challenging was what he’d done to help protect Avari from a mass of shadows back in Twilight Town. Instead of a bright light to turn the shadows away, he had sent a spiraling beam of light from his hand that had turned the small heartless into black mist instantly.



He closed his eyes as he tried to think back on when he’d first done it, picturing the scene: The two of them running from an overwhelming mass of shadows; The desperation Max had felt at realizing they weren’t going to be able to out-pace the heartless bearing down on them. He scratched his head and took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly as he straightened and faced the wall at the end of the alleyway, resolved to finally figure it out. He had been trying to learn what he’d done for weeks now, ever since they had gotten to San Fransokyo from Twilight Town, and so far his efforts had all come to naught. He’d only managed to make the lights in his hands grow brighter than he had been able to before, but he hadn’t managed to do anything even approaching the beam of light he’d summoned back in Twilight Town. This time, perhaps, he could manage to do it.



He resolved to give it another try, focusing on the feeling of desperation and grasping at any thread of hope available he’d felt running through the alleyway in Twilight Town. He closed his eyes, took up a wide stance in the middle of the alleyway, and brought the memory back, trying to let himself relive the memory as strongly as possible to dredge up the emotions he thought he might need to accomplish his task. After several long moment, he took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and opened his eyes. Then he let all the desperation he could muster out with a shout as he extended his hand and focused on a beam of spiraling light firing from his palm. This time, a light even brighter than what he’d managed to draw earlier sprang to life in his hand, forcing him to grunt as he shut his eyes against it.



After what felt like an eternity of him wondering if it had worked this time, he opened his eyes hoping to see some sign that he’d succeeded this time. He was left disappointed, however, as the wall held no indication of the spell going off as he’d hoped. His frustration suddenly spiked and he turned and kicked the wall next to him with the flat of his foot. As it made contact, the force of it pushed him back and off balance and he fell over onto his rear end. He just let out a frustrated growl and let himself fall back to lay down on the ground, rubbing his hands over his face. Just how in the name of Relana was he supposed to figure this out…?

[Era]

It was a daily routine by now for her to take long walks. In the idle time after their transition from Twilight Town, the survivors had hit a lull in activity. It was nice to rest up, but at some point, the quiet left one itching for something to do.

The walks gave her plenty of time to re flect, and ample time to ponder the magic that had awakened within her - power she still wasn’t familiar with how to use. It was so different to summon up and channel light than it was to tap into one’s shadows. She’d been able to do it a few times, with minimal success; however, she still wasn’t sure she could rely on her newfound power to do her any favors in a pinch.

Her gaze glanced down idly to her flexing hand as she remembered the loose feeling. It was about this time that her ears picked up a clatter somewhat away from where she was. It was enough to pique her interest, however. After all, maybe somebody needed help?

It took a couple short minutes for her to navigate the alley. Cautiously she came around the last corner a few moments after Maxwell had already collapsed onto the ground. Her head swiveled back down the empty alley from where she’d come. Nobody had passed her on the way in, so he hadn’t been mugged. At least not obviously so. Her head swiveled back to him to search for cursory signs that might indicate his situation.

She’d recognized him as one of the group from Twilight Town. Their paths hadn’t really crossed much - she wasn’t even recalling a name. He didn’t seem injured, but maybe a little upset? Tucking her hands behind her back, she strolled curiously around the corner, making her presence more obvious. “Hey.” frost-colored Caribbean Blues glanced curiously at the one who wore an aura of defeat.

She would gauge his response to her presence and decide whether it was better to give him some space, or stick around.

[Maxwell Tendas]

Max gently chewed his tongue as he tried to think, a bad habit for sure but one he’d never seemed ablet to kick. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t’ even notice the girl approach him. He didn’t even notice her until she spoke, giving just a simple “hey.” It startled him out of his thoughts, and his hand quickly went to the hilt of his sword out of reflex before he recognized her. She was the one who he’d worked with back in Twilight Town to try and save those people from a collapsing building. They had been so busy he’d never had a chance to get her name and hadn’t really interacted with her much since then.

“Uh...Hi,” he said, trying to regain his composure through his embarrassment at being caught so unawares as he stood up to face her, “I’m just practicing…well, trying to practice some magic.”

He looked down at his hand for a few seconds, his mind still passively working on the problem of how to do that beam thing again. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he should call it a night and try again tomorrow. While the idea of giving it a rest for the night felt like giving up to him, and thus he hated the idea, he also knew that he was beginning to get too frustrated to accomplish anything truly productive. Returning the following night might prove to be a better approach than continuing through the night like he had the rest of the week.

“It’s not been going so well, obviously,” he said with a small smile and scratch to the back of his head, “So what’s got you out from our new home base so late?”