Orlouge Training, Lesson 1: Succed Orlouge

[Silence Sei]

The balls of light danced around his form as if they were an ancient civilization worshipping a God. He played the puppet master well, rolling his fingers along imaginary strings to make the lights bounce up and down. He yawned as he played his game, such things were typically beyond the skills of Succed Orlouge. No, he was showing off such a simple trick for his niece, and wielder of both Light and Shadow magic, Kyla Orlouge.

Moving some of his neck length green curls behind his ears, Succed looked Kyla over. She seemed perfectly healthy for a girl of her age, no apparent ailments other than being in post-partum. The second oldest Orlouge brought his thumb and his index finger to his chin, stroking the skin in lieu of a beard. Teaching the girl how to control magic his way was going to be a task. He was an elemental mage mostly, though he could use all forms of magic with great skill.

"So, Sei tells me strange things happen when that anklet comes off," his voice was similar to that of a smoker who had been smoking for at least a century. Succed never touched a cigarette in his life, his voice just kind of turned out that way once he went through puberty. "Magic is a very temperamental thing, Kyla, you've got to understand the basic principles of it."

The father of Rehtul, Felicity, and Aislinn Orlouge pulled out an orange lighter, Succed's favorite. He clicked the device several times, sparking the flame out and then extinguishing it. "You're a paradox, the magics you use shouldn't be. I mean, I can wield light and shadow magic as well, but I wield Mystic light magic and Human Shadow magic. The fact that you use both types under the Mystic category means that you should be dead. Yet, you live..."

Succed stopped clicking his lighter, raising an eyebrow to the girl. He had invited her here, to his big house in Orlouge Drantrak, and now he was just studying her like one of his lab rats. "I'm sorry Kyla, I'm rambling. This is your journey, how long are you going to be staying with us? And what would you like to go do? Should I introduce you to the family?"

Though Succed was probably the most powerful magic based Orlouge, he lacked the social tact due to his studious ways. It was something he and his son, Rehtul, often had in common. The Mystic Magician pocketed the lighter in his long flowing blue wizard robes and looked to the girl to whom he had asked the questions to.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla could not help but feel like a child when she watched Succed perform his simple tricks. It was like watching shooting stars in the hands of a human, and it was just plain fun. Succed was probably the uncle the girl had been most excited to study under as she had never really known him before, and Kyla was really enjoying the time so far.

Succed controlled his magic in a way the girl had never seen. He made it seem so easy compared to the constant stream of errors the girl dealt with when she tried it. She closed her eyes and focused on the magic that flowed through her own veins, Why can't you just behave like his?

As Succed spoke Kyla listlened intently, wanting to remember every word just in case it was the secret to success. When he finally stopped Kyla smiled at her slightly awkward uncle. "I suppose I'll stay a week or so, unless I feel like I need to stay longer. I really am pretty hopeless at this, just a warning. I'd love to meet the family, do you have other children? I know the twins and Rehtul of course. I'm just along for the ride, and hoping to learn a few things. So please, just do whatever you normally do and I'll try to keep up."

[Silence Sei]

"Never say you're hopeless," Succed said, a smile still on his sage face, "You should always have hope. It's the one thing that keeps a lot of people going. Between you and me, I hope myself that we can accept Aislinn back into the Drantraks with open arms. While I feel that the trials are silly, they are a tradition, and traditions must be upheld." The Magician Mystic nodded in agreement with himself.

"Also, to answer one of your other questions, yes I have more kids than the twins and Rehtul. Having only three children would make me an anomaly among the Mystic race." Succed spoke as if he had expected Kyla to know that, walking out of the door to his office in order to go introduce his niece to the rest of his family.

"Oh that's right, you're not familiar with how Mystics work yet, are you," Succed slapped himself in the head, forgetting that Kyla had spent years away from her father and the rest of Chateau Drantrak. "He spun around, almost colliding with the smaller girl as he had done so.

"A quick rundown of Mystics, Kylana. One, we have blue blood, once said blood is exposed to oxygen, that is. The second is that at a certain, completely random time in our lives, we stop aging. It never happens before puberty or after one enters the forties, and some Mystics have more control over it. Steppenwolf looks so young because he could control his age, though why he could and the rest of us could not, I don't know..."

"Is there a third thing," Kyla asked in as polite a manner as possible. Succed shook his head out of his rant and turned back around, leading Kyla into a kitchen filled with two fully grown women, three teenage boys, two teenage girls, and at least four more children under the age of ten.

"Mystics are incredibly fertile. Counting Rehtul and the girls, I have twelve children total. Aislinn and Felicity were the oldest." The children were all running around the black tiles kitchen, playing with a combination of stuffed dolls and action figures. "I figured you would have brought Akiv, we have accommodations for him. I can't believe Sei didn't tell you about my family."

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla stared at the family with her mouth open, twelve kids? "I think Sei wanted me to experience everything for myself, he really didn't tell me anything." Kyla watched two of the younger kids fight over a banana and she laughed, "I mean Sei never married, and Niche only ever had three of us so I guess I just never thought about it."

Succed offered the children a second banana and then rolled his eyes when they both dropped the first to argue over the second. "Sei was always to focused on fixing everything wrong with the world to think about his own happiness." His eyes drifted off a bit before he smiled and spoke, "And I have no doubt the your parents would have had several more kids had she survived the war. As much as he adored you he needed more little girls to spoil."

Succed's eyes glossed over a bit as he thought about his elder brother's pain. "She was a beautiful girl, your mother. You look so much like her, it's almost frightening. I remember the day Niche came home from school talking about the girl he would marry one day, we all told him he was crazy. Then the next year there they were, man and wife."

"So you knew my mother well?" Kyla had never asked about her, but she had thought many times about the mysterious woman.

"Oh yes, I'm sure you have heard all the stories by now though." Succed poured himself a cup of water as he spoke.

"Actually no, I really don't know much about her." Kyla drank from her glass, hoping her uncle would offer more information.

"That's probably a story for another time, right now there's work to be done." Succed stood and beckoned for Kyla to follow him from the room.

Kyla smiled at all of her cousins and whispered a shy goodbye before following.

[Silence Sei]

Introductions would be had later. For now, the bread and butter of Kyla's visit was about to take place; the training of the girl in magic. Succed had walked the girl into a large room that resembled an observatory, complete with star charts and a huge yellow telescope peaking out of a single niche in the wall. Obviously, somebody in Succed's family was an avid stargazer, perhaps even the wizard himself. Succed waved a hand and the door behind Kyla shut, drowning out all of the laughter and shenanigans going on in the house.

"Whets the best way to put this... Magic is something that's amazing, Kyla. We all use it to make our lives easier. Mystic Protection helps us from getting hurt, Shadow Magic helps us blend in well with the environment, and without light magic there would be no life on this planet. It's all just so fascinating..." Succed began to ramble again, Kyla coughing politely in order to bring the man back to his focus.

"Right. The point is that you'll never understand how and when to use your magic if you don't understand constellations and how the out there," Succed pointed directly upwards, insinuating the sky, "effects the down here."

Succed brought his finger down to the floor to drive his point home.

"Everything has a cause and effect. Ever notice that your light balls seem a bit stronger during certain weeks, and weaker during the others? It's due to the shifting of our planet in relation to the stars." The smell of freshly cut fruit began to slip out of the kitchen beyond and into the observatory, filling Succed's nostrils with the delicious scents of apples, oranges, and even a few peaches.

"What I want you to do is stay here at night with me for a few hours out of your day. Take whatever time of night you need to. We'll study your birthday, find out the best way the stars align for you, and when they're at their highest potential and lowest potential, we'll make sure to train you as hard as we can." The Mystic smiled as he brought his arm over the telescope, feeling the cold metal against the back of his hand as he slightly grazed it.

"So is that adequate?"

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla had never considered herself simple minded, but the way Succed spoke about the stars and their connection to life here made her wonder. Was it possible that her power was controlled by something as big as the universe itself? Kyla was not sure what she believed but she had vowed to go along with each of her uncle's whims and so far she had learned quite a bit from her journeys. Kyla quickly agreed, and Succed placed a blanket and pillow on the floor for her to rest while he figured out which parts of the skies they should be searching for. Kyla could hear soft music playing as Succed's wife put the young children to bed, and she imagined Aislinn and Rehtul within the crowd of kids she had seen earlier. Rehtul was simple enough to place, but Aislinn seemed to fit her true family about as well as Kyla did hers.

Kyla drifted off to sleep to the sound of the telescope whining as its weary bolts cried to be oiled. It was obviously a much used treasure and had been around for quite some time.

As she slept Succed mapped out the girls birth stars and without Kyla realizing it Sophia's Mane began to glow. At first Succed was unaware, but after several minutes the glow began to fill the room with light. Kyla opened her sleepy eyes and stared at the Zodiac weapon. "What's going on?" Kyla nearly shouted the words at her uncle. "It's never done this before!" Succed again looked into his telescope before smiling. "I think we just learned something new."

[Silence Sei]

"So it seems that when your Zodiac Weapon is in closer proximity to its astrological constellation, it emanates its magical properties more clearly...." Succed was rambling, but he waved his hand for Kyla to come over to him. The girl did as she was told, looking through the telescope, at the series of white dots that made up Leo the lion.

"So...what does that mean?" Kyla asked, although Succed was not sure if she was genuinely interested, or just wanted to be a part of the conversation.

"Honestly? I have no clue." Succed watched Kyla's face nearly slam into the telescope from shock of the unexpected answer. "If I had to fancy a guess, I would think that it means that whatever that weapon does magical wise, it's at its strongest now. If such a hypothesis is correct, it wouldn't be too hard to use it as a conduit in order to..."

"Uncle Succed?"

"No dear, this actually is relevant," Succed walked a few paces further from Kyla. Stroking his imaginary beard once more he closed his eyes and allowed his Mystic Protection to go up. "What I'm about to tell you might sound crazy, Kylana, but I want you to trust me..."

"I know what happens typically if you take off your anklet. But, I think if you do it right now, you can siphon off some of the energy into your Zodiac Weapon. If that happens, you may be able to manipulate the effects of both Light and Shadow magics. If anything happens, I can make sure you're healed, but if I'm right, you may not -need- any training from me." The magical Mystic hoped he was right, because if he was...

...Kyla Orlouge could very well be the next step in Mystic evolution.

[Amber Eyes]

The girl stared at her uncle with her jaw dropped. Ciato had thought taking off the anklet would be a good idea as well, but Kyla had expected rash decisions from him. Succed on the other hand was supposed to be the intelligent one. Kyla stared deep into his eyes searching for a sign of jest, but his blue orbs were intently focused on her own response.

"You promise you will save me?"

A smile crossed the elder mystics face, "Do you really think I want to explain to Sei and Niche what happened to their little girl?"

Kyla thought of Sei's protective streak and Niche's sheer power, "I guess not," She admitted, a smile playing on her own lips.

The thought of taking of her security blanket terrified the girl and yet there was a certain excitement in the idea that Kyla could not quite deny. "I guess we could give it a try." Kyla sat back down upon her blanket and gripped the anklet clasp with both hands. The cold metal on her right hand reminded the girl of exactly what she was doing and it seemed to take an eterinty to undo the clip.

As the anklet fell she felt the familiar rush of dizziness overcome her. She felt as though her insides were being ripped open and her stomach cramped. It was as though a war were going on inside of her, which in fact it was. The girl made her way to a wall and pressed herself against the cool cement. After several moments the feeling began to get worse and the world went black.

[Silence Sei]

awoke, she would find Succed by her bed side, his hands hovering over her body. She would have felt a light of warmth that seemed to be mending away any places that ached on her body. Succed smiled a bit as he completed the healing spell, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his robes as if he were a monk.

"I told you to trust me, and I see why you were so worried. That explosion took out a good chunk of the observatory," Succed stated, a slight tinge of humor to his rather serious voice. "Luckily for you, I helped come up with the healing chambers in the citadel, so I'm a bit of an expert in the ways of repairing the Mystic body."

Kyla looked around the room, seemingly a bit confused as to where she was. It was a bunk bed, with three wooden steps leading up to the top bunk. A foot or two away was a long bookshelf, with books on the top shelf, shoes on the bottom, and two empty spaces between. A dresser stood at the other corner of the room, a small orb lightly playing soft music sitting on top of the green surface.

"You are in my kids room," Succed answered Kyla before she could ask, "it was the closest to the observatory, so it's where I took you. It seems as though we're going to have to try that again later, and in a less closed in environment. I can make preparations now, if you'd like, or we could start with something less complicated and easier to do, like eating lunch." Succed grinned, half-joking about lunch being in any way complicated. However, the ultimate decision would be Kyla's to make. This was supposed to be her training after all.

[Amber Eyes]

"I think," Kyla began to speak, but was interrupted by a growl from her stomach. Not only was she hungry, but that hunger was causing her acid reflux. She could feel the burning, stinging sensations in the pit of her gut rising up into her throat. She let out a small burp, and it caused her a great pain to simply do so little. "I think I would like some chocolate milk..."

Succed smiled and nodded. Standing up from Kyla's bedside, the Mystic Magician made his way out of the room. As soon as the door was close, Kyla rose up, concentrating on the oak chair that Succed had previously been sitting in. For a moment, the girl stared down the furniture before raising her hand towards the object.

You can do this, Kyla! You can't be relying on others for the rest of your life! Kyla began to form a ball of shadow in front of the chair, sweat starting to pour from the Mystic's head as she did so. Next, she began to form her light ball within the swirling mass of shadow. The two magic powers began to swirl around each other before starting to dissipate. Kyla gritted her teeth in reply.

I won't lose to Sei anymore! I will be the general the prophecy wants me to be. I WILL NOT BE A SLAVE TO MY OWN POWER! As these thoughts came into Kyla's mind, the magics seemed to slam against each others, waves of force aiming at the same speed, and splashing in a beautiful display. As the magical forces did this, a small explosion caused the chair to break apart, debris flying towards the Mystic girl's face. Kyla ducked just in time, missing a flying piece of wood.

She raised her head as she heard the glass drop to the ground and shatter. Her crystalline eyes shifted to the doorway, where Succed Orlouge had just saw her wield both light and shadow magic successfully.

[Silence Sei]

She had actually done it. Succed did not know how, but Kyla had managed to use two opposing natural magics in conjunction with one another. Sure, his wife would not be happy about the broken chair, but what Kyla had just done was unheard of in the field of magical science. This was clearly a breakthrough in the girl's, if not the Mystic race as a whole, potential.

Succed hurriedly rushed over to the girl, ignoring the crunching of the shattered glass beneath his shoes. He sat on her bed excitedly, running his hand through his hair and starting to ask a slew of questions. "How did you do it? Did you feel strange? Is there anything you could tell me about the experience? Oh this is all so very exciting!"

Kyla's eyes widened at her uncle, who was acting very out of character. Was this how he reacted when he saw something new involving magic? It was no wonder his children seemed so cold and callous to the elements. Their father had managed to take all the joy of spells for himself.

"Uncle Succed, calm down," Kyla finally got out between Succed's interrogation, "I'll answer your questions, but one at a time. Also, I just want to answer one right now, and then you can go get me another drink." Kyla giggled at the last part, Succed's face painted with confusion before becoming coated with the realization of his mess.

"Apologies Kyla," Succed said, standing up, trying to recompose himself, "I just thought it nearly impossible to ever do what you just did. I'll hurry back with your milk."

"Chocolate," Kyla corrected her relative with a giggle, "And what is your one question?"

Succed at turned at this point, and had to do so again in order to respond to the girl. He thought long and hard about it before he could muster an answer. "Do you think you could do it again tomorrow?"

Kyla smiled and nodded. "It's a date."

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla and Succed practiced the technique for several days. In that time, they had come to learn three things. First, Kyla could only cause the small explosion when she was wearing Sophia's Mane. Succed had reasoned that it was because the glove was a catalyst, holding one magic at bay just long enough for Kyla to release it onto its rival at full force. It was like a reserve tap of magic being saved until the girl was ready for it.

The second thing the two had come to realize was that the spell exhausted Kyla. Just as taking her anklet off directly always physically killed the girl, this spell wore her out mentally. Succed advised her to use the 'Mystic Bomb' as they both aptly named it only in dire situations. Otherwise, the girl would be at the mercy of those who would seek to hurt her.

The third thing was that during the exhaustion phase, Kyla always needed a drink. If she did not get one almost immediately, she became very moody. This was probably because the spell taxed her mentally, and as such allowed the Mystic girl to have fewer reservations about being rude. She had yelled at Succed's family several times during the few days that the two had trained.

Eventually, it became time to say goodbye to her uncle. After all, she had several more relatives waiting to help the girl become stronger. The girl hugged Succed tight and thanked him for everything. The Mystic Magician returned the gestured.

"Tell Rehtul and Aislinn that I love them," Succed spoke, assuming Kyla would first return home to Sei to show the mute what she had learned.

This was not true. In fact, Kyla had planned to just move on from relative to relative until she had gained enough power to accomplish her end goal. She would become so strong that she could protect Akiv without assistance. She would become so powerful that everybody on Althanas would revere the Mystic Mother for her abilities. She would finally be able to beat her adoptive father in combat.

"I will," Kyla said, giving the taller man a peck on the cheek before she slung her backpack over her shoulder. She began her journey towards the next Orlouge, a tear in her eye as she left Succed's house...

[MetalDrago]

STORY ~

Continuity (6/10) ~

Setting (5/10) ~

Pacing (6/10) ~

CHARACTER ~

Dialogue (7/10) ~

Action (6/10) ~

Persona (5/10) ~

WRITING STYLE ~

Mechanics (5/10) ~

Technique (5/10) ~

Clarity (6/10) ~

Wild Card (7/10) ~

Overall Score - 58/100

Amber Eyes receives 1500 EXP and 225 GP
Silence Sei receives 2500 EXP and 225 GP


Spoils:
Amber Eyes requests the 'Mystic Bomb' spell:

Once per thread, Kyla can summon her light and shadow magics at once in one area. The result ends in an explosion of magic roughly strong enough to leave a crater in the ground five feet in diameter, and can completely puncture trees. This is a last resort technique, however, as Kyla becomes physically worn out by casting this spell.

Spoils approved, pending RoG approval.

[Silence Sei]

EXP-GP added.