Pythia claps her hands together loudly, gathering the attention of the room. "Good. We're all here, and we're all paying attention." "We have a problem." She scans the room. "The descendants, those of us who are supposed to actually see this thing through to the end, have had their class-aspect powers for a whopping, what? One day? Two, if you stretch?" "Adjuvants have had them their whole lives. Ancestors for about six years-" A sideways glance at Finley. "Give or take." "You're learning quickly, but there are a bunch of us now. You don't have to learn alone. Find an ancestor or adjuvant that shares a class with you, preferably, aspect if you need it, and let them teach you." "I'm not going to stretch this out, and neither should you. I hate to be that person, but we need to hurry. Us ancestors still need to sort out our traveling arrangements." Pythia rubs her forehead and mutters something to herself under her breath. "I love spaceships as much as the next gal, but we have some interesting specifications on the line." "Well?" Finley rolls his eyes dramatically. "What are you all waiting for? A starting shot? A flare? Ready, set, go?" Lirium huffs and marches over to her mother. I GO I GO Painon looks around with a frown, glancing between Pythia and Rigel in confusion. Seth sighs, awkwardly hovers his hand over Milo's back for a second before patting his shoulder, then walks over to Rigel. Quin walks over to Pirine and discreetly pushes him in Ryker's direction. "Go on." I shake away whatever strange emotions THOSE were and scan the room for Cashel, making a beeline for him as soon as I spot him. Milo sighs and shrugs, wandering over to Candra and standing next to Lirium. I glance around the room quickly, before making up my mind and walking over to Sam. Cole makes his way to Pythia after a moment of indecision. Navy is already standing next to Finley, and therefore turns to them quickly and begins assaulting them with questions. Probably about thief things. Hopefully. I look at Quin frantically, then back at Ryker. "< o-okay, okay! going, going... >" I look SO nervous like so so nervous btw as I strut up to rykerelywn. Lanval surveys the room, wringing their hands with a frown. It doesn't take them long to realize that they are alone. They turn and slip out of the room, face scrunched up in an effort to keep themselves from crying. Flo sees them leave and frowns softly, padding after them. i look around briefly before turning in parker's direction, showing a quick smile and heading towards him. i stand next to him, copying whatever his current pose might be, then nod to finn, gesturing for him to get over here. Ryker raises an eyebrow at you, flashing a quick smile. "You need something?" Parker's ears stick straight up as you copy his pose. The dogman grins enthusiastically. Cashel nods to Hale, crossing his arms. "I suppose I will continue to win our class over your aspect until such time as I am not here or you stop being a rage player." I want to hide under a rock. "< you're.... a hope player, right? >" I start off. Phew. Oh boy. Aoh god. I stare blankly at him for a solid fifteen seconds, uncomprehending. "So we're doing more training, right," I finally say. "Yeah. You're obviously a prince of breath." Ryker glances at the wings behind your back, then to your glowing hair, then to your bewilderedly shy expression. "Obviously. So serious and joy-hating. I could see it from miles away." "Sure." Cashel shrugs. "I don't suppose you have anything specific in mind." Sam grins at Maia as she approaches. "Hey! You're going for... me? I'm flattered." I look very confused, looking down at my shirt, then back up at him, not sensing the sarcasm. "< .....i'm yellow. >" I reply, before looking embarrassed. "< i mean a hope player. w-wait, no, you knew that, didn't you. sorry. >" "Oh, stop saying sorry. I can smell the rogue on you. You really do remind me of Flo." Ryker sighs. "Yeah, I know who you are. You never answered my question. Do you need something or are you just chatting for fun?" I swallow, furrowing my eyebrows. Wow! This guy is not very pleasant. "< i was hoping you might be willing to.. teacch me, i guess? no, uh, no pun intended with the hope thing. >" I rub the back of my neck. "< if not, that's fine! >" I look around, then recognize the only one who is in any way knowledgeable about Heart: dear old dad. I join Parker and Silas over there. "I can try." Ryker shrugs. "I'm a pretty shitty teacher, so, don't get your hopes up. Pun intended with the hope thing." He nudges your shoulder in some sort of 'haha funny' moment. You think he's trying to be nice, maybe. "Yay!! Heirs abound!!" Parker claps his hands together excitedly. "You kids ready to learn how to BE your aspect and wield it at the same time without knowing anything about what you're doing??" “uuhhhhhh yes” I say questioningly i squint and tilt my head, then shrug. "yes as well!" "GREAT! Because that's what being an heir is!" Parker lights off the ground and drifts up towards the ceiling, waving for you to follow. I float up and follow him. i follow him too. I laugh softly at the bad pun, giving him a smile. "< that's okay, i'm sure you're a great teaccher! >" I encourage, giving him a strange little pat on the arm. "Okay, so." Parker spreads his arms and legs out wide, just kind of letting himself drift through the air. "Close your eyes and let yourselves float." i lean back slightly, gently shutting my eyes and spreading my limbs in the same manner. I extend myself in the most simple sense of the word, letting the line between me and everything else blend. "Now, reach out- in every direction- and just look around. Feel around. Find your aspect everywhere." He wiggles his fingers and sighs softly, closing his eyes too. well that's easy for him to say when his aspect is the one that's everywhere all the time. regardless, i reach out and try to feel around for the life in my room, starting with my own before proceeding to that of the dogboys nearby, then everyone else in the room. they sure are alive. I extend myself and search for the heightened emotions of everyone around me, the desires to protect their loved ones, their literal hearts beating. It's not hard. The room buzzes with life, energy and heart in every sense of the words. Silas can even feel plants outside; a few innocent ants making a line to a piece of fallen candy. Finn can feel the sway of emotions in the room, like currents swirling for control. Anger, happiness, sadness, peace. "Great!! Now let yourself inherit and become what you're feeling. Let it control you instead of the other way around." I let go of the concept of me. i think about what the hell that means for a moment before trying to allow myself to be controlled by life. still not entirely sure what parker wants me to do, i shut my eyes tighter. have at it, life. come and get some It's simple. The feelings of the others in the room around Finn rush in almost immediately. Emotions are running high, but everyone is keeping their own cap on them, which helps him stay afloat in the waves. Life does come and get some. Silas feels the life of the other people in the room like it's his own. Some people are hurt, but none that show it. Some ants don't walk as fast as others. The sensation of life being with him is strange. It's noisy, busy, but calm and quiet. It's everywhere. "There you go." Parker sighs, content. "Nice, right?" “woaaaahhhhhh” i relax physically, pausing before answering. "yeah, it's... whoa" In a state of utter emotion, I ask "so we are obviously learning stuff like this for a reason how will this help us in combat or stuff like that" "Not everything is about combat." Parker drifts past you. You can tell, even with your eyes closed. "If you can think of a use, you can use it. It also helps to focus." "yknow fair" "but this is crazy dad do you do this all the time" "Yeah! Seventeen years is my record." Parker responds with far too much cheer for the subject at hand. "Helps to not drown when you're drowning." "Also, it's just fun." were it not for the fact that my eyes are still closed, the similarity between my current expression and :monkey2: would be much more apparent. My forehead wrinkles, eyes still closed. “wait hold up what was that” "Hm? What was what?" It might just be you, but Parker's voice seems to be getting... weird. He sounds distant, but still close, his voice soft, but it still hums in your head loudly. I pull myself back together “hey come back to use youre not doing that anymore” "Hmm?" Even Parker's hum sounds a thousand miles away. You open your eyes to look at him. He's floating, like you are, loosely. His clothes gust around gently in the illusion of a breeze. Most obviously, his eyes are glazed over solid black, full to the brim of twinkling stars. His ears are on high alert and he has a faint, lost smile on his face. i look at him cautiously for a moment. "uh.." i pause, trying to figure out whether i'm supposed to refer to him as "mr. pendragon" or what, before deciding to skip the whole name thing altogether. "are you.. alright?" "Oh, yes, perfectly." Parker closes his eyes and folds his legs under him, sitting midair, and takes a deep breath. His clothes stop breezing around ominously and he opens his eyes again to their normal state. "See? Just fine." He grins. His voice is back to normal too. “... not gonna lie that was very spooky and im brave enough to admit that whatever that was was pretty scary” "Oh, I'm sorry." Parker frowns. "I didn't mean to scare you. But it is neat, and very handy." "what happened there?? your eyes went all black and sparkly and you sounded like you were really far away" "I was becoming space! Inheriting it. Like you guys were doing, but... bigger." He shrugs. "You can do weird things with it too." "But you do have to be careful." Parker adds, softly. "Sometimes you can get so caught up in being everything else that you forget how to be you. Someone else can always ground you if this happens." "what does that mean? how do you ground someone?" "Well... it's usually easiest just to hold someone, or their hand, and sometimes talk to them." He offers you a shy smile. "That usually does the trick." "ohhhh. cool!" i say. this all sounds really weird to me, but it's important! it makes a little sense to me, i suppose. i ponder silently about it for a moment. "...i don't know if it's just coincidence aspect-wise or what, but aren't the three of us in particular, like... already our aspects? like, you have a physical form, i'm alive, and he's" - i gesture at finn, pausing hesitantly - "well, he has an identity and feelings and stuff! and also a heart," i say. i realize finn's relationship to his aspect is more having than being, but whatever. 2 out of 3 isn't bad. "No, not... exactly. The aspects already make up the key parts of everything, so it isn't surprising that we are them in that way." “so are we just like really good examples of those parts of existence” "...No." He smiles with some sort of strange emotion. "No, we can just feel it. All of it." "can't we change it, too?" "Yeah! But you do have to be careful." Parker frowns, waving a hand in the air cautiously. "Since you are your aspect, even if you aren't trying, by changing it you change yourself. Keep that in mind." i squint, saying nothing for a moment. "...uh, okay!" The doors to the room rebound loudly off the walls behind them as a select few people barge their way back into the room. Pythia, Finley, Cole, and Cavall, namely. Finley makes a grand gesture to the room and Pythia examines it, nodding. "Sorry to cut this short, everyone, but it's time to wrap it up." "Our ships have all been prepared and stocked with all the supplies we'll need for our journey." "You better not have landed us with a rustbucket, Finley." Sebastian narrows his eyes at them, mockingly wagging a finger. "Nothing but the best." Finley rolls their eyes. "The group that includes Sebastian and me will be taking the Solanace. It's a fast, lightweight, inconspicuous ship. Should do nicely for our trip." I glance over at maia nervously. I've never been to the ocean before. You fucking idiot. Pack it up, circlehead "Ooh!!" Parker floats down to the ground. "What are we taking??" You know what, bitch? No redesign for you JUST KIDDING! JUST KIDDING BTW "You and Candra are taking the Yellowbird. It'll do the job." Pythia supplies. "That leaves Etoile and Rigel with the Harbinger, a cargo ship, and us with the Nimbus." Pythia winks at Cavall. "Every one of our ships has been chosen specifically for the places we'll be going. We should have everything we need." "There are others waiting for us in the shipyard. People who want to say goodbye, most likely." She nods around. I give a satisfied nod and head out to the shipyard. Sorry to all you introverts but I'm built different. Literally. I snap out of whatever stoop I’m distracted in, and give Ryker a thankful nod, before rejoining with the rest of the group. I, too, give Pythia acknowledgment, and head out toward the shipyard with Quin, looking a little lost in thought. I nudge his arm. "How'd it go?" I follow the others out, glancing around the room one last time before I leave. I blink. "< huh? o-oh! yeah, it was good. he was...kind of sccary, acctually, but i think i did a good job? my aim is getting better. it's fun! kind of. i still have to get used to the whole...shooting thing! haha... >" I rub my arm mindlessly. "< how did it go with you and mom? >" I smile at him. "I'm glad it's going good. I, uh, yeah." My smile wavers a little as I think about what just happened. "It went fine with Etoile. I started hearing voices, but aside from that, we had a good time." I stare at him for just a bit, not saying a word. "< voicces, huh? that's! uh. are you okay, quin? >" I sound concerned, frowning as we walk. I blink at him, confused. "Yeah, doing great. Why?" looking to pythia, i raise my eyebrows curiously at the notion of people out there waiting to say goodbye to us. i look between finn and where parker was earlier before abruptly dropping from our higher position and decelerating towards the ground for a soft enough landing. i jog slightly to catch up with the others, then assume a steadier pace as i head out into the shipyard, glancing around. I look sheepish. "< nothing!! just, hearing voices isn't really a common kind of thing? unless it is for you!! um. sorry! glad it went okay! >" I look down towards the ground, watching my feet instead. I pull away from Sam after a few seconds and give her a quick and awkward wave before hopping into the air and speeding off down the hallway. I open my mouth to say something, before frowning and shutting it. I struggle silently for a moment on how to respond before just shoving my hands in my pockets and speedwalking ahead. I take second to turn to Pythia before following the others, "Nimbu$$ huh?" I cross my arms and tilt my head a bit with a smile, "I'm gue$$$$ing it'$$ a $$peedy one right? If it i$$n't, $$o $$orry but I'll have to di$$own you." "Of course it's speedy! Fastest one in the group." Pythia laughs and follows along. I control too many people to specify that they're following. They all are. Lanval and Flo mingle back into the group out of nowhere. Nobody notices. I shake off the strange feeling I had in becoming my aspect, give myself a full body shake, and join the others in the shipyard.