trans_9 | A bone-chilling test! Literally.

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A bone-chilling test! Literally.

It had only taken Snow a few minutes after waking up to realize that he still had his powers. As strange and unfathomable as it was (for crying out loud, he saw that it was gone), there his l'Cie brand was, easily noticeable on his left forearm and, from what Snow could recall, in the same form it was in right before he had lost it. But then again, he couldn't be quite sure, he wasn't very keen on studying the mark very closely when he did have it - he just knew that it had been pretty well along. A round, eye-shaped pattern inside of a rectangular brand, arrowed edges branching off in all directions. But it was no longer the deep black color that it had been, it was glazed over in a dull grey. And though it made him uneasy to see the brand there again, he was relieved that it was at least frozen. No ever-present countdown to turning into a monster.

He had felt the rush of icy powers when he tried to use them down in the pod chambers, even though they had been promptly cut off by one of Stacy's tentacles. So Snow'd be able to fend for himself (and protect Serah. Which was ten times more important than fending for himself, really), since despite what he'd read and what he'd heard so far, he was skeptical of many things. He had dealt with enough to easily trust some voice in his head that later reprimanded him and ordered him to follow the rules when he had no idea what was happening. He never did like rules, and he especially didn't like the idea of some giant talking creature trying to play puppeteer with people and simply expect them to go along with it. He'd had enough of that. So having his powers back was a point up in feeling even a little more safe.

But as he stood in the city, in an area large enough to both test this out and for any passersby to easily spot him, he had one more thing he wanted to try. "Let's see if you two are still here, too." Snow spoke, seemingly to nobody in particular. He raised his arm, a small, ice-blue orb forming around and rising from his brand. "Shiva!" he called, and a glyph-like pattern materialized in mid-air in front of him. From it rose two figures, completely contrasted from the other. One dark, one light - the summoned sisters looked more like robots of some sort, adorned with chains and huge, bulky pieces of metal. The large wheels clearly visible on their bodies gave the (very obvious) impression that the two could combine into a vehicle of some sort. They landed gracefully in front of Snow, who just smiled widely at the them.

"Hey! Long time no see!" he greeted with a wave. "I can't believe you two wound up sticking around, too! At least getting around'll be a little easier, now."

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"A second time? So you lost them before?" Midna is no stranger to lost powers, but at least now she's got a little extra insurance to pad the old magical bank account. The two sisters don't look like anything she's ever seen before, though.

"Run into anyone you know?"

Snow'd go into the whole power-loss thing later. Midna's second question was far more pleasing to answer. With an enthusiastic nod, his eyes seemed to light up. "Of course I did! I told you down there, didn't I? I wasn't about to go anywhere without my Serah."

"Oh? Well, good for you." Midna didn't begrudge Snow his happiness at being reunited with his Serah again. She didn't even really mind that he hadn't answered her other question, no matter how curious she was about it. Snow was an odd human.

"Maybe I should come meet her sometime, see if she's as... unique as you are."

"Unique, huh? I'll take that as a compliment. But you should! You'll love her, she's the greatest. And until we figure out just what's going on here, the more the merrier."

And to segue from one topic to the next. "She's not a 'magician', though." At least, not anymore. Though as a l'Cie, Serah didn't have the need to fight like he did. He was almost glad for that. "That whole thing's a looooong story, I still don't know how I got this back." He raised his arm to show off the faded marking. "I'm a hundred percent sure it wasn't there again before I got picked up by whatever this 'ship' is. ... I think."

He rubbed the back of his head, confused once more now that he started to think about it again. "I can't really remember what happened that wound up putting us here. Don't have a better idea about that, do you Midna?"

"Hmph. Well... I guess it couldn't hurt. Not that I need the company or anything." Yeah. She couldn't help adding that last bit.

"...No. I have no memory of being 'picked up' by this place at all." And that's something that worries her. "The last thing I remember, I was in Hyrule. We were finally going to give that no-good charlatan a taste of his own medicine, and then... and then all of a sudden I'm in this thing's stomach with goop all over me."

"Sounds like everything around here is a long story. But if those abilities are useful, then it's a good thing you got them back -- magician or not." She paused. "I read over this Omniwhatsit here that there's some kind of mysterious magical tower that appeared on the ship. I wonder if it has anything to do with what's going on?"

"Yeah, same here. Serah, too, she doesn't remember what happened either." It reminded him of fal'Cie tricks on a much higher, and worrisome level. Visions were one things, messing with memories? Something else entirely.

He put his right hand over the brand on his arm. He still remembered the first time he had gotten the brand - a curse, they all called it. Something terrible. But the Eidolons, the sister that stood silently before him, them along the powers that they had gained were exactly what helped get them through. "If they'll help out, at any rate. I've got these lovely ladies, too." He nodded his head back toward the Shiva sisters.

"You think so? I read through those things ... but I got pretty thrown off focusing too hard on everything else when I read about that whole violation punishment thing." An awkward cough and shift of his weight. "I sooort of got one already."

"Not the kind of behavior you'd expect from someone who wants a favor from you, hmm? I like my memories nice and intact, thanks."

Midna looked at the two sisters, then back at Snow. "Mind if I ask who they are? I've never seen spirits like that before."

At the news that Snow had already racked up a violation of his own, she crossed her arms, frowning. "Already got one? I heard about those Punishments. They're not something I ever want to see again -- you'd better be careful about those things. What'd you get it for, anyway?"

"They're Eidolons. This one's Stiria." He motioned to the dark-skinned one, whose face had a white patch around one of her eyes. "And this one's Nix," a motion to the light-skinned one with a dark patch around an eye. Nix gave a swishy wave in response. "The Shiva sisters. They're ... connected to this." He patted the brand on his arm. "And come whenever I call them, so long as this is still intact."

He forced a small laugh, putting his hands on his waist. "I got it from trying to open up the pods down there."

"Sounds handy. But don't they talk?" Because so far, neither of them had said a word, though they seemed to understand Snow, at least. "And why are they connected to that mark? Did you form some kind of pact with them?"

"Oh. Well, hey, just don't try that fourteen more times, and you'll be fine, right?"

"Right," he answered, but he didn't quite meet Midna's gaze when he did so. He was still clung on the determination to get Lightning and the others out from down there. Because they were down there, he knew that much. Bending and submitting to another never sat well with him, and for Snow a little pain in return for refusing to was worth it. For now, though, he was looking for information. He had seen how difficult it was to get those pods to budge at all. Difficult, not impossible. Nothing was impossible when Snow was set on something.

"They don't talk, but they can understand just fine." He looked back to them as he continued. "I guess it is sort of like a pact. They first come to us when we're lost, or losing hope. They make us choose between giving up and moving on. And when we prove we're determined to keep going, they stay with us.

"Hey, you're not going to try it again, are you? Look, for all you know, they'll be popping out on their own in a month or two; no point trying to get yourself killed. Or... you know." Tortured.

"Hmm..." Midna looked back at the Shiva sisters again. "So they're sort of like your Light Spirits. They lend you power when you need it, to protect what you hold dear."

A month or two was too long for Snow's comfort. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. First Serah in stasis, out of his reach and means of rescue, and now everyone else? Sure, they could wake up at any time ... but if Snow could help that... For now, he just shrugged, figuring that if he decided to do something, he just would because that's how he was. Others' words (aside from Serah's) hardly dissuaded him from things.

He nodded after that. That was what they were ... after the whole trying to initially kill their owner thing, anyway. "These ladies are also pretty helpful when it comes getting somewhere fast."

Great, another stubborn one. She sighed. Well, if he wanted to launch another raid on the pod chambers, that was his decision to make. Maybe Serah could dissuade him; she probably wasn't too keen on her husband being hideously tortured because he couldn't wait a few months to see the rest of his friends.

"Getting somewhere fast?" Midna looked a little skeptically back at the Shiva sisters. "Can they fly? Or do they transport you by magic?"

"You mean you can't tell?" He smirked. "I can show you, if you want."

Oh, come on, Snow, like Midna's ever seen a motor vehicle before.

"Ha! Be my guest. I'd like to see this one."

"Alright then!" He turned to the sisters, raising his hand as they both turned their attention to him. "Let's show her what you two can do!"

They moved together at once, circling each other and then leaping into the air. Stiria and Nix reached out to each other, and the moment their hands met their bodies began to move - gracefully contorting and joining together, limbs bending and clicking and taking the shape of a two-wheeled motorcycle-looking vehicle. Snow jumped up after them when they were about finished, gripping onto one of the handles (that protruded from Stiria's headpiece) and swinging himself up and over to sit comfortably on the now-formed seat. The bike landed on the ground with a loud, heavy thud.

Midna looked -- well, probably a combination of horror, fascination, and outright astonishment. "What is that?"

Seriously, what was that? She'd never seen anything like it. There were remnants of old technology on Hyrule, certainly, but none of them looked like... like that.

"It's still them," he noted, leaning down to pat the side of the bike. "This is one of their more special abilities, to turn into a motorbike. They can do some pretty tough damage like this, too."

And then Snow had a great idea, given Midna's amusingly surprised reaction. "Wanna hop on?"

"I guess," she said, looking a little skeptically at the contraption. She hovered her way over to the space behind Snow, using her ponytail to grasp the seat in case the ride was bumpy.

"What's a motorbike?"

"Imagine something like this, only with less of a human shape to it. Also, they don't transform - they're not alive like these two are."

Revving up, he turned back to Midna with a wink. "Now hang on tight, and I'll show you what what else these motorbikes can do! Let's go, girls!" And in a flash, the bike sped off, Snow steering it in the direction of the city streets.

"While we're at it, we can do a little sightseeing, too!" He called back.

That explanation... really didn't help Midna. But she really didn't have time to complain as Snow took off, speeding down the streets at a horrific pace. She'd been expecting galloping speed at best. Grateful that she'd braced herself beforehand, she gripped the fabric at Snow's back, peering over his shoulder at the buildings flashing by.

"A... l-little sightseeing?"

"Sure! Why not?" He gave a small shrug as they moved past buildings and other structures set up through the city. "Haven't got a chance to see just how big this city is, yet!"

Urgh.

"D... do you always travel around like this?" Midna rather preferred portals and flying. Or riding wolfback.

"Not as often as you think! Don't want to wear them out or make'em feel like slaves, you know?"

He turned a corner eventually, when he spotted in the near distance the area where the buildings seemed to come to an end. Heading down another road now, he made his way back.

"Yeah, I can tell you're really taking it easy on them," Midna muttered, mostly to herself.

She let out a tiny scream when he veered around that corner. Really tiny. Really.

"Have we... have we done enough exploring yet?"

A bone-chilling test! Literally.

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