[Warning, incoming game. Warning, incoming game.] [Date: Tuesday, Ramuh 3rd, 1360 AI] [Mona recieved her summons this morning today, personally, by Gwesus, as well as the requisite paperwork. Assuming she filled it all out and turned it in, she is now finding her way to the council's hall-type-building-thingie. It's a little after midday, so she has had a chance to eat her lunch (if she's into that) and get ready for the interview. The summons said to be ready for anything, and the hall-type thing is just ahead.] [A female moogle is on the podium, and waiting for something.] [Session start.] * Mona is there, robes on and all, her ranseur poking up from behind her as normal. And she's even fed. She looks at the moogle for a second, then holds the paperwork out to her. "You take the paperwork?" [A heavy *thud* comes from within the building after a cut-off scream.] * The moogle looks back at Mona. "Oh, yes. I'll take that if you're ready. If you could wait for a moment, kupo?" * Mona 's eyes obviously focus towards the thud, but she doesn't drop the paperwork, so friend moogle can take it. She does say, with a very faint nod, "Kupo." * The moogle takes the paperwork and sifts through it, putting some of it on the side and taking the rest into the hall. * She returns outside and starts pouring over a book again. La la la. * Mona is standing there and frowning slightly at the scream-thud. * Mona turns to the moogle and says, "Is that standard? The screaming?" Oh, it happens every so often. I wouldn't worry too much about it. * Mona nods slowly, and tries to get a look at the title of the moogle's book. "Riight.." * After about fifteen minutes a moogle comes walking out of the hall. He doesn't look in a particular hurry, otherwise he'd be flying. Waving to Mona, then looking back, he starts (presumably) to go home. * Mona smiles little at the moogle and waves back as she looks the moogle over, and then takes a noisy exasperated breath once he's gone. * The moogle isn't wearing anything, another one of the ones that prefers fur instead. There's nothing wrong with him at all, despite the cries earlier. * The Secretary Moogle looks back, then to Mona. "Okay, the council will see you now, kupo!" * Mona nods slowly, and takes another breath and closes her eyes, whispering something to herself. * Mona then stands up straight and walks to the chamber purposefully. [The council is sitting around a large U-shaped wooden hardwood table. From the left to right you can make out Mog, Penn Lak Illich, Loren Hasgord, Squenix Knackstedt, Cid, Gwesus Masahcarey, Ran Dom Iffin, Yarksetnik Czretzinger, and Darell Racht. Each of them observes you appraisingly, and a few whisper among eachother regarding what they see. Light is centered on you, although you can still see the council.] [Behind you and to the left is a small sparring area, and back and to the right is what appears to be the magical equivalent of a firing range. There is still a good amount of blood in the sparring area, which may or may not disturb you. Once you have entered proper and have had a seat on the chair at the focus of the U, Cid stands up and starts into one of his speeches.] * Mona tries to take in the room, but her attention gets pulled to El Cid when he begins speaking. * Mona takes a seat, which involves making sure that the ranseur goes off the chair just right, and then looks up at Cid. Now is time for speeching! Welcome... Welcome, welcome! And before we begin, I'd like to say thank you for appearing and showing your support for our caravan. It is a heavy responsability that we place on your backs, and your acceptance of that responsability just shows that you are mature for your age and are going to grow into a fine, responsable young lady. It's been a long time since miasma came to this world... And durring that time, year after year, we all have seen our- Fish. (YAY.) Our fish go out an-, um... * Mona glances away over at Squenix, and can't help but smile slightly before her attention returns to Cid. * Chamelaeon has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Cid thinks to himself. "Fish, fish, where did fi-..." He glances around the council, then back to Mona, and then back to the council again, and then hurridly takes his seat. "Hehe... If you would start, Mog?" (The fish cheered me right up. Time to see the counselor. Fish. Hehehehe. Fish. Ha!) * Mona shifts her attention to Mog and the smile remains on her face. * Mog flies up and over to Mona. He lands next to Mona and peers at her. "Hello, kupo!" He glances back at Gwesus, then at Mona again, speaking in Moogle. * Mona smiles, and holds up a finger, saying, "One second," before pulling her pom-pom out of her pocket and putting it on. Then she responds in full moogle. she frowns slightly, * Mog waves his pompom and flies back to his seat, passing the papers onwards. * Mona nods at the moogle and says, before storing the pom-pom in her pocket and moving her attention to the next person. * Penn Lak thinks and reads over the papers, then starts. "Mona! Suppose you were in a bazaar, that had anything and everything for sale, but you only had enough money to buy one, single, thing. There is no hope of any further funds. You could either buy food, water, a tent, clothing, rope, or wood. You have a knife and nothing else of value or importance. What would you get, and why?" * Mona mms slightly, then says, "Is this when I'm supposed to be travelling on a caravan, staying still, or my choice? And how much wood? Logs?" Assume you are immune to miasma but don't have anything else, or anyone else to rely on or any other responsabilities other than your own survival. The amount of wood would be about one cart worth. * Mona 's eyes widen, then she thinks for a split second more, before saying, "I would say clothes or a tent, but since the tent is harder to make, I will go with it. I could hunt food and find water, and maybe make some leather in time. But protection from the elements is invaluable." * Penn Lak nods. "Now, suppose clothing and a tent weren't available. What would you purchase then, and why?" * Mona chuckles a little, and says, "If it's warm, rope. Because despite me not really knowing how to do much with rope, I'd learn how, and it would most help getting what I need to live the most. Now, if it were winter, the wood, so I could not freeze to death before I got to making clothing." And finally, what would you do if you had a dependent to care for as well? And the tent and clothing were options again? The clothing is, but it's only enough for one person. * Mona mms, and then says, "Well, without the tent... if it's warm, food. It's the only way to ensure immediate survival, because I'm just not that good at hunting, but I'll get enough skin for clothes before I get enough food to feed us both. If it's cold, wood, because she'd freeze to death well before I would, so if I took it before, I should take it now." * Penn Lak nods. "No more questions from me." She passes the papers onto Loren, who takes them and looks over them. If it wasn't required to go on the carava, that is if the crystal would last indefinetly without myrr, would you still venture forth on it? * Mona looks confused. "So... do we just caravan to explore as groups, then?" * Loren waves his hand dismissively. "Hypothetically, yes." * Mona chuckles faintly, "Then, hypothetically, yes, I would." Why would you do it, even if you weren't expect to do so? * Mona looks around, not just at Loren, and says, "Because what I want to know about is something that people should know about. How do monsters survive? How do their abilities work? There are so many mysteries out there." She takes a breath, and continues, "Even now... and especially if we don't have to spend all this effort on staying alive, we should be worried about these things." * Loren nods. "So you feel that this knowledge would make it safer for everyone?" * Mona nods enthusiastically. "Definitely. Knowing a little more about how monsters act and fight has never hurt. And what if everyone could take on the powers of monsters as easily as they use normal magicite?" She looks around again. "I'm sure all of you, as experienced adventurers, could see that being very useful." * Loren takes the papers and passes them to Squenix. "Okay. Squenix, it's your turn." * Squenix is playing with a schematic-thing made out of cashews. "Is the ground cold?" * Mona mms, then says, "Not really, no." * Squenix regards Mona, passing her a cashew from the schematic. "Cashew?" * Mona takes it and nods, smiling slightly. "Sure. Thanks." She tosses it up in the air once, then pockets it. * Squenix passes the papers to Cid. * Squenix doesn't stop staring at Mona, though. * Cid takes the papers and clears his throat, doing the typical in-and- out motion with the papers so the come into focus. "So, Mona. Is there anything you would say you couldn't do with any kind of profeciency?" * Mona glances over at the Squenix staring at her, then looks at Cid. "Well, besides 'fly' and 'phase' and such..." She mms, then chuckles, and looks at Cid. "You know, I probably couldn't play most instruments. And like I said, I can't do much with a rope other than simple knots. Not exactly very sneaky either." What do you think of people who disagree with you? * Mona glances over at her mother, and then says, "It depends on why." Non-monsters. Suppose the disagreed with you on how to approach a problem, and there was a majority of them too. What would you think of them? * Mona closes her eyes. "I'd be annoyed? Maybe angry. If I thought I was right, I'd have a good reason for it. It's... not something you can just... say." She looks at Cid. "It depends on the people." A group of people who distrust you on principle. * Mona frowns and says, "Then I probably wouldn't like them, would I?" * Ardle is now known as Ardweden No, probably not. * Cid thinks for a few moments, then passes the papers to Gwesus. Oh boy. * Mona glances over at Squenix. Is she still staring? * Gwesus takes the papers and looks at her daughter over the table. Yes, Squenix is still unnervingly staring. * Mona looks back at mom. Her eyes narrow slightly. She's definitely tensing up. Apparently, she thinks this will be the hard part too. What is the most important part of the crystal caravan? * Mona untenses slightly, and gives it a thought, then says, "The easy answer's the chalice. But the chalice without the people doesn't get filled, and if the people don't work together, nothing comes back. So I'm going to say the people. Otherwise, why put us through all this?" Good. Is there anything, at all, more important than the safety of the chalice? * Mona closes her eyes. "I'd love to say yes. So I will." She opens her eyes and grins slightly, and then nods towards Mog. "Although I don't really think about it, so thanks to Mog for reminding me... if there were a way to take out the miasma as a whole, then yes. Otherwise? No." * Gwesus nods, then sits down, passing the papers. "Thank you Mona." * Mona looks at her funny for a second, as if expecting something... then just nods back to her and looks to the next person. * Mona also gives a glance to Squenix. Is she still staring? <_< * Ran Dom picks up the papers in a big mess, and Squenix is still staring. It's gotta be one giant psychological test. "Okay, what is more important? You, your family, your friends? Or something... else?" * Mona parses through that syntax for a second, then says, "Something else is a big catagory. Does something big and vague like 'The town not being dead' fit?" Oh! No, nothing so pressing like that. I was talking about stuff. Like money, fame, or glory. Oh. Stuff. * Ran Dom pulls off a Reigis. "Is that your... final answer?" * Penn Lak snickers. Gwesus smacks him in the side with an armored elbow. Squenix keeps staring. * Mona mms faintly, then shakes her head. "No, I think..." she pauses for a second, then says, "Everything else aside, I'd... really rather my family survive than me." * Mona sorta seems as if she has something else to add, and glances at Gwesus, but doesn't volunteer. Okay. I have nothing else to ask. * Ran Dom passes the papers to Yarksetnik. * Mona takes a sorta relieved breath and turns to Yarksetnik. * Yarkestnik puts the papers down with one page on top, errily making no sound. From nowhere her, um, I guess that's her voice? can be heard. "What is the best solution to any conflict?" * Mona looks around for a second, then says, cautiously, "Avoidance works the most often, I guess. Not fun, but it's good at working. But 'best' is just about as vague as 'something else'." And if forced into a situation that isn't the best, what is your first course of action? * Mona mms and says, "Think..." then she stops talking for a second, and says, "No, that's wrong. The first thing I'd do is draw my spear WHILE thinking." * Mona chews her lip, then finishes, "If you'd told me more, maybe I'd change the answer. But in general, there you have it." * Yarksetnik stares for a moment, looking through Mona, then passes the papers slowly to Darell. * Darell takes the papers and ignores them. "You have a lot of friends?" * Mona mms, then says. "I don't know. I wouldn't say I have a lot. I have a few, sure." She pauses, then adds, "I've never felt like I didn't have enough, though." Would you say you use them, or they use you, or something in- between? * Mona blinks. "I'd never... something in between?" Alright, I'm done! Let's get on with the rest of it. * Darell uses his mad paper-throwing sk33lz to end up landing the paper in front of Gwesus. (Darell's had practice at that.) * Mona looks over at the staring Squenix for a sec, rubs her face, then at her mother once more. Okay Mona, my daughter. We need to see a display of your skills, to make sure you can do what you say you can on the application. There is Magicite over there for you to use, and if you need a target one of the council members will oblidge. * Squenix keeps staring. * Mona nods and stands. She says semi-casually, "Well, if you want, mom, it'd probably be helpful." * Mona walks over to where she can get magicite. Woo magicite? * There is a magicite of each basic type there, as in Nikki's audition. A light-blue misty one, a dark-blue sparkling one, a warm red one with a constantly-enveloping fire, and a green one with a constantly renewing plant inside. * Gwesus steps forward, assuming Mona required assistance. She assumes a guard position so Mona may strike without actually harming her. I suppose there's a reason she wore armor today. * Mona pockets a materia off of her own bracelet, then picks up the sparkling one and the green one and puts them both on. Then she holds out her hand and the ranseur jumps into it as she enters the training area. * Gwesus is in the traning area already. Let's get it on! * Mona looks at her mother for a second, then starts to focus on the sparkling materia, obviously casting a spell, and the energy gathers... * Mona makes motions and quiet chants and then points at Gwesus. A lightning blast streaks towards her! * Gwesus stands still and absorbs the attack, electricity arcing over her from the attack. * Mona frowns at her mother for a split second, then starts to concentrate again, and tense her legs, but she's also started chanting as well. The magical energy gathers again, but this time it's flowing into her extended ranseur. * Mona then takes a bouncin step and jumps high, in as high a jumping arc as she dares in this council room... * Gwesus recogonizes what's going on and murmers, a protective shield encases her for a split second as she raises her spear to block the attack. Mona lands and scores a direct hit on Gugnir, causing the lightning to flow down to the floor around the shield. This holds for a few seconds before Gwesus grips her spear harder and uses the weight to throw Mona back. A little hard, but not hard enough to do damage. * The council looks rather impressed by the display. Apparently not many experts have been showing them chains recently, but things have just been getting started. Alright Mona, there's one more thing we have to take care of. Are you ready for it? * Mona lands on her feet from the jump and skids backwards, still facing her mother. * Gwesus lowers her spear behind her and assumes an offensive posture. * Mona looks at her mother's posture, looks at the spear, and it clicks, and she says, softly, "... I'm not supposed to survive this, am I? That's what all the blood and screaming's about." Correct. For the good of the caravan, we must test if you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. * Mona stares at her a second, then tosses down her ranseur and opens her robe, exposing the fact that she was actually wearing her armor under it. "I hope you don't mind if I take this off, then?" She smiles weakly, as if trying to make light of the fact that she's about to die. "Saves on repair costs." * Gwesus nods. "Go ahead." * Squenix, who hasn't layed her eyes off of Mona, makes her way to the ring. * Mona slips off her chain shirt, slowly, leaving herself just clad in the under-clothes meant to protect you from your armor, and takes it, and her robe, and puts them aside. And ditches her jewelry and the materias. Then she walks back to the ring and looks down slightly at her mom. She looks nervous... but then she nods. * Gwesus nods, takes a deep breath, then jumps up. Her form splits into five, each of them landing a cardinal direction from Mona. As each of them dash at Mona, making a gruling slash with her spear, the fifth form lands and impales Mona through the chest, as the fourth one smashed her legs and proped her up for the final blow. All the forms merge back into Gwesus, who looks at her daughter as she's passing away. * Mona gets tore up badly, and certainly can't deal with that, and dies, looking right at her mom. * Gwesus looks down at Mona. Mona can almost make out a tear forming in Gwesus's eye before death comes and does its thing. When Mona awakens, she's being looked over by the entire council, save Gwesus who is off cleaning Gugnir of blood. Mona's belongings are where she left them, although the magicite is already gone. Ran Dom's kinda picky about that. Squenix also isn't watching, having gone back to her cashews. * Mona's got a splitting headache and her stomach is a little queezy, but that's it. * Mona takes a gasping breath and says, weakly, "Bahamut-damn it. Guh." (... Oh yes, we get to use summons for curses. This game will be awesome.) (Well, at least I didn't say, "Shoat-take it." That one'd be good too.) Well, I must say you're handlin' it better than most. (True! I was just thinking Shoat would be good.) * Mona closes her eyes, and says softly, "I... the blue magic. I knew..." she coughs, and sits up. "It would happen... eventually. Even if I did't make it on..." she suddenly looks at her mother. * Mona 's hands reflexively move to her chest. * Gwesus glances at Mona and gives her a smile, then she goes back to her spear solemly. Ah, she cares. And it's happened more than once to all of us. You're one of us now. * Mona's chest is in one piece and lacking a hole, much to her relief. * Mona smiles a little back, and then groans, "Yeah. Lucky me." She stands and says, "Why does getting stabbed through the chest give me a headache?" That's the effect of commin' back to life. The more it happens, the less it'll hurt. * Mona nods, and stumbles her way over to her equipment, slowly, and puts it on. She pauses a few times in the process, just to stand there, then shakes her head and continues. Eventually, it looks like nothing even happened. Don't go talking about this to anyone. And stay in bed for the next day. I think we are concluded then! Do you have any other questions Mona? * Cid just almost cut-off Gwesus. Good thing he didn't, otherwise Gwesus might have cut off something of his. * Mona looks over at Gwesus, and smiles slightly to herself, before saying, "Yes, mother." She then blinks her eyes a few times, then says, "I... had one, but I think it's gone now." She takes a few deep breaths and swallows. "Yeah. Gone." [And Session End!]