Who: Lina & Usagi What: Usagi shows Lina the silver crystal When: Recently Where: McDee's and then Magic Guild HQ Rating/Warnings: Pretty low Status: Complete!
Usagi bounced in place, chewing on her bottom lip outside the McDonalds. Yum, messy burgers galore. She wanted to show Lina the crystal, but had no idea of where exactly to go. So she figured a regular public place to meet up and then decide would be the best course of action. She touched her brooch, letting out a soft sigh as she waited. If this was real, then maybe he was here too…
Well, McDonald’s was one place. Her preference was Taco Bell, personally, but she wasn’t the pickiest one - and for once their fucking icecream machine was working so that’s what she got, one of those McFlurries (or whatever their called nowadays) with M&M’s leaving rainbow streaks through the vanilla soft serve, mmm.
There was no baby in tow this time. Amelia was spending some time with her father, and it gave Lina a chance to run some errands and meet up with a couple people. Ms. Blondie here included.
“Definitely not the place to show me some kind of mega powerful moon artifact,” she snickered as she approached, her hair long and wavy like undulating fire. “Maybe we can go elsewhere?”
Usagi beamed at her happily, bouncing as the other short woman arrived. “Yeah, I just couldn’t think of anywhere else! We don’t have a base here in this world.”
“There’s a place I can take you to,” she gestured with a hand to the vehicle parked outside - she assumed it wasn’t anything majorly destructive, and safe for Mage Guild walls. “Secretive, only meant for dreamers with magic abilities. It’s a safe place to show the crystal and poke at it a little if you’re up for the ride.”
Lina’s car was stuffed with all sorts of baby paraphernalia but, eh, that was the curse of being a mom.
Usagi was beaming at the baby things, giggling loudly. “I wonder if I would have Chibi Usa in this world too… Mm. Is it okay for me to go? I don’t have any magic from my own self, it’s just items I get that are magical.”
Doors unlocked after they stepped out of the fancy McDee’s, they were exposed to the carseat in the back, the random toys, a pack of diapers in the back, and some cheerios. Yeah, uh, so - it needed some cleaning but Lina usually waited until it got really bad, because no matter what, Amelia would make it messy all over again.
Having a dog was probably easier.
“It counts, don’t worry,” was her response after a spoonful of ice cream, and she set it in the cupholder to rev the car up. “It’s a stable place. A friend of mine started it as a safe haven for practice magic, whether it’s from your very own hands to an item. It’s a safety precaution, mosty.”
Usagi smiled. “I’m glad I got to meet you guys then!” She seat belted in and eyed Lina a tiny bit warily.
Hey. That side look wasn’t necessary, she drove responsibly - mostly. With one or two tantrums of road rage and waving around that plastic spoon from her ice cream as if she was ready to bludgeon someone with it for not using their blinker. No big deal. But their destination, overall, wasn’t anything spectacular. At least to the naked eye. The Magic Guild was a renovated wine cellar, the entrance veiled by an illusion that kept it hidden.
Lina had explained it as they drove up so Usagi wouldn’t be too confused. “Just follow me,” she instructed out of the car. “Passing through the illusion might tickle a bit - it’s normal.”
Usagi looked confused, but was willing to go through it anyway. “I’m a little worried,” she admitted softly, “but I’m grateful you’re sharing this with me!”
“You dreamt of crying a magical artifact out of your body,” emphasized the sorceress as she passed through the veil of glamour - a pulse, shimmer and then things changed before them completely. Down they went, tunnels that ran like veins beneath the ground. To her the cellar smelled like vintage wine (had to do with the bottles Zee kept around), musty texts, dried herbs and incense.
It was quiet - very zen, a place to help stabilize those magical auras.
Lina led her to no particular room. One that was open, walls lined with books and crystals and pillows on the ground for a Middle Eastern vibe. It was a ‘safe space,’ or whatever. “But here you go, feel free to do whatever you gotta do here. Take a seat, get comfy, let me see the thing.”
Usagi nodded, holding her brooch up. She opened the compact and pulled the shiny crystal out. “Here it is.” It looked like nothing special, just a normal chunk of trimmed crystal.
Okay, she definitely expected a more flashy demonstration - but still, not something she wanted to casually mull over at a McDonald’s table, either. Lina’s brows knit together. “Looks like it’s expensive,” she observed because, well, yes, monetary value also slipped through her mind but that wasn’t the important thing here, was it? “So how it’s work, exactly? Any trigger words you use to activate it? Does it react to your emotional state? Am I even allowed to touch it?”
The sorceress made a quiet, solemn vow to not run off and sell it on the black market or anything, don’t worry. She retired from that.
“I’m not sure, I never use it unless I transform or use it to fight enemies.” She offered the crystal to Lina. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work for anyone but those from the moon family.”
It looked light and, literally, felt light - but there was something pulsing from it, a heavy magic that radiated the moment Lina took it in her fingers. “Interesting,” she mumbled to herself, examining it closely. “No chance of it going haywire if someone else nabs it? Gonna go on a limb and assume you can’t break it with a baseball bat or anything. It looks fragile but the power in it, doesn’t feel as such.”
Usagi nodded. “That’s right. And it really shouldn’t. It’d just be a piece of glass if they took it.”
Lina’s next response was fairly nonchalant. “Well, alrighty.” Then she tossed the crystal back to Usagi so, whoops, think quick, meatball head! “Show me how the transformation goes. There’s no evil to fight but I wanna see this thing in action - and I don’t think you’ve shown me your super hero get up yet?”
School girls fighting evil by moonlight, good gods. Like adolescence and school wasn’t a pain in the ass enough. How she hid it from her family must be a damn miracle or a stroke of genius.
Usagi caught it! And then it bounced out of her hands! And then she barely managed to catch it again! She squeaked, wiping her forehead. “Um, okay!” She slipped the crystal back into her brooch and lifted it up. “Moon Crystal Power! Make Up!” She called out. Ribbons and bright light and seconds later she’s dressed in her fuku, striking a pose and winking at Lina.
Uh -
Wow. Lina wasn’t sure what she was expecting but she wasn’t expecting that, and her eyes watered with how blinding the entire shoe was - but there she stood, blonde buns on the head and in some kind of fashion getup she didn’t really understand. Kinda gave her flashbacks to that stupid glamour-show spell she got roped into doing with Amelia (the justice spewing one, not her sweet little munchkin), and kinda gave her flashbacks of a certain swordsman in a dress.
“I don’t know how the hell you’re supposed to fight evil with shoes like those,” she cocked her head to the side and pointed. “But you’ve got some interesting accessories going on? What’s with the red-jewels in your hair?”
“You know, I’m not really sure..” Usagi touched her buns, frowning. “They were only used once, when my friend Naru was being attacked. Then they amplified my crying and stunned the enemy. Never used again!” she laughed.
Huh. Sounded nifty. That entire transformation, the result, the magic that fueled it - it was all very whimsical, almost like a fairytale but not quite. Orange County was a melting pot of bubbling magics, and Lina liked seeing all that she could. “I take it you haven’t tried fighting in that yet?” she asked, crossing her arms. Not likely since nothing had been spat out around here yet, and she doubted Usagi was all about the vigilante justice.
Usagi shook her head. “Only in the dreams. I figure I can fight, but… we have a lot of cops on the Network! I’m sure they’re doing a good job!”
“There’s some things that cops can’t always handle,” the sorceress pointed out, arms crossed over her modest bosom. “We get hit with a few interesting situations every couple months or so, but if you ever plan to transform into this get up and play the hero role, just be careful, got it? You get into any hairy situations, you call me. I can’t teleport but I sure as hell can at least fly.”
Usagi nodded, smiling. “You know I will! I don’t think I’m going to do anything but… you’ll definitely know.”
“Good,” Lina said, giving her a bit of a rough pat on the back - don’t worry, toughness builds character and all that good shit. “I can show you around here for a bit and if there’s anything you gotta do with your magical superheroiness, this is a handy place to do it if you want. Then I can drive you home, make sure your mom’s got you back in one piece?”
“That sounds great!” Usagi nodded, smiling wide at Lina. “Thank you for all of this.”