After months of waiting, Hinata’s fateful trip back to Lavender Tower 4 is finally upon her. Finally, she is going to learn exactly what being Naomi is like. She still doesn’t even know what her color is, or for that matter, what a color is in this case. Later in the evening, Hinata and Luna travel to Lavender Tower 4 to await their training. Luna is solely there just to do some archiving work, figuring this would be a nice vacation from the chaos that Nova Heart provides.
[Location tag - LAVENDER TOWER 4 - MOONLIT BUNGALOW]
Hinata is currently vibing within her loves' personal home in Lavender Tower. She loves every moment of this place, even making herself a quick breakfast to share with Luna, who's currently archiving worlds in their bedroom. The idea of getting to train her new Naomi form is really exciting to her, something she's been itching to learn about for a while now. If anything, Hinata feels nervous about it all, especially after all of the warnings Luna gave her about meddling with other worlds' powers. "Hm. I wonder what color I am. Violet said something like that the last time we talked, but I still don't know. I hope it's a good color." Hinata muses while cooking. "Besides, what was that thing with Happy back at JMD? Can I do that anywhere?"
Luna, in her furry Sloth form, walks in with a yawn and sits at the kitchen table. "Morning Hina. Mmm smells good."
"Figured pancakes and eggs would give me some extra protein for my training date. Better to be feeling good than to feel bad, you know." Hinata giggles before pecking a quick kiss on Luna's cheek. "Besides, I'll be safe out there. When I figure out what my Naomi powers are, we'll duel again if you want."
Luna nods excitedly. "Hell yeah. Another date at the CUBES sounds fun. Let's bring Viper too okay? Just don't make it a quest. It's humiliating to fail a quest over a 50/50 draw." she blushes.
Hinata places plates in front of the pair, "Got it. I'll not do that again."
There is a sudden knock at the door.
"Ah, I'm coming!" Hinata gets up to go answer the door. Luna watches from the door frame that separates the Bungalow's kitchen from the living room.
Two men in white suits, their faces obscured by black sunglasses and white facemasks with moths at the center, are standing at the door. They remain quiet as Hinata arrives.
Hinata just kinda stares at them mostly speechless. But after a quick deep breath to push down her sudden fear, she answers, "Are you with Jackie? She said she'd come pick me up to go to the gym."
They remain quiet. They are a lot taller than they seemed at first glance. Close to seven feet at least. They glance down at Hinata.
Hinata finally understands what it's like to be Luna, only able to look up at people, rarely able to look down. She gulps audibly then, with a change in demeanor, she asks rather forcefully, "Can I help you? You are interrupting my breakfast with my girlfriend."
Luna is heading towards the door, not at all flinching at the men's heights. It's nothing new to her being 4'6".
They speak in unison: "Sorry to intrude. We are of the Neon Accord. We were sent to fetch one 'Hinata.' Here..." The one on the left's arms were behind him. He brings them around to reveal a black gym bag. "Please, fill this bag with your workout supplies, after you have finished your current activities. We will remain at the door in the meantime."
Hinata blinks incredulously, "erm.. okay? I.. okay give me one moment. Luna you're fine staying back right?"
Luna nods, "yeah, I got a lot of archiving to do tonight, and frankly, I came only to get away from the chaos back hhome. It's like a mini vacation in another world."
Hinata nods, takes the gym bag, and hurries to their shared bedroom. A few minutes later, Hinata returns with the bag filled with clothes and other such toiletries. "Right, all set."
"Eating was accomplished?" they ask.
The two of them tilt their head at the same time and respond in suit, "Yeah, eating was accomplished," at the same time. Then a silent shared sigh between the pair. They still haven’t solved that issue.
"Right- Will one 'Luna' be accompanying the 'Hinata?'"
Luna shakes her head, "No, I'll be staying back to get some stuff done. I have Worlds to archive, even the ones I can no longer access."
Hinata side hugs her girlfriend.
"Does Hinata experience nausea when jumping between instances?"
"So far I haven't." Hinata shrugs, though the word 'instances' seems to confuse her.
Both men reach out and grab Hinata's shoulders without another word. A vibrating sensation fills the air as reality bends and fluctuates. Light melts away from everyone's vision and is replaced with a colorful static that glows like a billion fireflies. The world feels like it spins and then all sensations are lost. Suddenly, the light returns, swirling around the three like a violent storm. It slows until the world stops spinning and vision returns to normal. The three are no longer at Luna's door. They are in a large, yet empty, gymnasium. It smells like a classic high school gymnasium during the summer, before the kids return.
ALAIS - What do you MEAN August 2024????
Hinata looks totally dizzy. She's never experienced a World Hop like that, or what was it called? Instance jump? Yeah, that was new. That was very uncomfortable to experience, but regardless, she's able to hold down her breakfast from spewing forcefully onto the gymnasium floor. "Ughhh what was that.. That's... Where are we? It smells... foreign." It looks like something she'd have seen on TV as neither Hinata nor Luna have ever been formally educated.
White Glows: "We are at the gymnasium of St. Lucio Prep, during August of this previous year. This was the last time Jackie and ourselves were here. Sorry for the time displacement."
Hinata is once again stunned, "t-time displacement? We-- Wait-- wait what? We traveled through time??? That's..." Her eyes glow an even deeper green than usual, "So cool.."
White Glows: "We have jumped to that previous instance, yes. Every living thing exists when and where it has been. One never stops existing in one's own timeline. We simply synced your timeline to ours for an... Instance. We will desynchronize after your training. I sense your worry. Fear not. You will be returned."
"It's less worry and more of an overwhelming feeling. I'm very much enjoying myself past that, so thank you for the reassurance erm... what may I call you two?" Hinata, despite everything being completely new to her, feels at ease though her shoulders appear very tense.
"Why does your 'overwhelmed' feel like 'worry' in most? Oh well... We are Glow, True White and Eggshell White. They don't face one another while speaking or make any notation of which is which."
Hinata takes another deep breath in and out while noting their names internally, "Okay True White, Eggshell White. Thank you for bringing me here. I'll uh. What do I do now? I know Jackie wanted to train with me."
Both glare silently down at Hinata.
Feeling much smaller all of a sudden, Hinata shakes her head and responds, "Okay uhhh, I guess I'll go find the changing room then... Be right back??" Then she turns around and looks for some signs leading to the locker rooms, gym bag in hand.
There are four doors at the far side of the gym. Two with the generic symbols for men printed in black on white panels and two with the generic symbols for women printed in the same manner. Hinata heads towards the side with the woman symbols. Then she enters one of the two doors, hoping this one is the locker room. Three long wooden benches line the center of the room. Powder purple lockers surrounding them. They are all open, indicating none are in use. Hinata heads to the very end of the first row, places her bag into the last purple locker, then quickly changes from her sunflower kimono to a patterned sports bra, loose white t-shirt, and red athletic shorts with white sneakers. After finishing up, she looks around for signs directing her where to go. "Where do I go now?"
"Hey! You in there?"
The voice is coming from just outside the locker room.
"Are you decent?"
"Yeah! I'm set." Hinata calls out to the voice.
Jackie comes stomping through the door. She's wearing white sneakers with white yoga pants to match and a white t-shirt which has a close-up of someone wearing a red thong's back side. On the right butt cheek is a tattoo of a hawk. "Sorry, I meant to collect you myself, but the meeting with the Orange Glows dragged on as usual... You know how politicians are... So, how have you been since we last saw one another? You look great!"
"It's all good. True White and Eggshell White were really nice to me. In any case, things have been going alright. Been doing more training with magic lately, so I'm feeling okay. Uhhh nice shirt though. Very uh Asshawky." Hinata stifles a giggle while doing some generic stretches in place.
Jackie looks down at her shirt. "I like to stay on brand." She glances back up at Hinata. "So, what have you done, you know- Magic-wise?"
"Uhm... well I've learning more about synergies with my elemental types, so I've been fighting a lot more show matches and making pretty decent money at that. I'm still a little bit limited on what kinds of spells I have, but I've not lost to Luna yet, so that's hype." Hinata looks very proud of that fact. "I'm not entirely sure what powers I have as a Naomi yet, though I have felt a power increase across the board, in terms of my magic.”
"Who's your patron?" Jackie asks while biting her bottom lip.
Hinata tilts her head in confusion, "My patron? What do you mean?"
"Do you draw powers from gods?" Jackie removes a pack of gum from her pocket and offers Hinata a piece while asking this.
She takes the gum this time around and pops it into her mouth after unwrapping it. "Ah! You're asking about my mana. The magical power is derived from my soul; and my mana, the ability to use it, comes from sheer mental focus. In a way, it’s tied to my stamina.”
The gum tastes delightfully fruity. Jackie drops the pack of gum when Hinata responds. "Oh f- Do you mind if I take a quick blood sample?"
Hinata raises an eyebrow, "For what?"
"To see if your new blood is compatible with that sort of magic." A short needle emerges from under Jackie's left index fingernail.
Hinata quickly turns her head and shuts her eyes tightly. Her voice is higher pitched than normal, "uhhh s-sure, just don't tell me when it happens okay." She is bracing hard. Thankfully, the pain is quick but sharp. Hinata curses out loud, “Shit! Hate needles, hate needles, hate needles!”
Jackie sighs. "You would think that someone would have told me you were a sorceress and not a witch..."
Hinata rubs her arm and keeps pressure on it, "Neither Luna nor I are witches. I'm usually the one who casts support magicks while Luna’s on offensive spells. You could've just asked instead of poking me with a needle though."
Jackie responds, "I'm not testing for that... Oh, good- You're some sort of Cyan. Your body should be able to support an internal arcane structure. You'll be okay."
"Uhmmm okay? Cyan huh. That's cool." Hinata smiles not understanding much of what's being said.
"Alrighty then!" Jackie claps her hands and rubs them together vigorously. "Let's see what all you can do!" She turns and walks back out of the locker room, letting the door swing closed behind her. Hinata follows right behind.
Once both are in the center of the gym, Jackie stops. She turns around and skips a few steps back. "Okay, show me how you typically use your powers." Jackie gasps. "Oh, wait- Do you need an opponent? You said something about offensive and defensive magicks?"
The White Glows, who were nowhere to be seen previously, suddenly materialize between Jackie and Hinata. "Okay, do the magic!"
Hinata feels a bit nervous all of a sudden, especially not wanting to hurt someone so suddenly. "Uhhh-- I mean-- are you okay with me doing this Eggshell White, True White?"
They both respond simultaneously, "Proceed."
"Right.. Erm." It's suddenly completely quiet in the gymnasium as Hinata focuses unnaturally hard on her hands. Then after mumbling something that sounds like "Aquaphor Bubble", in her two hands, a 2ft circumference sphere of water generates from thin air. "I don't exactly need opponents for this, but if you're certain White Glows," she pauses once more, takes a deep breath, then shouts "BUBBLE SPLASH!!!" as the rather heavy ball of water is launched at them. It hits them. They unflinchingly take it.
Eggshell: "This is unpleasant."
True: "I have an idea."
This is the first time you hear them speak independently. They have slightly different accents. Eggshell sounds a bit Australian and True sounds slightly southern. True takes off his blazer to reveal wings poking through his shirt. He takes off with a gust of wind and begins flying around the gymnasium above the group.
Hinata smiles brightly, "Ah you wanna duel then? Then as the CUBE QUEEN of Fairview Satellite, I accept your challenge!" She slips in some headphones into her ears and puts some music on on her phone. It doesn't require any internet thankfully as all of these files are downloaded. Then out of nowhere, she begins to dance in place.
True: "Knock me down, if you can."
Hinata smiles and nods, "Hell yeah, let's do this Eggshell White!" She still doesn't know which one is which between Eggshell and True.
With some more focus added and her rhythm rampage online, she quickly mutters "Aquaphor Bubble Barrage" as six even larger bubbles appear right above Hinata. Then with careful aim, not to aim exactly where True is flying but where he'll be - this isn't the first time she's fought flying enemies - she launches them at rapid speeds, "Bubble burst blitz!"
Krystal - Whoa. Hinata's in a fight.
I'm keeping an eye on her mana levels, but I cannot see what she is fighting.
Rhythm Rampage is active.
True dodges the Bubble Blasts but just barely.
Jackie: "Why don't you try it from up there?"
"I don't have my broomstick on hand though. Do y'all have any spare brooms handy?" Hinata calls out while still grooving.
Jackie: "Pthh... You're a Cyan... Just bring out your wings."
"My... WHAT!? I don't think I drink enough Red Bull for that!" Hinata looks nervous all of a sudden. She's never seen any wings on her body, and she's sure her girlfriends would've noticed something along those lines.
Jackie: "Do you not know how to use them?" Needles protrude from all of her fingernails. "Just one more poke and I can write my knowledge of it into your brain... If you want."
Hinata has tripped out of her rhythmic state to get away from the needles, "no no no! I'll uhhh... I'll figure it out. Just gotta... figure out where they are." Her music has stopped as she searches all through her back for anything feeling like wings, any odd feeling that she could push out that she's never felt before today. The Glows and Jackie notice an odd yellow light search all around her back for wings, like an identify spell. "Eh.. wait. My-- Hmmm.. is this it? Now how to activate them."
Krystal - ...wait what the hell?
It can't be.
ALAIS - It is.
Our girl has gotten an insane powerup.
Eggshell: "Blanco, Cyan, Lavender, Magenta and Green. All five sprout wings just before death. Simply focus-instance your shoulders blades to the exact moment they finish growing."
Jackie lifts an eyebrow and waves her needle hands expectantly.
Hinata nods and takes the deepest breath imaginable, then she focuses all of her mana into remembering, "My first death... it was back when I was way younger. It was during the Blood Moon Raid we were forced to be part of. I was in Luna's arms after the explosion." In her mind, she travels back to that fateful night. She remembers the loud screams, the heat all around her, her love near death and bleeding out. She hears the sole perpetrator’s laughter from the chaos, and feels the sunflowers surrounding her all set ablaze. The many deaths. It feels so familiar. She remembers a strange feeling in her shoulders, a feeling that's so foreign, even to her smaller self, but it feels so familiar right now. She feels taking her last breath in her love’s arms and the cries coming from her. WIth it, she returns to the current instance.
With a loud cry and scream, she pushes through the feeling. Hinata brings that instance out of the past and into the present! Everyone in the gymnasium hears screams that last for minutes on end, a powerup beyond the instances! Super Saiyan has nothing on this. Tears flow down her face, and moments later, she looks up at the Glow flying, with the wildest grin ever.
ALAIS - Holy shit. New ability found.
Jackie: "Huh."
And with that, what appears to be wings flicker into reality just behind Hinata, still transparent but clearly there. They vanish but reappear, as if they are struggling to grab hold of reality.
Jackie: "Are you really that afraid of needles?" she adds.
"Extremely." Hinata nods then she attempts to push off the ground, "Now to get used to these things. Wings of Rebellion!" She has no idea what the wings are actually called, but that name sounded cool in the moment.
ALAIS - Wings of Rebellion!!
It doesn't work.
ALAIS - Aaaaaaaaand it failed. Great.
Jackie: "Just... Do me then."
Being taken out of the moment, Hinata raises an eyebrow suspiciously at Jackie, "Do you??? I'm happily taken already, thank you very much."
Jackie: She sounds frustrated, "No, uh- Stab my spine with your tendrils! I'll reverse send the information."
"My fucking WHAT?? I don't have tendrils... r-right?" Hinata looks completely confused by now. Sure shifting instances is confusing enough, but now she’s got tentacles???
ALAIS - Pardon?
Okay, so that's new. What the fuck kind of powerup is THAT???
You know that internet meme where the jazz music stops?
That is what she is feeling right now.
Jackie makes her needles retract and extend in demonstration.
Hinata blinks in confusion and tries to grow needles in her fingernails?? She has absolutely no idea how to do that though.
Jackie watches Hinata struggle for a moment before explaining, "Just will them out of you- like- like- Like when you do magic."
"Ah... okay, uh. Focus mana to the fingers andddd..." Sure enough it's working. Her right index finger changes shape so that it looks like a hose with a needle at the very end. “Great! I have needle fingers now, just what I needed.” Hinata sounds so incredibly flat right now, but then she asks Jackie, “Are you sure I should poke your spine though?”
Jackie turns around and lifts up her shirt. She's thin. You can see her ribs and spine through the skin. She is wearing a black sports bra underneath the T-shirt. "All five in my spine."
ALAIS - Soooo Tendril Touch is what we’ll call this, I guess.
"R-right, sure. I'll get right on that. Hope I don't accidentally poke myself with these." Hinata focuses her mana to all five of her fingers and transforms them to Tendrils. Then she pokes them into Jackie's spine hoping that this won't cause her to become ireperrably injured.
As soon as Hinata inserts the tendrils, she is hit with a warm wave of energy. It hurts a bit at first but transcends into a warm numbness. Hinata feels herself as a second being. One composed of pulsing blue rings of electricity. They travel up the electrical currents of Jackie's spine and slide off the end into a pool of red lightning. Sinking in, Hinata feels cold, frozen... Numb. The sea of lightning untangles the blue rings into strands and puts them back together in a new way. Hinata feels a push and the blue rings emerge from the red and begin to travel back down the spine and into the tips of her fingers.
"H--wh--what was that? That was.." She doesn't have the words to describe what just happened to her. "It-- I.. That was... sooooooo... what was that?" She is blinking slowly and then gently pulls her tendrils out of Jackie. "I don't... was it supposed to feel like there was a second me but like.. lightning sinking into a pool of red lightning???" She is so confused.
Jackie lowers her shirt and turns to face Hinata.
Jackie: "So, in order for you to spot focus 'instance shift' I had to give you knowledge of instances. Should come in handy. So, go ahead! Grow wings!"
Jackie waves expectantly at Hinata while speaking.
Hinata exhales deeply and then attempts to sprout her wings once more. She shouts, “Wings of Rebellion!!!” once more. This time, Hinata suddenly finds that she has an extensive knowledge of instances and it feels "red and black" even if she doesn't quite grasp what color has to do with anything. Large black feathered wings appear behind Hinata. Her clothes mold around them seamlessly.
"Whoa. Wait, holy crap I don't have to buy special clothes for them??? Holy." Hinata looks so incredibly excited all of a sudden; all of that confusion has suddenly washed away. "Okay, let's try this again. Are you ready True White?" Once more, she slips her earbuds into her ears and turns on another song.
True: "My turn." He spits a ball of white light at Hinata.
Hinata flaps her wings and dodges the white light attack swiftly. She then quickly summons another Aquaphor Bubble and launches it towards True. It misses its target then True fires back with his Light Ball.
True misses as well and begins to fly in circles around Hinata. Hinata swiftly dodges the light attack and calls out, "perhaps you should use a heavy attack instead of the light attacks!" Then, realizing that True is probably preparing something bad here, she attempts to make some space from her opponent. Fighting while flying is a new challenge she wasn't prepared for. It's hard enough to do this on a broomstick.
True begins to close in on Hinata
Quickly swapping her element from Water to Shadow, she mutters something along the lines of "Darkena Beam" and launches a quick beam of shadows from her hands, attempting to target True's right wing. "SHADOW BLITZ!"
A white number appears above True's head for a brief second. -957- as the impact is made. His right wing explodes into a cloud of white feathers. He falls to the ground in a spiral. He lands hard but seems unfazed by it.
"Oh jeez, uhhh are you okay down there True? Or are you Eggshell? I still can't tell." Hinata goes to land on the ground gently.
True jumps up, rushing at Hinata. "Do not let your guard down."
"Haha. I had a feeling." Hinata brightly smiles.
True attempts to tackle Hinata.
Hinata, with her guard still up, quickly flies backward to deny the tackle. "Hah! Yeah, see you're not the first person to try that. Luna keeps doing that in our duels together. It's kinda cute every time she tries it, and it drives the audience wild!" She then goes for another Shadow Blitz beam targetting True's left wing.
It connects, breaking True's left wing with a sickening cracking sound. He seems unfazed. The number appears again, now reading -951-
"951? Is that your HP???" Hinata looks unnerved.
True fires another ball of light without answering.
It hits Hinata overtaking her. She is blinded by light. When the light dissipates, Hinata sees multiple True's walking around her in a slow circle. It reminds you of a predator stalking prey.
Jackie: "Basically, yeah! Consider it a gift from me! All Naomi connected to me display information for you now. I linked our systems."
"Kinda busy right now Jackie!!!" She then notices all of the copies coming after her, which causes her to evade in a panic. "There's no fucking way, this has to be some magic." Hinata is looking for the true True. Or the true Eggshell. Whichever. With quick thinking, she launches another Shadow Blitz at one of them, hoping it's the correct answer.
All of the copies flinch. -948-
"I got a flinch at least. What else can I do?" Hinata is panicking trying to find an answer to this problem. Not to mention, she's starting to feel fatigued from all of this mana usage. "What would Luna do here? She would look for patterns, probably. Look for a weakness. All of their wings are obliterated, thus they can't fly, so I'm safe on that end until I can't. Which... I can't imagine keeping up for very long." She launches another Shadow Blitz at the enemies.
It hits. -939-
He returns with what appears to be a copy of Shadow Blitz which hits Hinata dead on.
Hinata can't see for a moment. When her vision returns, she sees hundreds of Trues.
"I left you another secret present," Jackie says inside of Hinata's mind. "You can extend this channel to them as well. Read his mind. Do it!"
Hinata nods, looking totally exhausted and sweating profusely, then she attempts to read True's mind using the power of Instance Magic she's learning.
ALAIS - Hinata has Psychic Showdown now??? Luna had better watch out. Her girlfriend's slowly becoming stronger and stronger!
One True remains. True: "What is the Goddess doing? I can feel it flowing through this one."
When not focusing on him, he splits back into multiple Trues.
Hinata notices the change between the single enemy and the multiple enemies and keeps her focus directed on the one True Target. Then she smiles, realizing exactly how to fight. Her mana is very low, however, so she struggles to keep focus on the one actual target. Switching her element back to Water, she launches another Aquaphor Bubble at her target, keeping him dead in her sights.
Jackie is suddenly in front of True. She takes the impact, getting soaked. -49-
Jackie: "That's enough for today. Do this again soon- Yeah?"
Hinata nods, sweating profusely, and then falls to her knees. "haaa haaa.. fuck. that was a workout.."
She turns to True and touches his back, restoring his wings.
Jackie: "Need an energy restoration too?" She asks looking toward Hinata.
"Energy restoration? No no, I think i'll be okay. My mana naturally restores with rest. I definitely need a shower after all of this though."
She's able to get back up.
Jackie: "Fair enough. You know the way back now, after the sync. Leave when you please. I'm proud of your progress today." *She says this like a proud soccer mom after a sporting event. There is something to the tone of her voice that sounds irritated though.
Hinata smiles brightly, "Thank you for teaching me Jackie and True. This was really fun, but what do you mean after the sync though?"
Jackie: "The knowledge sync. You know almost as much about instances as I do now. Just go to the moment before the boys picked you up."
"The boy-- ok ok ok, I'll get on that. Thanks again Jackie." She smiles sweetly before retreating to the locker room. After showering and changing back into her usual clothes, Hinata now has the challenge of figuring out exactly what the heck Jackie meant by 'before the boys get you'. "Wait what boys???" Hinata is searching for that exact instance. "Oh wait, does she mean the Glows?" With that in mind, she attempts to knowledge sync back to that point.
The world begins to distort and warp. Everything fades to the colored static, and then comes back in a spinning vortex of color.
True and Eggshell stand at Luna's door. They silently stare down at Hinata.
"Oop. Uh I'm back." Hinata does jazz hands awkwardly.
"Hinata? W-What happened?" Luna asks tilting her head
The White Glows turn and walk away silently.
Exactly 5 seconds have passed in this time since being shifted to the gym by the White Glows.
"I went on an adventure to the gym and got my ass handed to me by a dude with light spells. Got some sick wings though. I'll show you when we go home. Ready to go Luna?"
"Erm... okay? I didn't really get any work done. You were gone for like. No time." Luna shrugs.
"It's a loooong story, I'll tell you over dinner." Hinata smiles before saying "teleport" and the pair leaves Lavender Tower 4.