[X] Whispers of Manifest Destiny
[X] Glimpse of the Impossible
[X] Paradoxical Form
GET IT OUT GET IT OUT-
No. No. Why are you freaking out about this? Sure, magic is a thing apparently. That's a thing all children wish for, what's wrong with that. And apparently, it's related to you. Even worse better! Sure, you have whispers in your head. You're a smart kid, you can deal with that. You might have problems in the beginning, but you're sure it will be fine.
Gained A World of Wonder.
Screaming into your pillow for the next half-hour probably doesn't help you long-term, but it does help you feel better now. To be honest, that's all you care about currently.
You go downstairs for dinner, and your parents squint at you when you enter the room.
"Sweetie? You feeling okay?"
"…uh…" You aren't. But you feel like your expression is perfectly normal – there's no downturned mouth, no pursed lips, no furrowed brow on your face.
"Yeah?" You wince. That came out far too question-like for your mum not to notice.
"Good. You just seemed a little, I don't know, off. Honey? Come have a look."
Or not. Your dad raises his eyebrow, blinks and then frowns slightly – a rather rare sight on his usually jolly face.
"could've sworn… Sorry, pardon? Oh. Well, he seems alright. Son, you been feeling strange lately?"
You nod slightly before you catch yourself, and your dad opens his arms for a hug. You sulk and totter in his arms.
They're warm.
---
Later, when you are brushing your teeth before bed-time, you look into the mirror, and are nearly spooked out of your skin by your own reflection. Your outline is shifting. Your arms and legs aren't always in one place – they seem to be appearing in multiple places at once. You are clearly magic as heck, and you don't know why – or even what's going on. You wish there was a kind of guide or book for th-
open the eye
see beyond
break the form
break the bonds
heed the call
find your kind
survive them all
ascend to sky
You're going to bed now. You're too young for this stuff.
Gained A Prophecy.
Your dreams are mercifully without much imagery of the nightmarish (lovely) splits and warps that compose your new form. The voices stay mostly quiet, until the end of your dreams, which have been abstract up until this point.
The voices start chanting the verse you heard earlier over and over and over and over. You feel a faint rumbling, as though something is coming over the horizon, and a sense of dread. The clouds you had been floating through darken, and darken, and darken. This increases more and more and more until you are hit with clarity. There's something coming in the future. Something bad. Something soon. You get the feeling that it's not going to be around for a few years, and you know that you have magic of some kind. Surely you can figure something out, if not to fight it, then to escape it. Then, as the vision clears, something brushes through the clouds.
[] A pale silver cloak wrapped in electric blue chains. It doesn't seem to hold a consistent shape. (The Voices the call)
[] A ball composed of pale silver rings concentrically orbiting a miniature absinthe star. If you observe the angles of orbit carefully, you notice they should collide with one another. (The Heart the form)
[] A circlet of pale silver, embedded with gems of green and blue. The light reflected from them seems to array itself into something. (The Gaze the eye)
You reach toward it, and the rest of your dream is bliss.
When you wake next morning, your parents are still worried (as they should be) that something is off, but don't make too much of a fuss and send you off with their usually warm goodbyes. When you go to school, everyone is… intimidated by a certain atmosphere you carry around with you. How Ren reacts, however, is most interesting and unexpected. When you appear, in full physics-skirting glory, and she sees you, her eyes widen, and she seems both apprehensive and… excited? Not sure what's up with that. You ignore it though. You have a vague deadline of a few years before the something bad occurs. Better make them count. You know that training and learning require specialisation if you're trying to learn a lot about something; so, what are you going to specialise in?
You have 24 actions; obviously, you may select an option more than once to double up on it.
[] Physical training: You know that you aren't unfit, but you're an intellectual, and your body is sub-par compared to where it could be.
[] Martial training: You've always thought martial arts looked cool, like most kids your age, but unlike most kids, you realise to get to Bruce Lee-expy levels you need to go through a lot of training – which means work and pain. You are willing to put the effort in for yourself and your family though. You'd need to convince your parents to let you, but it shouldn't be that hard.
[] Mental training: The adults in your life have called you a prodigy, but you know that you can never be too smart. After all, scientia potentia est, right?
[] Arcana training: The more you learn about magical objects, rules and entities, the better you can defend yourself and your parents.
[] Spellcraft training: The more magic you know and can do, the better.
[] Search for allies: You have always read about the underlying magical communities in stories that hide from mortal eyes. You could see whether such a thing exists in the real world, and then look for allies.
[] Search for the Artifact: Whatever you saw in your Dream, it was powerful, and you want to find it and capture before the event happens, and before someone else comes to possess it.
[] Investigate Ren's behaviour: Clearly, she noticed something. Is she naturally more sensitive? Can you be more sensitive to magic? At any rate, you need to know the reasons behind her reaction, and whether it can benefit you and/or her. (Can only be taken once)
[] Experiment with Affinities: Whatever weird powers your Dreams have given you, they seem potent, if not without problems. How can they better achieve your goal of survival for you and kin?
A/N: Well, I decided to write a marginally longer update but lowered the speed of updates. Is this better?
Anyway, timeskip now.
If you want questions answered, feel free to ask. I can only really answer spoilery questions in vague consequences though - some stuff is intentionally hidden from you.
The whole "magic is cool" thing would not have worked nearly as well if you guys weren't Self-Aware™, and you would have much worse consequences than a mere Empathy malus, but you're good. As always, choose wisely! Votes will be closing in 48 hours.
