#Pyrokinetic Genius (Rita)

[talesofourworlds]

@valiantxunion continued from here!

She'd figured as much. When she'd seen Judith still asleep, that had been a pretty big tell that the whole 'taking turns at night watch' thing had fallen through. It probably wasn't something Rita should have been worrying about. After all, Yuri was an adult. He could take care of himself. Still, she'd wanted to come check anyway. It wasn't like she would be getting any sleep herself.

After a moment, Rita settled down beside Yuri and gave him a look. She didn't look convinced by the idea that Yuri would be fine with how little sleep he'd gotten. Was she really one to talk, though? She stayed up late reading plenty of times, after all. Pot calling the kettle black and all that? Rita decided not to focus on that aspect. She focused on Yuri.

"Should you really be pulling all nighters like this when we still have to worry about getting to Alexei?" That tied in to Yuri's own question aimed at her. Her cheeks flushed, embarrassed by being figured out, and she looked away for a moment.

"How could I sleep when I know Estelle is suffering because of that jerk?" She still could remember the pained look on Estelle's face when they'd tried to get to her before. How could Alexei just use her like that? How could he take such joy in making her his tool? She didn't have a clue, and that made her more upset. Her fist clenched at the mere thought of it.

"I try to rest, but I can't stop thinking about what's happening to Estelle. I want to clobber that Alexei into next Tuesday!" But talking about it wouldn't make their journey to Zaphias go any faster. Rita knew that. She just didn't know what else to do. It had to be weighing on Yuri pretty heavily too, didn't it? He'd tried to jump to her, tried to get her from Alexei's grasp before they'd all been blasted away the way they had.

"Plus, the old man's snoring," she decided to say, jerking her head in the direction of where Raven was laying. Maybe that would deflect a little from how open she'd just been. She fidgeted with her hands a little as she let the silence take over again. Who was she trying to kid? She'd been as open as one of the books she loved to read so much. A sigh escaped through her nose.

"...You're worried about her too. Aren't you."

[talesofourworlds]

Yeah, she knew it was a wide range. They weren't the friends she would have ever expected herself to have, either, but there she was. Mostly she was amused that Zack had reacted the way he had. Involving Estelle would have been too much. Estelle would have scolded her to hell and back and tried to convince her to leave Raven alone.

"You don't know?" She wasn't sure what else she could even say in response to what he'd told her. How could he not know how things had gone wrong? He'd been there when... whatever had happened happened, right? But there he was, saying he didn't. In a new world, from the sound of it.

"I've heard of phenomena like this, actually," she said. "People who just get zapped out of their world and into somewhere totally new. But I never thought I'd see it in action. If this is what happened, anyway." She was merely guessing at the moment. Plus, she had no idea how he had even ended up in Terca Lumireis to begin with.

"Do you remember anything before you found yourself here?"

"Wow, that's a....." He blinked. "Wide range of different friends you have there. I can see why you'd want to drag an innocent into such trickery. Probably have a hard time convincing a princess this was the right thing to do." What was essentially poisoning a man! With fire butt, he would guess.

"When things go to shit, they go to shit spectacularly. Especially where money is concerned." The greatest of all evils that...

Well, one of them. One of the biggest.

"Truth is, I don't know." He spread his hands. "Where it went wrong, that is. Let's just say, things unraveled fast. And here I am. Definitely didn't expect THIS twist."

[queenoftherocks]

So I made these collages on Shuffle of characters from my book I've been trying to write (casted by actors I thought fit the role or at least who I pictured.)

1.) Terra Rockwell - Geokinetic Queen with slight anger issues sworn to protect her planet.

2.) Amy Windsor - the Aerokinetic Pacifist. Die Hard Friend and Loyal til the End.

3.) Zack Riley - An Amateur Psychic who's looking for a little more than human connection.

4.) Brian Vilose - Strange Genius that is Discovering the World and Himself after being closed off for so long.

5.) Kyle Firelien - Part Time Lover and Full Time Pyrokinetic. Summed up in one word, HOT!

6.) Lance Whitney - The Snowman, a germaphobe with a cold shoulder.

7.) Rita Moone - As Beautiful as she is Persuasive. Still getting a handle on Hydrokinesis.

8.) Stephanie Prone - Supporter of Robot Rights. Would be a better a Electrokinetic if it wasn't for the Substance Abuse.

9.) Eva and Eli Clement - Fraternal Twins, Dynamic Duo, Eva Heals Everyone while Eli thinks of himself as a Superman.

10.) April Song - Fangirl with a slight case of Telepathy. One of the Brightest Minds of her generation.

[talesofourworlds]

@valiantxunion continued from here!

She knew it had to have been longer than when she'd actually asked for those five extra minutes, but dammit the bed was cozy and she just... didn't want to get up. Admittedly, it was her own damn fault. The night before, she'd wound up staying up much later than intended reading one of her books. The aforementioned book had ended up on the floor at some point. Likely after Rita had fallen asleep herself. She'd likely be kicking herself for letting her book stay on the floor like that once she actually was awake. But for right then?

Yeah. The young genius mage was perfectly content to sleep longer if she could get away with it. From the sound of it, the others had already left. All except Karol, who's whining she could still hear despite trying to sleep. What was the big deal if she slept a little longer?

Her brow creased, and she shifted and shuffled under the blanket further as if it would make Karol go away. The annoyance in her mumbled grumbles was muffled by the blanket, but it seemed she wasn't immediately going to launch into Fireball using mode.

Then she felt him nudge her. There was shuffling under the blanket again, and the very distinct glow of the Bodhi blastia around her neck. Oh no.

"I said five more minutes!" Good thing Karol had gotten his bag ready as a shield, because there was a fireball forming and just about to strike.

[talesofourworlds]

@cataclysmus liked for a starter with Rita!

These visits to Dahngrest were becoming more and more commonplace in Rita's life. She shouldn't have been surprised, really. When it was convenient for Brave Vesperia to use it as a meeting place, of course she would come all the way there to meet them. This was one such day, but at the same time Rita was there to share what she'd been learning about potential replacements for the blastia. Progress was, admittedly, slower than she would have liked. A small amount of progress was better than nothing, and she was eager to share what she'd learned.

Of course, some things never really did change. Just as it had been when Rita had first set foot in the guild city with the others, Dahngrest proved to be as lively as anything. By then, Rita was used to navigating the streets and avoiding colliding with others. Such was the benefit of needing to come to Dahngrest as often as she and the others had. She strode forward with confidence, dipping and moving about to avoid various guild members. That was, of course, until someone caught her eye for just a moment.

There, moving in the opposite direction to her as the crowd thinned, was someone clad in a mage's cloak. Their hood was covering their face just enough so Rita couldn't immediately identify them as she walked closer to her destination. For just a heartbeat, Rita looked back and decided it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Rita wasn't the only mage out there, even if she didn't often don her mage's cloak. Maybe it was just another mage getting ready to go somewhere else in Dahngrest. That was the thought process, at least, until Rita thought more about the encounter.

She squinted. The more she thought about it, the less sense it made. She liked to think that she knew at least a majority of the mages that hailed from Aspio. Even the ones who had been scattered by what had happened to their beloved city when Tarqaron rose should have been recognizable to her, but she couldn't put a name or face to this stranger. Assuming they were a mage at all, of course. Was someone parading around like a mage? For what purpose? Rita's mind raced, and she did the only thing she could think to do. Her pace picked up as she started to follow the stranger. Something wasn't right.

"H-Hey! You!" It was the first thing Rita could even think to say. Not so genius mage of her, she knew, but she was caught off guard. Somehow, she managed to catch up and tried to get in front of the stranger. She was right back to squinting as she looked him over. "Pretty sure there aren't any mages from Aspio living around here. And I think I'd know a cloak like that anywhere. So who the hell are you?"

Already, Rita could imagine some people thinking she was leaping to conclusions. Maybe she was. She couldn't help it in this case, though. When she felt like something was off, surely it made sense for her to pursue it. Right?

[talesofourworlds]

She'd expected him to make fun of her for worrying, but when that didn't come? Well, it was safe to say that Rita wasn't sure what to expect next. She found herself just listening. Of course she had questions! As much as she hated to admit it before then, she'd been worried about that blastia of his and what might happen to him for a while.

Guess it's a good thing you opened your stupid mouth, she told herself as Raven went on. The fact that Raven's life had been hard the last ten years didn't escape her. She didn't know all that he'd been through, of course. Only Raven did. She suspected he wouldn't want to talk about the particulars outside of what she already knew. He'd been in the war, died, got brought back to life because of that blastia... she still didn't know fully how that part worked. It kind of turned everything she knew on its head a little bit, after all! And who knew all that went on in between him becoming Schwann and eventually meeting them?

Brought out of her thoughts again, Rita found herself surprised by his promise. He had faith in her? For a fleeting moment, she found her pride tugging at her again. She beamed.

"You'd better have faith in me," she found herself saying. When the moment passed, though, she wasn't sure what else to say.

"Just... I guess I still can't totally wrap my head around it. A blastia that works on your life force. I'd never even heard of something like that until... yeah."

Another moment of quiet.

"I guess it's not super common for a reason... right?"

　　　A talk like this had surely been inevitable, he fears, but it didn't mean he was any more ready for it. He and Rita already have quite the limited interaction besides his silly quips and her quick, sometimes physical, clap backs.

He sways awkwardly on his heels, and it takes all of him to keep his eyes on her when he'd rather look anywhere else at the mention of Alexei and... the man's play of god. When she asks about if he had a say in it, he almost wanted to reply 'sort of'? More so, he had been given the choice to die a second time. The remote burns an ever reminding hole in his inner jacket pocket.

❝ it's... alright. it's alright. ❞ Raven gives a crooked half-smile, ❝ i am glad ya can open up ta me a bit more. i'm sure ya got a lot of questions n' worries on yer mind.. ❞

Rita was.. so very young, he acknowledged this quite often. All of them were, himself included. They'd all gone through incredible trials in their short lives on their earth, and Raven feels the most sympathetic for Rita and Karol. They were still just children, unlike the younger adults of the team.

❝ livin' these past ten years was... hard. ❞

Raven finally broke his gaze and looked elsewhere with a bit of an unfocused gaze.

❝ but i made it work. i continue ta make it work. ❞

Living a life with a purpose was definitely way harder than living a life without one. It was the least he could do, and maybe even Raven found himself enjoying living and wanting to actually enjoy what life had to offer. Even if he only did have a few years left, but he wouldn't bring up such morbid thoughts, the topic was bad enough as is.

❝ sometimes ya just can't preemptively solve problems that haven't happened yet. i can't go promisin' that somethin' won't go wrong, but i can promise that no matter what i'll always have faith in ya rita, knowin' yer heart was always in the right place. ❞

[talesofourworlds]

Talestober day twenty-eight!

28. All kinds of reckless

Well, more like the aftermath of being all kinds of reckless in this case. Rita and Estelle post getting caught up in the blastia explosion at Heliord.

[talesofourworlds]

Which of your muses prefers to stay indoors the most? Which one prefers the outdoors any day, all day?

Questions for multimuse blogs!

(ooc: Rita definitely prefers the indoors. That tends to be the case with a lot of Aspio residents, so it's not too surprising. Rita did adjust to traveling a fair bit while with Yuri and the others, though, so she isn't opposed to the outdoors.

Rinwell I also could see being a little bit more preferential toward the indoors. She doesn't mind camping in the least, though.

Shionne definitely prefers the indoors. She grew to appreciate camping while traveling with everyone, but she'd rather be somewhere comfortable she knows is home and somewhere with someone she cares about.

Eizen definitely is more of an outdoors man. There's a reason he prefers life on the open sea.

[talesofourworlds]

How the Magic Gets Made

"Okay, I've had enough."

"What's up, Rita?"

"Yeah, you sound serious. I mean... more than usual."

"All these different magics, that's what! Fonic artes, crystal eres, astral artes, malak artes, seraphic artes... and that's not even mentioning the fact that they all have different systems!"

"Someone's in a bad mood."

"A foul mood, even. Foul mood Rita."

"It is a fascinating topic, isn't it? But I'd prefer to leave it well enough alone myself."

"No way! How can you just accept that and not even wonder about how they're all interconnected?"

"Rita's got a point, Jade. It is weird how different kinds of magics can be tied to the same arte. Like healing artes. What makes a Healing Circle cast with fonic artes different from one cast with mana?"

"Seraphic artes and malak artes are the exact same thing. Just named differently depending on how my kind was referred to."

"Aye. Exactly as Edna said."

"But you two were able to still use your artes when you were in my world! Even if it was in a rift that opened up in our world! I'm with you, Rita! Let's crack the code on what connects fonons, aer, mana, eres, astral energy, and everything else!"

"Now you're talking! Hell yeah, let's do this, Rinwell!"

"W-Wait for me! I want to help, too!"

"There they go."

"Indeed. Oh, to have that youthful energy again."

[talesofourworlds]

Finding his own way, away from Alexei's control as Schwann and free to do his own thing... it was a lot to ask for. Now that his life belonged to Brave Vesperia, he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. It almost was frightening in a way, to be so free. But Raven had learned to take a lot in stride over the years. Anything was better than perpetually being wrapped in Alexei's grip.

"Yeah. Here's ta the both of us decidin' for ourselves from here on," Raven agreed, smiling right back at Flynn. He couldn't blame Flynn for the path he'd taken. He had thought he was choosing, but just wound up on a path that might have just been viewed as the one with the least resistance. But now he could choose for himself. Do things his own way. It was kind of nice to imagine.

"Still, ya wouldn't've had ta worry if I hadn't tried ta hide it," Raven pointed out. But that was water under the bridge now. The thought that they were friends warmed him to his core. It was funny, really. Before, he hadn't really known how to view Yuri and the others. Especially not when he was being made to act as Alexei's puppet. But they were his friends.

That was nice.

"Oh, yeah, good point," he said, laughing slightly. "Don't want these kids ta leave us behind-"

"Hey, old man! Flynn! Come on already!"

And there was Rita, calling out to them. Raven just shook his head.

"Don't you worry, Rita, we're comin'! Just had ta take care'a some stuff," he said. "C'mon. Can't keep Alexei waitin' for us too much longer." And with that, he started to move ahead to join the others. Expecting fully that Flynn would be right behind him.

He did spare one last look at where Yeager lay, though, before moving on. One puppet had been freed in a way much more painful than the other. It almost wasn't fair. Yeager had chosen his path, though. So too would Raven and Flynn.

"Yes... I think that about sums it up." Flynn chuckled quietly and he was glad that Raven seemed to take it in stride. For someone who just seemed to follow orders, it was probably a hard task to ask for. Flynn had almost fallen into that cycle, getting stuck in just following orders from Alexei instead of doing what seemed right. Instead of deciding for himself.

"It is funny, in a way. I always thought I was deciding for myself. Turns out I was just picking the easiest path to peace." Flynn agreed quietly before moving to offer the man a hand to help him stand. "You decide for yourself and I'll do the same. That way Yuri won't have to punch either of us again in the future."

And yes, getting one good hit in on the old Commandant seemed like it would do them a ton of good. It wouldn't heal their old wounds but it would at least be a start, Flynn believed. While he wasn't one for revenge... this was an entirely different case.

"I'll be sure to back you up, Raven. That way you and I both can get plenty of hits in." He had already planned on watching over the party, the best he could. This would only ensure that he did his job as a Knight correctly.

"And please, don't mention it. While I am not really an official member of Brave Vesperia, you are still my comrade regardless. Making sure my companions are in good health and spirits is necessary." There's a brief pause and suddenly, Flynn glances down to his feet, seeming a bit embarrassed. "...and above that, it's normal to worry about a friend. So there's no need to apologize."

"We should probably hurry and catch up with the others before they begin to question what we've been doing, yes?"

[talesofourworlds]

Rita, for the ten facts meme? ^^

🌟 Drop one of my characters’ names in my inbox and I’ll tell you 10 facts about them 🌟

Rita's preference to trust blastia over people stems as far back as her childhood. She often found herself left alone for lengths of time, left to her own devices. She had to learn to take care of herself from a young age, too, especially after she was orphaned. The people of Aspio did their best to look out for her, but even from a young age she was deemed as weird even by the standards of Aspio's residents. So she turned her attention to blastia. They wouldn't abandon her, she decided as she threw herself into researching. It took her a great deal of time to realize Yuri and the others were trustworthy.

Coupled with the above, Rita's social awkwardness extends back to those formative years. Since she had very little contact with people her own age, and even people in general, it led her to not really knowing how to deal with people. She learned her anger kept people away from her, and that suited her fine. So she embraced it, preferring books and blastia to the people she didn't know how to interact with in the first place.

It should come as no surprise that Rita is a prodigy when it comes to her magic as well as her intelligence. Her specialty is her fire artes, which should also come as no great surprise. Yet despite her ability to master difficult artes fairly quickly, Rita still prefers Fireball as her go to fire arte. She discovered its potential to become more powerful the more she used it, growing from firing off a single fireball to multiple. Plus, it's one of her quicker artes to cast when Raven or someone else is annoying her.

She's always been more of a cat person than a dog person. They get a bad rap, she thinks, from people who don't understand. Cats aren't unsociable, they just have their favorite people and take time to warm up to newcomers. Just like her. Though she'd never admit that much out loud. She also tries to keep how cute she thinks cats are from her friends and people who know her in general. But Estelle knows. Rita's okay with that.

Rita definitely has a big crush on Estelle. Since she doesn't know how to handle that, she tried to put up an especially thick barrier when first meeting the princess. That's also why it took her so long to start using Estelle's nickname. She isn't certain if Estelle has similar feelings for her or not, though. After all, Estelle and she both have never had friends their own age before. For all she knows, Estelle is oblivious to the fact that Rita is crushing on her. But maybe someday that will change. If she ever figures out how to actually put it into words.

Rita lives in what can only be described as organized chaos. To outsiders, the way she keeps her home makes no sense. Books all over the place, sleeping in a loft, the place being a mess... but Rita can work well with the way she lives. She also does still have that little place we see her in in The First Strike, but she doesn't go there as often. Rita doesn't like her stuff getting messed with, but she also isn't afraid to wreck her own stuff if it means keeping people from breaking in. But that does lead to her kicking herself later if she's wrecked specific books.

While she does help out with Brave Vesperia guild work from time to time, Rita isn't an officially recognized member of the guild. Mostly this is because she doesn't want to get caught up in guild and empire nonsense. Still, she knows it means a lot when she does help out. So if she has the time and Brave Vesperia happen to be in the area, she'll lend a hand.

Rita once was afraid of flying. Over time that lessened considerably, as evidenced by the end credits where she clearly had built some kind of flying contraption to visit Estelle. She's not quite sure when it lessened, but she can't really complain.

Her fear of ghosts mostly stems from the logical standpoint. She can't explain them, and if there's no explanation for them then it freaks her out. Now this doesn't apply to everything, of course. Mostly just ghosts.

She hates admitting it to herself, but a part of her does care about Raven to some degree. Even after the whole kidnapping Estelle and almost dying at Baction stunt. That doesn't mean he doesn't annoy the snot out of her at the best of times even still.

[talesofourworlds]

❛ did that ghost just spell ‘get out’ wrong? ❜ for Rita

"D-don't say things like that!" Rita didn't even want to think about the possibility of ghosts being there. Nope, nope, nope. She shook her head vigorously.

"You must be seeing things, that's all!"

[talesofourworlds]

"That's a new look for you, Rinwell." A very familiar look, in fact.

"Oh, yeah. I guess it is. I liked how you looked in it, and it looked fun, so I thought I'd give it a try."

"Oh! But if you'd rather I not wear it-"

"Hey. I never said you couldn't copy my style. I think it works well on you."

"Well, in that case, I'll keep wearing it! Thanks, Rita!"

"Y-Yeah, sure..." She's definitely flattered Rinwell likes her look.

[talesofourworlds]

In his defense, there had been a lot going on when he'd reunited with the party on the Heracles. In between getting brought out of Baction and getting brought to the Heracles, Raven had been recovering from injuries he'd gained fighting Yuri and everyone. The idea that his men should pass along the message that he was okay to anyone who knew him hadn't even crossed his mind. Getting hit by Emily when she'd seen him had just been payment for that.

After getting hit by everyone but Repede and Flynn onboard the Heracles, though? What was one more hit? He rubbed his head, offering an apologetic and lopsided sort of smile in payment for her words.

"Can't tell ya how sorry I am for scarin' ya like that," he told her. He also couldn't really apologize to Yuri and the others. They already had learned he was okay, after all.

Gratefully, he took her hand and let her help him up.

"Wouldn't be right ta just let Alexei do what he likes," he explained. "As long as Brave Vesperia's around, I can't just sit back and do nothin'. Y'know?"

"You sure as hell can't," Rita chimed in. "And trust me, lady, you're not the only one he had convinced that he was dead!"

Raven allowed his expression to turn more teasing for just a moment.

"Does that mean our genius mage was real sad after all?"

"I didn't say that!" Rita's exclamation was blurted, but it was clear enough from her body language. The answer was probably a yes. Raven just chuckled a little and shook his head.

"I prob'ly don't hafta say it, but... I bet the Schwann brigade was real glad ta have ya helpin' out with all this," he said. He'd known Emily long enough to know she wouldn't have been content with the idea of just saving herself like the rest of the nobles. She'd always cared about the Lower Quarter.

@talesofourworlds from here

The room went dead quiet when Emily freaked out seeing Raven walking into the room. Of course Addacor had not known that Emily knew that Schwann and Raven were the same. So it didn't cross his mind to tell her he was alive. No Raven could have told him to pass the message.

But clearly he didn't.

The people of the Lower Quarter went back to their conversations as she laid into him a bit.

"I thought you were dead you numbskull!" She wanted to cry. She had cried when she first heard the news. But those of the Royal Quarter up and abandoned their homes not even thinking of the Lower Quarter. Thankfully Ravens men did. So she helped them.

She took a few deep breaths. They were here for a reason.

Yuri had sighed. Welp, the old man was bound to have a concussion now. So he did have someone? No wonder he didn't answer when Judy and Rita asked. Little did he know how wrong he was.

"At least you're taking this and doing something. Our world is in trouble and i know you wouldn't want to sit back and watch it crumble." She held her hand out to him to help him up.

[talesofourworlds]

@heroesxdemons continued with the beta editor!

And on they went, out of Aspio proper and into the open air of Terca Lumireis. The cool air blew her hair as she and Erma flew onward, and it seemed as though any of Rita's concerns were quickly becoming less. She knew this whole ghost thing was temporary. Of course it was. Even so, there was something almost kind of... fun about it. Somehow. She wasn't quite sure how that worked.

Soon enough, she found herself gazing upon the same view as Erma. The sky was a mix of beautiful dusk colors as the sun slipped further and further down below the horizon and made way for the moon. Needless to say, it was breathtaking. She'd seen sights like it before while traveling with the others. Even while riding on the Fiertia out at sea or as Ba'ul carried the ship, she'd seen views similar. This just was different somehow. Perhaps it was because there was nothing holding her back. She might as well have been a bird admiring the view.

A glance was all it took for her to read Erma's paper, and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"It's actually pretty incredible," Rita answered. "It's one thing to view the sky from a ship, but this... if I could make something that would let people fly without having to worry about size or anything, that would be amazing. Just think of the possibilities!" She could use something like that to fly over to Zaphias whenever and just hang around with Estelle. Or... something else. The Estelle thing was the first thing that had come to mind.

"And to think I'd still be plinking away at research instead of doing this right now otherwise. Guess it's a good thing you came by, huh," she said, freely looking to her ghostly companion as she did.

[talesofourworlds]

@ofstarsandskies liked for a Vesperia anniversary starter!

"Hey. Is that your cat?"

Now, in her travels Rita had seen plenty of cats. Most of the time they were off doing their own thing or just lazing around enjoying themselves. This cat, though, seemed quite content to remain at the side of this particular man. Maybe he just was a special sort of person, Rita considered. Or maybe it was just that cats from this city, Trigleph it seemed to be called, were different from other cats. Either way, it didn't hurt to ask.

"Kind of unusual to see a cat out walking with someone," she commented. Not that Rita had a problem with that. If anything, it was a good thing. She liked cats.

"Does he always go with you?"