2381/Burning Bright

Burning Bright
Date of Scene:	21 January 2017
Location:	Mitakihara - Mitakihara General
Synopsis:	Seth visits Hannah in the hospital, and tries to talk sense into her. It goes as well as usual.
Cast of Characters:	Hannah Sharpe, Seth Locke

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Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Beep. Beep. Beep. Slow beeps of the heart monitor. Hannah's eyes open, sightless orbs bloodshot. Her real arm is in a cast. Her ribs only recently set. According to the charts, she's healing at a rate that's miraculous. That miracle will be long forgotten in a day's time, evidence gone or misplaced to protect Eclipse. But for now, a nurse and a doctor step out of the room.

Her heart, however, is broken. Her fake hand squeezes. She's paler than normal, face a little gaunt. Her breathing comes hard.

"...Why am I always so weak?"

Seth Locke has posed:
"Especially when I thought I was weak...", the voice of a visitor announces its presence. Hannah knows this voice, of course.

Seth walks further into the room, then moving onto her side. A little pause, then he says. "Why do we always meet at hospitals?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
A weak chuckle comes from Hannah. She doesn't bother trying to get up. One hand rises, and gives a casual wave.

"Bad luck...bad decisions...picking stupid fights...take your pick."

Grin. "Hi Seth. How are you?" It fall into a hard cough. She curls up briefly for a moment. A pained sigh, and then she uncurls.

Seth Locke has posed:
"I'm as good as I can manage, given the circumstances", the boy replies. "I guess you never knew how to pick your fights", he goes back to the subject at hand. "What happened, exactly?" Given how he now knows about magic, that exactly is now there to indicate he'd care for the real story.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
"Of course I know how. I simply choose to pick every single one of them. Even if they're potentially fatal." Pause.

"Actually those are the fun ones."

Sigh. She supposes there's little point in not telling now. Sitting up, her hands go to her chest, and then there's the feeling of magic. An orb exits her body, emerald green and small. Around it, there's a small barrier. Even with the barrier in place, it'd be easy to see the leaking, black energy seeping from it and the cracks running through it.

"This happened. I'm sick because I've been using magic my linker core can't handle for a long time. Not to mention a few experiments gone wrong. I need a better Linker Core, so I had some mages involuntarily donate some. A few people I know took issue with that. And here we are."

Seth Locke has posed:
Seth Locke hms, "Involuntarily donate", he repeats. He sighs deeply, shaking his head. "Treat me like I'm a whole newbie to the magic thing, because I am", he replies. "Linker Core? What is that, a source of magic?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
"I stole them you..." She makes general head-swatting motions. Hannah's in a bad mood. Hospitals do that sometimes.

"That's what you're looking at. Yup! Source of magic that every Mage is born with. Our Devices help us cast spells. It's...a Linker Core is a pipe you shove magic through, basically. My pipe's leaking. So I'm going to install a new pipe. Or possibly die from Witch contamination. Or overusing magic. Or my friends might do it before those." Hannah's voice falls into what's best described as 'frustrated, angry depression'.

Seth Locke has posed:
"And you can't ask for a new one, instead of going out and steal one?", Seth asks, concern showing in his voice. "Or maybe you should just stop using magic. Stop using it altogether. It can't be good for you; look at what it's doing to you, after all."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Here, Hannah outright rolls her eyes.

"Let's just say I don't have a very good reputation. No mage in their right mind would give me their linker core to willingly screw around with. Besides, I need a high quality one. So I have to test their magic." In a fight of course. Because Hannah.

And then Seth makes a suggestion that has her outright glaring at the sound of his voice. Her un-broken arm crosses. There is a big, big scowl.

"I've still got one good arm, Seth. I /swear/ I will noogie you into submission if you keep making suggestions like that. I'd rather die."

Seth Locke has posed:
"That's funny, because I'd rather live." Seth isn't laughing; this is one huge scolding, in fact. "And all in all, you seem to prefer going first because of your stubborness, when you have a chance to not go down that path. I wish I had a choice in the matter, and yet I don't."

He scoffs, voice becoming somber. "Oh, the irony."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
A deep sigh. "And that's our difference, Seth. I'd rather burn as bright as I can. Even that consumes me, then I wasn't strong enough." A fist clenches.

"But hey. If I die, you get the dog. Congrats." Hannah Sharpe is still very, very much a jerk.

Seth Locke has posed:
"A huge gap, I'd say", Seth ellaborates. "Because my friend is willing to harm and steal from others just to satisfy some need to prove herself, like she's been doing ever since I met her."

He lets that sink into Hannah's head in the form of a long...

Long...

Long pause.

"Do you understand what this equates to? Do you see what you're becoming?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Teeth grit. Her eyes widen. That silence hits, and she can't even speak.

The sound Hannah makes is one part growl, one part malfunctioning wood chipper as it all settles in. As ever she deflects.

"Seth! Don't you /dare/! You have no idea about my circumstances, what I've seen or what I've had to do! And what I /will/ do! I'm not backing away from this one! Never! So..so what if that makes me evil? You can't make the world safe without doing shadey stuff!" She barks out angrily.

Seth Locke has posed:
"And stealing from others is going to keep the world safe /how/, exactly?" Seth questions. "Can you explain that logic to me?"

But, Seth assumes she doesn't, "The circumstances are that you're a girl who all her life has fought incredibly hard to overcome her disabilities, and believes that her achievements are still not enough. There are people who by comparison have no drive in their lives, out there, and you've done so much in such short a life that you're light-years ahead of them. And still, you want more! You got magic, and you could use it to help people in need, like when you did with Sakura, commendable there, but overall you're simply on a measuring contest, to the point that you have to steal."

A pause there, foolowed by a, "Am I wrong?"

He shakes his head, saddened by what he's facing. "You truly want to shine? Do something to help people, not yourself. Become stronger by helping others. If, as I believe it to be, magic is deeply tied to emotions, then you're doing it wrong, and you're in pain because you're doing it wrong."

Another one of those long pauses.

"Just wanted to give my advice, before it's too late for you."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
There's a sudden water bottle flying for Seth's face with...well, water bottle force. Hannah's not exactly good at throwing, and she doesn't have much actual power behind it given her circumstances.

"It's not that simp...you know what, forget it! You couldn't understand. You don't know what it's like to see your best friend put into a hospital while you could do /NOTHING/ to help! Of course it's a contest, and one I intend to win!"

Yank. Throwing off wires, she grabs her cane. Snarling angrily, she starts to limp away.

"You're an idiot if you think you get it yet, Seth! I don't have time for this." SLAM! Goes the door. Hannah's temper, it seems, hasn't changed one bit.

Seth Locke has posed:
Seth Locke may not be as good as he was when it comes to reflexes, but he can halt a bottle headed his way, at least.

He sighs, placing the bottle back in place.

"And you're an idiot because you don't get it at all", Seth mumbles. "Even more so if you don't value your old friend's opinions."

Getting up, he paces towards the door, closing it behind him.