[Training Grounds] Lightning Strikes

The bird was very intelligent and responded with it a chipper call as if to acknowledge Lucille's compliment. As the window opened, in came a mild cool breeze that filled the place with the scent of salt, earthen soil, and a distant tinge of freshly baked goods. The cardinal, brightly colored, got curious and hopped into her room. Upon closer inspection, it bore a scar over one of its eyes but still seemed so lively. Calaguru noticed it and the two seemed to share a long stare. Then they looked on at Lucille scrambling about. The cardinal tilted its head with an inquisitive chirp while Cal uttered a yip and waddled to the edge of the kitchen.

As soon as there was a knock, the cardinal flew out the window and back upon its perch.

Today, Ignia was in her pink and gold armor that made her look more stately. Her speech was lightly muffled and the armor clanked softly with every movement of her arms. "Yes, good morning." Calaguru yipped at the cardinal as if bidding it farewell then bobbed along til it was behind Lucille. "Shall we be off?" The outside scenery was slowly coming to life, people still waking up and turning on their lights. The smell of the bakery was very strong in the air now.

As they passed by, there were several average-looking people going about their own business. Intermingled among them, however were a few faces that stood out. The first being Chirithy as it played hopscotch with a bunch of children who just seemed to adore its presence. It didn't notice Lucille or Ignia as it suddenly became flooded with children's hugs. It waved its arm in vain.

"We're going to introduce you to some of our Guardians. They train both Keyblade Wielder and Ally alike. They'll take a look at you and then decide which one is best to train your abilities." she explained, slightly quickening her pace. Cal waddled behind as it miraculously managed to keep up. To Lucille's left there was a shop stall with a golden-toothed lady with light brown graying hair selling what appeared to be...useless junk. She wouldn't get a good look at the stall name as a noise would catch her attention.

A portal whooshed open and into the plaza came a group of three figures. One of which was a man with sleek brown hair wearing a denim vest and dark brown slacks. He waved goodbye to the other two who looked to be around Lucille's age take off holding each a golden orb of some kind. He'd turn his head to notice Ignia and straightened up. "Guh uhhhh Master Ignia...ahaha...wh-what brings you here?"

"Lucille this is Laguna, one of our premiere Guardians. Laguna, this is Lucille; a new face to Scala Ad Caelum."

Laguna scoffed and scratched the back of his head as he awkwardly ground his foot into the ground. "Pfft I dunno about premiere. But nice to meetcha nonetheless!" He gave a casual salute and followed along Ignia. "Where you taking her? Don't tell me...you're going to treat her to some ice cream as a welcome home deal!" he pointed at Ignia, walking backward.

"No. That's what YOU do." Ignia lightly chuckled to which the Guardian chuckled himself with his hands behind his head. "Now's a good a time s any. We're going to be meeting more Guardians; Erst has already been informed and since we met you along the way...you can tell her just a bit about how Guardians operate."

He was caught off-guard and babbled "Buh...wh-we just got done with a mission! There was a Darkside and everything!" He sighed and walked the right way again for a bit before turning around again to resume his casual walk. He was like that fun uncle everyone liked and had a certain charm to him and his approach. "So ye got baddies everywhere but sometimes the baddies get strong and some of them just don't play fair. Now sure; you could learn skills on the fly to deal with them but sometimes, ye just don't have that luxury. We Guardians exist to teach our own little classes to power you up!" He pantomimed doing sidesteps as he walked and they passed more sights. "I teach a reflexes class and sometimes the best offense is to keep on moving. Aaaand a little bit of marksmanship on the side." He seemed rather proud of that last part, speaking as a matter of factly. "Funny thing is, I'm probably one of the easier classes when you compare it to someone like..." He got a look on his face as if he had PTSD. "....Beatrix or, dare I say it, Lady Shantotto...guhuhuhuh..." He shuddered. "Not fun times, lemme tell ya." he gave a low whistle just as they went up a steep incline which led into a large circular arena-like plaza where a few figures stood at attention. "Gah uh...see you later Lucille or...erm..now, I guess!"

Laguna ran ahead and took a place next to a pink-haired young lady with short hair. All around this plaza was a garden and several statues that pierced the skies. Ignia walked ahead as well. "Welcome Lucille, to the training grounds."

Before her stood Laguna farthest to the left who greeted with his hand slightly raised. Next to him was a pink-haired young lady wearing militaristic attire and a pair of steely eyes that zeroed in on Lucille. Next to this woman was a silvery-haired man who gave a patient smile, donned in armor himself. Finally, next to him was Rydia who gave an energetic wave. This was also meant for Calaguru who bounced in response.

"Lucille, you already know Laguna and Rydia. May I present the others, Guardian's Cecil and Lightning." The silvery haired man courteous bowed while the pink-haired lady just crossed her arms and scoffed.

"Master Ignia, no offense but this one seems way too milquetoast to ever be capable." gruffly remarked the pink-haired lady dubbed Lightning.

"Now now...she has a Dream Eater with her. It would certainly help her." added Cecil with a stern yet gentle retort.

"We'll see about that." Lightning looks to Ignia who returns a nod as if to proceed. "Let's get one thing clear, kid. There is no test. There is only rough training from here on out. If you don't like it, tough. My training will work you. hard. If you fall behind, you need to get back up. That's all there is to it." Her aggressively stern tone drives home a point; this lady was not like Ignia. While Ignia was graceful and evoked a sense of duty, Lightning felt like a hardened soldier who was not going to tolerate lollygagging.

Laguna winced and Rydia nervously laughed. "Blunt as ever..." Laguna murmured.

"Before you decide, we need to gauge your abilities." explained Ignia who gestured Cecil step forward. As he did he gave Lucille a nod and held up his left arm. Upon it materialized a shield that shone briefly like daylight that he then held forward. "First, we must see how strong you are." Before Lucille emerged a variety of weapons that suddenly arose from the ground. Each one floated about as if waiting to be selected. "Once you've selected a choice, give Cecil's shield as hard a hit as you can muster then we'll see if you have a latent spell in you ready to come forth."

Cecil once more gave her a patient smile. "Don't worry; I'll be perfectly fine. I'm eager to see what you can do."

Lightning stepped away but kept a firm eye on the upcoming movements Lucille would exhibit.

The moment she lays her hand on the weapon, Lightning's gaze narrows. She softly snorts and lightly shakes her head. Then when Lucille went to swing, she would indeed be able to lift it and strike with a great amount of force thanks to the little boon Cal had given her. Rydia and Laguna cheered as Cecil's shield took the brunt of the hammer that sounded like two crystals smacking each other.

"Very nice." Cecil would remark , standing his ground and nodding his head. He had raised it enough to not have himself move an inch from the impact.

"It's meant to hit hard..." groaned Lightning. "It's a warhammer. Were you honestly comfortable using that? What? Because you know you can lift something doesn't mean you can handle it well. Practicality versus functionality. Something that slow is going to always hit hard but it's slow to strike and leaves you wide open. You can strike just as hard with a lighter weapon."

Laguna just winces again as he feel those words cut. Cecil looks a bit standoffish at Lightning words but reluctantly nods.

Cecil looks to Ignia who also nods. "Perhaps...another try...a different weapon. Something less heavy."

The selection of weapons would arise again. This time, there were fewer selections, specifically the heavy ones. Lightning's eyes were squarely on Lucille and her decision. Cecil prepared his shield again with grace and awaited the next strike.

The way Lucille wielded it makes Lightning sigh once again, more filled with disgust than the previous time. Even Cecil looks a bit torn. It feels more natural than the hammer did but it was still off. Even Ignia saw it, now thinking to herself if this was too much for Lucille at the time being. As it glanced off, Cecil grunted and worriedly states "Ah, that was...better but...it...mmm..."

"You're brute-forcing it." bluntly stated Lightning. She finally stepped forward. "Your attacks feel forced and you're not using it right." She views the assemblage of weapons, looks to Lucille, then tosses her the short sword clattering to the ground. "Here. Try this. One-handed." She then returned to the spot she came from and gained the stares from Ignia and Laguna. Once she she put her back against the wall, she would declare. "Again."

Ignia was starting to feel Lightning taking hold of this test but she didn't question it. She wanted to see Lucille succeed and was wondering if Lightning were actually...helping in some sense of the word.

Finally. An approving sound from Lightning. A light smirk followed by a comment of. "There it is. That feels more like you."

Cecil too would feel the strike connected quite well and he could gauge her strength properly. Cal had given Lucille a small boost during this but Cecil had a pretty good idea of her potential strength which was what he personally was looking to feel from Lucille's strike. "It's strong. True. The hit might not have been clean but it does resonate well with your form." The shield was withdrawn finally and Cecil himself would give an approving nod to Lucille then to Ignia. "It has potential. She has potential. Her heart feels quite strong."

"Well well, guess you are worth something after all." Lightning would chime in and then approached Lucille. "It's unpolished. But we can work on that. Rydia." she looked over her shoulder to the gleeful sorceress who walked right up to the both of them. "Let's get a spell unlocked. Once that's done, i think...I can work with you. Don't expect me to always be this nice..."

Lightning returned to a spot next to Laguna who nudged her. "Huh? Are you going soft?"

"It's just a simple nudge. Nothing more. The hard part's yet to come."

Rydia smirked then looked to Lucille. "Okay. My turn. This'll be a bit easier and all you need to do is stand here. No fancy weapon waving." she smiles and looks to Calaguru who walks right up and plops down next to them. "Excited to learn some magic?" She looked happy herself, ready to give Lucille a proper lesson to take her mind off of all of that verbal lashing from before.