living skyward

When Minako sees the door, it's a done deal. The smiling jack-o-lantern on the door is irresistible to the child. Her grabby little hands are on the knob the minute she sees the door, expecting candy, or costumes, or something. What she finds is rows and rows of jewelry. Disappointing for the hungry tomboy. She frowns around, curious, leaning up high on the balls of her feet to see.

Nothing edible, and no toys. No fun at all.

But as she's turning to leave, something catches the light and holds her gaze. A simple chain bracelet, hanging on a base. It's sandwiched between a few others, and she has to push them off first before she can get to it, but it's drawing her in in a way she can't explain. She rolls it around in her fingers, the braided chain pattern small but strong, and it has only one ornament on it: a cute little silver skull-like mask. Not usually her kind of thing, but it's so unobtrusive, maybe it wouldn't be annoying to wear it... so she fumbles with the clasp, needing to brace her wrist on a table to get it hooked again around her wrist.

The minute the hook is closed she starts to feel different. A sort of itching ache covers her whole body, like the ones she would get in her knees sometimes that adults told her were growing pains. But her whole body is growing pains. And her whole body is stretching. She feels herself start to glow, surrounded by some kind of magic. It's peaceful, though, definitely not something scary. Not that little Minako ever thought magic was scary.

She didn't even think magic was scary when she found out it was real, and that she had to hold a gun to her head to use it... but when did she learn that? How?

The iching and the glowing stop, replaced with dizzy spinning thoughts, like too much poured into her mind at once. She remembers her parent's death, the battle between Death and the robot. The robot she later learned was Aigis, who was her friend. She remembers growing up, and when her journey truly began as she returned to Iwatodai. And the year that followed.

She remembers her death.

Minako looks down at her hands, now much older and properly proportioned. The long fingers, calloused from holding the shaft of her weapon. She's wearing her Gekkoukan uniform, now. A serene sort of smile crosses her face, and she rests a hand on her chest, brushing her fingers against the bow at her collar. Gekkoukan. Home.

It must have been the bracelet that did this. Aged her up and gave her all the requisite memories and changes. She looks at it again, touching the little mask there. Appropriate. Maybe there was the spark of memory in her before she put it on, and that was why she chose it. Either way, she's not in a hurry to take it back off. She wants to explore this castle as her adult, aware self. She wants to have the freedom of life, again, in this more mature body. She wants to see Ryoji, since she remembers that he's here.

So she's off to explore, looking very unlike the Minako most of the castle residents know.

(ooc: responses will come from wildcardpotential. Feel free to find her wherever or request a specific prompt!)