Dunwich, Page of Neptune Roll: 30. Action: arriving with d’If, surveying the assembled group, steering them away from Negas as much as possible, and then examining the gift-bag.
Whether anybody from the Negaverse recognized d’If or not, Dunwich took care to steer her and her husband as far away from any Agents or Corrupt senshi. Definitely far afield from the General-Sovereigns. Neither of them had transcended with their Wonders, and the last thing either she or d’If needed was for one of them to dig their way out of the Negaverse all over again. The effects that corruption and purification were supposed to have on the memory would have been devastating, to say nothing of the struggle to get each other back with Order in the first place.
“Don’t give me that ‘if’ garbage,” Dunwich told d’If firmly, grasping him by the wrist and tugging him behind her. Between his height and her nerve, they’d have a decent enough time winding through the crowd to find somewhere they could do the most good while also being at the least risk of any grabby Negaverse freaks recognizing d’If or getting ideas. Just because everyone had come together to collaborate against the monster didn’t mean things would stay safe once it had been dispatched. “We are going to get through this, and then you and I are going to—”
She never got to finish that thought. Something changed in the storm, whipping it into violent fury. Dunwich clung to d’If, afraid of getting pulled away herself. The only thing that made her turn away from his chest, even slightly, were the gift-bags that appeared before them. Peering into hers, she couldn’t make heads or tails of the contents, but the card promised strength and safety, and Dunwich wanted very badly to trust it. She looked up to her husband. “I think these things want us to put them on? Or at least it feels like the bracelet does?”
Dark Mirror Eternal Lacerta Roll: Action: Talking with Loke. Taking in the atmospheric change before grabbing at the bag that appears before her.
The idea of an after-battle party sounded amazing, especially if it was free. Even as Remarque's other suggestion of pairing up with others that shared complimentary powers, Lacerta's gaze turned to the senshi that had offered up his sphere and powers. Loke's ability was probably more useful than he thought. If someone couldn't be found she could always help watch his back.
She moved closer to Loke before tapping him on the shoulder, "Your magic is probably more handy than you realize. I think you could technically pair up with anyone ... and simultaneously use your powers on a single target in order to achieve the best results. Once hit by an attack some aren't always in the right frame of mind to think clearly. Who knows what a mad person can do to someone that they normally would see as an ally under the influence of your magic."
It was after she finished speaking that the atmospheric presence suddenly shifted. Lacerta's gaze shot to peer up at the sky before she shivered. Whatever was coming seemed closer than ever. Would the ballista in Mirrorspace have a chance? Would everything else done by the other factions stand a chance?
For a moment all that Lacerta wanted to do was to find the nearest exit. That sensation did not last long though and the appearance of what appeared to be a bag of blue fabric had her reaching out instinctively in order to grab at the one that was closest to her before it could hit the ground. Reading the tag did the Eternal open her bag to inspect the objects. Pin, bracelet and a berry? How could they help?
The pin went onto her fuku and the bracelet was administered to the hand that her stone ring was on.
Que sera.
Hopefully Almadel's gifts did what they were supposed to do.
Antisana hadn't been there 'the last time' there was a powered gathering of this size. He'd been awakened as a Page already and had a... vague idea of what had occurred and the reasons behind it, but he hadn't been there. He hadn't known Eleonora at all. But he knew that Alcor had nearly been youmafied, and that was certainly a terrible fate. Perhaps the most terrible thing that could happen to someone? Youma could be purified, but the process had always seemed much more difficult than convincing a human...
So long as that didn't happen, anything else was probably less frightening?
"I obviously cannot say with any certainty, but I find it unlikely that she would face the threat of youmafication again. It is more reasonable to assume that she, and anyone else, would simply die. Only a few years ahead of schedule. That is not such a bad outcome."
Everyone died eventually. The three of them weren't old by any means, but how much did forty, fifty, sixty years really matter in the span of eternity? So long as their starseeds returned to the Cauldron, they would be reborn again to try again, anyway. ...Except that when an Agent ate a starseed, that person was not reborn again. And the same probably went for Calamitous Space Monsters. If it simply consumed them and cut them off from the Cauldron, maybe they wouldn't be born again, either...
Hm... Was that necessarily bad...? It would be sad if it happened to some of them- and everyone else had to deal with the after-effects, but if it was everyone... Later, when they weren't standing in this clearing, he would seek a more in-depth version of Eleonora's opinion.
For now, the sky was- moving. Wind blowing, clouds sinking, the crackling lightning falling the the earth as something pressed down from above. Antisana reached for Eleonora's hand. Even if the worst outcome 'wasn't so bad,' he still preferred something a little more pleasant. And they were all here, trying to do something about it- on the precipice of being summoned... somewhere, it felt like.
And before they went, a gift appeared. Although, Antisana had no idea who Almadel was.
Not only was he not sure if anything he could think to say would actually be reassuring for his stuttering fiance to hear, but Rakovanite was actually certain that nearly anything out of his mouth would not help anyone's anxiety. They would get through it- whatever that entailed- because they had no choice, otherwise. That was all there was to it. No reassurances or reminders to be wary would change that. They simply had no choice but to fall down the path this fight would take- because it would be a fight. Of course it would be. And however it led was how they would land.
He still couldn't help but reach, not to take Narcissus' hand, but just to skate the tips of two gloved fingers up the back of the Senshi's wrist, the smallest, vaguest sense of touch. They were both present. Narcissus' hadn't been included for many of the great brawls that broke out between them and forces beyond their control. Instead having to stay home, or stay at work, not knowing what was happening until it was over- until a ******** descended on his doorstep, requiring his medical care. But they were both here, now.
Whether that was good or bad, they were both here now.
He was saved from having to formulate words by first Diesel and Feldspar's appearance, then Diasporite, Vauxite, Markeb, Calaverite, Weissite-
Not even 'just his powered friends,' just literally all of his friends. Here. And Rakovanite couldn't quite describe how that made him feel, but it didn't seem bad. If there were people he wanted to be around to fend off the end of the world with, surely it was these people.
Even when Calaverite clung and hung off his arm, which had skyrocketed his ire and disgust in the past, it didn't feel so unbearable for the moment.
Rakovanite still huffed out a quiet sigh at the various antics these people (his friends) caused. "If it is at all possible to make sure that no one is singled out and left alone to fend for themselves, that would be ideal." Not stay together, not stay close to me, just stay close to someone. Just someone, so that if anything happened, if anyone was hurt, someone would be aware of it.
"Ey, yo, can you watch it?" Diesel snapped, glowering as Calaverite bulldozed his way through them- And like, yeah, Diesel was well-acquainted with how little the other Corrupt cared about inconveniencing or hurting anyone else, but he'd been having a nice moment with Narci- They were as good as family, but it wasn't like they hung out on the regular or anything. And yeah, the situation sucked, but the moment had been lighthearted, as Narci was able to make most things.
But whatever. He caught just the soft hisses of Gremlin's wheezing laughter (he may've been jostled in his nest, but he'd hardly been pushed over or anything) at the accosting Diesel received, and then Narci was already chattering with Diasporite. Wwith a roll of his eyes, Diesel turned to Weissite.
"Between you and me, I'm planning on everyone making it home, so you can ditch that weird attitude you've got with Fel." Which was, ultimately, true! Diesel wasn't going to get hung up on what the 'worst' outcome would be- no sense wondering over what traumas they'd experience today. Weissite could act all disapproving over Feldspar being here, but he was a Negaverse Agent too- and an adult, besides. It wasn't like Diesel had forced his presence.
He'd happily brought Feldspar out here, and he'd do it again, no matter how ******** ominous the atmosphere was.
Because it was pretty ominous. Pretty weird, pretty different, pretty exciting.
"Oh, that's interesting, then," Gremlin hummed, perching his chin on Diesel's shoulder so he could look more fully at Weissite. "I'm expecting maybe forty- no, thirty percent of you to make it home safely? Such a creature surely won't be sealed away without causing some casualties, I should imagine..."
And he hoped Feldspar disn't make it back. If Gremlin got to have any choice in the matter, he'd keep Narcissus, sure, maybe Diesel, and then throw the whole rest of the planet away. But Feldspar in particular... he could hope for something particularly nasty to happen to the redhead.
EchosSweet
Narcissus/Calaverite/Feldspar
Shanyume
Vauxite/Markeb
BiggerinTexas
Weissite
Shiningamisgirl
Diasporite
Indigo_Plateau Crew
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Sara Draconia rolled 1 100-sided dice:
62Total: 62 (1-100)
Looking back down towards the voices, Hela kept her camera out to look at the image previews as introductions happened. "Oh, I know Hybris more, but I've only heard a Lete though. Nice to meecha."
Offering a little wave, she noticed the nudging towards what sounded like more of the mirror court. There were really only a few she knew besides Remarque and Hybris, but it couldn't hurt to meet any of them just in case she might learn a bit more about the weird stuff that was always going on.
When Demeter kissed Lete, she wasn't sure if it was rude to see that or not and directed her attention down to her camera.
"Some really weird stuff, never seen it like this before. I hope everythin' has been going all right for you guys."
With the wind picking up, she instinctively reached up to keep that little hat of her fuku on. Sure it was sort of attached by the metal bits but she didn't want to make a fool of herself by chasing stuff down.
Roll: 78. Action: sweet datemate kissies. also a vibe check about joining the other Mirror senshi (and gently trying to nudge everyone in that direction).
Oh, good, Demeter had heard Lete calling out to them. And when they got close enough, Lete scooped them up to hug them close. For a moment, the looming end of the world seemed to fade away as she took Demeter in her arms. The monsters they’d seen in Mirrorspace felt more surmountable, as if someone (probably not Lete, she wasn’t super about that life, thanks for asking) could actually do anything to stop them. All because Lete had her friends and her special bae with her.
“Yeah, Deme, these are Hybris and Hela, which, uh.” Lete’s cheeks flushed warm a bit. “I guess he just told you that? But—guys, this is Demeter, they’re my……” Lete had to stop herself from saying girlfriend. It felt natural after saying it for a while, but it wasn’t right for Demeter anymore and the end of the world was no reason to start misgendering people. “And I think Hybris has the right idea, if you’re okay with it, babe? There’s—look over there?” She gestured over at Remarque and the coterie of other Mirror senshi gathering around him. “Remarque won’t make you a Mirror senshi if you don’t want him to. He even let Murikabushi leave. And since you aren’t a jerk like the Order senshi who just attack us on sight, you should be totally safe?”
Something that felt even more necessary as the sky ripped open. Lete didn’t even read the tag on the gift bag before taking it and throwing the bracelet on her wrist. This was probably safe, or at least no more dangerous than the usual amount of magical girl danger in Destiny City.
Corporal Nessaela Roll: 6 Action: Wishing she could be anywhere but here with a certain close friend.
Nessaela's gaze turned from the sky to stare at Tenoch even as he tried to pull her just a little bit closer to him. With her eyes she tried to warn him that this wasn't the time and place to be acting like that but inwardly she was still too new to the whole situation that she found herself in. Her gaze softened minutely to tone down her silent reprimand before she turned to stare at the Commodore as he spoke. He wanted them all to stay safe, and she had to wonder, did that extend to Caedus as well? Probably it didn't as they were still tasked with trying to find him. Shaking off that morose thought Nessaela exhaled softly before she turned her attention back to the cadet at her side. Was it because she knew how he thought that she could imagine what it was he was thinking? Aa quick jab to Tenoch's side would hopefully knock her paramour out of his darker thoughts that liked to infiltrate his mind.
It was then that the situation changed with the skies above them and Nessaela almost shrank back before she straightened her shoulders. The strange weather phenomena would not cause her to cower in fear. Even as she believed she glimpsed something through the clouds did the corporal eyes squint in order to try and make out what she was seeing. Was this the threat?
Her voice came out in a whisper as she stared, "Oh ... dear."
The appearance of an explosion of glitter and the multitude of bags that essentially popped out of thin air had Nessaela reaching for a bag with her linked hand before examining the note and the contents.
Apparently this Almadel was sending gifts to help those gathered? Or was it a trap?
The bracelet though, called to something inside and instinctively she freed her hand from Tenoch's in order to slip it onto her free hand. The pin was fastened to her uniform as best as she was able to manoeuvre it. Once that was done her hand found the comforting grasp of Tenoch once more. They'd face this threat together.
Alcor’s gaze darted from one unfamiliar face to the next, her heart pounding with every step as the storm worsened by the second. She was looking for someone… anyone she could trust; Athene, Liryn, the twins, Rainier, even Kemi. Just a single familiar presence would be enough to steady the nervousness she felt at being alone.
She spotted Rakovanite in the distance with Diasporite standing beside him, and quickly changed direction. That was not the kind of familiarity she needed tonight.
It felt like a vacuum had opened up, winds pushing and pulling in tandem, tearing at her coat and tugging at her hood. She clutched the fur-trimmed fabric with one hand and braced against the cold with the other as she pushed forward through the growing crowd.
That is when she spotted a swath of powder blue fabric, a stark contrast against the dark backdrop. “Kemi!” Alcor called, breath catching as she finally saw her friend. Relief flooded through her as she hurried forward and slipped her arm through Kemi’s in silent urgency. “Come with me?” she asked, her tone low and pleading as she guided them toward the side of the field where more White Moon allies seemed to be gathering.
She paused when a burst of colorful glitter appeared and for a moment she thought that someone was attacking them. But as the magic faded and a blue velvet bag appeared, the tension in her shoulders eased. Cautiously she leaned over and lifted the two bags up and handed one to the Senshi of Deception.
“Wishing you strength, health, and a safe path forward… Almadel…” Alcor looked at Kemi with a pinched expression, puzzled by what felt like a cryptic message, but before she could look into the contents of the gift, she spotted Gorner standing beside an Eternal Senshi she did not recognize. “Come, I see my cousin. We’ll be safer in a larger group.”
“That’s… rather morbid of you to say.” Eleonora’s tone was quiet, but it carried a weight behind it. Her brows furrowed as she turned to fully face Antisana. “No matter the danger we’re about to face, we’re going to make it through this. The gauntlet on Asmodeus’ world with the trap that shot out a geyser of steam, that was a cakewalk compared to what we’re up against now. But I’m sure this is not the end.” The sheer volume of people who showed up to fight this current threat was nothing to turn their noses up at.
She paused as the wind whipped past them again, fierce and electric as if the sky was warning them of what was to come. Still, Eleonora didn’t waiver but her grip did tighten around Antisana’s hand. “We’re not alone. Not this time. Everyone’s here… fighting for something- for someone… As long as we’re fighting, then I believe there’s still a path ahead. Even if it’s a steep one. .”
A flicker of light shimmered, and with it came the appearance of a small blue velvet pouch that was placed gently on the ground by unseen magic. Eleonora bent to pick hers up, fingers brushing over the soft fabric before she loosened the golden cord. Inside were three objects: a pin shaped like a purple diamond, a berry with sweet, fragrant skin, and a silver bracelet with a teardrop-shaped charm that pulsed with quiet energy.
She studied the bracelet with a squint, mesmerized by the swirling white mist within the gem. The bracelet felt like a promise; distant, but not impossible. She smiled faintly as she looked at it, then without asking, reached into Antisana’s bag as well. “I think this is yours,” she said softly, lifting the bracelet from his pouch and clasping it onto his wrist with care.
“No more talk of dying,” she said, brushing her thumb lightly over the charm. “We’ll face this together.”
Trudging up the hill might have been tedious under normal circumstances, but the complaining out of Karakorum was quickly making it unbearable.
Most of the time, Corvina didn’t mind his beloved’s sister. Lianhua was quite spirited and coming into her own as a Knight, which spoke well of her. Plus, there were significantly worse planetary affiliations she could have had than Cybele (while not quite the same thing as the warrior’s path, the hunt remained a valid and useful thing to embody with one’s magic). And she actually appreciated Shuangxu, unlike their older brothers (whom Corvina had not met but hated on principle because anyone who hated Shuangxu was his enemy).
“It is our duty as Knights and a senshi to protect this world from the threat posed by beasts such as the Calamitous Hollow,” Corvina told her, entirely deadpan in a way that suggested distinct annoyance but was still making some effort to avoid indulging Karakorum in any nonsense. She wouldn’t improve if somebody didn’t hold her to a higher standard than she was currently holding herself. “It matters not what the weather looks like or how tedious the climb is up the hill. What matters,” he glanced over his shoulder, pointedly narrowing his eyes down at her, “is that we make that climb and fight to the best of our abilities.”
—Although, the sky seeming to rend itself open did introduce new priorities to the equation. Bracing all of them against the pull of the storm, Corvina looped his arms around Karakorum’s back and Lanting’s. He held them close, so reluctant to let go that, when the gift bags appeared before them, Corvina leaned forward and caught his in his teeth, rather than using his hands.
Achird didn't like Earth. He thought it was smelly, gross, and had way too many problems. And people. By the meadows, there were always so many people. It disgusted him. But he didn't have a choice in the home he had to make for himself. Not when every other planet besides Earth was dead. The Earth of old had been almost mythical. He'd never been, but it had always sounded nice. Well, a lot certainly changed in a thousand years.
Ultimately, he had to protect Earth, so here he was, on this hill, during this stupid storm from the stupid world-eater, ready to try to fight it, ******** somehow, as if a miracle would just drop out of the sky to help them—
He blinked, utterly befuddled as something did, in fact, drop out of the sky. Well. He rummaged in the bag and pulled out the bracelet and pin. What were these, some kind of miracle? Didn't seem like a very good one.
He put the items on anyway and slipped the berry and bag into his subspace. Something possibly useful for later. At least this stuff wouldn't get in his way.
Maybe even more would help. There seemed to be plenty of bags. He grabbed another one off the ground and stuck his hand in, only to scrunch his nose in confusion. Nothing? But these bags clearly... he removed his hand as he realized he did feel something, but it was like... sharp sand covering his hand, or something.
He stared, dropping the bag, at his glitter covered hand. He shook it. None of the glitter fell off. He shook it harder. Still no glitter fell off. He tried to wipe it off on his pants leg. All that seemed to do was make his pants glittery and still not have any drop off his hand.
"What the ********," he hissed under his breath, glaring at the bag. Whoever this Almadel guy was, he sucked.
Amateru hadn't been on Earth long. But this world was alive, and thriving, and fighting against its own Chaos infection valiantly, even without a senshi to protect it. Well, its own senshi. Clearly there were many here who would protect it as much as they could. Earth was a very lucky planet, to still be so alive, and to have nearly every awakened senshi fighting for it as well as their own homes. He loved it here. If he went to the right places, he was reminded of his own home.
He refused to let it die. Not when there was still so much to do.
The bags that floated down surprised him, but he took one politely for himself and opened it up. Hm. Interesting. He wove the bracelet onto his horn, hooking it on one of the odd prongs and twisting it. The feeling of hope, of a chance to win, infused him, and he smiled to himself as he pinned the pin to his front. The berry, he eyed critically before shrugging and placing it into his subspace. He had a feeling that needed to wait until the right moment.
Scanning the crowd, he saw someone he thought he'd never see again. His heart tugged painfully and he forced himself to blink. Once, twice, thrice. No, Elkurud was still there. Not a hallucination at the end of the line.
His long tail twitched and he carefully, but swiftly, made his way through the crowd, grateful for his bulk that allowed him to navigate a lot easier towards his much tinier fiance.
"Elkurud," he said hoarsely as he came up on him. "Is it really you, my love?"
Imnolu came running up to Thalassa and Pyrrhus, slightly late and cursing himself for it. He hadn't realized he had a message on his phone for just long enough to see several other powered beings running past him towards somewhere else, and then he'd checked. Whoops! That explained the weird looks he'd been getting!!! Yikes!
He came up with just enough time to catch the tail end of what Thalassa was saying and gave him a Look. "He is my friend," he said, stressing the word. "Not 'New Taran', and his name is—Well, not that."
As if he was ready for such a thing, anyway. The very thought of it had his face heated with embarrassment and shame.
The bags that came down intrigued him, and within moments he'd slapped the bracelet and pin on, willing to do whatever it took to protect Earth. It was the only place left in the universe that was thriving and keeping them all safe while they all tried to fix their planets. The berry and the cute bag went into his subspace and he braced himself for impact. Whatever that impact was about to be.
Squire Celadon of Cybele Action: Shitting herself about the sky, opening a gift bag, asking Cybele what to do with it
Celadon had opened her mouth to speak, but the way the light shifted and dropped away caused her to look up instead. What she saw left her speechless — like something orders of magnitude more powerful than any of them just punched a hole in the sky. It broadened and gaped and fettered the very air, pulling it apart and pressure flooded into the newly opened hole. For a moment, she couldn't feel her legs.
As she looked up, wefts of her hair were sucked skyward. Her clothes lifted and whirled about her like she was caught in a windstorm. Something was up there — something too large for their realm of existence. She didn't think she'd ever encounter something like that.
She never expected to feel so small. So completely powerless and irrelevant.
Looking about, Celadon felt like the air was almost crackling. She couldn't explain it, but it had her hair standing on end and goosebumps blooming over her skin. Sparing a look to the other Cybele knights, to Cybele herself, she forced herself to let go of such troublesome thoughts. She didn't know the future. And even if her weapon and magic did nothing, she could try first aid. She could call out if someone was about to be hit.
The little bag appearing before her caught her by surprise, however, and she blinked stupidly at it before it occurred to her to seize it. Looking at the ink on the gift tag, she failed to recognize the name, but she opened the bag anyway. A little diamond pin, a berry she'd never seen before, and a bracelet?
She looked to Siegfried and Cybele, Steins and Hierapolis. "What are we supposed to do with these?"
Ascended General Niter Action: Talking to Magnus, draining some energy from the air, opening a gift bag.
Niter looked down at the puffy in his arms. He almost appeared startled by the question. "Oh, um. I'm okay. I'd rather be taking a nap, but this seemed kinda important? And after we had to gather all that energy, I thought I should come see what it was for, anyway."
Not that the sky offered them much time to have a discussion. Niter looked up when he caught the change in his periphery, and it looked even weirder than with all the thunderclouds. Something huge and sturdy was way up there, and the whole ambience reminded him very much of some epic fights, like the Nameless King or Placidusax or something. It was pretty cool.
"Huh," he said offhand. The air picked up around him, the pressure feeling strange on his bare skin. Or, whatever it was now.
"This is. Huh." Niter began to meander back and forth, in no real pattern, with Magnus cradled in one arm like a furry baby. He held his hand out as if expecting something to land on it and a violet orb of energy formed easily upon his palm.
"Here," he offered it to the cat. "It's like the air's just giving it away."
And when he turned around again, a gift bag was floating down gently from the sky. He caught one for mhimself, then tried to grab a second for his furry companion, but the little blue sack turned ethereal and sprayed him with glitter instead. Niter flinched a little, then stared down at himself in confusion as some of the glitter disappeared into the cracks in his skin.
"No, you are right I think. Logic doesn't factor into these things, and I do understand it, it doesn't mean I agree." Though he did worry for his partner he wasn't sending people to watch and babysit him either, he wasn't telling other dark mirror senshi to keep close to his fiance. He wouldn't think to do that, if he was worried he'd personally go keep the other safe. But he also knew the other was a general and had done and seen a lot, more than himself, so he wasn't going to do that. He'd deal with his worry afterwards. Once they got home his fiance would be taken care of, food ordered, and time would be spent eating on the living room floor infront of the fireplace. After that - sleep, especially for Aloysius.
Nodidng his head he smiled. "Indeed, he does care for his team, he's only just started forming a team and I think that is because he's decided it's important to do but also wishes to properly take his time in picking people for his team." Those who fit and who he, and the others, could work with. He wouldn't bring someone in who would ruffle feathers, because his partner wasn't going to tolerate discontent amongst his team, he was careful in picking people to give power to. "I'm glad to hear that you'll stay for this fight. There is no pointin leaving really...we might as well look death in the face and see who survives. It's either the monster or all of us...leaving won't change things in the end...aisde from having been here to see our victory." Because if they failed it didn't matter where you were...it would be all over.
"What's it like..." Trailing off, thoughtful, the blond tapped his boot against the ground, tilted his head, and finally answered. "It's different, it has it's perks, but I do wish we could teleport. Mirror walking is good but it's limiting as well, there simply aren't enough mirrors for us around the city and things can always be moved or destroyed. We don't have the same safety which teleporting provides. The one good thing is that we're not at war with either side really, not like the Negaverse and order are with each other, it gives us some safety." Here he gestureed around the, to the sky which seemed to be bnubbling and splitting itself open and spilling over, how strange and yet terrifying it looked. The wind was pulling at his uniform, messing up his hair, and he planted his feet to keep steady.
"It's things like this where we can't play neutral and where we actually get involved in fighting...because we don't do alot of fighting I find."
General-King Faustite Action: Taking off excess uniform bits getting a gift bag, telling his team about his last conversation with Almadel
Faustite had dropped his pauldron into the grass and was working on his excess belts when Albite chimed in with his perpetually filthy commentary. He only sighed; it was as much an ingrained part of Albite's personality as it was a coping mechanism, maybe out of fear, maybe out of sheer incomprehension for what they now faced. His sweetness was nevertheless worth a touch to the arm, nails skating over skin as his hand fell away at his boy's elbow.
Heliodor had a point, though Faustite would rather think that Almadel made clear his interest in supporting them already. Still, he was a margin regretful that he was caught up across the world while Heliodor got to visit Almadel's space museum with Albite.
Of all the strength at their disposal, at the height of their known power, Faustite had never seen the Negaverse destroy a planet outright. When they had the generators, their chaos field had corrupted White Moon senshi and knights alike, spontaneously, but that show of force mattered not at all in the face of a creature that crushed worlds. Something that existed for over a thousand years and tore apart the known universe with nothing and no one that could stop it. Save for whoever made those spikes and sealed it away.
No chaos rocket could mortally wound this Calamitous Hollow. No amount of youma, likely. No amount of senshi or agents. Even if the five General Sovereigns each held hands and channeled the epicenter of their power, it wouldn't matter at all.
It goes between dimensions. It is its own power source. It cracks planets in a spray of cold light across the sky.
Gift bags had begun to float down. At first, Faustite was hesitant to touch one, lest he set it on fire. But once he glimpsed the iridescent ink in the tag, he snatched it away immediately. He examined the tag with furrowed brows before opening the bag for its contents. Strength, health, and a safe path forward. Diamonds were strong, he decided as he poked at the diamond pin. With little else for it, he fastened it to the piping of his coat. Health… He guessed that was the berry. So, the safe path forward was the bracelet? He held it between his claws for a moment, then decided he might as well wear it now.
Strength and a safe path forward, if he had it figured out. He'd hold onto the berry for the moment.
He turned, then, and addressed the team. He did not invite Headache to translate as he signed this time.
Last I spoke with Almadel, he said that serpent travels between dimensions. Said he might be able to get us there, but it might be a one-way trip. Win or lose, might get stranded in another universe. Somewhere beyond saving.
Won't blame you if you stay. We don't have all the spikes we need and we're going in nearly blind. Could be a ******** meat grinder, wherever we go. But if there's a chance we can kill a ******** lightning snake, I'm putting this damned spike through its eye.
Headache looked unimpressed. It stepped away, creating just a little more distance between itself and Faustite. Then, making eye contact with Hestia, it tossed the spike to her.
Corporal Caelyna Action: Standing with the Vanguard; taking her bag; offering her arm to anyone who needs to be steadied
There were so many of them.
So many, and so few at the same time.
Caelyna was heartened to see so many of her fellow Vanguardians showing up tonight, to help fight this creature from beyond the stars. And yet they still felt like such a small force, perhaps because it was hard to know who they could trust on the rest of the field.
Would others hold a grudge? Would they remember the last time such a large group had gathered on a hill, and—
Caelyna swallowed, and tried not to think about what had happened that night. It felt both long ago and like yesterday, and perhaps the effect was magnified with the recent return of her nightmares of Velyria’s death. She’d returned to using her Source Stone to ensure a more peaceful, dreamless sleep, which was not something she enjoyed doing, but especially given the looming threat, it had seemed wise.
Lyndin’s confidence bolstered her heart. He was planning for “after,” and if he was certain they would have an “after,” Caelyna saw no reason to doubt that.
“We will, Commodore,” she promised, as if it needed to be said. She had been entrusted with responsibility; she would carry it out.
And then, the air changed, and she gasped softly, surprised by the sudden increase in pressure and storm.
“Everyone, hold on—grab each other if you need to, Aliez has the right idea,” she said, and she held out a hand in case any of her fellows needed it.
The little pouches made her gasp softly, and she reached out to take one, holding it gingerly but keeping her arm extended in case she needed to be a bulwark for someone else. Her impression of Almadel was relatively positive; he seemed to generally be well-intended if a bit chaotic. But she waited, too, for Lyndin’s evaluation; Aliez was smart to ask.
