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Captain Nagyágite

Nagyágite didn't bother to pretend that he was anything less than thoroughly annoyed to be here. Yes, sure, he was under orders--no, he was not particularly invested in those orders. Whatever, it wasn't like there was another option. And he'd received and accepted a promotion, which meant that he ought to at least pretend to give a commensurate amount of ******** relative to his position.

So here he was, scoping out this eclectic little gathering and, for once, not feeling like the biggest freak present--there were plenty of those little pastel aliens, and a few that looked even more exotic.

Senshi from another world, he guessed. He'd read about them in the databases, but not met one himself.

Well, that was interesting. And observing some of them might just make this trip worthwhile.

The man on the hill, this Almadel, was fascinating, and Nagyágite had plenty of questions--but it seemed most prudent to keep them to himself. He'd draw enough attention as it was.

Rainier, Squire of Mercury
Action Kind of aware of what’s being discussed while sending a message to Acrucis to come if she hoped to find her missing friend who was forcefully corrupted.


Last year was the first time Rainier had happened upon the Mysterious Merchant also known as Almadal. A chance encounter that allowed her time to observe him and his wares but at the time she had nothing to offer him.

However, the senshi she was with at the time had been drawn to an item on the table. Unassuming at a glance to someone uninterested, Beira had offered a trade for the small chest that contained a detailed map that they later learned were locations on his world.

It was an adventure, one that took them, and two other senshi, through ice caves and across a river to a room where a wondrous item was kept.

Because of this, she had come to the Starfall Festival prepared with something she hoped the merchant would find of intrigue. Unfortunately, when she approached the hill where he had last set up his table, there was nothing but a sign looking for exterminators offering a reward. As a civilian, she was a police officer, not a mercenary, but as a Knight of Mercury she felt a responsibility to figure out what was going on.

What she did not anticipate was the number Negaverse Agents, Corrupts, and even Dark Mirror Senshi that came at the request of Almadal as well. The last time Rainier found herself in a similar situation was in the abandoned subway tunnel when all factions fought against the Blight. It was a harrowing experience then, and left her feeling just as uneasy now.

However, there was one thing she felt sure of, if there was ever a day for the Senshi of Prayer to find her friend, today was likely that day. So, while everyone was still talking and planning, she used her signet ring to send Hannah a message, including the location of where she was at in case the Senshi of Static was somewhere within the crowd.

Abzu, Squire of Neptune
&
Deep Space Sailor Ibirapitá

When the Star Festival had begun, Abzu had returned to the place he had known so well, eager for the return of a friend and a flirtation in Almadel. What he had found instead was an encouragement to come back later for a matter that sounded like it would be troublesome.

Honestly, Abzu had considered sitting this one out. Coming had allowed him to look at Almadel, though, even from a distance. He would much rather be able to go and say hello, but it was what it was. Coming had also allowed him to notice that Almadel seemed to attract a lot of people. Other senshi, other knights, were those some of those betrayer aliens, were those agents? Some of them had the gall to be attractive, too.

"Ah. Kosopods."

The voice from someone who had come with him nearly made him jump. Oh, right. Ibi.

"Whyfor so on edge?"

"You've threatened my life," muttered Abzu under his breath. Recently, too, considering the whole Daedalus thing-- When Ibirapitá's brow lowered, Abzu cleared his throat and spoke up, glancing around at the field around them. "We're surrounded by chaos."

Ibirapitá seemed unbothered, but perhaps not for the expected reason. He shrugged. "Thou have named nothing new." Their living state was new to Ibirapitá, but he had not gone to seek out any of the chaos since he had arrived on the planet. From what he had gathered, this planet was just as infested as the rest of the planets in the universe. "I was not expecting to hear of kosopods today, though. Your--"

"Friend."

Ibirapitá's mouth ticked in what might have been amusement. "Friend is not incorrect. From what I understand, they are quite delectable. If Almadel here has gathered many here to help assist in a feast, I would be unsurprised." Ibirapitá, for his part, would be uninterested in a so-called feast, considering his tastes were always much more inclined to grasses and flowers and pretty things, but he would oblige, he supposed. This was better than the s**t the innkeeper kept thinking he would be interested in.

There was a reason why one of his fellow foreigners seemed so enthused about the concept.

Abzu's brows knit. That seemed unlikely. Perhaps it was because of the museum he was talking about, but Almadel seemed unusually worried. In the several times Abzu had seen him, worry had never been a thing he had registered from him.

Lanting, Squire of Ida

It felt, to Lanting, like it was important to get Corvina out of the house as much as possible. Get him exercise. Enrichment. Things like that. Especially because Lanting had a feeling that if he didn't get Corvina out enough, Corvina might get bored, and part of him was, well...a little concerned that it might result in a similar situation as forgetting to take Huohuo on her walk and needing to order a new sofa cushion off Amazon as a result. Except possibly worse.

Anyway, the point was, there had been an invitation from an alien merchant, and that seemed like an awesome opportunity, and Lanting had absolutely dragged Corvina with him to the hill. The man standing there was handsome, and Lanting would bet money he was also extremely charming.

Just....the vibes.

Admittedly, though, Lanting was having an easier time not being charmed, considering the....developments in his and Corvina's relationship, since the battle on Daedalus.

Very positive developments. With tongue. Not that they'd put any specific labels on things, just yet, but....it was nice. New, and nice, and Lanting wasn't sure he was In Love, and he was half-certain that Corvina didn't really like Shuangxu, since he barely knew Shuangxu, but very, very nice.

He looked over at Corvina, frowning, when he heard Almadel's explanation.

"Have you ever heard of these Kosopods? They're new to me, obviously."

[ Niflhel, Knight of Saturn x ]

Niflhel was in the back of the crowd as far as he could manage standing to himself. He'd listened to what Almadel had to say and his brow lofted and he looked vaguely concerned with the information given to them.

Bugs? "Tiny" ones at that, the knight wrinkled his nose a bit he'd hate to see this guys definition of large bugs if what he was describing was small. He didn't like the disturbance that had happened just a few short months ago and now this one.

"I wonder if there's a connection...." He muttered to himself as he watched the hustle and bustle of the crowd not really paying attention to the questions being asked, though he assumed he probably would've been better off if he invested in the question and answer section of this.

---------------

[Sailor Byakko, Senshi of the West x & Sailor Chibi Tea, Senshi of Mice x]

Tea looked at her sister as she stood there concerned. "Bugs?" There was a further confused look when he asked if they got starsick or about going to his museum.

"Where's this museum do you think Byakko? And wouldn't we already have seen such large bugs if it was anywhere close by?" The chibi senshi was looking towards her sister as she seemed concerned and trying to figure out what all this meant.

Maybe there'd be some valuable information on all of this at least.

Byakko was trying to listen to what was going on around them and the questions being asked. Though thanks to Tea it was hard for her to hear everything. Though she caught someone saying something about a BBQ . . . she was pretty sure this wasn't something to throw on a BBQ and eat.

The senshi was trying very hard to keep her face as quite as her voice but she found it rather difficult. Sometimes her facial muscles had a mind of their own. "I don't know . . .but it sounds bad." She admitted softly wondering if they should just skip this adventure.

"Do you think it's too late to back out now?"

"Yup, too late. We're here and it sounds like we've signed up for an adventure." Tea answered her sister with a nod.

[Niflhel, Tea and Byakko are free for interaction but -- my availability maybe questionable on this. Going to try it. ;; Feel free to quote me.]

Super Sailor Madriu

If Madriu had bene looking for old friends, it wasn't exactly like they were hard to find. Roka and Grieve stood out for different reasons, sure, but scanning the crowd for a tall, bright yellow woman with a blue fishperson next to her wasn't exactly difficult. The wolfish Senshi casually wove through the crowd, following the sound of Grieve's voice and the sight of horn-crowned yellow weirdo, until he casually slid in next to the two of them.

"Kosopods, huh," he said, and his ears flicked, pointing slightly downward. "Not my favorite snack, but I won't say no to something nostalgic."

His eyes scanned over the group. A unique mix--Senshi, Knights, and even those bizarre Chaos-tainted people. He wanted to bare his teeth and growl, but that would draw far too much attention to a group that already stood out.

"We'll have to keep an eye on these servants of Chaos," he said. "I don't trust a one not to stab us in the back, given the opportunity."

Or in the front. Chaos probably wasn't picky about the method of execution.

Deep Space Super Sailor Helene

Helene was always curious about others like him. People from far-flung worlds who had made their way to Earth. And this particular one, Helene had heard a rumor or two about--others who had encountered him, bartered, and received unique items in return.

Besides, a request for help was worth filling. He hadn't been able to go with Kaifeng to Daedalus, but he was here now, standing next to his partner, ready to aid.

And regarding their Chaos...fellow guests with more than mild suspicion. But this Almadel did not seem to be magical, so perhaps the finer lines of the dangers of Chaos were not relevant to him. And at the moment, Helene did not plan to let them be relevant to him, either, unless they wished to cause problems for Kaifeng or any of their other friends.

His nose wrinkled when Almadel laid out the problem.

"A Kosopod infestation is well worth clearing," he told Kaifeng. "My people had techniques to drive them off. But I do not have access to the tools for such a thing." Special incenses, a particularly-designed censer--all things that he could have returned to his planet to find, perhaps, with adequate warning, but he hadn't known. Alas. And even though he tried to keep his people's codes about unnecessary killing close to his heart, there would likely not be a better method available, depending on what they found.

"We will be doing a service, clearing them out. Even with more distasteful methods."

DSS Corvina of Windflowers

Once again, Lanting had wanted to go out on some kind of adventure that, to Corvina’s mind, frankly sounded like it didn’t need to be either of their problems. They could’ve gone up to Lanting’s Wonder instead (—not that Corvina actually knew how he’d have handled being offered such a thing, much less making the actual trip, but he wanted to believe that he’d have had a much better time, not least because he and Lanting would’ve been alone and not had to deal with Other People).

Or if not that, they could have simply “patrolled” around the city. That was what Earthling senshi and reincarnated Knights seemed to call the practice of stalking around and either trying to intimidate trouble into Not Happening, or beating said trouble into nonexistence if it refused to do what was in its own best interests. Corvina didn’t entirely understand why they called it that. But on the other hand, he also didn’t have a better word for it. “Hunting” would have been his personal preference, but the practice of hunting was also different from what Earthling senshi and reincarnated Knights seemed to do when they went out and yelled at Negaverse people to stop being Chaos-tainted garbage-rats or whatever.

They could have stayed home and played Shuangxu’s Bald or Gate game.…… Well. Shuangxu would have done the playing, while Corvina sat nearby and asked questions about the weird squid-face people, and why Shuangxu wasn’t letting the wizard explode himself in order to save everyone else, and why Karlach, the largest companion, did not simply beat the evil squid-face people into oblivion with the fires of her burning, passionate rage. (Corvina didn’t really think he understood the Bald or Gate game. But he liked the Karlach and the Lae’zel. They both seemed very Corvinate, in different ways.)

Instead, they were here, with some kind of dragon-man, on whom Corvina didn’t have any real read. All because Lanting had decided that this adventure sounded fruitful. And because Corvina just didn’t want Lanting to get tired of him, or to decide that he was more trouble to keep than he was worth, or to send him away. Whatever he’d done so wrong to make Zhiheng decide that he wasn’t strong enough or good enough to be anything but a beast, Corvina didn’t want to do that now with Shuangxu, who had every reason to throw out the person who’d murdered his previous incarnation and exactly zero reasons to give him a home, or to kiss him like that, or any of it.…… He just didn’t want Lanting to send him away again.

Living through that with one Lanting had been suffering enough. If Corvina had to endure it with Shuangxu……

Well.

He’d just need to keep doing whatever it took to keep Shuangxu-Lanting happy. Whatever it took, whatever he asked, as long as it meant that he never decided that Corvina was garbage and needed to go away.

Even if “whatever Lanting asked” sometimes meant that Corvina had to endure things like this, coming out to some nonsense that he only barely understood (because he hadn’t really been listening about it), with people that he didn’t know (though he did notice Kaifeng and Murikabushi, faces he only cared to recall because they mattered to Lanting, and another senshi with Kaifeng, who certainly bore some consideration). It was all for Lanting, and so he had to endure it.

Looking over the assembled crowd, though, Corvina distinctly felt as though none of these people were his problem. At least, he really didn’t want them to be. Friends of Lanting could be tolerated—and New Dunnottar, if he dared to show his face, could be shown up or beaten or something because he had committed the unforgivable crime of Making Lanting Sad—but most of these people were just strangers. Lanting wasn’t reacting to most of them in recognition (though he was paying attention to Corvina, and—yes, please, he could keep doing that).

Worse, several of these people seemed as though they would make themselves Corvina’s problem. Plenty of treacherous filth who’d sold their souls to Chaos as though anything good would ever come of that. On top of that, the Chaos auras felt distinctly different from how the Chaos had felt on Corvina’s home-world, and how the Chaos had felt on Daedalus, as well as feeling different from each other. Corvina didn’t like it. He didn’t think it reflected very well on this so-called “Almadel”—if that was his real name; it wasn’t a name that Corvina had ever heard prior to tonight—that he was so willing to consort with those people. Some of them had weapons, others had cracks in their chests and foreheads, still others looked like normal senshi but they had flippity gauzy overlays on their fukus that only made their Chaos auras feel that much more nefarious……and despite them all being servants of Chaos, this so-called “Almadel” welcomed them into his so-called “museum” as though they could be trusted with anything more complicated than the sound of someone breaking their necks.

Then, there were some strange people in thistle-colored outfits. All of them lacked the magical auras that marked out the senshi, the Knights, and the weird, broken Knights who stood among the ranks of the Chaos-tainted. Why the strangers had come out to something so serious as this was supposed to be, Corvina didn’t understand. Idiot civilians needed to stay home, where they couldn’t cause problems for the people who could actually do anything. Sure, these thistle-outfitted people were tall enough, but Corvina was pretty sure he could take any of them in a fight, and height wasn’t everything. Alys had bested plenty of people significantly larger than herself despite being petite and slightly built like Lanting.

But………this was all for Lanting. So, Corvina simply……crossed his arms over his chest, tried to keep his breathing deep and steady, and stuck close to Lanting’s side.

“Kosopods are detestable creatures,” he said gruffly, not upset about Lanting’s question but rather about the fact that the so-called Almadel had called them all here to deal with his own problem of kosopods. “Some of the worst filth ever seen throughout this universe. They do nothing but consume other people’s food and breed. If you let one kosopod have any freedom in your territory, they can multiply so fast that empires might fall into ruin before you know what hit you. Extermination is the only way to deal with such creatures.”

Corvina considered for a moment, then huffed, twirling the red star charm he’d found in town around his finger. “The seriousness is almost enough to justify letting all this Chaos trash in the door. But our senshi and Knights ought to be able to handle kosopods just fine without needing to resort to such desperate tactics. And asking civilians to help with something like this instead of protecting them seems extremely dishonorable.”

The tall people in the thistle-colored outfits had to be civilians, right? They didn’t have magical auras, therefore they were civilians until they could prove themselves formidable warriors like Varamyr and Alys had once been. That was How Things Had Always Worked, as far as Corvina was concerned.

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