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 Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:45 pm
Tonight had been a normal night - she'd finished her work day, powered up, gathered some energy while waiting for the time to arrive, and once it was close for her GUARD shift to start, started to make her way toward Alkaid and Hematite's apartment.
She didn't have much with her to pass the time - a few magazines - but she usually had no problem keeping herself occupied and awake the whole night. If now, well, that was why there was coffee stashed in there.
She'd powered down before entering the building, just in case, then navigated her way in and knocked on the door.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:14 pm
There would be no dancing around the subject tonight. Alkaid had news to share with the on-duty GUARD members and that was simply the way of it. There would be no dramatic reveal, no complaints, no worries. This was simply the way her life was now and if Khal could accept it, everyone else could too.
When the knock came on the door, the woman on the other side took a moment to steel her nerves, and finally managed to plaster a convincing, calm expression on her face. There was no smile but there was a sense of serenity. Maybe if she could be convincing enough it would stop whoever was on the other side of the door from freaking out. Maybe.
Her warm hand closed around the door knob and without a second to hesitate, she pulled it back and settled her bright eyes on Ashley. She stood there in all of our her new, terrifying glory - cracked skin, lack of clothing, cape and an energy signature that would have been terrifying if the purple-haired girl had actually been powered up.
"You're right on time, Captain." She just nodded and stepped to the side to let her in, sweeping one hand towards the apartment.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:27 pm
Holy.
Sweet.
Baby.
Jesus.
Needless to say, this wasn't what she'd expected to see on the other side. One hand went to her mouth and green eyes went wide, through, somehow, Ashley made not a peep.
Either she'd just been shocked into silence, or Alkaid's serene disposition helped. Probably a mix of A and B.
Ashley stepped into the apartment as she had been gestured to, and oddly enough she seemed to be going through stages - not that the initial 'what the heck happened to you ?!' had descended through her system, her features pulled into a worried frown... But no, Alkaid didn't look in pain. At all.
From Shock to Worry to Confusion was what it took for the girl to finally speak. "What happened ?"
If it had been a senshi, she was going to hunt it down and kill the damn b*****d. She didn't even care that she had never managed to kill one of them before - she'd find a damn way to do this.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:56 pm
Alkaid's brows rose very slightly as the only indication that she was aware of Ashley's surprise. Inwardly she was sighing over the fact that it was the same reaction that she'd already gotten and would continue to get every time. She'd be thankful when the introductory period was over.
"Metallia happened." She left the door open and turned to walk through the living room, letting her cape drag the floor and ripple over the carpet. She picked it up just long enough to sit down on the couch, then let it fall and settle back around her in glittery waves.
"I can tell you the story if you'd like to hear it, I suppose." She turned to look back at Ashley and waved a hand briefly at the door. "Come in and shut that, please. I don't need a Senshi walking buy and seeing in here, that would blow this entire operation."
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:02 pm
Ashley did just as she was told - closed the door behind her, and following her to the living room. She powered back up mid-step, and then got a sudden face-full of aura.
It took her a moment to realize that this aura was Alkaid. This wasn't anything the captain had ever felt before. Now that she realized that this was no enemy that did this to her, she seemed to be calming a bit. There would be no need to start a manhunt.
Or senshi-hunt, as it where.
"If you feel like it." She certainly couldn't force her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:19 pm
Alkaid waited in silence as Ashley shut the door and followed her into the living room, letting it grow as Fluorite was suddenly in her presence. She could feel the energy beneath her skin, seeping out through the cracks. She knew that if she could feel it, others would sense it, and she didn't even have to guess at how chaotic and intense it must be at such a close range.
"Have you ever met Kurma?" Her eyes followed Fluorite as she walked into the room, then fell casually to look at her arm as she stretched it out. She tilted it, one way and then the other, following the cracks with her eyes. She brought up her other hand and traced one of the lines all the way to her wrist - where it ended in a gaping hole.
"The space man, who taught the Senshi to travel to their homes?" Her eyes drifted back up to Fluorite's and her hands settled in her lap, lacing together.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:37 pm
It was indeed chaotic, and at the same time completely new in a way she couldn't quite understand. It was still bearable, thankfully, but it was looking like she might have a headache by the time the night would be over.
It was kind of like staring at a really bright light head on, only Fluorite couldn't look away. The only way would be to let go of her own power and be Ashley again, but if they ended up needed, powering back up would end up a waste of time and energy.
Time they might need.
"No, I haven't. I've only heard loosely that senshi can travel to their home worlds from... I don't even remember." Her brows were furrowed in concentration as she tried to recall, but to no avail.
It was starting to look like this Kurma had something to do with this, but she didn't want to rush Alkaid - so she sat next to her and waited to hear the next part of the tale.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:27 pm
"Just as well, I'm not entirely sure what he is to explain it to you, apart from some kind of space guide. I know simply that he was responsible for teaching them in the first place." She paused for a moment and let her bright eyes swing up to the ceiling, as if she could see through it to the starry sky above the apartment complex. "And for taking me."
She blew a deep breath from her lungs and dropped her eyes slowly, letting them fall away from the star beyond that she couldn't even see, reminding herself that she was safe in the apartment and grounded on earth. The sight of her planet just before Tanzanite had brought her home was still burned in her memory.
"His offer seemed honestly genuine, but even if he had no tricks up his sleeve, he was still only a means to an end." She drew quiet again, pensive, as the memory of the night played itself over and over in her head like it had a thousand times before. There was a glimmer of sympathy for Kurma, if only because he had been kind to her, but he had put himself between the Negaverse and their purpose. That was unforgivable.
"He took me light years away, but even that distance could not break my tie to Metallia. She felt me on my planet and she saw the potential in it. She sent Tanzanite," one hand untangled itself from the laced position on her lap and came to rest over the gaping hole in her chest, "and she took my star in her name." There was no hatred or pain as she spoke, just a simple knowing.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:49 pm
Fluorite seemed captivated by the story, even through she was unable to not look at Alkaid at the same time - all these cracks... It was hard not to worry, but she was trying.
Eyes became a little wider as the ascended general continued her story. "Holy... That's..." Why had he taken her there in the first place ? Hadn't he known what she was ? Who she fought with now ?
But what happened was done. She say no need to take stars - it was the earth they fought for - but perhaps Metallia had... plans. Fluorite certainly wasn't in the know of many thing, as she was only a captain.
"...Im not too sure what to say, really." She admitted. "Im just... glad you're okay." As okay as someone cracked like a porcelain doll could be ? "I'd hate to have lost you.."
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 8:31 pm
The tone of Fluorite's voice made Alkaid look up at her face again and for a moment, beneath that stoic expression broke. It was all there to read in that single second - her uncertainty, her pain, her worry. Luckily for her, her poker face was easy to keep these days and as soon as she broke down she covered it again.
"Okay is a relative term, in this situation." Despite her expression, her voice was quiet and hesitant. She was still finding the balance in her new emotions and not everything was cooperating at once. Her jaw simply clenched as she realized the weakness and she glanced away, into the empty apartment. After a long, silent moment she began to speak again, in that same unsteady voice.
"I can't describe what it's like. I would have given her everything if she had asked, I would have let her take my life if it would have helped. She didn't though, she.." She faltered as she spoke and her eyebrows drew down into a confused, trouble expression even as she stared unseeing at a far wall. "She took everything that I offered and changed it into something I don't understand."
Her eyes fell away from the wall and slowly looked back up at Fluorite's face. "I don't know what I am, or what she wants from me. All I do know is that she just expanded her influence to the stars, to the Moon Kingdom's territory." Alkaid could feel change on the wind, she could feel it in her bones, but what that change was she still didn't understand.
Metallia was plotting, and that was all she knew.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:31 pm
She noticed it, that one second. Had she been her brother, it might have never dawned on her, but Fluorite saw.
And she didn't know what she could do faced with this.
Alkaid looked away, and her hand reached out to rest to top of her's, by pure reflex. Belatedly, she hoped that... didn't hurt.
She could understand how something like that would be unable to truly be described, through it didn't make her feel any less helpless with the situation. She wanted to help Alkaid, very deeply.
She just didn't have any idea how.
"I wish I could..." She stopped, then shook her head. "Help. Im not too sure what to say... Beside that im here, and im listening."
She couldn't even start to claim that she could understand.
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 7:23 pm
Alkaid's hand twitched very briefly as Fluorite reached out and touched her hand. Not because it hurt, but because she didn't quite expect for her to. It was small, but Alkaid smiled very slightly and reached out to set her other hand on top of Fluorite's.
"You help enough, being here." The small smile faded but her expression was a calmer, more honest one than she had been wearing when the Captain first arrived. Not quite happy, but not sad. "I don't expect anyone to know what to do, or say. I don't know what to do or say."
Then, in the matter of a few seconds, she had simply pulled her civilian guise over her General's uniform. The cracks vanished along with everything else and simply left Kaia sitting where Alkaid had been. "Stay powered up in case we need to respond, I can't risk being powered up too long in case it draws every senshi in the city." She dropped her eyes to the hands in her lap and stared at the pale, smooth skin layered over Fluorite's hand. "An unfortunate drawback."
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Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:25 pm
The twitch almost made her withdraw, but she forced the reflex down. No, she had to trust that Alkaid would tell her if it hurt, or else she simply would never stop worrying.
Through she had the feeling that when she next set into battle with her friend, the worry would probably overwhelm everything else.
It just couldn't be helped, through she at least would try to make it non-obvious.
The fact that she could at least be a comforting presence was calming, at least, and she smiled.
When Alkaid powered down, Fluorite gave a quick shake of her head, as if trying to clear out the leftover of the ascended's aura. The room almost seemed too calm now that the invading aura was gone.
She could have made a joke about her aura being able to felt from space, but it would probably have been horrible taste.
"Yeah, I understand." Her crystal materialized in her free hand, then was carefully put on her knee, her other hand never leaving Kaia's. There, they'd see it if a call went out.
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