Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ricky had a lot to learn.

Moreover, he had a lot to learn about a lot of things. But most importantly, he needed to learn more about what it actually meant to be a Knight. Sure, his ancestor Oreius had attempted to teach him a great deal, but even he would admit that his lessons aren't completely valuable in the current day - Oreius didn't live during wartime like Ricky does, and there were different threats now than there were then.

Instead, Ricky had a new teacher: Tony Darrow, or Camelot Knight of Earth. They had decided that their lessons would be best performed as civilians, late at night in the library for privacy and security.

It was a strange place, the library. As someone who hardly knew how to read, a common source of embarrassment, the library seemed like a treacherous place that reminded him of his stupidity as stacks and shelves of books towered over him at every corner.

But he tried to ignore them and stay focused on his lessons, sitting at a table with his tutor to start from the basics, hoping his reading struggles wouldn't become an issue.

Ricky accepted the book with a weak smile, hardly giving the title on the cover a read through before placing it down with a shrug.

"Alright, I reckon we can do that," he said a bit nervously. He did his best to think quickly, although his response still came out a bit delayed. "Maybe you can tell me some of the things you read, or point out things? Maybe some of them got pictures or stuff? I learn better with picture books."

He cautiously opened the book that Tony had handed to him and began flipping through pages quickly looking for some pictures or photos of some kind, but was disappointed to not find any. "Maybe you got some in your books?"

Ricky looked at the book and tried to read at least a sentence, but the tiny font and strange lettering was clearly confusing him. He started to flip through the pages at a really quick pace, only to stop and look at photos for a short while. None of it really made any sense to him, and it was obvious on his face.

"Ya got anything in like, better English?" he asked, only half-joking. He figured it was some kind English, but not his English. Not American English. "Or maybe you can help explain it? I ain't in the mood to read much."

"I don't like to read any kind of books," Ricky responded pretty honestly. He did love reading the book his mother bought for him just before he moved, Oh, the Places You'll Go, but that was pretty much it and he'd only crack that open when he got lonely and homesick. He had a copy of the Bible in his apartment, too, but he never actually read that thing.

"Look, I ain't the best reader," he mumbled, unpleased, hoping it wouldn't be pressed any further. He was growing frustrated with himself and already felt his blood boiling and his fists starting to clench.

Ricky was still frustrated. He didn't want some reading lessons. He was almost twenty-three years old, he didn't need to feel so small. Tony was at least nicer about it all than Oreius would ever be, but it made him feel like crap nonetheless.

"Do any of these books got stuff on them Negaverse and Dark Mirror witches?" he asked. For how long he has been in the war, he still knew very little about the people he was fighting other than they were undeniably evil. He saw what they could do - he had no question that he was in the right, but he didn't know what they wanted, what their purpose was, or anything about them. "All I know that they're bad and I'm s'posed to punch 'em."

"Whaddya mean Chaos itself?" he asked back. Unlike the Senshi were often awoken with a Guardian Cat, Ricky was awoken to Troy alone - well, in the Surrounding. He had some guidance from the Zodiacs, and Virgo certainly tried to instill lessons in the past, but he wasn't paying much attention then and didn't take the job as seriously as he did now...which still wasn't all that seriously. Most of the times he powered up were for the faster speed to get home quicker, or to fight when threatened, rather than for active patrolling. "What is erm, Chaos, or whatever, anyways? It ain't like this job came with much 'splaining."

"So like, Chaos is the devil and then the Dark Mirror people are like witches or bad aliens, Senshi are the good aliens and we're like children of dead people?" Ricky asked. He had a really rough - and pretty terrible - understanding of what he was actually involved in. He tried to understand it all in his own terms, or using terms he had heard before, but it was rarely ever that accurate. "This sounds like that episode of South Park about Scientists religion that Tom Cruise is in. Basically we need like, Jesus to come save us all?"

He wasn't the best student, but he was a firm believer that no question is a stupid question.

His questions, however, were pretty stupid.

"How'd ya reckon we're s'posed to do that?" he asked, a bit dumbfounded. He didn't think that he had anything in him to fight Satan or Chaos. Sure, he was strong and a good fighter, but he couldn't go toe-to-toe with the devil. It's the ******** devil. Or, Chaos. Or whatever. He knew the Senshi had magic - perhaps that was enough to stop them?

Perhaps Princess Chronos would be the one to stop Chaos. She sure was pretty. Ricky's mind began to wander further from the topic at hand.