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 Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:17 pm
Colchis could barely stand still. She'd worked really hard to organize this surprise for Astro, after all--she'd wanted to help Astro not be bad anymore, since it was her friend's life and choice and like, Kairatos was an older knight, and he'd know. Wouldn't he? He seemed like a smart guy and besides that, he'd said he knew about purification. Whatever that was. It had promise, and that was what mattered. The pair of them were hunkered down in one of the little glass-windowed bus shelters in the antiquing district, which wasn't a good place for young girls to be. Luckily, the preponderance of bad people meant that there were plenty of people for Astrophyllite to drain, so it wasn't hurting her to be here. Everyone won! Even the bad guys. They got to pay their bad-people-taxes and Colchis... well, Colchis got to take notes. Also, the bus shelter meant snow wasn't actively hitting them in the face. Victory! Colchis snuggled deeper into her coat. As was her wont, she had brought it with her when she left the house--her legs were freezing, and her toes didn't need to be spoken of, but she was at least keeping her insides warm. Nobody really needed their lower extremities, right? "Can you sense him," Colchis asked, nudging Astro with an elbow. Colchis could--a great big aura that read off Mars--but she liked to hear about how much more acutely the Negaverse Captain sensed auras. It'd be a shame if she lost that when she turned good, Colchis thought. "From over that way, right?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 2:37 pm
"Chrivist...." Kairatos snarled grumpily, rubbing his bare arms aggressively to try and restore warmth. He'd almost...almost forgotten how miserable it was to power up in the cold, and the dip in temperatures was an unpleasant reminder that spring wasn't here yet. Hell his -scars- ached. It made him tempted to power down, just to get his winter clothes back... and he was more than a little tempted to cover up the fresh scars across the back of his legs. The little blonde knight hadn't seen them yet, hadn't looked at the medical chart, and he still wasn't proud of them. He needed to get over it. If he kept trying to hide them they'd be an object of pity, and he could stand pity less than scars. "Suck it up, buttercup, they're probably cold too." He muttered, blowing on his hands to warm them up. The beard was still in place, under the excuse that it was keeping his face warmer, but it was neater, trimmed into shape, albeit in an unpracticed way, and he knew he looked... well... stronger now, even if he wasn't up to full shape yet. That wasn't going to change unless he stayed active. This was a good way to be active... and to help an agent who wanted to turn knight. This was what he'd wanted to do since... since he'd crossed over himself. Since Camelot. Not that he'd seen TinMan lately. Busy he guessed. Big city, lots to do.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2015 9:58 pm
Astrophyllite had her legs tucked up and was actively trying to fit them inside her coat - it was not working. She'd been more appropriately dressed for this weather before her promotion than she was now, and she worried what might happen if she were ever someday made a general - would she lose her sleeves? But hopefully that would never happen - Colchis had lured her out of her cozy bed with the promise of someone who could tell her about purification. At her friend's prompting, Astrophyllite lifted her head, searching through the night for a bright presence on the approach. She was surprised to find it familiar. "Yes, I feel him," she said, and thought, Rust. Red. Sand cloth blood. Warm breath. Musk. Leather, polished to a shine--The knight that Hvergelmir had asked about. Her heart lurched into her throat and she sat up a bit straighter, peering through the dark in search of the man. Maybe - maybe he'd know if her friend was alright, if Astrophyllite's good intentions hadn't paved a road to hell for her. She turned to Colchis. "You promise he won't want to hurt me?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 1:02 pm
"He won't," said Colchis confidently, and after a long moment of consideration she wrapped both arms around Astrophyllite, who seemed much colder than Colchis did, it was sort of unfortunate. "He knows you're a Captain and he knows you want to be good, so, you don't need to worry." She jumped up when she saw him, and only narrowly avoided shouting Mr. Goldman! at him. "Mr--Mr. Kairatos! We're over here!" She dragged Astro to her feet, too, and the pair of them out of the little bus shelter. "Why does magic hate us," she whined, collecting Kairatos's hand into hers and then proceeding to drag the two of them into the windless and snow-less safety of a nearby garage. It housed several antique motorcycles, thus earning its place in the district, but it also had a broken lock. "Better, right," she asked, flipping her hood back. She still held Astro's hand. "This is Captain Astrophyllite, the one I told you about who wants to be--be purified? It's purified, right," she said to Kairatos, and then to Astro she said, "And this is Knight Kairatos. He's from Mars, like me." "If either of you tries to hurt the other, I will smack you with my flower branch," she said. "Okay? Now talk about purification... things."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 2:09 pm
"Consider me duly intimidated. And trust me, if I find where to register a request for seasonal uniforms, I'll write a firm note." Kairatos offered, about as intimidated by an spray of flowers as one might expect. "It's purfied." He added in agreement. "Or that's the term I've heard used." He didn't realize how close he'd come to meeting Astrophilite already, (and missed by a short span) but he could definitely respect her desire to change sides. Captain seemed to be a good stage for such decisions. He could sympathize a bit. "Kairatos of Mars, formerly Captain Realgar." He added, for Astrophilite's benefit. She might well know this already, but he didn't see the harm in reminding her they had a common ground. God she looked young though. "Where should I start? What do you know about it? Anything?" He asked, offering her a hand to shake, if she'd take it. It was damned tempting to summon Asterion, but in here, a rogue bit of oil on the floor could start a disaster, besides burning through his magic. It would be an embarrassing tragedy to burn those gorgeous old bikes.
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2015 5:26 pm
Once they were resettled in the garage, Astrophyllite stared at the knight, unsure of what to say. He was every inch as regal as Hvergelmir had made him out to be, his red cape rippling behind him (was that what she'd sensed?), the bull on his shoulder glinting in the light. What did - what did she want to know about purification? Forget that. It would wait. She wanted to grab him by the shoulders and beg him for whatever he knew. "Hvergelmir asked me about you. She asked if they'd captured you and I told her yes because I could feel you and she said you were a friend and she's my friend, too," she said instead, and she was breathless by the end of it but kept going. "I got caught visiting her. I wanted to bring her food and do something nice for her and I did, I gave her a peanut butter sandwich, but then when I was leaving I got caught and I'm worried that I got her in trouble and I --" She stopped to breathe, and then picked her train of thought right back up. "I need to know if she's okay. I've been looking for her but I can't find her, she's not where she said she would always be," and she felt tears welling up behind her eyes and she tried to swallow them down but it did her very little good. Oh, she hoped Colchis wasn't mad at her - she'd found someone to talk about purification and all Astrophyllite wanted to ask about was Hvergelmir. But Hvergelmir was important, damn it! "She said you were her friend," she said. "She promised me she'd be okay, but I'm scared she's not. Do you know?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:04 am
Colchis hopped up on one of the nearby workbenches, feet a few inches above the ground (it really was a hop). Keen red eyes kept a wary eye on the two of them. She didn't think either of them really wanted to hurt the other, or else she wouldn't have set this whole thing up--but she wasn't expecting Astrophyllite to tear up and demand answers about something not purification. The look she gave Kairatos was one of pure mortification. "Astro, it's okay," said Colchis, a little helplessly. "I mean, if you know her name, I'm sure he can at least write!" Or I could've, she thought. I would've done that for you. But it didn't matter. Rather than writing to someone who might never receive the letter, Astro could get answers from the... the bull's mouth. That would be good, wouldn't it? Her friend would have to feel better after that. And if Kairatos had bad news, then Colchis was there to try to help.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:47 am
"She's ok!" Kairatos promised, hastily... or... anyway... she was as ok as any of them could have hoped to be coming out of there. The image of her bloodied feet still lurked in his nightmares. He wanted to tell her that nothing that had been done to Hver had been her fault, but was afraid she'd ask details. This girl did not need those details. "She's recovering, but she's ok. She hasn't given up, she just needs time. I'll tell her you're alright too, promise." He wasn't sure if he should pat her on the shoulder, or if she'd panic. "She'll be glad to hear you're looking to purify too." He offered. "I think that would about make her day." He shrugged faintly at Colchis, more sympathetic to Astro's plight. How the hell had she made it this far? It was kind of impressive that she'd managed to be so fragile and yet, he guessed, keep supergluing things together to keep from falling apart. Tough kid, but he wondered if she knew that. "She's alright. She made it out." He promised again.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 9:17 am
Astrophyllite quieted - Kairatos's reassurances were working. She glanced from him to Colchis, hoping she hadn't embarrassed her friend too much, and that if she had, it wasn't the kind of embarrassment that was worth stopping being friends over. Luckily, it didn't appear to be... she shot her friend a tiny, tiny smile, then looked back to Kairatos. "I know that I need to find a princess and ask her to make me good but - I don't really know anything that happens after that," she said. Camlann had seemed... a little bit disoriented. His accent had been thicker. "Will I still be me, just better?" Or - there'd been a nagging question at the back of her mind for weeks now. Avalon had been very careful about how much she shared about her life before being brought to Metallia's life, but Astrophyllite had caught suggestions about her lack of memory. Desdemona - Amphitrite - had lost hers completely, maybe due to trauma, but still, they were gone. When you came to Chaos from Order, there was always a trade to be made. You always lost something in the bargain. "Or will I lose my memories?" she asked. "How many of them?" She stepped a little closer to Colchis, reaching for her hand. "My friends? My family?" She'd be okay with forgetting Beatrice, maybe even her dad - but she didn't want to forget her mother, or Gabby, or Ethan... The thought of Beatrice sent a chill up her spine. Would Trixilite come after her if she purified? Would she be putting all of her friends in danger?
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:12 pm
Colchis took Astrophyllite's hand in hers without hesitation. "I'll always be your friend," she said. "We'll be knights together!" Having a superhero adventures buddy who didn't have to mysteriously drain energy would probably work out better in the long run, anyway. And then Astrophyllite would be less scared, and... everything would be okay. All sorts of things would be all manner of well. "I'm glad your friend is okay," said Colchis. "Both of you." It wasn't a big leap to imagine this Hvergelmir was another of the people who had turned up tortured after the New Year's ball. Which one exactly, Colchis couldn't even begin to guess. Had all of that been related to this superhero thing? That... would be disturbing...
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Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:38 am
"i lost... most of my memories of being a civilian. What's left is... fragments. Mostly things that left a big impression. Others I think loose their memories of having been with the Negaverse. I'm... not sure what the criteria is, but you'll loose some. There's always a trade off, but you won't be alone. There are other knights like Colchis, like me, and Hvergelmer, who will do what we can to help, regardless which memories you loose, even housing." He promised, though his face was solemn. He couldn't deny that it had every possibility to be frightening, disorienting, but it wasn't something she'd be facing alone. She wouldn't even be the first. Astrophilite hadn't told her that the New Years event had been a trap though. That was interesting, but he wasn't sure he should be the one to point that out. Astrophilite was unlikely to have had any part in the planning, more so trying to help Hvergelmer. "You won't be alone. And if that's what you want, you won't even be asked to power up. It's the choice of any given knight to decide for themselves, if, and how, they fight." He offered her a joking smile as he added. "The flex hours almost make up for the entire lack of a paycheck."
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 9:07 am
The joke about paychecks and flex hours went almost entirely over Astrophyllite's head, as she was sixteen and had never held a job for a day in her life. However, the free will he was describing sounded appealing. No more energy draining - ever? No more quotas and no more forced patrols, just magical powers and no one telling her how to use them? It almost sounded too good to be true, which probably meant there was a catch. She just couldn't figure out what it might be. Kairatos and Colchis both seemed very happy to be knights. "I would like that a lot," said Astrophyllite, nodding eagerly. She wanted to be free of all the things that being an officer entailed - even if she thought she'd wanted them when she joined. She'd wanted to be strong - but what Chaos offered wasn't a kind of strength worth having. "There's - there's a general from Boston who wants me to transfer there," she said. "Would she still be able to find me if I purified? Would she be able to take me and - and force me to be bad again?" She didn't think Trixilite wouldn't do that, given the chance. That, or she'd flat out kill her.
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:58 am
"It's a risk that she'll try, but we wouldn't throw you to the wolves on that either. You have my word. She can try and come through me if it comes down to it." He growled. A general he could take on toe to toe. "Forced corruption can happen, but again, she'll have to come through the rest of us. There are... rumors about some of us having become unable to be corrupted, but I don't know much about it." He admitted. He almost wished he did. If he could bestow it with a wave of his hand, he would. "Glamor will help protect you partially, the way it does now, but it only does so much. Allies will help do the rest." It was the best he could offer her, because there was no option where she was safe forever, none of them were, but they could stand together, and that was something.
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:29 am
Astrophyllite smiled, pleased by the idea of Kairatos fighting Trixilite for her. He was big and strong and armored and he had magic - surely, that would make them evenly matched. "Thank you," she said softly, and reached for Colchis's hand to hold. Allies, she thought. Friends. That was right, she had friends on the Order side, people who would help her find her way and pick her up if she stumbled. "I want to have a plan," she said, trying to be smart about this. Smart people made plans, right? And they took their time and they thought things through. "So I can know where I'm going, even if I forget things. Even if I forget how badly I wanted to be good." Would she rather forget being Astrophyllite, or being Gemma? With the one, maybe her nightmares would stop. With the other, well, she'd get to reread all her favorite books for the first time - unless she forgot what her favorites were! Maybe she could make a list and give it to Colchis, all the books she needed to read again if she forgot everything about her civilian life. She smiled at her friend. "You'll help me, right?" she asked. "Even if I forget everything?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 8:51 pm
Colchis squeezed Astrophyllite's hand so super tightly. "Of course I'll help you," she said, hopping off her seat and skipping forward to give Astrophyllite a loud, smacking kiss on the cheek. No romo, she thought. "There's not any chance that Trixilite will get you," she promised. "You're going to be so, so safe." Mars was gonna look the heck out for whoever Astrophyllite became. She gave Kairatos a firm thumbs up.
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