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One nice thing about coordinating a meeting with another knight was, in Hvergelmir's opinion, how easy it was. Their rings made knight-to-knight communications straightforward and immediate. Putting together a meeting with Valhalla had presented little difficulty.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Hvergelmir dismissed, waving a hand through the air as thought to brush his worries away. "I'm good at taking care of myself. And I didn't help you either. Let's just be glad it's over, and so many of us were lucky."

She drew forward, putting her hand out to shake. "It's good to meet you, Valhalla. This is one of my sister knights, Teide. Babylon's told us a little about your problem -- but I'm sure we don't know everything. I hope you're not in too much discomfort."

Even though Hvergelmir seemed to dismiss any concern he might have had over the New Years incident, Valhalla couldn't help but wonder if there was something more he could have done. But instead of arguing, he simply nodded and reached out to take her hand in greeting. "Good to meet you, too." He'd seen her around, of course. It wasn't uncommon for paths to cross during large meetings or when things went south, but to actually stop and talk was a rare, precious thing and he appreciated that she would take the time to meet him like this.

He took Teide's hand to shake as well, glad they were both so welcoming. It made him feel a little less on edge about everything going on. "Babylon said you might know more about starseeds... and maybe how to fix them if they get damaged," he started since it seemed as though they knew the basics of what was going on and he didn't want to keep them too long.

"I'm not sure when it happened, but somehow my starseed was damaged... possibly when I was almost corrupted..." he explained, just to make sure they were all on the same page. "I'm trying to figure out if there's anything I can do to fix it, or... at least find out how much time I have left..."

He didn't mean to sound pessimistic, but he did want to be realistic about his situation.

Teide nodded for Hvergelmir's benefit - she was bad at remembering things just because she heard them, but she'd done her best to get down everything Hvergelmir had told her in preparation for this meeting. "Starseeds are strange," she said softly. "It takes tremendous magic to crack them, but you can break them between your teeth easier than hard candy."

Sweet, she thought, her stomach rolling. With a liquid center.

"My starseed's been corrupted and purified, too," she said, "Are you sure that the damage that made yours crack wasn't... physical?"

At Teide's description of starseeds -- you can break them between your teeth easier than hard candy -- she reached out absently to stroke her hand over the back of Teide's head, comforting. It wasn't an experience a person should have to remember.

"Ah," Hvergelmir nodded to Valhalla. "I see." She unwound her cloak and proffered it between her hands. "Do me a favor and try this out. I want you to put this on and focus on it for a minute. Let me know if it has any effect on the pain at all, or if you can start to sense us standing here. It's been dyed in what's essentially pure energy, so it boosts the magic that heals you and gives you strength. If it helps at all, it might be a sign that your starseed's leaking energy -- which wouldn't be good, but at least tells us a little more about your case."

Even if it did help, the cloak itself wasn't something she'd be able to loan out long-term, since it lost its magic over time without a direct connection to her wonder -- but she could at least give him one of the stardust ribbons. Even if it only patched him enough to gain him a few minutes of borrowed time, even that could make the difference in a pinch.

"Babylon was housing two starseeds in the same body. As far as I can guess, the resonance of the two of them so close together was shaking both starseeds apart -- he was throwing off light from his eyes and fingers. His body couldn't contain what he was trying to hold. Instead of an overabundance, though, you sound like you've got a shortage."

She frowned. "The other cases we've seen have been even less comparable. I've seen a photo of a half-youma Negaverse agent's starseed . . . it was mutated. Misshapen. It didn't respond to purification the way most starseeds do."

To say the least. Bischofite had been in terrible pain during his purification.

"The ideal would be if we could take out your starseed to have a look," she admitted quietly. "But that would be . . . difficult to arrange. You'd have to be willing to wear a blindfold, earplugs . . . " Titan would do it, she was fairly sure, if she asked him to -- but she didn't like exposing one of her contacts to that kind of risk unless she had to. "I can set it up, if that's what you want -- but you should talk to Sailor Cosmos first. That's who helped Babylon."

Valhalla watched curiously as Hvergelmir removed her cloak to hand to him, and he took it gingerly, not wanting to damage it in any way. It was made of pure energy? Very carefully, he draped it around his shoulders, holding the smooth fabric closed around him. Just as she’d instructed, he closed his eyes to concentrate.

“I think so,” he breathed, not meaning to sound as surprised as he probably did. “I can feel your auras. It’s faint, but…” And the pain subsided a little, just as she’d suspected. Valhalla opened his eyes again to stare at her in awe, thankful that she was willing to help him.

As for the Negaverse officer turned knight, he shook his head. “Stones wouldn’t have the resolve to change,” he pointed out with the smallest of smiles. “I don’t know if you knew him, but I’m friends with Wolframite. Although, now he’s Gevaudan. Cyllene, if you know her, is my friend as well.” Not was, but is. Even with being corrupted, he didn’t think any less of her.

And then the suggestion of taking out his starseed had him tensing in place. It would be the third time his starseed would be removed from his chest, and while he wanted to do whatever he could to find out a way to try and fix it, he also couldn’t fight the fear of what might happen. If something went wrong. The way Hvergelmir spoke made it seem as though she had someone in mind, perhaps a Negaverse agent…? Who else could pull starseeds? Except this Sailor Cosmos that Teide brought up.

“Babylon mentioned Cosmos as well…” he said, although he was hesitant with the look Teide was giving him. Babylon told him how Hvergelmir had been able to summon Sailor Cosmos by hurting herself, how she, as other Princesses and Princes, knew when their knights were injured. His thoughts turned to Ganymede, and Valhalla shook his head. “It’s late… it wouldn’t be fair to her to call her so suddenly. She’s still a person, right? What if she’s sleeping…?” He didn't like the thought of the potential stress Ganymede and others might have, being able to feel when knights who had wonders on their worlds were injured.

While he wanted to find out what was wrong with him, there was also the fact that he would be completely helpless once his starseed was removed. He was sure he could trust these women, but… if something went wrong and he didn’t even get a chance to see Paris one more time...

“I’ll think about it… I’d like to prepare for it… just in case.”

Teide frowned, looking down to give her hand a closer look. "Oh," she said, closing her fingers over the scabs. She'd gone as far as to assume that the star-shaped scar was a right of passage, a sign of her devotion. She hadn't known that she wasn't supposed to do that! What if Cosmos privately hated her?

She made some anxious eyes at Hvergelmir, and then too a careful step backwards. The subject at hand seemed best resolved by Valhalla and her more-experienced companion. Teide might have worn a knight's cape, but she felt about as knowledgable as a page.

"We won't let you die," she said. "Not if we can help."

That would just be... irresponsible.

Hvergelmir worried a little bit at the way Teide retreated. She'd been doing so well -- brave enough even to volunteer her own past as a Negaverse agent, even though it must've been painful and upsetting to bring up -- and now something was striking against her confidence again.

At least the two of them went home to the same place, at the end of the day. They could talk over whatever was on Jenna's mind while the two of them folded paper stars to put in Mason jars and looked for dud bulbs on their strings of Christmas lights.

"We've done very little," she told Valhalla, "but Teide's right. We'll do whatever more we can, if it'll help you. We all ought to help each other more often."

Hvergelmir accepted her cloak back and folded it over her arm.