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On most occasions, Hvergelmir was all too happy to meet new allies, whether knights or senshi. Tonight should have been no exception, since she had a few hours yet before she had to be at her bench . . . except that, along her walk through the theater district earlier, she'd run afoul of some sort of squishy pod youma with blue Boston-Creme filling for blood, and in dusting it, she'd ended up spattered down most of her front with blue liquid that made it look like she'd just robbed a bank and forgotten to check the bag of cash for one of those explosive ink bombs before making her getaway.

What she wanted was a bath, or at least a sink. Maybe a fountain to wash herself off in.

What she got, instead, was a senshi calling out for her attention.

She turned, about sixty-five percent blue from the front, and managed a very chagrined smile. "Sorry," she said. "Can I help you?"

Embarrassed, Hvergelmir rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. This, unfortunately, only succeeded in adding another smear of blue to her already very smurf-like countenance.

"Thank you, that would be -- yes," she said awkwardly, grateful for the offer.
She wasn't fond of the filth, but she also despaired of the scene it would cause to be seen covered in blue goo by a great number of people. Better to downplay it, even a little.

The senshi's question, however, was concerning. Where Hvergelmir was used to some degree of confusion from knights, she expected senshi to be better provided for in the information department. They, after all, had the support of Mauvians to see them through in their powered lives. Surely they shouldn't have been able to be so ill-informed?

"I'm a knight, yes," she said with a worried frown. "The clothing can sometimes be an indication, but -- more than that, we should feel a little different to you. Sort of a hazy radiance you can pick up from people around you, the kind that makes other senshi feel friendly and Negaverse agents and youma feel threatening. Have you ever felt your hackles sort of go up when a youma's around, even before you realized it was there?" She paused, considering the mini lesson. "You should be able to pick up on the auras of powered people and youma around you, when they're close. For me, other knights feel the most familiar, the most in tune with me -- like they're my own kind -- and senshi feel friendly, not the same as me, but like we're compatible. Other knights feel like I'm hearing something that's on the same melody as me, and senshi feel like they're resonating in harmony, if that analogy helps. Negaverse agents and Dark Mirror Senshi and youma -- anything that uses Chaos energy -- radiates a discordant feeling, jarring, like an off note." Her frown deepened. "A cat awakened you, right? Gave you a pen?"

Hvergelmir frowned deeply. This was Teide's friend, the one she'd mentioned. Jenna had been so upset.

"Things are more than just weird," she said softly, letting the senshi wipe her face like she was a child who'd gotten hold of the mixing bowl after the brownies were in the oven. "Things are very, very dangerous. You could be killed -- it doesn't matter if you'd rather stay out of things. I know it all seems crazy, but. Please. Please try to learn what you can."

She smeared at the top of her arm with already-blue-smudged cloth.

"Knights are like you, like senshi -- but senshi represent large stellar bodies. Planets, stars, constellations . . . that sort of thing. Knights represent various powerful places within that. Cities, landmarks -- specific concentrations of ancient power. We have knights of Mercury, knights of Earth, knights of Mars and Saturn . . . all the planets, and some other stars besides. Teide and I are knights of the Cosmos . . . in our case, that means we're knights of small landmarks all out on their own in space, not attached to anything larger."

Hvergelmir smiled at Alphard's second question, at his earnest concern that she might, in fact, be homeless. "No," she said calmly, "I'm not at all homeless. In fact, my island -- my Wonder -- is exactly where it needs to be. It's something like an ancient interstellar fueling station."

She sighed. "Actually, I'm afraid it's my answer to your other question that's going to disappoint you. You see -- " Hvergelmir folded her hands behind her back. " -- there is no purpose to this war. There is no ideological conflict. We fight this war because people before us fought this war, and because neither side is willing to lay down their weapons for fear of being overrun. This is nothing but an arms race."

"Not even space capitalism," Hvergelmir confirmed dismally. "Sorry. The Negaverse is led by a being called Metallia -- and she tells them to kill people and drain their energy in order to give her power. But the party line on their side is that we're aliens trying to conquer Earth and they need all the power they can get to stop us. Whereas on our side, most people are fighting because they're trying to protect people from being killed." She shrugged. "All that matters on either side is their fear about what would happen if they stopped fighting."