Welcome to Gaia! ::

Friday nights were always an adventure. As Scylla didn't henshin on Saturday nights unless there was a specific need, she was always full of nervous energy on Friday, looking forward to a full day off. Especially after the poundings she had been taking lately- both emotional and physical.

Tonight, she was settled on a bench at the park, considering some of the things she was coming to learn, about herself, and about others. Scylla didn't much like introspective nights; they felt awkward and confusing and far too much of a focus on her own flaws and foibles and awkward little quirks than she was comfortable with identifying.

She needed a distraction, and for the first time she was almost hoping for a youma attack so she wouldn't have to think about anything else. Not the risks that came with existence, now, not the scramble of her thoughts and feelings, not the fact she was actually contemplating stepping up her game, and moving back into properly 'playing ball' as a senshi.

The approach of a small aura didn't phase her; it was clearly an Order signature. The sound of a child's light, clear voice, however, was more startling than Scylla would like to admit. She tilted her head, taking in the source of the aura and the voice with a soft sigh.

Chibis. They bothered her on so many levels- their youth, their innocence, and being put to war. It was better than dead, at least, but...

With two six-year-olds she was caring for at home, the worry that they could be dragged into this was stronger than ever, and these little soldiers were a reminder that one day, she might-- no. Not what she wanted to consider.

"I am an Eternal," she said instead with a smile, patting the bench next to her. "Please, sit with me." her dark hair fell over her shoulder as she asked, "You were at the big battle? Did you come because you got the alert on your phone?"

She listened to the younger senshi's question and introduction with the same respect she would give an older senshi; Ara was a warrior now, whether the mother in Scylla liked it or not. "You saw me at the battle the other day," Scylla clarified after a moment. "Why did you come to the battle, Ara?" s**t, the other senshi just looked so young.

A light bulb lady? Were they in the same fight? She had seen Ara's name as she had written out the thank you noted... But she couldn't remember having heard about an electric light bulb head. "Good job hitting her with your bat," she said after a moment. "Magic won't always do the trick, but it is one of the best weapons we have." kidneys. At least Ara knew about those.

She stretched out her legs. "It depends on how you want to be strong, Ara. There are lots of different ways to be strong. Some people are strong because they can fight the bad things. Some people are strong because their hearts can carry heavy burdens but they still smile and be kind. And other people are strong because they keep sharing light and hope, even when everything looks bad."

What kind of strong did Ara want to be?

No I didn't check my phone, why is there another battle?
I saw the distress thing on my phone.

Jada ducked her head, hiding her smile from the younger senshi. "That is exactly what a senshi is supposed to do," she confirmed, pleased, "But a senshi must also be careful, when they can."

Leaning back, she considered. "My music does something similar," she mused. "I think it has to do with the way that youma are magical. So magic does better to fight them. Just like knights do better to fight Lieutenants, because they have a different kind of magic in them." she tapped her leg, considering. "You are very right, Ara. You have to be clever and use the biggest weapon you have." she reached over, and tapped her lightly on the head. "That brain. Magic is a tool, Ara. We're the weapons, because we decide where the tool is being used."

She sat up, shifting position again. "Sounds like you want to be a very big hero. Lucky you're starting so young, then. That kind of strong takes a long time."

The officers that felt her level? And what level was that? Scylla had been told chibi were weaker in so many ways, and the idea of one on the battlefield was more than frightening. A parent not knowing when they might wake up that their child was dead was horrible enough; worse, when they were as young as this girl looked to be.

"I'm Scylla," she shared, "And I am senshi of The Kraken. I'll tell you what my magic does, but first I want to know what you think my magic might do. Do you know what The Kraken was, Ara?" she kept her tone curious, not condescending; some little girls knew more than others.

"I've been a senshi for more than 7 years." That was one question she would answer without another one! Longer than Giulia and Aidan had been alive, she'd been fighting this fight... gods. Too long, sometimes, and so little to show for it. And she hadn't even been fighting it the whole time.

Considering the girl, she wondered what she could say. Show her how to get strong, when even Scylla didn't know? "Every hero gets strong a little differently," she said after a moment. "Like Herakles wasn't strong the way Odysseus was, or Jason. Every hero is a little different, so there isn't any one way for you to get strong. You'll have to figure it out for yourself, Ara." she paused for a moment, then said, "But if I come up with any ideas that can help you, I'll let you know. There are groups of senshi- teams, courts, people who all want to be a certain kind of strong. You can look for one of them, if you want. Make friends?"

Jada considered Ara carefully, thinking her words through before answering. "Monster is relative, Ara. You're right, Scylla was the creature Odysseus encountered, and Charybdis was the other." purple eyes took in the younger girl, wondering how much of the actual story she might be old enough to understand. Greek Mythology was full of rape, and horror, and she was certain the girl wasn't ready for that.

"The Kraken isn't scary, Ara," Scylla told her with a laugh. "When the Great One first surfaced, he destroyed the land, and it flung into the sky like droplets of water. How, then, were the people to live? The first of the senshi went and prayed to the great one, begging, for his people. The Great One heard their lamentations, and he breathed into the sea. The coral grew, and the branches filled the sky, holding it high, so that the pieces flung there could not fall. Then he shared his power, so that those he had harmed in his unknowing, could be protected, and safe from what he had done."

Admittedly.... "I know Earth doesn't view him the same way, but they just forgot where he came from."

Patting the seat back next to her, she grinned at Ara. "I know a little bit, I guess. Every day is a school day, though. You learn one new, special thing. And of course you can add me! I'm not available on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays, but any other night you can call me. And if it is an emergency, you can call me on those other nights and I'll do my best."

"That's a very kind compliment, Ara," Scylla said, her face lighting with pleasure. "You're quite pretty yourself. I'm not going to say Scylla and I look that much alike- I don't think I have any wolf heads, unless you see something behind me." she tossed the girl a playful, friendly, conspiratorial wink."But I also haven't started trying to pull people off of a boat and eat them, so I am going to say I'm one up on both a Kraken and a Scylla."

Nodding her head to Ara's next question, Jada beamed. "It was our creation story. I-" she couldn't say she remembered it- did Ara know about past lives? "It was one of the first things I learned." a careful turn of phrase. Not a lie, but not the whole truth. "I've not met the Great One, any more than someone might have met Thor, or Zeus. It's a legend."

Her mind drifted back to the fossil, to the sheer size of the beast that had been, and she added- "I think."

Leaning in, she tilted her head. "You got it right when you guessed earlier. I grab the bad guys, and I stop them."

Scylla's eyes lit with some affection as the child giggled and smiled, and the older senshi leaned in. "Very pretty, Ara. And also very young. When you fight, remember that your most important job is going to be being careful. If you start getting hurt, your parents might take you away from the city. Mine did. The first part of "

Wiping a hand over her brow, she added, "I'm glad you didn't see a wolf's head though. That would have been hard to explain when I powered down later!" Something about Ara made her think of Giulia, and the thought of her little sister being dragged into this...

"I suppose they could be," she agreed with a smile. "Some people think the ancient Egyptians from thousands of years ago were aliens. And we senshi were last here only a thousand years ago. So who is to say those ancient legends didn't come from the users of magic, not gods?" it was something she had thought of before, and presented the idea to Ara now with interest.

"And it can be pretty cool. It can also be kind of scary," Scylla confessed, "it's very easy to get lost in the magic."