Hair pulled back into a french braid which hung over her shoulder, she grabbed her belongings and headed towards the exit in haste.
Convention season had already arrived and she still didn’t have a new costume finished. Unfortunately the roommate situation with Harvey fell through due to personal reasons on his part which left her with the full mortgage payment each month plus utilities. It’s not that it wasn’t doable, otherwise she wouldn’t have been approved for the loan, but it did mean there were several months over the course of the absurdly long winter where she was barely scraping by. Hobbies unfortunately had to take a back seat.
Upon approach the automatic doors opened yawning wide enough that a sharp gust of wind blew inside. Spring time, mother nature at her best… Melody shook her head almost disapprovingly at how temperamental the weather had become; if only it would make up its mind.
Despite being deep in thought the quick glimpse of a familiar face caused her to pause in the doorway only to be bumped from behind by another woman with a cart. “Oof.” She stumbled forward only to glare sharply at the back of the woman's head when she brushed by for not even apologizing.
Annoyance aside she glanced around the corner of the exit and spotted the raven haired beauty walking away. “Hey!” she hollered loud enough to cause a few people to stop and look at her funny. “Delilah!”
The sound of her name had caused Delilah to stop. A jerk back of her head sent her long ponytail flying around nearly enough to smack her in the face when it came to a stop. She really needed to go in for a trim. An annoying hand wave to pick the strands out from her mouth gave her enough time to look silly.
By the time she got the last piece off her tongue, she had been able to steal a glance up. “Sorry about that.” The young woman sputtered, walking back towards the exit with her own bags. Clearly she had not done as much shopping as her former employer but...well…
“Let’s try this again!” Beaming a smile, Delilah didn’t wait to be asked. She hugged the woman who had kicked her a** several times over last summer. “How are you? Have another big show coming up?” Her eyes went to the bag.
The question startled a laugh out of Melz. “Ha! When isn’t there one? But no, this is for a personal project. I missed PAX East this year so a friend of mine got tickets for PAX West.” Yes that meant she would be flying to Seattle for a week but it’d be well worth the trip. “Gotta get that costume made,” She winked at Delilah before letting her go and taking a step back to give the girl some breathing room.
It was the mention though of the con that made her eyes light up. “Really? Sneak peak?” With a side step, she moved closer to the bag as if to look into it only to have Melody hide it behind her back with a ‘tsk’.
“Anywho, things are going well for the most part. Ironically, Grace and I were talking about you a few days ago.” Melody nodded almost as-a-matter-of-factly with an almost mischievous grin on her face. “You know, you really spoiled us last year. You’ve been missed!” It was true. Delilah’s dedication was more than they could ask for; late nights before the production, coffee runs and her sewing skills were nearly on par with her own.
“I’m sure I have. Now you have to get your own coffee and pizza.” Delilah retorted with a playful nudge at the many nights she came back with coffee to run out and get dinner to then pray she could find a place open that had the damn buttons the lead had on his costume. Dear lord how did someone gain so much weight in such a short amount of time! “What is showing this time?”
“Don Quixote!” Something fun and light hearted. “So tell me! How is life treating you?”
”Things have been...interesting on my part. I was involved in an unfortunate situation earlier this year so yet again nothing has been going as planned. My father is thrilled though because I’m taking a math class. He doesn’t seem to understand it’s just for the general education requirements...poor man still thinks I will wake up and be an accountant.”
“As much as I want to say he’ll come around, he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man that is about to change.” Which was unfortunate because Delilah was a very talented young woman and could go far if her parents at least supported her; not necessarily financially but at least emotionally.
“Where're you heading?” Melody asked curiously as she had nowhere else to be, at least not immediately.
“Some place you may never believe.” Delilah admitted with a smile, giving her a few minutes to either make a face or take a guess before nodding her head down the road.
She had been around beautiful fabric and pieces that dirt had never entered her mind as something she might go for. Yet alone keeping plants alive? But...“The plant nursery down the road.” was her answer as she shifted the bag she was carrying of thread and small pieces of fabric to the other hand.
“I came by to pick up a few things to finish a present for a friend but now I’m heading there. I have some plants back at home that need a new pot. The one my mother gave me is...well…” Looking away, she seemed as if she was trying to find something nice to say. All that came to mind was how ugly it was. “Lacking in any redeeming qualities. And it leaks…”
The attempt at trying so hard to put a positive spin on something so obviously displeasing elicited a laugh from the older woman. “If it wasn’t for the fact it sounds like the thing is broken I’d say a new coat of paint or something would be in order. It’s the thought that counts right?” Melody offered as a silver lining as she fell in step beside Delilah.
“Too true. She did try. But I think I’ll tell her to stick to dishes from now on.” Delilah let out a chuckle. The gesture had been sweet. It was just the result of the water stained wood table that had not been so wonderful.
“Mind if I accompany you? My porch could use a little color; maybe a small hanging basket.” She shrugged. It’d have to be something light enough to carry all the way back to the fabric store where she parked her car.
The question had surprised Delilah but it did lighten her face. “Of course not! I would love the company and to hear more about what is going on with everyone. Is Greg still trying to prove he’s better than everyone else there? And Margie. Now that she has to make her own coffee again, she is still complaining about ‘where is the sugar’ even with 10 packs in it.”
It was always fun to go down memory lane. While it wasn’t that long ago, it honestly still felt like a lifetime to her. How thing change.
“We actually hired two people recently. One person, Justin, is dedicated set building while Connie is the secretary I guess? I’m not entirely sure what her job description is but she has taken over the coffee role and actually bought Margie a one pound bag of sugar to keep in her desk.”
“Let me tell you, that was a baaadddd idea.” Melody tried to suppress a laugh and succeeded for the most part but the smile nearly broke her face. “Marg forgot to put a clip on the bag or seal it in some way so last month we had a big ant problem” In the kitchen are, buffet table, personal desks and even her sewing kit; which is how Melz found out it had a crack in the bottom beneath the tray.
“You know, you really should come say hello at some point. I know Grace would love to see you again.” The three of them made a pretty flawless team especially at crunch time. There were very few wardrobe malfunction because, to be honest, Delilah knew her s**t. When it was just the two of them, time was not a luxury grace or Melz were allotted if the person was going on stage in 5; if the repair wasn’t done then it wasn’t done and the garment would be taken out of their hands until intermission. Frustrating, but that is why they appreciated Delilah’s help so much and missed her dearly.
“I might if I didn’t think I would be stuck there for a few hours...or days.” Delilah smiled back as they walked. To be honest he would love to go back. Even for the tiffs they really were amazing people to work with. Problem was she always the same though...when duty called, she had to go. But how do you explain to your boss you were late with pizza because a giant fuzzy caterpillar of doom chased you down the street?
You don’t.
But then again, you didn’t tell many people and faced the fallout in the end. Mostly it was just your reputation that ended up ruined after being late so many times. “So if I won’t be put…” Delilah’s words were cut off by the sound of a scream. A woman was screaming ahead of them and Delilah looked up just in time to see her running towards them.
“Help...monster….” She gasped, running straight towards Melz trying to clean to her for anything...for everything. She was panting from running and white as a ghost. “Please. Help. It…” The words choked in her throat and she pointed back down the road. “It has my mother.”
Startled by the panicked woman, Melody looked between her and Delilah in a bit of a shocked stupor. And you left her??? Melz mentally balked.”Uhh…“ What did this girl want them to do? Take off her shoe and hit it upside the head? It’s not like either of them carried guns. “All I got is pepper spray…”
After a few quick seconds of digging around in her purse Melody finally produced the small can. “It’s supposed to work on bears.” She shrugged helplessly. It was something her former roommate, Harvey, got her a year ago or something when she wanted to go on a camping trip with a few friends.
Delilah felt her face go white as she gazed down at the woman. Her mind raced and her first thought was clear: youma. There was not a doubt in her mind as she quickly shot a glance forward towards the direction the woman had come in. She needed to power up. She needed to deal with the mess before…
Red eyes shifted towards Melz and the woman...She needed to make sure they got out of here alive.
“Melz…” Delilah started as she shifted her bags to one hand and began to reach for her purse. “Get her out of here and call 911. Both of you...get back in the store…” Delilah shot the woman she viewed as a friend and mentor a look before shoving her own bag at Melz. “And don’t lose this.”
She didn’t give Melz a moment to respond as she took off running in the direction the woman had come from. Fight now, explain later. Sound plan right?
It really didn’t take much thinking on Melody’s part before she grabbed the woman’s upper arm and gave her a bit of a jarring tug. “Come on!” she almost snapped at the terrified girl. “I’ll be right back!” Purple eyes locked with red for a brief moment “Please don’t do anything reckless.”
Holding Delilah’s bag close to her chest she pushed the woman ahead of her and again told her to ‘just run.’ If the monster had decided to follow them, which to a degree she hoped it didn’t, it would at least allot Delilah enough time to go check on the woman’s mother to safety. Maybe, just maybe, they would be lucky enough to run into a police officer instead of wait for one sitting in some parking lot sipping coffee while listening to the radio waiting for a call to finally show up.
Delilah knew she didn’t have much time to waste. Between Melz and the girl then her mother, she had to pick her transformation moment carefully. A quick glance back to see Melz taking off the other direction and Delilah pulled her pen free of her purse. “Phact Star Power….MAKE UP!” The last bit might have been a bit louder than she meant but as a white light appeared and Delilah shifted forms, her mind raced onto what she needed to do.
It didn’t take her long to find the creature. A second after she powered up Phact could feel the aura of the youma coming from the block over. As she came around the corner though and saw it come into view, the super senshi had to hold back a gag.
There, holding a woman in one of its ten tentacles was a cross between an octopus and a hyena. Standing on four legs and covered in fur, it growled at the new comer, eyeing her as the tentacle holding the woman shifted back. Ten extra arms wiggled as if they had a mind of their own, reaching and grabbing at whatever they could.
“How are people into this stuff…” Phact gagged once more before she wasn’t given much of an option to move. The youma charged at her quickly, hitting her square in the chest with its front shoulder and sending the senshi backwards.
Once in the safety of the craft store Melody grabbed the frantic woman's arm again, nearly giving her whiplash, “I need you to calm down and go over to the Customer Service desk. Tell that what happened and ask them to call 911. They can give the officer the stores address and you can tell them where to go from here ok? Look at me.” Melody snapped her fingers to get her attention. “Ok?”
Wide eyed and in a bit of a stupor like daze the woman finally nodded her reply.
“Oh man..” Melody turned back towards the exit then paused for a moment. “I’m going to feel this tomorrow.” Not to say she was out of shape, but this little sprint did just give her a newfound respect for actresses that could run in heels.
After readjusting the bags in her arms she finally took off out the door, weaving her way between people, toward the general area she had left her former intern. “Delilah!” She hollard hoping the younger woman was near enough to hear her. “DELILAH?”
Phact went sliding once more across the ground. Ten on one, plus teeth, was a bit unfair to say the least. She grabbed two of the tentacles and stopped them from wrapping around her but a third and grabbed her leg. She was airborne before she could scream.
Sliding with a thud, Phact had to shake her head out before she could make out the sound of someone screaming...someone getting closer.
“Aw s**t…” Phact hissed out. She should have known Melz would come back. Should have know her mentor wouldn’t just stay where it was safe.
Pushing up with her left hand, Phact got her feet back under her and stood up just in time to see short and ugly turn it’s attention to the new comer. “Oh no you don’t!” Phact screamed out, launching herself towards the beast once more, this time coming in from behind so she was finally able to land a hit square between the back legs.
“MELZ GET OUT OF HERE!” Phact screamed out as two tentacles wrapped around her chest.
It wasn’t happy.
For a moment Melody stood there, rooted in place by that ‘oh s**t’ fear that renders your mind numb. Where you body wants to move but honestly can’t remember how. Delilah was in trouble, and who the hell knew where the cops were. “I thought I told you not to do anything reckless…” She muttered under her breath once she was finally able to shake that numb feeling out of her body.
Fight and flight were simultaneously kicking into overdrive whereas her body wanted to back peddle away her mind knew that scream; Delilah needed her and despite her warning, Melody couldn’t run away. “Screw it.” Melody’s lips pursed into a thin line as she once more took off running in the direction she heard her name yelled from only pausing for the briefest of seconds to grab the nearest hand held objects off one of the outdoor cafe tables as she zipped by.
Rounding the corner her toe stepped rather firmly on a swath of fabric that pulled taut preventing her from taking another step. Momentum however was a spiteful thing as was gravity and soon Melody found herself stumbling forward, reaching out with her arms to keep from kissing pavement. “What the fu…” She paused, eyebrows furrowed in intense confusion. “What is this!” Where did this dress come from?[
Her thoughts could no more linger on the current topic when she heard the creature snarl from not even half a block straight ahead. What the hell?
Phact couldn’t even manage to get to get out the words about defining reckless next time. If Melz knew the half of what Phact had been through since becoming a senshi then being reckless might have been the last of her worries. But before she got a word out, a woman came stumbled around a corner. Phact’s red eyes saw the woman but dear lord if that mean what she thought it meant….
The youma had sensed the newcomer, quickly turning its eyes on the woman. With a flick of the tentacles, it threw Phact back, sending the senshi into a bush with a thud.
What sounded like a curse and a muffled ‘oof’ came from said bush as clearly the senshi struggled to get free.
All attention on the new being, the youma charged, tentacles waving and teeth born.
“ROLL!” Phact cried out when she could get at least one eye on the situation before a branch yanked her hair back.
Einhornhohle’s head snapped up at the shouted command in time to catch a glimpse of a young woman clad in some sort of white uniform struggling to free herself from a bush she had gotten tangled in.
Before she even had a moment to process what she had said, let alone act on it, the aforementioned monster stepped… crawled… flailed its way between them teeth bared with an angry snarl that to a degree reminded her of the Kraken that swallowed Jack Sparrow but on a thankfully smaller scale. Unfortunately its size didn’t make it any less scary after taking into account how fast the sucker was.
Unable to even utter a sound of profanity Ein gasped loudly and as the girl had instructed she rolled to the side over loose gravel on concrete with a shrill scream.
Yanking hair out of her head as she pulled free of the cursed bush, Phact made a mental note to plant that kind if she ever had kids, outside their windows. But that was neither here nor now. Girl didn’t even have a boyfriend!
Shaking her head clear, red heels clicked forward and she let out a whistle. “Hey ugly!” She followed the whistle with a call out to snap the youma’s attention back towards her. However it didn’t seemed the words phased the creature. Maybe ugly was a term it was used to? Or maybe it was the fact that the woman in the long dress was wearing its favorite color. Phact didn’t know at that moment but she did know that it was following the rolling woman as a dog follows a ball.
“Hey! That isn’t a chew toy!” Phact screamed out, heading towards the pair but being forced to jump back as a tentacle lashed out at her. Two more were working their way towards the woman’s hair.
One roll… two rolls… three rolls… trashcan!
The lid which had been precariously perched upon a overfull bin came clammering down beside her head with a loud, ear rattling, crash. The event in and of itself was both a blessing and a curse in the sense that, while it thankfully missed her head, for the excruciatingly long seconds that followed Einhornhohle was all but deaf in one ear. But as fortune would have it, it did manage to land on one of the tentacles that would have otherwise found purchase around her neck.
It however remained undeterred in its efforts despite withdrawing the appendage with a shrilling cry and instead lashed out with another one, wrapping around her ankle with a constricting grip before throwing her aside like a ragdoll much like what it had done to the other girl.
Gasping for breath the Page of Cosmos rolled onto her side then onto her hands and knees in a futile attempt to gain control of her breath. The alleyway swooned heavily to the right, or rather it seemed that way before her head hit the ground again. Adrenaline was a funny thing in the way it dulled pain that otherwise would be impossible to ignore yet as Ein lay prone on the ground blinking away the spots that clouded her vision she remained unaware of the cut on her head and road rash scrapes down the side of her leg and arm.
The throw had given the youma some distance that it was quickly working to close. Step by step it crept closer to the page, fangs ready to sink into the woman who now had its focus. The tentacle that had been crushed under the lid snaked back and appeared bent on the end but it had others…
Others that were suddenly moving sideways and into the wall with a thud.
Senshi strength was paying off again and Phact was suddenly very glad she was a Super. Not long ago she would have thrown herself at the youma and ended up entangled in those damn octopus legs. Now, she was letting the round trash can do the smacking for her.
The sound of it crashing the youma into the wall echoed around them, and would leave their ears ringing for a few moments.
“I said Sit.” Phact hissed, moving over to stand between it and the downed woman. She wasn’t sure if it was down and out but nothing was moving….
“Can you stand?” She asked over her shoulder.
It took a moment for Einhornhole to even register that the woman, who had previously been entangled in the bushes, was talking to her and another moment to recall what was asked. It felt as if her ears were full of cotton and brain was scrambled with an egg beater which made everything else just that much more discombobulating.
“Hnng...“ She groaned in protest, rolling over over onto her hands and knees she paused briefly while trying to get the vertigo under control. The ******** just happened…?
“Did you say somethin’?” She asked once the disheveled looking page finally noticed the (white and red...half and half) shoes standing between her and that enraged monster, which seemed oddly motionless given the amount of fire it had in its eyes a moment ago. The hell did she do to it??? she wondered with a confused expression and tilt of her head before finally attempting to stand up.
“I asked if you could stand.” Phact’s voice still seemed tense. The senshi only allowed herself a moment more to glance back at the woman before the turned her attention back to the youma. It was struggling against the can she had just thrown. Slowly it would try to stand to only stumble slightly and drop to the ground once more.
Phact saw her chance.
“Enough of you.” The senshi snapped, coming forward and with a thunk, jumped up onto the trash can. Just as her heels clicked on the metal, there was a shift and the can thumped against concrete, sending dust flying off.
Phact jumped back off, stutter stepping to regain her balance as she now gazed at the page….”Please don’t tell me it’s you Melz…”
Einhornhohle watched the spectacle in utter fascination and confusion when the then disappeared into nothingness save for a splattering of dust across the concrete. “Yes…” she replied hesitantly with a groan “No…” she corrected, brows furrowed because another name echoed in her mind. “I have no idea, where the hell are my clothes? Where’s Delilah, she was supposed to be here?”
Grabbing a fistfull of lavender fabric, the page hiked up her torn disheveled looking skirt and assessed the damage. “Please tell me you sent her away from that - thing…” her face contorted into a displeased kind of wince as rivulets of blood ran down the side of her leg. Once the adrenaline of the moment wore off Ein had no doubt this would start to hurt like a b***h; it was already feeling stiff in a way that made it difficult to put weight on her leg.
The look that passed over Phact’s face was as clear as the curse word out of her mouth. “s**t…” Hands came up to her hips and the woman had to shake her head, gazing towards the ground. There really was no way to stop this war from claiming anyone it wanted...no matter how hard you tried. Now her mentor and friend….
With a long, annoyed breath, Phact finally gazed at the woman. The young woman looked worn but all the same, Phact tried to remain claim. It wasn’t Melz’ fault. How could she have known? How could she have ever…
“Your clothes are fine. They will reappear when you return to your civilian form. Think of them as floating around in a hidden pocket of space...along with all your things.” Explaining this never got easier. How could it? “As for Delilah…” Phact did a quick scan around to make sure the coast was clear before she pulled her hands up in front of her chest. A warm light surrounded her and she was back in flats and street clothes. “Sadly, I am her….”
“Excuse me?” Einhornhohle’s eyes widened to the point that the white sclera was fully visible around her purple irises. “Had I not of just seen that I’d think you were daft…” She blinked, half expecting for the woman in white to still be standing in front of her. “Where’s the door out of this Twilight Zone, i’m ready to go home.” I’m losing my mind… I am - ******** - losing my mind… Perhaps that right be true but the aches that were starting to throb all over her body made her painfully aware that while she may have hit her head a bit too hard on the concrete, she was indeed alive and what just happened was in fact real.
“What- just explain- how-I ugh…” The frustrated near growl sound dragged on for a moment. “I can’t even think let alone talk.” Too much happened in a short amount of time and her mind was unable to catalogue things accordingly. It was like walking into a store that was having an epic fabric sale. Naturally she’d wanted everything but eventually it’d be too much to carry and inevitably end up all over the linoleum floor. Such was the case with her own head but instead of trying to pick up the pieces she felt like sitting on the floor crying. “I think i’m having a panic attack….”
Both hands came up to cover her bruised face, brushing fingertips over the egg on her forehead she tried to calm down by taking several deep breaths. This was not ok, none of this was ok.
“Easy now.” Delilah’s voice was warm as she stepped forward, hands reaching out to the woman’s shoulders, worried that in her confused state, and with that goose egg, this form of Melz would hit the ground hard. “Don’t try to rationalize it. It will only make it worse. And I have a feeling…” Red eyes slowly shifted to the goose egg. Softly, she tried to brush Melz’s hands out of the way to take a look at it. “You are about to have a headache anyway…”
“Just keep breathing slowly and focus on my voice.” Delilah tried to find her eyes to make sure they weren’t dialating. “If you want to change back, focus on returning to being Melody. Just think about dismissing this magic and it will revert back to normal.” She wasn’t going to add the ‘for now’ she was thinking about. “Do you need to sit?”
Usually so composed under stressful situations Melody nodded her head, hands shaking, then slowly lowered herself back down and leaned her back against the wall she had been thrown against. think about being melody, I’m Melody, what about me do I need to think about? What I was wearing today? …. What was I wearing today…
Einhornhohle’s face became expressionless, a blank slate if you will. “We were outside the craft store. You gave me something to hold onto- i think… Maybe. I left the woman there and told her to call the cops… I don’t know where out things are…” There it was, that moment of absolute dread. Like watching a movie on a slideshow projector, the events began to fall into a more chronological sequence
“Delilah-” The page fell silent when a glimmer of gold in her peripheral shone like a white hot launce in the corner of her eye. There it was, the last piece, or rather the first… “That-” Einhornhohle pointed at the lantern lying over near the trashcan she had rolled into. “I picked it up to hit that monster and then this,” she gestured to the dress she was wearing. “This happened. What is that thing?” A rather unassuming lamp at first but quite obviously a whole lot more than that.
Delilah moved with her, making sure she didn’t sit on anything or hurt herself further. Dropping to her knees, the woman kept herself composed even as she saw a hand shoot out towards something. “That?” Delilah muttered, finally catching a glimpse of the pure gold item. Rising up, her feet carried her slowly over towards the trash can. With a grace she had taken on since becoming a senshi, Delilah picked up the lantern and moved back towards Melody…”Since I can’t call you by your real name in that outfit…”
Setting the lantern down next to them, Delilah returned to the ground herself and took one tense hand into both of hers. “What is your name Page of Cosmos?”
“My name is M-,” she paused for a moment because while she wanted to say her real name, another name basically screamed out in her mind. “Ein-horn-hohle…” she spoke the name slowly as if testing the word before committing to it. “Einhornhohle?” the blond haired woman repeated, this time a bit more confident on the pronunciation.
The sound of the word brought a smile of Delilah’s face. Slowly she lowered herself to sit on the ground besides the woman and wrapped her legs around her. “A pleasure Einhornhohle….I hope I am saying that right.” she offered with a chuckle. “From now on, when you walk around in this form, don’t ever give your civilian name. You are Einhornhohle, Page of Cosmos. And this…” Her hand reached out and grabbed the top of the lantern. Pulling it back towards her, Delilah held it up. “Is your weapon. Which based on size, you got lucky compared to a few others.”
Silence fell over her as she gazed down at the item. Her smile began to fade at the edges and her hand slipped from the gold lantern. “To which will allow you to become Einhornhohle and fight the forces of chaos that wish to make this world their own....” Red eyes now seemed to glaze over. She hated this part….with a passion.
“You are a knight in war older than any of us. A war that has gone on over a thousand years….” Biting her tongue, Delilah kept from saying much more about reincarnation. If what Xan told her was true, Knights could be either or. Melz would have to find out on her own. “Well, basically you are a magical girl now….”
“Girl?” Einhornhohle looked down at her boobs then back up at Delilah with a raised brow; a bit of her normal humor peeking through the haze of confusion.
“I guess when they say anything can be used as a weapon, they meant it.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice like butter from a fresh corn on the cob hot off the grill. The thing looked like it belonged on a white table as a centerpiece for a tea party than some sort of weapon.
Once the lantern was back in her hands, Ein stared at it absently for a moment. In the seconds that followed the page could feel herself calming down somewhat. None of it made sense still but at least her heart didn’t feel like it was trying to pound its way out of her chest anymore. Although, that headache Delilah had mentioned was indeed starting to make its presence known in a rather uncomfortable way.
“So what I’m getting is we’ve been conscripted into joining some fight that’s been going on forever.” She snorted incredulously. “I half expect to hear the booming voice of god or some narrator of this otherworldly story to offer me a quest or a red and blue pill or something...now what?” She asked, setting the lantern down next to her so she could rub her temples. “Is there some sort of how-to training guide? Is someone going to shine a--” he hand waived in the air a few times trying to think of the world “A Batman thing. The search light-. Are we going to be signaled to whatever?”
The single word made a tweak of a smirk appear back on Delilah’s face. That was the Melz she knew and loved shining through all this. Of course she would be quick to pick up on the fact her body was well past being a girl. But she did have a point...heck, she’d seen a teapot as a weapon.
For a moment she wondered how that Venus knight had been but Ein’s voice pulled her back to the reality that was before them. Delilah had to blink at the Batman reference and the red pill blue pill. It had been FAR too long since she had seen Matrix trailers on TV (Sorry Neo, you bored her) and the Batman light she all but forgot about. Did they even have that in Batman Begins?
“Can I tell you how I wish it was that easy?” delilah’s face seemed to almost look like she was growling at the idea of a light coming on to call them into action. “No, the universe seems to enjoy the idea of ‘Happy Birthday! Have Magic! Figure it out on your own!” Rolling her eyes, Delilah reached into her pocket where her pen had gone to. Holding it up, she continued trying to explain. “The traditional idea is we go out on patrols. Comb an area looking for beings of chaos. Creatures like…” She nodded towards the dust pile “...that and the humans who have chosen the side of the Negaverse. Don’t say it...I know the name sounds silly.” Delilah threw up a finger to stop her but was a second too late to keep Ein from making a snorting sound at the ridiculous name.
“But what you will find is that you will pick up a feeling...an aura of sorts. Each side gives off their own. Chaos is dark and twisted. Order is more friendly. If I was powered up, you would sense mine. But it’s also why I wish you would try again to power down...an agent could find you like this and well…” Delilah glanced again at the goose egg. “Heaven help his or her soul if they poked you.”
“Okay- I’ll try.” Again the page of cosmos try to at least recall what she had been wearing before leaving the house this morning. Closing her eyes she tried to visualize herself standing in front of the bathroom mirror blow drying her hair with a blue towel wrapped around her torso and a bra hanging off of the door knob.
At first she wasn’t entirely sure if she was doing it right but when the uncomfortable sensation of jean fabric pressed against the scrapes on her leg- oh, she knew. “Ugh, this is going to suck going home.” Walking sounded like the furthest idea from fun she had ever had.
“Where did the weapon go?” Melody asked noting its absence once she opened her eyes. “And.. I- think that’s our stuff.” She pointed to the bags a few feet away.
Delilah visibly relaxed when she watched the dress shift to once more become street clothes. At least now they would not be pegged as a target...easily.
“Remember when I said your clothes went into a safe place? Well...so does your weapon. It will reappear either when you want it or need it. I never quite understood that part of being a Knight.” She hated admitting that but there was truth in it. A senshi and a knight were slightly different even if they fought on the same side.
“And I can give you a ride if your leg needs it.”
“Ugh, “ Melody let out a groan as she shifted where she sat. A test to see how difficult it would be to stand up. “Yes please.”
“If you could at least take me to my car that would be great. I don’t want it to get towed if at all possible.” That was an expense she really couldn’t afford right now.
“You know… if it wasn’t that I hurt so much I’d say you n’ I need to go get drinks. Because it sounds like you have a lot more to explain to do.” Blonde hair swayed as Melody shook her head with a chuckle. “Not now though, it already feels like my head's about to explode.” Probably looked like it was about to too; with that angry looking bump on her head it.
“Melz,” Delilah smirked as she slowly began to stand, offering her friend a hand and anything else she needed to get off the ground. “When you get that bump off your head, drinks are on me. Because we have so much to discuss now. Including now I can tell you why some of those pizza runs took me so long to get back.”
“Oh the plot thickens…” Melody smirked.
Leaving the statement at that, Delilah felt her smile falter. “Do me a favor though. Until we talk or someone else fills you in on some key things, don’t touch that lantern. I…” Delilah took a deep breath and then smiled. “I don’t want to see you face something more dangerous than the henti thing we just took on.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t have any intention on going near it until all this,” she gestured with her hands as words were not being very forthcoming when explaining something of this complexity. “Is explained. Work is hellish as is with those premadonna's thinking their problems are the world's problems and need to be solved immediately. I never expected to actually add demon monsters to the mix.”
Yes, it is true, there had been coverage of these things on the media from time to time which is why Melody often opted out of watching the news and avoided the click-bait articles on yahoo and the likes. It was all simply too depressing and so she willfully removed herself from all of that only to find herself grapple hooked and pulled into it despite an adamant attempt to remain apart.
“Help me up?” The expression on Melz face was next to pathetic as she raised her most functional arm and reached out for some support.
Delilah reached down without questioning and gave her the support she needed to rise. Offering her arm and shoulder should Melz need it, she worked to lead the woman back to the cars. “Melz, it doesn’t get any easier….just you find more people to help you.”
“Mmm…” Melody’s lips pursed both because of the pain brought on from the act of walking and in response to her former interns last statement. “More networking; fantastic!” Sarcasm dripped from her voice like ice-cream melting on a hot summer day.
Meeting new people was great and all but most situations revolved around hobbies or career paths. This however was something she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to be a part of yet. Especially if they involved more of those monster things that, by the sound of it, were attracted to her ‘aura’ or whatever it was Delilah had called it.
“Looks like you will be the one introducing me around this time.” Melody leaned heavily against Delilah as they walked slowly in a turtle paced three legged race back towards the parking lot.
Delilah could only chuckle as she listened to her mentor and friend. They had a long way to go. She wasn’t worried about Melz making friends though...that was easy.
Enemies though...all the easier.
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Coding got lost but it's 15 pages of docs
