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 Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 3:41 pm
Themisto considered himself a down-to-Earth sort of man, someone still yet discovering who he was as a person and as a senshi. A super senshi now, and what he had accomplished to ascend to that rank, he still didn’t quite understand. Whatever made Itsuki decide to upgrade him that night, Themisto may never know.
He had a connection to Earth and to humanity that he lacked the words to describe, one he strongly believed his sister lacked. The luminescent markings swirling across her body proved to him that she’d severed that connection some months ago. There were eyes on her body where eyes should not be, and out of the corner of his peripherals, Themisto was positive those eyes were looking right at him. Zachary Calloway was convinced his sister had given her body and soul to some rock floating in space to fight a war in which he was reconsidering his participation.
And the thought of giving up one’s autonomy, one’s body and mind to some space rock was creepy beyond words. He wanted nothing to do with whatever this “transcendence” claimed to be. Kallichore was the first and only he knew of that had performed such a ritual, and had hoped no others followed this path. They were humans above all else. They were not senshi first, they were mortals, humans with lives and families here in Destiny City. Their path should have been determined by their decisions and their own actions, not by some cosmic past some people - like his sister - were so determined to unearth.
Therefore, her request to him seemed more offensive than anything else.
“You want me to go with you, into space, to watch you while you hail Satan and go crazy and trip serious balls, and maybe vomit on yourself, in the hope that space-god will tell you the winning lottery numbers.”
The gray-haired young man scowled at his sibling, crossing his arms and leaning against the air conditioning unit atop the grocery store on which they were chatting. Kallichore, for what it was worth, seemed unfazed by his response. She was expecting it. She curled her fingers together, holding them just above her belly, covering the eyes adorning her with long white sleeves. The city’s haze wafted through their clothing and Kallichore kept her eyes - his eyes, they were just the same - trained on him, even as he looked away. “...I understand you don’t like this. I can ask someone else if you don’t feel comfortable with the proposition.”
Themisto scoffed, turned away from her to scowl into the night air. “...you’re just gonna do it no matter what I say, aren’t you?”
She nodded in response.
“You’ve been so out of it ever since you came back with those eyeballs everywhere. It’s creepy. The whole thing is creepy, and you want to make it worse? Are you gonna come back with a mouth on your a** or somethin’?”
Themisto received a chuckle in response, to which he rolled his eyes.
“Do you know why I do this?”
“I sure do. It’s creepy. You’re creepy. Creepy is like the flame to your moth. You didn’t even tell me you were a senshi, and now you’re gonna go do the electric slide with Lucifer so maybe he’ll tell you some universal secret about the future or some bullshit. You know this is crazy, right?” His eyes returned to her form, which did not waver in the slightest. More stoic than before, less emotional. Less human as far as Themisto was concerned. He wasn’t even sure it was his sister that stood before him. In Themisto’s eyes, Kallichore and Christabelle were two separate people, and the senshi was slowly devouring the sister he thought he knew.
She tilted her head, gray hair spilling over a shoulder on which a belt held her sleeve to her fuku proper. “I was more concerned for your safety, Zach. There was a very real threat of the Negaverse finding your connection to me, and having something terrible befall you or dad. I couldn’t live with myself if I’d given that connection away and came home to find both of your dead or corrupted into youma. Things were brutal and bloody then. Many had their families threatened or killed simply for powering up in the wrong place. I didn’t wish to, but I had to separate myself from the family to try and stop the war, so both of you would survive.”
His gaze lowered, finding a spot on the ground where water had stained the roof some years past. Suddenly, it was incredibly interesting.
“...you think Lucifer’s gonna let you in on some kinda crazy secret that’ll blow the lid off the war and fix everything?”
Kallichore shrugged, as if Themisto had asked whether she wanted split pea soup or a tuna melt for dinner and she had no opinion either way. Mundane. Almost irrelevant. “If the universe decides I’m worthy of such information, then I would hope to learn it. It never hurts to simply ask, right?” Her voice was smooth, even, wholly unlike the frenzy possessing every fiber of her being a few years ago. The fury was gone, the bloodlust subsided. The third eye had opened.
“I still think it’s hella creepy but… alright, I’ll check this s**t out. If you puke on yourself, I’m takin’ pictures.”
She chuckled again, a smile crossing her features.
Themisto wordcount: 560
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:49 pm
Themisto only had two previous excursions into space to compare this to. The execution was the same - tuning into the song of one’s star or planet and concentrate. Press the button on your senshi cellphone and the world melts and shifts around you, transporting who to somewhere on the surface of the homeworld of the life before this one. Themisto thought rebirth was simply fantasy or a promise of certain religions. According to Denebola, her previous life still had a strong grip on her present life. Themisto’s did not, appearing as a ghost or a memory just as real as his sister standing next to him. He was an attractive, larger and taller man with stubble the likes of which made women fan themselves. It wasn’t fair, he decided, that he was reborn to be so… skinny.
That being the case, Themisto wasn’t prepared for the shocking amount of green that blanketed Kallichore’s moon. It was a verdant valley full of an ocean of emerald grasses swaying in a sweet sea breeze. Mountains rose high in the distance, cradling this valley in its stony arms. Trees dotted the land, tall and sturdy, having seen the rise and fall of the civilization that sprawled here thousands of years before. Standing on the marble steps of Oracle Castle, Themisto took a moment of silence to simply observe the scene before him, breathing slowly and deeply. It was a sharp contrast to the earthy, murky, foggy smell of his homeworld. Where Kallichore was bright and vibrant, Themisto was dull and gray like the sibling’s hair, the city sleeping deep beneath a humid haze.
“You didn’t say this place was so damn… green.”
Another chuckle greeted his ears, carried on the wind. His sister stood a few steps above him on the white marble steps that rose lazily into the mountains to bring them to the base of the castle. It looked straight from a fantasy novel of his youth, high white towers rising through the crags of stony mountains. The double stone doors carved with an alien script were waiting for them. “You didn’t ask, Themisto.”
“Oh yeah,” he scoffed, turned away from the greenery to start the slow climb in these damn shoes with too-thick soles. Better than geta, but still. “Gee Kalli, let’s compare green. Are you more phthalo or hunter? At least it’s not all foggy and stuff, but… I dunno, I expected something more…” The young man sighed, climbing one step at a time if only to keep from tripping and falling on his face. Marble wasn’t exactly soft, and the staircase offered no safety railing whatsoever. Perhaps it existed at some point in the past, but for now, Themisto made sure to learn towards the mountains. He made a mental note to ask Itsuki to make him better shoes. Maybe senshi-flavored running shoes. That would be fantastic. “...more crazy.”
Kallichore gave another unenthusiastic shrug before continuing to ascend the stairs. “I thought the same thing, maybe years ago. I, for one, am glad it isn’t.”
Themisto kept up that train of thought, mumbling somewhat to himself though loud enough for his sister to hear. “...you know, all I’m late for a very important date all… Alice in Bullshitland with the crackho caterpilar and the Tweedle Dorks.”
“One makes you larger?” she asked, placing a gloved hand against the carved stone doors to let him inside. The castle itself would have been musty if not for the gaping holes left behind by the passage of time and weathering of storms. White marble as far as the eye could see on this base level, words carved into the walls and ceiling, none of which they could read. Sunshine peeked through the holes in the ceiling in golden rays, illuminating the ancient dust that hung in the air. A staircase leading downward into the darkness stood before them, beckoning. To their right were other rooms carved deeper into the mountain. Another set of marble stairs curved upwards on their left, the levels above of little consequence on this trip.
Themisto elbowed his sister in the back. “One makes you nuttier, like a fruit cake.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Am I a fruit cake, Themisto?” Not that she minded either way. She motioned for him to follow her downstairs, where the pool of water she sought was hidden. The staircase curved deeper and deeper, widened as it went, their footsteps echoing in a clattering of noise the castle hadn't heard in years.
He reached out to trace his hand over the carvings, finding them almost dizzying in their swirling masses. This language did not resemble anything he was familiar with, and used no English script. His homeworld was more Asian in influence and while he knew nothing of Asian languages, the young man had a basic idea of what Chinese and Japanese and Koreon looked like. These looked like a mass of swirls a young child might have drawn if their crayon was a chisel.
With a sigh, Themisto did not comment on the darkness they were wandering into and did not crack jokes about crazy axe-murderers preferring creepy basements. “...nah, more Mad Hatter than dud Christmas gift you give the aunt you don’t like.”
Themisto word count: 572
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:59 pm
"What's all this say, Kalli?"
Themisto had stopped at the end of the staircase, where the route stopped in a foyer of sorts before continuing down into the darkness. Creepy axe-murderer basements abound, for certain. Themisto was positive insanity-driven child-murder probably happened down there. Baby sacrifice. The worship of googly-eyed space monsters while wailing in Latin. That was probably a thing that a society full of crazy people did, right? Probably. He'd seen Alice in Wonderland a few times himself (the Disney version was still freakishly scary, he contended, and nobody was going to change that opinion) and was simply waiting for the Red Queen to bust out of a wall, Kool-Aid Man style, ready to behead one or both of them.
Or maybe they all got stoned out of their minds and listened to the ancient equivalent of the Grateful Dead.
"I wish I knew," came a calm reply. A crimson-gloved hand traced some of the swirling literature spanning the length of the wall, from floor to ceiling, in a circular narrative she couldn't penetrate. "This writing spans the entire length of the castle as far as I can tell. Most available surfaces are written on, even the floor in some places. They must have been very fond of the written word. I can't read any of it, however. Even in the two years I've been researching, I have yet to find anything resembling a cipher."
"Or they crazy and went bonkers on their walls cuz they smoked all their paper." Themisto snickered. That was a good one. Buncha crazy crack-hoes, probably, all high on space-meth or something.
Her voice echoed on the walls oddly, and Themisto turned to find his sister had disappeared. The room in which they stood, a foyer of sorts, was circular and white marble as the castle was everywhere else. The carvings cast strange shadows in the dim light that peeked through cracks in the outermost walls. The room itself was likely no more than twenty feet in diameter, and being rounded, there were no corners in which to hide. "Or that. Themisto, follow me please. We have work to do."
The younger senshi balked, hearing without seeing. "UM, EXCUSE YOU." he sputtered, logically assuming she went down the next curving staircase without being heard. Shouldn't her heels make a clicking sound against this kind of stone? He knew Eternal-ranked senshi moved faster and were stronger than someone of his own rank, but that didn't grant them ninja powers!
....Did it?
"This way, please." came another gentle nudge and Themisto whirled around, finding no other way his sister could have disappeared. Her voice emanated from somewhere behind him and he whirled around in response.
"You're just doing this to mess with me and I don't like it."
He nearly jumped from his skin, pressing his back to the nearest wall so as not to tumble backwards down the stairs and into axe-murderer darkness when his sister's face melted out of the wall and into his view. Themisto was downright horrified. All he could see was her face and a portion of her throat, but the rest of her body was hidden. The wall itself stood as solid and immovable as any other wall in the castle, and did not so much as shimmer or shake with her sudden appearance.
Kallichore chuckled lightly in response. "Illusory wall. The mythical space-crack, I think you called it, is back here, hidden away. Walk with me or you might find it stretches on forever."
"I knew it. See, I told you there was some crazy nonsense all up in here." Themisto begrudgingly followed Kallichore's lead, closing his eyes as if walking through the marble wall was like diving into a pool of water. The young man found it as easy as walking through air, no resistance whatsoever finding his skin and hair and fuku as he quickened his pace to keep up with his elder. "You've got a hallway of keep with the guide or be lost until you die. Talk about excellent security systems."
"ADT hadn't been invented yet. They had to work with what was available."
All other things considered, Themisto was always talkative and good company as far as she was concerned. He always had an opinion on something, or some catchphrase or reference to make. Things were not quiet with Themisto in tow, his gregariousness part of his charm. She hoped he stayed that way during his tenure in the war, that his experiences wouldn't crush his spirit.
Walking beside her, one sibling shoulder-to-shoulder with another, Themisto let out the breath he was holding. "So... it goes on forever... why? To keep people from raiding the stash of space-crack for their own," He raised his fingers and twiddled them like a cartoon villain from the 1960's. "nefarious devices? Maybe your moon was a hub of hallucinogenic drug trade. Come get your enlightenment with six solid hours of energy before you crash and burn like a washed-up office worker."
Kallichore chuckled. Themisto always did have a way with words.
Themisto word count: 584
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:44 pm
The super senshi thought his own sphere of power, and therefore, his moon, were at odds with who he was as a person. He had no inherent interest in Asian cultures (though their food was good) and he didn’t consider himself a warrior by any means. This small town he and Denebola visited wasn’t familiar in the slightest, the musty smells and foggy air jogging no memory of the past. It felt alien, foreign, uninviting. It was too quiet a place, like a graveyard, misty waters flowing somewhere beneath the blanket of fog through which he could not see. Things were hidden there, tucked away, waiting, sleeping. Themisto felt as though he’d barely scratched the surface of what the moon could hold for him, but unlike his sister, he had no real compulsion or desire to explore it much further. There ghost of the man who wore his fuku and spoke to Elu as a friend was spookier than it was interesting, and Denebola’s shock and revulsion caused the senshi not to feel guilty about skipping trips.
Kallichore, on the other hand (the moon, not the sibling) was shockingly different than Themisto had assumed it would be. The young man pictures mad tea parties, screaming throngs of people wearing blood and war paint, shifting labyrinths of eyes and tears, the stuff of nightmares. Dreamscapes. Illogical hallways folding in on themselves like origami paper. A frightening place to fit a frightening source of power.
To his amazement, nothing of the sort (save for the hidden wall, which he thought was complete bullshit) was there to greet him. Kallichore’s castle - called Oracle - seemed straight out of a childhood fantasy novel. Rolling fields of emerald grasses swaying in a sweet, sea-scented breeze, tucked between sturdy gray mountains, under a full blue sky. No rain, no sudden storms, no shrieking multi-mawed monstrosity piercing the heavens. A white castle in the distance, carved in marble and shining in the sun, with a beautiful princess awaiting rescue in the highest tower. She was captured by an evil king - perhaps her father - and forced to sing until her knight in shining armor---
“Themisto? Are you alright?”
The younger senshi sputtered in response. Lost in a daydream, it seemed, he chuckled and brushed it off. “Err… yeah, totally fine. Never better. I’m in space in a castle full’a crazy people. I walked through a wall. There probably aren’t axe-murders in the basement. There’s insane ramblings scribbled all over the walls. It’s great that we can’t read them, ya know, cuz you read that stuff and then POOF! There goes your soul. Everything’s fine. Totally cool.” Themisto linked his fingers together behind his head, elbows in the air at an angle, continuing his walk through the corridor that turned ever so gently. A small blue light was just around the corner. Enticing, but never drawing closer. It was almost move-esque in its hilarity. A never ending hallway. Were they walking on a treadmill and he never noticed? Absently, Themisto cast his gaze to the floor, hoping his sister wouldn’t notice.
She did, though she kept the chuckle to herself. “All of the people on our worlds are gone, Themisto.” Her heels clicked in a stoic rhythm on the cool marble floor, echoing in odd ways on the walls. The hallway felt as though it breathed and shifted almost imperceptively around them as they walked. Her hands were gently clasped behind her back, sleeves swaying with each step. “The animals may be gone on some, but not all. Tsui still had living tigers. I’ve seen a handful of birds and small rodents here, but nothing larger than that. Chaos wiped it all out, long ago. We’re not even sure of the exact timeframe, but senshi have begun their rebirth roughly… eight years ago, now.”
“So it’s a recent thing? This whole war bee-ess hasn’t been happening before that?”
“I’m not sure, to be honest.” She cast a glance at him, her brother two inches taller than her, even with her heels. “The Negaverse has a hold over quite a bit of territory. I’ve heard whispers that they control a vast amount of people and cities, but Destiny City has been a thorn in their side, so to speak. I suppose this means our efforts have been paying off?”
Themisto scoffed, thinking the idea absurd. “...I guess that’s one way of looking at it… I didn’t sign up to be a part of any war.” Brown eyes lit upon the multitude of swirling carvings, squinting at their alien design. Nothing made sense here, which… seemed fitting, though incredibly annoying as far as Themisto was concerned. “I didn’t ask for super powers or this kind’a responsibility. That’s what the military is for. I’m just a cashier.”
Kallichore turned to look at her brother, and even as he was not facing her, he could feel her gaze on his skin. Agitating. “...is that what you think of yourself, Themisto? Just a cashier?”
He couldn’t bring himself to answer, preferring to keep his gaze hidden and his mouth silent.
“If you were just a cashier, you wouldn’t be here, walking with me. You would not power up to save lives like I know you do. The war has pulled us apart, Zach, but I hope, with time, we can be brought back together. Honestly, I was terrified to find out you had been awakened as a senshi. I was hoping you’d stay out of the war as much as any civilian could. Part of the reason I stayed away was to protect you and dad - the Negaverse can and will take any connection we have and severe it in the worst way possible. People’s families have paid the price, and the last thing I wanted for you was for you to bear the brunt of the bloodshed on my behalf.”
Themisto remained silent by her side, walking in a slow rhythm, listening. His eyes strayed from the words carved on the walls to the shining blue light in the distance which never drew closer. He felt stuck here, just as he did in his civilian life. Stuck, like wading through quicksand, unable to decide which direction he wished his life to take. Was he happy, where he was? He worked a dead-end job without any specialized skills. He lacked a college education and the money with which to pay for it, and furthermore, lacked any idea what to study in the first place. This life was listless, drifting, unanchored, like a star sailing through the void of space. Anxo pressed him to go to college, to find a career and earn more money. More satisfaction. Fiona would have wanted what was best for him. She was a warm and kind mentor to him, his sister lacking that warmth. She was more aloof, eyes trained to the sky rather than the Earth on which she walked.
“I know things have been… rocky. Unstable. Ever since mom and dad divorced… things haven’t been the same. I was awakened shortly after that and things went… downhill from there. I can’t tell you everything we’ve been through, trying to keep the people we love safe.”
“...you didn’t have to leave, you know.” came a quiet reply, not from the man who stood beside her, but from the little boy inside that man. The one who felt left behind during the turmoil of the divorce, alone to cling to his father while his mother sought satisfaction in another man’s bed. They hadn’t heard from Mother since then. She didn’t call, she didn’t send emails, she didn’t text. Suddenly, Zach realized he didn’t matter to her. She didn't invite her children to dinners or come to visit them in a neutral location. As far as Zach knew, his mother didn't contact their father, either. Their children were adults, but... What son didn't long to hear from his mother?
Strangely enough, Kallichore leaned on him, resting her head on his higher shoulder while they walked for a few quiet moments. “...no, and I regret that. Sincerely. That was a colossal mistake that I wish I had the power to correct.” Her voice was low, even, eyes cast to the ground. “With all the deaths I heard about from other senshi, having their families raided or killed or used as bait to coerce corruption, I thought keeping my distance would keep you safe. But I realize now that my absence did more harm than good.”
She lifted her head, their gray hair mingling for a moment, the same brown eyes mirroring one another. “...Zach, I’m very sorry for hurting you like that, for leaving you.”
Themisto swallowed thickly. He hated mushy situations like this. Christa hadn’t seen him cry in nearly a decade, and Fiona, bless her soul, never breathed a word of it from the hospital. He hated to cry, he hated weakness. For a man, he cried too often for his own tastes. Even now, he set his jaw in an attempt to stifle it. Crying was weakness, and Themisto wanted to be a strong man for the people in his life, he couldn't keep crying every time an emotional situation reared its ugly head. It was unbecoming. “...naw, stoppit. I just…”
The elder chuckled and squeezed his bicep with a gloved hand.
Themisto word count: 1012
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