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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 8:52 pm
The good news for one perpetually-chilly Knight of Saturn was that the weather warmed with coming spring. Freezing temperatures slowly climbed out of the snow zone and into frigid rain territory, permitting him to mobilize without fearing a grievously inopportune slip and crack on the ice.
The bad news for one war-battered Knight of Saturn was that the ensuing change of pressure aggravated both his hip and arm, which left him feeling the part of an old man. And for one so desperate to live fast and die young as he, the very feeling of getting old reminded him that the 30s were just on the horizon. The thought left him sighing into the evening air while a light limp cursed his step. Soon all the fresh pages that scurried about carefree and mortally oblivious would remind him that he should retire. And with each passing day, he found it harder and harder to argue with that.
Retirement sounded great. Retirement promised terrible life choices like drinking his liver into cirrhosis, screwing his way into some new and yet-undiscovered STI, or eating his way through a half-gallon of ice cream in front of some daytime soaps. But then he'd get bored inside of a weak and pretend he could risk his life for another shot at Schörl.
The thought of such an exchange occupied him through the jaunt from building to building. His patrol route became ever a rote task, as bone heels led from one memorized parapet to the next. He knew precisely when to step up onto a groaning HVAC unit for a veritable launch, and when to overshoot the next building lip to account for unseen landscaping. And by the time he landed in the midst of a rooftop garden, fully equipped with a presently-empty bird bath, he felt upon the horizon a faint blip of page. Like someone mumbling his name on the very peripheries of his hearing, he caught the auric energy with a vested interest. Perhaps if they weren't terribly observent and paid no heed to his empty sleeve, they'd be interested in a quick chat. A little getting-to-know-each-other, Scholomance-style.
So it was with a touch of ulterior motive that he reached the opposite end of the bank, degloved his sole hand with false teeth, and whistled as loudly as he could into the empty night. "I sense a fellow knight on the horizon," he added, "and I'd be terribly hurt if they refused to pay lonely Scholomance a visit!"
Emotional manipulation hadn't failed him yet.
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:22 pm
Pendour would find out more about this magic, this "war". To that end, she had powered up and was walking the streets. She was listening, or whatever the magical equivalent was, for that bright feeling that meant someone was nearby. She'd had no luck so far, but that was okay. It was a lovely night for a walk, nice and warm, and her outfit for all its decoration seemed to be made with dance in mind and was quite comfortable. She thought she had caught the trail of an aura, and then she found herself listening with her ears as a shrill whistle pierced the quiet night. Someone called out, too. Well, that was a really good sign that she was on the right track and she wouldn't be imposing. Breaking into a jog, she got closer and thought she could make out a figure on a rooftop. It was unexpected, but with magic involved, it seemed like a lot of unexpected things were going to be happening. Maybe she could climb up too? "Just a moment," she called up, then set to scale the building, which turned out to be fairly easy as she stepped from windowsill to loose brick with ease. A few seconds later, her hands and then her head popped up over the garden banister. She gave a once over to the man in front of her, missing the arm situation momentarily for other details. "That's a lot of bones," was her first observation. "Aren't they heavy? They must be." She swung a leg over the banister and hoisted herself into the space, pulling the stubborn end of her skirt down behind her. "Well, that's irrelevant, isn't it? You said you're lonely. We can't have that, can we," she paused as she scanned his outfit, looking for his symbol. "Fellow Knight? Yes. Jupiter. No, Saturn. The four is Jupiter, the H is Saturn. I'm trying." A hint of a flush came to her cheeks. "Anyway, I'm Pendour," she said, and she closed the distance between them, holding out a hand.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:34 pm
The risk about calling for company was that Scholomance was never sure about what kind of page he'd end up facing. Saguenay was a fine meet, very easy on the eyes and a bright, smooth talker; but Babel seemed a little testy and that whole fiasco soured when he tried to hit on her. He half-wondered if he'd run across one of the pair again when the voice that filtered up to him was entirely unfamiliar — silvery and smooth like water.
Soon her hands emerged over the parapet, all silken and decorated with pearlescent whites and subtle greens, and then her head crowned into his line of sight. Scholomance offered what help he could with her ascension, being an arm held out to her, and left the choice to her for taking it. But he certainly wouldn't regret ushering her to meet him; she was a looker in her own category. Fair hair punctuated with starfish and pearls, her bosom a crest of waves, and deep beads of varying colors marked her bracelets and her underbust. The scales left him with an odd, almost eldritch feel that he could've done without, however.
Oh honey, no bone on my body is as heavy as the one in my pants right now. He merely smiled behind his mask, his eyes crinkling with the flavor of amusement. "Surprisingly not. They're quite thin; they're easily breakable if I need them off of me, though it's a terribly righteous pain to get the uniform off with them still attached. Not quite the fashion statement I'd like to present to others, either. Looks a little Negaverse, you see."
He backed up, providing her space to walk amongst the surfeit of mini-topiaries, burgeoning garden flowers, decorative river rock paths, and the hand-sculpted benches. "But you're quite right. Scholomance of Saturn, at your service." He took her hand and brought it to lips, braced as they were behind the half-mask. A small investment in his manic cleanliness.
"And you're definitely Neptune. Haven't seen one of those in a terribly long time. Nor met one quite face-to-face, given that we were all busy with a meeting, but it's good to meet one now. The universe really dressed you up, didn't it? Not that I'm complaining." Could've done with more cleavage, though. I take it Neptune doesn't quite belive in the way Cosmos has Hvergelmir's tits on display.
"Out of curiosity, how new are you? Two-months-new? Maybe three?" He squinted in his exaggerated assessment.
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Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 5:04 pm
His first comment got an eyebrow raise and a half-embarrassed smirk. "How often do you have to disrobe on these midnight jaunts?" she asked. For one thing, she wasn't sure how she would get out of her own tight fitting dress if she needed to. On the other hand, she wondered if she'd have to deal with people stripping often with the identity protection and all. She'd been prepared for a handshake, but with the two of them being knights, after all, and all of the trappings that it came with, perhaps it was a little silly that she wasn't expecting shows of chivalry. She accepted her "kiss" from his strange, Cheshire mask with a deep nod. "It's a pleasure, sir," she said with practiced casualness, her voice soft. So far, this "war" seemed to be more of a costume ball. She did take some time to look around while he talked. The first moment went to admiring the stonework and the little river which was very fancy, the second moment went to the realization of there's no way it's legal to be up here, and then she took a longer look at the plants. She did love plants. "Oh look, daffodils!" she said, looking back over her shoulder at him. "I think it's too sheltered up here, though. They'll probably end up freezing before they can bloom. You want to put them somewhere more open so that they don't come up before they can handle the weather. I do hope that's not an omen." Her face solemn, she pulled her hair in front of her chest and started stroking one of the braids with her thumb. "Because yes, I'm new. Almost two months now, you're right." She gave a little nod. "I've only been out a few times, but Google's been helping some. It doesn't know magic, but it knows planets, and that Pendour's a beach in England where there may or may not be mermaids, which might explain the outfit." She smiled again and spun, showing off the way her skirt fluttered around her legs and the jangle of pearls. Coming back around, she met his eyes with a light laugh. "Although the universe might have misjudged, as I'm not really one for luring men, or for death." She gave the other knight's outfit another once over, this time her eyes resting for just a second too long on the not-arm. "Yours is a little fifteenth century graveyard sculpture, it's true, but that aesthetic is coming back into fashion. Death and darkness seem trendy at the moment." If they were going by modern trends, he was honestly probably more fashionable than she was. "I haven't met the Negaverse, so I can't comment on that."
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 5:05 pm
Scholomance debated, for a moment, between the correct answer and the smarmy answer to her question. The smarmy answer deflected from his obvious physical faults, kept the mood light, and possibly earned an uncomfortable chuckle. The correct answer had a terrible habit of dampening the occasion and turning him into an endless hole of war realities and depression. But she was young, and new, and nothing about their mysterious transformations into beautiful people belied the high chance of death. He struggled for a cross between the two.
Luckily the daffodils were something of a distraction. Scholomance knew very little about plants beyond 'they looked pretty' and 'they die if you don't water them' and a few other tidbits about sun and dirt, so her blathering on about freezing and omens seemed achingly beside the point. But if daffodils were prettier than him and more interesting to talk about, then… He could cry about the truth into a glass of whiskey later. Assuming her omen talk didn't prove true and have them both killed terribly.
"Only when something tries to kill me and almost succeeds," he returned dryly. "Which it's been a couple times now. Not a pleasant way to conclude my evenings."
But he was always happy for a show — in this case, the flutter of mermaid skirts, aglitter with their iridescent scales, as Pendour showed off Neptune's gifts to her. He tried his damndest to keep his eyes on hers, to actually remember the color better than the shape of her hips or how her wrists tapered delicately under those dark beads. But he was forever a man of instinct, and asked of himself a Sisyphean task. Sweetheart, you don't have to be one for luring men when you're wearing a dress like that. He only smiled and nodded faintly.
"You can stare at it if you want to. I've been working on turning it into a feature, not a bug." Scholomance chose instead to have a seat on one of the well-kept benches, crossing one leg over the other. "And it suits the part, really. Death and darkness is what Saturn has on offer. Mercury has a thing for futuristic furs. Mars likes the Spartan look. Cosmos is all about pretty dresses and wildly impractical hair. The rest I haven't seen enough to notice a pattern. if we're discussing planetary fashion, that is.
"More importantly, however — what do you know of being a knight? Have you gotten your Signet Ring yet?" The two questions stood at the fore of a thousand others, each waiting on the hope that this blessedly new creature wouldn't meet with a terrible fate.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 11:26 am
"Oh," she said to his talk of violence, her voice only a little deeper than it was when she'd been talking about flowers. She brought her braid over her shoulder now and twisted it around her hand, then untwisted, with a simple rhythm and not much thought. "So I could possibly die," she said. That wasn't the kind of thing that you could swallow in a few seconds, so she pushed it to a corner of her mind to chew on while they talked. Not that she minded delving into the dark topics. It seemed more relevant than commenting on everyone's outfits, especially people who weren't even around, although it was interesting information that might turn out to be useful, so she did her best to listen. Eventually, she walked over to the bench as well, although she sat sideways on one of the arms so that she could still see Scholomance. "Earth is armor, I think. Cosmos is pretty dresses, like you said. That's all I know. I'm not the one to ask. Um." She reached out to grab the back of the bench to support her slightly awkward position and squinted for a moment as she tried to organize what she knew. "Camelot explained the, you could maybe call them the basics. For example, I'm a knight, given power to stand against evil or work for peace, and there's a war, all that, although I can't help but feel that he might have been sugarcoating some. Then I ended up going to space with a Cosmos girl, and she was glowing. Transcended, I think was the word, so we talked about that. It was really nice." Her usually calm voice brightened and she cracked a grin. "I haven't been to my own wonder, though. No ring."
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Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 3:04 pm
The nervous twisting of hair wasn't missed; he possibly should've gone with keeping the whole endeavor light. Pissing on someone else's parade often felt terrible, but perhaps this way she'd live a little longer and have a possibly-less-shitty life. Possibly. "Well… Yes, in a word. Not much comfort there. It's like the cosmos wants us to die pretty or something like that.
"But fear not, you're in good company. I'm sure you're familiar with the romp from page to squire to knight? I'm at the end of that little progression, so if anything comes to bother us, you won't be imminently murdered." Just eventually murdered. Probably. I'm not much for facing off against generals. Scholomance reclined in his seat nonetheless, his shoulders relaxed and his arm swept along the back. He could melt int the bench for its comforts, and his hip began to relax.
She elaborated on what she knew — it sounded as though she received sorely-needed help through the lot of it. Her comment about sugarcoating struck him, however, and Scholomance loosed a sigh. "I suppose I'll be the one who gets to pass on all the uggly nitty-gritty that the others might possibly have swept under the rug. It's sordid stuff, but possibly more useful than hearing about pretty transcendence lines or how you're the good in the good-versus-evil schtick. Not that any of that is useless, though." It lacked perspective, however. It lacked drive to convince these new soldiers in the war to understand what was at stake and precisely how the evil side of the war could influence them. Or outright murder them. Or worse.
"I'll start by saying this. You will want to visit your wonder. You can find your signet ring there, somewhere. Mine was locked behind a door that required a signet ring to enter, which was a whole pile of s**t might I add, but that's a little beside the point. Your signet ring is how you'll be able to reach out for help when you need it. When. So get it as soon as you can.
"Now, are you sure you want me to scrape off that sugarcoating for you?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:34 pm
Now that they were truly conversing, Pendour met Scholomance's gaze once again. She was surprised to find that he was looking at her the same way her parents had right before she'd moved out, which was uncomfortable enough, but the fact that just a few moments ago he'd been sizing up her curves made it that much worse. "No, no, it's not like that, I'm just thinking out loud," she said quickly. She shook her head. "Please don't hurt anyone on my behalf." Her free hand now gripped the other side of the armrest, white knuckled under her gloves. This was a whole new predicament. She hadn't thought of people fighting to protect her. That would just be pointless and terrible, although she supposed she hadn't said anything to indicate that she was anything other than a little warrior in training looking for a brother-in-arms. She pursed her lips for a moment, then said, quite serious, "Look, no matter what you're about to say, I'd rather die than hurt someone, and I'm guessing that's not the typical view, so..." she trailed off for a moment as if her next comment could be unrelated, "Um, if something happens, it's not your fault." She took a slow, quiet breath in and out, then looked back up to the other knight with a small frown. "Oh, you were lonely, weren't you, and now this is just getting dark. I don't want to ruin your evening." Hadn't they just been talking about clothes? She shook her head and gave a tight lipped smile. "We don't have to talk about this stuff. We could go look for that ring, or even get food if you don't mind seeing me without all the pearls." She started fidgeting with her braid again, without really thinking about it. "Although I can use advice, even sordid stuff. I won't hold it against you." Her smile widened into something almost mischievous. "I'll take any you can give."
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:00 pm
"Truth be told, I have a touch of debt to settle with the Negaverse, so protecting you is more like… Bonus points, really. But saying that aloud makes me sound a little callous, doesn't it? 'Sorry, doll, it's not about you, it's about me'. Well, we can't all be chivalrous. Even if we call ourselves knights." Scholomance huffed dramatically.
She tried, however. She tried far harder to accomodate him in a very genuine manner than any of the senshi or knights he met prior. Typically their aims remained translucent if not transparent, but this page? This page raveled herself out to him and amongst all her glittering silks he found no selfishly-driven motives. He found such a revelation depressing; not only was there someone so sweet on this planet, but he happened to find that person, and their contrast to one another rendered him that much uglier to himself.
But that's what alcohol was for. And daytime soaps. And TastyKake cuddles.
Shifting, Scholomance crossed his legs, then uncrossed them, then leaned on the arm of the bench, then sat up, then shifted back against the bench, then hummed at his own inability to find comfort. "As nice as all those things sound, I think a little perspective is in order. And it's better to disseminate that here than let it spoil our food." Scholomance gave a nod and a shift of shoulder.
"So, as you know, you were tossed headlong into some secret war and you've gotten a few details here or there. People say it's dangerous, but it doesn't look the part. Sure, there are monsters roaming around, and those monsters used to be people, but if you haven't seen it happen and you never knew one of the people-turned-monsters then it just sounds like abstract information. Sure, the Negaverse drains people to the point of exhaustion. Sure, they kill people. Sure, they convert people into these monstrous creatures, bend them to their will, and send them out to kill or mutilate other people. Or us. Same difference, really. But none of that seems to matter up front.
"At least it didn't for me. The Negaverse is full of people, and maybe they're assholes, but they can be reasoned with, right? I thought so. For a while, really. Made deals with them and whatnot to explore my wonder a touch while not being bothered by youma or agents on the whole. And it worked for a bit longer. Then it didn't." Scholomance fished about in his pocket until he produced a vape. Tweaking its settings demanded some dextrous finagling, but he looked satisfied after a moment.
"Invariably, they stop caring about holding up their bargains. They get bored of you. You stop being so useful to them. They push and push and push, ask for more of you, give you less, start harassing you, until you can't keep up anymore. And the moment that happens…" Scholomance drew from his vape robustly. "They make an example out of you. A warning, really. A warning that says they'll have this world no matter who stands in their way.
"I didn't stand in their way. I tried to work out a nice, proper deal with them. I tried to stay neutral. I tried to keep my head out of their little skirmishes. But that didn't matter — they tracked me down, found me, and made a warning out of me." And should his empty sleeve not say enough, he retired his vape just long enough to popthe upper row of his dentures out momentarily.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 6:26 pm
She went a bit pale at the continued mention of violence. Scholomance was taking the blame for it, then, so no blood would be on her hands, or rather that was what would be the case if that was how it worked. If someone came after them now, there would still be blood. "Well, I don't recommend vengeance, but I won't get in your way if it comes to that," was all she said. Then, she listened. A lot of information was thrown at her very quickly. Was this what some of the others had been supposed to teach her? But before she could think too much about that, there was another story, a sad one, although she wasn't quite sure if it met the promises of being sordid, although the popping out of the teeth did get a raised eyebrow and an " Oh," out of her. She then took the earlier permission to stare, her eyes flicking from the teeth to the arm for a good ten seconds. "Thank you for your story," she said, genuine although not happy. Looking at him, listening to him, she knew it was only a matter of time until this war would not be kind to her. Still, it also showed her why peace was so needed. She only hoped she'd be able to help. She brought her feet up onto the seat of the bench and readjusted herself a little. The decorative bits did not make for the most comfortable seating. "Although the things you said were common knowledge, I did not know most of that. The monsters that are around are made out of people?" Her lips curled and she shuddered. "Is that true? Have you seen it?" She gave up on her arm perching and slid into the seat next to him. "It wasn't smart for the Negaverse to leave you alive, though, was it?" She was even quieter now, thinking. "If you survived and powered back up it's not like you would do it just to talk about how strong they are and how it's hopeless to oppose them. Instead you show that you survived and not to fall for their tricks, and now you're looking to get even, you said?" She frowned at that, for herself, mostly. It was clear why he would want vengeance. "They've either got hubris or they're bad at strategy, so maybe that's something." She was mostly trying to encourage herself. Now that her hands were free, she reached down to twist a pearl from her bracelet between her fingers. "Well, I won't be trying to cut deals now, although I don't know if that will protect me."
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:22 pm
"You didn't?" Scholomance furrowed his brow. "The ******** did they teach you then, Sweetheart? How to summon your weapon and make a spectacle out of yourself?" Hopefully Hvergelmir would call the lot of them back to Olympus soon and faithfully try to stamp out the stupid that invariably curses their ranks. No, stupid wasn't the right word. Ignorance was.
Her question was met with a curt "that's right." He paused then, considering his vape, before he spoke again. "I don't know all the details of how it happens because I haven't seen it firsthand. Haven't known anyone who was turned into a youma either, thank God. I imagine it's quite the… Visceral sight. Which might make it a little hard to believe when I say it's true, but it's true. The best evidence I've seen was this dragon-lady-general-person who literally looked like she was half dragon. Horns, scales, tail and all. But she was human enough to be a complete b***h. And command part of the Negaverse army." Scholomance snuck another drag.
Her sidling in next to him brought to life a conflict — while he was selfishly proud that she joined him, her questions brought a sorrow to dampen that mood. "I don't suppose I need to advertise it. The end result speaks for itself. Here's a knight that's missing a good portion of his body, and the Negaverse managed that. If they could do it to a knight, they could do it to a squire. Or a page. Or a senshi. Or a cat. I could spin the story as valiantly clawing my way out of their clutches, of course, but… I'm not certain. Sometimes seeing the damage is all people need."
He spared her a look. There she was, sitting next to him, dolled up by the cosmos in all the glimmer and glitter of Neptune. Still there, still patient, despite the stories told. Like she wouldn't be dissuaded by such awful rot. And while Scholomance wanted to believe that spoke to her strength of character, he found that it certainly undermined her self-preservation.
"Anyway," he muttered as he blew smoke away from her, "the best protection is not making yourself a target."
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:50 pm
She hadn't shuddered at his harsh truths or been disgusted by his sad story, but his sudden outburst made her physically flinch. She leaned back against her arm of the bench and stared for a moment, not at any maiming this time, just sort of blankly in the direction of his face. "Scholomance, please," she said mildly. "There's no need to talk like that." She wasn't a hero, certainly, but she'd not been hurt by the advice she'd received, so far either. "I knew some, just not that such violence was so common, and not that bit about the monsters at all. It was sugarcoated, like I said, but it was still a sugarcoated war." He said he hadn't seen the monsters made from people personally, and she wasn’t curious enough about it to wish another horror on him so that he could tell her another story. He seemed to have had experienced plenty. She didn’t really blame him for getting snappy, and she eventually relaxed back into the bench proper, leaving only a few inches between the two of them. “Well, maybe you’re right. You would know better than I would.” She kept spinning that pearl faster and faster until she could feel a bit of the friction through her gloves. “I am scared. I don’t want to die, but it’s that or get hurt or hide and let others take the brunt of it.” She glanced over at the man in his magical clothes who was still smoking a vape and so casually telling a stranger his sad past. “You seem resilient,” she said. “I’m not trying to be unsympathetic. I’m really sorry you got hurt, but I’m glad you got back up, and if you can tell your own story, make your own warning, well, it makes me feel a little braver.” She stopped the fidgeting and folded her hands in her lap. “I know, you’re trying to keep me from making mistakes so I’m sorry if that’s too optimistic, but well,” she cracked a smile, “I did just get started. I still need some hope.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 2:12 pm
"Oh, come now. I say '********' all the time. Usually in sexier contexts, though. I suppose no one much cares for the occasional angry outburst," he admitted at last.
She was certainy different than any other knight he'd encountered. Different from Saguenay, from Gorner, from Babylon and from the great lot of knights met whose names finally slipped from his tired memory. He met few of Neptune, so her grandiose dress already commanded remembrance. Strangest of all, however, was her aversion to violence and her tendency toward sympathy. For that, she sounded most like Hvergelmir, but the older knight was as much a mystery to him as this new beauty who joined him on the bench. Sure, he could quite understand wanting to avoid violence — no one asked to get their arm cut off — but if a fight broke out and Pendour was threatened, what was the point of refusing to fight?
But if that was her choice, so be it. He wouldn't claim responsibility for that wasted death. Sad perhaps that Neptune would lose a looker, but so it goes.
"So what do you think? About all this supernatural 'come-down-from-space-and-save-the-planet' nonsense." Scholomance encompassed the lot of it with a sweep of his hand. "I'd like to hear the answer to that from someone a touch less jaded than me.
"Besides, as much as I like being lavished with complements from pretty girls, I'm trying to be a slightly better person." No one thought it was working, but he might've been trying in name only.
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Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:59 am
Pendour just gave him a bit of subtle side eye during his defensive apology before giving the tiniest nod when he finally seemed sincere, a bit defensive in her own right. "...It's not even a sexy word," she muttered, "But, uh, have fun?" It was becoming increasingly clear that this was not the kind of guy she would spend time with if it hadn't been for the magic. It was fine, he seemed interesting, she just wasn't sure what to think. His next question took her a bit longer to answer. "I don't know, really. I'm still trying to put everything together. That's why I've been trying to talk to people. What I think still changes after every time I come out." She looked up to the night sky. "At first it seemed a little like first world problems, honestly. A bad one, yes, but," her voice went earnest in a practiced way, "There are places so wartorn that villages are massacred every day, then there's starvation, malnutrition, preventable diseases. I didn't think Destiny City's gang war was that special just because I can do this," she held up a hand and her little ocarina materialized. She let it drop so it hung by its string on her finger, swinging between them, looking very small. "But this is the time and place given to me, so I decided to see what I could do to help. Well, then I went to space." She smiled at the stars. Her eyes closed, and she sunk down into the bench. "This really is part of something bigger, isn't it?" She peeked up at Scholomance. "Well, that's what I think at the moment. Get back to me in a few more months." She straightened and stretched out her back. "Compliments on the other I'm always available for. Hugs as well." She nodded. "I think for being a good person it's most important just to put effort into it, so you're on your way."
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:41 pm
So her weapons an ocarina. A bit of a bust, certainly, but no worse than a ring. An ocarina might've worked as a thrown weapon to catch someone''s attention. But with the way she was talking, that instrument would only be used for its intended purpose — and probably a touch for melodies emblematic of 'cease and desist'. Well, not everyone understood that the Negaverse would not yield. Hvergelmir didn't, and she still lived. Somehow.
And her elaboration on comparing DC's indiscriminate murder problem with first-world-problems drew a skeptical brow. Even he couldn't be so laissez-faire about it. Or presume to think that an intergalactic war being fought in the shadows is a much easier time than a village of some fifty people being killed. He never wandered into any third-word villages before, either. No, he was parked in the first world, where people he knew were being stalked by shattered-looking senshi or repeatedly attacked by Negaverse agents or straight-out dying and their causes of death were being misrepresented in the newspaper. So to take a social justice warrior stance of 'other people have it worse' sounded more than a little trite. What was the purpose of those comparisons, anyway? Guilt never found that much of a partner in him.
Well, whatever. She could have her stand; she gave him his. Fair trade and all.
Scholomance breathed a small sigh when she looked to him. "You're not wrong there. This is part of something bigger. And older, too, though I've reason to doubt my sources on this next bit. Once upon a time, this strange grey man told me that once upon a time, a thousand years ago, there was some dalliance going on between a woman by the name of Beryl and someone from the Earth Kingdom. And there was some third party player nonsense going on with the Moon Queen and the Earth kingdom, and then evidently everything went to s**t. Beryl allied with Metallia, who is — so far as I know — the progenitor of the Negaverse. And she declared war on earth and decided to subsume everything, I suppose.
"Fast forward a thousand years and the formerly flourishing societies that were our planets and wonders are all now dead, and it's the cluster of us here today who have to keep fighting this thousand-year war of attrition. Ghastly stuff, really." He took another drag.
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