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Cybele was actually doing a bit better at using her senshi technology these days. She'd gotten that Connections app and since then she'd started treating her senshi phone like a real phone. That meant when she first powered up in a secluded spot a few houses down from her own, and when she didn't immediately feel any auras signaling trouble going on, she whipped her phone out of subspace and checked for messages.

Nothing. It wasn't surprising, really, as she'd actively been trying not to get attached on this side of things, but that didn't stop the pang of loneliness, or maybe it was just disconnection or even boredom, but either way it left her sighing at her phone screen in that darkened corner.

She flicked through her contacts, and stopped at Anser. That had been recent enough that it wouldn't be too weird to reach out, and anyway, maybe it would be better to actually keep tabs on younger senshi instead of just giving them a few pointers and then turning away before something terrible happened.

She clicked on the contact, and typed out,



She sent it, then kept walking down the street.

Cybele was really expecting more radio silence, or at least a few moments of delay, not for her phone to start exploding in buzz after buzz the second she sent her message, but that was what happened. After a quick fumble to get her texting app open back up, she found herself smiling at her screen. Anser was still full of enthusiasm about all this and she didn't hesitate. Of course she would text back. She seemed to need a little guidance on how to use all of that energy, however. Cybele didn't want her wandering around the city trying to find her.

She took a few moments to type out her messages.



It was a quiet place, which would make it safer to meet up, but it was also both out of the way and empty, and Cybele wouldn't mind going youma hunting with Anser as backup.



She started jogging up the street at senshi speed while she waited for a reply, trying to get into a slightly more central area.

Cybele just sat there waiting as her phone continued to buzz at a somewhat alarming rate. She had to appreciate the fact that Anser was so prompt, even as a small part of her mind was going kids these days. Of course, that thought was probably just there to drown out the part of her that knew she was twenty two and had no excuse, she was just slow. Anyway, a few moments passed while she typed, but it wasn't too long before she sent off a few more messages.




She tended to avoid the theater district while powered up unless something specifically brought her there. She knew that some people patrolled near where they worked but she liked to keep the two halves of her life as separate as possible. However, meeting up with Anser and protecting Ben or anyone else around would be worth it.



With that she put the phone away and started sprinting downtown. It took a few minutes to get there. She wasn't one for flying across rooftops, which meant she had to go around a few buildings, but she knew the way well and eventually she could feel the brightness of an Order aura getting closer.

Cybele's phone buzzed again, and she looked down at it. A... table? That didn't exactly give her much information, and it didn't seem the most practical, but all right. At least it was better than running around on rooftops all the time like so many people insisted on doing for some reason.

Regardless, she could tell that she was close. Feeling out the aura, she smiled and turned a few corners to where she thought she had seen some picnic tables set up recently. There were, she noticed, quite a few people around even at this time of night, and many of them were giving strange looks to Cybele. Unlike some of the others, her outfit was very clearly magical. She was never the best at the public relations part of this whole war, and she tried to slip into the shadow of a nearby building, but by that point, someone was calling her name. Loudly.

It was Anser. Anser was calling her name loudly.

Cybele blinked. Some of the people blinked, too, but as they started to grumble Cybele broke into a grin and stepped out of the shadows. This was the theater district, after all. It wasn't a place to hide. Anser wasn't someone to hide with.

She clapped one hand over her heart and reached out with the other towards the younger girl, her palm up. "Anseerrrr!" she called out as she sprinted forwards, all overdramatic, at least until she got within a few feet of her and dropped the act for a smaller smile. "How have you been?"

Theater district or no, Cybele couldn't keep a straight face at that applause. She giggled. It was a small, polite one at first, but then it grew, and then she was laughing so hard that she snorted.

At that point she took a deep breath and went a few shades of red. Even with Anser, that kind of thing wasn't quite mentor acceptable. She gave a small apologetic look to the younger girl and then lifted herself up onto the table next to her, where she perched primly and crossed her ankles.

She nodded as Anser spoke and managed another smile at the girl's enthusiasm. Mean lieutenants made that smile twitch, though. From what she'd seen, Anser was fairly optimistic about things, so if she was calling people mean, it couldn't be good. Cybele had been trying to give lieutenants the benefit of the doubt lately, but she would remember that crocodile cane. In her lap, she ran a thumb over her knuckles. She didn't want anyone hurting her friend.

"I'm glad you're doing all right," she said. "It's true that a side effect of being a superhero is having to deal with terrible people. It's good to see that you're holding your own, though."

That sounded a little empty, but before she could think of something else to say, the question was being turned on her and she blinked. What was she supposed to say? Oh, I've been having a drawn out death match with a certain monster of a captain and I don't know who will win? No. Not that.

She said, "I've been all right, as well. I've been talking to some people and trying figure out some training things. I've had some fights, of course. Those tend to happen, but I'm alive." She kept up her smile.

Even just in the weeks since they'd seen each other, something had changed in the way Anser talked about war. She'd learned her lesson about danger, it seemed, but Cybele's lips still curled. Those were lessons that shouldn't have to be learned, and especially not by someone with such a bright smile.

"Right," she said, failing at keeping the worry out of her voice. She attempted a smile, but it came out weak and then faded. "Wait," she said. "Were you hurt? Are you all right? Is there anything I can help you with?"

She almost grimaced at the way those words sounded coming off her tongue. She was feeling, as usual, old, but she was worried. Still, she tried another smile and this time it worked. "Being alive is good, though, yes. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

They would try, sometimes.

Anser's next question was easier to answer, though. "I've been trying to get better at using my phone and it turned out that there was this new connections app. I met up with the senshi who made it, Alya, to talk about some ideas."

She straightened and settled into a slightly more comfortable position. "Training is something I'm trying to focus on at the moment, and especially strategy. Back when I was new, I had one training session where I learned how to throw a punch and the rest has been trial and error." Remembering her audience, she looked back to Anser with a grin. "Remember how we sandwiched that youma? That was great! That worked really well, and there must be more tricks like that we can do together or even on our own."

Cybele’s expression stayed smooth as Anser admitted that she’d been hurt, but in her lap, her fist tightened until her knuckles went white and her fingernails dug into her palm.

She wondered if it would be justified to kill someone just for hurting your friend. She was trying to be more just these days. She wondered if it was justified to kill someone for going after a thirteen year old girl with a cane. Someone dangerous. There had already been blood on her hands for so long now. She didn’t have to wonder what she would do if she found this man.

That was a vague possibility, though, and there were more solid things to focus on. She did smile at Anser’s enthusiasm about the app. “You could probably download it now if you wanted,” she said. “It’s under updates, strangely, but it should be there. It’s sort of fun and hopefully it’ll be useful for making those connections.” She gave Anser a quick once over, and knowing that for all her maturity, she was still fairly clearly a kid, “Although some people seem to be using it for dating profiles, so um…” she trailed off. What advice was there for this? “Be warned?”

Battle strategies, while not quite Cybele’s specialty, were much closer to her comfort zone, and she brightened at the mention of magic. “Wait, really?” Her smile widened, and even her white-knuckled fists relaxed a bit. “Your magic gives people a boost? Mine’s the same! I haven’t met that many other people with that kind of magic.” And magic that made people faster, specifically? She hadn’t met anyone else at all with that. “My magic makes people a bit faster, too, but it really helps them focus,” she said.

“Actually, I remember something!” She slid off the table and turned to face Anser, with an unusual sparkle in her eyes. “A few years ago, we attacked the Negaverse’s fortress. Things got intense. One of our Princesses was facing a General-Queen, and someone had an idea that everyone with magic like ours could try to help her, and use our magic at the same time on her.” She squinted. “I think it did help, although it’s a bit of a blur. That was one of the times that everything ended up on fire.”

She shook her head, trying not to get sucked too far into memories.“Anyway, we could try to use that strategy on a smaller scale if you’re interested? I’d really like to see your magic, at least.”

Cybele smirked at Anser's dating app comment. "That's actually very clever. It's a good idea, too," she said. She understood that people would want to flirt sometimes, she really did. The outfits tended to have people looking their best, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't seen an attractive man or two out in the field, but that very much did not mean she needed to stumble across the equivalent of Tinder profiles when she was just looking for someone to train with. On top of that, there were, of course, the children to think about. Splitting things up would be better.

But she was here now, talking about magic and the past. She returned Anser's smile as she told her about the invasion, although honestly she was very glad that the younger girl hadn't been there. That had been a day of blood and death. It had been a victory, but still, in the end, no one had been smiling.

Still, the techniques used in that battle had been fairly creative and she was happy enough to share those with Anser. She watched with interest as she called her magic.

Was that a little goose? That was adorable. Then, Cybele went from charmed to fully amazed when Anser started running. Her jaw dropped. That had to be the fastest she'd ever seen a senshi run ever, and Anser was just a basic.

"That's amazing!" She grinned. "Here. Try it with this. Hunter's Deadly Grace!" A bow formed in her hands, and she shot it upwards right away before anyone started getting nervous. The bright arrows came down on the two senshi, and Cybele exhaled as everything came into familiar crystal-sharp focus.