|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:43 pm
It wasn't often that Eternal Sailor Malus was out on his own, even now. It didn't matter if he'd gotten used to being a Senshi or if he could take care of himself, for the most part.
It wasn't safe to go alone. Too many bad things happened in the dark.
And--now, especially--he was an Eternal. He couldn't just slip under everyone's radar.
Mont Saint Michel wasn't too far away, and Malus could feel the weight of his senshi phone if he needed backup. But. He was trying to be less pathetic and needy, and sometimes Michel just wanted to meander around with Lysithea without Malus always third wheeling.
It was better this way; they couldn't see him chasing after a little youma.
The thing was small, roughly half the size of a chicken, and looked like a bird that had swallowed a baseball. Its feathers were black and it was a pudgy little youma. It had a perpetually disturbed face and it kept running, either frantic because a senshi was chasing it or because it was just that way.
Malus was running after it, constantly bending down like he meant to scoop it up. It was hard to tell if a youma was dangerous when he couldn't get a good look at it, and harder to tell if there was anything to save when he couldn't judge if it understood him.
He looked stupid, he knew it, running after a youma that small, but he was determined to catch it and make his decision before anyone got too close--and considering there was another senshi flaring up dangerously close on his radar, he knew he had to hurry if he was going to get away with this.
If only the thing wasn't making the occasional squawk that made it sound like he was pulling his feathers, it would make his job much easier. Also, if it would just stay still[...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:29 am
Monoceros really did like the nighttime. Taking his walks during the night in his Sailor Scout form made him feel a little safer to do it, too, so that was nice. He really liked being some kind of superhero like this. One of the things he disliked was the way so many people he worked with just hated all youma. It didn't seem fair, they were just beings who didn't and couldn't know any better, unless they got lucky. He couldn't stop thinking about the dino he'd met while still not awakened yet, how calm the beast had become when he'd stepped forward and greeted it like a friend. So of course when he saw someone chasing a youma, he frowned and started jogging after them. The poor thing looked so small and helpless, and he just... had the impulse to help, if he could. He hurriedly caught up to the Senshi chasing them, realizing they were an Eternal only as he got close. As he looked closer, he realized that they were trying to catch it—for what reasons, he wasn't sure, but he was about to find out, that was for sure. "Why are you chasing it?" he hissed as he came up. "It hasn't done anything."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:30 am
Malus stiffened almost immediately and stood up as straight as tall as his five-foot-four self could manage and spun to face the voice. He was an Eternal Senshi. He'd been doing this for a while. He was strong.
If he repeated it enough in his head, he was sure he might believe it. Probably. Maybe.
"What?" he blurted, like it was taking too long for his brain to process the question and formulate an answer so he had to buy himself some time.
"--It's none of your business," he said, and turned back to the youma--who had already scurried into the brush. He let out a brief, disgruntled noise and tried to hurry after it. "--I mean, that's not--I was just checking something," he added, not quite frantic but clearly jostled. "I wasn't trying to be rude. I'm not looking for trouble."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:32 pm
Monoceros flinched slightly when Malus towered over him. He was only two inches shorter than the other, but still, the fact that he was an Eternal and Monoceros was just a Scout definitely gave him some kind of more height and authority. But he had to step up, regardless, his concern for the small youma unable to be banished. "I'm making it my business," he replied, "And it doesn't have to be trouble." He tilted his head slightly as they went, thinking quickly. "You like the youma, too? Er, I mean, want to save them? You're not—you're not acting like you want to hurt it..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 11:00 pm
Malus hadn't expected someone shorter than him, and his whole demeanor changed when he caught the flinch. His shoulders sagged a little and he stood a bit less straight.
"It's--that's not...exactly right, but..."
He hesitated. "I don't think they're all bad. Or--I know they're not all bad. It's just, it's like finding a diamond in the rough. I was trying to figure out if that one had anything left to save. It's flighty and scared--they don't naturally like senshi, but it's not safe to go after them if you're not powered up. So it might not be dangerous, but..."
He looked after where it had disappeared. "...I don't know that there's anything that can be done for it."
A pause, and then he turned back to the basic senshi before him and extended a gloved hand. "I'm Malus. I'm sorry for alarming you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:00 pm
He looked to where Malus looked after the youma, frowning sadly. Then, he startled a bit when Malus turned back to him and apologized. "Wha—er, no, you're fine, I just...." he trailed off, smiling sheepishly as he shook the other's hand. "I'm Monoceros. I have a horribly high sense of justice for someone who's a bit of a 'fraidy cat, and it has gotten me into some seriously sticky situations before." Inhaling deeply, he continued, "Like, it's hard for me to believe that it's impossible to help everyone. Feels like there's always something that can be done, and it just takes time. Always hated the concept of 'this species is always evil because I said so', like DND races. Guess it's different when it's, like, gods, but I don't think youma fall into that category."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:37 am
Malus was not familiar enough with D&D to have a solid response, but he nodded a little bit anyway.
"Youma are complicated," he said; when they had finished shaking, he planted his hands on his hips. His brows were furrowed, like he was trying to figure out how to word things. "It's not black and white, but you can get seriously hurt if you aren't careful. You shouldn't approach a youma if you're not prepared to dust it."
He looked like he was trying to figure out how to best word it. "--And don't get me wrong, I'm a big youma advocate, but they really can't all be saved. I mean, most of them can't. Most of them are just so far gone that all they know how to do is hurt people. I don't think they're evil--it's just. Well. It's not like they get a choice, really. They're tools for the Negaverse. But some of them don't know how to be anything else--or worse, some of them enjoy it--so you have to be careful."
He looked like the sort of was perpetually worried, but he managed a bit of a smile. "I mean. You'll find out in your own time, after you meet enough of them, I'm sure. But be careful so you live long enough to learn the difference, okay?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 11:58 am
Monoceros nodded seriously. "Yeah, that... that makes sense, I just..." He trailed off, sighing and running a hand over his hair. "I guess I'm a bit of a bleeding heart. I yelled at—back before I was Sailor Monoceros, I mean? I was, uh. Well, I met this youma, I realize what it is now, and... It was this great big dinosaur fella, who said he'd eat me? But I kinda just turned into Chris Pratt, I guess, because I managed to talk him down a little, and give him chin scratches like a dog or cat or something. Then, this—this guy, one of us, or maybe a knight? I don't really remember the details, I just remember him dropping in and cutting off the poor thing's tail, and as it ran away, I just lost my mind on this guy—whoever he was, I mean, to me, it was kinda like, how dare you? Who the heck are you to come in and just start attacking a creature that hasn't even done anything yet? The dino was just standing there and enjoying some chin scratches!" He laughed a bit and shook his head. "In retrospect, I can see how it looked, but N-G-L, I'm still kinda mad about it. Even if I couldn't have saved the youma back then..." He inhaled slowly. "I think there's something left to save. I just wish I could find him now. So—so that's why I was kinda chasing you, there. I want to help them, more than anything. If there's even the slightest chance...I can't let it just go."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 5:56 pm
Malus blinked, a little alarmed at the tail lopping off of some youma that seemed practically domestic. "If I see a dinosaur youma, I'll have to try that," he promised, but still seemed a little uncertain.
"This...might sound really stupid, but I--I think I have a pretty good grasp of youma things."
He didn't think he was particularly believable, and it showed on his face that he didn't have much confidence. He had to will it to himself, and proceed with a bit more conviction.
"You know what a youma is, right? --That it's a person, whose starseed has been broken, and then chaos gets in all the cracks and just continues to pollute it, to rot it--to destroy it? There is a way to purify them. Not all of them," he insisted then. "...Some really are just too far gone. But if you can find one that you think can be saved--one that is smart enough to know what's going on, to want to be saved....there's a chance. But a lot of the feral youma really can't even think for themselves, and the more human ones are smart enough that they might be able to trick you. But. If you have a Court that's willing to try--I, um. I know some people who were youma for a little while. Who got turned back into themselves because a Court could heal them. I don't know if there are other ways, but. You can go into it hoping they can be saved, but you really do have to be ready for them to turn on you--for them to be too far gone. And it sucks, because," he seemed a little more passionate now, visibly distressed, "You know that they used to be humans, that there used to be someone in there that might have been able to come back. And it sucks because you know you're too late. You missed your chance. And so far as I know, there's no coming back once they tip off the deep end. Once the chaos breaks down their starseed too much."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2020 7:55 pm
Monoceros gasped softly, shaking his head after Malus explained what a youma really was. No, he really hadn't had any idea, just a hazy idea of them just... turning into a human, but certainly not having been one before. "That's... no, I didn't know that level of detail..." He trailed off, hugging himself. "Jesus... I... I'm glad. That there's people like you. Are you—Are you in one of these healing Courts, then? Or something? Could I join one? Or, the same, with you, if... it's possible?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2020 1:00 pm
Malus blinked. "Oh, I--yeah, I think you can join. I'm not the leader or anything, so I don't know that I get any sort of say. I mean." He paused. "Well. I'm a part of the Court, so I suppose I would. But--I don't know how many other Courts there are. I know that--"
He shifted positions and looked a little uncomfortable for a few seconds before he clarified, "Before I joined, they were purifying youma. I mean, before I was even a senshi, they were purifying. I don't know how they figured it out, but. They did. So I'm really grateful to them." Again, he shifted positions, and looked up at the sky like it had more answers than he did.
"I mean. I was. For a while. Just a little while. Like a year. Um."
He looked liked he was trying to confess some awful thing.
"...Trapped in the Negaverse, with all of the other youma. So I know a little bit about them. And want to save whichever ones can be saved. But it really isn't all of them. And it's not like all youma even get along. So. There's a lot of bad ones in the lot. You just have to remember that."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2020 4:41 pm
"Wait, you were...?" Monoceros trailed off, looking at Malus with some kind of awe. "Wow. I'm glad you were able to be saved, Malus. I bet you know more than you're letting on, but, um, I won't ask. It seems, well, pretty rude." He smiled sheepishly. "How would I meet the rest of the Court to join?" he questioned, "I want to help, any way I can, and since y'all would know more about it..." He trailed off again, unsure of how to continue, and trying very hard to not seem awkward, while achieving exactly none of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:49 pm
"I was," Malus confirmed, but he seemed a little antsy about it. He didn't seem to think there was anything to be in awe or excited about, but he managed to keep a small smile. "To be honest, a lot of us...haven't been in contact in a while. I know things sort of just...happened. But--here, I'll scan you in my phone, and you scan me in yours. We'll be able to keep in contact. I'll see if I can't find some of them and get us together? At the very least, in the meantime, we could patrol together if you wanted. It's, ah. It's sort of dangerous around here."
He rubbed at his arm and had to draw in a breath and remind himself that he was an Eternal Senshi.
There were few who could hurt him like this. He could protect himself. He could protect others.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 4:06 pm
Monoceros practically beamed sunlight at Malus with how bright and wide his smile was. "Yeah, that sounds awesome!" he said quickly, pulling out his phone, "It'll be nice to have more people to know around here, being all superhero-esque and stuff. I don't know very many people yet; I, uh, I'm not good at—at starting socialization, but I can keep it up once the ball gets rolling, I mean. And having people to help, while I... try to get used to all this, still? Is. A really nice idea."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 2:55 pm
Malus looked a bit relieved with the positive reception, and his shoulders relaxed again. He seemed smaller now that he wasn't trying to puff himself up, like he didn't have to defend against some predator.
"It's a good idea to have someone watch your back. I almost never go out alone. It's dangerous," he justified, with a conviction that implied he wasn't just saying it--he believed it.
"And having a partner, I mean. You both have different experiences. And there's safety in numbers. And...if something does go wrong, you've got someone who can get help. It's just." He shrugged and shifted positions a bit, glancing into the dark shadows. "Especially if you don't know what's out there. I was terrified, when I first awakened. I knew what the Negaverse could do. And I knew that since I was a Senshi, I was a target. Again. So. If you ever want to go out--ever--just to practice, or train, or--anything--please. Let me know, if you can. I--I'm not even the best, but I've been practicing. It's not like I'm weak."
He said it, paused, and then relaxed again.
He was an Eternal Senshi. It wasn't like he was weak.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
