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 Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 3:18 pm
To say he was exhausted was a bit of an understatement. Right now he felt as though he could just fall onto the path and sleep on it without caring if anyone ran over him. He managed not to do it though, but he was sure that he would be regretting it in the morning. It was some hours after he had left the scene of the Farnsworth building. He hadn't done much other than dust a Youma and then get sprayed by a Youma, but at least he had done something. It had frustrated him though. By the time his magic would have been useful it was essentially over. Something he supposed he would have to get used to having a buff magic. He had only stayed in the area, powering up later, to check to see if there were any Negaverse Agent stragglers haning around just in case. He hadn't found any yet, which was a good thing. It meant that he could probably go back home soon and... he felt another aura. One he did recognize and who had been hinted to him was there. He ran over in the direction that it was coming from, and when he saw the mermaid-themed figure called out, "Pendour!" It was only a moment when he finally caught up to her, but she looked as exhausted, perhaps even more, than he felt. "Pendour, you okay?" He had been worried since he had never gotten an answer to his question, but it seemed that the Squire had made it out all right...
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Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:33 pm
Earlier, with the quiet rage simmering just under her skin, Pendour had assumed that the violence that she was witnessing was senseless. Now, she wasn't so sure. If it had been one agent running around killing in broad daylight, she would have assumed that they were just so broken by Chaos that they'd lost all control of themselves and craved nothing but destruction. The Negaverse as a whole was not like that, though. They were brutal, yes, but they weren't so far gone as to be senseless. It had Pendour wondering what their plan had been. The first thing that had come to mind had been that it was some kind of distraction. If everyone ran home exhausted, that would leave the city open to some other attack. She stayed powered up at the edges of things even as emergency services came and left. She watched for auras. She rubbed at her chest occasionally until after a few hours, when the last of the ache finally faded. She just wanted to curl up in bed for a few days, and when the sun began to set and nothing else terrible happened, she thought about heading that way. An Order aura flared to life, then, and she decided to see who it was on her way back. When she turned the corner, she saw a familiar face. "Sumner," she said, smiling softly despite everything. "I, um, I think so," she said, raising her fingers to brush her chest once more. "What about you? Were you here earlier?" She turned to get a better look at him, her good eye tracing the extra metal on his outfit. "You're a Squire," she whispered, smile going wider.
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:06 am
When he had gotten closer to her it looked like she had been through hell. At least mentally. She didn't look well at all, and so her comment about him being a Squire threw him off a little before his brain could take it in and adequately respond. He realized that they hadn't met since he had become a Squire. She appeared to be happy about it though. "Oh uh, yeah. It was a nice surprise." At least he hadn't been expecting it when he had powered up that time when he had upgraded. "Are you sure you're okay? Did anything happen? I was there myself. I battled some Youma and had help from others who were there." It wasn't the first time he had been in such a battle, but it was the worst one yet. "If, you're okay then that's good. I can't say what I saw was something I want to see again, though I know I will. So I'm glad that you made it out."
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 2:40 pm
There was a pause, and her smile flickered and faded as the distraction of his upgrade passed. "...Maybe?" she answered, her voice slow and uncertain, her gaze centered somewhere thousands of miles away. "I don't know. I'm not hurt, but," she sighed, and there was a heaviness to it. "I was here. I got through to one agent and convinced him to leave, but there was another towards the end. The General. The one from the ambush. You know." She twisted so that the scar across her back and arm was visible, and she ran the fingers of her other hand across it. She had a blurry memory of being passed from Sessrumnir to Sumner after she'd found herself at the end of the man's glaive. "He was killing people. He tried to get my starseed, too, when I tried to stop him, but there was an Eternal with me, and, um, I think they got called off then, anyway, so I'm. I'm okay," she said. At least, her soul was in her chest, and she was grateful for that. "But I, um. Couldn't save those people," she said, voice going softer. There was a drawn out pause, and then she added, glancing towards the ground, "Sometimes I wish my magic worked on me."
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Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 6:50 pm
He hesitated for a moment before putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you got out of there. It was very brave of you to do that but honestly you probably should have let the Eternal or someone who isn't a Pacifist like you confront someone who was willing to kill others. I know it was probably in the moment and you couldn't help yourself from doing it, but if you don't remember to either use your magic or let someone else do the work for you, you might not come back from it."After spewing that out Duncan blushed a bit as he realized that his experience as a lifeguard had kicked in. "I'm... sorry. I know you were trying to help. I'm not sure if even I would have been able to do anything, and I'm not a pacifist." He said with a sad smile. "But from what I experienced there, it just wasn't a situation where talking it out was going to work on everyone. You said that you managed to convince one Agent to leave, were they also killing people? Maybe they were already hesitant about the attack as well." He shrugged his shoulders, releasing hers in the process. "I can't say I would have been able to tell if the General would have been more willing to talk, but if someone is willingly killing others then the time to talk would be in a different situation where they aren't so hyped up." He was sure that killing people made others a bit excited at the very least. He looked at her with a sad smile. "It would be nice wouldn't it? But maybe there's someone with some magic on our side that might be able to help as well. Or perhaps someone who's a psychiatrist that you could talk your feelings to about at the very least. Or someone who's been at this for a long time."
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Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:28 am
"I wasn't trying to talk," said Pendour, almost defensive for a second there. Her emotions were still close to the surface. "Not to him. I'm not that naive. I was trying to grab the starseed, but," she faltered, voice going quiet again, "I wasn't fast enough." There was something more to be said, something about how being a peacemaker was about so much more than standing back and calling on others to be violent in your stead, but now was not the time for that. Her lips trembled, even with his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe it wasn't the right thing. Maybe I should have tried the magic, instead. Maybe I should have seen if Kami could have been faster. I don't-" As he pulled his hand away, she stepped closer, right up next to him. She leaned against him, resting her forehead on his shoulder. She moved slowly, giving him time to step back if he wanted, but after everything, she craved the human contact. "I don't know," she whispered. "I'm sorry," she said then. "I told you I'd try to be careful, didn't I, that I'd try not to worry you, and now here I am. Again." Sumner had run into her after bad situations a few times now.
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Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 9:36 am
He didn't mind her resting her forehead on his shoulder and wrapped one arm around her for a hug. "It's hard to tell what would be the best thing to do in those situations, especially since we don't have clairvoyance." He said. "I've questioned myself plenty of times when I think I've done something wrong that risked someone else's life. Could I have done something different? Was there any way to get to them faster? I bet there was nothing you could have done though. Generals would be faster and unless you could teleport to them and grab their arm that way, there wouldn't have been any way to stop him." Of course he hadn't been there so he couldn't really tell if there had been a way to stop him, but he doubted that the strength of a Squire could have stopped a General from grabbing a starseed anyway. He wasn't sure though, he hadn't ever seen it happen and unless he tried it himself or heard about it from someone else, he wouldn't know. He rubbed his hand up against her upper back. "It's nothing to be sorry about. It's just my experience as a lifeguard coming out. I'm sure there will be more situations like this one. It won't be the last unfortunately." It was war, and unless something big happened, then they would probably be fighting until they were killed or could not longer stand anymore. "We just have to... keep fighting. And I'm sure as you gain more experience, which is a lot more than me even at this point, you'll continue to learn and be better. And I'm sure that once you become a Knight that you'll be able to keep up with Generals a lot more easily."
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:29 am
She fully collapsed against him, now, relaxing into the hug."We have to keep trying," she corrected. Not fighting. She would never look at it like that, and while others could make their own choices, she was not going to encourage that viewpoint. " I'm going to keep trying," she said, and nodded against the shoulder. "I am getting better, mostly. I'm better at talking to them, now. I think I've gotten through to a few people, and if I can't, if they're, um," she pressed her lips together, "Far gone? The magic can help keep me safe." It had gotten her out of a few awful situations now. The doubts crept in at that thought, that maybe she should have tried the magic sooner, but it was easier to push those thoughts away with Sumner here. She pulled away enough to rub at her chest. "It's all just a lot, sometimes. Generals are, um," she paused, trying to think of a kind word, but all she could find was, "Intense. Broken. Dangerous." If she ever did become a full Knight, maybe that would make things a little easier.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 3:10 pm
He hmmed. "I bet you're better at me. I tend to default into lecture mode." He said with a chuckle, though she knew, he had just done it to her after all. "Just... don't be afraid to rely on others all right? Maybe you couldn't this time, but next time if someone else is there with you you can use their strength as well." As long as they were cooperative at least. He hadn't met anyone in the White Moon who didn't want to help a Senshi or Knight. At least, not yet. "I've only gone up against one and was barely able to fight off their Youma. Didn't even get a chance to attack the General themselves. I can't imagine how hard it would be as a Squire if they are as dangerous as you say. But you'll be on their level one day." And he would too hopefully. Then they could help each other if they ever had to fight a dangerous General together. Or he could help others of course, but he felt as though he still had a lot to learn. "It will hurt this time. And you'll still probably think about it afterwards, but we can only keep moving forward and do our best."
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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 2:46 pm
His words helped some, even if they were delivered with a lifeguard's level of protectiveness. In a conflict like that, it was probably best not to try to be fiercely independent, although it would be a fine line to ask for help for people who might be desperate enough to fight, when she did not want to escalate situations. She did not want to dwell on what she could have done differently, though, not right now. That question had already been repeating itself over and over in her head for the last several hours. "I don't have hints on what it's going to take for me to unlock the rest of my powers," she said instead. "For Squire, I had to learn the music, but now I'm not sure what's next." She'd been working hard on Earth and Neptune both, and yet nothing had changed in a while, now. It didn't usually bother her. She had some magic, and that was so much more than she'd had before, but in situations like today, if she'd been a Knight and just a little faster- But no. That was the thoughts starting to spiral again. "Do you want to come over and watch a movie, maybe?" she asked slowly. "It doesn't seem like anyone's coming back, and I think both of us could use it to unwind a little." It was the closest she could get to asking for help, now. His presence alone was enough to make her feel better, and she didn't think she wanted him wandering off, again, not now.
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Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 8:05 pm
He could hear the frustrations in her words. He could understand, even if he wasn't in the same place that she was. As a Page it had been difficult. He had been desperate to become a Squire, just so that he could feel like he could do more. Whether he could was a different question, but at least he now had some magic that could do... something. He wasn't sure what. It didn't feel like anything had happened when he had tried it at his Wonder. He had been told what it could do, but actually using it was not something he had done yet. He thought about her proposal for a moment before nodding. "A movie sounds good. We need to get our minds off of things anyway. Then maybe we can come back to them later when we're less charged from just having battled and go over it then." He smiled at her. "Maybe you'll find the way to become a Knight then."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:15 pm
Pendour nodded, half smiling. With some focus, she willed her breath to slow. Later, she'd worry about knighthood and finding more strength. She'd been strong enough for today. She had to believe that. She took a shaky step and then a steadier one, glancing over her shoulder and nodding for Sumner to follow. "We can go to my apartment this time," she said, voice soft, and then made her way away from the scene of battle.
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