|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 5:27 pm
“General Faustite, I wanted to officially introduce myself.”
Maybe not in the Rift, but here they both were. The purple haze and shadows made the hair on the back of Jet’s neck stand on end, but after his adventures in the ever shifting hellscape with Aquamarine, it wasn’t as foreboding of a place as it once was for him. There was still a need to be cautious and be prepared for anything to happen, but teeth pulled into some kind of macabre grin in dark corners was surprisingly comforting.
The name Faustite pulled at Jet’s memories, but if they had met, it would have been years ago and briefly. He certainly hadn’t met any half-youma General that was on fire.
Sort of on fire. For some reason, Jet was expecting more fire.
“General Jet,” he introduced as promised. “General Aquamarine and I responded to the call for reinforcements. Cymophane asked me to find you once the retreat had been called. We, uh… got your rats… Thank you.” An unconventional delivery method, but still efficient.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2021 6:10 pm
A voice cut through his pointless reverie, and Faustite twitched at the sound. The general had one leg folded beneath him, the other dangled bonelessly over the edge, and he folded his arm against a crumbling column as a makeshift pillow. For the past fifteen minutes, he drooled out his urge to vomit, and the black spittle formed a thin bond between his mouth and the time-hewn rock below. When he heard company, he tucked his face into his bent arm to wipe away the evidence.
"Better that you don't sneak up on people, General." Faustite twisted as he spoke, looked up to see who was bothering him this time.
s**t, it's the cute one that carried him. What kindling sass he nursed instantly died, and he clammed up. Whatever words he had to give, they vanished. Sorry, thought you were someone else sounded like puerile bullshit.
"I should thank you." Faustite clambered up to his feet with the help of the column. Small marvel how much strength and energy he lost with a few pounds. Though, he quit stepping on scales; might be more than a few pounds now. "Wouldn't be here otherwise."
He swallowed. Didn't want to look at Jet's face, didn't want to remember how it felt to be carried about. Memory wasn't a choice, he was starting to learn.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 5:06 pm
“I apologize if I startled you,” Jet said after a moment. Although he didn’t question why the General hadn’t been paying enough attention to feel his approach, he wondered just how much the operation had affected him.
Jet watched Faustite for a few moments, taking note of the way he moved, using the column to support himself. He was shorter than Jet, although not by too much. Maybe shorter than Aquamarine even. And he was thinner, too. He didn’t look well, but then again, Jet only knew enough about Youma to get by. Perhaps this was a side effect--
A now familiar voice in the back of his head said no. This was due to something else. Something that meant dealing with the White Moon royals would need to be handled more delicately.
“It’s s**t luck that a Princess showed up,” he said when Faustite didn’t seem to want to look at him. Maybe he was rude to interrupt his stewing in misery. “Have you dealt with her before? Ganymede? Her magic is a b***h to deal with, although since you’re already on fire maybe it wouldn’t cause you as much pain. Not that I recommend trying to find out,” he said, as though he hadn’t purposefully antagonized her to see what kind of magic she had, once upon a time. But that had been his own choice, and not something he wanted his fellow officers to suffer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 6:33 pm
"Mm." Faustite folded his hands at the small of his back and used them as cushion when he leaned against the pillar. Normally he folded them lower, knowing that others could see his hands through the grate. It was such a simple thing that set people on edge around him, but Faustite understood it. No one should be able to see his hands behind his back when they were facing his front. Today, though, he was too tired to try.
He sighed, smokeless, and cast his gaze to the decrepit steps behind Jet's calves (and he had nice calves, too, as Faustite unfortunately noticed). "People don't update the ******** Database…
"No, never met her." He looked up at Jet, looked at the stubble about his chin that Faustite couldn't grow. "Don't know anything about her. Enlighten me, since our stalwart ******** comrades are all mum about it." He chewed his tongue, then passed a breath. "Sorry. Just —" he cast the thought away with a shake of his head. He needed to gather his s**t and keep it in check.
"Share what you know. I'll write the Database entry after."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 6:59 pm
“I agree, the Database is sorely under utilized. But don’t worry, my personal interaction with her was entered,” Jet said and pulled out his communication pen, opening up the tablet so he could locate what he’d submitted years ago. “She was our captive once, before she was a Princess. We found out she’s married to a Jupiter Knight named Valhalla. She became immediately hostile when he was threatened. Ah, it looks like there’s an entry on him as well. Unfortunately, I have not encountered her alone as a Princess. She was one of the more dangerous enemies when Negaspace was invaded, and a Princess then, but it seems as though no one else decided to enter that.”
Naturally, the Database was outdated. Other than looking through it to familiarize themselves with potential enemies, there was little applicable use for the information. Some of the White Moon that were entered as potential allies had already been brought over to their side, but there weren’t too many willing to provoke the White Moon into revealing information.
And he had been trying not to put himself into more danger ever since promising Aquamarine that he wouldn’t.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 7:13 pm
So they held her captive. She escaped, then. Became a Princess. Invaded Negaspace. He wondered if there was some direct causality to that, but these were all events that must have happened before his time. He'd never been able to locate accessible information on the invasion; what he'd gleaned had come from word of mouth by those present. It was 2016, if he recalled.
Faustite nodded, swallowed a little ash. "What does she look like?"
Even if she wasn't alone, he had reason to go looking for her. His interest in finding Cybele was reason enough on its own, but his stupid ******** friend got his youma killed by Queen b***h here, and he wanted to see what he could do about that. Valhalla sounded like instant antagonism — irrationality. Couldn't use that; couldn't rely on that.
"And how did she escape?" Treachery or negligence, he imagined.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 1:43 pm
Jet looked at Faustite, and then glanced down at the tablet, his lips pressed together thoughtfully. He could have been difficult, but decided there was no benefit.
“‘Blonde, at least five foot four. Scrawny looking but has a mean kick. Wears white, red, and black. Long red train, black gloves, black lace over a white bodice,’” he read from his own entry. “‘Glows golden from her hands and forehead, and can not be corrupted.’”
After that he paused for a moment, recalling both when Negaspace was invaded, and the shared image Aquamarine had with him through the earrings Axinite had given them to use.
“As a Princess… she wears a white gown and has white wings. Big red bow with an eagle on his hip. Gaudy looking crown and glass shoes like she’s Cinderella or something. I assume her escape when we had her and the others captured was a combination of the efforts the White Moon went into rescuing them, and carelessness. I was only a Lieutenant back then. I didn’t get much say in what happened, although I thought it would have been wiser to take all their starseeds and be done with it.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:17 pm
Description was vivid enough. Faustite remembered a senshi fitting it perfectly during the operation. He'd sent Cybele after her, and her friend dressed in an ugly, puffy outfit and obnoxious red hair. He was too far to have seen any glowing markings, though that wasn't the first time he encountered something like that.
"Can't starseed them with those markings, though." Better for murder after that, or energy batteries. He remembered Schörl mentioning something like it — cut off the limbs, hook up some kind of intravenous feeding device, and use them for all the energy they could produce. Faustite's gaze grew distant. He wondered if that would happen to him, someday; if the Negaverse was ever so starved for energy, if they ever came up with a project complicated enough to requite a living furnace, could he endure that kind of life? Could he inflict it on someone else, like Ganymede?
Now wasn't the time for those questions. His gaze darted to the peak on a distant mountain, then wandered the plains before coming back to Jet. Shame he was so cute, and that Faustite was on fire.
"White Moon puts too much value on human life." Going through all that trouble to save a few soldiers of their own — Faustite couldn't imagine the Negaverse doing that. They were soldiers: they weren't supposed to have value. "Sorry she got loose.
"Know how I can find her?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:54 pm
“There are plenty more without markings,” Jet pointed out. There had only been a handful of Senshi and Knights they’d captured back then.
But he paused in speaking as Faustite seemed to get lost in some memory or trauma he’d experienced. Jet knew that look and he averted his eyes to look down at his tablet once more.
He frowned a little when Faustite spoke again, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if trying to read the young man in front of him. There was something off about his demeanor. For all he knew, it was because he was half youma. But there was something else he couldn’t quite place his finger on. Something deeper, something festering.
“I take it you don’t think the Negaverse values human life,” he surmised. “You don’t have anyone you care enough about that you wouldn’t try to rescue them if they were kidnapped? Don’t get me wrong, we made our mistakes by underestimating the White Moon. The Negaverse can only function as efficiently as our weakest, who are given more power when they prove they are worthy. As far as I’m aware, there is no limit on how many Generals are promoted. We still all answer to the General Sovereigns, Queen Laurelite, and Metallia herself. I’d like to see my recruits promoted as soon as possible. More strength against the White Moon that way.”
Jet suspected it had something to do with Faustite’s half-youma side that he thought so poorly of the value of human life. He was aware that half-youma were treated worse than the Negaverse Senshi.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:08 pm
"It doesn't…" He ventured, smiling through his confusion. "Human life is a resource. Energy and starseeds, a commodity. The Negaverse values human bodies with Negaverse power. Those bodies have to prove they're more useful than their starseeds, then they glean more power." That was the Negaverse he had known — the Negaverse that Umber and Schörl introduced to him. Faustite thought that hadn't changed so much as fallen dormant, or gone unspoken; the Negaverse devalued human life because it couldn't afford to value it. Not without starving itself into submission.
Weary, Faustite sagged against the pillar and locked his knees. Thumbs hooked into the belt loops at the front of his pants. Jet spoke of recruits, sounded stedfast in his dedication. He commanded where needed, made his own calls decisively, without hesitation. In all, he sounded like a capable General to answer to.
Jet's question was dismissed as rhetoric. Faustite didn't want to think about that answer, anyway. With no recruits and no team, he was enabled to act in solitude. The Negaverse could use that, he thought.
The Negaverse could use anything, even a kid it set on fire as a science experiment.
"Anyway," he shook his head, staring off again toward the plains. "You didn't answer my question."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 7:52 pm
Jet watched Faustite, his curiosity growing the more he saw confusion in the other’s expression. Faustite seemed so sure of himself, so confident in his explanations. Carefully, Jet slid his tablet closed into its pen form, and tucked it into the inner pocket of his jacket.
“I think you and I have had very different experiences with the Negaverse,” Jet said, his own expression settling on a thoughtful frown. It was no wonder why the Negaverse seemed fractured more than ever. No one valued each other. No one worked towards a greater purpose. It was all kill or be killed. All a competition to be the last survivor.
Or at least it was for some. For others, it was more than that. But he was also aware that not everyone may have had the same opportunities as himself. He would know best about opportunities, and until recently the only place he’d been able to gain any traction and grow… was in the Negaverse.
But he wasn’t about to get into that with Faustite. Not now.
“I don’t know how you can find Ganymede. But if you need any help, let me know. And no, I have no interest in stabbing you in the back for the glory of taking out a Princess. A loss of a Royal is a positive for the Negaverse, no matter who does the deed.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 3:30 pm
The response seemed obvious in hindsight. Jet was human; of course they had different experiences. But it led him to wonder — were his experiences more fringe, even before he lost his humanity? The more he encountered these differences, the more his doubt grew. Faustite nodded silently, happy to let the conversation die.
"Right. You had your opportunity to stab me already. Won't be a second one." It was a jest, but he doubted they knew each other well enough for Jet to catch on. Even less, Faustite lost the emotional scope for projecting his off-key humor. "I'll call you if I need you.
"Much better you than Benitoite, anyway," he remarked, disdain growing. "Walking disaster, that one."
He'd had enough of standing; Faustite sank himself back down to his seat on the precipice, this time faced away from the edge. Jet could join if he wanted — he'd hear no argument from Faustite. But if he wanted to remain standing, that was fine, too; Faustite could shut his eyes against his pulsing headache this way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:54 am
Jet wished he didn’t agree with Faustite, but so many things that Benitoite did had Jet questioning what his goals were. He seemed friendly with the White Moon. He wanted to work with them, when they should be focusing on themselves. Sometimes situations called for them to join forces against a common enemy, yes. But those were rare and far between, and if they focused on bettering themselves, then they wouldn’t have to work with the White Moon for anything because they wouldn’t exist.
He was taking a step forward to join Faustite when he went to sit down, but frowned when a noise from his tablet drew his attention.
“I’m going to have to head back,” he frowned at the message, and sighed. “I’m sorry I startled you. I’ll try to give you a heads up next time. General Faustite,” he said with a polite bow of his head, even though they were the same rank. There was no point in trying to make enemies. Until Faustite proved that he couldn’t be trusted, Jet would treat him as a friend. Strickenized Fin after a million years? orz
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
