Quote:
The Meteor Shower (9) : One of the hallmark features of the Star Festival is the week long meteor shower that kicks off at the beginning of the celebrations. The first night is usually a little slow, and it picks up more on the second and third evening, but tonight is different. Within the first hour of the first visible falling meteor, something hits the ground with enough force that the ground trembles and power is lost for a few seconds. The impact can be heard throughout the city and the news reports that a small meteor made impact--only, they don’t report that they can’t find any damage and have no idea where it landed. Maybe that’s enough to convince some people, but anyone who knows about this powered war might expect that nothing good ever comes from space.
Cacoxenite hadn't been doing much of anything in the powered world recently. She was grumpy and pissed off, which was different from her usual flavor of acerbic and cranky in that she was also kind of worried. It took a lot to make Cacoxenite worry.
She had deliberately refused to go to Operation Firepit, and while she was confused about why she wasn't getting a talking-to about it, she wasn't going to question it. The whole crux of her worry rode on the fact that the Negaverse she was seeing now didn't seem to be the one she signed up for. This was not the Negaverse that was going to make her a badass and give her the power she wanted.
She'd been 15 when she cussed her way into her own corruption. Senshi awakening ages aside, what would a 15-year-old kid do with that kind of power, anyway? She'd wanted to pummel her way through all who opposed her. Five years down the line, that motivation sounded utterly stupid. She was an adult now, somehow, and she had adult things to worry about, like her job and rent and maybe not calling into work dead for whatever reason.
At this point, Cacoxenite was standing in a clearing, watching the meteor shower aligned with the star festival. As she looked at the sky, a thought came to her: one of those is Kitalpha, my star. She'd never thought much about the Order senshi who could leap into space, but now it gave her a wistful feeling. Whatever was up there had to be worth looking at, at least for a little while.
A huge impact that shook the ground nearly knocked Cacoxenite off her feet. "What the f-!" She cut herself off. She was trying to cut back on the profanity, just a bit. Her past self would've called her an absolute weenie for giving in and trying to become more "acceptable," but the more she thought about it, sometimes she thought she hated that kid. What was so fun about being nasty to everyone just for the sake of disturbing people? It was ridiculous.
Cacoxenite shuddered as she looked back up to the sky. No, she wasn't going anywhere yet. She couldn't, really. There were too many loose ends to just hop the faction fence. She wanted to prove herself, though she was going to do it differently than how she started out wanting to. Not by raw displays of power and destruction, but by working hard and proving to the world that she could survive. When the time was right, maybe she could evaluate her options more closely.
She murmured her chosen name to herself: "Cacoxenite." She'd picked it because it meant something along the lines of an unpleasant guest, which she had wanted to be for a while. I was such a goddamn tryhard, she mused to herself.
There were no other auras within range. It was just a corrupt senshi, the stars, the meteors, and her thoughts.
