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 Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 6:07 pm
Destiny City was large and complicated enough that even after several months of this new life, Cybele was still finding new places that she'd never seen before.
She was sticking to the edges of town, away from the more populated areas, as nobody had been available to patrol with her tonight, and she was still wary of running into someone who was out for her blood given what had happened last time.
Her bandages were finally gone, but the scar on her shoulderblade was still an angry pink.
She wasn't thinking about that, though. She might have been powered up, but her thoughts drifted away from the war as she saw a sign for a nature trail. Of course she followed it, and although she'd seen houses behind her just a few minutes ago, she found herself trekking through unmowed meadows and then a small patch of actual woods.
It was interesting enough glancing up at the tree leaves and down at patches of moss and wildflowers, but that was when she saw it.
A blue and black striped tail.
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:25 am
Destiny City and its light pollution blocked out far too much of this marvelous spectacle. But out here, in the meadow, Xyla was able to bear witness to a beautiful and wonderous meteor shower over head. The sky opened up above them, a yawning expanse freckled with stars and the occasional streak of light. For a month now the Mauvian had found a bed amongst lovely smelling wildflowers where she gazed up in amazement while wondering what kind of world were beyond her knowing. For the first time in what felt like weeks, Xyla felt a signature approach; slow as it was, she assumed that they had not noticed her presence which was perhaps a good thing. Aimlessly they wondered until suddenly they were beside her; looking down curiously at her incredibly long tail. Xyla yawned, then rose to her feet and stretched. "Starlight, star bright. First star I see tonight. I wish I may. I wish I might. Make this wish I wish tonight." Eyes the color and shape of full harvest moons looked up in a curious fashion; first taking in the familiar horns, then the seafoam green colored hair; shorter than she remembered it being. The uniform was wrong, so terribly wrong; as well as that aura that coincided with that white suit she wore. No matter, the mauvian bumped her forehead against the side of the White Moon Senshi's leg affectionately. "My huntress, oh how you have strayed. Tracks too carefully hidden. I could not follow, I could not find." Her tone sounded full of remorse for not having been a better guardian for the Corrupt to lean on for support. "Oh how I have failed thee." She knew not if Cybelle remembered their short time together, but Xyla had never forgotten.
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 2:34 pm
Cybele's gaze moved slowly up the tail and the rest of the cat until she found golden eyes, a dark star, and an unmistakable blue rose in front of one of her ears. While Cybele could remember her time in the Negaverse, much of it felt distant, like a nightmare, and the time that she'd spent in that monster's forest realm directly after her corruption felt even less real than some of the rest.There had been a few times when she'd wondered about the odd Mauvian she'd lived with then, and if she'd actually been a part of the realm itself and not part of the Negaverse. She hadn't been, apparently, because now she was staring up at Cybele on the outskirts of Destiny City. "Xyla," she breathed, "So you weren't a dream." The emotions that swelled in her chest were disturbingly similar to what she'd felt back then when she'd seen her old allies. There was warmth there, tinged with longing and a bit of sadness. She knew that it was probably wrong to kneel down, offering her hand to butt against instead of her leg, but she did it anyway. Cybele's soft spot had always been for animals, and that apparently included Mauvians with Chaos in their starseeds. She did stop short of apologizing, even though that urge hit her as well, but her voice was soft as she whispered, "It wasn't you. It was everything except you."
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 4:44 pm
"Just as a small droplet of water will find a crack with which to hide, so too have you fled." The somber tone carried with it a quiet, contemplative hum. Xyla looked up at the former corrupt with the color of golden-yellow harvest moons. Her head canted to the side curiously, taking in the white uniform and appropriately shorter hair. Her aura felt wrong but the mauvian didn't seem to mind as she rubbed her face, her star, against the offered hand. "You are mine. My Huntress," the only Senshi she had claimed as her own. "I'll not forsake you." She'll not be brought back forcefully, to have all precious memories stolen for the sake of another able body with which to follow orders and risk their lives fighting. Xyla did not want those moments erased so haphazardly. Someday Cybele may return, and if that day should come, she would be there waiting for the beautiful corrupt to return home. "You are where you belong," for now, Xyla reassured herself.
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:07 pm
The moment of hesitation was over. Cybele relaxed against the meadowgrass and began to run her fingers through Xyla’s fur. “I left, yes,” she said, nodding towards her outfit and not hiding the small smile that spread across her face. “Although I’d call it breaking chains more than slipping through cracks.” It was true that there had been that short time she’d had to hide while she was making her decision, but she wasn’t huddled away now. She stood prouder than she ever had in the Negaverse. “This is where I’m meant to be. You’re right.” Still, her smile only went so wide as she saw the dark star on Xyla’s head and heard the sad tone of her voice. “And what about you, Xyla?” She asked, pulling her hand away as her thoughts went to a darker place. “Do you think you belong in the Negaverse?” She knew each and every Lieutenant had to have their starseeds filled with Chaos, so did that mean the Mauvians started out without it, too, and were corrupted like the rest of them? “How did you end up there, anyway?” She asked softly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:55 pm
"A curious question to consider." Xyla hummed thoughtfully. For once she was puzzled. It never mattered before how she got there but her earliest memory had been waking up in the castle; gentle fingers combing through her fur much like Cybele's. Tired. So tired. But the room was warm and the cushion soft. Nobody had really treated her poorly so there had been no real reason to question her role in the Negaverse or how she'd come to be there. "I don't know," Xyla finally replied.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:55 am
The blank look in Xyla's golden eyes was all too familiar to the Senshi of the Hunt. Her stomach twisted. It was lucky that the years of acting instincts had carried over enough to keep the look of disgust off of her face. She did not want to withdraw her affections from Xyla. It was easier to have this conversation, anyway, with a warm body next to hers. She moved her fingers to scratch behind the Mauvian's ears, and she kept her voice carefully level as she asked, "Do you remember anything before the Negaverse?" It was a gentler way to ask a different question. Cybele remembered waking up in Axinite's office, with no idea of even who or where she was until she'd been told. She'd met a few others who had ended up in a similar situation. Then there were the ones who came willingly, who seemed to come through the process a bit less broken. "I don't. Not really," she whispered.
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 12:37 am
Xyla purred softly, leaning into Cybele's soft touches. "The Negaverse is all I know," she admitted. The usual riddle and rhymes to her speech were set aside for the moment while they discussed more somber topics. "I have no memories from before I woke in the Castle." But for some reason that didn't make her sad nor curious about what might be missing. "I don't recall pain or feeling like I'd loss something of myself." "I am as I've always been." Perhaps that's why she was unfazed by Cybele's aura. Endlessly curious like a kitten. Xyla craved conversation and affection, sought compliments and praise. Was willing to push boundaries and break rules for the sake of learning something new, even if it meant making allies out of enemies.
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Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 5:51 pm
The confirmation made the knot tighten farther in Cybele’s throat. Another formed in her chest, so intense that her insides felt heavy. Her instinct was almost to go run off, to find someone to punch for corrupting something so precious. It was a good thing that Xyla’s presence and the soft rumble of her purrs kept Cybele at least a bit grounded. “I was like that, too,” she said, voice low, trying to keep herself focused on the softness of Xyla’s fur. “Although it turned out there was a life before the Negaverse, a life that I had been ripped from against my will.” It wasn’t difficult to talk about her own story, although thinking about it made the heaviness in her chest turn into something hotter. Chaos had taken so much from so many people. “It took me a while to see that there were parts of me missing,” she said, voice still carefully level, “But when I got to that point, I found that they were gaping holes.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:04 am
Such sadness... Such worry... Xyla rose to her feet, placed two paws on Cybele's shoulder then leaned in close to brush her cheek against the former corrupt's "I do not like seeing you this way." Distant... other. "These holes offer opportunities to be filled with something better." Something she, as a mauvian, a guardian, should have done better at. Perhaps then she would have stayed. But Xyla was still relatively new at her responsibilities and had not been as present as she should have been. Cybele suffered for it and she, like others within the Negaverse who took without consent, was mostly to blame. "Parts may be missing but you are still you, my huntress." Spoke with a measure of affection that might seem odd coming from a chaos cat to a White Moon Senshi; but she still felt somewhat responsible for the former corrupt. "You deserve many smiles, and happy memories." And she hoped beyond natural reason that whomever convinced her to purify would not abandon her, leave her to wander the void filled forest of forgotten memories to stumble her way towards a better life.
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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 4:23 pm
It wasn't a happy conversation, exactly, but when there was a cat in her lap pressing her face to hers, it was difficult for Cybele to be too sad. Even if the cat happened to be a Chaos Mauvian, the warmth was still there, and the feeling of whiskers on her cheek. Cybele smiled at the way it tickled, leaning into the small headbutt in the same way that she did with the strays she worked with. From anyone else, the possessiveness of being claimed as theirs would have rankled her, but with Xyla, she simply gave a small nod, the smile not faltering. "I'm working on finding myself again, now. The purification helped so much with that." She'd been so lost and empty and desperate before that it seemed unlikely that she'd even be alive if she hadn't gotten out when she had. "I'm working on filling my life with good things," she said. That was when she leaned back a bit, meeting Xyla's gaze, and her lips pressed back into a thin line. "I suppose I just got a little worried, seeing you, hearing more of your story and knowing that it's so close to mine." She was gentle as she ran the flat side of her thumb over the dark star on Xyla's forehead. "Knowing I left you behind."
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 6:05 pm
Twin black tipped ears swiveled back, laying flat against her head. Her gaze, helplessly searching for questions that had not been asked. There was a sadness in her heart that could not be conveyed with words and for once Xyla knew not what to say to bring comfort to her lovely Cybele. Truly a horrible mauvian. Her own interest and musings put above obligations to the Negaverse. “No more worries,” whispered words as she tucked her head beneath her Huntress’s chin. Without arms she could offer no hugs. Without lips no comforting kiss atop her head. All Xyla could do was lean against her and be a presence for her to hold or lean on for however long this precious moment would last. “Making a big life change is scary. But, what’s even more terrifying is regret.” The worst feeling is regretting the chances not taken, relationships too terrified to have and the decisions that waited too long to be made. Xyla knew she should have done better and it cost her dearly; but at least the memory still remained; in that she could find some solace and piece of mind. “Don’t be sad because things have changed, smile because it happened.” “I claimed you as mine, but I’ll not force you to be someplace that won’t make you happy.” If she could, she’d take Cybele to a place where this war could not reach; but she did not think a place like that existed outside of dreams and wishful thinking. Xyla would be punished for it, surely. But the cheshire-like mauvian lived by the rules of what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine The Negaverse had a chance to do right by her. They failed. She fled. Now she’d bite the hand that fed her to protect what was perceived as hers if only to see the former corrupt truly smile.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 6:32 am
There was not much to say. Cybele had made her choice, and it had been the best choice that she had made in the short bit of her life that she could remember. She was grateful beyond words that Xyla understood, that she was here, curled up against Cybele's chest in a field of flowers, her fluffy ears tickling the corners of Cybele's mouth, and that she was not sneaking up to claw at her in some dark alley, or calling in an ambush, or anything like that. She wrapped her arms gently around the Mauvian, and she stayed there for a long moment, enjoying the weight against her. The sky was clear, and the view of the stars tonight was a wonder in itself. Cybele could smell the fading sweetness of the August wildflowers, and hear the chirps of the night bugs hiding in the grass all around. If she could, she'd keep this moment forever. "I'll still be your huntress, Xyla," she said, breaking the silence. "Not the Negaverse's. Not Chaos. I can never do that again, but yours?" Perhaps she was being too soft, but she leaned down to press her forehead against Xyla's, anyway. "That I can do."
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:53 am
Xyla smiled. Not like her wild Cheshire grin that hinted at some mischievous musings, but a genuine smile. Her eyes softened, the intensity of her watchful gaze banked to a humbled appreciation. Something shifted, cracked within her, and when she tried to speak there were no words. Silence. The watery veil of tears blurred the sight of her Huntress, obscuring the soft features and gentle lines until Cybele was nothing more than a wash of pastel colors before her. She blinked. Sorrowful tears spilled down her cheeks and onto the senshi's dress, yet Xyla made no move to wipe them away and instead tried her best to offer some form of a comforting purr. This moment could not last as long as she wished it to and with the nights growing longer and colder still, these stolen snippet's of time would become few and far in-between. While her heart might be small it was full of much love for the one she had claimed. Xyla knew that there would be a time when a White Moon Mauvian would step in and offer Cybele something that she wished to offer her; that they would help her grow in a way she could not. They would try to claim her as theirs, and Xyla would fight them for that right simply because she was not ready to let go yet. Not yet. Just a moment longer before she'd allow them to part ways. More tears spilled before she shifted, leaning her head against Cybele's shoulder. Greedy. Selfish. So full of her own regrets. Xyla pulled what comfort the former corrupt would willing give; wordlessly asking to just be held. This moment was not about her and although she was being given a second chance to do right by her senshi, she could not find the words to say goodbye. Not yet... just a moment longer... One more minute, one more second, one more something. She'd stop time if she could but that was beyond her magical means. Just... not yet. Instead she spoke quietly "Find happiness. Don't let this war keep taking from you. Find your happiness, please." Even if she could not be a part of it, Xyla would feel content knowing that Cybele was free and living her life by her own rules; seizing each day to fill in the void of missing memories until she felt whole once more.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 2:06 pm
Cybele wasn't sure when she had shifted from taking comfort from the cat to giving it. Perhaps it had been that way the whole time they'd been there, and it was only made more obvious by the puddle of Mauvian tears darkening her newly white clothes. Later, she would not be able to have said if she stayed there for seconds or for hours as she curled herself around Xyla protectively, offering all the warmth and caresses she could while she drank in the soft sound of the Mauvian's purrs. When Xyla's final words came, they brought a melancholy sort of smile to Cybele's face. "I will," she whispered, even as she forced herself to untangle from the embrace, to stand before she fell asleep in the middle of the meadow and risked losing her glamor. She wanted to trust her, she wanted it, deep in her soul, but there were lines that could not be crossed. "I will," she said again, eyes soft as she looked down. "I am. I just hope that one day, the war," the Negaverse, "Will stop taking from you, too." With that, she was off before she could stop herself, each step faster than the last as she made her way back towards the path and the city.
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