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 Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:18 am
She walked and she walked and she walked. In the back of her head, she kept waiting for the pull, for the call, for the forced relocation that meant Jet or Aquamarine or Metallia themself dragging her to Negaspace for punishment. Kept waiting for the shoe to drop, for the city to wink out around her, for the oppression of Chaos to bear down upon her.
It hadn't come, not yet. A small mercy. Gave her time to get her thoughts in order, to get her emotions in order, to put herself back together again.
One foot in front of the other, she kept going. And going. And going.
Mizuki was exhausted. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Everything had gone so wrong, so upside down. Faustite was gone. She would get reprimanded and potentially demoted for what she did.
Still she walked.
If she stopped... she wasn't sure she'd ever get moving again.
A flare of light and order and good exploded onto her internal radar, so much closer than expected, and she turned instinctively.
Pastels. Purple hair. One of those hats from Disneyland with the train on them. No glowing markings. Around her power level.
"... You die now..." she said, launching herself forward at the squire. Her face was blank, eyes dead and red rimmed. Tear tracks curved down her cheeks, looking like cracks in her flesh.
Where Mizuki may have once toyed with her enemy, taunted and spoke with a teasing lint, now there was just... nothing.
If she felt nothing... then maybe she could survive.
Maybe.
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 10:24 am
Stirling heard the words, and she reacted before she thought, her dagger was in her hand and she brought it through the air, a strange shield separating herself from the oncoming threat.
…Oh. So this was the magic she had? That was…well. It wasn’t what she would have wanted but…in this instance…she was happy to have it.
“...I die now, but…you’re literally the one who looks like death…what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Strange, how having magic. Having a barrier between herself and an enemy made her far more willing to talk rather than just stabbing…plus…that look in the girls’ eyes made her think that…this wouldn’t be a very good fight. People with nothing to lose…didn’t care what they did.
“...I don’t really want to die, and…I mean.”
Thinking quickly, Stirling’s eyes brightened and she reached with her free hand, easing out a chocolate bar and a bag of chips from her subspace pocket and hesitating.
…She couldn’t very well give them to the girl…not with this barrier but. “I nicked these from a corner store the other day, they’re like. Emergency snacks for when I run out of food or for when summer comes and I have to go back to that hellhole, but…chocolate helps a lot of things, and chips always make me feel a bit better…maybe you and I could talk instead of you making me die? I’ll even feed you!”a-disgruntled-dragon Stirling holds her dagger in her hand and slashes through the air, a whimsical shield of ten feet by ten feet manifests five feet in front of where she slashed. The shield is translucent so she can see through it; only those she trusts can pass through it. Those she does not trust will be met with a solid wall to protect against physical attacks. The shield will move with her and will always stay five feet in front of her; it will pass through solid objects and will only be solid when it comes into contact with someone she doesn’t trust. She can use it to push back at her enemies but it can do blunt force damage if a player chooses. Stirling can channel her magic for forty five seconds at this stage.
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 11:04 am
Pain lashed through her hand as she crashed into the barrier the squire created, knuckles splitting anew and dripping blood. It reverberated in her elbow and shoulder, nerves frayed and sensitive. She stared blankly at the squire, only a twitch of her mouth even letting her know that she'd felt the impact at all.
The squire was talking at her. pulling out some sort of food from a pocket. She was saying a lot of words, none of which made sense to Mizuki. The sounds seemed right, they sounded like sounds she should know, but she couldn't comprehend any of it.
"... Lilac Blossom Dance..." she muttered, a shower of lilac petals beginning to rain down around the squire.
Hurt, hurt hurt hurt maybe if she made the squire hurt the squire would stop talking. Stop making sound. Stop extending a hand to her.
Stop bringing her closer and closer to the abyss she'd barely crawled out of the first time.
Orangeish Sherbert Lilac Blossom Dance An upgrade of her scout attack, this time she showers her enemy with purple lilac blossoms. They bring stronger feelings of loss and longing, disorienting an enemy for 35 seconds and causing feelings of pain in their chest. This has a range of 15 ft and can target up to two people at once. It can be used twice per battle.
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 2:46 pm
The barrier she had made didn’t seem to be able to keep out whatever magic the Dark Senshi had, and when the petals began to flow around her, she felt a sudden lurch.
Jealousy. She would never have a family. Dagon didn’t actually want her. Her friends most likely actually even like her. She was alone. Born alone, and she would die alone. Stirling’s throat felt tight for a moment and she glared half heartedly at the Senshi and shook the chocolate bar at her. “Okay. Okay so you’re pissed and want to fight. Fine. But I really don’t want to die and I haven’t done anything to you so, let’s just duke it out with fists. Then we can stuff our faces and go home afterwards and never talk again, deal? It’s more ******** fun to watch your enemy bleed isn’t it?”
Her eyes were burning from the feelings dredged up by the magic, and she shoved the chips back into subspace and snapped the chocolate in half, unwrapping it quickly and shoving one piece in her own mouth, and the other into the mouth of the Corrupted Senshi. “Chocolate first though. We both ******** need it now.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:18 pm
She--
The chocolate hit her tongue, Mizuki instinctually biting down and chewing. Her focus narrowed to the confection in her mouth as it melted and she swallowed. Light, life, emotion came back into the corrupt's eyes. Pain shot through her arm and hand, all white heat and agony. She could feel every scrape, every burn, every broken bone. Her legs burned and ached, her arm felt like fire, her chest throbbed with each breath.
Mizuki's stomach growled loudly.
Heat flashed across her cheeks and she stumbled back a few steps. The squire in front of her was covered in fading lilac pedals, a chocolate bar wrapper in her hand. Her eyes were watering, and she looked about ready to smack sense into Mizuki. More than that though...
Emotions struggled against the ice in her chest.
"W-wait you're... you're one of... Lysithea's knights. I know that.. that symbol," she said, eyes wild but no longer completely dead. Her good arm clamped around her middle, as if she was trying to keep down her lunch. Maybe if she just held herself, the emotions would stop. The pain would stop.
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 12:25 pm
It was just like one of those Snickers commercials! Stirling made a mental note to always carry chocolate with her for cases like this…and if she got the chance, she’d tell the boys too but. “Oh, Yeah, I’m Stirling, Squire of Lysithea! You’ve met her? She’s pretty awesome isn’t she?”
Reaching back into subspace, she pulled out the chips once again and opened the bag, holding it out for the Corrupted Senshi to help herself. “...I can hear your stomach, there’s no sense in going hungry when I have some food for once, eat and then we can beat each other up if that’s what you still want, or not, I’m not going to judge you either way! But, eat. I know what it’s like to go hungry and it sucks, and it makes everything in the world suck that much more.”
Which, was the truth. And this poor thing looked as though she had been through the wars…
“...What’s your name?”
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Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2023 7:35 pm
The squire was talking - Stirling, her name was Stirling - and Mizuki sort of just... stared there. A bag of chips popped out of subspace and was opened and offered to her. She sort of blindly fished for chips and put them in her mouth, barely tasting them.
Then her knees sort of buckled and she sank to the ground, exhaustion settling in.
"My... name? Mizuki... I'm Mizuki. Of Lilacs," she said, now blinking up at Stirling. The squire unsettled her by stint of being order... but honestly? Lysithea had tried to help Faustite. Those knights and senshi tried to help Faustite. Maybe... maybe not all of Order were strictly bad.
"And, yeah, I've met Lysithea. She tried to... she tried to... help... my dad..." she said, voice trailing off. It was hard to say the words; they brought feelings that she couldn't possible want to deal with - that she couldn't possibly deal with right now. If she did, she wasn't sure she'd put herself back together again.
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Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2023 6:19 pm
Stirling was quiet for a moment and followed Mizuki to the ground, folding her skirts under he knees to stop the sidewalk from cutting into them too deeply. “Your dad? May I ask what happened? I…don’t have a dad either, so I get what you must be feeling, at least a little bit. Do you wanna talk about him a little? Was he a good dad?”
Obviously he must have been or she wouldn’t be so cut up about whatever had happened. Reaching out, Stirling pet one of Mizuki’s long pigtails and after a moment, she wriggled closer and began softly stroking the top of her head, looking concerned for the other girl.
“I’m sorry that she couldn’t help…or that she wasn’t enough to help…I’m so sorry.” If Stirling had ever had a family…or someone that cared about her…she would be upset if something happened too…if something happened to Dagon…she honestly wouldn’t know what to do.
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 3:30 pm
"They... stupid Helio didn't give her a chance! He just charged in even though Jada hadn't called to act, and then Fafnir followed him and then Cymo and it all snowballed!! And then Kama teleported me out of the area and Faustite... he... he..." she shouted-screamed at the concrete beneath her. The gentle petting of her head was nice and soothing, and she leaned into the touch. It calmed her emotions down to a more stable-ish level, where she wasn't trying to alternate between hyperventilating and murderous rage.
"Faustite is..." she said softly, thinking and playing with her long pigtails. "Strict, intense, firery. He helped me adjust to all.. this. Prehnite, my other dad, is okay, but I really.... connected with Fausty..." she said, staring off at a sort of middle distance. "He... the youma inside of him burned him up. Consumed him in fire. If... if he's still in existence he's... a full youma now. But that fire is so hot... how could it not eat his soul up in the process..."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 3:37 pm
Stirling didn’t know any of the names that Mizuki was saying, but she nodded and continued stroking her hair, frowning and finally just pulling the Corrupted Senshi into a hug, squeezing her tightly. “...That must have been horrible to have to watch. I am so sorry…I hope that he’s still there. I hope that maybe…maybe something good will come out of this, maybe…maybe he’ll still be able to be saved even if he is a youma? Maybe there will be another chance. You can’t give up on him, he’s your dad.”
She pressed her forehead against Mizuki’s and reached to brush away her tears. “He’s your dad, and if he loved you even half as much as you love him, he won’t forget you. He’ll still love you. And you’ll find a way to be happy again. I’m sure that Lysithea wouldn’t stop trying to help him, she doesn’t really seem the type to just give up on someone…not after she’s given a promise to help. Trust in her, okay? Trust in my princess just like you trust in your dad, and I’ll do the same! We’ll get through this, Mizuki. You’re scared right now, but you’re really strong, I can see that. We’ve got this.”
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 3:46 pm
There was a part of Mizuki - the part that was all murderous glee and pain inflicting and Chaos - that was astounded that Stirling would willingly be this close to her. To press her forehead against hers. To brush away her tears. That this squire would put herself in such danger, when all Mizuki had to do was reach forward and she'd have her soul in her hand.
But, she was one of Lysithea's knights. Lysithea, who wanted to help even with her own concerns and suspicions.
That alone stayed Mizuki's hand.
Rose eyes locked with Stirling's and Mizuki smiled. Not a vicious smile, not a coy one, just a simple smile of thanks and gratitude. She leaned over and pecked her cheek gently.
"Thank you... and tell your princess when you see her next... tell her thank you for trying, even if it all exploded in the end," she said, sincerity ringing true in her words. If she encountered this knight or her princess again, she didn't think it would be with murderous intent.
At least for now.
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 3:53 pm
Stirling nodded and returned the smile with a bright one of her own, though her eyes were still filled with nothing but sympathy and concern for the purple haired Corrupt. “I’ll tell her. I promise. And I’ll tell her to keep trying too, if she’s not already planning on it. Why don’t you go home and get some rest, Mizuki. Wash your face and have something hot to drink. That helps me sometimes when I’m upset. Maybe it’ll help you too.”
She knew that she couldn’t offer for Mizuki to stay with her for the night, not only because of her living situation, guests weren’t allowed in the dorms…but because they were on opposite sides of things, so. This wasn’t something that can be done. But. She did want to be the girl’s friend, she knew that for a fact.
“I hope I get to see you again soon. And I hope that it all turns out good for you.”
Giving one last hug, Stirling finally drew away and stood, giving a friendly little wave.
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