Nature’s Boon (10) : Flowers are blooming at an incredible place across the city and sometimes barren patches of grass can be overrun with flowers overnight. There have been heavy showers and a high pollen count but there doesn’t appear to be any other explanation. It is not uncommon to find trees with nearly double the leaves they usually have, with vines twisting up houses, flowers covering the front yard, or local fruits to have doubled in size. This isn't the first time Destiny City has seen such oddities, and there doesn’t seem to be any negative effects to this; scientists are questioning climate change. Or is it radiation??
Selenga loved that he got to be a knight as well as his cousin-in-law. It felt nice, to have more things to share between the two of them. To really start being friends, after all they'd been through with the family he'd married into and Kaifeng originally disliking him (though truly, not without good reason—he'd just gotten a lot better ever since Kaifeng left).
Patrolling was exhausting, but he liked it. Stopping these people from doing harm felt exhilarating.
He refused to think about the night he'd been awoken, where the feeling of being drained himself felt unnaturally good. If he let himself think about it too much, he'd—
Well, he wasn't sure.
He had no clue what the little foxy spirit was—from what Kaifeng had told him, the Negaverse drained their victims directly, so seeing it wandering about and passing through people who immediately thereafter stumbled or something made him confused. It seemed distinctly bad, though, so he followed it back to... Some senshi who looked not like what he'd been told Negaverse senshi would look like. Still.
Brandishing his lotus flower as though it were a sword, he said as firmly as he could manage, "Stop that."
amorremanet
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 10:43 am
Lete didn’t normally think very much about her strategy for draining people: you took out your mirrorshard, you summoned a wraith, and then you kicked back to let the wraith work and thanked it kindly when it came back to you, flush and full of energy and looking all cute like so much shattered glass. Kicking back with a book was honestly the best way to go about things, because it meant that you could get something constructive for yourself done while also getting something constructive done for Mirrorspace. Everybody won!
Tonight, though, Lete had kicked back with a spiral-bound notebook and a pen. Settled in among some of the overgrown flowers that had been cropping up all over town—somewhat hidden behind some hedges and safely ensconced among some orchids—she’d started writing down some notes about the podcast idea that she’d been turning over in her head for a while. She would need characters, and some people to help her make it (other Mirror senshi? they seemed like the best bet, really. All the ones she’d met had been lovely people with great voices and), and some ideas for stories.…
At least Destiny City gave her plenty of material to work with. So many ideas she’d jotted down had come from all the wonderful strangeness running around town just in the past ten days or so since the Star Festival had started: Almadel the cool dragon-man with all of his fun toys from space and his desire for the weird, vibrating seed pods; the mischievous fairies causing trouble for people around various city parks; the rainbow-colored meteor showers; the puddles that seemed to watch you wherever you went and showed you not your own reflection but visions of decay and destruction……and now, finally, all of these flowers bursting with life, springing up so much more vibrantly than they usually did.
So far, three little wraiths had already come and gone while Lete scribbled away at different ideas that could get woven into a super fun, Welcome to Nightvale-esque narrative by Lete and whoever she convinced to work with her on this podcast idea. They really were lovely little guys, the Mirrorwraiths, doing their work to help her gather energy for the Mirror, and it was always fun to see what they’d look like when they came back to Lete, finally, properly visible because they’d gathered up tasty, tasty energy.
The first had looked sort of like a peacock the size of a housecat, but with little dragon wings coming out of its back.
The second had looked like a little anglerfish, like the nightmare creature one from out of Finding Nemo, when it came back to her, and it even seemed happy when Lete scritched it under the chin to thank it for doing such a good job.
The third had looked not entirely unlike a Mauvian, except that its legs were too long for a normal cat, it had three tiny noodle-dragons coming out of its backside instead of a tail, and Lete couldn’t tell what the Hell the shape on its forehead was supposed to be, but she could definitely discern that it was not a star.
As the fourth wraith that she’d sent out rushed back to her, Lete smiled at the sight of its shape. “Aww, you’re a little foxy guy, aren’t’cha,” she said to it, beaming at its cute little face, and its sprightly little trot, and the way it waved its nine tails around like it was ever so pleased with itself—which it really should have been. “Awww, yes, you’re just a sweet lil’ guy and you worked so hard tonight. What a good little guy, huh? I bet it’s time for you to go take a break after doing all that work, yeah?”
Smiling, she held out her mirrorshard so the wraith could jump back in and head back to Mirrorspace to relax.
It was only after the wraith had done so that Lete noticed the White Moon aura that had snuck up on her. Frowning, Lete looked up……and immediately tilted her head. Another one of those baby-knights stood before her, like the guy who’d come up to bother Lete in the park when she’d just been minding her own business and trying to read This Is How You Lose The Time War, and this one seemed to think he was hot s**t. At least the weird guy in the skirt had had something more threatening than a flower, though (not by much, really, but the folding fan had been deeply annoying to get hit with).
“You’re really gonna stop me with that thing?” Wrinkling her nose, Lete gestured at the lotus blossom with her pen. “Try again when you have a folding fan or something.”
Selenga frowned, trying to ignore the way fear locked his legs in place when she stood up and was taller than him. Of course, she was right, he had just a little flower, and probably couldn't do much—he wasn't exactly a fighter, and muscle mass weighed more than fat, so his work as a horse jockey would go badly if he made himself too strong. If he wasn't light enough, he'd never win races with his horse.
"Folding fan?"
So she'd met Kaifeng. Thanks for the heads up, Li-ge!! ********, he was so screwed, what was he thinking? This wouldn't impress anyone.
On the other hand... instead of fighting, he could...
He swallowed, putting his hand down. He wanted that feeling again. And if he gave up energy willingly, maybe this senshi would just go home.
"You need energy, right? Pages should have more than the average person you're stealing from," he said. "Summon one of those... thingies, and take from me."
amorremanet
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 12:33 am
“Ugh, do you self-righteous White Moon types always have to act like energy doesn’t grow back? Jesus!” Lete huffed, shaking out her impressive mane of hair. “Maybe you should tell your friend with the folding fan to stop being crazy and maybe, like? Not laugh about it while literally being stabbed?”
Nevertheless, Lete hummed, tapping a free finger against her cheek as she considered that gracious offer from this silly little Page in purple. (Idly, she noted that his color scheme didn’t really seem to match very much with the folding fan knight who’d given her grief with that obnoxious dragon-senshi. Sure, both of them had purple going on, but the shades were all different, and this guy had green and gold going on for his other colors, while the folding-fan knight had worn dark reds and dark blues. But the way that this guy reacted to that weapon being mentioned suggested that they knew each other.……
Ugh, whatever. White Moon weirdos could do whatever they wanted.)
On the one hand, having someone consensually offer energy made it a lot easier to get. But on the other hand, who was to say whether or not this guy would follow along and try to inhibit Lete’s other potential attempts at draining energy tonight? “Anyway, it’s an intriguing offer,” she said, “but don’t mind me if I put out a little bit of an insurance policy to go along with it, ‘kay?” Reaching out her hand, she traced it through the air as if stroking someone’s face and snickered, “Sensory Decadence!”
genovianprince
One enemy within a ten-foot radius feels something like a warm hand brushing down their cheeks, and then, the world around them seems to erupt in decadent sensation. For the duration of Lete’s attack, affected enemies are subjected to an onslaught of their five senses. Colors seem brighter, bolder, clearer, and more vivid. Even pale shades and pastels seem vibrant. Whites seem to glare like fluorescent lights while dark shades and blacks seem unfathomably deep. Their other senses are likewise overwhelmed: any tastes around them or in their mouths are magnified by a power of ten, any sounds they can hear feel as if the volume’s turned up to ear-splitting levels, anything that makes contact with their skin feels heavy and oppressive, and any nearby scents might as well be right inside their noses. Although this may initially feel pleasurable, such decadence soon begins to hurt. While distracting, this sensory overload does no physical damage and enemies can still act, if they can stomach the overwhelm.
Selenga gasped. The ghostly hand on his face immediately reminded him of Qiye, but then the world, for lack of better words, exploded. This magic assaulted every single one of his senses—overwhelm set in immediately and he dropped to his knees, shutting his eyes hard against the kaleidoscope that burned into his retinas. All the colors, even muted in the night, felt like so much. And then the sounds kicked in—he could hear far, far too much. He clamped his hands over his ears, wincing in pain. The wind rustling leaves ever so gently sounded like a jackhammer out of nowhere. His clothes felt so heavy and rough on his skin, chafing him, like sandpaper directly against his skin all over.
His mouth—
It tasted like the vomit from earlier, when he'd choked up his dinner in one of the alleyways after promising to come home safe to his wifesband. The vomit and the mint he'd popped into his mouth mixed together in an unholy taste that made him want to puke again, but there was nothing in there to throw up—still, he almost gave in to the temptation, except that someone was here, watching him.
All this, and the energy draining on top of it, made him crumple to the ground all the way, sobbing quietly as the grass felt like tiny knifes stabbing into his face.
This had been such a bad idea.
amorremanet
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 1:07 am
As the magic set in and knocked the Page to his knees, Lete held up her Mirrorshard and summoned up another wraith. “See that guy down there? Go at him until you’re full, okay,” she said, and started humming idly while the wraith did its work.… Well, a little bit less humming, a little bit more “spewing the lyrics of a diss-track without regard for the effects of her magic.” But oh well, this jumped up little jerk in the purple could live with it. As far as Lete knew, her magic didn’t actually kill anything except youma, and Muri seemed to think that they didn’t really die when you got done with them, so whatever.
“Knick-knack-paddywhack, give a b***h a snack, ‘cause this b***h about to get her wig pushed back. Go ahead, grab the gloves, Isabelle Brooks. It’s a jab, it’s a kick, it’s a ********’ left hook.…” Mostly to amuse herself while the wraith passed through the Page down on the ground once, then twice, Lete mimed along with those lyrics, first jabbing at the air, then kicking vaguely in the Page’s direction without actually hitting him, and finally throwing a left hook at the empty air (and vaguely feeling like Murikabushi and his weird-a** responsibility kink would’ve chewed her out for not throwing the punch correctly or whatever). “Don’t bother to respond, I think we’re all done. You made it to top four, I made to top one. In a room full of bottoms, you couldn’t top one. Couldn’t top José and you couldn’t top Juan. Run the beat back, b***h, again and again. You just got chopped, and I just got tens…”
Lete chuckled, allowing herself a smug little smile as she saw the shape that the mirrorwraith was starting to take on. Aww, it looked like a little puppy, tilting its head up at her like it was asking if it should stop. But wraiths, as far as Lete had observed, could go through somebody three times before they were really full. So, she nodded at the little guy and gestured at the Page like, “Go on again, baby. One more time.”
“Fourteen episodes, just one win. How you got two faces, but you’ve got three chins?” Lete snorted, and after the third pass-through, this mirrorwraith was fully visible: a Jack Russell Terrier made out of shattered mirror-pieces. “I mean, it doesn’t make sense to me mathematically, but……? Eh, your body, your choice.” With a grin, she held out the mirrorshard for her wraith, and as it went back in, she tacked on, “I think we’re done here.”
Spotting something shiny on the ground, she paused to pick it up—oh, hey, one of the Star Charms, and this one had rainbow stars. Sweet. As she strutted past the Page, she threw in one last jab: “The Dark Mirror Court thanks you for your generous donation, tío pequeñito!”
Selenga felt like he couldn't breathe. The stupid—god, it had to be one of the cutest kinds of dogs, that came at him, stealing his energy away, feeling like sharp glass prickling the inside and outside of his body. He wasn't sure you were supposed to feel it, but combined with her magic, it certainly was being felt.
And the stupid song she was singing—like, okay, yeah, he wasn't exactly a top most of the time, sue him, but—she was definitely calling him fat.
Was he not doing enough? Was he still eating too much? He thought he'd been doing okay on his goals, lately. He'd been keeping excellent track of his meals and accidental snacking and ensuring that it either came back up on time, or he worked out extra hard to make his body use it all up and then some so it wouldn't stick around. Did he really somehow have a double chin? <********>
The magic finally wore off, but he remained unmoving on the ground, sobbing quietly into the grass.
As he looked over, trying to do something, anything, to feel better, he only felt worse—even as his hand curled around one of those star charms that seemed to be all over the city.
Orchids bloomed, clustered in what seemed to be an unnatural way, not far from his face.
The flower of his princess.
They observed him mockingly. Shameful performance, they seemed to say. What kind of knight are you? Can't protect your princess this way.
