The Reservoir (4) : The Destiny City Reservoir opened about two years ago and is an easy escape from the big city. It’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but it’s been in the news for mysterious reports of some strange, aquatic monster. Some accounts say they’ve spotted a twenty foot long, snake like creature capable of rearing a long neck high above the water. It’s hard to tell if the videos are doctored, but there are too many rumors to dismiss easily. Something strange might be lurking deep in the water. Or it’s just a hoax to get people out to the Reservoir!
But…Sometimes, people feel like something is grabbing their ankle, even if they are just wading in the shallow end. In the deeper parts of the water, it gets a little more intense: something has been said to grab onto ankles and pull. People have been warned about dangerous pranks, but so far no one has been caught. In the shallow end, anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted may feel themselves being knocked off their feet and tugged into the water; anyone in deep water may feel a firm grip on their ankle, tugging them lower and lower. Somehow, anyone it targets is freed--either by wriggling and fighting, or because someone intervenes and pulls the would-be victim up. No one has drowned in the lake. Yet. It's impossible to see who, or what, is doing this, but it usually gives up after one failed attempt. Usually.
While you may find yourself harassed by the supposed cryptid, or see something visibly odd in the distance, you cannot take any pictures of the creature. Who knows if you’re even being attacked by the cryptid–or just another youma?
Being a magical knight, if anybody asked Kāifēng, meant going where the trouble was. All the specifics of how this worked, he wasn’t entirely clear about yet (a side-effect of being a very “learning by doing” sort of person). By awakening as a magical knight, however that was decided and happened for someone, you got blessed with enhanced strength and toughness, a magical weapon, a cool place in space that was all yours to care for and protect, and so many other, wonderful things. Being asked to look after and protect the people who didn’t have those blessings sounded like a fair price to Kāifēng.
Strictly speaking, he didn’t know that there would be too many people in need of protection or too much trouble to break up out at the Destiny City reservoir? That it was some distance from the main part of town meant that people would usually only be there by choice, and most people probably did not choose to go visit the reservoir so late in the evening, while twilight spread across the sky. He sincerely doubted that most people would go out to the reservoir while it was raining. Still, there were whisperings all over about the cryptid who lived out in the reservoir. As Liánlí, he’d been hearing about the reservoir crypt for a while, but now that Liánlí also had his duties as Kāifēng, he felt a need to go check on things with the reservoir cryptid.
Maybe it was making trouble for people and would need to be disciplined. But on the other hand, maybe it was lonely or hurt or something, and it needed help, too.
As he wandered through the reservoir (with a brief pause to pick up an amber star-charm that he’d noticed), getting closer and closer to the caves, Kāifēng felt something else of interest: another powered aura. Fortunately, they were either an Order senshi or another knight from the bright, shiny feel they gave off, so he didn’t need to worry about keeping his fan in his waist-sash while his hands held up his cute orange fox umbrella. It wasn’t long until he found someone who felt like the likeliest source of the aura: someone in a very long skirt of a familiar purple shade.
Another Saturn Knight? Oh, Kāifēng hoped so.
“Hey, there,” he called out, waving one hand while keeping the umbrella in the other. Coming in the other person’s direction, he put on a bright, friendly smile. “Kāifēng of Saturn. Are you checking in on the reservoir cryptid too?”
MiddyGlow_
Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 4:02 pm
amorremanet
It had been a long time since Silistra had left her house, she had been staying in a great deal of the time, still she was finally going back out and she decided to go and check out the reservoir. She figured she would get some strange looks because of her outfit, but it was also the star festival so there were a lot of people who where strange things. She was surprised when a knight came right up to her and asked if she was doing exactly what she was doing. "Why yes I am, I take it you are here for the same reason?" Her tone was very soft and gentle. "I am Silistra you already figured out we serve the same planet." She said gently. She looked out at the water watching for anything odd that might appear.
She frowned looking out at the water. "So you haven't seen anything yet either?" It unnerved her since things never stayed quiet for long in Destiny city. it was impossible to have a peaceful holiday unless you were unless of the city and even that wasn't a guarantee. She knew a number of people who were dragged to places they didn't belong without a clue as to how they had gotten there and thought the whole thing a dream. While the knights and senshi and the forces of chaos knew the truth. It wasn't an easy life but she still stood with the others and did her best to help her wonder to bring life back to it.
Her wonder deserved that much. She had also been helping other knights to repair their wonders it all meant the world to her. She loved the world they lived in and she wanted to help it heal back to full strength.
As he rocked up closer to the girl—a fellow Saturn Knight!! yay!!! his guess had been correct—Kaifeng shifted his stance and his arms so his fox-shaped umbrella could cover both of them. Shaking his head but keeping up his warm, friendly smile, he shrugged. “I mean, I’ve heard a lot of things about the reservoir since it opened,” he said, “but I haven’t really made time to come out here before. Felt a bit more imperative since I learned about the magical knight business, you know? Felt like maybe there’d be somebody out here who needed help. Yeah, sure, it’s raining, but it’s not like the Negaverse takes days off.”
At least, not so far as Kaifeng was aware.…… Which raised multiple questions in his mind: did the Negaverse actually give its people days off? Did they get paid sick leave? What about health insurance? Dental? Were vision-related things covered? Maybe a Mauvian or someone else who’d been at this longer would know.…… Silently, Kaifeng filed those questions away for later, when he could ask someone who might know more about how the Negaverse actually worked and what all kept its gears turning in between all the cute monster-boys and monster-girls who liked shoving their hands in people’s chests, all the Knights-But-Not-Really who liked stabbing and whacking people, and all the big displays of power.
Wrinkling his nose, Kaifeng joined Silistra in looking out at the water. For the moment, the only visible disturbances came from the raindrops plunking down. “Then,” Kaifeng went on, “I also thought that……maybe the cryptid could be the one who might need help, if he’s real. And I don’t know, I don’t see why he shouldn’t be, considering everything else in this town.”
A world where cute magical girls, cute magical knights, and cute magical monster-people were real but mysterious reservoir cryptids were not? Sounded fake to him.
MiddyGlow
Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 12:54 pm
amorremanet
Silistra nodded quietly she kinda liked the rain and the city needed it, too much heat wasn't good for anything. "The rain is nice and you are quite right the negaverse does not seem to take vacations, there are times I wish they would so I could have some peace and quiet on holidays." She said with a sigh. She smiled "That is a very kind way to think if you consider the cryptid could be a normal creature that could be hurt and need our help or a youma that might need to be taken care of so it doesn't hurt anyone." She thought she saw something moving in the water and she wondered what it was. She didn't intend to jump into the water unless she had to since she wasn't dressed for a day at the beach. She knew it was odd but it was what it was. She would only get in the water if she was needed. She surely wouldn't leave anyone to die being pulled into the dark waters below. She looked into the murky depths and shivered a little.
Kaifeng smiled and nodded, taking in everything that this fellow Knight of Saturn had to say. He rather liked her, he decided. Maybe they hadn’t been speaking to each other for very long, and maybe a chance meeting at the reservoir wasn’t much to go on as an indication of somebody’s general personality, but she seemed like a very kind person. Gentle, observant, calm—possibly a bit on the young side, on consideration and closer examination, so even if she had more power and experience as a Knight than Kaifeng did, it wouldn’t hurt to look out for her. He was still figuring out the ropes of being a Knight, but having more experience with the rest of life, maybe he could be like a big brother figure for her or something. If she wanted such things, anyway.
Out on the water, the disturbances from the raindrops stayed pretty small. Nothing to write home about……until one got bigger. More than that, the water moved in a different way, heading up instead of down and out, the way it did when it rippled from the rain. Kaifeng’s mind reeled briefly, but he caught up with it quickly enough: a hand had come out of the water. It looked almost like a human’s, in that it had four fingers and a thumb? In the dark and from this distance, he couldn’t properly discern the color or texture of its skin, but Kaifeng did make out something distinctly inhuman about the hand: webbing between the fingers, making it look not entirely unlike the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Fish-Man from The Shape of Water, or any countless number of Scooby Doo villains of the week who’d ever dressed up as fish-people in order to scam their nephews out of their inheritances or whatever.
Holding his breath, Kaifeng reached for his fan. He didn’t want to have to fight anybody, but better safe than sorry, right? Fortunately, it proved unnecessary: the hand out on the water waved at Kaifeng and Silistra as if it were saying “Hi.” Then, it shot them a thumbs-up. Finally, it made a dismissive motion as if asking them to please go away, and slipped back into the water from whence it had emerged.
“……Huh,” Kaifeng said, a bit bemusedly. He wasn’t entirely certain what he’d expected, coming out here, but it hadn’t been this. Still, he didn’t feel any Chaotic aura, so at least nothing nefarious was afoot. “Well, if the cryptid thinks our services aren’t needed, maybe we could get out of the rain and I could get you a hot chocolate or something? Celebration of meeting a fellow Saturn Knight?”
MiddyGlow
Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2023 3:54 pm
amorremanet
She nodded and then smiled "I couldn't agree with you more, we should just leave them be and go get out of this rain." She said in her normal tone. She was ready to get warm and dry and a cup of cocoa sounded like a wonderful idea indeed.
