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 Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 4:19 pm
Quote: Eight-legged Issues ( 8 ) - Small webs have begun to appear all over Destiny City at an alarming pace. The thin strands of webbing are surprisingly resilient and can be difficult to break, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got the charm of Destiny City’s unnatural wildlife. At least you’re not dealing with the car sized spiders of a few years ago. While the webs appear with great frequency all over the city, it can be difficult to see the spiders themselves. They are about an inch long at their largest, but even if they were smaller, it wouldn’t matter. They are almost completely invisible. When on their webs, they look like morning dew. When on you? Same thing. Thankfully, these spiders seem to want to keep to themselves, but it’s hard to do that when you can’t see them. If agitated, the spiders will bite. Being bitten can cause nausea, dizziness, fatigue and hallucinations. These symptoms can begin immediately after being bitten or can manifest up to a few hours after the toxins are introduced to the bloodstream. These symptoms may only last for a few hours—or up to a few days. No medicine seems to help this ailment, so you’re stuck weathering this one out on your own.
Belmont was out again, trying to enjoy the shift in season while navigating the oddities that Destiny City brought with it. He was in the park, and while he’d seen webs before it now seemed like there were even more of them.
Which meant more spiders.
He still didn’t know where they came from, and nothing on the internet was particularly helpful on his quest for information. It meant he had to get out and do the research himself.
…Which also meant that he was just as liable to get an answer as he was to find more questions. The last time he’d been out he had felt a friendly energy signature. Now, he felt only Chaos. He was a Squire, and confident that he could handle any issues from the signature that had appeared nearby, but–
It had happened so quickly; he wasn’t used to energy signatures just appearing.
Close enough that before he could even round the tree he was investigating, there she was. Oh–the mirror behind her. Right, Dark Mirror Senshi. They could do that.
The explanation didn’t calm his heart, which had leapt into his chest at the surprise. It was a rush of adrenaline, but he wasn’t complaining. Rather, it put him in a good mood; he enjoyed the jolt.
“Oh, jeez. You look like you’re headed to a funeral.”
He rubbed at his chest to make sure his heart hadn’t popped out and managed a quick laugh before his brain caught up with him. He paused briefly and then shook his head. “No, sorry. Wasn’t trying to be rude, I know you probably didn’t pick that outfit, you just surprised me. Hi–again, sorry.” He held out a hand in an attempt to be friendlier. “Belmont, nice to meet you.”
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 8:27 pm
Mirror-walking was getting easier, or so Irenaea thought. There didn't seem to be any hesitation on her part now in approaching a mirror and using it to cut travel time exponentially from the places that she figured she would visit. However it came with risks, and at the most inopportune times as well. But the gains vastly outnumbered the risks most days and even in when the risk seemed tantamount to danger did the dark mirror senshi have an ace up her sleeve.
She had thought she would have the park to herself that evening. She was wrong. Irenaea's startled gasp at the stronger energy signature that flared into existence as soon as she cleared the mirror she'd travelled out of meant that she too was startled. She just seemed to hide it a little better. Although she probably hid her true reaction because the instant flash of anger that crossed her face at the stranger's words most likely would have been more noticeable. Her gaze narrowed before she bit back the angry retort before cursing silently instead.
"You're right. We don't choose our outfits. Even if we could, I dunno, I like the mysterious air this one gives me."
There was still a bit of an edge to her words but even as the stranger introduced himself as Belmont did Irenaea stare at the outstretched hand with a little bit of hesitation before extending her right hand out and giving the offered hand a brief shake, "Irenaea of the Dark Mirror," and she paused before sighing, "honestly though, while seemingly correct, the funeral line was a bit much."
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Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2023 11:20 am
“Oh, no–it’s a good look,” he insisted. “Sorry. It’s nice to meet you, Irenaea. That was rude of me. I was distracted by all of these…” he gave her hand a good, friendly shake and then gestured to the webs in the trees around them. “Things. I was letting my imagination get away from me. It’s that time of year, every other thought is spooky.”
He glanced over her outfit and now that he understood she wasn’t some ghost who was manifesting out of grief, it was much easier not to be so flustered by her appearance.
“A Dark Mirror Senshi, though?” Just added to the spooky vibes, but he wasn’t complaining. “What are you doing out here this time of night?”
Not that he was being intrusive; there was something almost hopeful about his questioning.
He was out here to investigate these webs. Of course he’d be interested if he’d happened upon a kindred spirit by happenstance.
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2023 3:30 am
At least Belmont seemed keen to apologize for the faux pas slip about her senshi appearance. Her own words were true about the fact that it seemed that no one really chose their own look when they joined whatever side they were fighting for. In her case, perhaps being found by Remarque was a good thing. For now though she kept silent on that matter before taking in the area around them.
It was true that she hadn't been a senshi for very long so besides the unpleasant encounter with another order-aligned individual in the summer Irenaea hadn't had much interaction with others besides her own court. She wasn't sure what to make of Belmont's seeming attempt at smoothing over her ruffled feathers but she let it go and instead concentrated on her surroundings in the park. There might have been a time, ages ago, that she would have found such a strange sight of so many spiderwebs to be intriguing, but after being a resident of Destiny City for quite some time, she'd gotten used to the oddities that seemed to occur on a seasonal basis. Her glance to the webs though lingered before she totally spaced on the fact that Belmont had been speaking.
"Are you really sure you want an answer to what I could be doing out here?"
Irenaea paused before she gave a soft chuckle, "no, I'm not causing mischief. I just happened to want to visit the park is all. Mirror-walking seems to be a faster mode of transport. I am sorry if I startled you, or ruined your evening."
Irenaea's gaze flicked to the webs once more, "It's interesting though, seeing so many webs in one place."
Did she bother telling Belmont what she was the senshi of?
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Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 12:08 pm
Out of the corner of his eye, Belmont thought he might have seen something move on the web, but when he squinted his eyes, he saw nothing. He was taking great effort not to accidentally insult Irenaea again, so he didn’t let his attention stray for too long and managed to crack a smile when he caught her answer.
“You didn’t ruin anything. It was my fault for getting distracted. I won’t give your mirror and trouble, either.” If she wasn’t making mischief, he had no reason to intervene. So far as he knew, he didn’t have to be enemies with any of the mirror senshi.
The Negaverse was dangerous, but he didn’t know if there was anything particularly nefarious about her.
“I was thinking the same thing, about all of these webs. Makes me worry that something’s going on. I mean, this being Destiny City and all, no one’s really safe to let their guard down. I haven’t been able to figure out anything about these, but I suppose I haven’t been looking for long. You’d think you’d see more spiders with all of these webs though, right?”
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Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2023 12:32 am
She was hesitant to admit to herself that for someone who wasn't aligned with her court and also aligned with Order, that Belmont seemed like a pretty nice individual. He honestly felt chagrined enough over his comment about her outfit and well technically she couldn't blame him over it. Instead of trying to continue things about outfits Irenaea instead focused on the webbing around them before moving closer to examine the one that was closest to her, "they are definitely unusual. I mean given the right location I could see multiple spiders making their homes near each other, but this," and here she pointed to the tightly spaced webs with an index finger, "is not something I'd expect from any sort of spider ... unless it's one of those communal species that all live on the same web."
Belmont's words about something going on had Irenaea's attention again. Perhaps it was because she'd not been a senshi for very long that she had just a little more skepticism on her side when it came to strange events, although she did find herself starting to scan more "out there" threads on certain message boards. Her eyes tracked what seemed like motion on the web she had pointed at earlier before making a sound of surprise, "well, this one doesn't seem to be too shy. Almost seems on the small side though, like it's still just a spiderling."
Irenaea almost made to gently poke at the spider before pulling back. It probably wasn't the wisest decision to make. For all she knew - this could be a fully grown species and thus possibly poisonous.
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2023 12:20 pm
Belmont tensed when she seemed to reach for it, but he breathed a soft sigh of relief when she recoiled before making contact. “I’ve never heard of communal species, they can do that?”
He didn’t know enough about spiders to not believe it, and she hadn’t seemed like she was joking about it.
In the darkness of the night, it was easy to miss the movement on the web, but now that she’d pointed it out he could make out the way the strings dipped just slightly. It would have been easy to think it was just the wind, but the little pinpricks of movement were too precise.
“I don’t like that,” he hummed. He could hardly see the spider, and if there were more like that, they could be anywhere.
He shuddered and tried to ignore the sensation of little legs dancing over him. It was just his imagination. Probably.
“I don’t suppose you’re some sort of arachnid expert, are you? …I’m a ‘live and let live’ type of guy when it comes to bugs, but. These days, I’m not even sure what’s normal and what’s evil.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2023 1:04 am
Almost as soon as she had gone to touch the spider that she had seen Irenaea had managed to catch the motion from Belmont even as she had dropped her hand back down to her side. At the question that was posed of her though Irenaea gave the squire her full attention. While most of her information had come from the internet after she'd been found by Remarque Irenaea had always had a curiosity about arachnids in general. What generally freaked others out she had taken the time to at least read the information that was available or just watch regular spiders go about their short lives.
"I'm not any real expert on the subject of spiders. I just find them interesting enough to do some research of my own. Most of what I've just told you about communal species came from the internet. But I'm no entomologist, far from it. But I suppose now I'm even a little more intrigued by spiders given that a specific classification of spiders is what my sphere is based on."
Irenaea gave the webs one last look before turning back to Belmont. "I gave you my powered name earlier, but my sphere is that of Widow Spiders. That being said, I'm at a loss to explain these little guys but I figure as long as they aren't bothering anyone, why not let them be."
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Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:46 pm
Belmont seemed to trust her words; he was cautious around all forms of Chaos, but he saw no reason to think she’d lie about the subject–or her sphere. His expression shifted, like something had obviously clicked, and he nodded along with her as he returned his gaze to the tiny little creatures.
“I suppose the best thing to do might be to go home and research them, see if anyone’s posting anything online. If they’re just out here minding their own business and not causing harm…”
He mulled over the topic for a moment and then shrugged. “I don’t see any reason to harass them. If it turns out they’re hurting people…I guess we can come back here and do something about it.”
…Or, people could just avoid the area.
“Senshi of Widow Spiders. That’s neat.” He was Belmont of Jupiter, and that was about it. He didn’t know if there was supposed to be anything unique about himself or his Wonder, but he did take pride in his name and namesake.
“What do you think, should we leave them here and hope for the best?”
…He was willing if she was. Especially because she didn’t seem disingenuous or like she was trying to hide some secret Mirror Senshi plot.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 9:48 am
Irenaea had turned away from Belmont for a moment to gently trace the shape of the web in the air with a finger before giving up. There wasn't any discernible pattern one could make out in the voluminous amount of thread that travelled every which way. That being said, it wasn't in the same state of disarray that a widow spider species web would look like.
She turned back to face the other before nodding absentmindedly.
"I think even going back to read up on things is a good idea if you are seeking more information. Message boards can be tricky things though. As for these little guys, well, I think as long as people don't intentionally try to aggravate them or walk into the webs that they might be fine. I'm all in for leaving them alone unless there turns out to be reports of them attacking people."
Irenaea sighed before she glanced back to the mirror that she had stepped out of earlier, "I might have to warn some of my court that they should avoid this mirror less they get an unpleasant surprise upon arrival."
The young woman pushed back the veil that had been covering her face the entire time before giving Belmont a crooked smile of amusement, "but who knows, maybe some of my family need that wake up call. But in all honesty, I say we give these guys a chance to do what spiders do best."Kyuseisha no Hikari would you like to call this finished?
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2024 10:04 am
With her face revealed, Belmont took a moment to admire it. He matched her smile with one of his own but he had enough manners not to comment on her appearance again. Even if he might have told her she had a pretty smile.
“You do whatever you have to to keep your people safe. And these little guys, too.”
He gestured vaguely to the spiders but took great care not to disturb any of their webs.
“As long as they’re not bothering anyone, I won’t bother them, either. But if there’s no trouble here, I suppose I ought to head on and make sure there’s no real monsters creeping in the park.”
He’d keep an eye on the spiders, at least. He’d see if there was anyone else who had a bad encounter with them, or knew what they were.
If they were harmless, he’d bring them no harm.
He felt that way about a lot of things, including Dark Mirror Senshi.
“Hope I catch you around some time, Irenaea. I bet you’ve got a lot of interesting stories to tell.”
…He just wasn’t sure she was the type of woman willing to tell any stories.
She’d been fairly secretive so far, but he didn’t blame her. Still, he raised a hand to wave her off as he turned away. He didn’t have a mirror to escape through, and if he was going to get out of here before the spiders decided to decorate a little more enthusiastically, he supposed he should get a move on.
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