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 Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2024 1:58 pm
Though Ilmare had, over time, learned that someone the higher ups with the Dark Kingdom were a bit... random, she'd yet to have the randomness directed her way. And yet, here she was in the dimly lit parking lot of an abandoned and condemned grocery store waiting for a mysterious sparring partner.
The note she'd received had been short, to the point and filled with quiet menace should she fail to follow orders.
You will train with Lieutenant Magnesia. Excuses will not be accepted.
Whatever General had gotten their knickers in a twist had arranged everything about this training session. All Ilmare had needed was to show up. And hope for her sake, as well as the mysterious Magnesia's, that the Lieutenant didn't have any habit of being late.
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Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2024 3:02 pm
The downside to always being underfoot in Negaspace was that Magnesia would occasionally catch someone's attention who would look at him and say, 'You seem like you need something to do; let me help with that.' Whether he expressly wanted something to do or not wasn't really important. And he'd apparently done a good job of making his presence in the Castle known, so it was time for him to get out and do something elsewhere.
It had been arranged that he would meet and train (the specifics of what that meant were still a little fuzzy to him) with a senshi who had a little more experience in the Negaverse.
Surely literally everyone had more experience in the Negaverse.
...But it was his first time being back in the city like this. As Magnesia. As this creature-thing. And he couldn't pinpoint in words exactly how he felt about that. Of course the city hadn't changed, obviously. They weren't even that far from where he worked- where he had worked, so the area was even kind of familiar. But it couldn't be home, anymore. That should probably be upsetting. Was it? He didn't know. Hard to say at this point. Time would tell.
More importantly, the someone in front of him right now. The 'more experienced' one.
Whether he was late or not didn't occur to him. Wasn't like he had any control over when or where he showed up from Negaspace, so he was definitely lacking any sense of apology as he approached. Just all fang-toothed smiles and a curious twitch of his long ears- that he had to resist scratching at. The feeling was unfamiliar and unexpected.
"You're, uh. Ill-mare? Ill-mahree? How you say it?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2024 5:45 pm
She'd felt the officer's aura before he saw him. Well good. On time and that meant both their skins would stay intact. She heard the greeting and turned with a bright smile and... froze. Her smile turned brittle and she had to wonder if she'd somehow managed to really piss someone off.
This was a youma. Youma did not like senshi. Not even the ones on their side.
For half a second, she considered bolting, General be damned. Then, she noticed that the overly toothy smile, while alarming, held no malice. There was only a kind of neutral friendliness in his eyes. This, then, was one of the uncommon half-youma officers that she'd heard about but never encountered before now. But she'd always heard that it was the older officers this happened to. Her note specifically said this was a lieutenant. Curious.
Recovering enough to not look like a rabbit facing down headlights, Ilmare shook her head and stuck her hand out.
"Second one is close enough," she replied. "So you must be Magnesia. Sorry if this is rude, but how the hell are you part youma? Are you older than you look?"
She wanted to ask if this was a bit and someone was playing a really bizarre joke on her, but figured that would be unforgivably rude. Magnesia was still part youma, after all. Better to not piss him off too much.
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2024 8:47 am
Maybe he imagined it. That quick second of some unenthusiastic look when the Senshi turned and first laid eyes on him. But Magnesia doubted it. Even if he hadn't been like this for months and months, he could already tell that those sorts of looks weren't going to be uncommon. Most people were probably not going to be excited to be approached by something like him, even if they weren't 'regular' people. He hadn't really...
Well, he thought it would be like that for civilians, sure. But others in the Negaverse shouldn't be that averse. Probably. He hoped.
To her credit, she recovered very quickly, enough that Magnesia could convince himself that she'd just been startled and hadn't expected him. Y'know, it wouldn't be so far fetched to think that whoever had sent her out here just hadn't mentioned what exactly she'd be meeting with.
"Uh, s'not rude, I don't think." Far be it from him to ever condemn someone's curiosity. But this was all as foreign to him as it must be to her, if she was asking, so Magnesia just gave a helpless little shrug of his shoulders, still smiling. "I dunno. Really. Uh, I've only been like this for a week or so- Only known about all this for just as long too, so you probably have more information than me. But, yeah. I guess my General had to do some quick magic or something to save me after I got shot, and this is just kind of what it turned out like." And that was uncommon, he knew. Most people were made into regular human agents. Magnesia would've been too, if he was smart enough to avoid a bullet.
"But- 'older than I look?' What's that got to do with anything? I'm eighteen..." So he wasn't a child, if that was her worry.
And his General looked even younger than him! He was definitely shorter than Mag, if nothing else. Wolframite was like- thirty, or something? Not quite double hiss age, but kind of close, and Magnesia knew he'd been with the Negaverse for a long, long time... But didn't know exactly when he'd become a half-youma and didn't actually know why, either... "What? Are there supposed to be some conditions, or something?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2024 9:22 am
”Oh my god, you’re baby!” Ilmare squealed and grinned before she could stop herself. Realizing what she’d just done and still very aware of those teeth, she slapped both hands over her mouth and looked horrified. After a moment’s mortification, she shook herself and turned her focus back on the lieutenant.
“Sorry, sorry. My mouth is faster than my brain, sometimes. Still, though,” now she grinned without constraint. “You're just a baby in terms of serving.”
Feeling more like herself now that Magnesia was showing no signs of wanting to disembowel her, Ilmare took a moment to circle him, studying everything she could in the dim light. So, he’d been shot and possibly close to death when recruited. And other than the usual, it sounded as if his General had done a little something extra.
Feeling more confident by the moment, the corrupt senshi waved aside his age and after a moment’s thought, took the plunge. The higher ups might be annoyed, but gossip happened. It was a thing and it was unlikely the Dark Kingdom would ever be able to stamp it out.
“Okay, prefacing this with ‘I’ve only heard’, got it? You’re the first half-youma I’ve ever met and for a second I thought you were full. Full youma do not like senshi. There’s a reason why we’re not supposed to go near the Rift even though you officers usually can once you’re strong enough.”
Pausing, Ilmare stood in front of Magnesia and looked at his face, wanting to maintain eye contact for this.
“So, why I thought you might be a lot older is because most half-youma tend to be officers who’ve been in service for a while. At least, that’s what I’ve heard, so please don’t take it as gospel. I mean, clearly you’re an exception to that. So I don’t know if there are conditions and rules or if it’s just the Universe doing it for the lolz.”
Eyes narrowing and turning appraising, Ilmare stretched her arms up over her head and cracked her spine.
“Either way, not my business. You’re still part human and unlikely to try to eat me, so we should really do what we were sent out here for. So, any special abilities you’d like to clue me in on?”
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Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2024 11:47 am
Heat prickled in Magnesia's cheeks as he bit out a sharp: "I am not- He was expecting some shot at his age as the Senshi squealed at him. 'Oh, little baby teenage boy, has no idea what he's doing.' It was all too common, and he was not impressed with the mindset that he was young and dumb and confused. But...
Well, 'in terms of serving,' he probably was one of the very newest in that regard. And pretty dumb and confused to boot. "Yeah. Alright. I guess," he grumbled.
"Eh, s'fine anyway," Mag decided, rolling his eyes and flapping his hand to dismiss her apologies. It wasn't like she was wrong. He just wished there was a better way to say 'newb,' but calling someone green was hardly a compliment no matter how it was said. But it'd get better with time. He was pouting as she circled him, but kept still, despite a peculiar antsiness that it was weird to be studied like some bizarre creature- which he was. He was a bizarre creature that she'd never seen before. His nose scrunched.
Youma not liking Senshi seemed like pretty standard knowledge; he'd had plenty of time to read up on the basics while he was recovering. "Yeah, I remember reading that in the tablet," he said, giving a little nod, ears flapping. "But it didn't say why, aaand..." He leaned in, giving the girl a curious sniff as if judging how it might affect his senses. "Dunno, I don't think I feel any different about you than I normally would, so must not apply to half-youma."
"Or maybe it'll crop up later. When I'm older. Why- Uh, why? Why?" Why didn't Youma like Senshi. Why were half-youma usually older? That didn't make any sense, did it? "I'm a half-youma because..." Well, because he was young and stupid, actually. "Because of a mistake. It'd be kinda weird if it was just older, more experienced officers making those kind of mistakes. ...I guess they could be more likely to get into those really dangerous sorts of fights and need something extra to save them- But surely they'd be more likely to get out of those situations. Not like someone with less experience. Who wouldn't know what the ******** was going on."
And making half-youma wasn't considered good, he knew. It wasn't something most officers strived for.
He'd ask Wolframite later... He would know.
Either way, that wasn't what they were doing here, and the chatter would come easier, more naturally once they'd worn themselves out a little. He rolled his shoulders. Magnesia snorted, golden eyes lighting with amusement and lips pulling into a grin. "Do I wanna tell you what I can do? ******** no? If we're gonna fight, we're gonna fight. I'm not telling my enemies what to watch out for."
And with that being said, he wasn't very interested in waiting for her to get her bearing and figure him out, either. They knew what they'd met up for, it shouldn't come as any surprise when he kicked off hard toward her, aiming an abrupt and unapologetic swipe with his claws at her stomach.
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Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2024 10:38 am
Okay, having a half-youma suddenly leaning towards her and sniffing was… alarming. But given she’d been analyzing him, she couldn’t really protest. But she still froze before forcibly reminding herself to relax.
“Like I said, this is all only stuff I’ve heard. I’ve got theories, but I’m not about to go nosing around to try and prove them,” she said, shrugging helplessly. “As far as folks like you being okay with folks like me, I think it’s because you’re still more human than youma in there. So logic and intellect are more in charge than instinct.”
It was as good a theory as any and seemed to fit what she’d heard. Was it completely infallible? Probably not. But for now? It worked.
Running her fingers through her hair, Ilmare felt a moment of pity for Magnesia. He was clearly a bright and curious person. Not having all the information possible probably drove him up the wall. And that, once she gave it some thought, was what convinced her that he wasn’t some beast to cower in terror of. He looked scary (so scary), but he was intelligent and had a happily bubbling brain. Granted, if he startled her at night, she’d probably scream and jump, but she wasn’t terrified now.
Visibly relaxing, she shrugged again, “I have no idea why you came out the way you did, M. As for the longer serving officers, think about it. I mean, still just me spitballing, but it makes sense to me. We spend so much time in and around the Castle. Have you stopped to think about how much pure, raw Chaos is there? Maybe some people are more welcoming of it and that’s what changes them. Maybe it’s more intentional. I don’t know but I think that chaos exposure is part of it. Whichever it is, you’re more likely to find an answer than I am.”
She snorted at his grin and challenge. Okay, typical brash boy hijinks. But his speed took her off guard and she barely scrambled out of the way fast enough to avoid having her stomach ripped open. Scuttling and rolling, she managed to regain her feet and glared at the lieutenant.
“Rude!”
Still, if he wanted to play that way, she’d oblige. Cupping her hands, she whispered, “Fairy Bells Ring!”
The tiny cup appeared and filled quickly enough, but she needed to judge this just right since Magnesia didn’t have a lot of skin on display. Darting towards him, she leapt once she was close enough and threw the ‘cup’ in her hands towards his face. ”indigo_plateau” Fairy Bells Ring Effects - Ilmare cups her hands before her and speaks her attack. A small cup that looks like a harebell appears and is filled with an iridescent white liquid which Ilmare then throws at her opponent. Should the liquid strike bare skin, the target will be subject to mild hallucinations of a fantastical nature (player discretion as to what they see) for 25 seconds. Should any of the liquid strike the eyes or go into the mouth, the hallucinations last for an extra 5 seconds. Able to use twice per battle.
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