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The Face in the Moon (4) : The night seems darker than it should be, but it’s been a cloudy day so it’s not too surprising, unless you’re also factoring in the strange sensation that someone is watching you. You won’t see anyone if you look around, but the longer you’re outside, the more intense and unnerving things become. And then–if you look up–you see why. The moon that you know has been replaced with a devilish face, with wide, piercing eyes and a devilish grimace. No matter where you go, it’s watching you–and it even seems like it’s unusually large in the sky. Maybe others around you have noticed the same thing–or maybe it’s just you. Maybe it’s in your mind, but if you stare up at the face for too long, you begin to hear a low growling, or a shrill static. Its eyes are hypnotic and fearsome. Whether it disappears behind the clouds or the horizon, at some point it is gone. The strangeness fades with the moon, but there’s still no real explanation. It doesn’t photograph, and nothing about it can be recorded. You just have to hope it was a one time nightmare.
He rarely swore, but the first words out of his mouth when he saw the moon like that was a very loud, “******** me! Holy s**t, what the ever living ******** is that?!”
Halloween season was upon Destiny City, and the man already knew he could expect some really, really weird things to happen in the city. But the moon was something everyone from everywhere could actually see, right? So was this visible to the world? Or was DC just that unlucky?
“Leaning toward the second one, there,” said the Captain as he settled comfortably in a tree. He’d heard rumors that the trees were doing weird things again this year, so he checked this one thoroughly to make sure it was safe before he started climbing–he didn’t teleport all the time, after all. Just when it was convenient. Once all settled, he locked eyes with the devilish face of the moon, high above and well out of reach. It seemed bigger and particularly menacing, but beyond staring back at him it didn’t seem like it would do anything to him.
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It was rather dark tonight, but considering the clouds during the day that wasn't all that out of the norm. But for some odd reason, he could not shake the fact that…Was someone watching him? Oh god what if it was that stupid a** dice board thing? The Squire immediately started scanning for dice to avoid, getting low to the ground to look in bushes and under benches, anything he could spot, he was looking under and inspecting. He did not want to run into that board again, it was too much for him the last time and he could really go without this time.
However, during his scanning, he looked up and caught what was finally staring at him, “s**t!” He started talking in Russian, holding one hand over his heart while he continued to stare at the face in the moon. He knew for sure that tom ******** was not normal in the slightest and he bet he was the only one that was seeing it right now. Or so he thought. He heard a familiar sounding voice basically shout at the same time as him. The chaos signature almost had him ready to get his skull out but then again, instead of trying to fight, he relaxed.
After the initial scare, the moon didn't seem all that bad, just a bit unnerving. If anything he thought of that one video from Rob Zombie….Dagula was it? Yeah…The tune to the song started playing in his head while he continued to stare, not wanting to break away first. “It got you too?” He was still staring even as he spoke loud enough for the captain to hear. God that thing was just freaky wasn't it?
“Only in ******** Destiny City do you see some freaky s**t like this during October.”
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He was too caught up in his own thoughts about the moon to notice the Order signature just nearby. The more he stared the more he could swear he was hearing something just nearby. Buzzing, maybe? Or growling? Which…strangely enough sounded nothing alike, but he just couldn’t place it for some reason or another. When he finally did notice and look over, he found a familiar face, and he waved in greeting.
“Basically, and that’s exactly what I was thinking.”
He glanced back toward the moon, the devilish look of it not fading in the slightest, then jabbed a thumb at it. “I guess it could be worse. I’ve been staring for a few minutes now and it’s sorta just…there. Menacing and whatever, but harmless enough. Just freaky. Matches the mood of the city around this time.”
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Was there growling? He didn't really think so. He could hear a weird static though, and that was disturbing in and out of itself. Aaru was currently sitting on the ground, staring just as much as the other was. That's when it hit him: “The ******** do I call you?” He looked up where the agent was briefly, realizing he never got his mineral or whatever the ******** they call it. Strangely enough, even though the s**t in this city was off the wall sometimes, he found that it strangely added to its uniqueness and charm. Like he wouldn’t find this s**t in texas or something like that.
He saw the clouds rolling in from the right and thought about what would happen the moment they covered the moon. Would that strange face disappear? Or would it still be there when the clouds eventually roll by? He was curious to know and decided that he would watch until something happened. “It's menacing alright…About as menacing as my two year old.” Emorali was a pretty RBF looking kid so that wasn't something to be taken lightly. He even scared Ivanna sometimes and that was a miracle in and out of itself.
“I'm Aaru by the way.”
He figured he would at least let him know his name as well if they were going to keep running into each other like this.
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The Captain blinked at the question, and quickly went over their previous meetings. Sure enough, they really hadn’t given each other much room for introductions. Both had started with…well, him shooting a bolt at the guy, but hey. Clearly that wasn’t enough to make two people enemies forever.
He had to again remind himself that this knight wasn’t his friend, but for the time being they were civil acquaintances. And acquaintances did know each other’s names.
“Staurolite,” he returned the introduction, though he was shaking his head when Aaru compared the look to one of his kids. “No offense, but if I had a kid with a face as menacing as that I’d be a little concerned. And probably playfully blame it all on my wife if anyone asked.”
Speaking of, he still had that ring burning a hole in his pocket. Timing was everything when it came to proposals, but at this rate he was starting to think that timing mattered a whole lot less than actually asking.
Glancing back to the moon, he also decided to keep right on staring at it as the clouds rolled by. With any luck it would decide to give it a rest after the clouds passed. Something about the way it looked at him made him want to not go home just yet, in case it decided to follow him or something. Knowing how things happened in DC, that probably wasn’t an impossibility.
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Staurolite huh?
Aaru laughed, leaning back on his hands. “Yeah, I definitely blame her constantly.” Emorali was a product of Moon and Ryan, two of the most important people in his life. He absolutely knew his youngest got his face from Ryan, Moon was usually all smiles and Ryan could throw someone off with his RBF sometimes. Either way, he wouldn't trade that for the world. But now wasn't the time for him to get all sappy or talk about his family with someone that was supposed to be his enemy. Well if he had a say in it…Acquaintances would maybe be more appropriate.
The clouds rolled over and passed. Just as he thought, the clouds left and the moon returned to normal. “******** Destiny City.” He laughed, getting up slowly. Now that the face was gone…He could go patrol some more or maybe just go home and watch some scary movies with Emorali and Livvie. He was sure Nikki was asleep with Ryan by now. “Welp, it was nice to finally get your name I guess~” he chuckled, “Next time we meet up try to hide less yeah? Don't think I'm going to toss my skull at you anytime soon.” which he was telling the truth. Out of all the negaversers he's encountered, Staurolite seemed ... .Normal.
Which was saying something.
Just like the last time, Aaru gave the agent a wave, heading back on his patrolling path.
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Staurolite smirked at the sight of the normal moon, though in reality he felt more relieved about it than he looked. It had been an unnerving sight–and why he decided staring it down would be a good idea, he might never be sure–but it was gone now, and all seemed…
Well, as normal as things could get as far as DC was concerned.
“Yep, that’s about right,” he laughed as he sat up and hopped down from his perch to stretch out a little. “And yeah, it was. No promises about the hiding; it’s not like we ever plan to meet so I’ll probably keep doing that. I’ll hop out instead of shoot a bolt at you, though, if that’ll make it better.”
All things considered, Aaru didn’t seem too bad. At least not now, not after learning he was actually a family man. It was weird to think about, but it wasn’t like he didn’t plan to have a family of his own someday. They were both still people at the end of the day, the difference was simply which side of the fence they were on.
Just like last time, the Captain returned the wave, and turned to start heading home. Something about the moon made him want to see Hannah that much sooner.
its_pao
