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 Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:09 pm
Once he had the niceties taken care of, Nazca began to worry again. Really, how old was this kid? What was she doing out on the street at night, alone, fighting off bad guys? Never mind that she was more successful at it than he was. And, from the look of it, more experienced. He paled as the implications of that hit him. How old could she have been when she started? How much of her childhood had been wasted on war?
This was bad. Really, really bad. Not that he blamed her for it in any way. She was clearly a responsible young girl, and able to take care of herself to a certain degree. And if she was trying so hard to hide everything from her parents, he couldn't really blame them either. But she was still a child, and whoever had told her that she needed to fight needed a punch in the face.
Then he had a name, though only one part of it registered. Sailor. Sailor costumes. Senshi. One of the good guys. Which, considering her behavior, was kind of obvious, but his last encounter with a senshi had made him wonder if they were really on the same side.
"A pleasure to meet you." Sort of. A death-defying, nerve-wracking kind of pleasure. "I'm, uh. Nazca. Of Mercury. A knight, or something." He shrugged, still not sure what to make of all that. "I'm sort of new at this stuff, in case that wasn't obvious. But you look like you know what you're doing. How long have you been at it?" He wasn't sure he was ready for an answer to that question, but he still needed to ask.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:36 pm
A Knight of Mercury? Well, that was new. Aludra spent a moment, arms crossed over her chest, in deep thought. She must have come across someone like him at some point, yes, no, maybe? At least she’d never stopped to have a chat with any knights, that was certain. "A year now," she answered, proud of the fact that he thought she looked confident at being a Senshi. Honestly she still felt like she was still finding her feet and today was one of the few days she’d truly felt useful. "So… you don’t have magic? We get one, I mean, anyone like me does. They all do different things." It was a bit unfair if he was expected to save the day with nothing but a book.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:51 pm
A year. That was bad enough, but at least it put to rest fears of test-tube babies being raised as killing machines, or kidnapped children being put in some sort of combat boot camp. Ridiculous images, but then, so was reality.
She'd been doing this for a year, and hadn't gotten herself killed. In that case, Nazca supposed he couldn't baby her, tempting though it was. She was his senior when it came to the whole magic thing, and boy did it show. That was deserving of respect, even when he really wanted to drive her home and have a chat with her parents.
Since that was basically out of the question, he listened to her explanation and sighed. "I, uh, magically change into unseasonable clothes?" Whoever had given him that jacket knew nothing about Destiny City summers. He was broiling under all those layers. "That's about it, though. If you think about it, storybook knights fought with weapons, not magic. But they were also given more useful tools than this." He hefted the book in his hand, wondering what it was supposed to do.
"So, do you know a lot of other senshi?" Maybe she would be able to help him find the person he was looking for. Or at least give him a lead he could follow up on. His own attempts to chase down clues were usually unsuccessful at best, disastrous at worst.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:06 pm
Well, he’d gotten the short end of the stick. "We all do that," she said, tugging on the edge of her hood as proof. "This war isn’t much like a storybook. You’re going to have to be a lot more careful. The Negaverse is dangerous. Some of them will kill you if they can." She looked back in the direction the girl had gone. "She was okay." As if suggestible, violent Ouija board wielding teenage girls was on the lowest end of the danger spectrum. "I know a few…" Probably not as many as she’d like to, but she had spent that month or so after Biela died crying in her room and she’d maybe avoided patrolling too far out for many more months after that.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:32 pm
Nazca had sort of suspected that magical costume changes were standard, but it was still irritating to hear confirmation that the one superpower he had was the equivalent of a door prize. What did the universe expect him to do with this? Or was it just humoring him, letting him think that he had the power to make a difference.
This line of thinking needed to stop, before he started thinking that the universe was talking to him. That was a sure sign of something wrong in his brain chemistry.
"I'm starting to learn that." In the stories, noble knights weren't beaten up by their allies, or saved by small children. The enemies were dragons and giants, not teenage girls. "But wh- okay? Trying to pummel me into pieces was okay? What kind of lunatics are we dealing with here?" This was why Tara had wanted him far away from this. Maybe there was reason for her to be worried. But it was too late for second thoughts. He was involved now, and he didn't regret his choice. Just his level of preparation.
Had his question touched a nerve? Nazca waited, to see if an explanation was forthcoming. Apparently not. "I'm looking for a group," he went on. "The Zodiac? Or a girl in a hood kind of like yours, except dark blue. I'm not sure if she's part of them or what, but I just... I need to find one of them. It's important. If there's anything you can tell me, I'd be really grateful." Not that he wasn't already grateful, but if he managed to get a lead, he'd be over the moon.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:50 pm
Aludra gave him a steady, sad look that didn't suit her young face. "She left without any fuss and you’re not really hurt," she pointed out. "They kill people. Not all of them, but they will do it and some of them enjoy it. I don’t know why. I don’t even really know what they really want." He’d learn sooner of later. Nobody got to play this game without eventually running into the blood and madness that went with it. "But we have to keep doing it," she continued, this time speaking mostly to herself, "we’re the only ones that can protect the city." The chibi chewed her lower lip and though back to everyone she’d known, but eventually all she could do was shake her head. "No, sorry, I’ve never seen her or anyone like that. But I’ll keep an eye out and if I do, I’ll let her know you’re looking for her."
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:16 pm
It didn't escape Nazca's notice that he'd ended up on the receiving end of a lecture. And he didn't like it one bit. Not the lecture itself- that was fine, even informative in a way. But the fact that a child was teaching him about the horrors of war, calmly and quietly, was just wrong. How had she learned about this? What had she seen in the past year?
"I'll be more careful," he promised her. Next time, he wouldn't need a rescue. If he did, than he was nothing more than a liability, and Tara was right to leave him out of it. Though maybe there was more to it than that. Aludra's parents didn't know- because she was scared for them? Or because they would try to stop her? As he would have, if he'd put the pieces together in time. "Even if your parents don't know what you're doing, someone must, right? A friend, someone you trust." Tara had told Laney, after all. This was too big a secret for any one person to bear alone.
His heart sank when he heard the negative response, but he nodded. "Thank you- but you don't need to say anything." If the star-cloaked senshi was Tara, then finding out anyone was looking for her might be enough to make her run again. If it was one of her friends, they might tip her off- or worse, drag her along when they left. "I don't want to scare them off. Or get you in any kind of trouble. I mean, they're supposed to be friends, but even so..." He still hadn't forgotten the possibilities that had occurred to him the night Tara disappeared. Or the lesson that other senshi had taught him about trusting supposed alliances. There were so many ways this search could fail, and only one chance to get things right.
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:49 pm
Aludra hesitated to answer his next question, but she responded honestly after a short silence, giving a soft, "…no." Sure she had Senshi friends but could she really say she was close with any of them? No, not really. They were allies that she fought alongside and cared for, but nobody wanted to know about the other side, the person who went school, tried to keep up with her studies and sometimes woke up from terrible nightmares. Ever since she’d donned the red cloak and the title of Aludra, she sat alone at lunchtime and she wasn’t really invited to parties anymore. "I don’t really… it’s too dangerous to tell anyone…" She gave what she hoped was a suitably nonchalant shrug. "Anyway, um… I’ll still keep a look out and if I find who you’re looking for I’ll try and let you know somehow."
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:20 am
No, of course not. The way things were shaping up, it seemed like just knowing about this stuff was supposed to be some sort of death sentence. That was why Aludra didn't tell anyone. It was why Tara hadn't told him, or their parents, or anyone else. Except Laney. Which made no sense, unless-
Unless she had another reason for knowing.
"I am such an idiot," Nazca muttered. Not that he could be blamed for not knowing the ins and outs of heroing after just over a month, but sometimes it seemed like his brain just plain stopped working. His next step, then, had to be to call Laney and...
He looked at Aludra again, to thank her. Only to stop and look again. This wasn't just some kid, or even just some hero kid. She seemed sort of wistful as she spoke, and Nazca wondered how many people she had pushed away, in order to protect. "Hey, listen... I know it might not mean much coming from someone you don't know, who hasn't been at this for very long. But I think you're doing a great job. And if you ever need to talk with someone who kind-of-sort-of gets it, then let me know, okay?"
He smiled, and then realized how creepy that probably sounded coming from someone his age. "I mean- augh, not like that! It's not- it's just that you kind of remind me of my kid sister, a little." Aludra was much younger than Tara, and almost certainly a totally different kind of person. But they faced similar challenges, had similar experiences. Maybe Aludra needed a big brother to give her a hand. Or maybe she could help him figure out where he had gone so horribly wrong.
Or maybe he'd scared her away by acting like a creeper. That was a distinct possibility.
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:34 am
Aludra responded to the praise with a bright smile and the easy shedding of the sadness that had settled on her with thoughts of her empty civilian life. She’d finally helped someone, done some good and that meant she could do more. Maybe one day she would even convince someone to join their side for good, Amethyst or that girl who’d wanted to find the path so desperately all it had taken was the point of a finger. "Thank you." It was even nicer knowing someone was willing to be there for her. It didn't matter that he was older than her, perhaps because of that it was even better. He could be a parental figure, a solid somebody in this crazy world of fights and monsters and death. "It’s okay," she giggled. "I get it. I don’t have any siblings, but I always did want a big brother." She looked up at him with a grin. "And if you get in trouble again, you just need to call on me. I’ll be there!"
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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:44 pm
Well, she wasn't running, screaming, or pointing. She was even smiling. Nazca had to consider that a success. Maybe being a magic knight wasn't just about fighting off teenage psychopaths. There was, he thought, something heroic about being able to make someone feel better. So he wasn't a total failure after all.
"I'll do my best. Let's see..." How could they work this? He wasn't about to ask a kid for her contact information. That would definitely make him seem like a stalker, and he'd already been accused of that once. Giving her his business card would probably achieve the same result.
So instead, he pointed to the nearest street sign. "How about this? I'll swing by the intersection there every night I come out." Which was most nights, unless he was working with his parents or the police. "I'll try to make it around, say, ten o'clock. If you need something, you can come by, or you can leave a note on the signpost. And I'll do my best to give you a hand, or an ear, or whatever you need. Sound good?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:11 am
If she was inclined to run away from older men offering her friendship, Aludra’s already rather diminutive list of acquaintances would have been even smaller. Certainly she might have reacted differently if she had been a civilian, with her mother’s voice ringing in her ears ('How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t talk to strangers without me around, Anelie!')… or then again, probably not. Aludra gave an eager nod. So far anyone who wasn't a Senshi was nearly impossible to get a hold of. It meant many moments caught in thought, wondering if they were still okay and if they would ever come across each other again. It was nice to have some other way, even if it was just a note stuck on a pole, to contact a friend. "It’s a deal," she assured. "Well," she then said, after a quick glance at the sky as if trying to judge the time, "I’d better get home before they notice I’m gone. It was nice to meet you, Nazca of Mercury."
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 8:37 pm
"Great!" Finally, he had a point of contact that didn't want to beat him up. Not that he really had a way to contact her, but it still beat a punch in the face. And his only real injuries were to his pride, which meant he could skip the hospital. All in all, a successful evening.
Maybe, he thought, this was a sign. Maybe this would be his night, and he'd find what he was looking for. It was worth a try, anyway. "The pleasure is all mine, Chibi Sailor Aludra. Take care going home, okay?"
Nope, not worrying was not an option. But he had to trust that she knew what she was doing, and do his best on his own mission.
Ruriska Sorry for the delay! Wrap on my end, I think. Thank you so much for the RP!
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Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:28 am
"I will," she promised, gave him one last grin and simply jumped out of sight, landing neatly on the bridge above. This would be a night she’d hold onto when she next faced an agent of Chaos. The knowledge that she could be of use, that she could help, was the only boost her confidence really needed. DivineSaturn And all done! <3 No, thank you! We need to play again sometime. <3
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