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 Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:35 pm
Page Solo #1 & #2: 1006 words
Jason could hardly contain his excitement as he put away more of his items in the room that he had been assigned at the school. He was also nervous, but of course he was starting at a brand new school that was known for being quite stressful. Though he would know more of what the school was like once he started his classes and would feel better after that.
But not only was he going to such a good school, but he was now in the same city as his brother and they were both going to school in Destiny City now. He wasn’t sure if going to Azure Valley Academy was the best idea considering his older brother had been able to go to a good University with a public school education, but he had heard the school mentioned many times by his father’s friends and how they had sent their sons there with good results. So it had been decided that he could go to the Academy if he wanted too. Of course if there was anything bad going on at the school his parents wouldn’t hesitate to bring him back to San Francisco.
And his brother being in the same city and going to school there? It was a done deal! He had gladly taken all of the steps and tests that he needed to be accepted and had gotten in quite easily. The money from his parents probably helped too. But either way he was nervous and excited at the same time.
He turned towards the door where his brother, Tom, was helping him haul his belongings into the room. His brother had said he would help and Jason appreciated it. Of course he appreciated anything his brother did and would have been embarrassed to ask for help if Tom hadn’t brought it up first. He didn’t want to seem as though he always needed to rely on his older brother.
Tom sighed as he dragged more of his brother’s stuff into the room. He was faking quite a bit of enthusiasm at this point. He was still wishing his brother would suddenly change his mind and go back to San Francisco. That would be best at least. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with what happened in this city. Sure, nothing major had happened to Tom in terms of a big group of civilians being attacked, but it was still a possibility and he was sure the Negaverse was up to something. It had been too quiet. He only hoped that he wouldn’t be dragged into it. He was becoming a doctor for a reason, to help people, not to hurt them.
Looking at his brother he smiled, trying to hide the fact that he wasn’t very enthused about this. “I think this is the last of it. Hopefully you’ll have enough room to fit everything.” Nothing had been unpacked as of yet and it looked quite messy. Jason blushed a bit, unable to hid anything from his brother. “I think I will. I didn’t bring too much… I thought. I mean some clothes and some school supplies and backpack stuff, I should have room…” He replied, starting to wonder if he had too much and his roommate might get mad at him.
Tom smiled and pat his brother on the shoulder. “Jason, I’m sure it will be all right. You’re pretty good about this stuff.” He didn’t want to worry his little brother, though he wish still wish that Jason hadn’t come. As much as he wanted, he still had to keep his information about the Negaverse a secret, something he hated doing to his little brother, but was doing for his own good. Well, HIS own good at least. There was nothing he could really do to protect his brother if someone wanted to go and target him other than try to stop it. But Tom would probably be punished somehow if he told his brother anything, even if it was just to warn him.
Jason smiled; glad to be reassured by his older sibling that he wasn’t messing up. After all, this was the first time he would really be on his own, away from his immediate family. He had gotten used to not having his brother around, and still sometimes wished that Tom had gone to university in California, however, his brother had a dream and Jason wouldn’t keep him from it.
After another hour of taking things out and arranging them to Jason’s liking, the figured that they were pretty much done, and Tom had started to move the boxes back downstairs and to store for a while at his apartment, just in case anything happened, like Jason hopefully changing his mind and wanting to go back to California. Jason seemed too excited for that though and so he would keep the boxes for a while, just in case.
They both sighed and Jason stretched his arms out. “Well… school isn’t really open yet, do you know any good places to eat? You know this place better than I do.” Jason said, hoping that they could take a food break. Tom smiled, his brother could always tell what his weakness was, though it seemed to be a weakness for both of them. “Well, I know of a few places. We can walk there at least. It’ll be a good way to get to know the city a bit, and we can wander around your campus for a bit. I always like to know where I’m going a bit on campus before school really starts. At least you won’t be totally lost then.
Jason nodded in agreement, glad that he had printed out his first semester class list already. That way he could visit the classes to see where they were first. It was a lot easier when you didn’t live on the campus, but he would get used to it, his brother had after all and he had been going to university for a while here.
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 3:50 pm
Actually posted May 1st, 2017, it's just that there had been something before and so this post was empty. Page Solo #3-8: 3,089 words
Jason was nervous but also very excited. He had finally managed to get a 3-day weekend and had convinced his brother and parents that he would be too busy to be with them the entire weekend so that he could go and spend the whole 3 days exploring his Wonder. He had finally decided it was time to go and see it, whether it disappointed him or not . Although he had considered contacting a few people to go with him, he realized that he wanted to do this alone. Currently he hadn’t ever done something this big, going somewhere else, by himself, he had always been accompanied by someone, whether it was the chauffer, his brother, or anyone else. He wanted to do something on his own for once! Sure, his wonder wouldn’t be anything like traveling on a plane and moving to another city, but hopefully the Wonder wouldn’t be that dangerous either.
He had gotten the words confirmed that he needed to say from another fellow knight and had managed to memorize them, though he still felt in the back of his mind like he had always known these words, it was best not to mess them up. Who knew, if he did mess it up, it could send him somewhere he didn’t want to go! Sort of like flu powder from Harry Potter, though at least he just had to say the words.
He had done all of his homework and all of the studying he needed to do, and had told his roommate that he would be out of town for a while with some of his friends. At least they had promised to cover for Jason. It was nice knowing other people had your back and you could talk to them about all of this… magical stuff. He still wasn’t quite sure what to call it, but it was still interesting nonetheless! He just wanted to get to his squire stage quickly, if only to see what kind of magic he had. He was still a bit jealous that senshi could at least use something at their first stage. He felt like he was dragging everyone down by not even being that good of a fighter.
He didn’t really have to worry about his roommate though, as the other was also supposed to be out of town the whole weekend. So, Jason was able to use his room to transform and go to his wonder.
He quickly powered up and said the words that he needed to be sent to his Wonder. After all, he didn’t need to give the negaverse a reason to check his dorm room out or to tell them that he was living there with his aura. He slowly said the words out loud, making sure to pronounce them clearly.
I pledge my life and loyalty to Polaris, and to Alphubel.
I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine.
Suddenly, he felt like he was being transported somewhere quickly and suddenly he felt cold, harsh wind hitting his face and the screeching it made as it whirled around him. However, he still felt warm enough with the outfit he was in. He was glad that he had such a warm uniform. He still felt a bit sorry for that squire who, while her ballerina outfit looked good, it didn’t look very warm or good for a Polaris environment. He slowly opened his eyes and he first saw a lot of white.
And then he realized that it was really, really bright. And looking up into the sky, he could clearly see the sun shining through, though there seemed to be clouds continually passing over it. His eyes started to adjust as he looked over the landscape and saw that he seemed to be very high up. Almost like he was on top of a mountain. He was quite happy that he had been transported to the top, unlike Sutai he seemed to have to travel up her own mountain to be able to get to the top. Although he could tell that his Wonder wasn’t the highest mountain around, as he could clearly see that there were others around it and still reaching greater heights but… it wasn’t bad. He could tell that there were some cliffs and a clear path reaching whatever the structure was at the end of the path, and was happy that it was so clearly laid out for him.
Jason sighed, wishing he could explore the other areas around him, however he wasn’t at all experienced in mountain climbing and he didn’t have his ring yet to be able to contact anyone in case he got in trouble. He took in a breath, looked back to the path, and started to slowly follow it, making sure to take in as much as he could. However, he had managed to bring some food with him so that he could stay for a while if he managed to use his supplies right and didn’t waste them. Though he wasn’t sure if the structure ahead would be very hospitable in allowing him to sleep and live there for a bit. He wasn’t quite sure, but he felt as though that he was welcomed to stay.
He wandered a bit, taking in the atmosphere around him, until he got up to the structure. It looked like… a large building with a telescope on it? Was this an astronomy building of some sort?! Alphubel gasped in surprise, excited to see that he really looked like he belonged here. He was just about to reach for the door handle, when suddenly he was stopped by what seemed to be something glowing to the side of it. He turned and saw what seemed to be… another person? Well, clearly not a person, as they didn’t seem to be alive. They almost seemed to be glowing and transparent, looking up at the sky, with some sort of paper in his hand and a writing instrument of some sort in the other.
Alphubel wasn’t sure what to do with this. It was clearly some sort of ghost, and there had to be some nice ghosts right? Why hadn’t he been warned about this sort of thing? Ghosts were not on his list of expected things! He watched as the man wrote something down and then turned to look at Alphubel. He couldn’t help but gasp and start to panic, wondering if this ghost was about to attack him, when the other nodded.
All Alphubel could do was stand there and watch as the ghost turned and wrote down something else before finally putting his writing instruments under his arm and walking over to Alphubel, acknowledging his presence. “Interesting… No one has been here for many centuries, and the first time someone does come they’re so… young.” At these words Alphubel blushed and felt a bit guilty. As if he didn’t know he was too young or all of this! The ghost sighed. “It’s quite all right though. We usually just get more… scholarly types. So someone who is a bit young hasn’t had quite the experiences that we usually expect. But! Since you are here, I suppose someone has finally come to look over this place and I can finally leave.”
Alphubel finally found his words. “Le-leave?! But I just got here and I have no idea-“ He was interrupted by the ghost holding up his hand in a ‘silence’ motion. “It’s all right young one. I’ll still be here floating around if you need me, I just won’t be around all the time anymore. And over time, you may find that you don’t need me anymore.” He replied, smiling a bit sadly. It seemed as though this knight held quite the attachment to this place. But then again, wasn’t that how ghosts were formed? “Is that why you’re a ghost?” Alphubel asked. The knight shrugged his shoulders a bit. “Not really a ‘ghost’ per se, but more of a vision. I’m not really here at all anymore, even in some sort of spirit form. I’m more just a past vision that can communicate with those that visit here.”
Alphubel’s shoulders drooped a bit. He was feeling more and more alone, even with some ‘vision’ here to help him. He really would have to bring someone else here next time. The knight looked at his sad posture. He felt a bit sorry for the boy, but the kid had to learn what had happened here and that there really was no one left. “I’m Eward Wolf. It’s not… an amazing name. May I ask what yours is?” Alphubel was about to say ‘Alphubel’ but then realized that he was only Alphubel the knight, named after the Wonder. The vision was asking him for his real name. “It’s… Jason Wolf.” He replied, before his eyes suddenly went wide. “Wait… your last name is Wolf? Does… that mean we are related?”
Eward thought for a bit. “It’s… possible. I did have a few children whom I didn’t know what happened to them after everyone here was… taken care of during the incident that caused all life to be extinguished. It’s very possible that you are a descendant of mine.” He replied, smiling warmly. “Well then, that surely means that you are meant to be a great knight.” Alphubel felt hope within him. Eward seemed to be getting a bit warmer towards him and the fact that he was an ancestor of such a knight meant that he was surely meant to be a knight and wasn’t chosen by chance. It was his destiny! He would have to try extra hard now to represent them. Though he wondered if his brother could be such a knight also… if one was able to be a knight because they had an ancestor, why wasn’t his brother a knight too? And with that thought Jason was once again feeling depressed, sad that he couldn’t share such joyous news with his older sibling.
Eward continued. “I’ll show you what we do-used to do around here. If you wish you may continue it or if you just want a place to get away from everything you can do that too.” He said, smiling once again before heading toward the building and waiting by the door. Alphubel followed him and waited patiently to see if he needed to do something to open the door or it was already unlocked. “If you’re truly one of our knights, and I’m sure that you are, the door recognizes us by who we are. All you have to do is hold up your hand to it and it should open, which is why we were quite lucky that everything was preserved in there since the extinction didn’t damage it. But then again, we did put some magical wards around it…” He seemed to be muttering to himself now, and so Alphubel followed his words and held his hand up to the door. He started a bit when he heard noises, but eventually the doors opened and he was allowed inside. Eward followed him in even though he could just go through it’s walls.
The inside was… interesting. Clearly they were in the main hallway of the building, with a set of stairs at the end of it and three doors on either side of the hallway. The hallway itself was quite large and with a tall ceiling with intricate designs on it, all with the sign of Polaris on them.
“This…” Eward said, interrupting Alphubel’s thoughts, “is a research lab. We were… slightly different from other Polaris knights, though we still went on ambassador missions. Here we studied the more sociological side of the interaction between those in the universe. The last two doors on the side of this hallway lead to our sleeping quarters. The middle left was the dining room and the kitchen; the middle right was well… restroom facilities and where we could clean up. And finally the first two doors on either side were lounges/the places where we held meetings when we invited someone important here. Upstairs though… that’s where we kept all of our information. I’m sure you can explore the other ones later, they aren’t that interesting since they are just basic rooms, so let’s go upstairs to show you what our work was like.”
Alphubel nodded, wondering what could possibly be up there. He followed Eward up the, apparently winding stairs, and finally, up at the top, and he was glad to be there, he was starting to get a bit dizzy, he gasped a bit in amazement. One really couldn’t tell from the outside what the inside looked like, so he was surprised that it looked so… clean and magical. There was intricate art all over, tons of book cases on the far right of the large room, and detailed loungers and chairs and other pieces of furniture, perfect for reading. At the very end though, there was another doorway, which he wasn’t sure what it lead to.
It wasn’t quite as amazing as Celsus’ library, but it was still nice, or at least it wasn’t disappointing. There was even a fireplace on the lounger side that one could use. As if reading his thoughts, Eward said, “On the other side of that door is where we wrote what we found, what information we had gathered, our experiences and… looked through our telescope.” Alphubel thought he had seen one poking out from the top of the building, but hadn’t actually been sure. “We used the telescope to study the planets from afar, something you can’t really do when you’re on the planet itself. It was interesting to say the least; sometimes I still look at it to see what has changed, which is quite a lot. Some of the celestial objects have changed so much it’s hard to recognize them. But if you want a look into the past… All of our celestial research is in that room also. It’s about as big as this one. Though if you want-“ He couldn’t even finish as he realized he had been talking to himself for a bit as Alphubel rushed towards the back door. Eward rolled his eyes a bit but smiled amused by how well Alphubel was going to fit in here.
For his part, Alphubel was amazing by the large telescope. He was awed by all that he could see. It was nothing like a regular Earth telescope. “It’s been enhanced by a bit of magic from Polaris.” Eward said, making Alphubel jump in surprise. The young page blushed. “Sorry, it’s just Astronomy is a hobby of mine so I was excited…” Eward shook his head. “It’s quite all right, I would probably be excited to. You seem to fit in perfectly with what a Polaris knight is all about, at least when it comes to watching the stars.” He replied, chuckling.
A sudden thought popped into Alphubel’s head, something he had completely forgotten about as he was getting the tour. “I’ve… I’ve heard that we can get our knight rings from our Wonder. Is that true?” Eward wasn’t surprised; the ring was something many pages looked forward to as it was a symbol that they had truly been accepted. “Yes, there is. But you’ll have to earn it like all the others did.” He said, a sly look in his eyes. Alphubel got a little nervous. What if he couldn’t do it? Eward tried to calm him. “It’s all right if you don’t get it at first. You’ll just have to keep coming back here and trying again. However… for someone who likes Astronomy so much, it should be easy for you to find it. First, if you stand far away enough, you should be able to see what constellation Polaris is located in. Next you’ll have to find it’s two companion stars within the representation, and finally, you’ll have to find something representing the star of Polaris itself and that spot is where you should find your ring. I’ll give you a hint, though this should be easy for you, it’s located in this room.” It was then that Alphubel was able to look around and realized that the walls, floor, and ceiling were what seemed to be one giant astral map.
This… might be harder than what Alphubel had bargained for, but if he could find Polaris, the rest of it should be easy, right?
… Hours later, Alphubel was getting a bit dizzy from looking at all of the stars. Eward had been quietly reading a book while the young page had been looking around. What am I doing wrong? Alphubel thought as he laid down for a bit, closing his eyes so he could try to get rid of the spots that were now sprouting up whenever he opened them. He looked up at the ceiling for a bit, trying to figure it out when suddenly… he saw one recognizable constellation. Then another, and another! He realized that he could find the constellation of Ursa Major from these others, he should be able to find Ursa Minor! Following a path that led down from the ceiling and to the wall in front of him, he was eventually able to find the star. Getting up and looking at it more closely, he could see that it was raised just a bit. Pushing it, a slot from Polaris’s closest partner popped out and there, resting on some velvet, was a ring. And it matched his coloring perfectly! He happily took the ring, making sure that he was careful with it, and looking at it in awe a bit.
“Congratulations. It wasn’t too hard, but not too difficult right? We don’t like to be too harsh on our pages, but they also needed to know what they were doing. We aren’t so much on the fighting, so we tested our pages in other ways.” Alphubel nodded to him. “Thank you… so much.” He said, before taking off his right glove and putting it on his right ring-finger. He was able to slip the glove easily back on. He wasn’t exactly sure if he was going to wear it underneath or on top, but figured that it would be easier to keep track of if he was wearing it underneath.
Alphubel looked at Eward again. “If it’s possible… could you tell me everything you can for the next few days?”
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 2:26 pm
Squire Solos #1-3: 1528 words
Jason frowned a bit as he looked up at the ceiling in his room. HIS room, the actual room he lived in at the mansion with his parents. It… it felt good to be back. As much as he missed Destiny City, he just couldn’t help but feel homesick. In his heart, he knew that unless there was another place to go, that Destiny City would be where he lived now. He was a magical knight. A Polaris knight, destined to help the senshi try to ward off and/or completely destroy the Negaverse and perhaps all of chaos. Though he wasn’t sure how that would work exactly. Didn’t the universe need to be in balance or something? If there was no chaos, then there couldn’t be light, right?
He turned over in his bed, disturbing Persia a bit, who had been sleeping next to him. The fluffy white kitty in turn adjusted herself so that she was once again cuddling up to Jason the maximum amount. He absent-mindedly pet her and she purred in response, glad that someone was finally paying attention to her. Jason smiled a bit, but it soon returned to a frown and then settled into sadness. He missed his brother, and he had wished that his older sibling had been able to return along with him.
Tom… he hadn’t been acting the same since summer had started, nor did he look the same. It had scared Jason a bit, wondering what was going on with his brother, but Tom has assured him it was just some insomnia that he had gotten from the stress of school. Once it died down he would be back to normal. This had worried Jason, considering that there were so many weird things and attacks on civilians that went on he had wanted to check if his brother was under some sort of weird spell or something from the Negaverse.
Of course, he couldn’t just ask him. After all, how could he just go up to Tom and say, “I’m a magical knight that protects the world from chaos and I just want to see if something is going on?” Not possible. And that was part of the reason he had felt an ever-growing rift between the two of them. Their lives were changing so rapidly that he felt as though one day, they wouldn’t even know who the other was and would never see each other again.
Which is why instead of going home right away, he had insisted upon helping his brother at his apartment. Tom has protested for a bit, but Jason said he wouldn’t go back until his big brother was all right again. But when he had gotten there, he realized that his brother was around his apartment for only a few minutes usually, unless he was sleeping. Apparently, Tom was spending most of his time studying. Still, Jason had never seen him like this and he had never been this way when Tom had done his first three years of college. Jason had almost been to the point where he would have called their parents about his brother, and perhaps an ambulance, when Tom had announced that he would be staying with a friend that was supposed to help with the insomnia. Jason was suspicious at first, and wondered what was really going on, he had grown more suspicious since Tom was acting so strange, but when Tom had come back to the apartment for a bit, Jason could see the change.
His brother no longer had those dark circles under his eyes, nor was he acting so sluggish. Instead he was acting, well, how he usually acted! Or at least mostly. Tom had still been quite tired, probably making up for all of the sleep he had lost, but Jason’s concerns had at least been quelled… for now.
His thoughts were interrupted once again when Persian moved in her sleep, elongating herself to the point where she was completely pressed against his side. Jason had missed this, or at least missed cats. That was another reason he had wanted to come back. Both of the brothers were desperately missing kitty companionship, and although Tom would have loved to bring them with him, he hadn’t been sure how they would take the journey. Though since Tom said he was now going to have a more permanent residence in Destiny City, he would be getting the cats once he got his undergraduate degree. Unfortunately for Jason though, that meant that he wouldn’t even have any cats to snuggle with unless he went to his brother’s apartment. He did that often enough, but if he were to return home to their parents’ place… there would be none for him.
He had wanted to ask Tom if he would be willing to host a cat for Jason if Jason had decided to adopt one. However, with the way Tom had been acting most of the summer, it had never been brought up. No need to burden his older brother even more than he already was. However, since his brother was on the mend, and Tom had reassured Jason that something like this wouldn’t happen again, Jason would bring the idea up to him when he got back. And he could bring it up at the airport too since Tom would be the one picking him up from there.
Their parents had been worried about Tom too since he had been communicating with them less that he usually would. However, once Tom had started to recover, he had explained the situation to them and had made sure to catch them up on everything like Jason, so there would be no surprises. No surprises, no lies. Jason thought as he felt a pain in his chest. He sometimes wondered if he shouldn’t just blurt it all out. His brother wasn’t a part of the Negaverse, and Tom had had his fair share of horrible experiences in Destiny City, he had even been the one to warn Jason not to come after all. Why couldn’t he just tell his brother? Was it so bad that he couldn’t share with him this burden of a secret?
Tom could be a target yes, but they had both already been targets. Multiple times! There really wasn’t much else that could scream ‘something supernatural is going on here and I’m a part of it!’ than what had already happened. So why did he need to keep it to himself? Because he could be forced into the Negaverse? He asked himself. But already his brother could be one of their targets. There was almost no point in protecting him.
Something passed through Jason, something that made his feet cold and gave him a sudden chill. He couldn’t protect his brother, at least, not in the way he wanted to. This… this was going to tear them apart eventually. Jason had a duty now, and while it wouldn’t be one that could pay the bills, it was one that he had to do, one that he would probably die doing. He… he may have to actually abandon his life on Earth. His family, the ones he had been with all of his life.
Did he? He knew that there had been relationships between senshi and knights, senshi and other senshi, and knights with knights. It seemed that the ones who went solo were the ones who had become so dedicated to their wonders/planets. If he got into a relationship with a senshi, would he have to abandon his old life entirely? They still had family that they visited. He was sure that they still had their own parents and grandparents. He chuckled. In a way it was a lot like growing up, except usually people got to choose what they did for their jobs, and most of them weren’t horribly dangerous and about saving the world.
Persia shuffled again, this time landing on her back, so that she had her back on the bed, and one of her sides next to Jason. A smile crept onto his face as he stroked her stomach, which she was okay with usually. And this time was no exception. It had been a good thing, considering how long her fur was and it drove Tom crazy when he had to brush her and couldn’t because she wasn’t allowing him to touch her stomach that day. But that’s why they liked kitties. They were predictable when it came to some things, unpredictable when it came to others.
His resolve tightened. He WOULD get a cat, or at least he was really hoping that Tom would say yes. He was sure his older brother would though, they both missed cats. Jason was just a bit worried about the attention it would need, which meant he definitely wasn’t going to get a kitten. But an older cat sounded nicer anyway. They would be fully trained and would probably sleep most of the day that he and Tom couldn’t be there.
Soon enough though, he felt himself drifting off to sleep for an afternoon nap. At least he could nap comfortably now though…
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Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:34 pm
Squire Solos #4-5: 2037 words
Larissa wasn’t sure why she had come out tonight. Her powered uniform didn’t allow for much warmth and while she wasn’t freezing per se, she was still way too cold for her own good. But… it gave her an excuse to enjoy the outside a bit during the cold weather. She had only awakened recently and only had one battle, but she still wasn’t too sure about all of this. Especially since she was awakened as the senshi of a flower. It just didn’t seem to fit her personality at all. Yet, she hadn’t been able to just ignore all of it, especially considering that she knew how agents worked a bit. She probably would have ignored all this a bit more if she had only been told about Negaverse Agents versus fighting one.
Since it was the latter that happened, she couldn’t just pretend it never happened. The pain was too real and she hadn’t woken up from a mushroom-induced hallucination afterwards, so she had to admit that it had been real. And it wasn’t something that was just going to go away on it’s own if what she had learned was correct. It scared her a bit, going up against something so large and something that wanted you dead. On the other hand, though, it gave her an excuse to get out of the house a bit more during the winter months than she would otherwise. Well, she wouldn’t, but luckily it turned out that being powered up in her uniform meant that it also came with some sort of heating function, otherwise she would have stayed back at her home, staying under an electric blanket and watching videos on her computer.
She slowly walked through the park a bit more, wondering if she was doing the right thing by going out by herself to ‘patrol’. She still wasn’t too sure if she should be doing this by herself, but she had felt too stifled in her home to stay there for too long, especially now that classes were over for the semester. Sometimes she wondered what she should do after she graduated, as she still wasn’t sure about what she wanted to do as an adult and it was something she had struggled and wanted to deny was happening. Heck, she still felt like a little kid and she was already a junior in high school for goodness sake!
As she was going through her thoughts, she didn’t notice the other aura nearby, coming towards her.
Alphubel for his part, felt more comfortable patrolling during the winter months. As much as he liked summer, he was now starting to feel more of an affinity towards winter. Or perhaps he always had it, but because he lived in California, he wasn’t used to when it got colder, IF it got colder, so the shock of winter elsewhere had made him complain along with his older brother.
Tom… he was staying with his brother for the winter this time, especially since he had to take care of Bluejeans and could finally spend more time with the kitty. Not that the kitty seemed to mind, Bluejeans just slept most of the time anyway, but it was nice to have such a lap kitty again and just having the cat to pet during his stressful finals had lowered his stress levels. And when he called Tom for updates, which his brother was always glad to give, he at least knew his brother was taking good care of the kitty. But luckily Bluejeans still seemed to prefer Jason and so when Jason could be around, the kitty would gravitate towards him and sleep on him all of the time.
Well, he was at least staying with his brother for most of the break. But with 4 weeks off, they were going to go back for the week of Christmas at least to celebrate with the rest of the family. But Jason was just thankful that his brother seemed to be back to normal and they were communicating regularly once again, which he had Bluejeans to thank for too. So he was out patrolling tonight with an attitude that was happier than it had been for a while.
While he was out though, he sensed the aura of a senshi nearby, what seemed to be a basic one, and had decided to investigate. He had soon gotten to the park and saw the senshi who seemed to be… lost in her thoughts. A perfect target for any Negaverse agent! And her outfit didn’t really look like it was suited for this weather. She was cute too. Alphubel first wondered if he should even try to approach her. After all, she was a young woman wandering around by herself, a male approaching her suddenly might startle her. But… she was also a senshi by herself, she could easily be attacked.
He decided to approach her, and did so, walking slowly and making sure to make some noise, just so she wouldn’t be too surprised, while giving her a, “Cold out tonight isn’t it?”
Larissa was still lost in her thoughts when suddenly she heard a noise near her and she looked up, about to call out an attack. She saw someone who seemed to have a lantern with him and at first thought it was a Negaverse agent. But… the guy didn’t have the same type of aura, and it certainly felt friendlier than any Negaverse agent’s. She lowered her guard a bit more when he talked to her. She raised an eyebrow, opened her mouth to say well duh back to him, but closed her mouth, thinking better of it. She figured he was just trying to start a conversation with her and if he had said something like ‘nice weather’ she would have decked him. Especially since his outfit looked so warm.
She shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. And let the man approach her. “Yes… I wish my outfit was more suited for it.” She replied, giving him a small smile. Once she got a better look at him, she could see that he was kind of cute at least. “I… uh you seem like a senshi. If I may ask, who are you.”
She doesn’t know too much then. Alphubel thought as he gave her a small smile in return, continuing to hold his lantern in one hand. “I’m Alphubel, squire of Polaris. I’m a knight rather than a senshi, and you can think of us as allies to senshi.” It was the best explanation he could give at least. He supposed that most senshi would have knights, but how they were unlocked, or at least how those senshi became princes or princesses he had no idea. It was almost a bit sad that most of them hadn’t yet unlocked that yet. There were probably a lot more knights out there, unawakened and unable to fight or who might be targets for the Negaverse. “Polaris is a Princess that I follow, but that doesn’t mean I won’t help other senshi.” Though he still wasn’t exactly sure what to do. Without their princesses or princes, knights didn’t seem to have much direction and mostly seemed to help around randomly. He often thought about creating a group that would help them help each other more and get to know each other’s types better, but he could always dream, right?
Larissa was a bit taken aback. Sure, she had heard of senshis and Negaverse agents, but a knight? Like, ‘knight in shining armor’ knight? She looked at his outfit, raising an eyebrow. It didn’t look very protective now did it. But then again, considering her outfit, where she was some type of power-ruler-warrior or something in her past life, well, this was all just a bit weird considering the labels used. “A squire? So, still working you’re way up to knight then?” She asked, raising and eyebrow and giving him a smirk.
Alphubel blushed a bit at her remark. “Y-yes. I was a page at first. But I guess I… proved myself somehow and became a squire.” He still wasn’t sure how or why it happened. It was just one day he was powering up once again and suddenly he felt a surge of power, much like he had when he had been awakened, and after it noticed his clothing was different and that his glass had transformed into a lantern. It had been quite the surprise, and he had stood there, stupefied for a few moments, wondering what had happened, before remembering he had heard about there being stages for pretty much every type of powered person, squire being the second for knights. He couldn’t help but roll with it, and wonder why it had happened, but since information seemed to be so hard to find, he couldn’t really ask anyone else, though he had thought about Delphi and Sutai about it, but hadn’t wanted to bother them in case they were busy. After all, it was springtime, and he didn’t know if they had school or not. It wasn’t until the summer when he had been able to meet and go to Delphi’s wonder that he had finally had some of his questions answered.
Larissa smiled. Well, it seems she wasn’t the only one feeling a bit awkward by the conversation. And his small stuttered just made him a bit cuter. “Well then Alphubel, I’m Larissa, senshi of Water Lillies. It’s nice to meet you, and to learn that we have some more on our side that just our fellow senshi!” She was pretty sure that’s how it worked right? They had some ‘guardian’ cats and their fellow senshi, but to have those who were meant to serve and protect senshi on their side? It was nice to have at least. “I was just… patrolling a bit. But it seems that I spaced out a bit.” She said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and giving him an embarrassed smile. “I’m… new to all of this and don’t really have anyone to help me with this stuff, so if possible… would you be willing to help me patrol tonight?” Perhaps she could get his civilian contact information too. After all, they wouldn’t be powered all of the time, and if one of them was powered and the other wasn’t what good would that do if they needed to communicate? Or at least she was hoping he would be willing to help her later, but so far he didn’t seem to be a bad guy, just a bit embarrassed.
Alphubel blinked at first, wondering if she really had just asked him for help, before he nodded, and tried to moisten his suddenly dry mouth. “I’d love to! I mean uh… I would be happy to help. I know how intimidating it can be to do it by yourself.” He certainly did, and he had seen way too much that he shouldn’t have because of it. “If we run into any problems I’ll help with that too. Instead of using attacks like senshi, we knights have magic through our ‘weapons’.” He replied, holding his lantern up. “So if we work together, we shouldn’t have to worry about any danger.”
Larissa smiled, slightly impressed. Though she wasn’t exactly sure what his lantern could do, it at least meant he could help and she wouldn’t be the only one who could defend the two of them. “Great, thanks so much then! Uhm, after this, do you want to go out and get something?” A coffee shop should be open at this time of night she thought. She wasn’t too sure, but if they weren’t, she was sure a fast food joint would be open.
Alphubel smiled brightly at her. “Sure! It’s always good to know how to contact a person when you aren’t powered up.” Well that and it was the first time a girl was giving him her information, not that he had asked others, but he was surprised at how easy all of this was. He held up his lantern a little higher. “Well, if you’ll let me guide you, let’s start this patrol shall we?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 7:33 pm
Squire Solos #9-12: 2046 words
Alphubel always felt a certain sort of “home” feeling coming to his wonder. He wasn’t sure exactly why. He didn’t believe that knights were the leaders of their wonder. Weren’t they just normal people who had lived there? Well, normal as can be one when is dealing with magic and all sorts of other things. After all, it’s not as though the knights of his Wonder were normal considering they had already achieved space travel somehow.
But that wasn’t the point. Lately, Alphubel had been missing the observatory and library combination, and he had felt some sort of calling back. It had been harder to ignore ever since he had become a squire, though he still didn’t visit as much as he really should have. Eward still seemed to hang around, even though on their first meeting he had said that he probably wouldn’t be around that much anymore, but it was nice to have someone to talk to here. He was sure he would go crazy if there was no one else. How anyone actually stayed at their Wonder for long lengths of time, he couldn’t imagine. There wasn’t even a way to connect to the internet here, so one couldn’t even talk to others digitally! It all just felt so… empty.
Which is why he was glad that he had been able to go to both Delphi’s and Sutai’s wonders. They were both very cool too, and it only made him feel a little less alone. He had managed to snag a portable telescope from the observatory, and had, for a few days, looked around the mountain that he had been on, to see if he could see anyone else’s wonder from his. Sutai’s was hard, because it was mostly covered and one could only see it if they were on the right side of her mountain, but he had found a spot that he had assumed was hers. The other was Delphi’s, and while it had taken a bit longer to find, he had found it, eventually. It was very hard to see though if one didn’t have a telescope to help them, but Alphubel could at least go and look at it whenever he felt lonely and knew that he wasn’t the only one here.
Which made him wonder about how senshi felt with their planets. Very few senshi seemed to actually be royals, and only royals seemed to have any knights to follow them. That meant that most senshi, when going to their planet were… alone. They couldn’t even see anyone else there, because there would be no wonders occupied by knights.
He just… wondered sometimes if this was all worth it. Would it really be that bad for the Negaverse to destroy all life? The only life that was now in the universe anyway was from Planet Earth. Humans were destroying the planet, unless they could quickly learn how to travel through space and do it well and with ease, then they would be destroyed in only a few centuries. Sure, it would take thousands of years for the Earth to become inhabitable, but the fact that the most dominant life form on the planet apparently spear-headed the destruction of it, and so quickly… it made him wonder sometimes if he just shouldn’t give up and allow the Negaverse to just get rid of it after all. Sure, it might destroy the planet also, but it couldn’t be worse than what was happening anyway.
He sighed, trying to shake his head of the sad thoughts. It was almost time for school again, which meant he would have less time to go to his wonder and actually be powered up. Sure, stopping the Negaverse was important, but unless he wanted to get the bills paid, he would need the education to be able to get a job. It was just… he would definitely have to go back to his parents during spring break. Not being able to see them during winter had really hurt. Sure, the country was suffering what was pretty much an unprecedented snow storm, but still. He wanted to see them. He had seen too many people hurt and killed while he was here, he wanted to be reminded that someone cared for him besides his older brother.
And well, Cynthia too. Apparently after the crazy chocolate incident in which he forced poor Michiko to give them to Cynthia, Cynthia had called him up and had asked him if he would like to be her boyfriend. He was pretty sure his heart had stopped, to the point where even his brother was worried about him with the reaction he had on his face. When Jason had finally remembered how to form words and speak English he had given her a solid yes. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to see each other since then, even though they had been on break. But they were texting each other for a bit. Just not crazily, because they had both talked about not wanting to be driven crazy by the other sending a bunch of text messages in one day. So, 10 or less was the usual in their communication, and hopefully it would stay the same when he got to school. Luckily even if it was a boarding school, he was able to go out quite a bit, and was able to keep a girlfriend, thank goodness, they weren’t like private schools in Japan, so he would still be able to see her when they both had some free time. And when it wasn’t winter. They had both commiserated with each other about how awesome it was to actually have blankets.
He sighed, trudging up the pathway to the observatory, looking at it, just to make sure nothing was going to pop out and scare him. That was very unlikely, but when a place had been so empty for thousands of years, it was kind of creepy. He expected there to be some vicious creature or some serial killer lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. Luckily, he never felt such a thing, but still, wasn’t this how horror movies usually started?
But he had been able to update the observatory a little bit. He had brought some blankets and pillows and had managed to clean a lot of the dust with a lot of sweeping and using dusters on everything. He had to bring gloves for all of it too, because there were quite a few books that he did not want to get papercuts from. So, compared to the first time he had been here, it was looking pretty decent! He only wished that he could hire some people to clean the upper parts of the observatory. He had tried to bring a ladder, but it had been too heavy, and he had been too paranoid about falling off of it and possibly breaking his neck without someone else there, and so the idea had been nixed. But at least he wasn’t coughing all the time because of the dust.
He opened the large door, and let himself quietly inside, exhaling a breath and when he breathed in, he felt warm air go into his lungs, unlike the air outside. As much as he would have loved to open the window for some fresh air, it was still too hard. He had once propped open one of the front doors, just to try to get some new air in, but it became cold very quickly, which is why he had to do it only for about 10 minutes every time he came. So, the air quality was starting to get a bit better, but he wished he could have brought a fan or something to circulate it.
He put his outer robe on one of the hangers that was in here, since he felt warm enough with only the inner one, and walked through the observatory. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to do here today, other than maybe take a nap without a kitty forcing him to stay in one position, and wandered through the halls, looking for the library again. He hadn’t been able to come in a couple of months, and he was still trying to learn as much as possible. Sure, this library wasn’t as amazing as the Celsus library or whatever it was when he went, but it was a lot more focused on what Alphubel needed to know as a knight around here, and that was learning what the other planets and other celestial objects were, their routes, any comets that went near them, etc. It was much more knowledgeable than what scientists knew on Earth, and Alphubel had to take harder classes to be able to understand all of it, such as physics. Not that he had yet, but he had been having to take harder and harder math classes to be able to eventually work his way in.
He sighed, walking over to a chair that had a side table with a candle and a book, one he had been trying to finish for a while but still hadn’t gotten the chance. It wasn’t one of the books that was in the Observatory’s library, it was a book that he had brought from Earth that he had just wanted to read in peace without any distractions. As much as he liked living with his brother, there were just too many other distractions, such as the internet, the traffic, Bluejeans, whom Jason loved but his legs often fell asleep when the cat was on them which was every time he sat or laid down, and just overall it was hard to even get an hour with of reading in. Even when he had been at school, he had sometimes travelled to his observatory just to be able to concentrate better. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that as much as he wanted to since he could only go every three weeks as a page, and every two weeks as a squire, so it was only when he had midterms or finals coming up and didn’t want to be bothered by other people that he had gone to the quiet wonder and had studied there for hours, only bringing enough food and water to last for the studying period. It made it a whole lot easier to actually prepare for the tests.
He sat down in the chair. It was quite comfortable even though it didn’t look that way, used a match to light the candle, and settled down to read his book.
He awoke quite a few hours later, and realized it had become dark outside, and the candle was almost burnt to the end. How long had he been asleep? He looked at his watch, it was at least five hours. He sighed. Apparently, he had really needed it. He supposed it was from not being able to get as much sleep as he thought he would around the holidays, and from some of the battles that he had done recently. He tried to see if he could move, but his body was telling him to stay, he needed this. He needed the sleep, the quiet observatory, the ability to just relax for a bit. It would only get harder from now on, and he needed to be ready for it. Of course, that was correct, as he was finally in his last semester of school, hopefully, and had made it so that he only had a few classes left to take. It was nice to be able to graduate when he was finally 18 and during this past fall semester he had sent in his application to Destiny City University, where his brother was going, to be able to study astrophysics or whatever he needed to do to become an astrologist. He was sad about the fact that his brother would be graduating, but apparently, he would be staying at DCU for the graduate program, so he would at least see the other on campus and would be able to talk to him!
Alphubel thought things were finally starting to look up a little bit, and he found another candle, lit it, and started to read his book once more.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:52 pm
Knight Solos #1 & 2: 2544 words
Alphubel waited patiently at the park that he and Larissa, or when in the civilian forms, he and Cynthia, usually met up at. He hadn't heard from her since the day that she had come over to Tom's apartment to go with Tom's girlfriend to that circus and it worried him a bit. He had heard what had happened from a few other knights and some senshi since then, but he hadn't heard anything from Larissa and that worried him. As soon as the news had gotten the story about the circus, he had frantically sent text messages to Cynthia, and Tom to Stacey, to make sure that she was okay. All he had gotten back in reply was 'I'm fine, thanks.' And that was it. And for quite a while it seemed to be that she was ignoring his texts and calls, which meant that something awful had gone down there. He wanted to talk to her. It was only a couple of days ago that she had finally texted him back, asking if they could meet at their usual spot, which Alphubel enthusiastically agreed to. And so now he was just waiting for her to arrive. Wonder what she'll think of me now. He thought, blushing. He had only been a knight for a short time, and was still getting used to it himself, but he hoped that she would be pleased.
Larissa hurried to the meeting spot, cursing her family a bit. They had all been quite worried for her after what had happened at the circus, and even her older brothers were being a bit more protective of her. Sure, she appreciated it, but that also meant fewer chances of being able to sneak out by herself and had only found time on the weekend to do it when all of her family would be out. Unfortunately, what had happened was that her parents had insisted that she go with them, where she would be 'safe', she had scoffed at that, and when her parents couldn't convince her, her brothers had taken it upon themselves to try to encourage her to go with them instead. Which had made her late and she was already annoyed to begin with. She was annoyed and angry and sad and confused all at the same time. The circus event had freaked her out too much, and while she had stuck inside a couple of days after it had happened, her parents calling in her school since they figured she wouldn't want to go back yet, and it was only now starting to really hit her how awful it had been. And while Jason, her boyfriend, the guy she loved and knight, he hadn't warned her about this! And she felt angry at him for not doing so. Surely he had been attacked like that before? Surely he could have at least told her to watch out?
All she knew was she wanted to yell at him. Scream about how awful she felt. Just, be angry! Her rational mind knew that this wasn't a good idea, and that he might actually dump her for this, but her emotions were running too wild now, and she needed to pound something. She had gotten closer to the meeting spot, and she felt quite a powerful aura. It still felt like a knight's, but even stronger. She ignored that right now though, she had tunnel vision going, and as soon as she saw Alphubel, she was ready to pounce.
Alphubel was scrolling through his phone, until he felt Larissa's aura, and quickly put it away, making sure that he wouldn't be on it by the time that she came by. And soon enough she was there! He waved at her and gave a hearty "Hey Larissa!" But she kept at the same pace and when she got closer Alphubel could tell that something was wrong. She didn't look happy. Actually, she looked quite angry, and Alphubel could only put a surprised look on his face before he was tackled to the ground, his staff falling to his side, as he felt the punches of his girlfriend's fist on his chest. Luckily they didn't hurt too much, but it was a lot like when a massage machine was being a bit too hard on you and you just wanted to stop. He tried grabbing her fists, and eventually was able to grab around her wrists. "Larissa, stop! What's going on?!" At first he wondered if she could possibly be turning to the Negaverse, which horrified him for a moment, but then he looked at her face, and she was… crying. Oh no. He thought, his face falling a bit. He could tell that the circus event had really affected her, and she seemed to be taking out whatever she was feeling on him. But he couldn't let that continue. "Larissa, snap out of it! It's me, Alphubel!" Words didn't seem to be working though, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She seemed to struggle for a bit, but Alphubel continued to whisper soft words and rubbed her back, and eventually, she just started to cry.
Larissa felt like she could have hated him for all of this. There was no one else to talk to, other than some other senshi friends, but she didn't feel too safe in doing that. She felt like she had to be paranoid every moment, like there was something else lurking in the shadows, that a youma would find her and attack her or her family, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She hated the helpless feeling that she had gotten from this. She had practically flying-tackles Alphubel and sent him to the ground and immediately started pounding on him. Not too hard, as she didn't really know how to fight and she wasn't that strong, but she pounded enough to get a message across. She could hear him saying some words, but she couldn't understand them. She was too emotionally compromised right now, and just wanted to get some of this feeling out. She did notice when he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, and she tried wriggling her way free, but it seemed like he was so strong, and she was just a little senshi and… and… and she couldn't help but cry. Cry because she had seen such horrors, cry because she felt like she couldn't do anything. Cry and cry… eventually though she calmed down, and was grateful for what Alphubel was doing, and him massaging her back. It made her feel much better… and guilty. She realized what she had done, and although she knew that Alphubel would forgive her for it, she had just hit him! Multiple times! She buried her head into his shoulder. "Alph, I'm so sorry. So sorry!" She said, wailing a bit and then crying a little more.
Alphubel was just glad that she was finally starting to calm down. He smiled while continuing to rub her back. "Larissa, it's okay. You should have never been subjected to that. It was an awful, horrible thing. I'm so sorry." He said, trying to make her stop crying. Honestly, she should have never gone through that. He should have never gone through some of the things he had, along with seeing a person killed. There were tons of things neither of them should have gone through in a more peaceful world. But that just wasn't what this was. This was a world where magic existed and were Chaos wanted to destroy everything. This wasn't just countries that were warring with each other, the whole concept of life itself rested on the senshi and the knights. This wasn't anything that these young people should have had to go through. And for senshi to be young adults, and even children, it was even worse.
Eventually, though it took about 10 minutes, Larissa finally calmed down. She pulled back, trying to get out of Alph's embrace, and accidentally looked at his face, which seemed to be happy that she was finally feeling better. She blushed. "I'm… I'm all right now Alph. I'm sorry for that. I should have never done it." She said, feeling too guilty to look him in the face for long and turned her head to the side. How could he even want to stay with her now? She had caused so much trouble and had even hit him.
Alphubel though, was just happy that she had finally stopped crying and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Larissa, as I said, it's okay. You were probably just feeling a lot of emotion and although you probably should have taken it out on a punching bag or something, I understand it boiled over when you saw me." He knew that she wasn't usually like this. It would be hard for a normal person to go through all of that and not have some sort of reaction.
She finally looked him in the eyes and saw that he had forgiven her. She sighed, the blush creeping up higher. "I… that wasn't like me Alph. I am so sorry. I promise not to do that ever again." She said, trying not to cry again as she thought about just how badly she had treated him just now.
He smiled and nuzzled her with his nose a bit. "It's okay. You want to tell me about it?" It would probably be horrible, and he wasn't sure if he could hear it himself, but he would have to eventually, even if she did tell a more experienced senshi or knight first. She couldn't possibly keep this to herself for too long, and she certainly couldn't tell any therapist about any of it. As long as the Negaverse was there, there really was trusting no one, even in civilian form.
She sighed, gathering herself again to make sure that she wouldn't burst out crying again as she told him what had happened. She told him how they're memories had been wiped, how they had had to kill all of those agents and the two youma. That there was always this feeling now in the back of her mind that something was wrong. Alphubel held her throughout all of it, disgusted that she had had to see and do all of that just to protect herself. Luckily it seemed that Cynthia had found Stacey at the end of all of it and they had escape together, but to see all of that… even though Jason had seen worse when he was younger. It wasn't right. However, once she was all done with her tale, she looked at Alphubel, feeling a bit better. "After that I was a bit angry. I felt like you should have warned me about stuff like that happening, that I could have been more prepared but, I know I was wrong now." She said, giving him a small smile.
Alphubel sighed and shook his head. "The problem is I could have warned you. But I will admit I haven't seen anything like that done. Even when that killer hospital thing went on. But that was just against some youmas. I have seen someone killed in front of me though. It wasn't my fault but… I know that feeling of helplessness. Like you should have been able to do something, or you should have known what was going to happen and you didn't do anything about it and now it's all your fault. Even though your brain tells you that it wasn't, your emotions tell you otherwise. I'm so, so sorry you had to go through all of that. And unfortunately, I can't say that it's going to get any better. We're in the middle of a war facing pure evil that wants to wipe out all life. There's going to be more of this, and all we can do is do our best, all right?" He said, making sure to look her in the eye as he said it. He wanted her to make sure that even though she was a senshi now, that sometimes things were just going to happen beyond her control that they just couldn't deal with.
She sighed once again and gave him another hug and then pulled away. "Thanks, Alph. That really means a lot to me." She said, giving him a smile that practically melted his heart. She was about to go in and kiss him on the lips, which he was enthusiastically leaning into, when she thought she saw something weird, and pushed him away. She could swear something was… different. She felt the knight aura even more now, having ignored it as she had searched for him. That was when she gasped as she realized something. "Alph, your uniform is different! What happened?"
Alphubel was really wanting that kiss, but Larissa pulled away before they could complete it and for a bit Alphubel was disappointed that it wasn't happening, until he realized that she was looking at him. And at his uniform. Oh, right. This whole time Alphubel had forgotten to tell her about what had happened to him, not that he really could have, he was trying to comfort his girlfriend after all, and blushed when she finally said something about it. "Uh right. I'm a full-fledged knight now." He said, trying not to look like a tomato with blond hair.
It took a moment for what Alphubel had said to sink in, but when it did, Larissa went to full squealing mode, and immediately hugged Alphubel closer. "Oh my gosh congratulations! That's amazing! And you look so handsome too in your new uniform! I'm so happy for you!" She said, hugging him as he tried not to get knocked over again, though this time he knew she wasn't trying to.
Alphubel laughed a bit, hugging her in return. "Thanks. I'm still getting used to it. Still don't really feel like I should have gotten this far but, here I am. And in no time, I'm sure you'll be an eternal senshi too." He said, giving her a squeeze. At least he was pretty sure how that worked, that eternals were the last stage before Prince or Princess. He felt a bit sad that he could never truly be her knight if she were to become a senshi princess, but they got along well enough, and he had heard that there were other relationships between senshis and knights who were not one of their own. Perhaps it was better that way.
Larissa didn't really care about any of that though, she was just happy that her boyfriend had finally become a full knight. Now he really could rescue the damsel in distress! Though she would always try to do it on her own first, but she was happy for him. He was so powerful now! She couldn't wait to catch up to him! She looked at him and said, "Let's go to the café to celebrate!" She said, and he agreed with her. They both powered down and started to head toward it, both finally happy, and Larissa with a little less guilt on her mind.
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 7:01 pm
Knight Solos #3 & 4: 1005 words
Backdated 5/27
Alphubel breathed in the cold air that surrounded him as he finally made his way back to his Wonder. It had been a while. Too long in his mind. Though he hadn’t really been willing to visit it that badly during the winter. It was one thing to want to go somewhere cold when the humidity and heat was getting unbearable, versus being in the cold and then going somewhere even colder. Really, he just missed California. Sure, there was the chance for earthquakes and wildfires, but at least it had a somewhat more stable climate. And energy-saving initiatives.
But that didn’t really matter at this point. Alphubel was finally back and could search around the observatory a bit more. And he had more time on his hands since school was out and he wasn’t taking any summer classes before college started again. That was another thing. He was finally out of high school! It was somewhat scary, since he felt that he finally needed to be an adult, but he knew that his older brother would be there to give him advice. And his parents were willing to pay for college as long as it wasn’t too expensive, and Jason had decided to follow his brother to DCU to major in Astronomy. It would be a hard major, almost as hard as his brother’s, but without all of the gross dissecting and such.
He had been congratulated heavily by his family and by his girlfriend and finally felt like he was able to step into the adult world, just a bit. He even had to travel back to California for a bit with his brother. It hadn’t been too bad. They had both graduated, though Tom was now entering Medical school.
Unfortunately, Jason would have to live in the school dorms for a year, which sucked. He had gotten Bluejeans for a reason, but his brother reassured him that the cat was in good hands. Jason believed him, though he felt a bit guilty about not giving Tom the ability to have his cats brought from California to here yet. It would have to wait until Bluejeans was able to live with Alphubel.
Now though, now Alphubel had some time to relax and to explore his Wonder some more. While he had explored it pretty thoroughly, he always felt anxious in the back of his mind because he always felt like he was putting something off, whether it be studying or socializing, etc. Now he could explore it at his own pace. Sure, he would start college later that summer, but that wasn’t until two months later and moving wouldn’t be that hard either considering he couldn’t even buy furniture for his dorm room.
Alphubel took the familiar steps towards the front of the observatory, his boots leaving footprints in the snow that were filled in very quickly by the snow that was falling. By the time he got to the door and opened it, one couldn’t even tell that someone had walked through there. He sighed as he shut the door, and wondered if Eward would greet him today, but it seemed silent, as though even Eward was taking a nap or just trying to relax himself. Well, that means I get to do this at my own pace then. Alphubel thought as he hummed happily walking through the hallways.
Although his outfit had more layers, it felt like it was lighter now somehow. Or at least he didn’t feel like he was dragging it everywhere. It felt like… it suited him, which was a bit embarrassing to think as he still didn’t feel like a real knight. He shook his head, trying to get the self-depreciating thoughts out of his head as he ascended the stairs to the upper rooms.
He walked into the library again, wishing that he could read what was contained in the books. But all he could do was add his own to it that he acquired. He felt bad about it, that he could only look at what few pictures that there were in them. He felt like he could understand a bit more about the universe if he was able to read them, but no, he could not. And they were in a language that was too hard to understand. He had asked Eward once if the ancestor could translate them for Alphubel, but Eward had told him that he couldn’t. He could only remember the past without any text of any sort. It was a problem for all Wonders and planets Alphubel had been told.
He walked over to one of the tables again, one that had items on it that he dared not move. He felt as though he would destroy a piece of the past if he moved any of them, as if there had been a knight who had been here, and in the next moment they were just… gone. Though there was one trinket that had intrigued Alphubel. It was a small glass figuring of an owl, a lot like the glass on his staff, and he couldn’t help but stare at it from time to time. It caught his attention, and he often wondered if he should bring it back home with him. Like a souvenir from his wonder. To show that it actually existed.
He reached his hand out, wanting to touch it, but then pulled it back again, shaking his head. No, he wouldn’t disturb any of the items on the desk. He had made a promise not to disturb anything on the desk.
He groaned as he walked away, suddenly feeling tired of all a sudden. He needed to sleep, and luckily there was some nice, comfortable bed a few rooms away that he could sleep on, and he would be taking full advantage of them. At least it was nice and warm in the observatory. He quickly took off his outer coat and curled up in the bed, sleeping within only a few minutes.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 7:45 pm
Knight Solos #5 & 6: 1242 words
((Backdated to July))
As soon as Alphubel had landed back at his Wonder he wanted to rip off his coat just to feel the cold air a bit faster, even though it was already freezing. Summer had just been too hot for him. He badly missed California and had gone back for two weeks while Cynthia had said that she was doing her own family vacation. He had felt bad about leaving his brother, but apparently the summer classes were very hard, and Tom had been eager to send him away, probably to get a bit of sleep. Jason had desperately wanted to just be able to move into an apartment by himself, but he knew it was a money scheme by the University to have to make students pay more. So it can go into the sports programs. He thought. His parents offered to pay for the dorm and Alphubel decided to take some loans out for the classes. At least he would only be paying about half of what he should for the first year.
However, that meant that he had to go and get a job, which was fine with him! Well actually, more of a job than what he held currently. Right now, he was a paid referee for soccer matches, something he quite liked, and was getting paid for it. However, it usually only happened on the weekends, so he wasn’t getting too much money out of it.
That didn’t really matter though. He wasn’t at his Wonder for going over his current job prospects, though it would have been nice to be able to use his Wonder to search for any in a secluded place. No, he was here to do something else. It had been just a little while back, but the conversation with Beringia had brought forth something that he hadn’t wanted to admit. That he still truly didn’t know everything about his Wonder, and what it could be used for. He really was a disappointment as a knight! It had stung. How had he gotten so far and yet felt as though he was still a page? He should have stayed as a squire for longer. There was no excuse for this.
He sighed as he trudged back to the Observatory, and looking at it, it looked slightly less impressive than before. He only hoped that it was his feelings of inadequacy that was making it look like that. Soon enough he was inside once again and brushing the snow off of his uniform. The uniform I shouldn’t even be wearing. He thought bitterly to himself.
“Well, you certainly look a bit down. What gives young one?” The ghost of Eward asked as he floated within the hallway. Alphubel was too distracted and didn’t hear or see him as he walked silently past the ghost and up the spiral stairway. Eward ‘hmphed’ a bit, wondering what was going on with the young knight. Something was up and Eward was going to get to the bottom of it. He floated through a few floors before getting onto the floor that Alphubel had gone to and he could just barely make out the young man’s form as he went through the door closer to the observatory. Eward followed silently, not making a sound to see if he could see what Jason was up to.
Alphubel looked at some of the books and charts that were still displayed. He had been trying to understand them, but could only tell what they were because of the pictures, and even those weren’t the greatest. He sighed once again, something he was doing a lot lately. If only he could understand all of this, he felt like he would be able to work on his Wonder and get it back up into shape, or at least as good as he could make it. He flopped down onto one of the couches that had been provided in the room, and put his head in his hands, his elbows on his legs. He felt like crying. What kind of knight am I? He thought, trying to keep the tears away.
Eward had seen it and had silently watched all of it and could tell that the young knight was upset. He wasn’t sure if it was from the charts and books being unintelligible, or if something else was bothering Jason, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it. “Alph, what’s wrong? You don’t usually act well… this mopey.” He had realized as he was saying it, Eward hadn’t really ever seen the young knight happy here. Eward realized that he had been ignoring Alph’s feelings about being a knight. The young man never thought he was good enough, even though he had proved himself time and again, to the point where he was a knight now! And yet Alph still didn’t seem to have come to terms with it, as though he would throw the uniform at anyone he perceived to be ‘worthier’ of it than he.
Eward floated over to Alph and put a translucent hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Alph, if there’s anything your questioning, please, let me know. I’m still here, I can guide you if you still feel you need it, though you’re a knight now! You should be quite proud of yourself!” Eward was trying to be encouraging, but he could tell that the words weren’t really have any effect on the young man.
Alphubel looked at the other, a look of complete sorrow on his face, and Eward flinched back in surprise. Then he sighed. “Look, Alphubel, I know it can be hard to understand what you’re doing here. Maybe you’re wondering what you can do after this? Do you have a specific purpose? A goal to fulfill?” Alphubel looked at the other in surprise, and Eward couldn’t help but have a small smile on his face. “Once everyone gets old enough, we all go through that phase. I know when this place was booming that we would often send knights on journeys to go discover what they could do to help Polaris and discover what they themselves could do. Often times we would send them off with an item. Sort of like a good luck charm.” Eward said, and then pointed to the owl figurine that had been on one of the desks that Alphubel had noticed before, but thought was only a direction. “Something like that. Actually, that was supposed to go to a different knight before you but…” Eward looked at Alphubel. “I’m sure you can use it. Go ahead and take it. Take it back to… Earth was it? And see if that will help you in any way.”
Alphubel looked at the figurine for a moment, before getting up and walking over towards it. He was about to reach it, when he stopped and looked back at Eward. “Are you sure?” The vision smiled. “Well, it’s not like anyone else can use it now.” The older knight said. Alphubel didn’t reply, but instead nodded and reached for the figurine. As soon as it was in his grasp, he thought he felt… something coming from it, but he wasn’t sure what. Either way, it seemed to be a powerful artifact. Alphubel put it in the pocket of his robe and nodded to Eward again. “Eward… thank you.” He said, before teleporting away.
The vision sighed. “You’ll find your purpose someday kid.”
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