Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was odd being back here in Destiny City. It wasn't his home, not anymore, but it was still somewhere he was expected to maintain some sort of presence. So the first order of business, clearly, was to reacquaint himself with the city and all that it held. So much had changed in the time since he and Heather had last been here, and yet for all of it's changes there were still places all too familiar. Flashes of a past he thought was gone for good. Ghosts, flickering at the edges of his memory.

The general moved through the streets, maintaining a healthy distance from both civilians and other powered up folks out on their various patrols. He had no desire to steal energy this evening. And he certainly wasn't looking for a fight. There would be other times for friendly meetups and discussions. Tonight was about honoring the past.

There was the arcade he had found work at, not too long before his life exploded and a hasty retreat had to be taken. Did they still have Guitar Hero? And if they did...were his scores still topping the charts? Or had someone else risen to the top in the wake of his disappearance? He remembered being so proud of his job, of his first paycheck, of finally making steps towards becoming something more akin to an adult. Heather had said she'd help him buy a car. He'd been so excited. But....well, other things ended up coming first.

There was Hillworth, his old school. A place for troubled boys. Troubled. Ha. That was a word he wouldn't have used to describe himself those days. His home life had been just fine! A lie that he told himself and those around him to not have to face the truth of his biological family. His mother had died just as they were starting to reform a relationship...but what of his father? Had the man even noticed his son had seemingly slipped from this world? Given that his father had never replied to the last letter he sent him, it seemed unlikely. Cutting ties had perhaps been the healthiest thing they could have ever done. They were no true family, had never actually been. The had simply went through the motions in a broken facsimile of what a family should be like.

What was Hillworth like these days? The kids there now would never have known the General King who had been the gym teacher. Never would have had the sheer joy of being patched up in his office, or seeing his supply of Flintstones vitamins he was definitely sampling from. They wouldn't have met Ursula, or have been coerced into shopping for hours with her all for the payment of some tacos. All fond memories that Scheelite had. ...Well, most of them, he could have passed on Charonite yelling at him.

There was one place Scheelite needed to visit before the end of the night, but...not yet. Perhaps he was avoiding it, and perhaps the guilt of that was eating away at him. But he simply couldn't go there. Not just yet at least.

So the tour continued on. There were the places he left notes and trinkents for Wiseman, hoping to continue the friendship. Another connection severed. Another friend 'lost' to the city. Scheelite had been with the rest of Linarite's team when they met the enigmatic Wiseman. Where was the rest of her old team? Were they safe, or had more been claimed by this war? Hell, where was the rest of his old team, the Nightravers? If still around...would they hate him for vanishing? He had yet to check the databases and see how everyone was. He dreaded what he might find there.

Was Zinkenite okay? This city was absolutely drenched in memories of him. At one time they were inseparable, but somewhere along the line that had changed. Changed like everything else... Scheelite used to be overly protective of his partner. Smothering, perhaps. But the other had grown into a force all his own, and Scheelite had gone on to do his own thing. Perhaps it was not right to wonder about his old partner. Scheelite had left him behind, abandoned him to this city and it's endless war.

Destiny City reeked of Lyra as well, his former arch nemesis turned ally in the wake of the Black Phoenix battle. It had been odd at first, to accept that someone he fought for so long was suddenly one of them. But...wasn't that the goal, anyway? If everyone was on the side of the Negaverse, then they would achieve their goal with minimal bloodshed in the end. Minimizing that sort of trauma was something high on his interests. Hopefully in the time he had been gone even more Senshi had been coaxed over. And hopefully, more would come in the future.

For hours he wandered the city, reconnecting and reminiscing. But there came a time where night was starting to fade into day and he still had one place he needed to visit. First, a quick stop at a florist. Teleport in, gather up some flowers...not too many to miss, and then teleport back out. With flowers in hand he dropped down to his civilian form. The place he was going was somewhere he did not want to draw Order attention to. It was hollowed ground, a place for reflection and mourning, and he would not tolerate conflict there.

Four grave markers atop a hillside. Four lives lost at the hands of the Blood Moon Court's torture. At each he paused to pick the weeds, clean the marker, and leave a few flowers. General King Marthozite, Helicase, Dioptase...all fellow Negaversers, all ones he mourned the loss off, but they were not quite the same as the fourth grave. At the grave of Primase he stayed on his knees, staring at the marker after he laid the flowers down.

"It's been a long time, I'm sorry I broke my promise. We had to leave the city and it...wasn't safe for me to come back here."
The guilt sat heavy in his stomach, one hand reaching out to arrange the flowers again before returning to rest at his side.
"Though I wasn't here, I haven't forgotten you. I think about you every day, I hum your song every day. I'm never going to let you be forgotten. And...I'll make sure others know your song too, just in case something happens to me."

How could he ever forget this place and how it came to be? That day would be forever burned in his memory no matter how many years passed. Tanzanite had led the group up to the hill to bury their fallen. Scheelite had insisted on carrying Primase to her final rest. He'd been the last to be with her when she was alive, had been the one to carry her from the Blood Moon Court's hideout. It had seemed only right that he carry her this one last time as well.

What more was there to say? He was uncharacteristically quiet, but that felt right in this sort of atmosphere. He could babble on endlessly but...not here. Only one sound made sense for him to make here.

As the night faded and gave way to dawn, Demy sat kneeling and humming the song Primase had passed on at death. Starting low, as if afraid to disturb the stillness too much, but then slowly raising in volume.