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 Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:11 pm
Wow, something she had said had actually managed to surprise Zia. For a while Aquarius thought that she knew everything, that they were the same except that Zia actually paid attention instead of running away. They definitely had a few things in common, but it was painfully easy to tell which of the two of them was well-informed and which one spent a year of her life running away. Usually people like that made her uncomfortable. Zia didn't particularly, maybe because she was so nonchalant about the whole thing.
"Um, yeah, just the princess. His name was Eon. I think he had a rapier, yeah. He was from the same place Chronos was from, I think. And what did he do? He died, and he can't ever be reborn. He didn't have time to do much else, none of us did." Sore spots everywhere. Keep talking. "I don't know about other people with cavaliers, but I did meet another cavalier once. Her name was Kunzite, and she was at a big meeting like the last one, only without the big fight at the end. She said she was the only one left, but I think she-" Aquarius swallowed. "I don't think she and Aries got along, so I didn't get a chance to speak with her." And now she never would, all thanks to that stupid coma-
Something shifted in her mind. "Actually, there might have been one more. A Cavalier Hector. But I'm not sure I really met him, since I was kind of in a coma at the time."
The points that Zia had raised about her brother were much like the points Chaonis had raised to her. Being "normal" hadn't stopped the youma from attacking her, though part of her still felt that was because she could never be truly normal. Nor did she want to be. Normalcy was boring, but senshidom was a little too exciting for her tastes. "I guess you have a point," she admitted, starting to sift through the pile of books in front of her again. "Maybe you can show him the symbols, see if he picks up on anything? Do knights get memories of the past too, or is that just a senshi thing?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:38 pm
Zia's eyes were wide and she was listening intently with this entirely new sense of wonderment. If this universe had cavaliers, then that changed a lot of her basic foundations for knights, since she thought they were similar enough they were just parallel cavaliers.
But if they existed simultaneously, maybe everything was different. Maybe it was time for a new theory.
And then Hector was mentioned and her entire demeanor changed. She frowned, and glanced in another direction to try to busy herself with some books or something. "Let's talk about something else," She muttered.
Luckily the topic of knights and their memories was enough of a something else to pacify her. "Some do," She said, recalling Valhalla's assurances that he was a reincarnation and did get memories. Hell, he'd had one in front of her.
"Mine doesn't," She said with a grin. "Oh god, it's really... I mean, hold on, it's like... like a title! Well obviously I mean they're knights in a court so I guess it makes sense, but it's an inheritance! Like, down the family line! Although it sounds very unpleasant because his mentor is like our great great great times a thousand aunt and when we went to his wonder she gets called up as a sentient ghost like a thousand years after death that's a little disturbing."
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Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:36 pm
Had she said something wrong? Aquarius ran back over her comments to the best of her ability, though once she'd said something she sometimes had problems remembering exactly what was said. "Sorry if I was rude," she offered, mostly as a token gesture. In truth, she was perfectly content changing the subject. Thinking about a bunch of people who were dead or probably dead was not her favorite thing to do.
Thinking about knights wasn't much higher up on that list, but she supposed she ought to find out more about them, especially since they were her teammates now. Not that she did a lot of teamwork, but Pharos was nice, if a bit clueless about her job. If she found out something relevant, she could pass that along.
What she heard was not the sort of information she'd been expecting. At all. "So... wait. Your brother got his title from someone he's related to? That you're both related to? Who was a knight forever ago and is a ghost now?" How did that even work? And who decided which of them would be the knight?
Her mind blanked for a moment, then remembered something she'd heard at the Surrounding- that all the people there were descendants of the Zodiac Line, which was why they were there. Even the Zodiacs. Was that true? And if so- if she really was a descendant of her past life (which would be beyond weird and gross and creepy) or, more likely, one of the knights from back then- what did that mean for her brother?
"Man, that's gotta be like a one in a million chance," she joked, trying to laugh off her sense of unease.
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Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 9:21 pm
"I dunno, it's supposed to be like, a bloodline thing? Like..." Zia pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling in thought."I guess there's like, this city. Well, it used to be a city. And our family ran it and one was always the knight of it? If that makes sense. I dunno, maybe it would be easier if I knew how politics worked back then or something," She shrugged.
"It's pretty improbable so many would end up in Destiny City, but, I suppose if there was a ton of them in the past, the odds go up. I don't know, I still don't know why they even exist."
She rolled back on her heels. "I heard that when a Negaverser gives up Chaos they become a knight. Maybe they exist because there's a Negaverse? Because there's not one of those in the Balck Moon 'verse either." Now she was rambling, and perfectly content to ramble. "Okay, I mean, that's my theory so far. Kind of like, you guys over here have a serious Chaos overdose, which means more things awaken to fight it. And since the Negaverse is stationed in this city, this is where everyone's waking up. Like white blood cells rushing to an infection."
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:12 pm
"A bloodline thing?" Aquarius repeated, biting her lip. That sounded bad, at least to her. The absolutely last thing she wanted was Kent, or anyone else in her family, getting sucked into this deathtrap that was the war in Destiny City. She was going to have to keep this in mind, to do everything she could to make sure that even if he was part of this bloodline, he wouldn't awaken. Ever.
The question of why knights existed had been bothering Aquarius as well, but she hadn't wanted to say something like that to Pharos, who was clearly trying to do whatever it was she was supposed to do. Not that anyone seemed to have a solid idea of what they were supposed to do. They had to have some sort of purpose, though...
Zia's theory was fascinating, and she closed her eyes while listening to it. "I like that," she said finally. "It has promise. There's some bits that don't quite fit- like why these positions existed in the past, when the Negaverse seems to be a problem in the present- but I really like the white blood cell comparison. Or maybe it's like magnetism- Chaos attracts Order, and vice-versa. I mean, I didn't grow up here, but I came for school and then BAM! I'm a senshi. That can't be a coincidence."
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:30 pm
"Oh, true," Zia admitted and shrugged and Aquarius brought up the past. "s**t maybe back then it was more like the Black Moon universe after all and magic was no big thing."
She nodded at the bit about suddenly being a senshi in Destiny City, though. "Yeah, and like, my brother? He's 37 years old, lived here a good two thirds of his life. But he only gets magic powers when the war starts? I mean, relatively speaking. I know this s**t's been going on for a couple of years but what's a handful of years in a millennium?"
She stretched a little and found a shelf to lean against. "But there's always gotta be a balance, otherwise you're in trouble."
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:52 pm
Aquarius thought about it, but her memories of the past were quite hazy. Partly because she had never remembered everything in full, partly because she didn't really care about what happened a zillion years ago, or however long ago they were talking. "I'm not sure about how things were back then. But your universe has magic everywhere? That's awesome!" Unlike many scientists, Aquarius had no problem with magic and science coexisting. If she did, her own existence wouldn't make much sense.
"Two years can be a long time," she argued, mostly for the sake of argument. "But yeah, compared to a millennium, it's pretty trivial. I guess the next question is 'why now?' Why did the war start up again after all this time? What was the catalyst? You probably don't know, and I don't really either, but if we found out, that might give us a clue to how to resolve this thing."
Not that Aquarius was particularly peaceful. She just wanted to be left alone already.
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Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:41 pm
"...Yeah," Zia kind of deflated when Aquarius started asking about catalysts and causes. She had, admittedly, not bothered much with the war itself so much as her personal little corner of the war, which was probably very different in her mind. For her the war started when Black Lady stole the Marcasite crystal and set the chain of events into motion that stole her life, not the grand destinies that had been waking before that even happened and continued to after.
"I've been documenting the knights since they started existing," She said, forgetting if she had told her that yet. "But if a Negaverser is just a corrupted knight... maybe it would be smart to start adding them to the catalog. And asking better questions." Because sauntering up and asking nicely worked so well.
No, really, it did, Zia had gotten awesome information from her pet Negas. She had seriously just never bothered to ask about their cause.
"Because there was a Negaverse before knights woke up. I know this for a fact. So... I'll bet anything the core of it is with them."
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:51 pm
"Not since they started existing," Aquarius corrected. Accuracy was important when dealing with data. "Since they showed up here. Knights obviously existed a long time ago- otherwise there wouldn't be reincarnations and descendants of them, right? But the Negaverse was around in the present day for longer than the knights have been awakening, so that means... what?"
Aquarius rubbed her hands through her hair, frustrated. "This is why I hate history. Even when you put all the pieces together, you can't be sure you have the whole picture. Or if the picture looks the way it's supposed to. Or even if you're looking at the right picture. It's just so... argh!" Her fingers tangled in her hair, and it took a moment for her to extract them. That moment did allow her to breathe and calm down, if only marginally.
"It's good to keep records, I just don't know how to use them." Something else Zia had said confused her. "Who said that a Negaverser was just a corrupted knight? I don't really know all the details, I admit, but I thought they were just murderous maniacs with magic." Alliterative and terrifying, not a good mix.
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 12:43 pm
"Oh right." Ugh their past was frustrating in and of itself. "They could have something to do with the war that ended everything. Maybe they exist because of that? I don't know."
However, the information that a Negaverser was just a corrupted knight was some she could definitely confirm. "A Nega told me himself!" She declared proudly. "Oh and also Hug-Bell said that Lee-whats-her-face that's always being unhelpful and sulky was a nega once, but eh, it was just a rumor until I got it confirmed directly at the source. Children are stupid."
Aquarius' frustration with the history puzzle piece reminded her, though. "My brother, when he goes to his wonder, can communicate with the spirit of the last Alfheim knight. Yanno, the one that's been dead for however many years. There might be clues to be had there," She mused and paid a little extra attention to the paper Aquarius had given her. It was probably time to go bother Noah to return to his wonder.
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:17 pm
Knights were a definite puzzle, and the only working theories they had were full of holes. "They can't exist because of the war. It didn't last that long, right? Less than a generation, I think. So if knights were all called up in to service because of the war, there wouldn't be enough time for them to establish bloodlines. The most you'd get is maybe one transition. That's hardly enough to set a precedent. Unless they all died really quickly." Wow, that was an unpleasant thought. "No, wait. Then they wouldn't live long enough to have kids to pass the title along to. So yeah, they must have existed before the war." But why? Aquarius had no idea.
Negaversers being corrupted knights made little sense as well, but at least Zia had some backup for that one. "Wait, you talk to Negaversers? Isn't that..." Suicidal? Stupid? Those both sounded harsh and accusatory. "Isn't that incredibly risky?" she said instead. "And for all you know, they could be lying to you." But even so, Aquarius really wanted to know more. "What exactly did this source tell you? And who's this Lee person?"
And oh man, why did she have to bring up ghosts? Not that Aquarius was scared of them particularly, but the thought of bumping into the past Aquarius- who was her, just more cranky and with facial hair- was pretty freaky. "So since knights pass their titles along, the new ones can't remember the past. Instead, they get ghosts?" Yep, this was definitely freaky. "Or maybe your great-however-many-aunt is the only one stubborn enough to stick around for a thousand years. Maybe the rest are walking around with no info." No wonder the knights seemed so clueless.
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Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:31 am
"Tensions between the Earth and the Moon are a universal constant, I think, actually," Zia pondered. "I've been looking at that for a while." Which was a total lie and something she'd only found recently because she had a terrible time making an effort to care about their silly war. But it was still an interesting constant.
"Of course! I mean, some are nasty. I don't think I've ever been in a room with a general that didn't end in some sort of stabbing," She announced, pulling away the clothes over her hip just enough to show a portion of the scars Painite's spear tip left.
"But, I mean, before that they're usually just as easily confused as knights, very easy to talk to. Or maybe I'm just exceptionally charming."
Back to the knights thing. "Some do and some don't. Like, Valhalla is a reincarnate of past Valhalla. He gets memory flashes of his old life when he goes to his wonder. But he also said that of all the knights he talked to, most of them were just completely new ones! So I doubt my freaky dead relative is the only one."
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Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:17 pm
Aquarius frowned. "Tensions, yeah, but outright war? I didn't think there'd been actual fighting for that long." But then, she couldn't claim to be an expert on ancient interplanetary politics. She had been pretty confined to the Surrounding in the past, and couldn't be bothered with what was going on in places she would never visit. Even now that it seemed important, she still didn't feel a particularly strong desire to research it.
The sight of the scar made Aquarius step back reflexively. One hand touched the back of her head gingerly, the other one covered the left side of her abdomen. She was in no mood to show off her own scars, though the one on her head wasn't really visible through all the hair. "That's, uh..." Terrifying. Awful. Painful. "Impressive. That you still talk to them, even after all of that."
Knights, weird as they were, were a more comfortable subject than battle wounds and murderous generals. "So some knights are reincarnated dead people, and some are descended from dead people? Why? What decides whether you reincarnate or shunt your responsibility to your great-whatever grandkids?" And why was that only a knight thing to do? Because if she'd gotten a choice, she would rather have skipped the reincarnated hero angle and let someone else take the role.
Except then her brother might have ended up being dragged into this mess, and that wasn't what she wanted either. Aquarius sighed; it seemed like no matter what rules she played by, someone was going to get hurt. And that someone was generally her.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:23 am
"I dunno, dude," Zia admitted with a sigh. Didn't she admit earlier she didn't really start caring about their war until recently? Or did she just think it? Either way, she had no idea, which was annoying, but she was going to go ahead and project that exasperation on Aquarius rather than blame herself.
A magical realization did just now occur to her, though. "Ah well," She chirruped, "No one said we had to figure it out tonight." And she went back to thumbing through books like it was nothing.
"That's... a good question, though." Why the hell hadn't Alfheim just reincarnated into this Alfheim? To Zia, though, reincarnation was a normal fact of life, and waiting for years as a ghost sounded terrifying. She hoped her own death was quick, clean, and didn't involve a whole bunch of responsibility in the afterlife.
She rolled her shoulders and yawned, but kept at it. She was tired, and it was probably past time to get back to earth, but damn it, space! Space and books and everything!
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:45 pm
"You know what? You're absolutely right." Procrastination was one of Aquarius' favorite problem-solving techniques. If something was bothering her, she could just put it off for another time. And another time. And so on and so forth. Sure, it meant that she had a huge pile of problems that never quite got solved, but she had gotten quite skilled at pretending those didn't exist. Out of sight, out of mind.
She noticed Zia's yawn, which of course made her yawn herself. "How long have we been up here, anyway?" Aquarius had brought a battery-powered clock during the siege, but it was in the library, and she wasn't in the mood to trek all the way up there just to check the time. "Maybe we should call it a night. You're welcome to come back anytime. Or just over to my place, if you're not in the mood for a trip like this." There were times when Aquarius just couldn't deal with her outpost, but she didn't feel like sharing that right then.
Instead, she offered her arm. "Well, shall we return from whence we came?"
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