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“Not terribly new NO…” He said with a scowl. He did not know this person; he did not at all like that she knew his name and he didn’t know a thing about her. What’s more she was a page. That meant she was PROBABLY new, either she heard about him from someone else, troublesome, or she knew him personally out of uniform, far worse.

Worst yet he hadn’t any accurate way of narrowing that down.

“I don’t believe I know you, at least not in uniform.” He said carefully. “May I help you?” He glanced her over, astrological earth symbol on her wrist, likewise her boots, curious Celtic theme to her clothing, ornate belt buckle. Rather a mannish figure for a girl though the model ‘Twiggy’ might have been proud of it. Irritatingly tall even –after- he’d put on some height, and she was wearing heels just to add to that. Sometimes he swore the universe did it to spite him.

Still he did his best to put on a ‘civil’ front for this ‘first’ meeting at least. He could snap off her boot heels if she tried starting something after all.

“Ah huh….” He said sounding dryly and distinctly unimpressed by her ‘clever banter’. “Yet you sound far too familiar personally for me not to know you at all which DOES make things rather curious.” He said arching an eyebrow. “How long has it been? I’m assuming this…” he waved his hand at her uniform. “Is new, do you ‘like’ it then? Rather starting to feel like the city is infected with a ‘second life’ disease.” He gave a wry sort of smile that said he was at least half intending to be humorous.

“A few thousand is it?” He mused. “Quite a lot of that came I think from that sudden city wide sleep that was never explained, though I have my suspicions. “ He left her ‘statement’ untouched, neither giving credence to it nor trying to disabuse her of the idea, simply waving a hand. And then there was the Blood moon Court to contribute…”

He let a darker tone slip into his voice when he said those words.

“Tying some of us up for rats…cutting throats Though I did see one young man burned rather badly as a deterrent to others, I suppose in a war all is ‘fair’. He eyed her coffee casually, and looked away again. Coffee rather got put into perspective after burning leopards had clawed you; still, if she dumped it on him there would be one less Knight in the world…PERIOD.

“And I’m sure that the people who lapsed into a coma DURING the city wide event that never woke were utterly distinguishable from those who lapsed for other reasons, and that those who lapsed were all tied to the reasons that they were previously falling because no one EVER falls into a coma, gets mugged or died or has any other kind of critical internal malfunction unless we’re involved am I right?” He was dripping sarcasm. “After all, medical records are –so- very public.” After all even in a world of magic some things were still beyond belief.

“And you must have skills I’m unaware of in knowing that people have star seeds missing. Funny, I can’t tell unless I reach for it. I would also very much like to hear your definition of ‘innocent’…no one IS. I think it would fundamentally mean in this war. “TO my knowledge they have not killed anyone that I am currently favoring with my good will.” Which means… Dear… determinedly naive Page. Don’t even…bother. Why should I believe for a moment that you aren’t simply saying that to patronize me when you are sitting here attempting to sway me with poorly manufactured statistics that I’m QUITE sure you believe in? The sad thing is that the people who DID cut throats, burn faces, STIR through internal organs, broke limbs one digit at a time and removed eyes in the name of finding CIVILIAN Identities believed that what they were doing was GOOD and JUST. At the very least I am competent enough and not so blind that I can’t acknowledge that the war as a WHOLE is a black thing.”

His tirade was impassioned; clearly he did believe what he was saying at least for the most part. That was more honesty than a great many had ever gotten from him, as he preferred to make others question their own actions and judgments.

“Senshi for their part have but a handful who will even pause to consider that there may be more than black and white to this war. They may have been re-born here but they have worlds and should return to them.”

“Yet you’re attempting to define actions by wholly inaccurate and largely biased ‘statistics’ you have cobbled together. Tell me why I shouldn’t grow impatient with such things being continuously bandied about as though numbers are the spinal cord of the justifications for Knights and Senshi alike.” He turned to face her eyes bright as he searched her features furiously trying to break the masquerade of the glamor but to no avail.

“…If you truly wish me to muddle with your head, to lay out –facts- before you that will raise questions to shatter your assurances I promise you I shall, but know this as well, I am –weary, yes…what I have just said is what happened to Wolframite. The paragons of justice engaged in one act that I personally find to be more distasteful than a swift death whatever the reasons for it. It is after all, a war, and we are NOT all volunteers, though I tell you know regardless of sides I see there is a taste for it.”

A moment’s pause, like a warning “You continue to forget yourself with familiarity, you make me quite aware that I should know you but I wonder how long the glamor that shields us both will protect you if you continue pressing as you are. Do you truly wish to follow that path or would you like to keep walking it till you learn how to hold your tongue so that someone far less patient than I will not remove it for you.”

“Have you seen him lately? The burns?” He arched an eyebrow at her. “That’s what you can see remaining from what they did… he’s changed.” There was something ominous in the way he said ‘changed.’ “What they did to them, using their powers not to simply ‘fight’, but torture, pure unadulterated torture for their personal enjoyment and in the name of ‘information’. Demanding civilian names while stirring their hands through their guts and brains, burning them, threatening to pluck out his remaining eye if he didn’t tell them everything they wanted to know. The nightly screams of the others that they took, the number of them who DIED, his friends…”

He eyed her for a long moment, something detached in his eyes, far more so than any previous meeting, even when she had strutted too much like a peacock and earned a fright that had been arguably well deserved.

“You should seek him out. I think he’d be interested to hear of the interest of a knight.”

“He’d be interested in YOUR interest.” He said adding heavy emphasis to the word ‘your’. “A page, a fledgling Knight, a larval one perhaps.” He sounded amused at the idea of her being some kind of grub, twitching about feeling out the nature of what she was. Lacking a great deal of the guidance that the Dark Kingdom provided.

His eyes were bright as he watched her, drinking in the little hints of her true identity; it was all too easy to see him laying them out in his mind like puzzle pieces. God knew what kind of leaps of intuition he might be capable of. How good –was- the glamor that distanced civilian from page?

“I’m always interested, I think it does both sides a great deal of good to learn about each other, opinions, experiences…your experiences are invaluable because your perspective is fresh.” He let his too bright, too interested gaze slip free of her becoming something more distracted as he took in their surroundings.