[PRP] The First Knight ( Aeolia / Beatrix )

[Z o m b i k ii]

Bea hated Destiny City.

The food was terrible, the people all talked in funny accidents and in England you never got attacked by random zombies in the street. She thought she would be happy, she had always dreamed about being in a zombie apocalypse and making camp on some roof with a riffle. However she had no riffle and she could only dream about being somewhere as isolated and secure as a roof. Instead Bea found herself in a back-ally, cornered, no where to run, no where to hide. She refused to be the first one to go down, she refused to be the first one turned into a zombie. ******** that! She was meant to be one of the survivors, the character who made it to a new land and helped rebuilt the human race.

The ginger girl gritted her teeth and looked to the side, reaching out to pick up a plank of wood learning against the wall. If her many years of horror fandom taught her anything it was to aim for the head. If this was the day she met her maker, she was going to go out fighting. "Come at me bro." She taunted it hitting the plank gently off her shoulder and pointing to the creature with her other hand, wondering if it was even smart enough to work out what she was saying. There were inelegant zombies out there, maybe this one was smart, maybe it was fast. Either way the ugly ******** was going down! She was not going to be the first one to die. If Venice outlived her she would not hear the end of it when they were reunited at the pearly gates.

The creature came forward and Bea felt her heart race, she never thought she would be doing this for real. She never thought that this could ever possibly happen. Being new to the city she had no idea what a Senshi was, or how often this kind of thing occurred. She would have still come if she had known, she would just have made a point to be more aware and prepared. She let out a loud cry and then made a swing for it, closing her eyes. She was scared, terrified but did not like the thought of showing it, even if she was alone. The adrenaline kicked in, meaning the plank came down with more force than it would in a normal situation, so much so she felt the skin on her palms tare. Blood trickled in between her fingers.

The blank of wood broke, splinters flying in all directions. When she felt it shatter Bea could not help than smile, she had hope, maybe, just maybe, she had knocked its block off. However when she opened her eyes the creature was still there, looking more pissed off than it was before. "Motherf*cker!" She cursed dropping the bloodied stump that was left in her hands before slowly backing up against the wall. This was it, she was going to die. She felt sweat running down her temple and tears filling her eyes, she was never one to surrender however what was she meant to do? No, she would not cry, she would not die crying! She gritted her teeth and then in one last desperate attempted went to punch the creature in the face, however its hand came up and grabbed her wrist.

She froze, eyes wide with terror. Man, she hated Destiny City.  

[Syusaki]

Aeolia had lived in Destiny City his entire life.

He had grown accustomed to its oddities, which had only popped in within the past few years. Before, city life was similar, if not exactly like, that of other cities across the country. Destiny City had clubs, stores, arcades, parks, everything a regular city had—including the usual crime. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, though. During his high school years, strange incidents and encounters began to crop up. It hadn’t been long until children and adults alike were nervously murmuring about creatures that went bump in the night and a series of puzzling murders and fights. The media chalked it up to a gang war, and that was what most civilians beloved it to be—himself included.

Well, that was before Carnelian Esposito became Aeolia, Page of Uranus. The whole concept was still mind boggling, to be honest. Fortunately he had a couple classmates, conveniently fellow knights, to explain things to him, but the lad still had a difficult time wrapping his mind around the entire idea. His entire conception of the “gang conflict” within the city had crumbled in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t pleasant, to put it lightly.

Aeolia pulled the scarf around his neck even tighter than before. Now that summer had ended the nights were growing chiller, but his knight attire had lovingly abandoned the idea of having sleeves. A deep frown etched itself onto his face as he rubbed his arms to generate bits of comforting heat. When that failed, he mumbled and shifted into a light jog. Moving always helped. Moving allowed him to calm down. The bottoms of his boots—decorated with the symbol of Uranus, along with other facets of his outfit, interestingly enough—softly clacked against the pavement.

As a knight, he was supposed to patrol parts of the city for youma attacking citizens. At least, that was what Aeolia had concluded when he recalled multiple occurrences of a senshi or knight assisting him when the creatures cornered him in an alley or deserted street.

So far, patrolling was boring.

After an hour of aimless running and searching, the fledgling knight considered returning back to his college dorm when he heard a woman yell profane words. It could have been anything—an adult being attacked by a thug or perhaps an irate student taking her anger out on something—but still he chose to follow the source of the shout.

Aeolia had seen a multitude of monsters during his days as regular Carnelian, but this was the first time he encountered a zombie-like one. Wide, blank eyes stared down the woman as it grabbed her wrist with its bony arm, mouth gaping as it prepared to drain her energy. His body seemed to move on its own, lunging forward to ram into the creature. It was surprisingly light, screeching in a high-pitched squeal as it skimmed down the streets a few yards away from the pair.

His eyes never strayed from the zombie youma. “Are you alright? You should leave now. I’ll take care of it.” Finally, Aeolia glanced over at Bea to confirm her escape, but the thing was already getting back on its feet. With startling speed, it dashed toward them both and crashed into the knight. “Goddammi—“ He muttered curses under his breath as he wrestled with it.  

[Z o m b i k ii]

Bea almost lost her balance when the creature was charged, her eyes darted to follow its movements as it hit the ground. Her breath ran back into her lungs and at that moment she felt a chill go up her spine. She held up her arm, truth be told thanks to her panic she did not even realize how tight it had gripped her, she was left with a red hand-print around her wrist, the skin was slightly tore where it had sunk its fingers in. Bea gritted her teeth and cursed under her breathe, she was annoyed, annoyed that she could not do more. When her hand returned to her side she could not help but clench her fist. It was then that the man's words snapped her back into reality. He wanted he to go? She shook her head and bit her lip, that was total bull! She was not going to run away and leave him to fight that thing. She was just not that kind of girl.

Besides, not to judge but he did not seem like the type he could really defend himself. He was wearing weird clothes and he did not really seem like anything special to her at the time. Bea looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Take care of it? Are you insane? I am not going anywhere!" She insisted with a determined flare to her eyes. It was then that the zombie like creature tackled him, Bea's eyed widened as they began to wrestle. He had jumped into help her, even though he might get hurt, ever though he did not know her... he did it anyway. This made Bea feel a odd loyalty to him, she could not just stand here and watch him get hurt. She would not let herself do that. Venice used to do that all the time, her cousin, her best friend. She had gotten hurt plenty of times for her sake and a long time ago Bea swore that nobody would get hurt for her ever again. Now that this guy had jumped in this was more about just living, this was about keeping that promise to herself.

She clenched her fist tighter to try and break fear's control over her body, before she knew it the ginger teenager began to move. Her heart beating hard against the walls of her chest, for that moment Bea felt no fear. She wrapped her arms around the creatures neck, jumping up onto its back, her legs dangling helplessly off the floor. Bea squeezed, with all the might in her she squeezed in an attempt to crush the creatures windpipe. She bit her lip so hard she began to taste blood, the creature thrashed and screamed but she held on like her life depended on it. In many ways it did. "Hey! Let him go you son of a bit-" She began before she was thrown off. Beatrix Malloroyz hit her head off of the wall and the next thing she new she was on the ground with a face full of dirt.

She could hear a ringing, she pushed herself onto her knees and put a hand on her head which was throbbing. She could already feel the lump where she would no doubt get a bruise, she was dizzy and differentiated and come to think about it her vision was blurred and faded. When she brought her hand away from the back of her head she looked down to see it was red, her hair was matted where the bricks had cut her scalp, it was not a big cut, however it bled like there was no tomorrow.

The girl looked back up at the man who had come to her aid, she wanted to help him, however at the moment she did not even think she could stand. All her energy was going into staying awake. She put her hand on the wall and tried to pull herself up, after a moment she finally got onto her shaky legs, her vision slowly returning to her. She had no time to be this helpless, she needed to help him. She panted and rested a hand on her chest. Please don't get hurt. She begged before calling out to him. She did not have much faith in his victory, however verbalizing that thought would not help anyone. "Come on! You can do it! Hit it already!" She encouraged him, she was not used to being a cheerleader however now was a better time than any. Maybe if they worked together they would be able to beat this thing, just maybe.  

[Syusaki]

Aeolia didn’t even attempt to hide the disdain pervading his features. While he could recognize the sentiment of refusing to escape like a coward, having her stubbornly remain in the area sort made things a bit more difficult. This woman was a stranger. There was no way the knight could know how well the stranger would respond in this situation. Perhaps she would be courageous and somewhat useful. Perhaps she would be courageous yet utterly useless and hindering. He really hoped it wouldn’t be the latter.

He sincerely hoped that the woman had magically changed her mind and hightailed it while he kept himself preoccupied with wrangling with the zombie creature. At the moment the fledgling knight couldn’t quite tell, not when its gaping maw emitted a wailing scream right in his face. It was pretty damn distracting and currently sucking up all of his attention. Empty sockets glowed a menacing red as its skull strained forward in a stubborn attempt to rip Aeolia’s head off. Grimacing, he gripped its bony shoulders and pushed its face out of his. It was surprisingly easy—not exactly, but much more feasible than Aeolia had predicted. Powered individuals gained boosts in physical abilities; he recalled this from personal experience. However, it still seemed like an essential fact that was so easy to forget.

Lips parted in shock as a pair of legs slithered around the creature’s neck. Its attention immediately switched from the knight to the woman. Screaming and thrashing, it lifted off of the man and instead twisted around to fling off the civilian, who was swearing. Aeolia himself uttered a set of swears under his breath as he jumped to his feet and sped after the zombie before it could induce any further harm to the woman, who appeared to be plenty injured from the fall.

Trouble. Trouble, trouble, trouble. That’s what meddling citizens were. He sprinted past the youma, instead rushing to the stranger’s side in case she needed assistance. “I told you to make a run for it. I have this covered, really.” Aeolia’s words dripped with annoyed impatience as he ruefully eyed Bea before turning to look at the zombie. It was time to get to work.

He tightly gripped the strap of his bag. Oftentimes, Aeolia wondered what exactly what his bag’s purpose was. It was empty, save for a few grains of sand that always seemed to reside in the bag’s far pockets. Sure, if he wanted he could easily slip in some items to tote around with him, but he usually didn’t. At least, not yet. He frowned and hastily slipped it off, letting the messenger bag fall to the ground with a soft plop. “Look after that for me, would you?” It was useless right now, but he’d been told that it would useful sometime in the future—whenever that was.

For the time being, the knight settled with using his bare hands. Being hands-on suited Aeolia, since he was always moving, always fidgeting, always doing something. He tackled the zombie to the ground as it let out a feral roar, revealing its small, pearly teeth. Despite its nimble stature, the youma held a substantial amount of strength to easily roll over and push Aeolia onto his back. His eyes narrowed as his scowl deepened. Don’t judge a book by its cover, figures. Rather than pry the thing off with his hands, he managed to fling it away by kicking it in the stomach. It sailed into the air. While he felt tempted to idly stand there and admire his increased strength, he chased after the zombie and wrapped his arm around its neck. Its long, slender fingers grasped at the knight’s arm and promptly flung the lad down to the ground.

He wheezed as all of the air in his lungs rushed out. Aeolia clenched his teeth together as he rested his palms against the concrete, and swung his leg to trip the thing. In one fluid movement, he flung himself onto it, grabbed its head, and twisted its neck. There was no hesitation, even with the monster’s humanoid appearance, a monster was a monster. The youma froze as the color left its face and cracks began to appear across its body, widening and widening until it finally broke into pieces of crumbling dust.  

[Z o m b i k ii]

Bea watched as the Youma crumbled, biting her lip as the little pieces of ash floated passed her. Pale olive eyes then turned to the guy in the weird costume. This whole event was a rather surreal experience, yet now the danger was over and the pain was ageing, she felt rather... dreamlike. Even he seemed like a character in a story, he was so unusual that she could not help but have a rather confused look on her face, who was he? What was he? She closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief before walking towards him. "Catch." She called as she threw the messenger bag at him. As she walked past she grabbed his scarf and pulled on it as if to turn him to face her. He really was dressed like he belonged in a theatre, maybe he was a extra from Aladdin or something... I mean, she had heard of the fashion police but the army should be after this guy if he dressed like that every day. However the ginger haired girl would not draw too much attention to it, after all he had just saved her butt.

Nobody had ever had to do that in her grown life. Nobody ever seemed to stick their neck out for anyone anymore. So this was quite a odd circumstance, she did not really know how to act around him. If she should thank him... she probably should. Man, she did not know how to act grateful without sounding corny. As she walked past she let go of his scarf and rested a hand on her hip. "You know, I love zombies more than anyone but seeing that ******** crumble was a relief." She stated, holding her hand out for a piece of dust land on it, she then blew it away in the wind and before long their was nothing left. That explained why they were no reports of those monsters on the news... I mean if they just crumbled like that they would be no evidence left behind, she wondered how common these kind of attacks were. If it was best to start walking home with a friend, damn her late nights.

"So, you run around playing hero most nights? Or do I get special treatment?" She asked, folding her arms and leaning against a wall. Bea was not used to being rescued or being that damn useless. Her pride had taken a hit but she guessed she should be grateful that was the only thing that was bruised... well besides her head. Why were those words so foreign in her mouth. "Thanks..." She mumbled looking to the side before quickly moving onto her next sentence ( so he did not really have any time to reply), she did not want to make a big deal out of it. "The name is Beatrix, Beatrix Malloroyx, Make-up artist...funnily enough specialising in horror make-up. Just call me Bea though, Beatrix sounds like a old head mistress's name. I only intent to use it when I am old and am able to scare little kids with my walking stick and jowls." She stated, holding out her hand to shake his. Now that thing was done she felt like she could sink back into her usual personality. Her English accent was thick.

It was the first thing that most people noticed. She had been in DC for a few days.... it had been interesting to say the least.
 

[Syusaki]

“Hm?” He looked unsuspecting as he turned around at Bea’s voice, only for his eyes widen to saucers as he reflexively reached out for his bag. Once it was safely in his arms, the young knight threw it over his shoulders while he warily eyed the woman with a suspicious gaze. She was a civilian, his sense could discern at least that much, but Aeolia unfortunately could not glean much from her personality—other than the fact that she appeared to be rather brash and bit overbearing, it seemed. What kind of person in his or her right mind actually stayed to help someone fight a monster when that person knew what he was doing and she obviously did not? It boggled his mind.

Again, Aeolia became caught off guard when she strode forward and tugged at his scarf. Teeth bared, a hand reached up to loosen the cloth’s hold around his neck. “Are you trying to choke me?” he mumbled. It wasn’t a very serious question despite the miffed tone. As a knight, the brunette felt confident the civilian couldn’t severely hurt him. Rather, it should be the other way around.

“Mmhm. Yeah. Zombies,” he deadpanned with a poker face. Aeolia was about to hightail it out of there until she piped up again and he force himself to stay put. Goddammitall. “I am not playing hero.” He sounded genuinely annoyed at the assumption as he crossed his arms. “And no, you’re not getting special treatment.” Aeolia was performing a duty. He hadn’t asked to become a knight. It had merely been thrust upon him one day, and now here he was—a nineteen-year-old spending his nights running around town instead of huddled over his notes or relaxing by playing some billiards.

Was it his imagination, or had he actually heard some thanks from the woman? Well, at least he could cross ‘ungrateful’ off the list. He hesitated, considering whether or not it was wise to divulge his name to her. “…Aeolia. Like the castle from Greek mythology.” Perhaps the reference was too obscure for her, but maybe if she bothered she could search it up later. “That’s lovely,” he answered offhandedly as he reached out to grasp her outstretched hand.

Then he eyed her; the accent did not go unnoticed. “How long have you been here?” If it hadn’t been long, then Aeolia supposed he could cut her some slack for walking out by herself at night, but at the same time he kind of wondered what had possessed the woman to actually live her. Hadn’t she at least heard?  

[Z o m b i k ii]

She took his hand and shook it quite firmly, she might look like a pretty girl but Bea could pull a punch when she wanted to. After a moment she let go and rested her hand on her hip, green eyes looking at him under closer inspection. He was quite cute, for someone so oddly dressed. He had pretty eyes, maybe a little too clean cut compared to what she was usual into but he had a certain charm. "Aeolia huh?" She mumbled to herself, cocking her head to one side casually. In truth it sounded like a girls name but she knew it was not too polite to point that out, not at the moment anyway. "I am sorry, History was never my strong point." It seemed to mean something something important, maybe she would google it later.. if she remembered. She always thought she had a weird and fancy name but this guy really took the biscuit. So many things did not add up, it made him... interesting.

When he asked his question she laughed quite loudly, clearly she could not hide the fact she was a foreigner for long. She never knew her accent was that obvious, but in Destiny City it seemed like she stuck out quite a bit. It was not only the accent either, Bea was just general odd, the one and only as she might say. "About... a week at most. It all seems like one long day at the moment, I have not slept ten winks since getting off that damned plane - Not that I slept on the plane, I was sat next to a smelly fat guy and a crying baby. Where were you then Hero? I would choose a zombie over that flight any day." She claimed rather confidently, she failed to mention that she almost got arrested at the airport for hitting some muck with her bag, he pinched her bum, he deserved it. Besides she got away.. thanks to her cousins amazing ( and illegal ) driving.

She reached forward and put her hand on his shoulder in quite a buddy manor. "Anyway, you saved my a**. Which means, by the Malloroyx code of honor, I owe you a drink." She stated patting it a few times before turning around, she stepped forward a few steps and looked over her shoulder. "What you say? I mean you aren't going to let me walk home alone, what if I get attacked again?" She asked with a wide smile, putting her index finger to her lips to try and look innocent, it did not really work.  

[Syusaki]

The solid grip on his hand didn’t faze Aeolia, but perhaps that was because his perceptions of strength were a bit skewed at the moment. As Carnelian he had decent muscular strength, but as Aeolia the knight of Uranus? That power was multiplied to unnatural levels. Bea’s handshake, however strong it was, didn’t seem peculiar to him at all. In fact, perhaps he had even been expecting something even stronger, but it was like comparing apples to oranges. Strength as a normal human and strength as a powered individual were different. While her green eyes stared at him, Aeolia coolly stared back without flinching. Some people might have avoided eye contact or staring contests, but he didn’t. “Yes. Aeolia.” He averted his eyes for a second, annoyance flashing for just that one moment. “Mythology, not history. There’s a difference.”

He patiently listened to her reply, his expression still far from amused or politely attentive. A week, she said. It made sense to Aeolia. A week was a decent amount of time to still be stumbling around clueless in Destiny City, but that would have to end soon lest Bea wanted multiple occurs of youma on a weekly basis. To be honest, he really didn’t care about her planer ride. He didn’t really care about her personal life either. He just wanted to make sure she was safe until she got home and then move on with his life. Was that so difficult? “Well, these kinds of things are fairly common.” A nod to where the zombie had been. “So I suggest you try not to go out late at night unless you really have to.” Bea attempted to make general conversation, but Aeolia was not interested. “I don’t know. At home.”

Aeolia stared at the hand now on his shoulder. Scowling, he reached up to brush off the woman’s hand. Just because he saved her a** did not give her a free pass to be friendly with the knight. “What.” Getting a drink? Lady, you probably don’t know this but he should be patrolling and saving other stupid people like you right about now! But she brought up a good point. What if another creature attacked her on her way home? He almost growled as he stared at her through narrowed eyes. “If you insist,” he answered through gritted teeth.