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 Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 5:00 pm
It was nearing midnight when Celsus left the Virgo outpost, heading slantways towards the castle of Princess Chronos.
He was not entirely certain why he was going. The nights had been restless since his awakening - filled with dreams that he could not understand, leaving him with less answers and more questions when he awoke. He was no longer just Frederick St. James, also known as Fritz, the guy who drew a silly online webcomic with his twin brother and who enjoyed being generally ridiculous - now he was Celsus, Page of Chronos - a protector of the princess of the Zodiac.
Needless to say he was suddenly feeling an absurd amount of pressure on his shoulders.
Not that he was not excited. For the longest time Fritz had felt as if he were not doing anything right, that he was just getting in the way, that he could not really accomplish anything. The feelings of uselessness and helplessness had started to dwell in his stomach, turning his emotions black.
But now - now he had something to look forward to. Now he had something to live for, to feel good about - even if that thing was, in and of itself, slightly nervewracking.
Which was probably why he was wandering around so late at night. The Chronos Castle was dark, the sound of Celsus' footsteps loud and echoing on the smooth tile floor as he absently paced from one side to another in the front hall. His fingers were absently twiddling the golden coin from one to another, lost in thought.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:10 pm
The Squire of Earth was standing just near the castle, looking up at the sky. It was strange to think of it as the sky, though, really. It wasn't his sky. It wasn't his planet. All the same, he felt the same need to fulfill his duty here as he did on Earth.
There were people here who needed to be protected. There were senshi here he was loyal to, friends he had made and people he had promised to serve. He needed to do more than he had been: so far, he had done very little to protect the lives of those that needed him most.
People were dying.
He looked up when he felt another aura near him. A knight. He imagined it was one of his team mates, the Knights of Destiny. But it wasn't Hesperis or Valhalla, and he blinked in wonder as the other knight disappeared into the castle.
Following after him, the Squire tried not to look like a creeper or some kind of attacker. He moved quickly in an effort not to lose him, and when he found the other hadn't gone too far inside he nearly crashed into him. Which meant he did bump into him, but managed not to send either of them spilling to the floor.
That was a plus.
"Oop, ah, sorry!" The older Knight said, looking sheepish and stepping backwards. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I thought you might have... uh... gone farther in. Not that I'm following you. Well, I was, but... hm."
Camelot was an expert at awkwardly babbling, when the moment took him. It took him now.
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:21 pm
Clearly Celsus was not paying as much as attention as he should have been, since he had not even noticed that someone was following him until the other knocked into him.
A+ for awareness, Celsus Page.
"Oof!"
The voice that apologized was familiar. After straightening his glasses and attempting to calm the skittering of his heartbeat (which had felt like it was going to explode out of his chest from surprise), Celsus turned around, his eyes lifting to meet the dark-eyed, lined face of Camelot - the knight he had met his first day in the Surrounding.
Except meeting Camelot here, now, as a Page of Chronos, was quite a bit more different than meeting him as Fritz St. James, dorky human extraordinaire.
"Oh," said Celsus, taking a step back. "Erm. Sorry, I..."
He trailed off, feeling a little stupid. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he blurted out "What are you doing here?"
Then he felt as if that were rude, and quickly added "Erm. Not that...er, you're not...allowed...here."
There went my pride.
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Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 10:35 am
Camelot stared at him with wide eyes. He blinked, then tilted his head as if something settled in his mind. He could tell very easily that this knight was not used to his new skin, as it were. So he had been awakened quite recently, which explained why Camelot had never seen him before. Not that he knew all the knights, ever, but his attire was also unfamiliar and he couldn't place what planet he represented.
After the bewilderment passed, Camelot laughed lightly. It was a friendly sound, lacking any derisiveness, and had a warm ease to it. It was a laugh that came easily to him.
Thinking he had never introduced himself before, and looking different to when he had first arrived in the Surrounding anyway, Camelot bowed his head in greeting. It dismissed the awkwardness of the surprising bump, or so he hoped.
"My name is Camelot, Squire of Earth. I was just taking a little... thinking break, I guess. I saw you come in here and thought to... follow you... as creepy as that sounds now that I say it. I mean, I wanted to... see who you were. Uh. Are you new?"
No, the awkward was still there.
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 3:59 pm
Celsus wondered if it were possible to act any more absolutely ridiculous than he already was. He was not some starry eyed pre-teen at a concert, after all. He was the Celsus Page of Chronos, someone who defended the Princess and spent his time guarding the precious Surrounding that was their home. And this was just another knight, after all - a Squire of Earth.
Except apparently he was incapable of acting like a dork.
Good job, Fritz.
Ducking his head in a proper greeting, Celsus let his gaze meet the floor as he matched Camelot's bowing gesture. "Celsus, Page of Chronos," he replied then straightened, toying with the front of his jacket. "I'm, er...relatively new."
There was a pause.
"Like, two days new. Just for the record."
Offering the older man a smile, Celsus dropped his hands and linked his fingers together against the small of his back, walking a few paces to the side. It was not for any particularly reason; mostly just so he was not standing awkwardly in silence.
"What's it like?" he asked after a moment, staring out into the wide, endless space around them. "Being a Knight, I mean. I...can't...re - "
He had started to say I can't remember, but that was not really true. Celsus was not a reincarnation, he was a descendant - that much had already been explained to him. So remembering his duties was not entirely something plausible.
"That is to say, I'm unsure of what exactly to do right now." Celsus offered Camelot a vague smile, shrugging in a noncommittal way. "It's still a bit new, I'm afraid."
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 12:52 pm
Camelot nodded his head.
"That is relatively new," he said with a lighthearted chuckle. They had all been new at some point, and it wasn't Camelot's place to make fun of him for that. Anyway, it was something to be proud of, and the timing was important. Stressful, he imagined, for the newbie, but he found awakening was never a stress free process.
That would defeat the purpose.
"Well, I'm not certain if Chronos knights function any differently to the ones on earth, but I always found my duties to be simple... in a complex way. Defend the innocent and those who can't defend themselves. Protect life, all life. Pursue peace. At the moment, we have civilians trapped in a place they don't know, and they're scared. We have senshi who are forced to share a sacred realm with intruders and invaders. As knights, our duties now include setting all that right."
He looked thoughtful, then laughed again.
"Sounds easy, I know."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 1:03 am
"New, totally and completely ignorant of anything and everything," Celsus said, waving a hand. "Same thing."
This was side quite good naturedly, however, and he gave the older man a lighthearted smile. He had no way of knowing what Camelot was thinking, of course, but a part of him was curious as to how he was being viewed; as just a green kid with no experience, or someone else who could have the potential to be great?
Celsus sincerely hoped it was the latter. Or at least, he hoped he was just being viewed in a positive manner.
"I'm afraid I'm not entirely certain either," he replied, reaching up a hand to idly rub at the back of his neck. His brows rose, and he gave Camelot a slightly amused smile, eyes twinkling.
"Simple in a complex way, eh?" he repeated with a laugh. "Sounds like an oxymoron if there ever was one. I'm not so sure how sound that logic is."
His smile flickered a bit, disappearing for just a moment before flashing back onto his face, though this time a bit more subdued than before.
"I know I have it in me to do this," he said, after a long minute of silence. "I just...am not so sure how. I mean...it's still...well, new. And sometimes it's difficult to even believe it's not just me dreaming up some wild and grand adventure and I'll wake up tomorrow morning to my brother singing Backstreet Boys in the shower again."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:55 pm
The Squire nodded his head thoughtfully, thinking things over for a moment before hazarding a reply.
"There's no real way you need to subscribe to, you have to find what's most comfortable for you. First, you're not alone. Most of us were thrown into this similarly, without a how to guide."
He paused, looking bemused.
"Backstreet Boys?" He tried to think which band that was, but all those boy bands sort of molded together in his head. it was probably not something he was supposed to know, anyway, he decided.
"Ah... well, if I can help you in any way, I certainly will. I believe we should aid each other, we knights, and share what we know, even if we don't share beliefs or tactics. The lack of information is one of the biggest hurdles we face, after all."
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:36 am
"Well," said Celsus, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "I do technically have a guide...
"...er, of sorts."
He was thinking of Virgo, of course, but he was not entirely certain she qualified. She was the Captain of the Zodiacs, so naturally she was already in that leadership position, but Virgo was Captain of the senshi, not the Knights. She had already told him that she herself did not know much about them; and it seemed none of them would, at least not until their Captain awoke.
"Er," said Celsus quickly, waving a hand. "Never mind, er...on the Backstreet Boys thing. Just some American band my brother likes to listen to when he thinks no one is watching."
He supposed Camelot was right; after all, he did not have anyone else except for Troy to confer with, and even then he had yet to actually meet with Troy - a fact that Celsus decided should be rectified relatively soon, since they were both Knights of Chronos.
"How long have you been doing this?" he asked Camelot, tilting his head curiously.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:31 am
Camelot nodded his head, laughing. He was not the most well versed in Pop Culture, though he certainly tried. A lot of people at the check out counter in the Library would get into conversations with him about their favorite things, which often included music and movies he had never heard of.
And books. He wasn't much of a reader, either.
"A little while now," the Squire said thoughtfully, tapping his shield against his leg as he tried to do the math. "I can't remember exactly. Near six months? I still feel like a brand new fighter sometimes, though." A lot of the time, in fact. Not because he wasn't familiar with things by now, or that he was surprised by youma fights or negaverse agents trying to kill him. But there was always something new to deal with.
It was hard to learn the basics, when there really weren't that many to pick up. Everything felt specific to the moment, and it was a constant struggle to learn as quickly as he needed to, in order to survive and fight again the next day.
And the whole powering up thing had been unexpected, and now he certainly felt like he knew absolutely nothing, where he had almost been comfortable before. Still, when others asked him for help, he did everything he could to give them what advice he knew. Maybe librarian hadn't been the right career choice. He might have enjoyed being a teacher.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:22 pm
"I suppose even when we've been doing this for years, we'll still feel as if we're green," said Celsus, amused in spite of himself. "I don't think that sort of feeling ever really goes away."
Reaching up a hand, he idly rubbed the back of his neck, a small frown tugging his lips downwards.
This is what I wanted. To be something, to DO something.
Celsus had spent the past few weeks feeling completely inadequate in comparison to the rest of the people in the outposts. He had watched the senshi and the knights working to provide for the civilians, wanting to do something but not being able to.
And then he had been Awakened - and now he could do everything he had wanted.
He still could not quite wrap his mind around it.
Celsus turned back to look at Camelot.
"Thanks," he said with a smile. "For reassuring me, I mean."
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 11:18 am
Camelot smiled and nodded.
"Some take to it faster than others, as well, so don't fret," he put his hand on the younger knight's shoulder. "I think you're going to do just fine. It's not an easy job, if that's even a fitting word, and it's dangerous. Sad, sometimes, but rewarding. And I see in you a capacity, a worthy kind of heart, that I think will lead you to do amazing things."
He cleared his throat, chuckling.
"If that's not weird and too forward of me to say. Uh. Sometimes I get a little caught up. Seeing young people, like you, joining the fight... I always think you'll be scared or try to escape it, but it's rarely the case. I'm impressed, by knights and senshi like you, with drive and will, and that drive to help others. Serve those that need it."
The Squire of Earth took a step back and bowed politely.
"You're welcome. And stay safe. If you ever feel you need help, I'm at your service."
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 9:47 pm
Celsus felt a slight red flush dust across his cheeks, both sheepish and pleased at the praise. He had not thought he was all that "worthy," considering how things had gone lately; he felt as if he were stumbling over his own two feet, after all.
"Oh, I have no doubt that it's sad, irritating, frightening, happy, angering, and every other emotion in between those," replied Celsus with a laugh. "Anything and everything possible."
He spread his arms wide, turning in a slow circle as he tilted his head upwards to look up at the sky, closing his eyes briefly.
"As a Knight of Chronos, I will be what I am to be," he said loudly and grandly, then ducked into a sweeping bow to Camelot, straightening as he faced the other.
"I thank you for your advice, good sir," said Celsus with a grin, and then turned and made his way back to the outpost.
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