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 Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2011 2:36 pm
Shalott was getting braver about going out on her own and tracking down power signatures to meet others like her or prevent the Negaverse from getting what they want. Of course, she hadn’t met any agents of Chaos personally yet which was probably a good thing considering she wasn’t sure what she would do if she actually met someone. She tried to think of fighting Benitoite and could not do such a thing. He seemed to think he side was wrong but she didn’t think that was right, either.
She was following a power signature but she wasn't sure what it was. It didn't feel like Camelot who she was very used to by now. And it didn't feel quite the same as Boreas, whom she'd met a few nights before. She wasn't sure what it was but she was following it across the distance to a quiet unassuming side street in Destiny City. Rarely trafficked by cars, people walked the sidewalk heading into a suburban part of the city. Whatever she felt it was dark and probably not good.
She spotted him up ahead trying very hard to blend in and as she got closer she noticed how lost the senshi looked. A dark senshi? Bad senshi? They exist? Shalott jumped down from the roof, getting used to not feeling her stomach in her throat when she did that. She landed neatly on the ground a bit behind him and put her hands on her hips. Of course she looked out of place but then again so did he. They weren't meant to blend in she supposed.
"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to genuinely figure it out.
He didn't look as young as Benitoite, anyway, but still young. She looked him over from behind and then again when he turned, if he did. She judged him to be about as new as she was by how he was trying and failing to collect energy. At least, no one seemed affected. Maybe he was just trying to stalk them?
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Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:07 pm
Virtus was ready to do a much better job of his energy hunting tonight. He had his mirror buddy with him, he much preferred 'buddy' to 'wraith', and he had his training in recent times in the back of his head. He knew a lot more now than he had before.
Like... he wasn't supposed to ask for energy.
If someone offered it, it was probably a trap.
White Moon and Order aligned people were 'bad', though he saw good in everyone, and they would try to stop him. Even hurt him. But they just didn't understand the reasons they were doing what they had to do. He wasn't hurting anyone. That part he had to understand for himself. He was serving his Queen and doing as she asked of him, because he owed it to her and because he wanted to help. That was simple.
He would do what he had to do, as it was told to him.
One of the other lessons he had picked up was one of stealth. The first time out, he had been too over enthusiastic about his hiding. He had climbed into a tree and got himself stuck. Or was that the second time? The first time he hadn't been stealthy at all and just asked the first civilian he saw for their energy.
He would find that happy medium, he wasn't worried about that. This time, he stuck to the shadows, and thought he was doing a masterful job of it before a voice startled him out of his focus.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't see you. Oh, I feel your energy now. I should have before, I'm sorry! I was focusing too hard." He was apologizing for her sneaking up on him? "Are you a senshi? You feel different."
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:39 am
"What are you?"
Probably not as nice as asking who he was. Still, she was lost in wonder of the sight, looking at him and puzzling over what and who he was and what he was trying to do. They seemed to be alone on the street, at least for the moment, with her looking up at him. He had a nice face, all things considered, wide eyed and open. If she didn't know better she wouldn't be apprehensive about him at all.
He was so...polite. But he came off as a bad guy and therefore she needed to stop him from doing whatever it is that he seemed to be trying to do. He knew about senshi so she wasn't wrong about tracking him but he didn't seem to know about knights. They seemed to be on an even playing field for that. He looked like a senshi and felt like a bad guy but he didn't seem corrupted in a way she'd think about it. After all he was smiling and polite about her getting the jump on him, apologizing to her for not paying attention.
Weird.
"I'm Shalott, Page of Earth."
At least he'd know her better hereafter. Not that she had much interest in trying to fight someone that seemed to be this out of place in Chaos. He didn't seem to know what he was doing. Perhaps he was simply new to this whole thing. Was there a chance to redeem him? Possibly...she'd have to try and talk to him to be sure, spending time getting to know him like she was doing with Benitoite.
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:47 am
Virtus watched her, wondering the same thing. He had never sensed a knight before, and he watched her curiously. She wasn't punching him in the face yet, which was a step up from the last Order soldier he had run into.
"I'm a senshi," he said, and as far as he understood it that was true. He was simply a senshi fighting on a different team, which was perfectly reasonable. He wanted to convince the others to join them, so that they might all be happy in the end.
When she introduced herself he smiled and offered her his hand.
"My name is Virtus, Dark Mirror Senshi of Kindness." That was his whole title, though he was aware it was a bit of a mouthful. Not that he expected her to call him all that. Virtus was just fine. "I can't talk for long, though, I'm really sorry. I'm supposed to be doing things."
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:33 pm
Dark and Kindness didn't belong in the same sentence or so Shalott thought. But here was the walking contradiction himself, being every bit as polite as one might imagine from the Senshi of Kindness. This was the first time she'd heard of Dark Mirror Senshi by title. She'd have to ask Camelot about it. He seemed to be her encyclopedia of all things war related. Even if he didn't answer seem to be able to go into all the details. She had to remember he wasn't a walking computer.
She had to wonder why no one had taught Virtus how to do his job but maybe that was a good thing considering he was on the wrong side. Then he tried to brush her off to do the energy collecting thing and she cringed a little. He seemed really nice but she couldn't simply let him go on his merry way draining civilians of their energy.
"I think I know what you need to do and I can't really allow you to do it?"
She even felt questionable saying it. Maybe he didn't know that it was a bad thing to do, draining people's energy. He certainly seemed innocent enough not to know that but if worse came to worse she'd have to convince him in other ways.
"Draining people's energy isn't very nice you know."
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Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:01 pm
"Oh."
Virtus was in a conundrum now. He was supposed to gather energy because he had been told to, ordered to, and even asked to. His loyalty was with his team and he wanted to serve them completely. But now this new person was telling him he wasn't allowed to do what he was told, and that was a bit of a wall he didn't know how to climb.
But he had to do what his Queen asked. What Navi told him, too, and all the others. He was helping them, and it was very important.
"I'm sorry. I know you don't understand. They said you wouldn't, but I promise I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm helping the planet, and everyone, because we're trying to do something good. And they get their energy back! I mean, with some sleep, I think. Uhm."
He smiled and shook his head.
"It's nice of you to worry, but I'll be careful and make sure no one loses too much, okay?" The way he said it, it almost didn't seem that bad. It certainly didn't sound bad to him, anyway.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 2:11 pm
"I do understand. You're stealing energy from people. Stealing. It's like taking their life force away from them and I can't allow that. Stealing anything is wrong, even if you can get it back."
In those terms it was simple to understand, she thought. One of the basic lessons in life was that stealing was wrong. People still did it but it wasn't a very nice thing to do no matter what your intentions were. She taught that to her own daughter. Making sure no one lost too much wasn't the point but she appreciated that he cared about that.
"How can you be helping the planet by stealing from people? Stealing life."
That made no sense to her. He was right, she didn't understand.
Two sides of the fence and she hoped he could be reasoned with but if not she was gonna feel really bad about trying to force him to stop or give up for the night at the very least. If that was how effective she really was in the end she didn't mind it. One night at a time and one member of chaos at a time was ok in her book.
"I really can't let you. I'm sorry."
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:57 pm
Virtus had not thought about it like that: but he knew the White Moon was supposed to try and stop him. To talk him out of it, as they believed they were right, just as he did. But he also knew he had made a promise to his queen and he had to make sure he fulfilled his duties as she asked him to.
No matter what.
"I know you can't understand it, but if you talked to our Queen I'm sure she could explain it to you much better than I could! I'm afraid I just do as I'm told, and I'm going to do a good job of it, because I made a promise. You must understand a promise."
He watched her innocently, though his words could very easily be mistaken for mocking. It had happened before, and likely would happen again. Like he was some very confident villain.
And now a guy who meant everything he said.
He frowned at her apologetically.
"I'm very sorry, too, then. I have to do this, and if you won't late me I'm going to... to have to inconvenience you and do it anyway." A promise was a promise, and he hated to disappoint her, or upset her. He did not want to hurt her, in any way, physical or mental.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:17 pm
"Look."
She hated to do it but she reached out to grasp his wrist to prevent him from leaving. She felt awful about it because it would probably lead to violence. He was either the world's nicest person or the world's best actor. She wasn't sure which and when it came to the Negaverse she wasn't easily trusting. She was learning how to look and listen and question things before she opened herself up.
"Your Queen is wrong and you're hurting people. Hurting them. Have you seen a youma preying on a civilian? I have. I've seen people killed by your side and monsters standing by their sides. I won't let you add to the chaos."
She hadn't meant that as a pun even if it came out that way. She didn't loosen her grip on his wrist, either. She was prepared to defend the people physically if she had to even if it made her feel really awkward to do it. Only her eyes gave away the fact that she didn't want to fight. Everything else was all business.
She wasn't worried about inconvenience, it seemed, as she had no intention of letting him get to it tonight.
"Don't make me stop you. Just go home."
Even as she said it her arm tensed to be ready to strike if needed.
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Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:06 pm
Virtus watched her.
This was what he had to do. It was what he had been awakened to do. He knew they would protest, and he told his fellows that he would do what he could to fulfill his duties to them. And he would do that, because a promise was a promise.
He looked at her hand on his wrist, then looked at her in surprise.
"I'm sorry."
He pulled his hand away, or tried to, but he wasn't exactly a strong person. His magic wasn't even attack: all he could do was heal people. Still, he knew he didn't need to hurt others to accomplish his tasks. If only the White Moon would listen!
Though he had no idea what he was doing, he held his hands up to defend himself.
"I have to keep my promise."
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:10 pm
God! Could he make this any harder on her than this? She didn't think so as Virtus did everything he could do either do one hell of a job at playing innocent or actually being innocent. He even held his hands up in surrender and she let him slip from her grasp in surprise. She would have thought it a trap if it wasn't so completely...disarming.
Why was he on the wrong side then? She never wanted to see that innocence get corrupted. She was going to hate herself for this sometime deeper in the night but she reached out decked him, closing her eyes after she aimed because she couldn't bear to watch. She even flinched, expecting contact to be made.
Why was this job so bloody hard sometimes? She wasn't going to open her heart and feel for the poor guy but come on! The bad guys were supposed to be bad. They were supposed to wear black and be all villainy with a stiffly curled mustache, right? It just didn't seem fair. But as it was his job to drain people of their energy it was hers to stop it.
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Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 4:13 pm
Virtus had been accused of playing dumb before, playing innocent, but it wasn't in him to fake. He wasn't acting or playing: he really was the man he portrayed. It was why his sphere was very aptly chosen for him, as kindness was what drove him.
He would be very good at this evil thing if he actually put any thought into it. That was just the problem.
He didn't consider himself evil. He just worked for something he believed in, while she and her kind did the same thing on their side. He wanted to understand them. But he knew he had to keep them at a distance. They were enemies, he was told that.
They had to fight.
So when she punched him he wasn't surprised, and he had a hard time gathering himself after it. He had to do his best though. He tried to charge at her. He didn't know how to fight.
That was going to get more and more obvious.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go back to my duties and I can't stay here with you! I don't want to hurt you!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:08 am
Shalott was floored by his utter lack of fighting ability and it was more shock than anything that kept her rooted and allowed him to barrel her to the ground when he charged. The air left her lungs in a 'whoosh' and she hit the sidewalk. She rolled them, getting some semblance of herself back as she felt pain.
Her luck with agents of chaos lately was proving to be tricky at best, confusing and painful at worst. Why did she seem to attract all of these people that seemed so damn good? Benitoite had her fooled, or maybe he'd been really innocent in the beginning which was a real tragedy if it was so. And now this kid, Virtus, seemed innocent and clearly did not know how to fight or used it as a ploy to lower her guard.
When had she become so paranoid?
Shalott tried to get the upper hand by rolling them to gain leverage, hitting him again. Her heart wasn't in it, though, as she had a sneaking suspicion he wasn't acting just to throw her off. She was getting heartsick at the fighting she was doing. Youma she could fight but these were people and Benitoite said she knew him in the everyday and didn't know it. The thought chilled her now but proved that these were people she knew and cared for.
"I'm sorry." she told him, meaning it, not that she was relenting for it. She could just recognize that this was a fight she didn't want to be in. Necessity pushed her to keep going.
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 2:03 pm
He had knocked her down!
A rush of conflicting emotions rolled over him. He had knocked someone down! He had attacked successfully and dragged her down, and that counted as a small victory for him, really. It was his first real hit, if he were completely honest, not something accidental or with permission first.
He felt guilty. He had never set out to hurt anyone, but he couldn't listen to what he was told, and do what he had promised, if he didn't do these things as well. And he was the kind of guy who would do what he was told, if someone so gave him an order, no matter what. This was just a part of that, a harder part of it than he had ever had to face in his life so far, but he would get used to it.
He had to.
She seemed to be in the same boat, he realized, though it was a bit late for that. Still, if someone was apologizing like he usually did, it meant they understood the same need to do as they were told, or as they were destined to do. They were on the same page.
It made everything okay, didn't it?
She had punched him, though, and lights were dancing in front of his eyes. He wasn't going to be able to keep this up, and he needed to get out of there before something went really wrong for him. He swung blindly at her, struggling to get to his feet and get away. This had been very good for him, though. He was learning with each punch.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:29 am
He threw his blows and she feinted where she could and blocked while returning a few without the effort of direction intentionally in them to cause damage. As the moments wore on she felt dirtier and more disgusted with herself until she halted her attacks all together.
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!"
She held her hands up in surrender.
She brushed herself off, shaking her head. She couldn't do this anymore than he seemed to be able to. She felt guilty and just plain wrong. Poor guy was just starting out and wasn't hurting anyone though he intended to and all she could think was that she was the twelfth grader beating up on the freshman because he didn't know any better.
"I can't do this." she admitted softly. "I just can't. But at the same time I can't just stay back and watch you hurt people and steal from them for your own good. Just...don't let me catch you, ok?"
She was willing to turn a blind eye for now if it meant being able to go home and take a long shower to wash the dirty feeling off of her.
"Just go home."
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