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 Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:03 pm
Pharos was starting to get a better hang of the whole patrolling, youma fighting after homework and before bed thing. She of course needed more training and obviously didn't know all there was to know, but she was super willing to learn and taking the whole of it in stride. How could she not she loved magic.
Tonight she was wandering about the rooftops of an apartment complex somewhere in the middle of Destiny City. She wasn't entirely certain just exactly where she was so she was thinking she would have to call it an early night to find her way back home. She figured that was okay. No one wanted her stranded and lost right.
She giggled to herself standing at the top of the flat rooftop and looking out over the parking lot. She felt really tall, more powerful up on the building like she was, like a magical sorceress. She couldn't help, but to giggle a bit more. Maybe she would need to call it an early night for more than just finding her way home. She was extremely distracted, it happened sometimes, that meant it was probably time for a break. Well that and nothing was happening.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:18 pm
Patrolling after nightfall was still a big no-no for Aquarius. There was too great a chance of something to go horribly wrong. The problem was, the closer they got to the holidays, the earlier night fell. If she wanted to go anywhere other than directly home from school, it required her being out at night. And after her last experience walking around at night as a civilian, she decided that it would be safer, however marginally, if she powered up to travel.
So this was a journey from Point A to Point B. That was all. Definitely not a patrol of any kind. Nope.
Still telling herself this, Aquarius leaped from rooftop to rooftop, hoping to avoid anything and everything else, and asking herself why she had needed to go see Star Wars (Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) at a local cinema. "Because you're not dead yet," she reminded herself, then went back to repeating her mantra. This was not a patrol. This was not a patrol.
As she continued repeating that, she jumped off of a taller building, landing on a lower rooftop. A rooftop that was already occupied. Aquarius shrieked and took a step backwards before she realized that the power signature was friendly. Whatever it was, it wasn't chaotic. So she could stop shaking now, please.
"Just keeping you on your toes," she called, putting one hand over her heart and willing it to stop beating so fast. There, she totally didn't look like a freak now. Maybe.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:20 pm
Pharos who had been in her own world, enjoying her break startled badly at the shriek. She spun around, a frown on her face briefly, but it melted away seeing the posture of the girl that came up on her. She looked like she scared herself and Pharos was certain she just heard the other talk to themself.
She grinned, the she notices, wasn't the Aquarius. She didn't see most of the other zodiacs very often, but she knew most of them and hadn't she seen Aquarius more than once, even if it was some time ago. She waved, "Hey, Aquarius right?"
The tiny page made her way over to the girl with a friendly smile on her face happy to get a little interaction time with another member of her team. They were teammates, right, she wasn't always sure the dynamics of the zodiac because she herself had barely been patrolling until now, if only to adjust to a new school and upending of her old crystal academy life. It took some time and then she went home for the summer, which would happen every summer.
"Patrolling alone tonight then," she started, "same for me, although I think I prefer to be with someone else."
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:37 pm
Even though this person was clearly friendly, the fact that she knew Aquarius by name was jarring. Why would anyone know Aquarius by name? It wasn't like she spoke to many other senshi. Or met them. Or did her job, aside from the barest of bare bones. The fact that any powered beings who weren't Zodiacs knew of her at all was pretty surprising, actually, considering she really didn't get out much.
Although there was that business last year. "Oh! You must've been at the Surrounding, right? Yeah, right, sorry. I'm, uh, bad with names." And faces, apparently, since while she had met the girl she was dealing with, she couldn't remember it at all. "You're, uh, one of those knight things, right? How's that working for you?"
She probably wouldn't have been mentally patting herself on the back if she realized what she was saying. Or, more importantly, to whom she was saying it.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:49 pm
Pharos nodded and smiled, "yes disappeared from my dorm room and reappeared on the surrounding. Oddest experience of my life, but I had a lot of fun and made a ton of friends. I'm Pharos and yes I'm a knight, my wonder is up on the surrounding."
Pharos gave a shrug and a half smile at the question of how it was working for her. "Not bad, I'd say. It's all a bit confusing and I'm not really sure everyone is entirely certain what they are fighting for, but I'm getting the hang of it. Harder was actually the school switch when we came back from the surrounding, but I think Ive gotten use to it and the housing change that came with it."
Pharos stood in front of the other girl, in all her 4'11" glory with a bright grin, "how are things going for you, with you know being a senshi and all? Have you been back up to the surrounding? I've got to go up soon to see Pharos and find my ring. Camelot showed me his ring and its pretty cool. I'll be able to send him letters once I get it."
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:03 pm
Aquarius hadn't really been expecting a proper introduction to stem from her questions, but she nodded politely at what seemed like the appropriate points. Yes, being at the Surrounding was weird. Yes, changing schools was weirder still. Aquarius hadn't been one of the missing students, but since she'd missed just as much school as they had, Meadowview had kicked her out along with the others, and she was lucky to have been offered a place at HITS. She wasn't up to date on knight information, so the mention of wonders confused her a bit, but when she mentioned that she was actually from the Surrounding, Aquarius frowned. If she guarded the Surrounding, that would mean...
Well, this was awkward.
"Oh, you're one of those knights." Spending time with certain people had taught Aquarius a measure of tact, but she tended to save it for when she needed it. Patching up a possible offense to someone else in Chronos' service apparently didn't warrant it. Possibly because this knight seemed pretty comfortable with the situation, despite Aquarius' bevy of social faux pas.
Rather than answer any questions about senshi life, because she was quite possibly the worst person to ask, she sat on the edge of the roof and patted the spot next to her. "So you're... Pharos, you said? Cool name. I'm kind of out of the loop with the whole knight thing, though, so what say you give me the 411? 'Cause I gotta say, I have no idea what about half of the stuff you said even means." Normally that might have bothered her a bit, but this knight seemed relaxed, and so Aquarius lowered her guard a bit in response. Besides, they were kinda-sorta-not-really family, and if you couldn't chill with family, who could you chill with?
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:07 pm
Pharos blinked in slightly confusion, yes, she had introduced herself, but she hadn't expected for the other girl not to realize at all who she was. They were on the same team weren't they. She felt a tiny bit awkward said Pharos was on of those knight and even more awkward when her question was seeming passed over.
They'd been speaking for less than five minutes and she'd been insulted more than when she spoken to a couple others not on there side. She sighed lightly and went to sit next to the girl when she patted the place next to her.
"Yes," she said with a smile before she flushed slightly and gave small laugh. "Well I'm still learning myself. Camelot is teaching me, but I can tell you what he told me thus far. Though it would be really nice if you could tell me about you and what you do, too, you know?"
Pharos wanted her questions answered too, it didn't seem very fair if she was answering all of Aquarius questions, or any that she could answer anyway. She was still learning after all and she was still a page.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 7:55 pm
Unfortunately, Aquarius seemed to have used up all her social graces for the day. While she was vaguely aware that she was making a mess of this whole situation, she really didn't know what to do about it other than to keep muddling through. If she tried a bunch of different things, it was possible that she'd find a solution. Or else make things worse in a bunch of different ways.
"So, uh, Camelot. I guess that's another knight dude, huh? Not another one of ours, right?" The name didn't sound familiar, but then, Pharos' hadn't either. Aquarius had been telling the truth when she said she was bad with names. And faces. And generally remembering things that didn't really interest her, but she wasn't so out of it that she was going to mention that.
The constant questions were not helping, and she laughed uneasily. "Yeah, I'm really not the best person to ask there. Haven't exactly been "senshi of the year" material or anything. But I'm sure Virgo or one of them would be glad to explain things to you. Probably." It probably wouldn't help to mention that she had largely cut herself off from the other Zodiacs because of her own insecurities. Was there any topic that they could actually discuss safely?
"What I do... well, I've been working on a project up at the Outpost, if you want to hear about that." It was a boring, boring project when she was actually working on it, but when she was thousands of miles away and didn't have to stare at a bunch of illegible books, it was actually almost fun.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:29 pm
Pharos frowned at not having her question answered again, but nodded none the less. "Right, Camelot is a knight of earth. An actual knight too, like with a huge shield and every thing. He's way stronger than me and even stronger than Celsus, um another zodiac knight."
Pharos nodded once again happy to have some sort of answer to her question. She wasn't couldn't blame the girl, she didn't think she could be a considered knight of the year either, no she had barely been active in the year she had been a page and was only just really getting around to it.
"Don't worry. I understand that, just like I might not be the best one for you to get knight stuff from. I'll ask Virgo, if I see her. I don't see the other zodiacs much."
Pharos gave a huge smile when Aquarius offered to talk about her project and nodded excitedly. "I would love to hear about it and after I can tell as much as I can about everything that Camelot taught me so far."
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:42 pm
So the Earth had knights too? How did that work? It occurred to Aquarius that her information about the power balance in Destiny City was rather sadly out of date. There had been knights around during the Surrounding crisis, and after that, there were Chronos knights, but she never bothered to find out much about them. That was probably a tactical error on her part, aside from being rather offensive to any knight she happened to meet. Especially to one who happened to be a Zodiac-type person.
"Anyone's better than nothing," she said, which was supposed to sound encouraging but probably didn't come off that way. At the next comment, she brightened considerably. "Really? I don't see them much either!" Which was kind of terrible when you thought about it, which was why she tried not to think about it too much. But if she wasn't alone in that, maybe she wasn't so bad after all! "Ha, that's awesome! I like you!"
At least Aquarius' nonchalance cut both ways. It could seem mean, but it also meant that she was pretty giving with compliments and the like.
"So, the project. Right. Say, have you been to Aquarius Outpost? When you were up there before, I mean. There were so many people going in and out I wouldn't... and even if I did recognize you, I wouldn't be able to tell right now, 'cause of the getup." She gestured to Pharos' costume. "But yeah, big dusty library place. Been there before?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:40 pm
Pharos wasn't sure how to take the anyone is better than nothing statement, but nodded none the less. Camelot was definitely better than nothing, so it seemed like a good enough statement in that context. Pharos nodded when Aquarius seemed surprised, but admitted just the same as Pharos that she didn't see them much either. She gave a soft laugh at the girl deciding she liked her. It was nice to be liked, even if it was for a weird reason, but Pharos wasn't exactly the most normal person herself.
"I like you too," she responded, followed by a, "you're kind of random. It's funny." Probably an insult, but Pharos didn't think so. It made Aquarius more interesting and made up for the rude moment in the beginning of the conversation. Also Pharos wasn't really in the habit of not like people.
She thought for a second on whether she had been to the Aquarius outpost, but nodded eventually. "I think I've been there. I tried to visit every outpost I could at least once, but than again maybe not. I don't remember any book. I would remember book. I love to read!"
Pharos sat back on her hands,"so what about it, huh? Something really special in your outpost you trying to fix or something?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 4:05 pm
"Nah, not really random. To be truly random, there would have to be no pattern to what I did or said, aside from the occasional chance regularity. And while I admit that I like to shake things up, I'm actually pretty predictable." Only after Aquarius said this did she realize that it was true. When had she become so predictable? More importantly, when did being predictable become okay? She used to love changing as many variables as possible, to experience as many unusual things as she could. When had she started to prefer safety to adventure? Looking back, she realized that it must have started a long time ago.
A gunshot rang in her ears, but she hummed the theme from Close Encounters until the echo faded away. Which probably made her look even weirder, but Aquarius didn't mind. At least when she was perceived as weird, she felt a bit like her old self.
Where were they? The project, right. "No, it's not fixing exactly." Though now that she thought about it, there was that back wall that had been bashed in by a monster. She tended to put it off for later, since she had no idea what to do about it. "I hate to break it to you, but if you love to read, you'd hate this library. There's about a kajillion books there- a kajillion being a technical, scientific term for 'more than I'd ever want to count,' that is- but they're all in ancient dead languages. I can't decipher any of them, not for lack of trying."
Aquarius reached for the bag she usually carried with her, and came up with nothing. Since this wasn't technically a patrol, she hadn't brought it with her. "Well drat," she muttered. "I wanted to show you some characters, but I don't have a pen and paper handy. I don't suppose you're hiding one somewhere? You look like you've got more room for pockets than I do." She patted her own fuku and shook her head. Why couldn't she have gotten warmer clothes to save the world in?
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:25 pm
Pharos giggled, but nodded,"if you say so." She still thought Aquarius was random, but it hardly mattered. Pharos didn't really mind either way and so she wasn't about to argue a point. It seemed random to her that started humming and Pharos wasn't entirely sure why, but she shrugged and waited for the girl to stop. The night was currently turning into a very interesting one.
Pharos frowned at the thought that she would hate a library and it deepened at the number. Who could hate a library with a kajillion books, but by the end of the explanation she got it and gave a weak smile. "I don't think I would mind at all actually. It would be like an adventure to find the book you understand or even just to find something you understand at all. I bet I could do it for hours."
She grinned at Aquarius. Pharos was very optimistic person and she didn't let much keep her down for long. She shook her head quickly when Aquarius asked about pen and paper. It wasn't something she ever thought to carry. "Sorry. I haven't got any, but you could always show me another time. We team mates, right? Maybe we can meet again, at night or even during the day. You could come to my apartment, if that's okay and if you're not allergic to cats."
Pharos wanted to see the characters and she also thought it would be good to get to know her teammate better.
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Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 5:57 pm
Aquarius considered pushing the point. By definition, she was not what Pharos thought she was. Did it matter in the long run if she was truly random? Not really. It was a question of what was more important, technicality or appearance. She generally leaned on the side of appearance, which wasn't the best thing for a scientist to do. Too late to change that now.
The project was more important. "Yeah, hours. And hours and hours and hours. Seriously, you do not want to know how long I've spent coming through the books there, looking for things I recognize, copying down things I don't just in case I'll remember later..." Just thinking about it was kind of infuriating, and she threw her hands up in the air to emphasize this. "Anyway, that's what I've been working on, when I can make myself look at the stuff without wanting to scream."
The lack of pen and paper was unfortunate, but Aquarius smiled at the suggestion of another meeting. "Yeah, I'd like that! No feline allergies here, lucky for me. Just, uh..." How were they supposed to schedule a meeting? Aquarius had no intention of powering down in public, even if only a teammate was around. She wasn't going to ask Pharos to do it either. There was no telling who was watching, and her experiences had made her paranoid. "I could text you, but I don't know if you knights have cell phones like we do." Wow, this was really frustrating.
In the end, she decided to work on it later, which was her general approach to deal with annoying or frightening or difficult tasks. "So, I've told you what I'm up to. Your turn. What's the deal with this whole knight business?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:55 pm
Pharos listened to Aquarius talking about her project but she was really sure why the girl was so frustrated. Sure she couldn't understand the stuff, but at some point she might come across something she could understand or did once.
"So it's like a puzzle, only your brain can't decipher it. Do any of the books have pictures? Are you looking for repeating words or rather symbols I guess, since you can't understand it? Isn't that how people sometimes teach themselves a new language? Can't it be done that way?"
She spewed a bunch of questions at Aquarius clearly interested in the research and really all things about this situation, this war. She was however easily distracted by the mention of Aquarius lack of feline allergies. "Well I have a regular cell phone, but it disappears when I change, but I can send you a letter. Knights get to send letter and as soon as I figure that out I can send you a note, like anytime. Camelot sent me one."
Pharos nodded and gave a thoughtful look. "Okay, so I don't know everything, but like I said we get to write letters and we send them with our rings, that we get from our wonders. Mine is a lighthouse, up on the surrounding, maybe you have seen it."
She paused for a second trying to gather her thoughts which seemed to be dancing about in her head, "um pages kind of have to fend for themselves. Our weapons aren't the greatest and we can't use magic yet. Camelot says it will get better. I really hope is right. Getting rid of youma is really hard with a cloth flower. Why couldn't I get a sword or something."
She sighed, "I think thats about it, well that I can think of at the moment. Maybe you should talk to Celsus, he's a squire, the only one on the team I think."
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