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 Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:16 pm
It was funny how easy it had been for Arian to fall back into old habits – almost scarily easy despite his three month or so hiatus, the dark-haired stopping to pick up a hot drink before finding somewhere in which to henshin up into his senshi counterpart. The hot chocolate was rich and warm, Athene finding himself walking near the library. He’d been there earlier as Arian, having a look through a few of the jewellery books that had been on the shelves, while sketching out some ideas he’d had for a few pairs of earrings. Maybe that was why when he’d started to patrol his feet had led him this way, the route a familiar one given the many times he’d visited the library as a civilian. There wasn't many people around and as the dark-haired eternal was on his own Athene found himself pretty much left with his own thoughts, thoughts that had turned pensive as he walked down the quiet street.
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 4:41 pm
Camelot had been strained as of late, by various stress factors, but he did not fail in getting to his patrol. He needed to make sure he was on the top of his game, especially after his fight with the Negaverse General that had been trying to kill a new Page.
He'd gotten his neck sliced open for that one, but it thankfully had not been a very serious injury. It would leave a scar, probably.
Just one more to add to the collection.
He felt the aura of an eternal senshi nearby, finding it familiar but not sure who it was. He moved toward it anyway, because he trusted senshi and he wondered if they might need some company for their patrol or not. It was always a good idea, he found, to move toward auras when he felt them.
He turned a corner and spotted the source, pausing in surprise.
"Athene?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:04 pm
The nearby aura vaguely registered, the dark-haired senshi absently pegging it to be that of an order aura, one that most probably belonged to a Knight if he was to judge by the strength of it. There hadn’t been any other auras nearby and lost as he was in his solitary thoughts, Athene hadn’t sought to try and seek out the source of the aura that his subconscious had labelled as being ‘not-a-threat’. The dark-haired senshi hadn’t realised that the other was quite so close either, startling slightly as a voice called out his name before a small smile flitted across his lips as he recognised the other Knight “Evening Camelot.” Since their first meeting, it seemed that their paths had only crossed when youma were around so it seemed almost strange that for once it was actually quiet.
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Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:18 am
Camelot smiled.
"It's good to see you! You've gotten stronger! How are you doing? I don't think I have seen you in a while, actually." He paused, looking thoughtful as he tried to trace their common history back. He also noted that the memories were tied to youma attacks, and had to hope this meeting broke that trend.
Because he didn't feel like fighting a youma right now. He just wanted to catch up.
On his own part, he looked just the same as he always did, beyond the healing injury on his neck that he had gotten from a recent fight. He was put together and looked calm enough, though he had plenty to be stressed about. He was trying not to think of any of it, but that wasn't helping. There was still something off with the world, or so he felt. Maybe he was just being more and more paranoid.
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Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 11:27 pm
“I guess” Athene didn’t particularly feel stronger, the Eternal rank sitting uncomfortably on the dark-haired senshi’s shoulders. Mayhaps things would have been different if the memories linked to Athene’s upgrade had been less painful, but as it stood it was a stark reminder that he had survived because of another’s sacrifice – to his mind that it was because of his weakness he’d played a direct part in a fellow senshi’s death. It was something that had driven him to try and run away from being a senshi – for all the good it had done. “It has been a while” he agreed quietly – although that had been as much the dark-haired senshi’s fault as it was circumstance – lack of patrolling tended to rather severely limit the opportunities for powered paths to cross after all. “But I’m okay I guess.” It was even true of his civilian life, it was the senshi side of things where he was feeling his feet again. “How are you? I hope things have been well for you.”
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Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:58 am
Camelot saw the distant look on Athene's face, and thought he could recognize it, though not name it. He looked sad, in a way that Camelot himself had felt not too recently. It didn't strike that cord just yet, but he had been responsible for a death as well, though it had been his fault by action rather than by proxy. He'd hit a Negaverse soldier hard enough with his shield to kill her.
it had been a terrible accident.
"They've been complicated," he said, with a shake of his head. "But not terrible. I'm ah. Having a baby."
He wasn't sure why he brought up his civilian life. Maybe because his wife was very pregnant now, and their baby was going to be born soon. Actually join them in the world, and he would have to care for it and protect it. Raise a little human being from birth. He hadn't had that chance with his son, and he worried endlessly that he was going to fail this child, too.
Not to mention the fact that every time he powered up and went out, he had a chance of getting himself killed and leaving his family to fend for themselves. He sighed, anxiety bubbling in his gut.
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Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 5:02 am
“Oh? I’m sorry to hear that” Athene managed a small but genuine smile at the news of Camelot’s impending fatherhood. “But the baby sounds like good news. Congratulations about becoming a father.” The dark-haired assumed that it was the Knight’s first child. Then again it wasn’t as if the dark-haired senshi knew anything about who Camelot was unpowered – civilian lives wasn’t something that had ever come up during their meetings – most likely due to the fact that dusting youma didn’t really leave for much time to talk unpowered activities.
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Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 10:12 am
Camelot chuckled. It did sound like good news, though he was incredibly stressed and worried about it. He wanted their baby to be healthy and happy, and to have a world where it could live in peace and not in constant threat of Chaos. But the deadline for its birth was approaching, and the war still raged.
In a way, Camelot felt like he was introducing his child to danger from the get go. But it at least would have two Knight parents. And a senshi brother, though no one in the family was aware of that.
"Ah, thank you," he said, with a dumb smile. He had a son, but he had not been aware of it until the boy was seventeen. Not really the parenthood he had always imagined, and Nathan had done nothing to really bond with his father after coming to find him. He was basically just a rather annoying roommate.
He shook his head and blushed a bit.
"Well. Uhm. Are you alright? You seem a little off. Well, not off, maybe. But quiet, I think. Is something the matter?" There was some tension in the air, that Camelot was sure he felt.
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 4:41 am
For a moment Athene hesitated before he said quietly “Actually civilian-wise my life is fine” he was doing pretty okay in school and the etsy shop where his cousin sold his jewellery was doing quite well too. It was the other side of his life, the senshi side that was a mess – a mess pretty much of his own making. He sighed, a distant look in eyes as he admitted quietly “My upgrade to this” and by this he meant the whole eternal thing. “Wasn’t the greatest experience for me” he bit his lip. “I know that it means that I’m supposedly stronger – but I…” more hesitation and the words sort of blurted out. “I just don’t feel strong at all!” It was hard to feel strong, when the guilt from the death of the senshi that saved him still weighed so heavily on his thoughts.
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:17 am
Camelot nodded, glad to hear his civilian life was doing okay. It was never easy, juggling two lives that were so vastly different from one another, and not allowing for any overlap. The dangers of having enemies discover secrets, like who was friends with whom, kept it a good idea to keep each part of their existence, powered and not, separate.
Not that Tony was very good at that at all, but still.
Camelot's interest was returned from his wandering thoughts as the senshi began to speak about his upgrade, nodding his head slowly. They weren't usually the easiest of times, at least as far as he had experienced.
"What happened? I mean, if you don't mind my asking. You're an Eternal Senshi now, you're inherently stronger, but if something is holding you back from embracing that, it's something that needs to be sorted through..."
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 1:30 pm
Athene didn’t answer Camelot’s question immediately, silence stretching between the two for a few moments. It had stretched long enough to maybe seem uncomfortable before Athene finally spoke “I got someone killed.” There was a mixture of guilt and bitterness to his quiet voice as he continued “He saved my life, but I… I wasn’t strong enough.” He hadn’t even been able to protect himself from the Nega General, much less protect the other senshi.
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:52 am
Camelot watched Athene quietly, arching his eyebrow in wonder at the silence. He was concerned, and that feeling grew with each moment of quiet thought that lingered. It was like a bad feeling, a weight curled in the pit of his stomach.
The answer was almost what he expected, which he hated. That heavy, guilty silence had led him to the idea, without him being consciously aware of it. He looked at Athene and reached to pat him lightly on the shoulder.
"It wasn't your fault, Athene," he said calmly, with a wealth of understanding he wished he didn't have. He had seen his fair share of death, and had caused more than he wanted on his conscience. By accident, mostly, though the guilt was heavy whether it was an enemy or an ally that fell in battle.
"This is a war... and there are casualties. We do our best to avoid them, but there are some things that are beyond our control. I'm sure you did what you could."
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Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:11 am
“But it was my fault” the guilt was something that had festered in the dark-haired senshi over the past three months, some of it showing in the words tumbling out. “He died trying to save me because I couldn’t even protect myself – he saved me from having my star seed stolen and I…” his voice caught for a moment “I couldn’t even protect him back.” It had been the intervention of the Destiny City police that had ended things – that had driven the Nega General off. Athene was sure the approaching sirens had been the only thing that had stopped her trying to kill them all. “It’s just – what’s the point of supposedly having strength if you can’t protect what’s important?” His voice was quiet after his previous outburst.
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:26 am
"Then you must learn to use this new power of yours to protect yourself, and those around you. You can do it, whether you think you can or not is the question. Your powers are only the start of it, they won't do everything for you, no matter what rank you are. You need to believe in yourself, and train yourself. It's not possible to save everyone, believe me, I know, and there will always be enemies out there that are simply too powerful. But that doesn't mean you should give up on yourself."
He shook his head, looking thoughtful for a moment.
"I killed a Negaverse soldier not too long ago. I used the strength I have and I hit her on the back of the head with my shield. She died, and it was not something I meant to do. It is up to us to find the balance, between strength and temperance, to defend without fear but know when to escape. It's overwhelming, sometimes, and scary."
He smiled softly, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders a bit in thought. He had not really spoken about that before, though it probably would have done him better to do so. He took a breath.
"If you don't feel comfortable patrolling alone, perhaps you should find someone to team with for now?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 4:41 pm
“I have no idea what my new power does” Athene admitted. He’d never used his eternal senshi ability, although despite this part of Athene knew that he somehow knew the words to use. The dark-haired senshi was unable to hide his surprise at Camelot’s revelation that he had killed someone, his grey eyes flecked with green visibly surprised beneath the semi-wireless black framed glasses he wore. “I…” he fell silent for a few moments, not sure what to say – the knight was the last person who the dark-haired senshi could picture taking a life. “I guess I can patrol with someone” he said at last, Athene thought that one of the other Shepherds might if he asked and if not – well he’d never had a problem with temporary team ups. He bit his lip again “Do you think it’s possible to be involved in all of this without killing anyone?” He asked suddenly. It seemed that quite a few people involved in this whole war thing had – and not all of them were on the chaos side. Athene had made a personal promise to himself after the horrible aftermath of the senshi and knight meeting that he would never kill anyone – he wasn't sure of his own path in this whole thing anymore, but Athene knew that he didn’t want this whole war thing to turn him into a murderer.
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