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 Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:54 am
The end of summer was almost upon them, and with it came a new set of responsibilities. Businesses picked up for the holiday season while students and teachers went back to school. For Valhalla, the start of his new classes were coming up, and that meant he would have less time to work on the house between homework, patrol, and everything else he’d willingly taken onto his shoulders.
He didn’t mind it. It kept him busy. He wasn’t to the point of needing to map out everything he did during the day, but he could see the appeal of doing so.
Valhalla had chosen one of the many parks in the city for his area of patrol that night — it was an area he’d found to be active with activity from time to time, whether it was others patrolling, youma, or agents of Chaos willing to talk. The weather was still nice at the very least, which made patrolling more pleasant, so long as there were no fairweather youma around.
Today there didn’t seem to be much going on, aside from the occasional civilian taking their dogs on evening strolls. The knight of Jupiter took his place hopefully just out of sight, leaning up against a tree as his fingers subconsciously fiddled with the rings of his gyrocompass. Of course, he didn’t realize the reflection of of the lamp lights on the moving metal might give away his position. He was never the best at being super secretive.
Maybe ten more minutes and he would call it a night...
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:07 pm
"You're a knight..." The young woman's voice trailed off, making it not entcarirely clear if she meant it as a question, or a statement, but her wide, dark eyes were fixed on Valhalla intently.
Aside from this unusually well informed opinion, she... seemed for the most part to be a civilian. Her long hair, the blue-white of polar ice was braided crudely, stray hairs attempting to take flight from the cord of it down her back, cool and distinct even against the lilac button down, and black lace trimmed tank she was wearing.
There were dark circles under her eyes, and her fingers alternately worried at the cardboard shield around the steaming coffee-drink she was holding, and the sturdy signet ring on her finger.
"...Not one of Chronos' knights though." She noted, slowly, processing this. The colors weren't right. She knew that much.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:17 pm
Valhalla’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he whirled around to face the young woman who’d approached him. Youma and Negaverse officers, even Senshi, were easy to sense because of the auras that surrounded them, but civilians...? Not so much.
The gyrocompass slipped from his fingers as he fumbled it, trying to get a better hold, but it ended up bouncing against the side of his leg, held attached to his belt by a chain with small green stones. He wasn’t used to people so casually walking up to him, what with all the claims of terrorism going around, but he forced a smile nonetheless.
“Jupiter,” he corrected gently with a lopsided grin. He was surprised she knew about the knights at all, especially that of Chronos, seeing as... well... most knights hailed from the known planets in their solar system. “I take it you’ve met some of us before...?” he cautioned a guess, relaxing a little now that he’d had a few moments to let his heart settle.
“I’m Valhalla,” he added, looking her over to make sure she was uninjured out of habit.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:34 pm
"Well..." She waffled, trying to figure out how much to admit to. Would he be ashamed of her for not patrolling? Walking around powered up like the senshi and other knights did?
"A...few. I know Pharos and some the other Chronos knights. And I met a few senshi." She explained and then added. "In the battle at the surrounding."
The one everyone thought was a big drug haze. Everyone but them. She thought grimly, stomach lurching a little. She sipped her drink to settle it. Vanilla latte. She didn't want chocolate tonight, for a change. "I was there."
She didn't remember if he had been, but there had been a great many people she'd seen only in passing. Anything was possible. Hell... it probably really was, in a universe where the dead might spontaneously become a shower of golden sparkles... or people might reappear from similar showers, reborn. Was that how all knights came to be? Maybe she'd just missed seeing it fo some of the other Chronos knights. Maybe she should just suck it up. The universe obviously thought she could be tapped for the job.
...The universe also gave her an accessory to use for battle.
...******** the damn universe.
"Were you? I know a lot of the White Moon court came to help bring us home."
Not that they'd found it easy, she remembered, thinking of writing letters on the peeled labels of canned soup. It wasn't his fault though.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:57 pm
The smile on his face grew as she mentioned Pharos, but it quickly faltered when she brought up the Surrounding. It had been almost exactly two years since he’d first gotten word of a number of civilians being stuck in space. It couldn’t have been easy... for her or for anyone who’d been involved... especially during the final battle.
“I was,” he confirmed with a small nod, sympathy in his eyes as he remembered how all the civilians had died... He remembered packing bags of food and supplies for the civilians trapped there, remembered cleaning out the pools with Babylon to give them a chance to bathe... He remembered pleading with Princess Chronos to do something about the mirrors that allowed the Dark Mirror Senshi through, how he and others had tried covering them or turning them upside down to keep them from allowing access to the Surrounding... But it was all in vain.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said, forcing a small smile to return, although he couldn’t stop some of the guilt he still felt at not being able to help them sooner. They shouldn’t have needed to wait so long to get them home safely.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:08 pm
"Well... Pharos has kittens and that seems to be all she needs." She offered, with an thin lipped grimace that was at least half jealousy. "I see a therapist who thinks it was all some kind of LSD haze or dreams. I guess Ok is kind of relative. Gives me a new appreciation when they play M.A.S.H reruns." She admitted, wearily.
She paused for a moment, twisting her ring again and then burst out, quiet but intense.
"How do you DO it? How the hell do you keep getting back out and using your powers after seeing something like that? I mean... people... people died out there and it was really horrible, and so many of the people that came to help us were just kids... How do you just get back in the saddle? How can going home and petting a cat be enough to say "I feel ok now, I can move on with my life?"
With the dark circles under her eyes starting to look slightly bruise like after a particularly rough patch, her intense stare was practically enough to burn a hole in something, her tone indicating that this question was very important to her, though not necessarily why.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:31 pm
“Everyone’s wired differently,” he agreed to her comment about Pharos and her kittens, trying not to smile at the thought of that flighty, almost naive knight of Chronos. It wasn’t that he thought poorly of her. On the contrary, he greatly appreciated the way she offered her own perspective on things.
Valhalla stared at her when she asked how he did it, taken almost by surprise once more. How did he do it...? Sometimes, he wondered that himself.
“This life isn’t for everyone,” he said, wanting her to make sure he didn’t think she was weak or wrong for not being able to handle it like others. To watch others fight and die... it couldn't be easy, especially for a civilian. “We don’t get much of a choice when we’re thrown into this... One of my best friends, a knight, moved away from here, others I know just don’t power up, and that’s okay.”
He took in a breath to center himself, wanting to give her the most sincere answer. Just as he could tell this question was serious for her, he wanted her to know he just wasn’t going to throw around the reasoning behind why he did it, himself.
“I want to protect the people I care about. If I can do... even just a little. I don’t want the Negaverse or the Dark Mirror Court to think they’ve won. And if I power up, maybe that will keep someone else from getting dragged into this war.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 2:40 pm
"I only ever wanted to make chocolates." She protested, spinning the ring on her finger still. "That was it. That was my one big thing, I was going to go to Germany and Belgium and study chocolate making."
She reached out for the power she hadn't tapped since... she wasn't sure how long ago it had been now. Since Mimistrobell had tried to choke the life out of her... and changed.
When she had first awakened as a knight, it had been in a beam of light, summoned from death itself to protect her princess. This transformation was... considerably more subtle, but perhaps no less startling.
"I just... I mean... we won. We got everyone home. We won the day with... with hope and glowy-pixie-dust or what have you and I just... I come home and I feel like I haven't stopped being scared. I mean..."
"I mean a youma...thing chewed me to death, trying to defend injured people with a stupid tray of my stupid fudge." Her voice was cracking. Oh god here came the stupid water works. She dug her nails hard into her palms to keep from crying. "It's been two years and I'm so tired of being scared, and I don't know what to do about it, and I feel like I'm supposed to be able to get on with it but I don't know how."
She honestly wasn't fond of her Page... uniform. Thing. But it wasn't the point. Maybe the point was that she wanted to be scolded for being foolish. For being afraid now when she'd come back from the dead, and stood next to her princess and been a part of the glowing, warmth and power that had banished the darkness.
"And I don't know what happened to almost anyone and I kind of want to throttle Pharos because I don't know how she can be so happy all the time when she was right there and I am a colossal and horrible and selfish jerk and I keep thinking how moronic I sounded back then. And probably right now because I am not your problem."
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 3:01 pm
Whatever he’d been expecting, it certainly wasn’t to see her power up so suddenly. He felt the aura before she’d made the complete change, and his eyes widened in surprise.
Valhalla wouldn’t dare to say that he knew what she was going through. He didn’t want to negate her struggles and her triumphs by making it seem as though everyone went through the same thing. He knew first hand that others had a rough time being powered as well.
She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and despite the little voice in the back of his head telling him that she might just want her own space, he moved forward, reaching out to wrap them around her. He hugged her tightly, but if there was any sign of struggling, he would release her right away. Valhalla wasn’t the type to be touchy feely, but when others expressed themselves so sincerely, he found he couldn’t help it.
“No, you’re not my problem,” he agreed, holding her all the while, hoping his cape would be enough of an incentive for her to hide her face if she needed to... or wipe her nose on or whatever she felt like... “But you’re also not alone. You don’t have to do this by yourself.”
He didn’t know how his older brother did it, pushing people away and refusing to become too close to others. He knew it would be difficult if someone got hurt or worse, but there had to be more than just fighting and going home.
“You’re not horrible or selfish,” he promised, relaxing his hold a little for her to pull free easier if she wanted. “No one is going to force you to do something you don’t want to, and they also have no right to think poorly of you for following your dreams... I’m still following mine... My better half is following hers... You’re not alone," he repeated, wanting to emphasize it, "And you’re definitely not the only one scared and confused and feeling lost... There are many who would like to help you figure things out if you'll let them, myself included...”
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 3:57 pm
She bawled. She couldn't help it. The hug brought her to the brink, and the words 'not alone' pushed her over, like she'd just lept off the brink of a waterfall, without knowing how she'd land.
It hurt, but in a Catharthic way, like she'd needed to for a long time but somehow hadn't quite gotten to that point, and she cried even though she was ashamed to, because she needed to.
"I'm sorry, I just... I don't know." She sniffled, when she could finally get some kind of control over her voice, if not the tears, which were still flowing freely down her face, in spite of her best efforts.
"I mean I do... I... I want to know. I can't pretend it's not real. That doesn't work. I have to do something."
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:40 pm
At first Valhalla thought he might have gone too far and had upset her even more, but when she didn’t struggle to pull away, he settled as well. She didn’t know him, and he didn’t know her, but with everything going on around them, he was always humbled when someone revealed their identity to him. Even though she didn’t know if she could really trust him, that act alone made him never want to let her down.
“It’s okay,” he tried reassuring her, petting at the hood covering her hair in what he hoped was a comforting manner. “I’ll help in any way I can, alright...?” He wanted to make sure it was okay with her before overloading her with information he thought might be necessary. If she wanted to take some time to figure things out on her own first, that was fine with him.
“Let’s just take this one step at a time, okay...? What’s your name?” he prompted, hoping that would ease her into trying to figure things out.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:14 pm
"Holid...Oh..." She dabbed her eyes with the scarf, which was at least good for that. "Hara Berezaiti." Wait, which one did he want?
She hesitated, confused, bouncing the options back and forth in her head and finally asked.
"Wait... you mean the name of my Wonder or...my... real name?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 8:56 am
Valhalla laughed softly, not because he thought she was stupid, but because he realized there was a little more to it than just introducing oneself. He hadn’t meant to confuse her, just try to get her to talk a little.
“Here, maybe this will help,” he offered, taking a step back so he could power down. The helmet disappeared first, as though magically turning into dust and disappearing. “Let’s try this again... I’m Valhalla... and also Chris. To me, they’re both my real names. That doesn’t mean you have to think of yourself as one person. There are senshi and knights out there who try separating their lives as much as possible. It’s just whatever makes you feel comfortable...”
It might be weird for him to show her his civilian self before they’d even been introduced, but he’d seen her power up, so why not...?
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 9:54 am
Fidgiting was obviously the name of the game as Holi wrung at the slightly soggy pink scarf, managing a somewhat feeble smile when he powered down.
"Hi, Cris." She'd have to remember that."I'm Holiday, but most people just use Holi. Or... Hara. Because Hara Berizaiti sounds like someone sneezed."
She grimaced appologetically, and shrugged. "...Yes it's... really Holiday."
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:17 pm
Chris smiled wider when she introduced herself, nodding in understanding. “It’s nice to meet you, Holiday.”
If anything, he hoped knowing at least one person both as powered and civilian would help her come to terms with what was going on in her life. He knew now how much it had helped his partner to know his identity, and while no one was the same, maybe it would be something.
“You’ll get through this, okay? We’ll figure this out… Not just you and me, I mean, but with everyone you meet,” he promised. He knew it was a bit lofty of a promise, but as long as she was willing to work on it, he would be there to help. Ryuthulhu Sorry, I thought I tagged this already! ;; I'm okay with calling this done if you are! <3
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