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 Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:35 pm
There were certain things that Kyndall had been forced to accept as part of marrying the man she loved. First it was learning that the man she had a crush on was also the knight that she desired as well. And then that evolved into a friendship that had turned to the deep and abiding love she had for him now. Their family meant everything in the world to her. Recently, though, she fretted and worried about the safety of her family. She and Tony were knights in this war and her stepson was an Eternal senshi. For all she knew her daughter was involved, too, and it was one of her greatest worries.
Needless to say a phone call in the middle of the night explaining that her husband and stepson were in the hospital was not something she particularly needed or wanted to receive. It certainly wouldn't help with her constant worries that they were in danger pretty much all the time without her there to help them. She had no idea what occurred yet and maybe didn't want to know that a hand was wrapped around her husband's starseed by a very powerful King of the Negaverse.
"Stay there! I'm on my way."
Kyn lingered long enough to ask Harmony to babysit her little sister and headed to the hospital as fast as she legally could, and then some. Once she burst into the reception doors she found a desk and asked eagerly after her husband and son. When she was pointed in the right direction she jogged until she found them both and threw her arms around Tony first, grateful that he was alright. She hugged him and planted kisses everywhere on his face. There were tears in her eyes and she hoped an explanation not too far behind.
"Are you determined to give me a heart attack Anthony Edmund Darrow?"
She was upset and relieved and not thinking entirely clearly considering. Forgetting how much her stepson didn't particularly like her he received equal treatment with tears and kisses and hugs alike. She searched him over for any sign of anything wrong that a doctor might have missed before being satisfied that he, too, was going to be ok.
"And you Nathan Anthony Darrow! What am I going to do with you both? Look at your leg!"
He'd inherited a family whether he wanted one or not and couldn't be bothered with anything he tried to say or do to stop her motherly affection. He'd be using crutches for sure and she was scared for him both.
"Reckless, that's what you both are. Completely reckless! What would I do without either of you..?"
It was at that point she broke down crying entirely.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:00 pm
Tony knew he was going to be in trouble when he called Kyndall from the hospital, but what else could he do? Let her find out what had happened later, when she saw them hobbling home? He imagined it would be far worse that way, and she would be even more furious with them for not telling her immediately.
It was one of those situations that it was difficult to win, either way.
Tony was tired. Very tired. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that he had not had time enough to properly figure it all out. Let alone deal with the weight of some of the things he now knew, what he had seen and been through. He would need time to process, but for now he just needed to focus on his son and his family.
Nathan, for his part, was looking fine. Grumpy to be stuck in a hospital bed with his leg being set in a cast, but fine. He had not spoken to Tony since their trip to the hospital, which had been enough. Neither Darrow really knew what to say, now that they were both on level footing as far as knowing each other's secret identities went.
Tony opened his mouth to say something, but Kyndall burst in right at that moment. He caught her and hugged her to him tightly, moreso than he intended, but he was relieved and happy to see her. He did not want to make her cry, and he would explain himself, but for now he was just keen on holding her and nodding his way through her yelling at him.
She had every right to worry: she didn't know the half of it yet.
And wouldn't until later.
"It's fine, we're okay," he said, looking at her pleadingly. He had his wrist in a cast and a bruise on his face, but other than that he seemed to be in one piece. "Don't cry, love, we're alright. Right Nate?"
"Right," he grunted at length, sighing but relaxing a bit and watching them. They both did care a lot about him, and for once he didn't feel like holding that against them.
Tony looked at Kyndall, shaking his head. "Nate's going to stay here tonight, but I can come home with you. I have a lot to tell you..."
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:17 pm
She knew Nathan was a senshi and that he husband was a knight but Nathan didn't know she knew and she couldn't say anything without him guessing that she wasn't all she appeared to be, either. She let herself be soothed from her tears little by little. She had the feeling his a lot to talk about had nothing to do with a traffic accident or some other trivial thing that could land people in the hospital with broken bones. Oh, no, she was imagining trouble of another variety.
"He can't come home with us? He should be in his own bed with...cookies and milk and..."
She looked heartily frustrated not to be able to dote on both of the men in her life. Her tension with Nathan be damned, he was her son and he was hurt. She needed to be able to fix that. Kyndall didn't know how much of a maternal influence he'd had in his life, though she knew he had a mother at some point, but it didn't matter. He had one now. Big worried tears were still slipping silently down her cheeks.
"Alright." There was nothing she could do about it. She touched Nate's cheek gently with her hand. "We'll be by in the morning to come and get you, ok? I'll make pancakes or something when we get home."
She slipped her hand into her husband's good hand and let herself be led from the room. Neither of them was really in a position to drive but she figured it fell to her still. It was probably a good thing that Harmony had Sarah or else a tense situation might have been strained further but all the big sister had to do was hear why she needed to babysit and she was all for it.
"Harmony has Sarah. She wanted to come but someone needed to take care of the baby. We have the house alone until the morning."
Once they were signed out and in the parking lot Kyn looked at him sideways in the moonlight. They were alone, or nearly so, enough that she felt confident saying what was really on her mind.
"Ok, Tony, spill. This wasn't just some random injury. What happened? I knew this would happen. We have a family and I have to worry about you going out every night and Nathan, too, how am I supposed to be ok with all of this?"
She leaned against the hood of her car, looking at him. Her arms were wrapped around her body because she felt small and scared and vulnerable.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:39 pm
Tony looked at her, and for a long moment he did not know how to answer her demands. He wanted to tell her everything, but there was so much to say, he was not sure where to start. How to start. He looked at her and he saw the woman he loved, the woman he fought for. Memories of her had helped him in that battle: his need to protect her and their family had likely saved him, at the end of the day.
He looked at her, though, and couldn't bring himself to explain it so easily. Words were failing him.
"Alright," he said, taking a breath. Come with me." He motioned to her car, wanting her to toss him the keys so he could drive them out of there. Once he did, and she was in the car, he took them out of the city, toward the woods, without saying anything much. He parked off the road and walked her a little distance away from the car.
There he found a small area, and stopped, looking at her.
"Okay, sorry. I just... needed to get away from everything. Everyone. Listen, darling. This is all going to sound very crazy and upsetting, but just... let me show you this first, and then I'll tell you everything."
He took a breath and then powered up for her, except he was not the Knight she knew. His aura was much larger, which was why he wanted them to be isolated, just in case anyone might feel him power up, and his armor was completely different now. He looked at her, and quickly explained to her what happened during the fight, from throwing Lina from his shield to stabbing Zinkenite and then, finally, nearly getting his starseed corrupted.
"Zinkenite had his hand in my chest, but instead of killing me or corrupting me, this happened. I became Camelot, Templar of Earth. I haven't explored it yet, but I know things. I remember things... I... I don't know. What do you think?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:00 am
Kyn surrendered the keys as he expected and followed him into the car. It was probably just as well, she was shaking like a leaf. Content to ride in silence, his wife continued to hug herself and try to steady her emotions with limited success. She wasn't sure what this was all about but as they headed out of the city she shook her head in confusion. This wasn't the way home to her bed and toward a glass of wine though she wasn't supposed to be drinking.
"Where are we going?"
When they parked she got out of the car and continued to look surprised at her husband. What was this all about? She'd never really seen him be this mysterious. When he powered up her jaw literally dropped. She stared, not really comprehending what she was seeing. Templar. She'd never imagined such a thing was possible? She could be stronger? How did? But then as he proceeded to explain the events of the evening it didn't really alleviate her confusion or her fear.
"Are you NUTS?"
While it was all wonderful and all that the Earth chose him for this honor how was she supposed to feel any better about this? Their son nearly got himself killed by picking on the wrong person and her husband was confessing to have a hand around his god damned starseed nearly killed or, worse, corrupted. Her tears came back and suddenly she felt very weak. Without realizing it her knees gave out from under her and she sank to the ground, sobbing.
"What if you had died? Or, worse, corrupted? What would I do without you? Would you remember me? Sarah?"
She started having a panic attack, struggling to breath as she hyperventilated. She wasn't thinking about the god damned war. She was thinking as a wife who had a lot to lose. She wanted very much to slap him but couldn't seem to breathe or get off the ground.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:17 am
Camelot watched her and felt terribly guilty, moving to kneel beside her. He powered down, not wanting anything to feel the power aura he was giving off, as he was not used to it yet and he did not know how far it would reach, or who would be drawn to it. He did not want to risk her safety, though, and for that he was content to power down and stoop next to her as a simple civilian. Her loving husband, first and foremost.
"Darling..."
He could not console her: not really. he had felt like he was going to die, and had even asked for it. Over being corrupted, his choice would be death every time. He would not be left to go and hurt those he cared about, those he might have forgotten about. The amount of Chaos that would have been needed to corrupt him as a Knight might have left him not caring if he did remember anyone.
He did not know. He could not risk it. That unknown was just too much, and all he could do was fear it. But he did not feel like a coward for it: his fear stemmed from his desire to protect and serve. The people he knew, the secrets he kept, could not be given to the Negaverse through him, and he certainly could not be used as a catalyst for their destruction. He believed too deeply in his purpose, in the fight against Chaos, that falling to it was a nightmare beyond anything he could comprehend.
But now? Now things were different. He could fight a different way. He had powers he did not fully understand and he had the ability to combat Chaos in a new way.
Seeing Kyndall crying, though, put all those fears and thoughts aside in his mind. He touched his hand to her cheek gently, guiding her to look at him. "I'm here, darling. Whatever is keeping watch over me, it wouldn't let them take me from you. And I won't let them, not now. I had to defend my son, I couldn't leave him. You would have done the same thing for him, or for Harmony. He had no idea what he was getting into, and he learned it the hard way. But we're both still here."
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:35 am
"But what if next time you're not?"
It was hard to managed between great heaving breaths and sobs. She felt like something was sitting on her chest and forcing all of the air out of her lungs on purpose. Kyn was having a hard time focusing on anything else. Yes, she would have defended Nathan or Harmony to her own death just like he had been willing to, of course, but the idea that they would have, that this was a reality now that she could not unhear, terrified her down to her marrow. If he had died would she have gotten a call? Would Nathan have been next? It was too much to think about.
"What if the next time no one's around to help Nathan? He'll be lost to us both."
She was still much too caught up in her own worries to process any of this properly. Later on she might be excited or even proud of his accomplishment. Later on she might think about his status as Templar in a good light, something for her own self to strive for to help as he did and perhaps establish a team for the both of them, shepherding the entirety of the flock of knights as a husband and wife Templar team. For right now, though, she was upset and scared, and angry.
"Tony would you please do me a favor and stop acting so god damned calm?"
Kyndall was not the type to curse very often, except in her own head, and certainly didn't do it without purpose. So she meant the explicative even as she looked in his eyes as she said it. It really didn't seem fair for him to be so calm when she was freaking the ******** out. She clung to him and buried her face in his shoulder unable to think very clearly. All she kept imagining was her family leaving her again and being alone. Didn't he realize how looming a fear that was to her? It took her a few moments but she finally got her breathing under control.
"Did I ever tell you what happened to my family, my twin and my mother and father?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:08 am
Tony watched her, frowning and shaking his head. He did not have any answers to her questions, just struggling to comprehend everything himself. He knew full well how close he had come to dying, and that some magical fluke had kept him from it or worse. He did not need her to tell him that, that was for sure.
Still, his guilt was evident on his face, and he watched her with a frown, soft and concerned.
"You've mentioned it... in passing.. darling, I don't think we should talk about this now. You've already had a lot to deal with, all at once: I don't want to keep pushing you." And he'd had a lot to deal with, too. He watched her for a long moment and then stood, offering her his hand to help her to his feet.
"Maybe we should go home?"
If she wanted to, she could tell him on the way there, that way she could finish her story and get what she needed to off her chest, and he could take her home and put her to bed so she could sleep some of this off before they had to go and pick Nate up the next day.
And, really, he needed a stiff drink.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:39 am
Kyn could appreciate that he felt guilty and probably didn't need to rub it in that he'd nearly died. He knew that and was probably reeling from it. She was still largely unable to process it, though, and was still very scared for him and her family. Just the same she allowed him to her her to her feet and toward the car. She was still shaking like a twig but at least she wasn't sobbing or hyperventilating anymore. So, progress.
"You don't understand," she began when he mentioned her not talking about her family. "Tony, they all died."
It wasn't like they'd died in a car accident or of old age or anything like that. They'd all died in rapid succession, one after the other in the course of three months. It was one of the darkest periods of her life and probably wouldn't have pulled out of it the way she had if Harmony hadn't come along. It was a huge chunk of her history, and of her fear, and he needed to know. She wasn't just paranoid for the hell of it. Her fear stemmed from other things.
"My sister Syndall and I moved to the city to make it as stars when we were children, sixteen. We thought we could conquer the world. It was hard on us both. We weren't prepared for any of it."
As she spoke she twisted the locked she almost always wore. Inside was a picture of her twin, a memorial to the loss she felt that day. As they drove home she found some sort of catharsis in being able to speak the words aloud, nearly twenty years later. It occurred to her that she'd never really faced them before. It ate away at her and she buried it down because there was always too much else to focus on.
"After one rejection too many Syn took her own life. I came home and found her. It was..." Like losing a limb. Like losing half of her own heart. Indescribable to anyone that did not know what it was like to have someone so close as a twin and then have them taken away. She sighed and didn't continue with that. "Daddy died of a heart attack two weeks to the day after Syn's funeral. Mama...I took care of Mama as best I could but she couldn't handle losing Syn and Daddy so quickly together and I think she died of a broken heart a few weeks later."
She looked at him, wondering now if he understood why her fear was so dire and why it seemed to overwhelm her. Everything she knew had been taken from her in a scant few months and until Harmony came along nearly a year later it was still just her. It took her so long to open her heart and could not survive losing a second family. She just wasn't strong enough for that.
"Do you understand? This is hard for me. So hard. I need you."
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:16 pm
Tony listened to her, frowning as he did. He shook his head, not thinking it was a good time for her to be reliving her worst memories, and not really liking himself for forcing her to relive that fear every time he powered up. But he knew, and she knew, that this was what they had been called to do. She would do the same for her daughter, for him, and for their family as he had done.
He did not want her to suffer, though, and he hated seeing her so upset. He held her to him, not letting her pull away from him. He kissed her on the cheek gently, keeping her close to him and letting her feel the warmth of his embrace.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm still your Knight, above all else. I am your husband, and the man who wants to live the rest of his life with you. I won't throw that away, not willingly, not for anything. If I can protect you, I will, but if I can live for you, I will find a way to do that."
Tony was afraid that she did not understand him, that she thought he could leave her. He loved her with all his soul, and to her he was bound.
"Darling, I can't give you back what you lost, but from me you can take anything you need, anything you want. If I could give you the world, I would. I know what you're scared of, and I can't say that this war hasn't been difficult and dangerous, but I am sincere in my promises to you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I love you."
He brushed her cheek lightly with the back of his fingers, watching her thoughtfully.
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:42 pm
"I know you had to protect him, Tony. If it were me I would have done the same thing for you, for Nathan, for Harmony."
They were family. It was their family to protect and she understood all too well that his sense of honor was keen on this point. That didn't make it any less terrifying for her when he powered up or make it any easier to hear that he'd been asking for death and not corruption earlier that night with a hand around his starseed. She was a wife, after all, and so deeply in love with her husband he and their children were practically the entirety of her world.
"I wasn't whole until you found me. I didn't know what love was until you cared for me. You are my best friend, Tony." She sighed and breathed in his scent, clutching him like a drowning man would hold onto a life preserver. "I won't survive ever losing you."
She was convinced that if he ever did leave would be the day she'd simply give up like her mother had. There would be nothing else in this world that could fulfill her as much as he did. No one she could talk to as she spoke to him. No one she could trust or turn to with as much. She believed him to be her soul mate, a missing piece she had not been able to conceive of until it was dropped back into place.
"I love you."
She kissed him with the tears drying on her cheeks. She believed him when he made his promises as much as she knew sometimes life made other plans they were not aware of. She held him and tried to calm her shaking, process what he'd just shown her and told her. It took a long time and a few more tears before she was finally breathing without errant sobs. She was not just mourning everything that had happened to him but the family that had been taken from her that she didn't allow herself to think about before and had unwittingly affected every other aspect of her life without her knowing. The terror it put in her struck her heart more than she'd known as she thought about it. How he managed to break past that fear to allow her to care again...she'd never know.
"I'm holding you to that promise. The rest of our lives. I love you so much."
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:52 pm
"I know, my love. I wouldn't survive it either, losing you. Let's not think about it, while we're here together, okay? We have the time together now, and that's what is the most important thing, and more than we can ask on any other day, don't you think?"
He knew she loved him and that she was just scared. It was a lot to take in all at once. After all, she had nearly lost him and Nathan in one fell swoop. And worse, she could have had a Negaverse version of her husband to deal with. Instead, though, they had all survived, and he was granted more power to help them in their fight. It meant more commitment and effort, but he was willing so long as he had her by his side.
He let her cuddle him, standing in the quiet woods and waiting for her tears to subside, and her breathing to even out. He looked down at her, to see how she was doing, smoothing his hand through her hair gently.
"You know, I remember you in our past lives a bit more. The man I was before... he wanted to say hello to you, but didn't know how. So he followed you, and said nothing, and was generally creepy. And that was how our past lives met." He smiled at her lovingly, finding that he had been just as much of an idiot in love in his past life as he was now. Though there were some memories of that life that he was not going to share with her so willingly.
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:09 pm
She laughed in spite of herself and looked up at him as if to say yes, she understood. He wasn't much better now. Kyn knew quite a few things about her husband but he was not the suave Don Juan shown in the movies. In fact it was what was so imperfect about him that she found at once infuriating and endearing. It was his awkwardness that first attracted her and how easily he blushed at her teasing. It grew, of course, to so much more than that but the end was the same. His imperfection was perfect in her eyes.
"Doesn't surprise me. I hope that you finally did work up the nerve. Or he did."
It was still strange to her to think it was her that lived all that time ago in another time and place and that, somehow, he was there then and here now. It only reinforced her idea that they would always find each other. They were destined to find one another. She belonged to him and he to her. Not even death or time could sever that connection.
She looked at him, pulling away to cross her arms over her chest, considering a moment.
"Ok. Show me again what happened to you?"
She meant the Templar, of course. Now that she was sort of dealing with things a bit better her mind was finally able to process curiosity again. She'd been too busy freaking out before to really appreciate what he'd shown her or what all this meant for him and for her as well. It showed her there was something else to strive for, a new level to reach in their fight. By God, she'd do whatever she could to ensure her family's survival.
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:46 pm
Tony watched her, then nodded his head and took a step back. He took a breath again, closing his eyes and powering up one more time. He would have to get used to the new way it felt, the strange power that was new and at once ancient and so deeply connected to him that it startled him.
Opening his eyes, the Templar smiled at her feebly. He still did not feel any Chaos auras around them, so they were safe there in the little clearing, for now. Hopefully nothing came their way to investigate.
"There we are. This is Camelot, Templar of Earth, it seems. I very much like my new cape, don't you?"
He hadn't really had a chance to admire his new look, with all his emotions running so high up until this moment. He grinned at her, looking bashful and clearing his throat. He was worried what she might think of him, and that was just his sheepish, lovesick side flaring up again. he wanted her to be impressed by him.
He was her knight, after all.
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 11:01 pm
Kyn powered up, too, shortly after he did. She couldn't help it. The ancient power that lived in him now connected the source of her power and called to her. Earth called to its own and she was it's knight. The aura he had was different and overwhelming. She felt it as clear as the summer sky and as keenly as a sharpened knife. She took a moment to consider him, walking around him in a circle as he waited.
Never. There would never be a point in time when she was not attracted to him or impressed by him. Everything he was reminded her of a myth about the heroic knight come to rescue his maiden fair. He was her knight and she was his lass.
"You look..." She gave him a helpless look and a lopsided smile. "amazing. You look so handsome, Tony. I can hardly believe it's you."
It was still a hell of a lot to absorb but she was trying to at least. That was progress. Kyn powered down and leaned back against a tree just watching him like the lovesick woman she was. He made her feel like a teenager every time she saw him. It wasn't long before she left her resting place against the tree and instead wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately. Not just in relief that he was alive or amazement for this new and awe inspiring change. It was for everything that he was.
"You're always out to outdo me, aren't you?"
Her lips curved in just a hint of a smile to show him she was teasing but honestly, he was so perfect sometimes it was just plain scary.
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