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 Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:18 am
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Aloysius had begun his patrol route, just at Natron had told him. It wasn't as hard as he thought but so far it was a bit uneventful. He noted the actions of the random bystanders which walked the streets below, it was quickly becoming a hobby of his to write down the actions that he could tell were recurring as the night went on. Many a couple walked hand in hand, even more common were the individuals with earbuds in their own little worlds. He liked those more than the couples, there were so many more options of what was going on in their minds. They could be thinking about the day or something even more internal, maybe they could be thinking about what to do or where to go. The ideas keep pouring through his mind until one very grim one came to him, what if they were an alien? What if that hooded stranger that he so admired was one of those aliens that Natron had spoken of?
Many thoughts ran through his head, ranging from what he could write his next book about to how the heck he would even stand up against an alien at this point in time. That was a fact that kinda hurt his pride, but he would remedy that as quickly as he could. As he sat and smoked his E-cig, he pondered his first moves. Negotiations came to mind first since that was something he could have some sort of sway in. The negaverse might be overjoyed if he managed to bring someone over to their side on his first patrol. That idea brought a fox-like smile to his face as he let a small cloud of smoke billow out of the corner of his mouth. The strong smell of hazelnut overpowered the french vanilla in this batch of liquid, for a moment he wondered if the smell might be apparent to any nearby aliens.
"I guess I shall save my vices for later." He put the E-cig away and went on to the next roof, almost immediately regretting it. He swore slightly as he spotted someone and hid as best he could behind the tall air conditioning unit. The only detail he could really tell was that the figure was female, if he could get a better look then he might know more but that was not a risk he wanted to take just yet. He hoped that the fading smell of Hazelnut wouldn't give his position away. He would eventually have to face this person but not until he could figure out more or if they approach him. "Maybe they are just a regular person? At least that would be for the best at this point in time. Maybe if the move closer I can try and disarm them or if given the option, simply talk with them."
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Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:37 pm
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Leda wasn't sure why she bothered to power up today. It still felt... Wrong, like now she wore a murderer's garb or something instead of just a sailor fuku. No bloodstains blemished her uniform, her skin, her face, but... She still saw the scene, sometimes, in her periphery. Like the older woman was just waiting for her in her own ethereal pool of blood. It scared her, sometimes, when she patrolled alone in the evenings.
That Negaverse agent didn't help much, either. Something was very wrong with him, after the older woman fell, but neither of them really understood it. Maybe he was always that way, but it never occurred to her until afterward. Either way, just thinking of him sent her into a fit of jitters.
Now Leda patrolled listlessly, searching for auric energies from safer rooftops, where she might find a youma to dust or a senshi to comfort. All of her tasks felt mechanical, like she wasn't really there anymore, but she continued nonetheless. Her talk with Persephone only worsened her mood, yet it fueled some desire to keep trying to hold people together, even if it only postponed the inevitable. Maybe that was a stupid idea... Maybe they really were aliens. It didn't really matter, as long as she did something. If she stopped, if she quit giving herself things to do, what would happen? She didn't want to know.
Leda turned her tired gaze ahead, tunneling toward some imperceptible destination dead ahead. As she walked, she caught a whiff of some kind of coffee creamer, which prompted the girl to scan her surroundings abruptly for a coffee shop. She leaned toward the street, one shoe cocked against the lip of the building, but her sights confirmed no actual shops lining the street. No, the nearest cafe she could find was a Starbuck's far in the distance - so did someone spill their coffee up here?
Suddenly it struck her - in her stupor she didn't initially perceive the auric energy, but it flooded her senses as soon as she recognized it. A lieutenant, by the feel of things, lurking about up here. Maybe the agent had coffee with them on some kind of stakeout. Whatever the reason, it didn't really affect her choices - she had to fight or convince the person to join with the senshi cause, didn't she? She had to rectify her mistakes somehow... "Who's there?" She called warily, peering about the building for the origin of the signature. When she finally leapt atop the air conditioning unit and glanced downward, she discovered a thin boy dressed in unusually sharp attire. "Oh!" Leda nearly stumbled off the unit; she hadn't expected an agent in such close proximity.
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Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:36 am
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Aloysius watched carefully as the senshi looked around, she had peered over the edge of the building at the street below. Maybe she hadn't detected him? He slightly twitched when she called out, he wasn't lucky enough to not be seen. He pressed up against the unit to try and make himself less visible but it didn't prepare him for what would happen next. He had almost the same reaction as she did, almost falling into his bottom as she leapt atop the Inuit right above him. "Oh!" He saved himself from stumbling and took a step or two back from the senshi, he hadn't been this close to one since the con.
It took him a moment to figure out what to say, but he kept a calm and cool composure as he thought. He could either try and convince her to join or fight her, the first option was his preferred one but if the second one happened he would try his best to subdue her. He adjusted his lapels and smiled kindly before speaking. "Hello there miss senshi, I apologize if I startled you. I was simply taking a break to smoke my e cig. I assume it was the hazelnut vapor you smelled. Am I correct in that assumption? That being said, are you ok? Something seems off if you do not mind me saying?" He watched her carefully, she had seemed a little dazed when looking around, almost as if she was in a trance.
He examined her outfit, it was pretty cute in his opinion. It seemed a bit steampunkish in origin which reminded him of the time he had made some steampunk clothing for an anime convention awhile back. He wondered if senshi outfits varied as much as powers did, if so that would probably be good to note in his journal of senshi.
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Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:35 pm
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Absently, leda drew a hand to her chest when the agent started speaking. She never met one who actually wanted to talk before, except for... She didn't want to think about it. Banishing the green-haired corrupt from her mind, Leda swallowed and tried to focus on his words. But... even as she tried to concentrate on what he had to say, intrusive thoughts about her earlier encounters with agents, specifically with the redheaded, rose-laden one, prevented her from grasping his explanation. "Oh..." She muttered softly, distractedly. "I thought it smelled like coffee creamer around here. That's like... a Coffeemate flavor."
Caught in her distractedness, Leda tried to flash him an apologetic smile, but her effort only produced a saddened one. Realizing this, she tried to busy herself with picking at her dress and spreading her hands over the folds. "I'm just um, a little distracted." Should she really tell him why? Would he try to use adversity to turn her to their side, as Persephone did? Even thinking her name caused her to wince slightly, and she bit her lip to prevent further consideration of it. "I saw someone die recently. Two people. Maybe even... three." Persephone effectively died when Chaos claimed her; she wasn't the girl Leda knew before. She was... Something else now. "Each time, it just gets harder.
"The first time, I was with a team of senshi. We were just trying to get together and have a meeting, but... you guys came in and ambushed us. One of your officers killed a girl there, she... Was even younger than me." Casting her gaze downward, Leda buried her welling inclination toward tears into the uncharacteristically cold tar paper. "But that's not everyone who died. Someone of yours corrupted our team leader, and now she's some kind of creepy monster. She's not really human anymore. She doesn't... Think right." Shaking her head, Leda sighed.
"And finally, another one of your officers tried to drain an older lady, for no reason at all. Just... Came up behind her, and surprised her. I tried to stop him, but he took her to the roof. We fought, and..." Leda trailed off, a heavy knot forming in her throat. She swallowed heavily, but it didn't help. She remembered being taught that the Greeks thought emotions lay in different organs - she wondered if grief grew in the throat. "It wasn't my fault, he attacked her, and she fell off the roof - but he blamed it on me. He thinks I killed her."
Finally Leda steeled herself, and started backing up toward the lip of the building to widen the distance between them. "I've never met a nice Negaverse agent before. Even if you haven't drained anyone, or hurt anyone, you will. I wasn't very smart to think your faction was capable of good, but at least I know now." Readying herself, she gave the brunette one final chance. "This war... It's not a good place to be. Just leave everyone alone. Don't hurt people. Just go home and live your life. Don't waste it on the Negaverse."
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:40 pm
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Aloysius watched her carefully, he was very inexperienced so he would need to take notes and make sure he stayed in pretty good shape. "Oh, I never thought of that before. I have always tied the smell to cookies I would make on holidays. I guess in a way it does smell like coffee since many confectionery tastes go well with the bitter taste of coffee." She seemed quiet distracted still, he began thinking of possible ways to gain an upper hand over her if need be. There were a few options but he would prefer to stay near to the center of the roof to avoid falling to his demise on accident or purpose depending on how things went.
The smile she flashed him ended up saddened more so than apologetic, something was most definitely wrong and perhaps she was about to say something. "Oh you poor dear, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. It is a shame to lose people when you are so young, I have seen my own share of death in the family but not much outside of that and the stories in the news. I agree that no matter how many times it is witnessed, it never gets any easier on you." He was truly feeling for the girl, it must be hard on her if it has made her this distracted or detached it seemed.
"That must have been a horrific event for you, I am glad you were able to escape. I do not fit in with the more violent of my group, I am more of a negotiator and pacifist." The word corrupted pinged in his brain slightly, it was something Natron had told him about. His goal would be to bring over senshi and corrupt them but if this girl was set that corruption turned them into monsters it may be a bit more difficult than he had planned. Perhaps the course of this conversation was best left to sympathy, empathy, and surviving the night. "That seems odd, then again I have yet to meet a corrupted senshi so maybe it could be just that case. I am sorry for your loss of your teammates though, I wish there was something I could do to help you."
Aloysius paused as he watched her struggle with her explanation, it was difficult for her to make her speech form. "Some officers must drain simply to survive, that may have been the case but regardless they should not have gone after an older woman. He sounds horrible and quite manipulative, he must have wanted you to feel this way. To feel guilty for her death or maybe something simpler as to not wanting the blame on himself. I do believe it was not your fault dear miss." He thought of the sloppiness the officer had in his draining but given the situation maybe causing the girl to feel even more grief and depression would give him an edge in the future by prying at the cracks he was trying to form in the girls mind.
Aloysius took steps out in front of the unit to face her once more as she stepped back, he was careful to make himself seem like a humble man and not a threat of any sort. "I have yet to really meet a senshi before so this is a first impression of them for me. There is always light in the darkness just as there are always shadows within the light. It is impossible for either to exist without the other so please miss do not be the shadow in the light you hold so dear. War is never a good place to be but standing by and watching the world burn around you does nothing but create regret within yourself. I have no intention of hurting anyone, I am only here to learn and protect those around me. I would really rather talk with you dear miss, perhaps over a cup of coffee but it is your choice." He took a defensive stance with his viola bow at a angle to help protect his core, he kept his calm face but in the back of his mind he went over his possible moves and attacks if need be. A fire welled up inside him, the idea of the fight both excited and scared him. He refused to let the heat surface under his icy calmness.
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:56 am
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Leda furrowed her brow, thoroughly confused by the agent's willingness to talk. "Um..." Came her intelligible answer, and she inwardly kicked herself for it shortly afterward. She was supposed to be a senshi! A fighter for good! She wasn't supposed to stand around and gape at Negaverse agents just because they could talk! After fussing with her outfit, adjusting the cuffs on her arms and the clasps on her skirt, she wanted to try and refute him. But... Leda wasn't good at refuting people. She wasn't really good at fighting either. As a senshi, what was she good at?
Causing death.
Biting her lip, she fought back tears with a much-needed sigh. She didn't have to hate herself for wanting to give the boy a chance. Maybe he wasn't so bad. She might even help him realize that the Negaverse isn't a good place to be. Not every fight was a physical one, right? But given his words, he spoke like he knew everything about draining and he still didn't balk at it. He didn't recognize it as a crime against anyone, just the older woman. And he called his own ally horrible! But... At least he didn't blame anything on her, as most of them would. Still, words only meant so much in a war like this... Persephone tried a similar route, but something about her existence just came out wrong now.
"You never met a senshi before?" She echoed, confused. Leda wasn't sure what to think. Part of her wanted to doubt him, to call him a liar, to insist that he must've seen senshi before and they must've tried to stop him when he went on those energy draining escapades. He spoke like he knew the Negaverse inside and out, so how could he have avoided meeting any senshi until now? With a slight frown, Leda busied herself with smoothing her skirts. "Our goals aren't bad ones, you know. We just want to protect people, so they don't have to live in fear of being drained or having their starseeds ripped out. But when we fail..." She didn't want to finish that thought. She didn't want to think of it any more than she already did. Besides, didn't the agent just tell her that it would just create regret within herself? As weird as it was to take life advice from her ordained enemy, Leda accepted it readily enough.
"I'm not really a fighter if I don't have to be. It's hard to use magic on people, trust me." Finally satisfied with the state of her dress, she raised her shaky green gaze to meet his. It startled her that his blue eyes looked so disarmingly polite. "Oh, um, I'm Leda. And coffee sounds nice. Way nice." Way nicer than standing around and kicking herself for her failures. Maybe she could make up for it by convincing him that the Negaverse is an evil organization. "The Starbucks isn't too far from here, but you probably know that, huh?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 5:37 pm
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Leda offered a tired smile; even if he was an enemy, the lieutenant's words felt marginally comforting to her. That's right - everyone failed, and maybe her own failure was bound to happen, but it didn't have to haunt her. Maybe she could turn it into something better, but how? Someone was missing their mother, wife, sister, daughter now and she was at fault for it, along with the agent himself. She failed as a protector. And how was she supposed to fix that? "Thanks," she began finally, in resolute tone. "You're right. I guess I need to just... Look at it and figure out how I can deal with it." Following a sigh, she wondered where she could possibly begin on that front.
Quietly surprised, Leda regarded him with a wide-eyed expression. Feeling immediately embarrassed for her reaction, the Steam Senshi preoccupied herself once more by kicking at the mottled ground, carefully loosening stray detritus with her shoes. "Um, senshi magic? It can, yeah. Sometimes it's just exhausting." There was no harm in telling him, right? The Negaverse had their own senshi... as evidenced by Persephone. In an effort to avoid thinking about her former leader, Leda cast her gaze toward the Starbucks in question - its backlit sign shone white and green, seemingly indifferent toward the chaos plaguing the city. And undoubtedly its patrons lingered with nary a care about the ongoing war.
Which reminded her - how would they take to a senshi and an agent strolling in for a cup? Would they refuse service? Attack the two? Call the police? Suddenly Leda found herself hesitating.
"Chalcanthite," she managed slowly. "It's um, nice to meet you. But, how do you think people will react to us walking in there? I mean, you don't look very conspicuous, but with my fuku looking like this..." With a sigh, she tugged at the folds of her skirt. With any luck, the people present will figure that she fell out of a local steampunk convention, or just had a few screws loose. Or worse, Chalcanthite was luring her to a staged ambush and the coffee shop was secretly loaded with Negaverse agents in plainclothes and they'd all transform at once and attack her and she'd be forced to join the Negaverse like Persephone did.
The thought caused her skin to crawl. Shuddering, Leda finally leapt from the roof and lighted on a nearby precipice before descending to the sidewalk. Luckily no passersby spotted her unique display; with the evening in full swing, the city's denizens appeared too preoccupied to divert their attention to bizarre spectacles. Rather than taking the straight path to the coffee shop, Leda stole away into the alleys that webbed toward the back of the complex.
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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:32 am
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Leda offered a laugh at his joke, but it sounded hollow, like sticks scraping against old tin siding. She didn't like it. She didn't trust this... camaraderie forming between them. It felt off, somehow, just as the rest of the Negaverse felt off. No - wholly wrong. But what was she to do? Turn her magic on a friendly party that only stood on opposite lines of the field? Friends sometimes opposed each other on soccer teams and such, but... War was no sport.
"I think I'll just stick around on the roof." As she walked, her gaze cast downward toward her feet, watching pebbles pass her by on the road toward Starbucks. At least if she remained on the rooftops, she managed a short head start over any potential ambush. Any officers inside would likely project their aura before coming after her, and that was cue enough to begin her escape. She didn't want to die, not over a cup of coffee. Not over a chat with someone she couldn't quite trust. But would she die over the older woman that perished at the hands of the Negaverse captain? She wasn't sure of that, either.
It made her feel worse.
"Um, a white chocolate mocha would be nice." Briefly she considered asking him how he came up with stashing cash in his uniform, but such questions felt so tawdry and far away now. She felt tired. Inwardly she wondered if she should simply leave while he stood in line, descend from the roof and power down to melt into the crowd. This meeting, this friendly conversation, it felt too wrong for her to endure it for long. It felt like cheating on a test, or telling a friend's secrets, but a thousand times worse. Was she giving information to the enemy unwittingly, simply by sticking around? By now he probably knew her uniform like the back of his hand, and that left her unnerved enough. "I don't have any money on me, but I'll pay you back someday, okay?" She offered a sheepish smile.
Afterward she turned and leapt atop the roof, the distance now fairly familiar to her. There she would sit, safely in the center of the flat rooftop, fighting with herself on the necessity of simply leaving him while he stood in line. Would he end up spending money on a coffee that no one would drink? At one point that thought alone would've talked her out of abandonment, but she questioned the usefulness of such compulsions now. As she sat in a billow of skirts, she heaved a sigh as she made her choice.
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