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..."Misguiding Light." It was spoken softly from within the alley, but the orb shot out and hung like a tiny sun just outside of the alley's mouth. A teenager that had snuck out to smoke a cigarette turned, staring straight at the glimmering spell. The cigarette fell limply from his hand to the pavement below, rolling a few times before it settled with a steady stream of smoke curling up into the night.

In the shadows, Alkaid smiled and raised a hand to bring the orb back to her. The lanky boy walked after it without a second thought and followed it all the way back to Alkaid. When the orb finally glimmered out of existence it was too late to run. His eyes refocused to stare into Alkaid's just as her hand shot out and ripped through the cavity in his chest. The bright orange eyes narrowed before he even had time to scream and with a quick hand, her arm ripped it's way back out. He collapsed to his knees first, then fell unceremoniously to the side with a wide stare. He would die without ever understanding why.

The Ascendant General stepped over him with a soft click of her heels, her own eyes focused on the bright starseed that glimmered in the alley. Her prize. She emerged into the light of the flickering nearby street lamp, casting her in ghostly blues and pale oranges over and over. She never spared a glance over her shoulder for the fallen boy.

Her hands brought the starseed up level with her eyes for a moment before ever so carefully pressing it against her lips. It was swallowed and in seconds a bright light lit her partially exposed starseed, pulsing light out across the myriad of cracks marring her pale skin. It settled and died quickly and after a moment of reveling in her rejuvenation, she turned to look towards the distance where she saw the tops of the trees that would guide her to the park. A second for a pause and then she was turning that way, walking slowly down the cracked sidewalk.

Alkaid had become aware of the smaller chaos energy once it began to turn in her direction. It wasn't the first time that someone had followed her for no reason - she'd come to understand that she was somewhat or an anomaly. By the time it had caught up to her, she'd had time to reach the park's entrance and paused to wait for him there.

"Oh," a small sound of surprise escaped her. Corrupts were fewer than Negaverse soldiers themselves, but she didn't seem to know many of them anymore. She didn't speak at first, but simply traced the length of his bright dreads up to the roots of his hair and back down again over a most.. peculiar fuku.

"What a wonderful hairstyle you have, my dear." The amusement in her voice was impossible to miss, though it was cold and somewhat lacking in sincerity. She liked the coincidence.

She settled herself down on a park bench and took the time to adjust her folds of her cloak around her. Once she was done, she glanced back up at him again and tilted her head in a manner that suggested she was curious - and she was.

"Am I what you were looking for?"

Haumea's curiosity brought a smile to her lips. It curled at the corners like a cheshire's grin, stretching the planes of her face to show the gaping holes that bled the energy from her core. It wasn't the wicked smile she produced for Castor's daring threats or the cold amusement when Nemesis told her she had become a monster. Haumea was potential and his curiosity meant so much more than anyone else's.

"I am Ascendant General Alkaid," she said finally, leaning back against the hard wood of the bench and stretching one arm out along the top beside her. One leg crossed over the other, letting her sway that heeled foot gently to some unheard beat.

"I am what happens when a senshi accepts Metallia into their heart and gives her everything that they have." Her pleased smile faltered then, portraying a certain sense of sadness that she wanted him to see. "But I am the only one of my kind."

Alkaid offered the corrupt a sad smile as he reached out to pat her foot gently. Even through the stockings, her skin was warmer to the touch than any human or senshi would be.

"I suppose that it is, kind of. You have to believe in her or the power could destroy you." It was like blind faith in a god one had never spoken to. Alkaid only had Tanzanite's word that Metallia had wanted this of her and she had believed, she had accepted. She would always believe. But as for why she was the only one?

"It's complicated." Her words were soft then, showing for once a true emotion from within her complicated facade: uncertainty.

The Ascendant General uncrossed her legs and slid down from the bench. She kneeled on her knees at his side as her gaze drifted up to the stars above them. Star gazing was a past time and her eyes traced the glimmering heavens with an easy familiarity. As soon as she saw her star lingering there, bright and warm, she reached for his hand. Her fingers were rougher than his own but she held them gently, guiding his arm up with a surprising strength that one would not expect from such a fractured creature. Alkaid pointed his finger at her star.

"She needed me to get there, first. She could not send me herself, travelling is a senshi's domain. I'm sure you know that though." She glanced sidelong at him, then withdrew her hands from his. "I was taken by a man from space, one that disappeared shortly after my ascendance. Without him, we must find another way."

The enraptured look on his face was what she had been hoping for. Inspire others to want and they will help the cause. The more corrupts that wanted to walk her path, the more likely it would be that they would find it again. She could give Metallia an army that would make the White Moon tremble.

"I know that we will," she echoed him, staring at his eyes as he stared up into the sky. Above them the stars twinkled, enticing and always out of reach.

"And on that day, I will not be so alone."

Her eyes drifted away from his and up to the stars, wondering which belonged to the corrupts Metallia had claimed from the White Moon kingdom. She fell back into the grass with an easy grace, letting her eyes trace stars that would one day be a part of something greater than even herself. One day.