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You would have thought that after being attacked by a crazed corrupt senshi one night and a youma the next, Babylon would have learned his lesson about wandering around after dark. But nope, he was incorrigible, out again in the dead of night, trying to make the walk home a little bit safer for innocent civilians.

He figured that after Megiddo and Gunn's fight with her, he had a few days safe from an actual run-in with Avalon, but as his encounter with Persephone had shown, her bounty on him was still up for grabs. Surely, someone else was going to try to collect on the cash--

Sensing a chaos signature up ahead, albeit a low-level one, the night paused and approached more slowly. Who knew how widely Avalon's call to arms had gone out? And he was a rather distinctive fellow, one of three Mercury knights that he knew of and certainly the only one in a fur cape, carrying a lantern...

The source of the signature came into view. Hulking? Long blonde braid? Giant hammer? Could only be Titanla-

Titanlan-

Titanlav-?

Just Titan, thought Babylon determinedly. The guy was a foot taller than him and a hundred pounds heavier, and while the absolutely ridiculous length of his name was certainly suited to such a larger-than-life person, that didn't make it any easier to pronounce. "Hey, big guy," he called, figuring that it might suit him to be friendly. "Keeping busy?"

He is literally Thor, thought Babylon, with regards to to the enormous lieutenant currently waving to him. Like, the Marvel character, big friendly magical Norseman. Honestly, of all the Negaversers he'd ever met, Titan made the least sense. In his heart of hearts, he knew the guy had probably killed people, and could probably crack a skull like an egg - but it just didn't form a coherent mental picture. "Indeed," he replied, noting that the other man had paused beyond his hammer's reach as a formality, and Babylon did the same.

"I've been busy," he said, thinking about the past few weeks - Oenone's purification had eaten a lot of his time, and helping Gunn with real estate matters had eaten the rest. "But I'm less busy now. I've certainly got time to chat. What's up?"

He hoped that what was up was that Titan had given more thought to their previous conversation. Babylon felt like he was on a bit of a roll with the whole purification matter, having a successfully orchestrated one under his belt.

But if not, then it was nice to speak to someone who wasn't trying to change him into cash, and he'd try another angle on the purification issue. Like he'd thought already, Titan just didn't make sense given what he knew of the Negaverse.

Babylon nodded, watching the lieutenant set his hammer aside, and then knelt and placed his lantern carefully on the pavement. The mood felt distinctly more formal than their last meeting, with more attention paid to ceremony and armstice - he wondered what had changed for Titan in the meanwhile.

"I haven't had any luck, no, sorry," he said, frowning sheepishly. Damn, thought Babylon. He'd had one job. One job for Titan! And instead he'd gone and gotten caught up in Oenone's purification and that damn mess with the Code (he should have asked the Code!) and not found out anything about how to tell who a Negaverser would have awoken to be. Maybe Camelot, as the sole person in the entire faction who Babylon recognized as outranking him, would know.

Like, look, Titan had gone and done his homework! So really, Babylon was a complete and total dunce. This was embarrassing. "I'll keep asking around. I just got some new leads a few days ago."

But Titan had another question, and this one Babylon felt he could answer. "There are a lot of different branches of knights," he explained. "Some of them are more warlike than others. Mercury knights - we're not much for fighting." Well, so much as he currently counted their entire number to be himself, Mistral, and Alexandria. Both pages were horribly green, and Mistral was missing half her internal organs - they were in no position to even be thinking about killing people. "We'd like you come to your senses and rejoin the side of Order."

"I've seen it done before. Not everyone goes back, like Lina does," he added. "They're happier on our side."

Babylon sighed, reaching up to rub his temples. He hadn't exactly been counting on Titan remembering everything he'd said at their last meeting verbatim. The reminded of his failure with Avalon hurt, but everything lately seemed like a reminder of her and there was only so much he could actually take before becoming numb to it... (He had not hit that point yet, of course.)

"Maybe they were," he admitted. He didn't know Kairatos well enough to judge whether he had a depressive personality type. (Although, he didn't seem like he did. The guy was argumentative and opinionated, but he didn't seem unhappy.) Oenone was certainly less broody now than he had been a few weeks ago, but he was a senshi and Babylon wasn't confident using him as evidence in this conversation - it would only confuse matters.

"Avalon was a knight of Earth," said Babylon. Not that it really mattered, he didn't think. "She told me she was alone. But she has... reasons to try to emotionally manipulate me." And he'd leave it at that, because if Titan didn't know about the bounty, then he was not going to be the one to tell him. Who knew - the lieutenant didn't strike him as the bloodthirsty sort, but it was a lot of money, and Titan would have no problem picking Babylon up, tossing him over his shoulder, and carrying him to Avalon's waiting embrace.

"I'm inclined to agree with you," he added, backpedaling slightly from his earlier statement. "I say that they're happier, but it's more complex than that. Everyone has their own reasons for why they serve the side they do, even if it's just, they got to me first." Which was what the case certainly sounded to be for Titan, although he was not going to say so in as many words - that would be reductive. Insulting. Babylon was stepping carefully, now that the big man had proven himself more astute than he'd originally given him credit for.

"I'm biased towards the side I serve," he admitted. "I have my convictions and you have yours and I don't think either of us will be easily rattled in them." Before, he'd considered Titan a good prospect for conversion, because of his curiosity and willingness to listen. Now Babylon was not so sure - at the very least, he would not be near as easy a sell as he'd originally thought.

(Oenone, he admitted, had practically been handed to him with gift-wrap and a bow, with his mind all but made up and everything finished but the actual infrastructure for conversion. He'd had an easy time. He should not get cocky.)

"Those I know who left, left because their personal convictions and the goals of your side were irreconcilable. Because they were pushed too far, asked to give up too much of their lives and the lives of those close to them," he said, which was a generalization if he'd ever made one, and mostly based on what he knew of Oenone. "I don't know. Maybe you would call that weakness."

Babylon nodded slowly, thinking - Titan was too loyal to his so-called lord for any points about purification to move him, and Babylon had no clear orders. Was that what made his side weaker than the Negaverse at every turn? He thought of his own reluctance to take commands from the Code after so long as a free agent - perhaps he should reconsider his stance.

"I don't want to kill," said Babylon contemplatively. "Which is probably different from not liking to. I know that I must. I know that one day, I will have to - but I do not want to." Perhaps that, too, was weakness. He shrugged. "I think that the best victory is to make your enemy your friend."

He caught the odd note of gentleness on too many scars, and lifted a hand to his face. Did Titan think- No. Babylon had only been a knight for three years, and he'd only been active for half that time. His ancestor had held the title for far longer and been fine-

"I've been good," he said finally, in response to the lieutenant's question. "I've found some other knights of Mercury, and it's nice to not be so alone anymore." Again, he reminded himself to not mention the bounty, lest Titan decide he'd like the money more than Babylon's friendship. It wasn't a lie. Not really. And it was for his own safety.

"Who is your lord, Titan?" asked Babylon, remembering his earlier curiosity. "Are they good to you?"

It was a start, thought Babylon brightly. Even if straightforward discussions of purification with Titan would get him nowhere, this philosophy seemed to have struck a chord with the big man - one that Babylon made up his mind to keep striking. While Titan had not answered his question about who his Lord was, Babylon felt optimistic. Regardless of whether Titan thought of the Negaverse as a bad place he needed to escape, the way that others had, maybe he could get him to follow him to Order anyway.

"I would be honored to be your friend," said Babylon, nodding to Titan. He then extended his hand, offering a handshake. "I promise - I will be as honest with you as I can be, without endangering others on my side." Obviously, there would be limitations to what he could share with Titan - but his earlier truths about Linarite should have bought him some measure of trustworthiness.

"Does that sound alright to you, big guy?" he asked, smiling up at the lieutenant. "We can be friends."

He felt his feet leave the ground, and for a moment, Babylon wondered what he had just gotten himself into by befriending Titan. "Of course," he said, nodding as the lieutenant finally lessened his hold on him. Although, in a fight against Titan, Babylon was sure he'd be beat before it even began. "All's fair in war, we must defend our sides."

The name didn't strike Babylon as familiar, but then his tangles with the Negaverse did not run far beyond Avalon and Zinkenite. "I can't say I've ever met your lord," he said, at least glad that Titan hadn't ignored the question entirely. "I hope that he is good to you."

He hated to imagine Titan as a weapon in the hands of someone uncaring, someone who did not value what a loyal and good person he struck Babylon as. But his understanding that most of the Negaverse's high command was unbalanced, that it was a side-effect of corruption...

...And that one day, if Babylon were not successful in swaying Titan's loyalties, he would be much the same. He sighed, and shot the lieutenant a determined smile in hopes of disguising his grim thoughts.

Babylon nodded his understanding. So Titan's lord was an absent master - this made his goal of winning the lieutenant over easier, he supposed. Easier, at least, than if the general were actively breathing down his neck.

"I will heed your warning," he said, filing the description away. He did not know if anyone had a full count of the Negaverse's ranks - they seemed endless, but then his own order's number was limited yet he was always meeting new members. Strange how that worked.

Ironically, he thought (or not), red hair and a sword could just as easily describe Avalon. If not for the general in question being a man, Babylon could have easily conflated the two. "Thank you," he said to Titan, smiling in hopes of further demonstrating his gratitude. "I often find it is difficult to reason with the higher ranks of your organization. I'll do my best to stay out of his way."

He tried to think of some intelligence he could offer as trade. "Of my side," he said, "I would advise you avoid Eternal Sailor Gunn and Megiddo Squire. They are ruthless, and they do not share my philosophy of friendship."