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 Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2014 6:16 pm
It bothered her.
The whole thing that had happened at the warehouse was just absolutely insane. Perhaps she hadn't witnessed everything for herself, but she trusted the combined testimonies of Thetis and Metis, which had led to questions.
Many, many questions.
Such questions had led to her cashing in on Xanthus' gratitude. For once, she wasn't stuck in bed, so instead she had propped open her garage as she waited for him to show up. She wasn't really doing anything difficult in the garage, but she still wore her oddly fan-service styled garage suit as she worked on cleaning her pride and joy: The Spectrum.
Aque was occupying the time at that moment by chewing on a nerf football, his dual colored eyes nearly pressed closed in absolute contentment in this activity.
Every so often the blonde's gold eyes would glance up to the street, checking to see if anybody had arrived yet. At one point she noticed her furry companion rolled onto his back, football in mouth.
"...stupid dog..." she said quite affectionately with a chuckle to follow the comment.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:09 am
Xanthus had been coming into his own interesting dog situation lately, since Zia had come into ownership of an adorable but... not... particularly... undergone the faintest hint of training that he could identify, and although he wasn't particularly a dog person, seeing Aque was... he almost hated to admit it, kind of a relief. The puppy was cute but he was pretty sure he could leave Aque alone with a pair of sneakers and come back without having one of them dismantled to it's component parts.
The motorcycle, one he himself was trying to work on, wasn't as fancy as The Spectrum, but it was sort of starting to come along in customization, but he was starting to reconsider the red and white paint job he'd initially gone with.
It grumbled and popped as he rolled to a stop, mindful of the dog as he pulled over and took his helmet off.
"Hey." He noted, by way of greeting, pulling up just a hair short of calling her 'Princess Kickass.'
"Nice to see you on your feet again. What's up?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:10 am
The Aussie's ears perked up as high as they were able to go (which wasn't very high at all) as a familiar person pulled up into the driveway. The Nerf football was forgotten briefly as he rose to his paws and trotted over, nose snuffling and tail-nub waggling the whole time.
As the guest shifted from the vehicle to his Ellie-person, Aque's tongue flopped out of his mouth and he continued to linger at guest-person's side. He was showing the way like a good Aque would!
Setting down the rag she had been working with, Ellie rose to her feet and extended a hand for a fist-bump. "Ya probably almost forgot I could still use my legs!" With a grin, she gestured for him to follow her into the garage.
It was probably for the best they not continue the conversation out in the public eye.
It took a bit of weaving about random objects on the ground, but eventually Ellie had led them to a spot she had clearly set up for them to sit down and chat. One seat was a work bench, and the other was a less dignified plastic bin that had been flipped over to serve as a chair for the moment.
The tomboy took the bin, leaving the more desirable work bench for the guest.
"...Finally came up with somethin' t'bug ya about..." she explained briefly as she waited for Goldman to settle in.
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:03 am
"Fire away." Xanthus shrugged, ruffling Aque's fur and pulling up a seat on the bench and stretching out his legs, pausing and reeling them back in so that he didn't take up all the space, though his feet kept vaguely drifting back out to take up more room now and then, as though he were trying to take up as much space physically as he tended to with his personality. "I'll answer anything I can, you know that. Is pretty nice to see you on your feet again though. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to see you back on your feet again."
"How you doing, slobber monster?" he added, to Aque. Maybe he should ask for some tips on how to do some dog training... Could you stealth train a dog?
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Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:31 pm
The tailless dog's butt didn't seem to slow down, even when he sat his rump down against the ground. He let out a minor whine of excitement, but he seemed rather content with just being able to hang out with these people-persons.
The blonde leaned forward, pressing her hands against her cheeks. "Good t'know ya got so much faith in me... sh*t..." She kicked her leg to bump the bottom of Goldman's bench.
After her form of retaliation, she folded her fingers so they made a bridge under her chin.
"...I want ya t'tell me what ya know about Youma... what makes them tick... how are they created... stuff like that..."
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:27 am
"Hey, don't get steamed at me. I only know what I've seen, and if Corrupting took as much out of General King Funsize as Purifying did to you, he figured out a way not to show it." Xanthus explained, spreading his hands in a gesture of confusion. "Of course he's full of s**t about everything else so for all I know his dumbshit uniform has stays or something to keep him upright."
He paused to sift through the information in his head, what he's seen, what he had been told...
"I know they used to be people... once."
That was the part that stuck out the most. The ugly truth, that they tried to hang on the necks of the White Moon and Order.
"For most of em that was a long damn time ago. First age long damn time. Zink and the other GKs told us it was Orders doing, but that theory doesn't hold up too well if you even look at it sideways. Order doesn't create chaos... Order didn't make Tanzenite or The Greater Youma."
There were rumors about 'mistakes', but he'd never seen it first hand, so they were just that... rumors. She didn't need rumors, just facts.
"Three types... that I know of. Regular Youma like Redline was... is... was... don't know. They're I guess what happens if you ******** up a normal civilian... they can look like nigh on anything but they're not that smart generally. Bonded ones are smarter, but still. Then there are humanoid Youma, they look more... bipedal, people like, they're even smart like people but they aren't. Last is Greater Youma like the Black Phoenix, and the most i knew about them was that they will ******** up your s**t for fun, regardless. I think Humanoid youma used to be... old... old-old Negavesers... The Greaters... dunno. I guess maybe General Kings, though for all I know Chaos itself sneezed them out in allergy season. I do know they live down in a Rift though, old... crazy old place, crawling with Youma and not safe for anyone. Old Citadel down there, libraries and everything. Zink likes to pretend he runs the place, but anyone really paying attentions gotta figure if anyone's running the place it's the Youma, maybe Metalia."
He was no fool. Compared to the hints at things he'd felt down there tracking down a youma of his own... it was like comparing a dangerous child armed with a steak knife to a lion with fur made of razors. There was 'Will ******** you up' and 'Will ******** you up.''.
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 7:47 am
Ellie's response to the mention of the General King was an eye-roll and a comment. "It's easy t'make a stain, it's harder t'remove th'stain after th'fact... Any jackass can make a stain!"
However, that was all she got out before he started explaining what youma truly were. Her face grew pale as the blood seemed to drain from her.
The youma were people?
Unfortunately, a lot of the finer details seemed to get lost over this one major fact. How many youma had she killed and utterly destroyed in the past? How many people had she killed just because they were now monsters?!
She had killed one person once upon a time, a Negaverse Lieutenant, and the guilt had chewed on her gradually. It was this Lieutenant that had caused her to create one of the guidelines for her team. With this new information, they had been breaking the guideline every single youma they had slain.
It was too much for Ellie. The nauseating feeling in her stomach soon enough seemed to act upon its own as the contents of her belly came back up, filling her cheeks. Fortunately, she kept her mouth closed and didn't spew it everywhere, but in a very panicked manner, she had to locate somewhere to empty her mouth of vomit.
With a sudden jerk of her arm, she reached out for a small wastebasket, drew it to her face, and then emptied what was in her mouth.
Aque seemed to perk up at the interesting new smell, attempting to nudge his way towards the basket after Ellie seemed done with it.
"...no dude... none for you..." she grunted before looking to her companion, flush finally seeming to return to her face.
"...Is there a way t'turn them back... back into humans?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 8:19 am
Well um. ********.
He had not really intended to cause that reaction, and now he felt sort of bad for doing it. He'd been sort of... numb to the idea, and he wasn't even sure at this point if he could blame it on past corruption or if it was just a sign that there were some levels of being a jackass that purification couldn't do much for, and he futily patted his pockets for something like gum or a life saver to offer her.
"No." He could give her that anyway, even if he was at a total loss for so much as a breath mint. Not surprising really, he kept finding certain social niceties were just... ugh.. He had better things to do, say, than hearing about Cousin Fred's gout. Like making sure Cousin Fred survived to deal with said gout, and not being arrested as a terrorist for his trouble.
"No they can't. They're way, way too far gone already. Were before you came along."
Though sometimes you wondered. He wasn't sure about ones like Tanzenite, after seeing her paraded around maimed and frail, as a warning. But she realy-realy-realy did not need to hear those doubts right now. Besides Tanzenite was a special case, even if he did doubt everything that came out of that dippy ******** space newspaper. Except maybe his firm opinion that if that was the best space had to offer it was no wonder that Earth and the Surrounding were the last bastion.
"...Can I get you a glass of water or something?" He asked, making vague, awkward gestures to indicate his willingness to get up and do something about the vomit. Preferably before the dog tried to eat it.
The only cat he'd met who would do that had been a special snowflake of probably-dropped-as-a-kitten, but he was pretty sure that this was normal dog behavior which made him feel a touch queasy.
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:21 am
Despite the disgusting flavor in her mouth, the blonde was able to stand herself up and take care of her little accident. The wastebasket she had used was fortunately lined with a plastic bag, so all it required her to do was pull out the plastic bag, tie up the top, then briefly excuse herself to discard of it properly in the garbage bins to the side of the house.
Aque eagerly followed after her as Ellie stood up and proceeded to a door at the side of the garage and tried to squeeze himself through the door after Ellie. However, Ellie shut the door in his face, leaving her Aussie companion to whine at the door as he circled in place, waiting for her to come back.
The door eventually opened back up and Ellie came back with the dog once again lingering at her side.
"...How are they too far gone?" she finally asked when she returned to her seat on the bin. "...as long as a starseed is still there... isn't it possible for me to use my crystal on them?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:57 am
"I'm not sure it's... really a star seed anymore?" He raked at his hair with his fingers, brows furrowed. What the hell had the scroll described? He knew it was possible to totally ******** someone up by trying to promote them improperly with Chaos, but he'd never really had call to try, and he did have something of a bad habit of forgetting things that weren't that interesting. "Chaos star seeds are..." He waved his hand in more vague gestures. "Damaged right?" He was pretty sure someone had told him that. "Well, Youma are like that but... worse. Being an agent for the Negaverse starts grinding away the things that make you human, but being a Youma is like sand blasting it the ******** away. You could try and fix it but it might be like trying to assemble sand back into a mountain with tweezers and Super glue."
Ugh. Whatever had killed him the first time around probably involved having to explain this kind of weird 'bad things happen to your soul' stuff.
"You ok?"
He was pretty sure she was definitely not ok, or had at least briefly been not ok, given what had happened.
...Apparently he just had that kind of affect on her.
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Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 8:01 am
The more she learned about the youma, the paler she seemed to grow. Fortunately some color had returned to her face before, but once again the color seemed to be draining from her skin. It felt hard to breathe.
"...I.... I don't think even my crystal... could..."
Her voice vanished briefly as she attempted to keep herself sitting upright on her bin. Her canine companion planted his head on her leg, as if to remind her that he was there, so everything was okay.
It was Xanthus' prodding as to her own status that eventually got her voice to return, this time with a hint of rage to her tone.
"...No... I actually ain't alright... Ya basically just told me I've murdered hundreds of innocent people who got f*cked over by Chaos...I know ya said ya can't fix'em...but.... F*CK!!!!"
With her leg opposite of Aque, she stomped down in anger. "...we're f*cked if we do, we're f*cked if we don't...."
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Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2014 11:52 am
"I never said they were innocent." He pointed out, a touch more sharply than he had intended. His immediate response to rage being to react in kind.
"Chaos killed them a long time before you did. They just haven't figured it out yet."
This was war. They were soldiers. And some part of him said he was, now, and maybe then, damn good at war.
"If they don't respawn in the rift, which some of them do by the way, then what? They're not human any more, most of them are -barely- animal, and some the ones that are more than that make the General Kings wet the bed in terror. They're the threat of what can happen if you ******** up promoting someone. They are literally unfixable and they eat souls. Sorry if it's freaking you out but at best you'd be putting them out of their misery and maybe giving whatever black twisted sand exists where their star seed was a chance to go... wherever the ******** spat us back out again. Maybe that can put them back together again."
He was guessing. He had no idea how any of this works, and for all he knew, they were reborn because someone had dropped their star seed somewhere and someone had fallen on it and gotten pregnant. His grasp of the Cauldron and Reincarnation was... well. Yeah.
Trying to settle down from his own outburst, and looking a bit ruffled, even guilty, for having snapped at her... maybe he was being too harsh. The Senshi were here to save people right? He was the knight, he could handle the dirty work if she couldn't.
"...******** it. I don't know. I'm a ******** messed up a**, and I'll take them on if you can't get right with it. I break things, you fix em. You're better at that than I am anyway."
Maybe Zinkenite was right. Maybe he was just a junk yard dog no matter what side he was on. He had no power to purify anyway, so all he could do was break things, or bring them to her to be fixed. Maybe the doubters were right and maybe there wasn't really even a way to be totally purified.
"I'm sorry ok? I know what I know. I can't change that. I can't make them... not... have been people once, but the fact that you can make anyone better at all is a damn big thing. Like you said it's a hell of a lot harder to put something back together again, even if you still see the cracks afterward."
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 8:51 am
Ellie was quiet, still absorbing some of the information, which allowed Xanthus plenty of time to talk. His words went from informative to apologetic given enough time. Even with things as heavy as they were, the tomboy wouldn't sit for such a thing.
She stood up abruptly (causing the dog to sneeze in confusion), and without a second thought punched Xanthus in the cheek.
In a firm tone of her own, she gave him a piece of her mind.
"Don't ya ever f*ckin' apologize fer tellin' me what I want! I don't give a f*ck if I don't like it... fact is I asked fer this! I might not like it, but it's necessary information! It's helpful, even if the whole thing is disgusting as hell!"
She paused before she settled back down on her makeshift seat. "...So... don't f*ckin' apologize, got it?"
Crossing her arms and looking to the side, she commented "I'm jus' havin' a hard time figurin' out how t'explain this t'the rest of the team... especially the chibi senshi... it makes sense that it's necessary t'eliminate th'youma, because they are still a threat. 'Put them outta their misery' as ya said... it's just... infuriating t'say th'least... that chaos turned these innocent..." she made sure to continue to put emphasis on that word "...people into monsters. Chaos makes them commit the worst crimes of all, and the only salvation they get is death?"
She let out a frustrated groan and shook her head, clearly still trying to wrap her head around the whole ordeal.
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:00 pm
For several seconds he was so confused that he barely registered the fact that Princess Iris had just punched him (however lightly)... and it took a couple further blinks as he registered everything else that was going on, and why she was dressing him down, which was sort of different than why he expected to be dressed down.
He waited until she was done, eyebrows raised, and waited a few heart beats beyond that before he dropped the hand he'd raised unconsciously to the spot she'd struck.
"...Well for what it's worth, if you're in the game we've at least got a prayer. I don't know a lot of people from any walk of life who've got the set on you that you do."
He didn't know that he could hang everything he'd done around the neck of Chaos like a rose wreath, but he appreciated that she was willing to leave it as an out.
"I don't know how to explain it any other way. Maybe there isn't a better way to tell people. I mean unless you lie to 'em. And somehow I don't think thats your speed."
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:32 pm
"...When there isn't an easy way... then you take th'long, difficult way..."
Somehow telling kids that were 13 and under that they were murdering former human beings felt like a crime.
She groaned again before ruffling her hands in the fur of her dog whose dual colored eyes seemed to be begging for affection at that moment.
"...so... any other drastic things I need t'know about th'youma? Like... any other tips of the trade when dealin' with them or whatever?"
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