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 Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 11:26 pm
The messages had been simple. That one, simple symbol that had once inspired so much unease, curiosity, a need to comprehend it in the blissfully unaware Page. The memories that had swarmed her and--literally--overtook her, all because of a collection of Martian characters. Symbols of language that were preserved through time.
A symbol that had in, a large part, overtaken a great deal of her life.
In shorthand, she supposed it was not as impressive as the more ornate carvings and scriptures she'd seen where it took a much more awe-inspiring form. Each culture seemed to adapt the general form slightly to its own aesthetic, yet the central circle, the arching horns, and the infinity remained. Infinite. Reoccurring.
Never to end. It was a comfort as much as anything else to her at that point in the war.
Themiscyra lingered well over an hour from the city limits--almost in the opposite distance from the Resistance's HQ, putting her to almost two hour's brisk pace from her current home. It hadn't been a bad jog there, and she figured the two Royal Knights would have even less issue than she. The distance was a requirement though, especially on the occasions it was more than a simple gathering of three. Lessened the chance of being found by the Negaverse, or the Dark Mirror Senshi loyal to them. Youma? She could handle youma. She'd already had a few sniff out her apparently ever more attractive aura, but her chain whip had made quick work of them once she'd gotten the thing around their throats. Never mind her fists into their skulls.
The area wasn't cleared, though the trees allowed more space between their trunks there, some fallen trees moved here and there to give hopefully camouflaged seats--boulders had also been moved over time, more seats. She leaned against one then, fingers tracing patterns across the cold surface. Night had long since set, and now and then, she fancied she could see a glimmer of red somewhere above the canopy. Difficult to do in summer, but she could believe.
A part of her was tempted to power down, just be Danika again for a bit. But the Transcended Knight remained, at least until the other two arrived. Make sure they knew she was there, that nothing had happened before they'd gotten to the area. As red eyes moved to gaze wistfully at the glowing red markings that curved like flames across her limbs--knowing full well how they framed her features and curled inward towards the outer corners of her eyes--it was not the first time she thought of how such a clash between her and the Negaverse agents always seemed to go.
What good was a knight they couldn't corrupt?
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 5:41 am
He took off his helmet as he got closer, pausing to blink at the change of perspective without the weight and peripheral glint of metal from the helmet as he tucked it under his arm. Had he sensed a glimpse of something darker, and unidentified, he'd have left it on, but for right now he was pretty sure the only things out here were wild animals, and the members of The Compact. He glanced around again, blinking, then set off again toward the energy signature that had slowed down to a pause for now, hoping to catch up to Themiscara.
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 3:24 pm
These days, one could never be too cautious. The city ws teaming with Negaverse officers and their followers, looking to extinguish any resistance towards them, any glimmer of that of order. Dangerous as it may be, Valhalla’s response to Themiscyra was immediate, sending her a quick note back, just as vague, with his seal. Getting out of the city was no easy feat without permits, and even as a firefighter, anything done on his own was eyed with suspicion and scrutiny. Even still, he’d learned ways around the system, getting through the perimeter of the city by slipping through the forest surrounding it.
Far enough away from the city where he felt comfortable enough to power up, he did. He couldn’t stay powered up the whole time, lest it draw the attention of the wrong people, but long enough to cover some distance. Once he was certain of her whereabouts, he powered down, making the rest of the way through the forest at a slower, but safer pace, and hopefully dropping off the radar of anyone who may sense them.
“Themiscrya. Kairatos,” he greeted, a breathe of relief at seeing them in one piece. He immediately drew close to Themiscrya to pull her into a tight embrace. He looked older than he really was, his hair cropped short and premature lines on his face from stress and sleepless nights, although living off caffeine was nothing new. With his hair short as it was, there was no hiding the prominent scar cut horizontally across the apple of his left cheek.
“You guys should power down… Who knows what they’re doing to find us…” he suggested, feeling more jumpy now that they were out in the open, even if he hadn’t felt anyone near them before he powered down. "Is something wrong?" he asked, looking from one to the other, always expecting the worst now, it seemed.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:04 pm
"Don't worry Mother Hen, you can distract them by trying to draft a treaty and Themi and I will pick up your slack and whip 'em." Kairatos snorted, flashing a grim smile as he powered down, stretching slowly. His shoulder ached a bit these days, which he supposed might be just the first sign that being reborn didn't stop you from getting older. Not that he'd made it far enough first time around to really know what to expect either, so if he managed to stay alive, this was going to be a whole new ride. "So what's up, D?" And by D he didn't mean her real name, but Diana, like Wonder Woman. He yawned and stretched his arms out in front of him, getting the cricks out of his knuckles, which also frequently felt a bit stiff. Side effect from driving them repeatedly into hard surfaces. Like faces, which were in fact much harder on the knuckles than movies he used to watch would have ever implied. Also much less dramatic sounding, but then, you didn't really think about the theatrical sound effects in the middle of real fight. After maybe. Not during.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:18 pm
The closer the more impressive energy signatures got, the more at ease Themiscyra felt. Of course, nothing could be definitive until she saw the men with her own eyes--let's be honest here. It could have been any Royal Knights she was sensing. Or... Royal Knight, singular, as one dropped off her mental radar. But the blonde knight got her attention first as he came into view, and Themiscyra rose from her seat with a grin. Glancing at the horned helmet, she gave a light snort. "I still don't get how you see with that thing on at night..." It was a constant fascination. Her headgear gave her the protection to know a shot to the forehead wasn't about to kill her, but it wasn't the full helm Kairatos sported now. It was also an easy thing to make jokes of.
The amount of times she requested he headbutt a Chaos agent was near astronomical back when he'd first gained the new rank. She was still pretty confident he could get himself stuck in a wall like a cartoon character if he missed a target.
Footsteps through the forest unaccompanied by a power signature tensed her muscles for a moment. But a softer smile took over her demeanor as Chris came through the trees, and she went to the hug without question. She tried not to squeeze too tight. Really. Yet each time he and Paris went back to that city, or each time she'd leave them there, this worm wriggled its way through her system--a ******** serpent, really, hissing all the ways something could go wrong. The sensation happened each time she left someone--going on patrol, going to collect supplies, going for a freaking walk to relieve some stress. It was easier to bare with those in the Resistance. Sort of. She knew where they lived, how to get there quickly to let someone have it if they took too long to check in.
Pulling back from the embrace, she put on a bright smile, rolling her eyes in exaggeration to Chris'--logical--nerves. "But what if I like being a glow-bug and-or youma bait?" Till Kairatos spoke up, and she sputtered as she tried to smother a laugh. Well. As Xanthus spoke up. She had to bite her tongue to really attempt to collect herself. "No. No no no. Because if that happened, I would be the one on the ground, because the rest of you are faster and able to get out of range of his ******** magic." She was speaking from experience.
She glanced between them. The scars. The lines. The kinks in muscles and joints. "Christ. When did you two get so old?" the twenty-six year-old teased, powering down as well. The scars remained, prominent against her tan skin, long hair braided as always these days. It'd been impossible to cut it. Not with the nagging voice of her past proclaiming it was a sign of a soldier's defeat. Of course. She had her own stiffness and strained muscles. But at least she'd yet to form the same battle wary look.
Yet. There was still time to gain some of the nastier scars that had left her in near permanent scowls in the past.
D. Diana. She glanced towards Xanthus, and her smile held an edge. Since she'd transcended, it'd almost become as much of her "real" name as the one Josselin Teresi had given her. To Chris though, she shook her head lightly. "Nothing of extreme note." She paused, glanced away, and returned to her previous rocky seat. "Which I guess bothers me just as much as any extreme note. Same old runs and hits, same patrols... give or take. Ran into Andronicus again. Why's the city closing up?" She'd dropped the potential bomb of mentioning their corrupted comrade between her otherwise simplistic and common place list of events, ending in a simple question directed to Chris with far too curious eyes. Because news from within the city was important news. But her hand rose to the simple gold chain around her throat. An obvious reference for anyone who knew her, full of obvious signs as she fiddled with the tiny links.
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Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 5:13 pm
Chris’s frown grew as Kairatos made a comment, poking fun at his worrying, and then for his desire for peace over violence. Shooting Dani a look as well when she laughed and rolled her eyes.
“Wanting to end the fighting isn’t funny,” he reminded them, sometimes unsure where their sense of “humor” came from. “You only joke about it because you’d rather do the easy thing — to fight without question, rather than trying to find another solution.”
He didn’t intend to speak down to them, and they should know how much he respected both of them, but he could not stand idly by when they laughed off his ideals as something silly or impossiblee. He has put up with comments and arguments about how it was impossible to achieve peace, how fighting was the only way, but he would never believe that. He’d been called stupid and naive, and maybe he was, but what were they planning on doing? Be just like the Negaverse and not stop until everyone had been eliminated? Would that not make them just as bad?
He looked up at Dani when she spoke again, not missing her mention of Andronicus between her other comments and inquiries. “Are you okay?” was the first thing he asked, more concerned about her than their corrupted friend at the moment. He shot a glance in Xanthus’s direction as well, one of concern and wondering if he felt the same.
“Did she say anything to you? Or try to hurt you?” he pressed, wishing there was a way to make all of this easier, but he knew there wasn’t. Still, he couldn’t help being concerned.
“They’re trying to make things more difficult for us, of course. Stricter energy draining policies, curfew, permits to leave the city. Everyone needs to be extremely cautious,” he said needlessly, doing his best to hide his worry about getting back into the city (and out again), doubting being a firefighter with no call for help would be good enough of an excuse.
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 5:47 am
"You learn to work around it or carry the ********, and that's even more annoying." Kairatos shrugged at Dani, though his shoulders knotted up in ways that had nothing to do with old injuries as Valhalla stepped proudly onto his soap box. It was not an issue Kairatos and he agreed on. It was one they might never agree on. "Oh right sorry I forgot you had all that inside knowledge on how they worked having been an insider once..." He growled, adding, with absolutely caustic and unhelpful sarcasm. "OH YEAH WAIT that was me. Silly ******** memory wipes. How could I be so dim." He threw his hands in the air with an extremely forced bright smile, then dropped them heavily to his sides. "Val. The ones that are willing to listen to peace talks are the ones that already purified. They're. Winning. They set any terms on the table. I appreciate the idea, but we are not currently in a position to bargain. For that we either have to be equal or winning. You bang your head against your wall, I'll bang my head against mine and we'll all end up back at the cauldron before we're gray, but DO NOT preach at me that we're doing something easier than you are." He didn't have time for this, and he honestly didn't care if Valhalla thought it was fair that they joked about what he saw as his 'calling' or not, but comparing trying to push back a murderous invading force that eliminated the families and loved ones of those who disagreed with them was not the same. Death was death, maybe, but the reasons behind a death mattered. Otherwise they could sit back and debate against destroying a youma on the grounds they too had once been human and therefore had the right to exist, in spite of their unhelpful habit of trying to consume people and their souls. "Dunno why, but I could hazard a guess. They're probably noticing we're getting people out and that's annoying them. The days they could let people slip through their fingers and yell LaLaLa Nothing Happened have been gone for a while. People are scared, not blind. They may not say anything but they'll notice."
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Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 3:46 pm
Well that escalated quickly.
"That's enough, both of you." Danika didn't snap, but her tone held an edge of warning. Her hands were held out, palms towards both men as she tried to bring their focus away from what could be yet more repetitive--and likely infuriating--arguments. Even as she continued to sit, she looked between them carefully. It wasn't new that there were... disagreements when it came to how to handle the war. The Negaverse. Everything. Not simply between Valhalla and Kairatos--Themiscyra herself conflicted with both on different occasions.
In a way, she supposed that was half the purpose behind the Compact having established three Founders, instead of looking to a singular leader. Conflicting views meant a required discussion and weighing of points before a final verdict could be given.
Yet she couldn't help but wonder how many knights of their respective wonders had shouting matches throughout the ages.
First she looked to Chris. "I wasn't laughing at the prospect of ending the fighting. I laughed at the mental image of you as an anthropomorphic, literal mother hen, with a writing quill, while Kairatos and I went after cartoon-ish agents with literal leather whips." If she wanted to attempt to diffuse the situation, or at least attempt it as best she could, explanations were required on all sides. But she kept her head straight as she continued, "We've all experienced personal losses by the Negaverse, Chris. Don't you think I tried to do something before things escalated to the point one killed my mother?" He'd lost family as well. Everyone had, one way or another. It was a nearly guaranteed thing for anyone on the side of Order. Often, it was the reason so many continued to fight--blood for blood. "I'd rather go with peace talks--much as I could laugh about how boring they are, and how much more 'fun' it is to crack skulls, ********. I want peace. I want to go home. I don't want to face down another Negaverse agent and force myself to forget they're people, and if they don't back down when I give them warnings to send away their weapons, force myself to forget they have families who will mourn them. Just as I've already mourned losses on our side."
Her attention turned to Xanthus next, her hands still in the air as she hoped to keep them quiet for a moment longer. "No one's questioning that you have the insider's view. But you have to admit, we've gained a few more knights since the s**t hit the fan in the city. Some wake up late to the reality of their situation, or some are brainwashed in by their new systems before realizing what's really going on and want out. Others we've fought do put down their weapons and surrender. They value their lives over whatever bound them to the Negaverse. Not all. But some, and that still means non-violent methods have a place.
"We're not at a point where we can fully stand against them. Not any more. Maybe we never could. Neither fighting head-on or attempting to negotiate are viable solutions on their own. Not yet. Either way, you have those on both sides you prefer the alternative, and fight for the method they view is the right way. The fights go on, someone dies, and you have yet another body to add to the count and anyone who knew the person calling for more blood. Rinse and repeat enough, and we're all dead."
As she spoke, she kept her voice neutral, letting go of the edge and trying to dissipate the growing tension in the air. She trusted both of them, cared for both of them--she didn't have an appropriate way to describe her level of respect for both men. Yet from where she sat, no one seemed to have a perfect way to handle the war. Not that either seemed to be saying as much, but it was still something she felt she had to stress. Overly so. "I cannot agree that continuing to fight is the 'easy' route. Nor is trying to speak to each agent and dig through whatever bullshit Chaos is worming through their brains. There's failures and casualties on both routes."
Finally, Danika lowered her arms, resting her hands in her lap as she let out a long breath. She didn't like lectures, or speeches--never had, never would. Diana had been decent at them, from what she could recall, but the woman also had been trained for such things. Taught how to be as much a knight as a public figure within Themiscyra. Never mind the woman had well over a decade or two in years over Danika. More time to practice.
How would she have handled the dealings with the Negaverse? When all she'd dealt with were conflicts with other knights or senshi, how would she have viewed this? She almost envied those with ancestors still roaming their wonders at such times. What she would give to ask some of the women of her past, or ask Diana herself...
"Too long, no one listened: if you guys go at one another over this, I'm hitting both of you, and I'm calling out everything as not working and failing horribly." She managed a bright, almost cocky grin as she said this, lifting a brow to both men as she looked between them. Playful. Jovial. As much of her more naive self as she could bring back. Light-hearted and devil-may-care, it was something she had to cling to even as a mask. Cling to the idea that someday, she could return to being that person again.
At last she was able to address Chris' questions, her smile faltering a little as her mind returned to her encounter with Andronicus. "Andronicus... told me she wasn't against us. She's against being part of the Negaverse. She just..." can't purify was what she wanted to say, before her throat constructed and she had to stop speaking for a moment, biting at her tongue to keep herself back in check. Not that showing emotions or being upset in front of them was horrible, but it'd been a long time since she'd actually cried. Didn't want to start now. "She never hurt me. I hurt her though. Thought she was just another General at first. Had my weapon around her throat before I realized who she was. Teach me a ******** lesson," she added softly, already aware of how Chris would take the event.
But he'd also shared information about the new regulations in the city, and her hand went to her forehead, fingers running through her bangs as she thought about the ramifications. "How bad is it getting out or in?" He might have hid his own concerns, but the obvious ones were still there. "How hard is it to get permits? Are they long-term?" Could some of the Resistance get some? Make at least supply runs easier, or for those who went in and out of the city more typically. Or had the Negaverse already nixed that idea before it could hit?
"...I wasn't aware the Negaverse gave a rat's a** what the public thought of them," she chipped towards Xanthus, lips twitching as she suppressed a sardonic smile. "But it must suck to see energy sources scurry out of the city trying to get the ******** away from the drains--oh and random disappearances. And flat out deaths." Typical of Destiny City, really. Why people hadn't left in mass over five years ago was a large mystery in and of itself.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2014 7:32 am
Chris had his mouth open, ready to counter everything Xanthus was saying, not for the sake of arguing, but because he could not accept the fact that one way was right over another. Even he knew peace was difficult, and that fighting was sometimes necessary. Hell, his family had all served in the military, his father for fifty years before they practically forced him to retire. He knew it was necessary to fight, but some of the things the Resistance was doing was just as bad as anything the Negaverse did.
Dani effectively cut him off before he could say anything of course, forcing him to bite his tongue so he wouldn’t snap at her about how he obviously couldn’t read her mind. He was already exhausted and jumpy, he didn’t need to start going off on her, too. He crossed his arms over his chest, sparing a quick apologetic glance to Xanthus as Dani got her diplomacy off her chest, making him regret saying anything in the first place, which prompted Xanthus’s response… and then subjected them both to this…
He almost missed the fact that she was done scolding them, zoning back in when Andronicus was mentioned again. and sure enough he frowned in disapproval as she admitted her attack that could have killed Andronicus. “She’s not against us?” he repeated in confusion, glancing once more towards Xanthus, curious as to his thoughts on what that could mean. He was hopeful there would be a way to help her, but things looked grim.
In regards to the permits and curfew the Negaverse was imposing on the city, Chris grimaced sheepishly. “I, uh… I mean it’s obviously because they suspect the Resistance, so they’re not going to make getting permits easy. Anything to cut supplies from going in or out of the city without their knowledge… I showed up a little late, but Paris will know all the details,” he mumbled, feeling silly for not knowing everything. He knew enough to know what to be cautious about, but...
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