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 Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 9:44 pm
It had been more than three months since Tara vanished. And though Nazca had learned a lot in that time, he was still no closer to bringing her home. Some days, he wondered if it was a task that he was even up to. Most of the time, he beat himself up over letting her leave in the first place. Not once did he entertain the thought of giving up.
He usually tried to cover as much ground as possible during his searches. Even though he knew he wasn't looking for Tara directly anymore, the principle was the same. The more he looked, the more likely he was to find something. Or someone.
That night, he found himself coming back to the HITS campus. It was basically abandoned; school wasn't starting again for a few more days. Summer vacation had been almost upon them when Tara left. Now, as he sat on the bench that he'd become well-acquainted with in the months leading up to that fateful, he couldn't help but replay his last discussion with his sister.
“I’ve been keeping you away from this for a reason! It’s dangerous for you to know what I’m doing.”
What would she say if she knew how he'd been spending the past few months?
Something like a bright light flashed in his- mind? It was a sensation he'd experienced before, but he still wasn't sure what it meant. Usually he felt it right before he bumped into someone that then decided to use him for target practice. That didn't bode well, but Nazca knew he couldn't very well ignore it. He stood up, looking around for the source of the strange feeling. "Hello? Is someone there?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 10:09 pm
Pharos was in a tree not really doing much of anything aside from looking at her school. She felt the other when she moved over and climbed up, but paid the sensation no attention until said person was calling out to her. A rustling could probably be heard from the trees are Pharos moved around looking to see who approached. She looked to see a page and smiled, "I'm up here," she said before dropping out of the tree.
Pharos landed on her feet, just beneath the tree with a grin. "Hello, what brings you here? You don't go to H.I.T.s too, do you? School starting soon, and to think I'm so excited I had to check it out before hand."
The tiny page held out a hand, "I'm Pharos, nice to meet you."
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Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 10:21 pm
There was a moment of confusion as Nazca looked around frantically, only discovering the source of the voice when it landed in front of him. It was, of course, another teenager. Seriously, was everyone involved with this mess a teenager except him? And Noah. And a few of the people in the park during that whole mess. And if Laney was about Tara's age, she wasn't a teenager either. Neither was Tara, for that matter, but he suspected that she'd been a part of this since she was one.
But everyone else was a teenager. Or younger. But mostly teenagers.
Considering his bad track record with them, Nazca couldn't help but take an uneasy step backwards. All of the teenagers he'd met so far had wanted to fight him. Most were better at fighting than he was. It was no wonder that he was cautious with this new one, waiting to see if she was going to throw a punch or smack him with some random object.
Instead, she chattered at him pleasantly, and he found himself lowering his guard enough to shake her hand. "No, I don't go here, but I know someone who does." That was neutral enough, he hoped. "Nazca. It's a pleasure, or at least, I think it is. You don't want to fight, right?"
If she did, he was heading for the hills no matter how chicken it made him look. There was too much at stake for him to let himself get incapacitated by yet another kid with a vendetta.
Kaori_luv Made a minor edit to fit with stuff that's happened, but nothing's changed substantially!
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 8:28 am
Pharos smiled at the introduction, but gave him a confused looked when he asked if she didn't want to fight. For a moment she just looked at him before she shook her head. "Why would I want to fight you? We're on the same side. I'm a knight, you're a knight. I don't really want to fight those on the other side, but often times they are um trying to do you serious bodily harm, so it cant be helped."
Pharos flopped back in the grass, "no, not each other anyway. Though sparring is a good way to learn how to fight. Aventine and Delphi have sparred with me before and I learned some things from them."
She sighed looking up at the stars and wondering how Pharos had done without her for a whole summer, not that she went there to often. "What brings you out here tonight? You said you knew someone who goes to HITs but surely you wouldnt be looking for said someone at this time of the night?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 9:48 pm
That was the most sensible thing Nazca had heard in weeks, and he found himself relaxing a lot more, to the point of crashing back onto the bench he'd been sitting on. Which wasn't the best of ideas, judging from the way his back cracked, but he did his best to ignore that.
"You'd be surprised how many people have tried to make a punching bag out of me. Or worse. And I don't think they were trying to teach me anything." Did he have some vibe that told people to come and attack him? It wouldn't be the strangest of his discoveries if he did. Fortunately for him, this girl seemed to be immune, and he was more than willing to hold a reasonable conversation for a change.
The way that Pharos looked up at the sky served to remind Nazca of his goal, and he straightened in his seat. "I'm actually looking for someone. A person, or a group of people... I'm not really sure, but does the word 'Zodiac' mean anything to you? Aside from the horoscopes you find in the newspaper and all that-" He was going to say nonsense, but stopped himself. Considering what he'd learned, and what he was still learning, it probably wasn't safe to write anything off as being nonsense.
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:00 pm
Pharos looked over to him, "I'm sorry about that. That tends to happen to all of us from time to time, especially before you get an upgrade so to speak. Though I don't think an boost will help much where I'm concerned. There probably nothing aside from a growth spurt that would make me intimidating."
She was settled peacefully on the grass while he spoke, but his mention of looking from someone or several someone she guess had her eyeing him. When he mentioned the word zodiac she sat and and gave him a grin, the little decorative coins on her headscarf jingling away.
"That word is very familiar to me," she said with a mischevious look, "but can I ask why you are looking for them? It's not often or really ever I've heard someone ask for a Zodiac."
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Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:59 pm
The nonchalance that Pharos spoke with, and the possibility that he wasn't the only one getting used as a practice dummy, was alarming. Nazca hated the idea of being singled out in the way he imagined, but he hated the thought of everyone having to go through what he was dealing with even more. And what on earth was she talking about? "Up... grade? What, is this some sort of hazing ritual, until I earn my stripes or something? That's ridiculous."
Not impossible. He was making a conscious effort to not use the I-word so much. But couldn't always keep from calling things ridiculous, especially when they were.
He might have gone on, but the fact that this girl actually recognized the term he'd used was shocking enough to make him forget what he'd been talking about only moments ago. She didn't stare blankly, or offer unnecessary apologies. She knew what he was talking about. Because she was one of them?
Did he actually, finally, find one?
Keep calm, Nazca told himself firmly, trying to keep from jumping up off the bench in excitement. He'd come this far, and he didn't want to scare his new lead away. As it was, his voice trembled just a little as he spoke, and he stared at Pharos intently, as if afraid to take his eyes off her. "To be honest, I'm looking for a specific one. About this tall, dark hair with a braid on one side, cape that looks like the night sky. Does that ring any bells?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 12:09 am
Pharos shook her head at his silly question, "I'm not really sure how it worked. I just know when I really needed help, I got a new weapon, magic and a new outfit and I was stronger. Can't you feel the difference between us, its like a sixth sense?"
She gave him a curious look when he mentioned a familiar teammate. She gave him a bit of a frown. "That sounds like Aquarius, but I havent seen her since last year some time. We talked for a bit, but I didn't see her again after that. I guess though that is partially my fault."
She lifted the end of her yellow sash to show to him, "I'm a zodiac knight. Pharos of Chronos, this is our symbol. Aquarius and I are on the same team, but if I'm perfectly honest, none of us see each other very much. Why are you looking for her?"
Pharos was curious now, more so than before and thinking on the last time she had crossed paths with Aquarius, it felt like so long ago.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 3:11 pm
That was her.
There was more that Pharos had said, about how apparently their magic used comic book logic, and a sixth sense, and some other stuff but Nazca barely registered any of that. She knew the girl in the starry cape. She knew her by name, the same name that Laney had asked him about. She'd known her for at least a year.
There was something decidedly odd about realizing that your sister was a superhero with her own social network, but that realization was dwarfed by the immense relief he felt at finally finding someone who might be able to help him reach her.
"I need to find her. To talk to her." How could he explain, without revealing more information than was safe? Pharos seemed nice enough, but for all he knew, she was just pretending to know what he was talking about. Or perhaps she knew for an entirely different reason than what she claimed. Or maybe- but he could go on and on like that all night, and he'd never get any closer to finding the truth.
In the end, Nazca decided to go with the story he'd been using all along. "My sister's missing, and I think she knows something about it. So I really, really need to find her. I met, um, someone, and she said that I should check this barrier place in space. But she couldn't take me there herself, so I was hoping... I mean, if it's possible..."
This sounded ridiculous, so much so that he couldn't even get the words out. Try as he might to believe in the people around him, he still couldn't completely banish the fear that this was all just a cruel hoax.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 5:55 pm
Pharos stood up and brushed her pants off as Nazca started to explain his need to find Aquarius. She gave him a slightly confused look at first because she honestly had no idea where Aquarius was, but she guess a zodiac was a good place to start to find another zodiac.
When he talked about his sister being missing and that Aquarius might know something that had her looking at him with a more understanding expression. She had once disappeared to the surrounding against her own free will.
It seemed as though Nazca wanted Pharos to take him to the surrounding. She paused, "ah. Why do you think Aquarius would know something about it? And who told you that? Even if I was to take you there, I dont think you can just waltz into Aquarius space? She also might not even be there."
Pharos gave a small sigh, giving him an apologetic look. She wasn't trying to be difficult, but to just traipsing up to the surrounding on a whim with someone she didn't even know to find a team mate, even if he was a knight, she wasn't sure it was the best idea. She'd had at least learned a little caution these last few years.
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:16 pm
Why couldn't this perfect stranger just take his word for the fact that he needed to go into space? Nazca ground his teeth as he tried to think of an explanation that wouldn't draw undue attention towards Tara or the star-clad girl. Though at this point, attention was already on the latter. Would it really hurt to shine a little extra light in that direction?
"I know because she was there when T- when my sister disappeared." Literally, if the two were really the same person. "The person I met says she saw this Aquarius in space. And... well, it sounds like she needs help. So it would be in your best interest to find out, too." If they were really teammates, it stood to reason that Pharos would want everyone on her team in optimal condition.
In case that wasn't enough, Nazca put one hand over his heart. "I swear this is on the level. And if she's not there, or we can't get into this space, you can bring me right back, no questions asked. But this is the only lead I have left, and I have to try."
If she didn't agree to do this, he had no idea what paths would be left open to him. If any.
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Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 9:41 pm
Pharos wasn't totally sure, but she held out her hand to him. "I can take you, but if this is a trick well," she gave him what might have classified as a threatening look, but threatening wasn't exactly the 4'11" wild hair child's style. "If not I hope that she can help you find your sister. As for Aquarius being in trouble, I doubt it. Not if she is in her wonder up there. Like I said I pretty sure one cannot just waltz into her outpost."
She waited for his hand patiently then closed her eyes and recalled her oath slow before speaking it aloud.
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