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 Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:54 am
Parks seemed as good as place to meet up as any.
Certainly Ganymede had a fondness for them, for lack of any better place for casual powered conversation. One in particular tended to draw her into its fenced-in perimeter more than others—a tiny, run-down playground beside St. Mary's church, in a less affluent part of town than those she'd taken to inhabiting in recent years. If she craned her neck to look down the street she could just see the small lot on which her childhood home sat, owned now by some other family.
Perhaps it was not the most suitable place in which to meet Ida, she thought. A girl of Ida's demeanor did not give off the impression that she was used to such areas of town, but the familiarity called to Ganymede in a way few other places did—her homeworld chief among them.
She took up a spot on one of the swings, rusting chains creaking as she propelled herself back and forth in a gentle motion, tipping her head back to peer through the darkness and the city's ambient light to spy a few dim flecks of stars. The moon was a silver crescent in the sky, overcast with thin threads of clouds. A light breeze rustled the trees, and sent strands of blonde hair billowing over her shoulder.
This late at night her presence likely went unnoticed by the general population, but anyone with more awareness would be able to sense her even if they could not yet see her. Indeed, her presence was almost conspicuous—her aura cloyingly sweet, at odds with her often objectionable attitude, her location displayed quite clearly by the gold glow of her palms and the symbol which shined upon her forehead. Anonymity was somewhat less a possibility for her these days.
And yet... the loss of it did not distress her as much as she'd thought it might.Bluefire Dragonz Finally, a start!! 4laugh
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:10 pm
It had been weeks since the incident on Ida with Hvergelmir and still, the eternal didn't understand everything that had changed inside of her or what that meant now. The chance meeting with Titan and his questions only brought up more of her own as she realized she had next to nothing to explain with.
She firmly believed that whatever the glow was, it wasn't a 'space disease'. It had come upon her at too significant a moment for it to be as random as that, and she honestly didn't feel unwell in the least. The opposite, actually... despite how tired she was from lack of sleep from nightmares, she still felt a thrum of energy under her skin and, if she concentrated, actually feel the connection strung between her and her planet.
Really, the only thing Ida could think of to do was call Ganymede. The woman had been glowing too, though hers had been slightly different. Maybe what had happened was the same for the both of them and maybe, together, they could piece some answers out of this. Babylon was far harder for Ida to get in touch with, as someone she had never met before and as a knight, without a senshi phone to call.
Approaching the park tonight, the eternal was incredibly grateful that the other senshi had agreed to talk with her. She'd put this off long enough and after what had happened during Vespa's purification, it was even more important to find out what other side-effects were hidding, waiting to trip her up.
The aura she felt as she approached was comforting and Ida was almost 100% sure it was Ganymede... there was a subtle difference to it than what she was used to with senshi auras. Suddenly nervous as she broke from the trees to walk slowly down the path, Ida reached to rub her palm over the glowing purple henna that wrapped her right arm, crawling up the side of her neck and across half of her face to the symbol of Ida that had replaced her shattered tiara. It matched the symbol on her palm, though curled fingers hid that from view.
"Ganymede!" Ida called as she lifted a hand to wave, picking up her pace to trot across the grass to the swings.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:21 am
Ganymede noted the approaching aura first. For a moment she was somewhat concerned by the feel of it. A Senshi, most definitely. And an Eternal judging by its strength. But there was something noticeably different about it. It felt... potent. Distinct. But not in the way she was used to feeling when it came to other Eternals, or the stronger Royal Senshi. It wasn't powerful, but it was unmistakably something.
When Ida came into view, Ganymede was able to relax somewhat, though her expression was deeply curious. Her eyes immediately caught sight of the glowing henna and the symbol on Ida's forehead. She realized then what she was feeling.
'Oh.' she thought. 'That must be what I feel like.'
She took some comfort in that even as she felt a mild twinge of resentment deep in her heart—not toward Ida herself, but at the idea that someone else had reached whatever state marked such a strong, comforting attachment between herself and her homeworld. It lasted only a moment before it was gone, and Ganymede could focus instead on the benefits.
At least now there was one other person whose starseed she didn't have to fear for.
“You too, huh?” she asked, and smiled in greeting. “When did it happen? How did it happen? Laurelite didn't come after you, too, did she?”
Ganymede had to force herself not to ask any more questions until those first few had been answered.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:03 am
Ida was unaware of any adverse reaction to her new glow, too relieved to see Ganymede to think about anything else. In some small part of her, down deep where she hadn't even known it was there, she had been worried that she had done something horrible to herself. That despite the beauty and comfort of it, she was now some kind of inhuman monster... Ganymede's smile banished the shadows and Ida was able to breath a little easier as she came to stand beside the other woman's swing.
"Me too, I guess?" She greeted her, her brows drawn together in confusion. "No, um... No Laurelite... It happened a few weeks ago, when I went to Ida."
The story was something of a long one, but Ida found it marginally easier to talk about it now. After everything she had been through, all the pain, she felt like maybe she was healing. So, she settled on the swing next to Gany and started from the beginning, her hands wrapping around the chains for their comforting solidness.
She told Ganymede about meeting Alois, about how she had grown close to him even as he repelled her. How she'd ended up sleeping with him, and then the night of Das Gift when Bischofite had merged with his youma and she'd found out who he really was. Some parts were harder to relate than others, but she forged on, finding it easier once past that night and the utter betrayal she'd felt. Maybe it wasn't something Ganymede needs or wanted to know, but Alois was as much tied up in this as anything else was. She told her about how Bischofite had approached her to find out about purification and how she'd found the graveyard on her world when she had taken him there. The graveyard had yielded the resting place of her past self and it had been the focal point. She skipped ahead to the night they had tried to purify Bischofite and failed, how Quenton had stabbed him and when Ida had tried to stop him, the general had hit her with his tar and smeared it down her face and arm. In a panic, she had pulled herself and Hvergelmir to Ida to escape the pain of failure and rejection in the comfort of the only place she felt safe.
The last part was the most significant and Ida explained how she had remembered where the grave marker trees were grown and decided to replicate the old tradition of the new Ida planting the tree for her predecessor and pledging her protection and service to her planet and it's people. She even told her how she had changed the oath a little to include Earth, and how she had laid to rest all the pain she had been clinging to the last few months.
"When I planted the tiny tree, it was like Ida came to life around me and suddenly power flooded the connection. It's was overwhelming and something broke inside of me, like a wall came down. For a moment I could feel everything... When it all cleared I was like this and I could feel Ida's energy more than I ever had." The story had been a long one and it had shared a lot more of Ida's inner self than she had really ever shared with anyone before. The young woman worried her lower lip and she watched Ganymede out of the corner of her dark eyes, worried what she might think of it all. Did she think poorly of her, letting herself get taken in by Alois? Was all the turmoil she'd gone through just stupid teenage angst? It was what worried her most... That she had some how lessened herself by what she had done before the trip to Ida.
"I remembered that you glowed too last time I saw you and I thought maybe you'd know more about this than I did."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 8:45 am
Ganymede made an effort not to react to anything Ida said. Whether or not she herself approved was not the issue here. What mattered was the end result. That Ida was alive, that she was better off now after the experience, as much as parts of it may revolt Ganymede to think about. Her hands tightened their grip on the chains that suspended her swing at the thought of Bischofite, and the brief, distant memories of the figure he truly was beneath the cloak of Chaos.
Among all the agents she'd encountered throughout the years, none garnered such harsh feelings from her as Bischofite did. Their encounters may have been abrupt and sporadic, but they were always memorable, they always made an impact—distrust, revulsion, contempt. He, more than anyone else who served Chaos, deserved whatever death befell him, for he had so little regard for the lives of others. Civilians were little more than playthings, his own allies merely pawns. That was far more dangerous in her mind than what the Negaverse typically represented.
Ganymede's face was set in an impassive mask even as her hands clench around the chains and her eyes narrowed a fraction. She stared straight ahead rather than look at Ida, not wanting to other Eternal Senshi to get the wrong impression. She could not help but judge Ida and she felt guilty for it. Ida had not known who Alois was when she'd slept with him, and yet that event more than anything disturbed Ganymede. She'd had her fair share of questionable partners in bed, but then as far as she was aware none of them had been cold-blooded murderers, none of them had nearly as much blood on their hands.
But that was just it, wasn't it? As far as she was aware. Ida had not been. Surely things would have been different if she had.
Besides, it wasn't anything that could be changed. What was done was done. The important part was what had happened after, and Ganymede made sure to pay close attention to Ida's recounting of her visit to her homeworld. It did not entirely explain what had become of the two of them, but there were notable similarities that Ganymede filed away for reference. An oath and a graveyard.
“To be honest, I don't think I know any more than you do,” she said regretfully. “That night with Bischofite at the warehouse, Avalon tried to pull my starseed but couldn't. Something... some power or light sort of... exploded out of me... and she was thrown back. Then back in May a General Queen came after me. Laurelite. She tried to do the same thing, but... this happened.”
She looked down at herself, at the subtle changes in her fuku, at the golden glow that leaked from the palms wrapped around the swing's chains.
“I was in a graveyard,” she supplied, “but here, not on Ganymede. And before... there was a time before Avalon when I was on Ganymede. I went to the throne room and... relived a memory.”
Removing one of her hands from the chains, Ganymede flicked her wrist and called her memory stone from sub-space. Then she let go of the swing completely and cradled the stone between her hands. Pale pink gas swirled within, rising and falling with various memories, forming shapes and figures only she could see. Ida would see nothing but a crystal ball with undulating wisps of gas.
“I made a vow,” she said, “and everything came alive. It used to be dark there, like it was always night, but now the skies are blue and there's sunlight even if the sun is far away. That was when I first saw the symbol on my forehead, and when I looked at myself in the mirror it was like I was seeing myself becoming a part of the past, and the past becoming a part of the present. I thought it was just something to do with Ganymede,” she admitted. “I didn't know it could happen to anyone else.”
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:57 am
The mask, more than anything, only confirmed what Ida had feared. The eternal tucked her elbows into her sides as she dropped her eyes, idly rocking the swing back and forth. She had lost Ganymede's respect, she was positive she had, and it hurt. Whatever the woman thought of her, it was no worse than what Ida thought of herself. She knew the things Bischofite had done... She had seen it, felt it... He was a monster and he had put his hands on her. She had thought maybe what had happened on Ida might have washed away some of the taint, but it would probably never leave her. And the horrible part? She had started to see him as a man too, seeing him as Alois and Bischofite there near the end. Her feelings were as much conflicted there as anything else... But she had decided to leave it behind on Ida and there it would stay. Only four people knew the truth behind it and she decided then that was all that needed to know. It would break her heart to have her team refuse to look at her the way Ganymede did.... Shang had said it hadn't changed her, but she knew that was just his kind heart talking.
The news of Negaverse agents being repelled when they tried to take Ganymede's starseed made Ida's eyes widen and a surge of desperate hope tug at her. She'd always been terrified of that happening to her again... If she was immune too, she would never need to fear it again.
When Gany pulled out the orb, Ida looked at it In question, but held back from voicing it. She didn't have much right to ask Ganymede anything personal, anymore. Instead she offered what little information she had, since the other woman had offered first.
"Ida changed too. The power surge exploded outward and sudden all the bare trees burst into leaves and flowers I haven't seen before sprang up out of the grass. The trees in the graveyard glow now, like they did in my memory. I can... Feel something, like warmth, radiating up from the soil, but the woman with me, Hvergelmir of Cosmos, didn't seem able to feel it." Ida dropped her eyes to the toes of her boots as she rocked slowly. "I met a negaverse captain who asked about the glow, but I had nothing to tell him. He mentioned there was a Knight who glowed too, named Babylon. I've never met him before, it's why I came to you first."
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 11:40 am
“Babylon too?”
Ganymede's head whipped around, finally meeting Ida with some form of notable expression, staring in a mix of surprise and... that mild resentment again, that foolish jealousy, that anyone else should know what this felt like. It was gone as quickly as it'd faded when she'd seen Ida approach, and in its place seeped a warm relief.
If Babylon had somehow come to this state, then surely Valhalla could reach it too, and then she'd never again have to watch an agent of the Negaverse sink a hand into his chest. Ganymede lifted a hand to rub at her chest as the memory haunted her, fingers pressing through stiff bustier, warm golden brooch, and skin and bone as if to soothe an ache beneath. Restlessness was not a new feeling, but this restlessness was different. Energy pulsed through her as it always did when she powered up these days, a swift course of power through her veins that set the tips of her fingers tingling.
Sometimes, when all was quiet and very still, and she had nothing to do but sit and turn inward on herself, she thought she could feel it when she was powered down, too, a thin thread connecting her to a world hundreds of millions of miles from Earth.
“Babylon was... is... um... to be honest, I'm not sure if he still considers himself a Jovian, but... regardless, he's one of my teammates,” she explained. “A Knight of Mercury. I know he had some history with Avalon.”
Ganymede's fingers drifted over her chest a few moments longer before she dropped her hand as if she meant to return it to the memory stone. Instead, she let it rest in her lap with her palm facing up, turning her gaze down to it. Her markings were not quite as distinct as Ida's. Rather, thin threads of gold wended their way over her palms as if someone had traced light over the natural lines. The only one to noticeably stand out from the rest was a thicker line across her right palm, a phantom scar from a time long, long ago.
“I don't understand what's happening,” she said. “I don't know what this is, I just know that it isn't dangerous. Sometimes I feel like I have to be there. You know, on Ganymede. After Laurelite attacked, I went and it just felt... like everything would be okay as long as I was there. And I've noticed other things. We heal faster than normal people to begin with, but it's been even faster now... when I'm there. I should have been stuck in bed longer than I was after...”
She trailed off and made no further effort to explain what “after” she was referring to, leaving Ida to make her own assumptions.
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Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:46 am
The bone-deep ache of one who has felt a hand reaching for their starseed... Ida felt it too. She knew the gesture of reaching to press fingers to your chest as though to soothe an invisible wound. To never have to feel that invasion of self again? It was worth a lot.
"There might be others we don't know about..." Ida said softly, slowly rocking herself back and forth on the swing. "We should get the word out about what's happened and see if anyone else surfaces. I don't know what's happening either, but maybe together we can work it out."
Not that Ganymede wanted to work with her any more, she assumed, but maybe if there were other people to make a bigger group, her own presence would be less troublesome.
"I've been having nightmares ever since... that night in the warehouse. Nightmares of Bischofite ripping out my starseed and the world being consumed by darkness and destruction. Ida soothes me, makes me feel safe... and I can sleep without dreaming there. Sometimes I get so desperate that I try to go even when I know its too soon, but it suddenly worked one time... I found I can go to Ida twice a week, now, which has been a boon. I get restless away from it, I miss it." What else had happened since the glow? Other oddities might offer clues, but there was only really one she could think of.
"Um... have you noticed a rise in youma loose in the city lately? I've been dusting twice as many, or more, than usual."
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 12:53 pm
“Who knows if getting the word out is even a good idea,” Ganymede observed.
She thought back to Laurelite, to Avalon, and she remembered their reactions. Surprise. Disgust. Never recognition. They knew less about what had happened to her than she did, and she wondered if it might not be best if things were to remain that way. The more people knew, the more people became aware, the greater the chances were that someone might seek to understand, and if they could do that there was no telling what sort of weaknesses they might be able to exploit.
Ganymede had spent a long time keeping her head down. She kept to herself when she could, focused on hunting youma and left a majority of the Negaverse officers to those with more personal history. Something told her that objective would no longer be such an easy feat. Laurelite may very well come after her again, and after their previous encounter Ganymede assumed the General Queen would be better prepared for a second round.
“The more we tell other people, the more we risk leaking to the Negaverse,” she said. “I doubt they'll sit quietly now that word's getting around about us. At least one General Queen already knows. Might be something we could use against them, though. Freak 'em out, send 'em running scared.”
She paused a moment to consider Ida's question but inevitably shook her head.
“I haven't noticed, no. I've been taking it easy since Laurelite. Been spending a lot of time on Ganymede instead. But if we feel different to each other I figure we feel different to them too,” she considered the thought. “You feel very bright. Pure. If I were a monster seeking energy and starseeds, I imagine yours would seem pretty tasty.”
She grinned sardonically and laughed low. “Not exactly model subjects of purity, are we? Me, notoriously outspoken against our Lord and Savior, the Moon Queen. And you and your little fling with-”
Ganymede broke off, winced, glanced at Ida and looked sympathetic. Quickly, she apologized, “Sorry, that wasn't very fair of me. You didn't know. Not really your fault, is it? Anyway, something good came out of it in the end. It lead you to this, right?” she added, and displayed a glowing palm.
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:23 pm
"If we don't let our side know that something has happened, then what if it happens again and the person is just stumbling around, blind? If they knew we were here, they could come to us, learn what we know. Maybe tell us some new piece of the puzzle... if we hide it, they could fall victim so much easier, the way the new senshi do..." And really, Ida wasn't sure how much of this was going to stay a secret for long... the three of them glowed, it was hard to miss that. Questions would be asked on both sides.
Ida rocked back and forth as Ganymede denied seeing youma. Maybe it was just her, then... or just her bad luck. Maybe it was because she went out patrolling regularly, more often than the other woman did...
Then Ganymede offered a comment that hit Ida like a punch to the gut and she paled, feeling her chest squeeze painfully. The rocking stopped as the eternal tilted her head, letting her bangs fall across her face.
"No." She said softly, her voice dulled as she hunched her head between her shoulders. "You're right. I'm not pure any more. I gave away the only thing about me worth anything to a monster and now I'm ruined. I should have known better."
She had been trying so hard to put this behind her... to move on. Would it always be like this, when someone learned the truth? Perhaps she was better off not telling anyone, ever... no comfort came from it. She shouldn't have told Ganymede, obviously, save that that part of it was so integral to why the rest happened... If it had not been for Alois, she would not have run to Ida for comfort, felt the love there that she so desperately needed... remembered the ritual and planted the tree that unlocked this strange glow. Rising with a rattle of chains, Ida turned away as she reached to sweep her long braid over her shoulder, tugging her hood up to shield her hair.
"I... should go. I need to... finish patrolling." She said softly, feeling lame. "Thanks for talking. If you hear anything more, let me know, ok? I'll do the same."
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:21 am
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
The topic of whether or not to get the word out about what had happened to them was left unresolved. Ganymede had nothing more to say on the matter when her attention was focused on the subject she thought was of more importance.
She followed Ida off of the swing, jumping up to grab her arm and stop her from leaving so quickly. She'd struck a nerve and felt guilty for it, hadn't meant her joke to be taken so seriously, didn't want to hurt Ida's feelings. The thought that Ida had slept with Bischofite might unsettle her, but Ganymede certainly didn't plan to hold it against her. It was a mistake. Or perhaps it wasn't. Either way, she reminded herself (again) that Ida hadn't known at the time. Surely if she had things would have happened differently.
Everyone made mistakes. It was a simple fact of life. Ganymede had made plenty of them herself. Everyone had things in life they looked back on with regret. But Ida's comments, her reactions, unsettled Ganymede as much as anything else.
“You gave away the only thing about you worth anything?” Ganymede questioned. Her expression was fierce—not angry, but insistent. “What the hell is that? You think there's something wrong with you just because you slept with a guy who turned out to be Bischofite? What, you think that means you're somehow lesser than... who? Me? Other people? That's bullshit, Ida, and whatever it is you think you've lost sure as hell isn't the only thing about you worth anything. You think you gave it away? You can take it back.”
She loosened her grip on Ida's arm in case the touch was unwanted, leaving Ida the opportunity to go if she really meant to.
“I'm not going to let you leave thinking I meant what I said about being impure,” she said. “It was a joke, and a bad one. I'm sorry. I'm just... conflicted, that's all. But we're in this together, okay?”
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 4:51 pm
Ida startled when Ganymede grabbed her arm, lifting wide brown eyes from the ground to study the fierce expression on the other woman's face. Her lips parted as she listened to the impassioned little speech and without her realizing it, tears brightened her eyes.
She'd truly thought she'd ruined everything, where was this coming from? This sort of a response was only something she could have hoped wistfully for, not something she expected in the least. To hear this, from someone else... it pushed the shadows back, a little, made everything feel a little brighter. When Ganymede dropped her arm, Ida reached to curl her hand around it, steadying herself as she so often did with the gesture.
Deep down, she knew that what she had told Ganymede was true, but to hear the other eternal siding with her warmed her, as did the apology.
"You're no more conflicted over it than I am." She said softly, giving a wan smile. "Its been hard to align the two sides of him when I can remember how his hand felt when it closed around my starseed and at the same time hear him singing to me in german... I'm still dealing with it, I guess." Hard to not remember the way his lips felt on her neck...
"I'm sorry." She said as she freed her hand hand to scrub her eyes, rubbing away the mist. "I didn't mean to turn this into a confessional, I really did just want to find out what you knew about... this. Thanks for... being open minded enough to listen to my story." For being willing to apologize to someone even when you're right.
Ida reached out finally with both hands, trailing brown fingers across Ganymede's wrists to clasp her hands and squeeze them.
"If you're okay with it, then yes, we're in this together. Sometime, I'd like to hear more about your event, if you're willing to share it. Or... really anything about your planet. I'd like to show you Ida too, if you'd like to go sometime. Maybe there is something in either of them that would explain more, who knows. Maybe we can ask Hvergelmir too, since she watched me do it. Hopefully we can figure this out."
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Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 4:44 am
“Don't apologize,” Ganymede said.
Ida wasn't the one who should be apologizing, she thought. After all, Ida hadn't done anything wrong. Questionable, yes, once all the facts were laid out and the truth was revealed, but not wrong. She was just a girl who'd felt something for someone that turned out to be... she didn't want to say “misplaced.” Certainly it wasn't Ganymede's right to make that judgement. But she thought she knew enough about Ida to say with confidence that Ida had to have had some sort of feelings for whomever used to be the boy who was Bischofite.
It had probably been hard on her, discovering the truth. Ganymede couldn't imagine how she would feel if she learned someone she cared about was so warped and twisted inside it finally manifested itself on the outside in a form that was half monster.
She made an effort to smile, clasped her hands with Ida's when the other Senshi took them and pushed those dark thoughts away, to be dwelled upon when she was alone, and not at risk of unintentionally hurting someone she was consistently growing more fond of.
“I don't think my event was so dramatic,” she said, laughing a bit awkwardly. “I didn't even know that's what was happening at the time. But... if you want... I'll take you to Ganymede sometime. I can show you where it happened, and depending on what time of day it is we could either see the sunrise or the sunset. Not that it really rises or sets, but... I mean, the effect is the same.”
Ganymede forced herself to stop rambling before she could go any further, jerking her head in a sheepish motion meant to cut off that train of thought.
“And I'd like to see Ida,” she added. “I think, if there's one good thing that's come from the war, it's that we have places to call our own. Some small speck in the universe that doesn't belong to anyone but us. I've never felt as sure of myself as I do on Ganymede. I know who I am when I'm there. I know what my purpose is.”
Again she cut herself off, wrapping it up with, “Anyway, we'll save that for another time, alright? I'm sorry about what I said, and I'm really glad I'm not alone in this anymore. That was always the worst part of being a Senshi for me. The loneliness. Well, that and all the fighting, but that part's kind of unavoidable.”
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