|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:29 pm
Annaliese Gibson never walked a mile in heels before.
She never needed to.
Never wanted to.
Never asked to.
Yet there, she stood, ankles alight and feet aching so terribly that she couldn't feel them, and there sat a bench not forty feet away from her vantage point on the corner of a deserted intersection where hardly more than a blinking signal gave her any inclination of company. Yet... There she sat, a girl so slight and birdlike she might just break in a mild breeze, on the bench that offered such blissful solace for aching and possibly blistered feet.
Normally this would not give Annaliese pause.
But Annaliese was not Annaliese anymore, but an elegant nightclub singer aglitter with the cloth of the stars, hair dolled up in corkscrews and arms bare save for the bicyclic cuffs adorned with equally ornate material. She knew her name, her stage name as she considered it, to be Stara Maslina, and Stara Maslina carried with her such a curious sense of other people that caused the social worker to stop dead in her tracks, mouth agape in wonder and utter, utter confusion.
But she was so sure of it - she could feel the woman on the bench, and that feeling... Possessed no ill will, no discomfort that she could discern, but the logic in her screamed to avoid trusting a sense born of purely gut reaction. Still, she approached, with no ostensible reason to avoid the girl, as she was loathe to dirty such a glamorous dress and the company might just take the edge off of her slowly fraying nerves (as she was quite convinced, by this time, that she had thoroughly lost her mind). So onward she limped, across the street, in her white, white dress and her white, white shoes while she approached this bench and her white and green and gold stranger.
She asked, "Do you mind if I sit here?" And she asked in her nicest voice, sweetly intoned and slightly aquiver with the thoughts of how many different classifications of insanity this entire encounter might account for.
And she hoped, for the first time, that her diagnoses were off the mark.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:02 am
Avalon was kind of tired lately. She had done a shift at work and then come home and taken a bath, but it was Wednesday, so Finn was off patrolling and being Babylon, and she was bored. Bored bored bored bored bored. A real person would have like, hobbies, but the birds had all gone to sleep, and Netflix wouldn't let her load the Princess Bride, and she wasn't allowed to sing after dark because it gave Nick the willies. So she was sort of out of things to do, since she could only organize the closets for so long. And that was how she'd ended up on patrol. Well, sort of patrol. She was actually sitting on a bench and looking at her toes. The toes of her boots, to be specific. They were a little scuffed up. Generally unattractive, which was unfortunate, since she wanted to be pretty all the time. Maybe she could polish them? God, who knew. Avalon jerked to attention when she heard someone ask her a question. "Sorry, what," she said, and then it sunk in. "Yes! Please!" She scooted to the side of the bench, clearing plenty of room for the pretty lady in white. Not that it was her lady in white, Cosmos, or Hvergelmir. She looked kinda like she'd been cut from the same cloth--her clothes might as well have come from the same collection--but she was very different. Clearly. Neither Hvergelmir or Cosmos had had such a lovely, starry sash. "I'm Avalon Page," she said. "And you're a knight, too, right? Of Cosmos! I really love your hair. And your sash. Your shoes are so cute, too." Totally unscuffed. Avalon regarded them enviously. "I think you might have a blister, though. You were limping a little."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 4:36 pm
Annaliese never sought anyone after the incident. She never voiced it, for fear of shaming by her colleagues and supports. She never asked about it - the news provided enough public opinion about the matter that she tried to push the event from her mind at all times.
But she saw it looking back at her, in the swirls of milk in her coffee every morning. She saw it in the stars late at night, gesturing down in their own warm glitter of silence.
She smiled toward the girl, warmly and reassuring despite inner feelings. She had no way of disproving her excited banter about knights and Cosmos. She knew so little of it all that she was inclined to believe every word - and why not? She looked to bear no malice in her heart, the way she came to life so willingly at Stara's presence. It warmed her, pleased her to find such open happiness in the face of a stranger. "You're right," she said, hoping that she sounded more assured than she felt. "My name is Stara Maslina. I don't know too much about what..." She paused to gesticulate to the whole of the pair. "All of this is, but I know that you're a lot like me. Do you know anything about what's happened to us?" Other pressing questions rose to the forefront of her mind, but the blistering ache in her feet garnered more attention.
Stara took a seat, all too grateful for the relief of taking pressure off her feet. She sighed in relief and allowed her head to lay against the backrest of the bench for but a moment. "My goodness, my feet are pounding." She laughed. It sounded no different than the clear chimes ringing out from her every movement. "I haven't walked this much before in my life!"
And I hope to the highest heavens that you're not a figment of my imagination. That you're real, and whole, and conscious of your own accord.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:08 am
She--Stara Maslina--was a baby Page. If Avalon could look more excited, she did, her green eyes crinkling at the corners. A baby Page! That meant Avalon could, like, mentor her, right? The way Babylon did for her, but with fewer kisses, because, um, she was only going to kiss Babylon, thanks. She didn't need a reason. That was just how it was. She made it a rule. It was a rule as of right now. "I know a lot," she gushed, and then she put a hand over her mouth. "I know a lot," she repeated, back straight and chin tucked in, trying to sound officious and solemn the way Kaatje did when bossing her around. Oh. She couldn't tell Stara Maslina about Kaatje being Gunn. Or anyone else. Maybe Babylon, though. Babylon and Hvergelmir were smart, and if Avalon didn't tell anyone secret identities, then Pollux could suck it and not be mad at her. Natch! "Like that you shouldn't take off your shoes. If you do, the blisters will get too bad for you to walk before you put them back on." Science! She was good at it. She slumped back into a comfortable position. "You get used to it," she said. "Okay, so, you're new, right? So you don't know that you're a Page of Cosmos? I can tell. You've got the mark." She pointed to the star emblem at the center of Stara's neckline, and then she said, "They're on your arms and your hairclip, too." Avalon gathered up the end of the golden cord at her waist. "These quartered circles mean I'm a Page of Earth. See, when you're of-something, you represent it and its ideals. Or that's what they say. I don't know if I'm brave and natural and chivalrous, and stuff." She rolled her eyes, inviting Stara to share in her joke. "Anyway, have you met a Nega yet? They're evil. So try not to until you learn how to throw a good punch." What else should Avalon tell the new Page? It would help so much if she remembered being a new page. But she'd woken up like this and the longer she stayed Avalon, the more she remembered about fighting, about sensing auras, about how senshi worked... they were the only memories that came easy to her. "D'you have any questions?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 10:48 am
The way the girl became so animated proved a delight in Stara's eyes. She couldn't help but smile in response, tired as she was, and straighten up just enough to mimic some of Avalon's own effervescence. It felt good to be privy to such energy, and she felt she incurred a rare blessing in being able to bring such delight to someone else's form. Here she was, a stranger in the night sporting a dress that only belonged in a fashion show, and someone every bit as stranger as her perked up just at the sight of her.
And for a moment, she forgot about the cooling suspicion that she lost her mind.
"Yes, you're right," she nodded along while she crossed her legs and stretched them taut before allowing the heels to rest against the concrete. They hadn't garnered any blisters... Yet. The demeanor displayed by the other girl felt childish despite her age, like some harrowing experience or unknown force suppressed her at the early ears and never let her go. It saddened Stara, saddened Annaliese, to witness it here.
But Avalon forged on with information unknown to Stara previously. She showed her golden cord, curious as it was with emblems containing crosses on the inside. Vaguely Stara recognized them as the astrological (or was it astronomical?) symbol of Earth. "Do you mind?" She asked, shortly before she reached out to trace a navy fingernail over the surface.
But Avalon's declaration that she was of the Cosmos proved more unsettling, in that the Cosmos itself was not a simple astrological (again, astronomical? She was starting to think both worked) body - the Cosmos encompassed a surfeit of bodies. So what could she possibly be doing in representing the whole of creation? A veritable mound of anxiety built up within her, though she swallowed and tried to push that thought from mind. There were further questions to ask, skirting around the questions surrounding what ideals might possibly possessed of the Cosmos. "You do know a lot," she answered first, before she forged carefully through the questions therein.
She wasn't certain, still, if Avalon was real, and if she was, whether Avalon incurred enough grievous injury to her psyche to warrant any manner of lashing out. The whole of her answered no, but caution never abated easily.
"So if there's a Page of Earth, are there Pages of other bodies? A Page of Mercury, a Page of Venus? And are we the only ones? Do you bear the responsibility of representing Earth alone?" In a sense, it felt like a fantasy to her - a curious fantasy wrought by an overactive mind, beauteous in its creation yet deadly to reality. Stara pursed her fingernails together as she always did in the office. "And if you wouldn't mind explaining, what is a Nega? Why would I need to fight them? And what makes them evil?" The lattermost question provided a keen insight into Avalon's mind regardless of her answer - most of those entailing such ideals always did. In a sense, she felt averse to asking.
She rather liked Avalon, for the short time they met - her spunk and animation provided Stara with a warmth in her heart.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 2:23 pm
"Go ahead," said Avalon, holding the cord in her hand for Stara Maslina's inspection. She had never seen someone else learn something new before--only been the recipient of annoyance, irritation, and boredom as she struggled to learn things. It was really enchanting, she decided, the way Stara's fingernail gently traced over the gold sigils. She nodded at Stara, and smiled encouragingly. "There are! There's Pages of everything in the solar system, and some other things too. Like the Cosmos, and the Surrounding. But I guess those are called Chronos knights. And no, we aren't alone! How could any one person encompass all of that?" Wonders would make sense here, as a natural flow from the topic of who had Knights and whatnot, but Stara had already moved on. Avalon bit her lip. How did she know Negas were evil? It was just one of the things she knew from before. "Well, they serve this lady, Metallia. I've never seen her. But they're all, they can't think right, because Metallia's in their head. Metallia makes them think a certain way. My Babylon--he's a Mercury knight--he says that the thing that makes you a Negaverser makes you sick. You don't know what's right or wrong. Negas hurt people, even kill them. They do it so they can make monsters." Had Stara met a youma yet? Avalon hoped not. "Everyone says I used to be one, but the White Lady saved me. She had to take everything out of me to do it, though. All of my memories, and all of my magic. So now I'm just me... but I don't... really know anything." It was a shameful admission, and Avalon looked away from Stara, hands twisting and uncertain in her lap. "You have to fight them because they want to hurt us," she said. "They want to make us like them, or kill us, and they want to take us away from everything we love. It's not right."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:28 pm
So we have all these representatives from different celestial bodies, from what she's telling me, but... Is there a purpose to it? Maybe it's of such fantastic design that we ourselves don't know. "The Surrounding?" She asked, a nail pressed to her lower lip in confusion. "Is that like the space between the stars and planets?" It was a ballpark guess, but it showed interest, she hoped. Truly Avalon provided her with invaluable information about the start of her existence here, even if Stara herself still doubted her own sanity. She'd heard of entirely convincing hallucinations before, but no case of psychosis presented this consistently and this suddenly.
It was as if she was in Alice's shoes, passing through Wonderland without an inkling of what she was doing there.
Her explanation of these Negas gave her more to work with. She managed her thoughts aloud while she digested the information provided. "So all... Negas, you called them? Serve one woman, and they're essentially brainwashed by her, right? You also specifically stated that they're ill. So it sounds to me like hurting them isn't too different from early psychology practices - where they thought ice baths were enough to stifle the symptoms expressed by schizophrenics or epileptics. I don't mean to insult your method of approaching them, mind you, but as a licensed clinical social worker I'm bound to certain ethics, and..." And it's plainly impossible for me to work around them like that. If they're ill, they need help.
"Can we help them, Avalon? I don't know what happened, really, to put me in this form, but it shouldn't be for violence - I'm the last person you'd want fighting anyone." She laughed lightly, if only to lighten the mood a little. Besides, the way Avalon's effervescence tapered off into poignance alarmed her slightly.
She wasn't certain if the gesture would be well-received, but she knew from her profession alone that taking chances was entirely necessary to improve the mental health of those she worked with, so she ventured an arm about Avalon's shoulder to pull her into a hug. "I've worked with amnesiacs before, Avalon," she started in soft tones near her ear. "So believe me when I say that it can come back to you. And if there's anything that's lost forever, then you can let go and make new memories to replace them. I know it's hard, it's disheartening and incredibly frustrating to work through, but you can pull through." She released shortly afterward, provided Avalon allowed it, as she did not want to push the envelope too far.
But magic? She could offer no comforts for things she simply didn't understand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 2:10 am
Avalon shrugged. "It's a thing," she said. "I don't know how to describe it? It... see, that's one of the things I don't remember. But that's where the Zodiac live. That's what Babylon said." She smiled at Stara, glad to see that the other Page was keeping up. "It's their homeworld. Like yours is Stara Maslina, and mine is Avalon." Different topic, though. The Negas again. She listened, and she frowned. That... actually didn't make any sense at all. The only help for the Negaverse was for those who chose it, those who reached out their hands and asked for it. Like she must have, to be sitting here now. But the ones who didn't want it, the ones who gloried in pain and destruction... "Negaversers aren't like schizophrenics or eplieptics," she said. "More like sociopaths. Metallia reaches in your heart and she makes it... she freezes it over. She makes you hard. And not, like, sexy hard. But... good things aren't as good anymore. You feel less when you help people, and more when you hurt them. They can be the nicest person you know, but Metallia grabs them and twists them, and... in the dark, you see how people really are." She rubbed the side of her nose, and-- Hugs. Not that Avalon didn't like them, but usually they weren't from strangers. She stopped, froze up and when Stara pulled back, she smiled a little quietly. "You don't have to fight," she said. "Hvergelmir doesn't fight at all. But you can only help the Negaversers who want to be helped. Otherwise, they'll keep drowning in Chaos. And there's nothing we can do about that except try to save people who aren't gifted like us." She smiled at Stara again, a little comforted. "It doesn't work that way for people like me," she said. "Things you lose in corruption or purification, they're gone forever. Everyone says it's weird that I find things that remind me of before, and that I know things are missing. Because not everyone does. Sometime's it's just--poof!" She gestured a little explosion, fingers tight together before flicking apart. "Gone. And they never know something's missing." Like the song of her Wonder. "Like their homes," she said. "Their Wonders or their planets. Sometimes, when it's quiet, I hear Avalon sing to me. It granted me my power, in the hopes that I would fulfill all our oaths. Or that's what I think, anyway. I haven't been allowed to go, yet."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:00 pm
Homeworlds? "But we live here, and I think it's fairly safe to say we were both born on Earth. So how can your homeworld be a legend and mine be..." She tapered off, realizing she had no idea what Stara Maslina might be. "Anyway, what are these homeworlds to us, and how are they important? Were they named after us or we after them?" The whole idea of it all just felt so delirious, but Avalon displayed such conviction in its truth. Maybe the lot of it was just nonsense cooked up by a sick brain, but the fact that everything felt so real just captivated her.
Avalon felt real.
The talk of the Negaverse and its power unnerved her somewhat, like those individuals that exert a specific and old honed ability to sniff out that they were just slightly more powerful than her - that if the two met in a dark alley, Annaliese herself would be the one to stay behind, and they knew it. They knew it in this unsettling smirk, more of a twitch of the mouth, and an assuredness in their gaze that hollowed her out for the duration of her session. From the sound of it, Avalon herself was once counted among their number, and whether by great fortune or otherwise, made it out. She offered information about them worth knowing, but Stara lacked any interaction with the Negaverse officers to form an opinion of her own. Alas, she only had hearsay to operate by.
"What do you mean when you say Avalon sings to you? And why can't you visit it?" She felt bad that only questions rolled from her mouth, that she never managed an extrapolation of her own in this strange new world of magic, but as a woman trained in the sciences of psychology, she knew little of how to function around the scientifically impossible.
It's strange how, as little girls, we found no reason to be ashamed of ourselves for pretending. We could play in our own kingdoms, our own magical lands, and our parents only encouraged our beautiful imaginations. When did it become a shame to believe in the fantastical?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
