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Walking home late at night was practically part of Rhys's routine. He had an apartment close to campus, and walking was by far easier than driving when he could cut through alleys and back streets. Not that it was per se safer, in any way, and he knew that. Even in simple, mundane ways, and not the bizarre bullshit that seemed to be happening in Destiny City.

He certainly hadn't struggled with two weeks of recurring dreams of black gates and strange words and an unfamiliar version of himself back home in London. And if he was back home, he would have an incredibly good excuse for avoiding Alistair's wedding. Not that it would matter because he would go anyway.

He made a turn into an alley that would cut through to the street his building was on, but almost as soon as he was in he ducked back out, because he had definitely seen one of those particular bits of bizarre bullshit.

That was the proper description for what looked for all intents and purposes like a vampire attack without the bite to the neck, wasn't it? Someone holding a limp body, and a strange glow. Yes, that was definitely both bizarre and bullshit.

s**t, s**t, he had definitely been spotted, and while Rhys had no idea what that meant, he was pretty sure it wasn't good. He still wasn't entirely sure what the hell he'd seen, but anything that ended with someone unconscious (God he hoped it was just unconscious) and set down in an alley was most definitely nothing good.

'Bloody brilliant, I may have just interrupted Jack the ******** Ripper and now he'll kill me rather than let me talk.' That was an absolutely s**t way to go out, as far as he was concerned, but he wasn't sure if he'd have a better chance booking it or hiding. Booking it he might get turned around - he was passing familiar with the alleyways and twists of this part of the city, but not as familiar as he was with London, and certainly not familiar enough to guarantee he wouldn't get lost.

And in his indecision, as he scanned for a decent escape route, something else drew his attention.

It was a pomegranate, bright red, on the ground a few feet away. It would have seemed wholly innocuous - if out of place - were it not faintly glowing. And, it seemed, calling to him, in a way he could not describe.

"This is the stupidest thing I will ever do," Rhys murmured to himself, and then he bolted for it, rather than continuing to let indecision rule.

As his fingers curled around it, he felt a rush of something strange and magical and powerful, and the name from his dreams bubbled back to the forefront of his mind. And now, he knew, it was a name - his name.

Ploutonion didn't even have a moment to get his bearings on this strange new magic. He was still reeling from the sheer rush of magic when, briefly, he noticed something - a feeling of dark wrongness, just behind him.

He didn't have time to react, to turn, to even realize what was going on, because there was a blooming of incredible pain from behind him. It was absolute agony, a point of painful fire in his back and his chest.

And then there was nothingness, and the newly-made Page collapsed, so much dead weight.

Pulling a starseed summoned that one quickly, Umber thought as his gaze redirected to the man on the parapet. The view from his angle left very little to Umber's imagination - most of his skin beneath that sheer overlay of a skirt lay bare, which meant no additional weapons or body armor. And with an aura comparable to his own, Umber suspected that he may escape with his new possession in hand.

Benitoite mentioned that these small souls are the lifeblood of our existence, and wholly useful in combat situations when energy is a necessity. Ingestion is possible, which implies that their exterior can be crushed with teeth. If this senshi is so adamant in returning the starseed to its body, then let him take great care around me in battle. Wordlessly the lieutenant slipped the small gem into his mouth. The unyielding diamond shape meant that the hostage seed protruded slightly from one of his cheeks, and the warm power thrummed against his teeth. Any impact to his face would likely crush it, he wagered, which offered some insurance. More than its use as a combat aid, though, Umber intended to submit it to the Negaverse. Shattering the seed would fail that goal.

His sights lingered on the indignant blonde. A quick gesticulation invited the senshi down to engage him; if he was so interested in reclaiming the starseed, then confrontation was unavoidable. Umber summoned his altogether useless weapons and adopted a defensive stance.

I hold no allegiance to your kind and no compunctions about murder. What could you do that would compel me to bend to your will, senshi. Unless your magics revolve around Manipulation, I suspect you'll be at a loss in reclaiming this one.

Bribery, he considered while he balanced the starseed carefully atop his tongue. A portion of his curiosity demanded that he crush it between his teeth already, if only to taste this boost that their souls purportedly afforded. On the other hand, he knew it as a great waste of resources. He relented, if only to grit his teeth shut for any coming attacks. This culture declares so staunchly that all life is priceless, yet you would have me price it. Fine, then - your culture gives me an edge in asserting its worth. We will barter.

But the man raised a kick afterward, to spite his words, and the lieutenant possessed enough reflex to catch the kick toward his torso temporarily. With a forbidding grunt, Umber thrust the starseed into view between his teeth - a warning if this senshi chose to pursue. "Don't." He released the foot afterward and showed his hands, indicating his intentions to barter if that option still lay on the table.

Shifting the starseed to a comfortable position for speech felt nearly impossible. "If you want me to return this starseed without violence, then I will do it under one condition." His voice sounded almost hollow with the gem tucked into cheek. Slowly he backed toward the body as he spoke. "But this condition may be a price too high to pay.

"We both know life as priceless, so the only fair trade given its worth is another life. If you feel the need to bleed for..." He glanced back at the prone form of the Saturn knight, then back to the senshi defending his life, "probably a stranger, then you'll pay any price I cite. So corrupt, senshi, and I will return the starseed to his body. Join the Negaverse and he'll live again. I'll even let him run without pursuit. However, I will drain you near to passing out before I make the call to hold you to your word. If you choose to reject this bargain, then..." He tapped his teeth against the gem for an audible clack.

If only I could teleport. There would be no need for any of this.

"I don't think you have much time to consider it, Senshi. Time still passes, and at some point we will see his form unravel. Choose wisely." And he watched the stranger while he waited, his impassive gaze tracing every knit brow or angle of the body too tense from the stress. He watched for body language, for impending attacks, for any hints of grace that might be useful to the Negaverse. And while he watched, he considered how he might make the call to a General-Sovereign while balancing these two lives in his hands.

So often now I encounter dualities. Must everything require these two hands? If I must operate with strength and happiness in opposition, then so be it.

It is surprising to see him accept, but it is not a completely even trade. He will not lose his life entirely, but a small portion of it committed to the Negaverse. In trade, I relinquish someone's life. He's made the better deal indeed.

With time pressing for action, Umber lacked time to dialogue with the man. Instead he edged close enough to drain at a clip, building up an energy orb in one hand while the other maintained bodily contact with his potential ally's arm. The skin felt heated beneath his grasp - almost to a seethe while he sapped away what energy he could. Was it due to panic? Adrenaline? Some potential to harbor more energy than a common man when dressed in their outlandish attire? He knew not - and with the drain highly pertinent to his success, he found no reason to ask questions. And once the man showed enough weakness that he might have difficulty standing straight, he would relent from the drain and pocket what was obtained.

Once he figured he had enough, he banished the energy to subspace in exchange for an unassuming grey crystal that sat weightless in his hand. Held near mouth, he called for reinforcements at the cost of precious energy. "To any General-Sovereign on call - I have a senshi willing to convert to our side in an alley behind the Westview Theater. Please attend immediately." He cut off the transmission abruptly to favor brevity over politeness. He knew nothing of proper etiquette over the lines for addressing a superior, but such considerations found little import in a situation like this.

While his potential addition to the Negaverse army still stood, Umber retreated backward to the prone form of the long-haired page and crouched to administer the starseed. The motion demanded no formal penetration of the back - instead, the starseed was dropped to the cavity and slipped cleanly through skin. For a moment, he wondered if some kind of vacuum called it back to the body, but the return of the seed felt so straightforward that he second-guessed the notion entirely. It simply returned, absent the wrenching fight that brought its presence outside of the body. Was that simply how intrinsically they were tied? The prospect demanded research at a later date - or questions to the superiors.

But the current situation demanded greater focus on his current enemies, for now he stood pincered between the two. One might've been unconscious for a span of time, and the other hopefully crippled beyond any real retaliation, but his position still left him at a disadvantage - Xenotime would've chided him that he knew better.

And, perhaps, he did. Combat was not so far removed from hunting.

Or, perhaps, it was.

Aegir did not flinch away from Umber closing in, nor when he felt the energy being pulled from his body; the lieutenant was wasting no time, for which he was grateful as there was no telling how much longer the braided page would hold out. Umber's hand on his arm was tolerated and then almost welcome as his body grew heavy and his head began to swim from the draining. The blond's legs held him up but trembled with the strain, his shoulder slumping from a bone-deep exhaustion but he did not complain nor fight.

Ploutonion's return to conscious was greeted with a relieved but worn smile. "Oh thank god, it wasn't too late." He noted the fear and disbelief on the newly minted page's face and would have found it funny if things weren't still at a completely dismal point. Just because he'd gotten Umber to put the starseed back didn't mean that whomever showed up to corrupt him would allow the guy to leave. Then it would all be for naught; he couldn't bear the thought.

"I"m Aegir. You're what's called a 'Knight'. And this fellow was going to kill you, but we made a trade." Please, for the love of all that is holy, get your a** in the game! Suspend your disbelief or you'll end up worse than dead.

Familiar face, familiar voice..familiar feel. But the senshi of silence was too tired to puzzle it out just then, not when he had bigger concerns. "Still, if you don't want to die...I'd get the hell out of here, fast." Aegir clenched his hands into fists, glancing at Umber instead of the page - if the pomegranate guy stood with him...they might have a chance. Even if he wouldn't, this...would be the only chance he had, wouldn't it? To escape corruption, to escape being turned into a servant of the Negaverse. Run and live, page. Or stand and fight and maybe die. I have made my choice.

He was not going to go gently into that good night. It might end up ineffectual, but he willed his leaden arms and legs to move as though this were the final act on the final night with only mule-headed stubbornness to keep him going. Time slowed for the blond and words came out in a low hiss, "Fight or die!" even as he pushed towards Umber with strength he didn't have. Desperation and necessity driving the weakened senshi to fight with whatever he had left, at whatever the final cost.

If I use my magic, I'll be out like a light...I can't risk that, not yet. Come on, page - step up!

Ploutonion very seriously considered bolting, taking the apparent second chance at life he'd been handed and figuring out the rest of it later. Or maybe never thinking about this again, because surely that was a well thought-out and reasonable response to everything that was happening here.

But Aegir - Aegir who was annoyingly familiar, even though he was certain her would remember meeting someone who looked like that - had apparently risked quite a lot for him. He'd offered something in trade worth a life, and whatever it was, Ploutonion couldn't ask a stranger to give it up for him. Not when it could never be an even trade.

So instead he would take the other presented option - fight, or die.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, and there was a confidence in his voice that he didn't feel at all. He tested the balance of his pomegranate, trying to decide if it was hefty enough- and then he decided that it didn't matter, because right then, victory would be separating Aegir from the other man and getting him out of there.

So he threw the pomegrnanate, as hard as he could, at the black-haired man's face.