Antiope wanted more from her, no matter how much she tried explaining the rift between them Chaos caused. The Negaverse, in turn, demanded more from her as well. She was a captain and one who had taken responsibility for several conscripts. Quartz was a blessing as someone who she could commiserate with over the unfortunate state of being between the rock and the hard place that was forced corruption and servitude, but he was weak, and he would be a pet forever.
Galena wanted something different, but her options seemed sparse, at least from where she stood.
Or walked. Nearly walked right into a knight, who she didn’t notice until they were nearly on top of each other. The petite captain nearly jumped out of her skin and scrambled backwards, holding her hands in front of her in a defensive position as if she expected to be attacked.
“I’m sorry,” She said, outwardly smoothly, even though her internal monologue completely blew a gasket for apologizing to the enemy.
ZaiaFantasy
Kyndall mostly patrolled to make sure that people knew they were still there, that people on the side of good still cared. She remembered, or was it memory, the visions she had of a future world where her kind were hunted, converted, killed, and shuddered at the memory of her own flesh and blood, an innocent in the war, cut down by someone so evil she still wondered how the woman was still alive.
She would never let that future come to be.
When she felt an aura she instinctively moved toward it, hoping to see what was happening, even if she didn’t interfere this time. Imagine her surprise when said aura ended up bumping into her. She arched an eyebrow and backed up a step, the medallions of her garland in hand just in case she needed to channel her magic quickly and make a good escape.
“It’s alright.”
She wasn’t going to be aggressive without cause.
“Is everything alright? With you, I mean?”
God, her maternal instinct seemed to seep in everywhere, whether she wanted it to or not.
She would never let that future come to be.
When she felt an aura she instinctively moved toward it, hoping to see what was happening, even if she didn’t interfere this time. Imagine her surprise when said aura ended up bumping into her. She arched an eyebrow and backed up a step, the medallions of her garland in hand just in case she needed to channel her magic quickly and make a good escape.
“It’s alright.”
She wasn’t going to be aggressive without cause.
“Is everything alright? With you, I mean?”
God, her maternal instinct seemed to seep in everywhere, whether she wanted it to or not.
Non-aggressive. Galena felt herself exhale a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She had been training with Antiope for nearly a year now, but she was still adverse to combat and had no interest in fighting someone a rank above her in power. Even her equals, Galena tried to avoid. She was young and only reached a sparse 5’2. She had knives, but she didn’t want to use them. Unable to draw blood or take a starseed, she often felt like she was covering up her status as the most squeemishly useless officer in all of the Negaverse.
“It was rude,” She countered, adjusting her posture to her typically stiff and straight self, and made a small bow. “And you have my apologies.”
She adjusted her small jacket, further righting herself. “Everything is as well as it could be, Ma’am. My quota is unfilled, and I am under the impression it is your duty to stop me from filling it? It is hard to gauge when proper introductions should occur during these situations. I am Captain Galena, if it were under better circumstances I am certain it would have been a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
ZaiaFantasy
“It was an accident. They happen.”
Of the many things she could condemn the Negaverse for she was hardly willing to thrown down over a quick bump. It wasn’t even the pointy kind, ala Painite.
“You’re right about that.”
Shalott was not about to let anyone get hurt on her watch. “Borrowing” energy fell under that category. She didn’t let go of the ends of her garland but she did loosen her grip. A little. Her eyes traveled over the smallish captain, trying to gauge her.
“I’m Shalott, Knight of Earth. And I can echo that thought about pleasure. Hopefully we can keep things pleasant.”
She was just unwilling to spend time fighting on a nice night like this.
“What’s on your mind, Galena? I’m not often in this part of town.”
Of the many things she could condemn the Negaverse for she was hardly willing to thrown down over a quick bump. It wasn’t even the pointy kind, ala Painite.
“You’re right about that.”
Shalott was not about to let anyone get hurt on her watch. “Borrowing” energy fell under that category. She didn’t let go of the ends of her garland but she did loosen her grip. A little. Her eyes traveled over the smallish captain, trying to gauge her.
“I’m Shalott, Knight of Earth. And I can echo that thought about pleasure. Hopefully we can keep things pleasant.”
She was just unwilling to spend time fighting on a nice night like this.
“What’s on your mind, Galena? I’m not often in this part of town.”
“It would be preferable,” Galena said, keeping her tone short as if to imply something. She didn’t want to fight, though. It was always her last choice.
She kept her boots together and her shoulders squared, glancing off to the scenery at their side. “Have you had dreams, of some future where the Negaverse wins and everything is dark? Everyone seems to have.”
She broke into her typical habit of giving away her anxiety by picking at the lacy trim of her half gloves. “It has weighed on me. I lost someone important to me in that future, and others slipped from my grasp. They are not pleasant images anyone should want to see, really. It distracts the mind.”
ZaiaFantasy
“Yes, I have.”
Honestly, it never occurred to Shalott to lie.
She remembered those visions all too well and the depth to which she was willing to do to avenge her daughter, the feel of the Earth itself opening up to accept her as its protector, powering her up to a Royal Knight while she held Painite’s life in her hands. She remembered standing up with her fellow White Moon refugees, having them hear her and agree with her and fight alongside her.
But she remembered everything else, too. Harmony dying in her arms, her blood on her skirt and the hopelessness, hatred, that filled her heart. She remembered lying on the roof of the library wishing for death with her wounded side bleeding, saying goodbye to her husband and best friend. And the distance between them when she found the will to kill them all.
It was the worst future she could imagine.
“I lost my daughter in the future, my first born. I saw good people killed or converted and hunted like animals.”
She knew how Galena felt.
Honestly, it never occurred to Shalott to lie.
She remembered those visions all too well and the depth to which she was willing to do to avenge her daughter, the feel of the Earth itself opening up to accept her as its protector, powering her up to a Royal Knight while she held Painite’s life in her hands. She remembered standing up with her fellow White Moon refugees, having them hear her and agree with her and fight alongside her.
But she remembered everything else, too. Harmony dying in her arms, her blood on her skirt and the hopelessness, hatred, that filled her heart. She remembered lying on the roof of the library wishing for death with her wounded side bleeding, saying goodbye to her husband and best friend. And the distance between them when she found the will to kill them all.
It was the worst future she could imagine.
“I lost my daughter in the future, my first born. I saw good people killed or converted and hunted like animals.”
She knew how Galena felt.
“And conversion might as well be as good as death, depending on one’s views on servitude and slavers,” Galena added, her tone droll and almost casual, as if she had had this conversation many times before.
And she had.
Her seeking out other options had brought her to several pages and squires who thought the Negaverse was a hoard of willing servants of evil, and she found herself frequently explaining the more complex politics that led one who was forced into rank to keep their head down and be obedient. Quartz understood her special brand of loyalty more than most, and for that she enjoyed his company in spite of the sad fact he would never have her respect.
“Well then I suppose the short version is, that would be what has been on my mind, Lady Shalott,” She said, keeping her formal tone and adjusting the cameo on her collar.”
ZaiaFantasy
“Conversion is as good as death,” she echoed.
In the end she had been forcibly converted by a b***h General Queen to forget everything about her life and the people she loved, her husband and small daughter, her Camelot. Shalott was never going to let that happen. She’d surrender to suicide before that. It was a fate worse than death.
“You know, that’s not all there is. Once converted you don’t have to stay with them. You can be purified, made whole again.”
She hadn’t done it but she knew someone who could, lived with him in fact.
Shalott spent a lot of time wondering if this was the life she was meant to have. Before the baby came she had even retired for a time, unable to bring herself to hurt the Negaverse, knowing that those people could be anyone, her friends and students.
In the end she had been forcibly converted by a b***h General Queen to forget everything about her life and the people she loved, her husband and small daughter, her Camelot. Shalott was never going to let that happen. She’d surrender to suicide before that. It was a fate worse than death.
“You know, that’s not all there is. Once converted you don’t have to stay with them. You can be purified, made whole again.”
She hadn’t done it but she knew someone who could, lived with him in fact.
Shalott spent a lot of time wondering if this was the life she was meant to have. Before the baby came she had even retired for a time, unable to bring herself to hurt the Negaverse, knowing that those people could be anyone, her friends and students.
Galena stood up straight and still, offering the knight an indirect side eye as she posited the option. "In my case, it would leave me fractured, not whole, I believe."
She adjusted her gloves again. "The amnesia experienced by changing is often left out, isn't it."
It was deadpan enough, she hoped it more or less softened the slight hint of accusation. "They would just drag one back as a traitor, I've seen it happen. There's really not much in the way of escape in this city, is there? Or outside of it. They likely have eyes everywhere, and those visions of the future seem to unanimously concur. Advancement through the ranks seems to be the most viable option for survival. Being a captain is safer than being a lieutenant. You're used less. Being a general, than, should be an even safer option. Becoming a knight would only invite the hunter's dogs, and remove a substantial piece of memory."
ZaiaFantasy
“You would forget, but it would be a chance to start over.”
Shalott was not going to lie and say it would be easy, because it wasn’t. You had to leave a piece of yourself behind to be free and there was no getting that back. But it was also a clean slate, a chance to live a life away from the slavers who followed blindly the pulse of chaos.
“I don’t believe it’s in the brochure,” she joked, trying to lighten the mood despite the on hand topic.
Shalott looked down. What Galena said wasn’t wrong, but it was a bit defeatist. It was sad what this had all come to, the entire war. Convert or die. It was always that, it seemed, only no one really seemed to know that.
“Perhaps individually that’s true but I have to believe that we can all band together and prevent that future. First one person defects, and then another. Purification can be infectious, and let’s hope it catches. I’ve seen our side do incredible things! I believe that what we saw is not written in stone.”
Shalott was not going to lie and say it would be easy, because it wasn’t. You had to leave a piece of yourself behind to be free and there was no getting that back. But it was also a clean slate, a chance to live a life away from the slavers who followed blindly the pulse of chaos.
“I don’t believe it’s in the brochure,” she joked, trying to lighten the mood despite the on hand topic.
Shalott looked down. What Galena said wasn’t wrong, but it was a bit defeatist. It was sad what this had all come to, the entire war. Convert or die. It was always that, it seemed, only no one really seemed to know that.
“Perhaps individually that’s true but I have to believe that we can all band together and prevent that future. First one person defects, and then another. Purification can be infectious, and let’s hope it catches. I’ve seen our side do incredible things! I believe that what we saw is not written in stone.”
“And do you? Band together, I mean?” Galena did her best to sound droll and uninterested, but there was a hint of curiosity that was difficult to repress. What she had heard from pages she questioned seemed to speak to a disorganized and lost group of fractured individuals.
Although one of the knights in the torture chambers seemed to have mildly different perceptions. The different viewpoints were confusing, but they made contradictions seem more plausible.
“How big is your circle of trusted persons, Lady Shalott? What makes you so positive an army won’t overwhelm them, in time? How could our future possibly be anything but that?”
She found her fingers nervously twisting and undoing lace threads on her gloves. “Sometimes, all I see is either way we lose our humanity, and I lose… her.”
ZaiaFantasy
“I do. I stand behind my fellow knights and senshi. I would walk into battle with any one of them.”
Her circle of trust wasn’t so wide and extensive that she didn’t think she had anything to fear from the Negaverse but Shalott did have people to trust and had seen them come together in the future when they needed it. She had to believe that would happen again, and maybe this time at a wider level.
“Faith, Galena. I can’t guarantee that everyone every time will do as they should but I believe in the goodness in everyone. I have to. It’s either that or think that the whole of your side isn’t worth trying to save.”
So that was it. That made things much more complicated as she was learning with Chaonis and Navi. Love did not choose wisely it seemed, especially in the middle of a war.
“I see. And is she on your side or mine?”
Her circle of trust wasn’t so wide and extensive that she didn’t think she had anything to fear from the Negaverse but Shalott did have people to trust and had seen them come together in the future when they needed it. She had to believe that would happen again, and maybe this time at a wider level.
“Faith, Galena. I can’t guarantee that everyone every time will do as they should but I believe in the goodness in everyone. I have to. It’s either that or think that the whole of your side isn’t worth trying to save.”
So that was it. That made things much more complicated as she was learning with Chaonis and Navi. Love did not choose wisely it seemed, especially in the middle of a war.
“I see. And is she on your side or mine?”
“Yes, of course,” Galena said in a dry sort of way that didn’t seem to actually give way to any agreement on her part at al. She continue to pick at threads, the small, nervous flaw in her otherwise stiff and stoic way of standing there.
“Senshi, I suppose, although I understand the white bodiced senshi are allied with knights so in a way I suppose that means your side. In my future I brought her to my side, and we were briefly happy, however, war served her poorly. She did not survive a battle she was ordered into. I would hate to say my dilemma is that I fear I am too cowardly to run to her side, and I have seen the dire consequences that will occur, should she join mine. Cowardice is not something anyone wants to admit, I gather, but it is the ugly truth of the difficulty that comes with… With defection.”
Purification was still a difficult and seldom used word in her vernacular.
ZaiaFantasy
“I understand.”
Her heart went out to Galena and the dilemma she faced. One wanted to believe there was a way to be with the ones you love no matter the circumstances but the truth was that love was not always so kind as that. Sometimes it came when you had no defense and no way to let it grow.
“I don’t envy you your choices.”
But there were choices to be made, hard ones, and she believed that the right choice would be made in the end. Whether that meant giving up a piece of herself to start again, whatever that would mean or choosing to deny love in order to keep the status quo.
She hoped, beyond everything, that what came to pass in her visions was not what would be repeated.
“I could say a lot of things, Galena, but I’m not sure how much you would weigh my opinions. The truth is, I can’t purify. My husband can but I am not there yet. The other truth is that no matter which choice you make there is always the potential for danger and for things to end up different than you planned. But the thing is, you can’t change anything by continuing this way. A choice has to be made.”
Her heart went out to Galena and the dilemma she faced. One wanted to believe there was a way to be with the ones you love no matter the circumstances but the truth was that love was not always so kind as that. Sometimes it came when you had no defense and no way to let it grow.
“I don’t envy you your choices.”
But there were choices to be made, hard ones, and she believed that the right choice would be made in the end. Whether that meant giving up a piece of herself to start again, whatever that would mean or choosing to deny love in order to keep the status quo.
She hoped, beyond everything, that what came to pass in her visions was not what would be repeated.
“I could say a lot of things, Galena, but I’m not sure how much you would weigh my opinions. The truth is, I can’t purify. My husband can but I am not there yet. The other truth is that no matter which choice you make there is always the potential for danger and for things to end up different than you planned. But the thing is, you can’t change anything by continuing this way. A choice has to be made.”
“Agreed.”
At least that was all Galena could manage to say. She was usually soft spoken and laconic, and the amount of arguments for one choice or the other that rage in her head were betrayed only by a few soft twinges of discomfort in her expression.
“Regardless, Lady Shalott, I appreciate your time this evening. Thank you for the discussion. I hope, at the very least, you find the future you are actually seeking.”
She gave a small bow before making her exit, being sure to teleport out of the area. She didn’t want to fight, after all, and she still had a quota to fill. Hopefully, one to fill far away from talkative people of superior power that invited traitorous ideas into her mind.
