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It had been a surprise, at least on first impression, to receive a note from Hvergelmir on the Black Watch. After the initial read, it was less so- his few communications with her had been primarily regarding her non-involvement and request for further space from the Watch itself by way of no presence near her chosen walks. As far as any impressions went, therefore, it was that the Black Watch was blacklisted by the Knight of the Cosmos. The positive nature of an introduction request was the strange part, then, more than the mention. 'Young and enthusiasm, but I worry that Hyperborea will jumped into things with both feet, and seems to have more passion than caution.'

The eternal senshi made extra point to set more than one alarm to remind himself and be on time. As one of the Executors, he had to set some example of responsibility and professionalism. The school as the location spoke considerations of what age the Page would be, if it was her own school, and if it was a part of her regular rounds. Or if she'd made habit of regularity at all. All questions that could wait as soon as he found himself walking towards her.

Foreign Language. Native speaker, or pretentious? Memory. 7th grade seminar with each of the offerings- Spanish, German, Latin, French. Bonsoir. Good Evening. Monsieur. French. Mine is limited to ordering food and phrases retained from 9 weeks of a grading period. Still, it offers at a warmer welcome. Like Alois, and our german spoken home. French is spoken many places and with dialects. Could be Belgian? Canadian, Swiss, or one of the many on the African Continent. "Mon français est mauvais."

He took her offered hand in his and bowed a little over it while giving it a respectful, singular squeeze and shake. "Thraen, Eternal Senshi of Gardens and one of the Executors of the Black Watch. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Hvergelmir's note spoke glowingly of your energy and moxie. "

"You mince. Are you wounded? Please, have a seat- we can talk in place as easily and safely as walking about. My magic is crowd-control type in case of someone trying to sneak close before powering up. " She looked young, painfully so with gentled curves to her jaw and cheeks. Her stature was equally petite. Just standing near her, I'm looming. She's not even chest high. Smaller than Athene.

Lost, but was at least still alive. Thraen shifted down to a crouch in front of her seat, unwilling to sit himself and have both their vision blind to the same direction. "You got away? Or did someone help out? I'm glad you're still with us."

"Have you had it looked at by someone? Bandaging oneself is hard, but there are options that won't draw you trouble. I know a senshi studying medicine, a doctor friendly to senshi, and at least one senshi who's magic heals minor injury. I also know some field medicine myself. It's two of the points the Black Watch is working on- availability and awarness of care options, as well as field training for senshi and knights. "

"Our enemies can heal quickly, using stolen energy and eating the stolen starseeds and life energy of people and combatants. We cannot. "

"These problems, along with others are the reason for the founding of the Black Watch. 'Black' for night when many of us patrol, and for the enemy we all face, and 'Watch' for Vigilance and Community. Frequent patrolling hurts grades and makes holding jobs a problem from wounds and fatigue. Funds for living are hard to come by. Groceries. A support network of housing for senshi and knights whose families cannot be informed of the war, or who are newly purified and have no mooring. A ready community to connect independents to the existing teams and others for new teams. A standing group of people who express interest and availability to researching new technology and conducting research into homeworld exploration of the stars whose names we bear. "

"There's a lot to do that hasn't been seen to before. A lot that could help everyone. "

Eternal senshi weren't very numerous, so hearing a name and title unknown and unheard of (at least as far as memory could dredge up at a moment's notice) was unusual. Thraen made mental note with checkmark to see if he could look up the name later on, or find news of 'Chaonis' from other contacts. It could be that it is an older senshi returned to the fight, like Aegir or Eridanus, and they have been somewhere indisposed. Maybe I have just never crossed paths. Maybe. Things still fall through.

Correcting her that she shouldn't power up and down so casually had no immediate benefit other than to come off like an a**, so he let it go without comment. Checking the condition of the wound was more important. "I'm glad that someone was there to help you- Sometimes it is unavoidable, but facing off against someone of greater rank is incredibly dangerous. Worse with the Negaverse, as they gain deadlier physical weapons that have no limitations of ammunition like our magic, as well as relatively instantaneous teleportation. "

"And more glad that you are willing to help with the Black Watch. One of our biggest challenges right now is figuring out a contact system between knights and Senshi, so as a knight your input on that will be essential. Donating money, food, or clothes you no longer want or need, even housewares at this point, is all incredibly helpful. As is some time, if you'd be willing to help with organizing supplies onto shelves and writing down what there is in an inventory list that can be digitized. "

"And if you feel up for some training, meeting other senshi, knights, and Mauvians, we're trying to organize a system for that as well- how often to introduce people, what their interested in learning at first, and making sure you are as well equipped as possible to stay alive, safe, and productive. " The glimpse of her civilian side had seem young. Painfully young. But the energy wasn't faded despite a brush with death and a wound. That was something the Black Watch needed badly in getting action happening for much of the charity work. "Are you still in high school? It's mostly a consideration of what hours are best for you in trying to arrange things. Have you been patrolling on a regular schedule and in regular places? "

"I don't expect any one person to solve every problem, don't worry, no apologies necessary. If you're willing to try out new technologies, though, and work with one of the Mauvians experimenting modifications to try to get communications working between the two magics, that will be a lot. There are other knights in the Black Watch, but they haven't seemed willing to play the time and frustrations of coming up with new technology. At least, they haven't volunteered willingness and energy. We need people like you. We need people who don't give up easily and are willing to keep trying until they make the proverbial lightbulb work. "

The question of charities was one a lot more difficult. No one has gotten back to me any reports about what properties they hold, what they'd be willing to donate to use...that leaves exactly my holdings that I know of for sure. I don't even know where the other Executors live.

Since he'd been told he was meeting a knight, he'd at least has the forethought to follow Irene's example and bring along a messenger back with needful things in it. He rummaged it for a small notepad and pen to write with. "If you can fit things into bankers boxes, bring it by this address. It's a a storefront in the end of its rennovations, a business I'll be owner of. A cat cafe. Our grand opening will be May, but feel free to bring the boxes by any time before that in the afternoon or evening. The only ones there are me, and a Mauvian Cat, Faust. Out of uniform, naturally. "

"If I see someone with boxes, it'll be a fair guess that it is you. Since we won't recognize each other out of uniform right away without that sort of warning. "

"I'll call the senshi I know that belong to teams, and see when is good for them to meet in their upcoming schedules. When you come by, let me know when is good for you and we can hash it out? Even if you aren't up for training, you can be getting to know others, making allies, and seeing who you can work with. In fact, it would be good to follow the doctor's orders and not patrol until the stitches are out. " A General on the first patrol...that is bleak luck.

"Some people take to the regular places and regular times- my advice is to avoid that unless you have a specific purpose for it. It is only advice- you are your own, and master of a wonder and power yourself. "

"But it is advice especially if you're alone on patrols. Established teams can afford to have turfs, because they have partners, trios and more. Singular knights or senshi running the same paths and same hours set themselves up for ambush and traps. Hvergelmir does admirable work, and wants to be available for talk regularly to everyone. She's a pacifist, and that relies on a lot of goodwill from others to recognize and respect that pacifism. The Negaverse can corrupt Knights and Senshi without our permission and beyond our will to it. She's been incredibly lucky. "

Hundreds? Of? Does she mean bankers boxes as in my suggestion, or dollars? Or articles of clothing? Hundreds of anything on a weekly bases will be incredible, whichever or whatever it is. Even if it was a one time thing, for one week, it is a lot. Students from Crystal ...it has a reputation for money, opulence and high society. A hundred of anything may be small matter to her perception. Blessing both that she has it and is willing to give of it.

The question part, was trickier, also splittable into more than a single aspect. What was it to be a senshi, and then what was it to be the senshi of Gardens, or any other specific magic. At only days in service, they were all likely aspects to the query, honest meant and best honest answered. "My starseed, the physical crystal that houses my power and soul, is connected to that of a world. An asteroid, more precisely, called in the Main Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. "

He circled the first two fingers of his left hand momentarily over the center of his breast to indicate the housing place of the starseed as he spoke. "That world is called Thraen. Much like your starseed is connected to the wonder Hyperborea, which is a place somewhere in space. Your strength, speed, and magic are drawn from your wonder into you. I've considered it mostly in a medieval way, how holders of titles were called by their holdings sometimes. As in the Tudor era when John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland might be called by the king or queen just 'Northumberland', or Edward Seymour called just 'Somerset'. For knights, your magic is connected to the planet or ....royal senshi of the region...it is a little unclear to me. My strength, speed and magic come to me from Thraen itself. The heart of that world and its magic is the ideal of Gardens. Senshi embody the idea of their magic, their world, as well as acting as defenders and protectors against swallowing Chaos. 'Senshi' itself is a word meaning 'soldier', in Japanese. If it has other meaning more significant to the SIlver Millenium era, a thousand years ago when the war broke out and abruptly took a hiatus, I do not know. "

"Gardens can mean a lot of things- they are ordered cultivations of plants, stone, sand, water, man-made structure, animals and negative space. They are active and changing, but manicured and thoughtful. They can last hundreds of years beyond the lives of their original designers. They require diligence, design, labor, study, and meditative calm. I strive to be avatar to these things, though I don't know if that makes a difference for others or my magic, yet. I have met other senshi who did not seem particularly avatar in attitude to the ideal of their magic, world heart and title. "

" My magic itself isn't an offensive- swaths of flowers in countless shape and color and vines that tangle and entrap enemies. Useful for taking captives or crowd control if facing bad odds. Other senshi can throw fireballs, make gravity reverse itself, or whatever form the embodiment idea of their world is. There are royal senshi who have knights that served their places, like Knights of Princess Chronos of the Zodiac, or as you have some attachment to Sailor Cosmos. If the magic of the Senshi's world has some effect on the magic of the knights, I don't myself know. It's something I hope to learn more about by getting to know more knights. "

"Hvergelmir might be able to tell you more on that account. Will you be meeting with her again to learn more about your order?"
I might also seek out Chronos again, and speak with her about it. It has been some time since I spoke with her. Does she stay always in that castle? Maybe she eats and drinks as regular people do? Maybe she would enjoy something brought to her? I do not know. I can but ask. Small price for knowledge.

There is a senshi or war, and she is a very strange woman. And her uniform reflects her aspect as strangely as she does, in Penthesilea. "That is how I have come to understand it, yes. "

Thraen stood, likewise, alarms going off in the back of his mind at her words preceding the closing indicator. "Don't fall into the trap of thinking you're troubling or a bother to others by seeking their company just for company. Or for questions and learning. That sentiment is dangerous, and has been a factor in preventing any unification of knights, senshi or both together. We must all be willing to help each other, but we must also be willing to reach our hands out for help. I don't know if its fallacy of strength, wanting to not be judged, or superstition: If you give assistance, like avoiding Friday the 13th, then maybe you'll be immune. Maybe to convince yourself that hardship could never happen to you. Strength is not defined by standing alone. "

"My best wishes go with you forward, and I look to see you again soon. If you ever need anything, remember here is my number. Or no need at all, and just someone to walk with. We are none of us alone." The information was pressed into her hand as it was taken in token of farewell.