When Polaris worried that people might be upset at her for her sudden, and extended, disappearance, those worries extended for the most part to two groups of people. The knights of Polaris and her teammates and friends of the Celestial Shepherd. It was true anyone had the potential to be angry at her, after being given great power wasn't it her responsibility to be there and be using it? But still, it was those she knew that she felt like she'd let down the most. And she couldn't blame them if they had felt anger or sadness at her abandonment.
Her meeting with Europa had gone very well however. In fact.. it'd been such a wonderful, refreshing experience. Like two highschool friends just chatting and getting reacquainted, seeing what was new in each other's lives. It was probably that experience that had swayed her past the fear of rejection and anger.
So on this night, having texted Athene the night before that she'd like to see him if possible, Polaris was sitting on a park bench, two iced teas slowly sweating besides her, even through the insulated cups. She was nervous, but also excited to see Athene. He'd always been a very social and ambitious senshi, working and connecting with so many different senshi. Who knew what he had been up to after all this time.
litian
If you want we can include Liryn in on this rp? Or we can save it for a different rp, I don't mind either way. smile
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 10:11 pm
Athene had been out on patrol when the message came pinging through to his phone.
He had checked it automatically and then had found himself staring at the phone screen in startled surprise when he saw who the message had come from - a name one that he hadn't seen for years.
It hadn't taken long to first type a quick return message and then hit send, sending his agreement to a meeting back to the message sender.
Which had brought him to tonight and to the park as he made his way through the trees towards the agreed meeting place, the aura that he picked up acting as a sort of generalised beacon.
It hadn't taken him long to reach the park bench and its occupant, calling out quietly as he drew closer and within ear shot "Good evening Polaris."
It had been a while since he last saw her and he had missed her - really missed her.
Iris_virus
I thought we could save Liryn for another rp because this will give him incentive to just invite himself along xD
Despite all the time that had passed since she last heard it, the voice that called out was familiar enough to give her heart an excited little patter, a gloved hand reaching up to wave. "Athene, I'm so glad you could come." And as he drew nearer she stood, arms spreading out expectantly. It had seemed in her absence Polaris had become a bit of a hugger, or maybe she was just that excited to see everyone after so long.
"How have you been? What have you been up to?" The words bubbled out of her excitedly, though after a second she seemed to be able to compose herself, motioning to the bench. "I got us some iced tea, one is raspberry and one is lemon." It seemed better than coffee or hot tea during the summer time.
"I wasn't entirely sure if you'd prefer to sit and chat or go on patrol and talk while we walk. But I'm up for whatever you'd like."
litian
Sounds good to me! smile
Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 11:22 pm
It seemed that in that in the time that had passed between them seeing each other last that, while Athene still wasn’t much of a hugger, that the dark-haired eternal was at least much more used to being hugged.
Then again, given that his housemate was Ida and his cousin along with some of his friends were the affectionate sorts that liked giving hugs, it was perhaps not that surprising - at least not to those who were in the know.
“Of course I’d come” he said quietly, lips quirked in a small smile - because whilst Athene was devoted to the PSSG, where ties of not only blood but also friendship and an overall shared common cause tied him to the members - he had never forgotten the senshi that had reached out offered a floundering basic senshi a place as part of a team.
He stepped closer so she could hug him and even managed a return hug, that was genuine for all that it was on the slightly awkward side.
He did laugh at all the questions, not for very long, but a laugh nonetheless. The laugh fading back into another of his small smiles as he took in the iced teas “I’d love a raspberry iced tea if that’s okay and I have some sugar cookies in my satchel if you’d like some” he indicated the small bag that he wore over his shoulder. Bringing biscuits along was something of a habit he’d fallen into. Something he could offer on the off-chance that he ended up running into a mauvian whilst on patrol - given how many of them seemed to have sweet tooths (or at least given how many of the ones that he had met seemed to have sweet tooths).
“I’m fine with either chatting whilst sitting or doing it while patrolling” he continued, adding “And I guess you could say I’ve been up to a fair bit” he admitted, before the smile faded as his expression turned solemn, a serious note slipping into his quiet voice “And I’m not sure what you’ve heard since coming back but there’s some things I need to update you on” the kidnapping and torture of Order people by the Negaverse sprang instantly to mind, as did other events such as the Negaverse turning on the Dark Mirror Court.
Iris_virus
Sorry for the delay with this Iris, work suddenly turned crazy with a whole load of deadlines. I'll tag our Marlin and Eva one as soon as I can.
fyi Athene is slightly on the thin side at the moment, due to pushing himself a little too hard on the patrolling side and he also has a scar on the upper part of his right arm from getting injured at New Year’s. He’s still looks young for his age (20) and is still short - he never did manage to get past 5’3” xD
Her hug was thankfully fairly brief and to the point. A momentary, but polite affection, slightly and pleasantly surprised by the fact that he returned it. The embrace wasn't so brief, however, that she missed the leanness of his body. And as she stepped back her eyes took him in a little more carefully, eyeing him with a hint of concern. Though she wouldn't specifically voice it just yet, not wanting to derail their reunion if he was somehow defensive about it.
It was nice to hear him laugh, but that laugh faded pretty quickly, furthering her soft expression of concern.
"We'll go ahead and sit for awhile at least." She decided, picking the raspberry tea up before offering it out to him, taking her own tea before settling onto the bench.
Settling in, soothing her skirt with a few mild brushes Polaris offered an apologetic little frown. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for everything that's happened.. But I'd actually be so grateful if you could fill me in a little bit."
"Niflhel... kept me in the dark while I was gone." It actually wasn't a surprising thing, especially not to anyone that knew the often quiet knight and his protectiveness of her. "Even now that I'm back he's still so torn up by those.. dreams of the future that I haven't really be able to get much of anything out of him."
"I've heard a some vague information about those dreams.. that they were like... a possible future or something? Europa and I was speculating that they were perhaps a warning that someone sent? But other then that I've unfortunately been completely out of the loop for like... a year..." She was unable to hide the guilt in her tone as the last two words dropped.
litian
Thanks for the info - she shall harrass him about it eventually ;3 heart
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2015 6:44 am
Athene took the raspberry tea with a slight smile and murmured thank you before carefully setting it down on the bench so that he could take the small tub with the mentioned sugar cookies out from his satchel.
Sitting down on the bench himself, he set the tub down between in them in a quiet offering in his own, before once again picking up the tea.
"There's no need to apologise" he said quietly. "Things happen." And even if he had been the type he would have been the last person to be able to criticise given his own disappearance from anything even remotely senshi-related in the three months or so that had followed his eternal upgrade.
He drank some of his tea "It's hard to know where to start" he admitted, in between sips. "I'm... I'm not the best person to talk about the dreams with as I don't remember everything that happened - not like some of the others."
For a moment he stared at his tea, his gaze distant because what he remembered of that future that Liryn called the 'future that's not now' had been horrible, but even now almost a year later there were places he had supposedly been, things he had supposedly done and yet couldn't remember...
And then he shook his head and looked up at Polaris "I guess I'll start with the fact that about" he paused to think it over "About just over a year ago, the Negaverse and some of Order teamed up in an attempt to try and eradicate the Dark Mirror Court."
At the silent offering Polaris reached for the tub, procuring one of the cookies, before settling into her seat giving Athene a silent nod of thanks.
She was silently a little bit happy that he didn't seem to remember the dreams as much. Because while the information would have been nice and perhaps even helpful, seeing how tormented Niflhel had been by the nightmares... it was a happy blessing that Athene wasn't suffering in the same way. Though... she had to question a little if something wasn't weighing on him, due to his subtle signs of weariness and overexertion.
"Really...?" She responded curiously. It was the first she'd heard mention of the attack on the Dark Mirrors at all. Taking a bite of her cookie, she chewed thoughtfully. She wasn't entirely surprised that a group from Order might have attempted such an attack, getting rid of Chaos was a solid strategy and taking on the smaller group made more sense. But the fact that the Negaverse had attacked them as well... "I had always thought they were working together." It was all the better for Order if they were not. Divide and conquer. If the two groups were at odds.. and Benitoite was working from inside the Negaverse to try and change some things... Maybe they actually could do something finally, to change the tides of war.
"I suppose I haven't really met that many Dark Mirror members though." She added after a moment thoughtfully. A couple on the day she ascended.. the ones in the surrounding and during the meeting ambush. All of them had seemed pretty terrible. But then there was Amytis... She supposed there were exceptions to ever rule, a few good ones glittering through all the darkness.
"Obviously they failed?"
litian
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:48 pm
Athene nodded as he slipped a cookie for himself and started to nibble on it in between sips of his tea.
"Yes" he said quietly. "I was out on patrol with Ida and Tsui, a couple of my team mates" it had been one of those rare patrols where the three of them had actually been out as a group. "When we picked up on a large amount of Dark Mirror auras - lots and lots of them - from Royal strength down."
He drank some more of his tea "It was totally weird and so we went to investigate. The auras led us to a warehouse and it looked like the fighting was in full flow by the time we reached there."
For a few moments Athene cupped the tea in his hands as he looked out and at the park for a few moments - although given that his gaze was distant it was perhaps unlikely that he was staring at the surroundings "I'm going to admit straight out that I tried to help the Dark Mirror that night, as did Tsui and Ida and whilst I can't speak for Tsui and Ida, I did it in the full knowledge that I was helping a group that is on the opposite side to us and steals energy from people."
His gaze shifted from the park to stare down at the contents of his cup as he continued "But the whole thing felt like the ambush of our meeting all over again, but with the Dark Mirror instead of us."
Although he didn't name the meeting by name, Polaris would perhaps get the reference to another ambush, a gatecrashed meeting, but one where the Dark Mirror Court and Negaverse had been the ambushers. "And I don't think we were the only ones who made the decision to help the the Court either because there were other Order auras there and they weren't all helping the Negavere."
He glanced over and at Polaris, his face as solemn as his quiet voice as he finished "Then at some point someone made the decision to set the warehouse on fire and everything got really confused after that, but I can honestly say that the whole thing was horrific."
He stared back down at his tea "The Dark Mirror Court has been kind of weird since that night though and whilst I can't tell you what the status of their alliance is, I can say that some of the Court have helped us out against the Negaverse from time to time - like during the night that Vespa purified and more recently during the New Year's rescue operation."
A dark mirror royal.. Polaris had faced Ares at one point and knew how formidable the woman was. She had known her even when she was still a member of the White Moon (albeit a blood thirsty one) before she had changed and become a queen of her own faction. Knowing of no others she assumed that was who Athene spoke of. She could understand why some might have come together to try and take out Ares and her group. But still...
Athene's discomfort was obvious. Whether he himself was questioning his actions or he was simply questioning whether Polaris would understand she wasn't sure. But regardless it was easy to see it was hard for him. Or that things weighed on his mind. And from the direction of his gaze it might not have simply been this single topic.
A hand reached out softly, touching his arm briefly and gently, accompanied with a gentle smile in an attempt to comfort him in some way. "Nothing is black and white, it would be so much easier if it were really. You're just got to follow your heart and do what feels right at the time."
A warehouse set aflame. It shouldn't have surprised her, but it didn't keep her stomach from knotting a little as he continued on.
It was good news that maybe the Chaos groups were splintering, but the cost of it, like most things in war had been so very high.
Taking a slow and thoughtful sip of her tea, she shifted slightly, her mood beginning to echo Athene's somber one. "New Year's rescue?"
litian
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 11:42 pm
The touch was comforting, Athene turning to look at Polaris as his lips quirked up in a small smile. "Thank you" he said quietly, adding "And I try my best to."
The smile faded "I know I'm not the strongest senshi and that I'm a poor fit for a soldier, but I do try."
He gazed across and back down at the tea cupped in his hands as Polaris asked him about New Year's, the smile fading.
"There was a ball held last year on New Year's Eve over at the Umbre Hotel to see in 2015. I didn't go myself as I was out of town for the direct period around New Year's Eve/ New Year's Day but I remember seeing the flyers in the shop and so I knew it was supposedly a big thing."
He continued looking down at the tea cupped at his hands as he added "And it turned out that it really was a big thing, only just not a ball - not really - instead it was a Negaverse trap."
His fingers tightened on the cup "Liryn was at the ball as was Thraen and apparently the Negaverse was draining energy via the masquerade masks they were giving out, but their overall intention seems to have been kidnapping because they took a bunch of senshi and knights that had been at the ball captive."
"Yeah... very few of us are really equipped for this, especially in the beginning." She'd been only 16 when she first awakened, a young girl who should have been concerned with school and boys and who would be taking her to her senior dance. Not fighting monsters. Or learning the best way to hide and tend to her own wounds. Not making adult decisions like whether it was okay to take a life. "The fact that you're still trying after all this time." She regarded after a moment in soft thoughtfulness. "Resilience and duty are more important than mere strength or desire to fight I think.
The fading of his smile did not bode well and as he spoke hers also faltered, that pit in her stomach growing. Energy draining was bad.. but it was.. routine.. like the changing of seasons. As much as she hated it it was no surprise that the Negaverse would hold such large (and often flamboyant) missions to cull energy. But kidnapping of their allies... Her immediate desire was to know the the details. How many were taken? How long were they captive? Did they... all make it out? But the thought of uttering such questions only made her throat dry as another question rose up above them. If I had been around could I have helped prevent it from happening? Or helped in finding and bringing back our allies faster?
"That's horrible..." She answered finally, her voice a mere whisper as her eyes gazed through her cup and into nothingness. In the end she could not keep all her questions at bay and one slipped out. "Did they... did everyone make it out?"
litian
SO sorry about the delay crying My Juno muse had killed my muse for pretty much everyone else.
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:19 pm
For a few long moments after Polaris' question Athene continued to stare down at the tea cupped in his hands, although he didn't make any move to drink any of the contents.
He was still looking down at the cup with the tea when he finally answered her "No."
He did look up at that point, an uncharacteristic distant look in his eyes as he repeated himself "No they didn't," a mixture of sadness intermixed with guilt leaking into the solemness of his quiet voice as he spoke, his mind mostly on that horrible, horrible week.
"Thraen and I got the Black Watch to help search after Liryn raised the alert and Ash sent out a mass message to all the senshi phones and she also worked on collating whatever clues we could get our hands on."
His hands tightened further around the cup as he continued, although he didn't really seem to be aware of it, a flatness slipping into his voice "Even so it still took us a week to work out where the Negaverse were keeping those that they'd taken." A week when those taken were at those taken had been at the very much untender mercies of the Negaverse.
"We mounted a rescue attempt as soon as we worked it out, but they'd had them a week." He repeated the word week, hands still clenched around the cup. "And they tortured them Polaris..."
For a moment his voice trailed off, but when he finally continued the flat tone was still in his voice "And they did something to some of them - turned them into youma. They had one of them guarding the place where they were keeping them and Liryn said that he came across another."
Her throat tightened as he answered, her breath getting caught and stilled as Athene gave a solemn explanation.
Her stomach turned and ached as her worries were confirmed and and worse the details continued on to be far worse then she'd even imagined. Tortured for week... Turned to youma... Allies scared and lost for a week, some never to return to families and friends again. Did some remain still as youma? Poor pitiful creatures walking the night doing unthinkable things that tore at their very souls?
Where Athene had flatness and solemn distance Polaris showed clear and unabashed emotion. The sound when she finally released the air that had been locked away in her chest and then sucked in air to try and sooth her burning lungs was loud and choppy. Tears streamed from her eyes and down her cheeks. Tears filled with anger, sadness, and guilt.
"I'm sorry Athene." She sniffled. Though it was uncertain even to her what exactly she was apologizing for. That something so horrible had happened. That he had had to go through something so horrible. Or that she hadn't been around, that some of the fault that it took a week to find them might have rested on her own shoulders. "I'm so so sorry."
She didn't say anything like We'll make sure it never happens again because it seemed callous, and like making promises she didn't know if she could keep. But in her head atleast she made a silent promise to herself. They needed to stop them, so nothing like that could ever happen again.
litian
Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:14 am
A look of awkward consternation flitted across Athene's face at the sound of Polaris' sniffling.
He hadn't meant to make her cry.
There had been too many people hurt by the horrible happenings already for any more to be added to that number either physically or mentally.
He set the iced tea that he had stopped drinking down carefully before reaching out hesitantly, tentatively in an awkward attempt to pat her shoulder.
He knew that he wasn't any good at the whole offering comfort thing - not like Ida who would have probably offered a hug - but he tried anyway, not liking the look of tears in her eyes and the knowledge that his words were what had put them there.
"I'm..." His voice tailed off for a moment as he sat there next her, one moment becoming another and then yet another.
Eventually however he let his hand fall and rummaged in his satchel for the packet of tissues he kept in there and held them out in offering "Do you want me to continue telling you about what's been happening?" He asked at last "It's not all been bad - there's been some other things happen and they've been horrible - but there's been good things too."
Even amid her show of emotion she was not oblivious to his more subtle emotion. The uncertainty. The attempt to comfort her. As he handed her a tissue she accepted it readily, but shook her head nonetheless. "I'm so sorry. Don't mind me. I'm so emotional lately, I cry about pretty much everything. Sad things, happy things." Ask poor Azzo who had had his proposal, which was supposed to be a beautiful and happy moment, interrupted by a particularly terrible bout of happy sobbing.
As the tissue dabbed at her eyes and she tried to compose herself she could only lament apologetically. "I'm such a girl..." He hadn't done anything wrong and he shouldn't be sorry.
Tears tempered, for now, and sniffles slowly dissapating she attempted to still herself, shaking her head once more as he seemed to debate whether he should even continue. "I do, please Athene. I appreciate it so much." And she did, her voice and eyes quite sincere and thankful that he'd shared even as much as he had. Of something that was obviously a horrible and personal memory of his.
"Whether it's happy or sad.. it's important to know what we're fighting for a why. And not the sugar coated version that disrespects people it actually happened to."
litian
I found you silly rp, trying to hide from me and miss getting tagged. xp
