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 Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 8:01 pm
Mycenae was becoming comfortable in his routine as a Knight. For the most part it was simple enough - block off a few hours shaved out of his baitareacht practice outside of classes (which, really, given his weapon, this counted as anyway), after work and homework, to go out and smack monsters in the face with a stick. He had few encounters with his own side or with their supposed "enemies" -- the most he'd seen of anyone else was on that strange dark planet where they'd all played gladiator for a monster's amusement.
There hadn't been sides, there, or a war, just desperate survival. And that, as far as he could tell, was all that mattered, ultimately. Survival.
Something tingled on his senses, and he stopped walking, idly swinging his shillelagh in one hand. It felt like a Negaverse officer - he could just barely recognize those.
"Let's not play games tonight, officer," he said, and South Wales was thick in his voice, "I don't have all night."
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 12:28 pm
Quartz was careful to vary his movements, generally, but more often than not, he preferred rooftops. High ground was advantageous for any number of reasons, and there were far fewer securities cameras on the tops of buildings than there were down at ground level. Tonight was no exception -- he stood atop a nearby building, staring down at the passing knight, and waited while the knight called him out. A single ricochet jump off of a side wall brought him down to ground level in the alleyway, twin sashes trailing through the air behind him like a pair of dragonfly wings. He landed and straightened up to face the knight -- Mercury, it seemed? -- ten yards or so of distance between them. "No games, brother," he said softly, hands open at his sides. "I'm not here to fight you. This isn't my war, and I didn't choose this side."
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Posted: Sat Nov 21, 2015 1:15 am
Brother. That was a title he hadn't been graced by for a very long time, and Mycenae had to bite back a noise of derision at it. This Captain - half-naked, all in dark rainbows - likely had no information on the last Mycenae.
"I'll accept that," he said, "I didn't choose my side either." As a gesture of peace, he held up his weapon and then very deliberately set it down, taking a step past it and leaving it behind him. He was still a fair bit away from the other man, and there was nothing in Mycenae's posture that suggested he wanted to do damage.
"Mycenae of Mercury." He introduced himself. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of accord."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:34 am
Ah. A proper little détente.Quartz held out both hands loosely, keeping eye contact with the knight in order to show he wasn't attempting any funny business. He summoned his sharp, gilded spear to his hands, then -- without dropping his gaze -- bent at the knees to lower it to the ground, placed it there, and stood up again. Like the knight, he stepped over and past his weapon, reaching out to extend an open palm. "I hope we can," he agreed. "Captain Quartz. I used to be a knight, like you -- but things didn't go so well for me. How long have you been at this?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:07 am
Mycenae was glad for his visor concealing his eyes, because when he saw that gilded spear, they definitely widened a tic. That was far more dangerous, even in an untrained hand, than his own weapon, and he was just the tiniest bit jealous.
Still, he took the man's extended hand, and shook it firmly. They were built about the same, and Myceane suspected it would be an even fight if it came to that. He didn't particularly want it to.
"Since about July?" He guessed. "What do you mean, used to?" He was well aware he was drastically underinformed about the war, and everything going on in it. Most of his encounters with other fighters had been in that massive arena, and there hadn't been a ton of time for asking questions. "I don't think I've yet met anyone who used to be anything, unless it was used to be normal."
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 10:44 am
Quartz blinked. "Okay," he said, "so you're definitely new. Okay, that's okay. We can work with that. I used to be on your side. A knight. Then the Negaverse captured me, changed me into one of their agents, and stole almost all of my memories. That's, uh . . . let's just say it's not ideal. How much do you know about the Negaverse?"
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2015 11:21 pm
Mycenae listened with interest, because this was more direct information than he'd gotten in a long while about anything. None of the other captives in the Mad King's cells had been all too interested in sharing, and frankly he'd been more invested in not dying than in learning anything. His encounters with actual magical humans had, since then, been sparse.
So it was possible to convert - or to be converted - and it came with a very hefty price.
Well, that was right out. He would die before he forgot Aderyn, because either way, there would be no one left to remember her, but somehow being dead felt less disrespectful than alive but memory-wiped.
"Frankly?" He said. "Almost nothing. I know those youma beasties are yours, and that's about it, really. I've never actually...fought an officer. Or talked to one, before tonight." He was loathe to admit he'd had just as little interaction with his own side. Mycenae was not a people person, but avoiding people was obviously leaving him with huge gaps in knowledge and he needed to fill them.
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2016 1:28 pm
Quartz frowned. He could see himself in Mycenae's eyes -- out on a limb, alone, with no idea what was happening to him or around him. A goddamned sitting duck. "Okay," he said again. "So you're a knight. Of . . . some magical place on . . . Mercury, wasn't it. And there's some talk that maybe you lived there in a past life, too. But now you're from here, from Earth -- and you're in the middle of a ******** shadow war. On one side, you have sailor soldiers -- they look like people in, um, . . . ruffly sailor outfits, I guess -- and knights of various planets and such, like you -- and Mauvians, which are." There was no getting around it. "Talking cats. Actually ******** literally." He paced a little, circling his thoughts. "On the other side is the Negaverse Army -- made up of knights like me who've been conscripted, sailor soldiers and Mauvians likewise, and a bunch of agents they just recruited because people are idiots and will sign up for anything short of Publisher's Clearinghouse." Quartz scrunched up his nose. "And then sort of doing who knows what the ********> are the Dark Mirror Court. They're kind of their own thing. No one knows what to do with them, because everyone sort of thinks they're not much use to anybody. Which is a pretty good benchwarming gig if you sort of like not participating, but isn't going to do s**t for them once either the sailor soldiers and knights come out on top, or the Negaverse do. Once that happens, they're ******** class="quote">Noir Songbird
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Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2016 1:15 am
It was good luck, the Knight figured, that had brought him to Quartz, who was so eager to give what information he could and to avoid any sort of conflict. Some of this he knew and understood, and so he just nodded along, but a lot of it was new. He had seen most of the classes Quartz described in the Mad King's cells, one way or another, but not Mauvians.
Talking cats. Would wonders never cease.
"So what you're saying is that the rabbit hole just keeps going down and down, yeah?" Mycenae said. "Bloody fantastic." He shook his head slowly. "I feel like I might have gotten one of the better ends of the gig, though, even not knowing what the ******** I'm doing, since the Negaverse sounds like a shitshow and I'd look stupid in a ruffly sailor outfit." Besides, the shillelagh really was a nice little weapon, all things considered.
"So you used to be a Knight like me, and you got...what, dragged over kicking and screaming?" That was a deeply alarming possibility. "Is that common?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:25 am
Quartz folded his arms over his chest, discomfited. "Common enough," he said gruffly. "You're new and you're only a page, which makes you a sitting duck for lots of people more powerful than you. But the fact is, in the Negaverse we'll always be more powerful than you. Whatever it is you people run on, it's a limited fuel. We can restock from everyone around us, and in a pinch -- we can rip your heart right out. It's not a winning venture for you." He cast his gaze upward: maybe at the sky, maybe just at the rooftops. Dark hair cut an angle across his vision where his bangs fell across his forehead. "I'd like to help you, but the truth is, I can't. I can't do a thing for you without a guarantee of a quid pro quo. The Negaverse isn't in the business of freebies -- don't trust anyone who tells you otherwise."
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:25 pm
Common enough.
Even less reassuring.
It was absolutely true that he was all kinds of sitting duck, and that chilled him. Even with magic, even with powers beyond what he had known, he was a sitting duck to people more powerful than him and all too willing to forcibly recruit him. Or kill him.
"What you're saying is, I'm right ********," Mycenae said. "Cachu." He hissed, under his breath. No, it wasn't a winning proposition at all.
"No one is in the business of freebies in a war." Perhaps the only option was surrender - unfortunate, but not impossible. If he could broker a deal for some kind of protection, that might just be enough. "What sort of quid pro quo do you ask for?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:18 am
Quartz shrugged. "The least surprising thing in the world, whether or not you consider that good news. You feed me information -- reliable information, stuff we can use -- and in exchange, you get to stay where you are. The Negaverse will avoid ******** with you. We could use a few people keeping an eye out, and that's about as much as I can offer." He leveled his gaze at Mycenae. "It's a good deal. There's no grand heroism in this war, no big victory for your side coming down the pipe. What you are will never be as strong as what we are -- if you've got any sense, learn to look out for yourself and do what you have to to survive. "Think it over. It's better than some of the alternatives." Better than what Quartz had gotten.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:31 am
Mycenae didn't even have to think twice. The offer was good, and he didn't exactly feel any grand moral compunction to help Order with anything at all, not when it was likely going to cost him his own skin.
"I can't promise I'll have much to bring you, not for a while," he confessed, and it was an unpleasant confession to make. He hated not being able to bring something to the table immediately. But it was the truth, and it was what he had to offer. "But I can do that. Bring you what I have, and anything I find."
Better than risking being a lamb for the slaughter. That was a proposition he absolutely could not accept, under any circumstances. He would not die, and he would not be forcibly ripped into the Negaverse.
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Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 11:53 am
Quartz sighed, relieved. One way or another, this was what was best for Mycenae: Metallia would rule the world regardless, and Mycenae would benefit from having worked with her. And so, of course, would Quartz. "Out of a bunch of shitty choices, you're making the right choice," he said. "Keep your head down and your eyes open. I'll be in touch." And, having said so, Quartz gave a distant smile and disappeared.
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