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 Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:13 pm
New year, new... um... her? Cassiopeia let out a puff of a sigh, watching as her air turned into a little cloud of smoke before vanishing into the night. Well. Not as new as when Pye um... woke her up, or whatever it was called. Awakened? Flicked a switch with a pen. She winced, shoulders hunching as she thought of Christmas Eve. Ugh...
New year, new goals: don't get into something like that again if she could help it. Or at least try to um... be better prepped? She considered asking Pye about if there were bootcamps around or something. For senshi.
Sighing, head falling forward, she looked down from her seat on a roof ledge. She was still a bit apprehensive about the real high buildings, still uneasy on the whole... heights stuff. And she'd rather not fall to her death. But the third story ones were ok, and fourth story ones, even. Like this building. Lights illuminated the street below, people driving this way and that. It wasn't super late, but late enough that some of the businesses on the street were closing for the night, while others were just getting started with their earnings.
Sitting cross-legged on the ledge, she felt a bit safer than if she was standing or something. And didn't think it'd be too hard to scramble back if it looked like people saw her. Though she had since learned to start taking something warm out with her when she went on patrols. That night, a fuzzy-rimmed grey cape (sort of) was buttoned around her neck and pulled around her bare arms. In her hands, a warm thermos of hot cocoa was cradled as she sipped from it.
Ok, not super smart if she ran into a Nega agent or a youma. But she could put them aside, do what she had to, and get them after if there was a fight. At least that's what she told herself.
Taking another sip and clinging to the warmth, she decided she ought to talk to Pye about who the heck designed these outfits... cuz while hers was totally adorable, it wasn't the best for the winter.
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Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2016 3:15 pm
Cold winters' nights were less of a concern when you were well-bundled in a uniform as obligingly covering as Aokigahara's. He suspected it would be stifling come summertime, as it had been in the far-too-heated tea shop crammed full of people. He was finding he liked the advantage given by rooftops - he could see what was going on below without having to be knee deep in it.
And he could feel someone else, here - the flicker on his senses that was a...Senshi. He wrinkled his nose, briefly, at the word - it was strange, to him, that so many of the common terms for their magical existence were in his native language. Had this somehow started in Japan? He felt like he would have heard of it, but then, n five years in Destiny City he had encountered no more than whispers until his tangle with that Captain the night he became Aokigahara.
And he was curious, anyway - the closest he had come to a Sailor Soldier was Methone, and there hadn't been much time to talk, then. So he alit on the rooftop he suspected the signature was on, raising his lantern to cast more light.
"Evening," he greeted, cautiously. If he was correct, his potential contact was a girl on the other end of the roof, in what looked like a horrendously cold outfit, cloak aside.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:12 pm
Cassiopeia had felt the other power signature, but it was Order so... no stress, right? A... knight, she was pretty sure they were called. When the other actually approached, she looked up, turning a bit where she sat and blinked a bit at the additional light.
A lamp? Neat! Useful.
"Hello," she called back, lifting a hand from her thermos to wave to him. Her gaze flickered over his uniform, and she felt a slight pain of jealousy in how warm he must be. Though it'd suck during warmer weather. Trade-offs. Not wanting to be rude, she slid back a little from the ledge, before pushing herself to her feet and approaching the knight a bit, smile on her face. "I... don't think we've met before. I'm Cassiopeia." A hand was extended, still warm from the thermos. She kinda figured the Sailor went without being said but.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:21 pm
Aoki gave a brief partial bow when she turned to him, nothing particularly low or long but enough to be polite and acknowledge her. She was a potential ally, there was no reason for him to be anything like rude, especially since he had initiated the discussion.
He took the offered hand, shaking it. "I am Aokigahara," he said, and then he considered for a brief moment before reaching up to undo the bow on his capelet. He shrugged it off, offering it to her. "You look like you must be freezing. I have plenty of layers - borrow this if you wish." The offer was left with room to refuse if she truly preferred not to, or if he over-assumed, but it seemed the most polite thing to do.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 10:41 pm
The name she had to silently mouth to herself to try and make sure she could pronounce it correctly, but she smiled and was... genuinely flushing a bit to the guy offering her his capelet. It was immensely temping to take him up on the offer, but she smiled and shook her head, pulling her own little gray cape closer around her. "Thank you, Aokigahara, but I need to get used to this. Uniforms don't seem to want to change with the seasons after all," she pointed out with a slight glum sigh.
It was a very kind offer, but her pulse had sped up, and Cassiopeia had shifted a little where she'd stood, nervous at the idea of accepting something from a strange man. Not that he gave her unsettling vibes. Rather, simple social unease--was it even polite for her to accept? Would she just be selfish accepting? Oh but what if she was being a b***h for not accepting..? s**t.
Needing a quick way out, she motioned to his lantern. "That's gotta be useful on patrols. Is it... magically yours, or did you bring it with you..?" Her brow furrowed a bit. Did that make sense?
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:02 pm
Aokigahara nodded, withdrawing the capelet and draping it back over his shoulders, not bothering to retie it. "If you are certain," he said, but she seemed to be and really it was her choice. It was practical to learn to adapt her uniform to whatever weather might strike, that was true enough, so he was content to allow her to refuse.
She seemed nervous, which was almost endearing; there was certainly no reason to be, in his opinion.
"The lantern is magic," he said, holding it up. "My...weapon, I am told it is called, though it really is not much of one." Not when compared to a naginata, certainly, or to what he had seen Negaverse officers armed with in that terrible scuffle at the teashop. "A mark of my Knighthood."
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:08 pm
She was relieved that he didn't push the matter, and instead went right on along with her change of topic. Her muscles relaxed, and she stood up a bit straighter, smile lax. As he spoke, she tilted her head a bit, eyes narrowing in thought. "Knights... don't have magic, right? Or they do, but it's not like senshi magic... I think?" She didn't have a grasp really of the other aspect of the Order faction.
Giving a small, sheepish smile, she shrugged. "Sorry. Not a lot of info around. I mean. There is just. It's kinda... scattered?" She lifted a hand from her thermos to wiggle her fingers in the air. Pye had told her what he could, and she'd learned some from the info on her cell phone. Others she'd just kinda gathered from what she'd seen. Which. Wasn't... a lot but.
"I mean... I assume if that's your... weapon, it'll be better over time? That's how it seems to work, anyways." Which was weird. But she wasn't going to debate odd power glass ceilings.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:19 pm
Aokigahara frowned, briefly. "We do, at least once we become Squires. Pages have...not much at all," he admitted, unhappily. He hated how useless he was in combat, especially compared to Scholomance's much more useful weapon and easily accessible magic. The other Saturn Knight was his main source of knowledge about what he was and what he would become.
"I confess I know very little about Senshi," he admitted, "because, as you said - information is not easy to come by. We have to rely on word of mouth." On finding the right person who had the right knowledge to give the right answer.
So frustrating.
"I imagine it will get better, but for the moment, to call it a weapon seems very much a misnomer." The quirk of a smile teased at the corner of his lips - Aokigahara was not an expressive person, but that definitely slipped through.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:31 pm
"...so knights get weapons, and magic? And the Negaverse gets stuff that can slice and dice. I'm feeling like senshi got the short stick." Or perhaps that was just the opinion of someone who's only magic consisted of--hopefully--distracting the opponent.
"But that is... weird that Pages don't really have uh... much." She cast a look to the lantern, beholding it anew now that she knew it was deemed a weapon. "But I mean... there's flame in there, right? So couldn't you just... catch someone on fire with it? That's something." Though she suspected the ideas had long occurred to him, if such a thing were possible.
Cassiopeia did give a small laugh, nodding and sighing a bit in agreement though. It was a misnomer. "Toss it at an opponent and while they're occupied trying to figure out what the heck you did that for, punch them? Objects of distraction can be considered tools of warfare."
She closed her mouth briefly, aware she was babbling on but... "If you had questions about senshi, I could try to answer some..? I only know so much myself, but at least the different perspective could be of value."
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 11:51 pm
Aoki did smile a little more, then, because yes, it did seem Senshi had a bit of the short end. "We do, but I think your magic operates a bit differently than yours," he said. "Though I've never had the chance to sit down and compare notes, and I don't have much in the way of notes on my own powers to offer." Since he had no real magic to speak of, yet.
"No fire, but yes, it could make an excellent distraction," he acknowledged. "Whatever is lighting this, it is not a traditional candle." He tilted the lantern so she could see the bottom, that there was no place for any sort of candle to be in it.
This Senshi, Cassiopeia, was clever. He found he rather liked her, liked the way she thought. "Tell me some of how Senshi come to be. I know how Knights Awaken, and I know that we are guided by the Code - for what it is worth," he snorted, derisively, "but I know little of what guides Senshi."
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:06 am
Right. Page. He'd just said it meant that he didn't have magic yet. Yet. Cassiopeia was a bit amused by this prospect, that not only would he likely gain a more suitable item for the war--if the Negaverse's apparent trend of junk to actual weapons was a sign of anything--but additional magic to aid him. How much would he have to adapt to them? What were the properties of knight magic? How did they differ from senshi magic..?
She'd already been startled and intrigued enough by the lack of candle in the lantern--"How is it... glowing... oh god what."--that some of her social awkwardness was ignored. Enough that she didn't think twice when Aokigahara inquired about how senshi took on their mantels.
"Guardian cats--talking felines with stars on their foreheads?--they awaken senshi," she stated simply after she paused to take a sip of her hot cocoa. Her nails tapped against the thermos as she tilted her head again. "They are able to summon from... I think the same place senshi store their cell phones, a sort of... pocket dimension? But the guardians can summon pens and phones for senshi. Moment we get our pen... um..." A hand waved through the air, fingers wiggling in an unsure fashion.
"It's like... something clicks. When Pye gave me my pen, the phrase I needed to say just sort of... well, it felt like I'd always known it, yet I never did? Cassiopeia Power, Make Up." Of course nothing happened, but she laughed. "And then... instead of a civilian, it's a senshi standing there. Magic came the same way. Not knowing it, but... at the same time, just knowing the words needed to cast the magic."
She hesitated a little, but the grin grew a bit. "Would you like to see?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:19 am
Aoki tamped down his desire to be playfully sarcastic in the face of her question of how the lantern glowed - he had two answers at the easy ready, and neither would have been particularly comforting.
He let it slide, though, with a shrug that he hoped did enough to indicate that he honestly had no idea how it worked. Magic was magic, and it sometimes behaved in strange and unpredictable ways. Flameless, heatless light seemed less strange to him than the things he had seen on his Wonder, all things considered.
He was silent, too, for her explanation of Senshi Awakenings, though he nodded along. He was aware of the feeling of simply knowing things - the pledge to go to his Wonder, his Knight name, how to use his signet ring.
"I would be glad to see a demonstration of your magic," he said, when she offered, feeling excited in spite of himself. Magic, right here in front of him. Of a much more pleasant sort than the powerful whatever-it-was he had felt when those poor Senshi were corrupted on Christmas Eve.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:27 am
It was silly, but... well. Cassiopeia was fond of her magic. It wasn't very useful, sure, but it was... it was magic. Her magic. That made it just... a million times better to her. No one could take that away.
She almost bounced a bit where she stood when he accepted the offer, quickly setting her thermos on the roof and stepping back a bit. "It won't affect you, or at least... it shouldn't. I haven't seen anyone but those with Chaos energies affected by it. But it's nothing that'll hurt you, even if it does." She wanted to make her disclaimer clear, not wanting to risk any confusion or mixed signals that she might put someone in danger.
Turning so her side was to him, she spoke the words, "Shimmering Awe!" The 12-inch orb of magic formed between her hands as she held them up, floating in the air between her digits before it floated up, hanging seven feet above the ground. The contents shifted. Golden and glistening, to glimpses of bizarre and magnificent worlds, a galaxy, a fairy light, more worlds, more strange colored orbs... Cassiopeia smiled at the sights, always amazed at what she was seeing--though rarely able to stop and appreciate it, for obvious reasons.
"My magic comes from my sphere... sphere of power, I guess? Influence? But, I'm the Senshi of Wonder. So my magic's... distraction, razzle dazzle stuff. I'm not sure how knight magic works though, what it's based off of, but senshi magic all comes from our spheres."
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:38 am
Aokigahara nodded, taking a step out of the way nonetheless to give her space to cast. She didn't seem like someone who would cast a harmful spell where it might catch him, not from what he had seen of her so far.
"Go ahead," he said, though it was obviously a bit unnecessary. Her casting seemed bright, flashy, like the stars that sparkled on her uniform. So very different from the dark, subdued coloring of Saturn Knights.
"Oh," the noise of amazement slipped from his lips as he watched the bright orb with its beautifully shifting contents. Whatever his magic was, he was sure it would not be like this. He took a step forward, nearly reaching out to touch, but barely stopping himself, instead doing his best to engrave the sight in his mind.
He would have to pull out brushes and canvas when he got home, and attempt to capture this.
Wonder, she said. Truly, it fit.
"I see," he said, softly, still drawn in. "Razzle dazzle - truly, yes," he agreed. "I...believe Knight magic is tied to our planet, somehow. I am a Knight of Saturn, and Saturn is...well. As best I can tell so far, Saturn is death." He sighed faintly. Nothing quite so bright as what she could do.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:57 am
Cassiopeia was grateful to see he wasn't affected by the magic, or at least... didn't seem to be struggling to avoid looking at it. That would have been a tad bit awkward to find out if knights were hit by it. Though his commentary--and yes, the little sound counted--made her grin and cheeks burn, delighted to show someone else the magic in a non-violent context. Yes, it was big and flashy and rather useless in a full-scale battle... but it was... magic.
That Aoki had even made a slight move to touch it was a delight, though she did lift a hand herself to stop him--largely because she wasn't sure what would happen if he did. No one'd hit it yet.
But when he didn't touch it, she stooped back down for her thermos, watching the flickering sights as her magic began to fade. "Only stays for... around thirty seconds I think? Timed it once."
What he said about knight magic though, being tied to the planet, was fascinating, and she turned her attention to him. Though to hear Saturn, the beautifully ringed planet, was connected to death... "That... sort of makes sense. Saturn's also Cronus... deals with harvest, and was sort of seen as a god of time. Time eventually leads to death. One ends, allowing another to begin." He didn't seem entirely pleased about the association with the grim mortality, so she attempted the... lighter note of it. She looked him over though, taking in the layers and very Victorian looking attire in a new light.
Her nails tapped again on her thermos. "I was going to keep patrolling a bit--would you like to join me? I'd love to hear more about what you've seen of knight magic, and... I'm very curious about this Code you mentioned."
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