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 Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:07 am
Sanidine didn't really know what the hell he was doing these days. A lot of pacing, and a lot of being angry, and a lot of telling Evan to go home and watch as the youma half slunk off, only to return a few minutes later. It was stupid—Sanidine, because he didn't know what to do to make things right, and Evan because he wasn't helping.
It wasn't like Sanidine was mad at him. Most of the time, at least. Sanidine was just mad. Evan was just trying to help. Except, it wasn't Evan, it was some shell of him, and Sanidine didn't know where Evan ended and the youma began.
But the youma listened just about as well as Evan. He just couldn’t cook worth a s**t.
Not that Zack had tried putting him in the kitchen.
But Evan now had a dual affect on him: he was both reassuring and calming, and he drove Sanidine crazy.
Sanidine wanted him to go home--to be safe, and out of the way, but he didn't want Evan out of his line of vision. Not after...
Sanidine shivered and shook his head, casting one more look at Evan before he resumed pacing.
He'd lost Evan. Once, to the youma he'd become. And once to Lenka.
And he'd thought he'd never get Evan back after the Senshi had dusted him, and even now sometimes it felt like the youma was just a ghost in his conscience.
But it gave him a bit of hope.
If he came back from the dead once, maybe he could come back to being Evan.
He just couldn't let him get hurt again.
He wouldn't let Evan get hurt again.
Tonight, though, Sanidine had been walking around Destiny City, looking—like he always was—for anyone that knew two shits about anything.
And tonight, like he always was, Evan was following him.
An order energy signature flared up on his radar, but Sanidine paid it almost entirely no mind; he was lost in thought and kept moving.
But Evan reacted before Sanidine could even figure out what the hell he was going to do—before Sanidine could even yell out to stop him, or grab him by his fluffy little neck, Evan bolted.
Evan had spotted Lysithea immediately; his skin had started to tingle the moment they got close to the senshi, and his eyes shot up. He recognized her, and didn't stop to think if she would recognize him—instead, the furry little youma picked himself up and bolted towards her, chittering that weird, whale-like chirp he made when he was excited.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:34 pm
Lysithea had a new mission while she was patrolling, she had been looking for Evan a lot more than she was doing anything else. If she saw anyone shadowed and lonely on a street corner, she always hoped it would be Evan…but so far she had only found two people selling drugs and about four prostitutes. None of which were Evan…for which she was happy.
She felt someone nearby, and knew they were members of chaos, but honestly she didn’t eally care. She hadn’t been in the mood for talking or fighting…she had a friend to find for goodness sakes.
But when the youma rocketed at her, what was she supposed to do but freak out. It was a knee jerk reaction…to jerk her knee upwards at the youma, trying to get him away from her. “No! No I don’t want to fight! Ahh!”
…The chirping that the youma made was kind of cute though, and it was kind of strange that that is what she thought of.
And then she saw Sanidine. “Ah! Sanidine call it off! I’m not a bad guy! Jeeze!”
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:43 pm
The youma let out a mournful little wail and scrambled back in pain; it seemed frantic and desperate and afraid but tried to move to Lysithea again—only, he didn't reach her.
Sanidine flung himself between the two of them. Indelicately, he drew his fist back and threw it into Lysithea's face. It was only a slightly pulled punch and he let out a venemous, "Don't you dare touch him again," he hissed; with his free hand he grabbed his youma by the scruff of its neck and hauled it up.
"Didn't you learn your ******** lesson, Evan? Do you like getting dusted? Jesus, I can't do anything with you!" he growled, but he almost sounded afraid.
Worried about him.
The youma curled into himself, dangling helplessly off the ground as Sanidine gripped him by his scruff.
Sanidine was sneering and jerked his attention back to Lysithea.
Who he had just punched.
Lysithea, who had rescued him before, who he was at least on somewhat friendly terms.
And he had attacked her.
For a moment, he just stared at her.
"…Lysithea," he said, suddenly, voice coarse. He wanted to say sorry. Sort of. But she'd hurt Evan. She could have dusted him. Any of them could, and if he had to cut ties with them to keep Evan safe…
He'd do whatever it took.
"…Sorry…about that. Are you okay?"
He didn't move to help her, but he stood awkwardly, still holding the youma. His brows were knit with concern, and he looked tired. Sanidine wasn't sleeping. Dark circles under his eyes; his face was gaunt. He seemed lost.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 12:55 pm
Oh, the poor creature! She hadn’t meant to hurt it…it was just a reaction. Lysithea reached out a hand to start to apologize when suddenly there was a fist. In her face.
Sanidine had punched her. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of that information, and she stumbled back a few steps, raising a gloved hand to her cheek and rubbing the sore spot with a look of utter confusion. “Sanidine…what the ********? You just hit me…What the…” She gave him a look that she hoped convayed just how betrayed and hurt she felt, but her eyes widened when she took a good look at him.
“My God. You look like hell. Did someone hurt you again? Who do I have to hit?” She took a step towards him and paused, her mind still whirling form the thought of being struck by someone she trusted. Someone who she thought was her friend…and someone who she had thought might someday be more than her friend.
“…Did you call that thing Evan? You named a youma? That’s..interesting.” Her eyes were back on the youma. In all honesty…it was kind of cute, so far as youma went.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 1:02 pm
Sanidine instinctively took a step back, moving once more so his body was between Lysithea and Evan.
There was a lump in his throat but he forced himself to swallow it.
"Sorry," he grumbled; he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Everything just felt like a cold, humid fog. Slowly, he lowered his arm, letting the youma's feet touch the ground. He didn't release his grip on the youma's fur, though; he didn't know if Evan could be trusted not to run at Lysithea—or if she could be trusted not to attack again.
"No one attacked me. I just. It's been a long week."
He couldn't explain it to her. She wouldn't understand.
Evan chirped next to him, pawing at the ground and scrambling like he still wanted to run to Lysithea even though she'd just kneed him.
"I didn't name him," he finally said lowly. "That is his name. Or was."
Lysithea had caught him picking on Evan once before, but the thought didn't enter his head until the words had slipped from his lips. He pressed them in a firm line and directed his gaze downward, pulling Evan back just a little bit. He ignored the tired whine his youma made and tried to change the subject quickly—tried to get Lysithea to stop asking questions. "—I didn't mean to hit you. I've just been on edge. He got dusted once, earlier this week. I thought he was a goner. Then he just showed up again, so, you know. I'm trying to teach him to be careful but he just gets so excited. I don't know what his problem is with you," he said, agitated now that Evan was still whining at Lysithea, looking at her with his big, pleading eyes.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 1:22 pm
“I don’t understand. What do you mean that is his name…was his name…?” Lysithea wasn’t used to surprises. Not when it involved powered things. She had been doing this for so long she thought she knew everything. “He…He wasn’t…what do you mean, Sanidine…I’m…I’m confused…”
She looked at the youma again, swallowing and looking right into his big eyes. There seemed like…this seemed like…
Lysithea held out a hand to the creature, carefully kneeling down and still reaching out. “Come here…um…Evan. It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” There was a funny feeling in the senshi’s stomach, and she wasn’t sure why she was thinking what she…what she was thinking. “It’s okay, honey. Come here.” Why was she asking for a youma to come closer? It was a youma…a monster right? A monster who was nothing. Was nobody…
…Right?
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 1:35 pm
Sanidine watched her silently, trying to sort through his own feelings and emotions. He didn't release his grip on Evan for a long moment, even when the youma was whimpering and trying to get closer to her.
"You know what a youma is, don't you?"
Sanidines' voice didn't sound like is own. Didn't feel like his own.
"They're all just people. I mean."
He looked down at Evan.
"…Most of them have been around since before you and me, I guess. Because there's a place down where our 'Kingdom' is. You probably saw it, what with that whole invasion s**t. But they call it the Rift, and it's full of them. Hundreds. Thousands. I don't know. It freaks me the hell out. But they're all monsters that used to be human, I guess."
Evan was quiet, almost like he understood what Sanidine was saying. But Sanidine couldn’t tell if he ever understood, because sometimes Evan would listen like a person, and sometimes he'd listen like a dog.
"…So, this one used to be Evan. And I can't give him a new name or that's like saying Evan isn't there anymore. But he is, somewhere. So don't you dare hurt him."
Sanidine did not want to let his grip loosen. It was a struggle to force his fingers to release.
But the second he did, Evan paused, looked up at him questioningly, and then ran headfirst into Cambria's chest. His hackles had been raised and his talons elongated, but he didn't attack her; he just pressed his head into her and nuzzled, chitterling rapidly once more.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 1:45 pm
“The…youma are what…what do you mean they’re all people.” Lysithea felt like she was going to be sick. This was not what she had expected to ever hear. Ever. Youma were…youma were monsters…they weren’t…people…that was…that was horrible…a terrible, horrible thought.
“I…I didn’t…I didn’t go to the invasion…I couldn’t…I went home instead…” The words were quiet, no more than a whisper. She just couldn’t stand the thought. “So this…this used to be someone named Evan…?” She didn’t flinch when the creature ran at her, and when he was nuzzling her, her arms wrapped around him naturally, holding him close.
“…Was this the Evan you were messing with that one time…Is this…was this that Evan…?”
She wanted him to say no. Needed him to say no. This couldn’t be that Evan. He was going to stare at her and blink and say what are you talking about stupid girl. This is just someone named Evan. Not the Evan you knew. Not the Evan you loved…just some loser who got to close and turned…into a little monster. A cute little monster.
“Evan…this isn’t you, is it? Evan…” Her voice was soft enough that Sanidine could not hear. The words were for the youma only.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 1:54 pm
Sanidine was quiet for too long to be an accident. He was trembling again, not afraid, but just dealing with too many emotions. He watched the two silently. He figured Lysithea must have said something to Evan, because the youma's head snapped up and he looked at her.
Looked, like he really saw her.
But he had stopped making any noise, and his ears had folded low.
Sanidine hadn't quite figured how to read Evan with this new body language, but he thought he could understand that Evan recognized her.
And why shouldn't he? Lysithea had tried to save Evan from Sanidine once before. If he remembered anything of her, maybe he remembered that she had been his hero back then. Maybe he expected she'd be his hero now.
Sanidine couldn't stand the silence, so he finally said what Lysithea didn't want to hear.
"Yeah. It's the same one."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:19 pm
“Oh.” Tears jumped into Lysithea’s eyes, obscuring her vision of the youma. Of her friend. Of Evan. “So this is where you are, Evan…” She murmured, pulling him closer and kissing his fuzzy little monster cheek. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere…we’re so worried…”
To Sanidine she sighed. “How did this happen…? Who did this? This is horrible…this kid didn’t deserve this…He was just an innocent…kid!” She didn’t want to seem too attached to him…after all, Sanidine didn’t know anything about how close her and Evan really had been but…but…
“We have to find a way to help him, Sanidine. We can’t just leave him trapped like this…people are missing him, I’m sure. They must be so worried about him…So worried…” Oh she could not let Zack know about this. He would freak out so much…She couldn’t let him know, at all costs she couldn’t let him know.
“We’ll find a way to help him…he’s not the only youma I have to save. No, I have to study harder. There has to be a way to turn them back. There just has to.” She was almost talking to herself. Almost. Her hand absently stroking little youma Evan behind one of his ears.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:36 pm
Evan's eye squeezed shut as she planted a kiss on his cheek, but his tiny little fluff of a tail was wagging. He pressed closer to Lysithea, seeming pleased with her warmth against his own and the way she was tending to his ears.
There was something off about her, and he couldn't place it. He knew that she was his friend, and that he could trust her—one of the few thoughts that passed through his muddled mind. But there was something different about her. Something he couldn't quite place. But he knew she was dangerous, and she could hurt him, and that made him want to hurt her.
But not now. Now, his little tail wagged and he was just happy to have found his friend—to know that his friend recognized him.
Sanidine couldn't watch; he directed a glare into the darkness when she asked who did this, but his gaze slowly redirected itself to her when she spoke about saving them.
"You think there's a way?" he asked, suddenly. "To undo that damage? —What do you know?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:49 pm
She continued stroking the gentle little youma, seeming thoughtful. “I…I don’t know if there’s a way…a friend of mine was…was turned into a half youma…dragon monster thing…and I’ve been trying to help him since it happened…I…I have healing magic, but it didn’t heal him…but I’m going to work extra hard to look now…We have to help Evan. I’ll do whatever I can to find a way to help him…”
Lysithea sighed, resting herself against the youma. “We’ll save you, Evan. You’ll get to go home and be loved, just like you should. Everyone’s going to be so happy when you come home…” She paused, and finally whispered. “You should see how upset Zack is that you’re gone…I’ve never seen him so sad…He loves you so much, Ev. We both do. I’ll protect you, my friend.”
Finally she pulled away. “Sanidine. We’ll help him. I swear we’ll help him. If we work together…what can’t we fix, right?”
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:55 pm
Evan bristled just slightly—and glanced up at Sanidine inquisitively.
Sanidine just waved his hand nonchalantly at the youma, but there was a spark in his eye now. He was thinking, again.
The youma looked disappointed when Lysithea stood and he moved closer, standing on his hind legs to try and reach up to her—to try and climb her.
Sanidine just cleared his throat and said firmly, "Evan, stop."
The Captain swallowed the lump in his throat—forced the burning sensation away, ignored the knots in his stomach.
"For what it's worth, I regret it," he blurted, suddenly. There was nothing but honesty in his eyes, and he sounded almost desperate to confess. "All of it. I picked on him, a lot, I know it. But it was fun. I wasn't trying to hurt him this time. There was a Negaverse agent, she tried to take his starseed. I just thought…"
He faltered; it felt like there was cotton in his mouth. Like his tongue was made of lead.
"…I thought she'd leave him alone if he was one of us. Only, I didn't…"
His hands clenched into fists at his side.
"I messed it up. He was supposed to be an agent, not a youma. I swear."
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:06 pm
Lysithea walked over to Sanidine and wrapped her arms around him, resting against his hest as Evan had just been resting against hers. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll fix him…though I think I would have been pretty upset if you had made him into a Negaverse agent too…but…but I’m glad you saved him from having his starseed taken…at least…at least this might maybe be reversible…”
She let one of her hands drop, reaching for Evan. She didn’t want to leave him out…she didn’t want him to be alone. Not now. Not ever again. “Sanidine…you have to keep him Evan…you have to try. Keep treating him like he’s Evan…I’ll go and talk to whoever I can about maybe finding a way to help him…I want him to be Evan again…”
With a sigh, she pulled away from the captain and shook her head. “Maybe you should consider coming to our side, Sanidine. Maybe now you can really see how chaos only destroys what you love…” Honestly, Lysithea wasn’t sure why she was saying that but…it flowed so easily from her lips…she just couldn’t not say something.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:17 pm
Sanidine scoffed and shook his head; he was still trying to keep himself together--and keep up appearances. "This was just a mistake. Chaos didn't do this, I did. If I'd been stronger…"
He bit his tongue and had to stop himself.
He shook his head, then. There would be time to get stronger. Time to figure this out.
"Just let me know if you find anything. I'll have to check and see what information the Negaverse has, but they're sort of all up in arms after this whole attack. You were smart not to get involved. But," he shrugged and looked at Evan. "…I don't care what they're doing right now. I have things I have to take care of."
If they couldn't help him, then he'd have to help himself. And even though he wasn't going to admit it, this was Chaos' fault. Not his.
Cavansite's.
She should never have had the power to begin with.
"…Meet up with me once a week," he said, suddenly. "Here. Same time as now. Tell me what you find, and I'll tell you what I find. And I'll bring Evan by so you can check on him. All right?"
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