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 Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:59 pm
Being that Destiny City had been a port town, there were plenty of bridges and ports around the area and not all of them in use. Navigating from one end of the city to another was easy when you could teleport, but being a knight he often had to hoof it from one place to another. Unused bridges and those rarely used by passing trains were the gateways for those like him. Those in the war navigating the dark alleyways behind security cameras and wandering eyes.
Quietly, he walked on the wooden beams of the bridge, the cold sweeping up from the river. Clutching his coat, he slowed when he felt a signature at the other end. Not a Negaverser, but these days no signatures came off as friendly.
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 6:29 pm
The water had always relaxed her. Even before she was Scylla, when Jada was all there was, a mix of empty and full squeezed into a skin that was poorly fitting, too big and too small at once. Staring at the water, smelling the brine and the stench of it, filled her skin, settling those cold empty pockets of her to full, and warm. It was fitting that the place she went to first, upon her return to Destiny City, was the water. After so many times leaving and coming home, following waterways was a tradition to her, winding her way one path to the next, making her way along edges and alleyways, less afraid than she should be. She knew the price of negligence when she was in this form, but every time, she forgot to care. There was almost no one who would remember her, anyway; most people probably thought Scylla was dead, from one appearance to the next. They had no idea how right they were. The power danced around the edges of her consciousness, order and chaos and other things, and she moved between them as quickly as she could, letting the water guide her through things that spoke as trouble. but, inevitably, such peace wouldn't last. It never did. The other person was wearing a coat, clutching it close, and the tinge of jealousy was mitigated by the fact she didn't feel the cold like she probably should. she needed to go home soon, or zip up the jacket she'd tossed on over her uniform. "Lovely night," she tossed out, leaning against the bridge. It didn't feel like chaos, but there were a lot of political undertones she was unfamiliar with now. She'd have to be careful. ish.
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:00 pm
He stopped, looking at the senshi who was leaning among the bridge. The same as the day he last saw her sharing cocoa secretly on the pier rooftops. It had been over a year and yet so much had changed. He had finally went through the attack against the BMC, had been demoted, had been punished, and then purified. It felt even longer still that it was hard to pinpoint the day. Winter, yes, but was it one year or the year before? He hadn't seen her since, but he had been off the map as well adjusting to his new powers and name. His new self - and the lacking memories. But he remembered her, and he crossed his arms stuck in a moment of surprise as she said hello to him in a way that said she didn't recognize him.
Glamour.
He was Gevaudan now, and while his face was the same, his uniform wasn't. She wouldn't know him unless he told her and broke the protective illusion.
Part of him wondered if it would be better to pretend he was a different person, just a new knight and start with a blank slate, but she had done too much for him before. That history was one of the few pieces he remembered.
"It is..........a good night for hot chocolate." He felt a turning in his stomach at standing before her now, dressed like this, his signature vastly different then the General from before. Had she heard of his attack - how close he had come to killing Leto for good?
"It's been a long time, Scylla."
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:31 pm
The other figure didn't approach, still clutching their coat, and she gave them a lazy smile they probably couldn't see in the semi-darkness, letting the tension that curled at the base of her spine slide away, feeling the fingers of fear cling to her vertebrae. It was a healthy dose of enforced, ingrained caution that the mind consistently disregarded. She should probably work on it; she had been working on finding something to live for, after all, and it would be a shame if her propensity for wandering the streets in a super (eternal?) suit got her slaughtered before the kids even got into first grade. "It's the perfect night for hot chocolate," she agreed, brow furrowing a bit, remembering one of the last times she had been out drinking cocoa. Settled on the warm, heated roof of a building with a negaverse agent. It had been years ago, now. "Too bad I didn't think to bring some with me." She might even have shared, if they were feeling so inclined. It was when they said her name that her brow furrowed, and Scylla turned her body to face them more fully, considering. Her brain racked itself, trying to identify the other figure. She stretched out a leg, taking a few steps closer, head tilting. Hot chocolate. A long time. Eyepatch. Coat. masculine voice, presumably male-- Jada could feel the clues there, bouncing around and sliding into place, then sliding out again like water through a sieve. It had been too long- she was out of the loop. "I'm sure it has been," she confessed at last, and the note of embarrassment in her voice went unhidden. "I'm ashamed to say you've the better of me. I don't quite remember who you are." The power that radiated wasn't familiar. A knight, perhaps, but she didn't know many of them. Had she saved their life once, before they'd awoken to their powers? But that didn't explain the familiarity-- she must have met them more than once, right? Maybe?
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 7:46 pm
Still too strong. He was always surprised about the blinding effects of changing fractions, but he had seen Linearite when she changed and had to be told it was her before he recognized her, and even then his mind had a disconnect between seeing the face and matching his memories to it. It was like a coating of soap was around you, making any memory or recognizable tie to you slip right off, leaving you a stranger.
Maybe he was a stranger. Who was he half the time?
If he was going to enlighten her, he would have to be direct about it. Still, that temptation was there to just let this meeting pass and fade to the obscurity that the glamour fought to keep. After all, Scylla still had her loyalties, and wouldn't she still hate him even more for trying again at another attack? Then again, it wasn't like her thoughts on the matter actually mattered. He had aligned himself to one person's opinion only other than his, and that man was back at home watching TV and keeping his bed warm.
Still, it would be nice just to be someone else. Someone....who had been less of a failure in the past. Someone who wasn't the person he thought he would be at this point in his life.
Well, she would find out one way or another anyways. A few others already knew him, and Castor still called him by his true name - a demon floating among the rest of them.
"It would be so much easier to keep the glamour." He said to himself before pulling down his hood and moving a bit closer, but not too close in case she reacted badly and tried to summon her sea-life helper.
With a small nod of his chin, he regarded her. Not softly, but with at least genuine familiarity - and that was such a rare thing for him these days. People he still knew, still had memories of, and who didn't want to kill him.
Placing a hand across his chest, he took a breath to steel himself. "General Wolframite. The black and green looked better on me. You haven't changed much it seems."
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 8:15 pm
The silence between her confession and the approach of the other figure was enough for her to try and double-check she wasn't about to get stabbinated. Well, if she was, it wasn't going to be by a Negaverse agent. Whatever he was- and she was going to go with he until she was otherwise informed, she decided- he wasn't.... Chaos. Her teeth weren't set on edge by the other person's power signature. And that, clearly, actually meant something. Well no, it meant nothing at all, but she liked to pretend it did.
it had been so long since she had powered up and actually dealt with a living person, that she spent a few more seconds wondering if her radar was completely off and she was going to get it in the gut again; but the hood went down, and the person shuffled forward, still leaving a healthy distance between them.
"General Wolframite. The black and green looked better on me. You haven't changed much it seems."
Hot chocolate. A long time. Eyepatch. She was such an idiot. "Wolf!" her voice brightened, warm pleasure striking through it as she greeted him. "No wonder it was easier for your to recognize me." Her shoulders relaxed, and she beamed at him. "I've only tossed on a coat, you've undergone a whole palette swap." And, apparently, a side swap. The General she remembered, even from so long ago, was different. Wolframite had a power that was blazingly different than the man in front of her; but now that she knew it had been Wolf, she couldn't unsee it.
All the little details were there. She should probably have doubted it more, but how many people knew she'd enjoyed cocoa with a negaverse general instead of fighting him? "I can't say it looked better, just different." It had looked.... better. Pink and red? "I imagine it is harder to keep clean," she told him with teasing practicality. "I'm glad you're well. I vaguely remember having heard about some upheavals, but I've been.... away. "
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 4:54 am
He brightened to the old name, and smiled once everything clicked for her and the illusion of him being someone else was gone - along with the opportunity.
"Magic illusions are a weird thing. I honestly forgot half the time that no one can tell who I was. Introducing myself gets kind of tiring though I suppose for safety it works for a few people." Not that he knew much of anyone aside from Hawara, aka Bismuthite, that had purified.
At the question about his clothing color, he sighed. "Not my choice, but when are uniforms ever my choice. I honestly hate pink. Ironic it would be the one color that I'm punished with for being on this side of the fence. It's like the world got a memo listing what I dislike and tries to mark off what it can at every turn. Still, as far as clean, I suppose it keeps blood hidden pretty nicely though knight weapons aren't as good as Negaverse weapons. I rather liked my blades." His own weapon was still on a chain, but it relied on magical restraint - which at least gave him a chance to do his attacking hand to hand though he loved the aesthetic and feel or using a serrated blade against someone's exposed limbs. The splatter had been such a nice reward.
"Away?" He repeated and narrowed his eye at her, searching. "Seems you've had some stuff on your plate too." He didn't touch on the upheaval, the huge failure that had allowed him to taste what Leto's death was before Zink took it away from him.
"Care if we walk? I don't have a youma knight anymore to drag me out of the river if a gust knocks me off."
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:29 am
Her violet eyes crinkled at the corners, moving to join Wolf- or whatever his name was, now, she would have to ask- and taking a closer look at him, pulling her jacket more snug around her. "They are effective at keeping people alive, and that is a good chunk of what is important, anyways." if she changed... She would want the glamour. She would want to forget it all, and start again. And let everyone forget with her.
Her lips quirked at his sigh, and she shrugged. "I feel like my power came in inverse of my shirt," she told him with a grin, "But it could be worse. You could have gotten a mankini." oh, how she pitied those senshi who suited up into bikinis. This winter must suck. But the smile faded and her brow furrowed slightly.
It kept the blood hidden. He missed his blades. It made her wonder what was happening-- what had happened. The visions of the future had driven her away. The loss of her.... Then Caedus, and she had vanished again. Scylla had been so absent, and such a failure...
Was Order taking notes from the BMC? Was there infighting? Wolframite was no longer chaos, but what was he? Was violence so casual now that actual weapons were needed? Magic no longer enough?
"I haven't exactly had much of a plate, either, to be honest." Wolf asked to walk and she nodded easily, shifting her weight and position to allow for him to finish crossing the bridge. "And as for getting blown away, since you aren't trying to stab me with a stick, I may be inclined to save you."
Her laugh was quick and teasing, and felt warm escaping her. It felt good to laugh, however brief and wry
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:53 pm
"I was in bed for over a week last time you threw me in. You could take down more people with just hypothermia with your attack." He pointed out, shivering at just the memory of being dropped into the fridged depths only to have his youma rescue him from certain death. It had felt like shards of glass in acid and he had been left sputtering until he could teleport home. It had been a sad day shaking naked in the shower slowly letting the water warm in his terrible apartment before finding every blanket in the house to hide under.
"Ugh. If there was anything to make me quit the war, it would be a mankini?" He wasn't even sure he was saying the word right, but his imagination filled in the blanks of what it was. "At least I'm not shirtless." Poor Hawa was left freezing in winter but Gevaudan often let him borrow his coat.
"What have you been up to then? Not leading any patrols I see." He said, seeing her without company.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:07 pm
Her grin sharpened, eyes dancing for a moment without remorse. She'd tossed him in the river for trying to kill her- if he tried again, she'd likely do the same. "Than we'll just have to warn people only to try and kill me in summertime," Scylla mused, considering. "Or I need to specialize my catchphrase for wintertime to include something about the freezing depths, but that might step on some toes."
His shiver made her slow, but she wasn't sure if it was the memory of his week-long bed rest, or the thought of being stuffed into a mankini. Both of them sounded terrible, really. Why did she cause this poor boy so much emotional scarring? She'd have to work on that... "No," she agreed, clutching her Burberry closed, "You're not shirtless. You look comfortable for winter, and sweltering for summer."
They walked along for a few moments, before his question caught her off guard. "No, not leading any patrols. Actually, I haven't even been in Destiny City for most of the year. I've been out of town, mostly, working. I... after... Ares, and then I got turned into a cat, and I just... I needed time to be J- just myself." one shoulder lifted and fell in a shrug. "I've been in town half a dozen times since 2012, if that. So I am far out of all the gossip chains. I'm glad my first face was a friendly one."
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:10 am
"I wouldn't want to be dumped in the river during the summer either. It's still a dumping ground for other people for.....other things." When the Negaverse had still been taking starseeds at a record high, the river was just a preferred place to toss a body. The idea of them somewhere down there, the ones that sank or got caught under the current, still bothered him.
"You sound like you've really had a lot to deal with then....or you were ignoring the war all together." He said, not knowing what type of person she really was to disregard the war she herself was involved in, but he wondered if she was invested as much into certain goals as he was in the end.
"A cat? How did you manage that? Senshi hijinks gone wrong?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 5:38 am
Sometimes it was the things that weren't explicitly said that were the worst. Other people. Other things.
Welcome back to Destiny City, Jada. You should have stayed in New York.
Her face blanched briefly white under her tanned skin, then slowly colored back in with a red flush. "How unpleasant," she said with a stiff mildness, trying to tamp down how disturbed she actually was with the thought, and probably failing. "Certainly tampers with enjoying the water."
It was easier to move on to the other comments. "Both," she confessed. "Years ago, there were just.... I started as Scylla because I watched one of my friends get murdered, right there in front of me. I stayed as Scylla because I was angry, then resigned, then... my friends. But vengeance is hard, and friends keep dying, and life moves on as cold and unfeeling as any machine. And one morning you wake up, and you are an unwilling killer who has lost so many people they loved."
He probably understood.
"Some people keep fighting. Some people grow bitter and cold. Some people thrive. I ran."
It was easier to talk about the cat thing. "I... don't think I ever found out what happened. It was back in 2011. Worst Thanksgiving ever."
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:52 am
He walked the lines of the railroad board by intersecting board, dark lines above a rushing inky river. The wind kicked up, moving his hair and the flaps of his jacket as he moved alongside her.
"It's strange. I find it more gripping. I've seen so many people die. Good people. People who were my friends. Those I idolized. Even those who helped build the Negaverse with the ideals I valued the most for so long. I've had seen death for a cause and some for no reason at all. I'm part of it too. I've killed. Yet while I can stare at logic I cannot let go of what had been done and what needs to be done in turn. I can't let those people walk away from that. Not when I'm the only one left to avenge them."
Ahead the bridge's end was seen. "I was told by many people to let go. That my path would lead to crazed distraction. To find a new cause. Zinkenite himself warned me before he tried to beat the warning into me when I ignored him. I find it aggravating how someone can see their friends die and yet let it go knowing their murderers are walking free. I still can't and even the person most closest to me has warned me."
He looked at her. "I don't know if I should envy you for loosing steam or hate you for your lack of commitment."
He look d on ahead. "I guess it's easier to fight when you already know you're a monster. What's a few more bodies?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:28 am
Her arms tightened around her middle, shoulders hunching and pulling the coat closer around her front, hunkering against the wind; her legs tingles with chill and she stamped them fiercely on the wood, trying to brush a little warmth into them. Shoes, metal, clanked loudly, and the necklaces at her throat burned like chains. A prisoner, of choice and circumstance.
"I... Never wanted to kill. I never wanted to fight anyone but my mother, actually, but that is another story. I was so proud, not killing anyone. I was fighting against it. Violence was one thing- but my power was a deterrent. It protected people. Or it was supposed to.
And then good people did bad things. What the Blood Moon- what we did. I was faced with a choice, and... Ares was my friend. I loved her. And by the time I came to a proper realization of what we were doing... I was a killer, and a coward. With you- with Tanz-"
She reached up, slapping at her cheeks. "So I was a killer, a coward, and a traitor. I only wish I had done it sooner. Maybe I could have stopped it. She would have been angry, but maybe I could have kept them from hurting you, maybe I could have kept her from corrupting, prevented the whole Dark Moon Court."
She had never understood why Wolf didn't seem to hate her more. One small act of kindness didn't excuse her multitude of failures. She hated herself enough, sometimes, that perhaps it was a kindness in return. She was afraid to ask, even now.
The Chaos had taken friends. Killed her family. Or rather...
"They say Zinkenite is the one who corrupted Lina back to Linarite," she said harshly, sharply; "She was my other best friend, and her love note to say goodbye was to kill my mother and my sister." it was careless, to say so much. "Who do I blame, then? Do I get my vengeance on a general king? Or do I fight the person who had been my friend?"
Scylla shook her head. "I can't fight for revenge anymore. I can't let that be my focus. I have an entire life I let fall apart for vengeance. Those people I have left... I can't lose anyone else. I won't. I just don't know how I can protect them without falling right back into the same trap I was in before."
The conversation had grown... More intense than expected. She sighed, frustrated, the sound full of unshed tears and impotent anger. "You should hate me. I am an aimless glass canon. What I have come to remember of Scylla... They would all be disgusted with me."
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:37 am
It wasn't the cold that instantly stuffed him, but the mention of that time. He didn't like those memories, and they were ones that instantly brought on a wave of anxiety, paranoia, and made him feel short of breath. Then he heard HER name and he gripped his sides, stopping.
"Don't."
He needed a moment as he focused on his shoes. A distant barking. A song from bloody lips he couldn't unhear. The river like cold, spilled -
He took a deep, audible breath and looked up at her.
"There is no pride in not killing. Being in a way deluding yourself that you are better because you aren't as violent only means you are allowing others to continue or you put them in a position that they have to. I wasn't given that moment to dellude myself. I was trained how to kill.I continue to get upset at the amount of people who put on their uniform and think they aren't going to fight without bloodshed. It's like holding a gun and loudly proclaiming you won't shoot. What is the point in you pretending?"
He gritted his teeth at this and felt a bit too cold, too contained.
He vended his knees to to kneel just to whisper. "I'm outside. I'm outside. I'm outside." It was a mantra to help his anxiety. It wasn't like he could see a professional about what had happened.
Standing again, he looked back at her. "You allowed them to do something terrible but you did do something. I know what doing something you are against for the cause can do. I was preached it. That your beliefs didn't matter to the whole and you had no right to think your decisions were better than that of your superiors. They were probably right, which is why I am a traitor."
"The regrets I have for the lives taken are that they were to help build up a cause that only changed to something I didn't want. I helped build up and aid into helping the powers who went against me and everyone around me. Too many strong, good people threw themselves for those orders for what was best for the whole and died, tossed aside like trash and called traitors for it."
"Now if I'm killing, I'm not going to do it for someone else anymore. I'm not going to be tossed when I'm no longer willing to keep saying yes."
He regarded her. "I'm not here to tell you who to kill but if you needed help, I might offer. Especially Leto. I almost had her once. I'm not going to stop."
"I just wonder if you are still saying Yes to their orders."
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