Welcome to Gaia! ::

Giulia was at the city house, and she was outside again- she had almost perfected sneaking out. It made her feel like a naughty princess, and she knew no one would approve, but one day she might have to be able to sneak out to help one of her magical friends! So she needed to know the important things like-

How to get attacked by youma. Giulia was stuck, looking for a way to get back to the house, eyes wide as she considered the big, flying monster. It was gonna be much faster than she was, and for only about the second time in her young life, Princess Giulia wondered if she had made a terrible choice.

But then, once again, her powers of being rescued kicked in, as a shimmery star-knight came from nowhere, hitting the griffon with a wham! and a bam! And she was saved! Hooray!

"i'm fine!" she cried cheerfully as the glowy knight knelt before her. "I was mostly certain a magical person would come and save me. You are all the bestest!"

The shimmery knight called out her relief in French, and Giulia tilted her head. "Do you speak French?" It was interesting that she was meeting so many people who seemed to speak the language. It seemed to be a language lots of people knew,
and Giulia liked that.

"I have met a couple of magical people!" Giulia confirmed to the shimmery woman happily. "Cosmos are like, a kind of makeup from Cosmos Magazine. It looks like a sky all starry and makes your eyes pop."

Or something.

"I was sneaking out," Giulia said honestly. "Not for long, I just was trying to see if I could, really. I need the practice. What made you come by my house? Not many knights come around to play at this time of night, which is why I decided to sneak out now." She probably should try and figure out a better time for her sneaking.

Dipping in a little curtsey, she added, "My name is Giulia. It is nice to meet you."

"Yes." Giulia replied to the woman in the language in which the knight had spoken to her. "I was born in Paris. It was where we lived until recently, there and New York. My Nanny is French."

She tilted her head against the knight's caress, curiosity lighting her small face. "All of space? There is an awful lot of it. How do you protect it all? Does space have a lot of knights? How can I become a knight?"

Giulia considered the starry knight for a moment before giving her answer. "Because if anyone found out I was being sneaky I would be in much trouble. The streets may not be safe, but magical people are here to save me. I am going to be a sidekick, so I need to know how to get in and out."

Honesty was always an excellent policy, even though there may be no profit to it.

The older woman gave a very polite cutesy in response, and the blonde beamed in happiness.

Giulia could remember the big house they had lived in when she was very little, sometimes. She had seen it in the pictures from when she was littler. Szelem had been a woman of opulent taste, craving her money on more visible things. Jada liked to buy shoes, but Giulia had seen enough to know that her mother had liked furniture, and big houses, and showing off her money instead of living modestly. Zora had told her that their mother had told them What's the point in being rich and not showing it off? She could remember the view, mostly from video, the water shining down below, the Tower in the distance. The shine of the gold that her mother had wanted everywhere. "New York is nicer than France," she said after a moment. "New York is warm. France is gold." gold, not cold. In some ways, they were the same thing to her.

"I have heard of the senshi," she said at last, with a smile. But she didn't go into detail, "I didn't know they had knights." She had thought the knights were something else, guardians for everyone. To find that they might already serve a princess was... interesting. She hadn't known the magical people had nobility in their ranks. guardian of stars and souls sounded awful special, too. Cosmos much be very busy."

The summoning of a necklace gave Giulia pause, head tilting to the side. The crystal was slid over her head, and Giulia peered at it curiously. "A Hope Pen Dant," she repeated obediently. "Is this a magical necklace, Ms Hypobora?" Giulia giggled at the scolding, and nodded. "I will think about it. I can't sneak during the day though. It isn't sneaking if it isn't a secret!"

The appearance of a white deer- it was an Asterion! Not a bull, but a magical creature like Asterion! And not on fire! "Oh! I would love a ride! Not too long, though? Just one loop around?"

"That could be true! We don't vacation in France, we usually just stay in the Paris house. I will have to ask about getting to see other places there." Giulia nodded her head firmly. That would be good. She could enjoy seeing some green.

Giulia thought all senshi were magical princes and princesses, whatever their title, so the idea not all of them for special knights was kind of sad. Her tiny brow furrowed, and as Hyp... As Giulia was lifted onto the back of the deer, she nodded, pretending she understood.

"It is a very pretty necklace," Giulia complimented as she slid the chain over her head and let the necklace drop to her tiny, narrow chest. "Thank you." She could feel the warmth, now pointed out to her, and feel it warming her as they began to move.

Turn her sneaking into a game... It was an idea for sure. Giulia tucked it away in her mind, and turned her attention to the way Cerynitis moved.

The deer ran very different from Lady Luck, smoother and faster than a horse. "Kaitartarsauce had a bull, and his bull was on fire and couldn't be ridden or hugged." Giulia gripped the deer carefully with hands and knees, trying to help the knight keep her on as they sped through the city.

It was so bright- lights streaked by as if they were oncoming cars, everything a whirl. Giulia shared out for glimpses of places she knew- that restaurant, that gas place, that cafe, a playground.

Destiny City was so pretty, and this whirlwind tour was awesome.

Giulia could remember pieces of France, could remember very little before Jada was their mommy. Sometimes, when she had been looking at pictures of their mother, she could imagine she remembered, grass green like Szelem's eyes, leaves, a sky so blue and clear. Manicured lawns, and then... then she couldn't remember if it was real or a movie, or a dream.

Her legs gripped at the deer, considering. "It would be nice to have a deer I could ride instead of my mare," Giulia said sadly, tiny hand petting the necklace draped across her chest, "Cery has a very smooth walk, it is different."

She tilted her head back, and gave Hyperborea a beaming smile. "Thank you for calling me pretty." the girl shifted, turning her bright blue eyes to the city speeding around them. "He is a knight, he dresses like a gladee-ateher. He gave me a ride on his shoulders and he was very strong. I thought he was a mean person at first, but he turned out to be real good."

The idea that this knight had been to Mars was interesting, and Giulia pursed her lips. Cosmos knights.... starlight.... kind. Hmm!

"I have met lots of people," Giulia said after a moment. "I don't know that I've met any people in black. Dark colors, yes, but they were nice, and made sure I got home and my feet didn't freeze off."

"It would still be very fun!" Giulia told the knight cheerfully. It would very much make her feel like a princess, but she couldn't imagine being able to saddle a deer- and most deer probably wouldn't like being cooped up in a stable. As different as they were to ride from horses, they belonged in the wild, not cooped up for humans. Zoos could be useful, if they were making sick animals better or protecting a species in danger, or housing animals who were too nice to live in the wild. Some zoos could be good for that. Others were mean kidnappers.

The knight seemed to like her deer-friend very much, and Giulia gave a sleepy little smile as she watched the deer vanish. "I want to grow up, but I don't know if I want to be a senshi or knight. If I stay just a little girl I can be extra helpful to everyone." Being a senshi or knight felt an awful lot like taking a side, and Giulia just wanted everyone to get along and love each other! That was what people were supposed to do, right? Love their friends and their neighbors and be nice and helpful and brave?

Her brow furrowed at talk of a code- a power source? She didn't understand what that meant, but Giulia smiled like she did. Code was what people did with computers, so was magic like a computer game? And then... the youma were like the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts? Giulia chewed on the corner of her mouth, considering the idea and quietly trying to wrap her mind around the words. Duty, Mars, Codes- it was all a bit beyond the understanding of a six year old child. As the woman lifted her up, Giulia beamed from her heights, peering down at the ground in thought.

A person with weapons, or in black, or senshi with holes? They are the enemy of Earth, the knight said, but that.... didn't...

Giulia's little toes curled, considering. "I have a cell phone but I can't give out my phone number to strangers," she told the knight politely, giving another large yawn. None of the magic people she had met before had asked if she had a phone. Tiny, short fingers wrapped around the warm necklace, and she yawned a third time. Excitement, and cold night air, were both exhausting!