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 Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 6:38 pm
It had been surprisingly easy to avoid taking energy or starseeds for the week…all she had to do was avoid powering up…and that had been simple enough what with trying to reassure Gently and keep her calm…not to mention the slight pain in her chest that she supposed was from having her starseed removed…
Which…was not something she ever wanted to have to deal with again…but…
Hey. Live and learn.
Cavansite was out tonight though, and it was nearly sundown as she made her way to the library, landing on top of the room and waiting, arms crossed. Camelot would be here. She knew he would…and she would get a lovely new piece for her collection. A memento that she had survived an encounter with the knight and was alive to tell about it.
Something felt off though. She didn’t feel quite as excited about this as she normally would have and her thoughts kept winding back to Gently…to how she had powered up and just…
A shudder passed through the General’s body and she sighed, leaning heavily against the side of the wall and sinking down.
She hoped Camelot would hurry his old a** up. She wanted to go home.
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:28 pm
Tony checked his watch, noting the time and not forgetting his arrangement. He was not sure if the General would show, but he was ready for it either way. He took some time to lock up the library for the night, have sent Dogby home with Hadaya that night, rather than letting the animals hang around for his patrol. Hadaya was more than capable of walking Dogby home, though it was quite a sight to witness a cat walking a corgi.
Taking a breath, in the alley by the library, near the door to Merlinite's room, Tony focused on his weapon and powered up. The rush of energy was all too familiar to him now, and he barely noticed his own power level as he stepped into the role of Camelot.
He felt the aura of the Negaverse General not too far, and smiled. He felt her up on the roof, but made no motions to go and join her up there. Instead, he waited for her patiently in the alley. He knew she would feel his energy, after all.
The goal was to get her to come down to the alley and to then into the basement to talk to the injured half youma resting quietly inside. He'd gotten no stronger, and refused to drain energy from Camelot in order to heal the damage to his chaos-broken body.
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:34 pm
Cavansite wrinkled her nose when the aura hit her. Disgusting like being hit by a truckload of melted cotton candy, far too sweet for anyone’s liking.
She forced herself to stand though and leapt off of the library roof, frowning slightly. “I didn’t think you were going to show up, Camelot. I was starting to worry that you had played me for a fool. Her eyes strayed to the dragon emblem on his uniform and she hesitated a moment before lazily summoning her spear into her hand. “Would you like to use this to cut it off, or shall I do it myself. Or, as I said before…”
Holding the spear out towards him she smirked lightly. “If you pull something hard enough, it’ll come off.”
Tired. She was just tired. He made her tired. This run around game just to get a stupid button. She shouldn’t have wasted her time. Gently would be angry if she found out anyway…
The thought suddenly made her blood run cold and Cavansite closed her eyes for a moment. If Gently found out…well. That might be the end of her. Or…she was sure she could talk her way out of it if she had the chance to…though…that wouldn’t make Camelot any less of a target for Painite later.
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:20 pm
"Just a moment," Camelot said, raising his hand. He motioned to the door to the basement, which was not locked for once. He would let her in, but he was going to make sure to keep her on a short leash. This was his home, so to speak, and she was a guest.
"Follow me, Cavansite. I would like you to see something first."
He opened the door for them both, though he led the way down into the basement of the library. The room was well settled by now, with Merlinite's things, all acquired after he became a half youma and lost his human side because of Painite. He was happy, well cared for, and determined to do his part to pay back all the kindness Camelot and the white moon showed him.
Merlinite was resting on his bed, sleeping quietly. He stirred when he felt Camelot's aura getting closer, and opened his eyes to see the two of them. He jumped, but there was not a lot he could do. He looked at Camelot miserably.
"What is she...?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 7:26 am
Cavansite sighed. Of course there would be a catch. What, did he expect her to purify in order to get the coin? Because that was not happening.
No tonight, at any rate.
She didn’t like the idea of going into a strange room with the Royal Knight…it made her feel very uncomfortable and she wondered if she should just…leave before getting trapped…because this felt very much like a trap.
Slowly she followed and glanced around, gripping her spear tightly. When her eyes landed on Merlinite she blinked, confused. “What is this. What are you playing at, Camelot?” Was this a test? Seeing how she reacted to the traitor? Seeing if she ran to tell Painite where Merlinite was?
…He looked pretty bad off and for a moment, the General felt a small pang of sympathy. It was buried quickly, but she hated the fact that it reared its ugly head.
“What is this?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:37 am
Camelot looked at Merlinite peacefully, as if quietly communicating with him, and the half-youma took a deep breath. He growled lowly, but he seemed to understand that something was happening here, and Camelot was not just purposefully putting him in danger of being hunted down and killed by Cavansite and Painite.
He watched the General suspiciously though, just in case.
"I'm sure you remember Merlinite," Camelot said, after a tense moment. "He has not been able to heal very well, and our efforts to heal him have been... hindered... but the Chaos in his starseed. His body wants to heal the way a youma is meant to, by feeding on energy, but he refuses to take any. Stubborn old dragon."
He shot a look at Merlinite, who huffed indignantly and looked away.
"I'm not a youma," he mumbled.
"I know that. But General Cavansite here can be the solution to our problem." He looked at her again, holding his hand out to her steadily. "I would like for you to take some of my energy, and give it to Merlinite. I know it's not our original deal, but I need your help."
And it was a chance for her to undo the damage she did. He wanted to see if that was important to her, or what she would do with the chance to drain or teleport away with a willing Fourth stage White Moon soldier. It was a very dangerous test for him to be putting himself in the middle of, but he had that serene confidence in Order and Good that made him feel like things would work out just fine.
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:48 am
“That’s foolish.” The words were out of her mouth before she had thought of them, and she wasn’t quite sure if she meant Merlinite for not working to save himself, or Camelot for putting himself in such a situation. Or for her own self, who realized that she was starting to sink into a level of…well.
If she went through with this, it would make her quite a few steps closer to being a traitor as well.
“You know they’ll find out. Painite will find out, someone will find out, and when they find out I’ve helped you. I’ll be hunted the same as he is. The same as you are, Camelot. They’ll ask why I didn’t drain you to death. Why I didn’t deliver you to the heart of the Negaverse…I could…”
She swallowed, still gripping her spear tightly. “I could gain everything from taking you down there. I would be a hero. Famed for all time for vanquishing the great and mighty Camelot.”
The words were spat from her mouth and for a moment, the room seemed to spin.
“This is too much that you’re asking me for. A button is not worth all of this.”
Still, Cavansite hesitated and opened her subspace pocked, pulling out one of her stored balls of energy that she kept in case there was ever an emergency. Quietly she moved closer to Merlinite and held it out. “Take it. I don’t think your friend wants you dead.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 8:57 am
Camelot watched her, shaking his head thoughtfully. She offered Merlinite a ball of energy that he was sure the Youma would decline, but only because he knew Merlinite so well.
"You know, they'll wonder that, anyway, if they find out. You've had plenty of chances to take me to the negaverse. And if you have my pendant, they'll wonder how you got away, or why you didn't take advantage of it. You already know that this hole is dug, and no matter how you try to explain it away, Painite won't believe you. She's dangerous, Cavansite."
He watched her passively, letting her get closer to Merlinite but keeping a close eye on the duo.
Merlinite growled at her, glaring angrily.
"I don't know who you killed or hurt to get that," he snarled, "I don't want it. I'm not a youma, no matter what you think. And why do you care if I die or not: you did this to me. I don't know what Camelot thinks he's doing, but I don't want anything from you."
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:08 am
Cavansite’s eyes snapped to Camelot and she gave what could only be described as a snarl. “Painite is not dangerous to me. She loves me and you need to watch your mouth, old man.”
She had to force herself to look away and back towards Merlinite. “It’s not only youma who consume energy. Every officer can, and does when they need a boost or get hurt…needing energy doesn’t make you weak, Merlinite. It’s self preservation, and it doesn’t say much for your self worth when I seem to be more interested in helping a traitor than he’s interested in helping himself.”
Her temper was up and it was growing more and more difficult to keep a lid on her temper. She forced the spear she had still been holding back into subspace and drew in several deep breaths. “Would you be more comfortable if I took the energy from Camelot? Would you be able to live with yourself if I couldn’t stop, and drained him to the point that he passed out? To the point that he died?”
She closed her eyes, counted to ten and opened them again, once again holding the small purplish ball out to Merlinite. “This is the safest way. Take it. Please.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:18 am
"I apologize," Camelot said, knowing that Painite was a touchy subject for Cavansite, but noting the way she seemed to shudder.
Merlinite watched Cavansite, shaking his head slowly. He tried to sit up, either to get away from her or just to get a better position to talk to her in, but it flexed his ruined wing and he snarled in pain.
"You're not strong enough to kill Camelot," Merlinite argued, finding pride in his mentor and not wanting to hear anyone bad mouth or threaten him. He relented a bit, though, at the idea of keeping Camelot out of harm's way, even in a small gesture like this. He reached out with a shaking claw and took the energy carefully.
Camelot watched, smiling softly at the duo. He felt like things were going pretty well, all told. Not that he would share his thoughts with either Merlinite or Cavansite, as he doubted the two would both be angry with him.
"Thanks," Merlinite mumbled, looking at the energy for a moment before looking at Cavansite. "If it gets you in trouble, I'll protect you."
He was pretty much only good for being a guard dog, anyway. He, almost embarrassed, ate the energy and took a breath. He felt the power of it moving through him, working much better than he thought it would.
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:29 am
Snorting at the offer of protection, Cavansite rolled her eyes and drew out the other four balls of energy from her subspace pocket. She could always go out and get more…and she would but. Whatever. At least this made it seem like she was ‘trying’ to be nice to the traitor.
A slow rage started growing in the woman and she drew in a deep breath, trying to dispel it. The breathing didn’t work as well as she’d hoped but hey. Oxygen was oxygen. “Take these. Don’t use them all at once, but they should help you in the long run. I am strong enough to kill Camelot, and you, if I wanted to, but I’m not in the mood today. Besides. If he’s dead, he couldn’t give me that button of his. Or…”
She gave an almost thoughtful look. “I suppose I would be able to rip it off his corpse if I really wanted.” Cavansite grew quiet, reaching up without thinking and rubbing absently at the bow that rested at her throat. “I’m getting tangled up in too many things…and I hope you know that keeping this secret means I’m going to be giving away another. I can’t justify lying to cover up two traitors. I hope this one’s really worth it, Camelot.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 9:42 am
Merlinite took the energy orbs and nodded his head, watching her for a moment and wondering if he was letting his anger get the better of him. It was something he tried to avoid, after all, since he was doing his best to keep extra chaos out of his heart.
"Thanks," he said again, though he didn't comment on her insistence that she could kill them both, but just 'didn't want to'. He could just tease her, which would make her mad, or he could let it go.
Camelot motioned for Cavansite to follow him back out to the alley, locking the door before he looked at her and offered her a warm smile.
"You're both worth it, Cavansite. I hope you'll see that in time. To me, your lives are the same. I just want you to find what's best for you, and to be happy. Safe. To be able to be as old as I am." He grinned, then moved to, rather easily, take the emblem off his costume. As it turned out, it was easily clipped on, and would have been no problem at all to take from him if she'd wanted to.
He offered it to her with a smile.
"As promised."
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:04 am
Cavansite seemed quite annoyed when the dumb thing came off with no effort at all and huffing she reached out her hand and took it, shoving it deep in her subspace pocket without another thought. “So you want me to live what, another fifty years or so? You have to be pushing eighty, old man. I’m only thirty and I have my whole life ahead of me.”
She managed a small smile after a while and shrugged. “Whatever. Just. Maybe you shouldn’t keep him here. Now that I know where he is…it wouldn’t be difficult for my tongue to just…slip…and let the secret out. And you know that Painite would only be too happy to either have a dead dragon, or a new, lovely youma pet to warm the bed at night.”
The General couldn’t quite meet his eyes as she spoke. She wouldn’t be telling Painite of this. She couldn’t risk the other General getting angry and punishing her for betraying her…though that wasn’t what was done here at all…Painite would see it that way.
“Now. If you’ll excuse me. I have a General King to speak to…and a traitor to report. I’ve given her a few days but…they need to be aware.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:15 am
Camelot smirked, nodding his head. He did not seem worried about Merlinite, but he knew the Youma would be able to heal now, and was capable of making his own decisions.With his strength returning, he would be able to risk purification, which would erase the trouble of being found by giving him a new life.
At least, that was the hope.
He wondered about this other traitor that Cavansite was reporting, but he doubted she would tell him just to have him go protect her, too. He was good at getting himself involved where he was not exactly wanted, but he felt it necessary.
"Be careful. The bridges you build and the ones you burn can make your path difficult. What you choose to fight for, to believe in, will guide you. Just be careful, I know it's a confusing time. I will be here if you need me, even if you think you don't have any use for the white moon."
He bowed to her, wanting her to be safe, especially around Painite. That was the one really unpredictable thing in all of this, after all. The crazed General could respond in any number of ways if she found out about any of this, and none of them would be particularly good.
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Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2018 10:30 am
Cavansite didn’t say anything for a long moment, but her brows were furrowed as she tried to figure out what he meant. Did he think that she was going to change her colors? Did he really think that she was going to just take the knee and purify? Betray everything as Cinnabar and Merlinite had?
No.
…Not without Painite by her side, at least.
With a sigh she inclined her own head to Camelot. “Thank you. Take care, I suppose.” The General hesitated for a moment, as though she were going to say something more and then teleported away, unwilling to let whatever thoughts she was struggling with come to the surface.
This was a dangerous game and she wasn’t sure if it was worth her life to keep playing it.
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