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There had been a lot of noise on Zachariah's floor.

He figured it was probably just some of the freshmen getting themselves drunk again -- or high, he supposed, but it sounded far too noisy for that -- but either way, Zachariah wanted to get away from it. Sometimes, one of the disadvantages of living in the dorms was the fact that he was living in dorms, with other people. Living by himself entirely would have been preferable.

As is, though, he had to live with other people in his building, and he had to figure out how to remove himself from them before their irritating behaviors managed to filter themselves through his door way. Initially, he had considered going down to the video game club's room, and playing some video games, but then he considered the time. There were likely to be more than usual people in there, and the concept of dealing with a significant amount of people made Zachariah instinctively shrivel.

He eyed his pen.

It was not long before Zachariah was Hydor, and he lept out of his building via a window and headed towards the perimeter of campus. He had discovered a fortune of his highly formal outfit had been than most people did not question him as Hydor, and steered clear, figuring he was about to give an important presentation. It allowed him to slip through unnoticed, and once he had reached the perimeter, he let out a sigh.

Quiet.

Hydor took a look around. In case one of those guardian cats showed up, he should probably at least look like he was doing something. Therefore, he started to walk, looking around, trying to find anything that seemed truly amiss.

Hydor had been looking to the side, peering through some bushes, just in case there happened to be some shrub monsters hiding in the grasses, or something. He honestly was not entirely sure how the youma worked, other than he was fairly convinced they were mostly former agents.

That seemed to be what the information hinted at.

The sound of another voice surprised him, and Hydor jumped, before cursing quietly to himself. Yes, jumping was a great idea. Dumbass. It made him an easy target. This person was not a senshi like he was, so it seemed likely that he was one of those agents. His outfit was not particularly bright, which definitely hinted at the idea of him being an agent.

He did not give off the same sensation as Sylvite had, though. It did not feel like an annoying pulsing headache, at the very least.

Perhaps this had been one of the "knights" that Bernard had mentioned? It was worth inspection.

"Good evening," replied Hydor. He did not bother to raise his hand as a response in greeting, but he did nod his head in acknowledgment of the other man's presence. Hydor took a quick look over the other, from head to toe, back to head, and then simply asked, "Are you a knight?"

A page? Interesting. The knights must have had levels too, but they came with different titles. He was curious as to what the progression was, then. He would ask, but he would answer the question about who he was, first.

"Hydor," he paused, before deciding he was indeed going to be a smartass, "of Hydor." He was not entirely sure why the of Mercury part was necessary, but he presumed it had something to do with the fact Baikal was a knight. It seemed that knights had a different power structure than senshi, and perhaps a different source as well. Hydor's source of power seemed to be a star somewhere in Aquarius that was named Hydor. Baikal's power, though, did not seem to originate from an entire planet like his did.

At being asked how long he was a senshi, Hydor could not help his frown. He knew that the fact that he was asking questions likely pinpointed him as a relative newbie, but he did not enjoy having it rubbed in. Nevertheless, there was no point in lying. Perhaps he would have sympathy for Hydor's plight and give him more information.

Bernard had provided plenty, but it seemed that guardian cats did not interface much with knights.

"I have been a senshi for approximately a month and a week or so." He knit his brows. His tone seemed a bit terse, though Hydor had managed to hold back from getting agitated for the moment. "I assume the page title implies you are a lower level. What are the other levels for knights, then?"

His method was to not let the other ask too many questions.

Page, Squire, Knight. Fascinating. That sounded similar to titles he might have heard during the age of feudalism. It may have been related, especially since he was fairly sure that feudalism had started quite a long time ago. Ninth century, was it not? Had it been long enough of a period, though, to influence space? Perhaps space had influenced Earth?

It was something he would need to research later.

Baikal seemed surprised by how new he was, and he noted that with something of a lop-sided grim line of a smile. "Yeah, so ******** beautiful, isn't it?" Hydor clearly did not believe his newness or anything about this magic was so ******** beautiful, as he chose to describe it. "Yeah, I have gotten a bit of guidance. Asked the cat that awoke me a bunch of questions. Also had another cat act all bitchy for no reason. I do not think there is enough information to explain why everything I have ever known is wrong, though."

It would never be enough.

Hydor had to find out more, and it seemed that this man had at least a bit more information. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched him, pondering how to word his next question, "Is it the same way with senshi? The randomness that you refer to? Or is the process different for knights?"

What did he mean by that? Hydor almost laughed.

... Almost.

"Imagine believing that everything in the universe is driven by scientific theories and information we are still uncovering in the sciences. Then imagine being pulled into a mirror. Then imagine that a few months later, a cat tells you that magic is real, you are also magical, and by the way there is some far-reaching space war that apparently, you are also a part of."

He tilted his head, brow quirked.

"Does that answer your question?"

His tone of voice was snide at best, perhaps partially because Hydor was not particularly good at projecting anything other than anger and frustration. In an attempt not to snap, because it did not seem like that would be worthwhile, Hydor tilted his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a deep breath.

So he was stuck with the cats. Noted. (Might-as-well get used to them, some grim part of his brain echoed.)

"How long have you been part of this magic war, then?"

Hydor grunted at being told that things were so strange they were bordering on science fiction.

Perhaps, but it still felt like those were grounded in facts. He could trace the advancements to their roots, find the theories that explained them, read the research that led up to it. There was no research on mysterious space magic that also involved legitimate souls powered by these things called "starseeds" that could be withdrawn and eaten.

It was clear by Hydor's expression that he did not exactly agree with the 'you know.' His eyebrow quirked just slightly when he finished his statement, before he replied with a, "Scientific advancements may feel like science fiction, but magical knowledge feels like fantasy."

There was no equivalence in his opinion.

He had been a knight for a considerably longer time than he had been a senshi, so perhaps Baikal had just become used to the concept of magic. Or, perhaps, jaded by it. Or, perhaps, just treated it as background noise. If he had been or currently was a student, he more than likely had other concerns. Hydor did, as well, as life went on, even if a certain guardian cat did not think it did.

"Ah, a DCU student or alum?" asked Hydor, legitimately curious for the sake of figuring out what fellow people tended to awaken to this mess. "I am a student."

The phones and the signet rings seemed to be a curious piece of technology incorporated into this magical mess. It did point to magic possibly having at least a scientific basis, or at the very least, a scientific component to it.

Hydor still thought it was all nonsense, but it was at least a new angle to consider his new reality from. Still, he huffed, turning his attention to something to the side of him. It was mostly to stop looking at the knight for a few seconds. "Looking to make sense of this is my primary objective at the moment, as it were." 'Primary objective' sounded like it might have been said that way for the sake of humour. It was hard to tell, though, seeing as his expression and tone did not seem to change.

At all.

Alumni, hm? He must have been part of the graduation ceremonies that had recently taken place. (Or perhaps he had graduated in the fall; Hydor supposed that was a possibility as well.) "Senior," replied Hydor, with a shrug. He was honestly about ready to be done with his undergraduate studies and move on to the field, though there was another part of him that was debating the merits of continuing on after his last semester.

He could go to graduate school. He could remain in his dorm room on campus. He could keep learning, and not have to work on dealing with people. Perhaps he could even progress to a doctorate, so he could spend every moment beyond his dissertation defense researching new things in technology and ignoring everything that was not sent to him via text.

Sounded nice.

"I will be an alumni like you, soon enough."

His eyes shifted back to Baikal when he mentioned the possibility of visiting his planet. It was not the first he had heard mention of the concept, and the idea of it certainly made him curious, but the other part of him had dismissed it as more magical nonsense.

Especially since, if he had been reborn here, then it was unlikely he could possibly be reborn on his prior home planet. Ergo, his home planet was dead. It sounded unlikely he would find much in the way of answers to his current questions there. Still, perhaps he could find some texts in a foreign language he could stare at until something started to make sense. (This sounded unlikely, or impossible.)

An eyebrow quirked just slightly when Baikal commented he would need to face the real world soon. "If I could theoretically just run off to another planet, perhaps I never need to face the real world."

That was a joke. Probably.

His eyes rolled off to the side again. He seemed uncomfortable with extended eye contact. "I suppose you are correct in that, though arguably I am seeing more of the real world than ever before already." What with this underground magical war going on... "Still, it seems that every life stage comes with its own issues. I think we are just lucky to be done with the teenager stage."

That was a stage of his life that made his hand shake at his side just a bit, but he controlled it quickly by placing his hand behind his back.

Time to change subject.

"Have you visited your home planet?"