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Some nights were quieter than others. At times, Cybele enjoyed the lack of prowling monsters and enjoyed the nice strolls through empty parks as a time to reflect an center herself. Other times she just went home, vaguely satisfied that all her work dusting youma had at least provided safety for an evening. It had taken a long time for her to realize that there was, perhaps, more she could do as a senshi than strictly hunting.

With her new wings, the success of her training meetup, and a smaller group of people who seemed to actively see her as a mentor, Cybele was realizing the importance of connections. That was why after a quick walk showed that there were no immediate threat, she pretty quickly found her way to a familiar seating area in the theater district, where she sat down at a picnic table like it was a desk, pulled up her phone and started thumbing through her contacts. Her first thought was Anser, but her eyes focused on the name above hers in the list: Alya.

He had been interesting, too, kind if a bit lost in a way that she saw a little of herself in. She knew that she would have appreciated someone following up in that situation. She texted him, with her current location as well as the offer to meet up later, should that be more convenient.

Only then did she fold her hands and let herself enjoy that moment of quiet.

Cybele felt the aura within a few minutes, and then to confirm that it wasn't just some passerby, a bit of red showed up in the distance that looked more and more like a human being as it got closer.

Yes, it was him, and Cybele smiled. It was a true smile, even. She really was glad that he was able to come.

She stood up as he approached, and she waved brightly. "Alya! Hello," she said. "It's good too see you!" She was used enough to being an Eternal Senshi at this point that it took a few moments for the compliment to really hit, but when it did her smile widened until it was almost but not quite a grin. She glanced down towards the wings on her lower back. "Thank you!"

Then she turned to the side so that they were more visible. She was not above showing off.

"I upgraded back over the holidays," she said. "It wasn't anything too extreme, at least nothing large scale. I just found a cat in a very unsettling forest by the carnival that was in town." Her smile went closer to a grimace for a moment. She'd been unnerved around carnivals for a long time now. "But there didn't end up being anything to fight there." She was happy with the quiet upgrade, honestly. She liked being stronger, and it was nice to have some time to adjust to her power.

Cybele beamed under the compliments, and at that moment there was nothing fake about her smile.

It faltered slightly when he mentioned cats running into battle, cats being brave. All that made her think of was her first upgrade, and of what had happened afterwards, or Cora's starseed skittering across the floor of a burning warehouse. Yes, she much preferred the way that her second upgrade had gone. "Yes," she said, her voice steady, if a little quieter. "They've very brave."

As he asked about what she'd been doing, Cybele stopped her modeling and shifted back into a more conversational stance. "It's been all right," she said. "There were a few rough battles, but that's what happens in a war." Her voice brightened right back up. These days, she took her anger out on youma, mostly. That way she could stay cheerful for her allies.

"I've been trying to focus a bit more on my own court, lately. People keep talking about how scattered Order is, so I thought I could do my part trying to bring us together. I sent out a text for group training and almost fifty people showed up. There's a newer senshi I've been working with, and," she nodded to him, "I'm trying to see how people are, sometimes, on the quiet nights."

She tilted her head almost playfully. "Which brings us to you. How have you been?"

Even if her training event had gone perfectly, Cybele would have had a hard time accepting praise for it. As it was, she looked to the ground, remembering how she'd been woefully under prepared and she'd used the wrong metaphors and how at least one real fight had broken out. She did nod, though. It had been a start. Next time, she'd do better.

"That part wasn't really me," she said. "I think people really want to work together, to make alliances, to be a united front, that sort of thing. I wasn't expecting that kind of response, really, but I'm glad to do my part."

She looked back up as he started talking about what he'd been doing, careful to keep eye contact and to tilt her head just a little, smiling as he said he'd found someone, even if he still seemed oddly worried, talking about it. "I understand," she said, giving a small nod. "Really, that's brave. I don't think I could date someone I didn't meet on this side of things." Although that didn't necessarily make things easier. She paused for a moment, wondering what had happened to a certain Uranus knight. Then, she turned her attention back to Alya, letting her smile get a bit bigger. "But if they make you happy, that's what matters, and there's always purification, if it comes to that."

And if it was beyond that, she could always hunt someone down to spare him the task of it.

"I understand not feeling like you're doing enough, though. It can be a lot." Her brows knit a bit, but she was careful to keep the focus on him, to not delve too deeply into her own feelings. "Just know that it doesn't always take a lot to make a difference. Dusting one youma can be enough to save someone's life." That was something she told herself on the hard days.

The last compliment she did accept, with a deeper nod. "I try." She was the huntress, after all, and she was finally feeling strong enough to make a little bit of a difference.

Cybele pursed her lips ever so slightly when she saw the way that Alya hesitated. It wasn't that simple. She knew that. She'd seen what the Negaverse did to people who tried to leave. She'd seen their twisted half-monster forms with nothing left inside to be purified. Internally, she kicked herself. The fact that she was trying to be less depressing did not give her permission to be unrealistically optimistic.

It was a similar situation with all the youma and agents swarming the city, although in that case she felt her optimism was a little more justified. The reminders were the same ones she repeated to herself after a rough fight, or even when she hunted youma after youma only to have another batch show up the next night.

She nodded when he said it didn't feel like enough. She understood that, truly. After that, she was quiet for a few moments, nodding slowly and trying to be a supportive listener.

The silence didn't last forever, as she did have a few ideas.

"All right," she said, lacing her fingers together in front of her. "If this is something that you've almost figured out yourself and just need a bit of soul searching for, I can give you about thirty seconds to really think about it."

Her smile went ever so slightly mischievous.

"Or, something I've been thinking about that's longer term is a bit like," she paused for a moment and squinted, "Accountability buddies?" It sounded a little informal and a lot like something from a drug rehab, but it would do for now. "We could keep having check-ins like this to see how things are going and to encourage each other, or to arrange tasks so that things aren't quite so monotonous."

She tilted her head. "I have something a bit more physical you could look for, if you're interested."

Cybele smiled softly at the nod. A bit of tension that she didn't know she'd been carrying left her shoulders. She'd been doing better about keeping allies, recently, but she seemed to attract people who were as reckless as she was. It would be nice having someone a little more level headed.

She kept up the playful head-tilt for just one more second before giving him the answer.

"Starseeds, actually," she said. "The ones the Negaversers have already stolen, of course. Even the lieutenants tend to keep at least one on them, from what I've seen." She pursed her lips again, but it was more serious this time as she thought about the practical details. "I was thinking if you don't want to fight-" Kill, or seriously injure, went unspoken, although that was what had taken in Cybele's experience. "You might be able to use your magic to help, somehow? They'll trade for them, sometimes."

She broke eye contact to look up at the sky. "I don't know very much about the big magic. I don't even feel comfortable with space, let alone souls, but from what I can tell, if starseeds don't get eaten, they go somewhere."

She let that sink in for a moment, for herself as much as Alya. Every one of those little gems was part of someone that could be saved.

It often seemed that no matter how many times Cybele looked up at the sky, the stars never held the answers that it seemed like they should. As usual, they just twinkled silently, but today, when she caught a glimpse of the moon, it did spark a memory for her.

"I met a woman, once," she said, and then paused, and then nodded. "It was after we raided the Negaverse castle. She was very powerful. She managed to teleport us all out of there, and she looked like something in between an angel and a senshi Princess." Cybele squinted, trying to remember details, like a name or what she'd ended up talking about, exactly, but Cybele had had more pressing things to focus on at the time. "Some people found some starseeds, and she took them and said she'd care for them, but I don't remember how, exactly."

She turned back to focus on Alya, her usual smile taking on a bit of an apologetic twinge. "The ones I find on my own just disappear after some time. It seems like they might go to her, but at the very least they can't be used by the Negaverse anymore."

Tonight, the thought of getting back starseeds had sort of popped into her mind as something worth hunting, but she was still feeling painfully aware of her lack of knowledge on the subject. It was knowledge that hadn't seemed so important before, when she'd only cared about punching people, but now it seemed she'd have to try to find someone who wouldn't mind answering an Eternal's questions.

Cybele pursed her lips. "That was an interesting one," she said. "A bitter victory, and far to close for comfort, even by the standards of this war, but we did win. The Negaverse was off the streets for months."

How long ago had it even been? Years, if Alya hadn't been around for it. It didn't feel like it had been recent, exactly, but she knew she'd been a senshi for a long time even then.

"I suppose I have seen a lot," she said. "It's not always great for getting to sleep at night, but it's good for telling stories." She gave a lopsided smile. "Let me know if you ever want to hear any."

The way he latched onto her starseed hunting idea got her smiling properly, though. "I'll ask around, too," she said. "I'm sure there are people out there who know about starseeds, or their protector. I want to know what you find, too, all right? Two of us working on this will be better than one."

It would be nice to have something important to connect over.