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Cybele wasn't quite hunting. Not yet. With her Eternal speed, she could cover a decent amount of the city in a night's work, and she could usually find at least one skulking youma somewhere. She'd get there tonight. The city still needed protection. She was deeply aware of that, but right now, she wasn't desperately racing to find something to sink her fists into.

Work had gone okay. The memories of the past were staying in the past. Her mind was clear enough that she could actually enjoy a walk in the park, at least for a few minutes before she had to move on.

It was warm enough that her outfit was getting more comfortable, and the trees were turning back to green as well. She could even catch a glimpse or two of stars flickering through the tree branches.

It was nice.

Cybele heard her name, and a nickname, at that. She stopped in her tracks. It was only when she got a good, long look at the senshi approaching, with shorter hair but the same orange outfit and bright blue eyes, that she grinned, too.

"Megrez!" She laughed then, just once or twice, as relief and happiness mixed in her chest. Things were a little better, recently, but there was still always that twinge of anxiety when she hadn't seen someone for awhile, but her old friend was here, and smiling, and literally glowing.

"It's good to see you, too. It feels strange to say with how things still are, but I've been doing well." She turned to show off her wings, her grin turning into something a little more smug. "It looks like I finally caught up to you." She'd never ended up transcending, which was sort of surprising with how many people had started sporting markings in recent years, but she was finally an Eternal.

She closed the remaining distance between them. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

Shake the tailfeathers? Cybele raised an eyebrow, then danced a few bars from Cell Block Tango, since that one had stuck with her. It sent her skirts swishing, although the wings themselves turned out to be stiffer than they looked and only wiggled slightly.

She giggled before she caught herself, then settled for a contented smile. They'd both come a long way from the angry, scared girls they'd been when they'd first met.

"There's more to life than the war," she said with a bit of a shrug. Looking back, that was probably why it had taken her so long to earn the wings. She treated being a senshi with all the intensity she could muster when she had the time for it, but other times that focus had gone towards school or work instead, often for months on end. "Congratulations on graduating! That's an accomplishment in itself." She gave a nod.

"I'll always be glad to see you on this side of things, though." She smiled a bit wider, then tilted her head. "Do you need an update or anything?"

Cybele was nodding as Megrez spoke, head tilted slightly in genuine interest. It was good to hear about her new degree and her cute job. Deep down, it was just nice to see her friend happy.

Then she was invited out for drinks and she froze. Even her smile faltered. She'd been so good about her identity, so careful. It was eight years now and only one cat knew who she truly was. It was clear that she could trust Megrez but the thought of someone seeing her outside of the gorgeous costume and presence that could be felt for blocks and blocks was strangely offputting.

She pushed through it, though. The less she tried to cling to her old philosophy of being a lone wolf huntress, the happier she'd become. "I'm twenty four, Megrez," she said, smiling again. "I'm not afraid of alcohol. That sounds nice."

The request for an update was simpler, but would probably have a longer answer. "All right. When is the last time you were really around?" she asked.

Cybele laughed, just for a moment. She didn't know what exactly had hit her as so funny, but it had something to do with the way she'd always seen Megrez as younger, as someone to mentor, since the first time they'd met when Cybele had briefly outranked her. And here Megrez was thinking that she was the young one!

"I know I'm not the oldest senshi around, but I think I'm one of them." That was doubly true if it was narrowed down to just the senshi who were still around. There had technically been years of war before she had even awakened, but she rarely found people who had been around for that these days.

"All right. It sounds like you haven't missed too much. Let's see." Her gaze went a bit unfocused as she thought back. "I heard they tried the circus trap again. They seem to have illusion magic fairly mastered at this point." That was disturbing enough in and of itself. "Then the Negaverse attacked a theater. Oh, I ran a training event that ended up getting strangely giant." That had been really nice.

"It's been mainly things like that, though. There's been nothing completely groundbreaking." Recently, things had been even quieter.

Cybele blinked. "Maybe?" Would Megrez count as older? "Probably." That thought just made her feel even older, and she shook her head, eager to move onto something else.

"He wasn't a clown. He was a ringmaster, although I believe the second time around he might have been an illusion, too." It was either that or the Negaverse had figured out how to raise the dead, which given their track record with soul thievery had some disturbing implications. The illusions weren't much better, though, not if they were as strong as they'd been. At least even that seemed to have calmed down after the second time around.

"That was the third circus gone wrong for me," she said. "I don't think I'll ever look at juggling the same way again." It was unfortunate, as that kind of thing came up in musicals more often that it would seem.

She smiled thinking about the training even, though. "Yeah, of course I'll let you know. It's been over a year. I think it might be about time for another one." She'd had the idea floating around for some time now. "Or maybe more of a networking event where you can show off your magic. I've been getting more interested in strategy recently, and especially the ways that senshi magic can combine."

And knight magic, too, she supposed, although she didn't know as many knights.

"I was training a chibi for a while," said Cybele. "Her magic could also make people faster. Combined with mine, the effect were unbelievable." She sucked in air just thinking of the rush it had been, zipping through courtyards and after youma.

"And yes, it got me thinking. There's so much magic out there. There have to be some other interesting combinations. After all, I don't think we're meant to do this alone." That was a conclusion that had taken Cybele a long time to come to, but now there was a certain spark of excitement in her eyes that hadn't been there for years.

Her smile edged towards being playful again. "In other words, yes. Bring all your friends. I'd appreciate that."

Cybele nodded with a smile that was surprisingly soft. "I did. I've been trying to train people when I get a chance, and she stuck around long enough that I think I could call her my friend."

Up until a situation in a certain battle had stuck a bit of a wedge between them. It wasn't Anser's fault. Cybele just felt too guilty to reach out, most days.

Still, this wasn't really about that. "I think you'd be a good mentor, Megrez," she said, tilting her head a little. She'd certainly given Cybele plenty of advice over the years, even though she was apparently both younger and newer than she was.

There was a bit of a drawn out silence after Megrez mentioned caution and murder, though. Cybele had learned a little about purification and she was getting better at giving people second chances, but the more she saw the more she became convinced that most of the Negaverse was too far gone. Many of them would have to die.

Still, coming to that conclusion right off the bat was a bit extreme, and Cybele shook her head. "Your mentors told you to kill? You're right, that's no good." She glanced down at her hands, still as aware as ever of the blood on them. "I just got angry after I kept watching people die."