Welcome to Gaia! ::

Everything was happening just a little too fast. Ever since that horrible night when his entire life changed, Ekanite felt like he had been hurtling through new experiences and strange situations without being able to really process all of it. Maybe that was a good thing. He would probably still be curled up in his room, grieving, alone, if he had been given the chance to stop. Actually, he would have been dead alongside his mother, he supposed, but he really did not like going into that much detail whenever the thoughts came up.

Instead, he tried to shove them all away, and focus on something else. Usually, his cards would suffice, but tonight he was just not feeling like building another deck, or going to the local shops or online to do some hunting. No, he supposed he needed to get out, to do something a little more exciting.

Vaguely, he wondered if ghost hunting would be half as fun now that he knew magical things really existed. He had seen real monsters, faced one, almost lost his life to one. He saw a super hero, who he came to learn was actually a super villain, in action. He heard, through her, the last words of his mother and found out that she had gone to the stars. That was her afterlife. He supposed this was his, in a way.

He looked down at his hands, then his arms, taking in the fabric of his new uniform. Every time he powered up, it looked brand new. Clean, perfect, no matter what he did in it the night before. Fight? No signs of damage. Trip in the mud? Perfectly clean. It was cool, and just one more strange, unexplainable thing that would have blown his mind had he not been the one experiencing it.

So were ghost stories still interesting? Or was he now on a quest to see how many of those were actually just youma or negaverse agents up to something? Maybe that could be fun, too.

Either way, he was at this abandoned build site after reading a few different stories about the area online. Terrible things were known to happen. People losing their lives, or just going missing. Every time the building process picked up again, something happened to shut it down. Sometimes, they did not even report what happened. Or that construction was stopped. It was just sort of stuck in this weird stasis in the middle of the downtown area, though no one seemed to want to come around here now. It was very curious, and a place he had always wanted to check out. Now, he was not exactly helpless, just in case something bad did happen.

He was powered up, after all. And he had a communication device he could use to yell for Painite. She was strong enough to teleport right to him, no problem, as far as he knew. So whatever happened, she would be there in moments. At the very least, that thought kept him feeling secure as he picked his way over a pile of discarded building materials and entered what would have been the main structure, had it even become more than a shell.

Painite warned that there would always be a senshi or a knight around when they did not want one, and they would always be really annoying. She sounded so bitter and jaded when she said it, and yet she had been very sincere about it. She warned him enough times, after all, for him to take the hint and assume she really meant it when she said that the white moon was an inconvenience.

So really, he should not have been surprised when he felt another aura in the area. Would anything spooky be able to sense their auras, he wondered suddenly. Maybe it would hide away, not just from her, but from his own aura, too. If it existed. He frowned, not ready to just assume it was the white moon's fault if he did not find what he wanted.

Still, Painite's words echoed in his head, as if he had tried to ride a bike indoors and was getting reminded it was not the time or place for that.

Taking a breath, he listened as the rather exuberant sound of footsteps got closer to him. Such a strange gait... but he saw the source soon enough and tilted his head to the side in wonder. Definitely not how he would walk around a spooky, half falling down building, but at least she seemed to be having fun. Letting out the breath he had been holding for a little too long, he coughed as he tried his best to sound intimidating, thus failing spectacularly.

"You lost?"

Ekanite felt a surge of adrenaline when the other adventure hunter actually responded. What had he been expecting? To be ignored or to find out he was really alone after all? Somehow her replying was enough to trigger a strong fight or flight reaction in him. Even though he could not quite tell which was it was leaning: it was strong.

He bounced around from side to side as he tried to stand intimidatingly, which ruined any chance he had at achieving the look.

"Uh. Well. I'm...." He debated his response. He could easily pick a fight, but he was not sure he could easily WIN a fight. And his Boss would blow her lid if she found out. He frowned thoughtfully, not sure just chatting was the right choice, either, as he was pretty sure that was frowned upon in the Negaverse. But she was there, looking into the same thing he was, and that piqued his interest.

"I was actually here to see if there was any uhm. Ghosts. Or. You know. Whatever else might be making this place so bad. Or if it's just us. And youma. Stuff like that."

Ekanite jumped a bit at the sudden clap of hands, stepping back on one foot and rocking onto his heel with his hands up. He did not summon his weapon, though. Mostly because his fists were probably a lot more intimidating than a couple of drumsticks, even with his spindly arms. At least he could pretend he was good at fighting, but no amount of bravado could make sticks looking intimidating.

"Well," he said, hands falling and eyes brightening, "ghosts could make sense! Who knows what might be out here, you know? If we exist, then anything could exist, right?!" He grinned despite himself. He knew his General would be furious, but there was no reason she had to know every detail of every encounter he had, right?

So maybe he just took a little break from being a Negaverse soldier and focused on being a paranormal investigator for a minute or two. What was the harm, really, in the scheme of things?

"I know the whole... logical explanation thing. Like it could be any of those things. A gang, or just people like us constantly fighting in here. OR. It could be haunted, and something just doesn't want a building here. What if there's something buried here?! We could be drawn here to fight, and never even know it!"

"It's not stupid, but I can see why people have a harder time thinking about things outside of the normal, or the easy explanations," Ekanite grinned, nodding his head excitedly. He knew Painite generally did not buy into his excitement about the extraterrestrial and unexplained. She did try, to her credit, to appease him sometimes but he doubted she would ever go with him on a hunt for a ghost or anything.

Not if she knew that was why they were going, anyway.

He imagined she also would not be super approving of him teaming up with a stranger, of either side of the war, to go looking for ghosts, either.

"The basement is probably exactly as spooky as any good ghost would need! That's a good idea. Alright! Let's go see if we can find a ghost! Are at least help some workers out!" He laughed loudly, then covered his mouth. He should not make too much noise, in case there was a youma or some other sort of angry animal in this place that would definitely ruin their night.

Ekanite was not exactly a deep thinker about most things. He did what his instincts told him, and went by what felt right. Usually, that also involved a strong influence of what felt fun. That, in turn, often led him in to trouble. But he was fine with that, as it was a good way to have an interesting time and at least he was never bored. Though he was sure his general was already quickly coming to disagree with him, and would likely get very tired of his antics.

He followed the other without really caring what side she was on. There was no reason for the two of them to be fighting in this old place anyway. It wasn't like he was strong enough to pull any starseeds, and really he was not sure he was ready. With that off the table the only thing he could feasibly win from a fight was a bit of energy. And he could get that without having to hurt anyone through much easier means.

Plus, he had back up should things get TOO spooky.

Grinning ear to ear without really realizing it, he followed after her quickly. He was actually so close that once they reached the bottom of the steps and something moved he did not see it and managed to run right into her.

"What? Why'd you stop? What is it?" He whispered urgently, nerves lighting up and muscles coiling in anticipation.

Ekanite tried not to let out an eep at the idea that their search was coming to fruition, and something truly strange could be waiting for them. he was hoping against hope that it was not something boring and normal, like a youma, though he did not dwell on how odd a thought that really was. Who in their right mind though monsters made of dust were normal? Seeing all he had seen, he should have given up these silly ghost and legend chases the moment he powered up.

But that hadn't happened. Somehow, his imagination and eagerness thrived.

Nodding his head, clamping his hands over his mouth, he did his very best to be quiet. His excitement made it so difficult, tiny squeaks escaping his throat as he bounced up and down on his heels.

"Ekanite," he said into his palms, most of the word getting lost to the muffles such action created. He was not sure if she had asked him before or not, but he was happy to reply again, pulling his hands down and trying to take a look around her to see if there was anything ahead of them yet. He was the exact opposite of scared.

"Well, that's fitting! You're pretty Adorea-able to me!" Ekanite laughed, though it tapered off and he found himself coughing anxiously after a moment, clearing his throat. "Sorry, I'm nervous... makes me chatty and dumb... well I'm dumb all the time. But it does make me talk a lot."

He paused for a long moment, then whispered.

"Sorry."

He watched as she took out a phone, a rather cool looking one, to shine some light on the mystery creature below. Holding his breath, he shut his eyes tightly for a moment before peeking out to see what was down there. He was not scared, he reminded himself, but excited to see the potential mystery affirming creature waiting for them in the darkness.

Her scream nearly sent him sprinting out of there like the hero he was not, though.

"Oh, whoa, it's okay! It's just mice!" He said, generously, though they were definitely not cute little mice, "the light scared them off. Hey, go on, get out of here!" He moved down to stomp around a bit and make sure all the rats skittered away, taking a deep breath in an effort to calm his thundering heart.