Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a long day wandering around the festival with her sister, Brianna, and their mauvian friend Liryn and while it started out on a more somber note, being around the two of them did wonders to lift her spirits quite a bit.

Weather reports indicated that there was supposed to be a meteor shower and while the two of them would normally go watch something like that today. But at the end of the day, rather than accompanying Bri on a few errands before going home, Fiona requested a little bit of alone time to just wind down from the long week. Her twin agreed, albeit reluctantly at first.

She really didn’t know what prompted her to power up, or to scout around the festival before finding a secluded place near the water to sit and just simply be. It had been months since the last time Alcor had powered up, yet for some reason the one part about her that scared her the most was, in this moment, the one thing that made her feel safe. Too many creatures lurked around in the night and this was the only way she was certain whether or not she was actually alone to her own thoughts or if some monster was about to attack her from behind.

Alcor could feel it. An order aura feathering the edge of her senses just barely out of range but definitely there. It made the hairs on the back of her neck rise in anxious anticipation of feeling a chaos aura.

But as seconds bled into minutes, she soon realized that the only signature she felt was moving slowly, at a walk perhaps rather than with haste to get away from someone or something that might be chasing it. Alcor stood and brushed the dirt off the back of her skirt then picked up her white winter fur-trimmed jacket and did the same. Her uniform, thankfully, seemed suited for all seasons, a leotard with a mini skirt like what most ice skaters typically wore but also a soft dense fabric coat to keep her warm when the temperatures dropped. It was more convenient then her sister’s at least.

“Ele?” Alcor called out, assuming that her twin had somehow tracked her down. The senshi of heat would be furious, feeling like she was being left behind or that she was somehow a hypocrite, which wouldn’t be wrong considering the number of times she told her sister not to power up or patrol on her own. But Eleonora was too kind and foolish which terrified Alcor to the bones.

“I’m sorry I came out here alone I-” She began. However, when the Senshi of Cold raised a hand to brush the blue strands of hair from her face she noticed something strange hanging from her pinky.

A thin red string that drew a line from her through the trees and shrubs at her back towards the approaching aura. “... what is this?” She wondered to herself.

Alcor seemed genuinely surprised when the sound of the voice that met her ears belonged to a man rather than her pale-haired twin. Her brows were knitted in confusion as he approached yet she didn’t back away.

His aura was like her own which meant that they were on the same side of this war, or at least she hoped that was the case. Nonetheless, the Senshi of Cold approached the conversation with a fair amount of caution.

“Is this…” there was a moment of hesitation as she held her coat close. “Is this your doing? The string… is it your magic?” His uniform didn’t really give much in the way of hints as to what his sphere might be whereas her tiara was made out of what looked like snowflakes and her skirt looked like frozen water.

Alcor blinked back in surprise. But then relaxed a bit when she realized his alarmed response was genuine. “Relax, I believe you.” She took a step towards him and noticed that the string that tethered them together shortened as well. “It doesn’t seem to be hurting either of us so I’m assuming we’re fine.”

With the rumor of the fae in the garden she assumed that there was someone behind all the shenanigans pulling the strings, pun intended of course. “Since you haven’t used your magic yet then I take it you’re newly awakened” Must have been a better experience than her own since the moment she powered up, and her sister for that matter a few years later, there was a youma that needed to be dusted.

“My name is Alcor, I’m the Senshi of Cold. What’s your name?” She asked, reaching a hand out towards him in a friendly greeting.

“Whatever the cause may be, I don’t sense any chaotic aura or youma nearby so I don’t think it’s meant to do either of us harm. So I think we’re safe for now.” However, if they remained powered up together like this it might attract some unwanted attention.

“It might be a good idea to power down just in case there is a Negaverse Officer patrolling this area. I’ve found that while there is safety in numbers it also tends to attract stronger agents who are looking for a challenge I’m not equipped to give them.” When natural instincts kicked in, Alcor leaned more towards flight over fight especially since her magic required physical contact with the other individual and that proximity was simply too close for comfort. Even though her magic was more offensive rather than defensive, she would have preferred an ability that allowed for some distance.

Considering the suggestion was hers, Alcor drew in a steady breath and willed herself to power down. There was a light glow around her and in the next moment, the uniform was gone, replaced by a pair of jeans, black boots, a camisole and a forest green cardigan.

As she watched him power down, Fiona could feel her heart begin to freeze. Despite the warm air lingering around them, she felt the cold fingers of dread wrap around her throat making it difficult to not only breath but to speak as well.

Of all the people in Destiny City, Fionan was the last person she would have expected to see standing in front of her. The once friendly smile slipped into an uneasy expression.

Just earlier that day she had wished for a second chance, and now that God, or whatever entity was preceding over that tree, had seemed fit to grant her that one desire, Fiona wanted nothing more than to flee. She pressed a palm against her painfully beating heart and worried her lower lip.

“Fionan…” She spoke softly, her voice sounding almost said by the realization.

Fiona’s eyes trailed down to the red string again and for several moments she remained silent either because she was trying to pick her words carefully or because she wasn’t sure how to respond, it was hard to tell.

It would probably be a good idea to go get coffee, give her something to hold on to rather than toying with the ends of her green cardigan. But the awkward silence getting there would be excruciatingly painful. “I awoke six, almost seven years ago. A few months before the masquerade where monsters started showing up and people were kidnapped.” It was a blessing in disguise that neither of them had been taken but the Negaverse did succeed in stealing energy from both of them through the masks that had been handed out.

“I wanted to tell you,” she admitted, then finally looked up albeit hesitantly, to see his reaction. “But I was scared. I wasn’t strong enough to protect anyone let alone myself and with everything that had happened up until that point I didn’t want to bring you into this mess.” But it looked like someone already had. In her absence, someone else managed to get him tangled in this stupid war.