The Reservoir
The Destiny City Reservoir opened about a year ago and is an easy escape from the big city. It’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but it’s been back in the news recently for mysterious reports of some strange, aquatic monster. Some accounts say they’ve spotted a twenty foot long, snake like creature capable of rearing a long neck high above the water. It’s hard to tell if the videos are doctored, but there are too many rumors to dismiss easily. Something strange might be lurking deep in the water. Are you the type to investigate this or is it enough to dampen your waterfront plans? While you may not ever actually interact with the supposed cryptid, you can spot a strange creature in the distance. And, who knows what youma are crawling in the area, anyway?
"I would strongle advise that you don't do that..." Athalia's voice called out towards the senshi as she bounded merrily towards the water. As usual her lack of self preservation left much to be desired and when it came down to it, she was probably going to end up missing a limb if somerhing did leap out of the water towards her. Sure, she wouldn't end up dead in this particular instance, now that she was in the company of someone with a little more strength than a feather she'd probably come out of it alive but that still didn't make her behaviour anymore acceptable.
Unsurprisingly, the older senshi's exasperated sigh could be heard even from here.
Footsteps in the sand could soon be heard coming after her, they weren't moving particularly quickly though. Athalia's steps were much more measured, his stride longer, and as such he didn't have much of an issue keeping up with her. For now though she remained comfortably ahead and therefore, still had the potential to get herself in to trouble. Unfortunately when it came to Adorea things normally did go south and as if on cue, she felt the faint pulse of a foreign entity nearby.
...Was that the water monster?
Her eyes flicked towards the surface and she lifted her hands to adjust her visor. She needed a clearer view but in the dull light she couldn't quite make out anything on or just beneath the surface. Sure the moonlight provided some opportunity to 'see', but it really wasn't enough to give her absolute clarity as to whether or not -
A fist shot passed her own ear, unceremoniously clipping the tip of it in the process. It hurt actually, quite a bit. She would have described it as similar to rope burn, whatever way his bracers had clipped her had caused her ear to sting from the heat. She'd have said she didn't aprpeciate it, but the moment she did flick her gaze towards where her companion's fist had gone, she was greeted by dust as it descended towards the sand at her feet.
"Seriously?" He didn't sound impressed as he stepped round her, sliding a finger into his cloth bracers to readjust them into a more comfortable position. Adorea didn't think she'd ever seen that senshi with a smile on his lips, he always seemed to be particular grave or cynical, but she could appreciate that on this occasion she might have deserved it. Granted it had all turned out okay, their little visitor was now 'dead' but she should have been more aware. It had been right beside her and she'd missed it.
Before she could apologise he was already ahead of her - at the very least she was grateful that he had taken her request seriously. She didn't know what had inspired him to come with her, but she hadn't needed to work very hard to convince him that she thought something was in the water. Maybe he'd seen it himself? She hadn't pressed too hard on this one, it was easier to simply bring the muscle along (per Fettelite's advice) and ensure that she had ample back up just in case things did go poorly.
Alas, it didn't seem that on this occasion her companion seemed inclined to go in to the water. Instead he came to a halt by the shoreline, lowered himself to a crouch, and allowed the water to lick against the tips of his toes. With his eyes closed it seemed like he was trying to sense them, another thing she had never quite managed to master. As per their encounter no more than thirty seconds ago, she still hadn't mastered the art of paying attention to her surroundings. She even failed more often than she cared to admit when it came to Nega agents who gave off a much stronger pulse!
"Anything...?" she asked curiously, to which she received a shake of a head.
Her gaze returned to the shoreline and then she felt another odd little spike. Mindful of it, she turned to look to where it might have been coming from and reached out to tap Athalia on the shoulder. She really shouldn't have been surprised that he was already rising to his feet, but he did turn to look at her and gave a nod of confirmation. It wasn't in the water, it was in the lifeguard house, and that did give both of them cause to lift an eyebrow.
Why was it always the safe ones that were the most dangerous?
No sooner had they started to pay attention to the ping, than they felt another, and another... all from the same location. It wasn't quite a nest but it was certainly worthy of concern and attention. If these visitors had been in the water during the day then that would explain quite a lot, if anything, if there were more than one of them then the 'giant' beast might very well be several smaller ones.
"All right," she pressed her fist to her palm and gave a determined nod. "Let's get this cleaned up," she announced and bounded forward, confident that her companion would follow behind her. Granted there were no guarantees that this would stop the sightings in the depths of the water but it would at least clean up the beach for a short while anyway, right.
Their scrap would turn out to last for a while, after all, when chaos sensed order it tended to swarm and that was exactly what it ended up doing. Youma after youma would be dusted and she made a point to make sure that a fair share of those were hers, and in the end they would both come out triumphant and satisfied by the fact they'd managed to best their visitors.
More interestingly (to her at least), she'd end up discovering one of the Crimson Star Charms in one of the piles of dust left behind. Granted, Athalia would remark on her morbid decision to keep it, but neither of them chose to dwell long on how it might have gotten in there. Sometimes it was just better to accept a more naive and innocent take on those kinds of things rather than what the potential reality might be.
Only when the beach was clear would the pair leave.
Alas, they were probably going to be there for the better part of the night...
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