The Mysterious Star Gem
Strange things appear in Destiny City all the time, so nothing seems out of the ordinary about what might look like discarded trash, broken glass, or pieces of broken jewelry. If anyone were to lean in for a closer inspection, they might find a beautiful, gemstone like object that is shaped a bit like a star. They come in an array of colors and almost seem to have some sort of light sparkling in them.
"You know I'm all for cleaning up litter, that is a public service, but you're not typically supposed to keep everything you find," Athalia had taken a seat on the bench as he watched Adorea wander back and forth through the bushes. Rumour had it that she'd seen something, she didn't know what it was, but given they were now in the park where fairies had been sighted (and to be fair he'd witnessed one himself), she was now determined to get to the bottom of it.
With his chin cupped in his palm though it would have been obvious to any passerby that the costumed 'hero' had been here for a while. Whatever she was looking for, she still hadn't found it.
"Yes but at this time of year it could be something important," Adorea's voice was muffled underneath the bushes. She continued to struggle, it wasn't as though humans were necessarily built to crawl about in hedges, but she was rather determined to find that sparkle she'd seen as they walked down the path. She'd fished out several things that most certainly weren't treasure, in fact she had a pile of trash that did need to be discarded safely. Some of it had even caused her to squeak slightly and she had been hesitant to touch it, but given she did have rather strong gloves on that did self clean... She seemed like the most appropriate person to do it.
She was used to dealing with Youma, used to protecting people from monsters by now, but she hadn't ever really considered that she might need to protect people from themselves. Athalia hadn't been kidding when he warned her that things lurked under bushes that shouldn't really be touched. Her pile now had needles among other things in it and it had been more sobering than she'd cared to admit. Nevertheless she wasn't about to be determined from her search and she continued to wiggle her way through until finally her hands grasped something.
...But was it what she'd been looking for?
Not quite.
She threw this one a little further, ensuring that it bumped against Athalia's foot for safe keeping. Further inspection would reveal it was a discarded Star Charm, a fuschia coloured one at that. Evidently someone else hadn't wanted their's and rather than politely declining they'd thrown it away. Well, finders keepers on that score and she would be washing that one off to keep for herself. For now though her search needed to continue, even as she heard her companion pick up the first 'treasure' to inspect it. At least she could rely on him not to throw it away even if he did think she was a bit of a hoarder.
Another several moments passed and by now her hair was thoroughly covered in cobwebs, leaves and splintered twigs. She would no doubt look like a complete mess when she did finally emerge from the depths. At this point it looked like she'd never locate whatever it was that her caught her eye, but finally the stars aligned and the moon itself seemed to take her side. A flicker of light managed to break through the hedge and in to the depths of the soil, causing the hidden treasure to glimmer from where it was buried.
With only a tip showing it was no wonder she'd had such a hard time finding it.
"Got it!" She sounded positively delighted as she wiggled her way out of the bush and back on to the path, leaves tumbling around her feet as she stoof up and wiped the rest of the dirt from what she'd picked up. In her palm lay a gem, it looked a little like a star and it twinkled beautifully now that it was exposed to the light. She really had found treasure and she looked proud as punch to have done so! With a delighted smile on her lips she held it out for her companion to inspect before carefully setting it into her space pocket, it wasn't long before she'd ensured that her charm had joined it for safe keeping.
"I suppose I should clean the rest of this up, huh?" she murmured and glanced back at her pile.
"It would be advisable," the other senshi replied wryly from his position on the bench, he looked the picture of comfort despite the raised brow.
"Not going to help then?"
"Not on this occasion, no..." His smile was impish. She had made the mess after all and he cleaned up more than enough of them when she got herself in to trouble normally. When it came to cleaning up the trash she'd found he was very much going to leave that up to her.
"Such a gentleman," she grumbled, but she did set to work. At least there was a bin fairly close by to put it all in, even if it would take her a few trips to carefully carry some of the more questionable items over there.
She'd found her treasure though and she'd count that as a win, the public service on this occasion was simply an added benefit. It would be one less hedge for the park wardens to clear out in the morning!
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