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 Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 4:57 pm
Backdated to Christmas morning. Quote: Prompt 6: There's something on the roof. It has no energy signature, so it can't possibly be a youma or any powered vigilante, but something's on the roof. It sounds like it's clopping around. If you go outside and investigate, there is a deer on the roof. A fully sized deer, staring down at you. The moment you blink, or look away, it's gone; if you investigate further you will find that there are tracks left in the snow atop the roof--but none around the house. It looks like it just showed up there--and just disappeared.
The whisper broke through Paris’s slumber. Her eyes cracked open to peer through the darkness, finding Henry’s face hovering over the edge of the bed, arms crossed along the mattress as he stared at her with wide, golden eyes.
“What?” Paris said, voice soft with sleep and slightly slurred. The clock on the side table read 2:15.
“Mommy, Santa’s here!” Henry said in an excited whisper.
“Henry, Santa probably already left,” Paris gently argued, trying not to sound exasperated. “You need to go back to sleep. It’s too early to open presents. Why don’t you sleep with me and Daddy?” she suggested, trying to forestall any complaints about not being able to open presents right this very second.
“But he is here!” Henry insisted. “There’s a reindeer on the roof! I heard it!”
“There’s not a reindeer on the roof, Henry. You were probably having a dream.”
“I wasn’t! Abby can see it!”
“How can Abby see it if it’s outside?”
“Because Abby went outside.”
Paris bolted up and reached for the lamp on the bedside table, turning the light on. “What is Abby doing outside?! Christopher, your daughter’s outside in the middle of the night!”
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 7:08 pm
Paris turning on the light and shouting something about his daughter being outside had Chris popping up in the bed, blinking blearily as he tried to determine what the heck was actually going on.
“‘M up,” he mumbled through his haze of confusion. And then the words Paris said caught up with him and he was suddenly much more awake. “Why is Abby outside??” He’d missed the part about an apparent reindeer, but he was already grabbing his robe and shoving his feet into slippers.
He figured Paris would keep an eye on Henry as he hurried down the stairs and out the front door, beside which sat the bathroom stool the children used to reach the sink.
Outside, Abby was jumping up and down in excitement in the grassy area that the driveway circled, barefoot and in her Princess Jasmine themed nightgown. Beside her, although out of stepping distance, sat a rather regal looking reddish brown cat.
“Daddy, daddy!” she squealed with excitement. “Santa’s here! Santa’s here!”
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 11:03 am
Paris followed Chris out of bed, throwing on her own robe and slippers before ushering Henry out of the room.
“You know you’re not supposed to go outside at night,” she said.
Henry gave her a look like he thought that was true but hadn’t actually heard her say those specific words before — and maybe she hadn’t; she didn’t exactly think her kids would go outside without her after the sun set and they should be in bed. Then he pouted, because he wasn’t the one who’d gone outside. He’d probably helped Abby before realizing “oh, I should go get mommy,” and had done just that.
Out in the hallway was Elsie, peeking out the half open door of her bedroom.
Paris sighed heavily. It was going to be nearly impossible to get the kids back to sleep at this rate. As soon as they realized everyone was up, they’d want to open presents.
She scooped Elsie up into her arms on the way toward the stairs, descending them with Henry leading the way, arriving outside seconds behind Chris. It was cold out, but at least some of the snow had melted, leaving patches of bare ground visible. But that meant the ground was still wet, and Abby’s bare feet were filthy.
“Abigail Olivia Gallo, what do you think you’re doing?!”
At least Lucasta was supervising her.
No, wait, no talking cat should be anywhere near any of her kids!
“Lucasta! Shoo!”-------------- Lucasta was staring up at the roof, amber eyes fixed upon what was very obviously a deer. Not one of those silly lit decorations Ganymede liked to place around the yard at this time of year, but an actual deer. It moved about, hooves clopping against the roof, gazing down upon them with wide, senseless eyes. If she wasn’t supposed to talk around the children, she’d tell Ganymede she should believe their flights of fancy this time. Instead, because Lucasta took her duties seriously, she kept her mouth shut and stared very hard at the roof, assuming both Ganymede and Valhalla would get the point and actually look, issuing her complaints with nothing more than an offended sounding meow.
At least it didn’t seem to be a youma; there was no energy signature. Of course, that led to more questions than it answered.
How had a deer gotten up onto the roof? What possessed it to make its way up there in the first place?
Her tail swished from side to side slowly, occasionally brushing against Abby’s ankle.
Fortunately, the girl wasn’t as foolish as her parents often seemed.
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:24 pm
Chris had just managed to make it across the driveway to pick Abby up when Paris and the other two children made their way outside. Abby looked a bit startled at being scolded for something she clearly didn’t think was bad.
“I wanted to see Santa,” she said, like that was obvious. Like, how else was she supposed to see him if she didn’t go outside?
Chris tucked her under his robe against his side and worked on wiping off her cold and dirty feet. It was only looking down that he noticed how intently Lucasta was staring at the roof.
“Paris… You’re going to want to see this,” he said to his wife as he looked up to see what Abby and Lucasta had been looking at. Sure enough there was an actual deer on the roof. How it managed to get up there was beyond him. He glanced cautiously towards Lucasta, as though doing so would clue him in on whether this thing was a youma or what.
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 2:30 pm
“Santa!” Elsie crowed.
All of her children must be in on some sort of joke, because Santa was not real, which meant there was no way there was anything on their roof.
That was what Paris thought until Chris drew her attention. Exasperated, she glanced up at the roof and—
Yup, that was a deer. On her roof. A real dear, staring down at them, cocking its head a bit, like it was just as confused by them as they were by its presence there. It was only one deer, at least, not a herd of them, and it looked fairly normal, no jingle bell reins or red nose lighting up the night. Just a deer. On the roof. Clop-clop-clopping around.
“See!” Henry said, jumping beside her excitedly, pointing up at the creature. “I told you!”
In her confusion, Paris blinked, and as if it had never been there at all, the deer was gone.
“What the—…”
Luckily, she managed to cut herself off before swearing in front of the kids.
“All gone~” Elsie said in a sing-song voice, skinny arms looped around Paris’s neck.-------------- At least Valhalla was a competent father and took his kids seriously enough to actually look. The hazy memories lurking in the back of her brain meant Lucasta was often surprised by his kindness and patience. She often got the feeling he should not be that way, but he’d proven her wrong time and time again after saving her from that ridiculous pet shelter.
Now that they were all on the same page about the deer that was, in fact, on the roof, Lucasta glanced away to meet Valhalla’s eye, shaking her head at him to ward off any of his concern.
It was such a hassle not being permitted to speak in front of the children, but hopefully the motion was all Valhalla needed to understand that it was not a youma.
When Lucasta looked back at the roof to get another look in an attempt to determine what else it could be, she found that the youngest child was correct. The deer was nowhere to be seen.
Lucasta twitched. Maybe it had simply wandered off to another part of the roof, unseen to them now? But no, she couldn’t even hear its hooves clopping around any longer.
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 3:41 pm
”Awww,” Abby whined when she turned back to look again and the deer was gone. She’d been distracted by her daddy cleaning off her feet to get one last look. “Did Santa leave it behind? Where are the others?” she chirped inquisitively as she curled up against her daddy’s side.
“I guess Santa came by to get it when we weren’t looking,” Chris offered an answer for his daughter, but still perplexed as to what a deer was doing up in the tree. Was there another creature big enough to carry it up there to begin with?
Luckily it seemed as though Lucasta was keeping on alert for any youma or agents that might be around. So they didn’t necessarily have to worry about the Negaverse, but…
The Negaverse weren’t the only things to worry about. If what Michael and Peter told them about what happened to them in October, it meant that all of the strange occurrences that didn’t come with the auras they were used to were just as real as anything they could feel.
“Come on, let’s go back inside where it’s warm. Paris, I think Lucasta should come in, too,” he said cautiously, knowing how Paris felt about the Guardian Cat. But he wanted to confirm with her that there really wasn’t anything to worry about. At least nothing that she would be immediately concerned about.
He also wanted her to block his aura as he went up to check the roof, but couldn’t exactly discuss that with the children around them.
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:06 pm
“Lucasta can stay right where she is,” Paris said.
Was it cruel of her? Probably. Lucasta wasn’t a bad cat. In fact, now that Paris had all of Liesel’s memories, she knew that Lucasta was determined and loyal and far from the worst Guardian Cat to exist. If Lucasta had been the one to awaken her instead of whatever nameless cat had given Paris her pen, her initial days as a Senshi probably wouldn’t have been so bad. She would have learned faster, and she wouldn’t have been so alone.
There was some affection there now, but it was buried deep down and originated from the past, which meant that Paris often tried to ignore it in her fight to keep the memories from holding too much sway over her.
“Abby, come with me. You need to get cleaned up,” she said, taking Abby from Chris so she had a daughter in each arm. “Daddy will check and make sure the reindeer got back where he belongs. I’m sure he wasn’t here alone for long. Santa would have noticed he was missing.”
She gave Chris a worried look and a whispered “be careful” before carrying Abby and Elsie back inside. Henry, rarely disobedient, followed along, but not before craning his neck to try and get a better look up at the roof.
“Mommy, can we open presents?” Henry asked on their way through the door.
Pairs sighed heavily. “It’s too early for presents, Henry. You need to get some sleep.”-------------- Lucasta was hardly fazed by Ganymede’s behavior. After five years, she was used to the disregard. She wasn’t mistreated, just kept at a distance, and she knew the reasons for it, that Ganymede carried a deep distrust after some fool of a Guardian awakened her and left her with little to no information about what it actually meant to be a Senshi.
If she’d had the chance, Lucasta would have done better. She would have trained Ganymede properly, so that she didn’t spend so long stumbling around, struggling to find her way.
Lucasta had a warm home of her own out back, in a structure that used to be stables. She had as much food as she could want, and the chance to remain by Ganymede’s side when Ganymede would allow it. There wasn’t much more she could ask for.
As soon as the children were back inside and out of earshot, Lucasta said, “It had no aura so couldn’t have been a youma. I can’t be sure when it appeared. I only noticed when I heard Abigail leave the house.”
Fluffy tail swishing, Lucasta trotted over to a large tree.
“Stay here,” she said. “I’ll check the roof for evidence.”
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:31 pm
Chris offered Paris a smile and small nod of his head to let her know he heard her, and a silent promise that he would be careful. He had no intention of getting hurt, but he was more concerned about a potential threat to his family.
“Thanks for keeping an eye on Abby,” Chris said to Lucasta as she went towards the tree once Paris and the children were back inside. He still felt horrified that it was so easy for the children to get out of the house. Even though they were pretty secluded and had a pretty secure wall around the property, they would definitely have to consider a better security system.
What if it hadn’t been a deer on the roof? If it was a youma or Negaverse agent, or even someone non-magical trying to break in?
Chris crossed his arms, pulling his robe tighter around him to keep out the cold night air, grateful that Lucasta was willing to put up with Paris’s attitude towards her.
“Do you have any ideas about what it could be? This isn’t the first time something without an aura showed up,” he said as he watched Lucasta do her thing. “Michael and Peter…” Chris started, but stopped, knowing that Lucasta tended to ignore their current identities in favor of their powered identities. “Sessrumnir and Sailor Oberon were trapped in some strange village back in October. Said they were there for three weeks but only a short time had passed when they returned. There was a creature there that attacked them, but it didn’t have an aura either.”
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:09 pm
“Abigail would make a capable Senshi,” Lucasta observed.
She knew Ganymede and Valhalla were protective of their children and hated the idea of them ever being involved in the war, but the truth was impossible to ignore. Abigail would be quite capable, provided she had several more years to mature appropriately, followed by the proper training. She was a precocious child, confident and energetic. Lucasta was sure she could mold the child into someone bold and strong — a soldier to be proud of.
But, for now, she was only a child. There would be time enough for such things later.
Adroitly, Lucasta climbed the tree high enough to reach one of the longer branches, crossing it to where it hung close to the roof, at which point she jumped and made a clean landing. She kept an ear turned toward Valhalla while he spoke, considering the information as she examined the area where the deer had been.
“It stands to reason that other creatures may occasionally appear,” she said. “Space is full of countless worlds. Some of their beings might make their way here. And Earth is no stranger to outlandish, unexplained phenomena even without youma. It could be anything. If my memory was more complete, I might be able to provide more information, but we can’t all have access to the past like Ganymede.”
Not that Ganymede seemed to have any idea what the deer was.
“The creature left nothing behind,” she said as she continued to look around, sniffing here and there to try and pick up any odd scents. “It seems we must bear the dissatisfactory lack of clues, but at least your roof appears secure.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 10:27 am
Chris decided not to comment on Lucasta’s observation about Abby making a capable Senshi. She was much too young for anyone to be even thinking about magical anything. Although he had to admit that if it did turn out that any of his children were fated to be involved in this magical war, he would feel more comfortable having Lucasta be there to guide them, which was something Ganymede never had.
As much as Chris would have liked an answer for what a mysterious deer was doing on his roof, and why other strange non-negaverse or other seemingly magical things happened in the city, he let out a sigh knowing that Lucasta was right. There were too many unknowns, and strange things seemed to be continuing to happen even if the Negaverse wasn’t involved.
“Thank you,” he said, grateful to her willingness to try and keep his family safe, even if she was originally only there to complete her duty as Lisel’s Mauvian.
“Wait here when you get back down,” he requested after a moment, and then headed back into the house. It seemed as though Paris was in the process of getting the children back into their beds, so she wouldn’t be able to give him accusatory looks when he pulled out leftover turkey from the fridge, heated it up in the microwave, and cut it into bite sized pieces so he could bring it back outside for Lucasta.
“Sorry about Paris. She’ll come around one of these days,” he said, even if he was also a bit concerned about his children being around a talking cat, if only because they were trying to keep them from being involved in the dangers magic often brought.
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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 10:52 am
Lucasta left the roof and went back down the tree, waiting patiently for Valhalla to return. She was no pampered housecat with no sense in her head and thus had some idea of what he intended, if only because he’d done the same many times before.
Still, she gave him a flat look when he returned with his apologies, glancing from Valhalla, to the plate of turkey, to the cold ground with its scattered bits of snow, back to the plate, and up to Valhalla’s face again.
“You will bring that to the stables,” she decided, trotting off around the house and to the back in the direction of the stables, with her tail held high as if she owned the entire vast property surrounding the house.
She did, to an extent. She could come and go as she pleased and use whatever shelters she happened to find, but the stables were by far the most comfortable, and luxurious compared to what some of her peers might live in. Occasionally she was forced to share the yard with Valhalla’s aging dog and a cat of the non-speaking variety, but they were tolerable company, especially as the years mellowed them out.
Ganymede was not the most affectionate Senshi to serve as Guardian, but at least the living arrangements were vastly improved from the shelter.
Certainly, Lucasta could find things to complain about if she put her mind to it. She chose not to simply because she lacked a reason.
This was her home now and she would endeavor to protect it, even from the likes of mysterious deer on the roof.
As for whether any of the children would ever require her guidance one day…
Well, Valhalla and Ganymede would just have to wait to find it.
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