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 Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 8:41 am
Everyone knew Destiny City was dangerous at night. Everyone.
But Caius had still gone out. Slipped right out the back door, completely unnoticed, like he usually did. Most of the time, it wasn't an issue.
Tonight, it was an issue.
He took a safe route, because he was a creature of habit as long as he had the opportunity to stick to one. He had gone out to get something else to eat because not only was dinner practically inedible, there wasn't enough to fill him up. He was a growing teenager and he could eat someone out of house and home if they let him.
They didn't.
Soup was cheap and filling and warm.
And apparently, worth losing your life over. He'd snuck out with his backpack and was intending to eat somewhere private, and maybe manage to sneak the handful of Captain's Wafers packets he'd snagged back into the house for a rainy day. Destiny City had other plans, and even though he stuck to the well-lit sidewalks, a rustling in the bushes made him tense and grip the straps of his backpack closer. He had long legs and used them to walk a little faster when he heard the rustling again, closer.
And then a low growl.
And then, a hulking creature with the shell of a turtle and the claws of a scorpion and the legs of a turtle scuttled out. Its mouth was wide and gaping, dripping some sort of black sludge onto the concrete.
Fear gripped his stomach and he swallowed, slowly backing up and hoping to avoid it. It was wishful thinking and he knew that; he could hear the loud clack of its legs on the ground behind him even as he took off at full speed, desperate to get anywhere--he'd run into traffic if he had to.
...If this thing didn't catch him, first.
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 8:13 am
Whisler had been trying to find the youma that went with the disgusting aura he felt, and though he didn’t find it before it found someone to harass...he seemed to have found it before any real damage had been done...so that was good. He held his weapon in his hand and began to spin it trying to figure out if he wanted to bring the boy towards him….or push the youma away.
Considering that the Youma was between himself and the boy, Whisler opted to bring the boy to him, hoping that the turtle like youma wouldn't be able to change direction so quickly….
It was a stupid hope, considering just how fast it was moving but...it was still a hope.
As he began to channel his magic, Whisler called. “Kid. You’re going to feel yourself being tugged towards me. Don’t fight it. I can protect you. I will protect you. Just get over to me and I can take care of this thing, okay? Don’t worry.”
He was strong enough to dust a stupid youma.Kyuseisha no Hikari When Whisler uses his Knight magic, his is given the choice to use the magnet to repel his foes, or attract his allies. The range is upped to fifteen feet due to the lengthening of the chain and the size increase of the magnet, and the maximum time he can hold the spell for is one minute.
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Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 10:51 am
He didn’t need to be told twice; it didn’t register that the stranger was wearing something strange, or that he was doing something strange. Caius was just trying to get away, and he’d risk a human to a monster anyway.
Being told ‘don’t worry’ didn’t mean much to him; he was going to worry as much as humanly possible because this was crazy.
But he wanted to live, so he didn’t fight it. On the contrary, he ran straight to the man, because he said he could help.
Caius didn’t trust people, not really, but he’d rather be with someone who thought they knew what they were doing. He hadn’t expected that he would actually feel himself being tugged towards him, much less at that speed, so what was meant to be him running behind Whisler turned into him crashing into Whisler in what could only be described as an overzealous hug.
The youma seemed startled that its prey was gone so quickly, and it turned to face Whisler--and roared.
It wasn’t ready to back down; even with its prey out of reach, it began to scurry towards Whisler, mouth open and ready to bite.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 11:11 am
The sudden, rather violent embrace confused Whisler for a moment and he blinked, wondering how this had managed to happen. He had a full plan of tugging the boy behind him when he got close enough, but this…
Might be an issue.
...him dropping his weapon in surprise might also be an issue, as would be the fact that the youma wasn’t slow like he had hoped for. Not that he had expected it to be but...still.
It sucked to be proven right regardless. As the youma drew closer, he moved to push the boy behind him before going for the weapon, and as he saw the creature’s teeth flash close to his arm when he went to pick up the chain, he knew he had made the right move.
...When he felt the teeth sink into his arm, he really knew he had made the right move. But...maybe the kid could make a run for it while the youma was busy with his…
Midknight snack.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 4:08 pm
Caius didn’t know what was going on; he was slamming into people, dealing with monsters, being shuffled about. He saw the teeth sink into this stranger’s arm and the sensation of dread flushed through him because--wow, he didn’t know what he was expecting but he should not have trusted that this guy could take care of anything.
Go figure.
He knew how to take care of himself in nearly every situation--except, this was one he really couldn’t have prepared for. Monsters weren’t supposed to be real, and he hadn’t heard of some giant escaped turtle from the zoo.
He could run, of course, and leave this guy to deal with it.
...But that wasn’t really very fair. Especially after he’d gone out of his way to try and help. Caius was winded and dizzy and didn’t have his balance, so when the turtle thrashed a bit, like it was trying to tear off Whisler’s arm, he was knocked off balance when Whisler collided with him.
He fell backwards, hard. He grabbed at anything he could to try and stabilize himself, to try and push himself up. He thought he felt a tree root beneath his hand, but it was so smooth, and--
He suddenly felt strange. Warm. Hot. He could feel things around him, like he was suddenly keenly aware of the man in front of him, of the monster, like he could feel them on another level.
He felt lighter, but heavier. Stronger, but maybe it was just desperate adrenaline.
Caius couldn’t remember bringing a paintbrush, but there was suddenly one in his hand--tapered and narrow enough that maybe it could do some damage. He pushed himself up, because he knew what happened if you were being attacked and on the ground, and even if he didn’t understand--or even seem aware of the fact that he’d just powered up--he was going to do his best to fight.
He was small--skinny and lanky, at least, and weaved around Whisler to desperately jab at the youma--right in the eye.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 6:20 pm
Good god, Whisler’s arm hurt, and the fact that this stupid youma decided it was a good idea to thrash about like a bigger jerk made it all the worse and he was fighting alone, and at least the boy was safe and…
And then he felt another power signature flare to life right behind him.
Oh. He supposed he wasn’t alone after all. But if this boy was a page...why on earth hadn’t he powered up sooner? Made himself useful?
He bit back a snort and had to appreciate it when the boy stabbed at the youma in the eye with...whatever that long stick was. It was something at least. And it was enough to let the youma release him...which was of course great, because it meant he could finally grab his weapon, and when he did, and smashed it into the youma’s head, then began channeling his magic so that the creature flew into a tree, giving a terrible sound before turning to dust.
Well. Good.
Whisler blew out a breath and his legs shook slightly, turning to look at the page, scoffing slightly. “...Why didn’t you power up earlier, kid? Maybe I wouldn’t have freaked out so much if I would have known you were a page.”
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 6:35 pm
There was nothing but confusion in his eyes as he looked up at Whisler; he was panting and out of breath and had absolutely no idea what this guy was saying.
His expression said as much, and he realized that he probably shouldn’t be around crazy people who could turn things into dust like that.
He drew an uncertain step back; his legs were burning and he was out of breath; he felt disheveled and flustered. “...I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, still overwhelmed by the strange surge of--what, electricity?--in the air.
At some point in time he must have dropped his bag, because he couldn’t feel its weigh and he turned to pick it up--only to find it wasn’t there.
He was looking around for it, left and right, and then asked, “What was that? --All of that?” he asked, but he wasn’t even sure if he wanted an answer. He sort of just wanted to get back to the house and--maybe--eat his soup.
...Although, there was a panic blossoming quickly in his stomach because there was no way it hadn’t spilled all over, and if it was getting all over his bag then everything in it was ruined.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 6:53 pm
Oh.
Oh <********>.
“I see...so the reason you didn’t tell me that you were a page...is that you weren’t until right now, hm? Well.” Whisler raised his uninjured arm and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “First thing’s first, are you hurt? You’re scrappy, I’ll give you that. Thanks for poking that youma in the eye. That’s what it was called, by the way. A youma...they’re monsters that run around Destiny City and kill people...steal their souls...their energy...normally they’re not so bad to dust? Like you saw. It didn’t take much, a few good hits and poof.”
He tugged back the sleeve on his bleeding arm and wrinkled his nose. “...On the other hand, they can get a good amount of damage in when they’re attacking, so that’s something to watch out for…”
Whisler looked to the page...the Polaris page and his expression softened slightly. “You’ve joined all of this now. You’ve become a fledgling knight...that’s what I am. I’m a Knight of Polaris...I work to help protect the city, keep the civilians from becoming youma chow or from any of the other bad things that run around.”
He let out a sigh, seeming thoughtful. “You’re a Polaris Page, in case you were wondering...um. So you serve the same celestial object that I do, Polaris. Ah. It’s cold up there. But I like it. You...ah. My name is Whisler. If you listen...you know...to your heart…” He snorted. “I mean. If that didn’t sound completely stupid...but. You’ll hear your name. It’s like a little whisper coming from the back of your mind. Or your heart. Or whatever.”
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 7:00 pm
Caius was quiet for a second and then muttered, “It sounds insane, all of that. I’m not--”
He was dizzy, suddenly, because his brain said no and his heart said yes, and maybe he’d realized that the sleeves on his arms weren’t from the outfit he was wearing before but just been too focused on surviving.
He didn’t know when it had happened, but he seemed ready to panic when it set in that something was different and he knew these weren't his clothes.
“--No,” he instead said, and the alarm seemed to be steadily growing. “How--how do I go back to being me? This isn’t what I was wearing. I need to find my bag, please. Now, please. I have--I’ve got some first aid supplies, I wanted to get something for your arm but--I had it a minute ago, I don’t know where it is. I need it.”
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 8:18 pm
Whisler watched him for another moment and nodded, giving a soft chuckle. “Close your eyes and think of yourself. What you were wearing...focus on you, kid. You’ll power down and be you again. See?”
A moment later, Whisler’s clothes melted away, leaving Nicolae standing there, in jeans and a purple shirt, his arm looking rather nasty now that there wasn’t the coat sleeves to cover it. “My name is Nick when I’m just...normal. Your bag should be fine...I have no idea where our things go when we power up, but they’re always fine. At least in my experience.”
He gave a kind smile and covered his arm with his hand, trying to stop the bleeding. He would have taken off his shirt...but that might have gotten weird. This poor kid was already traumatized enough.
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Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 11:44 pm
He knew the chuckle must have been well-intentioned, but he’d been around too many spiteful, hateful, cruel people that when the man laughed, he found his face cementing into a frown and he turned a bit pink.
He felt like he was watching magic though, watching the man shift into a completely different one, a normal looking one.
With the same injury on his arm.
Caius partly wanted to just run and try to forget this ever happened but his heart was pounding and he didn’t understand. He didn’t like asking for help, but if he hadn’t already heard reports from the city about things like this, he doubted he could just skip to the library and find a book about it.
He didn’t like closing his eyes around strangers, but he wanted to be himself again.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and tried to focus on him, and after a few long seconds, he came back. He felt the weight of his bag and his eyes snapped open--and Nick was still right in front of him. Still bleeding.
Quickly, he removed his bag and began to fish through it, wincing as he could feel the soup sloshing in the bag. He drew it out and set it on the ground, doubting it was salvageable but at least it hadn’t spilled on his bag. He breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to relax a bit almost instantly, and after a few more seconds of fishing around he drew out a small Ziploc bag with first aid supplies. A travel sized bottle of peroxide and bandages came out quickly, and he drew out a washcloth afterwards.
Quickly, he poured some of the peroxide onto the washcloth and said, “I don’t know how much this will help, are you going to need stitches?”
And then, he faltered, because none of this was normal, and he partly seemed ready to wipe at his arm himself, and partly seemed ready to shove the washcloth into Nick’s hands and run.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 2:52 pm
Nick gave a smile that was filled with just a bit of what was almost pride when the page powered down, doing it easily. “Good job. And to go back to being a page, it’s just the same, only you will the power to come on to you, rather than to go away...it’s helpful. You can protect yourself and those you care about easier.”
He looked in some surprise as the boy pulled out a whole small first aid kit from his bag. “Oh...are you training to be a doctor? Is that what you want to do when you go into the world?”
After a moment of thought, Nick held his arm out to the boy, giving a small smile. “I don’t think I’ll need stitches, I mean...we’ll at least get it cleaned up and get me home...if anything my fiance will know better if it’ll need stitches or not…”
Even if Arias was a baker...he was a smart baker...and...well. Nick just knew that he’d know. “It hurts, but at least the youma’s teeth were small...even if they were really sharp. Tend away, doctor blonde. I’ll be a good patient, I swear.”
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 3:30 pm
“I’m not--no,” he said, and looked embarrassed as he began to tend to Nick’s arm. He briefly thought of being a little rough just to make him stop teasing, but he couldn’t bring himself to deliberately hurt the guy.
“My name’s Caius,” he introduced, “You can call me that, not ‘doctor blonde’. It’s just smart to be prepared. Obviously.”
He was careful to clean, and worked meticulously so he could see the injury--and he supposed that it didn’t look as bad as he’d thought. Still didn’t look good, and he was glad he hadn’t gotten bitten because he had no idea how he would have explained that or gotten it treated.
“I don’t think I’m going to run around as some magic monster fighter,” he added, not quite sharply, but exasperated. “I can’t sneak out all the time.” He could, though. Who would notice? Unless they wanted him to get in trouble, which.
Honestly.
There were always the tattle tails looking to score extra points, and he was internally groaning. He looked back at the bag of his spilled soup and externally groaned, but just shook his head and wiped away Nick’s arm one last time before he drew out the bandages and began to carefully wrap it.
Before he could speak again, his stomach growled--and he was embarrassed, because wow, he was human and humans made noises.
“And I can’t fight that well. Not monsters, anyway. There’s more of those things?”
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 3:55 pm
“Ah! Caius. Much better than Doctor Blonde. Though...you could always be funny and just say your name is James...Get it? Blonde…James Blonde?” Nick laughed at his terrible joke and winced slightly as the boy cleaned the wound. “I mean, you can try to avoid it, but...it’s destiny or something, and sooner or later something will happen that will bring you to powering up again. It’s not something you can run away from forever…”
He looked a little sad for a moment, sighing. “No matter how much you might want to. And, yeah. There’s a lot more of those monsters out and about...and people who can be a whole lot worse than the monsters. People who will whisper sweet and wonderful things in your ear...pull you towards them so that they can corrupt you and turn you to the darkness...and when you decide that you don’t want that anymore...you know. They stab you in the gut instead!” He gave a little, mirthless laugh and tugged up his shirt a little, displaying the scar that marred his stomach. “...So just...be careful, Caius. I know I’m not making this sound any better but…”
Nick shrugged. “I’ll be your mentor in this, if you’d like. You’re a knight of the same planet as me...and I’d like to help guide you...my fiance, Arias? He’s a knight too! Though, he’s an Earth Knight...not as stylish as you and I are…”
His eyes fell on the bag that was still sloshing with soup and he paused, hearing the rumble of the boy’s stomach. “...Would you want to come over for dinner? Or can I take you to get something to eat? As payment for patching me up like this?”
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 4:09 pm
Caius flushed just slightly, maybe out of embarrassment as much as frustration at the situation. He was overwhelmed and alarmed at the suggestion of going to some strange guy’s house.
“No offense,” he insisted, “But I don’t think it’s smart to go to a stranger’s house. Nobody knows I’m out right now.” Oh, that was so stupid, don’t tell him nobody knows!
“...But if I’m not back in a while they’ll get suspicious and start looking,” he lied, because he doubted anyone was actually even aware he was gone yet; he’d been so careful.
Just like he was being careful to tie off the bandage.
Nick had already picked up his shirt and shown him a stab wound, and Caius couldn’t imagine wanting to do this knowing the danger, and everything he said sounded so ominous.
He hadn’t laughed at James Blonde because he was socially awkward enough that he still had a hard time understanding when someone was making fun of him, but Nick seemed good intentioned. He had to remind himself that he had tried to help him. He had gotten bitten for him.
...He was so hungry. He should have gone home. He shouldn’t have said yes. But he was so hungry, and he didn’t have money to spare to go get more food.
“...If you expect me to go out and fight, you can take me to the closest diner and buy me dinner. And I’ll listen to what you have to say about all of this. And I’ll think about it. I’m not special, so you shouldn’t expect anything from me.”
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