Being back in Destiny City was strange. Julian barely remembered the place at all. The last time he was here, five and a half years ago, his knowledge of the town was limited to just one word: Leave. There was a sense of peril, a sense of madness, a sense of things he didn't understand and wanted to bury and keep buried.
So he left. He fled to another city and scraped and struggled to build an entire life from scratch. He found hobbies. He found work. And all the while, through all the years, there were nightmares and creeping feelings and guilt that followed him around everywhere. A two-lined poem would spark up in his mind at the most random of times, one he didn't dare speak aloud or write down, because -- because something would happen if it did, something that would tear his whole world apart. The tension all this brought him had been building and building all this time, until he finally couldn't take it anymore and chose to return.
Summer was in full swing. There was a festival ongoing. The brightness and cheer around him made it feel like the whole town was waiting for him to discover what it was hiding. When a brief rain passed through, it was a small relief. The white noise took the edge off a bit. Julian decided to step out for a walk with a clear umbrella in hand.
Prompt:
Quote:
Predatory Puddles (6) : Summer rains aren’t uncommon, so finding puddles dotting your path isn’t in itself particularly surprising or abnormal. However, as you walk past them, you feel the sensation of being watched, like eyes are on you. If you look into the puddles, you don’t see your reflection--nor the reflection of anything familiar to you. Instead, you see strange, decayed buildings, and odd, rotting plants. Something is watching you through the puddles, but before you can investigate, between one blink and the next, it’s all gone. When you look back, the puddles are oddly non-reflective, and then in the next blink, they’re all gone. The feeling of being watched doesn’t fade, though.
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 4:16 pm
cibarium
It had been a very long time since something strange happening in Destiny City honestly surprised Anthony Darrow. Even the weather here was unpredictable, as his slightly damp clothes and angry look two corgi's clearly displayed. He had not been prepared for a light shower while out on a walk with his dogs, and he was just thankful they were still walking instead of the both of them protesting and plopping like they did when they were tired.
He would have to carry them both home, and he was already carrying a cat. He probably looked like the strangest person, walking two dogs while carrying a plump ball of Guardian fur in his arms, but Hadaya was not a fan of walking with the excitable corgi's yet still insisted on coming with them.
Mostly, Tony felt like an animal chauffer.
Nathan had come to visit and offered to babysit his sister, so he had taken her off to enjoy the festival while Tony herded the animals. It seemed unfair, but he supposed he could not complain too much. They were good dogs, after all. Hadaya was also there.
"Can we get a hot dog? Oh! Or some candy! Or both!" the Guardian was whispering up at him from his arm, but Tony was doing an excellent job of ignoring him as he took in the mildly busy area. The rain had clearly not deterred people from coming out, and it had cleared up rather quickly. Really, it was starting to look like a nice day.
Lithiasaur
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 4:47 pm
As it did with many summer rains, the skies started to clear after just a few minutes, leaving the light scent of petrichor in its wake. Julian folded his umbrella in disappointment at the change as the scenery brightened again. Now the streets and sidewalks were dotted with an array of shining puddles that were perfect for stomping and splashing by fair-going children.
But the first child to try gasped and backed away in a panic. Their puzzled parents gathered them up as they cried something about a monster on the other side. Contrasting the bright sun, a sense of anxiety and confusion filled the area as more people had more strange experiences, pointing to dry patches of ground they swore had something creepy lurking there just a second ago.
Julian's own gaze landed on one, and saw a devastatingly familiar scene. A dim sky, a rotting landscape, an encroaching rage that filled it -- and his composure disintegrated as he found himself back in a horrible place and a horrible time with a horrible soul.
The Rift.
He was back in the Rift.
Did he ever really leave?
A scream escaped him as a bright energy rippled through his body, covering him in strange regalia and pushing his umbrella out of his hand. He gripped around something else, something heavy and solid that hinted things weren't what they seemed -- but the weight of a cape on his back and the feeling of gloves around his fingers pulled him further into the terror. His weapon, a garden spade, he held awkwardly like it was a sword, and he swung it down towards the puddle in a desperate move to chase the vision away.
It hit dry sidewalk with a jarring clang! and the dimness and rot disappeared. Asphodel Knight stood there, still in a battle stance, confused and panting and sweating heavily.
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:13 pm
cibarium
Tony jumped a bit at the noise, turning his head in time to see the light of a power up glimmering away and a knight standing over a puddle. It was amazing no one else had noticed, though Tony needed to be quick to keep it that way. He set Hadaya down quickly, offering the guardian cat the two leashes. Hadaya let Tony clip them to his harness, looking up at the librarian without needing things to be explained.
Duty called.
"Take the girls to Nathan, and let him know everything is fine," Tony said, the guardian nodding and then turning to lead the dogs away. They charged almost immediately, leading Hadaya away instead.
Tony got to his feet and hurried off to find a place to hide before powering up himself. He chose his fourth stage, though he had the ability to return to his third. Without really getting a good look at just who had powered up at such a strange moment, Camelot got the sense that he needed to be in this form. He moved toward the knight that seemed to be fighting a puddle, not seeing the grim scene it had moments ago displayed.
"Are you alright?" he asked, placing his hand supportively on the other's shoulder and the other on his arm to keep him from swinging the spade around again. Then it clicked, from years back. "Asphodel?"
Lithiasaur
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:28 pm
"Asphodel?"
A familiar voice, a familiar presence. So bright and clean. The present moment remained hazy around Asphodel's senses as he took it in. No longer in the Rift now, he jerked a bit and lost his grip on his spade as Camelot's appearance and touch triggered a fast-forward in his memory.
This was the Knight who had saved his life. He barely knew what a Knight was, but he knew that much. Flashes of how it happened rolled through his mind.
"Your car..." he said, before he realized he was saying anything.
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:38 pm
cibarium
Camelot chuckled at that, nodding his head slowly.
"Ah, yes. Quite the entrance you made back then. I see that much hasn't changed," he offered a gentle, reassuring look, nodding toward the puddle and the spade. Carefully, he moved his hand back, allowing the other to hold on to the weapon alone. The Royal Knight doubted he was in danger from it, after all, and more concerned about what made Asphodel power up with a scream in the first place. He did not take his hand from supporting the knight's shoulder, however.
He seemed dazed, which worried Camelot immediately.
"There's a bench over there. Did you want to sit down for a moment? Rest? We can figure out what happened."
Glancing toward the puddle again, he frowned in wonder. Whatever had been there, it was not there now. Had it been a small youma? Or something else, something wrong with the reflection the other saw? After so long, Camelot had no idea what Asphodel had been through, though he remembered how bad it had been when they first met. Driving on the highway could be dangerous at the best of times, but nothing could compare to someone landing on the hood of one's car.
Lithiasaur
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:54 pm
Reality was slowly coming back to Asphodel, but it would take a minute. He accepted the offer to go sit down with a deep breath and a nod.
He could remember the occasion in patches. He'd been trying to escape Destiny City, and knew hitching a ride on one of the highways that led out of town would work better than running. So he'd jumped onto someone's car, and that someone had turned out to be the man sitting next to him in the present. The man transported him to a place out of a storybook...
"Camelot. You're Camelot..."
And there was a glowing sword that struck him in the soul, destroying an old name and revealing a new one. Asphodel Meadows, of Saturn.
"I ran away," he said, disappointed in himself. "After what you did..."
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:06 pm
cibarium
"You were terrified," Camelot said calmly, walking slowly to the bench and standing until he was sure the other was safely settled on the bench. He just looked so shaken and worried, Camelot could not help but worry over him like a mother hen. It had always been a bad habit of his, really, but he would never change. It was his duty, his pledge, to aid those in need. No matter who they were.
If it was within his power, it was exactly why he had that power in the first place.
"I only wish I could have made sure you were okay, after the purification. You made it very difficult to find you, but I apologize for not continuing to try. I was not sure what had happened to you, but I was certain you were safe. At least, that was what you asked of me. And what I vowed to accomplish. You're still alive now, and our paths have crossed again. I am still sworn in your service, as I said back then when you were kneeling before me, so maybe this is fate. Maybe I can still help you in some way?"
Camelot took purification to be a vow, like a knight to a king, of service and loyalty. Whenever anyone he had helped purify, or spoken to about it, or even harbored the thoughts for it, needed his help, he was determined to be there for him. Sometimes he failed, but sometimes he just had to wait for the destiny this city was named for to intervene.
Lithiasaur
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 5:46 pm
Memories were rolling through his mind too fast for him to keep up with, and the energy humming in his body was so loud. Asphodel clutched his face in his hand, wishing he could take it off -- and to his relief, that thought summoned a gentle burst of light that lifted the uniform away. It was an equally familiar and unfamiliar sensation.
Camelot would have to remind him about discretion later. For now, it looked like Julian's composure was starting to come back.
"I should eat," he said. "And maybe some coffee." Thankfully, there was a broad selection of fair food just nearby. Julian would pay for whatever Camelot wanted to get, before finding somewhere more private to continue the conversation.
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:02 pm
cibarium
Camelot winced, looking around again just to be sure no one with auras he could not sense was around. Even a civilian could be a danger, if it was a Negaverse soldier on a stroll. Thankfully, no one seemed to be around now, and Camelot could not sense anyone near enough to be a problem for them.
Sighing, he powered down, releasing the massive energy signature that might have brought them unwanted attention, anyway. Tony offered a goofy smile instead, tilting his head to the side.
"I'm sure we can find some place to get some food and take a break."
Maybe coffee was a bad idea, but there would be suitable replacements. He was curious about the food stands anyway, and it would be a nice, relaxing way to try and understand what had become of the Negaverse soldier he had purified so long ago. In what had to be one of the strangest encounters he had ever experienced, which was saying a lot considering where he lived.
He had been to space before, after all.
It did not take too long to find some easy food to enjoy, the vendors more than happy to supply them. Tony made sure to pay, despite Julian's efforts, and found them a quiet picnic table to sit down at. There were not too many people eating at the moment, but Tony was more than used to taking meals whenever he could fit them in. Really, his stomach was grumbling anyway.
Lithiasaur
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Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 6:44 pm
The first thing Julian said when they sat down, with their paper baskets of fried street fare Hadaya would envy, was, "I still can't believe Camelot's a real ******** place." He'd said the exact same thing, in the exact same tone, years ago. Some things hadn't changed. But the swearing and complaining was a good sign he was fully back in the present.
It occured to him that meant the Asphodel Meadows were a real place too. And he probably could go there in a similar fashion to what he remembered. That was a bit too much to consider for the moment, so he turned the conversation back to what had happened when Tony found him in a panic several minutes ago.
"Either I was seeing things, or the puddle had an illusion," he explained. "It reminded me of being in the... the..." His brow crunched up and he focused, trying to dig the word out. "The Negaverse. There's no pretty way to remember that." That recollection took the flavor out of his iced tea, but he sipped at it anyway as a grim and weary expression crept over his face.
"I stayed there for three years after I decided to leave."
