The Meteor Shower (9) : One of the hallmark features of the Star Festival is the week long meteor shower that kicks off at the beginning of the celebrations. The first night is usually a little slow, and it picks up more on the second and third evening, but tonight is different. Within the first hour of the first visible falling meteor, something hits the ground with enough force that the ground trembles and power is lost for a few seconds. The impact can be heard throughout the city and the news reports that a small meteor made impact--only, they don’t report that they can’t find any damage and have no idea where it landed. Maybe that’s enough to convince some people, but anyone who knows about this powered war might expect that nothing good ever comes from space.
Basyl loved meteor showers, eclipses, strangely colored moons- And pretty much every other natural event that was worth mentioning in the news. He didn't know why, since things of that nature weren't really uncommon in Destiny City (and since his awakening, he'd started to see them more as things to be wary of than simple, pretty phenomenon). But they were nice to look at. It was something for people to be excited about, something that made them feel like one people, all looking up at the same sky...
Which he supposed was part of the reason for the Star Fest: to just make people feel like a community.
So it should come as no surprise that one of the golf courses for a usually-exclusive country club had opened its gates for the week so that citizens could use one of the grassiest and most open areas in town to view the meteor shower. Food trucks had been allowed into the parking lot, selling tacos, frozen colas, and even beer to daring adults. The main club building was also passing out glowsticks and charms to the youngsters in the crowd.
It was cute. It was nice. No one should do anything to disrupt it.
But there were so many people, and it would be such a wasted opportunity if Narcissus simply ignored it. Something in the back of his mind nagged him that powering up around this many civilians was asking for trouble: if a White Moon senshi saw or sensed him, or even a combative Negaverse agent happened to be out, it would be awful to do anything that would jeopardize these civilians' meteor shower experience.
But as always, Narcissus was careful. Careful to keep his wraith from being seen (always ever easier when the sky was dark as it was), careful not to be spotted, careful to keep his eyes and sensing open for anything that may be around him.
Thankfully, all was peaceful besides an occasional whoop and holler from those enjoying themselves. Even skirting along the edge of the crowd left his wraith full and glistening with night to spare. It was just so hard to ignore a perfect opportunity, even if there were risks. And since Narcissus could actually go in to Mirrorspace now, that was all the more reason to be diligent in his gathering when he could be...
He'd only given pause for a moment to enjoy the spectacle and crowd for himself when something brighter than the rest tore across the sky, piercing through the inky darkness and leaving a visible trail in its wake.
It seemed close.
And as it careened down, there came a myriad of impressed 'ooh's and startled 'ah!'s from the crowd.
Until it landed.
The sound as it crashed was loud, and despite the landing site surely being miles from them, the earth still rumbled ominously. The delight stilled to be replaced instead by shock and concern. A few yelps, and few startled gasps. The power went out in the clubhouse behind them, and Narcissus was sure there was a moment where everyone wondered if they were about to be hit by some sort of impact wave...
But nothing happened. The shower continued on in the sky unabated, and the crowd eventually settled, though the unease never quite went away. People packed up and left much quicker after that. It apparently only took one fright to put a dampener on the festivities, and Narcissus didn't blame them for that.
[WC: 582]
