Star Candy (3) : In your mailbox, locker, or desk drawer appears a bag of star candy! There is no indication of where or who it came from other than a small tag that reads: “Happy Star Festival!” The small, colorful pieces of sugar seemed to almost glow faintly, and after eating them, the world looks a bit different. Cartoonish and much less…real. Is it a hallucination? Is it some new reality? The strange vision lasts only half an hour, and after it wears off, the rest of the candy seems to disappear. How strange!
Kurma couldn't quite recall how he'd gotten the strange bag of candy in his hand. His memories of his human life got a little fuzzy when he powered up, as they were but a drop in the ocean of memories he had in general. However, something about them made them seem special. While he normally would toss food in his mouth right away without a second thought, he wanted to wait for the right moment to try these little bites of sparkly sugar.
Some things in life were like that, and he trusted his intuition.
So, he float-walked along the streets, taking in the scent of a recent rain that had followed through, wondering and waiting. Eventually, a presence reached his awareness that brought him fully to the ground: the shining heart of a senshi cut off from the source that could make it truly sing.
If there was one thing in the cosmos he could always remember, it was the face of Alkaid, and every other corrupted senshi he would ever meet.
This one, maybe, he could help.
So, gently, he approached her. Wearing a sad smile, he said, "Hey there."
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Tue Jun 29, 2021 11:59 pm
On occasion, Nembus powered up.
They were usually at the times that she had designated to meet up with former peacock, now senshi Phaethon. Occasionally, they were in hopes of finding someone she had known. They were in hopes of finding a now white-clad senshi in a sailor's garb, they were in hopes of finding other white-garbed senshi that she had come across and gotten along with; sometimes, they were even in hopes of finding the general who had originally forced her into this mess.
Just something to hold on to.
Today, as per usual, she found nothing, though the odd energy nearby was nearly enough on its own to make her dehenshin and run. She didn't, for some reason. Perhaps it was because she hadn't gotten the chance.
When addressed, she froze. She kept her distance.
"Ah," was her first response, an awkward breath into the wind, "hello."
He didn't look like a senshi. To be honest, she wasn't entirely certain what he was. Perhaps a knight? The knights always looked so strange in comparison to the others.
"Can I," she rubbed her shoulder, "help you with something?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 10:35 am
Kurma's power signature, at the least, was definitely not Chaotic. It was somewhere in the range of a Senshi or Knight; innocent and ancient at the same time. He took a cross-legged seat in the air, hoping the passive stance made him seem less threatening to the corrupted senshi.
"Maybe," he said. Then, with a small chuckle, he admitted, "Actually, I was gonna ask you that. You look a little lost."
He remembered the next second, people always asked him for his name during encounters like this. So, he added, "I'm Kurma. A cosmic guide."
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 2:54 pm
Was he --
He was levitating. Literally sitting in the air. Okay. Nembus wasn't entirely certain what to think about that, but she could admit that at the very least it was new, and she could appreciate new things. How was he doing that? Where could she learn to do that--
Did she look lost?
She guessed she always looked lost.
Always felt lost, at least.
"Ah, just," she fidgeted, "was just looking for someone."
Anyone, really, that she recognized. There was a part of her that ached for a friendly connection that she couldn't really explain. Perhaps it was a hope that she might find her footing for at least a few minutes if she found a friend. She might even find her footing for a few minutes if she saw her former general again.
At least she would be something Nembus had a history with.
"Thank you for your concern, Kurma." She tried out the name a few more times by murmuring it under her breath. Perhaps she should leave. Teleport. Be gone like the wind. She didn't see anything he could help her with.
But something was so unexpected about him. He was levitating.
"Forgive me, I have never seen a knight who can float."
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:49 pm
Knight?
Kurma tilted his head at that. "That's probably because I'm not a Knight," he grinned. "I'm not bound to any place." It was as much an explanation for his floating as it was a clarification of his position in the grand scheme of things, as least as far as he himself understood it.
"Like I said, I'm a guide... I show up, find lost people, and help them find what they need to find. Or remember what they forgot." Same thing, really, as far as he was concerned. Although, with the universe being in the state it was in now... sometimes he wondered what he could do.
"Who were you looking for?" he asked, with genuine friendliness.
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 8:42 pm
Not bound to any place.
Interesting.
Nembus had never heard of anything quite like him, and even in spite of her temptation to flee, it kept her in place. If he wasn't a knight, just a guide with no bound, what was he? How did he exist if he didn't have something he was bound to? Was he bound to everything?
She had understood from her name and the way senshi worked that she might have formerly been bound to the star Nembus up above. That wasn't the case anymore, instead bound to the Negaverse and their plans down below.
"Ah," could she tell him? She wasn't sure if she should trust him. What if she did and this was all an elaborate ruse to feed information of traitors to the Negaverse to the Negaverse? Nembus didn't know what she wanted, but she certainly didn't want to be dead or forced deeper into service with some other means like coercion-- "A friend." It was vague enough. "We sometimes meet when I power up. They don't appear to be here."
She rubbed her arm.
"Can't expect you to find them. Might not even be powered up. Thank you, though."
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Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 9:39 pm
"You're probably right, finding people isn't usually my thing," Kurma admitted. People were a sea of their own. It was rare and difficult for one drop to stand out among the others, in the grand scheme of things, but that was part of why he liked them. Each face was familiar in its own right.
"But I think you can find them," he continued. "Or someone else who has what you need." People were abundant, even in this unusual era. He was sure of that, especially after his return to Earth.
Then, he remembered the little bag of candy in his hand. Was this the right moment? That, of course, was partially a choice -- one that would have to be made by the senshi as well as himself. Holding it out, he said, invitingly, "Maybe one of these will help you along?"
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 11:48 pm
Someone else who has what you need.
That felt unlikely. There weren't many people who truly understood her experience. It would take a long time for her to build that camaraderie back up with anyone. She wasn't sure she would ever find another person who had gone through a forced corruption, been in the Negaverse at the same time as her, and gotten out.
She also couldn't just replicate the scenario that had caused her to run into Phaethon, but she knew she'd be able to find him on another day--
"Ah," Nembus was so lost in her own twisted thoughts that for a moment she forgot she was being spoken to, her attention drifting toward the bag of candy that was held out to her. What was in there? It was shiny, beguiling; it didn't look like anything she had seen before, at least not in her new life, and that was enough to draw her closer in spite of her own nerves, just like Kurma himself had been enough to stop her from scaring away.
"What are these?" she asked, lightly, holding out her hand so she could receive one and take a closer look.
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Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:36 pm
"I'm not entirely sure," Kurma admitted with a friendly grin, "but it looks like candy." Pointing at the tag, he continued, "From someone who wants you to have a happy Star Festival."
He happily shook out a couple of pieces into her hand for her to try.
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 9:15 pm
She guessed some strangely shaped candy from the Star Festival probably wasn't bad. Nembus let Kurma shake them out into her hand, pulling them back toward herself in curiosity. She guessed they were like little stars, small and colorful and spiky like she might have pictured some more cartoonish depictions of the variety in the sky to be.
Were they illuminating her hand?
If she squinted, she could have sworn she saw some light on her hand, but perhaps it was a simple trick of the light. She'd give it a shot.
Without a word, she shrugged and popped one into her mouth, letting out a happy, "Mm," as the sweetness filled her.
One of the things she had quickly learned was that she liked sweets. These were no exception.
Well, until she was halfway through eating the second one, and her eyes widened as she realized the man floating in front of her looked less like a man and more like something that might have stepped out of a cartoon she had watched on a streaming surface. Everything seemed 3D, but not in the sense that the world was 3D -- like the fake, computerized 3D that was frequent in movies--
"You don't look," Nembus paused, "are you okay? Did the candies have something in them?" Why did the trees nearby look more like green clouds?
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:07 pm
It took a moment for Kurma to respond, because he was busy giggling with delight. "Would you look at that," he marveled, waving his hand in front of his face. It looked like something out of a storybook, and so did the rest of the scene around him. Nembus's own face was rendered in soft watercolor, and as the trees rustled in the breeze, they shifted slowly from one painted frame to another.
A minute later, he brought a closed hand up to the senshi for her to look at. When he opened it, a firefly rose up from his palm, leaving behind a sparkly trail of light as it flashed and flew.
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:28 pm
She guessed that this Kurma hadn't known what to expect either, because he seemed to be suffering from the same aftereffects. Or something similar, at least. She squinted, wondering if his face would feel just as smooth as the 3D-animated heads tended to look, but absolutely not having the bravery to ask.
She did, though, find herself in short-order distracted by a closed hand.
Her voice lifted in curiosity.
A firefly.
It looked like a tiny circular spark with another small spark that left behind a trail that glowed like LEDs. She held out her hand, looking at it as the light reflected on her pale skin. "That's--," all of her worries about being unable to see properly were momentarily forgotten as she attempted to understand what was in front of her, "how did you make that?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 4:15 pm
"I didn't make it, it was just there," Kurma explained. "Wow, this is some candy." He was tempted to eat more of it, but the bag had escaped from his hands at some point -- probably for the best.
"It's a whole different way to look at things," he continued, still marveling at the novelty of it all. It hadn't occurred to him that someone might find such an experience startling or unpleasant. He flopped down on the ground, taking in the sky. The moon and stars were magnificently exaggerated, sparkling and dancing merrily in expressive brush strokes of purple and blue. To that, he said, "Wow, look at all that!"
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:20 pm
It was just there? How--
Did they just eat drugs? But if they just ate drugs, why were they both experiencing the same hallucinations? Were they even the same? Did he see the firefly the same way she did? How had the firefly even appeared?
"I-," she breathed, glancing up to the sky herself. Unlike the painted skies he saw, the skies she saw above were more like something she might have seen in a video game. Distant, pixelated stars with the images of galaxies sprouting up behind them. A moon that looked like it was overly painted and dramatic against a dark sky in the way a lot of video games made it. She had a small thought that at least it didn't look vicious.
"How is this happening?" she couldn't help it, she laughed.
She sat on the ground herself, leaning her body back to take a look at what was above.
She had never seen anything quite like it before, not even in the ship bottles.
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Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 2:35 pm
After a good, long moment admiring the transformed stars, Kurma asked a question.
