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 Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 4:44 pm
Someone decided to drop off books for them. Helpful books that let them learn about earth. The one that Aliez was carefully studying was on animals. The pages were hard, made to be durable -- smart if it was used for studying -- and the pages were brightly colored. He learned what a “cat” was and he was paying close attention to the “chicken”. He looked up when he heard the shuffling of someone walking up the hill towards the dome, and he quickly stood, closing the book titled Baby’s First 50 Animals. “Um… good evening,” he greeted, ready to jump back into the shield of the dome if there seemed to be any threat from this human.
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Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2021 6:08 pm
Asphodel Knight was still breathing a little heavily when Aliez answered the door, so to speak. There was mud and algae all over him, and he was soaked, water still dripping from his person onto the ground. He was bleeding a bit from puncture wounds associated with a tentacle imprint around his face -- whatever had grabbed him had hooks. "Good evening," he replied. "I'm here to donate energy."
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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2021 1:17 pm
“You are injured,” he pointed out, probably the obvious, momentarily ignoring the greeting and reason for the visit. Aliez tucked the book under his arm and pulled out his Source Stone out of habit whenever anyone seemed like they were physically ailing. He frowned at the man in concern, trying not to cringe at the strange markings on his face. “Thank you. I can assist with both healing you and the energy you wish to donate,” he offered, although he hesitated, not sure if this was a person he should so easily approach. So far, the Knights and Senshi that returned to the dome were… not always friendly, but there was less hostility than he would have expected after the Commodore’s initial meeting with them.
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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:59 pm
"I had to do some pest management on the way here," Asphodel explained. He was as annoyed that he had to go do it as he was surprised that it felt so much like a chore. Just a couple of months ago, he was in shock at everything he suddenly remembered about this city. Now it was slowly starting to feel like he had never actually left at all. The Source Stone caught his eye easily. He remembered Caedus showing everyone something similar earlier, and this alien was pulling his own out as part of an expression of concern. That made Caedus's explanation about them a bit more believable. "I'm Asphodel Knight," he greeted, while setting his spade aside. It took a couple of tries to get it to stay standing without one of his hands on it -- maybe his ancestor was right about his form being so terrible -- but eventually it stood firmly in the ground. This wasn't awkward at all.
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Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 5:47 pm
Aliez tilted his head curiously. “Pest management?” he asked, tilting his head back the other way as if that would somehow help with clarification on what this Asphodel Knight was talking about. Even though he had plenty of time as he watched him stick his strange knife into the ground, he still wasn’t sure. Maybe it was just an Earth thing. “Hello, Asphodel Knight. My name is Aliez,” he said as he took a step closer and held out the stone to show Asphodel Knight what he was doing. “Do you have similar Stones here? Or I suppose you have other healing methods. You should take care and bring those with you in case pest management causes you more trouble--” He paused as he held out the stone. He was certainly close enough for it to work. Aliez drew it back, looked at it and then tried again. “This is not working,” he said, a little distressed. He knew it didn’t work on the animals of Earth, but on the humans, too?? “I don’t understand. It should heal you.”
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Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 5:58 pm
Yes, pest management. "At a lake not too far from here," he clarified. "A youma I killed a couple months ago reformed and crawled back over there, so I had to go and beat it down again before it could eat anyone." He sighed, still thoroughly annoyed. Part of him wished he had never gotten himself back into a situation where such an arrangement of words could leave his mouth. It should have been a horrifying story, but instead it felt about the same as administering medicine to a large dog at work: frustrating, but routine. At least Aliez had had the courtesy to not ask why he was dripping. The alien had the presence of a competent medic. He was clearly motivated to heal people, so Asphodel couldn't help but be a little surprised himself when the Stone didn't have any effect. "How is it supposed to work?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:40 pm
He was trying to not be distressed, but it was clear that there was something wrong with his stone, or maybe it was only something that Velencians could use? It seemed almost impossible to believe that humans were unable to absorb energy to help them heal properly. The rest of what Asphodel Knight said registered as something fuzzy in his head. He heard him, and he could see that he was soaked, but the sight of blood and the distraction of his stone not working kept his attention. “Youma… are the creatures from the Negaverse?” he tried to recall what the Commodore had said about them, and the little he had learned about them after. “We were told not to go near anything from the Negaverse. You are very brave to try and fight them. Thank you for not allowing it to eat anyone, that would be very bad. Our cattle reform as well. It is good to know you have creatures similar to ours that regenerate, although maybe not if they belong to the Negaverse. Maybe Earth is not so different, even though I am unsure why my Stone is not working. It is supposed to work by… I am not sure if this will translate properly, but it refuses energy in our body to heal wounds,” he practically rambled in his subdued disquiet. So instead, he opened his little pocket of subspace to retrieve a small, clean cloth and bottle of water. “I keep these to keep my hands clean. However, I think it may benefit to clean your wounds. Infection is not ideal. I will need to learn more about how humans treat their wounds in order to be of any additional use, however."
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Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:47 pm
Aliez's distracted rambling was difficult to follow, but Asphodel believed he got the gist of it. It seemed like the important thing to understand was that these stones could use energy to heal wounds, at least in an alien. That was honestly one of the most fascinating things he had heard of in a while. As if to confirm the Cadet's suspicions, he said, "I had no idea you could do anything with energy besides steal it, eat it, and use it to make youma." Then he shook his head. "And I haven't been around here for a while, but I don't think anyone else here has heard of it either." If the Velencians they'd all met in the dome had explained they used energy specifically as a healing tool, the whole meeting might have gone a bit bitter, he thought. "I'll be fine though, I have some first aid tools on hand." He reached into his own subspace pocket and pulled out some bandages and antiseptic wipes for Aliez to look at. "We usually just clean and protect our wounds so our natural healing process can do its job."
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Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:42 am
“Eat it?” Aliez felt his already pale bluish face blanch at the thought of just eating energy. Or stealing energy. “Humans eat energy?” he asked in shock, and then anxiously glanced down at his stone and carefully lowered it out of range of Asphodel Knight’s immediate reach. Just in case he thought to steal their energy. But then why would he be offering to donate? Still, he paid close attention when Asphodel Knight pulled out bandages and antiseptic to show, his eyes wide and curious, although he was careful not to just reach out and take them. “You have to wait for your bodies to heal without any use of energy?” he asked, looking a little horrified at the concept. “You really don’t have crystals to assist with manipulating energy-- But King Caedus said that Earth had many crystals. I’ve seen some that he brought back with him-- oh, but those might be bad crystals if their energy can make youma. I should warn His Majesty as soon as possible if that is the case,” he frowned with concern, although not quite running off to do that immediately in case there was more vital information to learn. Like this natural healing process of theirs. “Do you--... may I assist? Or could you show me?” he asked before he could think better of it. He wanted to learn how to help if possible, and if he needed to figure out a new way to help these humans, then he would.
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Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 3:01 pm
Dang, this kid was tense. Asphodel didn't blame him. Destiny City sucked, and it likely sucked to Aliez in ways that it didn't suck for a human. It would take some care and effort to answer everything, but - if these Velencians really were as ignorant about the Negaverse as this one made it seem, that was a serious problem that needed to be corrected. So, he started with his first aid kit, unwrapping the bandages and septic wipes and explaining what they were for. He patiently demonstrated on his own face, since he had just been thrashing around with open wounds in lake water and leaving them untreated would be a terrible idea. "Humans don't eat energy, but the Negaverse does," he clarified when he found a moment to do so. "They steal it from whoever is convenient for being drained at the time. They're trained to do it covertly, so their victims usually don't realize what's happening to them."
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Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 5:16 pm
“That is horrible,” Aliez frowned with concern as he was told that the Negaverse was the ones eating energy. And for what? Just because they wanted to? “Energy should only be given willingly. It is what builds life. When we die, our bodies are returned to the energy that is all of Velencya. It is a great honor to be part of something that nurtured us from birth. Most of us, at least. Those like the Commodore and King Caedus are from the old World, but helped build Velencya into what it is now,” he rambled as he watched the way Asphodel Knight treated his wound with the wipes. It was only then that Aliez seemed to realize that he was also dripping wet, and not just with blood on his face. “Oh,” he said after a moment, and frowned some more. “You arrived here without obtaining dry clothing? That is admirable of you. I am unsure if humans have a similar immune system, but you should consider drying off soon.” He realized this was probably obvious though, and he frowned again. “The Negaverse is wrong to take energy like that. We were told to avoid them. I would very much not like to meet any of these Negaverse, otherwise I may need to tell them how I feel about their practices.” Aliez would absolutely scold them for being rude with their energy gathering tactics.
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Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:11 pm
Widening his arms to get a good look at how soaked he was, Asphodel said, "Thanks for your concern. I'll get out of these as soon as I've made my energy donation." Blinking a bit, he narrowed his eyes at the Source Stone again and asked, "You... can actually get some with your crystals... right?" Still, this was quite a lesson in energy politics, which in this context was a made-up term he suddenly had to start using in his head so he could make sense of what he was learning. These Velencyans really were people who freely shared their energy as part of their way of life, just as Caedus had explained it. It was shaping to be something he could learn to appreciate -- if humans had similar tools and ideas in place with respect to their own energy, maybe the Negaverse wouldn't have gotten its grip around Earth so easily. Crossing his arms, he added, "By the way, you should all assume the Negaverse already knows you're here." Asphodel hoped that their Commodore's experience made that obvious to them, and they were already prepared, but just in case. "At the very least, they've noticed their enemy suddenly running back and forth around this place at all hours of the day."
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 8:29 pm
Aliez looked absolutely offended when Asphodel Knight questioned whether or not he could actually get energy with his crystals. “I can actually,” he said with a small frown that resembled more of a pout. He turned his hand to show the stone faceted to a bracelet on his wrist, and held it out for Asphodel Knight to touch whenever he was ready. “This stone will draw out your energy. It will make you sleepy very quickly, so be careful not to touch it for too long. You can offer however much or however little you wish. And we thank you for your contribution,” he said, even as he continued to watch what Asphodel Knight was doing. His eyebrows furrowed a bit with concern when it was advised to assume the Negaverse already knew. “Thank you for your warning. Commodore Lyndin and King Caedus will keep us safe. They are very experienced and would have accounted for the possibility of the Negaverse already knowing. Probably.” In fact, he didn’t actually know what the plan was if the Negaverse did know where they were, but as long as they stayed close to the dome, there was no way anyone could actually attack them. Probably.
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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:15 pm
As he approached the Source Stone, Asphodel found himself getting anxious. This would actually be the first time he had ever had energy taken from him. He had only ever known being on the other end. Its pearlescent surface conjured countless flashbacks of energy orbs coalescing over the palm of a black-gloved, clawlike hand. The sense of power it gave him in the past made him feel sick and ashamed now -- things Aliez didn't need to know. So he tried to keep straight face, and gingerly touched the Stone. He could feel it pulling something out of him, like little threads through his fingertips. He marveled at the simple fact he could lift his hand away and stop the process whenever he wanted. The Negaverse never gave any of their victims that choice. No matter how humanely they claimed to be going about it, they had complete power over who to target and when to start and when to stop. He was having a difficult time keeping a straight face. When he broke contact with the Stone, it was with a long, shuddering sigh. "There's some things we could learn from your way of life," he said.
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Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:04 am
Aliez made sure to carefully monitor the amount of energy being pulled from Asphodel Knight, since he knew that the humans were unused to their technology or their energy gathering techniques. When Asphodel Knight pulled his hand away, Aliez lowered his own, but took a moment to open his subspace pocket and pull out some snacks he’d obtained from various donations from friendly Senshi and Knights. He held out the package of crackers and a bar of chocolate, which he’d found to be quite rich and could only eat a little at a time, but it was otherwise enjoyable. There was also an unopened bottle of water that was provided to them - a new one so he didn’t have to give Asphodel Knight the same bottle he’d used to clean his hands. “These were gifts given to us, but I analyzed the components and they should result in helping to replenish your energy. Our supplements are not as… flavorful. Although it may have something to do with the artificial elements in some of the donated foods. Ah, but I only saved the ones with the highest quality ingredients for when I did locate someone willing to donate energy. You are welcome to them, and I have others if you prefer something else,” he rambled as he ignored the way his face and ears felt hot in response to Asphodel Knight’s comment about learning from their way of life. Aliez was quite pleased that he would think such a thing, since he also happened to think that the Velencians had a very good way of life.
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