Welcome to Gaia! ::

The blanket was soft and impossibly cozy, but a chill crept in from beneath it. Pendour instinctively curled tighter and tighter, seeking whatever warmth and comfort she could in that moment. Sleep called her back. Her eyelids were were heavy as iron, her limbs heavier than that.

For a while, after she was all curled up, Pendour was still. Consciousness crept back in a little at a time. She realized first that the surface she was laying on was harder than her bed. Scratchier, too, somehow. Then she heard the chorus of the crickets and their night friends off in the distance, an unfamiliar thing when she spent so much of her time downtown. Curiosity won out over sleepiness at that point, and her good eye cracked open.

She squinted at the grass in front of her face for a few long moments, then glanced up to the stars above. Eventually she noticed the tall, pale blue man sitting a few feet away from her.

"Mmmmm?" she mumbled, even as the memories began to snap back into place. She remembered the meeting, and the energy stones, and then this.

"Caedus?" she opened both eyes all the way, although she still did not move any more than that. "Hi."

Pendour was quiet as she took stock of her body. It was all heavy, still, but nothing hurt, or felt wrong. There was anxiety in Caedus's face as he looked over at her, though, so she put the effort into sitting up to show him that she could

"I'm okay," she said. A tired smile came to her lips as she fully took in the blanket, and his presence, and the fact that she was somewhere safe. "I can see why you like those stones so much. I didn't have any nightmares."

That was more than she could say, some nights.

"It's sweet as sweet of you to stay with me like this. No wonder my friends like you." She met his gaze, just for a moment, just for long enough that he'd know she was smiling at him. It wasn't exactly surprising that someone like Encke, or Oberon, or some of the others, would want to be friends with anyone from another world, but it had to help that he seemed to be very kind.

"Did I worry you? I'm really sorry. I have this," she held up a hand, showing the glowing speckles on the back of it. "The Transcendence? I knew it made more energy, um, go through me?" She turned her hand back towards herself and squinted at the markings. "But maybe I didn't know how much more, exactly."

Pendour shook her head, maybe too quickly. The world spun. "I don't think I want any back," she said. "Not this late."

Of course she didn't stare at the scars on his face, but she spotted them, and she saw something familiar there, just as she saw something familiar in the heaviness deep at the back of his eyes. He'd understand, she knew.

"I'll just sit here for a little. Maybe take some water, if you have it?" She rearranged herself slightly so that the long part of the mermaid skirt was wrapped around her legs and she could put Caedus's blanket around her bare shoulders, but she made no move to stand up. Sitting was one thing, but walking right now would probably have her all stumbly and unsteady.

"This is probably healthier than the medicines I usually take to sleep," she said, not looking at him for too long, glancing back up to the sky instead. "Do you have extras of those stones? I could use it, and then bring you the extra energy in the morning for your project."

She'd been looking for a way to directly stop Metallia for years. If she could do that, and sleep a little easier? It would be nice.

Pendour took the crystal in a blanket wrapped hand, delicately, like the useful little treasure that it was. She brought it close to her face to admire the way it shone under the moonlight, then sent it off to her own subspace pocket with a deep, grateful nod.

"Thank you," she murmured.

She took the water bottle with both hands and brought it too her lips for a few small sips of water.

"Do I bring it back to you in the mornings, for the energy?" she asked, turning back to look at Caedus more directly again. "Or, to this Vanguard?" Her brows drew together just a little at that thought. While she liked their plan of stopping Metallia, of stopping Chaos at the source and saving all the people it had hurt, the thought of an entire group of tall aliens poking around with little energy-draining rocks was still stressful.

"Can it be you? You're one of them, aren't you?"

The leader, maybe? Caedus didn't carry himself as tall as the Commodore, but she thought she'd heard some title used for him, too.

"I don't think you'd tarnish anyone's good name," said Pendour, smiling at the way he held the little crystal, at the way he seemed to cherish it. Maybe it wasn't the newest technology, but there were plenty of people on Earth who found value and use in ancient things. She appreciated their work and artistry. She could appreciate his, too.

"You saw it, didn't you? The way that most of us only trusted your people because of you?"

Once she'd gotten enough water, she closed the bottle and let it drop gently towards the ground, and her head lolled down again, but she never took her eyes off of him.

"I don't think I was awakened when you were here before, but my friends like you, so I like you too. I'm sure it's the same with some of the others."
"
Although it hadn't been a unanimous thing, and Pendour wouldn't ignore that. She exhaled softly, then said, "The ones who got upset, though?" Pendour's lips pressed together as she thought back to the meeting, though of just who it had been who had stood opposed. Sessrumnir had, a little, and Athalia and Cybele had spoken strongly.

"They're the ones who have seen a lot, I think. I know some of their stories. They're probably scared, even if they don't say it like that. Not of you, exactly, just," she went silent for a moment, chewing on her words, then tilted her head to the scarred side. Still, her voice never rose from gentle. "Things that show up to this city have a habit of chewing people up and spitting them out."

Pendour nodded deeply. "I understand," she said. "I want my friends to be safe, too."

She was quiet for another few seconds, even though her head was clearing more and more.

"It's a little weird," she said eventually, "Who's most opposed to all this. Honestly, if I was here before, when you said you, um, invaded the Negaverse somehow? I might have tried to stop you back then."

Although she didn't dwell on it so much now. It was what had happened. It was the choice that had been made at the time, before she'd known about all this. She understood people's desperation, people wanting to keep each other safe.

"I'm the opposite of a warrior," she said, to explain, starting to run a few fingers through the waves of her hair as she talked. "I try to keep others from escalating things, to work on peacemaking. Um, conflict resolution. I try to get people to leave the Negaverse, too, since a lot of them want to, deep down. It's also a way to weaken Chaos until we find a way to stop Metallia directly."

She glanced back over to him. "But this time, you're offering that, a way to stop Metallia without hurting any people, which I think is worth trying. Then, the um, aggressive ones, the ones I sometimes don't get along with, are the ones who are all worried."

It was different than how her instincts had thought things might go when she'd been walking up that hill.

There was no judgement in Pendour's face, just a soft sympathy as she saw the way that Caedus was carrying all that guilt. She nodded again, lips twitching slightly down. "We all make decisions with the information we have at the time, and with the emotions we carry. Sometimes, retrospect lets us learn things. It sounds like you've learned."

She didn't know what exactly the Negaverse had done to him to make him open portals to their haven in the first place, but she had no doubt that it was something terrible. It was impressive, then, that he'd come through all that and was considering options other than standard warfare at this point.

She considered the thought of a power vacuum for a few seconds, then said, softly, "Chaos is not the source of all violence. There are wars here on Earth that I don't think the Negaverse is involved as strongly in, and they're far bloodier than what's happening here in this city."

Maybe souls weren't at stake, or planets, but Pendour was very aware that those conflicts still ruined lives.

"People fight over resources. The worst conflicts right now are in the Middle East, where a lot of the Earth's fuel, the energy we use for things, is stored. Sometimes people will fight over other things, though. Philosophies and such. Simple disagreements have sparked wars of thousands of people."

She leaned back a little, onto her elbows. "It's possible that if the Negaverse disbands, people will organize into other factions and find something else to spark a magical war over. Possible. I think it's something to be aware of and something to work against, especially with those who find themselves purified."

She offered a small smile, only a little strained. "As for me, I don't think it's a reason not to try stopping Metallia."

He was not talking like someone trying to sway her to his cause. He didn't need to. She'd already said that she was willing to try the device, had already given her own energy to power it.

He was talking like someone who was processing things, talking like someone who needed to be listened to.

Pendour listened. She always did.

Her heart ached for the things he'd seen. She let herself feel that ache, as if it would help the pain and worries that he carried be a little less sharp in his chest.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into the chilly air. "I'm sorry that you've seen so much war, and that your planet was taken. I'm especially sorry about what the Negaverse did to you, because I know that's a fresher thing, and I've tasted a little of their cruelty, myself."

Pendour didn't often make true eye contact, but she did now, and she held it for several seconds, even, for long enough to say, "That's all beyond awful and you didn't deserve any of it."

The ocarina was still hanging off of her wrist by its cord. She pulled it out from under her the blanket so that Caedus could see.

"You deserve peace, too." she said, and although she looked away again, there was nothing but sincerity in her tone. "You deserve rest. If you want to try it, I have magic that soothes worries. I hear it helps."

She might even have enough energy to use it. Maybe.