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Pendour had wanted to go to her Wonder. After what Lyndin had said to her in the middle of that hilltop bloodbath, and after the fragment of that moon had painted their sky and lit up something in each and every world and heart, Pendour had been going every week, almost desperate to see what she could restore. It was why she had come out to this park and powered up, even if the air was so frigid that her breath turned to a tiny puff of mist the moment it left her mouth.

It was why Encke was by her side. Of course she could have gone on her own, but it got a little lonely among all that cold and ancient stone. The place had been designed to host people. It felt more right when Pendour brought someone along, and anyway, Encke seemed to appreciate it when she invited him.

Pendour's eyes were closed. She was listening for the rhythm of Neptune that she could latch onto to teleport them there. Instead, she felt something that was dark as dark creep into her senses. Her nose wrinkled.

"I think it's a General," she whispered to Encke, her eyes fluttering open. She was holding a canvas bag with a few supplies in it, and she wound the straps of it nervously around her wrist.

"Should we go, um, make sure that nothing bad is happening, first?"

She didn't like to make assumptions about people, but Generals were so wrapped up in Chaos that violence and trouble did have a habit of following them.

There hadn’t been any real reason for Jet to bother the two, except for the fact that they might know the Knight he was looking for. Aquamarine told him not to go after Sessrumnir, but he didn’t say anything about finding others who knew him.

Finding others to send a message in return.

Jet could almost feel their hesitation. He could feel the auras. They were no longer moving. And luckily for him, he didn’t have to make the awkward trek to close the distance like they would have.

“I’m looking for a Knight of Jupiter,” was how Jet greeted the Eternal Senshi and Squire. Both were glowing. And one looked more familiar than the other.

“Ah, it’s been a while,” he offered a small smile to the Squire. He was unarmed. At the moment. Not that he needed his weapon to call for backup if necessary.

Looking at the two in front of him, he doubted it would be necessary.

“What was your name again? I’m General Jet, by the way. In case no one mentioned it before. I think it’s relatively easy to remember, don’t you think?”

Honestly, Encke should probably take her advice.

The fingers on his shoulder soothed, somewhat, and some of the tense knots that gathered in his defensive position eased back. They could take on a general if needed, and perhaps she was right. They didn't know what was happening yet. It was possible he wasn't causing any--

Looking for a knight of Jupiter.

Well, he wasn't a knight of any sort and only loosely knew any Jupiter knights, but at the very least, the general wasn't doing anything wrong yet. He was at least loosely familiar -- if Encke thought back, he could remember him throwing a spear that Faustite smashed into that wisp monster's body and Encke had electrified. Could work with Order when necessary. Perhaps, for the moment, they should talk.

But Pendour's grip got tighter, very tight.

Encke very much did not like that.

She either recognized him or sensed trouble from him.

Encke's position had eased, but that didn't mean he wasn't ready to leap if he needed to. He let Pendour take the lead, but that hadn't stopped him from reaching behind her back to offer a supportive, momentary rub. He was there if she needed him.

"It's his choice to talk or not talk," said Pendour with a small shrug. She could feel the way that Encke was going all protective of her, and she'd defend him in her own way.

She would have flinched away from nearly anyone else in that moment, but she drew closer to Encke even as his hand brushed across where Jet had left the scar on her. Her own hand was still so tense that her fingers were almost digging into his shoulder.

Her heart fluttered in her chest as she stared at the General for a few drawn-out seconds, trying to think of what to say. It was hard for her to even process him being civil like this. The war-torn part of her soul didn't know if she could trust it. The negotiator in her wanted to.

"Sessrumnnir is my friend, and you almost killed me in front of him," she said in the end, partially because she felt like Encke needed the context. Although, even as the words left her mouth, the implications made her sick.

She never wanted to be a catalyst for vengeance.

"I'm sorry," she said, and trembled. "I'm sorry he got caught up in revenge, and war. I'm sorry the one you care about got hurt. I'll talk to him, and," she stepped forwards, a little away from Encke, and she pulled the pen and tiny sketchbook that she used for knight letters out of her subspace pocket. She pulled out a page and handed it over. "You can send a message, too."

Jet’s lips twitched into a small smile that eased into something more gentle as he looked between the two of them. Really, it was sweet how they cared for each other. The reminder that Jet had tried to kill her was… not so much ignored as it was brushed to the side. Because she was already offering an apology, an offer to talk to Sessrumnir for him--

And Jet’s eyes widened in surprise when she actually offered to let him send a message.

“You would do that for me?” he asked, looking from her to the Senshi with a cautious glance. “That’s very kind of you. How does it work? I just write my message? Seems simple enough.”

He was very aware that either of them could attack him at any time, but the Squire seemed sincere, and the Senshi was civil enough. For a Senshi.

Jet held out his hands to take the page and pen from Pendour, and held the paper in the palm of his hand to write.

I hope we can work out our differences. - Jet

Satisfied with his simple message, he handed it back to Pendour. “Thank you,” he said with a small nod. “I’m sorry I tried killing you before. I was just doing my job.” And then to the Senshi. “Are you sure you want to remain anonymous? It’s good to know there are some kind Senshi that exist.”

And Encke remained civil.

Though his eyes remained on Jet, perhaps even more wary than normal with the news of how Pendour knew him -- though he supposed stealing lives and energy was something he expected out of any general -- he didn't make any move to attack him. His eyes narrowed when Jet tried to apologize for attempting to murder Pendour, but he didn't jump. The paper and the note were exchanged, and Pendour sent it off to Sessrumnir of Jupiter, and Encke remained.

Pendour coming back to his side was a relief, and that showed in some release of his position, but it was minute. The general had gotten what he wanted. Could mean he would leave them alone. Could also mean that he would go for the next thing that he believed was his duty. If he had tried to murder Pendour because it was his job once--

Pendour's magic had a way of being relaxing, and he used it as a way to pull back the nerves and the anxiety that was already building in his throat. No need for that. General Jet wasn't going after them for the moment, and it was likely best they leave before that changed, as much as a part of him burned to know if he carried any senshi or knight starseeds on him with the news--

Should he give his name?

He had given it before, certainly. Not recently. Sometimes, after pat-downs to confirm the lack of presence of starseeds. Rarely, after arguments. Not usually to someone who seemed sworn to his tasks as a Negaverse agent. Not usually to someone who he knew of via Faustite.

... Well, not ever on that one, really --

Encke's gaze to Jet softened, but it didn't necessarily grow much friendlier. He let his voice carry to the tone of the music, not intending to override it. "Appreciate knowing not all generals immediately jump, but you'll have to understand. Burned too many times." Literally, perhaps. "Maybe if we keep meeting in friendly circumstances. I'm not exactly hard to pick out."

He was basically a redheaded fluorescent lamp.

To Pendour, he murmured, under the music, "We should go."

The comments about her music made Pendour's focus waver, but just a little. She heard similar comments from her ancestor every time she tried practicing at her Wonder. She was never good enough for him. That didn't bother her as much as it had used to. Of course she didn't care if she was good enough for Jet.

She was just trying to buy some time, trying to find a way to signal Encke with her eyes to take them to his comet while she kept everyone calm for as long as she could.

She was not surprised when Jet lashed out.

She remembered the way he'd squeezed her starseed when they'd last met, for no other reason than to cause her pain. He hadn't taken it. He'd just wanted her hurt. Jet was not a civil man, and she knew what it meant when uncivil men sent messages in the context of war.

She was just surprised that he attacked Encke.

Pendour cried out.

Her voice only made a small sound, but her soul cried out louder, cried out purer, cried out all the way to Neptune.

Her Wonder answered.


The new Knight barely registered what had happened. She was stepping forwards, faster than she ever had before, to intercept the blow.

Pendour had never learned to throw a punch, but that did not mean she had never trained. For hours and hours, days and days, she had repeated dodges, and blocks, and anything that could give her a little protection without hurting anyone.

Now it was instinct that had her raising an arm to guide the swing of the polearm away from her friend.

Pendour was lucky she moved between himself and the Senshi. With the blade extended, it meant that her arms only managed to be hit with the dull edge of the pole, and not the blade itself. Although Jet did put his full strength into shoving her arms down with the pole, still hoping to at least leave a cut that wouldn't immediately bleed or cause pain across whatever part of the Senshi he could reach. Fifteen seconds later, though. It would be painful then. And with fresh blood.

But. The Senshi ended up using his magic after all, and Jet couldn't help but grin with delight when the air around them seemed to grow hotter with strange electrical-like sparks. It didn't seem to just attack him though. And he could easily move out of the way. Which he did.

"Ionization, huh?" Jet asked as he teleported back to what he thought would be a safe distance instead of right on top of the two of them. His skin felt hot, like touching an electric fence, almost.

"That wasn't your full power." He would know. He made it his business to find out what powers Senshi had. And this one stung a lot less than Ganymede's magic. Maybe it was something to do with Pendour's horrible music playing, or maybe it was the magic associated with it, but Jet was feeling just slightly less like pissing Aquamarine off by having to tell him later that he did go out looking for trouble.

Instead, Jet lifted his hand to summon five ravenous youma to surround them. They were rat-like, but the size of large dogs. And they had no eyes, but their teeth were too big and sharp for their mouths, which held lolling tongues that clearly served for heightened senses in place of sight.

"It's nothing personal," he repeated himself, brushing his hand against his sleeve as if trying to dust off what was left of the Senshi's magic. "If you survive this, give Sessrumnir my regards." And then he teleported, leaving them to deal with the youma.