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 Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2021 7:52 pm
Earth was so busy. Alastor had been here for two sunrises, and he didn’t anticipate becoming accustomed to it any time soon. There was a familiarity to it; the nights and days were predictable enough, and not unlike how his world used to be, before the darkness moved in.
He spent most of his time on Earth awake; he’d napped briefly some time yesterday morning, and again last night, but it was never more than a few minutes at a time. He didn’t feel the same Chaos on Earth but it didn’t mean it wasn’t here. It didn’t mean it couldn’t still find him while his defenses were down.
He didn’t have allies on Earth, and he hadn’t found who he was looking for. Yet.
But it was only a matter of time, he could feel it.
Of the humans he’d met so far, they’d all seemed helpful enough.
His first night there he’d been approached by a group of them and invited to share their fire for warmth. He’d accepted, and sat with them for a while. He listened, he learned. About the weather. About the hardships they faced on the street. About coffee.
Which brought him here. He’d learned other things from them, and he had a wallet full of money he hadn’t yet spent–and had more bills in it now that he’d discovered a very easy way to turn a profit by doing what he did best. Which meant, more food, and more coffee.
He’d been up late fighting and barely stifled a yawn as he got into line at the coffee place. It wasn’t his first time here and it wouldn’t be his last. He wasn’t ready to go to sleep yet and his stomach had been growling for the last hour.
He needed to find somewhere to settle down for a bit, for something a little more long term, and despite the reassurance of all the lights, the sounds of the city still bothered him. He needed energy to go find somewhere safe and make a new plan of action.
So, coffee. And whatever they just pulled out of the oven that smelled so good.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2021 8:40 pm
“I had nothing to do with dad coming over,” Peter insisted as he poked at the pastry he got from the counter, his bag slung over the back of his chair as he leaned across the table to talk to his oldest brother. “But really? He’s going to help with the--”
The look he got from Michael had him shutting up. At least for the moment. Instead, he rolled his eyes and took a bite.
He needed to make sure Caedus was settled. Somewhere safe. Hopefully one of the others followed through with their offer to house him and he wasn’t wandering the forests on the outskirts of the city. Especially since it was getting cold. He’d refused housing before, but… that was before his supposed best friend or whatever Lyndin was tried to kill him.
And now his brothers and Ganymede had their dad working on some anti-Negaverse device.
“You probably should have just asked him to help in the first place. You know how he gets. I think he still feels guilty for always working until being forced to retire,” Peter rolled his eyes. He still remembered the pranks their dad played on him when he was being a brat and still living at home. Like getting water dumped on him when he was dragging his feet about showering.
Whatever else Peter was going to say, he stopped to raise his eyebrows in the direction of the strangely dressed man standing in line.
“Wow, I didn’t think there was a convention in town. Maybe an actor?” he wondered. Michael had felt the aura well before the Senshi had entered the coffee shop. He’d tensed and waited, not sure what to expect. Why would someone in their right mind go around powered like that? Absently, he turned the small orb that hung from a thin chain around his neck between his fingers.
But when he realized what he was doing, he tucked it back under his shirt.
“Yeah, dad’s looking over it. Maybe there will be something useful in the ruins he has access to,” he suggested, not looking at the Senshi in an attempt to not draw attention to the fact that he knew. But when Peter noticed how strangely he was dressed, he figured he needed to say something. At least to his brother.
“I don’t feel anyone else around us, but someone should probably tell him he needs to power down,” he grumbled under his breath when he was sure Peter was the only one who could hear him.
Peter just gawked at him, and then the Senshi, and then back. “I’ve been able to feel auras for a while now, even like this. I don’t know how,” he explained before Peter could ask any more questions. “Let’s just wait and see what he does first. No point in making a scene.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2021 10:44 pm
Alastor wasn’t there to make a scene. The concept of powering down was so foreign to him that he couldn’t imagine a reason to do so.
Why bother, when there were so many threats everywhere? He didn’t know what he was getting into. He hardly knew where he was, much less what this world was capable of. He knew that if he powered down on his world it might as well have been giving him.
And, who needed to power down for coffee, anyway?
He felt eyes on him, but that wasn’t uncommon. In faraway times that felt as much like yesterday as they did a thousand years ago he was used to people watching him. Waiting for him to make a mistake, or to attack, or to do whatever other mischief they expected from him. He almost didn’t think much of it now.
The shadows were always watching him on Alastor. What did he care if the people did here, too? So far as he could tell, they were far less threatening.
The line moved, and so did he; when it was time to make his order, he asked for black coffee, and an array of snacks on display. He paid and waited off to the side, though he had a habit of glancing at the door, taking in every new face that entered like he expected to see someone familiar.
He was distracted enough by that enough that when the cashier attempted to hand him his bag and coffee he didn’t notice at first; his mind hand wandered far away, and it wasn’t until she pushed the bag against his arm that he snapped out of it and accepted his order. He thanked her, albeit briefly, and began to weave his way around the line of people.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 5:32 am
"What the hell is he doing, powered up like that?" Peter asked, already shoving what was left of his pastry in his mouth because they (or at least he) planned on following after this guy to make sure he didn't get into trouble. "Think they're just super new at all this and whatever cat awakened them didn't bother mentioning how dangerous that is??"
Or maybe it was a trap to see if anyone was willing to throw caution to the wind in order to help someone else? The Negaverse was sneaky about that.
"You sure he's not an alien? He's pretty tall. Could be in disguise and messed up their coding or whatever they use. I mean, it's possible, right? I mean, he looks a little old.""It's possible that you're an alien. Come on…" Michael rolled his eyes, highly doubting that this guy was anything more or less than some guy who was new to being a Senshi and didn't know what they were doing. Or maybe they were so sleep deprived that they somehow forgot.
Peter did have a point about his age, though. It was unlikely that he was only recently awakened, since Mauvians seem to only be able to awaken those within a certain age range. And then once they age out of it, well… then you get people like Caedus who have to figure out another way to prove that they're worth something more than just being reborn.
"Might be one of those Senshi who claim they've been a Senshi forever, but don't have the actual experience," Michael shrugged, making sure he kept his voice low because he didn't want to be overheard talking about Senshi when there was one literally on his way out the door. Peter scrunched up his face for a moment, but then it relaxed and he nodded in agreement. There were a number of people that liked to show up in Destiny City and claim tenure after being absent for years, when others never left and had arguably more experience than just how old someone was. Helping someone get settled after being away for so long was fine, but Peter was always rubbed the wrong way when they tried claiming experience for being awol.
Thankfully it didn't happen often.
"You coming?" he asked his brother as he grabbed his bag off the back of his chair so he could follow the Senshi out. Hesitating only for a moment when Michael made no move to follow. He stared at his brother for a moment, eyebrows furrowed as he observed his mannerisms, a little concerned that he seemed so distracted.
"Is something wrong? You keep touching that necklace.""Sorry, not in the mood to meet a Senshi," Michael said as he lowered his hand from where it had been lightly resting against his chest. Why Peter assumed he was touching the necklace when he had no reason to was-- Okay, so he was touching it, but it helped to keep him grounded when things got a little overwhelming.
"Be careful. Don't tell him that you're one," he warned, his voice still low so only Peter could hear. "Call me if you get into trouble."
Maybe he would just lurk around the corner. Just to make sure everything was okay. It was Peter's time to roll his eyes and mutter about how he wasn't an idiot, and made his way around the crowd to follow the Senshi out the door.
"Don't tell him you're one. Shut up, Michael, no one asked-- Uh, excuse me!" he called after the strangely dressed man-- Oh he should probably have a reason for calling over to him. s**t. "Uh… can I get your autograph? Yeah, big fan of your work."
It would probably be more convincing if he wasn't trying to keep himself from cringing.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 6:02 am
Outside, away from the warmth of the little coffee shop, the air immediately felt a little too chilly to be comfortable. Alastor didn’t seem to mind much, but when his thoughts were elsewhere it was easy to forget to be concerned with things like temperature or weather.
At first, he hadn’t even seemed to be aware of someone speaking to him, and it wasn’t until Peter had finished speaking that he looked in his direction.
The eyes on him were one thing, that didn’t feel so foreign. The conversation was another thing, and he stared at Peter for a few seconds before he said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Is that a code for something?”
Did he mean a signature? Was he supposed to sign for something? Not for coffee, he’d never had to do that before.
Oh, but maybe he was here to retrieve him? Alastor was slightly less guarded when he reminded himself that of course someone had to know he’d been here, maybe he was just out of touch with secret messages. There was only one woman close to them, and she kept walking even after he’d stopped. He didn’t think she was much of a threat to begin with, but there was a bit of comfort knowing that he didn’t have to worry about so many people around them.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:03 am
"I-- a code?" Peter stared at the man as he pulled his own jacket tighter around him and adjusted the messenger bag over his shoulder. "Yeah, it's code for you're going to get yourself killed," he muttered under his breath as he looked around to see who they were dealing with, if anyone. There was that lady that kept walking, so that was good, but there were too many chances for the Senshi to be seen if he powered down.
"Look, I'm just trying to help and didn't want to make it obvious until I had you alone. Ish," Peter explained, shoving his hands into his pockets. "It's not safe to be walking around like that. You're going to have a target on your back if the Negaverse knows someone they're interested in was wandering around getting coffee."
Surely that would be enough to convince this guy to be smart and go power down. Maybe. Peter hoped, at least.
"And if you haven't tried one of their lemon scones, I'm just saying, they're really good," he added, because he was about to go back and get another.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:17 am
Alastor heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like ‘getting himself killed’, but something like that was either spoken as a concern or a threat, and Peter really didn’t seem menacing enough for the latter. Especially when he was offering suggestions from the menu.
Maybe he’d misheard; he was used to things being much quieter, all of this noise was a little disorienting.
He scanned Peter’s face for a few seconds more and then said, “You’ve lost me completely, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t found any trouble, yet.” He didn’t sound disappointed, but he did sound a little disbelieving, like this was suspicious even if he didn’t understand the warning.
“Are you a messenger? I’ve been trying to figure out where I’m supposed to go now that I’m here but no one seems to have any information. Except which coffee is the strongest,” he said, nodding to his cup. “If the Negaverse cares so much for what I’m doing, perhaps they should have sent someone to retrieve me before leaving me on my own. Are they why I’m here? Because I really don’t care what they want, unless Percy’s working with them. In which case, I’d appreciate if you could point me in the right direction.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 10:45 am
"Okay, now you've lost me," Peter frowned, brows furrowed with confusion. "What are you talking about? What do you mean where you're supposed to go? And no, you don't want the Negaverse to come and retrieve you! They'll kill you! Or corrupt you and turn you into one of their puppets! Didn't the Mauvian that awakened you tell you anything??"
This was just a little distressing to Peter, and against his better judgment (and advice from Michael), he -- first looked around to check if there was anyone who could see them. And when he was satisfied that there was no one close enough to realize what he was showing the other Senshi, Peter pulled his henshin pen out of his pocket just enough.
"You're going to get us all killed, walking around like that. If the Negaverse senses your aura-- and people can sense your aura without being powered up --they'll probably come for you and kill you, or worse."
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 12:08 pm
Alastor’s brows furrowed just slightly and it was clear that while he was listening there was still something of a disconnect in what Peter was saying and what he was understanding. Until he pulled out the Henshin Pen.
Alastor must have recognized it immediately because he brightened a bit, like this was something of a novelty. “Oh, I didn’t realize.” But then, it didn’t make sense that he seemed so secretive about it. “Why are you hiding from them?”
He shifted positions, and though his stomach was screaming for attention, his entire focus was on Peter. “The Mauvian I last spoke to never mentioned anything about other worlds. And I haven’t seen that one, or any other, in a very long time, so I don’t know how much use they could be now. You’re the Senshi of this world? If your ‘Negaverse’ is that much of a threat, isn’t it more dangerous to be powered down? I’d think you’d be more vulnerable to an attack.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 5:39 pm
The strange Senshi’s focus might have been on him, but Peter’s eyes lowered to the man’s stomach when it practically roared louder than either of them were talking.
“Senshi of-- no! I’m not,” he sputtered, his eyes on the Senshi with more distress now than before. What had he gotten himself into? Maybe he should have stayed with Michael. Or somehow convinced Michael to come with him to talk to this strange… strange Senshi.
“Okay, first. The Negaverse hunts Senshi down to kill them and take their starseeds. Knights too. Or force them to join them by corrupting them with Chaos. So it’s more dangerous to stay powered up, because they can find you easier that way. Staying hidden is your best defense. Even talking to you like this could be dangerous! There’s Generals out there cutting people’s heads off!
“Second. What do you mean other worlds? And Senshi of this world?? This is Earth. If there is a Sailor Earth, I’ve never met them.
“Third, when was the last time you ate? Or slept. Or showered. No offense, but I thought the smell was coming from the garbage, but now I’m not so sure. My point is, you look like crap. Not your clothes, those are very nice. Not really my style, but nice. But you’ve got dark circles under your eyes,” he explained and pointed to his own eyes.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 6:36 pm
Alastor’s eyes flashed and there were easily a dozen things he could have chosen to answer or focus on, but the fact that this was Earth seemed to be what caught his attention the most. “Earth, really? Are we close to the ocean? I want to find the Martels.”
If he’d had any doubt that Percy had called him here it was banished from his mind. “Or any Jupiter Knights, I suppose. If there are any around.” He’d said something about Knights and–didn’t they have a school here or something?
Oh, he’d said other things, too. Alastor didn’t acknowledge his stomach, because it had gotten very demanding since getting here–to Earth--and being surrounded by all of this convenient food. His mind felt a bit muddy and he had to backtrack the rest of the conversation, because if this gentleman was going to be helpful, the least he could do was try to stay on topic.
Although, his priority was really just finding Percy so he could borrow him and fix his world, but. One thing at a time. This was a big world, after all, and he didn’t want to get lost here. Not anymore than he already was, at least.
“It’s been a while since I was around so much food,” he said, because he was pretty sure that was a question? The bag in his arm felt heavier, a reminder that the food was calling to him. “Things stopped growing on my world a while ago, I haven’t eaten like this in a bit. I don’t like to sleep much.” Oh, but the coffee. He took a long swig of it. “I was going to go find somewhere now, while the sun’s still up. Shower was last night, but I did spend all night fighting, so that’s probably not helping.”
He was procrastinating jumping in the river again, it was still cold this early in the morning, but he’d make a plan to wash up again soon. Ish. Hopefully the sun would warm things up quickly.
He shifted positions a bit, obviously not fond of the idea of powering down, but. This was an unfamiliar world, and…
No, he still didn’t like the idea. It had been so long since he last powered down that he wasn’t even sure he knew how to. He certainly had no idea what he’d been wearing before he powered up. At least like this he had some resistance to the cold.
And yet, as reluctant as he was to power down, he did so. Where he was standing, but still.
He didn’t look any less out of place in his extravagant clothes, and though he was dressed in similar colors, his outfit was significantly darker. He still looked at Peter expectantly, and tried very hard to ignore the biting chill, or the immediate ache on his muscles. He was used to being powered and relying on the magic for extra strength and durability. Now, he just looked tired, and hungry, and worn down.
He felt it more, too; even the bag in his arms seemed to triple in weight. The extra burden didn't seem to bring him down, but he was regretting his decision to power down, and he was already thinking about slipping somewhere more private so he could just go back to being Alastor.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 6:52 pm
“Wait! I didn’t mean he-- here… Ah…” Peter trailed off weakly as he looked wildly around them to make sure no one else seemed to have noticed. It didn’t look like anyone was paying attention, but that didn’t mean anything. Still, everything this man was saying was strange. And his clothing was still strange.
At that moment, Peter felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out to wince at the text from Michael. Quote: Absolutely not. Don’t even think about it.
Still, it seemed rude to not offer him some help. He clearly needed it.
“That’s better. Thank you,” Peter said with a quiet sigh. “I’m Peter… I live close by and… If you wanted to take some time to rest, we have food and it’s warmer and you’re about my brother’s size and I know he has some extra coats. But you should really be more careful about where you do that. You’re… you’re really not from Earth?”
It wasn’t that difficult to believe since there were Velencians in the city, but this man looked pretty human to him. Except for the trippy contacts he was wearing.
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:16 pm
“No, from Alastor. Why, do Senshi not come here often? I’ve heard Earth was very busy.” Hadn’t it always been? It felt like a distant thought, so maybe it wasn’t important. He was tired, he felt it now more than he had before. It was exhausting. While he was a Senshi, it was easier to ignore, but now he felt like he could have just laid there on the ground and taken a nap.
Probably not a good idea, if there were people cutting off heads and messing with starseeds.
Was it a good idea to trust someone he’d only just met?
Really, no. Not at all.
He wasn't used to people helping him, but then–he wasn’t really used to people either. Not since they’d all had to go into hiding on his world. But–they’d looked after each other then, hadn’t they? It wasn’t so uncommon. And Devyn had questions–a lot of questions.
No one else seemed to have known as much as Peter had.
Rest sounded–
He didn’t want to admit how good it sounded, so he took another large gulp of coffee.
“I’m Alastor. No,” he corrected, “Devyn. Sorry, it’s been a while. I can pay you, I don’t know how much I have, I’m still learning currency. But I’d be grateful for any assistance. I don’t know the rules of this place. It’s not like my world at all. I never had to hide who I was. If you’re not the Senshi of this world, what are you doing here?”
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:34 pm
Peter laughed weakly when Devyn said he was still learning currency, and then winced at the feel of a few more texts coming through his phone. Maybe Michael could read minds as much as he could feel others’ auras.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know, but. Really. It’s not safe to talk about it so openly,” he insisted. “But… it’s nice to meet you. You said you were looking for… the Martels? And you mentioned a Percy, I think?”
He paused, and reluctantly glanced down at his phone. It was probably not a good idea to mention knowing three Jupiter knights at the moment.
Michael was going to be so angry with him. But he couldn’t just leave someone who was apparently new to Earth out in the cold. While they were hungry and filthy and looked like they hadn’t slept more than an hour at a time in probably a month.
Besides, he had questions too. And what if this guy had some information that they could use?
“Would you be willing to come with me and I can try to help explain things? We’ve gotten a lot of, uh, guests recently. But apparently Earth is unique. Until recently, we thought all Senshi and Knights were born here, but. You’re clearly the exception. And there’s another that hasn’t awakened, but has a Senshi’s starseed. Um… you can meet my brother too. I think. He looks angry but I promise he’s nice when you get to know him. Usually.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:56 pm
“Percy Martel, yes. But any of the Martels will do, I’m sure he’s kept in contact with all of them.”
Oh, but Peter had said something after that. The words had sort of droned out a bit after he’d heard Percy’s name. Devyn listened, it was just that things sometimes seemed to immediately get filed behind a wall in his mind, and thoughts piled up somewhere in a corner where he could access them later. When he had more energy.
“I’ll go with you, yes.”
Devyn wasn’t the sort to admit when he was in over his head but there was a voice in the back of his mind–not his own, far too logical–that said he should accept help, especially if someone was going to just give him information. That was far easier than trying to seek out everyone individually for more, especially if the others were in hiding.
Warnings about an angry brother didn’t seem to faze him, he knew how that went.
“Sounds like you’ve been busy here. If you have no Senshi, who’s in charge?” He opened his mouth to ask another question but paused and instead pursed his lips together. Peter had said it wasn’t safe to talk out here so openly, and he doubted any of his questions were appropriate if the Senshi here were prone to secrecy.
He could wait to ask.
For a little bit, at least.
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