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 Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 10:09 am
When Cymophane left Empyrean, he teleported first to Negaspace, then, finding Jet absent, teleported two blocks away from Ilian’s house.
He’d been by a few times, usually to help Ilian with something social media related. (How someone his age could be so hopeless about the internet, or technology in general, was a mystery to Misha.) The neighborhood was nice, but not obscenely extravagant — a new development taking the place of an older one, close to downtown without being right in the middle of the action. Well maintained street lamps and an abundance of Christmas lights lit his way as Cymophane powered down and walked the rest of the way as Misha.
He trotted up the steps and knocked on the door of a craftsman bungalow, surprised to find the porch and lawn seasonally decorated. (Neither Ilian nor Lovely seemed to be the type — Ilian because he spent most of his time with the Negaverse, and Lovely because Lovely was an irritable b***h who seemed incapable of expressing joy, much less holiday cheer.)
Misha bounced on his toes, restless, anxious, a bit keyed up. When the door didn’t immediately open, he rang the bell, then rang it again for good measure.
Lovely was not about to leave the comfort of the couch to limp his way to the door. Sore and tired, he was perfectly content to let the knocking fade beneath whatever Netflix show failed to keep his attention.
The bell was a bit more difficult to ignore.
Lovely detached himself from Ilian’s mouth and grumbled, “I’m going to kill whoever the ******** that is if they don’t ******** off in the next five seconds.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 2:16 pm
Ilian frowned at the sound of someone knocking on the door, but was willing to ignore it because Lovely was warm and curled up next to him and-- ah, whoever it was now decided to ring the doorbell. Twice.
“I’d like to see you try,” Ilian snorted softly in amusement at Lovely’s grumbled threat, and fished his phone out from between the couch cushion where it had fallen. “It’s Misha,” he mumbled in surprise, and not-as-reluctantly extracted himself from Lovely’s arms and stood from the couch.
He did lean close to press a quick kiss to Lovely’s lips before he was on his way to the door. He was in his pajamas, which just consisted of lounge pants and a teeshirt and zippered sweater over top, and his hair was kind of a mess, but that wasn’t important. What was important was finding out what Misha was doing there.
“Hey,” he greeted when he opened the door, and held it open for him to come inside, taking a moment to peer out and make sure no one was hovering around and watching. “What’s going on? Are you okay? Come in. Can I get you anything?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 4:37 pm
Lovely rolled his eyes and grumbled unintelligibly beneath his breath, grabbing at Ilian but ultimately failing to keep him on the couch. Hoisting himself up, Lovely limped after him, if only to prevent Misha from overstaying his welcome.
Misha smiled brightly and greeted Ilian with a jaunty, “Hi~!”
He stepped into the house, looking between Ilian and Lovely like someone snooping into something that wasn’t any of his business. He waved off Ilian’s concern and answered him with an easy, “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”
Then he eyed Ilian’s messy hair and the disgruntled look on Lovely’s face — a bit different from his usual disgruntled looks, if only because his cheeks didn’t normally sport that sort of flush.
“I didn’t interrupt any sexy times, did I?” he asked, but didn’t sound as if he felt guilty at all.
“You did, actually,” Lovely snarled, folding his arms over his chest. His pajamas were a bit rumpled, sweatpants riding low and hoodie askew.
“Hello, Lovely,” Misha said, letting his smile grow in the face of Lovely’s frown. “You look so pretty when you’re not all stiff and formal in your uniform. I never really understood why that spell you use is fire when you’re more like ice.”
“Get ********,” Lovely snapped.
“I would if I could. Are you offering?”
Incensed, Lovely tore his gaze away from Misha to level Ilian with a look that said, Do you see how he provokes me? Get him out of my house.
Misha, knowing better than to push his luck, stopped antagonizing Lovely to turn back to Ilian. He didn’t apologize, but his smile took on an edge of sympathy. He would never understand how or why Ilian put up with Lovely.
“I just came from the park,” he explained. “Met someone who says they’d take me to Ganymede if I wanted to meet her. Not Oberon. A Page of Jupiter. Empyrean. The name doesn’t ring any bells — I double checked the database and he’s not in there — but he seems well connected.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 4:51 pm
He was glad that Misha wasn’t injured, and he waited patiently for Lovely to get his frustrations out. As much as he would like to just go back to the couch, if Misha was showing up at their house, then it must be something important.
Ilian’s eyebrows rose with curiosity when they were told about a Page of Jupiter. It seemed like there were more Jupiter knights than he realized. He really only knew of the two Knights.
“Empyrean. Never heard of him. Who are his connections? I’m guessing this Oberon Senshi if he was there in his place,” Jet hummed thoughtfully.
Despite Lovely probably wanting Misha out of the house, Ilian made sure to shut the door behind him. “At least come into the kitchen and have something to drink or eat,” he offered. Surely Misha had a lot to say. He might as well be comfortable.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 5:16 pm
“Thanks,” Misha said, accepting the offer whether or not he actually needed anything to eat or drink. If it would stop Ilian from worrying about it, then he could certainly stomach something.Lovely rolled his eyes again, letting out a moody huff as he turned to make his way into the kitchen.
The limp that continued to plague him was slight but noticeable. His wounds were healed enough that he could make use of his limbs again. Supposedly he might even be able to have the cast removed from his hand in another week or so. Lovely was anxious for it, more impatient by the day. He would feel far less defenseless once he could actually hold his weapon again.Misha followed, taking a seat at the island bar.
“He had to’ve heard about me from Perdita,” he continued once they were all in the kitchen and Lovely was distracting himself by rummaging through the refrigerator. “Or Oberon through Perdita. He knew my star name, and I’ve only shared that with Perdita. I think he knows Ganymede. Like, really knows her. He seemed pretty informed about what happened at the battle with the Velencians. He knew Ochre’s star name, too. I can’t imagine Ochre had much time to share it with many people before he was a head shorter. Ganymede and Valhalla, maybe. Or the traitors that were with them.”Lovely pulled out a box of leftover pizza and dropped it onto the counter. He snagged a piece of himself and took a bite of it cold, but made a face at it and dug out a plate to toss it into the microwave.
“She hangs out with more Jupiter knights than her own,” he grumbled.“Yeah, I guess,” Misha agreed, taking a piece of pizza for himself. Unlike Lovely, Misha didn’t mind eating it cold. “I think Empyrean knows Sessrumnir, too. I told him you were my General, and mentioned that someone you cared about was hurt. He knew Aquamarine’s name without me having to say it, and he seemed to know about what Sessrumnir did, even if he was vague about it.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 5:29 pm
Misha moving into the kitchen did make Ilian feel a bit better, and he leaned up against the counter beside the sink across from the island where Misha was sitting, putting the surface between them if only to make it easier for them to talk. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he frowned at the new information.
“What does Empyrean look like? Anything recognizable about him?” Ilian wondered, because if some civilian was wandering around like he assumed Sessrumnir did before attacking Aquamarine, then it would be good to try to see through the glamour that protected their identities.
“Did he say where we can find Ganymede? Or even Valhalla,” he added, because if they found one then they would likely find the other. “Or where I can find Sessrumnir? I wouldn’t mind talking to him, face to face.”
And by talking, Ilian absolutely meant stabbing him and taking his starseed.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 5:56 pm
“There wasn’t anything about him that stood out,” Misha said. “He’d be just another generic Page of Jupiter if he wasn’t so old. He had gray in his hair. The rest was dark. Maybe brown leaning toward auburn? Blue eyes. Really bright. Handsome guy, like a silver fox. If I had to guess, I’d put him in his mid-to-late sixties. He was tall, too. Maybe a bit more than you.”Lovely stood further away, leaning against a different counter. He refused to look at Misha, but he listened to every word.
The description was unfamiliar, except that parts of it could have fit Sessrumnir to a T. The hair. The bright eyes. The height. But Sessrumnir wasn’t nearly so old.
The microwave beeped. Lovely grabbed his plate of pizza and took another bite. He chewed slowly, nearly lost in thought.“He didn’t say where I could meet her, just that he could take me to her,” Misha continued. He chewed with more enthusiasm. Even cold, the pizza was way better than some chain delivery place. “I thought it’d be suspicious if I asked, and I couldn’t exactly agree to go with him just yet. I let him think I was afraid, but he offered to keep meeting me.”
Poor guy. Empyrean was smart, definitely cautious, but his heart was kind. His brain and his heart were probably constantly at war with one another.
Misha took another bite, chewed, and swallowed. He glanced between Ilian and Lovely.
“We might have bigger problems than Ganymede,” he said, discarding a touch of cheer so they were both aware he was being serious. “When I told Empyrean there was no way I could escape without you coming after me, he said he could take me somewhere safe, that he could guarantee it, that there are ways to stop you. I dug as much as I could. Brought up what happened to Aquamarine again. His answers were vague, but… I think they’ve got something. More of those smoke bombs, or something worse. He said what happened to Aquamarine would seem like a minor event soon.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 6:46 pm
Ilian glanced at Lovely as he got his pizza and stood, lost in thought. The description of Empyrean definitely sounded like Sessrumnir. He wondered how likely it was that they were related somehow.
“No, it was probably good that you didn’t ask more questions,” Ilian said in agreement, pleased to hear that this Page was willing to meet with Cymophane again. Good, that meant they would be getting closer to Ganymede soon enough. Or that was Ilian’s hope.
But when Misha moved on to the next topic, Ilian felt as though he’d been plunged into ice water.
Something that would make what happened to Aquamarine seem like a minor event?
“He said that? That it would be like a minor event?” Because that was pretty relevant to know. If they had something more than simple smoke bombs that would guarentee the safety of someone looking to defect. If the White Moon found out a way to use those smoke bombs on a larger scale… what would that mean for the rest of them?
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 7:21 pm
“Yeah. Those were his exact words,” Misha said.
He ate the pizza down to the crust, then played with the crisps ends, breaking crumbs off over the open box. He tore the crust into smaller pieces, eating them one by one.
“He was evasive about it, but he sounded confident. No matter what I said about you or the Negaverse or what anyone might be capable of, never once did I get the impression that he was afraid. Either he was a very good actor, or…”
Misha shrugged. It seemed careless to do so, but the more he thought about the implications that arose throughout his conversation with Empyrean, the more out of sorts he felt.
“I asked him if what happened to Aquamarine was revenge, an example, or a test run, and he said he thought it was a bit of all three,” Misha continued, then paused to swallow a bite of crust. When he was done, he brushed crumbs from his hands. He glanced up at Ilian with a frown. “I think they’re all connected somehow. Ganymede and Valhalla, obviously. Sessrumnir and Empyrean, too. They’ve got something related to those smoke bombs, and they tested one out on Aquamarine to make a point.”Lovely dropped his half finished slice of pizza onto his plate, suddenly without an appetite.
His good hand curled into a fist at his side. What he wouldn’t give to throw it at Sessrumnir, break his nose, bash his face in, repay him for the last few weeks of pain and inconvenience. That it might’ve all been a test of some sort made it even worse.
Sessrumnir could have killed him, but he let him live to carry a message to Jet, because he had other plans to enact later.
Lovely lifted his gaze to Ilian. So much for a peaceful evening.
“Are they after Jet?” he asked.“Not specifically. At least I don’t think so,” Misha said. “Whatever it is, they’d use it against all of us. Empyrean said I’d only be safe if I was no longer in the Negaverse.”
He faced Ilian with something like remorse in his expression. If he could have gotten a more definitive answer, he would have.
“I can meet him again, try to get more out of him, but he was already cautious. He’ll know something’s up if I push the subject too much. I was thinking I should meet with him a few more times, let him reel me in with all that peace and love crap, then meet up with Ganymede when you’re ready.”Lovely sighed heavily.
He hated this. He hated everything about this. He hated Sessrumnir and his smug face. He hated Ganymede and her meddling, flaunting all those purifications. He hated Jet’s obsession, his need to capture her and present her to the Queen. He hated that nothing he had to say about it would make a difference. There was no argument that could change Jet’s mind, not after his reckless promise to the Queen.
Jet said it would be done, and so it must be.
“Use the earrings,” Lovely said. “We can monitor your meetings with Empyrean, see where he takes you when you meet Ganymede, then grab her the first chance we get.”
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 7:42 pm
There were too many unknowns. Too many things that didn’t quite add up. How could the White Moon have something that would be worse than the smoke bombs? What could protect people only if they weren’t part of the Negaverse?
Empyrean told Cymophane that it had been revenge, an example, and a test run when Sessrumnir attacked Aquamarine. A test run for what? The other two he understood, but if there was something that could threaten the livelihood of those in the Negaverse…
He glanced at Lovely again, his chest tight because he knew that Lovely probably already anticipated what he was going to do. Lovely knew him probably better than Ilian knew himself. And he was loyal and protective. For Lovely to offer the earrings they often shared so they could obtain more information was probably the best chance they had at both finding a way to capture the Princess and to figure out what they had hiding up their sleeve.
Ilian nodded to Misha in gratitude, and then glanced at Lovely once more, his eyes sympathetic but also determined.
“I need to speak with the Queen.”
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