Welcome to Gaia! ::

Encke normally patrolled quite a bit, but he found himself patrolling a bit more than usual these days. A lot of recent events had him a bit off-kilter; there was a lot of unexpected things happening all at once, a lot of unexpected worries, and even ensuring that the nearby streets were clear of any threats had a way of helping clear his head.

(There was also time on his comet and also time with Richard, but that was neither here nor there--)

He caught the fainter energies as he approached them, one of them Negaverse--a lieutenant, probably--one of them a page. He couldn't quite help the chill in his blood when he thought about the concept of a page against anyone, his mind immediately supplying him with the thoughts of Basiluzzo on the ground, starseedless, Faustite's foot pressing on his neck, his attempts to talk him out of it while also seeming like Basiluzzo wasn't as important to him as he was--

He shook himself out of it and dashed off in the direction of what he sensed.

Knew he'd have to act immediately. Wasn't taking any chances with a Negaverse agent and a page. The pages were the least able to defend themselves of anyone on their side minus the cats, generally; unless they were already naturally strong fighters they didn't have much weaponry or magic to lean on. And a lieutenant had the same magic as a general did when it came to starseed taking--

His eyes widened when he realized what he was seeing.

A page--a page of what, exactly--with the lieutenant's hand already deep in her chest.

Instead of saying anything, he ran over and aimed straight for the lieutenant's face, aiming to daze her out enough that her grip would loosen and he could shove her back.

There was a part of him that might have felt bad for sending her flying in that way if it wasn't for what she had her hand upon and not for the memories in his mind that threatened to send his emotions upside down and inside out. The coin bounced against his shoe, and he pondered kicking it back in her direction before she simply summoned it back to herself.

Encke leveled her with a stare and was about to threaten her to leave or he'd make her before he saw something sail by his head, a lantern bonking the other side of the lieutenant's head and leaving yet another mark.

And that seemed to be enough for her.

He snorted under his breath, watching as she started away from them and then darted away from them. He let her go, more concerned with the page in front of him than whoever she was or wherever she was going.

Better to make sure she was alright.

"No problem at all." He breathed, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck. "I get it. My husband's like that too, always trying to protect everyone." And it was something he admired, sincerely, as much as it brought him stress in equal measure.

That civilian who had been with Basiluzzo, who he had managed to get to leave without anyone going after her again--

"You want to save every starseed you can, you know? And I do too." He found himself clocking her symbols, careful not to stare too long at any one location. He hadn't ever seen a knight with that symbol before, and he had seen quite a few knights in his time as a senshi. It looked like a crescent moon... "Just glad I could save yours. Are you new to this?"

A specific one.

She was looking for a starseed, and that wrenched his heart as he thought of the chances. He had known if Faustite had disappeared with Basiluzzo's starseed, or even worse, that would have been it. There would have been no finding it, and his husband's life would have just fed the machine. It had been the same with so many others. Encke wanted her to find that starseed, he would just need to figure out if there was a way to get it back--

So she was new. Very new.

That did confirm a few things for him, but it didn't necessarily answer the question of where she was from. Not until she started talking, not until she mentioned the floating orb and the tablet, in particular, not until she mentioned that she was on the Moon.

Oh.

... Really?

"So that explains the crescents," he murmured, his eyes widening in surprise. The Code on the Moon was making new knights? He hadn't heard of anything like that before, but ... well, clearly the proof was right in front of him. And she was already talking about taking care of a place in space on the Moon, which was something that absolutely delighted him, but for once he tried to yank his mind from the space priority into what mattered more -- saving the life she wanted to save.

Though he did say, "If you take good care of that space, your own starseed may eventually be protected against what that lieutenant just did," before continuing with, "Well, nice to meet you, Serenitatis! I'm Transcendent Eternal Encke, senshi of plasma. Not quite the same as you, but an ally." He grinned. "Knights have weapons and some magic, later on, and senshi have magic."

Just in case she was so new she hadn't even met a senshi yet...

"I've actually never met a knight of the Moon before! Didn't know there were moon knights, actually..." Was this a new development?

Encke put a pin in making sure he would tell her more about transcendence in a few minutes. That was definitely something he wanted to make sure she knew about--

So the Code said that the Moon Kingdom hadn't required knights before -- which was admittedly interesting, but made sense considering the fact that he had run into knights of all the other Sol planets but none of the Moon -- but now the Code was worried there weren't enough people to help. Was he gathering that correctly? It seemed she was worried about offending him with the way she finished that like she was asking him a question, and he chuckled lightly. "No, I think It's right. Chaos, and especially the Negaverse -- that's the force that takes the starseeds if you haven't heard that name yet -- has a chokehold on this planet, I think. Their members are corrupted versions of you and me, and they keep corrupting more."

Had corrupted more by force recently--

"Well, I'm glad to hear you decided to join us. And that in itself is a signal that you're being useful to the cause, right? You're taking on a big responsibility." His smile was encouraging. He hoped she'd find it that way. "As you do this longer, you'll gain more power. Knights eventually gain some kind of magic along with getting a more useful weapon -- or an artifact. I've also heard it referred to that way."

He paused, shifted, and pondered the best way to respond to what made him different as opposed to a knight. "As for what makes us different -- we're tied to a homeworld instead of a wonder like you are. So I'm Sailor Encke, right? My homeworld is Encke's Comet, and that's what my starseed comes from. I have magic surrounding the concept of "plasma"--like the state of matter, not the blood plasma. And in my past life, my starseed belonged to a member of the species that lived there."

That was probably the most alarming part of what he would be telling her, he imagined, so he paused there in case she needed a moment to process that.

Encke didn't seem to mind the personal space invasion. Something about being an actor meant that he regularly dealt with people he hardly knew in his personal bubble, and this was someone he actually wanted to help out--

Her questions were all valid -- no, he wasn't an alien now, which was a fundamental hole in some of the arguments he had heard the Negaverse give -- even if his starseed had a non-native to Earth origin. It was a good question if his species was carbon-based -- he presumed they were, but she was right in that living on comets was something people on Earth had never really conceived of. He waited for her to finish her series of questions before he cleared his throat and started from the top. "Not now, no. Was alien in a past life, but even though my starseed is linked to Encke's Comet I was born here and am as human as you are." He held out his arms in case she wanted to inspect the transcendence markings more closely. Probably could clarify that too -- "The markings are due to my transcendence. If you were to form that bond with your wonder, you'd gain some of your own."

He pulled one of his arms back to himself so he could summon his senshi phone and show it to her. "We can go to our homeworlds as you can go to the Moon. Could show you sometime," normally would offer for now, but he knew the time constraints involved, "once your mission to find that starseed is complete. Surprisingly, Encke's Comet is quite livable." He had helped over the years, of course, but-- "I suspect the people of Encke were carbon-based, but not like we're used to. For one, they were bioluminescent. Spots like stars across their skin, mouths that glowed too--"

Encke quickly worked to bring himself out of the images that floated to his mind.

"Ultimately, I don't think any of us know why we're born here, beyond our species being dead," he swallowed, "so we were reborn on a planet that does have plenty of life. But we can bring life back to our planets, too. I've watched a few species of bugs and animals return."

There was a part of him that hoped, deep in his heart, that somehow, those species of animals would eventually lead to the return of larger creatures and then the people he saw in his memories. He would settle for the world becoming a place where people could stay long-term, where people could be safe long-term, to being a place where people with nowhere to go could thrive--

"From what I understand, the same is true of wonders. I have some knight friends who have seen the return of bugs and other similar creatures."

"There's some paintings of my people on my planet," admitted Encke, easily. "Maybe I'll show you sometime."

He could understand why it would be hard to visualize. It had become so easy for him after years of witnessing memory blips of the person who had once possessed the title of Sailor Encke, too. The description was one he had settled on after a while -- the spots like stars felt especially fitting considering the constant visual of the stars above them. Felt fitting considering how The People had described themselves, too--

"They do," he nodded, letting her continue to observe his markings. "This transcendence is what has protected my starseed. Two people have attempted to take it since. They both got blown back. Can't attempt to corrupt me, either." Encke's lips quirked upward in something of a victorious smirk. He had felt a deep fear in the moment Faustite went for his starseed, a deep worry that perhaps that was it -- and then it very much wasn't, and he wasn't sure he quite held back his victorious cackling at that time. "On top of that, I've gained the ability to share my own energy. It's helped me give people the strength to keep going or recover the strength that the Negaverse has sapped from them. I know another transcendent knight who has gained more usage of her magic."

That was Pendour. Perhaps he would put Serentatis in contact--

She was a transcendent knight, after all. Was probably a bit more equipped to help her out than Encke was, as much as Encke knew of knights at this point--

"I'm not sure I was the best at landscaping at first, either, but I think it gets easier. And honestly, it felt like my homeworld was helping me along." He couldn't help a small snicker at her double-take. "And yes, you can. Wouldn't recommend taking too many at first. It gets easier as time goes on. But one's probably fine."

Even when Methone had been eternal when he and four others accompanied her to Sedna's purification, he still needed to share energy with her. Even at their stage, it wasn't easy. But it was doable.

"I've helped a couple of people at their own wonders or homeworlds that way if you ever want another set of eyes."

As Serentatis finally turned her gaze back to her lantern, Encke lowered his arms and gathered them back to himself, swinging them in unison with the way he bounced on his toes for a moment. It settled as he watched her, wondering quietly what she was turning over in her mind--

Taught? It was an interesting question, and Encke's instinctual response was something along the cliched lines of can show a horse to water, but can't make them drink. Encke promoted forging a good relationship with one's homeworld whenever he could because it could lead to transcendence, and transcendence was the only way he had ever known of to fully protect a starseed from being corrupted or taken. But he also knew it wasn't something he could make happen -- could show the way, sure.

It was all about the individual relationship with the world. If he could find ways to help that, find ways to restore that, find ways to encourage it, he would, but--

But the question was a bit different than that, ultimately, and he couldn't help the small frown that formed on his face.

Wanting to protect others was a good goal. He understood it deeply. If he could, every time that Basiluzzo went outside, he would have an aura of transcendent protection around him. If he could, none of the people he knew who didn't have this protection would ever be at risk again. At least, not from starseed-related harm.

"If it can be, not in any way I've seen," Encke frowned, rubbing one shoulder with his opposite hand. "I'd love to be able to do that. Being able to extend that protection forward would be," would feel like the way to end this, honestly. He swallowed that down. "The best I've been able to do is encourage other people to pursue that relationship with their worlds, to their own place in space.

"Which, unfortunately, doesn't necessarily help civilians. It just makes us better able to get in the way without fearing for our own starseed."

He deeply wished there was a better way to protect civilians.

"I think equipping them with knowledge helps. So they can know what to avoid, at least, and what they may need to defend themselves against. And if we discover them after having their energy drained, some transcendents -- myself included -- are able to help restore that energy."