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 Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:20 pm
When he was close enough, when his aura sense told him someone was nearby, Kerberos always made an effort to find them. Order, because allies were good to have, and the people he already knew were worth checking on. Chaos, because--
Because it drew him like a magnet, these days. Because he liked to pretend it was about extending a hand or stopping nefarious activity, but it was more than that, and he knew it. Hated it. Did his best to fight against it, especially since he'd found the infection growing on his world. But tonight, it was an order aura he felt, and that was safe to approach. So he went, and was glad to recognize Jupiter armor and a winged helmet, and the face it was attached to.
"Valhalla!" The call was cheery, a cover for his growing stress, until he drew closer, and realized--Valhalla was a mess. A mess in a way Kerberos recognized; he had looked that way, once. Drawn. Exhausted. Pushed past the point where he should have stopped.
That was--not good.
"Are you alright?" An awkward start. The answer was obvious, but it was the best that Kerberos could think to ask, and it would at least let him gauge the waters on how much Valhalla might be willing to talk about.
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 10:25 am
Wandering. It was just that, most nights. With no direction. No clues. Trying to search for something that had been lost, something that may never be recovered.
He was exhausted, existing and doing the primary functions of a human so he could take care of his children, of his mother, of his pets. But he didn't feel like himself. He didn't go with the rest of the team to do Spring Training. How could he when his wife was missing? He wasn't even sure what excuse he gave his manager, but at this point if they canceled his contract or kept him on the bench all season, what would it matter if he didn't have Paris?
"Kerberos," he said after a few moments of staring at the other. It took longer than he wanted to recognize him. Not because he didn't know Kerberos, but because his mind felt like it was in a constant haze, ready to spill over the edge at any moment.
"They took her. Ganymede."
Valhalla didn't want to send out a mass distress call. He didn't want the Negaverse to think they'd won. He didn't want everyone else to panic.
Not when he was on the brink of panic, himself.
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 11:11 pm
Kerberos's heart dropped.
No wonder Valhalla looked so drawn; it was obvious that Ganymede was dear to him, even if Kerberos wasn't entirely aware of the extent of their relationship.
Kerberos's thoughts went to a run-down carnival, and a dark room, and Hvergelmir with nails in her feet. If Ganymede was subject tot he same kind of treatment...it made him want to retch. Another friend, taken captive by the Negaverse, subject to the worst they were willing to do.
"When? And how?" He reached out, to put his hands on Valhalla's shoulders--to offer comfort, even if it was a little awkward, given how much taller than him Valhalla was. "....When was the last time you slept?"
The first two questions had been urgent, but the last was gentler.
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Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2022 10:11 am
Valhalla drew in a breath, trying to steady himself. He knew he needed to answer because maybe Kerberos could help. Or… Maybe he could keep an ear out for any information about what happened to her, or what they were doing to her.
His stomach twisted uncomfortably and he felt like he was going to be sick at just the thought of it. He knew what they did to her the last time they had her captured. They made him watch some of it.
“A couple weeks ago. We… we were trying to work on something… a machine my past life had been working on. It stopped teleportations, stopped magic. We were going to use it to make a safe space for people in Destiny City, so they could be purified without threat of being summoned back while they figured out what to do next with their new lives,” he explained quietly, even though he felt empty and his voice sounded dulled. It was all he could do to not panic.
“We were going to help purify a Senshi, but Jet found us… We took him captive instead, but somehow he managed to break out and… he killed--”
He had to stop for a moment. He’d heard Kerberos’ other question about sleeping, but he wasn’t the important one at that moment.
“Jet killed Empyrean. There was an ambush. They outnumbered us. Took Ganymede and left.”
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 9:42 pm
It wasn't exactly a surprise to Kerberos that Valhalla blazed right by the question about his own well-being. Considering that someone he loved was missing, and someone else was dead--
The whole thing put a pit in Kerberos's stomach.
"Jet--the General that killed Sheikh?" He couldn't say that he was a fan of holding prisoners, but Jet was demonstrably dangerous, and would probably have been even more dangerous to the poor Senshi they were trying to help. This was two deaths at Jet's feet, at least--almost certainly more. You didn't get to removing a head on a battlefield from nowhere. "I'm sorry. For Empyrean. I didn't know him well, but he struck me as a good man."
And any life lost to this war was a tragedy.
With a tense inhale, Kerberos removed the Mourner's Bloom from around his neck, and offered it to Valhalla. The center of it was still black, from the memories he'd shared with Sylvite--it hadn't felt safe to go to his planet and cleanse it, considering the corruption that festered even there. But there had to be enough room to take at least some of Valhalla's pain.
"If you'd like," Kerberos said, "you can share some of the burden of your grief with me. It won't fix it, not all the way--but it will lessen it. You look like you're drowning, so...let me offer you a hand? So we can start thinking of ways to get Ganymede home. They'll likely have taken her to Negaspace, with just one captive, which means she'll be hard to save, but not impossible--and if they took her captive at all, there has to be a reason. So Ganymede is almost certainly still alive. Which means she needs you."Guine Kerberos is offering his personal item! Personal Item: Mourner’s Bloom Physical Description - A pendant like this, on a golden chain. The blue portions are a liquid that appears to flow through the design; the flowers are asphodel. Benefit/Boost - While holding the chain, Kerberos can offer the pendant to someone who is suffering from grief or regret, and the pendant will allow Kerberos to relive the memory or memories that are the source of their pain along with the person. This can only be done with permission; he cannot force it on anyone. When it is done, the pendant will draw off some of the grief the person is suffering, allowing them to feel more at ease with their pain. It will not perfectly heal their emotional suffering, but can ease it, and make it easier for them to begin to work through it. When Kerberos draws off grief with the pendant, the blue liquid will begin to turn black, starting at the center and flowing outwards. If all of the blue turns black - which usually takes multiple memories, but can be all at once if someone is carrying a particularly painful load - the negative emotions stored will begin to flow over into Kerberos, so he must return to his planet and place it back in the pool he found it in to cleanse it as it fills.
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:43 pm
Valhalla nodded as Kerberos spoke. He definitely felt as though he was drowning. Words were muddled, thoughts a blur. His heart both raced and stood still at the same time.
When Kerberos offered the pendent to him, he hesitated, if only because he didn't want to burden anyone else with the grief he felt. But after a moment, he gently held out his hand for it.
The memories were overwhelming and came in flashes. Bloodied wings, cut off and falling apart on the ground next to Ganymede where she'd collapsed. He could still clearly see the blue-green of her eyes when they hoisted her up and disappeared.
Memories of a dark hall, a quiet discussion on what to do with the General they held captive, how they needed to move him, how Empyrean and Valhalla weren't willing to have him killed because there had to be another way. And how Empyrean was called over by Jet, and then collapsed after his starseed was pulled.
"You touch Aquamarine again, and I'll make sure everyone you love or care for dies."
Jet had said that with Empyrean's starseed in his hand, as he stared down the hall at Sessrumnir. There was nothing they could do before Jet teleported, their device they'd worked so hard on-- that Serge worked so hard on a thousand years ago in response to his own brother's death --broken by a couple of youma. He found out from Oberon, Perdita, and Lucasta later that there had been nothing they could have done to stop it from being destroyed. That it must have been planned out, somehow.
"Empyrean was my dad," Valhalla admitted once the memories faded, because what was the point in keeping that a secret now? "I have to get her back, Kerberos. I can't… without her, I can't do this… I need her back."
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 4:29 am
Kerberos had used the Bloom more than once, now, but this was...more than he'd experienced, before. It was a hurricane of grief, and it broke his heart, just to see it secondhand. No wonder Valhalla looked haggard. No wonder he looked broken.
When the memories ended, and Kerberos saw, and knew, and understood, the blue in the Mourner's Bloom was black, edge to edge. Valhalla and Sylvite's pain had filled it to capacity, and Kerberos wasn't exactly surprised.
When--if--he fixed the poison on his planet, he would have to cleanse it before he tried to use it again. And it was going to be a hard time, until he could. But if he helped even a little, it was worth it.
He wished he had a shirt to tuck it under, so that Valhalla might not notice the color change, but he didn't, so the best he could do was put it back on and simply ignore it. Easy to do, when Valhalla had one more piece of paint o give.
"I'm so sorry," he said. "I know you've probably heard that a lot, but..." His father dead and Ganymede kidnapped, all at once? That was a special circle of misery. "We'll find Ganymede. And we'll get her back." Valhalla did not need any more loss. "I know people in the Negaverse. Not many, but a few, who might be able or willing to help." It would test those contacts to the limit, Kerberos expected--but he had to try.
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Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:47 am
“I don’t know what else to do,” Valhalla said quietly as his voice broke under the emotion that still whirled within him. He’d never been one to cry much, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel deeply. Sometimes he wondered if he just reached a point where he was beyond crying. Where his emotions were so stuck inside him that there was no other way to release them.
“I don’t want you getting hurt,” he added after a moment, realizing that Kerberos was offering to talk to people in the Negaverse. “Ganymede wouldn’t want you getting taken, too.”
There was just too much to deal with. He felt guilty for getting others involved. And he blamed himself for not being stronger of a fighter. He should have been able to get to Ganymede in time to help her, but he was useless. None of the others had managed to get to her either, but she was his wife. He should have been able to do more.
He had noticed the change in color in Kerberos’ necklace, but he also noticed how he placed it back around his neck in a way that made it seem as though he wasn’t trying to draw attention to it.
Which meant that the most Valhalla could do was reach out to pull Kerberos into a tight hug. He didn’t know the other very well, but he appreciated everything he had already done, and everything he said he was going to do, even if he decided against doing it for his own safety.
“Thank you. For everything.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:29 am
Hearing Valhalla's voice break made Kerberos's heart crack in two. This was the truest awfulness of the Negaverse--the way they broke people, tore them apart, in the organization and out.
"I'll be careful," Kerberos promised, "but I've got to do what I can." Even if it ended up being fruitless. Even if it made him even more of a target. Even if it meant risking his own safety.
His own, specifically, though--he'd have to be careful about warning others. Sylvite was a good option, maybe; she'd seemed to have a lot of regrets. Chrysocolla--not so much.
When Valhalls pulled him in, Kerberos, wrapped his arms around him and squeezed.
"You're welcome. I can't imagine doing anything else."
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