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 Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2022 2:17 am
It had been a long time since Kerberos was dogged by nightmares of the future in which he had been an Ascendant General. Perhaps the work he'd done to prevent that future had worked, to a degree, and even to the point that it drove that particular ghost from his mind.
But of late, the nightmares had returned. Some of them were familiar, but some of them....some of them were new. Not memories of a future past, no, but creations of his own head, the scouring of the planet he'd worked so hard to restore, the fading of his Transcended glow--
Perhaps, with the resurgence of those ghosts, it was only fair that he meet another one.
Not that the woman before him, who he'd nearly run into, lost in his own thoughts as he was, was a ghost. No, she was vibrantly alive. He blinked once, twice, to be sure what he was seeing--
"Ida?"
It had been years. Would she even remember him? Would she recognize the Ascendent General, or the angry, drunken Corrupt, in what he'd become?
He wasn't sure if he hoped the answer was "yes" or "no."
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 6:40 pm
Ida turned in surprise when she heard her name, pulled out her thoughts and her patrolling.
This section of city had been quiet tonight and she honestly hadn't expected to run into anyone else after a good hour alone on the cold roof tops. Even officers seemed to be staying in out of the cold, she'd only caught a faint sense once or twice, far off. She'd been thinking about work, and as comfortable as the aura of another transcended was to her, it would explain why she hadn't notice him getting closer until he spoke. He wasn't a threat and she hadn't been in the mood for company, to go seek him out.
The man she saw, street lights shining up on his gauzy layers from below, gave her a faint feeling of familiarity... but it was hard to grasp out. She'd met so many people over the years, so many she'd talked to once and then not seen again... Had they run into each other before?
"Hmm? Yes? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was... Have we... met before?" She smoothed dark hairs back from her face she looked him over, worrying at that feeling of knowing him, somehow. He had both more fabric than she did, and less coverage... And the veils over face and hair only confused her recognition more, making him look mysterious and fantastical. Red and white... with blue hair?
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:16 am
She didn't recognize him.
That was clear enough, and Kerberos still wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd changed so much, he supposed, and it made sense that maybe she didn't look at him and look for the miserable Corrupt he'd been the last time they met. Still, he reached up, and tugged away the delicate veil across his face.
"Yeah, we've met, but it's been a while, and I looked pretty different back then. Hi," he extended a hand, "I'm Kerberos."
Perhaps his name would jog her memory.
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2022 10:33 am
She'd reached for his hand automatically before his name dropped and she stilled, palm to palm with him as she remembered the angry corrupt she had met years ago. And before that, the horrific ascended that had murdered Bohlinia in front of her.
The memories of that future time had faded over the years, taking on more of a dream-like quality than the immediate memories they'd once been. When the five years had passed and they'd proven to be completely wrong, their importance had receded still further. Looking at him no longer held the gut-punch it once had, and she was awash with a strange mix of feelings that held her silent for a long moment as she studied him.
"I guess... you figured it out then?" She finally said, letting her fingers close warmly around his hand. Their first meeting hadn't gone well, she remembered that much, but she hadn't seen him again and the threat she had made then had also faded from her mind. Now, he was a different person. Or mostly different. Purification was a crucible... no one ever came out quite the same as they were before. "You look more at ease than you did last time, and I guess you didn't lose a lot of your memories if you remember me. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you."
"I feel like I should congratulate you... I'm sure it wasn't an easy path to take, but... Transcended too? You've come such a long way..." She said softly, processing what he must have done to reach this point. Slowly, Ida let herself reconcile this man with the one she remembered, some small bit of tension in herself relaxing.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:00 am
Kerberos waited. There was a little tension in his shoulders, though he did his best to keep his expression open and friendly. He wasn't the monster she'd known in the nightmare future, or the miserable sack she'd met after. He was different--better--stronger, now. And also a little less inclined, he liked to think, to pull personal slights out of people trying to care about him.
"I did," Kerberos said. "With a lot of help, and not before I did some more damage, but...I did figure it out." Caledonia had been lost to his inability to make a damn decision. But he liked to think that he had done work since then that might make things a little better. "I, uh. Lost the other set--remember everything I did as Kerberos." He exhaled. "Several years late, but--I'm sorry, for the way I treated you when we last met. I really did not want to hear anyone giving a s**t about me, and I took it out on you."
To say the absolute least.
"I..." The mention of his Transcendence made a shadow cross Kerberos's face, briefly. "I dunno how I could have done anything else. When I went to my planet, I...it's beautiful. And like you said back then, it needs and deserves my protection."
Not that he was doing a great job protecting it now, with Chaos eating it up. It was far too close to that nightmare future, and...
"Hey, Ida? You've been on this side, with access to your world, a lot longer than I have, and you probably know more about space than me, so...can I ask you a question? Do you know if anyone has ever....had a Chaos infection on their homeworld?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:18 pm
He really did seem better... but, she reminded herself, how could he not?
The apology made her shake her head and she waved it away with a slim hand as her bracelets jingled softly.
"You were going through something hard, and everyone tends to lash out when they're hurting. And you were a different person back then, really." She said. "You're forgiven, if you even need it, and I think we can just move on as allies now... we don't have to dwell on any of that."
Ida's face softened as he mentioned visiting his planet and finding it beautiful... she felt an echo of that sentiment deep in her soul, remembering how she felt every time she visited her own asteroid and its blossoming life. That feeling only lasted a moment though, until he brought up his question. Ida frowned and nodded slowly.
"From time to time, something shows up on a world that comes from some seed of Chaos... I had something I call Blight that showed up on mine. From what I've seen, they usually take help to destroy and free the world of it." Concern sped up her heart beat and deepened her frown. "Is something happening on your world? Would you be okay showing me? Maybe I can help. If there is anything I can do to keep your world alive, I would be there in an instant."
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:50 am
There was a sense of relief, hearing from Ida that his world was not the first to be tainted by Chaos. Perhaps, part of him had carried the fear that it had been something he had done--that his previous corruption was responsible for the poison infesting his planet. But it seemed that Lyndin was right; there were things in the universe that they were not prepared for, and they had to be handled as a group.
And Kerberos had not ruined his own precious sanctuary.
"Yeah, there is. Definitely something happening on my world," Kerberos exhaled. "Some kind of monster, twisted up in a sacred place. I think it's trying to poison the whole world." He exhaled. "Someone else told me something similar--that it would definitely take a group to defeat it, and that I sohuld be careful about going back there. I just...don't have a lot of people I can call on. My boyfriends, mostly? And a couple other people I've met? So I'd appreciate your help, if you're willing."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 7:46 pm
Something softened in Ida when he mentioned his boyfriends. She smiled, though it was a wistful sort of expression.
"Its good to have people who support you, I'm glad for that. We all need them." She said, feeling that familiar ache again. Some day, maybe, she'd have that again. It was hard to picture it now, of course, when the edges of the hole in her heart still felt tender and sore. She offered her hand to him, glowing marks curling like vines down her arm.
"I'm ready when you are."
At least she had the anticipation of seeing his world to drive away the melancholy. A new world was always exciting, a new place to see and experience. New plants and maybe animals, new smells. Would his world look like her own, or like any of the other worlds she'd seen over the years? Or would he be entirely, completely unique?
The monster was concerning, of course, but they'd find a way to deal with it, and if they couldn't do it with just the two of them, then they'd find others who could help.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2022 1:53 am
Kerberos took a breath. Let it out. Extended his hand to hers.
"It probably won't be pretty," he wanred. "My world--it had been coming back to life. There were insects, animals. But last time I visited, when I found the Chaos---it's dying again. And I can't....I know that future we all saw isn't real, or we made it not happen, in some way. But I failed it once, in that future. And I can't fail it again."
He was sure she would understand. She was Transcended, like him, had bonded with her world. She would know better than anyone the fear of losing that bond.
He refused to allow that fear to become a reality.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:04 pm
Ida nodded solemnly as she took his hand, giving it a squeeze of reassurance.
"Its okay. Even if its not pretty, we'll figure something out. We'll fix it. I promise we'll bring the life back." She said with quiet confidence. Even though she worried, she was determined. Ida knew Kerberos was determined too, and together, they would figure out, whatever they had to do to fix it. Their worlds deserved that... and they deserved healed worlds, full of life and beauty. There was too much pain and suffering and struggle in their lives not to have something beautiful to balance it out.
Some day, God willing, all their worlds would be living and thriving again. That was a dream to cling to.
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