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Fulgurite was on edge.

Something was off, very off, and it didn't take him much more than a missed meeting or two to figure that out. He and Sylvite had their frequent check-ins, and they were check-ins he had preferred. Perhaps they had gotten to the point to her thinking she didn't need to schedule it, it was obvious? And that was what had driven him to her office just to check but...

Well, all he saw was Gismodine.

On the floor.

Crying.

Holding a teddy bear.

He excused himself in the same breath and found himself with no further clues as to where Sylvite had gone other than the fact it was probably bad. It left him and ate at him for a couple of days while he went on his expected patrols -- the anger didn't stop, and the Negaverse didn't stop for anyone. Today, he found himself grimly staring down at someone he left at his feet and shooed away the evidence he had been involved in his subspace pocket without another thought, and he sighed for it.

He sighed as he continued on, warily looking for some third-stage aura he might recognize.

Well, ********, that was the opposite of a Chaotic third stage aura.

He was about to simply teleport away--he didn't have the energy to deal with whatever righteous bullshit was about to come his way, save it for someone who actually still had the will--when something about her voice stopped him in his tracks. He swallowed. And for some reason, he stopped.

With the evidence of an unconscious body a bit too close for comfort.

Oh god.

She was staring him down, now.

And pointing her staff at him.

And she had pink curly hair and -- no.

"Uh?" It came out as a stunned squeak, and he looked between her and the man behind him and the woman in front of him and the man behind him, again. "It doesn't really work like that. I can't give it back to him, or anything." Well, maybe he could, but-- What was he supposed to do with this? Who was she? There couldn't be any way she was--well, it'd explain Gismodine's whole thing--no, no, he would know, right?--well, it'd explain the lack of meetings--would she have told him?

"What makes you think I'll listen to you anyway, White Moon?"

That damage was done. Alright, that was a start, he guessed, he didn't have to fight her on that because he knew his responsibility was to fight her on that, and that he was supposed to take energy and starseeds for his quotas or whatever, but-- The face staring back at him made something sing with a clarity that he didn't want it to.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I can set him on a bench. They'll probably just think he's some unhoused guy." That was the best he could come up with, rubbing his neck awkwardly. Why was he even listening at all? Also, why was he lying? That felt wrong too--

Maybe there was a part of him that still trusted that--

Couldn't be, could be, couldn't be, and then she was saying she was a new knight which was lining up with some other things -- who the ******** would awaken straight to third stage, and who would look like that who purified into third stage who wasn't Syl-Syl-Sylvite, and he muttered a resigned, "Dammit," to himself because of course it was-- "Uh. Wasn't all that threatening, to be honest. Maybe threaten to kill me or something? Stab me with the staff?"

That didn't sound like Sylvite at all, though--

"I gotta ask." A heavy breath that sounded like he was dragging it out. "New knight? Did you used to be a Negaverse general?"

The way he said that was resigned in the grudging, heavy sense that he knew it to be true but didn't want to face the reality that was standing right in front of him.

Was he helping the dude? There were probably better ways to help the dude, up to and including maybe giving him his energy back. He rubbed his neck as he watched her trace her thumb over the moon, and quickly decided he would just keep going along with it because being skewered definitely wasn't on the agenda today.

And when he thought about it, Sylvite had been proud of her daggers, right? So that matched up. He guessed she must have used them efficiently at the generators. He had never been against her so he had never put in any thought as to how she would be to fight against-- he awkwardly hoisted the man up on his shoulders, burying down the urge to gag at the smell of cigarettes coming off his shirt--

And now he was stuck awkwardly standing there as he confirmed the thoughts he wished she wouldn't.

"Sylvite, huh. I guess that explains why you haven't been at our meetings."

And apparently didn't recognize him, either.

Interesting set of memories to lose.

"Fulgurite. I used to work under you." ********. Now he was going to get some other a*****e general, probably. Sylvite had been the first one he had really gotten on with and hadn't either begrudgingly obeyed or actively despised. He shifted the guy on his shoulders uncomfortably. "Guess that's why obeying you felt natural. Uh. So you got out?"

He didn't sound bitter about it, and that was in part true. Somehow, he couldn't be mad at Sylvite, even still.

Or... whoever the hell this was.

Alright, a little garden area, he could do that he guessed--

But suddenly she was no longer walking and she was staring at him and squinting, and he guessed he said something that rocked her a bit more than expected, though to be fair he wasn't sure he'd ever understand what it was like to suddenly be missing half of a life-- "Yeah, you were," he confirmed, chuckling quietly. "For me and a few others, actually. Few corrupt senshi, couple of agents."

The Negaverse would probably disapprove of his honesty, but he wasn't sure how much he cared, anymore.

Was she the one telling him to steal people's energy in the first place? He shifted the man on his shoulders and debated going ahead just so he could set him down, but also didn't want to risk her turning that staff on him. What a place to be in. "Wish I could actually take that command," and maybe just run and never power up again, wouldn't that be easier, "but. Negaverse has quotas they expect us all to keep, and not keeping them is just gonna get someone angry at us. Probably my new general, once they assign me one."

He doubted he'd get the luxury he did where Sylvite and he had arguably chosen each other.

"They were torturing a Princess?" He shifted again. "Guess that lines up with the new general-king, though. Also doesn't terribly surprise me. Negaverse does that s**t." Fulgurite knew, reasonably, he shouldn't have been as okay with it as he was. He also didn't care, and he had trouble deciphering if that was the apathy--he knew what happened after the masquerade--or the chaotic influence he knew existed. "You were always different than the other generals, honestly. Checked in on us, but not to ask how our quotas were doing, but how we were doing. Didn't punish us or abuse. I was forced in after being cornered by a now-dead guy and their now-queen so."

He rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about that s**t." Also, he needed to stop pretending he had a report with someone he didn't even actually know. "Glad you found a way out."

Sylvite was happy, right? He guessed that was the important ******** class="quote">

Gismodine clearly knew about her defection. That would explain why he was literally just in her office, hugging a bear, and crying. Did the rest of them know? He didn't necessarily want to be the one to tell everyone, but they also deserved to know. Would they go after ******** then she was asking him if he had to hurt people or get in trouble. Well. That was the implication of what he just said-- He sighed and watched her warily as he moved ahead to set the man down on the bench. Maybe it'd be easier to talk about this s**t without holding a whole man who definitely smoked a whole chimney full of cigarettes in a day. "Yeah. We all do. And to be fair, a lot of us are more dedicated to doing it, but it's part of being Negaverse, so we gotta do it. It's part of how we fuel our mission."

He had told Raksha something similar. Somehow, it felt more hollow every time he said it.

So long she didn't jump after him, he carefully set the man down and tried to distance himself from it. She was asking how he was, too, and -- ********, if he didn't think that was Sylvite before, well, it would have been obvious now even without her saying so. He rubbed his neck and offered an awkward smile, strained and pulling up on one side.

Fulgurite let out a heavy sigh.

"If you want to know: angry, primarily. Also, like I don't care? So fine, in a way, but," he shrugged, "I don't know. I feel like I'm here."

That was what he had.

He was fine with not-Sylvite getting between him and the guy, honestly. So long as she didn't actually stab him with that staff.

Every once in a while, his eyes would flick toward the edges, and he would wonder sincerely how sharp they were.

It was probably inevitable that he was going to get the purification pitch eventually. From Sylvite, even, which was something he definitely hadn't expected. Sylvite telling him to purify, the one who had helped him in the Rift and led them in that mass corruption battle bullshit -- telling him he could get out. There was a small part of it that was appealing; what was left for him here other than more misery? And Raksha had a planet, which was somehow not entirely dead, so he guessed that was cool.

And she was talking about using it for Earth, so--

She knew a Princess, which would make it fast, too, and yet he found himself shaking his head the moment an image flashed to his mind. "I do, though." The now-dead guy was his sister's ex. How was he supposed to say that his familial connections probably kept him there, and not even because he couldn't let himself leave Orah or Dad? It would be obvious if he vanished. They knew everything about him. What would they do to them?

He couldn't really just tell her that. Would probably somehow give Order too much ******** info, too, and then it'd somehow get back to Chaos and he'd get murdered-- "Yeah, the Negaverse isn't great, but I'm stuck here. I've always been stuck here. I can't..."

Fulgurite fidgeted.

"Can't leave them."

The staff stopped being an imposing difference between them, which was a brave move by her--or would have been if he wasn't just a super senshi, and he knew while he could still do damage, probably not at the same level of a general ... or a White Moon Knight now, he guessed.

Oh, and now she was hugging him.

Alright.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly when she said she was a traitor. She was. He knew it was only a matter of time before she was flagged as such in the system even if he didn't do it himself. Someone else would notice she was missing. Gismodine had already, and maybe he would be the one to report her departure. (Or he could just keep crying in her office until someone else noticed.) If she left with a capture like a Princess, though, no doubt someone else had noticed--

He breathed quietly when she parted, the smile on his face a bit less strained, but only just. She carried herself like a general, even without the general memories. Must've been ingrained.

"I'll keep that in mind," he laughed quietly, "but you'll have to fight the entirety of the Negaverse if you want to resolve what's making me feel stuck. I can't leave them. Not just the Negaverse, but--"

He blew air out of the side of his mouth in an overdramatic sigh.

"I'll let you know if my inevitable new general is a douchebag, though."

Maybe giving a White Moon agent a new vendetta wouldn't be such a bad thing. Probably made him a ******** double agent, but he didn't really want to fight Sylvite either. Nor did he see the point. Her aura's power was uncomfortable, but somehow she herself was still...

Comforting.