The City has been lit up for the Star Festival with banners and twinkling decorations strewn off the windowsills of shop fronts and windows. The gardeners at one particular park have put their heart and soul into creating a fairy's paradise: Fairy lights have been carefully dangled from trees to make strings of stars, little beaded jewels have been hidden among the hedges, and even the old cobwebs have been sprayed with just a touch of glitter. The park is open to everyone and the citizens of Destiny City have been invited to respectfully explore the hidden wonders that have been placed throughout. The park is magical enough on its own but there have also been reports of a strange, ethereal and shimmering stranger in the park. The glimmer of a beautiful costumed figure fluttering through the park has been passed around as rumor, and no matter what anyone claims to see, no one can take a picture of it. As if simply seeing some magical figure isn’t mysterious enough, there are also reports of mischief and small pranks being played at the same time this figure seems to appear.
Beta Leporis was aching from her failure at the reservoir. Not only had it been yet another dead end for her to add to her growing list of failures, she'd been handily beaten by the same monsters who took her sister from them. Her pride and her body smarted from the defeat, though her wounds had healed in the days since it had happened.
Even less fun than the defeat itself was explaining to her parents why she was so beaten up the next morning. She had shrugged as she always did and kept her silence, but she could see in their eyes that she had not heard the end of it. What did she care. She was 19. She didn't answer to them anymore. Nevermind that she lived in their house and ate their food without contributing... another notch in her conscience. She was just a dead beat girl who got beat up in dark alley ways at night for all they knew. She wouldn't be surprised if they started installing security cameras to see where she was going. They'd already tried locking her door from the outside, not that it had helped.
But hope sprang eternal in the hearts of the desperate, Beta supposed, and so when she heard the news about a supposed fairy wandering around the park causing mischief she figured, "What the hell." The worst that could happen was that it wasn't Alpha, and she was more than used to that feeling. And she couldn't deny that same surge of hope that bubbled to the surface as she arrived at the park. She'd not been, despite her parent's imploring her to leave her room and join them there for a concert or a picnic or something else. Looking at it now, she almost which she had gone with them.
Almost.
"Alpha?" As though her sister even knew her name any longer. "Alpha, it's me, Beta. You can come out, it's okay."
Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 4:51 pm
The park was blessedly cool tonight, in contrast to the heat that had been baking the city for what felt like a month now. A breeze swept through the green leaves of the trees as it wandered through the park, making the strands of lights and little strings of crystals bounce and shiver.
Fafnir hadn't planned on ending up here. Fairy gardens weren't really his thing, unless they came as set decoration for a photoshoot, but attempts to avoid the power signatures of strong Order presences had driven him off course and deeper into the park. He did not have high hopes for finding much here. It was dark, and people in this city rarely wandered out after dark unless they were in a large group, or incredibly stupid. The park should have been more or less deserted, much to Fafnir's growing frustration. His quota was not going to get filled if he couldn't find anyone to drain for it. He thought, briefly, of heading back into town, but he could still feel them there, at the edges of his senses. It was impossible to pin point where exactly they were, so any path headed in that direct was at risk of stumbling right across what he DIDN'T want to find...
A bit of movement pulled the corrupt back to the present and his surroundings, reminding him he really should be paying better attention here rather than worrying about some far off, vague threat. He thought he'd seen a flutter of a pale dress from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look... nothing. Not even rustling branches to suggest someone had just passed by. It gave him a rising feeling of unease and dread, something he couldn't quite put into words. Maybe staying around here really wasn't a good idea either...
Someone called out and Fafnir cursed softly, his path now block both forwards and backwards. He could have kicked himself, because now that he was paying attention, he felt the basic order signature before him, too close to avoid since they surely could sense him in return. <********, what now... He didn't really feel like getting into it with someone.
A chaos aura approaching set Beta's nerves on edge. Did she dare... was it possible...? Her heart fluttered in her chest as she cast her eyes worriedly around the garden. Behind her, she could wear she heard the faint sound of something sighing. Whirling, she only caught the very edge of fabric as it fluttered behind some brush. Without thinking, she followed it, calling out, "Alpha," as she did. The sighing came again, this time from her left. She veered to follow.
"Alpha, wait! You're... you're too fast!"
But the sighing and the fluttering of fabric never slowed down. Around and around corners it led Beta until she was dizzy and out of breath. It drew her circling closer and closer to the chaos signature, but never truly approaching until...
"Alpha, please stop, it's me!"
By this time tears of frustration and something close to hope of more sorrowful were flooding her eyes, threatening to spill over. She finally crashed around a corner, chest heaving with the force of her exertion. It took her a moment to fully understand what was before her, her brain desperate to see the youma her sister had become in the corrupted senshi before her. But when it finally resigned itself to the truth...
Crushing disappointment.
Beta could have collapsed to her knees with the force of her sorrow. No matter how hared she tried to see her sister, she could not change what was before her. Just a corrupted senshi. And then a moment later the dissappontment cleared an alarm bells sounded in her head. She had to act fast and get the information that she needed and then get the hell out of there or beat his a** trying. Preferably she'd get to kick him in the teeth and then learn what she needed.
A corrupted senshi.
"Hey, you!" She called, not bothering to keep the mounting rage from her voice. "I'm looking for someone. A youma in the shape of a rabbit. Anyone you know?"
Rice Powder, Dust Beta Leporis calls the name of her attack and instantly a whirlwind begins to whip around her. A moment later, the air begins to grow thick with fine rice powder. This powder conceals her and any other order-aligned allies from by reducing or eliminating the vision of any chaos-aligned opponents. Along with diminished or eliminated visibility, the rice dust also causes irritation in the lungs resulting in coughing if it is breathed in. Order-aligned allies are spared from this effect as well and are able to move around freely. If a chaos-aligned opponent is wearing a mask or something that covers the nose and mouth or if they are wearing goggles they may experience lessened or no effects based on the amount of coverage. For instance, a scarf around the mouth may diminish the effect, but a gas mask will eliminate it altogether. The dust-filled whirlwind has a 15-foot radius and lasts for 30 seconds. Beta Leporis can use this attack three times per battle.
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2022 12:58 pm
Inwardly, Fafnir was cursing his luck at getting stuck in this situation. He wasn't even doing anything wrong, as of yet, and it felt like he had a big target painted on him, calling 'all order people come hassle me!'
He felt the basic senshi moving about, their signature getting stronger, but he'd hoped maybe they'd keep going and just... pass him by... but that was not in the cards for him tonight. She burst from the foliage, calling the name of someone he didn't recognize, and then spotted him. Of course as soon as she did she looked stricken and angry. Apparently, he thought dryly, he was not what she had been hoping to find.
"Sorry, I don't think I can help you." He said as he put a gentle smile on his face. He spread his hands, palms out and empty, and shrugged. "Youma don't like senshi, it doesn't matter what side they are on, so I really try to avoid them whenever possible. I haven't seen a rabbit one among the few I have seen, either. I think you'll need to look eslewhere... maybe talk to one of the officers, since they work with them and can summon them. Maybe one of them could help?"
Not that he thought anyone would, or that a meeting like that would end any way but with this girl killed or corrupt. But if it got her off his back and let him escape, he'd fully endorse it.
Beta was so damn sick of maybes. Of have tos. Of probably could bes. So sick of not know, of no one ever knowing. Frustrated tears prickled at her eyes and she stood before the other senshi, which, of course, only made her more frustrated. Aura wouldn't be like this. If it were Aura standing here instead of her, she'd hold her ground and demand answers. She'd... she'd act. She wouldn't just... she would do what needed to be done and bring Imagi home.
And Imagi would do the same for Aura. She just had to... had to do it. Right?
She ahd to square her shoulders, ball up her fists, and try her best to remember what Aura looked like when she stood between Imagi and the school bullies. She pulled herself up as tall as she could, and with a voice that he hoped the other senshi didn't notice was wobbling, "that's not good enough." She paused then, fighting back the "I'm sorry" that pounded against her teeth. Instead, she pressed on, "I will no be passed off or waved away any longer. You," she stabbed a gloved finger at the senshi, drawing it back to herself as soon as she noticed how apparent that made her tremor. "took her from me. And you will give her back."Another pause and then a very quiet, "please," she she couldn't stop from escaping her lips.
Whimsical Blue
SOO SORRY
Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2023 6:01 pm
Fafnir's smile soured, but he kept it plastered on his fine-featured face, a mask to veil his annoyance.
You, like he'd actually had something to do with it. When he'd never even seen a rabbit-like youma before that wasn't a terrifying hellbeast. Like he could actually do something to bring whoever this was back.
What a ******** waste of his time.
"Of course, of course." He soothed, putting empathy he didn't feel into his voice. "I'm sorry. I can take you to her, if you like? I'm sure we can get everything sorted out. I'm sure she missed you terribly."
One gloved hand was held out to her, and Fafnir wasn't sure if he wanted her to refuse, or to actually take him up on the offer. A teleport to Faustite and she'd certainly get to see her youma again. If she was really stupid enough to grab the first officer she saw and start making demanded, hell, she might actually fall for it. He didn't have much patience for wooing her more elegantly tonight... this would have to do.
Beta newrly took the hand extended to her, naive as she still was. She reached out to the other senshi, abrasive aura be damned. Aura would have done the same for her. Would have acted rashly and taken risks to save her. She had in the past. She'd jumped into the fray not once, not twice, but three times to same Imagi. It felt like the least that she could do to return the favor. To act without thinking in the effort to find her sister.
And then something drew her hand back. Something that wrapped itself around her wrist and whispered, you can't help her if you're dead and it was right. She was the only one out looking for Aura, and if she acted rash and foolish... then no one would be.
It was either an instant or an hour of hesitation, but Beta did finally draw her hand back, her face morphing from desperation to anger.
"You must think I'm an idiot," she hissed before calling forth her magic. It wouldn't do much, protected as the other senshi was by his rank, but it would at least provide Beta that cover that she would need to flee. And flee she did, under the cover of the cloud of dust that her magic stirred up.
She needed to grow up if she was going to save Aura.
Rice Powder, Dust Beta Leporis calls the name of her attack and instantly a whirlwind begins to whip around her. A moment later, the air begins to grow thick with fine rice powder. This powder conceals her and any other order-aligned allies from by reducing or eliminating the vision of any chaos-aligned opponents. Along with diminished or eliminated visibility, the rice dust also causes irritation in the lungs resulting in coughing if it is breathed in. Order-aligned allies are spared from this effect as well and are able to move around freely. If a chaos-aligned opponent is wearing a mask or something that covers the nose and mouth or if they are wearing goggles they may experience lessened or no effects based on the amount of coverage. For instance, a scarf around the mouth may diminish the effect, but a gas mask will eliminate it altogether. The dust-filled whirlwind has a 15-foot radius and lasts for 30 seconds. Beta Leporis can use this attack three times per battle.
