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Summer was Abzu's favorite season.

In general, people tended to be happier, freer, and more social; there were plenty of parties and festivals to attend; it was nicer just to be outside and enjoy the warmth and the ambiance -- and sometimes, that ambiance included fireflies.

They lit up the sky like the distant stars and planets brought down to Earth itself.

And today, that felt just a little more literal.

Bright colors danced along his skin if they got too close. Lit up the sky like Christmas lights. He wanted to captre them and let them live in his yard, thriving and also backing up his yard as the best place to relax and vibe and enjoy the weather and the company of friends and--

Was that a cat?

He noticed her first--was that a Mauvian?--and the aura second--a senshi?

With a tail?

Could Mauvians be senshi too?

Abzu approached with caution to not surprise her, offering, brightly, "Beautiful, isn't it?"

The way her tail swished brought a smile to his lips. It was cute. It was playful and excited. She was cute. He drew his eyes away from the tail to look to her eyes, slit pupils like a cat, too. His instinct had said Mauvian, but he had the increasing impression that it was only senshi--

"Normally you can, actually, but they're not usually this colorful." Abzu's laughter was warm and smooth as his eyes darted to the stars of Destiny City. "They're usually like little points of light, like the stars, except without the color variance stars can actually have. Just like our night sky."

Oh.

Okay, so she was a senshi. And an alien? Mauvians lived here so that ruled that theory out.

Abzu was even more fascinated now, and the fireflies seemed just a bit less important--

"Abzu, of Neptune. I came out here mostly to enjoy the night, actually, and then saw," he gestured to the fireflies, "these. Do they have these, where you're from? These have to seem especially pretty if they don't."

He chuckled. "Although the colors make me think of a holiday light display tonight."

"That sounds beautiful. And matches you." Of course, even now, he couldn't resist a slight flirtatious compliment enjoined by a playful wink. Honestly, though, it did. He'd love to see a planet full of bright, beautiful creatures even if they didn't glow. Sounded like something out of the school accessory trends of the nineties... and he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss those at least a bit.

They were maximalist without being gaudy!

On a more serious note, though, "They look like fireflies, honestly, especially because of the way they glow, but I think something else is going on here. Since I've awoken, I've become more aware of magic in this city. I think these are part of it."

Unless a whole group of fireflies spontaneously evolved to glow colorfully and also be kind of ghostly.

... Wouldn't that be cool, though?

"I like coming out late too." His smile back was easy in turn. "As a musician, it's the best time for live music, but also people tend to seem more relaxed at night. Ready to enjoy the environment, or the entertainment, or just good company."

It helped that the heat wasn't blistering today, but--

"So long as there aren't youma, anyway, but I don't feel any..."

Oh, she froze.

Alright, she wasn't fond of that one, noted. While he was being genuine as much as he was flirting, he had no interest in overstepping someone's bounds, and so the very slight shake of her head was met with a small, acknowledging one of his own. Though he would actually like to see the maximalism in person--

Oh.

With her being from somewhere as colorful as she was, and likely considerably more familiar with magic simply existing, he supposed just saying that they were magic might have been the simplest approach.

Seemed the most obvious, too; life had gotten so bizarre since October considering the magic explanation now felt like an acceptable default.

"Usually in areas like these. Parks, forest, open wooded areas." He let out a happy sigh. Peaceful areas, that he could add music to if she desired it-- "I do usually come out and perform some music. Tends to warm those Chaos people up so they don't attack, calm people of Order down, good vibes," he twirled his saxophone between his fingers before holding it near his lips.

"I can play something relaxing for you? Keep the good night vibes surrounded by these beautiful magicflies."

Sounded nice, actually.

It was, and there was something magical to it even beyond the magical rainbow fireflies. Abzu offered a winning grin, bringing his saxophone reed close to his lips as he pondered what might be nice to start with.

He pulled it a bit back when she asked a very valid question.

He'd like to think it did. It at least threw the chaos agents he had met who were open to it off their draining game. There was that one really salty one that kept blaming him for everything until he fled anyway, but that guy seemed to have a whole boulder on his shoulder and that wasn't really Abzu's fault. He just ended up suffering for it.

And he remembered the conversation he had with Pendour, too -- though he supposed keeping Chaos coming back for concerts if it mellowed them out was much better than addicting them to money.

"It's not perfect, no. But when it works, I've noticed it interrupts patrols, sometimes gives them something to think about if they're up for talking and not just listening, and at the very least stops them from taking whatever lives they were going to take that day, or that hour."

He pulled his saxophone back to his side as he glanced up for a moment, tossing the concept over in his head. He was still formulating some opinions, but he had become pretty certain of a few things...

"They are still infected, you're not wrong. But we also can't force people to purify the way they can force us to corrupt. They have to decide to leave, so getting them to warm up to us is part of that. They gotta decide the infection is worth getting the medicine for."

He understood that sometimes trying to convince people wasn't an option, and escape wasn't always an option, and he hadn't quite had to confront what that would mean yet, but he wasn't going to think about that right now -

What do you mean, purification?

For the first time this entire time, Abzu's initial experiences seemed like they had been useful! Sure, he had been stuck in the battle where so many of them had been forcefully corrupted. But he had also learned quickly of the alternative. There were at least a couple people who had been purified in that mess, and then he had the words from people like his Neptunian sister Pendour to back that up. There was a way to leave. They just needed to take it.

And that was the unfortunate part of it, wasn't it? They couldn't just kick chaos out. They couldn't just tell it to stop manipulating people.

"Purification is how our enemies leave chaos--the Negaverse, Dark Mirror, all of it. It's a process in which a Royal, or Cosmos, pushes the chaos out of a starseed, leaving them like us. As a senshi like you, or a knight like me. I guess those guardian cats could do the same..." Not that he had seen many chaos cats, but he knew they existed.

He tucked his saxophone under his arm for a moment.

"The trick is that they have to want to be rid of the chaos. If they want it, they can't leave, and we can't make them. They gotta accept the medicine." He hummed. "So that's part of the reason why I like to give them something to think about. If I can at least put the thought in their head that maybe we're not so bad, it might lead to them leaving."

He knew that wasn't always an option, and that some of them would never relent. He also knew that some of them were like that agent who would not stop attacking him no matter what he said. That wouldn't stop him from giving it a shot! Playing the saxophone and having chats with people? Not hard. He could absolutely do that.

"I'm working on a few projects to help give them a safe landing spot over here, actually. When they purify, they lose their identity and some of their memories, so it's good to have a safe spot for them if they decide to leave."

"There is," he confirmed, quietly, letting her have the space to process it.

Sure, there were, but it was much better than assuming they were just trapped forever and need to be exterminated. And it was much better than assuming anyone who got forced over there was stuck there no matter what they thought. There was a way out! And he was determined to make sure people found that!

Even if his way of helping was more administrative and fiscal--

He saw the way she relaxed, and he relaxed too.

"Yeah. Some of them were legitimately forced into that. There was a battle about a year ago where they actually took an uncountable number of us at once. I don't know if they plan to stay there. And I also don't know if everyone who was recruited in the first place plans to stay there."

He gave a bit of a playful wink.

"I know convincing all of them to leave is impossible, but it's worth a shot. Every person that doesn't belong there that gets to leave is a win. And if this music helps, it's doing the job." He chuckled. "I think despite the caveats if I was in the same position I would jump at the chance to leave."

If anything, if he was in the same position, chaos sounded like too much work! Why would he want to go collect energy and starseeds in the first place?