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 Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:34 pm
Amarynthos rocked on his heels as he tried to adjust to the shoes he was wearing. They weren’t sneakers, and while they were comfortable they still felt a little weird to him. Nothing bad! He just needed to break them in.
He jumped in place a few times, a little dramatically, jogged in place, and then turned to Ephesus and Momma–Paradise.
“Should we stretch while we’re waiting for Alastor?” He didn’t really wait for them before he planted his feet solidly and placed his hands on his hips while he began to twist back and forth.
“I don’t know what he’s going to want us to do. But he’s always running around, I don’t want to slow him down. He’s going to mess up our color scheme when he gets here, we look so cute together.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:10 pm
Paradise was thrilled that she got to meet her grandchildren (yes, she’d already decided that they were hers) as the adorable Pages they were. And she knew Beau would have thought they were adorable too, although maybe not with as much enthusiasm. She knew very little about the magical war still, but she knew it was important that they do as much as they could to train and prepare themselves.
“Oh, stretching sounds like a wonderful idea,” she agreed. She might be getting up there in age, but she was still in relatively good shape! She made sure to walk every day, and even did some yoga, and danced around with the other children when they practiced their ballet.
“We should get our hearts racing a bit as well,” Paradise suggested, and even offered to start a few jumping jacks. Ephesus was pretty sure that Amarynthos could give Alastor some good competition when it came to running. Amarynthos was really good at it, but so was Alastor. Ephesus, on the other hand, was not good at running. He did his best! But then his ankles and knees started to hurt.
He tried doing some stretches, mimicking Amarynthos, and then Paradise.
It was still a little strange to think about how many there were who had magical powers that they just didn’t know about. Hearing that Micheal’s mom was a Page like them was, well… it was a surprise! Michael even made a comment about them possibly being the two youngest knights (currently) and oldest knight together. Which meant they needed as much practice as possible so they could grow up and be useful.
“I think Alastor looks pretty,” Ephesus said softly. “But we have softer colors. I think we look very good together.” Especially him and Amarynthos. He was very pleased that they matched so well.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:26 pm
Amarynthos laughed between his stretches, but then Paradise was doing jumping jacks so he couldn’t help but try to sync up with her and Ephesus. “Alastor is pretty, but his outfit’s so dark. But we get to be stars and moons and soft colors. I mean, I like his teal, it’s like my other uniform. Do you think when we get stronger they’ll still want to come out with us?” he asked, but there was something like laughter hiding in his voice.
“If Alastor and Sessrumnir aren’t coming out, I’m not so sure my parents won’t sneak out to make sure we’re doing okay. Just imagine my dad rolling in on his bike with snacks.”
He didn’t have to clarify that he was probably thinking about Oliver, who had a basket installed on his bike specifically in case he needed to make a quick trip to drop off something for Elliot during practice. It wasn’t that he couldn’t drive, but he’d always had an aversion to it unless he needed to, and Asher seemed happy enough with that arrangement.
“Oh, speaking of snacks, I brought some. So if you get hungry, I’ve got some water.” It was offered to Ephesus and Paradise, because he’d known her for so long that it wasn’t even weird that they were all wearing bright costumes, doing jumping jacks in the park after dark. “And some healthy foods. But mostly some cookies. I hope they’re not getting all messed up.”
Although, he was pretty sure that his space portal backpack was probably not being bounced around while he jumped.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:37 pm
“Oh dear, your dad worries so much. He’s such a good person. Both of them are,” she sighed softly, because she worried about them worrying about their boys. Because Ephesus was absolutely their boy as much as he was her grandchild.
“And I’m sure he appreciates that you let him worry. My boys got so independent,” she sighed again, a little more dramatic this time, but smiled brightly when Amarynthos offered some snacks and water. She paused in her jumping jacks because really, she didn’t need them, but she liked being able to participate with the younger generation. And the boys were just too cute!
“Healthy foods as well? I’m impressed. You need them if you want to grow as big as Sessrumnir and Alastor. I bet your hair will be just as lustrous as Alastor’s as well,” she decided, but refrained from running her fingers through Amarynthos’ fluffy black hair. “I hope they’ll still come out with us,” Ephesus said quietly, already getting a bit winded from his jumping jacks, so he had to stop and instead try not to blush at how pretty he thought Amarynthos’ laughter was.
Oh, or comment about how his eyes were kinda teal. Did that mean Amarynthos liked his eyes too?
Ephesus chewed on his lip to hold back a smile. He was excited about the idea of snacks though, and he kind of wanted to see Oliver so they could show off their outfits.
But he wasn’t able to comment, because there was something prickling the edges of his senses.
He spun around to stare into the darkness with wide eyes, but quickly moved himself to Amarynthos’ side and took hold of his hand and arm.
“I think there’s a youma,” he whispered as something growled in the bushes not too far away.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:43 pm
Amarynthos slowed, because he’d felt it too. He wanted to pull out the snacks and the drinks, but…
Maybe that’s what they got, three pages out in the world, all alone.
But it was just a youma, so it couldn’t–it couldn’t be too bad, right?
Except, he had a sinking feeling in his stomach because he’d heard about other types of youma. Smaller ones, less dangerous ones.
His only experience with them was the one that destroyed his house and tried to kill them all. He stood in front of Ephesus but his stomach was twisting. He tried to tell himself that a youma that could destroy a house wouldn’t fit in those bushes. It might be something small, something not even too dangerous. Something the three of them could handle together.
But, still. He really hoped that Alastor got here soon.
“If there is, we can take care of it,” he said, with a faux confidence that sounded so convincing he almost tricked himself into believing it. “Have you ever fought a youma, Paradise? I think I’ve only seen, um. One.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:52 pm
“Oh… I’m sure it’s fine,” Paradise insisted as she wrapped an arm around both of the boys to pull them away from that feeling of something dark hiding in the bushes. She could hear it hissing and making strange noises that made her skin crawl.
“Oh, yes, I’ve fought a youma before,” she confirmed with a nod. “You just hit it until it poofs into dust!” Or something like that. She was more concerned about making sure the boys were safe but --
“Let’s try to beat it!”
And when Ephesus squeaked with distress, Paradise shook her head and patted them both on their shoulders.
“We can do it! There have been Senshi younger than you who’ve fought youma!” Although it was very difficult not to tell them that it was Peter. He wasn’t sure about fighting one. He’d seen Alastor fight one. And then he saw the one that destroyed Elliot’s home, and he did not want to fight something like that.
But they didn’t really have a choice because from the bushes scurried a centipede-like creature with long, segmented legs like spiders -- except instead of eight there were a good hundred of them.
Ephesus shrieked and immediately tried pulling Amarynthos away from the creature as it scuttled towards them.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 5:58 pm
At first, Amarynthos let Paradise pull him away. Then, he let Ephesus pull him away.
Then, it seemed to dawn on him that this youma was really small. Well–compared to what he’d been expecting. It was gross, just a big bug! He’d crushed plenty of bugs before. Biting bugs, stinging bugs.
He just had to pretend like this bug was the worst of them all–and it might have been. Maybe it took energy, or stole souls, on top of all other gross bug things.
“Wait,” he said to Ephesus, and gave him a quick squeeze. “We can beat it,” he insisted; Paradise had convinced him. People younger than them had defeated youma! And this one didn’t look too bad, they just needed to be safe about it. “Just try to stay away from it, okay? I’m going to kick it.”
He didn’t know if the youma spoke English, but if it did he’d just try to jump on it instead. He didn’t have a lot of time to smile to Ephesus, but he tried! Even if it was just for a split second, just to make sure he knew it was okay.
Amarynthos didn’t want either him or Paradise to get hurt, and between the three of them they didn’t really have the best weapons. The glass bottle he’d been given wasn't quite a baseball, but he had enough experience that it wasn’t going to slow him down. He was pretty good when it came to throwing a ball, and he had a clear shot, so–why not? At the very least, maybe it would slow the youma down so they could group behind it. He didn’t mind playing distraction, if that’s what it took!
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:08 pm
Paradise didn’t have to be told twice. If Amarynthos thought they could beat it, then they totally could. Except Ephesus still looked totally grossed out by the creepy bug, so she gently pulled him a little farther away and leaned down to scoop up a handful of rocks.
“Here, these won’t do too much, but it’ll keep it distracted!” She insisted, because if Amarynthos was going to kick it, then they needed to make sure it didn’t get to him before then! Ephesus caught Amarynthos’ smile and he tried to smile back. Amarynthos was so brave and knew the best thing to do, so he nodded. Even though he really really didn’t like that bug thing.
He held out his hand for the rocks Paradise gave him, and didn’t waste any time. He hurled a few of them as hard as he could to keep it distracted.
“You can do it, Amar--- Mary!” Oh, was that too girly? It was just such a long name to say, and Amarynthos was so cute that maybe it was okay to call him that?
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:17 pm
“Okay!” Amarynthos said, partly for them and mostly for himself. They both believed in him, so that was all he needed. Even if he hadn’t had their support, he’d have still done his best–especially to keep them safe.
Just in case the youma had some sort of fire breath, or poison mandibles, he didn’t want to get in front of him. Similarly, he didn't want to get exactly behind it–what if it had some sort of bug silk spray thing?–but he was going to do his best to bust it into dust and stay safe.
While the other two were throwing rocks, he darted to the side, waited until it was distracted, and then came up as quickly as possible. He hooked his foot under its belly and kicked with as much force as he could manage.
The plan was to get it into the air, let it come crashing down, and then jump on it.
Instead, battered by rocks, it poofed into a smokey explosion only a second after Amarynthos’ foot made contact. He covered his face instinctively and turned away to avoid the dust getting into his eyes or mouth. He jumped back, more because he wasn’t sure if it was gone than anything else, but–
The strange energy faded along with the dust in the breeze. He looked at Ephesus first, to make sure he was okay, and then Paradise.
“Was it–like that?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:30 pm
Paradise dropped the rest of the rocks she hadn’t thrown and clapped her hands. “Oh! You did so well!” she cheered, because he really did do a good job. They were lucky that the youma was small, otherwise they would have been in for some big trouble.
“I can’t wait to brag to Alastor and Sessrumnir how you were able to take it on. With support, of course,” she added, because Ephesus did help. As soon as the youma turned into dust, Ephesus ran over to Amarynthos so he could throw his arms around him and pull him close into a hug as he sniffled from worry.
“Are you okay? You were so brave. I’m so proud of you,” he said, trying not to cry, but he had the bestest best friend ever and they were both knights of the Moon, which was awesome.
“Can we go home now?” he asked. He was trying not to whine but… he was tired and scared of more youma showing up.
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:55 pm
Amarynthos immediately returned the hug and quickly wrapped his arms around Ephesus. “You were brave! You did a really good job! I wouldn’t have been able to sneak up on him if it weren’t for you! We took it on, as a team. It’s too bad no one was here to see us. Do you think they’ll believe us?” he asked.
He rubbed Ephesus’ back to try and soothe him, and smiled gratefully at Paradise.
“I mean, I guess we weren’t expecting to run into a youma so soon. There could be more out there. If that was some Negaverse Agent’s, maybe they’ll be missing it. And maybe we can handle a youma, but I don’t want to risk running into someone more powerful. I’m okay with going home. I bet Alastor will understand. We could go get some ice cream or something to celebrate?” he offered Paradise, and he made a good show of giving her his best puppy dog eyes because he liked having her around–and his parents would probably be happy to see her, and maybe hear about how they were a good team who could help stop evil monsters already.
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