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Jadarite had never been into athletics. Anything that required an excess of physical labor seemed sweaty and unpleasant, and so she'd generally avoided it when it wasn't required.

That said, when it was required, she could manage. She'd gotten decent grades in gym class, even if she'd always found it awkward and boring compared to the rest of school. This time, Faustite had asked her to make sure that a team of agents was prepared to rock climb through the Rift, so she was going to make sure that they were prepared.

Of course the main element of that was just getting equipment, and any training she was going to see if she could outsource to professionals, but she did not want to look like she had no idea what was happening in front of everyone when the time came for that training, or for the mission.

That was why she was teaching herself to belay.

With a bit of teleporting, she'd gotten her first carabiner attached to the climbing loop of a telephone pole. The rope was threaded through that one and attached to another with a figure eight knot, and she'd attached that one to a bulk bag of cat litter held in a large basket so the weight would be closer to what she'd be dealing with when she was trying to belay a person.

It had taken a good twenty minutes to get everything set up, and right at the end, when she was actually going to practice, she felt the aura of a Page.

It was close. Too close. She wasn't about to have someone ambush her when her hands were full.

That said, they seemed to be alone, and that was always an opportunity of its own.

She started towards the aura, hands on her hips.

Music? Was that the Page?

She squinted. Unless something had fritzed inside inside of Jada's auric sensors, the Page was playing music.

It was confirmed when continuing down the road at a quick clip revealed a man in a blindingly bright suit that had to be magical, and he had an instrument in his mouth. The corner of her mouth quirked upwards. Either this one was new enough that he didn't know about basic things like staying away from people who were stronger than you were, or he was one of the ones who thought being charming would keep her from putting her hand inside his chest.

It wouldn't.

He didn't need to know that quite yet, though.

"Ah. I didn't know anyone else would be out here," she said as she stepped even closer, and she looked down and to the side, as if she was embarrassed to be caught.

It was only at this distance and at a second glance that Jadarite noticed the symbols on his lapels. They were tridents, which marked him as a Page of Neptune. It took effort to keep from scowling.

Neptune made her think of that man who had pressed a blade to her throat and tried to rough her up.

"I did like the music," she said with a small nod, still not quite looking at him.

She liked it for they way it had drawn her to him easily more than for the tune itself. Brassy tones on their own were too much. They had their place in a full orchestra, but they were far from Jada's favorite.

Which meant it was probably about time to cut the act short. Jada could act in a pinch, but she was here to get close, not to create a ruse.

One second, she was looking up towards him with a shy smile. The next, she was teleporting right up next to him, an arm's length away, and she was reaching out towards his chest.

Pendour's bearing was delicate and gentle. Her clothes were designed to be twirling the night away in a ball at an underwater court, far away from danger. Her artifact, which she would not even try to call a weapon, was nearly small enough that she could fold it up in her palm.

Sometimes, people forgot that she was a full Knight. They forgot that there was power that crackled under her skin.

When she needed to be, when she heard someone screaming, she could be as fast as a tidal wave.

Jadarite was not expecting to hear another song, one with the lilting undertones of a lullaby, right when her target was jumping out of reach. The aura had seemed distant a few moments ago, but now it was right on top of her , and strangely, she didn't seem to care.

She was no longer thinking about the starseed, or about the fact that her climbing practice had been interrupted. She was thinking about how nice the music was, and how she really should be heading to bed soon. Her eyelids fluttered.

Pendour, immune to the effects of her own magic, stepped up in front of Abzu. A steel had come over her that wasn't often there when she had seen just who the agent was attacking.

Of course there was someone around to help him, thought Jadarite as the music faded. There was always someone around to help. She was starting to believe that the rumors about how scattered Order was were mainly propaganda. No, they didn't have the same resources as the Negaverse, but they seemed decent at backing each other up.

So much for an easy starseed. With only a slight scowl, Jada cut her losses and used her second teleport to go somewhere far, far away.

She'd come back for her ropes later.

Maybe the agent had vanished, but Pendour didn't know where she'd went, and she didn't feel like taking any chances if she was waiting around for an ambush.

"Okay," she said, and she reached back to curl her fingers into Abzu's.

She whispered her oath, and then they were off to somewhere even farther from the dusty street.