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 Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2022 6:31 pm
Sessrumnir, Knight of JupiterSessrumnir stood closest to the door during the whole exchange, his hand wrapped tightly around the necklace that held a piece of Alastor’s Core.
It’s not real, Devyn, he thought to himself as he watched Alastor’s progress through the monitors where the cameras picked up his slow walk through the halls with the figure disguised as Percy. He’s not your husband.
He knew that Alastor knew that, but Sessrumnir could only imagine after a thousand years, wanting a chance to see someone he loved again.
Sessrumnir’s memories were scattered. He’d only seen bits and pieces of them while at Sessrumnir. And one on Valhalla, where he’d seen Devyn for the first time. But he hadn’t had any memories there yet. Maybe it was presumptuous to think he might be given some, but Percy and Devyn had been married and deeply in love -- Devyn was still in love with Percy. So why wouldn’t his starseed want to share any of that?
He held his breath as Alastor and the fake Percy made their way past the door of the surveillance room. He grit his teeth when it first started causing turmoil in Devyn’s heart --
“He’s okay,” Sessrumnir promised the others, even as he took a step closer to the door. Just in case. “He can handle this. He knows it’s fake.”
Devyn had too much at stake to give in to the Chaos now, to let it break his heart and take over.
At some point, maybe when the figure started saying awful things to Alastor, Ephesus put his hands over his ears and hid his face against Amarynthos’ shoulder. He didn’t look like he was trying too hard to block everything out. Until they could hear the screams from the fake Percy, at least.
Sessrumnir felt bad for the kid, who cried silently against Amarynthos’ shoulder, who was doing his best to comfort him and shield him from everything, while also trying to pay attention. Not for the first time, Sessrumnir was proud of Amarynthos, and Ephesus, but he’d seen Amarynthos grow up to the clever and kind young man he was now.
He watched with bated breath as Alastor shoved the fake Percy into the Core --
And then his heart stopped along with the orb, now white, around his neck.
Alastor’s aura signature was gone.
Sessrumnir threw open the door then, and raced down the hall to where the large tapestry hid the already opened door to the meditation chamber. He didn’t take any time to look at the details of everything up close. He didn’t bother looking at the statue. He was grateful for the candles, but only so he could quickly locate the stairs down.
It was nearly frigid in that first room, and down the black spiral staircase. But once his feet touched the softer, earthier ground it was like the crushing pressure and chill had lifted.
And for a moment he was frozen in place.
‘In a way, it’s like the Springs, for me. The air is cleaner, the air feels like you could float in it if you let yourself. You can’t, but it feels like it. It feels like looking up at the stars on a clear night, or smelling the autumn wind, or that crisp crunch when you first step on fresh snow? … It’s like, just before you fall asleep.’
“Devyn?” he called into the cavern. The light from the Core could already be seen around the bend, but Sessrumnir lifted a hand to shield his eyes in case it was too bright.
Eternal Sailor AlastorAt first, there was no answer. White light spread across every surface, and it looked like someone had been splattering glowsticks across all the walls. Specks of pure white light clung to the sides of the cavern, and gold flakes shimmered everywhere.
Devyn did move. He sat on the floor, back resting against one of the roots that had curled around the Core. Despite how much of itself it had expended, it was large and swirling, and brighter now than it had been before. Streaks of light clung to the threads of Alastor’s clothes, and twisted into his hair.
Beneath the overwhelming wash of energy, his signature was there.
He looked tired, like this had already drained him. He must have seen them come down, but he didn’t look up from a spot on the ground until Sessrumnir called his name.
A few seconds passed, but not many. Alastor had lost track of time again, and his mind felt fuzzy and vague. The floor was cool, but the light of the Core was warm.
“Sessrumnir,” he greeted, but his voice was raw and sore. There were still spots in his vision and it wasn’t easy to see, but he recognized him.
Alastor’s expression didn’t change; he looked tired. The light of the Core softened somewhat, and though it didn’t dim much, it seemed like the currents had picked up again. It slowly pulsed.
Sessrumnir’s necklace pulsed.
“Sorry about that,” Alastor said, and though he was probably sincere, his voice just sounded a bit numb. He couldn’t meet Sessrumnir’s gaze, and he looked down as he pushed himself up. He was moving more quickly than he should have and the action seemed a bit jerky. He wasn’t completely balanced, and he used the root behind him to help prop himself up.
The whole experience had taken a lot out of him, emotionally more than anything. His hands were trembling. He brushed them off on his pants, like that would wipe away the sensation of Percy clinging to him.
It didn’t help. He knew it wouldn’t. He tried again, anyway.
“I got a bit sloppy there. Is everyone okay?”
Sessrumnir, Knight of JupiterAnd then, Sessrumnir could feel Alastor’s aura again, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t realized how out of breath he was until that moment, anyway. Whether it be from holding his breath, or running as fast as he could down the stairs, or both.
“I think Ephesus is still crying,” he said breathlessly as he took a few steps forward, and while he had his attention on Alastor, he couldn’t help but look up and around them. “But everyone’s okay.”
The cavern was breathtakingly beautiful. It threw gold and light on everything. Literally… it was on Alastor as well.
Sessrumnir frowned with concern and reached out to lightly place his hand against Alastor’s cheek, if only to get him to… maybe look him in the eye. He wasn’t going to force it. He could feel the way Alastor’s heart pulsed -- knew how erratic it got before.
“It wasn’t real,” he said quietly, hoping to reassure him. “It was trying to hurt you-- your shoulder.”
There was obvious distress in Sessrumnir’s voice as he pulled his hand away and finally saw the blood. Alastor’s collar was black and even with the tears it was hard to see the damage unless looking right at it. And Sessrumnir felt guilty for being distracted by -- something.
The Core…? Something about it made his heart race. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. He needed to focus on Alastor.
“The roots are new,” was probably the weirdest way to start the conversation, and he sucked in a breath because -- had Devyn told him about that? About the roots that… didn’t used to be around the Core? Maybe he just assumed. And maybe Alastor would tell him that he was mistaken and that they’d always been there.
He shook his head and focused on trying to let Alastor look at his shoulder, hoping the damage wasn’t too deep. He could feel another aura nearby and knew that one of the others had followed them. Cybele, most likely.
Eternal Sailor AlastorA muscle in his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared briefly. He failed to control his face completely, and he had to blink a few times to clear his eyes without drawing attention to them. The hand against his cheek was comforting. Warm. Alastor felt like he was burning up, but Sessrumnir’s hand was still reassuring.
“What?” he asked–looked at the wrong shoulder, looked at the right shoulder, didn’t see anything, and then looked back at Sessrumnir like he must have been seeing things. Probably just a trick of the light.
His vision was still swimming.
Alastor half turned to look at the Core; one hand still rested on the roots.
“Oh. New to you, yeah. They’ve been here for a little while for me. You haven’t seen the tree up top, I’ll have to show you.” He rubbed the root like he might have patted Princess’ head, and there was an undeniable fondness in the gesture.
He still seemed a little out of it. His brows were knit and he had a distinctly grim expression that seemed out of place for him.
“I don’t want Ephesus to cry, we shouldn’t stay down here for long. I don’t want him to wear himself out, there’s still a lot to do.” Which sounded horrible to say, actually. This had already taken so much out of him, and it was only the beginning. And, he didn’t even know if it worked.
This manifestation was gone–what if there were more? He didn't think it would be so simple, he doubted that all of the Chaos had just withered up and burned away. He couldn't feel it right now; the soft, soothing energy of the Core had blocked out the smothering cloud of Chaos.
And yet, he could still feel its sting prickling across his skin.
He didn’t move from where he stood; he just needed a second to ground himself. “Oh–your ring,” he remembered, and reached his free hand into his pocket. “Thank you. It helped.”
This time, he looked at Sessrumnir, but it was guarded, like he was a little afraid of what he might see.
Percy’s look of disappointment, of betrayal, of hatred was still burned into his mind.
He was afraid he might see it on Michael’s face, too.
Sessrumnir, Knight of JupiterSessrumnir let out a quiet but exasperated sigh when Alastor didn’t even look at the correct shoulder at first, and then didn’t seem to notice how his clothing was torn and soaked with blood. And then looked at him like he had no idea what he was talking about.
“Ephesus will be fine. Amarynthos is with him. Ganymede and Valhalla and Lysithea and the cats are with him,” he reassured, but gently placed his hand over Alastor’s before he could offer his signet ring back.
“There’s still a lot to do,” he repeated Alastor’s words, just in case he’d already forgotten what he just said. Or maybe held himself to a different standard. “Hold onto it. Give it back once we’re back on Earth,” he amended their prior agreement, and didn’t look like he was in the mood to argue about it. Besides, if it helped, then he wanted it to continue helping.
“You can come out and look if you want,” he called to the area hidden around the bend near the stairs. He didn’t want Cybele to think she wasn’t welcome. He appreciated that she came with him to help. Just in case. But he also didn’t hold it against any of the others to stay put. It wasn’t the easiest place to get to.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2022 6:32 pm
Eternal Sailor CybeleIt was a nice thought that Cybele had been giving the two of them a moment of privacy once she realized that Alastor was alive.
The truth was that when she’d ran after Sessrumnir, thinking it a terrible idea to leave someone alone in a place that was clearly crawling with a type of Chaos that they didn’t understand, when she didn’t know what he was going to find down by the Core, she’d been thinking about her promise to Alastor, and how having his back meant protecting those closest to him. She’d been wondering what had happened, and bracing herself to find the worst.
She had not been thinking about the stairs.
It was getting to the point where she was fine walking moderate distances assuming the terrain was good. This was different. It took a moment when she reached the bottom to breathe through the pain that was shooting up towards her ankles.
She was less desperate once she heard the two talking, and she gave herself that moment before Sessrumnir called her and she turned the corner.
“It’s me,” she said, not bothering with the questions like are you okay when the answers were obvious enough.
“I don’t mind people rushing headlong into danger, but it usually turns out better when those people have company.”
Her gaze flicked between Alastor and the Core.
“Did it work?”
Eternal Sailor AlastorAlastor didn’t have him in to protest; his hand curled again around the ring and he pocketed it again. He’d give it back soon, probably before they were on their way back to Earth, but he didn’t imagine Sessrumnir would be straying from his sight in the immediate future.
He probably could have stood there for a moment longer with Sessrumnir’s hand over his own, but Cybele’s presence was another firm reminder that he’d made a promise to other people here.
His heart ached in a way he wouldn’t vocalize; he drew in a quick breath and rubbed at his face with both hands. He used more force than he needed, but he wasn’t very tender with himself. Maybe he didn’t think he deserved it.
He nodded, in quiet gratitude, to Sessrumnir. He was still sorting out his thoughts and emotions, and he had no reason to suspect that the necklace wasn’t an open door to read them.
A sick, poisonous taste lingered in his mouth. He’d have to get some water. He felt like he was submerged underwater, and like no matter how hard he swam, he couldn’t make his way up.
He ignored what he could, and stood a little straighter. He even managed a quick, albeit hollow, smile to reassure Cybele.
“I suppose we’ll find out. If Soleiyu got any reading we’ll know where to go. But,” he half turned to look at the Core, and raised one hand to shield the blinding light, “I think this is a good start.”
The Core was too bright to stare into, but that was fine. He was afraid he might see Percy’s tear-streaked face if he looked for long. But, maybe he looked at the white light for a little longer than he needed too, just to try and burn the image out of his mind.
The screams were still echoing in his ears.
“We should get out of here. Cybele, are you all right? I’m sorry, those stairs are a bit uncomfortable. Do you want some help back up?”
He didn’t think she was weak, he just wanted her at her best. He didn’t want her to use all of her energy or hurt herself trying to get back upstairs.
And, it was easier thinking about her than thinking about himself, or anything that had transpired down here.
Sessrumnir, Knight of JupiterSessrumnir heard and nodded to acknowledge Cybele, even if he would have just argued that he was fine. Rushing headlong into danger wasn’t anything new, and he was fine. So far. Besides, Alastor did it too.
With his hand no longer over Alastor’s, Sessrumnir crossed his arms over his chest so he could inspect the cavern a bit more. It seemed like there was liquid light that had splattered all over the walls, and roots, and Alastor himself. Sessrumnir would have commented about how he told him he’d look good with white streaks in his hair (as he aged, was the context), but didn’t think it was a good time to say anything about it.
Besides, Cybele and Alastor were friends… so they deserved a moment to talk as well.
Not only that, but he couldn’t stop staring at the Core. Not directly, because it was rather bright, but at the little lights that seemed to bounce off of it like water in space, or at least with very little gravity, because the lights always made their way back to the swirling orb.
As he faced the Core, he held up the little orb he wore around his neck, watching as the swirling and pulsing mimicked the large one. He couldn’t exactly explain it, but there was a calm that washed over him, being so close to something that was so new and yet so familiar to him.
Had he seen this image in his dreams before…? Not the roots. But as a child he could have sworn he had dreams about a large cavern with a peaceful, large swirling orb. He wasn’t sure why those memories were surfacing now, or maybe his mind was fabricating things that he could have thought of before.
Absently, he reached out a hand to gently touch one of the roots that had grown down to wrap protectively around the Core…
And then turned back to the others, frowning at them with concern.
“I can carry you both if you’d like.” Those stairs were no joke.
Eternal Sailor CybeleCybele didn’t look at the Core for too long. It seemed intensely personal, especially considering what she’d witnessed with the false Percy. She stole glances, however, and she saw the way the walls themselves seemed to glimmer with reflective light, and she understood that at any other time this place might feel warm, and peaceful.
At least there were no shadows here. That brought some comfort, even now.
“I’m fine,” she said, and gave a practiced smile. She hoped that neither of the others knew her tells well enough to see the way her jaw had tensed up. At least she was steady on her feet for now, even if the soles were starting to ache and burn.
“I came to ask the same of you,” she said, and while her gaze started on Alastor, it flicked quickly over to Sessrumnir and stayed there. The worry there was not false. “I didn’t want anyone to be alone. The cameras went out.”
She wasn’t judging him for rushing off. She’d have done the same. She just also would have appreciated the backup, had it come.
“We can go back now. That’s fine. I can manage.”
That was her own pride talking. It was going to be awful, but she hadn’t come to be carried unless there was some kind of an emergency. She’d come to help.
Eternal Sailor Alastor]Alastor watched Cybele for a few seconds, trying to read into what she’d said and how she’d said it, but in the end he just nodded. “Just don’t push yourself too much now if you can help it. This isn’t the hard part.”
He hoped it was. He hoped that was the worst of it. He reached up to rub at his face again and tried to force himself to calm down. In the end, the numbness was suffocating, but it was better than choking down emotions he couldn’t process right now. Every muscle was tense, and even if he was in perfect health–mostly, at least–his skin felt stretched too tightly over him. It felt like ants were crawling under his skin, scratching, biting.
He didn’t want Sessrumnir to worry about him. Didn’t want Cybele to hurt herself.
“You should take Sessrumnir’s offer. He’s got nice arms. You might not get another chance to take him up on that.” And Knights were stronger than Senshi; it would probably take much elss out of him than it would have taken out of her to try and get up those stairs without hurting herself.
It didn’t matter if she could manage–he knew she could–it mattered that she was at her best for when she needed to be.
He didn’t need to be carried, didn’t want to be, if only because he felt like one wrong touch might shatter him. Which was foolish, he knew, but he just needed a minute. Just a few seconds, maybe. Just a little time to shake the feeling of Its hands on him.
He wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand again, but he still tasted blood and bitterness.
Sessrumnir, Knight of JupiterSessrumnir frowned at both of them. He wanted to do more for Alastor, of course. He knew him better than he did Cybele. He knew it must have been completely heart shattering to have to interact with the illusion of Percy. The thought made his skin crawl, and he didn’t have to interact with it himself.
“Around the corner,” he nodded to the place where the cavern narrowed down into a path away from the Core. He kept his voice low so only Cybele and Alastor should have been able to hear him. “And up the stairs… the cameras don’t focus on that area. You can either get on my back, or I can hold you in my arms,” he said to Cybele, clearly no longer allowing ‘no’ as an answer.
“Once we’re at the top, you’re going to power down so I can check out your shoulder. We can stay out of the camera’s range there, too,” he said to Alastor, arms still crossed over his chest as he looked from one to the other. “Besides, you’re going to make Ephesus cry more if he sees you like that. Deal?”
If neither of them were going to be taking their wellbeing seriously, then he was just going to have to force care on them, whether they liked it or not. They could hate him or they could thank him later. He didn’t care, as long as they were in the best shape to deal with whatever they had coming next.
“I used to be a field medic,” he confessed, as if hoping that would put Cybele at ease, at least. Alastor already knew that about him. “I’ve dealt with stubborn soldiers who think they’re tougher than they really are. And suffer through more than they have to, no thanks to their pride.”
Eternal Sailor CybeleAh. There was no getting around it, then.
This was the wrong crowd for hiding injuries around. She still didn’t want to be seen as the one who needed all the extra help, but she also didn’t want to cause a scene.
Also, if she was being honest, she didn’t actually want to walk up the stairs.
“All right. You can carry me,” she said. Commenting on his arms seemed odd considering that he was, at least tangentially, her brother, so she turned to Alastor instead as she started to walk back around the corner.
“All that talk about scars,” she said, trying to lighten the mood, if he was ready to. “Now we’re going to have matching ones.”
She pulled the strap of her dress to the side, fully revealing the claw slashes that marked her from, and her smile softened a bit. “And I’ll try to save my strength and help out so that we can say you got it saving your world.”
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2022 6:32 pm
Eternal Sailor AlastorAlastor again made a face, like he really didn’t understand what either of them were talking about. The shadows weren’t doing him any favors, and while he trusted them, the pieces still weren’t lining up.
But, Cybele had agreed, so he didn’t have to worry about her getting hurt, and he wasn’t going to argue against whatever Sessrumnirw as insisting for him. If he wanted him to power down, that was manageable.
Especially if he was planning to avoid the cameras, just to make sure no one was worrying.
Alastor was prideful but he trusted Sessrumnir. If he’d been hurt, he wasn’t going to try and hide it from him–they’d promised to be honest about that. Alastor just didn’t think he was hurt. He couldn’t remember, it was all blurry.
He didn’t think both of them could be wrong about something like that though, and he wasn’t going to protest Sessrumnir checking to make sure he was all right.
As he walked with the two of them around the bend, he reached a hand up instinctively to test his shoulder, because his curiosity wouldn’t let him not do it. He applied too much pressure, too quickly. His hand felt warm and slick and the pain shot through him suddenly, followed by a dull ache. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, and it hurt, but–
But, he felt it.
It wasn’t like the brittle numbness that had washed over him. It rattled him, just enough that it felt like it shook a bit of the haze out of his mind.
Okay. So, they were right. He had hurt his shoulder. It probably wasn’t that bad. He reached up to squeeze his shoulder again just to see.
Sessrumnir, Knight of Jupiter“Stop messing with it!” Sessrumnir let out a distressed groan as Alastor kept poking and prodding at his shoulder as if the wound would suddenly disappear if he kept touching it. He shook his head and muttered something that sounded like ‘unbelievable’ under his breath, but there was no heat in anything he said. Just stress and worry.
“Come on, you go up in front of me,” he insisted, gesturing for Alastor to keep walking, although he cast one last glance over at the Core. If it wouldn’t sound tacky thanking it, he would have. Instead he just thought it, and once again turned to make sure Alastor was listening to him.
“If you lose your balance, I’ll catch you,” he promised, still sounding a bit exasperated as he knelt down just enough so he could scoop Cybele up with one arm. “Hold onto my shoulders,” he gently instructed, because he would need his other hand to hold onto the railing and to stop Alastor from falling.
Thankfully, climbing the stairs was uneventful. Even without his extra strength as a Knight, Cybele weighed very little, and Sessrumnir was certain he could have carried Alastor up as well. Very gingerly, he lowered Cybele back to her feet and turned to watch Alastor expectantly to power down. He was already pulling some first aid materials from his subspace.
Eternal Sailor CybeleBeing carried up the stairs did not, in the end, completely destroy Cybele’s pride. It didn’t hurt her feet, either. She was actually able to begin to feel her soles again and not just an overarching, sharp pain by the time they reached the top.
“You won’t get after me for fighting, though, will you?” she asked the two of them as she slipped out of Sessrumnir’s grip and onto her own two feet. “Here, or back on Earth? I can do most things. I promise. I’m getting better.”
Practice kept her voice cool, and she shoved down the voice in her mind that was still complaining that people saw her as a burden.
Her focus was on Alastor, anyway, although she kept a few feet of distance. She remembered their previous conversation, and she didn’t want to keep him from getting lost in Sessrumnir’s eyes during the first aid process if he needed to.
Eternal Sailor AlastorAlastor huffed only briefly when Sessrumnir told him not to mess with it, but he listened. And, leading the group up the stairs meant he couldn’t poke or prod it while without Sessrumnir seeing, so he wiped his hand off on his uniform to clean it. He kept his other hand on the railing, just to make sure he didn’t lose his balance.
He was fine, physically. Comparatively. He’d been hurt worse.
He wasn’t ready to process anything else, though. He kept his eyes open so he couldn’t see Percy’s face when he blinked, and he made sure to focus on every little sensation he could to keep himself distracted. The cold, smooth metal of the railing. The hollow echo each stair made when they stepped on them.
“You can do anything you put your mind to, Cybele,” Alastor said easily; he powered down and stripped his shirt without much fuss. He’d told Cybele they’d compare scars one day, but now wasn’t the best time. It was easier to focus on her than it was himself, but in the light of the room–now brightly illuminated with two dozen candles–he could see the blood on his shoulder.
He made an indignant noise of acceptance but resisted the urge to touch it again. He did look at the statue with something like disdain, and turned so the his back was to it. Just in case.
He’d told Cybele before the scars were something to be proud of–and, he had plenty. It was easy to guess how he’d gotten some of them, but others were a bit less predictable. The one across his chest was every bit as impressive as he’d made it out to be, and stretched from one shoulder, across his chest, and down to his hip.
Devyn didn’t make a big deal of it now, didn’t try to show off or brag. He avoided the camera and stood still so Sessrumnir could tell him he had a little scratch and to get on with it. He didn’t even think he needed first aid, it still didn’t hurt.
Or, maybe the ache in his heart was just so overwhelming that everything else seemed meaningless.
He couldn't stand the silence, though, and didn’t trust himself in it.
“You can fight to your heart’s content, Cybele. I believe in you, you’re completely capable. I know you could have made it up these stairs just as easily as you made it down them. But, I also know that you’ll push yourself harder than you need to, and right now I just want to make sure you’re ready for anything. Ready for that.”
He didn’t think he needed to clarify that he meant the Chaos he’d dealt with.
A small part of it. Probably not even enough to have done much damage.
Enough to track it, he hoped. Enough to make it mad, maybe.
He wasn’t looking forward to seeing what else it could throw at them.
Sessrumnir, Knight of JupiterHe didn’t answer Cybele at first, instead letting Alastor respond. Alastor was diplomatic and encouraging, which was what Sessrumnir expected. And it was something he appreciated about him.
Sessrumnir was already wetting a cloth he had in his subspace when Devyn removed his shirt so he could tend to the gouge. There were deep, desperate claw marks that looked like they were from a wild animal across his shoulder, and Sessrumnir did his best to be gentle as he dabbed the blood away.
“Just a papercut,” he hummed thoughtfully, maybe for Devyn’s benefit, or maybe for anyone that might still be watching the monitors and listening to their conversation. “Give me a minute and I’ll have it patched up,” he said, leaving the cloth over the wound as he fished out some butterfly bandages and larger bandages to protect his shoulder. He would probably need better patching up once they got home, but for now this would have to do.
“You can do whatever you want,” Sessrumnir said to Cybele finally. “Fight, don’t fight. As long as you’re not putting anyone else at risk, you’re old enough to make your own decisions. But as soon as your actions start to put anyone else at risk, you better believe I’m going to step in. Same goes if I think you’re emotionally compromised and aren’t thinking clearly.”
He had nothing against her, but he had people to look after. And whether or not she believed it, she was included.
It didn’t take long for him to get Devyn’s shoulder patched up. He made sure the wounds were closed, and he had extra bandages to keep everything clean.
“Alright. We should head out before the rest of them start coming in to check on us.”
Eternal Sailor CybeleFor a moment, Cybele eyed the scars on Alastor’s body. She couldn’t help wanting to see after the way he’d seemed so proud of them earlier. She couldn’t help being impressed.
“The one on your chest is good,” she told him, still calm, since he seemed fine with small talk to keep his mind off of things. “I can’t compete with that.”
She didn’t stare, though. Sessrumnir seemed to have his current injuries under control, and so she turned her gaze towards the statue that Devyn seemed to be avoiding. Lit up by the candlelight, it seemed quite impressive. She hadn’t found anything like this on her own world.
Even as the others spoke to her, she didn’t look back at them.
“I’ll be careful,” she said, because she would become a lot less useful very quickly if she was hurt. “I’ll pick my battles carefully, fight them with everything I have, with determination, but also discretion and strategy.”
Her lips twitched upwards in a smile, and she couldn’t help but think that if Sessrumnir thought she was being reckless now, he should have seen her when she was in the Negaverse.
“But if you think something’s clouding my judgment, you can step in,” she said. After all, she’d stepped in by following him down the stairs. She couldn’t be upset if he returned the favor. “I trust you.” Alastor and the family seemed to trust his judgment. She could too.
“But yes, let’s go back.”
Eternal Sailor AlastorDespite everything he’d been through, Devyn almost let himself laugh at just a papercut. He managed a smile but didn’t comment on it, he just hoped Sessrumnir could translate the look he gave him as one of gratitude.
Cybele’s praise was enough to earn her a smile, too, and if he’d been in a better mood he’d have beamed and leapt into a story. For now, he took a quiet moment to sort out his thoughts–what few of them he was ready to deal with. He stayed still while Sessrumnir patched him up, and was a particularly agreeable patient. As soon as Sessrumnir seemed to be finished, he was glad to power up again.
Glad to head back.
Glad to move forward, hopefully.
He wanted to know that this had worked, but right now only Soleiyu had the answers.
The trip back to the computer room was short, but it felt like it took twice as long as it should even if only because he was eager to find out.
SoleiyuThe moment the three of them walked through the door, Soleiyu breathed a sigh of relief. It took every ounce of restraint for Amarynthos and Ephesus not to run over and hug them, but even they understood the importance of letting the Mauvian speak first.
“It worked,” Soleiyu prefaced, because it was best that they get the good news first. “The GPS pinpointed the highest surge of energy, I’m pretty sure we’ve found the source of it all. And, I think whatever energy you unleashed is keeping everything at bay.” For now. He had no doubt this was only a temporary reprieve.
“We got a read on the GPS that it was trying to move in, but that explosion chased them all out, and you can still track the energy from it. It must be going around the Hall. We might have a few minutes to get ourselves together.”
Which was good, that was the plan.
But, the bad news.
“We didn’t just pick up on one spot, though. I mean, we can clearly identify where the Chaos is at its strongest, but there are a few markers nearby I think we should be concerned about. I’ll get all of the information uploaded so we can make a plan but I’m pretty sure you’re going to want to be ready to deal with them, just in case.”
Because, now more than ever, Soleiyu was certain they were going to need a good one.
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