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[This rp takes place before the Into the Shadows rps]

It had been a while since Athene had last found himself patrolling in the park, but for some reason this evening he had found his feet taking him in that particular direction and had decided to go with it.

It had been late enough that the park appeared to be pretty much deserted as Athene quietly stepped in between trees that were awash in autumn colours, but not so late for the night-time chill to have fully set in–

Although there had been a definite n** in the air, one that Athene had tried to somewhat mitigate in the form of fingerless gloves and the large takeaway cup of hot chocolate in his hands.

Well okay, by now what was left of the hot chocolate was probably more lukewarm than hot, but at least it was something and the chocolate was pretty good.

Then again chocolate was generally pretty good - well at least Athene considered it so.

Athene blinked startled as an energy signature suddenly flared into life, the aura blazing bright and warm.

The warmth of a fellow order eternal–

And whilst trying to track down auras had never been something that was an exact science, this particular aura was one wouldn’t have been that hard to track down given that its source had appeared but a few feet (give or take) from where Athene had been standing.

The startled expression had faded from his face as the other senshi turned to face him, Athene taking in the long cape-like sleeves and tall boots.

The whole outfit made for an elegant one and one that looked much more suited for the cooler weather than his own out.

"Evening" he said in answer to the other’s greeting, his quiet voice polite as he reached out to shake the offered hand. "It’s nice to meet you, I’m Sailor Athene - but feel free to just use Athene."

Athene had personally never really been one to stand on rank and he wasn’t about to start now.

"A little" Athene said quietly, because Alastor suddening manifesting but a few feet from where he had been standing was a disruption "But I don't mind."

His lips quirking up in a small but genuine smile as he admitted "And as disruptions go it's certainly a lot more pleasant than some of the other disruptions that I've experienced in the past."

Like Negaverse agents trying to attack him on sight.

Well okay not all of them - there had been some that had seemed to actually want to just talk instead - but he had also come across quite a few that seemed happy enough to attack on sight.

He shook his head at Alastor's question about whether the Negaverse had been taken care of, the small smile fading "I don't think so" he admitted "Well at least I haven't heard anything to that effect."

And whilst Athene wasn't quite as in the loop as some of the others, he rather thought that he would have heard something if something big like the Negaverse no longer being a thing had happened.

Athene nodded his head in acknowledgement of Alastor's observation "Yes I have" he admitted quietly, because it had been kind of unavoidable - or at least it felt that way sometimes–

And whilst Athene didn't consider himself particularly "fight-y", there were times where he'd had no choice but to fight to the best of his abilities.

"And no I don't mind giving what information I have" he continued quietly, before adding "But I also can't promise that I'll necessarily know the answers."

He frowned slightly as Alastor asked about whether he had experience with a chaos source powerful to destroy a world and started to shake his head before pausing.

"Actually yes I have" he said, as he found his mind drifting to the battle with the Blight last month and then further back to other battles such as the one on Maia several years back and the one against Queen Finsternis and her creepy shades. "Well at least I've been in fights against chaos that hasn't been of the Negaverse variety" he clarified. "But I can't say that I've quite come across something quite like what your describing."

Although Athene rather thought that the Blight kind of came close and the stuff had certainly been really dangerous.

Athene frowned thoughtfully as he gathered his thoughts "About nine or so years ago there was a lunar eclipse and the city put on a viewing party" he said quietly. "It was the same year that I upgraded to eternal, but later on in the year."

There was a distant look in his eyes for a moment, his eternal upgrade not something that Athene particularly liked to dwell on.

"Shortly after, these shade things started cropping up around the city." Athene absently tugged at a lock of hair "They were like grey, washed out copies of people. One of them looked like my cousin - and I came across it whilst it was trying to kill her."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing "But whilst some took the form of civilians, that's not what made them dangerous - what made them truly dangerous was that some of them were also able to take the form of powered people."

Athene sighed "Some of my friends and I had to fight my double and it had the ability to use my magic." He paused again for a moment before adding "And one of the shades was even able to take the form of one of our Royals."

He'd been left with a scar from that fight from when the Shade version of Princess Iris had caught him around the ankle with one of her attacks.

"Their leader, Queen Finsternis, was one of the most powerful people that I've faced - and not only did she have magic of her own, but she seemed to also be able to mimic our magic too."

There was a solemn note in Athene's voice as he admitted "And I'm not sure if we would have been able to defeat and those shades of hers if not for the Negaverse deciding to fight her too."

He frowned slightly "More recently there was the Blight" because the thing with the blight had happened only a month ago.

"Truthfully? I know it probably sounds kind of clichéd but it was a case of a lot of people working together" Athene said quietly.

He drank a little of the leftover chocolate which had indeed gone lukewarm, before admitting "And I think that's been the case of a lot of battles against really strong sources of chaos" he paused for a moment and then added "Well at least in the ones that I've been part of."

Athene was honest enough to admit that there were many fights that he'd been involved with where they had ended up prevailing despite the odds - but it had taken people working together for that to happen.

Athene nodded "I agree" he admitted quietly. He looked a little awkward for a moment as he added quietly "I know that it’s not something that works for everyone and that Order isn’t always the best at working together." Because Athene had been a senshi for long enough to see how disjointed Order was and whilst he was admittedly somewhat out of the loop, he doubted that things had changed any.

His lips quirked up in a small but rueful smile, his quiet voice somewhat earnest as he added "But I’ve always thought that we’re at our strongest when we do manage to come together."

His quiet voice was as rueful as his brief smile had been as he continued quietly "I’m not sure how much help I’ve been" because all Athene had done was talk about some of his experiences "But you’re welcome. Honestly though, there’s no need to thank me. I’m glad that you feel like you’ve managed to get closer to whatever it is that you’re looking for."

Athene nodded in agreement as he’d seen evidence enough that people would find a way to come together if the situation was dire enough–

Queen Finsternis was one such example and a case where both Order and the Negaverse had managed to put aside differences for long enough to take down a common threat, but as with Alastor it was something that Athene personally preferred that things didn’t fall out in such a way that it had to come to that.

"I’m all for trying to do my best to avoid things coming to that" he agreed quietly.

He sighed slightly with a small nod when Alastor mentioned that it was perhaps best for him to head out soon, because Athene had been around for long enough to know that it wasn’t good for two eternal-strength auras to be in vicinity for too long–

Well at least not unless the aim was to draw attention of the sort that he really wasn’t looking to attract, because it wasn’t like an eternal senshi’s aura was subtle and two in close proximity for too long was pretty much asking for trouble.

"I wouldn’t mind talking to you again in future either" he said quietly as his lips quirked up in another small smile. He summoned his senshi phone from subspace and held it up in offering as he added "And I’d be happy to exchange contacts if you want?"

Athene made it a question.