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 Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 7:08 pm
She hadn't waited for the others to try to get her out of the house this time, like she had when they'd nudged her to go meet Talia. She'd reached out to Alastor all on her own.
Everyone else was being nothing but kind and supportive to her, but none of them truly understood the magnitude of what she was dealing with, just as she couldn't exactly relate to the feeling of being corrupted. She needed to talk to someone like her. Fang was an option, since they were already friends, but because she knew him, there was no way she was going to subject him to a long conversation about feelings. He would probably run.
That left Alastor.
She'd sent him a message telling him she wanted to talk about what had happened on his world, and she'd invited him to meet her at one of the parks at night.
She was tired of daylight. She was tired of pretending to be human. With everything else going on, it all got exhausting so quickly
It was about fifteen minutes before the allotted time that she made her way to the spot and waited, watching the stars. She remembered how to be prompt from all the diplomacy she'd used to do. There was a chill in the air, but at least her senshi magic kept it from bothering her so much.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 8:40 am
Alastor never shied from meeting someone new, so as soon as the opportunity to meet someone–someone more like him than the rest of the Senshi on Earth–of course he’d jumped at it. He’d taken his precautions, he’d let Michael know where he was going. He knew the park well enough that even he couldn’t get lost on his way there.
He’d left early, but she’d still arrived before he did.
Alastor felt her energy signature while he was still a bit of a ways out and hadn’t expected her to be earlier than he was–there was still ten minutes before they were supposed to meet when she first came into view. He’d left early to make sure he had time to find himself if he did get distracted or wander in the wrong direction.
There wasn’t really any denying that she was the Senshi he was looking for–he could see that she was different.
His strides were confident and purposeful, and long-legged that he was, it didn’t take him much time to cross the distance between them when he first spotted her.
“Daphne,” he greeted, with only the slightest hint of a question in his voice. She looked the part of the Senshi he was to meet, but it was a small universe. Strange things had happened, he wouldn’t be surprised if there were more like him than he knew wandering around Destiny City.
He held out his hand in introduction. “Alastor. Nice to meet you.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 4:11 pm
He was early, but there was no mistaking him. He might not have known Daphne by sight. She'd been deep in the crowd when he'd been explaining everything to them in the hall of his world, and afterwards, she'd been a weeping, shaken mess who was quick to check on her friends and then leave. Alastor, on the other hand, had been in the front. When he'd come back at the end, he'd been the guest of honor. She wasn't going to forget that night, which meant she wasn't going to forget him. She remembered liking his eyes, and she looked into them now. "Alastor," she said with a nod. "Hi." She was getting to the point where she could put on a brave face again, but not quite to the point where she wanted to smile. "How is everything on your world?" she asked.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:57 pm
Alastor nodded at first, a simple, succinct answer. But then, he did like to talk, so he didn’t leave it at that.
“Very well, thank you. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s the good kind. The water in the river’s gone back to normal, I’m not so worried about flooding right now. It’s been sunny weather every time I’ve gone, and that’s done wonders for the ground. The grass is growing back, thick and colorful. Good for the soil. I think things are growing in my garden, but I’ve got no idea, it might just be weeds. I haven’t seen anyone else up there, but I’ve just been trying to get some repairs done. It’s a big project, but.”
He shrugged; it didn’t seem to be daunting in the slightest. Really, he seemed to invigorate him.
“What about yours, how are things going for you?”
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 5:02 pm
"Oh," whispered Daphne. Her lips pursed and then pressed thin. Her brows scrunched up and then smoothed. Her entire face shifted two or three times as she tried to keep up that brave face, tried to keep up that diplomacy. Then she remembered that this was Earth, and that everything she thought she'd been fighting for was gone, and that it didn't matter. "Oh," she said again, louder. "I was hoping after everything that happened that night, everything I-" she trailed off and tensed, swallowed. Her lips stayed pressed into a thin line this time, and it looked like she was on the verge of going right into tears. "I was hoping we'd be able to save more than weeds in a garden." She glanced upwards, towards the stars. "But then I hoped that there would be something left on my own homeworld to save when I went back after however long it had me sleeping for, and that turned out to be a stupid hope, too."
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 11:32 pm
Alastor watched the expression change on Daphne’s face and tried to interpret what it meant even before she spoke. If he was offended that she wasn’t impressed by his garden, he never let it show.
It was hard to comment on weeds when she looked like she was barely holding herself together. Alastor didn’t need much time to piece together that her anguish probably had very little to do with the results on his world when she was mourning the damage to her own.
Daphne’s eyes were on the stars, so Alastor turned his gaze to the sky as well.
“Do you know that there’s nothing left to save on your world?” He didn’t mean to pry. He didn’t want to dig at an open wound.
The stars lost their interest and he turned his attention again to Daphne. “My world is large and expansive. I haven’t found anyone. Yet. But I haven’t given up hope that they’re out there. What’s happened to Daphne while you slept?”
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Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 9:41 am
"People keep telling me that. Telling me I shouldn't give up," said Daphne, and all pretenses of this being a polite conversation was gone, just like that. It wasn't that she was trying to be rude, just that she wasn't trying much of anything anymore, and that meant that the emotions were leaking out of her. Her nose was wrinkled, and her eyes were getting red and watery at an alarming rate. "Like, maybe I'll find one survivor in the ruins after five years and that will make it all fine again. Or, even just a flower blooming, and that will keep me going for a while." She spat the words, even as she held herself like an exhausted toddler. "Which would be an improvement on what I've seen, but." She shook her head. "War is what happened," she told him, "Best I can tell. Chaos, too, and maybe something on top of that. The city's destroyed." This was said flatly, like she'd accepted it. "The nature is dead. Even if something's left-" Her shoulders shook, but she did not collapse. Not quite. "It's been a thousand years. I know that now. Everyone who matters is gone." There was something pleading in her eyes as she looked up at him. She wasn't pleading for her family back. That was a lost cause, but she thought that at least she might be able to find someone here who understood, on a deeper level than the others, who only knew Earth and this generation. "The illusions on your world," she whispered. "That's the closest I'll get to seeing any of them." Her eyelids drifted closed as she sniffed. "And now, that's gone, too."
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 6:28 am
If Alastor found her words rude or unfriendly, he showed none of it. His expression didn’t waver and he watched and listened as easily as if they’d been discussing the weather.
And yet, he knew. He understood.
It had been different for him; he hadn’t woken up one day to find his world changed. It had happened gradually for him. The world changed around him. The people changed around him. Everything changed, around him.
Time had forgotten him.
And so, he’d forgotten time.
Things blended together. Unpleasant memories were tucked away, replaced with the happy, desperate fantasies he’d needed to keep himself going.
It hadn’t occurred to him that it might be another desperate fantasy that he might find someone out there. It wouldn’t, either. He was certain there were others on his world. He wouldn’t give up hope.
But he wouldn’t push that on Daphne. He wouldn't lie to her just to say everything could be perfect again, either. He knew it was hard.
“People tell you not to give up because they can’t imagine what it’s like,” he shrugged. It wasn’t hateful. Factual. Tired. “I don’t most of them would know what to do if they woke up one day and everyone was gone. Even if there’s someone out there, after this long? It’s not like it’s someone you know. It’s lonely. It’s frustrating. It’s confusing. I’ve been here on Earth for a year and I’m still figuring out how to fit in. I miss home. I miss my music, my food, my people.”
For all the trouble they came with.
He liked Earth. Loved it, even, in its own way. He had new people here, a small circle that seemed to slowly grow. He had a new family.
It didn’t replace the old one. He’d found more people to love, but it didn’t undo the hurt from losing the others.
“I’m sorry about the illusions. You deserve better than lies and trickery. There might be other worlds than can give you some sort of healing. Better memories.” Or, at least, lies that weren’t born of Chaos. He didn’t know what was still out there; the worlds that he knew were gone. He didn’t know if they’d ever return, or if they could ever be restored to their former glory.
“How are you grieving for your lost ones? Did you have rituals on Daphne?”
He asked gently, not for the sake of his own curiosity but because he knew the path to grieving, and mourning, and healing was long, and difficult.
Especially when you were alone.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 4:06 pm
It was what she needed to hear, honestly. After lying to herself for months, telling herself that everything could be fixed, and then having her friends try to carry on with that kind of thought process even when the truth had started to come crashing don around her, hearing someone actually acknowledge the reality of it all was- Good was probably too strong of a word, considering. It was necessary, though, and she looked up at him with a small nod even as the tears started to spill over. "Yeah," she said. "I miss," she wiped at her face, "I miss everything too. I'm sorry that you know what it's like," because she was. She was. She wouldn't wish this sorrow on anyone. "Even if it means something, you know? That somebody else knows." There was relief in her chest. That was what it was. She was crying now, of course, but for once it felt like she was letting something out. The question of grief, of mourning, was one that she hadn't even considered. She'd been weeping and short tempered and sometimes too overwhelmed to move for a while now, but she hadn't put a name to it. "We have returning ceremonies on Daphne," she said, then stopped, bit her lip. "Had. Had returning ceremonies on Daphne." It was a strange realization that a place could be so dead that there wasn't even any way to care for the deceased anymore. "We cremated the dead and returned their ashes to the savanna, while we wished their starseed a safe return to the Cauldron. But, I can't." Her eyes narrowed a little. "It's not like there are bodies. It's not like there's a savanna to return them to." Her tone started going short again, but she caught herself this time. Her breath trembled, and then she added, "That's not true. There might still be some remains. I just-" She sniffed, tried to breathe, and sobbed once instead. "I don't even know I'd look with the Chaos as bad as it is."
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Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 10:44 am
Alastor listened quietly and nodded occasionally. He understood what she was saying. Understood how she was feeling.
“You’ll find a way to remove the Chaos. You have so many people who will want to help you bring your world back to life. Whatever rituals you had before, you can have again. You can find something to do to honor your world and all that have gone.”
For a moment, he was quiet. “We have rituals on Alastor as well. I don’t know if it would ease you at all, but I would share it with you if it might help. Here,” he said; he reached into his subspace and seemed to fish around for a moment–not because he didn’t know where it was but because it was probably best assumed that he simply carried a lot with him.
Then, he extracted two black candles. They were tall and thin but no less detailed than what should have been expected of him and his world. And yet, they were surprisingly modest. Gold flowers encircled the bottom and gave it width and weight so they could sit flat on the ground without other support.
He presented them to her without force.
“I can make more. I have the supplies back home. It’s to speak with the spirits,” he explained. “You carve their name into the side, so the message can reach them, and when the smoke starts burning gold, you can speak to them. It lasts for about an hour or so. I made these myself, so I know they’re the best quality. I’ve always felt better after burning them. I can’t say I’ve ever gotten a message through the smoke, but.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes my memories are clearer. Sometimes I can hear their voice again. Sometimes it feels like they’re sitting right next to me. It has a nice smell when it burns. It’s peaceful. We use some of the ingredients when we make candles for meditation, but it helps clear your mind. I believe in its power,” he said. “...And if it would bring you any comfort, I’d like to share it with you.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:16 pm
Assurances from anyone else might have fallen on deaf ears, but Daphne knew that if anyone had authority to speak on removing Chaos that was as severe as it was on some of these planets, it was Alastor. She nodded, slowly. "You're right," she told him. "If I can fight the Chaos, then I can work more on the rest." On one hand, that still didn't feel like nearly enough. Was she going to fight for months, maybe years, just so she could have a funeral? Was she going to risk her own life just so she could pay respects to people who were already dead? On the other hand, if there was one last thing that she could do for them, she should do it, shouldn't she? This was her family she was talking about. These were her people. Her thoughts flicked back to the war, to the bloodied corpses that she'd spotted the night she'd had to run, the ones that had laid abandoned on the streets. Her people deserved better than that, so much better. Alastor holding out the candle brought her back into the present moment. "You made these?" she asked, eyeing the quality of them, everything about the way that she'd been holding herself softening. "They're beautiful. It must have taken you a long time." She reached out, her fingers touching the edge of the wax, but then she hesitated. "Are you sure? Don't you have someone you want to talk to?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 9:26 pm
A small smile twitched onto Alastor’s face. “I’ve had a lot of time to practice. But thank you. I like to think I have an eye for beautiful things.”
He looked at the candles fondly, like he might have been thinking about if he really wanted to part with them. “In all my years, I’ve had time to say everything I can think of. I think I’ll manage just fine until I can make some more. It isn’t so hard these days, my world’s making the resources I need. I’ll make a few extra in my next batch for you. But I’d like for you to have these.”
There wasn’t an ounce of regret or doubt; he seemed confident, and nodded again after he’d spoken. “You have my number, don’t you? Use them and let me know if they help at all. And afterwards, maybe we can talk. You can come to Alastor some time, too. I can show you how it’s doing now.”
If he could get the Chaos off of his world, she could get the Chaos off of hers.
There was still hope yet, for both of them.
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Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2023 5:49 pm
Daphne wasn't about to ask a second time. Instead, she took the candles and cradled them close to her chest for a second before she sent them off to subspace. He was looking at them like they were precious, and that more than anything else made her think that maybe they were. Maybe. She was still skeptical about a lot of this, and how much simply processing things would help when there was so little left, but she was willing to try it if Alastor thought she should, and if he was giving her something like this to help. "I will," she told him, instead of voicing her doubts again. "I'll tell you how it goes." She wasn't sure if she wanted to see Alastor again. Thinking about that also brought back painful memories, but she didn't say that, either. There would be a later. If he wanted to be part of her support system, then she could take him up on that. "Thank you," she told him, the diplomat in her coming back out, in that moment, "For meeting with me. I think I should go." The emotions were welling up, and she didn't want to fall apart in front of him again, so with a final nod, she turned and started walking away.
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