Summer had arrived almost before Orah had realized it was June already. Just in the span of six months she'd had her planet nearly taken over by chaos, seen Faustite fail to purify, and Cybele also reach Princess as she ran a mission to take down a Negaverse stronghold. Work was as busy as it ever was, of course, but there was a new sense of peace she hadn't felt in a long time. Her duties were tiring, but no longer draining, the way they had been. She missed friends, but wasn't quite so lonely any more.
Now, it was summer again, a summer without some looming threat. She was hearing stories again in the break room of odd little happenings, but there was more of an air of 'you can tell its Starfest time again', rather than uneasiness. Orah was actually looking forward to the festival this year, looking over the calendar of events with an eye to what she wanted to do alone, and what she'd like to do with the few friends she had made.
Tonight was one particular planned activity and Orah made her way to the park with a couple of this year's paper lanterns tucked under her arm. Once alone and secure, she'd taken out her pen and called the magic that transform her into Ida, changing her clothes from nurse's scrubs into short, frilled skirts and the tinkle of jewelry. Unfortunately, she was immediately hit with the feel of a nearby general, which put her quiet night's plans on hold as she tucked her lanterns into her subspace pocket. Her asteroid, and the lanterns, would have to wait. The signature was too... familiar to be ignored.
When Ida reached the other side of the park she paused, casting about her for the source of the signature. Everything was quiet, which might have been a good sign. No one screaming yet... but she'd feel better once she'd seen that power signature off, back to their dark kingdom.
The Lantern Festival (9) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
Lithiasaur
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:32 am
Whimsical Blue
General Painite was not unaware of the strange things that happened during the festivals and holidays of this city, but she did her best not to care. With Ekanite being over the moon, metaphorically speaking, about that sort of thing, though, it was impossible not to hear all the strange tales and rumors he dug up. Mostly because he never stopped talking.
Thankfully, his new friends kept his attention split, giving her a bit more space to breathe. It was nice, in a way, to see him growing and standing on his own, but somehow it made her feel restless. She treated him like he was always annoying to her, always draining, but her bond with him was unshakeable. He owed her his life, sure, but he loved her like family and she, despite her best efforts, had to admit she felt the same way.
He was one of the few things she had allowed herself to care about, maybe love, like a kid she had never wanted. It was difficult to loosen her hold and let him move away from her. She was still one hundred percent certain he would not make smart choices, and would get himself stabbed or worse within moments of her taking her attention from him, but there was little she could do about destiny. This place was named for it, after all.
Her shoulders tensed as a powerful burst of a white moon aura shuddered its way down her spine. She turned, sensing someone had powered up nearby, but not in sight. Inevitably, they would have felt her own aura and, as a General in the park, one of the most popular hunting grounds for energy, would come and investigate. She did not call her spear to her hand just yet, turning as the aura got closer and gave her a good indication of where the source would appear.
As soon as she saw the familiar senshi, she let out a theatrical sigh.
"Petals. Figures," she said, though her tone had a slight edge. It was hard not to think about their last meeting, Painite unsure where the two stood. She felt her face heat up, though, even with just the vague shadows of that memory clawing at the back of her mind.
"Painite." Ida said in surprise. How strange, to run in to her again so soon. It was difficult to call it fortuitous, considering their history, but... something had been different last time. She hadn't seen it through the fog of despair, but it nagged at her now, when her mind was clear. Ida wasn't unhappy to see this general here, even if it was unexpected. Painite didn't quite seem to know her own mind about it, but that only echoed Ida's uncertainty.
Instead of killing her, instead of turning her to the Negaverse, she'd held her in her arms... and it had felt different. Important. Ida hardly dared to think about why.
"I'm... better now." She said after a long pause of struggling to find something to say to fill the silence. "There was something on my asteroid that was poisoning it, and me. We found it and destroyed it."
It seemed strange to be trying to reassure Painite, of all people, that she was okay. She didn't even know if the woman cared. She might actually be displeased about it, though there was part of Ida that doubted that. Talking to her this way, so calmly, felt strange and a little awkward. Not fighting her felt strange. The scar on her calf didn't even ache any more, her magical healing nearly erasing any sign of it other than a slim silver scar beneath her tights.
Lithiasaur
Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 8:59 pm
Whimsical Blue
The General watched her skeptically, arching an eyebrow. Something on her planet was poisoning her? It did not matter how long she hung around senshi, she still did not understand them or their planets. It seemed like a lot more trouble than it was worth, in some ways. But it was more than worth it to the white moon, as they fought tooth and nail for both their planets and this one.
"That's good, I guess. Not the poison thing. The getting rid of it. You senshi always sort that stuff out, anyway. You're good at it. Annoyingly so. Just ask all of my failed plans."
She sighed, her shoulders sinking a bit. They had been tense at first, but it did not seem like Ida was in as bad a place as before. That was good, as Painite had only so many hugs in her. In fact, she was pretty sure she had used up the only one she had stored, and it would take a lot more time to recharge. Connecting with people was difficult at the best of times, but that fight had been something else. She was not sure what to think of it, though she knew she had meant everything she said. There were probably better ways to help people, without all the stabbing, but hers was a complicated language.
The one thing she did know was it was good to see Ida again, alive, and that she was still White Moon.
"Did I interrupt you from something? I'm not doing anything worth patrolling over. Not even gathering energy. The kid's off doing whatever it is he does, so I don't have to worry about helping him with his quota." She grimaced, not sure why she was over explaining herself. She shoved her hands into her pockets, frowning at her feet for a moment as she gathered her thoughts.
Painite's comment pulled a small half smile from Ida. Failed plans, huh? Even though she said that, Ida couldn't really feel any heat in the words. If those losses bothered her, she still seemed to accept them.
All of this was still weird, but the longer they stood and just... talked, the more Ida relaxed. Even as the tension leaked out of Painite's shoulders, it leaked from Ida's stance as well. She found her tension easing and even if she knew she should keep her guard up, there was more of her that wanted to open up to this woman.
"Oh!" Ida remembered now what she had been doing and that brought a new thoughtful expression to her face. Holding out a hand, she pulled the lanterns from subspace. "I was actually going to go to my asteroid and release these. Since they have seeds in them, I thought it would be neat to see what they do there and what grows from it."
Granted, it rarely rained on Ida, but maybe some of the new animals would rip up the expired lantern and release the seeds that way. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to find them once released, but she still like the idea of knowing they were out there. Turning that thoughtful expression on Painite, she held up the lanterns a little, taking a wild chance.
"Why don't you come with me?" She said as she watched the other's expression. "I don't know if you've been to a senshi's world before, but I'm sure you haven't been to Ida. You could think of it as like... a thank you, and you could see what all the fuss is about."
The senshi couldn't deny that she had something of an agenda to it... but the possibility was so far fetched it was hardly worth mentioning. It was a first step, an out stretched hand. Where things went from there would be entirely up to Painite.
Lithiasaur
Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2023 5:35 pm
Whimsical Blue
Painite listened with an arched eyebrow. Seeds on an asteroid? She supposed there were weirder things to do than try to grow some plant life, but it was hard for her to understand just how senshi homeworlds worked. She had only visited a handful of Knight Wonders, but those had been lush worlds trapped in time, in her estimation. Camelot had rebuilt a whole castle, and Shangri-La had been one of the most beautiful places she'd ever seen.
"I haven't been to one, no. Weirdly, it's hard to get Senshi to trust me with their secret, sacred places," she grinned teasingly at that, waving her hand. "But you don't owe me any thanks for stabbing you almost to death. I still feel kinda bad about the whole thing, if I'm honest. Which I try not to be."
She sighed, but her expression was softly hopeful and a little anxious. She was nervous, she found, but excited at the same time. She could not deny that she wanted to go see Ida's homeworld, especially knowing she had gone through so much to save it.
"But... if you think it'll be alright, then yeah. Okay. As long as I don't catch on fire or anything, then I'd like to see it."
Ida smiled wryly at the commentary. There was a pang at it, a bit of nervousness at the reminder that they did not have a good history. Everything they had been through, everything that had happened, and all the reasons she should never trust this woman... and yet, there was something there. She hardly dared hope what it might turn in to.
"There isn't anything you can do to hurt my asteroid." She said as she lifted and dropped a shoulder. "And there isn't anything on my asteroid that will hurt you, so I figure no harm, no foul."
"I promise no fire." Ida added as she offered her free hand out, banishing the lanterns back to subspace and pulling out her phone instead. "And I promise I'll bring you back whenever you want. I'm not going to trap you in space with no ride home."
What would Painite think of Ida, she wondered. Would the lush, pastoral landscape be underwhelming, boring? It was unlikely she'd feel the peace and connection that Ida herself did, of course, but all of Ida was built and cultivated in the past around the idea of comfort and ease. It was over grown now, but the past still peaked out of the wildness it had become. And even know, Ida still felt like her world liked having visitors. It always felt like it did better after she brought people to it, like it shared energy with them and came away a little more healed.
What sort of energy would Painite share with her world, and vice versus?
When she finally got a hand from the other woman, she pressed the button on her phone and activated the teleport, letting it take her in a rush of movement. And then they were there.
A wide meadow stretched out before them, bathed in sunlight and speckled with flowers of all shapes and colors. Cool shadow covered them from the massive trees at their backs, their tops soaring up multiple stories into the air to spread branches as wide as some city blocks. Arching windows and door ways dotted the sides of the trees, their girths wrapped in spiraling staircases that lead up into the leaves and down to over-grown paths that wound between the buildings.
Ida could feel the warmth flowing up through her feet and legs, that unique sense of the energy of Ida moving through her. It felt like a welcome, like a hug from a friend welcoming her home. She slanted a glance over to Painite, watching her expression at her first view of the blue sky and lush greenery. Somewhere behind them in the branches, windchimes played soft music as a breeze blew past them. Birdsong twined with it, a novelty still for Ida.
Lithiasaur
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 10:47 am
Whimsical Blue
Painite eyed Ida's hand dubiously, but she did not seem too worried. The idea of being trapped in space did not seem like the worst thing she had been threatened with lately.
Though she had made a few trips to different places now, she could not say she liked the journey. It felt strange, every time, and she did not think it agreed with her chaos all that much. At least she was not left feeling like she had been turned inside out, or worse, but it was just uncomfortable enough for her to question why she let the white moon drag her around to these strange places.
Just glancing around, as it always did, answered that question easily. Eyebrows lifting, she let go of Ida's hand and moved a couple of steps, turning as she looked around the meadow and the greenery around them. She seemed awestruck, beginning to realize that the White Moon had some truly magical perks if all their wonders and homeworlds were like this. Literally different worlds, all their own.
"Geez, this place is pretty. No wonder you were upset with it getting poisoned. It's like a paradise." She hesitated for a moment, looking down at her feet thoughtfully before turning to Ida. "You're sure my chaos isn't going to hurt it?" Her tone was honest, lacking her usual sarcasm and defensive snark. The last thing she wanted to do was more damage to Ida: the person or the asteroid.
Ida released Painite's hand with a thoughtful expression, rubbing her fingertips together as she thought about how different that had felt than anything she'd experienced with this woman before.
Standing here, watching her look about with wonder, Ida couldn't help thinking about their past and the number of times this same woman had tried to very seriously kill her. Ida had terrible scars from her, scars she had had to hide from her family. Scars she'd remade into artwork with tattoos. Painite had driven her and other senshi to band together over shared experiences, leading her to the closest friends she had ever had. She'd also been forced to consider her own mortality because of her, and process what that meant for her life.
It made it difficult to reconcile the moment they were in now, though there was still part of Ida that felt a difference between them now, a shifting with hints of... something new. She hardly dared consider it... but she also dared not ignore the possibility.
Could Painite want to purify? Maybe not right at this moment, maybe not soon, but eventually, with time and work? Ida wasn't sure. But if the possibility was there... she had to do what she could to encourage it. Every officer, no matter how terrible, no matter what they've done, could be a beloved ally on the other side. She reminded herself.
"No, you won't hurt it." Ida repeated, shaking her head gently. The peace of this place was relaxing her and she turned to look into the sun-dappled shade beneath the massive trees. "This place used to be somewhere sick people came for care and cures. We held ourselves politically neutral and took in everyone, no matter who they were. Things worked differently here than on Earth... there's a type of radiation that makes plants grow really fast, and we used that to make the buildings you see, and the technology that ran everything. Now its all wild though. There is a lot more here than there was when I first started visiting. It used to be just grass... now all the trees are alive again, and there are animals again."
She was, at least, proud of her world and the face it put forward for visitors. It was not staggeringly awe inspiring, but there was a warmth and gentleness to it that welcomed all. Like the world was saying 'come, rest and be healed'.
Lithiasaur
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2023 6:34 am
Whimsical Blue
Painite could not say she liked the feeling of traveling through space, but she hated the idea of it far more. Being taken off the planet she had been 'fighting for' so long, to some other place in the universe, without any control over if she could or could not come back from it was never a fun thought for her to simply accept on trust. And yet, more frequently than she would like to admit as of late, she kept finding herself putting her trust in senshi and knights to not just abandon her somewhere and let her starve to death.
As it turned out, the White Moon were not, in fact, all that evil. In reality, she only had the idea in her head because it was something she would definitely consider doing to someone in her current state, and if she had an ability to do so. It was probably for the better that whatever 'wonder' the knight side of her had, as Camelot insisted she did still have one waiting for her, was locked away by chaos and darkness.
Probably consumed by it, at this point.
She blinked, hearing Ida confirm that she would not hurt the planet. Again. Painite tried to believe her, but it felt like she were standing in the middle of a sea of glass and incredibly valuable items that were all one wrong shake away from shattering forever. A bull in a china shop. This place meant so much to Ida, and that translated to a strange kind of reverence to Painite. She did not want to touch -anything-. Just in case.
Of course, she immediately moved to the nearest tree and touched it. It really was alive, and she was fascinated by the beauty of it all.
"Every senshi has a place like this," she mumbled, shaking her head. "And every knight has a wonder, too. I'm supposed to have one, apparently. Camelot assures me it probably won't be a graveyard or a pit of slime, but I can't imagine..." she turned, looking at Ida against the backdrop of the planet. She smiled, shaking her head and waving her other hand at her. "You match this place. It's beautiful, and powerful, and it's all petals and awesomeness. This makes sense, for you. I know what makes sense for me. It's not gonna be like this. I don't think I want to see it."
The senshi felt herself flush at Painite's words. She didn't feel beautiful and powerful... though there were enough people that said she was. It wasn't even necessarily that she didn't believe them, so much as the words felt too grand for how simple she was. She was just Ida. A nurse and a senshi. A Princess senshi, now, but no more special or powerful than the other royals like Iris, Lysithea, Castor... Maybe even less, considering Castor.
Her head cocked to the side as she watched Painite touch the tree. As much as she said whatever wonder she had would be nothing like this... There was something about her manner, the way her hand looked on the bark of the tree, that just... fit.
"Do you know what planet you would have been from?" She asked. Ida had no idea how anyone deduced that who didn't have fake memories of purifying, or had been Order at one point... but who knew.
"Everyone has a place like this." Ida moved slowly to stand next to Painite, lifting a hand to set it on the tree a short distance away. She fancied she could feel the flow of power through her, through the tree and the asteroid and back. The warmth of it, the knowledge of the way it all flowed in an endless cycle, felt comforting. It connected her to this place, reaffirmed that she belonged here and that Here belonged to her. She found that she wanted Painite to have that feeling too... everyone deserved that feeling, just for themselves.
The wind breezed past them, ruffling Ida's dark hair and sending strands curling into her face. It came with the smell of countless flowers and good, green growing things, and the soft music of the windchimes she had hung in the branches years and years ago.
"Every person in the Negaverse and the Dark Mirror were or could have been White Moon, if someone hadn't intervened. So everyone has a place where they would have gotten their power, a place that belongs to them and that they're meant to keep and protect. They're all different, and I'm sure not all of them are as soft as Ida is... but I think they could be, with enough care. It took me years to get Ida to this point. It was so empty and lifeless when I first came here."
Lithiasaur
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 3:09 pm
Whimsical Blue
Painite watched the tree, though her gaze went a little blurry. She remembered a dream world, A past and a future that weren't hers. She shook her head, looking back at Ida with a soft, but sad, expression.
"No, no idea. Camelot says it could be anything, but nothing's ever... I don't know. Called to me. I don't know if that's how it works. Or if whatever was inside me, whatever was waiting for me, died a long time ago."
She leaned on the tree a bit, though she did so subconsciously, as if seeking comfort from it as she wrapped her arms around herself. She was not making eye contact, nervous and looking toward the sky now as she spoke. These were thoughts she rarely shared with anyone, if at all. Camelot, for however close they had gotten and all the things he did for her, had not been able to pry all of her worries out of her. He knew she was struggling, and he did his best, but maybe it was that persistent gentleness that made her hesitate.
"What if I try to... purify," even saying the word was difficult, and she took a moment before continuing, "and it doesn't work. I'm a traitor without a home. I mean, it's not too far from what I am now, but I won't... Camelot tells me that knights awaken when their potential is met, when the need for them is greatest. When their planets call to them and give them their items or whatever. My potential dried up years ago, after I started killing. What if my world abandoned me. If it... doesn't want me?"
She hated how pathetic she sounded, hugging herself tighter and looking up at the branches above while stubbornly refusing to let any tears fall even as they stung her eyes enough to momentarily blind her.
The pain in the general's voice made Ida's chest ache. She hadn't realized Painite felt like this... The uncertainty, the inability to believe there was anything good for her out there, that resonated with Ida. Hadn't she felt these same things before?
Lifting her eyes, Ida looked up into the sun-speckled canopy above them, watching the leaves rustle and move. This wasn't an easy topic to respond to. As much as Ida believed that she knew the answers, she had no proof to offer, no past experiences. She'd never purified anyone before and she had seen purification fail. Nothing was a certainty. But still... she refused to believe that whatever wonder was out there, waiting for Painite, would reject her.
"Your potential has barely been tapped." Ida said finally, keeping her voice soft and steady. "You had it stolen from you before you even got a chance to know it. I can't promise that everything will be okay on the other side, there is too much I don't know. But I do know that without the influence of chaos, you will be a different person. Chaos is... a mask, for who you really are, or who you could have been without it. And that person... I can't believe the code at your wonder would reject you. Maybe the person you are now would not be accepted, but purification is a sacrifice as much as it's a release. You'd sacrifice this person, the one you are now, to be someone new. Someone your wonder would accept."
"And, even if by some wild chance it didn't, after everything..." She paused, gathering herself and putting the weight of her surety into her voice. "I would still help you find your way. You would still be free. To be whatever person you wanted to be, knowing it was truly your own choice and not one influenced by chaos."
There was a faint echo in her mind, someone from an age past whispering what if I'm not good enough? The deja vu of it struck Ida, almost like double vision, there and gone again. A vague memory, faded and uncertain. Had that been her own words, or someone else's?
"You won't be alone, if that's the path you want to take. I'll help you, and I know others will too. All you have to do is want it. Truly."
Lithiasaur
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 12:42 pm
Whimsical Blue
Painite found herself watching Ida as she spoke, wanting to believe every single word. Some she had heard before, or at the very least the warnings and teachings behind them, but she had to admit that when Camelot got into his lectures, it was easy for her to stop listening. Here, now, however, she absorbed everything, a shudder shaking her to her bones and then out to her finger tips. Even hugging herself as tightly as she was did not seem to help.
Her gaze fell to the grass, her mind whirling.
"I don't want to be this person any more, anyway. She kind of sucks, you know? I think I haven't wanted to for a long time, but I'm too scared to do anything about it. Which is hilarious, for me, when you think about it. Still..."
She took a very deep breath, but even that shook.
She looked up, sea green eyes flashing. Maybe she was putting on a brave face, but she at least managed to master herself.
"But I guess that's the problem, isn't it? Wavering, not making a decision. I can't be confused all the time, not with offers like that, eh? You better not be lying to me, just to get a sale," Painite actually smiled at that, and it seemed like a weight had lifted off of her. She was still trembling, but she had seen and heard something that shifted a dark spot in her mind toward a light. "But I mean, it can't get much worse, right? So I'll do it. I just... have to make sure Ekanite will be okay. I'll figure those arrangements out with Camelot, but... uh. Maybe. If you're not busy... er..."
Ida hardly dared to breathe, in case the disturbance shattered the moment. Had Painite really said she was going to purify? She played it back in her head, her thoughts almost frantic while she kept as serene a face as she could manage.
"I wouldn't lie about something like that, I promise." She said, trying to put as much sincerity into her voice as she could manage. She didn't know if all of this hinged explicitly on her, but she would do everything in her power to help Painite with this. There was too much riding on it, both for their factions as a whole, and for Painite personally. Ida reached out to take her hand, giving it a squeeze.
"When you are ready, I'll be there and ready for you. It doesn't matter when." That was easy enough to promise. She'd call in sick to work, cancel all her plans, fight through a horde of officers if need be... though she might need a little help with that last one. It was terribly ironic to consider. "Have Camelot send me a message if you need me... or I'll visit that spot where you found me tonight, at about the same time every night."
There was only so much she could do for Painite at the moment, but at least she could do that. And just... be someone she could turn to if she did need something. Offer her a safe place and reassurance that someone out there wanted something better for her. Her and Camelot, at least.
