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 Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 4:33 pm
General Painite watched perfectly viable targets walk by in the light of the path, while she remained in the darkness just beyond the small pools that guided them home. She could easily have targeted any of them, dragged them off or teleported them some place even more isolated, and taken all the energy she wanted. Or a starseed, just to prove she still could.
She had no interest in either.
Letting them pass, she continued on her way. She was sure she felt an aura nearby, and of course they would have felt her approaching as well. Not that it mattered much: she found if someone was looking for a fight they would make it known, and if they on the brave side they would simply hang around. If the aura moved when she got closer, it had good sense.
For her part, Painite was not sure she had any sense at all. She definitely did not feel like talking to anyone, and she doubted a fight would go very well. Not because she was scared of being hurt or defeated, but simply because the allure of hurting someone else no longer fueled her. In fact, it was becoming increasingly repulsive, especially after what happened with Ida.
Maybe she had just turned into a coward, walking the fence between purifying or just letting chaos consume her. Which way of losing herself was really better than the other? Which one had she really earned?
She sighed, finding herself near some benches, though the last trickle of park goers had gone from this area already.
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2023 3:28 am
There was a General nearby.
This alone was not, per se, a surprise. There was at least one General (...sort of) who Kerberos had hosted at his bench more than once, of late, and whose return he certainly hoped for. And, if nothing else, what he'd told Faustite at their first meeting held true, to a degree--the Negaverse couldn't kill him in a way that mattered on the cosmic scale. There would be another Kerberos, if Faustite ever got tired of chatting, or some other General took issue with a chatty traitor who loved most of all to chat with officers.
But a General's aura still made him stand up, and move towards it--just in case this was the kind of General that wanted trouble.
When he found the woman the aura belonged to, Kerberos paused. Something about her seemed familiar--not someone he'd met, he was fairly certain, but perhaps he'd had her described to him? If she had served in the Negaverse long enough, that seemed possible.
"Good evening, General," he greeted, idly, all cool and calm, with a polite, welcoming smile. "I don't think we've met. I'm Kerberos."
Maybe she would know his name. Maybe she wouldn't. Every new encounter was always a little scary--after all, the Negaverse had teleportation, and that spear of hers looked dangerous. But Kerberos had to hope.
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 7:46 pm
Painite stared at him for a long moment, considering her options.
Generally, the talky kind of person was not one she wanted to interact with. Anyone that could just walk up to her and say hi without a trace of concern was either a massive danger, or a future annoyance. They either had no sense, or they had too much power. Both options were just as troublesome, in the scheme of things. She would either end up with an 'enemy' she did not have the will to really deal with, or a 'friend' she just wanted to leave her alone.
But then, she had not been in her best frame of mind lately, and she saw things in a very limited way. Even things she knew she liked, things that actively made her smile, felt hollow and pointless.
"Kerberos," she said thoughtfully, then shook her head. "No, I'd remember stabbing you, probably. I try to, anyway, but some folks slip through the cracks of time and all that. General Painite."
She heard herself answering without any real direction to do so. Maybe she was on autopilot, still reeling, not allowing herself to fully engage. But if that were the case, why had she even bothered leaving the house? She was out here because she was hoping to come across something, someone, that might snap her out of it.
"Just Painite'll do, though. No need to be formal," she approximated a grin, her bright, but sad eyes flickering in the darkness as she looked him over curiously.
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2023 2:07 am
Oh. That was a name he knew.
"General Painite? I've heard of you," Kerberos said. "My ex--amicable, don't worry!--used to be one of your subordinates. Always had good things to say about you. Natron, was his name, when he was in the Negaverse."
Until he'd felt things out with her more, he wouldn't let Lyonesse's new Knight name slip past his lips.
And truth be told, he'd heard other things, too. Painite had been the sort of General people talked about. Ruthless. Efficient. Murderous.
She did not look ruthless, now.
She didn't seem chatty, but that was fine. He could fill the silence for the both of them, and perhaps with enough prodding, she'd open up. |Or threaten to stab him to make him shut up, but it would not be the first or last time that happened, if it did.
"Anyway, it's a pleasure to finally put a face to the name. What's got you out, this evening?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2023 12:56 pm
"Oh, I was worried," Painite grunted, then caught herself. Her eyebrows did lift, though, at the familiar name, and a sad look crossed her face for a moment before she chased it away.
"Natron? Wow. I haven't heard from... I... so he was doing okay, the last time you talked to him? I mean. The past tense. He... left? Not. Died. Or anything. Right?"
She looked nervous all of a sudden, as if just talking about someone purifying was enough to put her on edge. Which, of course, it was. The very idea that she was talking to people about it, while actively considering it herself, made her skin crawl and her blood run cold. She had the same visceral reaction to a traitor as she was sure the entire Negaverse was programmed to have: even when that traitor was herself.
"Tonight? To be honest, I'm not doing anything. I don't do much, anyway, even when I'm gathering energy. So don't worry about it. No one's in danger right now. Not the brainless masses, or you. Not that you seem particularly scared of me."
Which was not his fault. She had lost most of her bark and bite some time ago. Being as lost as she was, she was often surprised she could still string sentences together, let alone get through an entire day. And yet she was doing so, one at a time, stumbling her way toward something. What it was, she had no real idea.
Or she did, but she did not dare let the thought get too clear. There was too much at risk, too much to lose.
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 3:22 am
Kerberos couldn't help but crack a smile. Painite was....not what he'd been made to expect, but but that was, in this case,a good thing. At the very least, she wasn't out causing harm to anyone, and that was more than could be said for a lot of officers that Kerberos was perfectly happy to chitchat with.
"He's fine, yes. Left the Negaverse, is a Knight now. We're still in touch--he'll be glad to hear you're alive," to say the least. So many people were lost to the war, so regularly. Kerberos wished he could pass on that Painite was well, too, but that seemed...a stretch, so far.
"And being fair, I'm very good at pretending I'm not afraid even when I'm genuinely terrified. Never let them see you sweat, and all." He regarded her, thoughtfully. "So if you're not out doing nefarious Nega-business, why power up? It's risky--people are assholes, sometimes, make assumptions based on aura, and getting punched in the face, literally or magically, is a s**t time."
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Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2024 1:11 pm
Painite breathed a slow sigh, nodding her head along with his words. She rubbed the back of her neck, not sure why she felt so at liberty to talk about herself with a stranger, but giving in to the urge anyway. She shrugged, knowing how it felt to hide when afraid, and grin through danger.
"Gotta keep up appearances, you know. Keep the big bads off my back. Anyway, I have a Lieutenant to keep an eye on. He will literally walk into traffic if I'm not paying attention." She was being a bit mean toward him, but she was at least exactly that protective of him. She was responsible for his well being, a final request from the mother she could not save, and she took it seriously.
His fate was still one of the primary reasons she had not made a decision for herself, or even allowed herself to think too much about it. As long as she could hide behind needing to take care of him, she did not have to face the change ahead of her. Except he was proving, day after day, that he was perfectly capable of learning, growing and, worst of all, taking care of himself.
But he wasn't a kid.
"I like a good fight, when I can find it, anyway. Good stress release. To be honest, I've been thinking a lot about leaving, too. Got a friend in the business of purifying, and all." She rolled her eyes at that, though she knew Camelot was honest. If not annoying, sometimes.
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2024 10:11 pm
"Ouch, responsibility," Kerberos said, lightly. "Not wanting to get saddled with that was part of why I decided to get out when I did." He'd let that hang, for her. That he'd left the Negaverse too.
That he knew what it meant, to struggle with the question, and with doing what you were supposed to do.
"If you've already got a friend in the business, that's a step in the right direction," Kerberos said. "I don't think I'd have made it out if I didn't have people to help me. It's so easy to get...stuck, you know? To not want to take that final step. But I've been so much happier, since I left. No higher ups to hide from. No one leaning over my shoulder."
No one locking him in little, dark rooms to sweat out detox, but that probably wasn't something she'd ever had to deal with.
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2024 8:50 am
Painite nodded her head. Everyone had their own reasons for changing sides, be it purifying or choosing to corrupt. Of course, a lot of people she knew did not get to choose when it came to corrupting, too. It was almost strange, feeling like there was an option in front of her, when she spent so long trapped in her own life.
"Yeah. As long as I keep flying under the radar while I figure this crap out, then I guess it's no harm, no foul." Painite sighed, hugging an arm around herself. "Just don't go ratting me out to anyone, yeah? I'll be dead before Camelot can even think about using that fancy sword of his." She had seen purification, and been walked through the steps, but so far was unsold on abandoning Ekanite.
She did not put it past the Negaverse to take it all out on him, when she vanished.
But then again, Merlinite had been able to purify, and he came from a far worse situation than she did. Her trap was one of her own making, her guilt from a long, successful life as a true monster.
"If I even go for it. Just thinking about it is enough to get me ripped apart. But I guess you understand that part. At least it's good to know it's worked out for others. I've only met one other, at least who told me about it."
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Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:24 pm
"You've got to keep yourself safe, yeah," Kerberos agreed. It was a rational consideration, really. Painite might have had somewhat less scrutiny on her than he did, but that didn't mean there weren't still eyes--and if she had direct reports, probably not just on her.
"I promise: nothing you tell me will ever be heard by anyone else." That was just...the rules, wasn't it? When one did this kind of outreach work. Total confidentiality.
"But if you ever want to talk again, most nights I'm on a bench in North End Park. I don't keep a predictable schedule--seems like a good way to get myself jumped--but I try to be there more often than not." He smiled, wryly. "Trust me: I understand exactly how hard it can be. And how much you have to sacrifice to do it. But it really is worth it, living a life without the Negaverse breathing down your back."
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2024 9:10 pm
Painite's expression softened and she nodded her head slowly. It was surprising to find so much comfort in such a simple gesture. It wasn't like she would hold him to his promise, not expecting him to be waiting around for her to reach out to him, either. But it was kind of him to offer his time and even an extra thought to her, considering everything. What she used to be, and how little he really knew about her.
Hell, this could all be a really weird, gross trap that she would have loved to pull off, back in the day. Of course, that kind of malice and brainless dedication to a cause she had never really allowed herself to understand was behind her. She understood too much, and didn't understand even more, which made it worse.
She nodded her head, not sure how to thank him. While she had gotten a lot more practice in thanking people, lately, despite her never ending surprise that anyone would be nice to her, it was still a foreign concept. Like an art form her mind was not wired for. Try as she might, it always came off stilted or noncommittal. Or, worse and most frequently, she sounded sarcastic.
"If I end up that way, I'll look you up. Thanks," she paused awkwardly, and for a couple moments too long. "I'll let you off the hook for tonight, though. You gotta have better things to be doing. But... I think you're right. About it being worth it. Guess I'll just have to see."
She took a few steps back, waving her hand in a mock salute before teleporting away with a lingering thought that she almost got through it, but that handwave probably made it look too teasing. It was a slow process.
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