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 Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2023 6:08 pm
This was one of Kerberos's patrol nights.
He varied his schedule somewhat; inconvenient for people that might want to visit him on his bench, but in the end, it was safer than being in the same place on the same nights every week. Yes, that was what Hvergelmir had done, but Kerberos was not Hvergelmir. And he was also not entirely excited about the prospect of making himself a target that was too easy to hit.
So, he was far from North End Park, far from his bench, and wandering, and there was the feel of a Dark Mirror aura on his senses--and he had to admit, he was curious. Kerberos had plenty of experience with the Negaverse, but the Dark Mirror...he knew far, far less about them, and he has plenty of reason to be curious.
So he changed direction, headed towards what he felt, and spotted a blond in purple and green and gold, with the fluffy black wings of a Dark Mirror Eternal.
"Good evening," he called out, as cheerily as possible. No need to put anyone on the defensive, after all. Not when he wanted to talk.
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:48 pm
These days, Remarque was unfazed when any aura popped up on his radar. Long gone were the days where he had concerns about who might be approaching. He traveled Destiny City as an Eternal Senshi; being out and about as a Prince drew far too much attention, and he rather liked being able to slip under the radar for the most part.
That he was a Prince was no great secret, but it was still a trump card up his sleeve when he needed it to be.
He didn’t know if he’d be approached for conversation as often as a Prince as he was an Eternal, but it was a good thing he was in the mood tonight.
Remarque had already drained a good bit of energy, and it was time to visit Mirrorspace. One of his mirrors was broken, so he’d been looking for a good place for a new one in the meantime. He didn’t turn to face the Senshi who approached until just after he’d spoken.
“I suppose,” he answered. His new company seemed in high spirits, but Remarque was a bit more mellow. He liked to make connections, of course, but he liked to think he was a bit more refined. “Are you out here for any particular reason, or just making sure I’m not up to no good?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2023 2:03 am
Kerberos wished he knew more about the structure of the Dark Mirror Court. What, exactly, did it mean that he was face to face with one of their Eternals? Murikabushi certainly had opinions on them, but Kerberos wasn't sure he trusted them--any more than he'd expect someone to trust, for example, his own opinions on the Negaverse.
So, he'd have to find out for himself.
"Ah, I'm mostly after the Negaverse, when it comes to making sure people aren't up to no good," Kerberos admitted. "I've met maybe...two or three Dark Mirrors? And I've never really had much of a problem with you guys, really." He shrugged, cheerily. "I'm Kerberos. Pleasure to meet you, ...?"
He trailed off, to give the handsome blond Senshi before him the chance to introduce himself.
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Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 10:56 am
“Remarque.”
He didn’t offer his hand to shake, but they weren’t close enough for it not to have been awkward, and he wasn’t going to approach Kerberos like a lost puppy who’d just found the first sign of friendly life.
Kerberos himself didn’t seem particularly threatening so Remarque didn’t appear to be on guard, either.
“I’m not surprised you’ve met so few Dark Mirror Senshi. We tend to keep to ourselves.” He shrugged; for the most part, he thought they were all pretty respectable. They had their goals, but they weren’t hurting anyone to get there.
“Have you made much progress with stopping the Negaverse and all their evil deeds? They haven’t been bothering me so much, recently. So either someone’s been keeping them in their place or they’re just up to something and don’t want to be bothered. I haven’t meddled enough to find out.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:48 pm
"Oh!" Kerberos perked up at the name. "Remarque! I have heard your name before!" Mostly from Murikabushi, but...well. Kerberos liked Muri very much, but he was a thoroughly biased source on the Dark Mirror. "A pleasure to finally put a face to it."
There was no point in lying, or pretending that he didn't know; besides, admitting that he knew the name of a high-ranked member of what he understood to be a relatively small faction probably wasn't entirely out of hand.
"I don't know that I'm making much progress on stopping the Negaverse personally," he said, "but I'm charmed that you think I seem capable of that. No, I imagine they're chugging along as they always are. Haven't run into anyone tonight, though."
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 6:25 am
Remarque clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shrugged. “Small blessings, then.”
If Kerberos and his kind couldn’t stop the Negaverse with all of their force, he supposed it was well enough that he wasn’t burdened by their presence, at least.
Now, his interest had shifted to other things. Like, where had Kerberos heard his name before. He had his fair share of allies, and would-be accomplices, scattered throughout the city. Not to mention the Dark Mirror Senshi he knew. He wasn’t secretive with his name, just curious.
“If it’s a pleasure to know my face, I can only hope you’ve been hearing good things about me. I have a sterling reputation, you know.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2023 12:54 am
Kerberos hummed, acknowledgingly. All things considered, a patrol where he didn't have to deal with the Negavberse was a positive--it meant no one on his route was getting harassed, energy drained, starseeded, et cetera.
"Ah, a bit more complicated than 'all good things,' if we're totally honest," Kerberos shrugged, "but definitely interesting things. It's always a pleasure to meet someone who's been doing this for a long time, whatever side they're on." He paused, briefly, and sighed. "When they're willing to have a civilized conversation, at least. So, does the Prince of the Dark Mirror wander the city often? Or did I just get exceptionally lucky?"
Maybe it was tipping his hand to reveal how much he knew. But ti was also a sign of respect to not play stupid and ignore that he was well aware of who he was talking to.
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Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2023 8:47 pm
Remarque clicked his tongue again. “Ah, so you’ve been talking to someone with a big mouth, I see.”
There was no disdain or agitation in his voice. He might have seemed amused if he wasn’t considering who could have said what. He was a curious creature by nature, and he took great care to present himself in a respectable manner.
His reputation was important, after all.
“You’re lucky, I suppose. I spend a lot of time in Mirrorspace, but Destiny City is my home, too. I like to make sure it’s safe and looked after. Same as you, I suppose.”
He’d say he wasn’t one to assume, but. He was.
“You’ll have to tell me what ‘interesting things’ are being passed around.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 3:58 am
"You could say that," Kerberos laughed. "But, honestly? Anyone who's earned their wings, so to speak, has earned my respect. Sometimes a little bit of my terror, but respect for sure."
With one notable exception, but that was neither here nor there and Kerberos had not seen that particular person for quite some time. And his feelings on that matter were the opposite of Remarque's problem.
Besides, he was much more interested in what Remarque was saying.
"Does Mirrorspace need a lot of looking after? I know my planet does better when I spend time and attention on it, and especially in the last few years, it's been growing exponentially." He perked up, proudly. "So I spend a lot of time up there--is it the same for you guys?" The Rift, Kerberos had gathered during his time in the Negaverse, was somewhere between "apathetic to your existence" and "actively hostile to all forms of life not youma," depending on where you were, so....if Mirrorspace was different, that was very interesting knowledge.
"The main things I've heard are that you're a Prince but don't need any bowing or scraping--big plus, that--and that you want to look after your Senshi," and that Murikabushi had 800 opinions, but he did about everything, and Kerberos was rather enjoying getting to meet the actual Remarque.
So far? He was a little cagey and a little careful, but Kerberos could hardly hold that against someone. He was plenty cagey and plenty careful himself, when he had to be.
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Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2024 10:00 am
Kerberos was too interested with Mirrorspace for Remarque to lower his guard, but he had an unmistakable Golden Retriever energy about him that made it impossible for Remarque to think there was any ill-will behind the questioning.
He’d noticed the way Kerberos seemed to grow into himself when he talked about his world, like maybe he expected praise. Remarque had interest, at least. But, he did for most worlds, anyway.
Who had he told not to bow? Maybe Murikabushi. There hadn’t been others in a long while. A shame. Kerberos seemed too pleased with his world to be convinced to join the Dark Mirror Court, but Remarque had no intention of chasing him off just because he couldn’t turn those wings black.
“I’ve got no intention to terrorize you, as long as you don’t bother me or my kind. There are plenty of people out there eager to give us a hard time and I don’t want any of it. Everyone’s a little self-righteous in their own way, but we get judged by the Negaverse’s actions far too often. It’s the energy draining thing, probably. But we don’t take starseeds, we don’t kill people.”
He eyed Kerberos’ wings briefly and shrugged. “But you’ve been around for long enough to know that, I’m sure. Mirrorspace does need a bit of looking after, it’s the big reason we have to gather so much energy. When we inherited it, it was pretty broken. I don’t think it was ever well taken care of. It needs a lot of attention. But, we’re getting there. I can’t say it’s the same as having a whole other planet to look after, but it provides. If anything happens to Earth, it’s a safe place to reconvene and look after our loved ones. Have you ever been to Mirrorspace?”
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2024 9:31 pm
"Oh, I've got no intentions of making myself a problem for your Court, I promise you that," Kerberos said. "I've got enough on my hands being on the Negaverse's s**t list, I'll gladly stay off yours as best I can." He laughed, like it was a joke, but it was only so much of one. "Anyway, if you're not killing people, that's good enough. It was never really the energy draining that bothered me, when I was with the Negaverse--it was the, you know, everything else."
The torture. The kidnappings. But he hadn't heard of anything like that from the Mirror, not unless you counted rumors of what their founder had done before she'd been Chaos--but those were just rumors, and anyway, it didn't seem fair to hold that against people who probably weren't even involved.
"I suppose a whole other realm must take a lot to power, yeah?" Kerberos acknowledged. And unlike a planet, it likely didn't really have its own energy source, so to rely on its Senshi....sort of made sense, in a way. "Can't say I've ever been, no, though I have to admit to being a little curious. What about you? Have you been off planet?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2024 10:19 am
“A few times, yeah. Why, are you offering?”
It was only half in jest. Remarque might have racked up a good few trips off of Earth but it wasn’t ever enough. His first trip off world, to the Surrounding, had made an impact on him that he hadn’t quite found replicated on any of the worlds he’d visited, or in Mirrorspace itself.
It wasn’t a deal breaker for any decision he made, but he couldn’t help the way his heart yearned to be there again. Just to see if it was as magical now as it had been then. He hadn’t been a Senshi when he’d first arrived. His eyes had been opened there.
It was special to him, or maybe it was special in general given how little he’d heard of it in the past decade.
“I like the stars,” he added, as an afterthought. “I like to see what other worlds are out there, and how much they’ve managed to survive on their own. Nothing against Earth, it’s just so busy. And you can’t really see the night sky with all the lights in the city. I hope that there never comes a day when we can’t rely on Earth, but I want to be prepared. Just in case the Negaverse…” He shrugged. “Does what it does. You used to be with them?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:09 pm
"I am eternally and sincerely offering," Kerberos said, chweerily. "Come see my planet, we have bioluminescent bunnies, in miniature and full size. Doesn't have to be tonight, but consider the offer open in perpetuity, if we ever run into each other again." Probably, he ought to be more careful, offering to take Chaos Princes to his world--but he trusted that there was little one person, no matter how powerful, could do to disrupt what he'd built. And Remarque didn't really seem the type to go kicking down other people's sandcastles, as it were.
Maybe Kerberos was judging him wrongly, being too generous, but he wanted to believe that.
"It's a really different sky out there. My world is so far out, it doesn't really get any sun--so it's always nighttime. And you really can see more stars than you ever could on Earth. Unless you really got yourself out in the middle of nowhere, I guess." He sighed, fondly. "I don't want to imagine a day where I had to live there permanently, though. This planet is my home. I want to protect it."
He exhaled. "I was with them, yes. I've been out for longer than I was in, at this point--but I'm never going to forget what it was like. I've kind of made it my mission to help other people get out."
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2024 10:45 pm
Naturally, there were things to consider when accepting any offer to a foreign world. Remarque could have gone through the detailed mental path to determine if it was worth risking it.
Or, he could just trust his gut.
The best foes would have been the ones that could trick you into thinking they were harmless. Friends, waiting to stab you in the back. Remarque considered himself god with people so it was rare that he ever found anyone that he didn’t think he could read.
Kerberos was easy to read. Kerberos was safe.
What villain boasted about bioluminescent bunnies?
“I’d like to take you up on that, sometime.” Not tonight, he had too many things to tend to. But he’d make time in the future if his schedule aligned with Kerberos’.
“Your world sounds nice. But I hope you never have to give up Earth.” It was his home, too. He wasn’t going to give up on it, even if he was hellbent on discovering Mirrorspace’s secrets and bending it to his will. He’d make it a safe place. Just in case.
“I’m glad you got out when you did. Sounds like things have only been getting worse over there. Not that you heard anything from me,” he said pointedly, giving Kerberos a look that said he expected some things to remain between them. The last thing he needed was some Order Senshi letting secrets slide. But no matter, he was probably better at lying than Kerberos was at telling the truth.
“Have there been many you managed to help get out?”
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Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2024 1:14 pm
"Good, we'll make a night of it if you get a free evening," Kerberos said, lightly. Getting to show off his world to a Prince felt special. Should he prepare something nice?
...Maybe he'd just bring tea and snacks, like he would to any other diplomatic meeting of sorts.
A brief tilt of the head to acknowledge that anything said tonight would not go further than between them. Kerberos was used to confidentiality; people that were considering treason generally didn't want anyone else to know who they were or what they were talking about.
"My lips are sealed," he acknowledged, "but I can't say you're wrong." Especially after the battle on the hill. Kerberos wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forget the sight of that poor, newly purified Senshi's head rolling on the ground. Of all those people, bodices turned black, stolen away from their lives by the Neggaverse in a bleak, dark instant.
"I've only been able to bring a few out. But several of them were people very important to me, so...that's a victory, on its own. And it can be...a lot, to ask of people. To leave their entire lives behind."
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