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 Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 4:42 pm
Tonight would mark his second jaunt into the woods, hoping to track down one particular boy who sat on one particular bench. This night felt less promising; the scent of rain hung heavy in the air, as did the clouds accumulating overhead. It was both brighter for how they reflected the city's light pollution back at it, and less hospitable for how heavy gusts ripped through the trees and jostled debris free.
A small twig was picked up and carried into the burning General, whereupon it tangled in the shocks on his shoes. Huffing, Faustite ripped it out with enough force to snap it in half, then let it simmer and smoke in his hand before tossing it to the ground behind him.
He didn't much care for storms. They pressed him to hurry, for once the rain started to come down, it was the same to him as chugging down bottles of water without end. If he remained in them without protection, there would be a point at which he would drink himself to death purely by accident. That wasn't a way he wanted to go in front of anyone, let alone his enemies. It was prudent, then, that he was quick to survey the bench, find it empty on account of the coming weather, and get gone before anything more tantalizing distracted him.
But the weather held for the moment, and Faustite was quick to pass between the trees and find the wrought iron bench where the boy often sat. Predictably, it was empty.
Perhaps just as predictably, he felt the burgeon of twinned auras. Knights by feel. Snorting smoke, he asked himself if he could pass that up on account of the impending weather. To his bittersweet chagrin, he found that answer to be no.
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Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2023 2:30 pm
The forecast called for storms. Atticus promised he and Elliot would be careful and would get home before it started getting too bad.
But there was just something about the way the clouds rolled and the wind swept around them that was exciting and electrifying. He wasn’t a knight of Jupiter, but sometimes he wondered if maybe, in another life, he would have had the chance to really experience what it could have been like to live there.
He’d been to Jupiter, of course. Stayed there while he was healing from his injuries. Before he was even a knight, himself. Other times hadn’t been as long, but he still enjoyed the low rumble of thunder that shook the whole Wonder.
“Do you think the Moon ever gets storms like this?” Ephesus asked as he walked along the edge of a fountain in the park, holding his arms out to balance himself. Up higher as he was, it was easier for the wind to catch his cape and hair and make both rise and billow with each gust. He couldn’t help but giggle, grateful for the chill the wind brought with it. Especially after such a hot summer so far.
They’d seen rain on the moon before. They’d seen the moonbows the pastel prismatic rain created. They’d seen the result of such rain in the lush gardens of their Wonders, full of flowers and life and bees and butterflies and other pollinators. The longer they spent there, cleaning everything up, the more it seemed to heal on its own. The more it seemed to flourish.
But there wasn’t a chance for Amarynthos to respond. The prickling of a General’s aura was suddenly nearby. Close enough that if they looked through the trees to the other side of the park, Ephesus was almost certain he could see flame and smoke.
Out of nowhere, a quickly scrawled note appeared, the signet with a Jupiter crest pressed on the surface. Ephesus was too distracted to see it flutter in the wind to the ground at their feet.
Get to the Moon.
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Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 10:06 pm
Amarynthos had been enjoying the weather, caught up in the building gusts of wind and the threat of rain on the horizon. Summer storms were exciting and electric, and he thought he knew Destiny City well enough to plan when to head back so they could avoid the storm.
Of course, he knew Destiny City well enough to know that things cropped up pretty regularly. He’d expected a few hiccups, a few bumps.
Hadn’t expected a General.
He’d seen the note in the air. He’d reached for it. He’d read it.
It had taken a second, maybe two, but the energy signature felt like it was already on top of them. He didn’t know if he could focus enough to get to the Moon.
It didn’t stop him from trying.
He held Ephesus’ hand tightly and used all the focus and will he could muster to try and pull him out of Destiny City and up to the Moon before they could find out who was so close.
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 9:31 am
They were easy to spot. No one else wore their grandmother's couch upholstery as teenagers. That had to be them. Couple of kids with moon symbols like Nectaris. Standing around, holding hands like that — what, were they waiting for the ******** storm to break? Or did they expect to reenact one of those dramatic kissing scenes from old movies? Faustite was already sick of their s**t and he hadn't yet spoken with either of them.
What he had done was pick up a rock nestled against the root of a large pine tree. It was sizable enough to fit in his palm, and perhaps not enough to knock one of the kids out, but enough to get their attention. Though his shoulder popped in protest for committing to such antics, he chucked the rock at the kid with the blonde hair.
"Don't ******** ignore me," he shouted at the child Knights as he approached. "Know what you are. The ******** did you do with him?"
He looked from one to the other. They had one chance to tell him something worth knowing, unless the storm broke first.kyuseisha no hikari he is being intentionally vague about kerberos in case either of the boys could/would pick up on that
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Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2023 6:26 pm
Maybe, if he had better reflexes like Amarynthos he would have been able to avoid the rock being thrown. He was so paralyzed by the fear of what he was seeing -- a man that was on fire -- that he hadn’t thought to jump out of the way when the rock was thrown at him.
He felt it hit him. It knocked him back a bit. It took his breath away for a moment. And if Amarynthos hadn’t been holding onto his hand, Ephesus would have surely collapsed, or maybe would have fallen into the fountain.
Unsteadily, and already trembling with fear, he held tightly to Amarythos’s hand as he jumped down from the ledge of the fountain so he could use some more of Amarynthos’s support to stand.
Or maybe he just needed a shorter way to collapse if it came to that.
The adrenaline from fear must have been working overtime, because it wasn’t until he was having trouble actually opening his eye did he realize the wetness wasn’t from tears, but from where blood dripped down the side of his face from where the rock clipped him.
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Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2023 11:02 am
Amarynthos saw the blood. Felt a pang of fear in his stomach.
Head injuries were deceptive, he knew that. Sometimes you could bleed a lot for nothing, and sometimes it didn’t look as bad as it was.
Even if it was just a little cut, seeing blood spill over Ephesus’ face was horrifying enough, but Amarynthos couldn’t let him see the sudden fear that had welled in his stomach. Effie had healing magic, and the springs of Sessrumnir could help too. They just had to get there.
Sessrumnir had tried to warn them to leave but they hadn’t had time; it meant that he and Alastor were close.
Even if Sessrumnir was a bit paranoid, he wasn’t arrogant enough to think that there was no merit to his warning. The General in front of them looked–
Off. In a way he couldn’t explain. It wasn’t just the Chaos, or the oddness in his appearance, it was something about him. Like how you could look at someone and know they were going to do something bad.
He pulled Ephesus close, using himself as a barrier. He knew it didn’t necessarily matter, not when the Negaverse could teleport, but he wrapped an arm behind Ephesus, too. Just to make sure no one tried to get his starseed from the back.
“Use this,” he said, and pressed a handkerchief into Ephesus’ hand. He wanted to have a good grip on his weapon just in case he couldn’t talk for long enough for the others to show up.
It probably only took a few seconds between when the General spoke and when Amarynthos had but it still felt like an eternity.
“We’re not ignoring you.” No, he had their full attention. Amarynthos didn’t know who he was talking about, though. Was it one of the agents they’d bothered while looking for Brooklyn’s starseeds? No, they didn’t do anything with any of them. Just asked questions. Maybe roughed them up some, but they were fine!
He kept his voice calm, even though he was worried–even though he was mad.
“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about, though. But maybe we can help. Who are you looking for, what’s going on?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2023 7:51 am
Blonde boy looked ready to call it quits already. Must not have been hit in the head enough to be used to it by now. That one certainly wasn't a fighter, more like a faun in the woods than anything else. Prey that had gotten fortunate enough to live that long — to reach the rank of a Knight without necessarily having to work for it.
How ******** delightful for that one. Becoming a Knight must not have been anything like becoming a General — not if he got to skip out on all his hard knocks like this. Must have been nice, not needing to struggle to live through the next day, not having a superior officer that wanted to use him for an experiment in making a better soldier out of a mediocre one. Maybe he never had any sort of mentor telling him what to do. Maybe it was as Encke said, and all that s**t about freedom meant he could get to Knighthood in any manner he chose, including by ******** around and never facing any consequences for it.
Good for little Blondie, then. Faustite was going to bury him up to his eyeballs in consequences tonight.
And the other one — that one was a talker. Blackhead was trying to defend his friend, that much was obvious. He didn't miss the arm about him, which would've had different connotations were this a mundane standoff. But, as was often the case, body language and words were at odds with one another. Body language said that Faustite was being considered a threat, that he was protecting the other Knight with him. That much was true. But his language was that of an olive branch, and Faustite wasn't much feeling like ******** off peacefully.
His words said enough, as it were. They may not have been familiar with Kerberos, who oft visited that bench. They might have thought he meant someone else. But there was nothing a Knight could offer him that he could not already do himself when it came to tracking down the bluenette. Their offered service would not be in finding Kerberos.
There was a third Knight, too, though Faustite didn't see one. Didn't look around, either, for auras at that rank were far too wide and he wasn't taking his attention from these twinks on a fountain.
"Fine. Help me, then." He approached steadily, heat warping the air around him as his fires began to brighten and churn. Long, atramentous fingers curled into fists as he walked. "Lay face-down in that ******** fountain. Now."
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2023 7:13 pm
He was okay. He was okay. This wasn’t even the worst injury he’d survived. And yet all he could do was shakily take the handkerchief that Amarynthos gave him and lift it up against his temple to keep the cut from bleeding.
He was okay.
But he couldn’t bring himself to offer Amarynthos a smile in reassurance. He felt frozen with fear still. Frozen with confusion.
Ephesus wanted to shrink closer to Amarynthos. Wanted to hide against him, even though he knew he needed to do more than just cower. He was capable of doing more! He’s proven that, hadn’t he? He wasn’t always this useless and completely petrified.
He stared at the burning man, although he looked barely older than they were, confused about his demands.
But Ephesus could feel his eyes watering, not just from fear but from the smoke and heat that stifled the air. He felt like coughing from the smell. Felt sick to his stomach from the aura of the General.
He felt a gentle push from Amarynthos. Not anything harsh, but with the clear intention of leading him towards the fountain. Ephesus looked up at him in confusion for a moment, before realizing that if a man made of fire was coming at them, someone who could teleport, being in water was probably their best defense.
Although laying face down wasn’t going to happen.
He stumbled a little as he moved a bit quicker, climbing back up and over the edge, and grabbed hold of Amarynthos to pull him into the fountain as well. The closer they were to the center under the flowing water, the better. Or at least he could only hope.
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2023 11:22 am
No answers, okay. Amarynthos could work with that. They just needed to buy a little time. Sessrumnir would be here soon. Alastor would be here soon. He’d joked about jumping in the fountain before, there were worse places to be.
He kept his hand on Ephesus’ back and tried to be reassuring in a way that wouldn’t immediately draw attention. He brushed his thumb over his shoulder blade while they moved and did his best not to get riled up by the young man who was just standing there burning, but okay.
They walked slowly to the fountain–obedient, but not so quickly that they shaved off too many seconds.
It didn’t matter if the General had been trying to intimidate them, if it hadn’t actually been a command but he saw no harm in ‘obliging’, anyway. If a ball of fire was being hurled towards them, he’d rather they have any extra little protection possible.
He didn’t plan on laying down in the fountain, but once they were there and the cool water was saturating their uniforms he drew in a breath and tried again. “We were just passing through. If something happened to someone we can try to help, but I don’t know what you’re saying right now. Can you please explain?”
The General didn’t seem like he wanted to talk. He sort of looked like he just wanted to burn everything down.
He hoped Sessrumnir and Alastor were fast.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2023 8:56 am
Look at that. They were actually going for it. They were actually getting into the ******** fountain. He could laugh. He could laugh and laugh, if he had any mirth left in him.
The one was still begging for answers, claiming innocence. And it was likely enough that they had nothing to do with Kerberos, maybe never met him. That was reason enough why they could never help with finding him. The pair of them, these kids, they were just passing through. Just flashing their auras around for, what, a good ******** time? They were just enjoying the flowers while wearing their ******** flower capes, because they decided that was the only way they could be out in public? None of that sounded likely.
The one, he knew, was bait. The other one must have been the one with the challenge. Or maybe they were both bait, but in a team, their magic mattered enough to be a threat.
The only reason people powered up in this shitpit was because they were looking for a fight. They had other reasons they gave, like protecting their loved ones or righting moral wrongs or whatever the ********, but the end result was almost always the same: it culminated in a fight. Knights were given weapons with which to fight. They were given damaging or repulsive magic. Senshi were no exception. Perhaps some of them healed, but he had only met one Knight who refused to raise a hand against him. These kids were not her.
Heat swept about him and flame began to ripple out from Faustite's midsection. He approached until he stood on the lip of the fountain, over the pair of cowering Knights. "I'm saying you're worthless to me. I'm saying, 'drown yourself'."
He waited, hand on a hip, as fire exploded outward around him.guine Meltdown ;;
Range: 1o' radius around user
Duration: Up to 3o seconds
Use Count: Up to 2x
Miss Chance: Escaping range at or before the buildup stage
Effect: By expending some of his core, Faustite can whip up a firestorm on a local area, prefaced by dancing cinders seconds before the burst. Inferno gusts orbit clockwise, burning anyone caught in their whorl. Friendly fire possible.
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Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2023 6:30 pm
Ephesus could feel his whole body trembling, and it had nothing to do with the chill from the water. He held tightly to Amarynthos once they were in the fountain, but he didn’t know what they could do other than hope that someone would be able to help them out.
He could feel the tears in his eyes, although he furiously tried blinking them away. His head hurt, but he was more focused on the young man who was on fire.
And kept coming towards them. Right up onto the ledge of the fountain.
Ephesus didn’t want Amarynthos to be put into more danger than they already were, but he was completely frozen with fear. All he could do was quietly sob and hold onto Amarynthos for dear life until--
He felt the heat whirl around them. Could see the steam of the water as it evaporated. Only for a moment, though. He knew Amarynthos wasn’t trying to hurt him, but he knew he was desperately trying to get them both under the water as much as possible to avoid being burned alive. He barely had enough time to fill his lungs before Ephesus felt himself shoved under the water. What felt like an eternity away, Michael had been feeling off all night. There were pings of auras all around him, and while he’d originally agreed that the boys were more than capable of going out on their own, Michael continued growing more and more restless about it.
Something wasn’t right. It wasn’t the storm. He wasn’t afraid of storms. But there was a faint smell in the air. Blood? Fire? Maybe he was being paranoid. The boys would be fine. He and Devyn were fine. They were enjoying a night out, stopping by a cafe and getting a snack, before figuring out what else they would do for the evening.
But the feeling that something was off just wouldn’t go away.
And when there was a flare of a General too close for comfort, Michael made a quick decision to tell the boys to just get out -- to go to the moon. They would figure out if things were safe and message them to come back.
As it turned out, Michael’s paranoia was right.
Sessrumnir, still several yards away, and panicked now that they might be too late to help the boys, held his stormglass at arm’s length, keeping the image of Faustite in the center as he channeled the magic.
He nodded to Alastor, because while they still weren’t as close as they preferred, it would buy the Eternal Senshi some time to get closer.Sessrumnir's Knight Magic Same as with his Squire stage, to activate the magic of his weapon, Sessrumnir must 'capture' someone within the storm glass. Once 'inside', not only is their hearing and vision affected by storm-like conditions, but other senses are taken over for about 40 seconds. The person caught inside the glass not only sees and hears a storm around them, but can feel the wind rushing by and rain pouring down on them, even if it's not really there in reality, but only inside the glass. After Sessrumnir focuses on his attack, he can choose to cause a flash of lightning and crash of thunder to happen over the head of whoever is being affected by the attack. It all happens inside their head, so people around them will have no idea what's going on, save for Sessrumnir and anyone close enough to see the glass with the storm raging inside.
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Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2023 11:52 am
Amarynthos had never seen someone on fire before. He’d have rather not ever seen anything of the sort. Stop, drop, and roll made sense when there wasn’t a firestorm exploding right in front of you.
There was a split second between when Faustite’s flames erupted from his body and when they reached the Knights. He felt the heat even before the fire was lurching towards them. Maybe it was because he felt like he needed to protect Ephesus. Maybe it was because there was a practical part of his brain that said Ephesus was a healer. Maybe he just thought he was more durable than Ephesus.
He pushed Ephesusinto the water and tried to shield him from the flame with his back.
On the fringes of his consciousness, he was aware of energy signatures–powerful auras. Recognizable auras.
Sessrumnir was here, and Alastor. They’d be fine. Everything would be fine.
The rest of his thoughts were chased away by heat and flame.
Alastor would waste no time. He didn’t know if it was possible to disrupt Faustite’s flames, but he had every intention of finding out. Or just hitting him until there was nothing left but ash and ember. He didn’t need the encouragement from Sessrumnir but it was welcome, anyway.
For the most part, Alastor had played nice while on Earth. He had accepted that under the fog of Chaos, people weren’t necessarily bad. He understood that there was a chance to save them. He didn’t go out of his way to maim or kill them. In his heart, the best place for them was the Cauldron, but Earth was different from Alastor so he tried to play by their rules.
Faustite was different.
He was dangerous. He was relentless.
He was irredeemable on all counts.
Alastor had no intention of holding back.
His own magic could be crushing, debilitating. Despair was a powerful, consuming emotion. Even that seemed too kind for Faustite.
The Blackrot of his homeworld, though. That, he could share.
Magic alone wasn’t enough, though; even though he casted it, he still wanted to chase the General away from the boys. He knew the Negaverse could teleport, but any little reprieve was better than nothing.
Quote: Super Sailor Scout Attack: Rot As Alastor casts his magic, all enemies within a twelve foot radius will suddenly feel flushed with heat, as though they are at the peak of sickness. They may feel winded, feverish, fatigued, or disoriented, and an itchy, sometimes painful black rash will spread across them, starting at their appendages and working towards their heart. The sickness seems to turn blood black, creating frightening sights as the skin discolors. This sudden surge of sickness may cause panic or alarm, as their bodies may feel as though they are rapidly shutting down. Despair consumes them, as if there is no hope for recovery or any means to ease their symptoms. The magic lasts for thirty five seconds and has two uses. The magic will only affect those in the area when it was cast. Players may choose the severity of their symptoms or if there are any lasting effects.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2023 8:46 am
Seemed the storm finally broke. The sky began to open up in what started as a drizzle and soon became a robust rain. He knew his uniform wasn't waterproof but for the pauldron in his other uniform, and whether he was a General or General-King, his grate was open to the air. It presented that same perplexing problem that he hadn't yet challenged: could he overhydrate and die by being out in the rain? It seemed likely, but how long did that take? And were these two kids playing at Knights worth the try?
Of course, it wasn't just them. There was an Eternal and a Knight now, their auras adding to the pile. Terrible that the storm had to break when pissing around with a couple of boyscouts was getting him some interesting results.
The two Knights were in the fountain, at least, cuddled up with one another such that they'd prefer to drown instead of be taken by fire. Neither one was transcended, either; would've been easy to just lean down and pluck a starseed from the one with his back to the flames. Maybe it would motivate their onlookers to take action, maybe start showing some spine if he had a starseed in his hand and a prone body in the water.
Whoever those other two were, they weren't moving. They weren't saying s**t. They were cowards that looked on while he drowned a pair of Knights. Were they present, he'd have offered for them to join the Negaverse themselves — then they could watch as many Knights die as they pleased.
But there wasn't time for that. He started to feel sick all the same, in a manner that he hadn't encountered before. Exhausted, with a pervading dizziness that plagued him when he turned his head. He itched, though he could not discern why. Was that something that came with ingesting too much water? The burdensome exhaustion was all too familiar for him to weather, as well — like if he remained here, getting soaked to the bone, he was going to drop dead on the spot. Great ******** look for an already ineffectual, comical, and useless member of the Negaverse's sovereigns. They didn't deserve that sort of humiliation.
"Lucky you," he muttered as he vanished.
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