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 Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2024 5:03 am
Just as Kaifeng had expected, Helene had wanted to accompany him and Bélénos up to Kaifeng’s Wonder. He couldn’t blame his zhiyin for that instinct, either. Even if Bélénos was a friendly Mirror senshi—one whom Kaifeng had never personally seen draining energy; before tonight, he’d only seen her getting attacked by a weird, non-youma lizard that had been using the snow as camouflage—the Dark Mirror Court was still aligned with Chaos. After what had befallen gege’s home-world and his people, the thought of Kaifeng going to his Wonder with a Chaos senshi—especially one whom Helene hadn’t had the chance to meet yet—and no one else probably didn’t sit well with him.
On top of that, the last time Kaifeng had even tried to take a Chaos senshi to his Wonder, Muri had still been with the Court. Teleporting up to the fields of Kaifeng hadn’t worked. Kaifeng had kept trying even after failing to get them there multiple times, and some kind of feedback or magical backlash had hurt him. Had forced Muri to carry Kaifeng back to Helene, and to explain that something similar had happened to a Royal Knight.
It all made sense in retrospect. The issue had been whatever troubles had plagued the Code, the ones that had made Kaifeng need to resonate with his Wonder’s Code Piece. Still, the situation had involved a senshi who had been with Chaos at the time, and Kaifeng attempting to take Murikabushi to visit his Wonder. And it had still ended with Kaifeng very drained, somewhat ill, and shivering in Helene’s arms while Muri had explained what had happened and promised to get in touch if he heard anything else that might’ve been good for Helene and Kaifeng to know.
At least none of that happened this time.
Getting from Destiny City up to the fields of Kaifeng went very easily. The modern architecture, all brick and metal and cement, vanished around Kaifeng, Helene, and Bélénos, with the perpetual twilight of Saturn coalescing in its place. Although the river beside the three of them remained, as yet, a stagnant mess, the fields of Kaifeng practically buzzed with the life that had been returning. Some of Xingyi-ge’s silk moths were visible, fluttering above Helene, Kaifeng, and Bélénos as they made their way to one of the gnarled black trees. One of the kind black spiders crawled up out of its den, dug in some nearby dirt, and seemed to regard the trio with curiosity. Closer to the riverside, some of the brightly colored, wiggly bois Kaifeng had taken to calling “tiny dancers” slugged along, with most of the ones out and about right now coming in various shades of purple.
……And then, Xiao-Qiongxian hopped forward as well, chirping pleasantly and flapping her little wingies.
“Aiyah, clever girl,” Kaifeng greeted her with a smile, “what’s brought you out all this way? You don’t usually leave the tow……er……”
Moving to crouch down and bestow pets on his precious companion, Kaifeng got a sense of what might have brought her out. Namely, as he moved, his head felt heavy and everything seemed to spin around him. It only lasted a moment, but Kaifeng paled all the same. Covering his mouth with one hand, he paused to make himself take a few deep breaths.
The smile he gave to Helene and Bélénos was small and wan, but earnest nevertheless. “Apologies,” Kaifeng said with a breathy attempt at a laugh. “First time bringing two people up here.… Usually, it’s just me and one guest.… Wasn’t quite expecting it to feel so weird after, but……that? Might make sense? Given the ‘first time’ of it all?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:17 am
Kaifeng seemed to believe that this Dark Mirror Senshi was trustworthy, and Helene was inclined to trust Kaifeng's judgement. Still, given the recent volatility of Kaifeng's Wonder, and the general insidious nature of Chaos, it felt much safer to go with him. If Kaifeng was right, and this Senshi was perfectly trustworthy, then all would be well.
If not, Helene would be there.
It seemed risky, to him, to trust Chaos at all. Even if this was not the same Chaos that had poisoned his world, even if it was true that individual Senshi corrupted by it might not be malicious.....
Well.
The point was, Kaifeng had asked if he wished to accompany the two of them, and Helene very much did.
He'd greeted Bélénos politely, if a bit distantly; certainly he was aware that his stature and presence might be intimidating, but that was, in the end, sort of the point. Let her know that if she intended anything, she would not succeed.
And when they arrived on Saturn, he visibly relaxed somewhat. It was good to see Kaifeng the Wonder thriving; to see silk moths and other insects already returning. Xiao-Qiongxian's presence, too, brought a small smile to his face, though it disappeared when Kaifeng seemed to go pale. He moved to his zhiyin, reaching out to offer physical support.
"Look out for yourself," he said, softly. "There is no rush."
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2024 3:17 pm
Belenos had greeted Kaifeng and Helene with a curtsy, trying to be cute and non-intimidating the moment she'd seen the big alien with the horns. Yeah. She was not gonna ******** with that guy, no way, no how, no sir, no thank you, do not pass go do not collect 200 dollars. Nope. She gasped the moment they landed on Kaifeng's Wonder, taking only a second to look at it in all its glory before her Knightly Dingus nearly passed out. Helene had him well in hand though, so she just looked at him with concern and amusement. "Uh... Maybe this wasn't the best idea," she said worriedly. "Will you be okay?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2024 7:40 pm
Many things regularly made Kaifeng wish that he could reach back in time to thwap Huang Zhìháo on the back of the head and tell him to stop being such an edgelord. For example, right at this moment: having Helene there for physical support, having his arms to lean into and chest to lean against, and having him here as an emotional bulwark? The best, ever, in the universe. Made Kaifeng feel all warm and fuzzy inside as he looked back and up to give his zhiyin a warm, fond smile.
Because he’d been wrong as a teenager. The most wrong it was possible to have been. Being in love was totally punk rock.
“I’m alright,” Kaifeng reassured them both, after taking a few moments to breathe deeply and steady himself, “thanks to my zhiyin.” Feeling much steadier, Kaifeng took another deep breath, and pulled himself back up to more fully standing on his own feet. Looking at Bélénos, he said, “I don’t know if Mirrorspace limits how many guests you can take or not? And I don’t know if there’s a firm limit or anything with my Wonder? But……this is my first time coming with more than one person. I think I’ll be fine. We’re not going anywhere super complicated, at least.”
Well. Maybe not physically, anyway. Emotionally, Xingyi-ge’s wine cellars had a lot wrapped up in them. But……everything would be okay. Liánlí-Kaifeng believed that.
(While Her Person got himself back together, Xiao-Qiongxian hopped over to the strange, new visitor with the pink hair. Sniffing nearby the girl in the very odd outfit, the large black rabbit maneuvered quite nimbly around her feet—especially relative to its size—before deciding, with a bright fluttering of her little wings, that this girl seemed very safe. Although Xiao-Qiongxian could not quite express this outright, being a magical black rabbit with no capacity for speech, something about the way she looked up at Bélénos seemed to indicate that she found the Mirror senshi’s presence at least tolerable for the moment.)
Sticking close to Helene, in case he needed the extra support, Kaifeng led the way past the scenic, gnarled black trees and toward Xingyi-ge’s little cottage—and more specifically, to the out-building behind it. As the trio and Xiao-Qiongxian walked, more of the Saturnian silk-moths fluttered by overhead. Kaifeng had to smile, seeing them so happy. He knew he wasn’t here often enough to maintain a proper farm like Xingyi-ge had done, but it had been so important to Xingyi-ge for the silk-moths here to live their simple, beautiful dreams. Getting to see them doing so made Kaifeng happy.
“My predecessor as the Knight of Kaifeng lived here in the cottage,” Kaifeng explained as they got close, rummaging around in his subspace for a moment until he found the ring of keys. “And before I unlock the out-building, I’m sorry if it’s shocking? When Xingyi-ge was the Knight of Kaifeng, one of his duties was caring for the dead buried here. Some of them needed to be cleaned up and prepared for burial. Others, he had to figure out how they died so their spirits could be at peace. There are a lot of strange things on the other side of this door, but I promise, it’s just from Xingyi-ge’s work.”
As opposed to it being some kind of edgelord serial killer dungeon, as Liánlí-Kaifeng himself had initially thought.
Unlocking the door, Kaifeng let Helene and Bélénos into Xingyi-ge’s workspace. Trying to clean the place up……hadn’t been completely useless, Kaifeng guessed. The various bladed implements hanging on the one wall weren’t too visibly stained with blood anymore (which had been an absolute nightmare), but that didn’t change how intimidating said implements looked while just existing. None of the notes Kaifeng had found had been written in any language that he could read, so he hadn’t known what to do with the jars of preserved organs. They still sat in the recessed sill of the window at the back of the room, free of dust at least. The old jug of Farbautian bloodwine still sat on the desk in the back corner, serving as a bookend for the books that Xingyi-ge kept there.
Also sitting on the desk was the flashlight/lantern with the LED light and the black elastic strap.
“The wine cellar is a lot less intimidating, at least,” Kaifeng told them, heading to the wooden door with its metal hinges, ready to open it. “Though it is pretty dark. But there’s a good light over on the desk, if one of you wouldn’t mind?”
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Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2024 2:58 am
Helene kept his arms around Kaifeng to steady him, even after it became quite clear that he would be alright and it was just a temporary dizzy spell from the exertion of transporting so many people.
"If you are certain," he said, and he did let Kaifeng go after that, though he stayed within arm's reach lest his Knight not be as well as he believed himself to be.
At least Kaifeng seemed disinclined to go far from his side. Whether it was a general dislike of parting or a desire to be sure someone would catch him if he stumbled again didn't really matter, to Helene; not right then, at least.
"Space travel in the past was...different. Cannot be sure how those differences affect the person traveling. But exhaustion from bringing multiple people seems a likely explanation." And it was good to be aware of, because Helene was not foolish enough to think that Kaifeng would top bringing people up until he was sure of his limits. So he would simply have to stick close and ensure he was always ready to catch his zhiyin if he stumbled.
He was silent on the walk to the cottage--he was not exactly eager to enter that place, though he was well aware that it was necessary. The grim sight of the interior did not make him feel better, even if it was cleaner than he recalled.
"I will retrieve the light," he said, easily. Better him than a potentially skittish stranger who might be uncomfortable with Xingyi's tools. He walked over and picked it up, then returned to the group.
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2024 4:11 pm
Bélénos stared down at the large rabbit, barely even daring to breathe as it looked up at her. Obviously, it didn't completely trust her, but it was willing to tolerate her, and that was a blessing in and of itself. She desperately wanted to try to pet the rabbit, but she didn't dare try Letting Helene tend to Kaifeng, she trotted after them, trying to stay relaxed. Kaifeng being suddnely sickly like that made her nervous. Like if she made one wrong move, Helene would turn on her like she'd gone and murdered his boyfriend or something. That was the last thing she wanted! Geez, why did these aliens make her so incredibly nervous? Even if Helene was cool now, that didn't mean much for later. Not if she made some kind of silly, but ancient and terribly terrible faux pas or something like that. The cottage, at least, looked nice, though she did wince a little once the inside lights switched on, closing her eyes briefly before she got used to it. "Lovely place," she commented, trying to sound upbeat.
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2024 4:58 pm
The out-building’s wine cellar was, as Kaifeng had warned, quite a bit dark. Even with the little LED bulb that Helene held, the cellar was underground on a planet that existed in perpetual twilight. Natural lighting, as such, didn’t exist and the only place for any to get in was through the trapdoor Kaifeng had opened, revealing the staircase that led into things.
As for whether or not the sights down here were more intimidating than those up in Xingyi-ge’s old workspace……that was probably a matter of personal preference. Kaifeng remained bright and bubbly as he made his way into the cellar, with all the skulls and assorted bones all stuck in the walls, amidst the packed-in earth and the fortifications that made the cellar. One in particular stuck out from the wall almost all the way, a mostly intact face, cranium, and upper jaw. Smiling, Kaifeng gently patted the top of the skull.
“Hello again, uncle,” he said, addressing the skull. “I’m back, and I’ve brought Helene and a friend this time. Her name is Bélénos, and she’s a lovely girl.” Glancing back over his shoulder at her, he explained, “The Knight of Kaifeng is supposed to be a caretaker for the spirits here, not just their bodies. Even if their starseed has moved on, I figure that they might have some lingering soul essence or something, so I try to be polite and kind to them.”
But that wasn’t why they were here.
Seeking out what they’d really come for, Kaifeng turned to the racks of bottles. Alas, the first one he pulled out was not one of the bottles of Belenesian pear brandy—though Kaifeng did recognize the symbol on it. It looked, frankly, like one of the Grief Seeds from Kiyoshi’s beloved Madoka Magica anime. “Oh, this one comes from one of our friend’s worlds,” he said, letting Bélénos see the label. “I could not tell you very much about this alcohol aside from the fact that it comes from Pyrrhus, but……there’s that.”
Kaifeng didn’t recognize the next bottle either, but again, he knew the snowflake symbol. “I wonder if Muri might know more about this one. He and Elsa are pretty close.”
After that, a bottle with a drawing of what looked like an orchard, full of apple trees and pumpkins. “And this one is from Demeter. I’d wonder if it was pumpkin spice liquor once upon a time, but……they do actually make that, I’m pretty sure? I don’t think my friend would drink any, she doesn’t really seem much into alcohol? But I do think pumpkin spice vodka exists in the present day, so it’s really no fair judging the planet Demeter if they also had pumpkin spice alcohol.”
Another bottle of Farbautian bloodwine found Kaifeng’s hands next, and then a bottle with a six-petaled floral symbol on it. The label had a landscape painted on it, full of similar six-petaled flowers. “Ah—I don’t know the senshi from this world very well, but he’s, uh……entangled? I guess you could say that? Entangled with one of my Knight friends.”
That was probably a fair description of Lanting and Corvina’s relationship, Kaifeng guessed?
He glanced to Bélénos with an apologetic smile. “Sorry this is taking a hot minute,” he said. “Xingyi-ge……had quite a collection. As seen here.”
Which wasn’t even the half of it, really, given the bigger wine cellar underneath the cottage itself. The next two bottles, Kaifeng really would have wanted to run by someone else first: the sunbeam-looking crown painted on one label reminded him of something Kiyoshi had mentioned about his cousin Volterra being the senshi of sunbeams, and the second one had a painting of porcupines that might have indicated it had come from Monoceros’s world. But Kaifeng didn’t rightly know, so he didn’t try to narrate.
Next, he tried pulling out two bottles at once, and both of them earned a frown. He’d seen these labels before—one had an elaborate drawing of different berries, while the other had drawings of different plants, or spices, or something—but now, Kaifeng recognized the bubbling cauldron symbol stamped on both of them. Now, he had the context to know which meimei these bottles sorta kinda belonged to, and oh, he had to put in a lot of effort to avoid sighing.
Holding them up for Bélénos to see, he asked, “I don’t suppose you know Lete, do you? She’s a Mirror senshi like you. These aren’t the bottles I actually wanted to share with you, but……” I will not say anything mean or judgmental about that meimei, even if it is just accurately describing things she has done. I’m not gonna do it. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t. “Maybe you could pass these along to her? Share something of her home-world with her?”
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2024 5:19 pm
The wine cellar was....familiar. Perhaps it was unsurprising that it was not at all changed in so many centuries; it was protected underground, and short of literal collapse, it would be difficult to damage. That they could enter at all was a testament to its hardiness.
Still, it was also eerie, even if Kaifeng was cheerful about the whole thing. It was difficult for Helene to be so blase about exposed bone and corpses; it wasn't exactly frightening,[ but it was unsettling, to a degree, to be down among the dead and gone.
Also, perhaps, seeing all the various liquors was an unpleasant reminder of Xingyi's addiction, and that just....cast a pall over the whole thing.
He was silent as Kaifeng narrated the various bottles, and he supposed there was something to finding all of them fascinating--they were a treasure trove from all over the universe, remnants of many a bygone civilization.
So much contained down here. So much culture and memory. It....made Helene feel several different things, all at once, none of which were easy to express or explain. Still, he let his eyes flick over the shelves, as if he might spot Belenos's pear brandy.
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2024 1:37 am
Okay, Saturn Knights were ******** creepy. All the skulls and stuff in the walls were real?! Who the ******** does that?! She hadn't minded the trap door into the cellar, that was fine and pretty normal, but the skulls and the bones and the way Kaifeng didn't mind touching them at all was just... so, so ******** creepy. Was this meant to scare her or something? Remind her that she was on the opposite side of this war from him, even if they were trying to be friendly? She didn't know and the thought made her feel sick. She didn't like being here, she wanted to go home, but she decided it was better to grin and bear it until it was over instead of try to escape or something. At least she could prove she was brave to this jerk and his intimidating alien boyfriend. Suppressing a shiver, she barely heard him describing all those liquors and their originating planets, at least until Lete's name came up, and then she began actually paying attention to his words again. "Huh? Oh! Yeah. Yeah, I could totally pass it on to her," she said with all the confidence she didn't actually feel. "She's cool, I know her. A little, anyway. Thanks!"
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Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2024 9:49 am
Somehow, Kaifeng managed not to face-crack at Bélénos admitting that she thought Lete was cool. Part of him wanted to ask if she knew how her friend talked about alien senshi who had nowhere else to go and had come to Earth as basically refugees. Because, if nothing else, Bélénos could have possibly called out the extremely shitty “Why don’t you go back where you came from” sound of what Lete said to long-surviving senshi from space (Kaifeng was pretty sure that she had as good as said those words exactly to Daedalus, but it had been a while and he didn’t recall for sure).
Giving Bélénos a small smile, he nodded. “That would be really nice, thank you for getting them to her,” he said, and then turned back to the racks of bottles. As he moved to a different spot, though, he walked by Helene, passing close enough to him to brush the back of his hand along Helene’s arm. “I’m sorry it’s taking a hot minute to find the bottles that are actually from your world. I thought it might be easier or at least quicker to do that.……”
(He did not think to himself that, maybe, Bélénos might have been uncomfortable with this cellar or anything about it. As much as Kaifeng did think that Helene might have been upset about all the reminders of the alcohol that Xingyi-ge had struggled with, and how much pain it had caused them both, he didn’t think twice about the skeletons in the walls. They were simply a part of his Wonder, and caring for them was part of his duty as the Knight of Kaifeng. None of them were creepy in his mind, but really, quite sweet.)
At least the next place where Kaifeng stuck a hand into the rack brought out a bottle of what he recognized from Xingyi’s memories as Belenesian pear brandy—and the sound of something clattering around. Frowning bemusedly, Kaifeng shuffled the bottle into one hand and reached back into the cubbyhole with the other. His fingers found something small but fairly hard. Back out in the lamplight, they were curled around a small black box. Carved from wood, with a Saturn symbol engraved in the top.
“Huh.” Kaifeng blinked down at the box, bemused and eager to know what was inside. Before he let himself get distracted, though, he turned back to Bélénos and proffered the bottle for her. “Pear brandy from your world circa a thousand years ago,” he explained. “I don’t know much about it? But what I’ve heard in some of the past life memories I’ve recovered from Xingyi-ge, my predecessor? They used a double-distillation process in making the brandy that he really liked.… I’d wager that it probably doesn’t taste very good anymore? Or smell very good? But it’s still an interesting relic to have, I thought?”
Once she’d taken the bottle, though, he opened up the little box. Kaifeng gasped softly, looking down at them. Inside sat a pair of earrings, carved from something that looked like white jade, in the shape, unmistakably, of the silk moths that Xingyi-ge had tended here. Easing himself back to Helene’s side, Kaifeng held up the box so that his zhiyin could see the jewelry.
“Gege, look,” he said. “I wonder…… Maybe Xingyi-ge meant to share these with you and forgot? Or even if he didn’t, there’s one for each of us now, huh?”
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Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2024 10:29 am
Truly, Xingyi's collection was....extensive. Helene did not want to presume "unparalleled"--surely there was some wine-soaked Ganymede or Venus knight who far outdid him--but it was certainly....a lot. It always sort of unsettled him, to see so much of it, all in one place.
"Many spoke highly of Belenos's products," Helene said. "Tried a few of the non-alcoholic exports myself--your people made a pear cider that I was quite fond of." He missed it. Along with a thousand other little things long lost to time.
Perhaps, if Belenos ever forsook the Dark Mirror and returned to her world, Belenosian pear cider would exist again. But that was not something Helene would pin his hopes on. It was, after all, the Senshi's own choice, and she did not exactly seem too interested.
The box of jewelry, though--that made Helene's expression soften.
"They are lovely," he said, "and even if I was never able to share them with Xingyi--I will be glad to share them with you."
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Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2024 4:36 am
She took the brandy, looking over the bottle curiously. A small piece of Belenos that had survived the destruction of... well, everything? It was interesting. But... well, at a thousand years old, it probably wasn't very good indeed, and what value could be had in trying to grow Belenosian pears again, if she left the mirror? She put all the bottles into her subspace for later and waited for the couple to finish having their moment before saying, "thank you." Seeming eager to get out of here was probably a bad idea, so she stayed as calm as she could. She'd be home soon.
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