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 Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:13 pm
He was trying to do better, he really was, but he really didn’t like this whole commitment thing and having to actually have responsibilities. He was doing better, by his estimation anyway, as he went out more often to gather energy. Without some quota, or any higher ups pushing him, Hedwig went out once a week to gather energy. He figured that was good enough, or at least it should be, tonight was the night he’d written down on a calendar, set his phone to remind him, and even wrote a post it note and attached it to his fridge. He had done his best, and then some, all in order to try and do this thing.
Hedwig figured he was doing ok, his wraith moving about a crowd of people hanging outside around a bar, he was grabbing from those waiting to go inside. If nothing else they should be thanking him, he would cut their night short and thus save them money on alcohol, and so long as he kept hidden around the corner from the bar's entrance no one would see him. It was all well in good he figured…except he felt something not too far off.
Lovely.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:13 pm
Looking at the small map that Brioche had given him, Chang’E wandered the alleys slowly. Each time he passed one of the heating vents between the buildings, he paused and soaked up some of the heat to help him perk back up. The weather was better than it had been, the snow had melted and the temperature was much less crisp. The bag of warm bread loaves in his arms helped as well, something that the baker had given him in exchange for the green papers Brioche had told him was this country’s currency. The coins that were offered in exchange for overpayment, he let the cashier keep. They had thanked him for the tip but he didn’t want to tell them it was due to the lingering fear of metal coins after what had happened on his world.
With his henshin out and powered back up with his bag, he continued on a few more blocks towards home before he felt something odd on the edge of his senses.
As he turned the corner, he saw wobbly humans that smelled of mulled something or other. It wasn’t the golden nectar he remembered from years passed but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was something similar. He’d partaken in that sort of festivity in the past but now things were different as he tried to figure things out.
Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, almost like a specter, his snake-like pupils narrowed as he watched the thing. What was it doing? He couldn’t quite tell and decided to follow it along as it seemed to turn back after finally coalescing into a more visible form.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:14 pm
Summoning his wraith back Hedwig was glad to let it slip back into the metal band at his wrist, the bit of shard tucked into his metal wrist band. The dark haired dark mirror was hoping that whoever he sensed, some senshi from the feel of it, would ignore him and move on rather than seek him out. He was moving towards the alleyway behind the bar so he could move onto another bar and find somewhere else to let his wraith out so it could gather more energy.
He might just go out once a week but he would put in a good amount of work, since he didn’t have classes the next day, he was able to dedicate a good amount of time in the evening to this energy gathering. He just needed to be left alone to do his job, he really did hate thinking of this as a job.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:14 pm
Following the thing along, he was surprised as it settled and vanished into the metal bracer of a human male. That was… different. It caught him off guard, his curiosity temporarily piqued as he moved closer.
“How… fascinating. So that was your creature?” If he could call it such a thing. Resting a hand on his exposed scaly hip, Chang’e looked over the new type of senshi. They didn’t feel like the pink-haired one of pure chaos, there were no cracks on their forehead or chest.
“You look displeased though…” That was obvious, but he wasn’t sure why. Though he guessed it wasn’t something they needed to answer either. The exchanging of social information was vastly different now, things didn’t pass with the same flow as they had in the past.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:18 pm
“I wouldn’t claim ownership over it, no. It is its own thing.” He wasn’t even sure if wraiths had a personality, they just did a job as far as he knew. Whether the one he summoned was the same every time, that it was bound to him, he didn’t know either. Perhaps it was just whichever wraith decided to answer his summons - he didn’t know.
“Displeased, perhaps. I was expecting you to try and stop what I was doing.” That had been the cause for his displeasure, he had assumed a senshi would come upon him and put a stop to this. If they had stopped him he’d have to waste time here, fighting them potentially, and then he’d need to relocate himself in order to finish his collecting needs for the night. It seemed he might be lucky however.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:28 pm
“I see… what is it? It’s not one of those things… youma I believe?” It didn’t look or feel like it but apparently they came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Still he sort of vaguely gestured while looking at those metal bracers. They were odd as well, but then again his experience with the senshi of this world was limited.
“And what were you doing? I just saw the odd little creature but other than that I figure you mean…. loitering? Is that what it’s called..?” Trailing off as he tapped his chin, the words were still new and a lot of vocabulary was out of touch to him. But Brioche had mentioned humans didn’t like people who stood around stores or places without shopping or eating. It was why he kept a few snacks on his as an excuse why he might be sitting somewhere.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:31 pm
“No, a wraith. They gather energy but do not attack or harm people.” Which he was fine with, more than fine in fact, he didn’t care for injuring and hurting people. Hedwig preferred doing other things with people, much more enjoyable things. “The mirror shard is where the wraith comes from, and where it returns to, we are dark mirror senshi.” Hence why mirrors were involved in other aspects of their lives.
“Yes, you could say I was doing that but my wraith gathers energy for me, so really there is nothing for me to do but stand about.” Stand about out of sight, because he didn’t want to cause a scene or stand out with how his uniform looked. As chilly as it looked he wasn’t that chilly to be honest. “The Negaverse takes the energy themselves, they don’t have wraiths or anything to do it for them, so we are different…less hands on.” Which he liked - a lot.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:32 pm
“Gather energy? For what purpose?” Tilting his head as he looked more at this mirror senshi. Did this mean the other senshi had to do the same, the one with long pink hair or the lovely scaled woman who he’d met in the snow earlier?
“The things you say are… not something I have an idea of. I know of mirrors for use of view a reflection but the rest, I have no clue otherwise.” It didn’t feel quite right but at the same time he couldn’t say he wasn’t curious. There was a lot of new things here and he needed to know to figure out how to navigate this world which apparently was as full of chaos as his was without being destroyed by it. It was unsettling but there had to be a balance and as long as it didn’t harm him he thought it might be good to negotiate some protections much as he negotiated trade deals in the past.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:38 pm
“To keep the mirrorspace thriving, as much as that all white space thrives.” He couldn’t stand all the white, it was enough to drive a person insane, but it was still something which needed to be fed in a manner of speaking. “I’m new, so I can’t answer much but I’ve been told the energy keeps mirror space thriving, as I said. How that happens I don’t know.” He wasn’t even sure if anyone knew, if it was something which could be seen.
“What don’t you have an idea of? I can try and help.” Because this person seemed as new as he did, perhaps even newer? He wasn’t certain but they were new like him…so they might as well share whatever information they could, to help each other, it might just result in someone who wouldn’t attack him in the future.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:47 pm
“Oh…” Nodding along even if he still didn’t quite grasp what this mirror space was. It sounded bland if the defining feature being explained was white walls. If it was feeding through these wraiths yet not causing harm as the coins had, maybe it was okay enough to not bother with.
“Well, what should I call you? Chang’E is what I go by.” Offering a slight bow with his introduction. “I wouldn’t say I’m new to being a senshi but more so to the other types that apparently exist on this planet.” Gesturing to them as he leaned against the wall beneath one of the warm exhaust vents. It helped him stay nice and comfortable even with the occasional cold gust of wind.
“I have no real issue if you don’t seek to harm anyone so no need to worry about things.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:49 pm
“Hedwig works.” Since he couldn’t give his civilian name, he’d been taught that the first night he’d been brought into things. Being a senshi was supposed to be a secret when he was a civilian, and who he was as a civilian was kept a secret when powered up. “No, I don’t care to go hurting people. Just some energy gathering, nothing to hurt them, if anything they’ll go home early before they drink too much. It’ll do them some good.” Smiling as he spoke, he was just doing these people a huge favor. They’d save money tonight and not be so drunk!
“So if you aren’t new to being a senshi than what?” They seemed new, as new as he was, but maybe not. Something was new, something was different and off, he knew it. “Chinese?” He questioned the other. Maybe they were new to the country like he was. That would make sense.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:50 pm
Though the draining bit wasn’t normal, he could agree with the sentiment that sending a person home from drinking early would be a health benefit. It was better than them drinking themselves under the bar or winding up on the sidewalk or in an alley passed out.
“Ah…. yes. Chinese. So this country and city are quite foreign to me, as is the written language.” Not sure if it would be good to let them know he wasn’t quite from here, he hoped they might just assume some of his features were cosplay or something else. If they were new to this, perhaps he would be the first and only outsider they’d met.
“I would like to avoid trouble much as you do, so could we perhaps work out a sort of truce? I believe that there are worse creatures than your wraiths so I could offer my aid if you come across those and I am nearby? In exchange you continue to not harm people or me?” Not that it was really asking for much other than continuing their current routine, he was curious about this world and it would benefit him to talk with more humans.
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 10:00 pm
“Try the asian district, it’ll be easier for you there with language and finding foods you're more familiar with. It’s a large district I find.” He’d gone there for sushi a few times, among other things, it was a decent sized area in the city and filled with people and good food. The people especially though….some were really good looking…
“That’s fine, we can do that. I’m not looking to fight in general.” Though he knew that might bother Desiree or even Chalcanthite, even though he didn’t need to answer to either as neither were dark mirror, but he knew they were connected to Melpomene. He wasn’t looking to get into any fights though. “I’ll offer the same help.” As much as he was certain Desiree and Chalcanthite would not like him agreeing to this, not one bit, but he also knew if he ran into a youma he was on the chopping block for it…he was still a senshi of a sort and it would still come for him. He might as well have someone who could help him, if it meant offering the same help in return….meh.
“So long as you don’t try and fight me I won’t fight you. I think we can agree to these terms…they seem agreeable.” See, he was learning to be responsible while stuck in this damn city, if only his grandfather could see, maybe he’d find himself heading back to France sooner rather than later.
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