The Reservoir (4) : The Destiny City Reservoir opened about two years ago and is an easy escape from the big city. It's a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It's a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but it's been in the news for mysterious reports of some strange, aquatic monster. Some accounts say they've spotted a twenty foot long, snake like creature capable of rearing a long neck high above the water. It's hard to tell if the videos are doctored, but there are too many rumors to dismiss easily. Something strange might be lurking deep in the water. Or it's just a hoax to get people out to the Reservoir!
ButâŚSometimes, people feel like something is grabbing their ankle, even if they are just wading in the shallow end. In the deeper parts of the water, it gets a little more intense: something has been said to grab onto ankles and pull. People have been warned about dangerous pranks, but so far no one has been caught. In the shallow end, anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted may feel themselves being knocked off their feet and tugged into the water; anyone in deep water may feel a firm grip on their ankle, tugging them lower and lower. Somehow, anyone it targets is freed--either by wriggling and fighting, or because someone intervenes and pulls the would-be victim up. No one has drowned in the lake. Yet. It's impossible to see who, or what, is doing this, but it usually gives up after one failed attempt. Usually.
While you may find yourself harassed by the supposed cryptid, or see something visibly odd in the distance, you cannot take any pictures of the creature. Who knows if you're even being attacked by the cryptidâor just another youma?
Practically since heâd shown up in Destiny City, Thalassa had heard things about the mysterious creature that lived out in the reservoir. The ââcryptidââ or whatever people called it. Apparently, that term referred to creatures whose existence had never been proven, which felt like a ridiculous concept. Fair enough, Thalassa supposed. His own people had had their myths and legends, their rumors of creatures whose alleged existence came from ââevidenceââ that might not have actually indicated what some believed it had.
Still, the lack of concrete answers about the ââcryptidââ in the reservoir annoyed him more than anything.
On top of that, any excuse to not be back at LiĂĄnlĂ-and-Huanxiâs place was a good one (especially considering Huanxi Xinâs wrong and stupid opinions about alcohol). Patrolling with someone else probably would have been a better use of Thalassaâs time. He, Pyrrhus, and Troilus needed to hunt down the new Tyndareus, then drag him to some ******** Princess by his hair whether he liked it or not. Pergamon could come help with that, too. It would be a good learning experience for him, a relatively fresh Page who needed, and who knew? Maybe his little book would hurt if it smacked Tyndareus in the face.
Instead of doing anything useful, though, Thalassa had found his way to the reservoir, with a large glass bottle, a black leather wallet, and one of the cityâs star-shaped charms (the sort of rainbow colored-one) in a brown paper bag. The wallet had come from some civilian in the park; Thalassa had found them on the ground, insensate but bloodless, andâŚâŚhey, if they didnât have a starseed, it wasnât like they really needed what was in their wallet. Thankfully, thereâd been more of the green paper cash than the mystifying plastic cards with numbers (not that Thalassa cared about stealing those either, from a moral perspective, but LiĂĄnlĂ said that Terrans could get very fussy about it when someone tried to use a plastic card that didnât belong to them, which sounded like more trouble than it was worth).
Crouching beside the water, Thalassa glared out its surface. So far, undisturbed, illuminated by moonlight filtered through the trees. He squinted, watching for any changes. When they didnât come immediately, he took the bottle out of the paper bag.
On the way over, heâd opened it for a few drinks, and he threw back a longer one, now that he wasnât walking. From Isidorâand their introductory visit to that liquor store, six-ish weeks agoâThalassa knew this was what Terrans called whiskey. At least, this âJack Daniels Tennesseeâ thing was one flavor of whiskey, something not entirely unlike a drink Thalassa had found on Lete a few times, back in the day. The flavor profile got pretty close, considering that everything from Lete was probably extinct, from the grains that had made the liquor to the mix of fruits, spices, and flowers that had been used to enhance the drink.
The kick wasnât exactly the same, though. A moment after swallowing, Thalassaâs lips went tight and curled into a frown as the burn heâd come to expect flared up in his throat. Another drink, as if that would drown out the pain, and he picked up a rock from the ground by some informative sign he hadnât bothered trying to read. Wrinkling his nose, he threw it at the water. Maybe that would rouse the ââcryptid.ââ Make the stupid thing come out here and defend its territory.
Honkzilla
ugh, I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up for you â¤ď¸
Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2025 8:39 pm
Despite her earlier encounter with the âcryptid,â Tempesti remained unwilling to change her swimming habits. She wasnât about to let what may or may not occupy the reservoir control when and where she spent her free time. Besides, it hadnât done any actual damage. Come to think of it, she had no idea where it had even come from. She couldnât recall any cryptid related stories from before the reservoir, so it might not have even been on the land at that point. Did it hear about a new body of water, decide that its time had come, and moved from someplace with less people to pester? Jumped through a portal from another dimension? Her experiences in the last several months had tempered her natural skepticism about these things, even if her first instinct on earthbound things was still to look for sources. For tonight, anyway, anything in the reservoir seemed content to leave her to her business.
A flying object narrowly missed her shoulder, sending thoughts of cryptids and jinxed luck through her head before she realized it was a whiskey bottle. Snatching it indignantly, she swam toward the shore, only to be surprised by the sight of Sailor Thalassa. Theyâd met only briefly a couple of times, but with his distinctive appearance there was no mistaking him for anybody else. Her irritation subsided slightly, given her understanding of deep space senshi she couldnât say that she wouldnât be throwing whiskey bottles in his situation. Still, if it broke it could seriously injure someone, so she deposited it in a nearby recycle bin before walking over to him. Her sleeves and boots waited neatly on the beach several yards away, but she didnât see the need to put them on just yet.
âThalassa, how have you been?â Judging by the fact that he had a brown paper bag and used to have an empty whiskey bottle, she suspected that she had an idea of the answer.
Briefly, that made Thalassa perk up (as much as he could right now, which he would have admitted wasnât much, had he been sober). Had he been paying attention to his aura senses, he might have recognized that, in all likelihood, he probably hadnât roused the so-called ââcryptid.ââ But as he tried to push himself back up to standing, the world lurched around him and quite effectively drowned out any ability to focus on anything else. Maybe he shouldâve eaten something more substantial before leaving the house (though, based on the precedents of his that Thalassa had in mind, eating anything wouldâve undermined the whole idea of getting drunk).
Regardless of how badly his head wanted to spin clean off his shoulders, Thalassa recognized the sound of someone (something?) approaching. Only when she got close enough, however, did he recognize: 1. oh, it was the New Tempesti; 2. oh, her aura felt stronger than it had when theyâd crossed paths before, a super senshiâs aura, same as Pyrrhus and Troilus had worked up to getting; and 3. oh, she was making herself responsible for his whiskey bottle. Still crouching near the waterâs edge, Thalassa frowned bemusedly at Tempestiâs choice to clean up the empty bottle and dump it in some plastic bin. The muffled clattering sound suggested other glass things in there, maybe some paper?
âOh, yâknow, been fiiiiiiiiiine,â Thalassa told her, intending to satisfy the human social rules where the right answer to that question was some variation on Iâm fine because people asking didnât really care or want to be bored by whatever you had to say. The tone didnât sell the lie, though; even through the haze heâd cultivated for himself, Thalassa recognized that. His instincts said to make up an entertaining lie, said it would be funny, but reaching for one, all his mind gave him was a sound like his fingers crumpling up the paper bag.âŚâŚ Dammit, he hadnât practiced taking people for a ride while drunk inâŚâŚa while.
Well, maybe Tempesti wouldnât believe the truth anyway. Or maybe she would. That sounded like her business more than his.
âShowed up to contribute against the CalaminiciousâŚâŚ the HarbindershireâŚâŚ the HairyâŚâŚ yâknow, the big, ******** off serpenty dragon-thing guy?â As though it helped make some kind of point, Thalassa waved one of his hands up toward the sky, gesturing in the vague direction of some clouds. âMy two closest friends and I got rewarded for that? By finding out that Pyrrhusâs husband reincarnated and New Tyndareus is with the ******** Negaverse. Like, honestly, who even does that? Aside from, yâknow.â He blew a raspberry. âAll the idiots who do, I guess. And then the fight, and the black lightning, and then I wasâŚâŚâ
Staring at the Dark Star. Dead, not just stuck in some liminal state of unconsciousness but honest to ******** dead, all lingering sapience notwithstanding, and staring deep into an immense, hungry darkness.
Yeah, better to smother whatever those ideas were with a pillow. Put them in a journal later. Instead of taking them out on some poor girl who probably wasnât even forty yet.
âWell, I wasnât anywhere good.â Thalassa huffed. Looking up at Tempesti, he felt as though he ought to try standing up properly again. If nothing else, it probably wasnât comfortable for her to have to look down at him this way. âThen I didnât really do anything for like a month. Slept a lot. Laid in the bath. Listened to human music my host put on some green circle list thing for me. I got lied to by some âSun-Kissâ soda? Looked like a peach brandy they used to make on an asteroid called Ilmari. It was not. Lucky me, though, Troilus is sweet on this human history professor who really knows his way around a liquor store. Heâs a Moon Knight too, very cool. Going on two months now since I started drinking again? Really good choice on my part. A thousand years of cowardice and deliberately denying myself something I love was <******** stupid.â
Deep breath. Deep breath. He was going to stand up. Another deep breath (which did nothing to steady his general existence but whatever, heâd deal with it).
Thalassa pushed himself up as fast as he could. Let the impact of the alcohol crash into and over him all at once, hard and cold and staggering. ********, he was gonna have to crash over at Isidorâs again tonight. There was no way he could climb back into his room like this and if Huanxi caught himâŚâŚ
A quick shake of the head to banish that thought, then he looked back to the girl. Young woman. Fellow senshi whose growing experience didnât stop her from feeling like a child to him, even if it wasnât fair.
âHow about you,â he asked. âGuess youâve probably been busy, sinceâŚâŚyâknow. You got one of the ******** cats to let youâŚâŚglow up? ToâŚâŚtoâto super?â Wrinkling his nose, he gave her a more vulnerable glance than he intended. âIs that the way you say it? âThey let you glow upâ?â
Honkzilla
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 2:55 pm
Thalassa definitely didnât sound fine, and based on his expression Tempesti suspected that he knew that. Deep space problems were hardly her area of expertise, but at least she could listen. Offer sympathy despite the fact that she couldnât fathom what he had endured over the years. âYou know, you donât have to say youâre fine if youâre not. Iâve never understood why the world expects that.â Honestly, if there was ever a reason for somebody to not be fine, this was it. âAn acquaintance of mine started just calling that thing Harold. I donât think it deserves the respect of a title after the little stunt it pulled.â She glared slightly in the general direction of the Hollowâs prison before returning her attention to the deep space senshi.
A cold pit settled in her chest as Thalassa continued, as far as she knew she hadnât met anyone she knew in her past life. Not that Elysia knew all that many people, stuck in that tower as long as she was. But to find someone you loved, someone you remembered loving within your own lifetime only to see them with the enemy. To be helpless to bring them back, to watch your friend suffer with that knowledge. Her chest and stomach ached with the thought of it.
It startled her, the realization that this the first time sheâd allowed herself to refer to them as âthe enemy,â but it grew more difficult by the day to think of them as anything less. She believed it was possible to save them. She had to believe that it was possible to save them, at least the ones who could possibly want to be saved. In the future. Maybe. Hopefully.
âThatâs horribleâŚDo you think itâs possible for your friendâs hus-,â She couldnât exactly call him his husband, could she? âTyndareus to get purified? I donât know how that all works for them.â She wished she could believe in a world where they could just lock eyes, Tyndareus would recognize his husband, get purified, and they could live happily ever after. She wished that anything about this was fair.
Her lungs compressed almost painfully as he alluded to the Dark Star. as though revoking every breath sheâd ever taken. She hadnât discussed that thing with anybody. Saying it out loud would make it real, squeeze out the possibility that it was the half-mad product of a half-dead mind. But here was somebody elseâŚhinting about this truth from which she desperately wanted to hide.
She stood hurriedly, offering a hand to steady him, worry immediately shoving aside the dread that seconds earlier threatened to drag her back to that void. âYeah, I definitely have been.â She gave him a reassuring smile, trying to hide the concern she felt. That wouldnât help right now. There was no pity there. Compassion, definitely, but she couldnât pity someone who had survived so much and remained standing, however unsteadily. âI think Iâve heard some people call it a glow up. And I finally got stable enough that Iâm not zapping everyone around me, so Iâm grateful for that.â He definitely looked like he didnât need to be out and about any longer. She had no idea if he had gills but leaving him alone, this drunk, near water couldnât be safe. âIâm parked not too far from here,â the senshi gestured in the general direction of her car, âLet me save you the walk home.â
