|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 2:55 am
Quote: The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn't the first time they've appeared in Destiny City, but no one's been able to tell where they came from or where they're going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
But on the other hand, being drunk in the house wasnât safe, either. Being in the house meant being around a large, muscular long-survivor who had a personal grudge against alcohol because his beloved Saturn Knight had nearly drunk himself to death on several occasions.
As if no one else could drink just because Xingyi Kurogane hadnât had a sense of moderation. As if Xingyi hadnât reincarnated into LiĂĄnlĂ anyway, so who ******** cared if anybody else wanted to get a little drunk? Heibing had gotten in the habit of regularly checking the bottles stashed around his room, not to drink themâhe saved that for whatever bottle happened to sit in the drawer of his bedside table at any given momentâbut to make sure nobody had gone in there to dig through his things and find them.
(Didnât matter that privacy allegedly mattered to these people. Ryla, Heibing mostly trusted to leave his stuff alone. But Imnolu and LiĂĄnlĂ were irksome in the way they decided to care about people so much, and make other peopleâs problems into their own, and that could easily lead either or both of them to paw around in Heibingâs room. People would justify doing that over less than that. And as for Xin Huanxi, wellâŚâŚ Even without speaking very much, Xin Huanxi spoke for himself remarkably well, in Heibingâs opinion.)
Heading out on the town could count as senshi business too, and he did need to do a certain amount of that in order to recover the power heâd lost over the past thousand years, the way that Ryla and Imnolu had managed to start doing. Nobody could argue with him about that. So, Thalassa had found his way to one of the seemingly infinite number of endlessly repetitive parks in this city. He didnât think heâd find much trouble. Hardly anyone seemed to be out here this time: the Wishing Tree wasnât in this park, nor were all of the pretty paper lanterns, and most of the business that seemed to get people excited about this âStar Festivalâ business.
Well, there were some of the fireflies that Thalassa had seen around at different places. They flitted all over the park, flaring up in all kinds of bright colors, settling in nicely with the fuzziness that was helping take the edge off of everything that had gotten its ******** fingers all over his life since whatever that mess had been with the Calamitous Hollow, and the Dark Star, and the blah blah blah blah, garbage that was never supposed to have been ******** real but decided to come out of ******** nowhere and start killing everybody.
For the most part, Thalassa wandered the paths in this park with one of the bottles heâd moved into his subspace. Taking the old journals heâd brought with him from his world out of there had freed up space for alcoholâso much the better to have some put away in case somebody did go digging in his roomâand if there wasnât anything to do, then drinking would be fine. Probably there was some sign around here that had very unkind things to say about whether or not one was allowed to drink alcohol in public parks, but that sounded like someone elseâs ******** problem. Thalassa hadnât seen any signs like that, and if he did, enough things about him marked him as Distinctly Non-Human, he could probably get away with pretending that he couldnât read or exaggerating any difficulties he did have. No trouble for anybody.
Except for the feeling that flared up on his aura senses. Negaverse Chaosâthe third-worst kind in the universe (naturally, the Chaos that had ruined Pyrrhus and Troilus occupied the first two spots on the list, switching in and out of the top spot based on Thalassaâs moment-to-moment whims more than anything). Rolling his eyes, Thalassa stole one last, long drink and stashed the whiskey back in his subspace (along with a blue star charm that heâd found elsewhere in the park). Maybe somebody else would power up nearby and decide to come handle whatever Negaverse b*****d was out tonight. But in case they didnât, he had lost power to reclaim. Couldnât get it back by not starting fights.
All regard for the good sense, or lack thereof, in this idea discarded, Thalassa stalked in the direction of the Chaotic aura.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2025 7:44 pm
Akaganeite had to admit, the strange fireflies were...fascinating, if nothing else. She enjoyed watching them, though touching was certainly a bad idea, given the little shocks they could deliver. Had she learned that the hard way? Yes. But at least it had only taken one lesson, and now she was far more careful. Alas, these fireflies could not be allowed to whimsically land on one's hand.
She felt, sometimes, as if she needed regulation lately. Calm and quiet. Things had been...complicated, ever since...well. She would simply have to pin it to the night they all fought the Herald of the Dark Star. That had...shaken things, for her. Dying there, even if for only a brief time.
Perhaps that was only natural. To face death was to come out changed.
But tonight, her peace was not to last. There was someone approaching her, and she turned to watch a rather...well. Scrawny. And weak. Senshi come into her view.
"I am doing nothing but enjoying the evening," she said, "and you are weaker than I. You're an idiot if you start a fight here. Turn around."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2025 2:55 pm
Strictly speaking, the little Chaos s**t was right. Thalassa knew that she was right.
Following her aura to its source, he didnât find her standing atop a mountain of fresh, starseeded corpses or anything, but simply standing around, admiring the fireflies, and doing very little else. While she had her weaponâshe must have been one of the broken excuses for Knights that peopled the Negaverseâs ranks, then, rather than one of their senshiâshe had not drawn it. He didnât even have any evidence that sheâd been draining energy as of yet: none of the civilians around seemed particularly sluggish or worse for wear in the way that people did when the Negaverseâs soldiers stole their energy from them.
But the fact that the little Chaos s**t only intensified the glare that Thalassa fixed on her. Only made something inside of him burn more powerfully with the desire to squash her into the ground for having the unmitigated gall to be correct that all sheâd done was exist. Doing even that much while tainted by Chaos ought to have been a punishable offense, considering what Chaos did to the universe. What it did to people. What it had done to Bernard, and then to Pyrrhusâs homeworld. What it was still doing to Rylafein now, because his husband had reincarnated and New Tyndareus had been ******** stupid enough to trust in the lies of Chaos filth, even more so than Bernard had done with that <******** crown.
âAnd how long do you plan on just enjoying the evening,â Thalassa said without really asking a question. The phrasing said question, but unequivocally, his tone said that heâd made up his mind already. Unsteady though he felt, he fought hard to keep his breaths deep and even, his mind fixed on the woman before him. âBecause my experience with your kind says âNot very long.ââ
Pointing his finger at the trash before him, Thalassa called on his magic. Maybe the Chaos s**t had more power, but Thalassa had experience and knew well enough that he could try to level the field between them.Noir Songbird Sailor Scout Attack: âWeary Flop.â Thalassa selects one target within a ten-foot radius and points at them, glaring intently. The target is immediately hit with a feeling of mild exhaustion, as if they have spent several hours working hard without a break. Physically, targets feel tired and drained but not completely empty; they may feel slightly dizzy or develop a mild headache. Emotionally, targets may feel any combination of worn down, irritable, detached, or confused. They may experience an increased sense of self-doubt or more difficulty making decisions. While not completely overwhelming, these feelings may make targets struggle to keep fighting. This magic lasts thirty seconds, with any lingering effects at player discretion. Thalassa may use this attack three times per battle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2025 11:12 pm
Ah. Well, alright. Apparently this Senshi was not going to take the smart out.
"I doubt my answer will matter to you," Akaganiete said, and her hand moved to her sword hilt. Others might have provided one regardless, to make a point, but frankly, she was disinterested in wasting words on someone so determined to fight. She really had intended to simply hang around and enjoy her night, but that wasn't the point. She sincerely doubted that he would care, and wasting her breath seemed...well, like a waste.
She was also disinterested in bloodying her blade on him, but that was a secondary step. Killing was a waste. Better to convert, as she had been converted, but she could not affect that change.
For now, she would punish him, and she unsheathed her sword, stepping forward to do just that--
And then a wave of exhaustion hit her.
It made her stumble, to suddenly be tired--it wasn't serious, wasn't bringing her to her knees or anything quite so dramatic, but it did make her lower her blade a little. It was as if, suddenly, she had been at the gym for a full day, but without the buzzing post-workout feeling.
Instead, she had a headache and rather wanted to lay down to take a nap.
Alas. Not possible.
She unhooked her sheath from her belt and hurled it at him, aiming for his head. A slightly petty and perhaps childish response, throwing things, but she was annoyed by this entire situation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2025 11:30 pm
The exhaustion settled in as it should have done, exactly as planned. Thalassa smirked, watching his opponent stumble in her paces. More of a rush than heâd felt in ages coursed through him now at the promise of getting to thrash some whore whoâd sold out to Chaos (or, even if sheâd been brought in unwillinglyâas LiĂĄnlĂ kept insisting happened to plenty of peopleâwho chose to continue believing the lies that Chaos fed her instead of getting her a** to a Princess and getting the ******** out of the Negaverse already).
That rush inspired him. Made him shift, with a mind to get in a good physical attack while she was off her guard.
Unfortunately, Thalassa was drunk. Unsteady on his feet and slower in his reaction times than he might have been otherwise. Moving to try and trip her only put him in the right position for her swordâs sheath to whack him in the face, square in the center of his forehead and going down his nose. It salvaged some dignity, he supposed, that he bit back any pained noises that he might have made. Winced from the impact, yes, but at least he did it silently just like every time when heâd wanted to spend the night alone but instead, he heard the tumblers in his lock scrape against each other and the telltale creaking of the hinges andâ
Thalassa shook his head to banish that thought. Somehow, he managed to catch the sheath as it slipped down his chest. His next brilliant idea flared up bright like the fireflies still dancing around them: throw the stupid thing right back at her. But between putting in too much effort and his general unsteadiness, sending the sheath flying back toward its owner knocked Thalassa right back off his feet as well.
For a brief moment, somewhere between his feet slipping off the grass and the inevitable plummet, things slowed down enough for him to think, Oh, this is gonna ******** suck.
Then, he crashed into some nearby bushes, nowhere near as comfortable a resting place as theyâd looked before heâd gotten so personally acquainted with all their little branches.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2025 6:39 pm
Akaganeite was not given to excessive celebration. But she did let herself smirk, striding towards the Senshi who had gotten himself so thoroughly entangled in bushes simply by being unsteady on his feet. And she he was close enough, she found the reason--he reeked of alcohol.
Pathetic.
"I told you that you would be an idiot to fight me," she said, and she brought her sword up, "but I did not realize how thoroughly you would embarrass yourself."
A quick flick of the blade, a cut across his cheek. A little reminder that he would carry with him at least for as long as it took to heal.
"If you value your life, make better choices," she said, and then she turned and walked away, leaving him to his misfortune.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
