Welcome to Gaia! ::

“Hello,” he parroted, smiling pleasantly at the girl. “You’re welcome to come closer, I don’t bite. You won’t be able to get a good look at my wares if you’re trying to peer from all the way over there. Which is a shame, I’ve got quite the collection.”

He sat up and gestured to the tables surrounding him, as if they were all treasures to be displayed.

And, they were. They were just also treasures he was willing to part with.

“Let’s not be strangers. I’m Almadel. Certainly you’ve heard of me? I have many friends in Destiny City. We should be friends, too.”

“Oh, you give me so much credit,” he crooned, like he wasn't basking in the attention. “I suppose I did help out, a bit. You’re very small, aren’t you? You must have been so brave to go into such a battle. Really, I should thank you. I’m rather fond of Earth, myself. I’d have been devastated to lose it. I like to travel, so there are a great many worlds that are dear to my heart, but Earth is very high on the list. So I suppose, it is not incorrect to say I visit homeworlds and recover artifacts. But I’ve met several people who are rather cross with me. Ah,” he sighed dramatically, and rested his cheek in the palm of his hand.

“But the universe is so big and empty. Don’t tell me you’ll be cross with me if I say my wanderlust takes me to empty worlds. It isn’t like I take from anyone who will miss it. But what should I do when a world is empty and dangerous and there are so many treasures left behind? The best I can do is preserve the legacy the people left behind, don’t you think?”

Though he exuded a sense of melancholy obligation, his tail still danced behind him.

“Why, what have you heard of my space museum? Only good things, I hope.”

Almadel made a disgruntled noise and his face twisted briefly. “The bugs! That’s what they tell you? The bugs? Oh,” he huffed indignantly but drew in a breath, calmed himself, and then smiled sweetly once more.

“Well, yes. I had an infestation one time, and everyone was very lovely and helped me handle it. And if they think my museum is big and overwhelming it’s only because they don’t know how to appreciate beauty. I spent much time perfecting the layout. All of my exhibits? Exquisite. They got the ‘beautiful’ part right at least. If you appreciate museums, you’ll appreciate mine. I have the best collection in the galaxy. Perhaps you can come up and join me some time.”

The offer might have been lip service, but it might have been sincere too.

Almadel didn’t dwell on it because he was instead gesturing to his tables. “After I can clear out my collection somewhat, of course.” He’d help her find something nice. He had ideas, of course.

…He just wanted to get to know her a little better, too.

“What do you mean, that you don’t have the type of memories that other people have? Don’t all Senshi draw from the memories of their past life? Written on your starseed, like pages of a book in a language only you can read?”

Almadel side-eyed her, like through such scrutiny he might be able to decipher the truth, but his face relaxed and he exhaled. Yes, of course he was a very strong person to be able to part with his collection, and she was very kind to notice how much he’d memorized and learned. Maybe he’d make a special trip to let her see his Museum sometime.

“Wrong? No, not at all. Senshi are all very strange. You all work similarly, but a bit differently, I think. For example, so many of you have been born on Earth–and yet, your power source is a world you’ve never been to? That’s not normal. Or, it wasn’t.”

He shrugged, “I don’t pretend to understand the Cauldron. Only its Mistress knows its workings, and she keeps her secrets well.”

Of course, he was more interested in Cuan now, too.

“If Cuan won’t tell you anything, why haven’t you gone to seek out this old lady by yourself? Destiny City can’t be that big,” he suggested. Though he was quick to speak, even Almadel seemed to be holding back a bit, like there was a thought sitting on his tongue, waiting to tumble out.

Almadel nodded along as she spoke, but he’d settled thoughtfully into his seat. He planted his elbow on the table, and propped his chin into the palm of his hand. Invested in her story, he leaned forward and tapped two fingers on his cheek.

“You have a big heart for a little human. Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret. It’s safe with me. You are young, so let me impart some wisdom.”

His fingers stilled now, but his tail twitched below the table. From a pocket, he pulled a silky handkerchief–black, but the fibers shimmered like subtle rainbows. He passed it over.

“You mustn’t live your life wondering ‘what if’. Sometimes, bad things happen. But they’ll happen whether you do things or not. Sometimes good things will happen. And only because you do something to make it so. Life is full of so many ‘ifs’, but you can’t do anything to guarantee certainty unless you step up to direct fate yourself. I’m a strong advocate for it, you know. I think sitting idly by is one of the worst things you can do. Do you know what a miracle it is that you’ve even been born?”

Almadel’s eyes sparkled, like there was a treasure hidden in the words and maybe only he could see it.

“You’ll make mistakes. But one of the biggest mistakes you can make is letting yourself live with regret. In your memory of her, she loved someone very deeply. What if she has spent all this time missing this person? She must know they’re gone. She must think they’re gone forever, isn’t that the way things work here? Do you think grief is the only emotion she might be capable of? What if you bring her relief? Comfort? Joy? Closure? Who can predict the human heart, or any? There’s no telling what she might think or feel. So think about yourself instead. Don’t you want to know? If you wait too long you might miss your chance. Old ladies don’t live forever. What regret you’d feel if you didn’t even try.”

Almadel was clever enough not to press. Maybe, he thought about it. He watched her face for a moment, still with the same expression he wore when he passed over the handkerchief. He didn’t ask for it back.

“Saiph?” he prompted. “Oh, a while back. It was pretty quiet when I was there. I spent a lot of time looking up at the trees. You’ve seen them, of course? Of course,” he decided. She couldn’t really miss them. “They’re enormous. Or, they were–tell me they still are? You can invite me to visit, of course. I love a good tour.”

He spoke a lot, and he spoke quickly, perhaps because he simply had a lot to say. Or, more likely, he was giving her something else to think about. It wasn’t much to brag about, bringing a child to tears. He did what he could to make amends without drawing more attention to it.

“Of course, there were bones–well, everywhere. A bit less charming but no less impressive! I’ve seen books of what they might have looked like alive? Oh, but who knows what box that’s in. The pictures didn’t do them justice, though. Pretty–scary, sometimes!–sketches but they don’t capture the sheer enormity of what crawled the Saiph’s surface. I think you must have needed to be very strong, and crafty, to survive there. Is it gentler now?”

‘Not always,’ Almadel almost said, but she was very small, and still in tears, so he smiled and tapped his foot slowly. “Surely,” he said instead. “But keep your eyes and ears open, you never know what you might find. It’s served me well.”

He found things everywhere he went, nearly.

“I’ll go up with you again sometime, of course. I love a good trip. I’d go right now if I didn’t have my wares to look after. But I’d love to see what you’re working with. Do you like bones? Humans are so funny, half of you want bones, half of you don’t want me to have bones. I think they’re fascinating.”

He hummed, rising from his seat briefly to venture towards a trunk he’d tucked under one of his tables. He dragged it out like he had to put his whole back into it.

“I haven’t seen what bones Earth has undug in a while. Perhaps I’ll visit your museum one of these days, see how it compares to mine. Mine’s better, of course, indisputably,” he said proudly, “But I support the arts. I would say, of Saiph’s bones, some are bigger, and some are smaller. Much smaller. Here,” he hummed, now digging through the trunk. It took him only a few seconds before he plucked a small, round, cloth covered item from the trunk. Peeling back the fabric to test his discover, he seemed satisfied, and returned to present it to her.

“If you like bones, you’ll like feathers? These aren’t as big as the ones I’ve seen. But I thought there was something charming about this, too. Romantic, isn’t it?” he asked, presenting the piece.

“...Or perhaps you’re too young to appreciate such a thing. Here, take a look. The feathers are from Saiph, I recognize them. The bones, probably the same. When I got them, they were in a collection that’s been long since scattered. But this one felt worth keeping. What do you think?”