Welcome to Gaia! ::

By this point, Halia was fairly used to the frequent messages from Mason. Both via text and his signet ring. Usually she had answers for any of his questions, though what she didn't know was easily enough found out. A quick text here, a fast reply there, and she would be back to whatever she has been doing. This time, however, she figured it might be better to answer his questions in person. Especially since he seemed to have a good number of them. So she had extended an invitation to him, offering to take him to Aruna with her while she worked on cleaning up and exploring more.

Waiting at their usual spot they'd meet at for magical things, Aruna flipped through a notebook. She had taken time to write out all of the questions he'd sent her, and also make bullet points of anything she thought might be useful information. Talking with Mason made it easy for her to lose her train of thought, she had found, and it was strange to her. But she didn't hate it. In fact, she found she quite enjoyed the time she spent with him.

Mason hummed to himself as he made his way to their rendezvous spot, trying to keep his mood lighter than it actually felt - talking to Joy, even over messages, sometimes left him more tangled than he’d been when he started out. She was so hard to get a read on, and he had no idea how she felt about him - he was, in fact, pretty sure she didn’t like him at all, and he didn’t know why, and–well, he’d chased himself in circles about it, when as Joy herself said, it didn’t really matter if he ‘got’ her or not. He needed to get himself.

And the problem was he didn’t know how himself was supposed to feel - because on the one hand, killing civilians: wrong and bad. However, also wrong and bad? Kidnapping and torturing people. Joy might insist that there were no sides in the way Mason thought of it, but he couldn’t see any way there weren’t - and his was the side of helping the most people, contributing the most good, possible. Even if they were corrupted Sailor Scouts looking for their husband. Maybe.

Because even if he loved him, even if he just wanted his husband back, didn’t Albite still serve the civilian-killers? Didn’t Faustite? Wouldn’t finding Faustite contribute bad to the world, maybe?

He had no idea.

But that was where Halia came in. Not only did she know more about this whole situation than Mason, she cared more than Joy, and agreed that the whole ‘kidnap/torture’ thing was not okay, but generally didn’t like it when Mason hung out wth Chaos people.

But…maybe there was a way for everybody to win. Maybe he could use his relationship with Albite to learn…something. Anything. Something that might balance out the potential bad that would potentially come from the whole Faustite/Hy-Brasil/Grieve nonsense.

But to do that, Mason would need to know what information they even needed. And also who ‘they’ even was - was Joy right? Were they all just solo actors, or was there some kind of structure somewhere? Or if not, could one be built?

“Hey,” Mason said, tucking his hands in his pockets as he approached Halia. “How ya doin’?” Mason asked, giving her a little smile. “Thanks for this. Really.”

It wasn't like Aruna didn't have her own misgivings about Chaos and about the war. It wasn't like she hadn't blurred some lines herself. But knowing Mason, still a fresh Page with no real magic to speak of, was doing the same? It made her worry. So if she could help keep him safe, even just by answering questions so he didn't need to keep poking at Chaos agents, she would.

“It's no problem, really.” She gave him a warm smile and held up her Senshi phone. “Up for a bit of space travel? I want to work on Aruna, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.” She had been getting more serious about restoring the Necropolis planet lately, and had been delving into the books she found there, trying to study and learn the language to see if she could find anything helpful.

“I…wrote down a few things I thought might be helpful, too. So I thought we could go over those things while we're at it.” There was so much both of them didn't know, but she wanted to do what she could to share the knowledge she did have.

“As you wish, Teach,” Mason said with a grin - what sort of idiot would he have to be to say no to going to space? “Am I allowed to help out up there or would that like mess up the vibes or whatever?” Mason asked, glancing curiously up at the sky as if he could possibly see Aruna from here. Someday, when it was more ready for company, he'd have to show Blarney to Halia.

Aruna shook her head. “I won't say no to help.” Taking hold of his hand, she transported them to her planet with a push of a button.

Arriving in the receiving chambers, she seemed to relax. “I figured that this might be the safest place to talk about some of what you're asking. On Earth, you never know who might be listening, or who might overhear.” She gave his hand a small squeeze before letting go. “Walk with me? We can talk on the way to the library.” Her heels clicked on the stone floor as she headed down the hall, making her way to the same room she had taken the twins to before.

“Out of all of your questions, what's the most pressing? Hit me with that one first and I'll answer what I can.”

Mason nodded in understanding; it was for that reason he'd taken off the ring Albite had given him and stashed it in his subspace - even if it had some ability beyond what he'd been told and seen for himself, he was reasonably certain that it couldn't eavesdrop from a different plane of existence.

“Did you know Faustite is missing?” Mason asked. It maybe wasn't the most important question, but it was to Mason at the moment, and anyway it tied into everything else. He held back the rest of it - the Albite of it all, for good and for bad, and the Eles of it all, because there was no way (right?) and he didn't want to embarrass himself any more than he could help.

Aruna paused, the click of her last step echoing in the halls. “Yes. I did know that. How do you know that?” Things involving Faustite were…..sticky. “Mason. I need to know where you're going with this and why you're asking about Faustite.” She turned to face him, her posture stiff and altogether different than she had been with him prior to this.

“His husband told me,” Mason said with a one-shouldered shrug, a feigned indifference, though his voice no longer sounded like the goofy mctwin she had come to know. Like her, his posture had straightened a bit, and he met her gaze evenly.

“Do you think it's better for the common good for him to stay missing? Honestly,” Mason added, “like…really. If he comes back, is he just going to kill a bunch of innocent civilians? I know you can't, like, predict the future, but– you know him, kinda.” Mason searched her face. “Is it better for the innocent people of Destiny City that he's not around?”

“Which husband? He's uh. Got a few.” She noticed the change in his demeanor and took note of it before answering further. “Objectively speaking I'm sure it's better that he isn't around. But as someone who has met him and as someone who's close friends with someone who he's precious to….” She sighed and leaned against the wall. “I can't in good conscience not worry and not want him to be found safely. Y'know….for all the power he has, I don't think he's actually too much older than me. When we spoke, he was….he struck me as being incredibly young. And….from what my friend has told me about him, he's been through hell. I want to believe there's good still in him, and that he isn't a lost cause.” She frowned, realizing she was on the verge of rambling. “To answer your question outright, from a strategic war standpoint, yes it's better he's gone. From a personal standpoint however, I……” She chewed her lip, debating on telling him she had, in fact, been listening for any potential leads to help find him and bring him home.

Mason nodded. If nothing else, he trusted Halia's read on people, even if she was too quick to reveal her identity to people (meaning Mason himself) and too willing to bring people (meaning General King Faustite) to her sacred homeworld. He knew her heart was in the right place.

“Okay,” Mason said. “Thank you.” He hesitated a moment, then relaxed his posture, leaning against the opposite wall. “Albite told me. With the tattoos? He's…the dude's a lot but…I kinda like him,” Mason admitted with a sheepish smile. “He's like…funny? And he didn't kill me on sight, which I always personally appreciate,” he added with a dry chuckle. “You remember the dumpster fires popping up all over the place a couple weeks ago? That was Albite. Like, grieving or trying to communicate or something. Dude was messed up.” Mason sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“It seems like he really loves him, yknow? Like–like really loves him. And I just…don't think people should be kept from people they love like that.” Mason sighed. “But I also don't know what…like, he really wants to…I dunno, kill or kick the asses of Hy-Brasil and Grieve.”

Here Mason paused, looking absolutely stricken. “It was an Earth Knight, Hali. Who started this whole mess. One of us–one of my people. That's why Albite almost yote me off a roof–just because I was wearing the same colors as Hy-Brasil.” Mason looked pained. “How is it that someone who would do that is–is like me? Is on my–my team? Joy–Joyeuse Garde, the only other actual Earth Knight I've met at all–she basically said that not everybody on our side - Order - is automatically good. That because we're–her favorite word for it is conscripted but I think that's a little extreme–there's no guarantee that any of us are–are righteous or virtuous or–or good.” Briefly, Mason's mind flashed back to the cranky Senshi from the park, the one that had slashed at his face with her pen, of all things.

“I don't–I don't know what to do with that.”

Ah. So he finally was starting to see the reality of it. “I told you before that not all chaos is bad and not all order is good. Seems she had a better way of explaining it. Joy is right, just because we're aligned with Order doesn't automatically make us good people. It doesn't automatically make us righteous or good or moral. Just like Chaos doesn't automatically mean they're morally corrupt or evil.” She sighed softly and reached over, gently squeezing his hand. “Just because you're technically part of the same group doesn't mean you automatically have some sort of bond, or some moral obligation or association. While an Earth Knight may have started the mess, that doesn't say anything about you. I….that would be like saying all senshi who wear green are the same, or all people with brown hair. It's stereotyping and classifying in an inaccurate way.”

A muscle in her face twitched at Grieve’s name. “........ Mason, have you met Grieve?” Her lips pursed as if she had sucked on a lemon, and she looked particularly displeased to say the name.

Mason shook his head. “No, all I know is they're a senshi. Albite described them as a ‘banana with horns’ and Joy said they - meaning Hy-Brasil and Grieve - knew they were being looked-for.” Mason looked mystified, because he absolutely was. “Grieve is a person, right? Or, like, person-shaped? Not…not actually a banana?”

He figured this was the case, but with Albite…well, he wanted to be extra sure. Just in case he needed to start looking for another source of potassium in his diet.

Aruna made almost a strangled sound as she covered her mouth to hide a laugh. “Oh. Oh god. I'm telling Muri. Banana with horns, oh my god.” She tried hard, and failed miserably, to not laugh. “Yes, Grieve is a person. One I would very much like to avoid. She's what we call a Deep Space Senshi. They're more alien in appearance and….well it's because they are alien. They're also old. Like. Extremely old. As in Grieve knew Aurelia, the Aruna before me. Grieve has been here to Aruna when Aurelia was alive.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory she had recovered, then more as she thought about her spontaneous trip off planet. “Grieve is…..on the more aggressive side and sees no issue with killing. Her planet is….one giant body dumping grounds.” She shuddered as she thought about it and shook her head.

“Oh, I’ve met an alien,” Mason said quickly, excitedly - an objectively unhinged sentence that would have been inconceivable just a few months ago. “The one I met was kind of a bunny-person,” he said, bemused. “Anyway, Albite really wants to tussle with Grieve, and Hy-Brasil.”

Mason sighed and leaned back, head thunking gently on the stone wall behind him. “I don’t–I don’t get why–like why bother even with the outfits and the everything if it doesn’t mean anything? If we’re not bound by any commonality, then why…?” Mason sighed and shook his head. “Then what’s even the point?”

“I wish I had a real answer for you. The only thing I can say is hope. The point of it all is hope. Whether we like it or not, this is a war. And the stakes of losing are pretty steep. Ultimately, we're soldiers, willingly or not. All we can do is keep fighting and hope it'll be enough.”

She sighed softly. “Okay. I'm going to put all my cards on the table. I've been actively keeping an eye out for any information about Faustite to help bring him home. I even went to far as to ask my cousins husband who really doesn't like the guy if he had heard anything, just to see if our side had anything to do with it. Encke didn't seem to know anything, so I didn't mention why I was asking. But…. Look, Faustite isn't completely unreasonable. And I'm sure I only got as far with him as I did because of my connection to Murikabushi. But still.” She rubbed her face. “There's a corrupt senshi I've spoken with before. Maybe…..maybe we can talk to her together. If you still want to know about Chaos and all that.” The idea of introducing Mason to Ako made her skin crawl, but if he was going to keep talking to Chaos, she wanted to at least be able to be there to protect him if it went bad.

Mason nodded, relieved in spite of himself. At least he could tell Albite that with greater certainty that Order hadn’t had anything to do with his disappearance, beyond Mason’s uneducated guesswork. Encke was a name that kept coming up, and now–he was Halia’s cousin? Or cousin-in-law?

“Wait,” Mason said, a frown creasing his face. “Your cousin? Are they…” Mason’s head was swimming. Surely ‘not all Order are good’ and ‘not all Chaos are bad’ didn’t mean… “Hali, when you say your cousin…they’re not…you know…like, please tell me that your godawful family doesn’t also have magic powers.” Mason pleaded. He didn’t know every grisly detail, didn’t want to know all the details, but–he knew the scars and the fear that had flashed on her face when she’d realized Mason knew her sister–clearly enough, and he so didn’t want to think about any of those jerks getting actual magic.

But then again, he couldn’t imagine Halia mentioning the interaction so casually, without a trace of concern or anxiety.

“Does it have to be a war?” Mason asked. “Have we tried–like, recently–to see if they’ll just…y’know, leave it alone? Build on the peace that came from the whole space snake?”

Aruna scrunched her nose again and let her transformation drop, sighing as she rested her head back against the wall. “No, god. So….okay it's complicated and verging on identity reveals, so I'm going to trust you a lot here, okay? A few months back, when I was out at my grandpa's place, I met a guy who turned out to be a cousin. And then I learned that I have this entire massive side of my family I not only had never met but had never known about. My mom kept me pretty isolated from everyone but my grandpa, so I never even knew I had family. And as it turns out, this part of my family? The vast majority of them are senshi or knights, and if they themselves aren't magical, their spouse or partner usually is. And it turns out, one of my cousins is magical and married a guy who's also magical, which would be Encke. As far as I'm aware though, no, my mother and sister are not powered.” Explaining the Bell family in the vaguest of terms was a pain in the a**, and she figured she should ask Luke or Richard about properly introducing Mason to them later, but for now this would have to do.

“As for the war….talking it out isn't really an option. From what I understand, it's…..something that's ancient. Chaos has been a force against us since the beginning, and we're in this whether we like it or not. Those who don't want to serve Chaos can purify, just as those who don't wish to serve Order can corrupt, but….it's long past the point of talking to resolve it, if it ever was at that point to begin with. I wish more than anything that I could somehow show you what it was like in that battle. Their Queen….what she's capable of. It's….. it's terrifying, Mason. The sheer raw power she displayed caused me physical pain, and I was on the opposite side of the battlefield.” She spoke quietly, hand going to her chest as she thought back to Laurelite attacking the Hollow. “While some of them can be reasoned with, and I'm sure some can be persuaded to purify, ultimately talking won't do us much good in terms of overall resolution.”

Mason nodded along as she explained - extended family, then, not her terrible immediate family. Little blessings, or something.

“What is the resolution, then?” Mason asked, voice soft. “‘Cause what you’re describing, it sounds like…like the ‘war on crime’ or the ‘war on drugs’. Nobody wins or loses in those kinds of wars, but a lot of people tend to die in them. Is it just–kill or I guess purify as many Chaos-aligned people as we can until there’s none left?” Mason paused.

“Wait, they have a Queen? They’re called Chaos and they have a literal monarchy?” Mason snorted. “Someone needs to teach them about irony.”

“It's more good versus evil fighting for control of the planet, I think. But….I'm not sure there will ever be an end. If good exists, evil does too. Two sides of the same coin or something. And no, it's not up to you to purify them. It's….not something I know much about, but I know someone who does. I have a few friends who are ex chaos, like I told you before, and they can likely tell you more about it.”

She arched a brow at him. “I've literally referred to Faustite as “General King” before and you didn't pick up on it? There's….a lot more order within their ranks than ours. Which is part of the irony of us calling ourselves “Order” and then “Chaos”. But it also makes them more formidable. They have a very clear hierarchy and structure system to their ranks, and because of that, they can get things done far more efficiently than us.”

Halia fell silent for a moment before speaking quietly. “I…..there is one person I could make an introduction for you to that I wouldn't be so worried about you being harmed. She's…..not always the friendliest, but she may be able to explain at least the Chaos side to you more than I could. If you would want to, that is.”

“Well, yeah, but I thought that was like, I don’t know, an honorary thing. I’m not actually anyone’s page, and nobody, like, knighted Miss Joy or anything.” …Probably. He actually had no idea what went into ‘leveling up’ on the knight side of things. Mason sighed and shook his head. “I think they’re going to win if we don’t get a little more organized, Hali. Even if half the city awoke to Order tomorrow, with nobody to lead them or teach them…” Mason sighed. “There should be a magic school or at least an orientation pamphlet to all this stuff, Hals. It’s not fair.” Mason shook his head and refocused.

“Anyway, yeah, sure, I’ll meet anybody. Just name the time and place.” Mason paused. “What did you say their Queen’s name was?”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But…..we can't let ourselves think about it like that. We have to keep hoping and trying our best….” It was something that had been gnawing on the edges of her mind, especially after seeing the wild display of power.

“Whenever you want to go. I know where she usually can be found at night.” Her nose scrunched in displeasure. “Laurelite. At least that's what I heard someone call her. I dunno if she's a General, like Faustite, or if she's their Queen queen, but either way, you don't mess with her. Mason, her power made me feel like my starseed was on fire. I felt it down into my soul. I'm going to be extremely clear here. Do not ask whoever you've been talking to about her. If you have questions about stuff like that, I can see if Murikabushi would be okay with you contacting him about it, or Kerberos. Those two have…..been in this mess far longer than I have, and I trust both of them with my life.”

Another sigh escaped her and she shook her head. “Come on, let's head to the library so we can at least sit while we talk more.” She gestured at the hallway and started walking, heading towards the room full of so far unreadable books.

Mason blinked in surprise - that was almost his sister’s middle name - but more to the point, it wasn’t the name he’d been expecting her to say. Maybe Metallia was a lower-ranked person that Albite reported to or something…he banked the question for later and nodded, following Aruna down the hallway obediently.

Unlike his sister, Mason had never truly fallen in love with books - especially not books that looked like they were written in Ye Olde Gibberish. But that did remind him…

“How long did it take for you to start…seeing the old Aruna?” Mason asked. “Was it like, right away?”

Halia noticed his surprise but said nothing. Laurelite was something she would rather not think of, her chest aching at the memory. Entering the library, she took a seat next to a bookshelf and motioned for him to make himself comfortable.

“First time I came here, actually. It was right after we broke into the Moon Palace, and Murikabushi came with me. We were exploring quite a bit and I found a door that had been stuck shut. He helped me open it and….” She paused, frowning with a sad look on her face. “I found her. Aurelia. Her remains at least. It was terrifying to me….. I'd never seen an actual skeleton before but I didn't even have time to process it because I got hit with a memory so hard that it dropped me. It was….intense and vivid, as if I was really there. It was some of her final moments, I think. She was so sad…..wishing she had had more time and could have done more…..” For a moment, the sorrow was plain on Halia's face as well. “When I was able to get my senses back to me, I recognized her remains. It was the same dress she had worn in the memory, and the same bracelet. It was……there were a lot of various feelings attached, honestly.”

Mason raised his eyebrows - that was the second time she mentioned breaking into the Moon Palace. It made a little more sense, now that he knew people could come and go from planets and asteroids and pocket dimensions willy-nilly, but the ‘breaking in’ part still befuddled him.

But he put that aside for the moment - he hadn’t meant to ask about something so obviously distressing. Without even thinking about it, he moved over and gave her a one-armed hug, squeezing her close.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, in his best soothing voice. He released her and gave her a sad little smile. “Did you bury her? Maybe I should pay my respects–as, you know, Blarney, a fellow soldier or something.”

Maybe that would jog a past-life memory into place - because he still hadn’t found any evidence of a ghost at Blarney.

Halia felt her face heat up just a little as Mason hugged her, and she allowed herself to lean into him. “I did, yeah. She deserved to be laid to rest, after doing that for so many others. It's alright though, I'm….a lot less freaked out about it now than I was back then. And I had Muri with me, too. If I would have been alone when I found her, I'm not sure I would have been okay in the end. Murikabushi is… a very treasured person to me. He was the first person I showed when I became Eternal Sailor Aruna, even before my own family. So….I'm glad he was there.”

The idea of him laying respects made her smile. “If you'd like. I think things work different for Knights than senshi though. Oh! I could ask my cousin actually? I could see if Basiluzzo would be open to meeting you and explaining more about knights?” Her eyes lit up at the idea of introducing him to her favorite cousin.

“But I'm assuming you have other questions about things in general, right? Beyond just things about Faustite and whatnot?” She was happy to answer anything and everything that she could, especially for Mason.

Basiluzzo. He had never heard that name before - but that must be her cousin. She was so not kidding about that whole side being powered, apparently; he couldn’t imagine how stressful it would be to have family members involved in this thing. The idea of Madeline getting powers, going out at night, finding the wrong person and tusseling with them…it made him want to vomit. He couldn’t imagine the anxiety.

But Basiluzzo was a knight, and Mason knew precious few of them. “Please,” he said, only a little desperate, “because like, I’ve met three* knights total and like–one of them’s Joy, who I think kinda maybe hates me?” Mason pouted a bit in spite of himself.

“Oh, hey, speaking of Joy and hating me. You should totally wipe all your information from the internet. And get a burner phone–I just went and got one for myself earlier ‘cause I gave her my number and she found my insta in like three minutes flat. She’s so cool but so scary.”

Halia arched a brow at him. “You just….gave some random person your number?” There was only slight amusement in her tone. “Mason. Mason you are going to be the reason I find a grey hair at the age of twenty one.” She laughed softly and leaned back in her chair. “I'll text my cousin when we're back on earth and see when he would be free. I also know another knight, but I don't know Kaifeng overly well, so I'm not sure how open to meeting he would be. Basi, though, I'm sure I can count on. Or maybe even his dad, whos also a knight I believe. I really need to make a roster of my family and who's what….” She gave him a small smile. “Basi and a few others from my family were also at the battle with the Hollow. I was maybe three feet away from him, after all of it was over, when I got zapped by lightning from it. At least I got a cool scar though.”

“She’s not ’some random person’,” Mason said with a good-natured roll of his eyes. “She’s Joyeuse Garde, an Earth Knight I’ve met two whole times, which by the way is double the amount of times you’d met me before you powered down in front of me, Miss Thing,” Mason said with a teasing grin.

His grin faltered slightly at the mention of Basiluzzo’s father. Dang, parents could even be involved in this? He tried to imagine his own parents in some fancy get-up, magic shooting from their fingers…

Yeah. Right. Not even a world-eating snake would make them look up from their work and each other, probably.

“You should make a roster,” Mason nodded in agreement, “and show it to me, then burn it immediately so it never falls into the wrong hands.” Mason chuckled and shook his head, idly drifting through the library. “You really think you’ll be able to read all these one day? What do you think they’re about?” Mason pulled one of the books down, flipping through its pages. “Like, did Arunans have fantasy novels about people from the far-off planet of Earth invading someday, y’know what I mean? Or like, what would an Arunan erotic novel be like?” Mason couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, momentarily distracted from the litany of confusion that had been ringing out pretty much since he awoke.

Halia laughed softly and rolled her eyes. “Y'know, for what it's worth, you weren't the first civilian I powered down in front of after saving from a youma. If I had a nickel for every time it happened, I'd have two nickles. Which isn't a lot, but weird that it happened twice.” She gave him a cheeky grin and grabbed a book for herself.

“I'm not sure what any of these are about. I've been trying to look over the books and scrolls every time I come here, trying to learn the language. So far, it's a bunch of symbols that I'm confused by. I've been trying, but so far it hasn't made any sense at all so far.” She laughed softly at the idea of fantasy novels, however. “I'll tell you what, once I figure it out, I'll tell you.”

She glanced back down at the book in her lap and turned the page. “So. What other questions do you have?”

“Arunan storytime by Aruna herself,” he said with a smile. “I’d like that.” Carefully, he put the book back where it had come from and returned to an open seat. What other questions did he have? Once again, his mind drifted back to Albite and Faustite, but there was a broader question underneath it.

“Do you know…like, do you know if we need any…” Mason frowned. “It sounds stupid. But like, do you know if we need any intel? Albite and I…we sorta talk sometimes and he says he’ll answer my questions and I don’t think he’d lie to me and if I can get away with asking for something the good guys actually could use…” Mason shrugged. “I just want to be helpful in the goal of keeping people from getting hurt, y’know?”

God this boy really was gonna be the death of her. Barely holding back a heavy sigh, she looked up from the book. “You do realize that means Albite likely sees you as an informant and will most likely try to pump you for information as well?”

Taking a slow, deep breath, Halia looked up at Mason. “Do not try to get information. We have people who side swapped, and I'm sure they brought plenty information with them. And I'm sure there are informants within their ranks as well. I'm being incredibly serious right now. I might have taken a lot of risks and all, but I at least had magic to protect me, and connections that would aid me as well. You're a freshly awakened Page without the benefit of magic to protect yourself with, and I'm not sure you would have the same incredibly lucky connections I did to protect you. Mason, I absolutely need you to promise me that you will be incredibly careful with this Albite person.” She paused, an idea occurring to her. “I wanna meet him. Albite, I mean.” She gave him a look filled with determination. “He's connected to Faustite you said, right? So I wanna meet him anyway.”

“What? No way,” Mason said, an indignant huff escaping him. “You just said he’s so super dangerous that I shouldn’t even be talking to him, and now you’re saying you want to?” Mason snorted and shook his head. “Nuh-uh. He’ll think it’s a trap and we’ll both get our butts kicked from here to Tuesday. He likes me, Hali. He calls me Shamrocks. He’s not gonna hurt me unless I give him a reason to. And as far as information goes - like, he knows I’m new. It’s totally believable that I not know anything, and I’m not even lying! If an Eternal Senshi shows up, even if he doesn’t somehow think I lured him there to make you fight him, he’s gonna start thinking we–I--know way more than I do, and he’s gonna get mad that I’ve been holding out on him. No way.”

What he did not say: that yes, he knew he didn’t have magic. She didn’t need to keep reminding him. He knew, comparatively, that he was nothing next to her. She didn’t need to keep reminding him. He knew he was weaker and dumber and less than almost everyone he’d met so far, and most of the time he didn’t let it bother him.

Most of the time.

What he did say:

“You have to trust me, Hali. If I thought the guy was dangerous to me, I promise, I wouldn’t be even thinking about talking to him, never mind maybe helping him with Faustiite, or even like, letting him think I’d help him with Faustite. But–he doesn’t seem like a bad guy. I mean I know he’s a bad guy but…” Mason sighed and shrugged. “He just seems…like he’s grieving,” Mason finished softly, “and I want to help him with that. Person to person. Maybe I can–can help him somehow, beyond that. Increase the net good in the world somehow by decreasing his net badness.”

“Mason….” She sighed softly. “Tell him you have an Eternal senshi friend who wants to help, next time you talk to him. Okay? You can tell him that Aruna is looking and trying to help, and would like to coordinate efforts if possible.” She hated that she couldn't step in, that she couldn't just wrap him in protection and magic and keep him safe. “Promise you'll at least do that? Please?” She gave him a pleading look, hoping he would. “And…..when we get back home, I'll reach out to my cousin, and when you're ready, I'll introduce you to the Corrupt I know.”

Mason pursed his lips - he really did not want to agree to that. He very seriously wanted to keep everyone he cared about pretty far away from Albite: just because Mason was pretty sure Albite wouldn’t hurt him didn’t mean he had the same confidence in his restraint for others. Eternal Senshi or no, Mason would never forgive himself if Aruna got hurt because of his naivety.

But wasn’t he trying to do the same thing to her that she was doing to him? Trying to keep her tucked safely away, held away from everything the world had to offer, dangerous or otherwise? She had been doing this longer than he had, and she was more powerful than he was, but more to the point, she was a big girl, a full adult who could make her own decisions, and it wasn’t really Mason’s call to override that.

“...I’ll try,” Mason finally agreed with a heavy sigh. “But I don’t like it. And if I get the vibe he wouldn’t be safe for you, then it’s a no-go. And if he does agree, I have to be there too,” he added, echoing her words as he shook his head to clear it. He was…somewhat confident that he could convince Albite not to try and squish Aruna like a bug, but he’d have to be a lot more confident than that before he agreed to set up a meeting.

“And then we’ll meet with your Corrupt friend and call it a day on mingling with the bad guys, okay?”