|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2025 10:20 pm
Industria stared at the beautiful, shining gem in her hand. It was not the first starseed she had laid eyes on—she had seen them in Amazonite and Cryptomelane’s possession, of course, and pulled her own to examine it once she learned of her curious ability to do so—but it was the first one that she had pulled entirely for herself.
The civilian slumped at her feet was inconsequential. Who he had been did not matter to her. What mattered was what she held, and the value it could give to the Negaverse.
She turned to Crypomelane and smiled.
“It really is lovely, isn’t it?” She asked, turning it over, letting the moonlight refract off its planes. “And so very easy to acquire.” There were concerns, of course. Reasons they couldn’t simply take as much as they wanted. Energy could be drawn from the same person multiple times if one was careful, but each person only had one single starseed to give. Which meant selecting the right time to harvest that particular fruit was important. Truly, she understood all of that.
But, when it came down to it…she had the power to take. And so she took. Gladly. The philosophizing about it, she would leave to others. Cryptomelane encouraged it, and it was for the better to have a store of starseeds.
Though…she could feel something approaching, and it made her frown. Two powerful auras, and she looked to Cryptomelane for assurance.
“Should we go?”
Her question came too late, she realized, because there were two sets of footsteps coming up on them rather quickly.Helene frowned, as he and Kaifeng came upon the two Negaverse officers before them. Well, one officer and one Senshi—and the Senshi’s back was turned to them, though he could see the body at her feet and the shimmering starseed in her hand.
It had been such a nice night, until they came across the pair. Helene enjoyed quiet evenings wandering the city with Kaifeng, but he was loath to avoid any sense of Chaos; it could always be someone attempting something nefarious, and in this case, it clearly was. Two someones, one dead body, and one removed starseed was not exactly complicated math, and Helene felt thoroughly glad that they had, after all, decided to track the two Chaos auras down, even if they were weaker.
It did not entirely feel good to contemplate battering a Captain and a basic Senshi, when he and Kaifeng outclassed them quite severely, but they had chosen to harm those even weaker, and it was the duty of Sailor Helene to protect those who could not protect themselves.
Annoyingly, though, there was something oddly familiar about the pair—perhaps the Senshi was someone he had once known, lost to Chaos, but the thought was not pleasant to contemplate. And even if she was, it did not change what she was doing now.
“Put that back,” he said, coldly, “or face the consequences.”
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2025 10:37 pm
Perhaps Industria’s question should have been an easy one. Watching her pull out her first starseed had been glorious. She’d handled the approach, the attack, and the follow-through with precision that made it seem as though she’d been doing this for ages (or at least that she’d prepared for this excursion well in advance of tonight). Knowing Industria, it could have gone either way (she did know the value of adequate preparations but she could also be quite spontaneous), and ultimately, it didn’t matter how much she’d prepared or not. That she had succeeded superseded anything else about the situation.
……Well. Almost anything else.
The distant flares of two Order auras—both of them more powerful than Cryptomelane and Industria themselves—caught his attention, but he didn’t immediately turn to face them. He had his weapon ready at hand, if the interlopers showed up and made it necessary. But perhaps they would be the more exploitably “honorable” sort of Order wretch and mind their own business, rather than bothering two Negaverse operatives who hadn’t done anything to bother them and really didn’t deserve such impolite intrusions into their time together? Honestly, was it so wrong for them to want to take this moment to better appreciate Industria’s accomplishment and her skill in seizing her first starseed?
“Perhaps we should,” Cryptomelane whispered, reaching for one of her hands, the one without the starseed in it, as he felt the Order auras drawing nearer. They could teleport out of here and return to Negaspace before they got caught. “Put the starseed in your subspace—”
Except a voice behind them cut that thought short (and maybe it sounded familiar, but there was no way…… He couldn’t be hearing things from that golden vial-induced nonsense out here, in the real world). A quick squeeze to Industria’s hand, then he released it; neither of them could afford to be tangled in each other when things out here got hot. Unwilling to be cowed, much less intimidated by his own hallucinations, Cryptomelane winced, steeled his nerves, and turned to face the Order slaves who’d thought to intervene.Patrolling with Helene was easily one of the best activities in Kaifeng’s life, even when they ran into problems that needed to be addressed. There was a meditative sort of calm to everything for him. Both the shared activity (blessedly detached from the screens that took up so much of Liánlí’s time, being pretty central to his livelihood) and the presence of Helene helped to clear Kaifeng’s head, helped him feel more stable and balanced in all parts of his life. Duty called on a regular basis—unfortunately, a reality of living in Destiny City, where plenty of people served Chaos and not all of them were as willing to behave decently as General-King Jet—but that excitement was part of getting everything Kaifeng needed out of these patrols.
It didn’t hurt that Helene’s competence in battle was just very unfairly hot of him. But that wasn’t the point.
The pair in front of them right now would probably see that competence in action for themselves, if they didn’t back down and listen to Helene’s request. Trying not to spook them into making such a terrible decision—it would be entirely too easy for the currently starseed-less civilian to get caught in the crossfire of combat, and if they could avoid letting the civilian get hurt, that would be best—Kaifeng held his staff as non-threateningly as he could manage. Rather than letting it stand tall, even trying to play it in the You would not separate me from my walking stick sort of way (Kaifeng didn’t think he could pull off Gandalf), he let his staff loll to the side, kept a loose and only one-handed grip on it. This didn’t need to be a fight. He was ready to throw down if it went that way, but it didn’t need to.
Watching the boy out of the couple turn around, Kaifeng met him with a tight-lipped smile, the kind that looked pleasant right now but maintained enough edge to make it clear: if anyone did anything hilarious, then blows would be exchanged.
“You’ll want to listen to my zhiyin,” Kaifeng told the Nega-pair. “This can end happily for all involved if you two return that starseed and stand down.”Rarely had Cryptomelane ever been so grateful that his alleged brother had taught him well how to mute his external responses. Saved Cryptomelane the embarrassment of gasping at the sight of these would-be warriors of love and justice, or whoever they thought they were. Immediately on seeing the purple-and-orange fuku mixed with lemon-lime hair, and the long, split-open hoop dress, crimson and decked out in Saturn symbols, he recognized the two in front of him. If not for learning how to deny Brother Horace the visible reactions he wanted, Cryptomelane might have demeaned himself by crying out how this wasn’t possible.
This wasn’t possible—or at least it shouldn’t have been. Cryptomelane very much wanted to continue thinking that what he’d seen after drinking that golden vial had been a hallucination and nothing more. But reality had decided to confront him with evidence to the contrary……unless it was an accident of surface-level resemblance, not something meaningful. Better to test that than to make assumptions.…… Of the other pair, the senshi seemed likely to refuse Cryptomelane a reaction he could see. So, he looked toward the Knight.
“And who gave you the authority to give us orders,” he said, and paused……lingered on that pause, just enough to let it hit harder when he tacked on, “Kaifeng of Saturn?”………Huh?
Well, the Captain had started out pretty normal for these troublemaking Negaverse types. Defiant, headstrong, insistent on how he didn’t answer to someone more powerful even though that was kind of the entire point of a military hierarchical structure, last Kaifeng checked. But that diversion at the end—hearing this person Kaifeng didn’t know from a hole in the wall address him directly, by name—made Kaifeng frown bemusedly. He tilted his head, peering at the Captain as though it would make him more recognizable……but mostly, it made him look slightly sideways.
“I—ah, forgive me, little brother,” Kaifeng said, tone cautious and respectful, “but have we met? If we have, then I don’t recognize you?”—Dammit.
One positive identification led to the other. If the Knight was Kaifeng, then the senshi had to be Helene. Both of them were here, out in the real world, doing real person things like threatening Cryptomelane and Industria for no good reason.
Which meant that Asshai of Saturn had not been a mere figment of Cryptomelane’s imagination, brought into full-on hallucination territory by whatever had been in that vial from the library.
“You and I haven’t met, no,” Cryptomelane answered. “But it doesn’t matter. My question stands.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2025 10:56 pm
Industria nodded, ready to tuck the starseed away--but given that their interrupters were here, she carefully palmed it instead. Having it present and available might alter the balance of the fight, cause them to hold back or be more careful in hopes of recovering it. Tucking it away ensured she left with it--but did not guarantee that she left at all, or left whole. So, she squeezed Cryptomelane's hand back before letting him pull away.
More maneuverability would make them both far safer.
More importantly, she could use it as a bargaining chip to protect Cryptomelane, if necessary. Either of their lives might hang in the balance of any given dance, here, with an Eternal Senshi and a Knight, especially given her analysis of the two she turned to see.
For all the Knight seemed to want to keep things relaxed, the Senshi looked thoroughly ready to fight. The righteous sort, then; Industria couldn't condemn a little conviction, but it was annoying to have turned on her.
"You know them?" She asked Cryptomelane, softly. It certainly piqued her curiosity. As soon as the Senshi turned to face them, Helene was certain of who he was seeing before him. The officer recognized Kaifeng, abut Kaifeng did not know him--which made it likely he knew him from memory. And the woman by his side, even with her fuku blackened, bore the familiar colors and shapes of Sailor Industria.
Officers were Knights who had abandoned their duties to Chaos. The two were clearly entwined. It seemed Industria and Asshai remained as entwined in this life as they'd been in their last.
Unfortunate that they had followed each other down a dark road.
"I am disappointed to see what has happened to you in this life, Asshai and Industria." Helene said, flatly. Not surprised, but thoroughly disappointed. "We have no authority over you but the authority we make for ourselves, it is true. But however legitimate or illegitimate it may be, we do have the power to enforce it. Inhibit All." He stomped his foot, hard, and let his magic bloom around him, then nodded to Kaifeng and to the Senshi. She still had the starseed. If his magic distracted them enoguh, Kaifeng could recover it."If you have no authority, then leave," Industria started, frowning. How dare this Senshi judge them, pretend to know them. "And his name is Cryptomelane."
Whatever he thought he understood, whatever he knew from a thousand years ago--Industria was not completely unaware that Senshi and Knights were subject to some sort of reincarnation, and that there were Senshi from the past who were alive. Clearly, this one had opinions that she was not interested in engaging with.
Starseed carefully clutched in her hand, she started forward, ready to fight--
Until suddenly she wasn't. It was as if a heavy weight had been draped over her, and she found herself questioning her own decisions. Was it right, to get into a fight like this? TO take such a risk? It suddnely all felt...wrong, like she was being judged from every direction, and instead of moving forward, she brought both hands up to her chest, clutching her prize tight against it as she looked between Knight, Senshi, and beloved, hoping one of them would provide a solution ot her sudden and overwhelming confusion.Quote: Helene speaks the name of his attack, and stomps his foot on the ground. Enemies within a 20-foot radius find that they feel suddenly weighed down by inhibition, making movement more difficult and making it harder to make decisions because they feel inhibited from doing so. These effects last for 30 seconds, and Helene can use this attack twice per battle.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2025 6:49 pm
“Not exactly, sh’kora ani venava,” Cryptomelane told her, his tone notably softening. First, for Industria herself. Then, even further on the endearment with which he reverently addressed her, borrowed from the Bride in the Song of Songs, describing herself as dark and beautiful.
Aside from this and a smattering of other random phrases, Cryptomelane didn’t actually know Hebrew. Brother Horace, like any good Catholic (according to him), had primarily studied the Bible in Latin, English, and sometimes Koine Greek, and he’d passed the same habits on to Preston. But the Song of Songs had been originally written in Hebrew, so it had felt like an act of disrespect toward both the text and its original author(s), whoever he/she/they might have been, to use a translation when the original text existed to be read. (Additionally, in Preston’s opinion, the Latin text left much to be desired, in terms of its poetry and its word choice. Mélainá kaí kalí in Greek wasn’t awful, simply inferior to the Hebrew, but the Vulgate’s rendering of the verse had made his stomach turn with how bad it was.)
After finding the text, he’d asked one of the university’s professors who specialized in Biblical archaeology how to pronounce the words correctly, then practiced them until he had it perfect. Lucette deserved nothing less, whether as herself or powered up as Industria. Sh’kora ani venava, simple words that spoke to a complicated, multifaceted truth.
Under other circumstances, Cryptomelane would have preferred to explain the situation on his own. But instead, the Order senshi—Helene—decided to explain things by not exactly explaining. Just passing judgment on them out of hand, and making the argument that, once he’d said it, Cryptomelane felt he should’ve seen coming. Of course people like this would admit that they had no authority and then assert that kind of power anyway. The presumption on Helene’s part rankled, but nowhere near as much as getting his with his magic.
Why was Helene’s magic allowed to settle on Cryptomelane so heavily? Why did Helene presume to make Cryptomelane feel this way? Holding back, the weight of the magic so heavy that he felt as if he couldn’t act? But he could, couldn’t he? Magically induced baroinhibition, but that didn’t remove his ability to make his own choices, to take own actions. His fate was up to him alone, not some condescending alien senshi who dared to presume who Cryptomelane was. Yet, Cryptomelane hesitated as if fixed to the spot. He tried to will himself to move, to raise his arm and attack, but—did he really want to do that?Kaifeng loved Helene’s magic.
Based on watching it work over others, he didn’t think he ever wanted to be on the receiving end of it himself (though, fortunately, Kaifeng couldn’t imagine any situation where Helene would need to use his magic on Kaifeng). All the same, you couldn’t deny the effects that Helene’s magic had on people. Both Industria and……Asshai?—or, rather, Industria had just called him Cryptomelane?—were stuck in place, pinned down by their own inhibitions.
Following the nod from Helene, Kaifeng moved toward Industria. As he shifted, he took care of how he stepped the person who desperately needed their soul back. He kept his staff low and held his other hand out ahead of him, trying to seem as non-threatening as possible.
“Hey, we don’t have authority here,” he said, gently, trying to coax her into giving up the starseed, “but you two don’t have the authority to kill this person either—or to get them hurt in the crossfire between us. This doesn’t need to be a fight. We will fight if you try to start something. But all of this ends if you give us the starseed and leave.”Senshi magic had time limits.
Cryptomelane might have learned that against his will, but he held the knowledge close in his heart right now. Lips curled in a tight frown, he scowled up at Helene. Defiant, Cryptomelane refused to look anywhere else but at that senshi. Eternal senshi or not, his magic would end. Let the oversized alien man see Cryptomelane focusing, waiting for the magic to end so he could once again act freely.
(This was, he noted distantly, an improvement over the magical commands that the pathetic, mewling little Order senshi with the floppy sheep ears threw at Cryptomelane every time their paths crossed.
Not much of an improvement. Besides that, swallowing broken glass and tetanus-encrusted nails would have been an improvement on the little would-be conqueror and the Nega-senshi in the blonde-pink ombré who was so eager to defend him. But Helene lacked the power to throw around commands with such reckless disregard. Yes, he was using his magic to enforce power and authority that he’d admitted he didn’t have. Yet, he had not thought to storm into someone else’s life and decide on their behalf what they were meant to do. His magic didn’t seem to cause physical pain as Cryptomelane tried to move his arm, the way that the sheep senshi’s magic did when Cryptomelane resisted his attempts at small-scale dictatorship.
However inconvenient Helene’s magic was right now, however difficult it made things, his magic left the capacity for choice. All one needed to do was power through the mind-altering effects. Maybe Cryptomelane wouldn’t manage this tonight. But he would work hard. He would steel his mind and nerves. He would prepare. Then, next time their paths crossed, he would be ready to tangle with Sailor Helene, ready to meet his magic with the headstrong defiance of someone who would have earned the right to power through Helene’s magic.
Maybe he didn’t have enough evidence to jump to this conclusion, but Sailor Helene, Cryptomelane decided, was an honorable foe. Someone who would be worth the effort to fight long-term and topple, because felling him would mean something in a way that thrashing fresh new Pages and grass-green basic senshi simply didn’t. On top of that, it seemed unlikely that Helene would ever gratify himself by fumbling into someone else’s business and acting as though someone had named him the Supreme Cosmic Emperor or something like that. Whatever went on in that insufferable sheep senshi’s head.)
While Cryptomelane’s thoughts made fine internal noise for his staring at Helene, unlike Asshai of Saturn and the hunk of amethyst where his left eye should have been, Cryptomelane still had full, working peripheral vision. He still saw Kaifeng moving out of the corner of his eye. Moving toward Industria, with his staff still in-hand, possibly getting ready to swing.
Maybe the magic was wearing off. Or maybe a threat to Industria simply gave Cryptomelane the impetus he needed to push through. With no concern for who was stronger, Cryptomelane shoved at Industria’s shoulder, hoping to get her to move aside. He ducked in, flail at the ready, trying to intercept the Saturn Knight before he could make any attacks against her.—Wait, what?
Why was Cryptomelane nudging his lady aside and trying to make this a fight?
Kaifeng sighed, the sigh of someone incredibly disappointed by an idiot making some godawful choices when they had every opportunity to do literally anything else. His grip on his staff tightened to a normal hold. Calling on the magic he and Helene had found at his Wonder, Kaifeng swung his staff toward Cryptomelane.
The burst of magic connected with the target. Exploiting his unsteady footing, it knocked him back. He hit grass and earth rather than pavement, but the THUD! still sounded heavier than expected, as if the Captain was denser than his reedy appearance led Kaifeng to believe. And anyway, the worst part of the magic wasn’t getting knocked around.
As Kaifeng had gathered from using this spell before, the worst part came after, and whatever Cryptomelane saw while under the influence of the old magic? Color drained from his face and neck. His eyes went wide. As he fumbled onto his side, dead silent, Kaifeng saw the Captain start shivering like one of those high-strung, perpetually nervous little rat-dogs.
Giving Industria an exhausted, but at least somewhat apologetic, expression, Kaifeng asked (maybe 98% rhetorically), “Did everybody hear me when I said that returning the civilian’s starseed means we don’t have to fight?”Noir xx Songbird Forgotten Spell: Kaifeng swings his weapon at a single target within a 20-foot radius. The target is knocked back by a burst of air, cold as death. When hit by the chill, the target is seized by a brief but powerful feeling that they have died and no one cared. This attack has three uses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2025 10:38 pm
Even as she struggled against the Senshi's magic, Cryptomelane's pet name made Industria smile. He was always so thorough and unique--how many men would have given her a pet name straight out of the Hebrew Song of Songs? Certainly not many, and she was blessed ot stand beside the one who chose to.
So it was with courage that she met the Knight's gaze--Kaifeng's--as he approached her, though she couldn't decide if she wanted to step back or meet him face to face. She was not normally timid or frightened easily, but the feeling that every choice was wrong, the weight of trying to move under a spell so much more powerful than her--it was--well, it was hard.
She should have counted on Cryptomelane's desire to protect her, of course. He shoved her shoulder, and that was impetus enough, at least, to move, to let him interpose himself between her and the Knight, and--
And let him get knocked over by new, strange magic, magic that left him shivering and afraid. Magic that she was not sure hers could cut through, and in any case, just seeing him in distress because he'd tried to protect her was enough to stir her heart to action, magic or no.
"Fine," she said, "I'll give you the starseed back. Then let us walk away." Yes, she was loathe to give up the prize of her first starseed pull. But she had known that it might make a fine bargaining chip, and there would be other nights, other starseeds. Other chances to do this without the interruption of an arrogant Knight--how dare he talk down to her, like she was a child who needed to be gently negotiated with--and his pet alien.
Briefly, she considered throwing the starseed, a dangerous game of fetch. But either of them might decide to hurt her, or worse, Cryptomelane, who was vulnerable thanks to whatever the Knight had done to him.
She extended her hands, offering back the glowing gem.Helene crossed his arms, and waited. Kaifeng seemed to have this thoroughly udner control, but he was prepared for another application of magic, should either Asshai-Cryptomelane or Industria try something foolish.
He had to admit, Cryptomelane's stare was unhesitating. He possessed a strength of will that Helene could not help but admire; it was unfortunate that it had been turned to such nefarious purposes.
At least his lady made the correct choice. He looked to Kaifeng, giving a small nod; the terms were acceptable to him.
"When your Captain is recovered, let him take you from here. Do not do anything foolish."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2025 2:33 am
At least there was some consolation to be had in all of this. Most importantly, Industria yielded the starseed. When she held it out, Kaifeng moved up to meet her and very carefully took the glittering soul-gem from her hand. The situation right now was tense enough that Kaifeng didn’t risk meeting her with a smile—but an expression of earnest gratitude for her returning this civilian’s soul and their life (all their potential future lives)? That seemed like it was fair enough.
Not unimportantly, but distinctly a secondary concern, Cryptomelane stirred before too long. He looked more than a little bit shaken, and remained on the grass for a long moment. But he did, eventually, get the shivering more under control.Cryptomelane was dead.
Except, logically, he knew that he wasn’t.
He’d gotten bowled over with magic. Whatever Knight Kaifeng of Saturn had done to him, it had the power to induce delusional states that felt like death. Worse, there was the looming sense that his death had meant nothing. No one had noticed. No one had cared. He had died alone and terrified and nobody even gave a damn—
Cryptomelane had rolled onto his side in the hopes of fighting off those sensations, those feelings that were not his own. There, the grass was cool and soft against his cheek. He was in a good position to smell the earth, and the miscellaneous, mixed up and largely unpleasant scents that he only dimly recognized as Random Park Animals. Not a nice thing to smell, but it being so disagreeable was part of the point. Cryptomelane wouldn’t imagine scents like these on his own, so they had to be real. They were real because he was alive.
When he managed to stop shivering, he eased himself into sitting up. Although he’d heard the exchange of words above his head, he needed a moment to look at everyone’s postures and positions around him, then to go over the words he could remember with more clarity of mind. It seemed Industria had done the smart thing: temporarily surrendering a starseed—and her first starseed, at that—so that both of them could leave here intact. By most people’s standards, the expression on his face as he looked up at her was soft and fond, but not.
By Cryptomelane’s standards, considering how much he tamped down his emotional reactions, he might as well have told her “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Or, for something more in Preston’s usual wheelhouse, You have captured my heart, / my own one, my bride. / You have captured my heart / with one glance of your eyes.
Silently, he stood, and came right to her side.
“Are you alright, sh’kora ani venava,” he asked softly, gently. She didn’t seem to have been physically harmed by anyone, except perhaps by Cryptomelane pushing her before. But that didn’t mean Industria was emotionally well after all of this. Next, he raised his voice back to a normal speaking volume, so the interlopers could hear, “We will return to Negaspace. You did wonderfully tonight. Some calm for the rest of the evening feels quite deserved.”
Cryptomelane only regarded Helene and Kaifeng again just before teleporting himself and Industria out. Obstructive interlopers though they both were, they had both conducted themselves honorably tonight (and……alright, apparently, Cryptomelane had been wrong to think that Kaifeng was making a move to harm Industria, so fair enough, attacking him back in self-defense had been warranted). Excluding Helene’s use of magic to impede their ability to act, neither had attacked Industria—and if nothing else, that deserved a brief nod and a grateful expression.
Clearly, these two needed to be approached and fought with caution. That they’d stayed their hands and done no harm to his lady was something worthy of recognition, however brief, before he teleported himself and Industria to the Dark Kingdom.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
