Welcome to Gaia! ::

Strange things happening in Destiny City was just the brand at this point. Things coming to life that shouldn't, magical rainbow meteor showers lighting up the sky, all sorts of non-negaverse related creatures out to get the unsuspecting passer by. It always seemed to start up in June, and continue through the start of the new year. But for Halia? It was October that made her the most twitchy. Having awakened in June of the year before, she was a fresh faced base level senshi by the time October came, and it had been a legitimate nightmare for her. Looking back on it, she had truly been so incredibly lucky in so many ways with the people who had come across her at the most opportune times and come to her aid. If it hadn't been for those people, she wondered what might have happened to her had she had to face it all down alone. And that, she decided, was why it was important to talk to the twins. Mason, she knew, was getting the hang of things. He had magic now as a Squire, though she still would worry no matter what. Madeline, however, had only just awakened and had no magic of her own to save her. It was better, she figured, that they both know what might be lurking around the city.

She had done a deep clean of the apartment and freshened everything up in anticipation of having company, even going as far as vacuuming. The little plush moth from build a bear sat in it's corner of the couch where she often would curl up with it, and the throw pillows were arranged just so on the couch, with new star and moon shaped ones in addition for the season. While she didn't decorate in a spooky sense, the apartment had a decidedly mystical vibe going for it with purples and blacks at the moment. Crescent moons, crystals, and glowing stars adorned the living space for decoration, and she hoped it would be well received. After all, she had never decorated her apartment before.

Madison asked, for roughly the millionth time, “Why do we have to go over to her place? What's so important she can't tell us over text, or even a call?” It wasn't that she minded Halia so much anymore, at this point. Sure, she had to put on a good show and complain, but mostly it wasn't Halia that she was annoyed about.

It was everything else. It was magic. Yes, when Mason had first awoken, she had been…upset. Maybe a little jealous. She had, admittedly, asked the Wishing Tree for magic like Mason's.

How was she supposed to know that that wish would come true? She'd asked for a pony every year since she was three and she remained horseless. Why did it have to work this year?

Yes, she was magical now. She was also a busy college student, and she didn't have time to drop everything at a moment's notice and go traipsing across town because Halia thought she had something important to tell them

“Because we do,” Mason retorted, every bit as stubbornly. “Because Hals said it was really important. She wants to keep us both safe, Mads, remember? So we're going. Because getting it from her will be better for you than getting it second-hand from me.”

On the one hand, Mason was deeply grateful that his sister had awoken. It was one less thing to worry about, if Mads could take care of herself in the magical world as well as the real world.

However. On the other hand.

On the other hand, Mads was the new baby page now. Her weapon? A freaking slingshot. Yes, it made Mason a little more grateful for his stick, but it also was so much more to worry about than he'd thought it would be. It also meant his sister was doing the thing that had been, until very recently, his thing. Now, like everything else since they had been conceived, it was their thing.

Except that Mads didn't seem overly interested in making it her thing. She had complained the entire way to Halia's house, and he was starting to wonder:

Had he been this annoying when he was a baby Page? He didn't think so…or at least, hopefully, not in the same way. Yeesh.

They were approaching Halia's apartment by now - and Mason was already grateful to have another, more experienced, magical creature around. Maybe Halia could talk some sense into his sister, he thought as he knocked on her door. Hopefully. Hopefully.

The door swung open and Halia smiled at the twins, albeit somewhat tiredly. “Hey, come in, both of you.” She moved out of the way for them, gesturing at the apartment. The plants they had gifted her were thriving, thanks to some help and advice from the boy at the flower shop, and plenty more books now adorned her shelves thanks to her new job.

Gesturing at the couch, Halia sat on the edge of the coffee table as she fidgeted with the crystal locket she had found on Aruna. This? This would be helpful. “So I know you both know that weird stuff happens in the city. I'm sure Starfest was….ample mounts of eye opening weirdness. But Starfest only marks the start of it. The entire second half of the year from then on, all sorts of bizarre things happen, and the monsters you see aren't always youma or related to the negaverse.”

She took a breath and glanced up at them to make sure she had their attention before continuing. “I was…. fortunate last year. More than most, to be perfectly honest. I awakened at the beginning of Starfest last year and was lucky to not experience the oddities it had to offer outside of the meteor shower. I….was less lucky with October.” She shuddered as she remembered the events of last fall, shaking her head.

Mads stepped into the apartment, admittedly pleased to see the plants she’d foisted upon Halia by way of Mason weren’t dead. She had been a little worried, but she didn’t know Halia well enough to harass her about them. Not yet, anyway. Now that she had stepped foot in the apartment, maybe they had reached that point.

“Mason said there were–something about demonic chickens,” Madeline said, glancing sideways at her brother, who shrugged and nodded. “But I–this is all still…new to me,” she said, crossing her arms. “And I don’t–I don’t want--” she paused, sighed, pursed her lips. “I, for one, do not intend to go chasing down any…any monsters of any kind. What are they called? Youma, right. Youma, demon chickens, or whatever nonsense appears when the veil is thinnest or whatever.” Madeline shook her head. “I–we are in college now. All this running around the city dueling evil was fine over the summer, but this–Mason, we can’t be doing this, especially if it’s all…ominous, like this,” she said, gesturing at Halia.

“What Mads means,” Mason said, shooting his sister a look that made Mads roll her eyes. “Is that we don’t want any more trouble than we can avoid right now,” Mason said with an apologetic smile to Halia. “So, yeah, tell us what to avoid so we can avoid it.” Or…try to. In his very limited experience, if Destiny City wanted you to experience something, you were gonna experience it. He could only hope that Mads would listen, at least a little - at least enough to keep her alive long enough to see November.

“I get that you're in college and busy, but that doesn't mean you stop being what you are….and it doesn't mean that bad things will stop happening.” It was the first time she had ever spoken up to someone even in the barest sense of defiance. “Because this….this is something we are, not just something we do. And during this time of year, you very rarely have any choice in it at all.”

She took a breath to steady herself before clicking the locket open. “Last year, I experienced something Helene called the Game board. And it's…..unavoidable.” The image above the locket showed Aruna’s point of view as she set her eyes on the die, then everything faded away around her. “If you so much as even see one of these dice, you don't have a choice. You're pulled into the gameboard until you run its course.” A deep space senshi could be seen beside her as the two navigated the board together, and by the end, it was clear that Aruna had been clearly, deeply shaken.

“Who’s Helene?” Mason asked, a frown crossing his face. “Is she the like, game master or something?” But he fell silent as he watched the little image; he felt even Mads’ mood change from annoyed disinterest to confusion and then to concern. “That…seems bad,” Mason said as it finished, knowing it was an understatement but not knowing what else to say. “You said it was unavoidable? But…how do we avoid it, then?”

Madeline rolled her eyes. “It might be what you are, but for us, it is just something we do.” She did not look at her brother as she said this - she was used to speaking for both of them. Singular pronouns were for other people, and she and Mason were always in lock-step. They were twins! “We can’t just - not go anywhere or walk around blindfolded for the entire month of October,” she said, already annoyed - she had too much to do, too much else to focus on to have to worry about six-sided demonic boardgames coming to life and trying to - do whatever it was it wanted to do with her.

“You’ll train us,” she said simply, looking back to Halia, “for what to expect. Or…has anyone ever tried just not rolling it? Like even if you get–abducted there or whatever, what happens if you just cross your arms and say no thank you? It can’t make you play. I’m not going to just - accept the premise that a knock-off chess game gets to decide how I live in my life, and I don’t think you should accept it either, Halia.”

Mason frowned as his sister spoke. Fair question or not, he did not like that it was his sister asking it. “Mads,” he said, “I’m pretty sure if you put your fingers in your ears and say lalala it will find some other way to–to really hurt you. Right, Hals?” Mason asked, looking to the other girl for backup. How did you help someone who was in denial about even doing the thing that they would eventually need help with? When he was a Page, he was unhelpable in a different way - too impetuous, too naive of the danger - but he thought that was pretty normal. Mads, it seemed, was trying to just pretend she’d never awoken at all and go about her normal life.

He’d tried to tell her there was no such thing as normal, not anymore, not for either of them, and that - had not gone over well.

“Helene is a deep space senshi. He's incredibly kind and gentle, and I wouldn't have faired nearly as well that night if not for him.” She gave Mason a kind smile, though it quickly was replaced with something suspiciously like irritation at Madeline's words. “You really don't get it, do you? It's your soul. It's on a soul deep level, and we have a duty as senshi and knights, to protect those around us.” It was the first time that Halia had ever felt genuine anger towards someone over something especially so seemingly harmless. “Be lucky you don't know what transcendence is like, I guess. Because then you really don't have any choice at all.”

Taking a deep breath, Halia calmed herself. “I'm sorry. That was….uncalled for of me.” Her hands that clutched the locket were trembling, though whether it was from emotions over the past encounter with the gameboard or the current situation was anyone's guess. “That's….the issue with magic, I suppose. If you don't roll, you just…..stay there. The only way to leave is by playing. And…..the dice almost seem hypnotic somehow. I remember feeling drawn to them, like it was a magnetic pull almost. It compels you to pick them up no matter what.” She gripped the locket tighter, staring down at it. “I….might not be able to prepare you fully for the gameboard itself, but…..I can train you. Both of you. I can teach you how to use the speed and strength your powers give you to your advantage. I…….can also pass on what I'm being taught about escaping a bad fight alive.”

“Transcendence?” Madeline echoed. “What’s–”

“One impossible question at a time, please,” Mason begged, desperately wanting to pull the conversation away from anything that made his girls go for each other’s throats, which it suddenly seemed was a very real possibility if they were allowed to keep talking that way.

“We would love to know anything you can tell us,” Mason said, sliding his hand into his sister’s and giving it a squeeze. He felt - bad, somehow; she hadn’t been happy when he was powered and she wasn’t, and now she still wasn’t happy with both of them being powered. He’d been so proud when she awoke, followed immediately by a crush of protective terror, of course, but the fact that she hadn’t warmed to the concept - worried him.
“That’s what I said,” Madeline said, not understanding in the least why she had gotten snapped at when nothing she’d said had been incorrect or offensive. “I still think this is–” she caught Mason’s warning look and sighed, changed course, “--I don’t think I will need it, but you will, Mase, with all of your running around out there. Even if the dice didn’t have psychic magnets, you’d pick it up anyway. We’d be lucky if you didn’t try to eat it.”

Mason snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Maybe that’s how you really win. Become one with the die.” Mason chuckled and squeezed his sister’s hand again. “I appreciate you…humoring us,” he said, struggling for a moment to find the words. He’d take it, if it meant Mads might remember something that would save her life, when he wasn’t there to protect her. He looked back to Halia.

“Thank you. Really. Good to know. When–how–” he sighed and gestured vaguely between them with his free hand. “Training? When, where?”

Halia fidgeted anxiously with the chain of the locket, running the smooth, cool beads of gem between her fingers. “It's always good to know how to use your abilities. You'll never know when a civilian might be cornered by a youma and be about to be eaten.” She couldn't help the cheeky wink that she gave Mason as she reminded him of his first meeting with Aruna. “Or for that matter if you might somehow find yourself in a pinch. Last year there were gargoyle statues that came to life around this time of year, then literal abominable snowmen near Christmas. And surprisingly they had nothing to do with the Negaverse, targeting either side without prejudice.” It had been an incredibly long year for her after she awakened, and she shook her head to rid herself of some of the memories.

“I work mornings at my new job, but I'm free on weekends and evenings. Let me know what you two have free and we can make something work.” She smiled a little at them both, already starting to think of who she might be able to ask to join in and assist in teaching.

“As for Transcendnce….” She chewed her lip and seemed to think for a moment before standing and gesturing towards the door. “I could….show you if you'd like. It's easier to show it than explain. But I'd have to power up for it, so I definitely can't do that in my living room.”

Mason squinted. “Nothing to do with the Negaverse? Then where–where are they coming from, if not from them?” Mason frowned as he considered this, for the moment putting aside mention of the snowman situation out of his mind - better to focus on the problem at hand. Namely, gargoyles?? Coming to life?? Like the lil guys on the edges of walls? Mason sighed and ran a hand through his hair, less concerned with taking care of himself and, as always, more concerned with protecting his sister, who still seemed way too flippant about this whole thing.

“They do look very cool,” Mason said, pulling himself out of his thoughts, ignoring Madeline’s raised eyebrow over the fact that Mason had already seen whatever this Transcendence business was. “You’ll see it when we train, Mads. No reason to call attention prematurely and risk getting in actual trouble, right?” Mason gave Halia a little smile, then glanced at Mads.

“You’re the Keeper of the Calendar, Mads. When are we free?”

Mads, personally, was not overly convinced that she really needed this training. She thought it perfectly simple to avoid looking at a random haunted evil die that tried to suck her into a shadow realm, or animated gargoyles trying to eat her face off, or whatever it was the two of them were sooo sure was going to ‘attack’ them, or whatever.

However.

It also was probably not worth going round and round with Mason, never mind Halia, about that fact. So she rolled her eyes and pulled her planner from her backpack, which was perfectly organized and very, very intense. Mason shared a look with Halia - an I-told-you-so kind of look, as Madeline’s McPlanner was a topic of much discussion and description from her brother - and waited for her to find an opening. With college, the McPlanner had reached even higher levels of complication, to the point where Mason was fairly sure there was some kind of advanced mathematics going on to make it all work.

After a few minutes, Madeline looked up to the two of them. “This Saturday afternoon,” she decided, “for two hours. That’s when we can afford it.” She arched an imperious eyebrow. “Do you think that will be enough to keep us from dropping dead in the street, Halia?”

Halia was used to being dismissed. It wasn't something new to her in the slightest. But for some reason, Madeline doing it made her face feel hot and her chest feel tight. “You might think it's trivial, Madeline, but it's not. This magic stuff? It's very, very real, and very life and death. Did no one tell you what happened this year? That the world quite literally almost ended?”

Her usually warm and soft eyes were cold and hard as she spoke of the Herald. Popping the case of the locket open again, images flickered to life of the battle she had shown Mason not too long ago. People dropping seemingly dead, people being outright vaporized, and sheer terror on the faces of people around her. A monstrous serpent of impossible size, a woman with a scythe displaying insurmountable power, and Aruna herself being struck by lightning at the end. “This isn't a game. And it isn't something you can just shrug at. These people? These are people all around you. My own family was on that battlefield with me. The woman with the scythe? That's the acting head of Chaos. And as far as I'm aware, none of us on our side rival her power. This is serious, and I need you to understand that this? This isn't the last time one of these things will come. This was just the first. The Calamitous Hollow, the Herald of the Dark Star, seriously dangerous things out there like this, and they likely won't stop coming.”

…Well, it did take the wind out of her sails, a little bit. She paled as the images flashed in front of her eyes; she was distantly aware of Mason, next to her, trying to watch, and then dropping his gaze with a thick swallow. His hand found hers and threaded their fingers together, and he didn’t look up from the floor.

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen this; he’d mentioned something about something like this, a couple of times, with the sort of reservation that hinted at very serious fear but was extremely light on details. But watching it herself, and watching the effect the images had on her brother…that was a horse of a different color.

After a long silence, when the little images disappeared, Madeline looked back to Halia. When she spoke, it was serious, and without a shred of sarcasm or dismissal.

“Do you think showing us that is going to convince me that we should get more involved in this magical world?” Madeline shook her head slowly. “If there’s a–snake…thing…and all that. How is showing us that your family, that all these people got–got freaking evaporated supposed to convince us that we should get deeper into this?”

“Mads,” Mason cut in gently, before the girls could get heated again. “It’s meant to show you that–that this isn’t a game, first of all,” he said, “and…second of all, that…” Mason sighed. “That we have a responsibility. That we have these…these powers, for whatever reason, and that because we have them…we have to use them. To keep people–the whole world, sometimes, or the city, or even just one individual person who’s on the wrong end of a monster. We have to help–” Mason hesitated, then gave a grim little smile. “I guess that’s kind of it. We just–we just have to help.” Mason glanced at Halia. “Right?”

Halia nodded solemnly. “Exactly. I'm willing to bet money that if those of us there hadn't shown up, the world would be…..well, gone. Those of us, senshi and knights alike, have a duty and responsibility to protect this planet and the people within it.” Her hand absently moved to the scar hidden beneath her clothes, the serpent shaped brand that marked her from that battle when she was struck down. “We all need to be prepared. All of us. No matter who we are, how busy we are, we need to be aware, and be familiar with what our abilities are. There are bigger threats out there than we could know or imagine, and we might not have the luxury of warning next time.” Because small though it had been, they had had at least a little warning before the creature arrived and the battle had begun.

She sighed softly and shook her head. “Listen….I myself might be relatively new, having only awakened just over a year ago, but…..I know some people who might be able to give you better perspective on it. People who have been in this for over ten years. People who you'd likely never even think were part of this. I could …..introduce you if you'd like. So you can hear the viewpoint of a veteran senshi?”

Mason opened his mouth to suggest that a veteran Knight might be a better idea - since Knights and Senshi were very different and had very different powers, and Mason felt like he could maybe give a lecture on that subject at this point, but - well, it might be a bit beyond Madeline’s current point. More like a 201 class than a 101 class.

It might have been the first time ever, in the world, that Mason had been sure that he knew more about something than his sister did. It was - kind of unnerving, honestly.

(Maybe that was part of the problem, Mason wondered belatedly. That Madeline just didn’t know, and he did, and she was as unnerved as he was?)

He sent the thought, the feeling, in Madeline’s direction, and felt more than heard the response; it wasn’t the telepathy that came with the magical earrings he’d found, but the little extrasensory edge that they called their twin thing.

It was that, and other things, and beyond all of those things, there was fear. Big, great, huge blossoming fear that almost hurt when Mason brushed up against it. Because it was out of control - it was out of Madeline’s control in a bigger way than anything, anything, had ever been before. There was no way to get it in control, because how did you get space snake under control? How did that fit in a planner?

Mason wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulders and hugged her close, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he promised her quietly. “We’ll get there together. I’ll help you. Soon you’ll be kicking my butt all up and down this city, okay?”

Madeline–nodded. Jerkily. Somewhere there were tears in her eyes - all those people. That–woman, with the scythe.

“Did–” When Madeline spoke, her voice came out quiet, whisper-soft. Broken, almost. She cleared her throat, tried again. “Did…those people…the ones in…in that locket…” Madeline looked to Halia, finally. “Did they die?”

Guilt sunk in for Halia as she saw Madeline nearly crying. Unable to help herself, she reached over and placed a comforting hand on her. “I'm….not sure what happened to them during the battle, but…..as far as I know, Faustite aside, everyone who went into that battle came out the other side. No one bit the dust that day.” But gods if she hadn't been terrified. If Murikabushi hadn't been the one she was standing beside, would she have been just as strong and bold? Her heart ached as she thought of the older senshi, of the bond she missed with a painful sense of remorse.

“I'm not trying to be cruel, Madeline. I promise. I just…..I want you to know how serious this is.” She chewed her lip a little as she tried to think of delicate ways to put things. “My family….well over half of them are magical, and most of them have been in this for a really long time. Mason got to meet one of my cousins, Basiluzzo. I….want to introduce you to Basi’s husband, if they'd be available. Encke is….Encke has been around for a long time with all of this, and I think they would be able to explain things a lot better than I can, and explain the urgency behind not ignoring what we are.” Gesturing to the locket, she continued. “At the end there, when I fell. The redhead with the purple fuku that was ahead of me? That's Encke.” Because sometimes, having a face to go with a name could genuinely be comforting in her experience. “Would you be open to meeting him?”

Mason squeezed Madeline’s shoulder again, reassuring her that it was the right thing to do, that he wasn’t going anywhere, and that she would be okay. Really, he was just glad that the girls weren’t going at each other again.

“Sure,” Madeline answered. “Maybe he could come to the–the training thing? Or should it be…separate, for some reason?” Madeline felt suddenly - exhausted. This world she was in now, the world with magic and with space snakes, was huge, unwieldy, uncompromising, and apparently deadly. There was so much she didn’t know, could never know, and it felt like the only way to keep from drowning in it was to pretend it didn’t exist.

But Mason was warm against her, and Halia’s hand was on hers. It wasn’t like she was alone against the space snake. She and Mason would figure this out, together, the same way they’d figured everything else out together, their whole lives.

“Basiluzzo was really cool,” Mason promised, reassuring her once again. She swallowed down her knee-jerk response - that Mason thought everyone was ‘really cool’ as long as they weren’t immediately and obviously a complete jerk. But she knew he was trying to help, and so was Halia, so she just nodded, and Mason continued. “Basiluzzo’s a Knight, which is the same thing we are. Encke is a Scout, like Halia, and the–the rules for how we work are a little bit different,” he said, being as gentle and as simple as he could, “but knowledge is knowledge, and I’m sure Encke will be able to help you out too. And just in case, I’ll lend you my notes before we meet, so you don’t feel like you’re going in totally blind, okay?”

“Is there going to be a test?” Madeline asked, a weak attempt at a joke that at least made Mason chuckle softly.

“Sure,” Mason said, a teasing smile on his face. “If that’s what it takes to keep you alive, yeah, there’s totally a test, so you better study up.”