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 Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 2:50 pm
This was not the first time Kerberos had helped an officer. It would, he hoped, desperately, not be the last. Every act of kindness, he liked to think, was a hand extended that might one day pull that person out of the abyss that was Chaos. More than that, though, the man next to him was a person in distress, and Kerberos wanted to think that he was never too tired or overworked to try and help.
So, guiding Vesuvianite to a bench so he could sit and process--that was the easy part. Sitting down next to him, folding his hands in his lap, waiting for the young man to be composed enough to speak.
He'd been on both sides of this talk, before.
"How are you feeling?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 3:29 pm
Vesuvianite almost felt like they were in a fog. Nothing felt quite right. Kerberos speaking to them only sort of worked to bring them out of it, resulting in them shaking their head a bit to try to recalibrate. "Uh... Like s**t," they finally said with a sigh. "Terrified, mostly." This was accompanied by a not-too-subtle glance out of the side of their eye towards Kerberos.
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 5:44 pm
Kerberos nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. Was that the first time you did something like that?" The first time he'd killed, he had been young and angry and full of pain that he was taking out on the world. It had been so easy--remove a starseed, watch someone fall, and never have to think about it again.
(Except of course he did think about it.)
(Except of course it had all eventually broken him in ways that had taken years and years to repair.)
"My magic can give a sense of peace, if you think that might help."
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 6:27 pm
Vesuvianite shook their head. "No. Well, yes? Kind of. I've taken starseeds before. But I expect death, then, you know? But... accidentally killing someone, it... It was so different just feeling everything come to a slow stop like that, instead of taking their starseed and leaving so there's... no time to think about it." The offer of magic made them scoot away slightly, heart rate jumping up again. "You're being nice right now," they said, "But I'm not exactly predisposed to trust magic."
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 6:32 pm
"It's different if it's on purpose, yeah," Kerberos said, not at all judgemental. "Kind of a scary lesson, huh? If your focus slips too much while you're draining someone, you can kill them as surely as if you'd done it any other way."
He exhaled.
"The Negaverse gives you that power. Maybe things are different now, but I know a lot of my comrades...oh, ten years ago or so? Did not use that power responsibly. I certainly didn't." And he didn't want Vesuvianite to feel like Kerberos thought he was above them, or anything like that. He wasn't.
He gave a little shrug, when Vesuvianite declined the offer. "Fair enough. I'm not trying to ambush you, but maybe someone else would." Some of those Senshi from beyond the stars certainly had harder-line ideals. Maybe one of them--or one of Kerberos's perfectly ordinary comrades on Earth who thought they were badass and dangerous--might try that sort of thing.
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2026 5:55 pm
Vesuvianite took a deep breath. "Most people treat it differently. Some are still... incredibly bloodthirsty. Myself included, until..." They sagged in their seat, back slumped against the back of the bench, looking up at the stars. "Until tonight." They took another deep breath, exhaling slowly. "I always thought aliens were a stupid idea. And if they were real it wouldn't be some shiny happy s**t. And here they are, coming to Earth. Magic powers. All kinds of weird s**t. I mean, seriously, what the ******** am I supposed to think?" They focused on a constellation—whether it was the big or little dipper, they weren't sure, but it sure looked like a kitchen pot of some kind, so. "What's stupid is I only started doubting if we were right because I never won a goddamn fight. I thought, hey, aren't we supposed to be strong? Why aren't I strong?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 9:25 pm
"I'm not surprised to hear that," Kerberos acknowledged. "Like I said, I was not responsible with the power to take a life. I liked that I had it."
Perhaps that was an unpleasant admission, but Kerberos did his best to accept that fact, no matter how little he liked it.
"Back when I was in the Negaverse, the sell about protecting the Earth wasn't quite as easy as I bet it is now, with the literal beings from outer space." He smiled, wryly. "Mostly they're just people, in my experience. The Vanguard just want to save their home, and the alien Senshi--they're all the last survivors of their species. A pretty tragic existence, I'd say."
He exhaled.
"I'll be honest, Chaos did make me feel strong in a time where I very much did not, otherwise."
He didn't remember much, anymore, of the person he'd been before he became Kerberos, but he remembered the feelings. The turmoil. The loss. The uncertainty. The pain and rage and helplessness that built and built and exploded.
"But even if you were powerful, strength isn't everything, is it?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 9:50 pm
"...Yeah. I met one of them, and I chose not to attack, or he chose not to attack, or... Whatever. We talked for a bit." Vesuvianite shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "...He said it destroyed his planet. Caused terrifying magnetic storms. And... He'd have no reason to make all that up. So..." He let out a long sigh, lifting his head to rub the back of his neck. "Anyway. Second thoughts. And third, and fourth, and fifth..." He trailed off. "Being strong doesn't matter if the source of that strength turns on you."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 9:56 pm
"Yeah. All of them, every alien Senshi that comes to Earth--at least every one I've met or heard about--comes from a world that was ravaged by Chaos." Kerberos exhaled. It made his chest ache, to think of the scale of the devastation wrought on the universe.
"So, you're having second thoughts now. What does that mean?" Kerberos would leave the question open. "You don't have to make any big decisions now. In fact, I would really recommend thinking about what you want to do very carefully. But you have a lot of choices available to you."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 10:06 pm
Every single one of them. Planets ravaged. Veusvianite exhaled slowly again, rubbing his hand over his face. That was a lot of dead. How much had the universe lost? With all these dead planets? So many cultures. So many animals. Ecosystems, gone. People, gone. Cool people. Vesuvianite could've been born a dude with, like, a lizard tail or something on another planet instead of a boring human. But everything was devastated across the universe. "I don't know," he mumbled. "It's a lot. It's always going to be a lot. I know I can't act like anything's different if I want to keep as much of my freedom as possible. But... whatever. Thanks for not killing me. I... I'll figure something out."
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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2026 10:07 pm
Kerberos nodded.
"You've got time. Just...think about it."
There was always time, he liked to hope, to be able to save a soul.
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