✘ seas and storms

“The way you said it originally, I thought you were going to hit me at full strength….” It’s a blessing he didn’t, Yue. Don’t be a brat.

“My Mistress Sakura is 14 and can hit better than that.”

“Only if you can reach me, tiny.”

“It is hard to accept the truth, however I do believe tiny is an appropriate adjective.”

Yue peered down at his rescuer and raised an eyebrow.  “I have no idea who you’re talking about. And I said one of them. Your world, or dimension or whatever, clearly has a different one.” He could feel a headache coming on. Oh how he wished he could let Yukito take over and deal with this person but alas it was just him by himself.

Mostly unperturbed, headache notwithstanding, Yue continued to wring out his hair. He would have to invest in a brush. Once he was done with that, he started on his clothes. “Clow Reed created me as a guardian of the Clow Cards. The Moon and cards under its jurisdiction fell under my protection. I don’t protect the moon itself but I do get my power from it.”

     { ♔ }; “Kh...” He didn’t really get it. The concept of different worlds was almost beyond him, despite the fact he was a god. There was only one Earth. Surely there were heavens and different worlds above, but how could there be different gods than what is already known. Not from different mythology, but from the same kind. Ugh, if he thought about it too much it’d only be his own headache. “I don’t get it, but I ain’t gonna waste time worrying about it.” 

Her smile brightened, knowing he was, in his own way, happy to see her. Perhaps any other person would have been miffed at his words, but Yui knew better. Despite his rough exterior, he was a good guy. “Well, this just means we can keep training together. I’ll catch up eventually!” She was nothing if not determined anyway. “I’m better than I was at the start, anyway.” 

Any progress was better than no progress at all. And it helped to have someone like Takeru to work with–granted his own routine was a bit too intense for a normal human like herself. But she would do what she could, advancing with her own power. It was that determination that led to her finally earning his trust in the first place, wasn’t it?

“I can’t help it,” she laughed softly, “it’s a very human emotion to be sad when you can’t see your friends anymore!” Even if it was only Takeru, it was more than enough for her. It at least gave her hope that she would reunite with everyone eventually. 

But as he continued, her smile did drop, furrowing her brows as she tried to think. “I’m not sure of that myself… I was wondering if maybe this was another part of the test? To see if it would help you all learn more about humans, and since I’m supposed to be guiding all of you..” she trailed off, wondering if that was really the case. “But surely, if it was Zeus’s doing, he would have transported us all here together, right?”

It really didn’t make sense the more she thought about it.

     { ♔ }; “Atta girl. That’s the spirit! I won’t let you get all weak and floppy on me just cuz we’re not in the garden. You still got a helluva lot of training to do.” Being hard on her was just protocol, and he knew she could handle it. Never did he intend to push her past a breaking point, or put her in danger, even in the beginning of things. She was tough for a human. That’s why she earned his respect. 

“Well, besides where the Ocean is? I know a place to get Udon and Mochi and where the library is! I never had those foods before, and I nearly choked on the Mochi due to how sticky it was. And the Udon! The noodles are soo much thicker and there’s so many to try!”

She began to walk, A little skip in her step as she chatted with the other. She didn’t mind the other being a little on the grumpy side. More than likely the other was missing home and missing his people. So she just smiled at him.

“My name Is Serenity, but you can call me Serena!”

     { ♔ }; “It was a rhetorical question,” he’d grumble as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. He had no desire for company, yet it seemed like this chick didn’t get the memo. It was bad enough he had to deal with one weed, he didn’t need two. “I didn’t say you could come either,” once again, muttered under his breath. There wasn’t much assertion in his tone, which is Takeru Talk™ for he didn’t really care. He just had to complain. 

Hmph - Schezo caught that tone there when the other said his reply: he wasn’t TOTALLY oblivious, thank you very much! However: at very least, he wasn’t calling him a creeper or outright telling him to shut up, so he managed to remain calm. He wasn’t all that happy, granted - but for now, the Dark Mage’s emotions were in check.

“Just accepting it seems like a bit of a waste of time: if you truly wish them to know of what you think of this rubbish, then state with such proud intentions your exact anger in a letter! They can’t ignore a letter sent to them, at least: but if that fails, perhaps finding the reason why Stella and Aries sent everyone here and exploiting any weakness in their plots is a more productive method…?”

Not that he expected much sensible thought out of this guy at the moment, but he kept that sarcastic thought to himself.

     { ♔ }; So, that was it. The only got dam thing he could do was write a letter. Even back in the garden, at least he could yell and scream at Zeus face to face all he wanted. Well, maybe not all he wanted, but the sentiment was still there. If that really was the only option, what choice did he have? What a stupidly civilized way to handle things! He didn’t defeat monsters by writing them a letter! Wars didn’t end from saying “hey, I don’t like this!’ Yet, there was nothing he could do. He’d let out a very aggressive breath of air, attempting to push out all that anger and save it for the letter. His voice finally lowered to but a mutter.

“I can’t tell you that. I just told you I have no ideas. I just arrived here a few days ago.” Yue huffed. He wouldn’t be surprised if Clow was behind this somehow. It was right up his mysterious alley. “My abilities are connected to the moon. I am the moon guardian.” Adding ‘of the Clow Cards’ to the end of that seemed pointless when no one here knew what the Clow Cards were. When they got close enough to the shore, Yue made a move to be set down.

“My brother, Keroberos, is the sun guardian. Or one of them, I suppose. The other moon guardian is ridiculous and obnoxious so I barely count her.” Spinel was okay. He supposed Eriol did that on purpose. To make Ruby and Spinel direct opposites of himself and Kero.

     { ♔ }; God, what use was this guy if he didn’t have any information about this place? For what reason did this city have for keeping powers on lock? Maybe this was just a bigger environment for gods to learn what it was like to be human, considering this dude wasn’t a human himself. Was this just one big place for educational purposes? Then maybe it was Zeus’ doing, and someone else was just in charge of this world rather than the garden. He hated this so much, he just wanted answers. Although, his anger can be pointed elsewhere for the time being, hearing the person claim to be the moon guardian. Wait a got dam second there, cowboy.

“It seems to be very large city at best. There’s a large ocean, a school. Oh and a center to adopt pets and a place called Wonderland woods. whoever is in charge of bringing us here has spared no expense to ensure that we are well tended to. There’s even a pretty shrine to go to for getting fortunes!”

She relaxed as the anger drained from the other, a soft smile slipping across her lips. One dainty hand extended she made her offer to the being before her.

“If you like, I could take you to the shrine or the Ocean? something tells me those are the two places you’d enjoy the most, from what you feel like.”

     { ♔ }; Ocean? He heard ocean. Actually, that’s the only thing he heard, and didn’t really care about the rest of what she was saying at all. He actually perked up a bit. “There’s an ocean in this place?” Maybe all isn’t lost. There was an ocean in the garden too, which was always an upside in these situations. 

She braced herself, ready for the “sorry, you’ve got the wrong person” to hang heavy in the air. Her apology was already ready on her lips, but then he turned around, and the relief almost made her legs give out on her. She hadn’t been wrong. It really was him! 

For once, she didn’t even mind the nickname. She was just happy to see him, happy that she wasn’t trying to figure out this situation on her own. Though the fact  he was here only raised more questions. Could it be another part of the lesson? Could Zeus have decided to throw the gods into normal human life to speed up the process?

Well, now she was even more confused, but that didn’t stop the bright smile that found its way onto her lips as she caught up to him, a soft laugh bubbling out of her. “I’m so glad to see you, Takeru-san!” she admitted, feeling more than a little breathless after hurrying to catch up–and maybe it was also the relief of seeing one of her dear friends again. 

Yui pressed her hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath, finally feeling somewhat at ease. At least with Takeru around, some part of her normal routine had been re-established–if he was still willing to keep up with it. “I was…worried I’d never see any of you again…that it was already over..” 

Who would have thought that the “problem gods” would have become so important to her?

     { ♔ }; Whether this was phase two of Zeus’ plan or something completely otherworldly, there was a sense of relief upon seeing Yui. He’d never verbally admit that in a million years, nor would he even accept the thought of it, but it certainly was the case. There was still too much he didn’t understand, too much that frustrated him for him to be completely relaxed in this situation, but at least it’s one good thing to come out of it. He won’t be alone, that is. Even if he isolates himself to hell and back, he never did well on his own. 

            “I guess it’s pretty good to see you too. Seems like you still need to be training, you’re slow as hell. You still can’t keep up to me.” 

Wait, wait, what? The other was telling him to not say that again? He agreed with the other, what the heck?! “Excuse me for actually seeing sense in your passionate words, then!”

Oh, Schezo, your wording remains ever abominable. When you’re getting slightly annoyed, it gets even worse, as is evident.

Yet noting the other seemed easily argumental even with the matter of the sheep only communicating via letter soothed the dark mage Schezo a bit. Wait, so…if he got grumpy at EVERYTHING, it wasn’t his fault after all. Besides, he was a powerful dark swordsman. Someone had to try and be mature here, as catching as this guy’s energy was.

“I already tried that: no matter where you look in this place, you simply cannot find Aries and Stella, the two in charge. I even looked in the main place where they hand out maps: nothing! If you truly wish to ask them questions…letters seem the only viable option to do so, frustratingly.”

    { ♔ }; Boy-o, he reminds him of a mixture of the three gods he hates most. The fancy pants talk reminded him of Goldilocks, the cluelessness reminded him of Blondie and the unnecessary provocative undertones reminded him of the drunk. Even away from the garden, he gets to experience all the flavors of mythology. Woopie. “Yeah, that’s great.” His tone didn’t make it sound great.

“The only limit I have ever had on my power was when the moon is new and when my new mistress had not come into her power enough to share it with me.” And both cases were temporary. Though the latter nearly made him disappear for good. Yue was rarely worried about not having his full powers. “I have no idea what is holding back my abilities but it is certainly nothing on my person.” He had checked himself over for any oddities when he arrived and there was nothing.

Yue raised a delicate eyebrow at the other, pausing in fixing his hair to do so. He didn’t blame him for only having pride as a reason for rescuing him. “I guess I should thank you. My name is Yue. I’m not a god but I am certainly not human.”