Storyline Name: The Warrior Princess and The Miraculous Enyalian
Creator(s): Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus
Forum: Crystal Tokyo
Advanced or Relaxed: Advanced
Plot Summary: While trying to save Sailor Enyalius after she got corrupted, Sailor Andromeda ended up in Planet Enyalius and met a soldier from there by the name of Nikos. He was the lone survivor in the battle that took place at the time of the senshi's arrival, and soon became their reluctant guide. Andromeda's intervention when Enyo - Sailor Enyalius' dark side - threatened Nikos' life "cursed" him to be the last person on the planet who would die, making him virtually invincible to all dangers on the planet. After everything was said and done and Enyo ended up dead while her Sailor Crystal was stolen, Andromeda promised to come back to Enyalius to help Nikos sort out the mess in there, once the group had defeated the Chaos general and retrieved the Enyalius Crystal, returning it to the Cauldron where it belonged. Now that mission was complete, and as promised, after a brief stop on her planet to rest and recuperate, Andromeda decided to return to Enyalius to see Nikos, completely unaware of his crush on her.
Restrictions: Only for Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune playing Nikos and Sailor Andromeda. Anyone else will be NPC-ed.
OOC Thread: Skype
Member to Character List:
-  Nikos: Sailor Uranus
- Sailor Andromeda: Sailor Neptune

It had been just over a week, but already the face of Enyalius was changing. 

The city Andromeda and the others had left, Argive, grew with new life; the clearing the Chimera had once occupied was emptied of the bodies of the Androktsiai that had swarmed it after the death of Enyo and was devoid of much of the rubble caused by the various attacks; tents were erected throughout the agora, and the shops bordering were now used as storehouses for food and supplies. Fires burned with acrid black smoke in the east of the city, the wind of the nearby sea pushing the heavy clouds away from most of the new inhabitants.

Various activities went on - children scoured buildings in areas clear of any lingering threats and brought what they found back to the main square, while those untrained in war were given the necessary but regretful task of burning the dead in the many funeral pyres of the city. Warriors, or men and women who took to instructions for war easily, sought out remaining foes and dispatched them under the leadership of skilled individuals, their cleansing effect spreading ever outward from their city center. 

Argive was growing ever-clearer of threats, and was, at last, the sanctuary it had once claimed to be. Survivors sought it from all directions, and specialized groups were positioned at the gates to defend them and accept them the moment they came into view. 

Life was striking back, though, admittedly, they had a long way to go.

She had mixed feelings about being back on Enyalius, now that its senshi was… well, essentially, reborn and not much older than an infant. She had no idea who was calling the shots on that planet, if it had survived the war Enyo had wrecked upon it, and how many people alive were even left. It had kept her up at night thinking about Nikos trying to pick up the pieces alone in the wake of that destruction. She had promised him she would keep him safe and she’d fulfilled that promise, even if in a very unexpected way. But that didn’t mean his life would be okay now. Survival wasn’t just about not dying.

And she had also made a second promise to him; to come back and help him figure things out. It might seem like just something to say at the time, but she meant it. She didn’t really make promises she didn’t intend to keep, and so after a long week of rest and recovery after the events at the Galaxy Cauldron, Andromeda had decided she needed to go back to Enyalius.

She didn’t know when exactly she had started feeling so responsible for the well-being of that soldier. On Enyalius was when she stepped up as a leader for the first time in a place other than her own planet, and that had changed something in her. A shifted paradigm that made her feel a heavier sense of responsibility for people outside her own immediate circle. It was certainly not an easy job. But for now, this was the least she could do. Fulfilling a promise.

As she flew across the solar system toward the planet, she wondered if maybe she should have contacted them first. Not that she had any idea how to do that given the state of the planet last she left. She also needed to know if the last one of the Fates they had left alive had created a problem—that was actually her biggest worry. With no senshi to fight against her, what kind of problem had they left behind?

She had no idea what she would see when she entered the atmosphere of Enyalius, and she held her breath as she passed through its clouds, waiting for the sea of white to part and reveal the state of the planet to her. She didn’t know what she expected, to see it burning or utterly destroyed or just the same, but she found that she didn’t expect it to be in as good of a condition as she found it in.

She burst through the clouds to find the city looking not only alright but seemed to be in the process of rebuilding. She saw people on the streets—actual living people, not the walking dead—and even children running around.

The sun was just setting as she hovered over the city, searching for a place to land. She decided to choose one of the town gates rather than dropping down in the middle of the agora or something, afraid she might alarm the people who would surely still be paranoid over strange happenings around here.

As she landed gently on her feet right in front of a pair of gates, she immediately felt pairs of eyes on her, her bright turquoise senshi fuku sticking out like a sore thumb, but no one moved to attack or threaten her. She made her way toward the guard beside the gates, her pace even, her body language as unthreatening as possible.

“Excuse me,” she greeted the guard, hoping she wouldn’t run into any trouble dropping in unannounced from another planet like this. “My name is Sailor Andromeda. I am looking for Nikos.” She paused, realizing she didn’t know what his last name was, or even if he had one. How many people shared his name here? Would a random person even know who she meant just by that one name?

“He’s about this tall… dark hair… bronze eyes… kind of invincible…” she raised her hand to indicate his height, feeling foolish. “By any chance, do you know where I might find him?”

The guard dressed in mismatched armor stood at attention the moment Andromeda's feet touched the ground, his spear standing straight beside him, and waited for her to finish her address - or, at least, that's how he treated her inquiry. As the final words left her lips, a slightest of beats passed, as though he were making sure she were finished before the guard dipped into a bow of respect. "Of course, Lady Andromeda." He straightened, "Nikos will be somewhere in the city, but the hour is growing late - he should be returning to the Agora soon."

Without prompting, he turned and called back to a group of children that sat just outside a building identical to the one Callisto had pulled a pillar free of; however, with this being a different gate, this structure remained whole. Five kids dropped their basket work eagerly, until the guard held his hand up to stop them and pointed at one child in particular. The rest grumpily went back to their work - or pretending to, as all eyes were on Andromeda and their mouths were moving in quiet whispers. 

The child, a young girl with disheveled brown hair, hurried up and offered Andromeda another bow before straightening to her full, 4-foot height, looking up with steady chestnut-colored eyes filled with curiosity and pride.

"Kadera will escort you to the Agora, my lady; I hope you understand the lack of a greater guard."

Lady?

Andromeda blinked, wondering if that was how all Enyalians addressed women. Or senshi? Maybe they heard about how a group of senshi had saved them or something? But she was definitely not used to being called ‘Lady’, except back in her own kingdom. She didn’t think she ever mentioned the fact that she was a noble, though.

While she pondered this, the guard had summoned a group of children, who all appeared way too eager to help a random person. The others even looked upset when he only picked one. Was everyone in this planet this nice when they weren’t under attack, or…? Then she noticed the looks and the whispers. Okay, they were definitely acting like they knew her. She just didn’t know if what they were talking about was good or bad. Hopefully the former. Either way, the attention was making her slightly nervous.

The chosen girl bowed politely at her, and she was about to question all this oddness when the guard spoke again.

She stammered a reply, still quite taken aback, “O-of course. It’s no trouble at all. Please don’t disrupt your day any more on my account.”

If Nikos were in the agora, she probably could find him herself, but she did not have the heart to disappoint the girl that had obviously considered this some kind of noble task. She also wanted to know what the deal was with all this ‘my lady’ business but figured she had better get a move on before it got dark. “Thank you for your help,” she nodded to the guard, before turning toward the girl.

“So, Kadera, is it? Shall we go?” she asked her with a smile.

Kids. She was always better with them.

With a final half-bow, the guard returned to his duty and Kadera nodded eagerly and led the way, walking tall past the market inspection buildings and continuing straight, down the wide, open street that Nikos had avoided on Andromeda's first trip to the city. The destruction here wasn't bad; the streets were clear, the buildings in good repair, but everything seemed empty, but for the occasional movement through ground-floor windows.

"Don't mind that," Kadera said as nonchalantly as an eight year old could, "it's just kids resupplyin'. There haven't been Androktsiai around here in a few days." She sounded proud, but she kept stealing curious glances at her 'charge', though she acted like she were just looking around. "If one did show up, we've got horns, see, that we blow to tell everyone." She motioned to the small noise-maker hanging from a leather cord around her neck; she then went on, "Kids make the best spotters, so we've got important jobs."

“In a few days? Does that mean they’re still coming?” she tensed, even more guilt pressing down on her. She had hoped the undead would be gone as soon as their master was… but it seemed this was not the case.

She looked down at the girl in open admiration, at the way she seemed so fearless, talking about corpses on the street as if she were discussing the weather. At the same time, it felt wrong to ask kids to go into that kind of danger. How many of the adults were left alive after the mess that had happened?

“You must be incredibly brave. I fought those things… and while most of them are easily felled, they tend to come in numbers, and they’re quite a sight.”

Then again, planet Enyalius had always been all about battles, so maybe they raised their children differently here.

The girl shrugged at Andromeda's question, "Not so much still coming as still hanging around," she stated, "and we don't really fight them." She looked away, as though a little embarrassed, "They ignore us as long as we don't try to fight back. Kids, I mean," she corrected, looking anywhere but at Andromeda. 

"And they are quite a sight," she agreed, using Andromeda's own words and inflection as she continued to walk along. "But they're not so bad," she lied, pausing to look quickly down a connecting street, and glancing back to her 'charge'. The eyes were a little less confident as she confided, "I mean, unless you know them." 

She took a deep breath and swung her arms to her side as she took larger steps, filled with bravado as she continued bravely, "I knew one girl whose parents were turned and she was so afraid that she just stayed with them, following them around for two days until we pulled her away from them. She wasn't really happy about it, but she needed us big kids to help her out, no matter what she wanted." She paused again to look down the side-streets, the Agora getting closer every block, but they were still more than halfway from their destination. "Now that the adults are back she's a lot happier - she doesn't cry so much anymore."

She stopped talking for a moment, though not in sadness or reflection, more like just a natural pause in a child's conversation. "So you're really Sailor Andromeda?" she asked conspiratorially.

She was relieved to hear that the kids didn’t have to fight, though she was curious why the undead weren’t attacking them. Now without Enyo to control them, how were they behaving? What was controlling them? She filed these as questions to ask Nikos later.

The girl’s demeanor changed when she spoke about how it felt like to come face to face with them… especially when it was a familiar face. Her heart sunk to her stomach. Right. They weren’t just mindless hordes of dead people. They were once actual, living people. Family members. One’s mother or father or sibling or uncle. She could imagine it must be a horrifying mix of hope and fear to see a dead loved one in that state, knowing they were beyond help, knowing they weren’t really alive again. That in the end someone must kill them for good, and they would be lucky if that task didn’t fall upon themselves.

Andromeda listened to the story and had to keep herself together to not let her emotions get the best of her. It was all so heartbreaking. Her steps faltered a little, but she kept pace with her companion, not wanting to show how much this was affecting her. This was Chaos’ doing. This was all the darkness’ fault. Somehow, in moments like these, their triumph against one of its strongest generals didn’t feel like much. Not when the remains of the darkness’ reaches could still be felt everywhere.

She didn’t know how to comment—saying ‘that’s horrible’ seemed like such an understatement and felt as if she were trivializing the whole thing, so she was glad when the conversation turned. Kadera had opened up the opportunity to investigate the curious way people looked at her, so Andromeda seized it.

“Yes,” she answered, “I am Sailor Andromeda. Why is… How do you know me? And why was that guard back there calling me ‘lady’?”

The girl snickered and rolled her brown eyes, "Everyone knows you. It was you and your friends that killed Enyo, right? And got rid of that terrible chimera. Nikos told us all about you." Her hands behind her back innocently, she strolled forward, "You're calm under pressure and you can summon water and fight with a sword, and you're pretty - he didn't say you were Sailor Andromeda, just Andromeda; it's high rankers that added the 'lady'." She sauntered on, as though admiring the day, before dropping the bomb. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at Andromeda, "So, did you come back so you two could get married?"

Andromeda opened her mouth to protest—it had been Achelois and Achelois alone who killed Enyo, but she supposed that small detail wouldn’t matter to this girl. Also, apparently the chimera wasn’t so terrible, but again she wondered if this would matter since it was not coming back.

Though her attention was quickly diverted as Kadera continued on anyway, reciting facts about her as if she knew her personally despite never meeting her. Her brows furrowed; she didn’t realize Nikos had paid such close attention to everyone and their powers and weapons, but then again, he was a soldier, so maybe he was used to thinking strategically… even so, why would he share all this to every—wait, did she say pretty? That was not a soldier quality—

And then she spoke her last sentence and Andromeda nearly choked on her own breath. She stopped short, eyes widening in a mixture of panic and bewilderment.

“I’m sorry, did you say married?”

Did ‘married’ mean a different thing on planet Enyalius? She did hear a story about Enyalius—or was it Achelois?—accidentally getting engaged to someone from another planet before, was this an Enyalian thing?!

“But we just— I don’t— Why… why would you think that we’re getting married?” she sputtered, completely flabbergasted.

The girl stopped in her tracks and turned back to face Andromeda, apparently least expecting that kind of reaction. "Because you're the heroes of Argive, and you saved his life. And he's handsome and you're pretty and you came back. He told everyone you're from the stars and that time is probably measured differently up there, but you came back quick - do you not want to marry him?" While the explanation was plain-faced and as honest as a child could be, the last question was stressed as though incredulous, those brown eyes scrutinizing Andromeda with new light. "He's killed thousands of Androktsiai, by himself, and they say he'll probably be the next King - don't you want to be Queen?" Her head continued working, and her mouth after it, and she continued talking - and walking, facing forward yet again, her arm folded in front of her chest - without giving much pause for an answer. "This'll drive them nuts. Adrasteia's only been holding back 'cause of you - this'll be a nightmare." She threw her hands up dramatically, with all the displeased passion someone her age could give.

The girl was serious. Her tone was teasing before, and Andromeda had hoped that was all it was, but now she seemed genuinely upset at the prospect that Andromeda might not be marrying Nikos. The reasons for this union that Kadera was spouting out was no doubt naïve, but the innocence and simplicity of it all was also, she had to admit, endearing.

“It’s not that I don’t want to—” she closed her mouth before that statement got acknowledged as a confirmation that she indeed wanted to. The next King? Nikos had certainly come up in the world, and she was very well aware that this was her fault.

The child continued on, and Andromeda scrambled to catch up, both with the walking and the talking. She mentioned another unfamiliar name—Adrasteia?—and a strange mix of emotions assaulted her as she deduced this girl was a competitor for Nikos’ affection, that somehow, while Andromeda was far away from here, she had acquired a rival who didn’t even know her, but she also picked up on the fact that this woman didn’t seem to be well-liked, given how Kadera said it was going to be a ‘nightmare’.

Shaking her head in disbelief and amusement, she realized just how crazy this all was, and yet the fact that people were gossiping about things like this showed hope; that war was no longer the subject on the forefront of their minds, and that things were okay enough to talk about silly things like romance and marriage between two people who just met.

“I happen to also be a princess, so whether I marry him or not, I will still be queen someday. Do you really want a queen who only married your king to get a throne, anyway?” she asked, her tone light yet genuinely questioning this line of thinking.

“Also, who’s Adrasteia?” she couldn’t help but ask.

If she had a rival, she wanted to know everything about her. Even if she wasn’t sure she was actually competing yet.

Kadera turned back, her mouth opened slightly in disbelief, "You're a Princess, too?!" Each stressed word was separate from the last, as though she couldn't handle the idea that, on top of everything else, Andromeda was a princess in her own right. She threw her hands in the air again, incredulously, then brought both hands back down to cover her face and slide down, pulling at her skin in an over-the-top display of imagined defeat. Her voice was muffled by her hands as she answered, "I don't want a queen like that, but he said you were strong and smart and can summon water - I want a queen like that. And now it could be Adrasteia or one of them," she groaned theatrically. 

Finally removing her hands from her face, she started moving again, though she seemed to drag her heels. "Adrasteia is a snooty stubborn butthead who's been swooning over Nikos for as long as they've been here. 'Can I help, Nikos?' 'Let me make you something, Nikos!' 'Poor Nikos, you must be so tired! Let me get you a blanket!'" she mocked. "But does she get him stuff? Noooo, she makes us get it and just acts like she did! She's so annoying and mean and when she finds out you don't want to marry him, she'll just get worse." She continued in a falsetto voice, "'Did you hear? Nikos chose me over a Princess!'" Kadera groaned again, "She's going to be insufferable."

She’s cute… in an overdramatic way, Andromeda thought as she watched Kadera’s antics. She couldn’t help but laugh as the girl described this rival—apparently she was even less well-liked than Andromeda thought.

“Hey, maybe you should give Nikos some credit,” she teased. “I’ve only known him for a day, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would fall for that kind of act.”

At least, she hoped not. The thought that he would strangely unsettled her.

“Listen, I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes either. First and foremost, I need to talk to him, so let’s just find him, okay? And we’ll take it from there,” she said in a cajoling tone. She didn’t exactly want to promise to marry someone and become queen of Enyalius—she briefly wondered what baby Enya would think about that when she grew up and discovered this fact—but she didn’t want to crush this child’s hopes, either. She kind of doubted Nikos was looking to marry right now anyway, what with all this rebuilding.

She figured it was just the children’s imagination at work, listening to stories of the senshi’s adventures and filling in the blanks themselves, exaggerating and turning things into meaningless gossip.

Yes. That must be it. Certainly nothing romantic would be at the forefront of Nikos’ mind right now, with anyone. He had a planet to rebuild, after all.

---

They soon reached the Agora, the heart of the city, and while it wasn't exactly bustling with activity, it was remarkably more populated than the rest of the area. People were taking care of responsibilities everywhere they looked: taking down and folding the day's laundry in the waning light of the sun, cooking and portioning out a meal, setting up or repairing tents over freshly flattened earth, running errands, fetching water, bringing in more lumber for burning. Soon, however, people were turning and taking notice of the pair, and whispering to each other before bowing. 

"Welcome, Lady Andromeda!" random calls resounded, the cry soon to be echoed by others. 

"Just keep walking or they'll probably swarm us," Kadera advised, even as a handful of people started making their way towards them. "Hold it! She's here to see Nikos!" Kadera yelled, and many of the people stopped to smile knowingly and return to their business; one, however, continued towards them. "Oh no, not him," Kadera groaned to herself and tried to walk a little faster --

But her small change in speed was no match for the gentleman's stride. 

"The Lady Andromeda," the mustachioed man greeted in a warm, welcoming voice as he bowed, "It is so good to meet you. Kadera, that will be all; I will guide our guest the rest of the way."

"But -"

"Kadera," the man repeated, and immediately the little girl glared at him, pursed her lips and stomped the ground with one foot. He turned, gave her one look, and she immediately apologized and offered a sour little curtsy. 

"It was nice to meet you, Princess Andromeda," she said with a wide smile, then took off at a run towards the buildings that had been set up like a small set of kitchens. 

"Princess?" the man repeated, turning back quizzically to Andromeda, before bowing again, "I apologize for not having better information, my Lady. My name is Methodios, I assist Nikos in running the more mundane side of things. He should be arriving soon, and I am sure he will be excited to see you. Please, if you will, follow me and we will await him together." He gestured forward, and started walking at a more leisurely pace towards the base of the hill.

The palace stairs that approached behind the large tent set up in the small field of dirt the Chimera had occupied had not been touched beyond being cleared of bodies and rinsed of their blood for the first ten steps or so; looking up, it was not even clear if anyone had entered the grand building since they left it over a week ago. As they walked, Methodios made a simple hand gesture to a group of people resetting up tents, not even looking at them, and immediately the little crew nodded and hurried back to one of the buildings that was being used for storage. 

"We have been laboring to retake the city," Methodios stated, his well-groomed white goatee bobbing with every word. The man was tall, but not built like a soldier; an older gentleman, with thick white hair, he wore cloth clothing of a standard just higher than those around them - he must have held a place of respect before the war, and continued holding it after; at this point, he wasn't giving off any sort of vibes - good or bad - but it was clear that he knew what he was doing. "It's good for morale to stay busy during the day, and with more and more refugees pouring back in, the work isn't just for work's sake anymore. The general plan was to reclaim Argive in its entirety and start refreshing the city as runners went out to spread the word, and rework an army to start retaking the surrounding lands and beyond, until every undead citizen is finally put to rest and the world reclaimed for the living. The process will be long and hard, but that we have the chance to make such a change is remarkable."

He turned to her, "Thank you, Princess Andromeda, for all that you have done for our country," and bowed deeply.

The agora looked very different than the last time she was here. Where it was previously deserted except for the Chimera and a smattering of corpses, now it was alive and somewhat normal looking even if it was not as crowded as she suspected it normally was. That was a relief, at least, to see that things weren’t worse off than when they left.

Just like earlier at the gate, however, she quickly drew people’s attention, and again Andromeda wondered how they were all able to recognize her by sight—had Nikos painted a picture of her or something?—and then they started greeting her, all with that same title and reverence, and she was beginning to feel more than slightly unnerved by the sheer bizarreness of it. She had received the ‘hero treatment’ before, after completing many missions for Crystal Tokyo, but this was something else.

She was only too happy to follow Kadera’s instructions and kept walking hastily, not at all interested in being swarmed, though thankfully they stopped at the child’s announcement. Andromeda quickly realized this might not be for the better, however, when she noticed the expressions on their faces. Could it be that it wasn’t just the children that were gossiping? What was she supposed to do if the entire planet somehow wanted her to marry him? Did Nikos want to? Did he even know about these rumors?

She was too distracted to notice that one person had kept coming, but did not miss Kadera’s reaction toward him. The man greeted her politely, and she bowed awkwardly in return, more automatically than anything. She watched the interaction between the man and the girl curiously, noting Kadera’s obvious displeasure at having been relieved from her job. Andromeda suppressed a smile at the child’s behavior, already feeling a soft spot for her.

“Thank you, and it was nice to meet you too, Kadera,” she replied as the girl said her goodbye, obviously slipping the bit of information that she exclusively had to rub it in the man’s face. She shook her head slightly in amusement.

She followed him, looking toward the palace that appeared abandoned, questions about the remaining Fate heavy on her mind. Then her attention turned back to the man beside her, someone obviously much older and wiser than Nikos, someone who looked as if he ought to be the one leading the people, by his easy way of commanding them with a simple gesture, but who had introduced himself as Nikos’ assistant. She had never imagined the effect her simple action would have on him, and now she was beginning to wonder if this was good or bad. Enyo had meant it as a curse, and now it seemed Nikos was benefitting from it instead, but was that strictly true? Was there a catch they weren’t seeing? Because whatever it was, it would be her fault, too.

She had a strange notion that whether she wanted to or not, her life was now forever tied to him because of her interference.

Finally, the man finished speaking, and Andromeda waited until he straightened back up from his respectful bow before replying.

“Please, you don’t have to worry about the titles. I am a soldier first and foremost, a princess second. When I am not at home and in this form, I am Sailor Andromeda, a sailor guardian who protects the world from Chaos and all its forms. What I—and the other sailor guardians—did here, was just our duty,” she emphasized the words to remind him that she had not achieved this task alone. She could only hope the rest of the team were getting the same recognition she was.

“But I am glad to see that you have rebuilt here. Tell me, has no one stepped into the palace yet? Has anyone come out of there? Because when we defeated the enemies… we were running out of time, and we had to leave one alive… I have been worried about it ever since.”

He nodded his head at her assertions, though he paused slightly every time she said 'sailor', as though uncomfortable with the term. "It may have been just a duty to you and your companions, but to us, it was our lives and livelihood." He folded his hands behind his back comfortably, looking out over the small city of tents that stretched across the agora. "Without your intervention, I shudder to think of where we would be now." His words, and the slight tremor of remorse, were genuine in their delivery. This man cared for his country and its people; if nothing else, that was true. 

As she asked her second question, he looked over his shoulder at the plateau behind them, and the castle barely visible at the top of the staircase; "To my knowledge, none have stepped into the palace since Nikos left it and, other than Nikos, none would have seen anything exiting, for we have only just returned to our city; though several children had remained here, they spoke only of the horrors of the chimera and the Androktsiai, nothing else. It may be that he killed it, along with the others, when he left; I'm sure he could provide you some insight to the matter." He turned back to her, but his eyes alighted on something else, first. 

"Ah," he announced, "There he is now." 

Coming from the east, with the sun shining on his face and armor, was Nikos, leading a small company of fighters. They were obviously tired in the way they held themselves, but they seemed in good spirits as they stepped from the sunlight into the shadows cast by the taller buildings around the center field. Little by little the group started peeling off, heading for tents strewn throughout the camp, with a short goodbye and a wave called out to those they left. Soon it was just a small group and Nikos heading their way, the leader of the warriors keeping in close conversation with his fellows, until they all stopped, finally seeing her. Nikos, reading them, turned his attention immediately forward, and then froze. 

"Nikos," Methodios called, "The Princess Andromeda is here to see you."


He couldn't move. 

He -- She -- But -- 

"Andromeda, I - um," he stepped forward and, looking to Methodios, bowed quickly, "It's good to see you; I hadn't expected you so soon - how are you? How is - uh - space?"

Lame, and awkward. Perfect.

She nodded at Methodios’ words, thinking it was very possible that Nikos had, indeed, slayed the last Fate if she hadn’t decided to run away after her friends and Enyo were defeated. The last time they’d fought, Nikos hadn’t been able to do much to harm or distract them, but he also could not be killed by them, so maybe it was just a matter of who got exhausted first in a battle of sheer will alone.

When her companion alerted her to Nikos’ presence, Andromeda turned, and at first she felt as if she were seeing a different person approaching.

Perhaps it was the tale of the heroics he had accomplished and how everyone here obviously worshiped him, or the way the sun fell on him, making him look like a golden warrior, or the way he led his men with confidence that had been absence the last time she saw him, certainty and command replacing paranoia and borderline insanity. Perhaps it was the way Kadera had spoken of marriages and how she now felt there were certain expectations of her purpose being here, but she thought her heart fluttered a little when their eyes finally met.

She chose not to correct the title this time—it was an odd feeling to hear her princess title being used with her kingdom’s name rather than her own, but it was not half-bad sounding—and stepped forward to greet him.

The corner of her mouth twitched at his last question, but she smiled and brushed it off. “Nikos. It’s good to see you too. I have been well. Tired, but aren’t we all. I apologize if I’m interrupting something—I should have sent word first. It’s clear that you’re very busy here.”

She glanced around, knowing that if they had their conversation here, people would likely be watching, dissecting the words, expecting certain things.

“But if you might spare me a few minutes, I would like to catch up… preferably in private.”

She mentally winced and hoped no one heard that and twisted it, too.

Her smile filled his stomach with butterflies, reanimating him like - well he wouldn't say an Androktsiai because that would be morbid, but the idea popped into his head anyway, and where, just a week ago, he might've laughed at the preposterously dark simile, today just the corner of his mouth twitched. Reanimating him like an Androktsiai. It twitched again. Like a corpse brought back to life? That wasn't entirely true. He had been very lively lately, but her sudden appearance did bring a part of him that he had been ignoring to the forefront. Looking at her set his heart to pumping harder; hearing her voice made him nervous beyond belief, but he hung on those words, trying to take as much as he could from them. Tired? Did she need to rest? Did she come back here to rest?! Panicked, his eyes twitched over at the spartan tents set up in the agora and thought of the flattened bedrolls within and felt woefully unprepared for her return; if they had cleaned up the palace they would be all set with comfortable beds fit for someone like her; maybe he could ask some of the --

She apologized? He shook his head 'no' immediately and tried to get his voice to work to deny her apology - she was welcome here whenever she wanted, she wasn't interrupting anything -- 

'But if you might spare me a few minutes, I would like to catch up... preferably in private.' 

What - would - private? - his head malfunctioned.

"N-not at all," he replied, amazing himself with how calm and almost collected his voice sounded. He stepped forward, and the moment he did so, he felt everyone else scatter behind him, wandering away slowly, and he made a note to himself to prepare for having the tar taken out of him the next time they saw him. As he closed the distance, he started unhooking his bloodied chestplate and looked around for somewhere private they could go, but the agora was the center of population, and with the scouts he had roaming around there was no guarantee they would find privacy anywhere - well, anywhere besides... He looked up the staircase towards the palace; even just hanging out on the higher steps would mute their conversation. He was about to toss his cuirass towards his tent when Methodios stepped forward to claim it, looking down on him with a particular gaze that all but screamed watch your manners. Nikos shrugged subtly, handing the dry-blood-spattered adornments over, then unfastened his pteruges and handed that over, too, and was about to turn back when Methodios gestured to his greaves. With a glance, Nikos knelt down and started untying those, too; he hadn't noticed when they had caught blood. As he stood and handed those, Methodios raised a brow, and now he sighed and removed the bracers - not because he needed to but because Methodios apparently thought it looked strange to have just those on. All the while, Andromeda was waiting for him, and every second he became more aware of that fact. That, and how his sleeveless thigh-length chiton was probably soaked in sweat and that there would be nothing around to hide the smell. Still looking at Methodios, he grimaced, wishing that he had known she was coming, so he could've bathed or worn clean clothes - but he'd never admit that to her. Methodios, a brow raised, nodded once, signifying he was satisfied, and Nikos turned back to her, not knowing just how much his shirt stuck to his lithely muscled chest. 

"Heading up the stairs towards the palace would be the best place to find privacy," he admitted, completely glossing over having practically undressed before her - truthfully now he wore the same amount as the non-fighters, and having been in the camp and, before that, in the army for so long that he wouldn't even remember to wonder whether that practice would make her uncomfortable. He glanced up the stairs and noticed the leaves in the trees rustling with a soft breeze and thanked the gods before approaching the side of the stair where the wind would take at least some of his sweaty smell away from her, and looked back, "Would that do?"

She had not noticed the smear of blood until the shade of dark red became too close to escape notice, and mentally winced as she watched Nikos take off his bloodied armor and equipment, not wanting to think about what or who exactly he’d been killing, whose blood that had been. Fighting creatures of Chaos and other magical things was one thing, but here… she knew it was ordinary people being slaughtered, and though they were already dead, that didn’t make it any less unsettling, especially remembering the story Kadera had told her earlier.

However, she soon became distracted by how little left Nikos ended up wearing on his person, almost wondering if he was actually going to undress completely right there in the agora—with other planets, one could never be sure what was considered as normal—and her breath hitched when there was only his shirt left, but then he stopped. She tried not to stare, even if she was surprised by how she had never noticed how much… muscle exactly was under there, or how toned they were. She supposed it made sense—he was a soldier after all, always had been—but in the midst of fighting for their lives earlier, these things certainly hadn’t been important enough to notice, not to mention that he had all that armor before.

She had to catch up to his words, replaying them in her mind a second time before she understood their meaning, and finally drawn back from the trance she hadn’t realized she was in, she opened her mouth to reply. “Right. That would be fine, yes,” she nodded quickly, starting to follow him toward the indicated spot.

“I was thinking somewhere more like your quarters, but that’s probably inappropriate,” she added with an awkward chuckle. Why had her mind even defaulted to that as an option?

“But anyway, I did want to, um… check out the palace. Methodios was telling me about how no one has been in and out… since. Does that mean the last Fate is gone? Did you kill her?” she asked as they walked, wanting to focus her mind on business for the time being.

Once he got her okay and she joined him at the foot of the stair, he took the first few steps --

And then missed the next completely and barely avoided falling on his face as his stomach sunk to his knees with being physically off balance and then thrown up into his chest by being mentally off balance; his cheeks blushed furiously when he righted himself, hoping she hadn't seen the folly to begin with, and he joined her by letting out a little laugh at her suggestion of using his quarters and her statement that it would've been inappropriate stuck in his head like an over-inflated balloon, not letting any other thoughts through for a moment as the consideration of him being alone with Andromeda in his tent took center stage. "Nah, that wouldn't've been appropriate," he heard himself saying lightheartedly, "My "quarters" were that big tent we just passed so there would be little hope for privacy - you can hear everything though those thin linen walls - " He choked on his words - what was he suggesting?! Was he suggesting something? He laughed nervously, pressing on with what he thought was his original point in one quick breath, "So a private conversation would have been hard to accomplish."

His ears perked with mention of the palace, the idea of a job to be done breaking through the foggy turmoil that had been his brain like cold water. He felt much more in control as he listened and thought back, to give her as much detail as possible. They were climbing higher, well out of ear-shot of the rest of the camp below, nearly back into the last rays of sunlight. Everything was quiet and close, yet opened by the breeze, a comfortable sensation after the long day of killing and clearing the undead. "When you all left," he began, his voice calm and even, "I prepared to fight the last of the Fates and broke back through the door, but she was gone. She had taken the staves of the other two and disappeared; I did a quick search of the castle for her, but nothing came up, so I left. She didn't appear among the Androktsiai or any of the spirits, so I thought that she left with you. Separately, but around the same time. She didn't follow you, then?" he asked, looking over to her openly. "What happened out there, if you don't mind my asking? Did you win? Is Enyo still dead?"

Andromeda would have completely missed Nikos’ blunder, what with still wondering herself what on earth had possessed her. It was all these damn… rumors and people messing with her brain. She would definitely have to ask Nikos if there was a way to solve this apparent problem without ruining everyone’s expectations so that her conscience might be clear when she finally left here without a ring on her finger.

She glanced at him, however, as he mentioned how one could hear everything through the tent walls he was apparently staying in, that laughter more familiar with the one she often heard when he was panicking or under pressure, but he quickly concluded, thankfully closing that topic for good. Andromeda did wonder what happened to his house—had it been destroyed or something?—or whether he was just staying in the tent to be closer to everyone and give them easy access to reach him. Honestly, from what Kadera had said, she had half expected Nikos to be staying in the palace, but maybe that wasn’t his style. She did hope the power hadn’t got to his head, because they didn’t need a leader like that.

As they reached a quieter area, she felt simultaneously more relaxed—free from the paranoia of prying eyes and expectations—and more self-conscious about the fact that they were alone. But she forced herself to focus on what he was saying, for what she came here in the first place.

“No, we didn’t run into her,” she shook her head, feeling uneasy thinking that yet another foe was still out there somewhere. She could come back here anytime. What if that happened? This planet didn’t have a senshi anymore, though she supposed it’d been doing just fine for years without one, and ironically, ultimately it was its senshi that brought its downfall. And Nikos did have that curse… he probably could handle it if that old woman came back.

Then when he asked her about what happened after… all trivial thoughts disappeared from her mind, replaced only by the sense of grief and unsettling peace that had been weighing down her chest for the past week.

“It’s kind of a long story, and I’m not sure how much of it you will understand. But I’ll try to explain as clearly as possible.” She had gathered that sailor senshi and their workings were not common knowledge here in this planet, as proven by Nikos’ confusion about everything that happened the first time they were here.

“Out there, there is a war between light and darkness, the two primordial forces of this world. We, the sailor senshi, are the soldiers of light, and those Fates, and that man you saw appearing after Enyo’s death… they were part of the darkness. Within each sailor senshi is a Sailor Crystal, this is our life force and the source of our planetary powers. There is one crystal for each planet with a senshi, and what you saw happened here was that Sailor Enyalius’ crystal got corrupted by Chaos—that’s the darkness I mentioned—and when she died, they stole it. We went to the center of the universe, to a place called the Galaxy Cauldron, where all life is born and goes back after death. We met that man and defeated him, and reclaimed the Enyalius Crystal. Sailor Achelois went into the cauldron and renewed it, forced a rebirth of some sort, and so… Enya… well… Liera was reborn. As a baby.”

She paused, wondering how Nikos was taking all of this in. The story still seemed crazy every time she spoke it out loud, and that wasn’t even including Achelois’ bargain with The Crone and all that. Explaining all that too at once would be too confusing, she thought, so she only answered his question and what was relevant to it.

“So… Enyo is still dead, I guess, because she is no more. But Liera… she has been reborn and given a new chance at life. Whatever she does with it is up to her, but Achelois will raise her for the time being, and she’s a really good influence, so we’re confident Liera will grow up as a soldier of light once more. You must know that… Enyo isn’t who she really was.” Her expression turned somber as she looked into his eyes, knowing that he had only seen Enya’s worst and darkest side, while she had seen her best.

“Sailor Enyalius was good. She… she gave me a family when I lost faith in mine. Without her and Achelois, I don’t know where I’ll be now. They’ve saved my life countless times. They are good people, and all they ever want is to be happy together. This… what happened here… you must know that we all will do everything possible to not let it happen again, ever.”

She looked uncomfortable as she started to tell him what had gone on; he wondered if he should try to comfort her, but quickly dropped the idea, thinking about how sweaty he was and how clean and wonderful she was and so how inappropriate his arm would be around her shoulders. And how smelly. Why couldn't she have come back after he had bathed? Even as he was lamenting his poor circumstances, he listened to what she was saying, but honestly a bit went over his head. Good versus evil he understood, so light vs darkness was fine; Sailor Senshi he got because he had met so many of them -- not that he readily told everyone that they had been senshi, as the only Sailor his kinsmen had had dealings with was their own and she hadn't turned out so well and he didn't want any of their notions of her be thrust upon the ones that had come down to save them. She lost him a bit at "Sailor Crystal", as he tried to comprehend that there was some sort of rock inside of Andromeda that held her powers, and side tracked to wondering if anyone had tried to take a Sailor Crystal and use it on their own, ony to remember - and be reminded by Andromeda - that that was what had happened already and the result was a drastic drop in population. The Galaxy Cauldron bit got him - he knew what the Galaxy was, but knew nothing of the existance of a big pot in the center and couldn't help but wonder if it was being stirred by something, and how big it was where everything was born and where everything went when it died, the notion also making him uncomfortable as it clashed with what he believed happened to someone's soul when they died. If Andromeda was correct, then that meant that what he believed was wrong; he had no reason to believe that she was lying, but... all those years, and all the priests and mystics... all of them were wrong? It made him feel offcentered and while he thrust it aside for now, he knew it would be back to haunt him sooner or later.

Mention of Liera drew his eyes to hers for a moment. Liera was reborn? He looked away. So not only did his religion - the most popular religion on his planet - have death wrong, but also the idea that this one life is all we had in this realm was wrong, too. People could not be brought back from the dead - even the story of Eurydice and Orpheus proved that. And yet Liera had been given a second chance. Liera, who had abandoned them and then returned to kill most of them, had been given the gift of a second life. A true second life, not like those granted to the Androktsiai she had created. He frowned, staring off at the buildings now below them, his eyes automatically looking for the movement of the undead, and grit his teeth. It wasn't fair. So many good people had died in this war, and had risen to die again and again, people who had done nothing wrong, forced to kill and be killed over and over again. He had thought it kind that they finally be able to rest, and yet the person who was responsible for all of it was given a clean slate and another life? 

It wasn't fair, and it wasn't right. 

He remembered they had said that she was a different person, that she had helped save people on alien planets, but she had abandoned them. He remembered that they said that her return and everything after hadn't been the real her, that she was taken over by darkness, or whatever, but still, that didn't make it fair. 

Andromeda continued, but he only listened half-heartedly to her reports on the new Liera. She seemed to know what he was thinking, however, and tried to explain again how Enyo wasn't "Enya", finally stopping beside him. He looked back into her cerulean eyes, giving her the attention she asked for, despite the bitterness he held towards the topic of the conversation. He didn't mean to come off as sullen - especially not to her - but he couldn't help it. Not with everything that had happened. Not after learning of everyone who had died and had not been given the second chance that Enyo had. 

"I'm glad she could have been that for you," he replied half-heartedly, but then the rest of what she had said clicked into place. Why she had been so insistent on telling him that Enyo had been good, that all she wanted was to be happy, about how she was being raised to be a soldier for the light side; she was subtly preparing him for the possibility that the rehabilitation might not work, and that, one day, Enyo might return to finish what she had started. Fear struck his heart and he couldn't help losing her eyes to glance back down the stairs at the small population he had managed to recover. Each of them believed in their futures now; they believed the danger to be over, and that they had but to rebuild and their lives would be safe. He had dared to give them that dream - he had, thinking that there was no way Enyo could return once dead, and he had seen her die with his very eyes. And now... 

He looked back at her and nodded. "I won't let it happen again," he stated, a promise. "I won't let her cause that kind of destruction to this place ever again. I'll fight for Argive, I'll fight for my country and my planet," his lips twitched into a smile, "And so long as her curse holds, I have a chance at defeating her, no matter when she comes back." He looked back up at the castle, not too far head or above them now. "Thank you for telling me, Andromeda; I thought she was dead for good; I would never have known to prepare for her otherwise. If she's just an infant, we'll have time to finish cleaning up this mess before we have to worry about it, right?" He laughed nervously, unable to help imagining killing the last Androktsiai only to turn around and find hundreds more. ... will the ones that they had burned or buried come back to serve her? He frowned, obviously worried, wondering what other precautions they should take with the bodies to attempt to ensure that they really were at peace now. He didn't want to maim them - their families had already gone through so much...

She watched his expression change, from confusion to disbelief, from unsettled to downright troubled… she knew that this news wasn’t as good for him as it was for her. She tried seeing it from his perspective, from what he knew about her Enya, and understood why he would view her warily, as an unknown stranger who had only ever brought death and destruction to her planet. Maybe someday she would tell him the real story… the one Enya had shared with her on that jail cell, about why she left, about what the people of her planet had done to her… about why it felt like the only choice. But right now wasn’t the time for that. It would feel like she was forcing him to understand her point of view and some stories could only be experienced, not told.

Seeing him vow to protect this planet, though… for a moment it was like the light shifted and she could imagine seeing a crown on his head. She understood now why his people wanted him to lead them. His heart was certainly in it, and he would be a great king for them, there was no doubt about it. She felt safe in the knowledge that this kingdom would have him, that she might have inadvertently installed a good leader on its throne, and a sense of peace that her decision to protect him might have been for the best after all.

She didn’t argue with his way of thinking, about how he would need to prepare for Enya’s second coming as if it was another apocalypse, because she was almost certain that would never happen, but she also knew she had no way of making him believe that. She knew she couldn’t 100% believe that either; the Crone had mentioned about how Chaos was still in baby Liera, or traces of it anyway, and that she could still grow up to be one way or another. But wasn’t that true with everyone? Did everyone not have a piece of darkness in them?

It was their choices that made them who they were, and she and Achelois and the others would make sure Enya made the right ones this time around.

“You have plenty of time,” she reassured him instead. And if we have any say in it, you’ll have forever to do so.

“Hey, listen,” she touched his arm instinctively, wanting to draw him away from his worries, wanting to straighten out the creases on his forehead as he evidently thought about the future and all of its uncertainties. “I think they’re lucky to have you,” she said sincerely. “They all believe in you, you know. You can do this. You can return this city to its former glory… and the rest of us will help protect it from the outside. You always have us… You’ll always have me. If you ever need anything. This was… part of you ending up here is my fault, so you never have to shoulder that burden alone. I feel partially responsible, so as long as I’m around, I will never abandon you in your time of need. Consider it a promise.”

She swallowed and added, “Someone told me… that you should be the new king. Speaking of which, who was leading this place before Enyo came?”

Her reassurances washed over him like the current above a rock stuck in the seafloor - that is, they didn't stick. Plenty of time sounded good, but really, though, 13 years? 15? 20? That was less than a generation, and with all the lives lost - It was true that barely any children had died in this attack, so they would be able to rise and defend their planet with him, but there would be none to replace them, should --

She touched him. 

Static electricity burst through his body at her touch - or something very much like electricity - and all his worries melted away as her warmth spread through him. Instantly he relaxed, and yet tensed up all over again, his heart hammering in his chest. He dared not to move, conscious all over again about how he was probably sweaty - or, if the breeze had dried his sweat, all gritty and salty underneath her perfectly white glove and the no doubt perfect hands beneath. He followed her hand up her arm and shoulders and neck to her face, and it hit him yet again.

Andromeda was here. 

Andromeda, her eyes the shades of ocean pools, her hair the color of seafoam, the very woman whose visage had helped keep him focused during the dark days after she had left, the idea of whom what helped him keep fighting back, despite the horrors he had come across. She was here. She had kept her promise to him, and in that instant he wanted nothing more than to do what he had imagined a week ago, what he had talked himself out of by way of reasoning it only happened in tales. 

Her words enveloped him, her voice captivating him from the moment she said that they were lucky to have him - not because of their praise, as he was just doing what anyone in his position would do - but because she thought so. Her words bolstered him, reassuring him and smoothing over the doubts that had silently crept into him with the news that Enyo could return. He felt stronger, more put-together - 'You'll always have me.' - until she said that. Butterflies exploded in his stomach, overriding senses to make it feel like he was flying, or falling, with her assurances that she would be with him through this. That he could count on her, that he wouldn't be alone with this burden. 

Did she mean physically...? 

Heat rose through him, his head exploding all at once in trying to build up and tear down ideas that she was trying to say that she was going to stay on Enyalius with him. His heart leapt at the chance, but he couldn't really believe that - she had her own world, and was apparently a Princess, and --

'Someone told me... that you should be the new king.' His eyes wavered between each of hers. Methodios must have said something to her, but he hadn't - he didn't - but if she thought he should - but -- Thankfully, her question was something that he could answer. He had barely moved since the moment she had touched him, so when he tried to answer her, his voice was stuck in his throat and his body all but locked in place. He shook his head a bit to clear it, and a short history tumbled from his lips. "The old King's name was Lysandros - Liera had put him on the throne when they freed the city from Kreon. Lysandros had one son - Makarios - who had one son - Gregorios - who had been my age. All three were killed; the former two in the palace, the latter on the border. To our knowledge, the entire family was wiped out. We - uh," he paused, wondering if he should even say it, but did anyway. "We saw Lysandros the other day; his body is waiting for us to clear the Hall of Kings for a proper burial." 

He glanced up to the palace and quietly added, "Thank you for your support, Andromeda. I never would have gotten this far without you, and knowing that you'll be there means a lot to me. Honestly, though, I don't know if I'd be the best choice for King. I'm inexperienced, I don't know how to do the treaties and all that stuff - there's bound to be others who would do better at the job then me." He laughed, suddenly seeing a similarity between himself and the pre-teen Liera, looking away from the structure above. "But wouldn't mom've been proud." 

He looked back at her, and his stomach jumped again, in a weird, nice way. "So, uh, how's your --" he was going to ask mom but he remembered earlier how she said she didn't have a good relationship with her family, and blundered into changing it at the last second -- "planet?" Feeling like he had garbled the entire thing, he asked again, crossing his arms in an attempt to look casual, "How's your plan-- What's your planet like?"

She kind of sort of noticed that Nikos had frozen up, so she casually dropped her hand back to her side, wondering if the contact had had something to do with it, again feeling very self-conscious and very aware of everything Kadera had relayed to her.

She listened to him, feeling concerned over the fact that the royal blood had been wiped out—he’d said killed, but he made it sound like it all happened at the same time, so had Enyo…? There was something ironically cruel in the fact that, after installing the first king on the throne for the sake of her people, Enya had then gone on and killed him and his entire line herself. The more she heard about the details of what exactly happened here, the more upsetting it was, and the more she understood why Nikos was so afraid of Enyo.

“Right, that’s… unfortunate,” she commented lamely, wondering if they had a procedure for an election or whatever now. But then again, if Liera had put the previous king on his throne, maybe anyone could be king. After all, it seemed people were on board with the idea that Nikos should be one.

“You could always learn about all that,” she replied to his comment about not having the necessary education. He’d already won the hearts of his people, the only thing he could not learn to do. Everything else could be trained or studied. He looked wistful when he spoke about his mom, and it warmed her heart. She felt envious, too, that he had that kind of bond that she’d lost with his mother, feeling the familiar pang of loneliness and bitterness in her heart. He made it sound as if his mother had passed, but she didn’t want to ask to confirm.

Then he suddenly changed the subject, albeit in an oddly clumsy way. She smiled uncertainly and wondered if maybe she should ask about that queenly business soon.

“My planet is okay. We actually cleared it of Chaos influence a little while before I came here. But it’s okay now. You should visit sometime when you’re not so busy. I would love to show you around. It’s actually not too different from here, just with loads more ocean, and entire worlds beneath the water.”

Technology-wise, it seemed that Andromeda was only slightly more advanced than Enyalius, but they did have a lot of magical wonders she’d love to show him, like the underwater kingdom of the merpeople. She wondered what he’d think of that.

“I mean… if you want to visit, that is,” she amended, wondering if that sounded too presumptuous.

He could always learn about all that. He glanced over at her, her words echoing Methodios's sentiments, and almost felt like his fate in that regard had been sealed. He didn't really know how he felt about potentially becoming king, just that it rested odd and heavy on his mind whenever it came up, and he liked nothing else than to push the notion aside, and Andromeda's description of her world helped in that immensely. 

Worlds beneath the water? He had often wondered what lay deep under the sea, and certainly there were stories of creatures best left to dreams or nightmares beneath the waves on a stormy day, but he had only seen the ocean a handful of times, and had never been beyond the shoreline. And to be offered the chance to see her world... he thought she might've been joking at first, in the way that visitors often offered the chance to return a favor without ever expecting the favor to be asked up, but when she mentioned it again, with her voice trailing away, he looked over immediately. She seemed slightly unsure of herself, and he couldn't imagine why. He quickly moved to assure her.

 "I would love to visit!" he blurted out, completely cool, right. He grimaced, but continued on, attempting to rephase it so he didn't sound like an overexcited kid, "I would like to visit your kingdom - a world of water would be interesting to see - but I have to warn you that I cannot swim." He had added the last reflexively, and then turned around and fell neatly onto the stair, sitting and facing out towards the North End of the city, "And it will probably be a while before all this is cleaned up." He moved his hand vaguely over the city, thinking about how this delay may put the idea completely out of her head. It could take months or years to clean up Enyo's mess, and leaving any time before the task was complete was completely irresponsible. 

He rested his elbows on his knees, the fingers on his hands lacing together lazily as thoughts of far off worlds of water were replaced by the growingly mundane task of clearing Argive.

She had to suppress a smile as he said, perhaps a tad too enthusiastically, that he wanted to visit. Then her expression changed into surprise. “You can’t swim?” It was simply unheard of in Andromeda, so every time someone from elsewhere said that to her, it always felt jarring, like someone saying the sky wasn’t blue. “Well, I suppose I could always teach you.”

She sat down beside him as he fell onto the stair, and looked towards the city before them. She could almost sense his burden—the feeling of responsibility that she, too, carried with her. The one that came with being a ruler, or a future one at the very least. She could only get away with leaving so much because her father and her mother were still on the throne, but if they weren’t… She didn’t know how she could still have her adventures and not feel guilty or constantly pulled mentally back home.

“Hey, so… I heard a funny thing when I first got here,” she said as the thoughts of kings and queens played in her mind. This might lead to an awkward direction, but she wanted—needed—to clear up some expectations and straighten things out so that there weren’t any misunderstandings.

“It seemed some people thought—well, maybe it’s just the children, I don’t know—but they think…” she cleared her throat, finding this harder than she expected. “I think there might have been a misunderstanding because they think…” No. She couldn’t get the word out.

Finally, she gave up. “I think the word ‘marriage’ was mentioned… or proposed… in regards to, er… us. Would you happen to know the source of that rumor?”

She braced herself for the answer, keeping her sight straight ahead and nowhere near him, her entire body suddenly feeling hotter than it had any business being now that the sun had almost set.

She could teach him how to swim? He half smiled at the prospect. That'd be a nerve-wracking experience. 

She sat down beside him on the stair and he could feel her being so close to him, without having to look, extra sensitive to her presence. The breeze wafted past, carrying her soft scent, and his secret smile widened - she even smelled like a fresh ocean breeze. It was nice, in an anxious sort of way, just sitting next to her, enjoying the quiet of the removed city and the final light of the day as the sun set to the west. Her voice drew his attention, but not in the sharp manner of before; he was interested to hear what she had heard since she landed, but wasn't too concerned about it. He was almost relaxed, though he was growing increasingly curious as she reworded and rephrased, but he weathered his curiosity well - she had seen him at his worst, so there was nothing he had to specifically hide from her ---

EXCEPT THAT.

Immediately every muscle in his body tensed, like a rabbit caught in a trap, and the notion of simply leaning so far forward that he could roll down the stairs and away from the problem was the first option that came to mind, but he couldn't give in. Instead he stared forward and barely breathed, going over his options:
a) confess he likes her and would like to attempt to court her when all this mess is cleaned up, and admit that while he had heard the rumors and had refuted them, he hadn't strongly refuted them.
b) Deny it. Deny it hard. Act like you've never heard of that and you're shocked it's going around. 

Option b. Definitely option b. 

"Hahahahaaaa," he laughed, his voice higher and straining, "Kids! Silly, silly kids - " It was true - he hadn't started the rumor, the kids had. Or the adults did? Someone did. Everyone did. But the words had never left his mouth, so it wasn't a lie - "They- uh - " his voice had gone dry, and he coughed to clear his throat, balling up his hand to cover his mouth, still refusing to look at her. "They heard what I said about you and thought we'd, you know, get married, like in their stories. The Hero and the Beautiful Princess, you know?" He choked, catching his own words, and dared glance over at her. She was beautiful - there was no doubt she was beautiful, but he had never actually told her he thought she was beautiful and his stomach twisted in knots over whether she'd think he had just complimented her or if he was just quoting what the kids had said, but she was unreadable to him, so he looked forward, his hands now clutching at the stair on either side of him, and shrugged tightly, "Just kids being kids," he finished, looking aside. 

"Did it bother you?" he asked, his face glowing red, "I'm sorry if it did."