[center][h2][color=lightblue]Guiding Light[/color] and [color=yellow]Dreaded Venture,[/color] [color=orangered]Part 2[/color][/h2] [hr] [i][color=lightblue]The child of light looks at the scattered stars in the night sky, and wonders; "How can I turn them into constellations?"[/color][/i] -- Alto walked the length of the balcony, watching the going-ons below. A million thoughts drifted through his mind. A million possibilities, anxieties, worries. What the hell was he really doing here, when there was more work to be done? His whole life had been obligations on top of obligations. But now he could see something he truly wished to do, and he wasn't sure if it would even make a difference. The Zodiac Council. He didn't know whether to call it bold, or just laughable. What would it really achieve? He had no idea. It would be easy to implement it. He just had to reach out and sign the documents willing it into existence. But if he did such a thing, if he did implement it and it failed to win the hearts and minds of his students, then it would be better never to have tried it in the first place. Such was the nature of faith. If he failed the trust that he would build up with such an initiative, would he ever be able to earn it again? He paused in his advance and turned to fully take in the view of the ballroom below. He didn't let the lights and sounds distract him from the scenery down below. He knew in that crowd, he would recognize them. The people from that day. The ones he'd passed by on the stands, faces stricken with terror as he made his way towards the battle in front of him. Always… always, that was where he had been going. Simply the next battle, and the next one after that. Vanquishing all of the obstacles in his path. But how could one hope to vanquish the darkness of the night sky? He relaxed his grip on the railing as he returned to his journey forward. That's right… forward was the only way to go now. If he wanted to unite the stars, he first had to reach them. Even if he didn't know the way and he had to head into the darkness to find it, he was the Child of Light. He would find it, no matter what it takes. [hr] [color=orangered][i]The child of darkness looked at the same stars and saw only the broken ones. And all she thought was; "How can I make them whole?"[/i][/color] -- [b][color=yellow]"Well, I do have to say that I didn't think you had it in you."[/color][/b] King said, smiling his usual smile to a certain pair of figures. They were twins it seemed. Blonde hair, blue eyes. One looked older than him just by her countenance. The way she walked, the way she stood, the way she composed herself in front of someone who was ostensibly a stranger. The other one was about what you would expect, hiding behind her 'older' sister. [b]"I don't know what you're talking about."[/b] She said after a time. King wasn't buying it. Whatever 'it' was. At least he was being a bit subtle about it. [b][color=yellow]"Even if you don't drop the act, I'm going to keep talking and pretend like you know what I'm talking about."[/color][/b] King said. [color=yellow][b]"It doesn't really matter to me, either way."[/b][/color] The older sister let out a sigh, as her hair color changed to pure midnight black, and her face seemed to ripple and take on different features entirely. Or perhaps just their normal features. Behind her the younger sister did the same thing. [b][color=orangered]"Speak your words, King."[/color][/b] Clara Deimos Erdrigan said. [b][color=orangered]"They better be worth the time. Enough at least, for a night of peace to be interrupted so."[/color][/b] [b][color=yellow]"I'd honestly prefer if you weren't listening in on this too, Ria,"[/color][/b] King called over his shoulder. [color=lightskyblue][i]"Ah… shit."[/i][/color] Ria cursed to herself. She had been watching the exchange from behind a potted plant. She had gotten curious and decided she wanted to know who it was, that King of all people was pressed to find them. And find them why? And who would it be but Clara fucking Deimos Erdrigan? It was, honestly, so pretentious to use a middle name in normal conversation. She had to add 'fucking' in the middle to avoid gagging. Not even her family did it most of the time, but she hated it when they did. She'd never even met Clara face to face, and she thought she would hate her too. But as Ria sheepishly stepped out from behind her hiding place, she was surprised that Clara looked… normal up close. Just a normal dress (or dresses, in this case). Not too made up, because she was likely relying on whatever magic she had used to disguise herself for that. She was pinching the bridge of her nose, shoulders slumped forward as her next breath surged up into her chest and was let out as another sigh. [b][color=orangered]"…Ariel, how did she get past the sentries?"[/color][/b] She said with a pained expression. [b][color=firebrick]"I-, I-, I'm not sure…"[/color][/b] Her little sister stammered out. [b][color=firebrick]"Um, they should still be up, h-how did you…"[/color][/b] [color=lightskyblue]"I saw them."[/color] Ria replied curtly. [color=lightskyblue]"I calculated their trajectories and blind spots. It was easy to slip past once I knew."[/color] She kept her reply short and sweet. It would be bad to let Erdrigan know more than was necessary. …Not that there was much to know, but if she didn't keep it controlled she might let something slip. …Not that there was anything to let slip. Clara levelled her gaze with Ria's uncovered eye. Once the wariness went away, there was a quiet determination that she could see. Her Divine Eye was the one that was out right now, and she saw that Clara's eyes were unwavering. There was always those people who were so proud of keeping eye contact with you. Never mind that it bordered on creepy (well, not just bordered, let's be real here). But even for them, her Divine Eye could see all of their little tremors. It was a rarity to see someone's eyes be completely still, like hers. To be so clear and focused, like hers. No matter who it was, the eyes never lied. Eyes were their own little beasts, after all. It was possible to control them by giving them something to feed on. So she wondered, maybe not for the first time, but she was curious what determination it was that fed her. King's determination was so sporadic, so [i]batshit[/i] that she was starting to believe he really was an alien. This was… a change, she supposed she would put it. Getting treated as an equal for once, was… nice. [b][color=orangered]"You're quite the formidable person. It's nice to meet you Ria Koehler."[/color][/b] She said. [center]--[/center] [b][color=yellow]"Welp, that went pretty well."[/color][/b] King said, sitting down next to Ria on the stairs. Ria didn't say a word back to him. Not for any one particular reason. She couldn't be around while they had their little talk, so she'd trudged back out to the stairs to stew on it. It's not like she really had to know in the first place. [b][color=yellow]"I'm guessing you want to know what happened over there. Well, it's not anything [i]too[/i] complicated."[/color][/b] King said. [b][color=yellow]"She just wants to kill her dad, that's all. Need to take care of something along the way, but that's the end goal."[/color][/b] …She felt like she was on a sitcom for a second. What was she supposed to say to that? Was that meant to be funny? It was impossible to tell with King's expression. She could barely remember a time where he didn't smile. Even in sombre moments, she supposed. [color=lightskyblue]"…Are you serious?"[/color] She asked him flatly. [color=yellow][b]"Yeah, pretty serious."[/b][/color] He said. He took off his crown and rubbed the back of his head. Before getting up to stretch his shoulders and letting out a yawn. Ria had never seen him do that before. It was such an odd thing to say, but she'd really never seen him do [i]any[/i] of that before. As he finished yawning, he sat back down twirling the crown on his finger. [b][color=yellow]"There's a lot to that part."[/color][/b] He said. [b][color=yellow]"Not really my place to explain. Not anybody's place to explain but hers."[/color][/b] So he was being tactful for once. They spent a few more moments in uneasy silence. Well once-a-[i]fucking[/i]-gain, it was only uneasy for her. King was smiling and whistling without a care in the world. [color=lightskyblue]"Is this going to involve the rest of the Vigilantes?"[/color] She sighed. It was the only question she could ask. [b][color=yellow]"Well it's going to be all that… [i]above board[/i] so to speak, so that's probably a 'no' for most of us."[/color][/b] King said. [b][color=yellow]"Are you interested?"[/color][/b] And he [i]still[/i] wasn't telling her about what it was they were doing. [color=lightskyblue]"No. I'm not some adrenaline junkie who needs a fix every time they show up in public."[/color] Ria said, getting up onto her feet. [color=lightskyblue]"I'm not like you. I'm not sticking my neck out for no reason."[/color] [b][color=yellow]"Yeah, that's a fair point. I'm not expecting you to, either."[/color][/b] King said with a hearty laugh. [b][color=yellow]"I already have an upfront payment ready for you, if you want to hear it."[/color][/b] [color=lightskyblue]"…?"[/color] Ria looked at King, puzzled, as he pulled out his phone and showed her the screen. [b][color=yellow]"Check it out, [i]I got Clara's phone number![/i]"[/color][/b] King said. [sub][color=yellow]"[i]I got Clara's phone number![/i]"[/color][/sub] [sub][sub][color=yellow]"Check it out, [i]I got Clara's phone number![/i]"[/color][/sub][/sub] That last line King said reverberated around in her head for what felt like [i]minutes[/i]. She felt her soul leave her body, but her body wasn't having it and yanked her back to reality, whereupon she immediately released a massive spit-take, before running up to King and grabbing him by the collar. [color=lightskyblue]"WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT HER NUMBER?!?!"[/color] She said as she started to shake him violently. King couldn't do anything but laugh, and laugh. [b][color=yellow]"I don't know, why [i]would[/i] you want it?!"[/color][/b] King was still laughing, even more uproariously than before. [color=lightskyblue]"[i]I DON'T want it![/i]"[/color] Ria shouted. She would've choked King right then and there if the other-partygoers hadn't started to hear them. She was the type to say she didn't really care about attracting attention, which was mostly true. But the [i]wrong[/i] kind of attention. It didn't matter what the people watching her saw, but if word got back to her family in a way that wasn't the right way… it would be HELL for her. So she put him down and dusted him off, before putting her arms square on his shoulders, looking him in his sunglasses and saying. [color=lightskyblue]"Let's take this somewhere else…"[/color] She said with a cold, deathly smile. [color=lightskyblue]"Shall we?"[/color] [center]--[/center] [color=lightskyblue]"I can't believe you, King."[/color] Ria huffed as she paced back and forth. [color=lightskyblue]"You have to be out of your fucking mind, this has got to be the stupidest [i]fucking[/i] thing you've ever done."[/color] [b][color=yellow]"Ha, the stupidest? Really?"[/color][/b] King replied coolly. [b][color=yellow]"Didn't we decide to try to fight a guy who could rip open dimensions a month ago?"[/color][/b] [color=lightskyblue]"…Alright, second most."[/color] Ria conceded. [b][color=yellow]"Is it even the fourth? I've done a lot of stupid shit."[/color][/b] King laughed to himself. [b][color=yellow]"Why're you so hung up on it [i]this[/i] time? What's different about Clara?"[/color][/b] That's right, why was she so hung up about it? It was really, [i]really[/i] stupid, but she never usually let this kind of stuff get to her. If it was that easy for her to crack, she would've strangled King years ago. But she didn't. She was here, now. All she had to do was calm down, and- [b][color=yellow]"Oh hey, she just texted me,"[/color][/b] King said. [color=lightskyblue]"…What?!"[/color] Ria said. In the short moment of clarity she'd just had, she'd reasoned through a few things and she assumed first and foremost that King had gotten Clara's number to help further their work arrangement more than anything else. Was it… not for that? [b][color=yellow]"It just says: "…are you doing alright down there? We heard the commotion from all the way up here.""[/color][/b] King relayed. Ria creaked, [i]creaked[/i] her head upwards, and sure enough, there they were. Clara and her sister Ariel, peering down through a window at them. A look of genuine concern on their faces. She felt her face contorting, but more and more was the warmth rushing to her cheeks. She hid her face in her hands and breathed, but there were so many thoughts rushing through her mind that she couldn't make sense of them all. All she was compeltely aware of was King laughing the hardest he'd laughed all night. …But she felt good. If she thought about it in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't like her everyday life with her family. It wasn't like school, or most days with King. It was like anything not to do with school, and most other days with the Vigilantes. It was just… good. She felt good. [b][color=yellow]"You know originally I did call it a payment as a joke,"[/color][/b] King said with an impish smile. [b][color=yellow]"She told me to give it to you anyway. It wasn't all about work. Although it was [i]mostly[/i] going to be about work. But still!"[/color][/b] [b][color=yellow]"If you wanna cover for yourself, tell it to her,"[/color][/b] King said as he jumped to his feet, while motioning over his shoulder at where Clara surely was. Ria kept her face covered because she was sure Clara was still watching from above. [sub][color=lightskyblue]"…You set me up."[/color][/sub] Ria finally managed to squeak out. [b][color=yellow]"Did I?!"[/color][/b] King smirked. -- [i]The party would go on, long into the night. The little stars, continuing their journey, towards one another, away from one another. Soon a new chapter will begin. But for some, tonight remains sweet.[/i] [/center]