03-20-2010, 04:55 PM
“Because I love you!”
The words rang through the water park, cascading as beautiful sound waves over the chlorinated pools. The pair exchanged just a few more brief words, culminating in a rather anticlimactic parting of ways. The girl in the blue dress - Sophia - immediately stormed away, leaving a bewildered Kaden standing next to a red-haired girl, who he was soon led to believe was, in fact, Belle Hibiki, transformed into a female. Hibiki’s intrusion into the courier’s encounter with the priestess was an apt distraction, giving Sophia just enough time to slip from the courier’s radar and disappear from his sight, wandering quickly to the entrance - or exit, depending on your perspective - of the water park.
She followed Kaden’s directions to the letter, eventually reaching the head of the water park, where a good-sized crowd of people meandered through the carnival, playing games, shopping in Shop Town, or heading off to ride some of the carnival rides. She felt the need to do none of that.
Meanwhile, Juno sat idly on a bench just outside of the arcade, examining the PAGER device he’d been miraculously given. He searched the people on the list - it was a good list, from what he saw, with plenty of impressive names, some of which he remembered quite clearly from Friend or Foe; Sophia, of course, and Kaden, as well as Sage, but also Xenia - whom he’d shared his last event with - and Piper Juunanagou. And Ashe; the bubblegum-pink haired girl in the picture looked distinctly familiar, and it didn’t take the rescue worker too long to remember that she had been with Sage in the middle of the town square when they’d rescued them from Balrog.
Looking at these familiar people was… unsettling, at best. It reminded Juno of how disconnected he’d been from the outside world over the past few months, moving back into the light only just a week or so ago, when he’d joined up with the Galactic Rescue Agency, looking to help those who he might’ve had a hand in hurting. It reminded him, most of all, of the distinct loss he felt for himself - he remembered Sophia and Kaden, Kaden and Piper, and Sage and Ashe, all clearly forming close bonds with one another, that of a true friendship. He was missing that.
He couldn’t let that bother him too much, though. He knew these people quite well - specifically Sophia, Kaden, and Sage - and he wasn’t about to let them just escape from his life. Even if he did dislike Kaden, you needed people to knock your ego down a peg, to get in a fight with. No life was complete without an argument. Sophia was a friend, the only person he’d ever truly trusted. He respected her, and he really liked her as a person; he hoped that same friendship that they had quickly struck up during Friend or Foe remained. And Sage; well, Sage was an intriguing story. He felt protective of her, for one reason or another, though he had tried to push back any romantic inklings he may have had.
But Sage wasn’t here anymore; well, she was here, in the game, just not in the carnival. For one reason or another, Gamer had decided that she wasn’t being entertaining enough, and had eliminated her.
And Kaden - well, he couldn’t just randomly walk up to Kaden and start talking to him, he didn’t think. It wouldn’t have been the best idea. Kaden was nice, yeah, but he could be… overbearing, and based on their previous experience with one another, which had been acidic and all but absolutely hostile, he wasn’t sure if the courier would take too kindly to his presence. Kaden was the type of guy that Juno would work with in a tight spot, and probably do well with (if he could keep Kaden’s mind off of pointless things, such as morals) but he wouldn’t want to just strike up a conversation with him out of nowhere.
He and Kaden could never be bar buddies, to say the least.
But his problems or lack thereof with other people were not his primary concern right now, and he knew it, so why did he persist in thinking of this lackluster subject? Did it bother him that much that he didn’t really have that many friends to speak of? Maybe. But whether it did or not, he couldn’t focus on that right now - he had a game to win, after all.
Gamer. He was enigmatic, at best, but based upon what he’d seen of Kill Town so far, Juno could chalk up his maturity level to about as far as he could throw a stick. He supposed the guy might’ve been somewhere around his age - maybe younger - due to his distinct obsession with videogames. There was bright side, however. While the kid was obviously a technological genius, he seemed to be pretty stupid when it came to everything else. At least, at first glance - Juno couldn’t be too sure. After all, “Age of Wyrms” was totally not the name of the game. “Dragon Age.”
Nevertheless, Age of Wyrms had gone surprisingly well for the hybrid. He’d had the accent that made him sound exceedingly more feminine, sure, but he’d gotten over it. And he’d met some very interesting people, reconnecting with others, as well.
His conversation with Xenia had been the most notable moment of the ride for him personally, with Kazuya’s demon revelation coming in at a close second. But the blonde bombshell had almost trusted him, he thought. He had seen that look in her eye when she’d asked him that - that slight sliver of hope that he wasn’t just being the hormonal jerk that he had probably been chalked up to back in Friend or Foe.
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
Yes. Yes, he did care about Sage. She was a friend, and as a friend, he knew he had to be there for her, for her to have someone to rely on. It didn’t even matter to him anymore whether or not he could get her to be interested in him romantically. He just wanted to be there for her whenever she needed to. Above all things, he had her back, he wanted to protect her.
A noise rung out from the water park, but it wasn’t loud enough for Juno to make out anything it said. It distracted him enough from his thoughts, though, that he finally had to reconnect himself. He stood and glanced at the middle-finger badge, chuckling inwardly at the slight sense of humor Kaden had, and then he walked.
Wandering aimlessly through a carnival might not have seemed like the ideal recreational activity, but when you had little to no choice in the matter, it didn’t seem so bad. Then, there were all of the intriguing people you could run into - so, it slowly became a more attractive proposition the longer Juno was stuck here. Oftentimes, however, the onyx-haired hybrid and his fellow Kill Town contestants were too enthralled by their own thoughts to notice others. For example, under normal circumstances, Juno would’ve immediately zeroed in on the blonde-haired priestess. As it were, he was too busy basking in his own glory.
The game had begun, and it felt… good. He let his fingers trace the edges of the vulgar badge he’d Coveted from Kaden, and smirked victoriously. The blonde courier probably hadn’t even known he was at the carnival prior to this moment, and now, he had announced his presence in one of the boldest ways he knew possible - letting the delivery boy know he wasn’t the only one playing the game.
That wasn’t to say, though, that he was here solely for the purpose of playing the game; no, his main objective had been, and continued to be, getting out of here alive. If he had to step on some toes along the way to do that, however, the obvious choice was Kaden. Sure, Kaden was a good guy, morally; but he could be bigheaded, arrogant, and rash. And maybe Juno was a bit bitter - after all, he and the red-jacket sporting man hadn’t been on the best of terms. And Juno always felt like he was fighting Kaden for Sophia’s attention - no matter how much of a losing battle that may have been. He had known it from the moment he had seen them together - perhaps the spark hadn’t been as bright back during Friend or Foe, but it was still there, and Juno was adept at figuring those things out.
Kaden…
He paused for a second. That word rung in his head, but it wasn’t his thought. He turned on his heel - the voice that had spoken the word was obvious enough. It was Sophia’s voice, he knew, but it hadn’t come from any one place, but rather, from all directions. Something was going on; her voice sounded distinctly on edge.
He craned his head from one shoulder to another, surveying his surroundings like a radar looking for a miniscule blip as he searched for the priestess, whom he originally thought would be dressed in her traditional white robes, blonde hair neck-length and flowing down her cheeks. No white-garbed priestess was to be found, unfortunately, no matter where he looked - whether it be Shop Town or the hotel, the Ferris wheel or the log ride. His eyes drifted to the entrance of the water park, but an instant recognition of Sophia did not greet him.
Abruptly, his eyes focused upon the only blonde woman in sight, standing under the sign that advertised the water park. She wore a shapely blue dress, and had long, blonde hair, much more flowing than Sophia’s had been at their last meeting. As she gazed into the water park introspectively, there was nothing on her that denoted her as the priestess he searched for. But when the turned her head towards him, her face was unmistakably that of Sophia.
She stood at the water park’s entrance, arms crossed defensively in front of her chest as she urgently searched her surroundings. Something was troubling her, and she seemed to be looking for an escape route, however conspicuous she might’ve been. Juno paused for a minute, and watched as her eyes glazed over him - she didn’t notice him, thankfully; or, perhaps she forced herself not to notice him. It did seem as if she wanted to be alone; she didn’t seem to be that pleased. Which, suicidal as the onyx-haired boy was, only made him want to pester her with a polite greeting all the more - so he took a few steps toward the water park, and then stopped suddenly, reevaluating his motives.
What did he want from this encounter? Did he just want the satisfaction of knowing that he knew someone here? Was he going to start flirting with her again? No, he knew he couldn’t do that - he couldn’t just waltz up after she’d been dead for almost a year and start courting her. Besides, she was clearly more interested in Kaden than in him. Friendship seemed the best course of action - if she’d even go for that.
“Sophia,” he muttered to himself, convinced that his motivations were genuine and that he really, truly just was happy to see her alive, and wanted her to know that he still cared about her, in a strictly platonic fashion, of course. He quickened his stride, letting it become more and more powerful as it carried him to one of the only people in the North Quadrant that he felt he could consider a friend.
He had often asked himself what would’ve become of him if he hadn’t forgiven Sophia after she had given into the darker aspects of her personality in Rosemary’s Game. He probably wouldn’t be in this mess nearly as thick as he was, first things first. When you knew somebody who was on the inside of all of this world-saving stuff, it usually ended up sucking you in as well, and Sophia had been his vehicle to being introduced to Kaden and Piper, king and queen of the world-saving business. Besides; how could he not forgive her? He respected her for what she had done; even if he had felt a little dejected at first, she proved herself not nearly as mentally weak as Kaden had.
“Sophia!” he called out to her, slipping his badge in his pocket. He broke into a run, attempting to catch up with the priestess as she quickened her pace.
Leave me alone, he heard faintly, once again Sophia’s voice, but once again from all directions, as before. Just leave me alone, all of you… It was pleading, not to him, or to anyone in particular, but to the hostile world around her. She wasn’t a very happy person at this moment, and that made Juno all the more curious to figure out what was wrong so that he could help her. That was what friends did, right? They helped each other?
“Sophia!” he yelled again, and finally reached the blonde, placing a hand on her shoulder. She spun on her heel and clutched his wrist, bringing up a clenched fist and letting her eyes do the talking. The fist began to fly towards him, but for a moment, the hybrid’s agility didn’t fail him - he caught her fist just before it reached his cheek, quickly spouting: “Sophia, calm down, it’s me!”
“J-Juno?” she stammered, and her grip on his wrist loosened until her hand dropped. The hybrid released her fist as she began to forcefully wrench herself free of his hold, and she stepped back away from him, slightly in shock that the onyx-haired boy was here but more so still reeling from whatever personal thing had just occurred. She bit her lip, frustrated, and started to turn away. “Leave me alone,” she said simply, beginning to walk quickly away.
“Sophia, what’s up with you?” Juno asked genuinely, concerned for her as he supposed a friend would be. She ignored him, continuing to walk, though not as quickly as she had before their encounter. His mind raced - he couldn’t just let her walk away like this! “What happened with Kaden?” he offered.
The girl stopped in her tracks, her crossed arms slowly unfolding and falling to her side. She placed herself facing him once again, walked up boldly with her back straight and her head held high, and she slapped him - hard - on the cheek. He flinched, grasping the spot of impact. He cursed his Foresight mentally for not seeing that coming beforehand like it had her earlier punch, because he was quite sure that that hurt just as much as the punch would’ve. “Hey, what was that for?!” he sputtered, and she merely scowled.
“Reading my mind,” she spat coldly.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Juno apologized, “I’m not sure how to control it just yet, Sophia.” She loosened her rigid stance, but folded her arms once again to make sure he didn’t get any false impressions. This conversation wasn’t going to last very long, at least not if she got her way. The hybrid knew that no matter what, he could win this battle of wills, and Sophia would not get her way.
“You had better learn how to get out of my head, and quickly,” she replied, tightening her crossed arms. She looked him up and down, fidgeting slightly from the frustration boiling inside of her. “Oh, and my argument with Kaden,” she continued, annoyed, “It’s none of your business.”
“Whether it’s my business or not,” Juno interjected, “I’m not going to let you just walk away, Sophia.”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” she muttered dejectedly, a low rasp in her voice signaling that she meant what she said. Juno refused to give in.
“No,” he stated matter-of-factly, grasping her upper arm as she turned away from him. She jerked her arm away after a brief pause, and turned to face the hybrid, content to entertain one last plea from him. But she refused to look him in the eye. “Come on, Sophia,” he pleaded, but she continued to stare towards the cobblestone ground, “Friend or foe?”
Her eyes flitted up, meeting his briefly. She struggled with herself; it was against her better nature, to give into this. She scowled and turned away from him, though she didn’t break into a full-on speed walking contest like she had before. Rather, she sauntered lazily, and hesitantly, to a nearby bench, sitting down with her back to where Juno would, eventually, sit. The hybrid was smarter than that, though, and he remained standing, moving to where she had to look at him. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Sophia broke it.
“No matter how much you try, I’m not going to tell you,” she said, sadness echoing in her vocal cords, making her voice crack occasionally. She was a strong woman, and Juno respected her greatly for it.
“I know,” he said. Another silence lingered over the pair as they surveyed each other, Sophia finally looking at the boy for an extended period of time. They were each dressed differently than before; heck, they both were built differently. While Juno had found himself slightly more well-versed in the world than he had almost a year ago during Friend or Foe, and he looked it, Sophia only looked more impressive. Her features were more well defined, he noticed upon another glance, though not enough to take away from her feminine qualities. The lines on her face, however, bore the signs of time and hard work, as if she’d been through Hell and back, and to be honest, the hybrid couldn’t convince himself she hadn’t. Her blonde hair was longer, cascading a little ways down her back. The blue dress, however, was the most obvious change; it was very pretty, and it fit her form nicely.
“Nice dress,” Juno complimented her, breking the silence. Sophia’s gaze turned from his coat to his face. “You look pretty hot for someone who… well, someone who just came back to life, and all.”
“Nice of you to say so,” she spat sarcastically, glaring at him. Obviously, this wasn’t the best time for flirting, even if it was only in jest. “Don’t try anything,” she warned him calmly. She seemed to have regained some composure, but was still shaking slightly from whatever had occurred between her and the courier. Strong girl, he reminded himself once again.
“You don’t have to stay here and talk to me if you don’t want to,” Juno told her, sensing the tension.
“I don’t want to,” she said curtly, standing up and beginning to walk away without another word. Juno smirked a bit, chuckling. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder, “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just wondering if you’ve got anyone else to talk to,” Juno muttered, “Without Kaden or Sage, you’re pretty much high and dry. Except for me.”
“And what makes you think I need to talk to anyone?”
“I know you, Sophia,” he told her, “You might not think you do. You’re stubborn, and independent, and I respect those qualities, really, I do. You don’t need anyone to help you when you’re down. But I want to be your friend right now, because like or not, you need one. So, I‘m asking: friend or foe?”
There was a silence as they stared at one another for a moment. Sophia’s blue dress billowed in the wind, and Juno stuck his hands into his coat pockets, smiling at her. Her scowl didn’t move; he obviously hadn’t been able to comfort her much, but at least now she wasn’t being openly acidic or hostile. She had calmed herself enough, he hoped, to speak cordially to him. She turned back toward him, and offered up her hand.
“Friend,” she said, forcing herself to smile a bit before sinking back into a frown, “Just don’t test me, alright, Juno?”
“I wouldn’t even think of it,” he nodded, taking her hand and shaking it. “I’m guessing you’re still not going to tell me what’s wrong, though?” he laughed, releasing his hold on the priestess’s grip.
“Not a chance.”
The words rang through the water park, cascading as beautiful sound waves over the chlorinated pools. The pair exchanged just a few more brief words, culminating in a rather anticlimactic parting of ways. The girl in the blue dress - Sophia - immediately stormed away, leaving a bewildered Kaden standing next to a red-haired girl, who he was soon led to believe was, in fact, Belle Hibiki, transformed into a female. Hibiki’s intrusion into the courier’s encounter with the priestess was an apt distraction, giving Sophia just enough time to slip from the courier’s radar and disappear from his sight, wandering quickly to the entrance - or exit, depending on your perspective - of the water park.
She followed Kaden’s directions to the letter, eventually reaching the head of the water park, where a good-sized crowd of people meandered through the carnival, playing games, shopping in Shop Town, or heading off to ride some of the carnival rides. She felt the need to do none of that.
Meanwhile, Juno sat idly on a bench just outside of the arcade, examining the PAGER device he’d been miraculously given. He searched the people on the list - it was a good list, from what he saw, with plenty of impressive names, some of which he remembered quite clearly from Friend or Foe; Sophia, of course, and Kaden, as well as Sage, but also Xenia - whom he’d shared his last event with - and Piper Juunanagou. And Ashe; the bubblegum-pink haired girl in the picture looked distinctly familiar, and it didn’t take the rescue worker too long to remember that she had been with Sage in the middle of the town square when they’d rescued them from Balrog.
Looking at these familiar people was… unsettling, at best. It reminded Juno of how disconnected he’d been from the outside world over the past few months, moving back into the light only just a week or so ago, when he’d joined up with the Galactic Rescue Agency, looking to help those who he might’ve had a hand in hurting. It reminded him, most of all, of the distinct loss he felt for himself - he remembered Sophia and Kaden, Kaden and Piper, and Sage and Ashe, all clearly forming close bonds with one another, that of a true friendship. He was missing that.
He couldn’t let that bother him too much, though. He knew these people quite well - specifically Sophia, Kaden, and Sage - and he wasn’t about to let them just escape from his life. Even if he did dislike Kaden, you needed people to knock your ego down a peg, to get in a fight with. No life was complete without an argument. Sophia was a friend, the only person he’d ever truly trusted. He respected her, and he really liked her as a person; he hoped that same friendship that they had quickly struck up during Friend or Foe remained. And Sage; well, Sage was an intriguing story. He felt protective of her, for one reason or another, though he had tried to push back any romantic inklings he may have had.
But Sage wasn’t here anymore; well, she was here, in the game, just not in the carnival. For one reason or another, Gamer had decided that she wasn’t being entertaining enough, and had eliminated her.
And Kaden - well, he couldn’t just randomly walk up to Kaden and start talking to him, he didn’t think. It wouldn’t have been the best idea. Kaden was nice, yeah, but he could be… overbearing, and based on their previous experience with one another, which had been acidic and all but absolutely hostile, he wasn’t sure if the courier would take too kindly to his presence. Kaden was the type of guy that Juno would work with in a tight spot, and probably do well with (if he could keep Kaden’s mind off of pointless things, such as morals) but he wouldn’t want to just strike up a conversation with him out of nowhere.
He and Kaden could never be bar buddies, to say the least.
But his problems or lack thereof with other people were not his primary concern right now, and he knew it, so why did he persist in thinking of this lackluster subject? Did it bother him that much that he didn’t really have that many friends to speak of? Maybe. But whether it did or not, he couldn’t focus on that right now - he had a game to win, after all.
Gamer. He was enigmatic, at best, but based upon what he’d seen of Kill Town so far, Juno could chalk up his maturity level to about as far as he could throw a stick. He supposed the guy might’ve been somewhere around his age - maybe younger - due to his distinct obsession with videogames. There was bright side, however. While the kid was obviously a technological genius, he seemed to be pretty stupid when it came to everything else. At least, at first glance - Juno couldn’t be too sure. After all, “Age of Wyrms” was totally not the name of the game. “Dragon Age.”
Nevertheless, Age of Wyrms had gone surprisingly well for the hybrid. He’d had the accent that made him sound exceedingly more feminine, sure, but he’d gotten over it. And he’d met some very interesting people, reconnecting with others, as well.
His conversation with Xenia had been the most notable moment of the ride for him personally, with Kazuya’s demon revelation coming in at a close second. But the blonde bombshell had almost trusted him, he thought. He had seen that look in her eye when she’d asked him that - that slight sliver of hope that he wasn’t just being the hormonal jerk that he had probably been chalked up to back in Friend or Foe.
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
Yes. Yes, he did care about Sage. She was a friend, and as a friend, he knew he had to be there for her, for her to have someone to rely on. It didn’t even matter to him anymore whether or not he could get her to be interested in him romantically. He just wanted to be there for her whenever she needed to. Above all things, he had her back, he wanted to protect her.
A noise rung out from the water park, but it wasn’t loud enough for Juno to make out anything it said. It distracted him enough from his thoughts, though, that he finally had to reconnect himself. He stood and glanced at the middle-finger badge, chuckling inwardly at the slight sense of humor Kaden had, and then he walked.
Wandering aimlessly through a carnival might not have seemed like the ideal recreational activity, but when you had little to no choice in the matter, it didn’t seem so bad. Then, there were all of the intriguing people you could run into - so, it slowly became a more attractive proposition the longer Juno was stuck here. Oftentimes, however, the onyx-haired hybrid and his fellow Kill Town contestants were too enthralled by their own thoughts to notice others. For example, under normal circumstances, Juno would’ve immediately zeroed in on the blonde-haired priestess. As it were, he was too busy basking in his own glory.
The game had begun, and it felt… good. He let his fingers trace the edges of the vulgar badge he’d Coveted from Kaden, and smirked victoriously. The blonde courier probably hadn’t even known he was at the carnival prior to this moment, and now, he had announced his presence in one of the boldest ways he knew possible - letting the delivery boy know he wasn’t the only one playing the game.
That wasn’t to say, though, that he was here solely for the purpose of playing the game; no, his main objective had been, and continued to be, getting out of here alive. If he had to step on some toes along the way to do that, however, the obvious choice was Kaden. Sure, Kaden was a good guy, morally; but he could be bigheaded, arrogant, and rash. And maybe Juno was a bit bitter - after all, he and the red-jacket sporting man hadn’t been on the best of terms. And Juno always felt like he was fighting Kaden for Sophia’s attention - no matter how much of a losing battle that may have been. He had known it from the moment he had seen them together - perhaps the spark hadn’t been as bright back during Friend or Foe, but it was still there, and Juno was adept at figuring those things out.
Kaden…
He paused for a second. That word rung in his head, but it wasn’t his thought. He turned on his heel - the voice that had spoken the word was obvious enough. It was Sophia’s voice, he knew, but it hadn’t come from any one place, but rather, from all directions. Something was going on; her voice sounded distinctly on edge.
He craned his head from one shoulder to another, surveying his surroundings like a radar looking for a miniscule blip as he searched for the priestess, whom he originally thought would be dressed in her traditional white robes, blonde hair neck-length and flowing down her cheeks. No white-garbed priestess was to be found, unfortunately, no matter where he looked - whether it be Shop Town or the hotel, the Ferris wheel or the log ride. His eyes drifted to the entrance of the water park, but an instant recognition of Sophia did not greet him.
Abruptly, his eyes focused upon the only blonde woman in sight, standing under the sign that advertised the water park. She wore a shapely blue dress, and had long, blonde hair, much more flowing than Sophia’s had been at their last meeting. As she gazed into the water park introspectively, there was nothing on her that denoted her as the priestess he searched for. But when the turned her head towards him, her face was unmistakably that of Sophia.
She stood at the water park’s entrance, arms crossed defensively in front of her chest as she urgently searched her surroundings. Something was troubling her, and she seemed to be looking for an escape route, however conspicuous she might’ve been. Juno paused for a minute, and watched as her eyes glazed over him - she didn’t notice him, thankfully; or, perhaps she forced herself not to notice him. It did seem as if she wanted to be alone; she didn’t seem to be that pleased. Which, suicidal as the onyx-haired boy was, only made him want to pester her with a polite greeting all the more - so he took a few steps toward the water park, and then stopped suddenly, reevaluating his motives.
What did he want from this encounter? Did he just want the satisfaction of knowing that he knew someone here? Was he going to start flirting with her again? No, he knew he couldn’t do that - he couldn’t just waltz up after she’d been dead for almost a year and start courting her. Besides, she was clearly more interested in Kaden than in him. Friendship seemed the best course of action - if she’d even go for that.
“Sophia,” he muttered to himself, convinced that his motivations were genuine and that he really, truly just was happy to see her alive, and wanted her to know that he still cared about her, in a strictly platonic fashion, of course. He quickened his stride, letting it become more and more powerful as it carried him to one of the only people in the North Quadrant that he felt he could consider a friend.
He had often asked himself what would’ve become of him if he hadn’t forgiven Sophia after she had given into the darker aspects of her personality in Rosemary’s Game. He probably wouldn’t be in this mess nearly as thick as he was, first things first. When you knew somebody who was on the inside of all of this world-saving stuff, it usually ended up sucking you in as well, and Sophia had been his vehicle to being introduced to Kaden and Piper, king and queen of the world-saving business. Besides; how could he not forgive her? He respected her for what she had done; even if he had felt a little dejected at first, she proved herself not nearly as mentally weak as Kaden had.
“Sophia!” he called out to her, slipping his badge in his pocket. He broke into a run, attempting to catch up with the priestess as she quickened her pace.
Leave me alone, he heard faintly, once again Sophia’s voice, but once again from all directions, as before. Just leave me alone, all of you… It was pleading, not to him, or to anyone in particular, but to the hostile world around her. She wasn’t a very happy person at this moment, and that made Juno all the more curious to figure out what was wrong so that he could help her. That was what friends did, right? They helped each other?
“Sophia!” he yelled again, and finally reached the blonde, placing a hand on her shoulder. She spun on her heel and clutched his wrist, bringing up a clenched fist and letting her eyes do the talking. The fist began to fly towards him, but for a moment, the hybrid’s agility didn’t fail him - he caught her fist just before it reached his cheek, quickly spouting: “Sophia, calm down, it’s me!”
“J-Juno?” she stammered, and her grip on his wrist loosened until her hand dropped. The hybrid released her fist as she began to forcefully wrench herself free of his hold, and she stepped back away from him, slightly in shock that the onyx-haired boy was here but more so still reeling from whatever personal thing had just occurred. She bit her lip, frustrated, and started to turn away. “Leave me alone,” she said simply, beginning to walk quickly away.
“Sophia, what’s up with you?” Juno asked genuinely, concerned for her as he supposed a friend would be. She ignored him, continuing to walk, though not as quickly as she had before their encounter. His mind raced - he couldn’t just let her walk away like this! “What happened with Kaden?” he offered.
The girl stopped in her tracks, her crossed arms slowly unfolding and falling to her side. She placed herself facing him once again, walked up boldly with her back straight and her head held high, and she slapped him - hard - on the cheek. He flinched, grasping the spot of impact. He cursed his Foresight mentally for not seeing that coming beforehand like it had her earlier punch, because he was quite sure that that hurt just as much as the punch would’ve. “Hey, what was that for?!” he sputtered, and she merely scowled.
“Reading my mind,” she spat coldly.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Juno apologized, “I’m not sure how to control it just yet, Sophia.” She loosened her rigid stance, but folded her arms once again to make sure he didn’t get any false impressions. This conversation wasn’t going to last very long, at least not if she got her way. The hybrid knew that no matter what, he could win this battle of wills, and Sophia would not get her way.
“You had better learn how to get out of my head, and quickly,” she replied, tightening her crossed arms. She looked him up and down, fidgeting slightly from the frustration boiling inside of her. “Oh, and my argument with Kaden,” she continued, annoyed, “It’s none of your business.”
“Whether it’s my business or not,” Juno interjected, “I’m not going to let you just walk away, Sophia.”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” she muttered dejectedly, a low rasp in her voice signaling that she meant what she said. Juno refused to give in.
“No,” he stated matter-of-factly, grasping her upper arm as she turned away from him. She jerked her arm away after a brief pause, and turned to face the hybrid, content to entertain one last plea from him. But she refused to look him in the eye. “Come on, Sophia,” he pleaded, but she continued to stare towards the cobblestone ground, “Friend or foe?”
Her eyes flitted up, meeting his briefly. She struggled with herself; it was against her better nature, to give into this. She scowled and turned away from him, though she didn’t break into a full-on speed walking contest like she had before. Rather, she sauntered lazily, and hesitantly, to a nearby bench, sitting down with her back to where Juno would, eventually, sit. The hybrid was smarter than that, though, and he remained standing, moving to where she had to look at him. There was an awkward silence for a moment. Sophia broke it.
“No matter how much you try, I’m not going to tell you,” she said, sadness echoing in her vocal cords, making her voice crack occasionally. She was a strong woman, and Juno respected her greatly for it.
“I know,” he said. Another silence lingered over the pair as they surveyed each other, Sophia finally looking at the boy for an extended period of time. They were each dressed differently than before; heck, they both were built differently. While Juno had found himself slightly more well-versed in the world than he had almost a year ago during Friend or Foe, and he looked it, Sophia only looked more impressive. Her features were more well defined, he noticed upon another glance, though not enough to take away from her feminine qualities. The lines on her face, however, bore the signs of time and hard work, as if she’d been through Hell and back, and to be honest, the hybrid couldn’t convince himself she hadn’t. Her blonde hair was longer, cascading a little ways down her back. The blue dress, however, was the most obvious change; it was very pretty, and it fit her form nicely.
“Nice dress,” Juno complimented her, breking the silence. Sophia’s gaze turned from his coat to his face. “You look pretty hot for someone who… well, someone who just came back to life, and all.”
“Nice of you to say so,” she spat sarcastically, glaring at him. Obviously, this wasn’t the best time for flirting, even if it was only in jest. “Don’t try anything,” she warned him calmly. She seemed to have regained some composure, but was still shaking slightly from whatever had occurred between her and the courier. Strong girl, he reminded himself once again.
“You don’t have to stay here and talk to me if you don’t want to,” Juno told her, sensing the tension.
“I don’t want to,” she said curtly, standing up and beginning to walk away without another word. Juno smirked a bit, chuckling. She stopped and glanced over her shoulder, “What’s so funny?”
“I’m just wondering if you’ve got anyone else to talk to,” Juno muttered, “Without Kaden or Sage, you’re pretty much high and dry. Except for me.”
“And what makes you think I need to talk to anyone?”
“I know you, Sophia,” he told her, “You might not think you do. You’re stubborn, and independent, and I respect those qualities, really, I do. You don’t need anyone to help you when you’re down. But I want to be your friend right now, because like or not, you need one. So, I‘m asking: friend or foe?”
There was a silence as they stared at one another for a moment. Sophia’s blue dress billowed in the wind, and Juno stuck his hands into his coat pockets, smiling at her. Her scowl didn’t move; he obviously hadn’t been able to comfort her much, but at least now she wasn’t being openly acidic or hostile. She had calmed herself enough, he hoped, to speak cordially to him. She turned back toward him, and offered up her hand.
“Friend,” she said, forcing herself to smile a bit before sinking back into a frown, “Just don’t test me, alright, Juno?”
“I wouldn’t even think of it,” he nodded, taking her hand and shaking it. “I’m guessing you’re still not going to tell me what’s wrong, though?” he laughed, releasing his hold on the priestess’s grip.
“Not a chance.”