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 Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 6:50 pm
Quote: The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn't the first time they've appeared in Destiny City, but no one's been able to tell where they came from or where they're going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
Her leg was still stinging slightly and itchy from the creatures…ugh tongue, not that she wanted to think about that, and she blinked as a blue light flashed in front of her eyes. And a green one right after, followed by a red.
“Pride fireflies? Nice touch. I’ll take it.” Glancing back up to Aria she paused. “We almost there…and you’re sure that he’ll know something about the frogs or like, have an idea or…something? I’m not doubting you, just…has he been doing all of this long? He knows a lot?”
Tiffany fell quiet again and then huffed. “Is he super overbearing like my cousins are? If so, do you just let him?” All good questions. Important questions.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 8:12 pm
Aria laughed softly as she walked with Tiffany, ignoring the slight burning and itching in her own leg where the slime had gotten. Her question made her tilt her head thoughtfully. "He's...protective, but rightfully so. I think he's been a knight since about this time last year, actually? Him and his boyfriend both. His boyfriend is literally the sweetest thing ever and ugh they're just too cute. I ship it so hard." She grinned, unable to help herself. She truly was the number one FloriAngel fan and she loved the two of them together.
"I think...I think that even if he doesnt know about the frogs specifically, he should have at least an idea of who to ask maybe? Or maybe some insight in general?" Leading the way up to her brother's apartment, Aria fished the key out of her pocket and let herself in. "Angel! You home?"-------- Soft music played on a speaker somewhere in the studio apartment, giving atmosphere to the room. Angel stood at an easel, tilting his head thoughtfully at his latest piece as he tried to decide where to go from there. Something was missing, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Unfortunately, it seemed as though that would have to wait until later. Hearing his sister's voice, he set his brush down and walked around the corner, then paused as he saw she wasn't alone.
Arching a brow at his sister, he glanced at the smaller girl and gave her a small smile. "Any friend of Aria is a friend of mine." Looking at his sister, he tilted his head. She seemed...off somehow, favoring one leg and digging her nails into her palm. "You okay?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 8:16 pm
“Hey. I’m Tiffany. There were frogs, if you see lilypads that look jumpable, they are but at a cost. It’s nice to meet you. Aria said that you might have more information on why there were…giant frogs? Also did you set up the Pride Fireflies? If so, that’s cool. I support it.”
She couldn't ship it since…she didn’t really know either one of the people involved but. That was fine. She didn’t have to.
“I’m magical too, just so you know. That’s how we met.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 8:27 pm
Angel blinked as the girl spoke. Frogs. Lilypads. Magical. Oh. Oh dear god. "Look, as long as you don't see a giant murderous chicken, you're golden..." There was a tired sound to his voice but also something that almost hinted at a vendetta. He would absolutely end the next murder bird he saw.
Sighing softly, he motioned for the girls to sit on the couch. "Ari, is that what got your leg?" He paused and noticed Tiffany's as well. "And you too? Sit, both of you. I'll grab my med kit." Aria shuddered at the mention of the chicken. It had been her first experience with the magical bullshit, and she prayed to whatever was out there that she didn't see it again anytime soon. "No murder bird, thank god..."
She knew better than to sit without looking, quickly giving the couch a once over for accidentally open paint tubes. Seeing nothing that would destroy her clothes, she sat on the edge and sighed, giving Tiffany a tired smile. "I was awakened like. A week ago? My brother brought me over to his boyfriend's shop, was gonna give me the whole "magic exists" talk, and boom. Giant angry murderous goop chicken. And no, I cannot possibly describe it better. It was disgusting." She shuddered again at the memory.Returning with the med kit, Angel crouched in front of the girls, motioning for Tiffany to lift her leg for him to take a look. "I'm gonna try disinfecting the area and see if that will help. Let me know if it causes any discomfort okay?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 8:32 pm
“Huh.” Tiffany nodded, privately thinking that the two were a little crazy worried about a chicken but she had the perfect opportunity to talk about herself, and she was going to take it. “It’s been a little while for me? Met this cat and the cat was like oh wow here’s this magical pen thing, say this and then when you’re done just think about yourself and then! Then!”
Sighing heavily, she moved her leg for Angel to do what he needed to do before continuing. “I went to show my cousins, cause like. I just moved here and all this happened and I hadn’t seen them yet and I was like woah guys it’s me! Your favorite cousin ever and bonus I’m magical as <********>!. They weren’t amused and they’re both magical too, and all I got was a bit lecture. Then hit. By a rock. Because my one cousin was pissy that I had magic. Rude.”
She winced slightly at the touch of the disinfectant but allowed it. “The worst part is this was through clothing. I would hate to see what would have happened if I hadn’t had the socks.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 8:40 pm
Angel carefully let her foot rest on his knee as she gently wiped the disinfectant pad over her leg. "For what its worth, the chicken thing was oozing, aggressive, and massive. Not normal chicken sized. And I have seen it three damn times this year already and once last year. I hate that damn thing." He muttered under his breath, clearly not thrilled by the damn thing.
He listened as she chattered, snorting softly. "In defense of your cousin, this isn't all fun and games. It can be very much life or death. Especially this time of year. From Starfest, all the way through january, the city seems to have strange things that happen. And those things are entirely unrelated to our own magic. The monsters that show up, like the bird and I'm assuming the frogs, aren't youma or any manifestation of chaos from what I can tell. Just...whatever strange magic the city itself seems to have. My running theory is that because there are so many magical people here in one place, maybe it causes some sort of reaction. I'm not sure or anything though, just a guess." He carefully added some cooling gel to her leg before bandaging it, then moving to treat Aria's leg.Unlike Tiffany, Aria's leg had in fact been bare. While the frog didn't touch her directly, some of the grossness definitely got on her anyway. She stayed quiet as she listened, both to her friend and her brother, and only winced a little at the antiseptic. "You mentioned that the other night too. About it being life and death. What....what exactly are we talking about here?" Part of her wanted to know everything she could...but part of her was honestly scared. Not that she would ever admit to it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 8:50 pm
“Yeah but. They tried to suck all the fun out of it. Fun suckers. And this is like, the worst thing that’s happened, so clearly it’s not all that bad. But. Yeah maybe. The city is kind of strange. But it’s not awful. And the meteors have also been Pride flavored so there’s that. The city clearly likes the LGBTQ+ community.”
She fell quiet at Arias’ question, but really…wanted to scoff at it. It wasn’t so dangerous, she had never been in any danger so clearly the danger didn’t exist. Logic.
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Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 9:00 pm
Angel sighed softly, looking up from treating Aria's leg. "The Negaverse is not opposed to killing us. They can and will rip your starseed, your soul as I understand it, right from your chest. Or if they're in the mood to do so, just kill you outright. They harvest energy from anyone they can, corrupt people into serving Chaos both by manipulation and by force, and...from what I have been told, youma aren't above ripping people apart to get what they want. This is not a game... it's war. Real and bloody and brutal. And yeah, some of it can be genuinely amazing, some of it can be truly beautiful. But don't be blinded by the beauty alone."Aria's eyes widened as she listened to her brother. She had never heard him so serious, not even when he brought her to the shop to talk to her with Florian. She knew that it wasn't all fun and games, that there were people out there with a mind set to harming others. But for it to go this deeply? To go that far?
"Angel....you're really serious about this. You mean it...." She watched as her brother nodded."It's why I was so adamant about you not going alone. Not until you can confidently fight. Not until you know what your magic will be." He looked up at Tiffany. "Not sure how much you know about knights and senshi and the differences. But senshi start out with magic. Knights, like me and Aria? We don't. We're lucky if we even get something we can use as a weapon. I know a guy who has a christmas ornament, for example. And Aria has a necklace. We don't get actual magic, as far as I'm aware, until we manage to somehow level up, for lack of better words. So for people like me and Aria especially, having someone with you is often a really, really good idea."
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2026 6:55 pm
So that was a lot of information, and really…Tiffany was kind of tuning out. He was reminding her of her cousins and really…that was just boring. Blah blah. Danger. Blah blah blah. She nodded along though, giving a convincing act that she was interested. “I’m always game for friends to hang out with so if you don’t want to go alone you can call me, Aria! I have magic. It’s pretty…magical.”
Even if she still didn’t really know what it actually did…or how it did what it did. Or if it was even useful.
It had gotten them away from the frog at least. So that was one tally point for useful.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 9:42 pm
Angel sighed softly and checked both girls over once more before standing up. "I can't make you take it seriously, but I can at least give you a way to call for backup." Grabbing a notepad, Angel scrawled his number down and held it out to Tiffany. "Here. If you ever can't get hold of Ari, call me okay?"Aria watched with a small smile, proud of seeing her brother finally being a responsible adult. Somewhat. It was heart warming to see him actually fuss over someone aside from her.
Smiling over at Tiffany, she nodded in agreement with her brother. "Want me to walk you home?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 10:28 pm
Tiffany nodded, both at Angel’s words and at Aria’s question. “Yeah, thank you. I’d like that. And I’ll do that. Thank you Angel.”
Thankfully the lectures were over, and now she could just go and hang out with Aria some more, which seemed fun. A bit of cool points for her in school too. A big win/win. Even if they had the memory of the frogs hanging over them.
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