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 Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2026 7:29 pm
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.
Ekstrom took a step in some random direction as she repeated, "Thrymr," a few times to both commit it to memory as well as get used to saying it. "Okay. Thrymr," she said with a brighter smile and some finality (and a bit more confidence). "I think I've got it. Nice to meet you! And thanks for the help. As for tips..."
She considered her own experience for a long moment, and what all she did as she fused her civilian life with her responsibilities as a Knight. "I guess it kind of depends on what you wanna do. Generally, though, I think learning how to fight and defend yourself is pretty important. Magic can be great, but it can run out or sometimes it's hard to focus and channel. So there's that. But if you already know how to fight, then maybe..."
Her face scrunched up slightly as she considered the options. "Mmmm... well, you should have already visited your Wonder as a Page so that isn't really a Squire thing anymore. There's your signet ring though, which I think is usually found at the Wonder. So in case you haven't found it yet, that should be pretty high up the list..."
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2026 11:31 pm
Thrymr nodded when Ekstrom said she couldn't complain and followed along on the direction Ekstrom took.
There was a hum as she heard her name said a few times to file away into memeory. She lofted a brow as she listened on the thoughts, she did know how to fight thankfully the negaverse was good for something with it's terribly useless weapons. Magic was limited which was a bit sad.
Thrymer gave a chuckle and made a face, "Yeahhhhh..... about the wonder thing.... I wasn't a page sooooo I haven't been."
There was a curious head tilt, "So a signet ring? What's it do?" She asked as she made a mental note she needed to go find the ring. She was also curious what her wonder might be like so perhaps going sooner rather than later would be a good idea.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2026 9:49 pm
She was still thinking about what more to add to a Squire's potential to-do list when she stopped midstep, stooped down, and very enthusiastically straightened herself out while holding a small charm in her hand. Her expression was bright, with wide eyes and an equally broad smile.
Which, after Thrymr's words registered, disappeared almost as quickly as it had come. Ekstrom pocketed the charm and then turned to her new acquaintance. "That's the first thing then," she said with a nod, choosing not to dwell on the revelation that the Squire had previously been on the other side of the fence. All that mattered to her was that she made the choice to come to Order's side, so that was what she chose to focus on.
"Eventually you'll feel a tug to go somewhere. It's kind of a vague feeling, but when you eventually get that feeling, find a safe place so you can close your eyes and focus on it. You'll know how to go there instinctively. It's one of those..." she waved her hand around a bit vaguely, "trust the process types of things. A lot of what knights do kinda is, to be honest, and it can be hard but there's plenty of us around who are willing to help."
She gave another nod, this time with quite a bit more enthusiasm than earlier.
"And for the ring, it does a few things." She extended her right hand to show the band around her index finger. "Its most basic function is a means to communicate magically. Our version is writing notes and stamping them with these. It sends that note directly to whoever the note is for, as long as you spell their name right. But! It also does a little big of magic."
With that, she touched her signet ring with her thumb and briefly channeled her aspect.
Aspect of Mercury — A Mercury Knight's form becomes staticy / glitchy in appearance, as if they were products of the advanced technology that is their planet's pride and joy. This enables them to blend in with their surroundings slightly: opponents have trouble seeing them if they are standing still, and their movements can be difficult to read in close combat.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2026 10:51 pm
Thrymr watched curiously as Ekstrom found a charm and she started glancing around the area to see if there were more. These curious little things were everywhere which was interesting.
The squire tilted her head, "Ah, so it calls you. Kind of like the ocean calls Moana."
That was interesting at least she knew that her going to her wonder wasn't just a thing she was missing. Giving a nod when Ekstrom said trust the process. Which is when she caught a glimpse of a sapphire star charm and slide it into her subspace.
She looked curiously at the signet ring that Ekstrom was showing her and found it curious as she touched it and suddenly became glitchy. "That's pretty cool!" She said thinking about how that actually could be useful.
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2026 7:35 pm
"Kinda yeah, I guess," she giggled at the comparison to the Disney princess. "Or how that voice calls Elsa in Frozen 2?"
She stopped channeling after several seconds, looking pretty happy about Thrymr's response. Not that she was looking to impress her, but it was encouraging that her response was positive. It made her a bit more hopeful about her adjustment to Order. "Yeah! It helps you camouflage, even if it's a little imperfect. Also make your next move a little harder to read if you're in a fight. You just have to touch it and focus on your magic, and voila!"
"Once you find it, information is a little bit easier to access. People, too. I'd be happy to help you now, too, if you want. We can exchange numbers if you're comfortable, or just pick a time and place to meet next." It was hard not to sound too forward, but she did genuinely want to help! Plus things could be a little challenging, starting out and all. She knew that, so she wanted to make it abundantly clear that even if she was new, that she most certainly didn't have to do things alone if she didn't want to.
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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2026 8:05 pm
Thrymr gave a soft chuckle, "You mean the one she practically woke the whole village up answering?"
It amused her to possibly do a call and answer with her wonder. But eh who was anyone to judge if that's what the wonders wanted to do, that's what they wanted to do.
There was a nod when Ekstrom mentioned the thing was a bit imperfect with the camouflaged, "Well ti's still better than being completely exposed."
The process didn't sound terrible in using the feature either. Finding the ring though seemed to be the question. The squire seemed thoughtful when Esktrom offered to help her and that they could exchange numbers. "Sure, why not. I need to make more friends anyways.... um since I'm still getting my baring."
There was a pause, "Of course I live in a van so it'd be easy to meet practically anywhere." It was nice that she could rent out camp sites and from what it appeared that it was cheaper to rent those than an apartment at least.
She paused in her walking distracted by something with color that flashed. It wasn't a string of lights because it was only one, "Hey.... was that a firefly?" She asked looking closer for the tiny flash of light.
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2026 6:22 pm
The faintest flicker of light caught her attention, too, and when Ekstrom looked she couldn't but smile when she realized what it was. "Yeah, I think so," she replied with a nod of her head. She reached for it, laughing lightly as it bobbed away. If she were alone she might have tried to chase it, but instead she just lowered her hand and looked back over at Thrymr so she could focus back on their conversation.
"Okay, we can swap numbers. No pressure, though! But you can reach out if you have any questions or if you need help with something. Like if you want someone to spar with..." She summoned a small notepad and pen from her subspace, opened it to the first blank page, and quickly wrote her number down. "Or even just to hang around or patrol or something." She tore the page out and handed it to her, her smile small but still as bright as ever.
"Also, that sounds like a convenient set-up with your van. How about we figure out meeting spots as we go, then?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2026 8:29 pm
Thymr looked curiously at the firefly near Ekstrom as she held out a hand towards it and the squire followed the bug as it flew away.
"It's so weird seeing different colored fireflies." She was tracking now a green one as it flew, but her attention being brought back by Ekstrom when she offered her a piece of paper. "Oh thanks!"
She seemed thoughtful, "Yeah I'm down to spar and you know do other things because there's a lot I need to get around to doing.... including probably making friends."
She gave a chuckle, "Yeah, at least there's not a ton of money that has to be spent on camping areas. I can save up for other things."
The squire seemed to think, "Actually if you're not busy this weekend maybe we could actually hang out some and then maybe go to my wonder?"
There was a pause, "Oh also I'm Winter, outside of the uh superhero stuff."
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 5:34 pm
"I wonder if there's some kinda magic that would help us teach them how to coordinate," the knight mused as she watched the different colors flicker all around them. "Then maybe we could have small 'fireworks' displays with them or something." The silly thought had her smiling a bit wider, as did Thrym's words about making friends.
"Yeah, I think it's good to know more people and have more allies, so you're not always doing this stuff alone," she said with a little nod. "Less chance of getting ambushed by a team of agents or something if you've got a partner." She thought back to certain experiences, scuffles that could have been avoided if she hadn't been on her own. All things considered, she'd probably been on the luckier side—being alive, mostly unscarred, and more or less in one piece.
The invite to hang out that weekend came as a bit of a surprise, as did the civilian introduction, though neither were bad ones by her book! Grinning, Ekstrom gave another nod. "I go by Mel! And I'm free on Sunday, if that works for you? If it does, just shoot me a text and I'll send you my address. We can hang out at my place first if that works for you? It's a little more private so you can ask all the questions that you want! Oh– I have a dog, though. Is that okay?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 8:36 pm
Thyrmr seemed to think, "Maybe there is, we just haven't found it yet?"
She gave a soft chuckle at the thought of a fireworks display from fireflies, "Or maybe we could teach them to fly in sync?"
When Ekstrom said that it was better in numbers there was a nod, "Yeah, I don't really want to go back to the negaverse so having friends to hang out with to avoid going back sounds pretty cool to me."
"Oh yeah that sounds good!" She answered when Ekstrom said she could ask questions in private and there was a mention of a dog, "No dogs are fine! I can pick up some snacks or something if you want too, just let me know what you're in the mood for!"
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2026 4:54 pm
"Definitely will do," she replied, matching Thrym's enthusiasm with her own. It was equal parts exciting and nervewracking to talk knight-shop with someone new to the whole thing because she felt like she still had a lot to learn as well. But! She was fairly confident with at least the basics, and if that could make starting out easier for someone new then she would do her best!
With plans set for the future meet-up, she paused to consider the events for the evening and what she ought to do next. Considering the fireflies, it was tempting to stay out a bit longer, but...
"I think I might head in for the night, though. Crazy chicken encounter aside, my dog's waiting and I've got work in the morning." She gave Thrym an apologetic little smile before nodding toward her. "What about you? Gonna stick around and enjoy the light show a bit longer," she gestured at the fireflies, which seemed to have multiplied twice over since they first got there, "or...?"
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