Nazo had eventually decided to wander about a bit on his own, with Valdis and the others being occupied on their own various affairs and schemes. Something about Kaguya chasing the Mercury Knight around and promising a painful death to him while Valdis and Sophia were trying to make the Mars Knight get involved with the Jupiter Senshi.

To be honest, Nazo kinda zonked out and stopped paying attention after a certain point.

He had made his way to a tropical section of the gardens, a false replication of what used to be a rainforest back in the day. Of course, the real conditions and setting couldn't be perfectly emulated, but it was a noble effort to try and reclaim a little bit of what was lost in spirit of not in the reality. It was a capitalistic idea to try and emulate warm world conditions and take advantage of those who wanted to relive it as much as possible.

The dark knight dropped his invisibility shroud at one point, leaning and looking at a small amount of floral bushes. Solstice, the lovable white ferret, crawls out of her usual hiding spot on his shoulder, scampering down the length of the robe before looking about with excitement, scampering around and making happy ferret noises along the way. Something between a bark and an 'ook ook' noise.

Left...then right....bright violet eyes peaked over a bush. She was on a mission; a mission to hide a certain blondies shorts. A large pile of towels topped with shorts was behind her. For the past hour Val had been on a scavenger hunt stealing and ferreting away anything she could get her hands on. Her own stuff was piled away as well, her flip flops and towel neatly folded. A pair of glasses hung from one of the triangles that cupped her breasts. She would face the consequences for that one later. But he had decided to skip out on the fun.

She poked her head out when she heard a bark from behind a tree. A tall masked man came into her field of vision which brought her bouncing out like a puppy greeting its master. A large grin on her face; she had guessed he had just left but was overjoyed that he had decided to stay.

"NAZO! You did stick around! Do you want to hunt down sacrificial virgins for the volcano with me?"

"Hunting sacrificial virgins you say?" he says, as he disappears, then reappearing behind Valdis, hoisting her up suddenly by picking her up by the waist. Surprisingly, and probably much to her relief, the clawed gauntlets were gone as only bare, smooth skin touched her. He then puts her over his shoulder and begins to walk in the general direction of the volcano.

"Saaa,,,I suppose if I must I will start with the easiest one to find."he says, perhaps a little too convincingly or casually.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt hands wrap around her waist; a slight blush crossed her cheeks as skin on skin contact was felt. Her hands rested against his back as she pushed herself semi up. She looked over her shoulder and a wicked grin on her face.

"If I'm going down I'm bringing you with me virgin boy"

Though the walk to the volcano was going to be a long one.

"...As much as I would like to refute the claim as an act of spite or annoyance, I suppose I can't deny that fact..." Nazo says as he then pauses at a nearby pond surrounded by various kinda of tropical-esque flora, and then holds Valdis up over it, dangling her over the water.

"Though Lava is also an inconvenient thing, since that usually results in that annoying thing called death." he says as he then turns about and puts Valdis back on the ground. Since the battle with Scorpio, Nazo had been busier lately taking advantage of the Covenant's reaction to his demise to inflict greater damage. Plus he wasn't entirely certain yet how to handle Valdis tapping into chaos energies, even if she insisted she could control and use such abilities.

"Saa...are you sure you are still up for the road that lies ahead?" he says as he walks to a tree and leans against it, his mask faced in the direction of the water watching it along with the lilies softly floating in it.

Valdis eyes widen when she was held up over a body of water that wasn't made for swimming. Who knew what inhabited those waters. She clung to Nazos arm in a monkey like fashion. Her grip was strong and her body language screamed she would make true on her threat to bring him down with her. When he placed her down she checked to make sure Kails glasses hadn't been lost. After all if she was going to steal them as a prank she might as well take care of them. Luckily her amazing boobage had kept the spectacles firmly in place. She then turned her attention back to Nazo.

"Its not real lava it's a water slide; worse that would occur is a possible slide burn in an uncomfortable place"


She smiled up at him, she enjoyed when people flipped the tables on her. She was usually the pranker not the prankee. Valdis could take as many pranks as she dished out in good humor. However the silly mood was diminished when he broached a more serious topic. Her smile faded and she let out a sigh.

"Ready or not I feel that this path is going to work towards the teams best interest... Even if it's not in mine. Innocence must be lost in order to preserve others."

She was unsure if he had already guessed to what she was planning on doing, or if he just meant using the chaos energy in general. But her response would remain the same either way.

"Saa...so I should shoot you down the water slide and count the burns? That might mar your lovely skin." he says, with the faintest hint of teasing. Nazo shrugs as he slides down to sit on the ground, watching where Solstice was rummaging about in some plants, acting like a cracked out ferret. The colors, the bounty of scents and sensations! The young ferret had never seen such things! It barked and scampered in and out of bushes, all excited for it's luxury of freedom right now.

"Well let us just try to minimize the Chaos Magic thing so your soul isn't corrupted and sent through forty-six different flavors of hell, yes?" he says, then facing the ground.

"Best case scenario, we win and save the world, what would you want to do then?"

She smiled and trailed a finger down her arm; tracing her lovely skin. Her eyes flicked up at him, filled with the ever so mischievous glint.

"Fortunate for me no matter how many times its marred it's not long before it returns to being as soft and clear as a newborns."

She chuckled as she sauntered on offer to him crouching down and running her fingers up his arm.

"Plus counting my burns wouldn't be fair unless I got to count yours as well...sadly all this cloth and armors in the way of that."

Teasing aside she took a seat next to him, her legs crossed and her hands at her feet. She watched as solstice bounced around with an amused smile on her face. Hopefully the ferret wouldn't run into anything that might think she looked tasty. Valdis only nodded when he said keep the chaos magic to a minimum. She sighed when he asked what she planned on doing if they won...honestly ...she didn't know. She didn't really expect to make it to the end.

"I'm not really sure what I would do...the covenant has been my drive for years now. I may be at a loss to what to do when its gone"

"You will see one day, though up to this point my body has been kept in a stasis that reverts it to it's prime state after taking damage, so my body is likely what most people would consider flawless. Perhaps I should be a male model when it's all over." he says chuckling softly, barely audible to the violet haired maiden. As Valdis takes a seat, she would find a single rose handed to her while Nazo's mask was faced to the ground.

"I believe that this is the appropriate response for a male to a female yes?" he says as he chuckled a little.

It didn't sound like he believed it...though with what they were going up against perhaps he was in the same boat as her. Not really expecting to make it...but to say such a thing out loud was depressing. It was best keep the act up.

"Then both mine and your body are alike then; and if you plan on going into show biz go into acting. It's more fun and usually branches off into modeling."

She blinked in surprise when one perfect Rose was handed to her; she picked it up delicately a finger tracing the delicate petals as she brought it up to her nose. Her eyes softened; it had been so long since she smelled the scent of roses. She looked up at him when he spoke with a small blush.

"...it symbolizes not so much of a response...but a jester of interest. Roses in particular hold significant meaning."

She smiled slightly.

"I would have thought you'd give me a pomegranate before a rose though"

She brought the flower up to her nose once more.

"It was just a notion, who knows right now? Perhaps I can just be a caped crusader being the hero that Tokyo City needs." he says, making a potentially obscure reference of superheroes past in fiction. When Valdis took the rose, he chuckled just faintly under his mask.

"Well the meaning itself is hopefully expressed correctly...saa~" he says. When Valdis sniffs the rose a second time, she would find that reality itself would seem to shimmer around, as Valdis would find herself in a large field in the countryside of Japan. The time is a spring-like time, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the pink petals dancing in the wind. Everything seemed tangible, but at the same time it was clear that this was at best a temporary, magical trip of some sort.

And as the ritual finishes, there would be a small picnic basket on the ground, a plate with a pomegranate among other fruit on the blanked as well. Perhaps it was planned all along, or perhaps he stole this at the last second when Valdis made a remark about pomegranates from some poor guy out there in the world. He never did explain the whole Tiki thing on the beach after all.

There were some mad islanders that day.

"I wanted to take a moment and share with you the beauty of Japan before the world went to the ice age, yes? You were only in Japan after the ice struck if I remember right, since you had mentioned you were in Europe before..."

"Just so long as I'm not your reoccurring damsel in distress"

A surprised dumbfounded expression crossed her face; her eyes had widen and stared at the masked man as though he had just sprouted a second head. He knew what the meaning meant before he had given her the rose? The last time they had a heart to heart he was just starting to feel the need for companionship. This certainly was a jump from that...She sat there frozen for a bit. She was interested in him yes but she had come to terms with the fact her small crush would go unreciprocated. She never had prepared herself or even thought of the possibility of him being interested in her as well.

"It hadn't...but"

She leaned in and kissed the side of his mask; hopefully she understood the message he was getting across.

When their surroundings changed Val looked with wide eyes wonder. The temperature dropped to that of spring; causing goosebumps to crawl up her bare skin. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to the breeze, the pieces of hair that fell from her pony tail fluttered around her in the breeze. Her fingers traced the grass; nails digging into the fresh dirt. She was brought out of her daze of appreciating where exactly she was by Nazo speaking. Valdis blinked and looked at her new masked lover. Her smile turning more melancholy then enjoyment.

"The ice age hadn't hit yet when father brought me here; however I wasn't in any state to appreciate the beauty that this place holds. Nor did father really take me anywhere like this..."

Val smiled when she noticed the picnic and crawled onto the blanket; snuggling up to Nazo. Delicately she plucked a pomegranate seed with long skinny fingers. She held it up to just near her lips before flicking her gaze up at Nazo.

"If I eat this; does it mean I'm your wife?"

She chuckled thinking back to her conversation with Sophia; who had specifically warned her not to eat any pomegranates Nazo gave her. The girl was convinced he was Hades...with that she popped the seed into her mouth.

"Only when you need it, you would be offended if I showed up every time for every little thing that could happen, yes? The reason I find you so interesting and dare I say attractive is the fact that you would prefer to save yourself if given the chance. Of course that also might make you get into extra trouble sometimes, but that's when I can intervene since I know you just love to see my gleaming armor shimmering in the moonlight to bring forth salvation." he says, the last sentence having a moment of deliberate cheesiness. It was his sense of humor after all.

When Valdis mentioned the past, Nazo knew that she didn't want to really go into it, and to have psychotherapy would probably just utterly kill the feel good vibes that were around right now. The kiss on the mask was cute, not that Nazo felt the presence necessarily. As the remark that eating the pomegranate would make her his wife, he shrugged.

"Perhaps it will~" he teases a little, after a moment of stillness squirming to stand up and move forward, off the blanket into the grass of the field. His tattered cloak drifted in the wind as he seemed to look absentmindedly at the cherry blossoms.

"This is, for lack of a better explanation, my personal reality. It is my own realm where I usually retreat to for healing and rest after a battle. It was the most convenient solution for me. Granted, no there isn't a universe beyond this point of countless worlds, but it is more like a plot of land that doesn't have a direct connection with the normal world. Unfortunately, others can't stay here indefinitely, at least not without the risk of severe pain and soul death." he says as he then shrugs and chuckles a little bit, turning to Valdis.

"...Of course, it is here that is also the safest place for me to actually..." he says as he touches his mask. A shimmering green glow manifests around him, as his body seems to almost entirely turn to jade luminescence. When the glow fades, Valdis will see the figure under the sealed armor...

...without the armor.

His body was still tall, slightly less without the metal greaves between his feet and the ground. It was toned but not excessively muscular. His clothes were simply a black tunic and pants, while he wore the cloak over it still, with his feet bare. His facial expression was that of a male slightly older than Valdis in appearance, with the white hair occasionally drifting in the wind. His face was flawless of mark and maw, giving an almost unnatural sense of perfection. On his forehead there was a glowing green mark for a few moments before it faded, reflecting the alternate planetary symbol for Pluto. His eyes were red, a color not known to the natural biology of human beings.

"Also I figure if you wanted to eat the pomegranate then you should see the face of the underworld lord yourself, saaaaa....at least I assume that's the myth that you are referring to, yes?"

Valdis smiled at him with a small chuckle; he was right of course, she hated being babied and having to be saved.

"One of these days I'm going to hello kitty sticker the bajezzums out of that armor. That way when you come to save me I can laugh while you do it.

She stuck her tongue out at him in response to his teasing and popped another pomegranate seed into her mouth. When he began to squirm away she sat up from her snuggles. Tilting her head curiously to the side when he went on to explain their surroundings.

"Your personal reality? So is it always like this or does it change to suit your mood? How does that work exactly"

That and she wondered why he needed to stand to explain such a reality....but she got that answer relatively quickly. She was surprised when he touched his mask; her eyes alit with interest. Was he going to take off the mask? Not only was he taking off the mask but everything else as well! She got up to her feet; and slowly walked up to him. Her eyes trailing over every detail of his face; his face suited him. He defiantly could pull off that modeling thing he wanted to do. Her hand reached up and brushed the side of his cheek.

"Is this the first time you've taken off your armor?"

She looked up into his eyes; they were a pretty shade of red but it fit well with his looks and it was nice to see facial expressions. Valdis was still a bit stunned that he had decided to take off his amour...she wasn't sure what to do with this new development.

"Yes that's the myth the one where the girl is taken prisoner by Hades and tricked to eat the fruit of the underworld causing her to become his wife six months out of the year. Sophia is convinced your Hades and specifically warned me not to eat any pomegranates in fear she wouldn't see me for half the year...I find that notion amusing especially since I was named after the goddess of the dead from my country. We'd be perfectly matched"

She giggled as a wicked grin spread across her face. She trailed a hand over his robe; she could tackle him in a hug without fear of getting poked...

"It is malleable, though it requires a more active effort than the whim of how I may feel at a given time. I just find this arrangement to provide a moment's respite. I have my mental and physical stamina limits too, even with my differences." he says as he shakes his head about the comment about taking his armor off.

"Not the first, though there aren't many times either. When I am not actively in front of you or the senshi, I have to often attack Covenant targets in other locales. When you passed out at the Scorpio battle, I wanted to take you here to rest, but this realm would potentially have destabilized you in that state, so I let you be carried off by the Mars Knight due to my lack of a bed or other normal comforts. The backlash of his death created an opportunity to exploit so I then committed my time to a rather lengthy attack." he says as if it were nothing significant or something that happened every day. Who knows, perhaps it did.

"Then very well, I shall claim you as my wife...saaaa I never thought I get married so fast.." he says putting his hands on his waist, his tone going along with the humor that Valdis was getting at. "Sophia will be so delighted to find out.'