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 Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 3:58 am
Tired. She was so tired. And everything still hurt. Which, logically, was what happened when one went up against several armed and angry assholes out for blood. Grimacing, the tall, dark-clad blonde brushed her fingertips against her side and the still angrily livid scars that now marked her. At least these scars she could hide. Unlike the ones on her face and thigh.
Shaking her head to try and clear it of the angry thoughts buzzing around like bees, she turned her focus to attempting to ferret out a particular aura. Her last encounter with Zirconia hadn’t ended quite how she would have preferred. And she needed the lilac haired sorceress for a little Q and A time. They’d managed a small change, but it hadn’t been enough. Chariklo wanted another go. For herself and her own soul. Mostly for Amytis. For a chance to be cleansed of the Chaos taint and made, in her eyes, stronger than before. A chance to be what Nature had intended.
I won’t let them hurt Amy again, she thought grimly. And I will never let them hurt her the way they did Bianca. I can’t let them get their filthy hands on her or her starseed.
And so, she hunted.
It had been a month and some change since Zirconia had gotten brave enough, after a few failures, to complete the method of ripping out the Chaos parasite that engulfed dark mirror starseeds all the way from the core out. It had just been a matter of fear, and going all the way. Starseeds were a delicate business, and actually harming one while excising toxic parasites had been, and still was, a very real fear.
Fear had been a big issue in a lot of things, and it was one of the reasons why shortly after succeeding (And promptly getting knocked on her a** in the process) that she had gotten the hell out of dodge with her ‘cousin’ named ‘Cameron’ who had formally been known as Dark Mirror Super Sailor Orpheus. It wasn’t like normal running away, though, when Zirconia disappeared to lick her wounds or when off the grid.
Zia Connolly’s Instagram and Facebook were both awash with photo spam of time spent on beaches, coastal towns, waiting in airports, trying to figure out hotel coffee pots, and other minutia. It was almost like bragging, but bragging about little else than that they had survived and they were fine.
After a while, she was operating at full power, and traveling back to Destiny City was easier when you took more magical methods.
The purpose of being in town tonight was really just to touch base with Laney and maybe loaf around the carnival for old times sake. Since she’d been there when Zirconia chickened out and failed to fully remove Chariklo’s mirrorcoating, she had been all too happy to contact her first—Once she was brave enough to contact people again— To babble endlessly on the topic and how wonderfully intact and complete Orpheus was.
Patrolling just kind of happened. Zirconia didn’t power up too often these days, but it felt nice. A relief to drop the human disguise and walk around freely again. She had been busy reveling in how walking around in full sorceress form in Destiny City felt like taking off a pair of shoes you didn’t realize were making your feet sore after a long day, when she became aware of Chariklo’s aura.
She was about to turn and call out a greeting, but stopped short of making any noise.
Chariklo was different.
She looked like she’d been through hell.
Instead, out came a blunt even if genuinely concerned, “What happened to you?”
If it was uncharacteristic for Hvergelmir to hang back in a conversation, then it was doubly so for her to be a shrinking violet in the presence of two people she considered to be close friends. To her, Zirconia was a friend, an ally — the only guardian cat she’d ever need, according to her own claim of long ago — and Chariklo was just as much of a trusted compatriot and bosom friend: someone who’d stood by her across battle lines, whose trust and faith in her had carried forward through all the years into the future, forging an alliance that flew in the face of her own court and the Negaverse they’d allied with.
Zirconia was a treasured friend. Chariklo was a treasured friend. And the two of them, she thought, were . . . what were they to each other now? Allies? Acquaintances? Bearers of mutual respect?
Zirconia had come into this world as a Mauvian, sent in hopes of protecting her charges from the strange and unexpected dangers of this Universe, and all its crude temptations. Her bond with her senshi partner, forged from her queen’s childhood, had been severed by her senshi’s tragic death almost immediately on her arrival — and what remained of her team had struggled to keep themselves together before finally, after a short while, falling to Chaos. This court, as Hvergelmir had had it explained to her, was what had been brought up in the wake of Ares’ corruption. Chaos, shaped in some parody of the kingdom that Ares still longed for — that they all still longed for. According to Zirconia, Ares had buried herself in it, this illusion of sameness. And Zirconia had rejected it.
That was what she knew of the long-standing enmity between the Black Moon Sorceress and the Dark Mirror Court — that it all had to do with this Ares and something she’d done. That the Dark Mirror senshi were a painful reminder to a lost and lonely survivor of the senshi she’d failed to bring home. That the Dark Mirror Court had long suffered being accused of being puppets, golems, soulless automatons. It was a tragic past indeed, Hvergelmir supposed: little wonder for something Chaos created.
Things were different between Chariklo and Zirconia now, though. Zirconia had freed — had saved — all those starseeds. And Chariklo had flown in the face of her Court’s alliance again in order to do what she felt was right. To stand with a cause she believed in. Surely now the two of them had a common cause. Surely they’d each taken a few steps to understanding the other’s confusion and pain.
Surely this could be some sort of a rapprochement.
She hoped.
But if it was — or, whether or not it was, really — it didn’t need Hvergelmir to help it along. Chariklo and Zirconia had understood each other well enough the last time. They didn’t need any sort of a mediator now.
Hvergelmir still felt like she understood so little about the Dark Mirror Court. She hung back now, waiting — it was better to let them talk, for now, better to learn more. Not all conversations deserved her sticking her nose in them.
And speak of the devil… In her state of grumpy exhaustion, Chariklo still found time to marvel that her hunt hadn’t been in vain. A quick glance reassured her that Hvergelmir was there as well and she felt herself relaxing slightly. And Zirconia’s shock at seeing her stuck a deep chord and she couldn’t help but laugh a little wearily.
“What happened to me? Oh, honey I don’t think there’s enough time in the world for that story. Let’s leave it at I made more of an impact on the Negaverse than I thought and they weren’t pleased with me at all.”
Amytis’ kidnapping, the ambush, the pain and the fighting before having to be rescued… it was all still too close to her heart to talk about freely. Fighting down a memory-triggered shudder, Chariklo tried to smile and managed something more akin to a grimace. In an effort to hide it from the other woman, she turned briefly to Hver, smiling and wanting nothing more than to bury her face in the knight’s shoulder and cry her heart out. Too many echoes of that awful future. Too many memories.
“You two have excellent timing,” she said, almost too casually. As if she hadn’t been hunting feverishly for one of them. Above all, she didn’t want to appear weak. The idea that either of these two should know just how shaken and nearly broken she was inside… Well, Hver might have some idea, Chariklo couldn’t really know. What mattered was appearing normal. And with luck, becoming normal and not some Chaos tainted little pawn.
“Superb timing, in fact. Hey, I’m not too steady on my feet at the moment, mind if we sat down for this little reunion?”
Without waiting for an answer, she folded in on herself, sinking to the ground, her legs refusing to bear her weight for another moment without a rest. Sighing, Chariklo closed her eyes for a moment and absently rubbed at the scars hidden under her fuku.
“Zirconia,” she said at last, deciding that she wasn’t in the mood for delicacy. “What we tried last time. Can you try again? Maybe I did something wrong so it couldn’t take? Can we try again? Please? It’s… it’s important.”
Zirconia seemed to be staring with some degree of anxiety burning in her eyes, still. Nothing Chariklo answered really eased her worries. For a moment it seemed all she could do was stare, her focus resting on seeing what auras she could feel in the air tonight, if she was followed.
When she finally spoke, she seemed to change her posture to something a little unsure again.
“It’s nothing you did,” She said. “I didn’t take it all, there’s a piece, down deep in the core of the starseed. I was too afraid to pull too hard, but…”
She hesitated, knowing for a certainty Orpheus would disapprove of announcing his existence to a member of his former court regardless of her seeking to purify. Cameron could suck it up, though. This was important.
“I’ve been working on it. And I succeeded. About a month ago. Sailor Orpheus.”
She crossed her arms and glanced to Hvergelmir, and back to Chariklo. “You’ll have to start over, a completely new identity. It’s not… don’t you have things you need to get in order? People to say good bye to?”
"Chariklo!" Hvergelmir called out, worried at the sight of her friend collapsing to the ground. The Chariklo she knew was strong, healthy, physically at her peak . . . it took a lot to make someone like that unable to keep to their feet. She pulled the Stardust Cloak off of her own shoulders and wrapped it securely around Chariklo instead, sparing a moment's thought to activate its magic. Hvergelmir stayed there, kneeling beside her, wanting to be immediately at hand if her friend's condition took a turn for the worse. Did she have internal bleeding? Injuries that couldn't be seen? A person could easily die from invisible wounds -- and Hvergelmir wasn't about to let that happen to her friend.
"Sweetheart," she said, putting a comforting hand on Chariklo's face partly with the intention of stealthily taking her temperature. "Are you sure you're up to this? Like Zee said, there's no need to rush . . . we can wait until you're well."
(( Ported over from G-Docs, sorry for the weird XD ))
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 4:12 am
Smiling a little sadly, Chariklo simply relaxed under the cloak's influence and rested. Tilting her head slightly, she blinked to learn of a Dark Mirror who'd been, well, healed. She'd never even heard of this Orpheus before! Good for them!
"You succeeded then, you'll succeed now," she said simply. The confidence in her voice that Zirconia would be able to do what was needed was clear. Smiling a little more widely, she offered a shrug at the rest of the sorceress' speech.
"So I start over. None of my assets are going to be that hard to get at. I mean, that's the beauty of debit cards, checks and online banking, right? As for goodbyes..."
Only now did the tiniest shadow of guilt ripple across her face. Amytis would understand. Leto and the others... perhaps less so. But this was something that needed to be done.
"The only person I would really have to say goodbye to is probably tracking me down as we speak since the note I left her will doubtless have her worried enough to want to check up on me. Amytis will understand and I'm willing to bet that she'll have Ida or Babylon or someone similar in tow to keep an eye on her. And they can help explain, right? And it's not like I'd be leaving her forever."
She was rationalizing and she knew it. But she was also sure of her course of action. Leanign into Hver's cool touch, she gave the knight a tiny wink.
"Hver, that's just it. There is a rush. This has to be done. If... if the Negaverse ever tries something like what they did a few days ago again, I can't be compromised by being what I am now. And I'm fine. Really. Just tired because I push myself. Okay, and kind of really ******** sore too, but I really am okay."
For a moment, her normal, cocky and crooked grin flashed out as she laughed a little at herself.
"I just have some new and interesting scars is all. So," Chariklo glanced up at Zirconia and arched an eyebrow. "Now that I've hopefully allayed your worries, can we try this again? I'm ready."
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 6:27 pm
Zirconia seemed to be keeping a step or two more distance than typical conversation stance.
For all attempts to appear cold and disconnected, a visible cringe found its way to her features. Chariklo was hurting. Just like Orpheus had been hurting, although his wounds were a lot less literal and physical.
"It'll be alright, Hver, it's not like typical purification, it doesn't hurt or take any energy out of her."
She stepping forward, she knelt down to Chariklo and Hver's level and smoothed out her skirt. She rested a hand on Chariklo's chest like she had before, and conjured a small smile. "It'll be alright."
Although an odd flicker of attention was given to Hvergelmir. Zirconia knew what was coming, after a purification. Would it do any good to warn her before, or would it just make the knight insist waiting was definitely the smarter option?
"She'll be fine and I will too," She said a bit more slowly, and definitely more deliberately.
A soft pulse of energy established a connection with the brimming little life that had wrapped itself around her starseed. She had removed a portion of it some time ago, but it seemed to have grown back. This time, Zirconia knew how far to push it.
She murmured little whispers to it, soft comfort as a warm sensation of magic burbled through. "Let it go, little one."
In a revelation of light, she pulled her hand back, extracting the reflective substance. But all of it, this time. Chariklo's starseed and own power were now free to bounce back with more than just an altered aura. Pure, uninhibited, and what it was meant to be.
Zirconia slumped forward, though, and caught herself just before colliding with Chariklo. Resting on her free hand, she mentally summoned Zircon in a rush of flames, handing the feathery creature the squirming parasite like she had before.
And then she was out. She slumped to the side on the grass, no longer trailing skirts and emanating a massive aura. She was just Zia, wearing a beach tee and cut off shorts and passed out completely.
Zircon remained, though, zooming around before landing on her arm.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2015 6:48 pm
Chariklo had been expecting pain. After all, Zirconia would be pulling s**t out of her and away from her starseed. And she visibly steeled herself when the lilac haired woman rest a hand against her chest. Smiling back, she nodded in agreement.
"Yes. Everything will be all right. You'll see, Hver."
Closing her eyes, she felt a gentle warmth spread out from Zirconia's hand and seep into her chest. This time was different and she relaxed into the warmth, feeling a comforting drowsiness.
She'd expected pain. What she got was a feeling of delicious peace. And once the last of the strange mirrorcoat was gone, Chariklo felt something within flare out in a burst of energy that took her by surprise and forced a small, startled cry from her throat. Eyes flying open, she could see Zirconia and Hver as almost shadows set against a flaring of brilliant light.
Her starseed , now free of whatever the mirrorcoat was, pulsed one last time before settling into a comfortable serenity within her breast. As the light around her faded, Chariklo sat in a state of stunned glee before glancing down at herself as Zirconia fed her little, weird bat thing.
"What is even the hell. I'm a pirate?"
A movement caught her attention and she cried out again as Zirconia changed and slumped over. In spite of her own still healing wounds, Chariklo knew enough about (what seemed to her) shock. They couldn't leave the sorceress on the ground where all her warmth would be leeched out. Smiling a little at the bat thing, Chariklo dragged herself closer to the unconscious woman and did her best to drag Zirconia up into her lap. After a moment, she gave up trying to muscle the other up off the ground and settled for carefully and gently stroking the lilac hair from the woman's face.
"Is she okay? Is she going to be okay? I didn't know she would pass out!"
Elation at being remade warred with concern and Chariklo could only sit there, glancing from Zirconia to Hver to the bat thing.
"She's gonna be okay, right?"
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