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Knight Tanais of Mars

Tanais had been told this might happen, so when the tug on her soul came, her heart had picked up pace and she had eagerly reached back. She let the pull take her, and before more than a breath had passed, she was somewhere else.

Somewhere very... gothic looking, very Frankenstein with the storm raging outside. Very colorful, for all the vibes it was giving off. The knight had given the architecture a cursory glance before focusing on the man before them and the other people that arrived as she had. Chaos made the atmosphere heavy and charged, sending tingles and goosebumps over her skin. It excited her. Here was something truly worth fighting.

The man, Alastor, spoke about the chaos and about the need to remove it, and she listened with hawk-like attention, hands flexing within the brass gauntlets she wore. She had to wonder what sort of monsters they would face tonight. Something like the youma that the Negaverse commanded? Something else? It would have been nice to know what to look out for, but she'd have to trust she would know it when she saw it... or maybe that man would point it out for them.

"Whatever you need, we're ready!" She called out, banging her fist against her breast plate. Her grin was bright and confident as she cast it around at the crowd, trying to project some of that confidence and share it with the rest.

Amarynthos, Squire of the Moon

Amarynthos nodded along with Ephesus and smiled reassuringly at him, but it was only after he introduced himself that he realized he should probably do the same thing. It wasn’t that he had bad manners! It was just, this whole thing was really overwhelming and he didn’t want to miss anything Alastor said! Or anything anyone said!

And now that he’d seen what the shadows could do, every little flicker of light or movement in the corner of the room made him expect something.

“We promised we’d work hard, Lucasta!” To the other Mauvian, he introduced, “I’m Amarynthos. It’s a mouthful, Mary works. It’s nice to meet you, too. Thank you for coming to help. We’ve never seen a Chaos like this before, either. But then, we’re still pretty new. We’re going to be safe,” he promised to her, even if it was mostly directed to Lucasta. “We’re just here to support everyone, we don’t want anyone to worry about us. I didn't know Alastor knew so many people. But I guess when he goes out he does run around a lot. He must make friends fast. I don't recognize, like, anyone here."

Ephesus, Squire of the Moon

When Lucasta made her way over to them, Ephesus temporarily untangled his hand from Amarynthos’ (after a reassuring squeeze) so he could reach down and haul Lucasta up onto his lap so he could give her pets and scratches behind her ears. It wasn’t that he was anxious around the other Mauvian! Okay, maybe a little. But he knew Lucasta and she was nice to them -- even if he ended up crying from the things she told them to expect of the war.

“Hello Realta,” he said with another little wave, and then held out his hand to see if she wanted some chin scratches too. He was trying to see over Lucasta’s butt and overly fluffy tail as he held her in his lap, but she seemed to enjoy being scratched near her tail so it was fine.

He was grateful that neither he nor Amarynthos were allergic to cats! Well, they would have found out when Solieyu was around them first.

“Is it that strange that we’re, um… Squires of the Moon?” he asked, tilting his head curiously, nodding along to Amarynthos’ comment about not knowing almost anyone there. Just Alastor and Sessrumnir and he knew that Sessrumnir had family there. Valhalla and Ganymede, and Oberon too. But he also knew that he was pretty secretive about it, so he didn’t offer that information to the other Mauvian.

“I mean, I guess it makes sense if the Code didn't have others to keep places on the Moon safe before... Oh! I have healing magic now,” he chirped quietly with subdued excitement. “We’re gonna find out what Mary’s magic does once it’s needed. I bet it’s going to be really cool.”

Palatine, Knight of Venus

Palatine accepted the flashlight from Sessrumnir. It was sturdy, and heavy enough that she probably could bludgeon something with it. As for the advice, she accepted that with a shallow arch of one pale eyebrow.

“I’ll expect a visit from Henri, then,” she said, only half joking. If the Chaos had a thing for late husbands, she wouldn’t be surprised if it tried to take the form of hers. “He can tell me everything I’ve done wrong, like he always did.”

She wasn’t worried. Maybe she should be; no doubt the Chaos had plenty to pick from if it could see into her heart. Still, Palatine doubted it would pose much of an issue for her. Maybe that was arrogance, but didn’t knowing ahead of time mean she’d be less likely to fall for it?

“Be careful,” she told Sessrumnir, who had more demons to draw from. Palatine glanced over Varuna and her friends (Lysithea, Adria, Malus, and Soleiyu) as well, adding, “That goes for all of you.”

She’d have to trust that Varuna’s new friends would look out for her.

Guardian Cat Lucasta

Lucasta released a disgruntled “mrew” as Ephesus hauled her into his lap, but she allowed the pets and scratches and did not seem too displeased by the attention. In fact, once she settled into place, she seemed no less proud and dignified, as if she thought the affection well deserved.

“In time, you will learn many of the faces here, I’m sure,” she told Amarynthos.

Of course, she could not claim to know very many of them either. Faces came and went with the ebb and flow of the war. She was, however, quite confident that they would all become quite familiar with one another. After all, if they had answered Alastor’s call, then they were a dedicated bunch.

“To my knowledge, there have been no knights of the Moon before now,” she answered Ephesus. “In terms of the war, you and Amarynthos and others like you — assuming there are others like you — are a recent development.”

Having become acquainted with them already, Lucasta did not share Realta’s fascination. Even so, she could not blame the other Mauvian for being curious.

“Hope instead that you have no need to determine what Amarynthos’ magic does while we’re here,” she concluded.

Lucasta hopped off of Ephesus’ lap when she determined she had received sufficient attention. She brushed against both his and Amarynthos’ ankles, then gave Realta a nod of acknowledgement.

They had very little time left for fraternizing.

“Prepare yourselves,” she told them all.

Then, having satisfied her own curiosity, Lucasta scampered off to return to the vicinity of her bonded Senshi.

Sailor Daphne

Had her world only just fallen? Daphne couldn't answer that question.

She remembered Chaos creeping in to her city. She remembered it turning her people against each other. She remembered two mobs coming for her in the night, and running to the savanna and calling out for help.

She remembered everything going dark, and coming to on Earth.

There were rumors that time had passed in the interim, but she wasn't sure how long a thousand Earth years were, or when things had started falling. She hadn't yet gone to see the state of her home.

"I. I don't know," she said, because she didn't know how to slip the rest into a casual conversation, especially when Alastor was already talking.

"I'm going to go find where he needs help," she said quickly, and she bit her lip to keep from thinking too much about what might be happening on her own world as she turned away to go find her station.

[Exit]

Eternal Ida

The eternal smiled gently at the assurance, choosing not to comment on the last time they'd gotten separated. That would have happened to anyone, at any time, so it was hardly Illyria's fault. Bending down, she pressed a tiny kiss to the soft forehead and then straightened, settling the Mauvian in her arms.

"Well, lets go take our place, huh? We have to make sure we help out now that we're here." She said, glancing up at the windows again. "Even with all of us here, I don't think its going to be an easy time. If the planet felt it needed all of us, this chaos has to be really strong."

Stepping forward, she carried Illyria off after the rest of the crowd, taking a light when offered and heading for their assigned place.

[ EXIT ]

‘It is deep rooted, and old, and powerful, now. I let it go unchecked for too long, and the time when I might have been able to destroy it myself is long passed. I’ve held it bay, but that’s hardly saying much. I don’t know if there are others out there that have been fighting it too, but I’ve had no connection with anyone else on my world. All I know is that I am here, and I can only imagine that it is because my world needs me to destroy it.’

Erytheia felt a deep sadness. He knew what Chaos was like on a world, but, somehow, this felt worse. Much worse. How long had it been here? How long had the senshi been fighting it alone?

The knight was struck by all he still did not know. He knew next to nothing about the Deep Space senshi that had come to Earth so recently. And he knew even less about the scope of the worlds out there. Were these not all starseeds Cosmos was supposed to protect? How many had not survived the Chaos and returned to the Cauldron?

“I’m sorry.”

Erytheia could say nothing more and there was nothing more he could say. The rest must be action. He gripped his bow tightly. It would have to be what his words could not.

He left silently to the South Wall with a weariness of a man twice his age.


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