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 Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:10 pm
She'd been running for as long as her legs could carry her and not buckle.
Super Sailor Kallichore sat slumped against the air conditioning housing on an abandoned building. The air hadn't been pumped in six months, the family being evicted due to non-payment. What she would have given for a breeze right then. Sweat dripped from her brow or was that...? No, it wasn't tears. She didn't have the strength nor the inclination to give Ares any more of herself than she already had. Ares didn't deserve it.
Her breathing was heavy, laden with anger and remorse and bitterness. Her tattered fuku lay in a pool around her as her arms went limp at her side. How long had it been since Kallichore nearly escaped with her life? A day? Maybe two? And even then she didn't stop running. She had no idea how else to deal with what had happened that fateful night. Running kept her mind focused on something, focused away from unproductive things like sadness and betrayal.
The moon was peaking out from beneath a blanket of gray clouds, all at once seeming to mock the senshi below. You should have believed in me, and you didn't. Look where you are now!
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:01 pm
Albali had been watching. It was, to anyone normal, perhaps something creepy or just this side of stalker. For Albali watching was like breathing. She watched people, she studied people, she knew what they wanted and what they needed. Usually. Her confidence had been deeply shaken with the revelation that Princess Ares of the Dark Moon Court did not want her. That she found her a weak piece of flesh that could be discarded when it served its purpose. Gloved hands clenched. She was tired of watching.
Hopping from her perch on a higher rooftop Super Sailor Albali frowned a bit. "Kallichore. You're being chased?" It was the first thing to think of. She had brought this senshi into being, essentially, and then brought her into the fold that was now a thing of nightmares. Go figure that it would be the Senshi of Insanity. Insanity was a damn good word for everything that was going on at the moment.
Of course, Albali had a good idea that the girl wasn't being chased but you could never be too sure. It seemed that whatever this senshi was running from wasn't physically behind her but a shadow over her shoulder. Flashes of a blood red cloak flashed in her own mind for a moment before being banished like the clouds over the moon.
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Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 9:21 pm
She hadn't even bothered with a scan, but the sudden presence of another senshi made Kallichore jolt, startled. The super senshi quickly scrambled to her feet in the presence of one who used to be several ranks above her. Would it still be that way even now? "Albali...?" came a reply, puzzled beyond belief that someone else would be on this side of town. The senshi of echoes and her cat brought Kallichore into this war. She certainly didn't hold anything against either one of them, especially after what had happened only nights before.
Who could have seen that coming?
Albali's question made the gray haired teen shake her head. "Not exactly. I guess the answer is yes in a way but... I'm getting ahead of myself." She sat down on the metallic top of the air conditioner to catch her breath. Her wheezing died down after a few moments. Raking a hand through her hair, she continued. "No, I'm... trying to figure things out. Trying to process what happened back there. Running kind of helps me think, I suppose." That was only partially true - what she was running from was the truth. Ares had abandoned them all and snatched away even those who resisted. It was sick, it was disgusting, it was frightening. But it was the truth.
"I'm glad you made it out alive. And still... you."
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 3:20 am
Albali plastered a quick, somewhat false smile on her face at the sentiment. She decidedly was not happy to have made it out still her when she had all but thrown herself at the Dark Mirror Queen, left like the remnants of those dark mirrors on the floor when everything was said and done. Yes, she wasn't dead. Had been the first out of the building aided by Ares herself. Somehow, she didn't think that the other would be so merciful if they were faced again. If they did. The idea suddenly hit her that if she did ever see her best friend again, it would be as an enemy and someone that needed killing.
That cut her off at the knees so that the beribboned super had to sit down next to Kallichore to catch her breath. "I still can't catch up to it. It just came out of nowhere." Her head shook back and forth in a negative motion. "That doesn't happen to me a lot, blindsiding. I spend a lot of time watching people and I just didn't see this coming." But they hadn't been spending much time together, had they? Gaia had seen it coming, known about it, embraced it. Logic accepted that, emotion felt betrayed by it. There it was, the weakness. It was ruthlessly seized by the neck and shoved down again until only serenity remained.
"The hard part is what we do now. Do you plan to go back? To the Court."
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Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 5:51 pm
There was some relief in knowing Albali didn't see this coming either. She was much closer to Ares than Kallichore was, and it was becoming increasingly evident that hardly anyone in the Court expected this. Would any of them have believed the truth had they known about it ahead of time? That Ares would plunge herself into the same darkness they were all trying to fight? Somehow Kallichore thought all the Blood Moon senshi would have laughed at the very idea.
The senshi of madness chuckled slightly and shook her head. "Return? No, I don't think so." Her response was flat, almost cardboard in its delivery. "Somehow I think my skills, being whatever they are, would be more useful elsewhere." She looked up to stare at the vast expanse of the sprawling city, letting her breath finally even out after all that running. It was difficult, in a way, to say goodbye to the Court. Albali had been the first senshi she'd ever met. How ironic now that they were together again after such a long time apart and only because of a mutual betrayal. The universe must have been laughing at them.
"There's... something else out there for me, I think. And after all this, I don't think I'd feel comfortable in Birhan or anyone else's presence in that kind of setting. I'd always be worried that one of them would suddenly lose their minds like Ares did and repeat the whole fiasco." Turning to the senshi dressed in sunset, Kallichore frowned. "What about you? Are you returning to the Court?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 4:26 pm
Yet another failure on her part. It saddened Albali more knowing that she had found this senshi, recruited them, and now Kallichore would rather leave than remain and pick up the shattered pieces of the Court. Not that she blamed her in the slightest; it was why she had asked the question. Those that were feeling hunted? For them, staying in the Court was painting a target on their chests, challenging Ares to come and do their worst. The Senshi of Echoes knew that even if she stayed there was no target for her chest. Princess Ares had made that painfully clear.
If she physically fought the new Dark Mirror Court? Well. Perhaps that would result in a different target entirely. The plum-haired young woman was really quite angry but not suicidal in any fashion. Life, after all, was not truly that bad. She was rich, talented, intelligent, and there was more to life than Fallon Novette-Naim. Somewhere. "I don't really have anywhere to go. I feel better in a group, even a group as fractured as the Court, rather than out alone. You know my powers don't lend themselves to moving around solo." It was difficult.
Did Albali want to forge out and find a place where she could be something more than the crazy ex-leader's ex...whatever the hell she was? Absolutely. There was more than a little pride in her that demanded she make something of herself and the terrible situation she was in. But that pride also demanded she throw it in Ares face that the Court could stay strong and flourish. Even if the senshi in question was not sure it could be done.
"I figure at least if I stay nearby I can keep a finger on what's going on. Maybe...maybe figure out what happened to her. I know you didn't go that far in but I made a promise in blood. It's burned into my skin." Fingers lingered over her hip where the brand lie. "Leaving now would be betraying that worse than Ares, I think."
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