There was a pitiful mewling sound at her garage door, which only meant one thing. Last time something like this had happened, Irene had given ********* a hard time.

However, Ellie also knew the cat wasn't the sort to come crying to her unless something was up. She walked up to the edge of the garage door and pushed it up a bit. "Get in, Cat."

Obediently following the instructions, the small animal slunk, minor limp to her hind leg. There was crusty brown blood left over the spot.

The moment ********* was in, the tomboy closed the garage completely again. "...rough night?" It was a simple inquiry.

The cat's head hung low. For a bit, she remained quiet, as if refusing to talk, but eventually she stated in a low manner "...I need to talk to you in private, Iris..."

The distinct use of her senshi identity was clue enough that this was senshi business and needed to be dealt with immediately. In the sanctity of her garage, she henshined up. It was her space, perhaps even safer than the privacy she'd find in her own bedroom. However, there was one other place that was even more secure than a garage or a bedroom.

And as the tomboy senshi scooped up the guardian, she transported them to such a santuary.

The asteroid of Iris.

"I'll wrap up yer bad leg later... but now that we're here... what'cha wanna talk about?" The tall senshi settled down in the dark sand on the dark world, setting the manx upon her lap. It might have seemed out of place, but the tomboy let her gloved fingers scratch behind the cat's ears.

"...you remember... that meeting a little while back... and the discussion of purification...?" The feline nuzzled in, making herself comfortable.

An undignified snort escaped Iris. "I remember ya puttin' me on the spot and havin' me be a speaker when I know nothin' 'bout this crap... save for all the speculation that happened at that meetin'..." She had gone, and for the most part all she learned was that those who followed order were very good at speculating. Not that speculation was fact.

"...yes... well... you were there for the same reason all were there. You believe in purification..." The animal sighed.

"...out with it, *********..." She knew the guardian wouldn't bring up such a subject without having a point to it.

Weakly she chuckled at Iris' impatience. "...okay, okay... I'll get to it..." She knew that what she'd be asking would be a long shot. Perhaps that was why she was hesitating.

"...I met a senshi... but... she is a corrupted senshi... Much like Tisiphone or Hel..."

Iris' lips pressed into a frown, easily remembering Tisiphone of all senshi. Both ********* and Iris had witnessed that evil senshi point blank killing a new senshi. "...you what?!" She jostled, as if getting ready to stand up again.

"Wait! She might be corrupted and like them... but... she... she isn't like them!"

"Yer contradicting yerself..."

"...I know, I know... it isn't easy to explain... that's for sure..." The manx's fur bristled under Iris' hand from all the anxiety.

"...calm down, *********... it's just you and me right now..." She continued to try to pet the animal, since the Mauvian obviously needed something to settle her down.

Taking in a deep breath, she attempted to follow the senshi's advice. "Okay... okay..." On the fifth deep breath, her fur was no longer standing on end.

"...this senshi... I have heard of her doing bad things, like getting into fights and harassing other senshi who are not aligned with chaos....... but... she's done other things which makes me think... she's not where she belongs..."

Iris' brow lofted and she lowered her gaze upon the animal in her lap. That was an interesting way to phrase things. "...so... are you gonna give me any examples? Or am I supposed to just use my imagination?"

Lifting her head to meet the gaze from Iris, ********* shook her head from side to side. "No... I can tell you what she's done. She's fed me..."

The senshi groaned. "....please don't tell me that's all..."

********* smiled at Iris' reaction. "...no... that's not all... she actually saved me from a car once... no real reason to, but flat out pulled me out of the way of a car and had her hair get run over."

"Okay... that's a good reason..."

"It is... and I think... I think she's suffering..." The manx's eyes fell from Iris' for a moment as she recalled the pained look upon Nickeline's face when the subject of the hole in her chest was brought up. Her voice grew soft as she then dared to make her real request.

"...Iris... I want you to purify this girl..."

The blonde's brows furrowed as she took in the request. "I wouldn't even know where t'start with somethin' like that, ********* style="color: gray">The request hadn't been taken as well as she had hoped, but it did not make ********* hopes get extinguished. In a heightened tone, she made an argument. "You are a princess, Iris! You have access to a crystal... that sort of power... it... it has potential!"

In a vaguely agitated tone, the tomboy replied "I know all that! That doesn't change the fact I wouldn't know what to do!"

"That doesn't give you an excuse to not try!" Once more, the manx's fur frizzed up. However, she realized that getting irritated was not going to make things any better, so her fur calmed again. In yet another subdued tone, she asked "...Can you please purify Nickeline?"

********* probably wouldn't like the response, but Iris was not going to throw about convenient lies for the manx's benefit.

"...I don't like makin' promises I don't know I can keep..."

Disappointment hung upon the little cat's heart, but she kept a stiff upper lip about the whole ordeal. Keeping that pleasant smile upon her maw (though it seemed to hold a bit of sadness to it), she replied "I understand..."

Having the manx there, in her lap, by herself while on Iris' old home of the past stirred some emotions she had hidden as well. She was reminded of when Kurma had visited this place, and he had posed the question to her.

Did she want to continue the old stories, or did she want to create new stories in the present?

"...*********... do you know of a Sailor Psyche?"

Despite her own mood, the feline gave the question some serious thought before shaking her head. "Nope... never heard of a Sailor Psyche." She tilted her head slightly before asking "...any particular reason?"

...I was afraid that was the case...

Shaking her own head, the tomboy replied "Naw... no reason..." With that, she scooped up the cat and stood up again.

"...alright... let's go back and wrap up yer leg, Cat... I know yer not gonna slow down, but at least let's get it covered so ya don't get some infection or somethin' dumb like that!"

She didn't leave room for the cat to argue, and soon enough they vanished from the asteroid, once more returning to Earth. Their conversation would remain only a secret to the asteroid.