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 Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 12:14 pm
Hailing from the port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Theodora Argyros was the youngest of three daughters. Being the youngest meant many things for Theodora. It meant that she got away with things her two older sisters never did and would never get away with but it also meant that most of her possessions were either shared or previously owned by one of her older sisters. It wouldn't last forever, but it certainly felt like it. Eventually both her sisters were off to university and finally she didn't have to share anything anymore. She didn't have to share clothes, she didn't have to share a room and she didn't have to share her grandfather during the visits her sisters were forced to join her. Things were fairly normal but during the middle of her seventeenth year, during the tail-end of winter, things started to change.
It had never been unusual for Theodora to sneak out at night and prowl the town. Whether she'd meet up with her friends or simply prowl the town like a stray cat, she always felt compelled to the night life. It had a bad influence on her already bad study habits, often causing her to carelessly nap in class, but unlike her two sisters Theodora put little importance on school.
One night. One night was all that it took for Theodora's life to change. It was in early March that Theodora found herself on private property just off the harbour. She didn't care that the fences clearly said NO TRESSPASSING nor did they stop her from clearing them with quite a bit of ease. She didn't expect anyone to be there but she was aware of the consequences that might follow her if she was caught. Punishment wouldn't be severe but she couldn't afford to be taken home by the police.
What happened next was nothing like she expected.
The European division of the Negaverse was tiny, especially when you compared it to the large scale operation that seems entirely focused on Destiny City. Careful, covert and meticulous, the odds that Theodora would stumble upon their operation that night were unfathomable to the officers there. Shocked, and a little impressed, it didn't take them long to convince Theodora of their merits. Naive and longing for power, they promised her exactly what she wanted. She wasn't punished like she thought she would be and instead she was rewarded.
It was painful. Painful enough for any punishment, and depending on who you asked... maybe it was, but she wanted it to badly that she fought through the pain that came with someone forcing their hand into her chest and changing her very being. The outcome was not what anyone expected though, not even Theodora herself. She wasn't a new lieutenant of the Negaverse but instead a senshi covered in a black fuku with holes in her chest and forehead. She wasn't a Negaverse Officer, she was a Corrupt Senshi.
Their expressions might have read horror if they weren't emotionally strong, holding back their expression from showing how they felt. The two officers exchanged glances, both of them hearing of the pure and volatile power senshi possessed. It was something the Negaverse harnessed for their own desires but the European division had no need for them and certainly didn't know what to do with her. They didn't have any guardian cats in Europe since they didn't have any corrupt senshi so they didn't even know who she was. The sphere would come later but a name they could do. Silver hair and eyes that almost seemed silver under the lights of the night, Nickeline was the name they called her.
Everything after that happened so fast, and before Theodora had too much time to access the situation she was saying goodbye to her family and going aboard. Her family was sad to see their little girl leave but they all thought that their daughter finally was going to pick up the slack and show her full potential and studying aboard was a great way to do that. They never thought that this would be the last time they would see her, and who would?
Her flight was long but there wasn't anything interesting about it. To be frank, the flight had felt like a decade of torture, being forced to sit uncomfortably between business men and vacationing families returning home from Europe. It gave her such a horrible impression of America that she simply didn't want to get off the plane. Not that she had a choice, General-Queen Laurelite wasted no time in summoning her. The ranking officer tried her best to explain things to Nickeline but did anyone know that the twist on this story was that Nickeline's English was terrible? She knew some but she had no interest in learning it so it was basic of basic. General-Queen Laurelite knew a little Greek but if anything it gave Nickeline a false sense of security that was quickly extinguished, leaving her feeling rather unimpressed.
The cherry on top was coming. She wasn't even in the country for an hour and already she was forced to meet General Sassolite. She didn't like either of these Negaverse officers but pride got in the way of accepting anyone, especially someone who didn't speak Greek. General Sassolite was that as well as the obvious fact that she just didn't like Nickeline. The corrupt senshi didn't know it at the time but General Sassolite didn't like senshi at all and having Nickeline assigned under her care was such a load of crap if there ever was one.
They didn't get along and they certainly didn't see eye to eye. Nickeline might have "agreed" to do what any soldier did and be a good weapon but that was the real load of crap. Lies and manipulation was something she spent her teenage life doing and she'd gotten good at it. She'd say and do anything that would keep her ahead of the curve but she wasn't going to be your b***h.
She wasn't going to be anyone's b***h... except maybe her mother's. With a school uniform she hadn't needed too much in terms of clothing so she only needed a couple bags of luggage. It wasn't a lot compared to all the stuff she had back home but it was enough to get her by, and it was enough to bring her favourite pieces of clothing and treasures over. What she expected to find when she opened her luggage and what she actually found weren't the same... at all. All her comfortable and heavily worn clothes were replaced with new dresses, skirts, accessories she'd never seen before and ridiculously uncomfortable heels that would never be as great as her climbers.
To say that she'd been upset over that was an understatement, and to cool off Theodora resentfully put on one of the outfits and left to admire the newly growing flowers in the park garden. She didn't expect much because it was America but she was fortunately mistaken. A small peace found the volatile girl, and a young man named Howl gave Theodora a sense of home. A fine gentleman with a love and knowledge for flowers reminded her of the grandfather she loved so much and such a reminder in a foreign place allowed her to continue pushing forward in a place that she thought simply fought against her 24/7.
Her meeting with him wasn't the last, and it also wasn't tired entirely to her sunlight life. Her moonlight life was something else entirely though, and as time passed by Nickeline found herself engaged in the Negaverse's war. She was eager to fight, eager to prove her new power and she had her first chance to do so when she was shown the ropes by the guardian cat Dahlia. The cat might not have expected much out of her at the time but before the night was over she made Dahlia proud when she went after Sailor Juno brutally without hesitation. If things had been different, Sailor Juno would have probably been one of the few senshi in Destiny City that could understand how she felt. Instead they fought like wild cats, using their fists like claws and their abundance of curse words like fangs. Nickeline was definitely bruised after that fight but her ego soared, starting her own personal battle in Destiny City. She felt strength that had always been just out of reach before. Sure, she hadn't been weak but now... now she was powerful.
She was powerful but to what extent? Curiosity plagued Nickeline as she tested her abilities. She was aware that she seemed to have power over air, more specifically, the air of life itself: Breath. To have such a power, to be able to steal the breath from someone, excited her and urged her own until finally she found herself pulling out her own starseed. She didn't know what it was or why it was in her chest but it shined so brightly at her that she felt warmth over the initial pain. It was strange, and in an attempt to figure out what it was she showed it to the Dark Mirror Senshi Remarque. At the eternal rank, even he didn't know what it was. He seemed unable to that, and that's where Nickeline first unconsciously began to realize that he didn't have a hole in his chest. It didn't cause her any trouble, and her meeting with Sailor Remarque flew under her radar until she completely forgot his name. What was it? She tried to remember once but kept getting it wrong. It wasn't important and it allowed her to move onto exploring the magical capabilities of her fuku.
The exploration of her fuku was the first time she blatantly showed disrespect to a commanding officer. While she definitely didn't listen to Negaverse officers very well, she'd always pretended for her better benefit. She'd told General-Queen Laurelite that she'd listen to any ranking officer and do what they said but not only did she not do that but she also took it a step further this night. The language barrier definitely made things worse but pride and ego fueled the flames.
General Benitoite was the first Negaverse officer she handled poorly, attacking him and yelling at him that he was a pervert when she caught him in the distance while she attempted figure out the mechanics of the magical fuku. A punch in the face had felt so good but he didn't retaliate at all. In a manner of speaking, she felt disappointed and a little angry. General Benitoite was simply a nice guy but Nickeline thought that he simply thought himself so above her that he refused to strike back. She had stirred herself up quite a bit but eventually she settled down and found herself with a glint of hope when he promised to learn Greek to better communicate with her.
Her moonlight life may have seemed to be improving, and she fought constantly. She took on everyone and anyone she could get her fists on... even those who obviously outranked her. She didn't think it mattered, and that's when she met Camelot. He was a knight but that didn't mean anything to her. She picked a fight with him and while she raveled in reality of him struggling to breath, the ranks quickly caught up to them and he managed to get in a good hit. It had knocked her out completely but instead of finding herself in a world of darkness, never to awaken, she found herself opening her eyes again. Camelot was gone and Nickeline found herself insulted that he hadn't killed her. It was insane but she felt like he was saying she wasn't worth it. The next time she seen a member of the knight faction, she was crashing a meeting with the rest of the Negaverse. She didn't need to know them because she already lowered their status for simply being a member of that faction, and that status was filled with hate. Piece of trash knights, she vowed to make them feel like Camelot made her feel.
It was half way into summer at this point and Theodora had been in America for six months. She longed for Greece, and although she spoke with her grandfather regularly over Skype, she couldn't help but feel homesick. It was around then that she hunted down a bakery that sold authentic, not Americanized, goods. It wasn't Greece but the woman running the shop actually spoke fluent Greek and the food was comforting. She bought it often, and even took it with her to eat during her moonlight life as Nickeline.
They say food attracts wild animals but Nickeline had never thought that it would be her hair that would attract animals. Okay, maybe she knew the alley cats had been memorized by it when they'd see it swinging in the wind while she crept on ledges but she never thought it would attract a guardian cat of all things in a park of all places. It was a small cat, very fat and rumpy. If anything could have changed her life, Nickeline never would have thought it would be this cat. With dulled green eyes and a star on her forehead, she attacked Nickeline's hair with the gusto of a curious kitten.
Balls on balls, who knew!
Boy, was this cat ever fat. Nickeline would never get past just how fat this cat was. If she didn't know any better, she would have simply assumed the cat was a sort of lumpy ball and rolled her around. She was cute though, and the way she begged for food sort of made Nickeline long for the chance she had to get that kitten from the breeder in Cyprus. She'd never had a pet before because her mother swore they'd get one and she'd end up having four children to take care of instead of three. How lame, right? It was probably worse her mother constantly told them how she seen this cute animal while she was out and thought it would be the perfect pet, almost brought it home for them but then decided not to. True story, happened monthly. Even Theodora knew her mother was a troll.
Nickeline left *********, the glorious wife of the tomcat Heracles, the rest of her pastries in hopes the cat would get even fatter. There was no real reason for Nickeline to leave the rest of her pastries there with ********* but perhaps the simplicity of ********* excitement upon eating them. It might have reminded her of a time not long before it that she raveled in such a simple delight, a memory of home.
Simple delights were just what Nickeline had though, and they didn't all involve food. A new pleasure of hers was smashing the faces of as many newly made pages that she could find. She had a grudge and she wasn't afraid of taking it out on people that technically weren't involved. Well, they might think they weren't involve and maybe they barely understood what was going on when they first awoken but as far as Nickeline cared if they powered up then they were free game.
The Squire of Neptune, otherwise known as Nysa, changed that simple pleasure. Things had started out like all other fights with the faction but after getting an upper hand over him, he fell out of her grasp. How could someone, with just a quill to defend himself, possibly get away from her? It was an insult to everything she had fought for and a slap in the face. She didn't want to kill him but she certainly had wanted to crush his spirit. Instead, her spirit was the one that shook from the battle. She chased after him but even then she lost him. The only consolation was that she ran into Howl, her grandfather substitute! He was only an eighth the man her grandfather was but he had quite a few years to grow. At that moment though, Theodora was concerned poor little grandfather clone wouldn't live that long.
Who mugged her sweet grandfather clone? She didn't chase after them at the time because she was more concerned about his poor face but after he'd told her about the restaurant Maize Maizier and she'd gotten him home to his not-school home, she immediately left in search of them. She might have searched for Nysa but she'd already lost his trail when she'd lost his power signature. These muggers though, she could still find them! Howl never knew it but she had spent nights searching for them until finally giving up when none other than lieutenant Bazzite found her hiding in an alley in wait. It was after that annoyance that she gave up and went back to her normal routine.
Summer was coming to an end but it hadn't made any difference to Theodora. She hated America. She celebrated her birthday (and the start of summer) alone by basically stealing city property and then she spent her summer half attending summer school. It didn't matter though because she had no say in her life as Theodora because it was attached to the life of Nickeline that was stuck here to do business for the Negaverse. No one cared that she hated it here and it wasn't like she could go back home. If no one cared and she didn't care, Theodora decided she definitely wasn't attending the first day of school after spending half her summer there.
She almost made a friend that day when she kidnapped one of her fellow students who she feared would rat her out but after making the girl pay for practically everything, she ditched her when the going got tough. Leaving her companion high and dry, Theodora made it out without getting caught but the friendship was certainly lost somewhere between the DDR mats and the door Theodora ran out of alone. However, as bad of a day it was for her companion, Theodora felt great.
Nickeline was another story though. She had a run in with a bratty pipsqueak in the park and that brought questions to the corrupt senshi. She didn't like the idea that much but she certainly wasn't going to let some brat shove her around. If push came to shove, she'd shove Sailor Chibi Lenka so hard she never got up again. If the brat wanted to power up then who was Nickeline to argue that she was a child? She certainly didn't argue when anyone else powered up. She fought anyone who'd cross her path, even unsuspecting players in the war.
One night someone who didn't approve changed her routine. She'd made a switch from her usual page victim to new senshi, This night her fight attracted the attention of one senshi of order, and her opinions that what Nickeline was doing was wrong. Well, Nickeline thought what Sailor Eunomia's face was doing was wrong. She wanted to throw that b***h's face in the pavement but she settled for kicking her in the face instead. They fought like animals until Sailor Eunomia actually bit her like the dog Nickeline swore she was. Then she fled like the coward Nickeline was convinced she was, leaving Nickeline cursing her name and itching for a change to level the playing field. Nothing really happened between the two of them but a fiery battle, and neither of them would ever have thought that something so much bigger was in store for them.
All of the things that happened to Nickeline, none of them were quite as embarrassing as what happened one early October night. It was not particular in the least that Nickeline would pick a fight with someone who had an energy signal, especially not that of a page, but what happened that night was something Nickeline was more than happy to forget. Everything was going like it normally did but after taking an upper hand and fight to keep it, Nickeline found herself in the position she never wanted to be in. Aventine, Page of Venus, had been successfully tripped but the direction was not what she wanted. Falling toward her, Nickeline did what was in her own best interest and threw her hands up. Of course, her hands had landed directly on the other woman's chest and Nickeline practically lost all comprehensible thoughts.
She had been so flustered, so upset over the fact it had been a page over anything else, that she fled immediately. Perhaps for the first time since coming to Destiny City, Nickeline regretted something she did during her moonlight life. Whatever amount of embarrassment she felt, she'd just have to take it out on Sailor Eunomia as payback for the shame that b***h put her through.
As irony would have it, Nickeline's path was about to cross with Sailor Eunomia's guardian cat again. She didn't know it, and she'd never know it, but ********* was Eunomia's guardian cat. She hated Eunomia so much right now but the guardian cat brought some sense of foreign comfort to the corrupt senshi. Perhaps because she was always eating food when they met, or perhaps it was the simple pleasure of a cat's presence. She'd never had a pet before but she'd wanted one. With ever meeting with *********, Nickeline regret her chance. Maybe one that wasn't quite so fat though. After all, she didn't want the cat to eat her out of house and home.
She'd only noticed unconsciously before but feeling someone's eyes on the hole in her chest and forehead brought extreme discomfort to Nickeline. When ********* pointed them out, questioned them, Nickeline actually thought about it. She'd seen other senshi before, both White Moon and even Dark Mirror, but none of them seemed to have holes. Her mind strayed to places that weren't friendly to her, reminding her her what holes were known for. Holes in a building were a weakness that if left unchecked could destroy the very foundation, holes in a grocery bag would most likely cause a tear that would spread through it until the groceries were on the ground, holes in your clothes left you feeling open and exposed, and holes in your umbrella prevented you from remaining dry in the rain.
A tipping point in Nickeline's state of mind, Nickeline tried to avoid the subject. ********* was easy going and given her seemingly one-track mind, it led them very quickly to the subject of where she brought this bread. It was from the same place she'd gotten the pastries ********* had gotten from her before. It was the only Greek store she knew of in the area and knowing how much ********* would enjoy it, and eager to change the subject entirely, Nickeline insisted on showing her where it was.
********* was trusting, perhaps even overconfident, and Nickeline could have easily lead the guardian cat into a trap. Maybe she should have, maybe she would have solved many of the problems that were coming her way if she had. However, she didn't and things took a different direction. They made their way to the store and the only danger to arise wasn't from Nickeline or even a youma waiting in wait for them. It was something as simple as a car that flew around the corner. Nickeline had crossed safely but ********* hadn't made it across the street. In the end, she was only a cat. She didn't run away like nature suggested and instead she thought to curl up and avoid it.
Nickeline might have briefly considered the irony of a ********* pancake but she couldn't allow it to happen. Even at the risk of her own treasured hair, Nickeline saved ********* from immediate danger that night. The car had run over her hair but neither her or *********. Sure, Nickeline was pissed off and cursed up a storm at the car that kept driving despite nearly running a girl over but hair was durable and she was able to walk away physically unharmed that night. Mentally though? That was a different story. She would never get the idea of being broken out of her mind.
With autumn's approach coming, time passed slowly for Theodora. It made her consider many things she was often too busy for. She longed for the days when the flowers bloomed everywhere and the very breath she took were filled with their sweet scent and even more she longed to see her grandfather. She spoke to him regularly but even then she still missed him. They were so close and she'd never been away for this long. To make it worse, the flowers that reminded her of him were withering for the season and only a few would grow, even less bloom for the autumn season. She knew what awaited her when the winter arose and it was a thought she considered with such dread but there was nothing she could do to stop winter.
Winter would bring complications for her moonlight night so for now Nickeline found find herself making up time. An unpleasant meeting with a new Negaverse Officer was what was in store for her. She met them now and then but mostly she tried to ignore them. She didn't like them because they didn't even try to understand her. She didn't need words but she wasn't just some weapon to be used. She knew how Sassolite felt, and even a weapon was too good. She knew not everyone was like that but it didn't make them register any better on her scale. It's probably why she got into so many scruffs.
Respect and ranking had little sway over her, although when it came to people with sharp pointy weapons she probably should have reconsidered. However, General Painite was just another obstacle for her to overcome. By no means did it go in her favour, in fact, General Painite went a little too far. She had a weapon, and although Nickeline was cocky, the wound from the spear could have just as easily hit somewhere a lot more dangerous than it had. Nickeline wanted to believe that she had done enough damage to General Painite as she had done to her to call it a draw but the way General Painite acted when everything was said and done made her feel like she had lost. She didn't like it, not one bit. What was she to do about it though? She walked away and patched herself up.
She'd recover soon, and finally she could continue her moonlight life. She didn't like taking it easy, or simply giving up one side of the life she'd gained. It was the power over anything. It was something she'd fought for, something she'd suffer for, and it wasn't something she wanted to simply give up. She may not like it but things were still manageable. The freedom that came with health was unbelievable though, and simply getting out of her dorm and away from the homework she direly tried to avoid was bliss. What came next was ecstasy.
Sailor Eunomia. She looked a little different than she had when they first met but she would remember that b***h's face even after she'd kicked it in so bad even her mother wouldn't. Memories of their first meeting boiled to the surface and she remembered all the things she wanted to make up for. A fight was inevitably, and all hell broke out between the two of them. They pulled out all the stops, fighting like cats and dogs until finally the telltale sound of police sirens echoed in the background as they got closer.
Not a stranger to trouble, impulse forced Nickeline to leave earlier than she'd have preferred. She hadn't made a comeback yet but she forced herself to climb a fence to escape. However, before she disappeared entirely she found herself turning back to look at Sailor Eunomia. She knew that it wasn't over, she found finish this if it was the last thing she did. She would find her again and she would give the whore her money's worth.
She didn't have time to sulk over her apparent 'loss' because she had a win coming. She'd given General Benitoite six months or so and now she'd finally get to talk to someone! Someone in the Negaverse would finally understand her, someone would finally take a step to fill the gap between them, and finally she wouldn't be the one expected to give in. She had done nothing but compromise for the Negaverse and now it was so nice to have someone else do something for her.
Nothing in life ever seemed to work out the way you expect though, and what started as a cheerful excitement quickly fell to hurt and betrayal. He'd lied to her. He hadn't learned Greek, and it seemed like he hadn't even tried! She'd said something so basic and even then he'd stared at her like a deer in the headlights of a snow plow. He might have been busy and he might have had a legitimate excuse but she felt so offended, so hurt and so upset that nothing mattered but the fact he'd said he'd do something and then he didn't even try.
She didn't have it in her to deal with him so she fled with no regard for him or his rank over her. She wanted something to distract her, something to make her feel better and so she found a roof and sat on it in wait. She pouted mostly, regretting the hope she'd placed in General Benotoite. Her spirits were low, and an obvious tell was how she handled her hair. She let it lay loose over the roof with little regard of how it dragged behind her. Normally she carried it carefully over her arm so it would stay pristine, untangled and out of the way. She might have stayed in such a state if Sailor Eunomia hadn't shown herself. With that, something sparked inside her and she lept over the edge of the building, using the building to slow her descent before landing with a click of her heel. Finding herself within sight of Sailor Eunomia, Nickeline waited. She wanted her to come at her.
Something about this fight was different from the start but Nickeline didn't know what. Of course, on her side she was feeling emotionally drained and eager to take back what she felt she lost but even Sailor Eunomia was into it. Perhaps it was because they were rivals, or because Nickeline had so obviously crushed Sailor Eunomia so many times that this b***h was desperate. It might not have been the case but Nickeline was more than likely to think it.
The fight was pretty standard until Sailor Eunomia decided she wanted to make it a cat fight. If there was one thing Nickeline didn't stand for it was someone trying to pull her hair. With an attempt to smash her own head into Sailor Eunomia's, she took that opportunity to get a good grab of Sailor Eunomia's pretty blue hair in retaliation.
Each might have had their own ideas on how the battle would end but if one thing was certain rank didn't matter to Nickeline but it didn't mean it wasn't there. The fact that Sailor Eunomia was a super senshi didn't mean she was a better fighter, or going to win, but it did make her a more challenging opponent. Nickeline raveled in the fact that she had to get clever, that she had to think of alternative ways to win. Winning was all that was important, it didn't matter how. She was willing to get down and dirty with the dogs, especially given Sailor Eunomia didn't seem to have any problems doing it.
The tide of the battle changed quickly. The young girl Dana got a little too close for Nickeline's comfort. It might not have been honorable but it was certainly opportune. Who would attack her when she had a hostage? Definitely not Sailor Eunomia, Nickeline was sure of this. Smiling, Nickeline released Sailor Eunomia's hair with a hard tug only to grab hold of Dana with a grin. She didn't do this gingerly, making sure to firmly hold Dana back against her by using her elbow to lock the teenager's neck in place. Yeah, that's right: s**t just got real. She wasn't going to lose, she refused. She couldn't lose after all she'd been through, all she'd given up. She needed this win, just this one win.
The teenager she'd grabbed? What a mouth she had on her! The fact that Nickeline even understood what she said screamed mountains on just how much soap someone should be using to wash that girl's mouth out. She didn't particularly want to hurt the girl but wasn't there some sort courtesy to be given to people who held your neck and likely life in their arms? Maybe she held back from hurting her further because the hostage was better in this condition or more likely because of the memories of her own life it dug up. She wouldn't let her go just because of that though, and she refused to give into another person. Why should she? No one did or gave a s**t about her.
In Nickeline's world, things were finally shifting to her favour. After all the s**t she'd taken, the expression Sailor Eunomia had on her face when she realized what had happened was like ten wins in one. It was amazing, it was almost priceless. Not quite, but it was ******** good. It was like she'd crushed every dream Sailor Eunomia had ever had by grabbing his girl the way she did. She didn't understand it but she didn't need to understand it to be happy about it. Her plan worked splendidly, even better than she could have expected. Her expression was covered in dread, something language barriers had no effect on. She smiled at her, imaging just how beautiful a sight she was when she looked so... pathetic. Who was winning now, huh big b***h? Nickeline, that's who.
Sailor Eunomia plead for her sister but Nickeline didn't know that, and while she didn't understand all the words she spoke she understood the dire need written across her face. It wasn't enough though, Nickeline wanted more. She wanted to know how much Sailor Eunomia was willing sacrifice for her and in adjacent for Nickeline. Her English didn't express her desire as well as she'd like it to and because of that Sailor Eunomia didn't understand what Nickeline wanted at all.
Sailor Eunomia might have seen her sister as an innocent party here but Nickeline didn't agree completely. Dana wasn't completely uninvolved, who was it that refused to go home and video taped this? Dana did. Not only did she video tape this but she also got up in her face to do it. It was just foolish! There wasn't anything Nickeline could say though. Everything she tried to say always ended up misunderstood and then she didn't understand what people tried to tell her. The story of her life was a lonely one.
Deep thoughts caused her foot to tap against the video camera in a manner that made it seem like she was bored. She considered Sailor Eunomia for a moment, and she knew that was more than anyone in America ever considered her. Why was she doing this? She was doing this because no one in this ******** city gave a rat's a** about how she cared or what she wanted. Nickeline do this, Nickeline do that. Worthless, everyone was worthless thinking they could treat her like that. She deserved better! Maybe Sailor Eunomia and this strange child also did but both of them had wronged her and needed to pay for their crimes first. She knew she'd paid for all her crimes ten fold with how much she'd gave up, with how much she continued to give up.
Sailor Eunomia replied to her in earnest but the senshi of order didn't understand the situation. No one understood her but neither could she leave. This was her life now and there was no way around it and no way out of it. She would never go back home to Greece and she would never break free of the Negaverse that bound her now. If she was weaker, she might simply break down and sob over what her life had become but she was a fighter and she wanted to win. Of course, at this point it was really debatable whether it was even possible to win.
For some reason, the fact that Sailor Eunomia of all people didn't understand how she felt hurt. She looked uneasy, looking up and down as if she was being judged. She thought that Sailor Eunomia and her had something special. It might have been really violent but she thought their world was a war and that their language was through fighting. It didn't matter that they didn't speak the same language because how their bodies moved never lied and with it their feelings were conveyed.
The questions Sailor Eunomia asked her stung. How could she ask her something like that? Her eyes felt betrayed and she didn't look at her. She didn't hold any tighter to her captive but neither did she release her. Her heart stung when she thought about what she wanted but there was no escape. Did she want this? Did she want to feel unbearably lonely all the time? No, she didn't want that but it didn't seem to matter because whether she was with the Negaverse or not there would always be that language barrier. She didn't like that she had to be the one to conform with little regard to how she felt, and no matter what it was always her.
There weren't any words she could say to express this so she didn't say anything. Her head seemed to shake a bit but it wasn't a solid movement. It seemed hesitant, like a choice she decided not to go through with half way through. Her life was complicated but Sailor Eunomia was pretending like it was simple! Life was not something you just let pass by you. You had to fight tooth and nail to survive! If you had to take a few people hostage to ensure your victory then that's what you did. If you had to fight everything that moved in the night to make sure you woke up the next morning then that's what you did.
She threw the same question back at Sailor Eunomia like a game, adding to the thrill by playing with her captive's hair. While Sailor Eunomia seemed to be on edge, Dana remained quite unshaken by the whole event and even offered Nickeline her conditioner. It was strange, Nickeline didn't understand but it almost felt like she was back home with her family. Her sister and her didn't get along very well but they were family. Things got between them but they didn't let it hold them back.
While it may have been favourable to Sailor Eunomia that she'd let her go it didn't matter because Nickeline had already won hands down. Quite suddenly, she decided to give up her captive. Allowing Sailor Eunomia and Dana to run to her sister, she turned and began to walk away. She wasn't concerned about being attacked at this point but she did pause and stop, turning around to see Sailor Eunomia again. Her body language spoke to her and her eyes fell. She didn't want anyone to make anymore promises to her, she didn't want anyone to take anymore pieces of her away.
She didn't want to face reality. She smiled at Sailor Eunomia and then ran. She ran away from Sailor Eunomia and she ran away from reality.
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Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 12:14 pm
Reality had a funny way of catching up to you though. She had managed to keep a low key for about a week until one night her path crossed with a new senshi named Sailor Irene. This senshi was unlike any senshi she'd ever met before. She was a typical White Moon senshi but behind it was something else. She started a fight right off the bat and to be honest Nickeline was kind of bored with it. It was easy, and Sailor Irene was obviously not a fighter.
It got to the point that Nickeline actually just spat out in Greek. She hadn't expected anything out if it except the enjoyment of finally dishing out what everyone gave to her. She felt confident, she felt satisfied that finally someone other than her would stand there like an idiot trying to make sense of what was being said. Of course, things didn't turn out like she expected and instead of a confused little senshi of peace, she got a fluent reply back in Greek.
Logically it wasn't unreasonable for a senshi to be able to speak in Greek, or for someone other than the little baker in the Greek bakery to speak Greek but it came as a surprise because it was simply a new experience to her. She fought with her desire to punch Sailor Irene in the face, noting to herself that the world was just ******** cruel. She'd waited for this moment for months and months, and now here it was. The world, the world she lived in ******** sucked.
The reality of life lately was just really kicking Nickeline in the face. Unfortunately, her daylight life wasn't fairing any better. She constantly suffered homesickness and constantly longed for spring flowers to arrive even though winter hadn't even technically set in yet. She wanted the simple reminder that even after a long winter that things would bloom again with new life. The way it was right now though, neither Theodora or Nickeline were going to make it past winter. Perhaps Sailor Irene, someone she could understand and could understand her, could break away some of the pain that was holding her.
It didn't start off well though, Nickeline telling the unsuspecting senshi of peace that her mother was dead. If her mother knew she was telling people that she'd have slapped daughter in the face for it. If anyone could take offense to it, Theodora's mother definitely could. She would have every right to be upset and Theodora knew that because she knew both of her mother's parents died in a fire. However, what her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Perhaps this was the world's way of making up for the fact she had to wear a dress every day for over a month because of her mother.
Sailor Irene seemed to have no doubt that Nickeline, someone supposed to be her enemy, would tell her the truth about her family. It was all the better for Nickeline because it made things easy and her mental and emotional battle of words much more successful but it was awfully naive. Nickeline almost felt like she was tricking a child but Sailor Irene must have been around her age. Either way, Nickeline wasn't going to give up the charade.
The two of them spoke a bit, allowing Nickeline to reminiscence to herself over a language she felt she barely got to use anymore. Sailor Irene had a lot of questions though and Nickeline's answers only fueled more questions. Of course, it eventually lead to the most obvious question. She didn't like the question and her answer had been abstract at best. Everyone lied but Nickeline had lied for so long now that the truth slipped in and no one was none the wiser. Or at least Nickeline would prefer to think so.
The game Nickeline started didn't take long to spiral out of control. Sailor Irene had question after question regarding her and why she joined the Negaverse. It seemed like everyone wanted to know the same question and if Sailor Irene had been speaking in English she would have grown tired after the first syllable but hearing her native tongue was different. She was a little more patient, but only a little. At least like this she could continue her game, although the further it continued the less of a game it became.
She wasn't prepared to let the game go so easily though, and with one question about power she turned the tide to Sailor Irene. The girl also wanted power but her answer was boring. Everyone wanted power for the same reason and so when she was asked the same question she gave an answer that she could only assume threw Sailor Irene for a loop. Why did she want power? Well, she wanted to take over the world of course. That is what the Negaverse is, right? A multi-continent organization bent on world domination, right? It didn't really matter, and with it the game seemed to end.
Nickeline took some air from Sailor Irene's lungs as a going away gift and then she left. The holidays were closing in and it meant she'd probably come out less and less. It was more or less true, and after one more fight with a cocky little piece of s**t Negaverse lieutenant, she bumped into the one Neptune squire she was dying to see. She might have been avoiding Sailor Eunomia but she still had a bone to pick with him. Nysa.
This time had been different than before. This time Nysa had actually put up a fight. She didn't know what changed but she welcomed the challenge, if you could call it that. She was as cocky as ever and it was hard not to be when she ended up knocking him over the edge of a building. She wasn't entirely disappointed that he grabbed onto the edge and desperately flailed to hold on but neither did she seem happy. She stood there, towering over the squire while she pondered what to do. She could step on his hands, almost guaranteeing he would fall but she didn't exactly want that blood on her hands. It was all in good fun to assault someone but clearly murder was taking it too far. If he fell, he fell but it wouldn't be because of her... at least not directly. She could live with that.
She claimed it as a victory and with a smile on her face, she waved to him and then walked to the other side of the building. One last look behind, she disappeared from view as she jumped down onto a balcony below and then into the darkness of the alley. She had been victorious, and just as Camelot had shamed her she had returned the favour to Nysa. Although he might not see it as a particularly bad thing, Nickeline was absolutely gleaming. She had the chance, she had you in the palm of her hands. Your life is hers now. She might not remember that but it would stay with Nysa forever. He would never be able to forget that his life had been in Nickeline's hands and she'd allowed him to survive. What life he had left, she'd view it as hers until she died and even then it would continue to be.
To be perfectly honest, Nickeline couldn't think of a better way to start the holidays and as a result December didn't see much more of Nickeline.
Unfortunately, as much as she wished and longed to go home for the holidays but she found herself unable to. Flights weren't exactly cheap and in the end it wasn't like she had anything worth showing off if she went back home. Her mother would tease her about not bringing a boyfriend back with her and she didn't really want to to see Angeliki after the last fight they had. It was too soon and flights were too expensive for such a short trip. She would definitely make it back for the summer though! She never would but at the time she weighed her options and that was the plan.
They say time changes everything and it was certainly no different in the circumstances here. For the first time in her eighteen and a half years of a life... Theodora rung in a new year alone. Perhaps she had enjoyed the freedom that came with celebrating Christmas alone but if that's what anyone thought it was definitely a show. She was lonely and there were only so many unicorn toys she could find, buy and stuff into her closet to make herself feel better.
The new year brought the fat cat back and at least the company was good. Sometimes, sometimes when Nickeline was with ********* things didn't seem as bleak. However, the new year also brought things she'd actively tried to avoid to her life. General Sassolite had requested her presence for the first time since she'd been in Destiny City and it was one of those orders she felt like she couldn't simply avoid. She didn't believe things had changed in the ten months since she'd been here but she felt that if General Sassolite really wanted to see her it wouldn't have mattered if she came or not.
At least in these circumstances she could set the pace of things. She expected General Sassolite to show up on time because Nickeline certainly couldn't go looking for her in the Rift. Not that Nickeline would like to go there because the place was super creepy. In fact, she kept away from it much like an inverted moth to a flame. If they ever wanted her there, they'd have to drag her in kicking and screaming. She could take pleasure in the fact that because she couldn't go in on her own it meant that General Sassolite had to kneel to her and meet her out here.
She waited as patiently as she could, pacing back and forth as she waited. She felt as if General Sassolite was making her wait on purpose. It gave her time to reminiscence. In the time that the two avoided each other, Nickeline had acquired a few unpleasant experiences with the Negaverse to add to her list. She had met with the pervert General Benitoite, whom had the nerve to lie to her about learning Greek! She hated him, she hated him so much! Then there was the freak Lieutenant Bazzite whom followed her rather creepily until she managed to shoo him away. If only she knew they were friends, she might have thought it was some strange conspiracy to make her hate them all. Then there was General Painite. There wasn't anything that wrong with General Painite if you discounted the fact she had a spear and had tried to stab her with it. Sure, they were fighting but Nickeline was still calling foul since she was simply getting biased now.
General Sassolite though. She made the top of the list when she strolled in on her high horse and told her that they would be killing cats. Nickeline thought at first it was simply the language barrier that made her think General Sassolite was batshit insane but upon further inspection and inquiry Nickeline found out that no, she wasn't going crazy and yes, General Sassolite was batshit insane. To add insult to injury, General Sassolite starting insulting her intelligence. She didn't need to understand English to get that message loud and clear. Then the cherry on the top of the cake was *********. ********* was the target. She might not have understood the description of the cat that General Sassolite provided but there was one thing she understood because the name was Greek.
She couldn't understand why. What did the fat cat do to make General Sassolite want to kill her? Why did Nickeline ever think there was a reason for General Sassolite to want to kill *********? Sure, there was a reason she hated ********* over other guardian cats but Nickeline was certain it was simply because General Sassolite was off her rocker. She gave General Sassolite more than she deserved though, giving her the benefit of the doubt and asking why she wanted her to kill ********* English wasn't great but it was definitely better than she let on. Not too much better, but she was capable of comprehending things. After all, she'd been in Destiny City almost a year now and although she didn't give a rat's a** about learning English things always slipped through the cracks in context. She would never admit it though because she still firmly believed that it shouldn't be up to her to be the one to yield to everyone to communicate. Of course, it did mean she got the message. Sort of. There were a lot of words and she only noted a few of them as important. The rest were like a filler episode of Naruto and she skipped right over them unless she was bored.
She'd asked for a reason and she didn't agree with the one she'd gotten. It just seemed wrong to kill a cat. No matter if they talked or not, they were still cats and they barely registered a threat on her monitor. Nickeline couldn't help but feel like there was more to the story and that she was being used to do General Sassolite's will. However, it's not like being used was something new for her. Everyone seemed to want to use her, well, everyone but *********. You could argue that ********* used her for food but Nickeline was certain if she didn't get food from Nickeline she'd get it from someone else and if she didn't get it from someone else she'd just eat out of the garbage. She'd caught her doing it, she knew it wasn't beyond ********* processing.
The reward General Sassolite offered her was what really caught her attention. After being in Destiny City for as long as she had been, she felt isolated and alone. She felt like no one understood her and no one wanted to even try. To be told she would be accepted and no longer on the outside looking in prompted her attention. It was exactly what General Sassolite wanted because it was the sole reason she even said because she certainly couldn't actually promise her that she would be.
She took note that General Sassolite continued to talk but it didn't matter because she knew what she was telling her. She was explaining stuff that Nickeline really didn't want to understand to such detail. The message was simple and that's all she needed to understand. She wanted her to kill a cat, to kill *********. She was just a cat, a cat whose life she had saved due to her complicated relationship with her. She didn't want to see her get accidentally run over by a car, so much that she let a car run over her hair, so how was she suppose to kill it with her own hands? Suffocation? Maybe she could put some drugs in some food? She couldn't believe she was even thinking about it, a pain in her stomach telling her just how she felt about it.
She had to escape.
She agreed to General Sassolite's terms and fled but what she didn't know at the time was that she rang an alarm with General Sassolite's paranoia of senshi. She should have humoured the general. She should have asked dumb questions. She didn't. She didn't ask anything. She was so disgusted that she just stood there. She didn't realize it at the time but General Sassolite had begun to tail her. It wasn't important now, barely even a blip on her radar, but it would come back to haunt her.
In the meanwhile, Nickeline found herself more and plagued by the hole in her chest. She sat for hours on the rooftops in wait, toying with the starseed in her chest. She couldn't understand it, and she let it go. She wasn't entirely ginger with how she handled it but she didn't know what it was. She didn't know what would happen right here and then if she smashed it. She might have wondered what would happen if she ate it but that only happened on the nights she forgot to eat dinner.
Tonight she'd had dinner, and tonight something else brought her attention away from herself. Legs over the edge of the building top, Nickeline squirmed when she felt the tinge of the energy signal. Like an animal to its prey, she honed in on the signature. It was close, real close... and it wasn't alone. She could see a girl being chased by a youma and she almost seemed to growl. That monster was trying to eat her prey! That was hers! Leaping off the building, there was a definite click from her heels. She had a little ground to cover but when she turned the corner by Sailor Victoria and came face to face with the youma chasing her, Nickeline threw her body into the ******** the moment, her prey switched from Sailor Victoria as she eagerly took out the competition. If Sailor Victoria ran away, soon Nickeline would be chasing it much more efficiently than the youma had. As for the youma, it didn't take much to dust it, and Nickeline felt that even stupid senshi would hold up better than the youma did. What's done was done, and having no regrets over kill or be killed when it came to the youma, she moved back to her original target.
It was clearly a young man standing in front of her but not quite clear enough that Nickeline noticed. It might have been the pink hair, or the sort of long pink hair, or maybe the flower in what she assumed was her hair but somewhere in between meeting Sailor Victoria and him actually speaking she seemed to block out the fact he was male entirely. It sure looked like a girl to her. Whatever this senshi's gender, it wasn't nearly as important as this one question: WHERE ARE THE HOLES AT?
It was fairly typical that Nickeline didn't speak much but it definitely wasn't normal for her to start grabbing at senshi like they were 90% off Couch bags. Poor Sailor Victioria had no clue when Nickeline began searching him for holes. Visible skin was limited but she studied it all with no regard for how Sailor Victoria felt, and when she finished that she moved onto trying to look elsewhere. If she couldn't see anything outside then clearly they were hiding their holes under the clothes! It might have been ridiculous but it was important to her so she tried to look up Sailor Victoria's shirt and when she couldn't see she tried to slide her hands up.
Reasonably, Sailor Victoria grabbed her arms and stopped her. Then, like a scared animal he withdrew as best as he could against the wall to try and keep away from the creeper that was now Nickeline. He clearly had no idea what was going on and his reaction was certainly justified but Nickeline didn't think so, nor did she understand his joke about taking him to dinner first. If she did, she might have laughed and said he was sure easy if he put out after one date. Of course, she also would have thought Sailor Victoria was a girl but that really shouldn't have changed just how much of a harlot she would have thought they were.
Hands sliding back up the senshi's shirt, Nickeline couldn't find any holes. She looked at Sailor Victoria straight in the face, completely ignoring the fact his face now matched his hair, and demanded to know where the holes were. They were hiding them, weren't they? She didn't know if all senshi had holes in their head and chests but that didn't mean they weren't in other places! However, his face only seemed to look confused as he begged her to stop.
Drawing back uncomfortably, Nickeline looked at the ground. Her body swayed from side to side when he asked her such a pointless thing like her name until finally she stopped and her hands fell to her chest. Carefully and slowly she pulled part of her shirt down to reveal the hole in her chest and the exposed starseed that glowed ever so lightly inside the darkness. She didn't understand and that's why she did all this. Was it so wrong that she wanted to know? She didn't think so.
Sailor Victoria said he didn't have anything like it, and Nickeline was obviously displeased with his response. She demanded that he prove it to her and when he refused she didn't believe it was because he lacked one. She knew how embarrassing and uncomfortable it felt when people looked at the holes, and it was obvious this senshi was just hiding it! She refused to leave until she knew the truth, and so she egged him on by calling him a liar.
It was enough to provoke the senshi into finally revealing things to her. However, what she got wasn't what she wanted or expected. She wanted to see a hole there, to feel like she wasn't alone and to find answers and what she expected was gone entirely. It wasn't simply because Sailor Victoria's chest was completely flat with no holes but also because it was completely flat with no breasts. This wasn't a girl, this was definitely a boy. Suddenly, she was the one who was embarrassed here.
She definitely fled, but it wasn't the end of the story here. She had met two other senshi before she found her answers and neither ended the way she wanted them to. Instead of feeling unique, she felt broken. Senshi weren't supposed to have holes in their chests and foreheads, and she didn't understand why she was broken. It wouldn't be until she met Kurma, the man who wasn't anything she'd ever defined before, that she came to understand a little bit better. There were still many gaps in her understanding but she wasn't going to be feeling up anymore senshi anytime soon.
Perhaps she should feel satisfied now that she had a bit of a better understanding but instead she felt empty not unlike what she believed her chest to be. As fate would have it, the one person (or cat rather) she didn't want to meet was searching the city for her. From what Nickeline understood, their meetings had had been coincidentally provoked by food but this time ********* had fought her own, called out to her in the darkness. ********* may have wanted to find Nickeline but Nickeline did not feel the same way. She had been direly avoiding bumping into the feline ever since the senshi had met with General Sassolite and found out what a psycho she was. How could she chance meeting *********? It was better if she never met the cat again. There was nothing General Sassolite could do about that, right? Not bumping into ********* was a lot easier said than done though! How did you avoid a cat that would eat garbage when you normally hunted in the dark alleys of the city? She didn't know how ********* had found her but she remained silent in hopes of ********* leaving.
She didn't think of her own aura she released, and certainly because of that ********* had insisted. ********* may have been a little dough ball but Nickeline had no doubts the minute she ran ********* would pursue her and that would draw more attention to things than what a small conversation in an alley might. Rather begrudgingly, Nickeline replied to *********. It might have been better if she hadn't because what happened followed these events spiraled out of Nickeline's control.
She gave in time and time to ********* requests but she didn't hold any pride to it. Instead her body shifted uncomfortably and she hid behind her hair to avoid looking at ********* directly. It was obvious she was trying not to look at *********, barely even acknowledging the cat's existence. It was better this way, it was better she didn't look at the manx's adorable little face because what she was supposed to do would live on that face and she'd never forget the betrayal that would most definitely linger.
********* caught on rather quickly that something was amiss, trying to make amends and comfort at the same time by rubbing her body against Nickeline's ankles. The feeling of the cat rubbing itself against her ankles made Nickeline want to throw up though. Her soft fur made a very distinct sound against the fabric of her shoes that reminded her of everything she was trying to avoid. ********* was so close that it would be really easy to give her a good kick in the face and a couple stomps with her heel, rather efficiently ending all this inner turmoil once and for all but it would open a door Nickeline wasn't sure she wanted to enter.
Nickeline didn't hide how she felt from *********. In fact, it was very obvious that Nickeline was feeling uncomfortable with ********* actions when she tiptoed not just around ********* affection but also the subject. She told ********* everything was fine when it wasn't but ********* never asked why. The questions he did ask might have been more unnerving though. Her feelings conflicted with each other, and she didn't know what to do. The best she could offer right now was a reply. Why did she join the Negaverse? Well, it's not like she too much of a choice but the power was definitely the prime reason.
********* didn't argue that it was an unreasonable reason, and Nickeline was pleased by that but the question following it was even more awkward than the first. The simple gesture ********* made by putting her paw over her heart quite literally shot a tinge of pain through the corrupt senshi's chest. Not only was she pointing out the fact there was a hole in her but she was also reminding her of her of the fact she'd learned it was not very normal among senshi. She had no idea that ********* knew what she'd done to Sailor Victoria and if she had she might have gotten so embarrassed that things might have taken a different course.
She didn't know and her body froze, Nickeline's grey eyes fell upon ********* with apparent sorrow. She had been avoiding looking at the feline but now she couldn't stop staring as her own hands fell over to cover her chest. No matter how much she covered it, the feeling of it being there burned through her hands. The answer to ********* question had been silence.
********* offered to help her and Nickeline felt for once someone actually was thinking of her instead of themselves. No one ever offered her something without anything in return but here was ********* trying to help her. Nickeline didn't regret ********* offers to fill the gap between them but she knew that ********* couldn't help. There was no way to help. One did not simply walk into the Negaverse and then turn around and leave. She knew this too well and it haunted her every day of her life.
She didn't know General Sassolite was there but if she did she might have said something different, done something different. Instead she replied to ********* with one word and it prompted ********* to try and explain how maybe she could help, that she could fix her. It was the one word Nickeline had been dreading since the moment she truly began questioning her situation. Fix was the word you used to describe broken things and if ********* wanted to fix her then it confirmed that she was truly broken. Sure, she'd felt up Sailor Victoria in an attempt to discover if he had any holes in his chest like she had and when she couldn't find any she thought maybe it was just girls. Girls didn't have them either though, and to really make sure she'd checked out two female white moon senshi. Nothing.
Suspicions had worried her but she could have just been paranoid. Now though? ********* confirmed it. It was like the guardian cat had drove a nail through her heart. She had wanted power, to be stronger, but now she felt like she was weaker than ever. Sure, senshi magic had been a great asset but now she questioned everything about herself. She used to know herself like the back of her hand and now all she seen was darkness there. It was different, maddening like the gaping hole in her chest.
It wasn't fair.
What happened next had been sudden. She was experienced with the power signature of a general but it had happened so quickly that by the time she pun her head it was already too late to protect *********, to stop General Sassolite from being any more batshit insane than what she already was. Before she even had a chance to stop herself, concern sliped from her mouth and her body moved to reach out to the cat only to draw back. ********* had to leave, and fast. It was better that she ran away sooner than later, before General Sassolite had a chance to fire anymore arrows or worse: demand Nickeline kill her again.
Despite the fact General Sassolite had only shot at *********, ********* still only expressed concern for her. Nickeline didn't understand but her chest hurt so bad she had to look to ensure a stray arrow hadn't actually hit her and was not stuck in the hole in her chest. She would have like to remain safe like ********* wanted but it didn't look very good for her. She didn't have the option of running away like ********* did and instead she simply stood there. It didn't matter. It didn't matter where she went, or how far she ran, because in the end they would find her.
Sure, there had been no escape but being slapped in the face had been a huge surprise to Nickeline. How dare she? Grey eyes that were filled with disgust and hate for General Sassolite narrowed at her as her cheek began to swell with the colour red. Did she deserve it? Had she really done anything that deserved reprimanding? Well actually, she'd done a ton of things that General Sassolite probably would have been unhappy with such as outright attacking other generals but had she been reprimanded then or even later? No. However, not killing a poor little cat seemed to do the trick real quick.
Nickeline was thinking of ways to beat the shot out of General Sassolite as the red head swung her bow around in a manner that only pissed off Nickeline more. As an archer she would just love to show General Sassolite a little respect, use her own bow and arrows against her. That would be the best way to beat her, not senshi magic or her fists but the bow that shot at a magical talking cat with pleasure.
General Sassolite attempted to convince Nickeline that ********* was filling her head with lies but at this point Nickeline believed it was actually the other way around. ********* may have been fat and talked a lot but she clearly wasn't a problem. The real problem was General Sassolite's obvious desire to put Nickeline in her place. Nickeline's place was way above General Sassolite but in the Negaverse she was placed at the bottom and treated even lower. She might have appreciated being told she was not broken if she hadn't already decided from what she'd seen that she was broken. Now General Sassolite simply pulled at strings that reminded Nickeline of this.
She didn't respond to anything General Sassolite's had to say and she didn't reply when General Sassolite asked her if she had anything to say. The answer was in between yes and no. She had something for General Sassolite. It was wet and gross, and just like words it came out of Nickeline's mouth, but it wasn't spoken. The answer? She spit at General Sassolite. She would have enjoyed attacking her but with the way she was threatening her with the bow and arrow, she was not entirely insane enough to start that fight. She had no respect for this so called leader, and it was unlikely she ever would. Never once had she ever been given a reason to believe or side with her unlike she had with ********* was ready to go where she needed to go but she had no respect for the one taking her. However, what was going to happen next was something completely batshit insane and even Nickeline wasn't prepared for it. General Sassolite wanted her to learn her place and the location for this lesson was in the one place Nickeline simply didn't want to go. The Rift was a terrible place for senshi, making Nickeline's skin crawl before she even set foot in it. She would have never thought to go in there but she had no choice in the matter as she was being dragged through the Hall of Shadows. With no control over direction, her eyes took over for. A sharp grey pierced into the walls of the Hall of Shadows, bewildered and horrified at the shadows that stared at her. They did not want her here, she could sense it. She didn't blame them because she didn't want to be here either.'
She didn't have to fret about it too long though because what General Sassolite had in store for her was waiting for her at the bottom of a pit, or would be after she was thrown in. There was no escape and her only option was to fight the youma that stood there in wait. The irony that General Sassolite wanting to teach here was implied by the fact each youma took the shape of some sort of cat. The point was not beyond Nickeline but she knew they weren't cats. She knew youma were just demons, and even if they were cats the fact they were trying to kill her (or assault her to the point where she was nearly circling the drain) already put them in a whole new category that ********* would never be in. General Sassolite would never understand but Nickeline did.
There was no time to think about things as it happened. *********, and even General Sassolite, slipped out of her mind when the youma came at her. There was no time to think too much on her tactics or moves, her life blurring into a reality of blood and carnage. It was like dogs fighting, and there was no clear winner. Could anyone even win a fight like this? Nickeline kept dusting youma but in the end there were more of them than her, and her energy would only hold out for so long. Hit for hit, blow for blow, Nickeline wasn't fairing that much better than them as a whole because even though she would take one out of commission, another would spring up to come at her right away. This was her reality now, and nothing else but survival mattered anymore. If these had been *********, if she had attacked her, she'd kill her too. However, they weren't ********* they never would be. If Sassolite ever thought she'd forget that, she was sorely mistaken.
Time passed on like this for what felt like hours, her body tired from blood loss and a deep energy exhaustion. She wouldn't just give up, she wouldn't die here as a show for General Sassolite but there was a reality she had to face. Right now she kept fighting because that was the only option she had but things change. They didn't change now but nothing in this world remained unchanged... not even the air, ocean or land.
The carnage stopped for a minute and when Nickeline found out that she had only been fighting for thirty minutes she couldn't believe it. You would think that time would pass by more quickly when you were fighting for your life but for Nickeline everything seemed to pass by more slowly. It had felt like hours and to be told it had only been thirty minutes was a major strike to her will. Her body was weary but she refused to give in and General Sassolite seemed to ravel in the fact she could continue watching her fight for her life. However, General Sassolite's lesson still wasn't taking. Instead Nickeline believed something else. What was the lesson here again? Don't be part of the Negaverse because they try and kill you for talking to a magical talking cat that eats like a pig? Or perhaps that the term ally was a lie, and that you couldn't actually trust the people you were suppose to? Maybe the real lesson was: You ******** up. You never should have taken an offer for power from a shady group of people you dumb piece of s**t. Nickeline simply sighed, standing in silence. She had no reply she deemed acceptable.
Her silence only proved to irritate General Sassolite and Nickeline knew it. She knew what was coming even before General Sassolite announced it to her as the course of action. However, since she knew it was coming she used the time she had there to try and escape on her own terms. She had been doing decent job at scaling the wall until the youma came. She soon found herself back on the ground, cursing, drawing the attention of the youna toward her. Her war would continue but this time her body only had enough energy left in it for ten minutes after her failed attempt to scale the wall. She went down fighting but when push came to shove Nickeline refused to be a puppet for General Sassolite's amusement so she muttered the words General Sassolite wanted to hear. She wanted out. She was tired of this game.
Freedom. General Sassolite had pulled her out of the pit.
It was probably one of Nickeline's bigger reliefs to be removed from the pit but it was also one of her biggest regrets. She didn't this, not at all. She had an obvious scowl on her face but over that was a mask of exhaustion. The youma were not knights, senshi or Negaverse soldiers. They didn't fight the same, they were more like animals. It was different, and it had taken a lot out of the corrupt senshi. She didn't even have shoes on her feet at this point, finding it easier to move in the pit without the heels on. In addition, when push came to shove she was able to use the heels as a weapon against the youma. However, shoes or no shoes would stop her from sinking into her body's own weight, settling onto the ground. Adrenaline had kept her going as long as she had and now she simply stared at the pit from above for a moment. She didn't want to go back in there but at the same time she really ******** hated General Sassolite right now. If she could bite her like a dog, she would. She wasn't that forgone yet or she wanted to believe she wasn't. If General Sassolite had put her hand close enough to her mouth, she probably would have, but just in case she tried to focus on something else. She kept her eyes on the pit with fear and concern. She could go again, she knew she could but... but not now.
General Sassolite wasn't about to simply let Nickeline out of the Rift, not before she got what she wanted. General Sassolite wanted to feel like she had won, that she had proved her point. Nickeline was far less concerned about it, and her mind couldn't stop thinking about everything that had been put on pause when her world turned into a war. She had screwed up her life so much in the past year. She knew she had gotten over her head but she would never escape now. General Sassolite would never let her. She had been wrong about so much and without a lie she told General Sassolite just that. She might not have said what she was wrong about with that level of emotion it was certainly more believable than not. With it, real freedom met Nickeline. It might have been a filthy alley but it was heaven to Nickeline, and there her body fell into its desires.
She could hope that it was the end of it but she still had to get back home. Home? It wasn't home. Nothing about America was home. She had to get back to her dorm but part of her didn't want to go. She felt so fargone now that the past seemed like a story she'd forgotten. Heck, even if the corrupt senshi wanted to make it home her body refused to move. Even Nickeline could admit it, she wasn't in the best of shape. It was hard to see over a black fuku but blood covered the majority of it, splattered and smudges of red covering her visible skin. Cuts, gashes and bruises were the highlight of the artwork that General Sassolite had orchestrated. She couldn't go back to her dorm like this, there was no way she could explain it to anyone. If her parents, or worse, her grandfather found out Nickeline would have to bury her head under a rock. Not that she would be able to get back to the dorms very easily in this condition.
She made a small attempt to move but quickly she found found herself falling against the wall of an alley, sinking back into her body's desire. She would rest here for a minute, or two, resting her body up for the journey back. Initially she only meant to close her eyes for a minute but before Nickeline realized it she had fallen asleep against that wall. For a brief moment, all the fighting had ended and she returned back home where her family waited. It might not have been real but peace found her for just a moment, a foreign smile falling across her face.
Fate has a way of playing out that no one expects it to though. If anyone was going to find Nickeline here and help her, she definitely would not have expected it to be Sailor Eunomia. It would have been the perfect change to take revenge on her but instead Nickeline found her eyes awakening to a familiar sound. It wasn't Sailor Eunomia's voice but what she thought was a Greek child. The words weren't perfect but she could understand the context. She found herself feeling warm but when she realized it was Sailor Eunomia she didn't understand. It took a moment to connect two and two but even then she played it off as if she didn't remember. She did though, and it meant more to her than she thought. She had been so excited when she thought General Benotoite had learned Greek for her but now her enemy had gone out of her way to learn some? Sure, it wasn't perfect and she realized she probably wouldn't talk to her with the minimum words she probably knew but it felt nice. It felt nice to know someone had done something for her, that someone had bent, instead of expecting her to. However, they were still enemies and she couldn't afford for General Sassolite to find more things to punish her for... not that Nickeline ever believed General Sassolite wouldn't enjoy punishing her simply because she could.
It wouldn't be much longer after this night that things would change forever. The night Nickeline finally dropped the ball.
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