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 Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 12:40 pm
The city was still in the cold except for the occasional crunch of snow under tires that echoed from blocks and streets out of sight or the groan of branches under weight. He had felt neither youma, agent, nor servant of the mirror in hours. It was a large city, and not expected that he could traverse the whole, but it was disheartening to think that in all the wilderness of the Jungle yet crossed his vigil was fruitless. I will not believe that they are so lessened that quiet is due to their failing and our winning.Then at the edges of his minds eye there was something. Hop stepping and shifting his jog, he followed the aura's place to try to getter a better sense of it. It was not one he was familiar with at all- foreign from senshi, from chaos, from cats, or even the strange difference of Aquarius' 'guard' aura. It was not the quiet, almost imperceptible lurk of the double, either. He approached with caution, making headway for sight confirmation of the owner of the signature.
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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:47 pm
It was definitely a mirror based energy signature, but it lacked the distinct chaotic flavor of the Dark Mirror Court. And it's owner was less than dignified with a dramatic flop backwards on a bench.
The woman with cat ears on her head was already growing bored with the lack of activity tonight, something that happened with increased frequency with the cold temperatures of the season. This form suffered from bare shoulders, exposed legs, and bare feet. Waiting in the snow was hard. However, while her other two forms were warmer, they came at the cost of the energy she projected into the atmosphere, and that wasn't going to get anyone's attention.
Unless a super senshi came into her midst.
"Oh!"
He wasn't the appropriate class for her indexing, but he was new and someone to talk to and an excuse to call the night something other than fruitless. She loved excuses.
As soon as she spotted Thraen's figure come forward she shifted to the large Norwegian forest cat with the distinct crescent moon on her forehead to revel in the warmth of a winter resistant fur coat.
"Hello!" She shouted, awkwardly too loud for the occasion. She wanted to make sure he had seen her too. "Who are you?!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:22 pm
He thought he saw a woman, but as he closed, it was a cat. It wasn't too surprising, given ********* and her hat. To have found a cat at all was more notable than the Wegie being a Wegie. And a weirdly coloured one. But he approached, encouraged- he needed to find cats and talk to them. Talking ones, otherwise he could just start leaving kibble out on his window and talking at whatever came by without expectation of answers. "Good morrow, " He approached and baseball-crouched to a more conversational level. "I hadn't expected a cat...but here you are. I'm Thraen, Senshi of Gardens." "You feel different...? Not that just ********* is much of a sample." And she didn't wear a star, but a crescent. Was that unusual? It seemed rude to ask just yet in the midst of introductions. There were no other auras near that he could tell, so it didn't seem terribly likely that she was a decoy of some sort.
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:38 pm
"Would you prefer it if I was something other than a cat? I could send out the beacon again, but my powered outfit is cold, and the energy attracts more than curious senshi," The fluffy creature quipped before taking advantage of his crouch to reach out and awkwardly pat his face with her paw as she referred to his kind.
"Yes, well. That is because ********* is a White Moon cat and I'm not. There are all kinds of cats. Negaverse cats and... Well I suppose there's actually only two kinds of cats," She paused and made a face as she pondered this before apparently shrugging it off.
"I'm just special," She grinned and shapeshifted again, this time to her civilian form which had the benefit of both a jacket, and actual hands she could use to reach out to him in a greeting gesture.
"My name is Zia. Or Zirconia. Sometimes it gets muddled."
Which was the polite way of saying it's confusing as all hell.
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:42 am
Not a white moon yet not a Negaverse cat...special and muddled. Not hard to believe with explanation of such sort. But he recognized the given name from Babylon's helpful offers. Thraen regretted not having the bourbon. Or was it Scotch? "I've heard your name mentioned as one that knows much. " Having his face pawed had been odd, but the offered hand was usual and taken. " Whichever form suits...it is a cold season." "Other than curious senshi, who were you hoping to catch? I can go, if I interrupted?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 1:14 pm
"Mm," With her hand released from the social obligation of handshake greetings, the civilian woman settled into her seat and fished a carton of cigarettes from her jacket pocket, only fiddling with the worn and crushed thing for now as if she was debating how badly she wanted one.
"I don't know much; I know everything," She laughed in her immodest and hyperbolic claim. And then she rapidly shook her head 'no'.
"Negaverse. Or knight. Those are my usual targets. I'm documenting their qualities and classifications as a personal interest. You know, they're an anomaly? Specific to this instance in spacetime. In my home dimension, both are unheard of, it's really weird..."
But she moved over, a gesture intended to be an invitation to sit down. "But it's not really an important project! Just something to keep busy. With the Blood Moon Court disbanded and my senshi deciding they prefer the mundane of Chaos, I'm all alone, really. Guardian cats are supposed to provide service and support to senshi, it's not a good feeling. So even though you're not an anomaly you could..." She finally extracted something usable from the carton and graduated to fiddling with that as she smiled at him. "You can stay and ask for help tonight. If you want to."
It was painfully obvious she hoped she would, even though she mentally rejected the notion she was projecting such desperation for his time and company.
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:03 pm
Thraen took the offered seat without hesitation- Babylon seemed very honest, and was as close to 'ally' as anyone else, so his word was trustworthy. She was safe enough, as far as any of them were safe. "Knowledge and guidance both I would seek if you are of a mind and mood." "I've...been a senshi nearly a year. Not long I hear in the grand scheme of things. " He opened his hands palms up on his lap, "It isn't long enough, and no mentoship or resource to tell me about the beginnings. I would not live in the past, but I would learn from it. Do you know of the starts?" "The only time-frames I've heard was that there was a senshi active at least 5 years of the here and now. And that we are ...subject to lives past from 1000 years ago. But no explanations beyond that? You say spacetime..." Home dimensions. That leads down a long rabbit hole, but it can also mean that she may have answers about just such subjects without bias. A chance anyway. And...Blood Moon Court? Valhalla mentioned that was the starting place of the Dark Mirror. It sounds a tender subject. Perhaps a different time- once I have the liquor.
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 4:39 pm
The misplaced guardian cat always adored having someone hungry for mentorship onto which she could push her own needy tendencies.
And the glee she took in Thraen's request lasted for the briefest moment until he asked one of the few things she couldn't answer. He was met with an unamused expression with a subtle hint of tension in the muscles just below her eye, as if this coincidence were some sort of shenanigan on his part.
She lit her cigarette and crossed her legs before she looked upwards, trying to think of the best way to respond without discrediting her earlier claim of knowing everything.
"Okay, here's why your universe is weird," She started carefully. "There's always a Moon Kingdom, and there's always the solar system senshi, and there's always Earth, the outlier. It's just the natural order of things."
It was not a date or a set if years, but she hoped it imparted the impossibility of the question put forth. It was how it's always been. It was how it simply should be.
But taking a puff from her cigarette before holding it on her lips to free her hands, she reached over to the messenger bag her civilian form had also come with and extracted a huge binder, messy with loose papers tenuously struggling to stay in the confines of the cover, and set it in her lap with a grunt of effort.
"In addition to studying the knights and their baffling corrupted counterparts, I've also made an effort to inspect various homeworld ruins, as well as the more well preserved lineage patterns of the knights who have obtained their ranks via bloodline. For some reason there's a gap. Where everyone died off and seems to have been reborn here. It's disturbing, like waking up one day and only one city in a nation has survived an apocalypse. This might be why there's such a disproportionate amount of Chaos in your universe?" She rambled as she leafed through the hand written notes and diagrams and sketches in the binder, mostly relating to the knight wonders on the main planets she'd visited.
"Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Generally I am good at generic senshi knowledge but I arrived in your universe during the coma epidemic of 2010, when the city went into quarantine. And my gracious host body," She stopped to jokingly inspect her own arm, "Has been around for roughly twenty-five years but wasn't aware of the Destiny City underground until I came on the scene, so I honestly have no idea when the Negaverse and White Moon war started. Or why. Like I said, we don't have a Negaverse where I come from, and for a long time I ignored your conflict in favor of my own with the Dark Mirror Court. At least until I realized it was relevant to my goals."
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:02 pm
The sudden not-quite-tension-but-something was palpable, and as predictable as any smoker the shift prompted a light up. He didn't enjoy the scent of cigarettes, but it was a small price to pay for the promise of information. He listened closely, filing away all that he could and comparing the new cards against the pinboard in his mental map of the war. 'Corrupted counterparts'? He was perfectly pleased, even with the answer as it was to his actual question. The senshi of gardens actually smiled, "The challenge is going to be trying to keep to some semblance of a single road, I think. Answers make more questions, as ever I could hope. So you're saying the agents are corrupted Knights? All of them? They're not just people? As the Corrupt Senshi are to say, me? " "And 'always' seems a loose sort of phrase, if a corpse can be a kingdom. That city on the moon is no more a 'kingdom', no government, no society, no people, than any other archeological dig that has some quirks and traps somehow having survived the centuries. As much compare it to Giza- dead pharoahs and only stones to speak for ages past. " "But that is fascinating. " Her use of the word host to refer to herself made him think maybe her codename was going to be Dax.
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Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:57 pm
"Not just people," She mimicked back and shrugged, "Honey, they're all Earthlings. I don't even know what prompted the starseed mutation that spit them into existence in the first place. Although if I had to guess, when this round of reincarnations started up, Chaos had the upper hand. Knights didn't exist when I first arrived, I think they were forcibly woken up before their time, and that's why they're all named after minerals. Chaos-- if you were ever wondering which side was the more natural of the two-- doesn't know your name, so when a being is corrupted before their proper awakening they are given false names. Stone names, if I have appropriately isolated the pattern."
She was going off on a tangent, and she realized this, and cleared her throat before trying to remember what she was getting at. "Oh, anyway, I am not sure if it's appropriate to say all of them. I obviously haven't had the opportunity to question a large pool. My index is still below fifty individuals and so far, to date, I have only witnessed two of them shed Chaos and purify. But in both instances they became knights."
However, his statement on the Moon Kingdom prompted her to more aggressive and frustrated action. "That's not the point!" She huffed, slamming the binder closed and smacking it against her legs before she pointed one finger up between the two of them. Very matter of fact. Very insistent he was to listen closely. "The point is that it was there. And you used to be on your homeworld. And everyone was in their proper place to the mortality obsessed cultures of Saturn to the fortresses on Jupiter. The fact that someone was incompetent enough to kill them or let them die is irrelevant to the fact it is there and its existence is constant across universes."
She rolled her shoulders and the intensity of her sentiment lightened considerably. "So you can imagine my distress coming from a universe where the Lunar monarchy was a thriving and present force in politics. It's incredibly difficult adapting to this mess, I think that's why I ignored it's presence for so long and focused on getting back home."
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:40 pm
The discourse was interesting enough that he managed to avoid any annoyance at the pet name. She wasn't the first, which was more likely the impetus of even being problematic. The assurances of Earthling and her vehemence of frustration were equally unencumbering to him- it was all weaving together as simply her point of reference and view. Zirconia wasn't from that dimension, so designations between 'just people' and 'Earthlings' or what the important part of the existence at any point in a timeline of a Moon Kingdom were different for her. Whether it is important to any of those of us from here is based on whether there's any point to it. Knowledge without any application has more worth at peace than in the middle of a war. That there are other dimensions is as troubling a revelation as that there are souls or starseeds, reincarnation and senshi anyway, but it's no good if there isn't anything to be gained or developed from it. Which might be what she's working towards. I suspect.....it's more important to her because she's stuck here. Why else still BE here, 'focused on getting home', or be alone without her court if she could go back? She can't. Its either she doesn't know how, doesn't have the power, or its impossible for some reason. And all related to a different conversation that she's somewhat steering it to, because that's what is important to her. "You know fifty different knights and negaverse agents? How many of each, respectively? Fifty may not be a large number in the generality of population indexes, but I'd never gotten the impressions that there were hundreds of members on either side- it seems a large enough sample to start drawing hypothesis on correlations or possible constants. " He tried to steer it back from the separate dimensional concerns to the mentioned codex. "Are there only knights corresponding to the planets of the Sol system...? This solar system? One I'd met was of Jupiter, from a group called the Jovians. " "Just following along the path of wondering if its a size factor that determines whether or not there are knights in service to a 'place'. Or if its likely that 'dwarf planets' would have knights. Or any other space objects. Knights are admittedly fairly new to me and ...confusing. That their purpose was to protect the royal houses? Something about lines of servitude that followed the titles. That there were some in service to a Chronos and a Polaris. How many are the royal houses, if it is known? Is it only a thing of old, or like in histories recorded in books are new houses made in times of war by those who find the need? Are knights places to be traveled to, as senshi can to ours? Aventine to some hill not in Rome but on Venus, and Valhalla to some mount on Jupiter's surface? Can these royals declare new titles and take new oaths, as titles were granted by Elizabeth I to favorites or fair servants to her crown?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 5:32 am
"I don't really differentiate," She admitted as she tried to think of what was on her cloud server. After having her device stolen and held hostage by Bischofite once she had decided that the connection to her greater databank was safer severed when she was out and about, and she could update her notes later.
"If they're a knight, then I list their name, and unknown for a Negaverse agent, so I don't quite have separate categories for each. A lot more knights than negaverse; They're incredibly suspicious and hard to talk to, and I've almost died attempting contact twice."
His barrage of questions took time to process, but the answers still came. "Every major planet in the solar system, I've met at least one from each. Earth seems to have the most so far which makes sense because so far the ones who remembered have remembered their past lives were Earth origin. The similarities to Cavalier aura would allow that to make sense and for a long time I operated under the theory that they were the White Moon analog to the Black Moon's cavalier system. More Chaos means more awakenings so that would make sense.
So far they all seem to pledge their protection to a ruling princess. I haven't seen your Sailor Jupiters or Sailor Mercurys in person... that I can remember. But I know they existed. I'm quite certain the Moon's court works in a similar fashion to mine and there was definitely an active senshi court when I was here on... previous adventures."
She stopped, realizing that Zirconia's corrupted time in the White Moon universe was not the best road to go down, especially since she had few, if any, memories of the experience. Just the occasional word or concept slipped through the fragmented corner of that history.
"Anyway, Polaris and Chronos both have knights, I suspect, because they are two active princess senshi. Although it begs the question why I haven't been able to locate an Iris knight. I believe it's the royalty factor that makes the warriors pledged to an area knight, and not necessarily the location type. Chronos doesn't rule a planet or a star, she rules the Zodiac guard on the surrounding. But she is still a ruling princess."
"Knights are named after places. Or maybe our places are named after knights, I don't know. The way human history evolved here with a lack of magic is interesting but it's very confusing. But yes! Actually Valhalla is a fortress on Jupiter. Luxor is a pyramid on Pluto. Svartaflheim is a prison on Saturn. I suspect the amount of knights is probably due to similar reasons for the amount of senshi, which is insane here, comparatively."
She reached over and made a small gesture at his chest, in the vague spot where his starseed rested. "New stars are born when they are needed. And senshi awaken to battle Chaos. There is an extremely high amount of Chaos present in this universe, so it stands to reason that the universe has called and created more soldiers to combat it. While a knight can pledge their title and their house to a royal, I don't think it's granted to them by the royal. If they're anything like cavaliers it is because pledges to one another allow for a shared power pool that increases their strength. And some people simply weren't born to be knights..."
A personal disappointment for her.
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Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:09 pm
Does not differentiate. The knights and negaverse more or less one and the same... It is dangerous to oversimplify , but it is a start. Chronos-Zodiac Guard. That is the connection there. Aquarius belongs to the Princess Chronos somehow...or is supposed to. Is it different than the 'white moon court'? A cadet branch? unrelated? Too many questions. Thraen listened carefully, flinching no matter how vaguely she gestured anywhere near where his starseed lay in his chest. It was an experience he had not wanted to begin with, and one he did not wish to repeat ever again that it had been handled. The last explanation was haunting. Senshi awaken to battle Chaos.
Is there no other purpose, then, to this name Thraen? To bearing that Asteroid's strength amid bloody corses of friend and foe? War for ever day and never close again, no belief taken from this that tide of life could turn away from it in entire. These shores are a cold harbor...Earth. "And cats? 'Guardians'? You give us phones, pens, words and reveal to us our names. You take two legged forms. What are the cats in all this, with knights and senshi and strange corruptions of both that serve Chaos? Are you really cats, or is that magic glamour? "
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Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:17 pm
"Mauvians," She answered abruptly. "From the planet Mau. I'm sure Zirconia's Mau is different from the Mau that existed here. But regardless, we're much more evolved than the typical earth feline."
She sat back and sighed, but it was a stalling effect as she tried to piece together Zirconia's nature. Cats served senshi, that was a fact, but the Mauvians here were much more wide spread and organized than on the Black Moon. There, Zirconia had abandoned her planet for the service of Tyndareus, and following his death, Nehelenia. But always his court, on the moon.
Their magic was simply compatible.
"However, we are always just here to serve, and facilitate the growth of a senshi to their full potential. But Mauvians aren't perfect, we can fall to Chaos like any other creature. Chaos is a disease that can over take anyone if they aren't careful to keep themselves in order."
Pun not intended, but she rarely noticed when she spoke in cluttered puns or accidental implications.
"I can't make phones or tell you your name. I'm not tuned into this universe. I make compact mirrors and I know the names of the Black Moon's system. I have no idea how the technology this universe's cats chose to use and create or why they prefer technology to pure magic. I just know they're here to help. All I can offer is information... and on occasion tune into a starseed well enough to push it to it's next power level."
"Cats normally have no connection to knights, their abilities aren't complimentary or mutually beneficial like they are between a senshi and a cat, I just like them because... I don't know. They use old style magic, and don't rely on this foreign technology. I can relate to their magic better, if that makes sense."
Knights made her feel much more at home in a place where she could never be at home.
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Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:37 pm
The qualification leaned directly towards 'evolved' felines, reading between the lines meant that the quadrupedal form was the more likely as their primary. Neither may be a glamour or magic any more than some stories claiming differences of natural were-beasts and diseased ones. They may just have more forms by nature. Tricky biology that has to tiptoe around magic."Mauvian." He amended and offered, that in the saying it was a promise to use the new term in place of 'cats'. There is again a differing name. 'Black Moon'. I wonder if it is natural or deliberate salting- does she wish to speak of such things? Simply cannot relate information without her own experience colouring it by necessity of point of view? I cannot tell. He held his peace for a long moment after her last words, just searching her face and eyes. "I couldn't say if it does or doesn't. But if it does for you, perhaps that is the important part. " "I have only one more question for now...if you know anything of it. I would love to talk with you again in the future if permitted. Perhaps over some scotch?" He gave that levity a moment to settle before asking- "Do you know anything of a 'Queen Metallia'?"
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