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It was a strange feeling, to be powered up again. She had been wandering the past few nights as Sailor Nemesis, but she still hadn't gotten used to the power. It was invigorating, and had nearly been toxic to Sailor Nemesis when she had first started off as a senshi. The power, the superiority over civilians, had made a young Nemesis giddy and eager to pick a fight. She picked plenty of fights, and lost a good deal of them. Her losses were cut as she grew older, and realized that she wasn't fighting just to fight, but there was a purpose, a war to win.

But, for these past few days, that old feeling cropped up. Nemesis simply felt good. She hadn't gotten into any fights yet, and really was just familiarizing herself with her surroundings once again. Being away from Destiny City for so long had made her forget the intricate patterns of the alleyways. Nemesis needed to know the city like the back of her hand, and instead of looking at a map, she felt she was better off at feeling the area out herself.

So, here Nemesis was walking almost ridiculously out in the open when she heard a yowl. The senshi paused, and glanced around her surroundings until she noticed a cat scrambling back up onto its perch. A cat, in fact, that was somewhat familiar. Nemesis couldn't quite tell in the dark, and so she crept closer. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty..." she crooned, and managed to croon in such a way that made her sound condescending, as if she could call Zirconia by her name, but wouldn't.

She had never paid much attention to Zirconia. She was the court's cat, but Nemesis had already owned a cat of her own that was annoying enough to sway her away from interacting with many other cats. They were always around, these guardian cats. You could throw a rock into a bush, and nine times out of ten you would hit a guardian cat. Of course, all the times Nemesis tried she hadn't hit anything, but she had terrible luck. "Yes, me," Nemesis drawled, staring down her nose and to the cat sitting in front of her. She was already thinking that it was fantastic that her own cat, Invidia, couldn't access a human form. It was so much easier to pick on the furball when she was tiny.

"...Of course I'm not," and Nemesis sounded mildly offended that Zirconia had assumed she was. Nemesis was one of the first to oppose Ares when she had turned corrupt, and she considered herself to be one of the senshi who would never be swayed over to Chaos' side. She was not some weakling who walked into the dark seeking power and purpose. She had her own purpose in the light, and her power was obtained through hard work. Chaos would never hold any sway over her, or so she told herself. She was simply too strong to cave to the DMC or Negaverse's side.

"Seriously, this is how you're going to greet an old teammate?" Nemesis clearly wasn't going to answer Zirconia's question, not now. It would take far more persuasion to get Nemesis to spill what she had been up to the past couple of years. She had fought for the senshi diligently, they could damn well not throw a hissy fit when she went off to take care of some personal, human business. "Around, and that's all you need to know. I never remembered you being so nosy before." She kicked the toe of her shoe against the ground, smudging it with a little bit of dirt. But, in reality she was just beginning the testing process for a certain theory of her's - that she could punt a nosy guardian cat over a house.

"I don't," Nemesis replied firmly, as in this one thing she was immovable. Nemesis had faulted herself in the past for seeing things so black and white. Her view on the factions had expanded, but she felt that she was on the right side, the good side. For the senshi, she would prevail, because she simply gave herself no other option. It was one of her greatest assets, that she could apply herself with such conviction that she appeared unwavering in it. Sometimes, she had her doubts, but in the end she knew that what she was doing was right. That was all that mattered.

"I never stopped fighting. I just applied my battles elsewhere," Nemesis explained, in the vague sort of way that meant she wasn't going to go into detail over it. She wasn't going to reopen that wound, or poke at it when it was still sore. They had failed, her and Kam, to get Khal back. They had lost that fight, but, she was determined to win others. "Of course I'm still in the fight, and don't think I'll ever change sides. I know what I'm doing and..." Nemesis, admittedly, was a little taken aback by by Zirconia's praise.

She just didn't expect. Very few people told her she was doing a good job. Nemesis stared down at the cat, musing over that last statement. "Look, I'm definitely not on my A game after my diversion, but I'm going to do what I can here. I always will." She had put off most of her life for this battle. She had barely made it through highschool, refused to attend college, and kept maybe a part time job back before her lengthy trip... all so she could fight a war she was convinced she needed to win. "But hey, I'm here. You're here. We're going to do what we can." She felt a little awkward, an emotion that for once won over her usual hard and cold demeanor. "I'm glad you stuck around for the senshi, okay?"

Zirconia certainly had a lot of temptations when it came to caving to Chaos, but Nemesis hoped she would persevere. If the cat could find a new team, find some sense of purpose in them, it'd be better. But, Nemesis wasn't the type of senshi to help her with that. Her past experience with teams had been a mix of good and bad, and in the end she figured out that the actual team experience wasn't for her. She had buddies she fought with, or patrolled with now and then, but a team was far too restricting for her. Nemesis liked to do things her way - she always ended up trying to be a backseat driver on teams, trying to mold things to her ever changing views. They weren't for her, and it had taken her a while to figure that out. "You can always forge new connections, you know. Just because you weren't tied to someone before doesn't mean you can't make new ties now," Nemesis advised with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm relieved it's just you. I'd hate for you to turn to Chaos, and make me have to do something about it..." But, Nemesis had never killed much. She had done it, and it had been a mistake. Kicking a** and taking names was one thing, taking a life was something completely different. If Nemesis was going to destroy someone, it was going to be someone she felt completely deserved it. Of course, she didn't have to let anyone think she'd gone 'soft'. Let them believe she was willing to do anything and everything to win.

"Uh, thanks," Nemesis still felt a little awkward with Zirconia's well-wishes. The senshi folded her arms against her chest, and glanced up and down the street, as if to make sure no one normal was about. She'd sense powered presences, which was in a way far more comforting. Civilians were easily dismissed, but perhaps they shouldn't be. Who knew where Chaos' agents were truly lurking?

"Look, I'm in need of information. I've been gone for two years, and I need to know what's happened in that time. Also, how things are going now." Destiny City didn't seem that poorly off, but there was no way to know how the actual war was going on. "I don't want to dive back into the battle without knowing the state of things."

Nemesis was the type of person that by telling herself she could do something, she would. The senshi was just that damned determined, but not everyone had the same willpower as the Eternal Soldier of Decay. It was why she was rather adamant about encouraging Zia to stay away from Chaos. While the cat could claim that she wasn't going to switch sides all the sudden, she was facing incredible temptation. What was her entire court had flipped over to Chaos' side. The cat was practically stranded with a bunch of senshi she had no real connection to besides the ones that she would forge herself. Nemesis thought it was just too tempting for Zia to rejoin her court, and so she was trying her best to dissuade the cat from the ********>," Nemesis cursed, a frown worrying her brow. She didn't think the Negaverse would be that bold. Of course, twisting the media to the Negaverse's side would only make patrolling more difficult. Nemesis would have to be more careful if she didn't want to deal with civilian police chasing her down or normal schoolkids trying to be heroes by taking down the 'big bad senshi'. God, she forgot how stupid people could be. How could they fall behind something that called itself the Negaverse. It was in the ******** name!

"Right, I can deal with stupid civilians," Nemesis announced with a small groan. Just another pain her a**. "It's good that purification is becoming an avenue. Sad as I am to say it, we can't just beat them all down. Purifying them is the right way." Not the easy one, and in war Nemesis wasn't sure there was time to stop and lecture someone on why being bad was bad. They would just have to purify anyone who sought that avenue out. She hoped more Negaverse agents and corrupt senshi would come back to ********, that's twisted. So, essentially, when they're forced into the court, their body becomes a vessel, and we lose the person we had before... for good?" Nemesis grimaced. It wasn't the way she wanted to go. Not once would she want her body to be taken over by someone else, and for her life to suddenly be snuffed out, just like that. "If there's no cure for them, we'll probably have to take drastic measures. If we can knock out the heads, maybe their pawns will scatter and change their ways. I don't think their inherently evil, just fighting for the wrong cause."

Ares was... gone?

Nemesis grew silent at the news, her blue eyes dark in the night. It was good that Ares had disappeared, and perhaps she was gone forever. But... Nemesis still remembered the old Ares, the one who didn't go batshit crazy. It was holding onto these past images of people that stopped Nemesis from going all out to take them down. She knew it was a habit she'd have to get over. There was no point in feeling connected to the people who had turned her away, turned everything away. "They're an issue, definitely. If I was younger, I'd say we should just kill them all, but the idea doesn't sit well with me now. Get rid of Remarque and Leto, and see what their pawns do without the heads." At least they could purify the Negaverse - nothing else could be done for the Dark Mirror Senshi.