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 Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 1:25 pm
After more than two months of limited activity, Ganymede was more than ready to get back to a regular routine. It almost seemed strange to her that she should miss the patrols, the battles with prowling youma, and the infrequent encounters with Negaverse Agents and Senshi of the Dark Mirror Court, but then she'd never been the sort to relinquish control of her life or her fate to anything. Though she held no fondness for the war, it remained her battle to win, and, stubborn as she was, Ganymede intended to see it through to the end.
This evening found her relaxing in the park instead of scouring the streets for youma, reclining upon a grassy slope and staring up into the night sky. A swiftly fading orange glow was just visible along the horizon as the sun sunk further out of sight, throwing the last light of day through the gaps between buildings and trees. No stars could be seen, but Ganymede had no for them; some latent instinct drew her gaze in the direction of her homeworld whether it was visible to her or not.
Her boots were discarded beside her, leaving her feet bare but for the dark hose she often thought clashed with her fair complexion. Every once in a while she would lean over an outstretched leg. A theraband sat within reach upon the grass, meant to exercise her feet which had gone too long without proper activity. Or so she thought. Ganymede was not used to going so long without being able to dance.
One more month of summer remained before the fall semester began and life returned to the hectic rush of classes, dance, and patrols. Ganymede would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to it. She wasn't the type to laze about. She craved a routine; she craved activity. She didn't quite feel like herself without it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 1:43 pm
She never meant to go. Pisces hadn't henshined in years; hert parents were terrified after Barren Pines, a news story breaking out about an organ ring, and they'd swept her away tio 'safety' much to her distaste, and she only now returned to the City, wondering if the other Zodiac were okay. Was the war over? Somehow, Pisces doubted it, based on the news, and all she knew was that as Pisces, she was considered a terrorist, and it was simply horrid, the woman sighing delicately as she walked in bustled skirts and ribbons and bows, careful not to draw too much attention in velvets and soft fabrics making up her dress, her uniform as the Senshi of Imagination, and Pisces paused only once and a while. She felt no youma tonight, though - no sense of danger, but also the crushing fear of not feeling anyone she knew. No sign of any of the Zodiacs, no sign of her princess - and she felt frightened, mind grasping for some sliver of hope. Maybe a prince would sweep in and sweep her off of her feet; safe and reassured. Maybe it would be okay, and Pisces sighed, a soft, bell-like sound of one lost briefly in fairy-tale dreams and fantasy as she looked around, then ahead before the thin threads of an Order aura whispered to her senses, a sensation warm and comforting, and the senshi blinked, mouth making an 'oh' expression before she moved to investigate, entering the park lightly as she looked around, eyes wide and round in curiosity. "Hello?" She asked, tone curious.
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:27 pm
Ganymede felt the warm nudge of another aura in the vicinity but remained unconcerned, deeming it to be that of an ally rather than that of a foe. She kept her position on the grass, stretching her leg out and leaning over it to reach for her toes.
She turned her head as she held this position, glancing in the direction of the approaching figure. White frills, blue bustle, and pink bows. Dainty gloves. Stockings. Delicate shoes. The girl looked sweet as sugar. It was an uncomfortable image given the hardships inherent in the war. Amusing, too. Ganymede's lips twitched into a wry smirk. Such a pretty picture hardly belonged in a place like Destiny City.
“Bonsoir, Madame la Dauphine,” she said.
It was not meant to be snide. Rather, it was in Ganymede's nature to tease.
“There's not much action tonight, I'm afraid,” she continued. She fell out of her stretch, sitting up to lean back with her arms supporting her, glowing palms flat against the ground. “Not a youma in sight, and the Negaverse's been quiet since the blackout. Not much of a peep from the Dark Mirror Court either, but then I never expect much trouble from them, to be honest.”
Ganymede looked the girl over again but knew she'd not seen this Senshi before, and introduced herself with a simple, “I'm Ganymede.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:51 pm
The other Senshi spoke, and Pisces tilted her head, ringlets bouncing in placve as she did so before she curtsied, smiling delicately. "Good evening, Madame Ganymede. It is a pleasure." Particularly since the woman noted no youma or Negaverse activity. This was a comfort, and she beamed. "I do appreciate the information. I'm afraid it's been too long since I've been out. Oh, do forgive me, I am Pisces, it's a pleasure and delight to meet you." The girl beamed warmly, curtsied, and looked around before looking to Ganymede. "Whom are the Dark Mirror Court?" She felt immediately guilty not knowing, head tilting a bit as she frowned. How much had she missed?
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:21 pm
Ganymede couldn't tell if the other Senshi was joking with her curtsying or if she was being serious, so she didn't comment on it.
Instead, she stared in mild surprise at the girl's question.
She didn't know anyone who didn't have at least a vague awareness as to what the Dark Mirror Court was. Even the girl's relative low power level hardly seemed like an excuse; did the cats not share this information with new Senshi? Besides, wasn't Pisces a sign of the Zodiac? Didn't that make this girl one of the Zodiacs? Surely she wasn't so ignorant of the things that had occurred up at the Surrounding three years ago.
Unlike the curtsying, however, it seemed clear to Ganymede that the question wasn't mean as a joke.
“Uhhh, exactly how long have you been a Senshi?” she asked.
Whatever the answer ending up being, it hardly seemed as important as the mini lecture that followed. Ganymede shook the confusion from her mind and focused instead on being as informative as possible.
“The Dark Mirror Court is a group of corrupted Senshi who draw their power from, uhhh, I'm not entirely sure how it works, but something about a parallel universe, blah blah blah...”
So much for being informative.
“Basically there was this Senshi named Ares who went bad and took some other Senshi with her,” she tried to explain, fairly certain she was doing a very poor job of it. “They walk through mirrors and corrupt you by throwing you through a mirror and they have these weird ghostly dementor things that suck people's energy. No idea what they do with it. Ares was their all-powerful Princess at one point, except she went and left for some reason, and now there's a Prince and Princess pair named Remarque and Leto who run everything. The Dark Mirrors used to be all buddy-buddy with the Negaverse, but recently there's been a bit of a split. I guess some agents don't like them 'cause Ares and a few others captured and tortured them before they went bad. That was back when the Blood Moon Court was around, uhhh...”
Ganymede paused and looked hesitant. “How much of this are you following?” she asked.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 1:30 pm
"Years." Pisces admitted. "I was 13...14, I think... But I haven't been able to power in some time... My parents moved us, you see." She explained, a bit shamedly. And when Ganymede began, Pisces listened, eyes going wide at the description of the Dark Mirror Court, the feminine girl looking positively mollified at the end of it. "That's.... Dreadful!" She gasped. "How could they...? And with the Negaverse a time... That's..." And Pisces flashed to Barron Pines, to undead hands and eyes and the death and sorrow, and she looked both distressed and ill, but did not persist in the notyion to turn back, swallowing. "Please... Tell me more?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:24 am
“What do you want to know?” Ganymede asked.
So she was a Zodiac, and a Senshi of some years to boot, but hadn't powered up in a while. Alright, that explained some of the lack of information. A bit of a shame, if you asked Ganymede, that'd it'd been so long. Ganymede certainly wasn't the most active of Senshi, but she was dedicated enough to the cause in her own way. The thought of not being able to power up and do her part didn't sit well with her at all.
She was the sort to make her own way, to come to her own decisions. That circumstances should force someone away from that seemed to her a bit unfair.
But then what 13 or 14 year old could defy their parents by staying in a war-torn city?
“So you've been gone... how long?” she wondered. Ganymede looked the other girl over and tried to determine her current age. Late teens, most likely. “If I knew what you'd missed I'd know where to start. I've been a Senshi for over three years now. A lot's happened since then.”
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:35 am
"Well..." Pisces sighed. "My last clear Senshi memories are around Barren Pinrs." She began softly. "I remember some things, such as sensing trouble in the Surrounding... BNut not much of that. I... Couldn't get away easily." And she sat, shaking her head. "There's been a lot, then, since then? Hopefully good news?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 7:48 am
“Depends on your definition of good news, I guess,” Ganymede said.
Barren Pines... Barren Pines... it sounded familiar, and yet Ganymede knew whatever event surrounded the name had to have occurred before her time. She had no way of pinpointing an exact year, nor was she aware of what had happened there.
Rather than asking, she settled for starting at her own beginning.
“Christmas 2010,” she began.
“There was some alien Ice Queen thing that attacked in town square. The Negaverse and the Senshi had to work together to defeat her. One point for teamwork,” she said that bit sarcastically. “February 2011, Elysion. A dream world. It was accessed in our sleep, only everything that happened there carried over into real like when we woke up. Injuries were very real, and if you died there, that was it. The Negaverse and the Senshi fought over different territories. I don't really know what for. Maybe because they could?”
Suddenly swamped by old memories, Ganymede shook her head to force them away so that she could continue. “Summer 2011 was the Surrounding. A summer camp ended up being energy-drained and attacked before then, but the Surrounding was worse. Fifty or so civilian somehow ended up stranded in space. The Negaverse and the Dark Mirror Senshi worked together to infiltrate. The Dark Mirror Court had arisen just before then. Ares used the opportunity to force corrupt a few more troops for herself.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 8:00 am
Pisces looked stricken the moment the Surrounding was mentioned as in danger. Her brows knit in distress and she looked upset, frowning slightly. "I see..." She said softly. "That.... What /is/ the Dark Mirror planning then?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:52 am
“I don't know if anyone really knows,” Ganymede admitted.
She stretched out along the ground, flopping back and using her elbows to elevate her while her legs straightened out in front of her. She presented the picture of one entirely unconcerned about what she was discussing. In some ways that wasn't far from the truth. The Negaverse had always concerned her far more than the Dark Mirror Court did.
Ganymede wondered if that was a mistake on her part, or if she was right to place so much of her attention on the Negaverse instead. Certainly a couple of her allies might disagree with her, but Ganymede had not seen the Dark Mirror Court do half the things the Negaverse had done over the years—both to the Senshi as well as to the civilian population. They were not harmless, of course, but she didn't think the Senshi of the Dark Mirror were quite as bad as other Senshi might lead one to believe.
“Some of us aren't too fond of them for one reason or another, either for the simple fact that they're corrupt or for more personal reasons, it varies from person to person,” she explained. “And there are some people in the Negaverse who aren't fond of them either, but those are definitely personal vendettas there. Other than helping with the attack on the Surrounding and assisting the Negaverse in an ambush, the Dark Mirror Court hasn't really done much to warrant all the concern people have for them. I'm sure they're still dangerous, but in my experience they're less so than the Negaverse.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2014 8:49 am
"I see..." Pisces certainly wasn't sure what to think - conflicted, perhaps. Her duty was the Surrounding, first and foremost, but the youngest Zodiac knew quite well what the Negaverse was capable of. What they'd done. The faces of the dead crossed her vision and the girl whimpered internally, lips forming a small, dainty frown. "I see." Petticoats, bustle and skirt flew as she plunked to sit thoughtfully, ignoring decorum to sort this out. This lady was certainly helpful and Pisces appreciated it, and the redhead looked quite thoughtful for some time. "I wonder what they're like.
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 8:23 am
“Who? The Dark Mirror Senshi?” Ganymede made the assumption based on their current conversation. “It probably differs from Senshi to Senshi. I've met a couple, and my husband seems pretty enamored of their Prince.”
She rolled her eyes but otherwise made no further show of concern or annoyance. Instead, she went back to observing the Zodiac Senshi, thinking to herself that this was the first time she'd had a civil conversation with one of Princess Chronos's Court in years.
For a moment she thought of changing the topic of the discussion to that of the Surrounding, but as it didn't seem as if Pisces had been there, Ganymede ultimately decided that doing so would be rather pointless. This wasn't the time to bring up old grudges.
“You can pick them out from normal corrupted Senshi, though, because they don't have holes in their chests or heads,” she explained. “Maybe that means they're a little less broken? I doubt anyone knows. They all still wear black, though, so from a distance they might look like they're just another one of the Negaverse's pets, but they have a different sort of feeling to them. You'll get used to picking them out once you've run into a couple.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:34 am
Pisces nodded, frowning as she took quick mental notes of things, filing them into her memory for later. Gnymede seemed interested in changing topics - mostly by changing mention of the very topic, so she decided to try to help, and remained cheery. "So, how long have you been a senshi?" She couldn't be s long at it as Pisces, but, she was the youngest to begin with, young upon awakening at all. Still, she remained cheery and upbeat. No sense making enemies - and this senshi seemed nice!
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:20 am
The change of topic came as a bit of a surprise to Ganymede. She'd not necessarily intended to change the course of the conversation, though she could admit to herself that she was quickly running out of things to say about the Dark Mirror Court. She considered her limited encounters with them and wondered if she should make more of an effort to learn about them, but as they caused less trouble than the Negaverse it didn't seemed entirely necessary as of yet.
So she went along with the shift in conversation and thought back to her first days as a Senshi, avoiding certain memories and focusing instead on the length of time.
“Almost three and a half years,” she said. “I'd just turned seventeen the night of my first real battle in Elysion, awakened just a week before when I was sixteen.
“But you were a lot younger than that,” Ganymede observed. She couldn't imagine being a Senshi at as young as thirteen or fourteen. “Did you start out as one of the little ones? The Chibi Senshi?”
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