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 Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 12:34 pm
Rooftops were hardly Cruithne's idea of relaxing. Usually she preferred the park. Though, she had to admit that it was usually a bit harder to see the moon and stars from her usual haunts in the park. Shivering a little, the senshi sighed and scrubbed at her eyes with her fists.
She'd had more of those dreams earlier and only the fact that her parents hadn't been home to hear her screams had saved her from another trip to the hospital.
Cruithne was getting really bloody tired of the hospital and the well-intentioned psychiatrists held therein. She was even more tired of the dreams.
They had to be dreams, right? It was what she told herself to try and hold together. They were just dreams. Dreams that felt way too much like portents.
Growling a little in frustration, she threw herself back on the roof, staring up at the stars. At least if she started to dream up here, the wind would carry her screams away.
"Please, Lady," she murmured. "Please. Make the dreams go away. Please?"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 7:34 am
The rooftops, in contrast, were where Aurostibite felt the most suited. High above Destiny City, they allowed him a better view of what lay beneath. From the homeless who skirted the alleyways and the slumps of the city, to the shopgoers and partyers who stayed out late, to the White Moon and Order brats who decided they knew better.
He'd already pulled the starseed of one such Order member, though it had been a last resort. Aurostibite was not the sort to mindlessly kill those who didn't need to be killed, but the senshi had been volatile and unwilling to listen to reason. She'd almost managed to stab him with a piece of metal she'd found, and Aurostibite had sunk his hand into his chest and yanked out the glowing ball of energy before it had reached his side.
Now he tucked it away safely in his coat. He'd bring it to one of his recruits later, explain both the benefits and the consequences of pulling and consuming starseeds. They were good for short bursts of energy, and no more, at least in his mind.
Debating whether to go back, Aurostibite felt the first whiff of a power signature nearby; another Order flavored one, softer than his own. Not quite an Eternal in rank, then, and Aurostibite found the direction it was coming from and teleported to the next rooftop over.
He found her sitting, and a wind rustled his cape and hair, black cascading over his shoulders.
"It's dangerous to be out alone, senshi," said Aurostibite quietly, and a hint of metal gleamed from his sides, the bladed weapons resting against his hip. "Very dangerous."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 9:21 am
[siize=11]Has Cruithne not been beyond exhaustion, she would have bolted, regardless of her surroundings. As it was, she flailed a bit where she lay, eyes dull and a little manic as she stared at the upside down vision of what could only be one of the Negaverse's officers. Dimly, she was aware that she should be terrified. Her lack of sleep and attempts to write off her visions only allowed her to feel moderate alarm. Finally, she managed to roll to her knees and sat, head tilted as she tried to figure out why this officer wasn't attacking first. That was how they acted, wasn't it? This one radiated such calm that she felt herself unconsciously soothed. "A-are you real?" she half-whispered. "Y-you're not an hallucination, are y-you?" As far as she was concerned, it was a legitimate question given her current state. "Please don't be more of those dreams," she murmured, tears beginning to form in her eyes. " Please."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 10:40 am
She did not run, which was curious - or naive, though Aurostibite had yet to figure out which one it was. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed her, from the pleading, half desperate expression on her face, to the way she stared at him, as though he wasn't quite real.
Her voice was trembling. Aurostibite lifted his chin.
"I am not a hallucination," he said, and took a step towards her, the moonlight casting long shadows out behind him. Everything around was bathed in a dark, silvery glow, from the black hair that rippled behind him, to the senshi's pale, stark white uniform.
"Why do you believe I am just a dream?"
Aurostibite's voice remained low and quiet, hardly rising above a calm tone. He did not make any further movements towards her, but stood a foot or two away, silent and watchful.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 10:58 am
Slumping a little in relief when the tall officer said he wasn't a figment of her mind, Cruithne seemed, for a moment, to forget that he was even there.
"Thank the Lady," she murmured fervently before going on to scrub her hands across her eyes. "I think I'm going crazy..."
The moon glow distracted her for a moment and inadvertently reminded her that she was not alone. For a long moment, she stared at the officer with doubtful eyes, wanting to reach out and touch him in some way to verify his reality. But if she did and he was telling her the truth, he might react badly to unwanted pokes. Not to mention, he wouldn't be asking about the dreams if he was one.
Right?
Shivering suddenly, Cruithne rocked a little where she sat, eyes shut tight and hugging herself.
"Because the dreams won't leave me alone. They pop up all the time whether I'm awake or asleep. I'm afraid to sleep."
Her eyes flew open and she reached out, intending to merely touch the hem of his tunic. Something to reassure her.
"Do you promise you're real?" she demanded, her eyes burning with a frantic need that even the moonlight couldn't mask.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 2:43 pm
She did not seem to be entirely there. Her mind was shifting, thoughts changing, and Aurostibite made no indication that this was an issue, except that his eyes became a little more narrow as he surveyed her. Perhaps it was a trick meant to disorient him and confuse him, and then she would attack. That would be very like the White Moon, after all.
"I am very real," said Aurostibite. It was not exactly a reassuring tone, but a flat, unhesitant one that left no room for argument. Though every instinct told him to pull away, he let her fingers brush the hem of his coat, her eyes bright and fierce. He lifted his chin, the brim of his hat casting shadows down across his face and neck.
"What do you dream about, senshi?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 6:05 am
Ignoring the officer's flat declaration, Cruithne touched the fabric of the coat and felt grateful tears stream unbidden down her face. On the one hand, she knew his very reality meant danger and he should run. Fast.
On the other hand, the fact that he was real meant that, for the moment, the dreams were held at bay. To some degree, she was more upset by the dreams than by being in the presence of a Negaverse officer.
"Thank the Lady," she murmured, eyes closing again as she sank back into a full sitting position. After a moment, she took a deep, shuddering breath and hid her face behind her hands as her body shook. It might have been sobbing or simply her body reacting to more stress than it was able to handle. With her face hidden, it was hard to tell.
"My name is not s-senshi," her voice was muffled, sadness and a slightly unhinged amusement coloring the tone. "It's Cruithne. If... if I tell you about the dreams, do you promise to not run off and join them? I don't like the dreams. I don't like seeing everyone dead."
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:13 am
He remained still while she cried, unfazed by the tears. Mintaka upset was one thing, but the weeping of the White Moon had no effect whatsoever upon Aurostibite, who was far too used to it being used as a means to an end. Whatever it was that she was crying for, he did not care.
His head tilted to the side, dark hair rippling down his back.
"Sailor Cruithne, is it," said Aurostibite calmly. "I go nowhere. What dreams to you speak of?"
He had no intention of leaving just yet; not until he found out what she spoke of, and what she wanted.
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Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:12 am
The fact that he remained so calm and aloof helped Cruithne to steady herself. Drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, she sat quietly for a moment.
"I don't like the dreams," she repeated softly, for a moment completely detached from the present. "They upset my parents and that makes them send me to doctors. I don't like the doctors either. They don't help. If my Cordial can't help, then how could they?"
Another full body shiver and Cruithne looked up suddenly, remembering who and what she was talking to. For a moment, fear glowed in her eyes before she throttled it down and did her best to keep up with the conversation.
"You guys," she began in a soft, clear voice. "You guys took over. You let monsters out to hurt people who didn't deserve to be hurt. You let a tar monster murder someone I cared about. You let monsters murder old people and kids."
Cruithne went stiff and silent for a moment, her eyes focusing inward as if just talking about the dreams had opened the door wide enough to let them come in and take over.
"I helped Fai through the mirrors when the camp was attacked. She couldn't change because she was pregnant," she murmured, the words barely registering in her mind. "I don't even know who that is, but she was important in the dream. I could feel myself die in the dreams. Blood and pain and tearing..."
Voice trailing off as the visions swarmed her mind, all Cruithne could do was sit there in silence and shake.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:14 am
There was something not quite right in this senshi's head, Aurostibite thought, as he watched her. From the words she was speaking, to the way she withdrew into herself, to her lack of flight instincts in getting away from him, she did not seem to be entirely there.
He wondered what it was that had broken her.
I helped Fai through the mirrors.
The words slammed into Aurostibite with the force of a javelin, and for a second he stood frozen in place, staring down at the senshi, his blue eyes wide, though the rest of his expression was the same.
She couldn't change because she was pregnant.
My Fai, thought Aurostibite, with a surge of terrible clarity. My Fai. the reason why we're together now, because she was mine in that future we all saw, because she was mine, with my child, and this senshi was there too, this senshi saw her -
His expression closed off once more, impassive and silent.
"You speak of the future that has not yet come to pass and may never come to pass," said Aurostibite. "Where were you in this future?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 11:51 am
"Oh, it would be nice if it didn't, don't you think?" she whispered, eyes still tracking dream visions. "The tar monster had a name, everyone called him the Youma King. If it doesn't come true, then he won't be real either. My foster mom will be safe then."
Voice trailing off, Cruithne seemed to shake herself out of the vision with the help of the General's calm declaration that it wasn't real. Not yet and maybe not ever. Blinking owlishly, she glanced up, puzzled by his question.
"You mean what side, don't you? Not location?"
Chin resting on her knees, Cruithne managed a wan smile, "We were getting along so well too. I mean, with you not trying to k-kill me just yet and all. Very well then," she sighed. "Not on your side. The Dark Mirrors took me and kept me safe. I never helped to unleash monsters on people. I helped in the healing tents. I helped to save lives you would have taken away."
Even with her mind and memories fracturing as they were, Cruithne felt it would be better to be as vague as possible. After all, if he were wrong and the dreams became reality, it was better to not give an enemy advanced knowledge.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 4:10 pm
He did not think of that future often, in spite of it having brought him Durumi. Aurostibite was not one to dwell on something that had no promises of coming to pass, and he would rather focus on the things that he could control with more certainty.
But it wasn't as though he'd forgotten them. The memories were there, buried deep within his mind, for Aurostibite to consider late at night when Durumi was asleep and she could not see how tense it made him, how frustrated and how angry.
He inclined his head towards Cruithne, indicating she had interpreted his question correctly. "I don't disagree with all that the Dark Mirrors do, neither do I agree with them," said Aurostibite calmly. "Some are more inclined to see reason than their counterparts."
He took a slow step towards her, head tilted slightly, the moonlight bathing them both in silver.
"And what about now, little lost senshi? What life are you trying to save now?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 5:48 am
Relaxing slightly as he continued to remain calm and mostly non-threatening, Cruithne even managed a soft chuckle.
"And in that, I would have to agree with you," she said, thinking of the dreams and how even in the Dark Mirrors there had been schisms over how to deal with everything going on. "Some of them were very good at shouting at each other."
When he took a step closer, she simply watched. She should have been worried, but something about the calm voice and careful movements reassured her. Almost like he was trying to approach a skittish fawn.
For a moment, she admired how the moonlight bathed the General, though she started a bit at his questions. It was something she hadn't even asked herself in the rare times when she wasn't being haunted by dreams. Even the few therapists she'd been willing to humor hadn't asked her anything near so probing.
"I... I don't know anymore," she whispered. Frustrations and fears began to pour out, causing more than a few angry tears. "How can I save anyone when I can't even fix myself? I'm useless."
For a moment, she looked as though she'd have liked nothing more than to throw something, maybe even herself, off of the edge of the roof. Then, she deflated, shrinking further into herself.
"I just want the dreams to go away. I want to be normal again."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 1:40 pm
It was easy to remain calm; Aurostibite was not a violent general until it called for him to be; there was no use in getting angry right off the bat, because angry made for stupidity and an unwillingness to see reason. Staying calm and collected meant a clarity of mind that was beneficial to all that mattered.
"Frustrations lead to mistakes," said Aurostibite quietly. "The White Moon does not need our help to be destroyed; they will self destruct themselves because of their own inability to handle things rationally. Their tendency to argue and be spiteful to one another, their desire to be the one on top will be their downfall in the end."
Of that, he had no doubt.
There was a glint of silver. One of Aurostibite's blades had appeared, and he lifted it, reaching to touch the dull side to the underside of the senshi's chin and tilt her head up so that she would look at him. There was no violence or threat in his gesture; it was merely a tool.
"There's a way to make those dreams go away, you know," he said quietly. "A simple method."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:20 pm
Whether or not the White Moon senshi ended up self-destructing like this officer believed hardly mattered to Cruithne. Though, somehow she doubted that they were all as stupid as he also seemed to think. Still, manners dictated that she remain quiet on the matter.
When the edge of a blade touched her chin, making her look up, she eyed the officer with doubt-filled eyes. And doubt turned to grim, if somewhat resigned, amusement.
"I'm sure cutting me down would be very simple, sir. But you see, I kind of wanted to not be dead in order to make the dreams leave me alone."
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