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 Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 6:57 pm
Part of her thought such a thing was overdue, that it was watching and waiting for the time to strike.
Part of her thought perhaps it was a fluke, the stars aligning and causing such a fated encounter.
Part of her knew the irony was self-evident.
Kallichore had been on patrol as usual, following a Negaverse captain from one end of the city to the other. He or she was evading the eternal as much as they could, and rightfully so. Kallichore wasn't interested in a drawn-out chase, and if she could deter mischief, she would follow the signature as long as she needed to. However, she caught a glimpse of the captain from her position further down the street, near an office building known for its reflective surface.
It was there that Kallichore witnessed the Captain simply... disappeared.
It wasn't that they powered down - none would be so foolish in such a public space with an Eternal just down the street. No, she heard a distinctive yelp, as if they disappeared against their will. This wasn't a teleportation. This was a kidnapping.
Following the trail, Kallichore could find no evidence of physical injury - no blood. She blinked, finding this odd, and felt something of incredible force pull her towards the building. Whatever had gotten the Captain had its claws upon her as well.
Kallichore awoke in a room with no door, no color, nothing. Incredibly sterile. It was an uncomfortable place - it made her skin crawl. This smelled of Ares in some capacity. Kallichore distinctly remembered being rescued at one time by the Dark Mirror Queen by mirrorwalking through the reflective surface of a pool of water. Being abducted through a reflective office building didn't seem so unusual now...
...the problem was, she couldn't leave...
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Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 5:14 pm
Irony and Coincidence went hand in hand far too frequently. Scylla's patrol had been a dramatic one, which was somewhat unusual for the senshi of the Kraken. Usually, her patrols were conversation starters, the occasional helping a cat from a tree or something, maybe chasing off an enterprising lieutenant or a youma. Never too terribly much activity, except on the rare occasion where something big was going down. Greater youma, massive mirror wraiths, aliens from outer space- that kind of stuff.
Tonight, it was like it was a full moon or something, and the petite woman was practically rushing in every direction. A Lieutenant snatching a purse over there, socked her in the face as they ran. Two youma, tag-teaming, scratched her leg up (superficially, thank goodness) before she managed to drive them off.
And then the next Lieutenant she was following vanished. Completely disappeared from her radar in the blink of an eye. That rarely happened, when she was using her Black Spot. Even teleportation, which she had thought was beyond the weaker foot-soldiers, left some kind of a trail unless they went to the rift. So where might they have gone? There were no civilians in sight, and she had been close enough she would have sensed a General or Captain coming and grabbing them. Someone else had taken them, and she wasn't sure who.
She huffed, staring into the window of a shop inattentively, tapping her foot in irritable dismay. Was it new powers for them to deal with? That would be some bullshit, for sure. she closed her eyes, sighed, and-
"UM?" her snarl was loud, furious. This was not her city street, this was not her home, this was not her plan for the evening, and- she was not alone. The prison was sterile, but her companion was Kallichore, and that was too much a coincidence to bear. Two of the last survivors of the Blood Moon, stuck together. "Did you get a by-your-leave? Because I certainly didn't."
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 6:34 pm
The high-pitched squeak she emitted was one Scylla likely never heard before, nor would the petite model have thought Kallichore could have made such a noise. In the middle of meditation (or was it a nap), the senshi was startled awake by the sudden and loud entrance of someone else - Scylla, of all people. Fate had a way of folding in on itself, she decided. From her position on the floor of this sterile white space, Kallichore scrambled to help her associate - no, friend - up onto her feet. Scylla's leg looked scratched, which seemed to concern Kallichore more than Scylla's sudden appearance in this prison. The Kraken Senshi's question stopped Kallichore's fussing dead in its tracks and, strangely enough, the senshi in red had to laugh. "Heavens no," said she, a strangely jovial smile on her lips. "I suspected the universe was trying to tell me something. You're an excellent bookend to the latest paragraph, Scylla. Are you hurt? Here, you can use my sleeve." Luckily for both of them, Kallichore's fuku sleeves were fully removable, and unbuckling one of the belts at her shoulder allowed it to be used as a tourniquet or a bandage of sorts. The Senshi of Madness had more belts than she knew what to do with, anyway.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:01 pm
Skreeeeeeeak. The noise Kallichore made would possibly have taken Scylla aback if she wasn't mid snarl-growl-grump. Instead, Scylla threw up her hands, as if the noise was perfectly in plan, and declared, clearly aggrieved, "Right?!"
She reached out to grab Kallichore's hand as the other senshi came over to her, looking slightly concerned. Using Kalli as leverage, the smaller senshi hauled herself up, peering down at her leg. "No, I'm fine," she promised, though she accepted the sleeve. "It's been one heck of a night, Kalli. And this place stinks like evil perfume. Figuratively, of course. I don't actually smell anything." Though if she did, it would probably smell like evil perfume.
Hands rose above her head, limbs cracking and popping as she straightened herself out from her undignified entrance. "The sheer amount of coincidence in this is almost nauseating. Either someone with a twisted sense of humor picked us up, or we were randomly incredibly lucky." her lips curved downwards, considering her friend. "How long have you been here? Are you okay? Have you eaten recently, are you hungry?"
Not that she could feed Kalli anything- she had no supplies- but her mother-tendency was probably showing.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:19 pm
"How long? I haven't the slightest idea." With a gesture to the room devoid of clocks or windows, Kallichore sighed. "I was chasing a Captain who suddenly disappeared. I heard a yelp and went to investigate. No blood, no signs of struggle, and if they had teleported, they should still have been on the edges of the radar. I couldn't find anything. I turned around and... ended up here." It wasn't glamorous or graceful to admit she hadn't the slightest idea exactly what happened, but agreed wholeheartedly with Scylla's assessment. Something untoward was afoot, and it stunk of Chaos. She shook her head under Scylla's scrutiny. "No, I haven't eaten at all, but strangely, I haven't felt hungry. More... uneasy. Tired. As you can imagine, I don't much care for this place." Kallichore had her assumptions, but lacked evidence to back them up. The coincidence of Scylla - of all people - having ended up in the same prison was too much to ignore. Perhaps they should just address the elephant in the white-walled prison. "...Do you think Ares has anything to do with this? Or her followers?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:57 pm
No idea of how long? Scylla tugged out her senshi phone, peering at it and knocking it against a bland, white wall. Can't stop the signal, Mal. "Well, apparently you can," she muttered to her phone, and gave a loud, heavy sigh. "I have a similar story. I was tracking an Agent, and they suddenly disappeared. The Spot can track them if they teleport," she lifted her hand, the Ashen Lilac Crystal glittering at her wrist, "unless they go to the rift, but it was a lieutenant. They can't teleport, and I didn't sense anyone else. Not Order, not Chaos- they just..." she gave a shrug.
Her lips pursed, and she peered at her leg, considering the scratches. Shallow, and her back didn't hurt... There was that, at least, if the worst happened.
"I think," she said after a moment, "That if Ares were going to dirty her hands we would know by now. She was never one to be a hands-off leader, and I can't imagine she's had any friendly feelings develop toward either of us in the last years. I'd be leaning more towards Leto or Requiem, Gaia if she wanted something. But apart from coming through a mirror, have we seen anything that confirms this is a mirrorspace?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 8:22 pm
Kallichore could do little more than nod in the affirmative. If the Dark Mirror Court was involved in this somehow - and with the mirrors, it's always a possibility - they had to take into consideration that their royalty was on the forefront. Scylla was right in that Ares was always very hands-on woman, leading the charge even when she was part of the White Moon. Without any sign of Ares, the perpetrator became murkier.
"I can't travel to space from here and can't get a signal on my phone. I've tried kicking the walls and magic doesn't appear to work, either. Of course, mine of different than yours, but in this confined space..." Kallichore had never seen Scylla's magic in such close proximity and wasn't sure this prison was the best place for a demonstration.
Other than traveling through a reflective surface, the Senshi could do little more than speculate. "When Ares recruited me, we traveled through a still pool of water. I was pulled through a clean office window. I'm sure they at least have a hand in this... but whether or not this is Mirrorspace, I do not know. I assumed it would be black, but..." Obviously this was not the case.
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Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 9:05 pm
Magic didn't work? Scylla hadn't tried her own, not that she was sure what it would do other than make the room much less empty. So much less empty. So unfortunately less empty. If she didn't bust out the walls and risk letting out the atmosphere or in the danger bears, god only knew what could happen. "I suppose we can take a little bit to chat and catch up while waiting to see if anyone else joins us, or if something happens. Keep an eye on each other's back?
At least until they were in a better position, or something. To do what? Probably nothing, for a small while yet. Hurry up and wait, like a magical DMV.
"It's possible. I usually went through proper mirrors, but I think Alex pulled me through the mirror in the driveway once." Usually Dylan had used bathroom mirrors, and Fallon had tended to use the full-length mirror that had once been in Jada's room. Johnny had pulled her through bathroom mirrors too. Maybe it was a guy thing? "I suppose it depends on if it was the Dark Mirror, or if there are uncorrupted survivors from their world pulling people into mirror space.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 2:23 pm
The idea of parallel survivors was an intruiging one, an idea Kallichore had not considered. She had assumed that the death of Ares' Queen cut off the parallel universe from this one, and the Dark Mirrors of late had no recollection of Ares herself. Their Queen had disappeared and left a Prince and Princess in her stead. It mattered not now where Ares had disappeared, as she had not made an appearance in years. Perhaps now she only stalked the halls of the dreams of those that stood besides her under the Blood Moon those many years ago. Kallichore had seen a vision of the Queen prior to the Goddess. Ares was more of a nightmare, a boogeyman. Perhaps she was gone forever, now. Settling herself into a more comfortable position, the Senshi folded her hands in her lap. "I wouldn't mind catching up. How have you been sleeping, Scylla?" There was not judgment from one to the other, Kallichore being the last person to judge someone based on the use of magical aid for mental health. She was positive she would not be whole or sane without relying on the water herself. She had no need of it now, and only wished for Scylla to find relief, no matter how long she had the bottle in her possession. "It's been such a long time since... since they first arrived. When they were Parallels and nothing else. I was hoping to pray for a vision, but even here I cannot hear my moon at all. It's too silent."
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:51 pm
Catching up, Jada had on one level thought might be more about civilian lives, shooting the breeze, checking up on Nephthys since the two women lived together. Being asked how she was sleeping took Scylla in a completely different direction, and her mouth fell open a hair in surprise before she licked her red lips and then plopped down into a boneless heap next to her friend. "Way to start with a loaded question, Kalli." her smile hopefully shared that she was teasing, not upset by any means.
"I've been dreaming," she admitted with a sigh. "I found out some things in July, after you came by the house, that I've still been working my mind around, and then..." How should she say the father of my wards is in town, and I had to hire a bodyguard for them because I trust him as far as a two-year-old could throw him? She probably shouldn't. How too to say I have a purified Dark Mirror Senshi living in my house, and she's the something-or-other of the man who is not only brother to my ex, but pretending to be the father of our half-siblings, and is also the son of the man who kidnapped my daughter at birth and left me to believe she was dead?
Yeah, that was another 'probably shouldn't.'
"Alex was the first of the Parallels that I met." She remembered the meeting well, down to date, and time. Her back had been badly burned, and she could still feel the injury sometimes, she imagined. She'd been hospitalized, and... if he hadn't come back for her... "He reminded me of my brother." Pale blonde hair and purple eyes, and a certain realness to him that she hadn't shared.
To think, she'd been afraid the train would make her break out, and she'd almost lost her life.
"Speaking... speaking of praying." Scylla decided she would go with that. It was easier. "I decided I was going to try and see if Scylla would do anything to help me, the way Kallichore did for you. It didn't go well." In fact, it... hadn't gone... at all. "Was there something more you did than just... ask? I mean, just... that didn't work."
Oh, no therapy was one size fits all, but...
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:59 pm
Kallichore bowed her head, realizing that though Scylla might have been teasing her, it was untoward to ask such a thing so suddenly. "...my apologies. I was just... concerned for you." She listened intently, transcendent markings faintly glowing against the while walls of their prison. The senshi didn't recognize the name of Alex, nor did she know Scylla had such a history with the Parallel Court. It lent to her veteran status - Scylla had seen things most senshi these days only heard in war stories. "...who is Alex, Scylla? I'm afraid I don't recall Ares or Gaia ever mentioning him. It must've been comforting to have him around." Her gaze dropped, solemnly reminiscing of the times where things seemed simpler on the outside - fight the Negaverse, save civilians, do not bother yourself with morality and the future. There was talk of a quest to find or free the Moon Princess of yore, an ancient purity whose presence could turn the tide of war. All lost history, fairytales, naivete. There was shame once, deep in her heart, for believing in such things. She only knew what she could know at the time. Things were different now. Scylla's next question raised her head, Kallichore placing a hand on her chest. "It was a combination of things." she started, gazing up at what might have been the ceiling and its expansiveness. "....the moon was silent for two years, thereabouts. I simply," The young woman went silent for a moment, searching for the correct word. "I simply did not know the language." Unintentionally cryptic, perhaps, but the truth nonetheless. Kallichore tilted her head, almost out of embarrassment. "...there is a pool of water in the castle. Two, actually, but I only recently discovered the second. The first is where the water in the bottle comes from. It was the only thing to bring me relief during that time, while I searched. I found the second pool by fortuitous accident - and it was the water in this pool that taught me the language. It doesn't come without a price, however. The visions I had in the beginning were horrific but... survivable."
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:07 pm
Her voice gentled. realizing her teasing had embarrassed her friend, and she reached out with a slender hand to touch her friend's bowed head lightly. "I know, Kalli. I appreciate it." There was no need for apologies for loving a friend.
"Alex was a Cavalier. Like Laocoon." Kallichore should remember Johnny- he and Zia had been the only non-senshi members of the Blood Moon's inner circle. "Alexandros." he'd taken her on her first mirror walk, and it had been his friendship that had helped her accept the changes that happened to Fallon, when Ares' soul rode her. It had been a little different, of course. A lot. "He was trouble," she assured her friend with a wry smile, "But it was fun."
Dangerous, but fun.
Two years. Jada puffed out a breath of air, feeling the slow shudder crawling along her spine. Two years? That was too long- she'd go insane by then, she'd fall off the wagon, she'd be back in rehab, she'd lose-
I simply did not know the language.
And there it was, the source of her questions. WHAT did Scylla want from her? What would make her worthy to be helped, as Kallichore helped Christa? What would teach her the language? Would learning the language even be worth it, in the end? "When we get out of here-" she licked her lips, then looked away. "Never mind."
Never mind, yet it still bothered her.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:21 pm
"...you've taught me a thing or two, Jada, about... being friends." One of those things was to keep her feet from her mouth. She nodded at Laocoon's mention, an odd-one-out among the lot of the Blood Moon. Even Zirconia had a place closer to the senshi than the strange cavalier did. "...I don't believe I've ever met Alexandros, but I remember Laocoon. Whatever happened to him, I wonder? And to Zirconia? I haven't heard from her in a very long time. She was working on dissecting a Dark Mirror starseed, the last time I saw her. It... screamed in her hands, while she played with it. They're reflective, like a mirror. I suppose that shouldn't come as any surprise." Scylla's body language conveyed disappointment. Was Kallichore being too obtuse? "I apologize." It was a quiet, breathless sort of statement and the senshi raked a hand through her hair. "...I'm being too esoteric. What I mean is... the water in that second pool granted me the vision. That vision gave me the answers I sought. Without the assistance of the... well, I assume it has magical properties, but without it, I'm certain the vision would never have taken place." Maybe that would clear some things. Christa kicked herself for continuing to speak in metaphor.
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Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:42 pm
Her laugh was soft, tinged with something brittle. "I could teach you more about losing them than being them," she confessed, her voice low and pained, "I am sure I am a poor friend indeed. Don't take too many lessons from me. Keep being your own wonderful self."
She shook her dark head at the question of what had happened to Johnny and Zia. "I don't know. Laocoon stopped answering his phone, and Zirconia... vanished." Jada had failed her, failed Fallon, failed everyone. "The original parallels were two souls in one human host. I imagine the Dark Mirror are something slightly different. If they look like a mirror, perhaps... they are? In some way- what goes in isn't what comes out? Or the mirror protects what it has tainted?" but screaming?
"Don't apologize to me, Kalli. Unless you punch me in the face or lose one of my children while you're babysitting, or... I don't know, sell out my identity? You've got nothing to apologize for." she paused, considering the explanation. "Do you think you could bottle some of that water?" she chewed on her lip, thoughtful. "I mean, clearly I'm not looking to connect with your planet, but maybe if we... tried it on mine? I know there is something I'm not understanding. Things I'm missing."
Things she should be doing, but that she wasn't.
"I can see the message, you know? The magic has always been something alive to me. When I power up, I can feel it moving under my skin like a creature in a cage. I just can't see the door. I can set it free, sometimes, I can feed the hunger and the pain. I can tell that there's something missing, that it wants, but..."
She swallowed. "I asked for help and got no reply. I tried something else, and I almost drowned. I'm running out of ideas."
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Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 10:32 am
"I simply disagree." came the reply and subsequent wry smile. Kallichore kept quiet, solemn, while Scylla explained the nature of the Parallel Court that even she did not know. Scylla had more experience with them, more time spent by their side, perhaps as an equal. Kallichore was too young, too green, to have the same position. Having two souls trapped in the same body was something Zirconia described years ago, but knowing Ares suffered the same fate... perhaps the birth of the Dark Mirror Court was an inevitability. She couldn't imagine having two individuals trapped in her body, fighting against two ideals. The senshi nodded, watching her hands folded in her lap. "...I haven't tried it, but I don't see why I couldn't bottle it and bring it to you. Even if Ares is behind this, she can't keep us here forever. I simply will not allow such a thing." As much as she could, Kallichore scoffed. "I should warn you that the vision is... intense. If you're comfortable with it, I'd like to stay with you while you dream. Evidently this was my function in the distant past, and with good reason. I'd rather not let anything happen to you while your mind is wandering."
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