|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:54 pm
Corvus... Sailor Corvus? It's time.
Her head was hazy as her eyes opened; not the best state of mind to be in while hearing voices, given the various turns her life had taken lately. Visits to Corvus had become her escape from life, and in running from one she fell deeper into another. A part of her heart was here in the stars, embedded so deeply in what was.
She'd come here to rest following her fight with Cavansite, intending to continue her research while letting her body recover from injuries. In rest her mind had wandered, drifting through memories with faces familiar but just beyond her reach. She knew them. These figures in her dreams with faces that had yet to come to focus.
A stern woman with eyes the color of the sea had been the source of the voice to wake her. Another woman had been just behind her, her expression neutral with just a trace of hidden pride. Who else-- who else had been there?
Corvus stretched slowly, glancing down as she could have sworn she felt the gentle butt of Eta's head against her knee. She reached for the Mauvian, her Guardian and friend, and found only the shadow of a past that had once been there.
Corvus, it's time.
Five more minutes. If she could only have five more minutes she could get up and press on, but it was time and she could deny it no more. She could not continue putting off the inevitable. It was time.
Time for what?
WC: 258
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 2:23 pm
Time...
Time was such a strange thing in space. Often Corvus found herself wondering if it passed differently amongst the stars than it did down on Earth. When she'd spent the week off-world recuperating after the battle at the electric plant it had seemed the same-- whether that was because she'd been there for days in a row, or just because she wanted it (needed it?) to be the same was up for debate.
Alarms had been set on her earth phone as it kept time on its internal clock, unable to synch itself to any of the various world clocks. Satellites were millions and billions of miles away. Light years. She was so far from home.
This is home.
Dusting herself off, Corvus rose to her feet. Without thinking or questioning why, she followed the shadow of a memory of a slender silver tabby trotting across the courtyard. The Mauvian shade paused to glance over its shoulder as though making sure the senshi was following after it, only continuing on once satisfied that this Sailor Corvus was.
WC: 178
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 2:48 pm
When her mind finally processed where she had wandered, Sailor Corvus was in the lower part of the keep. Parts of the castle -- Ebonwing, she'd heard it referred to in dreams-- had been devastated by the war; memories she had been spared from by the powers that were, so far. Most of the damage seemed to be to the higher reaches; stone walls crumbled as defenses fell, leaving the heart of it impenetrable within the mountain itself.
A gloved hand extended, fingers splaying slowly over the runic markings carved deep into the stone arch surrounding a door made of something stronger than the wood that had rotted away above. Stone? Petrified wood? Metal? Smooth and cool to the touch, an ominous feeling coming from somewhere on the other side. Why had Eta lead her down here? Why?
"Cordelia! Corvus-- Sailor Corvus, where are you? When I left you were in the garden and I..." The silver tabby, the real Eta, Guardian Cat to Sailor Corvus and whatever court she would one day call to her, came down the stairs just in time to see her charge disappear behind a door that had never opened before, drawing her into darkness and sealing her in.
"Corvus! Corvus!" The Mauvian wailed as she pawed frantically at the door, mewing piteously as though whatever force had swallowed her senshi would simply return the Senshi of Vengeance to her. Corvus might have remembered what lay hidden beneath the keep, lost for years behind a sealed door, but Eta didn't and had no one else to reach out to who did.
Thank you for fetching me, Eta. I'll return when it's time.
WC: 278
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:29 pm
On the other side of the door Corvus heard nothing save for the thundering pound of her own heart in her chest. She was alone and surrounded by darkness, panic threatening to well up and swallow her whole. This was where it ended. This...
"No. No."
The thoughts weren't hers. The fear wasn't hers. It had been, at one point, but it was no more. Many things could be found in the darkness. Stars could be found in the darkness, burning long and shining bright. If not for the darkest nights the brightest lights were mere specks in the distance.
A soft, gently glowing orb formed in front of her, bobbing in the air before weaving through the cavern ahead. She could not go back-- the past held people that had supported her and events that had shaped her, but the future was forward. "Straight on until morning. Lead on, Tink."
WC: 151
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 3:43 pm
The temperature changed the deeper she went, the cold giving way to a damp feeling that clung to her skin. The orb of light offered reassurance, offering her the strength of the memories it called to mind. Arsinoe. Orbs of light and glowing lanterns, warm and loving, apt to burn you if you got too close.
You're alone.
The voice was insistent as the orb flickered out, taking away her gentle light and plunging her into darkness once more.
"You're wrong. Stars don't disappear, they keep blazing-- you might not see them, but that doesn't mean they aren't there." Losing Saiph and Alshain in the early years of the ongoing fight against the Negaverse had taught her that much. The lessons that she learned through the bonds she had formed with them, through the bright light she'd seen in Sailor Eridanus as well, had only pushed her further, making her stronger. It had shaped her into the young woman who had put her everything into teaching her cousin, Sailor Arsinoe, all that she knew about what it meant to be a senshi.
And he in turn had taught her...
"You won't get me that easily," she murmured as her eyes adjusted once more to the lack of light, hand outstretching to feel her way along the cavern walls. "We carry on."
WC: 221
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:43 pm
Corvus was uncertain as to how much time had passed in the darkness when she emerged into a small cavern filled with phosphorescent rocks and softly glowing crystals. The entire chamber seemed magical, and yet she took no joy in finding herself there. If she had learned anything over the years it was that light at the end of a dark tunnel did not always mean safety. It could bring a brief reprieve, yes, but...
It can also bring pain.
The Senshi of Vengeance dropped to her knees, arms wrapped around her middle as though it would protect her from the almost immediate onset of emotion. Everything hit her at once-- love, joy, loathing, grief, elation, terror, rage. She had felt so much since the moment she'd awoken as Sailor Corvus and it had taken her so long to come to terms with these things.
How could she keep doing this?
How could she go on?
Her hands dropped to the rocks beneath her, a sob catching in her chest. The feeling of everything threatened to consume her. Everything ached. Her chest, her entire body, her heart. Corvus purged herself of everything, crying until there was nothing left.
When she came to she was lying on her side, fingers wrapped around a small, gold medallion. She held it to her chest as she drew in a deep breath, overcome with a sense of calm. Her fingers traced the lines of the symbol on the medallion, a symbol that stood for warmth and protection; all things she had come to associate with the knight who'd given the token to her.
Rising to her feet, Corvus let the medallion fall back against her chest. She stripped off her gloves, leaving them behind in the cavern alongside a pair of fancy heels that would do her no good as she continued into the dark once more.
WC: 331
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:08 pm
The next room seemed like more of a labyrinth than all of the others combined. Slabs of crystal reflected silhouettes and shadows as she passed, an odd feeling tickling the back of her neck. Something was watching her. Something... The attack came from nowhere, three things raising up to rush her. She had little time to assess what they were, thinking only of how she could defend herself from them. Two moved almost as one, flanking her as they took humanoid form to strike up a physical assault. Their movements were like a dance, so familiar that she could feel it singing to her soul. She had been here before. She had lived this before. ----- "Corvus, you have to focus. Corvus... Stars and stones, Corvus are you even listening to me?" The hooded figure chastised the young senshi, arms crossed over their chest. She could sense the disapproving look even if she couldn't see it. She didn't know how, but she knew it was there.
"We're running out of time, you know. We won't have many training sessions left together before it's time. We---"
The raven haired chibi-senshi lifted her head, meeting the worried gaze of her mentor. This woman had been guiding her since she'd awoken-- two senshi had been; bold, brilliant and battle-ready. One was slowly coming in to focus, and the other.... She couldn't see their faces.
Why couldn't she see them?
"You worry too much, ???. She's ready. Can't you see it in her eyes?"
That voice. That voice. She knew it. She knew him...----- The two shapes that had come forward first fell back, leaving room for the third to approach. If the first two had been a warm up, this was the main event. This figure was larger; male, if she were to assign it a gender, and built with lean muscle. She personified it because it made sense to do so. This was her past rising up, her present rushing to meet her. This was... " Violent Revenge!" she called out her attack and a rush of cold brushed past her, throwing the shadow back and providing her with a chance to catch her breath as her opponent regrouped with the others. Was that it? Was that what they had been waiting for? We are soldiers. We fight. We defend. This is who we are. This is who you are. "This is who I am. I am Corvus, Senshi of Vengeance, and I will not be defeated. Murder of Vengeance!" Her voice rang clearly, drowned out within seconds by the sound of wings. Feathers brushed against her, wings beating, heart pounding, the release of energy lifting her above the cacophony and carrying her to a higher plane.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 6:10 pm
Breathless, she emerged from the proving chamber. Everything ached, yet she felt better than she had in years. There was a lightness to her soul that she hadn't felt since the early days-- maybe not even then. Reaching up, Corvus snatched the clip from her hair, letting the rose and feather fascinator fall from her fingers to the ground. Her corset was too tight, every bit of fabric against her skin too much. It was weighing her down... The air was getting thicker as she continued her travels-- warmer. Was she nearing the end of her journey? The darkness gave way once more to crystals softly glowing with a gentle iridescence. Step by step they became brighter, guiding her out of the shadows. The stone path beneath her feet was worn smooth, warming from something the further she traveled. The warmth was wonderful, soothing and reassuring. It was a gentle friend; a companion ready to welcome her home. In reality, it was a pool in a secret grotto waiting to cleanse her of the trials she had passed. Steam rose from the surface of the underground spring, inviting the Senshi of Vengeance to shed the last traces of who she had been so that she could finally and truly accept who she had become.
--------------------------------------
“For a star to be born, there is one thing that must happen: a gaseous nebula must collapse.
So collapse.
Crumble.
This is not your destruction.
This is your birth.”
― Zoe Skylar
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
