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 Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:52 am
The feel of a starseed was....strange. She had her hand deep in the pretty redhead civilian's chest, and she squirmed in her grip, and Marialite hummed, cheerily. This was the first time she had tried this--she'd never been able to corner someone and let her hand sink in, the way Hessonite's had sunk into her, back when she accepted her corruption.
The girl was struggling, which Marialite supposed was expected. After all, no one wanted to die, and pain made people fight, and as Marialite recalled, having her starseed handled hurt. More than she could express.
"Relax," she said, "and it'll be over quicker."There was a certain powerful terror, Jolene found, to knowing that she was going to die and nothing she could do would stop it. Maybe if she'd realized sooner that the pretty girl with the long braids was a Negaverse officer, she might have had time to become Caer Sidi--but to do it now, with the enemy staring her in the eyes and a hand deep in her chest....what could she even do, anyway? Have a little more strength with which to grab at the arm in her chest? Struggle a little harder against the inevitable?
No, there was nothing. It was far, far too late.
"Go to hell," she gasped, in lieu of reaching for her magic and transforming."You first!" Marialite singsonged, and she jerked her hand out of the girl's chest, and watched as she went limp. It was fascinating, seeing someone...well, she wasn't dead yet, was she? Not as long as the starseed in Marialite's hand was still bright. But collapse, like a marionette with her strings cut, and Marialite let her go.
A small victory. A starseed claimed.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:58 am
Monoceros had taken to doing patrols at night, being something he typically saw on TV shows and the like—it clearly tended to work to catching crime. Even supernatural crime. He heard the cries of pain, sounds of struggle, and then the cessation. His own heart almost stopped and he took a deep breath, diving right in before he could overthink it, turning the corner and shouting his attack. Quills fired from his hand, straight at the girl—the girl holding a starseed in her hand. Oh, God, and there was a girl on the ground, completely limp. The realization of just how real this all was was hitting him far too hard and he tried to force himself to focus. He couldn't let down his guard. He had to save her. Heroes didn't freeze up when someone's life was on the line. Noir Songbird Sailor Scout Attack: Quill Flash A burst of porcupine quills flies from Sailor Monoceros's hand, which can cause shallow scratches and/or minor puncture wounds. Any attempt to remove the quills before they vanish will cause sharp, pinpointed pain in the area; however, they don't sink in much deeper than skin-level. A user can choose to have this attack cause permanent damage or the injury will fade when the magic expires. This attack will last 20 seconds and can be used three times per battle.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:16 am
Marialite barely had time to react. She whirled when she heard the Senshi shout what had to be an attack name, and it was just in time to bring her arm up and catch the quills with it, and she yelped, drawing the starseed close to her chest.
"Hey! This is none of your business, get out of here!" As if that would deter him. It wouldn't have deterred her, when she was Eleusis. But hey, maybe it would work.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:21 am
"Shut the ******** up," Monoceros shouted, "You made it my business when you stole someone's starseed. Now put it back, or face the consequences." He drew himself to his full (short) height, staring her down. He wouldn't back down. Not as long as there was still a chance he could save this girl's life.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:42 am
Marialite raised her eyebrows, slowly lowering her arm. The quills stung, sure, butt hey didn't feel like they'd done any real damage to her. Instead, she grinned, holding up the warm little starseed like a beacon.
"The consequences?" She asked. "What consequences? How sturdy do you think a soul is, hmm? Because if you atrtack me, I might drop it...and then who knows what will happen. It might get lost. Or stepped on." Her smile turned deadly poisonous. "And wouldn't that just be absolutely terrible."
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:48 am
"Well, I would suppose that depends on the person," he said quietly, "What do you think? Is a soul so easily shattered? Would you think yours would crack if someone stole it out of you, or do you consider yourself strong enough to survive such a thing? Is the physical representation of a soul as fragile as spun glass, or does it come down to each person's individuality?" He had no idea what the ******** he was doing, but he hoped it worked. Whatever the hell it was.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:55 am
Marialite tilted her head to the side, and made a thoughtful noise.
"You know, you do present an interesting conundrum. Maybe it does depend on the individual. I mean, I know my soul is strong enough that a General-Qeen put her hand in my chest and remade me, and I survived it, so there's that. And I don't want to act as if I'm all that special, because I'm not, and I know plenty of people who've also survived a corruption. But on the other hand," she casually tossed the girl's starseed from one hand to the other, "I also know that these things are apparently edible. And quite delicious. Addictive, even. they warn us about that."
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:01 am
"Delicious but addictive?" he echoed, putting his hands on his hips. "I mean, okay, so what's the side effects like, then? I mean, you just ate someone's soul. What if they like, possess you? Once you come down from the coke-soul high, like, they just make you violently ill? Why would you want to risk something like that? No, no, you're seriously better off sticking to like—brownies? What's your favorite food?" What the ******** was he doing.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:09 am
Marialite shrugged her shoulders.
"Eenrgy boost, immediate healing, power high, but if you eat too many you like...turn into a monster? That's one of the ways youma happen--why am I telling you this." She frowned, and gave him a very distinctly unhappy look. "Are you going to fight me for this idiot girl's starseed, or are you going to talk at me until I'm so bored I just hand it over? Because, protip, one of my boyfriends is a history teacher and he gets really excited about history, so I am really good at listening to people talk on and on and on about things."
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:13 am
s**t, she'd caught on to his admittedly half-asses plan while he tried to think of a better one. He wondered, briefly, as she said something about historical boyfriends, if he should even respond, but... She did still seem rather distracted, probably expecting an answer out of his talkative a**, and— No sooner had the thought completed, same as her final spoken word, that he shouted for Quill Flash again, aiming at the arm he'd last seen attached to the hand with the starseed. Make her grip loosen, hopefully, as he dashed forward and tried to grapple for it.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:20 am
Marialite swore, this time, as the quills slammed into her arm, and one hit her wrist just right--
She lost her grip. The starseed slipped from her fingers, and she hissed, staggering backwards and pulling her arm to her chest. She gave him a dark, narrowed-eyes glare, and started walking backwards.
"Fine. Take it. Save her. I hope you got it back from me in time, you never know how quickly those lights will go out."
There was no point in playing some stupid game of keep-away, to try and get it back, not when the likely end result was a destroyed starseed, which was a stupid waste.
"I'll find you again," she promised, voice frosty. "And I'll end you when I do."
With that, she ducked off into the night, hoping he would be too busy recovering the girl's starseed to follow her.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:24 am
Monoceros grinned sharply as he took up the starseed, not paying her any mind—not something he was proud of, he realized, after he brought the starseed to the girl's chest and it sort of just schwoopied back in there—he could've easily been attacked from behind. But she was fleeing, and the girl she'd tried to kill was... mostly safe. So far. He watched her anxiously, hoping she would wake up and just... be okay? What happened after you returned a starseed to someone?
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:33 am
Darkness had come for Jolene quickly. Awareness came back just as fast.
She straightened, and gasped, filling her lungs and taking a moment to revel in the fact that she wasn't dead. There was no longer a hand in her chest, and while there was something of an ache left behind, she didn't feel too much different. Instinctively, she looked down--but no, she was still herself, just Jolene, not Caer Sidi--or some dark mockery made of Caer Sidi--and there was no dark, oppressive aura to indicate that there might be a General-Sovereign coming to corrupt her, the way she'd heard happened to other people. Not that she could have told, as she was, since she couldn't sense auras as a civilian, but a glance around told her there was no one here but her and the Senshi kneeling in front of her.
She looked up, finally, to look her rescuer--he had to be, it was the only possibility--in the face, and she cracked a smile. "Thank you," she said, and she sighed, leaning back against the wall. "You don't need to try and explain anything to me--I know exactly what happened, and I appreciate what you did for me." She exhaled, and extended a hand. "Hi. I'm Jolene. Or..."
He was a Senshi. It had to be safe. In a flicker of rainbow light, she powered up.
"Sometimes, I'm Caer Sidi of Cosmos."
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:40 am
Monoceros smiled as she sat up and checked herself over, leaning back to give her breathing space—she definitely needed it. And then she went on to say she—she knew what happened? After she powered up, he simply looked on in awe for a long moment. First of all, she was just. Beautiful. Second of all, oh, hot damn, he'd saved a page. Not simply a civilian. Not that they were any less worthy of being saved, but... Monoceros really couldn't deny that he was a little more chuffed with himself for saving a peer. If he could save a page, he definitely had the power to save civilians. "Hi. I'm, uh, Monoceros. Of, uh, porcupines?" he said, stumbling slightly over his words as he gestured awkwardly to the quills that hung off his skirt. "You're... really? Wow. That's cool. I'm glad I could save you."
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 3:17 am
Given the circumstances, Sidi had expected she might have a hard time smiling, but...well, all things considered, it was impossible to not smile back at Monoceros, when he seemed so proud of himself. And she had to admit, he'd done something worth being proud of--Sidi herself hadn't tangled with an officer properly before, and that was probably why she had been so easily overwhelmed.
Something to work on, another time.
She stood up, dusting off her skirt, but kept leaning against the wall behind her. She was tired, that was for sure, and now that she could focus on something other than the pain in her chest, everything sort of ached.
"Well, Monoceros of Porcupines, I'm glad you happened to come along at exactly the right time to help save me. I was....very, very unlucky, and that could have gone very, very badly."
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