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[Super Sailor Nembus]

Nembus was already starting this mission very, very, very on edge.

Watching their teammate -- a foolish senshi, but their teammate nonetheless -- get sucked behind the walls of the Hall of Shadows and consumed had left a very sour taste in Nembus' mouth that she hadn't been able to shake even a few hours after the fact. She did her best to focus on things like her walking, taking conscious observations of every single step in an attempt to center herself, using her phone to take an occasional picture and note down observations of a place she was rarely allowed to enter, but it didn't quite ease the sensation that they were very doomed, and coming in here was a mistake, and maybe she should have found a way to resist.

What had made the sensation of being on edge worse was having to cling to a youma to have it climb her up the cliffs. She hadn't been entirely convinced she would be alive by the time she reached the top, worried that the youma would decide it was too tantalizingly close to a delicious starseed and would just reach in and go to town.

What an end to her half-baked attempt at existence that would be.

She let out a deep breath when she found that wasn't the case, when she found herself standing on solid ground and not as youma food.

Here felt like a half-formed mimic of society, and for a moment, perhaps Nembus could sympathize. She, too, felt like a half-formed mimic of humanity. Perhaps that would give her some understanding with these youma if she understood the intention of their mission correctly. Speak with the youma. Figure out what they knew. Who they knew. Figure out if any of them knew the half-serpentine monster they were supposed to track down.

Nembus played with her newly short hair, cut shorter as Kamacite had advised, as she waited for the others to gather. As a senshi, it seemed unwise for her to venture ahead.

Lieutenant Feldspar

He was the slowest of the group, and he knew it. Previously, Feldspar wouldn't have been bothered to worry over it. There wasn't anything he could do about his limp and resulting slow gait, so there was no point in beating himself up. But it somehow felt like a bad look on his friends and general, having to put up with his pace on the long trek to the Scar. What would he even be worth when they got there? He had hours to think about it.

Probably nothing.

A sound person would've stayed behind, that's what he'd said. But it was pretty late in the game to be changing his mind now. If he wanted to turn around alone, it wasn't like he'd make it back to the castle.

It was exceptionally fortunate that no one was asking him to climb anything, but staring up the side of the cliffs was what made Feldspar really wince in regret. It could have happened such that the generals weren't able to convince anything to help them. It could have happened that they'd been expected to scale these rocks under their own power. And he was broken and weak and diminutive, so that would've gone well.

Feldspar would almost never apologize for something he couldn't control, but he'd decided of his own volition to be here, so he could've controlled that. Rakovanite was there to help him dismount from the creature, and he grumbled out a muttered, "Sorry," before they made their way into the caves.

For all the regret, though, he could admit it would've been a shame to miss this. The faintly glowing crystals lining the caverns ceiling, the stone carved out to look like very human shops- And for what? How many youma even remembered the lives they led before being changed? Some of them must have, if they made spaces like this. He kept close to Sylvite, expecting that his general would be his greatest defense against otherwise certain death.

"'S weird, huh?" He prompted, skating the tips of his fingers over a stone bar table and wondering if they ever saw use. Did monsters sit around for drinks?

stari_maga

Indigo_Plateau

Corrupt Cymophane

To others, Cymophane might seem entirely unaffected by the events of their mission so far.

Some dude dying in the Hall of Shadows, before they even made it into the Rift? It was bound to happen! Better to get the first death out of the way fast, so everyone understood what they were getting themselves into, if they didn’t already.

The tense trek to the Scar, made lengthy and tedious by the Rift’s environment? No big deal! They got there without too much trouble, and no one else died during the journey. (If someone died after the mission truly began, that was to be expected, wasn’t it?)

Clinging to a youma’s back as they ascended the cliffside, aware all the while that he was little more than a tasty snack to them? He’d been through worse! Life had a way of being terribly inconvenient and inconveniently terrible. Cymophane didn’t complain about it much anymore.

Once he was safely deposited at the top, the only indication that Cymophane gave that he might be mildly concerned about anything was to glance over the edge, like he could somehow see all the way to the bottom.

He wasn’t concerned much about Reidite. Not yet. Reidite knew how to climb. He probably fared better in that regard than the rest of his team.

But Kamacite? Kamacite was practically alone, leading a group of agents he didn’t really know and would therefore be doubly uncomfortable around, through the most dangerous part of their mission.

Behind his bright smile and cheerful attitude, Cymophane was worried — so much so that he didn’t immediately start exploring what would have otherwise been a fascinating place.

Captain Prehnite

Prehnite did a head count, and then once more, counted the fourteen heads whos names he couldn't have placed with the exception of the General, and noted with dismay that the bulk of their group was comprised of Senshi. While all of them looked fairly capable at handling themselves - they were also all glowing chimes to 'come hither' - clarion dinner bells up top the scars crossways and chasms.

and maybe that was the point...

If some of them made him think of Ochre, with the deadened stares, and grins that just didn't fit right. That none of them had openly balked of the devouring and disappearing of one of their own - either it was a testament to their mettle - or to their goneness - Prehnite shrugged the thoughts off and focused on the sights before him.

Truly the only two most enjoyable parts of the ride up, were the wonderful youma themselves who'd been gracious enough to allow them to climb up safely under the generals commands, and the stunning crystals that flourished all around them.


"They are stunning." the sight of them made him miss Iolanthe something fierce, despite the passage of time, it was easy to imagine her beautiful garden of crystaline flowers. Tended to lovingly; den carved out far away from prying eyes. Homes of youma, crystal limned and mired in mimicry.

"I'm half tempted to chip a few loose and take them home." spoken to the group in general, he was caught between moving further in, and eyeing the remainder of the Senshi. Hanging back just to round out flanking them from the edge in. He would poke at the crystals after...

[Corrupt Sailor Mirzam]

Mirzam had sobered very quickly on the mission, watching another Corrupt get scooped up and eaten by the Hall of Shadows. Normally she would be gregarious and chatty, seeking out her fellow agents to converse with as they moved into the Rift, but instead, she fidgeted with the scrunchie she'd acquired to hold her shorn hair in a bun, and hoped that she wasn't next. She'd also taken a knife to her long skirt, leaving it barely longer than the shorts she wore underneath, because it was better to look like a little bit of a ho than to trip over her dress in a fight.

Better to stick close to the group and observe. It had been something of a treat to climb up the side of the cliff on youma-back, clinging to the creature and letting it carry her, and before it ran off, she gave it a brief skritch of thanks, which seemed to please the beast.

As she stepped forward, she took in the views before her, the strange little home these youma had made, and exhaled.

It was sad, really, the way it seemed to imitate an outlet store, or something else. A dark reflection of the surface world that revealed its own falsity just by existing. How tragic.

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[Corrupt Super Xenia]

Xenia hadn't even flinched when the other Corrupt was eaten. It was his own stupid fault; they'd been warned, and if he was too dumb to listen, he was too dumb to live. Not her problem.

So she was peppy as she moved into the Rift, fluffing her shorn hair as she went. It was nice, to be powered up and not deal with the cascades of hair she had as a Senshi normally. Maybe she'd have to try this more often, trim it back to her normal civilian length.

....But that sounded like a lot of work to remember, so better to just keep it in mind for her next mission.

The ride on the youma was a delight, and she bounced off it, immediately moving towards the area before her.

"Oh, wow!" She said, brightly. "How cool! Look at all this stuff they've scavenged!"

[Super Sailor Nembus]

She thankfully didn't tend to faint under duress, even if she gave an excellent impression that she definitely would; her face was a bit more pallid than it would have been if she was comfortable, and the way she awkwardly fidgeted when Faustite addressed her; perhaps she should have found the half-youma more unnerving, but she had appreciated his kindness toward her thus far. More than most showed her, at least.

She was fairly sure not even the Negaverse would fully notice if she disappeared.

Her lips quirked at Faustite's apparent dry humor.

"Why spend kerosene when your general acts as a guiding light?"

It was an attempt at a joke. Banter, even. She had some of that in her relationship with Marcasite when things were less tense with her and more friendly. A part of her hoped she could find that same rhythm with Faustite, though he was a different type of animal altogether. Perhaps he wouldn't appreciate the jokes. Perhaps he didn't want them. It was an attempt at friendship, nevertheless.

She followed him like he was a guiding light, arriving at the lamps he observed with the two other generals. One of them was a woman with lurid pink hair who looked ... nice, at least, if a bit sullen. The other one was --

Ah.

A half-youma, like her general.

Also, they were both generals. All of them were generals. She felt the faintest bit awkward.

At least she identified with what the dragon-general said. She wasn't sure if she should put that into words, but she could identify with it. "Youma are trying to grasp back onto what they knew before they became what they are, I think." And yet, she hinted at it anyway.

Super Corrupt Valeria


She was greatful for having her long hair chopped off, it tended to get in the way rather often. It wasn't that she didn't like long hair, she had fairly long hair as a civilian, but her hair when powered up was dangerous and she was happy to see it off. It felt strange though to have it so short, where she could feel air against the back of her neck, it took some getting used to but she'd had the time needed.

Shifting her bags about, she'd brought one from home, the senshi of brains was happy to try and keep somewhere in the middle of the group - for safety reasons. Youma as she knew did not like senshi even if they were corrupted, like she and the others here were.

Sadly the corrupted senshi didn't know anyone here, or at the meeting, otherwise she might have mentioned having a pack full of medical supplies. In her home with so many medical workers in her family there was always medical supplies and medications in her home. The over the counter things, of course, but also lots of first aid supplies and more. They were always prepared at home. It was, in part, why she'd dropped the advertising major and was working towards becoming a pharmacist. Her father was a surgeon and so was a sibling of hers. Others were doctors, nurses,a nd specalized doctors as well. It was normal in her family to hear talk of medicine, of some sort, at the dinner table.

She had thought to ask, earleir at the briefing, if anyone had serious medical conditions or was on medications and had brought them. If they had she would have packed them and held onto things so it was all in one place. But she had kept her questions to herself, too unsure of herself in this grouping to speak up. She just hoped everything went well...she really did.

(Feel free to interact. She needs to meet people and get to know them, she is a social butterfly once she meets people.)