Joy was not intentionally keeping her eyes peeled for more weird hell-eggs. If anything, she was doing entirely the opposite, and studiously attempting to avoid seeing them if any were around.
No, this was supposed to be an entirely routine "check the area, get out" type of stroll. It was made more irritating that she was being dogged by some sort of little wispy light that was insistently bobbing around in the periphery of her vision. It reminded her of the one that Nis had shown her at her wonder, but as it seemed to serve no purpose other than bothering her - and she was not forgetful of those damned stinging fireflies - and also potentially drawing attention, it was only serving to heighten her general sense of annoyance.
Which did not slacken, of course, when she heard something crunch beneath her feet and looked down to see what looked suspiciously like an eggshell.
It was the only warning she got. With a horrible avian squawk, the enormous, stinking creature charged out of the shadows and directly towards her. It was already at a full sprint, its footfalls suspiciously silent, as if it wasn't bad enough without being stealthy too.
Joy, without much dignity and without meaning to, let out a yelp.
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2025 12:36 pm
Rejam
Halley had heard about the weird eggs that smelled like sulfur and the ghost chicken. She had come to investigate when she felt an energy signature and was curious.
Really she hadn't expected to run into a knight or the ghost chicken but here she was. She called out, "Superstitious Illusion!!" She called as she swooped in to aid the knight who was surprised by the insanity of whatever that was. "Are you okay!?"
The senshi of superstition asked as she watched the demon chicken look confused. After a minute though it seemed like a thought crossed the senshi's mind.
"Oh man and me without my go pro!" Of course priroities. "My viewers would have a cow if they saw this ghost chicken!"
Superstitious Illusions
Halley casts her magic on her target and the magic begins to twist the target’s personal superstition into a reality, or so the target believes that’s what’s happening. The illusion of the target’s superstition is purely based on what the target believes in. This attack distracts the target by feeding into a fear, paranoia, or something else based on the player’s discretion.
This attack can last for 25 seconds and be used 3 times; though if the player wants lingering side effects of the magic, they’re welcome to it.
It took a moment for Joy to register that the senshi had invoked some sort of attack and was not hurling an accusation at the chicken of being illusory. Once she did, however, she moved rapidly, snapping her whip in its general direction and unleashing a bolt of golden light that caught the creature squarely in its chest, knocking it back with an indignant squawk.
"I do not consent to being on video!" Joy said hastily, just in case some substitute for the Go Pro was about to be forthcoming. "Do you stream this s**t?" she added, divided between being stupefied and wondering if she was missing out on another side hustle opportunity.
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2025 2:50 pm
Rejam
Halley chuckled as the chicken was hit with the whip. "AH! No no, I would cut you out or blur your face. I don't usually live stream battles. I usually stream ghost hunting."
The senshi said, "I usually make sure people can't find me when I'm streaming, if it's a battle somewhere random I make cuts and load it a few days later. I perfer ghosts to youma though."
The chicken was not happy. Well ... "Hm I wonder if this is more of a cockatrice instead of a chicken...." Either way it was totally not a youma.
The senshi moved in and aimed her boot towards it's back when she got a chance to jump at it. Worst case she ended up going for a ride right???
Joy stuck out her tongue and shuddered at the deflating-dog-toy sound the thing made when the boot made contact.
"That stink is gonna be all over your shoes," she said, aiming a second crack of the whip at the bird. The bolt this time went wide - probably because she was trying to avoid hitting the senshi as collateral damage - but she didn't seem inclined to head into a hand-to-hand fray, even if it meant she missed her shots.
"It's not a youma. Not a ghost, either, and I'd know," she said, with a sudden hysterical little laugh, as if this was a funny thing to say for reasons only she could understand. "Careful," she added, scuttling back a few feet.
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2025 4:13 pm
Rejam
Halley cringed when the thing made a noise after being hit. That was not the noise she expected but hey, it worked. She jumped back and sighed, "I do hope the smell comes out when I henshin down. I really do like these boots."
She fluffed her skirt for a second when looking at her boots, "While it's not the most battle friendly outfit it is at least cute for ghost hunting." She winked and chuckled before calling her attack again for the second time. "Superstitious Illusion!!"
She didn't need to use her super attack on this thing. "I just wish I had more of an offensive attack, would be so much better than just.... illusions."
Though the mention of Joy knowing about ghosts left her curious. She watched the creature as it stumbled a little bit. Joy's bolt sort of missed but had gotten the wing where it'd started flapping.
Halley sighed at least the thing was distracted, "I'm going in!!" She said as she aimed to punch the thing in the neck. Surely that would dispell the foul fowl!
Joy did not move to intervene, largely because she was interested to know what kind of noise would come out of the thing if it was getting punched in the windpipe. It was, indeed, an auditory marvel.
"I'd have an easier time with that part if you weren't in the way," she observed mildly. She debated again pulling Pal out of the aether and letting the dog have a go at it, but given how determined the stranger was to launch herself into physical contact with the monster, it was probably better to just do what she could on her own.
So, once more, she cracked the whip. She was still struggling with this - she inwardly imagined the grim disapproval of a ghost that was not the type to be hunted on Youtube - but this one worked, the gunshot noise accompanying a final bolt of light, which whiffed past the senshi and caught the bird in the side, dispensing it with a final squawk. A puff of sulfurous smoke appeared where it had stood, and Joy made a little gagging sound, kicking at one of the fragments of eggshell at her feet.
"Do you know where these godforsaken things have come from? I reckon it's probably Hell," she added grimly.
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2025 7:50 pm
Rejam
Halley blinked as she backed up. She looked owlishly before making an Oh noise and chuckled rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry!"
She looked sheepish up until the chicken monster went up in smoke and she started coughing, trying not to let the smell get to her. Moving back away from the stench she wrinkled her nose and tossed her gloves because she was pretty sure it was on the gloves. "UGH that's worse than phantom smells or opening a fridge that'd gone bad for a week."
There was a pause as she thought about where they possibly could have come from, "Probablyyyyy Hell." The senshi of superstition nodded in agreement looking over the knight that had helped her. "To be fair, I was trying to figure out where they came from or where they are going. Which is another reason I wish I'd had my go pro. If it hadn't looked like it was going after you I'd probably have followed it."
The senshi of superstition noted that the knight was clad in greens, whites, golds and browns with beautiful blonde hair. The knight looked very much like she walked out of the renaissance vs Halley's own outfit that looked like she walked out of a goth lolita magazine.
"I'm Sailor Halley, senshi of superstition." She said when she finally thought that 'oh wait they hadn't introduced themselves. "You're outfit is so pretty!"
"Yes," she said grimly, "it is. The only good part of the job, I sometimes think." And as she generally did when thinking of her uniform, she considered with smug satisfaction that it hadn't turned out quite as much like Gouvernail's as she'd been afraid of. This, as did many other things, seemed to suggest that she had some way of bending the role to her subconscious will, which was always a satisfying consideration. She gave the other girl's ensemble a quick and appraising eye, but skipped over returning the compliment.
"Joyeuse Garde," she said, and as was her habit of late, she did not append her title. "Just Joy is fine, it's too ******** French." She paused. "What kind of ghosts do you hunt?" she asked, although she was smoothing out her skirts and furs as she asked it, with a brisk air that suggested she was getting ready to part ways.
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2025 7:55 pm
Rejam
Halley seemed curious as the other spoke, "I suppose, it's always quite interesting to see the fashion that comes with the fukus."
She nodded, "Nice to meet you Joy!!" French huh, that was interesting. The senshi paused when she was asked about the kinds of ghosts she hunted, "Any sort of paranormal, typically looking for those with unfinished business. Trying to see if they can communicate. I have all sorts of ghost hunting equipment. Flashlights, emf readers, infrared cameras, white noise machines." She said listing off kind of what she used, "If they're willing to communicate I'm willing to listen, sometimes it's an intelligent haunt - other times it's just someone stuck on repeat, or it's just a speck of dust. Though -- if they are around and just answer they want to be left alone that's okay too. I respect them if I get the indication they want me to touch grass."
She grinned. "Have you meet or experienced any ghosts, Joy?" Many didn't believe in the existence of ghosts but how could you not believe when magic existed? She wondered where Joy fell on the believer spectrum.
This was such an absurd question, given everything, that for a long moment she couldn't even answer it. She simply stood, slumped and eyes glazed, as she wandered the middle distance of her thoughts.
Did she believe in ghosts? Good God. How much of her own emotional and mental energy was currently being expended - against her will - on a ghost that she'd been saddled with like he was a rescue dog found in a ditch and left on her doorstep? Had she experienced a ghost? She'd just gotten done reading Morris to one for a half hour, having to make little annotations aloud on the way to explain a mythology that had come around after he'd already died.
She couldn't just say: yeah, I spend several hours a week with one and he makes me wanna tear my hair out. I commune with ghosts a few times a month, largely in the form of getting into petty fights with one over stupid s**t because it's easier to fight with him than -
Urgh.
“I guess you could say that I have,” she said at last, sounding tired and barking another hysterical sort of laugh. She should probably enlighten her. But maybe it would be cruel to deprive the poor girl of a hobby. Let someone else disillusion her. “Yeah. Probably. You should find a Cosmos Knight and ask them some questions. Anyway, you stay safe and don't go waking up too many hell chickens, yeah?”
Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2025 8:37 pm
Rejam
The head tilt that Joy received as the other stood quite thinking about the question before finally breaking the silence and saying that she technically have drew a concerned look from the senshi.
She nodded softly as the other suggested she find a cosmos knight. "Yeah I'll try not to wake up anymore hell chickens than I have to."
There was still concern, "I hope we get to meet again Joy. Under better circumstances."
With that the senshi excused herself, pausing when she saw a star shape charm on the ground, it sparkled a golden color. Halley pocketed it for later and turned around once more to give a soft wave. "Thank you!" She called after before wondering off.