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Sailor Chibi Eupheme, Senshi of Weightlessness

Eupheme tried shuffling after Reims as he was dragged closer to the handful of teenagers. She knew some of them by name and appearance and was told she could trust them, but she hadn’t been told their civilian identities. Which was probably for the best. Mom always got really serious when it came to identities being kept secrets.

But it was even worse when her responsible adult (Surtur) showed up. She cringed, not wanting to get scolded for running off.

Quietly, she pulled out her phone so she could record what was going on. She definitely wanted her twin to see all of this! Especially since Ganymede was pulling out her fancy dress and wings.

She couldn’t help but overhear the voice of another kid around her age.

Hey!! That didn’t happen often. She’d thought she saw them before, but was so distracted with trying to find clues that she didn’t have time to say hello.

So while Surtur was distracted with talking to the ghost Moon Queen, she quietly shuffled over, but kept her phone recording the ghost lady.

“You just being here means you’re already doing amazing!” Eupheme whispered as she shuffled over to where the Chibi Senshi (Aquitania) with dark hair and wearing red and white was standing close to a Mauvian (Realta). To make sure the other knew just how proud she was of her, especially since she was trying to be quiet, Eupheme gave her a thumbs up.

“You’ve got this! And don’t worry. A lot of people here have a bunch of experience with this kinda stuff,” she nodded sagely. “We’ll figure this out. Oh, I’m Eupheme!”

Queen Serenity surveyed the crowd, and through all of it, she listened quietly. Her face was impassive but far from cold. She wore a neutral expression, and though she was a shadow of her former self, she had a timeless regality about her. She carried herself proudly, but with no hubris.

She nodded politely to Aruna. “You have the benefit of knowing me,” she answered Ganymede, “But I do not recognize any of you. I am a fragment of Queen Serenity, a part of her essence, and you are in my palace, on the Moon Kingdom.” If she was important, she left it up to Fang to decide.

Oberon seemed to have already made up his mind and his words did not seem to elicit any sort of emotional response from Queen Serenity. She did not argue, but she did seem to weigh his words as much as all the others. When she spoke, it carried throughout the room, and her words were clear and enunciated so everyone could hear, and so Halle could obtain a worthwhile recording.

“This is far from standard protocol, so I can only assume that my kingdom has fallen. But, I am here to help however I can, for as long as I can.” She looked at the pedestal, where one of the three orbs was rapidly dimming. The other two still glowed brightly. “I do not have much time to answer your questions but ask them quickly and I will do what I can.”

She looked to each of those who had spoken, and at all chances where she was offered to inspect something, she did. Though she addressed the crowd, her eyes always found someone when she answered their question. First, she spoke to Kerberos. “Any Herald of the Dark Star is not to be trifled with. Expect immense power. This is the Calamitous Hollow, a creature with a hunger so great it devours worlds and is still not sated. It is not an enemy, but a force beyond nature. I do not know if it can be stopped ‘for good’. We were unable to find a way to return it to its domain. We had no other option. The loss of life was catastrophic. Even the Cauldron cannot contend with a beast of that nature.”

To Surtur next, “That is correct. The Calamitous Hollow has no respect for the fabric of our universe. It goes as it pleases and when it cannot find a path, it will make one. I do not know if it has any desire to return to its origin, we do not know where it came from, only that it is here.”

She looked at the spike Solaris offered, and then Murikabushi’s. “You traveled to the subchamber, below where the creature was restrained. It was built with extra protections to ensure that if the barrier failed, it could be trapped again. There should be six of those. They were installed to ensure there were full replacements available. But it sounds like it has fully breached containment. It will need to be trapped again. The stakes must be slotted into any surface below it to trap it again. They will drain its energy. The more it absorbs, the larger it is. It will weaken itself by traveling, by attacking. But it generates its own energy as well. It is self-sustaining if you do not cut it off at the source. And those,” she nodded to Tempesti’s pictures, “Are a lucky mark. I am surprised it did not drain you completely. I have never seen someone with those injuries alive. So this is a good sign already. It is not as strong as it was when we last faced it. But you must move quickly. Do not let it recover full strength.”

Then, to Aberdonia, “Survivors left in its wake were few and far between. Many tried to stop it, but the more who fought, the more who fell. The stronger it grew. I do not know if it can be killed. Even when weakened, as long as it has a spark of life, it seems driven to consume. To grow. It does not care for anything, it is oblivious to the damage it does. I have nothing kind to say of it, but do not think me merciless. I know what is at stake if it is on our doorstep. It will not stop at Earth. It will not stop at anything. Do you think you will be able to locate the other four spikes? You will not have an effective barrier without them.”

[x ] Niflhel & [x] Snowball | Entering the Reception

The pair was fashionably late to the moon and the chaos going on, they managed to catch a few of the questions posed to Queen Serenity. As well as the information being given. Niflhel looked over towards Snowball who sat on his shoulder currently.

The Saturn knight did not like what he was hearing, as it sounded like multiple homeworlds and wonders were in danger and the projection of Queen Serenity did not give him a lot of confidence they'd find a way to beat this.

He looked at Snowball, "So it does have a name...." He said softly to the cat. The fact it made paths made the Knight and the cat both uneasy and the fact the origin was unknown.

"The fact it's not at full power worries me more . . . " Snowball said softly than the fact it had a name. His nose twitched softly as his fluffy white tail flickered still maintaining balance on Niflhel's shoulder. "Maybe this is why the code on your wonder said you were in much trouble and upgraded your weapon...."

Niflhel frowned when Snowball brought up what the code piece said when his weapon was upgraded, "I'm liking this less and less. Why does it always have to be a doomsday scenario?"

First the weapon upgrade and now the mention that there were a lack of survivors concerned the cat. There was a pause, "Four more spikes?" He pulled up the database to see if there was information on where they might be.

Snowball eventually broke from speaking to Niflhel and looked at Queen Serenity directing her a question, "Excuse me, were the spikes in relatively close proximity when they were placed?" The cat was curious on the spikes - were they in the same area or were they on different wonders and/or homeworlds? Could they perhaps figure out the trajectory of where they maybe knowing where the old ones were?.

Haldane, senshi of Doubt & Bellatrix, Eternal Transcended Senshi of Fortitude]
Location: Reception Area.


Bellatrix had brought him along here to 'teach him the fine art of being there and not making a scene of himself.' Or something like that. Haldane wouldn't have called his dearest babe a wallflower or anything like that, but aloof and stoic fit pretty well - especially in a group setting. Even then, he could feel an unnatural coldness and something almost like disdain as they'd done little more than look around and observe since they'd been here. With the spectral appearance of the 'queen' the look of annoyed sass that he could see on her face spoke clearly. Haldane knew Bellatrix had been involved in all this for a very long time. A very long time. It would be hard not to be jaded by the seeming lack of any success or progress in that time. He'd asked her once why she still carried on with this senshi business, and the answer had been simple;

"If the senshi of Fortitude gives up on the cause, then what hope was there?"

Haldane pried open the balled up fist at Bellatrix's side and laced his fingers with hers - ow oww owww - okay so he had meant to be comforting but was now a senshi stress ball - but that was okay!

The two listened and watched, and he didn't make a peep. Even after everything, it was still hard to believe that it was all real. Not just the magic, but the very real cosmic danger the world, no, the universe, was in at any given moment. Even standing here it felt like more than his mind could realistically believe.

But he was the senshi of Doubt. But how much did one really embody their given sphere? It was so complex, even then- Oh, there he went questioning, doubting, things again. Haldane's mind had wondered, and Bellatrix had noticed and nudged him back into reality...because by now his hand was too numb to feel any change of pressure there that might have signified an attempt to more subtly bring him to attention.

The moon was weird. All of this was weird. Hearing all the 'lore' from Bellatrix was one thing, and his brain really hadn't fully comprehended it all. Still didn't. But now being here, on the literal ******** moon of all places.... Yeah, no. It still didn't help him make sense of it all. Whatever, so long as it was important to Bellatrix, he'd be there with her. And if there was anything important, he trusted that she would make sure he understood. The past, and all that stuff? Not important. The here and now and what they could do to insure the future of not just Earth, but everything? That's what mattered. It was that simple to him. The greater nuance of learning from the past, and how the past still effected the present? He'd leave that kind of thinking to people who were far more invested in it than he was. He was a man of action! Not philosophy.

----

It had been a good question - why she stayed in the game. She had no real impact, played no obvious significance, had seemingly done nothing to be seen as anybody to know... And perhaps there were benefits to laying low. She had also been held hostage by her homeworld for a number of years but still.... She was here, and she had convinced herself that simply being here was important. Even if it was for no other reason than to show Haldane a thing or two. She wish his brother were also here, but Merrick was abroad, and while she missed him she knew Haldane was missing his almost-twin so much more.

She knew Haldane worried his brother would be upset if he somehow 'leveled-up' before him, but Bellatrix had done her best to ease his worries - which wasn't easy when you were talking about the senshi of doubt. But like their whole relationship she assured both brothers that they'd have their share of her time and attention.

But for now, her attention was on the things going on in front of and around them. Indeed, coming to these gatherings and contributing nothing while gaining knowledge was something she had become good at over all these years. All of this was quite concerning, but she'd been through and seen other 'quite concerning' events, so it dulled the sense of anxiety that she may have otherwise had.

Maybe she should have been called the senshi of being Jaded As ********. Another world-ending event? She'd believe it when it happened. But then the world would be gone and everyone would be dead and it wouldn't matter then. Nothing would matter then, would it? Rocks fall, everyone dies, the end.

...What was therapy, again?

Valhalla, Transcended Knight of Jupiter
Location: Reception

It was a lot to think about. The storm was giving people scars, as Tempesti shared, and it was even more concerning that the scars seemed to be an indication of the strength of the creature.

“I’m glad you weren’t injured further,” he said with gentle sympathy and concern for Tempesti, who seemed to be rightfully alarmed. He gave her a small nod of support, hoping she knew he and the others were there to help in any way they could.

Another Senshi (Aberdonia) had found records of the creature on their World. Only these stories didn’t seem to be anything except obituaries.

Both Surtur and Oberon had mentioned it trying to tear through space, which was alarming enough if the Queen hadn’t agreed that they were correct.

“Valhalla of Jupiter,” he introduced before saying anything else, a hand placed over his heart in greeting to both the illusion of Queen Serenity and those who he had never met before.

“I know these two very well,” Valhalla said to the others around them, gesturing to both Senshi he was vouching for. Maybe it didn’t mean much to the others, but he hoped they knew they were all trying to fight the same thing.

“Surtur. Oberon. Where did you hear that?” he asked curiously. He knew they were far from liars. Surtur might be one to exaggerate, but if Oberon -- a strict man of science -- claimed something was tearing through time, he had to have some way of backing it up.

He listened to the others patiently as well, although he was concerned they would run out of time before everyone had a chance to ask the Queen the most important questions. There was a time and place for free spirited fun, which he fully encouraged, but not in such a serious situation.

“Thank you,” Valhalla said politely with a kind smile when Murikabushi asked for clarification from Snowball. “I think Snowball is on a good track to ask,” he continued, but not before nodding to both Snowball and Niflhel whose shoulder he’d taken residence on, relief in seeing them clear in his expression. Along with other familiar faces that were showing up.

“These spikes,” Valhalla gestured, although he couldn’t quite hold back a warily nervous expression as Murikabushi handled his so casually. “They look like they’ve never been used. When you were in the prison, did you see where the old spikes had been placed? Queen Serenity said there were replacements-- the two we have now seem to be those replacement parts. Depending on the size of this creature, it would make sense to move the spike closer or farther apart. And if we don’t have the other four…”

He paused to glance over at Ganymede, who voiced his concerns. There was no guarantee that the Negaverse would offer their help, despite their honeyed words and vague promises.

Eternal Sailor Oberon of Adventure

“I spoke with Commodore Lyndin,” Oberon shared when Valhalla asked, ignoring how his hands itched. Under his gloves were the scars from taking Caedus’ starseed back from the Lyndin. Touching the starseed had been excruciating, but it was the only way he could have revived his friend.

His friend, who could have potentially been saved if Senshi and Knights took a moment to re-evaluate their supposed higher morality and just collected renewable energy per the Vanguard’s request. But no. Too many decided they were better than that and forced Lyndin’s hand in taking Caedus’ starseed and having to seek refuge with the only consistently reliable faction when it came to energy gathering.

“He showed me the readings he was collecting. A gravitational distortion before every storm. Said it was like trying to break through a barrier. To take a ‘shortcut’ to wherever it can. The Commodore himself said it would be useful to know if there was a way to disrupt it,” Oberon shrugged and glanced back at the ghostly Queen.

“You say it goes where it pleases? When it can’t find a path, it’ll make one? Fine. What if we make a path for it? We’ve gotten into Negaspace -- the Dark Kingdom -- before. Let’s introduce a path there. If we can’t locate enough of these spikes to trap it, anyway.”

[x] Chibi Sailor Totoro. Late entering into the Reception

He'd heard whispers about the moon and that there was a palace there. The chibi senshi of raccoon decided he should go visit after all it sounded like something super serious was going on and maybe he could help! After all he was a super hero kinda sorta even if he had training wheels on so to speak.

He hadn't expected such a gathering and what sounded like a bunch of spit balled ideas, nor did he expect the hologram lady -- this was all really making him think there was a bunch of stuff out of star wars going on. The hologram lady must've been akin to Princess Leia. He scanned the crowd for someone he knew and he was in luck! He saw Realta with a bunch of chibis already around her. Which made him feel better because there were folks closer to his age and not these adults.

He made his way over and when he was close enough he waved to get Realta's attention "So . . . why is the Jedi counsel over here bickering?" He asked, because some of what he caught from Murikabushi's speech or whatever it was sounded like he was trying to debunk something or just start a fight maybe???

It sounded like they were looking for spikes though and maybe some sort of world eating creature? Serpent? Yuppp they were in a plot of some star wars spin off. "This sounds like a bad spin off plot." He added looking concerned.

Though he did like the one knight Valhalla he sounded like he was trying to keep the peace. And of course he watched Realta ask her questions to the hologram lady tilting his head. When she finished "Who's the hologram lady?" He had missed the introduction which was always the bane of showing up late to a party.

He then also looked at the others around Realta. "Oh, I'm Chibi Totoro." He said waving to the other chibis hoping they'd also introduce themselves.

[x] Eternal Sailor Hugbell. Entering into the Reception

Hugbell walked in there was already quite the crowd, she noticed right away the guardian cat Realta with several chibis around her. Hugbell moved over towards the group as she looked around the room listening to different voices talking.

Queen Serenity had spoken about she was a fragment of herself, that was concerning. The hologram mentioned standard protocol which this was not, and the fact she didn't have much time. The creature that they were dealing with the Calamitous Hollow, Benitonite had mentioned and well some of the other information she learned from the database or the negaverse agent. She frowned heavily. The fact the Queen did not know if the creature could be stopped for good was even more of a problem.

The senshi of comfort had a chill when the Queen mentioned not to let the creature get to full power after talking about how bad this creature was. The fact the lightning marks were lucky also concerned Hugbell. Tempesti asked when the injuries would become fatal, to be fair it was a good question but one Hugbell didn't want to know the answer to. There was a Saturn Knight and a White Cat, the cat had asked about how close the spikes were to each other.

Hugbell thought it was a fair question, maybe the other spikes wouldn't be difficult to find since it seemed like they knew how to find one. Murikabushi sounded fairly pompus to Hugbell as she looked over towards him and listened to his speil and questions, the senshi of comfort didn't think the cat's question was a bad one and felt fairly irritated.

However Ganymede speaking in assuming if there were only two spikes left and Valhalla mentioning it would make sense to move the spikes closer or further apart depending on the size of the creature had Hugbell wondering and directed a question towards Queen Serenity. "Do the spikes have to be in the same location as each other? Or could they be moved further apart, maybe in different locations; if we can successfully seal away the creature again? Could this prevent another breach?"

Hugbell heard Oberon mention that there was someone named Commodore Lyndin - obviously she'd been out of the loop in her own little bubble. When Oberon asked if they could just send it to Negaspace, Hugbell tried not to smirk but she didn't think that would work; it'd probably bust out unfortunately. With their luck she wasn't sure it was a good idea to try that.

There was a chibi in a Raccoon costume that wondered in and started making Star wars references, the Senshi of comfort tried not to shake her head as she looked towards Realta after the cat asked the question about making new spikes she smiled, "You look like you have your hands full, need some help?"