Welcome to Gaia! ::

Remarque knew who he was—he’d had the luxury of meeting Ares’ a while ago and had at least a vague understanding of his position when he’d joined the battle in the Surrounding. The chairs looked far more comfortable than the floor, so he heaved himself up, brushed himself

There wasn’t really any sense of comfort; the chairs weren’t really luxurious, but at least they made a better impression than the floor. He leaned back, one arm hooked over the back of his chair. His body was turned towards Ares; it was clear she had his attention.

For the first time in a while, Remarque allowed himself to relax; he’d been on high alert from the moment he’d been awakened—but now they were out of the Surrounding. In a safe Haven. And no senshi or knights were going to figure out his dirty little secret and kick him off the rainbow. Here, he was among his kind—so far as he understood—and could get away with tossing the hypervigilant nature that had been consuming him.

Every now and then he’d glance towards the others in the room, taking in their faces and outfits, memorizing what names were offered. That he didn’t offer his name wasn’t meant to be disrespectful or a sign of an antisocial personality; there were those who had questions and he wasn’t about to burst in, throwing his identity around.

…But, holy s**t, he didn’t know how he was supposed to get along with some of these people.

The Sailor of Tumbleweeds took a seat, one pale leg crossing over the other as she smoothed the dark material of her fuku over her thighs, hands folding in her lap a second after. She was surprisingly calm about this whole thing. Oh sure, she'd been down right blood thirsty on the battlefield after waking, but she'd take that all in stride.

"Navi," she pipped up when there was a moments quiet, introducing herself as Ares had requested. "Senshi of Tumbleweeds." She still wasn't to sure about her sphere, but hey, she wasn't going knock this magic thing. It'd kept her alive, she wasn't going b***h about her 'domain' or whatever it was.

As far as the cats were concerned, Navi had been lucky enough to have one run right up to her int eh midst of battle a few moments after she'd been awakened. She didn't know the cat, but she knew of the race as a whole thanks to having run into one during one of the chaotic gatherings within the outposts. Not to mention the purple haired boy that had saved her back on the rainbow road forever ago. "The cats, the one that give us our names. They're the same as the people with the ears and tails, right?"

The other questions offered up by her fellow newbie senshi were good ones, and Navi eagerly awaited Ares or Leto's answers.

Leto spoke to Veer first. "Deneb Kaitos is correct. They just kind of... Look at you, and they know. They will know your name and they will know your Sphere- which is what you are the Senshi of, what your powers are based on. We'll find a cat for you as soon as we leave, don't worry about that."

She looked at Orpheus next, the Senshi of Charm, eh? It seemed fitting. "There are a few cats, actually. On both sides, Chaos and Order. We can absolutely discuss it in more depth later. But to answer your question, Navi," she turned to look at the girl. "Yes, they are the humans with cat ears and tails. They can switch forms."

She continued to fiddle with the sheer fabric of her fuku as Requiem took it from there to explain Guardian Cats in more depth. She was new to the idea of speaking to such a large group. It felt strange to be put on the spot like this; To be expected to lead and have all of the answers, but she would try her best regardless of how she felt about it. Swallowing hard, she looked at Danae next.

"What now? That... is a good question. And that's something I can't answer. Ares will have to decide that, and when she does we will follow her commands."

She looked around the room at the Senshi before her. "For those who I haven't had the pleasure of meeting or speaking to just yet... I am Super Sailor Leto, Senshi of Camoflage."

And then a realization struck her. "Ares..." she whispered, leaning in to speak to her Queen. "The Negaverse Agents... Do we know what happened to them? Are we to find them, bring them home?"

Navi nodded to Requiem when she answered her, the shadow of a smile touching pale lips before fading once again. Leaning forward just a bit as she continued on to explain the differences between the white clad senshi they'd been battling against and themselves. This had been a point of confusion for the girl, though she hadn't bothered questioning it. She could feel the differences between the, that had been all that mattered in the heat of battle, but now that the fighting was over she was interested in the mechanics of it.

Knowledge was power, always, and the ginger haired girl was never one to be happy with ignorance.

Hazel eyes Jumped to Leto, and she offered the veteran senshi a nod in greeting before her head tilted gently to one side as she turned to question their queen. She too was curious over the fates of the Negaverse agents. One had defended her, another she had tended over while he lay bleeding and close to death. She didn't know their names, but she hoped they were alright. She glanced at Thule as she spoke, but her gaze lingered for seconds only before darting back to their leader, patiently awaiting her answers.

In mirrorspace, Ares was less guarded than she was outside of these walls. It was their sanctuary in an otherwise unsafe world. Veer's casual airs did not particularly upset her. He was just getting to know the court. She could hardly expect him to know any customs. Requiem fielded the question about cats, which was just as well. Ares hated answering these basic things.

Clawed hands traced the edge of her skirt for a moment. Ares was remembering the battle, replaying it in her mind as she would no doubt continue to do for the next few days. When her gray eyes rose once more, she looked to Deneb Kaitos, recording the name in her head. Orpheus was next. She filed it away.

When Orpheus briefly mentioned Zirconia, Ares did not react beyond the subtle twitching of her mouth. It was not something one of the newbies might notice, but perhaps Requiem or Leto would. They knew her well enough to pick up on the microexpression. Zirconia was the cat that Ares thought of as hers. It physically hurt to not have her with the new parallel court.

A task for another day, she thought quietly.

Danae earned a glance from Ares, but little more. She hadn't introduced herself to the others. Instead she said something weird. It reminded Ares of Gaia once more. Lesath introduced herself then -- it was a welcome break. So many new faces sitting in the circle. Navi was another.

Requiem and Leto helped field some of the easy questions, and Ares was grateful for it. She grew tired of explaining herself.

After the introductions, Ares straightened in her chair. "It is truly wonderful to have you all here. I know that this means little to you now... but your existence has been a long time coming. The parallels were lied to, manipulated, and cursed. We hurt those we should have been fighting alongside. Many of us died to help the White Moon." Ares paused, remembering her fallen friends. "We died for a lie."

This was something she doubted the others would understand, not yet. They hadn't lived it, but Ares had. She was certain she would never totally get over the loss. Thule's questions, for example, were something Ares did not want to harp on in this group. They could address their concerns individually so she waved the question away. "I know that you all have a lot of questions. That is perfectly fine, and we will answer them all soon. However, there is still quite a bit for me to attend to right now. Requiem and Leto can mentor all of you." She gestured to both women. "I trust that you can split yourself into two groups? Half with Leto, half with Requiem. They can answer everything, train you, introduce you to how your powers work, find you a guardian cat for identification. I can, too, but I have additional responsibilities that take up the majority of my time." Like dealing with the Negaverse. The alliance was still shaky.

Leto made a point about the stranded Negas, and Ares nodded once. "I will go through the mirror to planet Alkaid and see what the situation is. For all we know, they may have perished in the blast." She said this without emotion. It would be a tactical loss. Ares preferred for them to still be alive.

Veer's tone had not annoyed Ares before. Now it did. He seemed excited, but her patience was short. She had snapped at Requiem only a moment earlier. So the Princess turned to face Veer, her eyes tired and irritated. "You would be dead right now if not for the people sitting in this room. I understand that sarcasm can make people feel important sometimes, but forgive me if I have little patience for it presently." The Princess stood up swiftly. "You were in space, lived in a rainbow road, turned into gold dust, and then magically popped out as a magical creature. So, yes, I trust you can extend your mind to believe in the wisdom of a race of felines older than myself and you. They will tell you how to use your magic. You have powers. All of you have magical powers. It's like that Henry Potter book, all right? Does that translate?"

Princess Ares sounded a bit like civilian Fallon just then. She pursed her lips. "I am tired from battle, and we are still getting to know each other. Just trust that you are safe in this place, and that you can trust the people around you." Her eyes moved to the entire group. "We will keep each other safe and alive." The leader of the dark parallels crossed to where her torch remained on the ground. She picked it up and crossed to the closest mirror.

"I will speak to the Negaverse, if they live. Please keep them here, Leto and Requiem."

Then she melted into the surface of the mirror, and was gone.

Wait. Wait, stay?

It had almost been ‘so far so good’ until he heard those words.

At first, it had been simple; Remarque could remember everyone that had been introduced so far. They had valid questions—some of which he’d been wondering, himself, though none of which he’d cared enough to ask.

He hadn’t suspected that they couldn’t go back to the Surrounding—nor did he particularly desire such—and sure, they were getting the lay down of information for now, and a brief history. He’d already had his basic run down when he’d first been awakened in the Mirror Pools, and sure, as much as he loved knowing what was going on, he didn’t want to stay here even longer. They’d just gotten out of the Surrounding—why couldn’t they, say, go home, yet?

Remarque was trying to ignore the throbbing in his arm from where he’d blocked a kick; he knew it wasn’t broken, but it hurt like a b***h. He grit his teeth, not angry, but frustrated. He was stiff, sore, and downright hurting in some places. And he wanted to go home. A groan threatened to fall from his lips, but instead he just leaned back in his chair and sighed, closing his eyes.

He had no preference for ‘teams’; he wasn’t exactly a group player anyway. But, he was still new to this, so he’d play along. He knew Leto from his awakening, and Requiem had helped him on the Surrounding; he had little preference for either since they seemed to be equally competent. He didn't much care who he ended up with so far as team leader, it was the people he was sharing a group in that he wasn't so thrilled with. Sure, maybe he wouldn't have minded the blonde next to him--Lesath; she was nice to look at and hadn't rubbed him the wrong way. Yet. But some of the louder ones?

Yeah, no thanks.

"Screw this," Requiem said. She didn't really have the patience for them all to volunteer themselves, so stepped forward and began to point rapidly to the Senshi of the crowd that she wished to work. She pointed to Remarque, Lesath, Orpheus, and Danae as she spoke, referring to them respectively, "Hot blonde, hot blonde, shades and butterfly fairy, you're with me. The others, you're with Leto."

She gave a nod to Leto, letting her be in charge of Veer, Deneb Kaitos, Navi, and Thule. She waited for less than half a second for her team to stand behind her before she grew impatient again.

"Chop, chop, come on, get over here," she ordered, snapping her fingers as she spoke. Normally, she would have plenty more patience, but there was still the matter of the Negaverse to take care of, and figuring out what the hell had just happened in the Surrounding. "I have a lot of stuff to teach you, but I can't go through it all now. We will convene later tonight to go over things more thoroughly, but for now I'm going to go over the basics of mirror-walking with you."

She approached one of the mirrors in the room and presented it to her group, explaining the ability.

"Mirror-walking is how we get around," Requiem started her explanation. "We have the ability to travel through any two mirrors that we know exist, as long as we know their location and are large enough for us to cross through. The space between the two mirrors - mirror space - is where we are in now. To travel through the mirrors, you must focus on your destination on the other side of the mirror before you cross through. As you then cross through the mirror, you'll feel yourself entering that space, crossing a cool sensation as you pass through mirror space and reemerge out of the mirror in your destination."

"Now don't run off just yet, there's still work to be done," she said firmly. She conjured up a chest from mirror space, and opened it to reveal eight compact mirrors. She took four and passed them out to her group, letting the chest stay open for Leto and her group. After each member of her group received a compact mirror, she continued.

"These mirrors are how we keep in contact," Requiem continued. "When in these powered forms, we can communicate with each other through the mirrors. Are there any questions?"

She had just explained that they could travel and talk through mirrors, so she imagined there may be a question, or a snide comment or two.