Welcome to Gaia! ::

"But you didn't start from scratch." Still replied, staring at her, and she felt something she hadn't felt. before Envy. Envy that even if Mintaka did lose some in the process of coming over, she hadn't lost everything. She had made the jump knowing where she would land, too. Into the arms of someone who would support her. Someone who cared. Someone who cared about the current her, and not caring for what she would become. "And while I do not care to rank someone's loss as more than another's, I can't help it right now, Mintaka. You have not lost as much as I have, and though you have lost, you have gained as well."

Far more than I have.

"And if you're telling me to not be naive, then don't do me the disrespect of acting coy." She gestured to their ever shifting environment. "I agreed to come under the expectation of a tour, not to be pressed in a personal matter I'm obliged to answer because we're in your world." Yes. To a degree, she knew she was trapped. Mintaka, to a degree, effectively had her in a pincer grip.

The corrupt fell silent for a bit, needing to make sure all her thoughts were back in order. This situation...it was just so odd. She had never been in it before. Also never had the chance to just...speak so candidly about matters that had been plaguing her for some time now. A part of her wanted to pull away from Mintaka's touch, but that would be petulant. She wasn't mad at the woman, exactly...but right now she wasn't happy, either.

Something cold seemed to drop down in her stomach the more she thought about it.

Was this how Sergei felt when---

Still was pulled away from that train of thought when Mintaka spoke again. When she opened her arms to---

The corrupt stared at her for a long moment.

"No." She said after a moment. "I will do no such thing against you. It will not change what has happened. It will not give me anything back, and, quite honestly, I have no desire to do anything to you, or him." After all...her heart ache wasn't with Aurostibite, or even Jack.

It was with Machine, and that was only a matter of time.

"No." Still replied. "I don't think you did, but I don't know you, Mintaka, and just because you offer a hand doesn't mean I should take it. Even when being careful, there's always a chance that you can just be mislead and betrayed. I know the risks...but one can't shut themselves in entirely in an attempt to avoid them, either."

The more she spoke to the woman though, it made her heart ache more and anew all over again, because it made her think of Sergei. Things Mintaka was saying, thoughts she was having now, she kept thinking about the exchanges she had with the man. The way Mintaka was coming at her, she could just all too painfully feel like she was, to an extent, in Sergei's shoes. Mintaka wasn't on the opposite side as her, though, but this was raking that wound open fresh with a new perspective. By...revealing her further ignorance.

"I don't want to be like that." The corrupt replied, quietly. "It wasn't my first thought to kill you, in case I had become trapped, and I won't think like that unless my life is dependent on it." She needed something to occupy her while she spoke. Standing in one place wasn't doing good for her, so Still turned away to take to exploring the room full of trinkets as well. It felt like being in an antique store...

Still was quiet for a time. It was another direct question, but one that the answer, while scattered across multiple feelings and what ifs and hang ups and uncertainties, was one she had been thinking about for some time. Of course, she still needed to talk to Machine but...with how she was certain things had played out...being forced into a side and forced to be loyal, it did not make for a good and long lasting relationship. The corrupt moved along the room, eyes tracing over various objects, until one caught her attention. It was her trademark sphere. A ship...one of those in a bottle.

The corrupt reached out and picked it up, turning it this way and that as she looked it over, feeling drawn to it purely based on the connection of her magic.

She sighed after a moment, softly, and answered. "Before I can truly make any decisions, I must speak to my...friend. The one who orchestrated it all. I won't do anything until I hear the truth from them." It was jarring, to be spoken to like this...like that it was okay to be having thoughts about jumping ship. Still turned to Mintaka, the ship still in hand. "I...won't ask that of you, Mintaka, and it's not because I think you'll turn me in. I won't compromise you in regards to your husband. While you are not obligated to tell him everything, I would not ask you to keep this from him, or to have any hand in...whatever road my life takes next. He is...a very loyal man, and I would not be the possible source of conflict between you two."

She paused for a moment, falling into silence once more, and her chest felt heavy. Like in this moment everything that was going wrong with her was culminating into this admission. It was the first time she would say the words out loud. "Even without speaking to my friend yet, everything is pointing to...the fact that I can't stay." Her chest tightened, and for a moment she felt terrified that a trap would suddenly be sprung at the admission. "Even with this though...I won't go until I speak to them. It will be...the final nail, and the closure I am loathe to hear, but need."

Still looked to the woman.

"Why are you encouraging this, Mintaka? I understand you hold no love for the Negaverse aside from your husband, but we are both still of Chaos. Why are you encouraging me to return to Order?" That wasn't good practice when fighting a war.

She took the bottle back when it was offered, and held onto it. The corrupt looked down at it, quietly thinking over her words, before her frame lightly shook with a suppressed laugh. "You are encouraging me to do something." She murmured, and then looked back up at the woman. "Yes...you would understand, because you have hit a wall, and you knew that you could go no further unless you made the choice to yourself."

These thoughts she was having now...all things that had been lurking far below until the Dark Mirror senshi brought them towards the surface. It was somewhat terrifying to acknowledge them more openly, but necessary, because she was just fooling herself otherwise. She did not want to be ignorant anymore. It had gotten her into so much trouble. Both in the previous life and this.

The corrupt nodded at the woman's words, and after another moment she looked to the woman.

"Thank you, Mintaka."

"Worse, actually." Still replied with a wry smile. "But it gets worse before it gets...better." She replied, softly. Or so the saying went, and just thinking about it...she could see it to be true.

She followed along with the Eternal, letting Mintaka lead her out through a mirror. As she trailed off, something within the bottle, on the ship, had caught her attention. It was sparkling, and seemed to be growing brighter the more she stared at it. She was momentarily distracted from the sight by the woman's words, glancing over at her. There was a part of her that felt she could debate whether or not she deserved to be happy, but she kept mum on that part. "Well...who knows the future, hm? Maybe we can still be...friends." It seemed silly to say out loud, but the sentiment wasn't any less true. "Depending on how things go..." Still paused for a moment.

"Hey Mintaka, I think there's something in this bottle---"