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Misha, aka Cymophane
By “Reed” and “Frostbite,” with his trusty camera at his side.

“Can I be ‘Kitten’?” Misha asked, returning to the truck after passing through the shadow of a large tree.

He’d brought a camera with him. There was no telling if any of the footage he’d taken would benefit them at all, but he figured he could try to kill two birds with one stone: do some surveillance, and get some footage for a vlog. I got lost in the words (Terrifying!), or something.

Misha didn’t look worried, didn’t sound worried, didn’t give off any vibes that might make him seem anything other than utterly relaxed. Sure, things could go wrong, and sure, they might lose Faustite, but if they did, they could get him back. Maybe. Misha had a feeling the jury was still out on that one; bringing it up wouldn’t do anyone any good.

Jonah, aka Roselite
Nervously hiding with the other Negas there as civs.

Jonah was useless out in nature. He was useless as a civilian.

Hell, he was probably just useless, period.

But he was there — shivering, not from the temperature, but from nerves. What if they were found lurking out here? Did they look suspicious? Should he have worn camouflage? He didn’t own any camo. Did it matter in the dark?

He jumped when he heard a twig snap, couldn’t tell where it came from. A gentle breeze blew through the trees, sending a few branches creaking.

Back when he was young, he would have feared finding monsters in the darkness. Now he feared other people more. Anyone could be an enemy. Every face roused suspicion. Jonah tracked details where he could, but it was dark and they’d gone for relative seclusion.

He checked the time on his phone. Swallowed a lump in his throat. Almost texted Bloodstone, but didn’t.

Strix, Corrupt Sailor Pax
In a tree, near Jonah

'Hanging out in the woods in the middle of the night' might not have been one of Strix's favorite pastimes, but it wasn't exactly one of their least favorites, either; they liked the ambient noise of insects and birds and plants. Which was somewhat interrupted by the noise of people, but... oh well. They weren't here to have fun, anyways. Business was business.

They'd dressed down, in the sense they'd picked out darker, muddled clothing. And this tree had arching branches and draping leaves; Strix was visible but indistinct in the shade cast by the canopy, neon-pink eyes the only pop of color in their entire being.

Waiting was annoying. They wanted to move. But they were good at anticipation, at being still as a prelude to motion. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long before something got going - if only because they didn't think everyone here would be able to handle ten more minutes of waiting.


----
Amaris, Anakeion Squire of Castor
Staying with Viatrix, powered down ATM

Anakeion was well aware that, like a lot of the people in Encke's little groupchat, she was not supposed to be there. Surprisingly(?), for once, this had stopped her -- somewhat. It wasn't Anakeion of Castor vaguely-kind of-maybe going geocaching on a Sunday night; it was Amaris Mallette, in sneakers she'd owned for seven years going and some camo-print cargo pants, keeping an ear out for any commotion as she twisted a bracelet around one wrist.

She didn't think most people who had any reason to be here and not know that she was here knew Amaris, which was in theory a reason to power up and stay hidden, but. But. Sure, sure, Viatrix was concealing other auras, but you could never be too careful, right?? Maybe that had imperfections. Maybe she could only conceal X amount of auras, it wasn't like Amaris had asked, she'd just been anxious about it for weeks. She'd know when something was going when the others took off, and it wasn't like powering up took any real time or effort. But for the time being, she was some chick sitting on tree roots, twist-twist-twisting her bracelet around in one direction and then the other.

She was quieter as Amaris, besides; less metal, less things that jingled. Plus she didn't have her legs exposed for any weird bugs to get at.

Transcendent Eternal Sailor Encke, Senshi of Plasma
Action: standing with Faustite, waving at Malus, acknowledging Skoll, texting Ida. trying not to be a ball of anxiety.

Can't keep waiting, said Faustite, and Encke agreed.

When Faustite and he had initially talked, Encke said he would reach out to the court Faustite mentioned--the Zodiac Court no longer existed, Grayson was unresponsive, Gray had to have been dead, right? dead, dead, dead, Barren Pines hadn't killed him but had something else--and also a princess that he knew.

"Don't worry," replied Encke, even as he himself was worried. Not for the reasons that were obvious in front of them. Not for wondering why the court in front of him was murmuring to each other and not quite greeting him or Nectaris. He did see the way Malus waved, and lifted an arm to wave in turn, a smile on his face that was only as warm as it was due to experience. There were too many unknowns.

Encke took his phone out of his pocket, nodding to Skoll with a quiet, "Thank you," as he did. To Faustite, he projected a bit louder,

"Like you asked, I reached out to everyone I could. That includes a royal."

He sent out a text to one of the princesses he knew, the one he had been closest to and the one he thought of first. Encke had spoken to her about this, too, and they had come to an agreement to the point he agreed to pull her in even if he hadn't felt like he should pull in everyone he had hiding in the woods.

To Ida, he texted,

General Aquamarine
On standby with Albite and Tama (and Jet??), waiting to teleport in.

The plan was simple enough. It relied on too many unknowns for Aquamarine’s comfort, but the war was full of unknowns. All they could do was prepare, and adapt when s**t inevitably hit the fan.

They were to wait for the fire to go out. That was key. When the purification was complete, they would swoop in, deal with whichever White Moon pests had decided to show their faces, and reclaim Faustite. They would be quick. If they followed orders and relied on their training, any opposition should be dealt with without incident. The Negaverse was the superior force. Failure in this would be an embarrassment.

Aquamarine waited with Albite. He had no interest in exposing his identity to a team that was both too emotional and untrustworthy. The woman with the glasses wanted to lead; she could stick her own neck out, put herself at risk trying to wrangle a bunch of hot-headed husbands and daughters and whatever else Faustite’s friends wanted to call themselves. Aquamarine was content to wait in the wings. He knew his duty. He didn’t require a babysitter.

His weapons had already been summoned, but remained sheathed for the time being. He tried to ignore the pacing. Aquamarine stood with his arms crossed, struggling to keep his expression from shifting from neutral to aggravated.

“There’s one there,” Aquamarine countered Albite. “They might not’ve powered up yet, but they’re there somewhere. If they’re not, it was s**t planning on their part. Or they’ve stood him up.”

Transcended Eternal Ida

Slender fingers ran through Illyra's fur as Ida sat on a roof boarding the park, looking out over the just-greening tops of trees. She'd asked her cat to suppress her aura and that fact, combined with the new absence of anxiety, left her feeling oddly at peace and settled. Confident, even if there was still that flutter of... anticipation? She couldn't actually see what was going on down below, but she could feel the signatures out there, starting apart and slowly coming together.

Two order signatures met a negaverse general, and she assumed that was Encke with Faustite... Maybe Nectaris with them? And over there, a cluster of order signatures that must be Lysithea and her court. She was glad they'd come, even if she hadn't been the one to talk with them directly. No prince or princess, or other third signature, but that was not unexpected. They'd all spoken and Encke had decided to call her in when the time was right. She just had to wait... with patience that came more easily now.

The call would come, or it wouldn't. She'd be able to tell if something changed and then she'd be there to help. In the mean time, Illyria concentrated and Ida stroked her, soothing them both.

Her phone pinged and Ida was reaching for it when she felt the sudden flare of a royal signature. With the mass of signatures so close together, she had no idea where it had come from or who it was. It was even more surprising to pull out her phone and see the message from Encke. Bad timing? Something else? She wasn't sure... but order still had the upper hand. Maybe everything was fine.

Yuuri Eternal Kamacite
With the group of civilian negas, being anxious.

Yuuri felt anxious, but then again he was usually anxious. Just more so when he wasn’t powered up. He felt very insignificant as just a civilian, although it wasn’t much improvement when he was Kamacite.

He wore an oversized dark navy hoodie with the hood over his head and the drawstrings pulled almost comically tight so it was really just his face and shaggy black hair poking out.

He also jumped when he heard a twig snap, seeing Jonah do the same, and let out a shaky sigh to try and calm himself. At least Misha seemed to be enjoying himself.

There was a moment that he glanced up to where Reed was standing, already surrounded by others…

No, he wouldn’t bother him, even if he was relieved by his presence.

They knew to expect a Senshi Royal, but being unable to feel the aura was unnerving. He sucked in another nervous breath, hoping it wouldn’t be long now.


Ren Super Taenite
With the group of civilian negas, chatting up Misha.

“Holy s**t, you’re kidding me,” Ren laughed, although he kept his voice down so no one would accuse him of giving away their position. But he couldn’t stop himself from jogging over to where Misha was standing with his camera.

“It’s been a while. I’ve been looking forward to running into you again this winter,” he grinned, clearly amused by the fact that Misha was in the Negaverse and part of the mission. He could probably go through all who had been at the meeting and pick out who he was, but it didn’t really matter.

Oh right, they were supposed to be waiting for the signal. He was sure it would come soon. He had full faith in the plan. Maybe Faustite will be purified for a little while, but they would get him back. It was the best solution for keeping him alive, as much as he hated the idea of Faustite losing any memories.

General King Jet
With Aqua, Albite, and Tama.

Jet had his arms crossed over his chest as he waited. He could have gone as a civilian, but there were a lot of people on the White Moon’s side that wanted him dead, and he didn’t want to put anyone else at risk by association if he could help it, should his identity be compromised.

He wasn’t sure Aquamarine would like that, either.

“I doubt any of them are clever enough to coordinate an attack to have Faustite killed. I remember Lysithea before she turned on us,” he said thoughtfully, remembering how concerned she’d been about Faustite over anyone else when they’d arrived back in Negaspace with Ganymede in tow.

“We’ll get him back,” he said after a moment, hoping to reassure Albite. The sooner everything happened, the better.