Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I am stronger without you," Nemesis declared. There was fear coursing through her veins, an inevitable fear, because she could very well die tonight, and she was not ready for it. Nearly every time she fought, it was because she chose to. That choice was robbed from her this day. There was no other option, that was no 'get out of jail free' card. "Earth is everything to me. Earth is why I am fighting now, and why I will always fight!" Her gaze was unwavering, refusing to show her fear and hesitation.

"The only person who can make you hurt me is yourself, Ares, and I think you are far too willing to do that now." She was all talk, had always been all talk. When there was no other action she could take, she chatted up a storm. All the while, the light was gathering at her hands, building, growing. In a few seconds time she'd be able to launch an assault on Ares. She just had to keep the Parallel talking long enough for Nemesis to even get a chance to attack.

"Wait - don't!" She had liked Requiem, and truthfully she was one of the few senshi that Nemesis could tolerate from time to time. To see her forced through a mirror and into corruption was a wound that Nemesis could not allow to sit and fester. She had to act, before someone else was claimed by Ares' greedy hand. "You b***h, you b***h, you ******** b***h!"

Her hands exploded into light as she declared her attack, "Nemesis Touch of Death!" The Eternal Senshi of Decay launched herself at Ares without hesitation, without regret. She would not die tonight feeling those things. She'd die feeling <********> proud she stood up for herself and her beliefs.

With each new parallel senshi, Princess Ares felt stronger. She could feel their auras glowing alongside hers. Every moment that passed was a beautiful one.

Then Birhan Isat began to tarnish her moment. "Family doesn't ambush family on prom night to steal from them. Family doesn't torture family with pain and weakness. What do you know about family, Birhan?" she snapped. "I'm not the weak civilian being bullied in the alley anymore. You're. In. Over. Your. Head." A pointed finger jabbed toward the girl. Ares didn't want to spill blood. But she certainly had that ability.

"I am not a puppet of the Negaverse. Lyra is. Corrupted senshi are. We are much more than that, little girl." Ares straightened up. "You do not see it now. But you will soon. You all will."

Any more political banter was cut short as Nemesis made her charge at last. She was a strong eternal senshi, but against a Princess, it hardly mattered. Nemesis was able to get one hand on Ares' arm, and the senshi let it rest there for a moment, meeting eyes with the Senshi of Decay even as she winced. Her muscle was exposed, blood coating her joints. And then, with that same arm, Ares dug her clawed hand into the side of the girl's neck and then shoved her off.

The staff darted into the air and then smacked against the ground. "Ares Smoke Miasma," she whispered.

In three seconds, the room was pitch black with smoke so thick it would have killed a civilian on the first inhale. Regular senshi would have very little time to make it out of that room alive. Supers, more -- eternals, a bit more. Used in close quarters, her attack was like releasing mustard gas.

There was a burst of sound, someone was crumbling part of the exterior wall to release some of the choking smoke. "I do not want to kill you," Ares said, voice muffled by the smoke. "So don't make me do it."

A mirror glinted in the corner of the room. Any parallel would be able to make it through. "Gaia, show them the way," she said quickly. Mirrorwalking could be tricky at first, but they would have plenty of time to train together. So much time.

Ares lingered in the room. The smoke was harmless to her and anyone she sought to protect: the other parallels. "This war will wage on throughout eternity, but we have the power to stop it. We can find compromise and strength in the Dark Mirror. If you are prepared, call to me in front of a mirror three times. I will come to you, and we will never have to lose our loved ones again." The voice seemed to move across the room, echoing in every corner.

Only Sailor Albali felt Ares' touch. She gripped the girl by the wrist and led her to the doorway where the smoke had begun to lift into the air and dissipate into the sky above. Under the cover of smoke, lips brushed against hers. "Goodbye, Albali," she whispered. "There can be no weakness." And then she was gone.

The fate of Eternal Sailor Ares was a cautionary tale. Keep darkness too close to a heart, and the heart will blacken. Left unchecked, she had become something much greater than she was before -- and something much more terrible.

The age of the Dark Mirror Kingdom had begun.

Sirius had just watched confused. They had picked some and left? So did that make all her join or die stuff a load of bullshit then? She had watched stunned, and in a way a little hurt that she was obviously not good enough for Ares, not that she wanted to be with them right? Just that she obviously wasn't one picked.

Sirius was so damned confused and it seemed she wasn't about to find out what it was that happened.

Birhan.

She would look for her, she would explain stuff right? First though she needed to get out of here, it seemed things were happening and she wasn't a part of it. Had the BMC just expired? She had just lost her family it seemed, Ares had broken it up.