Hang on. Back it up. Now play it back in slow mo. Acubens mulled the last line of Avior's note over and over in her mind, the gears working so fast she had to work to keep up with them. She opened and closed her mouth several times before she finally spoke.
"She sent... waiths... down... to collect... energy..."
Her words were slow and deliberate as humiliation took over her face. Could those have been... their wraiths? Were they one in the same? Acubens had not, after all, missed the constant mention of reflections and mirrrors in the dialogue. And if Cosmos was the protector of starseeds... it only made sense that she ignored Altea's pleas for help. Maybe she couldn't even hear them.
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:32 pm
Kibirev listened as the others began to read their findings out loud, something that Lesath suggested. Well. Her and Lovejoy wouldn’t help them. She knew that…she knew…
Her head moved so quickly that she heard her neck crack, felt it too, but the sound was very loud to her own ears. Lovejoy had done it again. Gone and helped the others in their quest to destroy Altea, and once more, Kibirev felt the horrible wash of betrayal from her friend…why was she doing this. Of everyone here…she hadn’t expected Lovejoy to be the one to hurt her the most. Not like this.
The words on her own page made her feel…horrible. How could they hate a woman who cared about her people so much. The passages the others were reading only reinforced her own love of the queen, her own assurance that she wasn’t evil. She needed people to help her, not attack her.
They were all fools, and they would all see, in the end…that she was right. With a look of deepest disgust shot towards the group, and one saved especially for Lovejoy, Kibirev quietly folded up her own piece of paper and stuffed it in her personal subspace pocket.
The page that she'd chosen to reach for was close to a leather-bound journal that appeared to have been crystallised and Sadalsuud gently nudged it out of the way as she reached for it.
The page that she reached for had specks of crystals on it too, specks that appeared to be growing - albeit slowly–
And unlike the books that she had found herself leafing through on previous trips, the text was handwritten rather than printed.
It was also surprisingly readable, which was strange given that she had never been able to read any of the books that she had tried leafing through.
Although there didn't appear to be much on the page apart from four words and a scribble.
She looked up as the blonde senshi byRemarque, (Lesath) asked them to share any information that they found, quietly listening as others who had also stopped to look through the scattered pages what they'd found aloud–
And whilst none of the passages read out named Queen Altea by name, they did seem to match up with what Taran what told them.
Sadalsuud waited untilCrocusfinished speaking before holding up her own page.
"Mine doesn't say much," she admitted "Just that..."
Her voice tailed off in a startled 'oh' as the pages shifted in her hands, revealing a second page that had been stuck to the first.
Sadalsuud scanning the second page quickly before holding them up so she could read them "I didn't know there were two pages, but the first - Entry 2185 - just talks about some sort of miracle and has some scribbles."
She slipped it behind the second page as she continued "The next is titled Entry 2196 and says 'Perhaps I was the one with a sickness. My kingdom is beautiful. My people are well. It was only a nightmare. All is well, again. The dark star has saved me.'"
Setting them both back down on the ground, Sadalsuud looked around to see if she could spot anything else that might be off use, as she tried to reach for another page.
And whilst she had accepted that Queen Altea needed to be stopped, she couldn't help but find herself at the same time feeling sorry for her as well.
The Space Cauldron
Sadalsuud is checking just in case anything else can be found
xxOrangeish Sherbert
responding with what info she has
xxKyuseisha no Hikari
mention
Leopleuradon
mention
xxKitomyx
keeping in the loop
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 1:53 pm
Chione wrinkled her nose as more and more of what appeared to be the story of Altea and looked again at her own paper, not feeling any better about anything as she read and re-read the words. “So…I’m pretty sure I got something after she left saneville and went right into crazytown…” The words were whispered to Elsa and she held the paper out so he could read them for herself, eve as the super senshi raised her voice slightly.
“Now, these are in all caps…or at least…it looks like…that’s what it translated to in my head, okay? She tore the paper with how eager she was to write this so…pretend I’m shouting or something.” She shrugged and cleared her throat, finally reading.
“THE DARK STAR HAS MADE ME WHOLE. I DID NOT SEE IT BEFORE. WE ARE STRONGER AS ONE. ALL IS WELL. WE NEED MORE ENERGY. That’s…all she wrote for mine…but I’m just gonna go out on a limb here and say that something cracked in her, or at least, that’s the vibe I’m getting.”
Chione shrugged again and fell quiet, waiting to hear from the others.
Elsa stared at the paper, long and hard. Everyone else's notes chilled him, painting a clearer picture of Altea's slow and inevitable descent into madness. she had lost herself, clearly, to the power of the Chaos Seed that had come for her.
He glanced over at Chione, and said, under his breath, "I think I did too," as he gave it another read over. It was...not pretty, and pretty obviously very delusional. "Maybe a couple stops earlier than yours, though."
He exhaled and held it up so the others could see what he was reading off.
"Entry 2336
The universe is full of so much life. I never could have imagined. My world is still the most beautiful, I think. The Dark Star has followed me. It is my navigator. It knows of so many worlds, and it has shown me the best. I would like to take my people to visit, but they do not want to leave. I do not blame them, though. It is safer here. The Dark Star protects them.
It is not safe on these new worlds. They are beautiful, but they are not as precious as my world. Sometimes I am sad watch them fade.
But then, I see my people smile, and I know that this is my duty.
My people need me. I will not fail them.
My path is just." He read, aloud, and then he shook his head. "Great. I'm so glad. Now we know exactly what flavor of crazy she is."
The flavor of crazy that was obsessed with justice, with righting wrongs, with...protecting the people she cared about and the world she loved. It was an eerily understandable motivation.
"They might be ours," Elsa said, looking over at Acubens. "but that's the thing -- she used them for....for this, but that doesn't mean we will. We can be better than one lone crazy Queen. Right?"
Sweeneys_Revenge
Orangeish Sherbert
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 6:48 pm
As the Dark Mirror Senshi pored through books and pages and tried to make sense of things, a wave of pure, raw energy crashed down on them. The castle lurched, knocking over shelves and books around them. A familiar cracking sound echoed, not unlike what they had heard in Mirrorsapce only days ago when Mirrorspace had begun to crumble around them.
Something serious was happening right now, somewhere.
There was no doubt that Altea was responsible.
There isn’t time to research any more; she needs to be hunted down, and stopped.
Thankfully, there seems to be a bit of luck on their side; as the castle lurched again, the crystallized door shook violently and then fell from its frame, along with a few chunks of the wall.
This roleplay moves directly into the next one; all Dark Mirror Senshi are assumed to follow the path upstairs! You may post a closing exit if you like, but the story continues in the next roleplay!
The Space Cauldron
Captain
Offline
a-disgruntled-dragon
Offline
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:00 pm
Sailor Hydrus
It took him longer than the others to decipher his piece of paper. Hydrus got caught up in the text, in the language, in the wonderment of the world behind the language. He may have severed himself from his home, but that did not mean he did not still find wonder in this idea of other worlds and planets. If only his world had been different, or if he'd been different. If only he was not who he was...
Perhaps Hydrus would have chosen a different path.
The parchment finally made itself readable to him.
Quote:
Entry 2170
My people are losing hope. Our numbers have more than halved in only two weeks. I don’t think we will survive. Help is not coming. I am desperate. I have prayed to Cosmos, but she has not answered. No one has answered.
Our allies have abandoned us.
A dark star shines in the sky. I think it is death calling.
In the beginning Altea was not mad or lost herself to Chaos. She was just someone who desperately wanted to save her people. Cosmos did not answer, and something dark lurked on the horizon of her world. Something flickered in the back of Hydrus' mind, of a similarity between her and... another.
Hydrus shook his head and set the page down, as the story of Altea's madness began to create in his mind. Chaos drove all to madness. What of the Dark Mirror then, were they doomed to madness as well?
The castle lurched and he stumbled, catching himself on a crystal. It broke off in his hand, and blood dripped down his palm. He looked at it for a long moment. He had seen what madness was - true madness - and had the burns on his arms to remind himself of it. Of who he still had yet to find and bring home.
Of his sister. Of Mintaka.
The young man reached back and gripped his hair, holding it below one of the levianthan clasps holding his hair back. A pool of black hair already sat at his feet, cut free from him. Fingers gripped his hair and he pressed the crystal to the remaining clump.
And yanked.
The sudden weight off his head was startling, and Hydrus held up the long hair he'd had since he was in highschool. He still had a decent amount, but it no longer pulled on him. It no longer weighted him down.
The castle lurched again, and Hydrus set his jaw. Time to go end this.
[ EXIT ]
Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 10:44 pm
Super Sailor Elsa
The crashing wave of energy had Elsa lurching, flailing to get a grip on something and ending up grabbing the table. He leaned on it while the tremors passed, eyes wide. That was...not good. That was very very not good.
And then, there was the massive crack.
"Oh, ********." He said, and he whirled to Chione, looking to make sure she was okay. He had no doubt that this had something to do with Altea; there was nothing else it could be, nothing else it would be. She was falling apart, and tearing the whole place apart with her.
Elsa jumped when the door hit the floor, but once there was space open, he headed for it, glancing back to make sure Chione was still there. There was nothing to do but go forward, and hopefully, if they were lucky, find Altea. And then stop her.
All of that was easier said than done, sure, but they had most of the Court, and she was their problem. An infestation in Mirrorspace, in their home. They would have to be the ones to remove her.
