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Alastor, Eternal Senshi of Despair

Alastor met Urania’s eyes when she found him in the crowd. He couldn’t imagine this was easy for her but she was standing strong in front of all of them. Even with Chaos swirling at her back, her resolve hadn’t wavered.

Unpeeling the layers of a world’s decline was a heavy burden and he doubted anyone born on Earth might truly know what it was like to be so helpless in the face of such despair.

Urania was still here. She was still fighting.

Her world was still fighting.

Some of the unease he carried in his heart lifted. He was practical, but it was difficult not to have some faith that there was more here to support them than what he could see. He had people there to help him on his world, but it had done its fair share of heavy lifting.

He had faith in the Senshi and her world. Without saying anything, he offered her a smile and nod.

For Sessrumnir, he leaned just slightly against him.

“We’ll be fine,” he decided. “I’ll watch out for puddles and paper. Just in case.”

Not so far away, he recognized Daphne. She’d been training and he knew she was getting stronger. He was glad to see her here, especially after what she’d gone through on Alastor.

He was used to doing things himself, but they were stronger together.

…He knew he had paper in his subspace, but the problem was that he had a lot of things in there. He wasn’t sure Michael would enjoy holding all the snacks–and other necessities!–he’d pack to get to it. Hopefully someone else had some easier to reach.

Ephesus, Knight of the Moon

Ephesus squeaked a little in surprise when Amarynthos pulled him close, but it was followed by a delighted little giggle. His cheeks were warm, and he wasn’t trying to smile too much when there was danger nearby, but he was very appreciative of Amarynthos’s presence and support and kindness.

He held onto his staff, but with his other arm he crossed it over himself so he could place his hand on Amarynthos’s hand at his waist. It was almost as good as a hug, but while also keeping themselves alert and ready for any danger coming their way.

Urania was speaking again, and Ephesus fell silent. He squeezed Amarynthos’s hand gently as his expression fell when it came into light what they would likely experience.

Nightmares. Influenced by Chaos.

A shiver ran down his spine, and he glanced up at Amarynthos in silent question. Wondering what he thought, but also not wanting to speak for fear of pulling those nightmares into reality.

As long as they all worked together, he was still hopeful that there was nothing they couldn’t accomplish.

Reims, Squire of Ganymede

Still a bit bristled, Reims settled a bit when Rose placed her hand on his arm. He clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth again, and while he wasn’t particularly mad or upset, he felt as though the response he received still pushed a wall up around him. A wall he’d been trying to break down for the sake of his friends.

But even now, he knew it was dangerous to just be himself. It didn’t matter if people knew his identity or not. Maybe it was a stupid idea, and maybe the Senshi apologized for being emotional, but the doubt in himself and others had already dug in like a splinter to fester.

“No idea,” he grumbled to Rose and shifted uncomfortably. But he knew it wasn’t Rose’s fault for anything so he forced himself to shrug. “Probably an alien. There’s some guy with a tail over there,” he nodded in the direction of one of the other Senshi in attendance.

"It was a dumb idea, just drop it," he snapped at Amarynthos, who of course was trying to be encouraging.

He wished he hadn't said anything about bringing the structure down, and immediately felt guilty for letting his discomfort cause him to lose his patience with a friend. He understood Amarynthos was probably just trying to make him feel better, but he was already humiliated. Despite the fact that it was a perfectly good idea when a pre-Princess brought a bunch of C4 to a bank.

"Sorry. Just forget it," he mumbled and kept his eyes on the ground so he wouldn't have to see his friends expressions.

Squire Halle of Lysithea

The call this time was a lot more calm than that of Hy-brasil. Urania was clearly the one initiating the fight against chaos on her world, picking her time and her allies. It was definitely a more advantageous situation he'd joined in so far. At the start he'd held himself at the back of the gathered senshi and knights, always preferring to get as broad a view as possible.

And keep an eye on Almere. He gave his cousin a wave, hoping she'd come over but not wanting to crowd her. He'd recently heard his mom talking on the phone about how teenage girls who got too crowded were prone to rebellion. He certainly knew that teenage Lukes sure were.

There were some other familiar faces around, from Cybele and the sleep clinic. One particular stood out, and when he moved forward to hear the discussion better, he sidled up to Ngome, the sole Lysithea knight that had managed to win an event on Cybele. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her then (was honestly a little uncertain at the time about approaching an adult knight out of the blue and felt stupid for it later) and now probably wasn't the best time either. But still..

"Hi," he said in a low voice, "I'm Halle. We should talk later."

And then he was listening carefully to Urania's information and the uh, wolfish senshi's questions and thoughts. There were quiet assurances throughout the area, some to friends, some to Urania. To Halle, there was a nervous quality to it. Maybe that was the downside of having time to think and plan, instead of heading straight into survival mode. He was sure they'd all fare the better for it, though.

Mind magic...

Halle made a face. His shield could block attacks and magic from senshi and knights, that he knew. And it had helped with the sidhe on Hy-brasil. But with the different situations on different worlds, he couldn't be sure if it was going to be of much use against...this particular piece of chaos.

At the mention of making a map, Halle moved closer, hoping to get a good look at the layout.

Sailor Procyon of Liminality


There were so many senshi and knights that Procyon didn't recognize but that didn't matter as he listened to Urania. This would be the second time he was here to help her with things on their planet.

When the mention of destroying the tower came up, he could understand both sides of things and stepped a bit closer. "I think we can do this without destroying the observatory. There are so very many of us here so I'm sure we can keep it from falling Urania."

Moving forward enough so he could be seen and heard among the group, he spotted Selinur and decided to head that way while keeping his attention on Urania.

Hearing Selinur's thoughts on the possibility that this wouldn't be a physical fight reassured him a bit. That would be best if they could avoid fighting in that manner, even if the alternative wasn't very pleasant due to the unseen wounds it could leave.

Poking the blond senshi as they tied their hair back, he then waved in greetings. It had been a while since he'd seen the other, months now if he really thought about things. "Hello, hope you're well." That friendly little smile of his spread across his face as he spoke.

Imhotep, Page of Mercury

It had not escaped Imhotep's notice that Promethei was still holding their hands when they landed on Urania’s home world. He didn’t say anything, however, figuring Promethei had his reasons... even if those reasons were largely sentimentality. He also didn’t say anything in response to the discussion happening—much less go over to join it the way Emain Ablach had. He had had a long day between teaching and work. He was not terribly inclined to be a social butterfly.

He was there to help. So once he saw a way to help, he would step in and do so. Until then, Imhotep was content to remain quiet and out of the way.

Emain Ablach had called them, and they’d agreed to go. Well, that was wording it a bit strongly. Promethei had agreed to go and Imhotep had agreed because he had a vested interest in making sure his husband didn’t do anything unwise. Two peas in a pod, Emain Ablach and Promethei were, and sometimes it worked out. Sometimes it was like dealing with the two rabblerousers in the back of a class or two troublemakers in the back of a car during a long road trip.

Either way, Imhotep was there to help, but in the sense that he be pointed at an objective and told to go solve it. There seemed to be more than enough planning minds at the table. Though he did see the tall senshi he’d beaten at arm wrestling and inclined his head briefly in a greeting her way. He had no idea, still, how he had managed that. He was not keen to repeat the experience, lest it be to his detriment.

He would quit while he was ahead and all that.

While he waited for everyone to agree on a course of action, he took the time to look around and take in his surroundings. He didn't go to other people's homeworlds often, and he was starting to wonder if he should change that. Urania's home world was vastly different from Imhotep's wonder, and he had a strong sense of curiosity about it as a result. He wanted to investigate anything even remotely unfamiliar, poke and prod at it until he understood it better.

In his defense, he was a scientist. It made sense he would want to do scientific research when confronted with a literal alien planet. Did the plants use the same photosynthetic processes that earth plants did? Were there hitherto unknown photo systems in the plants to deal with what was undoubtedly a different wavelength and intensity of light? It was very dark, after all. Was that normal, or an artefact of the Chaost?

...Or did the plants just rely on oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis?

Actually, did the crystals radiate energy that could be harnessed? Some organisms on earth could consume radiation. Maybe it was the same here? Imhotep wondered if it would be impolite for him to ask Urania herself about it. Would she know what he was talking about? Even if she was familiar with the processes, her people undoubtedly had different names for them. They would have never known a Hans Krebs to name the various cycles that bore his name on Earth, for example.

It was probably best if he just worried about ridding her world of Chaos. He could ask her about the biochemistry of her world later. Not to mention the toxicology of her world. Were there any notorious noxious substances? What did they do? What tissues did they affect? What metabolic pathways?

...Anyway.

Rose, Page of Lysithea

Rose’s smile dipped into a little frown. She wanted to reassure Reims, but wasn’t sure how. He was so sensitive, and took things so personally. She knew why, of course—or had somewhat of an idea, at least, maybe more than most. Her hand dropped from his arm only to reach down and grab his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She couldn’t even give the concept of aliens the attention it deserved when Reims seemed so down on himself.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she told him. “We’ll do what we can, right? You know what you’re doing. If they didn’t need the help, we wouldn’t be here. So there aren’t any bad ideas, just some not so great options. We keep it all in mind just in case.”

-

Yvoire couldn’t quite control the sour frown that crossed his face. First the senshi of this world turned out to be some sort of princess or something (of the blood if not by power), then Ephesus and Amarynthos were being sweet and cuddly with one another, then that Rose girl was being all soft and gentle with Reims, holding his hand and giving him quiet reassurances like she was his girlfriend or something. Jealousy wormed its way through Yvoire. He stood there, tense and uncomfortable, until he couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“It wasn’t a dumb idea,” he said as he turned back toward Reims, voice a little harsher than he meant—bitter, maybe, but insistent too. “It worked before, and if it has to be done here then everything can be rebuilt after. It’s what we’re doing on Ganymede.”

A broken castle. A broken cathedral. A living world beyond both. Sometimes things had to be taken apart before they could be fixed, but they could still make something out of the rubble.

If Greive’s had been the only option offered, Urania would have made due with it.

But then Connie mentioned she had paper. And what beautiful paper it was. The senshi had never encounter anything like it.

“You made this yourself? This will be perfect to draw the map on. Thank you!”

Then Urania drew for a long time.

Observatory Map















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