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 Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:59 am
 The Zodiacs were all together now -- barring Sue's last transformation, and the transformation of Hero Barrett. The redhead broke the circle and approached the Princess, and she sank down to both her knees on the ground: she looked up at the sweet face of Serenade Soriano, of Princess Chronos, and looked at her like she was a religious icon. Pink butterflies winged their way around her like some kind of living halo -- Hero briefly closed her eyes. "Give me leave to have the captaincy again," she said, "announce me leader, and I'll get everyone out of here. Ma'am."
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:10 am
Chronos had watched each of her Zodiacs lift up their henshin pens and transform, starting from Pisces, (who wasn't here before, but was here now and was all that mattered) and went down the line, revealing everyone in their true forms. She smiled at everyone, gave Scorpio a look that said 'thank goodness you're alright', grinned at the two Gemini; it was touching to see the both of them henshin up together. They were almost done, for almost the line they held was now practically glowing with energy of the Zodiacs and now, with one left, she turned to look at Hero expectantly.
Rather surprisingly, Hero did not shout, but instead knelt in front of her; at this, Chronos momentarily started forward as if she was going to go 'No, no, get up please' but she held her stance. "Hero Barrett." She said. "Welcome back, as Captain Aries, Leader of the Zodiacs."
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:54 am
Sailor Cancer. The title brought a wave of sudden, sharp memories flooding against Abeline Froust's identity. And as the fuku formed around her body, light and soft and perfect for a dancer's outfit, Abeline's eyes flew open wide with a mixture of surprise and stunned realization.
She hadn't doubted, she hadn't wavered. And that was Cancer. Even if she looked as uncertain, as confused, as scared as everyone else, she was stable on the inside. And she would hold the--- hold the line.
That feeling of immesurable failure welled inside of her. The emotion that her pastself had died with. Sailor Cancer covered her mouth, overtaken with the emotion. He had died, trying to protect them... these... her comrades, her compatriots, peers, lovers, friends...
For a girl whose conversations were short at best, and whom had a lot of trouble making friends, she was suddenly surrounded by them. Surrounded by people who were worthy of her dying to protect.
And then Froust reasserted her own sense of self as she watched Hero kneeling before the princess. Well, dying to protect someone was a little much for this bunch yet, wasn't it? After all she knew them as classmates mostly, while they lived in the dorms, Froust was not the most sociable of people in the morning. Well... she'd have to get to know them better, right?
Cancer felt strong, ready and eager to kick this barrier down. All they were waiting on was Hero. Sailor Aries. Their leader.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:06 am
Hero stood back up, and she took Chronos' hand -- with utter, un-Herolike gentleness, she kissed the Princess' fingers. Then she turned back to the others, and raised her henshin pen as they had all done: " Aries Zodiac Power, Make-Up!"  You could tell she was a captain. (She had a cape.) She also had two ram's horns attached to the back of each hand, sharpened down to bone points at each end, thick enough to probably be able to fend off a sword. She was Captain Aries. And when she went back to take the hands of the others, it -- -- memory -- Flashes. Stars. The loneliness of space. Pain -- a sudden, burning pain that encircled everyone's ring finger. Space, nothingness -- a definitely malevolent nothingness. The Surrounding. What was the Surrounding? The Princess, in armour. Holding hands with a caramel-haired boy, in armour. A kind of embarrassing, sudden intimacy, nagging at the backs of their minds -- -- and the fire -- Not for Pisces, the fire. For Scorpio only smoke. But the others, fire. It was staggering. It was painful. But Captain Aries said, sharply: "Hold up. Araya, gather your men." Ignacio had been made the ersatz leader. "Now to break the barrier. We will give all our power to the Opal Crystal. Don't pray as though you're going to die." Instead, she said, fiercely: "Pray as though you're going to live each day that we lost! Do it!" Grayson, Topher. Abeline, Aurelia. Elke, Giselle, Pierrette, Tara. Mackenzie, Andeon. Jude, Hero, Serenade. Sue. Astraea and Foramen. And the humans, who were holding the line as though they were honorary Zodiacs.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:02 am
When their hands were linked again, Princess Chronos too, was not immune to the painful images that flashed through their minds. Space, only space, and the loneliness, but there had been her Zodiacs with her, there had been Zue, and there had been that... boy... that awfully familiar boy... And then, without meaning to, she remembered again what Queen Serenity had told her.
Your first love is not your last.
It was a puzzling sentence, but again, she did not have time to properly dwell on it, for there was more pain, and there was a fire blazing before her eyes in her mind. There was panic, there was anger, there was anguish, and her face contorted slightly as she remembered, only so slightly. "Opal Crystal Of the Zodiacs." She spoke quietly, eyes shut as she prayed. "Hear our plea. End this; end this pain for us all, end the curse that is Barren Pines." It had been a tiring journey for them all. For Hero and Aurelia, who had took her to hide, for the Zodiacs who had died and had to be reawakened when they were zombies, for even the humans and the other zombies crawling the campus. It was time to end it all.
End Barren Pines, which would never hurt anyone of them ever again.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:15 am
Sailor Cancer winced at the pain from her finger. She had thought that the ring from the flashes and strings of images before her eyes had been on her finger, until the burning. And then she'd realized; that had been her memory from the past. The memory of Soldier Cancer. Her hand curled and she glanced down, as though she were trying to look through the gloves at her finger. Like the Zodiacs had a funeral when they were recognized, they all also wore a ring. A ring of bonding.
These people, the faces that she had seen before a few times, in the halls, at breakfast, in a classroom... they were more than peers now. The memory of fighting for the Princess, dying with her fellow Zodiacs and sharing their ultimate burden, flooded over her senses.
She would die to protect these people! Die for them! Abeline Froust shook her head with a smile as she quickly reigned in her past memories. She barely knew these people; she had never really had a long conversation with most of them, and Abe didn't make friends so easily. But... then... logically, she'd just have to get to know them better, right?
Froust glanced at Leo and Gemini, to either side of her, her hands extending. "Well, lets get the princess out of here."
Her gaze fixed on Chronos. This time, I won't ******** up. I am protection, and I won't fail like HE did. I am protection. Abeline Froust. Chronos was going to be so safe she'd never get rained on. She wouldn't stub her toe without Abeline giving the sidewalk permission to do it! And then Abeline knew they had to leave, she had an idea. And there was no way that a stupid barrier would stop them now, not if Cancer's idea was to be given fruit.
A brilliant, terrible idea.
Truly.
It involved bubble-wrap.
Obviously the Negaverse should give up now, before Abeline put this terrible, wonderful, awful idea into play.
Because bubble-wrap kept everything safe. Even human shaped objects.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:54 am
Maybe she had been expecting, in some dark crevice of her mind, for the pain to vanish. That was probably the reasons she was mildly surprised to find out that the transformation did not only not lessen the pain and chaos that still harbored her mind, but actually increased it to some extent.
Scorpio forced herself to keep her place in the circle, refusing to let her emotions get the best of her; she was going to do this right. She was going to be proud of herself once this was over, and she was going to do it all in stride; now, if she could only keep on repeating that to herself in a mental mantra, maybe it would really happen that way.
She watched her fellow Zodiacs transform after her, one by one, and she felt something tug at her heart; she wasn't sure what it was, but the feeling was there, and it was strong. It wasn't till Aries henshined up that the pain suddenly increased ten-fold and in her mind suddenly there was nothing but fire.
Fire, it was everywhere and- But no, it wasn't fire. It was smoke. There was so much smoke and it choked her up and she had to go back because they were not here and they needed her. She had to go back, back, back but something had stopped her. A voice? A call? She wasn't sure what it'd been, but the pain and desperation... the rage and the overwhelming grief had been replaced with peace and calm and nothingness and all that had been left was Angela Bryne. Not Scorpio, but Angela.
Now she was whole again; she was both Angela and Scorpio and she was only beginning to understand why she felt such a horrible sense of nostalgia and longing every time she'd raised her eyes up into the night sky.
Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs out of there, Scorpio tried to ignore the strange pain around her ring finger, not to mention the familiar sense of... almost embarrassing intimacy that was somehow gnawing at the back of her mind. Aries' voice did a rather good job at focusing her, and she turned towards the princess, offering a calm smile back (much more calm than she felt that moment in time). This was not the time to dally in memories; she'd do that later. First, there was a job to be done.
As the princess spoke she focused her energy and mind on the crystal and her comrades. It was time to end this all.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:24 am
It wasn't until Aries joined them that his head broke through the water, realization poured over him, and his breath was stolen. Leo knew in a moment what he had struggled over since being reborn as a zombie, and it was as powerful as it was terrifying. There was too much at once; had his feet not been rooted against the ground, he wasn't sure if he would have remained standing, but he didn't have time to think of it. Everything was happening at once.
Space. Cold. A promise, as painful as it was beautiful, and his finger burned. His hand flexed against it, a frown marring his face at the sudden pain, when his entire body was consumed. Fire? Fire was not a stranger to Grayson, it was nothing to be feared, but he could remember this fire. Wild and cruel, it claimed him, and the ghost of the pain rippled across his body, made his heart jump just once.
"Hold up." Aries' voice came to him, centered him again when the memory threatened to overtake him, and he steadied. He expelled a slow breath, and when Cancer offered her hand, he took it with a smile.
He was reaching for Virgo's when Sagittarius called his name, and his head whipped over, something familiar and expected at the sound of it. Behind his mask, purple eyes widened when he saw a tiara flying at him - a tiara, his mind shouted, which could actually be a weapon - and he snatched it out of the air, fingers gripping it so tightly that it hurt, arm whipping behind him with the momentum of the catch.
He was silent a moment, then a smile so bright that it almost hurt bloomed, and he brought the tiara up to his chest. Yes, this was something he remembered. This was right.
Hooking the tiara in the silken dip of fabric below his chin, he grasped Virgo's hand, affection and warmth rising in him faster than anything he'd felt before. For Virgo - he loved her as a sister, he realized - for Cancer, for Sagittarius - for everyone. It completed him, finally woke him from the terrible dream that had clouded his mind, and in that moment, nothing was impossible.
So, heart nearly pained with how full it was, he thought the only thing that he could. We're all going home.
(( OOC: Noya asked me to have Sadge fling his bling at Leo. <33 I'm not just totally molesting Jude molesting Jude. ... Though I would. ))
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:04 am
And indeed, Ignacio wore the (figurative) badge of the ersatz leader with pride. These were his men and women, and they, with the Zodiacs and these people of immense power, could throw down the barrier and the evil from the wicked Neasaw that had penetrated the school so long ago. They could do it.
And perhaps, this was what was giving him almost overwhelming hope when Captain Aries addressed him directly, "Araya, gather your men." And gather his men he did. There were more joining him, but they didn't have time to collapse like the one with thick blue hair did. Wasn't she Joanne in life? Ignacio had been at this school four years; he had known them all well...
...Four years. It wasn't four years! It was two and some change long months of torture and death. Gas and death. Neasaw and death. Fire and death. Zombies and death. And he wasn't going to take it anymore. "Men, women! Don't wear out; this is the final push to save us all! We can't let them win. We'll live, we'll live."
And Ignacio's prayers to the Opal Crystal came in like they had never came before.
He was never one for praying. He was not a religious individual by any means, and spirituality took too much time for a man who jumped from thing to thing as if his very life would depend on it. But this was more than him. This was more than his sponetaneity and his nonchalant nature. This was revenge, this was life, this was getting his normal life back, with his friends, with the human family he had flanking either side of him with him at the center.
"Please, Opal Crystal," hoped Ignacio, quietly. This could work. It would work. This Opal Crystal would save them all. "Save us. Save them. End this pain of Barren Pines and let us live again, away from its cursed shackles and its false pretenses. Please."
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:07 am
When Aries took up the chain of hands, in Libra's mind Giselle Petrova screamed.
Painful, sharp memories, of fire, but most of all, of things that were not her, or were they? Familiar things, the depths of space, a burning on her hand, images and feelings that should not have been familiar to Giselle, and therefore were probably not Giselle at all, images invading her mind. Her civilian identity inside her did its best to fight them, to reassert itself like it always did. Giselle was used to an iron grip over her mental state, a constant reassertion of I am Giselle Petrova, over and over. But there were too many images, too many sensations washing over her, and as they washed over her, they washed out Giselle Petrova-
Which was when Libra thought No.
In all things there had to be balance. She grit her teeth and fished Giselle Petrova back, despite the images pouring into her mind, despite the uncomfortable naggings of things she was not used to, sensations of kinship and intimacy for these almost-strangers that she wasn't quite sure how to cope with. Libra had arrived, but just because she had arrived, didn't mean Giselle Petrova had to leave.
Pray as though you're going to live each day we lost!
She thought of the fire, of the zodiacs, but most of all, Libra thought overwhelmingly of Nestor Petrova, Katharine Petrova, and of Tatiana Konstantin, all of whom had gained her trust in a way she could remember, had always been there for her as her most reliable allies. She would not let one side of herself be drowned out with the introduction of another.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:17 am
Time was not on Sagittarius' side that day; it wasn't with him at all. No sooner had he involuntarily been drug from his grave in repeat performance than he was struck with the recollection of times before, deaths before. In a flash of colors, pain and dormant memories, everything came back. Some was fuzzy, some was not, but all of it was there, lingering.
It was nearly too much, and man or not, he almost broke the sacred holding of the line to run off somewhere else. Anywhere else. The relief that flooded him just by knowing was all that kept him in place. Tampering with his mind was the one thing that had truly been driving him mad. The murders around campus had angered him, the feeling of being trap had enraged him, but knowing there was something missing is what had pushed him to seek out information. It was what killed him.
Now, he knew why he felt this way around Hero. He knew everything.
Most importantly--or so he was telling himself--he knew the face of his murderer on a level far more personal than he would have ever imagined.
So much loss, so much death, so many times he had failed. Had he dealt with it all then, he would have surely crumbled. If his piece of the puzzle was to be put into place, he needed to be able to ignore things for now. To pray as though you would live each day required wanting to live each day, and Jude didn't. As heroic as they all looked standing there, Sagittarius felt like a coward if he let himself think about how much he wished they'd just left him alone.
So, he didn't.
Green eyes. Red hair. This is what he thought of.
Suddenly, he felt like a man of revenge--something he had never been before. After this, he decided, he was going to find that guy again, and he would pay. As soon as the barrier was down, he would find him. No eating. No sleeping. No waiting around for reuniting hugs and talks and things he wanted no part of. Just searching.
"Leo!" The tiara was thrown at him nonchalantly in a customary mannerism that always alerted those familiar with it Sagittarius had plans to charge in to battle. From the look on his face, it promised to be quite the clash of wills. "Hold this!"
Then he prayed more or less how Aries had demanded they do. If nothing else, the venomous thoughts had more power and honesty to them than had he tried to force himself to believe it was okay he was here.
I'm going to live, because you're going to die. Every day until I find you, I'll keep looking. May God help you when I do.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:56 am
Perhaps it was for the best that the quiet, dark-haired girl not open her eyes. She only would have lost her concentration after seeing so many beautiful outfits (she was a fashion designer and appreciated high quality work). Her heart continued to pound intensely, with the occasional skipped beat as she heard more calls. Gemini, Taurus, and Aries. Her deep purple eyes wanted to peek more than ever now that it was all "done." However, Captain Aries' words carried and managed to rest in her ears.
She had been faithfully praying, and she had no fear lingering in her heart as she had been doing as told. Only Captain Aries had managed to put a negative spin on the whole thing. There had been no thoughts of death in Yvette's mind until now, but now that she had been told to not pray as if she was going to die, she couldn't help but wonder now.
Not wanting to think over that sudden negative vibe for too long, she took a deep breath, as if trying to cleanse herself of that though. Instead, she focused even harder on her prayer, adjusting it slightly.
I pray to you, Opal Crystal. I don't know if I have any strength to lend, but please take any you need. Please save everyone. Please save my friends. I want to see everyone again. Please, help us all!
Her body began to subconsciously tremble slightly, as if her body had recognized all the effort this was going to take to fix the situation. Though her body had seemed to give slightly, she poured her heart and soul into her prayer, firmly squeezing each of her hands with her neighbors and holding the line with all the might of a quiet girl.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:05 pm
Virgo's smile grew brighter every time she saw another Zodiac return--each henshin that succeeded sent her confidence that they would get out soaring. As if there had ever been any doubt! Where there were Zodiacs, there was a way, had always been a way.
"Captain," chorused Virgo; because now, except for poor Zue, they really were back together. The Zodiacs, as they should have always been. Her smile faded, though; her eyes went a little unfocused as instead of staring at her compatriots with her smile, she was staring out into darkness--cold and alone--something was coming, always coming. She had to hold it back? That malevolence... Virgo shuddered, but at the burning pain around her finger she jolted back, smiling a little less certainly at Libra.
Pain--another fire. But everyone was there. That was the past, she could always do better this time. Always.
She took Leo's hand, set her head on his shoulder, and whispered: "I still want to try on the hat." Everything was right, it would still be right. The Opal Crystal, the Princess, everyone here would make it right. She would go home--visit Pop and Dad with Grayson, maybe, call her parents and--not go home to France, not so soon, but soon enough she would see them. See them here. Maybe she hadn't missed Christmas. Maybe...
With a shake of her head, she prayed. Please, Opal Crystal, we've been lost for so long!
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:23 pm
It was hard to concentrate when Remi was trying not to just sit there with his mouth gapping open, eyes wide as he watched his fellow classmates turn into shimmers and lights before reappearing as members of different eras and cultures. It was like culture day through history here at Barren Pines, but with far better costumes and better lighting. Remi had to turn his head to rub his eyes a moment, wondering if a tear at his eye was from being nearly blinded or just swept up in this whole show. It could be the swelling inside of his heart that kept flickering up and down, painful than overwhelmed, like being dumped by one girl and then finding the love of your live, over and over again. Part of him worried if he’d suffer a heart attach through all the stress, but luckily there was plenty to keep him distracted, and boy was he distracted.
While he told himself this was to get them all out of his hell hole, he couldn’t help take in all the revealing costumes, not to mention some of the unfortunate Zodiacs who had some rather hilarious outfits. When it came to Grayson, Remi waited with a held breath. Even though he met the kid for only a few moments, he was at least a face he recognized. Part of him felt like a awkward cheerleader, inwardly going ‘whoop-whoop’ for Gray to change. What he did change into caused Remi to bite his lips and hold his breath. What…was ….that?! The man was a bright light of yellow, gold, and orange. He had been expected a fearsome lion with some sort of Big Hair main and claws, but he turned into a man that nearly blinded him more than all the transformation lights before. Talk about a LOUD outfit, but was even more radiant was Gray’s smile. The boy’s face split into a wide grin, and Remi guessed, if he was happy, than that was all that mattered. Whatever this transformation meant, it looked as if each Zodiac felt grand afterwards. He wondered, deep down, what it was like. You had to wonder.
When he was shouted at to hold the line and pay attention, he snapped back, looking down at the grass in front of his knees before he heard yelling directed to other people further off. Looking up, he noted a mop of pink that Remi had been looking for ever since he entered the gym with the other survivors. “SAM!” He called out, lifting his hand that was still holding onto the person next to him and waving as best he could. He made it! They both made it, and now Sam was here. Remi had been worrying that the guy managed to get gobbled on by some greenies, but here he was!
Seeing Sam seemed just the thing to remind him of concentrating and thinking hopeful thoughts. They had to get out of here!
Opal Crystal. PLEASE get us out. I’ll try my hardest. I don’t know how to go about this, but I’ll try. I’ve already died and I’ll do it again if it means getting some people out. Just like before. If someone can live, then I’ll do it. I was already given a second chance to do this and hell, I’ll try my hardest. I might not be any transforming Zodiac with a costume and sparkles, but if you need me, I’ll give it my all. I’ve fought hard for my life before. I’ll fight again!
He squeezed the hands beside him, and forced himself to concentrate.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 5:18 pm
Aries looked like what one would expect the only person Andeon Boskovic would take orders from to look like; a ******** badass. When she rejoined the circle, remembrance and recognition slammed into him with the force of a semi-truck. Nothingness. Fire. A pain and emptiness beyond what he thought himself capable of feeling. A last, fleeting notion of guilt; they hadn't saved her. They couldn't save her.
They had all died together in the attempt.
I don't pray.
I never pray, but...
Andeon blinked, his eyes searching out the glowing form of their Princess. He remembered her so differently, fighting alongside them. No battle-scarce royalty afraid to sweat and bleed. She had fought with them, died with them. The bond that he shared with fourteen others – Chronos and Zue included – was deeper than anyone outside of that small circle could ever know. He squeezed the hands of those next to him; wait, was he holding a beer? Andeon's prayer was briefly disrupted by a wide-eyed stare followed by a grin. He had magical ******** beer. It was worth wearing a kilt.
Get serious. This is serious. Beer later.
But what if his beer got warm?
Shut up and pray you ******** idiot.
Andeon snapped himself out of his happy place, and bowed his head. Even he could understand the need for every ounce of help they could get.
Help her. Help us protect her.
Give her our strength. Give us just one more chance.
We are owed at least that much.
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