[SENSHI] Sailor Sinon // Sydney Martin

[Syusaki]

Abandoned Chivalry // Esperite, Sinon
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[Syusaki]

Rollercoasters

The town was dark, completely dark. Save for the meager number of dingy streetlights that wearily stood every couple of blocks. Yet their glow was so dim it hardly provided any sense of security to anyone that dared to venture around the city in the middle of the night.

At least it was enough to guide Sinon back home.

The beat of her boots clumping against the concrete was slow, filled with a sullen rhythm that echoed through her entire self. Her body leaned slightly forward as an arm listlessly hung by her side while the other rested on her bruised stomach. Though the soldier of lies held her head up high, she clearly looked like someone defeated—which wasn’t far from the truth.

Well, it was the truth, and her pride was just as bruised her body if not more.

Her house looming into sight, she drearily lifted her head to peer at the curtain-covered window that led into her room. She sighed quietly, lovingly imagining the comfort of her bed. Resisting the urge to tiredly stomp up the front steps, Sinon managed to silently open the door and slide inside, the lock softly clicking behind her.

Another depressed sigh. Hmmm.

By now she had de-henshined and slowly made her way up the narrow staircase to trudge into her room and flop on her bed. It creaked and moaned from the sudden weight, but Sydney didn’t care at this point. She rested her head on a pillow, tightly squeezing it as she re-watched the past hour or so in her head. Esperite. Esperite. Esperite.

The lieutenant’s name repeated over and over in her head. Eyes narrowed and lips pouted, she buried her face in the pillow. A part of her wanted to rage while the other part wanted to crawl into a hole and mope for who knew how long.

She didn’t think of herself as a talented senshi, but she didn’t think of herself as a no-good senshi either. She just thought of herself as . . . a senshi. Yet the idea of losing drove her made. The idea of having to flee a battle frustrated her to no end. It was like calling it quits during a role-play game and having to exit the battle or face the horrifying consequences of dying. Except this was worse because it was in real life. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

Her mind continuously bounced between fury and depression in a terrifying, stressful rollercoaster. Up. Down. Up. Up. Down. Up. Down. Down. At least, after a while it zapped the rest of her energy, allowing the redhead to finally fall asleep. Fortunately, the humiliating loss would not continue to chase and haunt after her in her dreams.

Sydney peacefully counted sheep until morning came, and the rollercoaster began again.  

[Syusaki]

[R] THE MORE YOU KNOW! // Ellie, Sydney
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[Syusaki]

[R] Hobby Buddies // Ignacio, Sydney
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[Syusaki]

Tap on the Head // Zephyr, Sinon
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[Syusaki]

Destiny City Halloween Masque // Sinon, bunch of people
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[Syusaki]

[R] Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! // Krazy Kiribani, etc.
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[Syusaki]

What to Do?

Sydney Martin did not know how to wrestle, but she didn’t think that even if she did it would have helped her all that much. Her expression filled with calm sadness, she stared at the Reno costume sprawled across her bed. It was wrinkled, so she mutely reached over to attempt to smooth out the folds, yet they stubbornly remained. The redhead deeply frowned. She sighed and began to carefully fold the clothes, hoping to save them for another occasion—most likely next Halloween.

Don Diablos. The sixteen-year-old was unfamiliar with wrestlers, but by now she had become accustomed to hearing that odd Spanish name. At first she had only vaguely known the athlete, her mind flashing back to that time in the arcade. She had been playing a wrestling game all by her lonesome until a rather zealous fangirl stepped in and challenged her to a round. Sydney fondly recalled the memory. At first she found the girl to be oddly obsessive with this Don Diablos person. She was wearing a replica of his mask, after all, but the freckle-faced girl had to admit that she had gaming skills. At least when it came to Don Diablos.

After shoving her clothes into her dresser, Sydney walked over to her desk where her laptop rested. She placed a knee on her chair and leaned over the keyboard, punching in a few terms as the results revealed articles about the wrestling match winner: Silent Night. She frowned at the headline. She didn’t mind that she had lost the match. Not at all! Don Diablos combined with the power of an enchanted crystal was a tough opponent to beat. It was pure luck that someone had actually managed to snag the orange shard.

Not that it stopped her from feeling disappointed with herself. She had no clue what these crystals were or why they were important, but now the Negaverse had swiped away two of them. How many more would appear? Would any more appear at all? It was like the Negaverse had just gained a mysterious trump card and no senshi would be prepared for what would happen.

No need to get depressed! It was just like what that strange, yet comforting woman had said at the masquerade, right? Easier said than done.

She slid into her seat, one leg crossed. It would be nice if senshi had some sort of online forum to communicate and discuss on, but Sydney supposed that wasn’t exactly the safest thing to do. So what could they do? Sydney began to type in various terms, looking up recent news articles in Destiny City regarding senshi and Negaverse alike.

Yet the girl had no idea where to start. What to do. Where to go. Who to collaborate with.

She felt lost.  

[Syusaki]

Step One

A certain redhead had been attempting to avoid the cemetery for as long as she could, but life was too jumbled up for Sydney to resist visiting her mother for any longer. She missed her so much. She missed her loving laugh. She missed her lectures. She missed her cooking. She missed everything about her.

The ride was unusually silent and devoid of distractions. Sydney had a habit of randomly introducing herself to strangers or suddenly stopping in front of a shopping window, intrigued by the sparkling displays. This time she was focused on promptly traveling to her destination. Her expression solemn and concentrated, no one dared to bother the skateboarder as she weaved through the city streets that bustled with cars and pedestrians.

When she saw the black iron gates up ahead, she stopped a few yards away. Her mind willed her body to continue moving forward, but it numbly stayed in place—fortunately out of the way of any speeding cars. Her mother’s funeral replayed itself in her head and Sydney pursed her lips. She closed her eyes, pushing her board towards the gate.

Step one completed.

It wasn’t that difficult to find Annie’s grave. Sydney had memorized its exact location—the least she could do after driving her mother absolutely bonkers with her puerile antics and spazzy behavior. Her mother had always scolded and lectured her about proper manners and behavior. They were annoying, but she realized it meant that she cared. She frowned.

Conveniently located under the shade of a willow tree, Sydney bent down and plopped herself on the grass, the board by her side. She simply stared at it for a few moments, wondering how to begin the awkward conversation.

“Hi Mom,” she spoke after a while.

Step two completed.

She hunched over, hugging her gangly legs close to her chest. “Life has been okay. Dad tried to take over your chores. Didn’t work.” Sydney managed to crack a smile. “So me and Jayden and the twins are covering things for you. Not as great, but we manage.” She turned quiet for a few minutes.

“It’s lonely. You know, without you,” she later confessed, hugging herself even tighter. “Did you know? I’m a senshi. One of those ‘terrorists’? We’re not terrorists though. If anything, the Negaverse are the terrorists. They’re the bad guys, but right now the bad guys seem to be winning.” She blurted everything else out in one hasty string of sentences. Realizing what she had just admitted, Sydney quickly looked around for anyone passing by. There were none.

“The bad guys are winning, but the good guys are supposed to win! Right? Or is that not how things work in the real world?” Sydney vainly asked, and as expected she received no answer.

Huddled in a tight ball, she mindlessly stared at her mother’s grave for a little while more, still just as lost as before.  

[Syusaki]

[R] We're All Juvenile Delinquents // Paris, Sydney
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[Syusaki]

Winter Arrival

It felt like it had been forever since Sydney last saw snow. Snow was always reserved for winter, the coldest time of the year. A real shame in Sydney’s opinion, since it was white powdery goodness that could close down schools if it blasted hard enough—and it was just too much fun to roll around in snow. Snow should come more often was what Sydney always whined to her mother once spring rolled around, but Annie would always calmly remind her that if snow came more often the girl wouldn’t appreciate it as much. The keen observation always rendered the redhead silent.

Normally she would have hastily thrown on her winter clothes and immediately bound outside to frolic around in the snow, but this year was not normal. After realizing the first blanket of snow had arrived at last, Sydney mutely peered through the foggy window in her room. Tiny specks lazily spiraled down to join the white sea, but she made no move to put on a thick coat or to even run around the house happily yelling. Wide eyes longingly stared at the peaceful spell that had befallen her neighborhood, turning it into a snowy wonderland.

Yet her mother wasn’t here to see it.

Sydney pursed her lips, eyes downcast. Not even a stray mouse squeaked inside the house and the silence was killing her. The silence was separating her from the rest of her family—her brothers, her father. The silence was leaving her alone. The silence was turning her into another empty hollow, just like those blank-faced people that dotted the streets while looking lost and abandoned. She imagined her mother’s voice echoing in her head—though it wasn’t exactly her mother’s voice, it had been so long since she last heard it and Sydney was afraid of forgetting it. ”The best part about you is that you’re always so excited and brimming with energy. Always keep that, okay?” “Okay!”

Sydney wasn’t keeping her word.

Determined to keep her promise, she slowly stood up and strolled out of her bedroom, down the carpeted staircase, through the cold kitchen, and toward the coat closet by the front door. The closet creaked open. Her eyes filling with nostalgia, she slowly sifted through the many coats and scarves that littered the tiny room. She delicately shrugged on her coat, black and thin, worn from many years of use. Sydney noted the weary fabric so she wrapped a long maroon scarf around her neck. Although not as new and thick as she would have preferred, it was a reminder of her many days running around in the snow. While she ran her fingers over the soft material she glanced down, spotting her old boots. She slid them out and slipped into the shoes.

When she walked outside, Sydney was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not as chilly as she thought it was. She remained under the safety of the front porch, but reached out a tentative hand to collect the fragile crystals of snow.

She smiled softly. It would be nice if this winter could be like the rest.  

[Syusaki]

[R] Think Fast! // Jayden, Sydney
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[Syusaki]

Snowglobes

The interesting rose design of the snowglobe’s base had immediately caught Sydney’s eye while she strolled through the busy mall. She had never been that particularly interested in snowglobes, at least not for long. Shake. Look. Shake. Look. It was a repetitive process that quickly bored the red-haired bundle of energy. Yet, the vaguely familiar figure trapped behind the shining glass piqued her interest. Despite its tiny porcelain appearance, Sydney was reminded of the strange glowing woman at the Halloween Masquerade. She had no idea who she was, just faint rumors she occasionally heard from others. Sydney had no clue what good having a snowglobe of a woman she didn’t even know would do, but she figured it might be worth something.

She watched a small boy walk away from the line, curiously twirling a knob at the back so that the toy whispered a soft tune. Entranced, her freckled face remained transfixed on the boy’s snowglobe all the way until he merged with the bustling crowd of holiday shoppers. Lips parted into a tiny, awed smile before she scrambled for the back of the raffle line. She had never been that particularly interested in snowglobes, at least not for long, but the tune was comforting and nostalgic—she wanted it.

It took her numerous tries before Sydney managed to get her eager claws on a snowglobe, but at least now she had one. Her eyes glowed with child-like wonder and glee as she raised the sphere to her face and peered at the figurine daintily standing in the middle of everything. Now that Sydney was looking at the snowglobe closely, it was not that heavily decorated. The overall design was rather simple, but delicate at the same time. It was aesthetically pleasing, Sydney noted—hopefully that statement had some weight, since she was considering being a graphics design major.

Sydney placed the globe at the edge of her windowsill as soon as she arrived home, brushing off stray flakes of snow that dug themselves into her spikey autumn hair. The outside was cold, even with her winter colds, but at least inside her house the heater was at full blast and kissing away her frostbite.

Silently—these days she seemed to have a mute button that was always pushed as soon as she passed through the front door of her home—she rested her arms on the windowsill and admired the glass figurine and the snowglobe. Gentle fingers ran themselves down the glass before finally twining around the thin knob. Head cradled between her arms, Sydney twirled the stick a few times and let the melody flow throughout her room. She closed her eyes and listened, her hand wading out into the darkness to spin the knob another time when the song ended, beginning the tune all over again.  

[Syusaki]

Time to Go Back
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[Syusaki]

[B?] Christmas Eve
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