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Dark Mirror Eternal Senshi Avior of Walls

Though this time around Acubens apologized, Avior did not choose to acknowledge her. He didn't want to continue talking to someone who would snap so easily at people and threaten him as if she were someone far more powerful and responsible that he was. Avior was many, many things, but tolerant of disrespect wasn't one of them.

Instead he chose to focus on his two friends, leading them along during the short trip it took to get to the dining area, his eyes wandering around at the grandeur of it all. It reminded him greatly of growing up, participating in overly extravagant parties and entertaining guests that were often rude or condescending because his English wasn't quite perfect, or because he was nervous and trembled slightly when talking. Luckily, that wasn't the case at all now, and the sense of unease quickly ebbed away. He was content to quietly go about his way, turning his gaze behind him every now and then to give Crocus and Kiuchi a reassuring smile. They were certainly seemed alright, Crocus more than Kiuchi, but any further assistance wasn't needed from him. That was great as well; nothing good could come from not giving their team mates any room to grow.

To his surprise, Laverna seemed to address them both again, and that same awkward blush came to his cheeks. It was unusual being addressed so casually, even less so after he was scolded for what felt like a silly reason, but he took it in stride. After giving Crocus a quick elbow in his side, then nodding towards Diadem, he took a step forward with a smile.

Taking a page from Crocus' book in being rather... Wonderful and ridiculous and carefree, Avior bowed with one hand in front of his belly, the other behind his back, before offering his arm to Laverna.

"Of course, Miss. I would be honored to escort you this evening to this rather unorthodox dining session. And I'm sure my dear friend wouldn't mind taking your friend's arm as well." Of course, there was no way he could actually determine whether or not Crocus would play along, there was no reason not to try. It was the Senshi of Saffron who was slowly teaching him to let things go more often and how to see the bright side of things, and there was no better way he could try to show his gratitude that he could think of than trying to find the humor in a rather awkward and worrisome situation. He certainly owed him that much for his kindness and support.

To his own surprise, he found himself rather enjoying escorting Laverna around until they reached the crystal table, at which he let go of her arm and pulled her chair out.

He knew the situation wasn't the best, and he knew that there was still a chance they may be in danger, but if there was anything he learned from Crocus, it was that dramatics were a fantastic way to deal with stress. And perhaps his display of his generally gentlemanly nature would shine far brighter than Acubens' rash and unfriendly ways thus far. Even if he was not the same young man he was three years ago before he left the city, somewhere deep down inside of him remained a vindictive, easily slighted young man.

"A seat for you miss? It seems our meals have already been served... I do not mind being the test subject for this meal, incase you were curious in trying it. Same goes to you, Crocus, and Diadem as well. "

Diadem

An Asteroid... Diadem mouthed the words silently, before blinking and returning her attention to Laverna and the others, flashing Crocus a smile she hoped was demure (when she was in fact starved and salivating for more answers.)

"A gentleman." She praised, allowing Crocus. "I try not to object to real gentleman, they're a rare breed. The self titled ones less so." She answered Laverna, as they walked. Crocus though raised an excellent question. Could they eat the food? They could breathe the air... but then they could also transform, use magical powers she could not fully explain, and had traveled through a mirror and almost been lost in a void.

"It wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened today. Being able to eat what we're offered I mean. I've never heard of an Asteroid that could hold an atmosphere. Have you?" She pointed out, but gently, clearly wondering. "I mean... not in the way we would normally understand."

The point was magic. The point, frequently, she had to admit, tended to be 'because magic'. And she was dimly remembering word of 'homeworlds' they were not able to reach. Homeworlds in space. Asteroids were in space. -They were in space-.

...In... ways different than earth was. Which was... it was amazing... if it was true. But it was head spinning to imagine. And the crystals... She could theorize, but it was all spiderwebs and guess work. She was -itching- to know more. And the food... it looked as though you might decorate with it, rather than eat it. Which begged a not-entirely-human sort of life...

"Gresit Quadrant... help me remember that?" She encouraged the others, Laverna and Crocus and Avior, because if she could learn anything... well... she needed a notebook. Or other people to help remember, as she tentatively nudged at the pretty offerings on her plate that the Queen was calmly cutting into. She'd read a book once, with a city where creatures lived so decadent that they ate gold and gems, biting into them like juicy dribbling fruit, but these did not seem to resemble that. She feared for her teeth. Everything here was so... so crystaline. But not the queen... she couldn't wrap her head around it, save to compare it to yet more stories. Like the Beast and his castle full of... well in some telling invisible or ghostly servants.

"I'm very curious." She added to Avior "But nervous. Be gentle on your mouth."


"It's all so lovely." She added, to the Queen. "And so... different... from what we're used to. Are..." She wasn't sure this was not a rude question, but... "... Dismiss my question if it's rude but your... staff, your guard... they look so... different. Are there others like you here?"

She wanted to ask about -everythinnnnng- and damnit, she didn't have a notebook. Could she ask for a notebook? Would that be rude? Would they just give her... she wasn't sure. A small chisel and tablet of rock?

Logos

Gresit Quadrant? Asteroids blocking sunlight? A woman who viewed them through a mirror and pulled them into her palace? Logos couldn't quite remember the name of the place, this castle. Solamnia? Something like that. Logos wasn't too concerned about remembering everything at this time - there was an overwhelming amount of information headed her way.

She kept herself calm as best she could amidst the multitude of conversations going on around her. Altea. This woman's name is Altea, and her servants made of crystal were downright creepy. Logos gave them a wide berth, knowing that, as a cadet, she wasn't packing much power. She would do everything she could to defend herself, but if she was correct, the people around her were, by and large, much more powerful.

Perception. Remember your perception. Altea does not feel like us. She is strange, and her castle must be watched.

Logos walked silently to stand behind someone in a hood and mask who sat at the table. The green newbie didn't feel compelled to stop and eat something that didn't even remotely resemble food. It could be poisonous, for all they knew. Standing shock-straight, Logos kept her hands behind her, watching the Queen with suspicion.

Eternal Sailor Tantalus

Tantalus stuck by Leto as they followed the strange Queen down the corridor, keeping his expression as blandly pleasant as possible in case she payed too much attention. As they walked, he observed, taking in the castle, the strange servants, all of it. There was something distinctly not right about all of this.

Crystal and glass were not supposed to grow. Crystal and glass were not supposed to move.

"Acubens," he greeted lightly, taking a seat and leaving one open between the two of them for Leto. He regarded the crystal food with subtle distrust.

"There is something fae about all this, isn't there?" He agreed. "And of course you never accept food from the Fair Folk." Food, or kindness, or shelter. All of it would demand repayment. Altea had been soft, and welcoming, so far, but he wasn't exactly ready to rely on that continuing to be true. "Best to be cautious."

There was no part of this he liked. They were far beyond their own star, in a place he doubted had been mapped by Earth's astronomers. Even if she was no literal faerie queen and this was not Fairyland, they were just as trapped as if it were.

Acubens looked up from her notes to smile at a familiar face. Tantalus... the man from the park... this was comparatively speaking a more peaceful scenario and she was glad to have another friendly face since all of hers were forging their own paths. She was glad for them. Crocus was charming his way into everyone's heart, Kiuchi was finally finding his voice. It was good to see. But that didn't mean that she wasn't getting a little lonely. Tantalus was a welcome face.

"Hello Tantalus," she greeted back with a smile. "I agree, I'm feeling more and more like Persephone by the moment. I'm surprised that there are no pomegranates on the table..." Acubens looked around just in case. She continued, her voice low so as not to be heard by their impromptu "host", "I think I'll just starve."

She also tried to make eye contact with her three other charges as though she might convey her concern that way... would they understand? Be so careful wheny ou are out from under my wings, you three. Be so careful.

Dark Mirror Eternal Senshi Avior of Walls

Despite it being a horrible idea, Avior did, in fact, take a piece of the crystal and pop it into his mouth, much like a child would take a shiny bead and do so, regardless of whether or not it was good for them. It was tasteless in all ways, but melted quickly on his tongue and went down easily.

"It's tasteless..." He murmured to his small group of acquaintances, "But surprisingly filling... Rejuvenating, even... It reminds me of little hard candies that you suck on, but it melts immediately like spun sugar." The small meal had him smiling, and he was tempted to tuck some pieces into his pocket for later examination, but not just yet. Not when the queen was still talking. And it would be even more wrong to flick the piece of crystal he held in his fingers towards Crocus, which he was ever so tempted to do for a laugh. Not right now, however, for that would be impolite as well.

When there was a brief moment of quiet, Avior spoke up once again to directly address the queen with a slight bow of his head and a appreciative smile.

"Thank you, your majesty, for the meal you have provided. It's like nothing I've ever tasted on my tongue, but is incredibly refreshing. May I ask exactly what it is? Are these crystals perhaps your only form of sustenance here in your star system?"

After Avior had dived into the meal of crystals and gave his thanks, he noticed the young woman (Logos) who suddenly appeared behind Laverna after he had pushed her chair in and took his own seat. Not wanting to be rude, he stood again, offering her his seat beside the woman she seemed to be drawn to initially.

"Oh, Miss, there is no need for you to stand, there's certainly plenty of space for everyone. Despite our arguments earlier, I'm sure you'll find yourself among generally good company." That being said, he smiled again, taking a different seat a space away from Laverna to make sure the new girl knew she was welcomed among their small group. After that was settled, He looked again towards her, curious to know where she came from out of no where, but knowing it was impolite to do so out of nowhere.

"Did you arrive here alone? I don't believe we've met before, though the time for introductions my not quite be here yet. When we are in a more comfortable place, I would be happy to speak with you more about the goings on thus far."

Sailor Sinope

Sinope groaned as he came to, but for once, he didn't bother speaking. Everyone else was doing that already and it made his head hurt. As he carefully got up and looked around, taking in the pale, translucent, colorful crystals that seemed to cover everything, he silently eavesdropped on the older Dark Mirror Senshi speaking. At first it was to the unfamiliar, royal-looking woman who seemed to have pulled them through the mirror into her domain, but then they began to quarrel among themselves.

He recalled that being in a group meant little to no control over the flow information when he heard Acubens tell Avior she thought he'd divulged too much. Then the one called Laverna defended him, only for Acubens to turn on and argue with her, too. Naturally, Diadem chimed in to argue back and Avior then stepped in to remind them that they shouldn't argue amongst themselves. Sinope closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. He knew they were all stressed and probably scared, but the bickering was only intensifying his headache.

At the very least, they seemed to have been out of danger. For that, Sinope was both grateful and perturbed. Sure, they seemed safe now, but how safe? It just added a whole new element to the unknown that they had been facing just a while ago. And now he felt like he owed this woman; this 'Queen Altea' as she called herself. Having seen the portrait between the two staircases, Sinope wondered vaguely if the other people in the picture aside from the self-proclaimed queen were her family. He wondered if they were dead, but he wasn't sure he dared to ask just yet.

The beings that the Queen Altea commanded immediately reminded him of the mirrorwraiths that the Dark Mirror Court summoned through their mirror shards. He stared at the openly, observing their movements and wondering what other similarities they might have had with the creatures he knew. When the queen asked that their group come with her and suggested 'a good meal' to ease their tensions, Sinope followed with the others, but had no intention whatsoever of ingesting anything that came from this odd land of Solamnia.

He pondered whether Solamnia was the name of the castle or the kindgom the castle presided over, but if it was the former, could it have been that there was nothing more to the woman's home than this structure? She had been watching their mirror when she had decided to help them out, according to her. Did that mean she had nothing better to do than to look out at the world through her looking glass? Had she always had the ability to spy on them? Was it just Mirrorspace she had access to?

Sinope had lingered toward the back and attempted to keep a low profile since he woke from having been pulled through the mirror. Crocus, Kiuchi, and the others had mostly seemed too overwhelmed by all that had been happening to notice he was there, which was good. They were taking things a little at a time and the last thing they needed was another useless reason to worry about, especially when he was perfectly fine.

However, upon scanning their ranks, he witnessed Sadalsuud glancing around and realized with a start that she might have been looking for him. Did she really concern herself with him that much? Maybe he was mistaken and she was simply taking in their surroundings. Or looking for someone else.

On the off chance she was still looking for him, though, his guilty conscience wouldn't let him ignore her. And in truth, even if he really didn't want them to, he couldn't help but feel grateful that someone, at least, seemed to worry about him. Even if there was absolutely no reason for her to.

"Sadalsuud," he said, hurrying to catch up with her, but trying to keep from startling her at the same time. "Sorry I got split from you for a bit, there." He noticed she had a white crystal out - much like the one he himself had picked up from Mirrorspace before - and was comparing it to the ones all around. They did seem really similar. "...I wonder what connection this place has to Mirrorspace," he murmured aloud unconsciously.

So the queen knew about asteroids and senshi, but not their court. Fantastic. Even people and places, they didn't even know were more aware of the White Moon Court than them. Though, Sinope realized, this was probably for the best. If no one knew about them, no one was likely to want to target them as enemies.

As soon as he set eyes on the food, the redhead felt even less inclined to eat than before. He did, however, still take a seat continued to listen to the queen as she answered the questions of their court.

Hmm...so this Altea had been able to walk through mirrors before, too? But now she was shut out from them? That was ominous. Did that mean someday, the mirrors might have shut out the members of their court as well? Was it all dependant on the whims of Mirrorspace? If she was shut out by them, though...how had she managed to reach in and pull them out into her world?

The woman made a comment about it having been lonely there and again Sinope's mind drifted to the portrait that had been on the wall. Soon enough, though, the others were asking more questions on his own mind, such as Kiuchi asking about Altea's loneliness and her servants. All of a sudden, the senshi of slyness wondered if he could summon a mirrorwraith in this place, if only to see if he could. It would have been nice to try to compare them with the humanoid beings, though, as well.

The words 'Fair Folk' reached his ears and Sinope sat up, glancing over to the speaker (Tantalus). Yes! That was exactly what he'd been thinking this was like - eating fairy food! Another story had come to mind as well, but before he could voice it, Acubens had spoken it aloud - Persephone and her pomegranates from the Underworld. There was something nice about knowing his fellow court members were thinking along the same lines he was. There were far too many stories about eating strange food from otherworldly places without knowing the full consequences.

Well, while people were still distracted with things other than him, Sinope decided to take out both his white crystal and his mirrorshard. Sitting at the table, he kept both hidden under the table as he concentrated on summoning a mirrorwraith from the shard.

Sailor Sadalsuud

Queen Altea had led them through another hallway, one that was also covered in crystals - but whilst the crystals seemed similar to the ones that she had been looking at earlier, they once again seemed to lack any similarity with the one that Sadalsuud had found in mirror space.

As she continued to follow Altea, Sadalsuud noticed that they seemed to pass a number of doors along the way.

A number of closed doors.

She didn't think too much on it however and eventually she found herself in what appeared to be some sort of dining room with a huge table.

She couldn't help but eye the crystalline figures curiously as they bustled around preparing stuff as she took one of the seats by Sinope because they looked so very curious, her stomach rumbling as it once again reminded her that the last time that she had eaten had been a while back–

Then food was being laid out - crystalline-like food that looked like nothing that she had ever seen...

And Sadasuud found herself suddenly missing her mother's battered prawns and chilli.

She made no attempt to reach for any of the pieces of crystalline-like food, ignoring the conversations around her as she looked down at her hands instead - her thoughts momentarily on home - and her parents.