[INTRO] Glorious Dawn

[Silverah]

Europa was about to ask Kurma what on earth he meant by that when, suddenly, they weren't even on earth at all. All told, it seemed like a pretty silly question now that they were floating somewhere between Destiny City and Mars. "Ohmygod," she squeaked, and grabbed hold of Polaris's arm because she was closest.

No science museum or planetarium on the entire planet could possibly compare to this. She had to wonder if this was how astronauts felt - Tallulah had never entertained fantasies of going to space as a child, but now she could most certainly see the allure. It was beautiful out here - the world was missing out on a fantastic view.

All logical thought abandoned her. Critical thinking and conspiracy theories were abandoned in favor of pure, unadulterated awe. It defied logic and expectation and most of all science, but then again a lot of things had been doing that today and Europa's suspension of disbelief was growing more elastic by the minute.

After a few more seconds of stunned silence, she managed to stammer, "This is how?" (Grammar had abandoned her, too.)  

[x_Nata_x]

There was a distinctive little impulse in Pegasus to reply to Kurma's comment, but in the end she didn't get much of a chance, much too busy giving the floating man a startled look at the comment which had followed the initial one. It was a simple comment, almost completely dismissed by the black-haired man himself, yet it was enough to provoke a knee-jerk reaction in her, a cold wave of sudden and uncharacteristic nervous adrenaline flooding her veins and settling in the pool of her stomach. They? Cryptic, as most of Kurma's seemed to be, and Pegasus tried to reason herself out of the conclusion she had jumped to, trying to suppress the sudden need to grab his attention. It was very likely he did not really mean what he said in the way she took it -- he was cryptic, remember, and she didn't know who he was. Still... it wasn't possible that perhaps... maybe...?

It visibly took a few seconds for the senshi of dreams to recover, completely missing the rest of Kurma's speech as well as Nemesis' little jab entirely in that span of time. Her attention was just beginning to refocus when the mysterious man gave a nod, her eyebrows furrowing a little in confusion like a schoolgirl who'd just woken mid-lecture from a nap at his comment, and had she been listening she might have tried to stop him before the the golden light engulfed them, ripping the ground from under their feet. As it was, instead she just stood there, lifting a hand to block her eyes as it suddenly blinded them, shutting her eyes tight as if that might stop this new 'attack.' The feeling of both negative and positive gravitational forces suddenly pulling at her from all sides left her dizzy and disoriented, and as they suddenly emerged Pegasus felt like she wasn't sure if she was right-side-up, the nothingness providing no support.

That was what gave her pause first -- the feeling of nothingness. She was used to the constant rush of noise, no matter how small, the feel of air against her skin no matter how thin or still, even the smell of clean air, but even that was gone. Eyes closed, there was just nothing. For a brief moment, she considered the fact that maybe Kurma had been evil all along, the blast some magical attack that had instantly killed her. Yet like everyone else, she opened her eyes, revealing the vast space that swept out in all directions around the group, and once again they widened slightly, her breath catching in her throat.

"My god..."

There might have been just a slight shimmer of gold around the inner ring of her iris as Pegasus turned her head to look over her shoulder, spinning weightlessly at Kurma's prompting to face the bright blue planet, the usual questions of how and why completely abandoned to the sheer overwhelmingness of it all. She was not immune to it -- no amount of shared knowledge could have prepared her, and perhaps the human part of her had never really believed it was true. There was a difference between knowing it to be true and seeing it.

Turning back around, she stared wordlessly at Kurma, confusion, bewilderment and the slightest hint of fear etched into her expression.  

[Marsh the Sex Panda]

Eskimo watched Kurma right himself and she had a feeling he wasn't going to tell them they were going to become astronauts. That sort of thing took time and was much too simple an explanation.

The explanation that he did give was anything but simple. They really weren't supposed to be from earth? That made her head spin a little, but she could roll with it she supposed since she had in fact been born here.

His little speech made her wrinkle her nose and furrow her eyebrows in thought. Time to remember? Remember what? She remembered everything she needed to about being Amelia. Of course, it didn't register in her head that maybe this mysterious stranger meant remember about being Eskimo.

Her mouth opened about to ask where they were going, but she didn't have time to make a sound. A light as bright as the sun blinded her and instinctively her eyes snapped shut, her arm being thrown over them. Her other hand grabbed onto the closest thing, which happened to be Merope's arm.

The feeling of transit was indescribable, it was like someone took her out of her skin and let expand to encompass everything, but she was spread so thin it was like being nowhere. Luckily the unsettling feeling didn't last long and they got to wherever they were going.

Her arm was still over her face, and her other hand was still gripping Merope's arm, but...that was all she could feel. It was quiet, and eerie. It was like treading in a pool full of water, only there was no water. Very slowly she dropped her arm, let go of Merope and opened her eyes. Which then widened to the size of plates. There were stars everywhere, everywhere she looked there were stars. And when she looked down to see what they were standing on there was nothing but more stars. They were floating in space.

Kurma's words pulled her from her observation of the stars and she realized with a start that he was actual able to speak, which meant they were able to breathe and it dawned on her that she had been subconsciously holding her breath. Cautiously she took a tiny breath in and when that didn't kill her a bigger one, her eyes lighting up. She was breathing in space. This was so cool! Much better than being astronauts.

Remembering Kurma's suggestion she twirled around to look and her jaw dropped. Any small doubt she might have had was wiped out right there. That was her home planet suspended in space in all it's glory. The amazing factor was overwhelming and she looked back at Kurma. "I want to remember, I want to remember everything." Her voice was quiet but strong, if remembering had anything to do with something this awe inspiring she was in.  

[Marushii]

Sailor Merope frowned as Eskimo brought up the possibility of Kurma being an alien. "I don't know," he replied slowly, "Do you think either of us could get close enough to tug on his face and see if he's wearing a mask? You're taller than me and could probably grab it, but since he's upside-down I might have a better chance..." He trailed off before a thought struck him. "If he's an alien, why does he keep his space helmet tied up like that? It'd be harder to lose, but..."

He trailed off as Kurma addressed them, Merope's frustration and confusing growing as the stranger went on. Not supposed to be from Earth?! Did this mean he was going to change?! Merope ran a hand through his hair, checking for any weird growths. He didn't want to wake up one morning to discover that he became a tall grey-skinned creature with large black eyes. Or a short green one. Either way, he didn't want to -- the golden light hit, and Merope tried to throw his arms up to shield his face. He succeeded with one of his arms -- the other was being held tightly by Sailor Eskimo.

It wasn't until he felt his arm being let go that he opened his eyes before squeezing them shut again, then opening them yet again to stare wordlessly. There were so many stars. How could this be? Having lived in an urban setting, then in the city, the only night sky he knew of was one that had very few stars. And half of those stars weren't even stars! He had wished upon a falling star many times as a child, only to discover that they were late-night planes instead. No wonder he never got that dirt bike he wanted so badly as a kid.

He turned around as soon as Kurma pointed out what was behind them, drawing a sharp breath. "So that's what it really looks like," he said softly, trying to sit down. Instead, the Senshi of Rogue Waves ended up toppling and flipping backwards, flailing about for several minutes until he simply stopped moving. Once he was more or less still, the senshi stretched, placing his hands behind his head as if he was on an invisible hammock. "So, uh," he began, using a quick "Um" as a placeholder for Kurma's name, "How do you move around? As much as I'd like to be looking at everyone side-ways, I'd like to be right-side up again please. Can someone spin me around? Anybody? Please?"  

[LizzyMoo]

So many things were running through the eternal senshi of Rainbows' mind. Most consisted of curse words, but the notion of anger towards ********* and a hint of curiosity mixed in. Iris assumed that ********* knew that whole ordeal about not being from earth, but maybe 2% of her brain actually questioned if this really was the case. Doubt wasn't something Iris dealt with frequently, and when she did, it really messed with her usual mode of operation.

About the only thing to fall out from her lips at this point in time was the simple fact "...apparently I'm an alien... f*ck..."

To make matters worse, this Kurma dude was suggesting a change of scenery. Were they supposed to walk someplace that wasn't the middle of the city? Maybe someplace a bit more secluded so he could talk about important matters? "What th'f*ck do ya mean, Kur...?!!!" She hadn't even finished her question when the light surrounded everyone, almost sucking all of the breath from the yellow-suited senshi's lungs. The light was too intense, even more intense than any of her Rainbow Slicers could ever be. Her eyes just had to pinch themselves shut. When her eyes opened up it was different.

Very different. The blonde's golden eyes didn't even have to look around too far to find the stars. They were pretty much everywhere! Normally, it would have been pretty gay to admire stars, but this was a rare exception. It wasn't like anything on Earth.

In fact, as she continued to look around, the Earth soon enough came into view. "Holy f*ck!" Yeah, this was definitely a change of scenery!

"Dude, what th'f*ck Kurma?!! What th'f*ck did ya do?!!!" Iris tugged almost nervously against the long strands of hair that dangled past her ears.  

[LadyNozomi]

Perseus gaped at the sudden change in scenery. She had forgotten? What exactly had she forgotten? And then...and then. Regardless of the fact if she was in space or not, it took her breath away. "It's so... It's so beautiful." To be honest, it was more beautiful than she'd ever imagined.

When Castor questioned her, she stared at him a bit dumbly before shaking her head. "I wish my illusions where as epic as this." There was no way that this was an illusion. The feeling of floating in space, the silence and vast emptyness of it... there was no way for that feeling to ever be replicated without being there.

Experimentally, Perseus tried to start moving around, finding it a bit like floating and a bit like walking both, and also a bit like nothing she'd ever felt before. She couldn't really find any words to say, large silver blue eyes just staring off at the earth. "Its breathtaking." The senshi of hail was next to her, and she found herself leaning a shoulder on him for support. It felt reassuring to be touching something solid and tangible. Even if that solid and tangible object was just as stranded and floaty as herself.  

[Iris_virus]

-He hadn't really answered her question.. or statement. Unless he really had in some riddle for her to untangle. Something she'd forgotten. Ending up lost. If ever Polaris had felt lost it was true... since halloween something had been wrong inside her. Possibly even before that.

Still... was he saying a trip to space could bring back whatever that was? That a little gaze at the stars was enough to rejuice them? Or maybe they WOULD be given more powers. Ones that had been forgotten by those on earth.. because goodness knew noone ever seemed to know what was going on. And if they did, they remained tight lipped.

She had been about to question Kurma again when it was suddenly bright.. and then dark... and then so so unbelievable quiet. Her eyes, squeezed tight to shield her from the light and surprise slowly fluttered open, taking in a sight unlike anything she'd ever seen.

At one point she had believed her namesake, the Aurora Borealis, to be the most beautiful sight in the world, but now... The ocean of stars was unending and magnificent, her eyes searching needily for her senshi namesake. She didn't find it, uncertain of where even to look among the hundreds of thousands glittering before her.

Europa's hand on her arm drew her back to 'figurative earth', just in time to turn and see the literal earth. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted in a silent o of awe. It was all so beautiful... and though she was speechless she could help but agree with her similarly dressed fellow senshi. She wanted to remember too.-  

[Kaori_luv]

Maia gave the Kurma a curious look at his notion that they had lost their way. It made sense, it did. Senshi were being awakened very often, but none of them knew how or why and it wasn't explained to them. It did seem like they were a lost breed.

She continued to stare at him as she spoke of starting at the source and changes of scenary. Her senses were completely on egde and then she was awashed with a weird feeling that made her flinch and she opened her eyes to space.

Maia looked around with wide frightened eyes, not at all calm, but when told to turn around she did and WOW. Earth from space was so very blue, so large, so beautiful. "This is so amazing. The most amazing thing I have even seen."

She turned and looked back to Kurma giving a small grin. This was a once in a life time experience and she was amazed and grateful. "Thank you," she said softly, then a bit louder. "I am Sailor Maia, by the way."

No she did not trust him completely, but he seemed to want to help them and he had given them such a precious gift thus far.  

[cibarium]

Kurma's demeanor had changed as dramatically as the scenery had. Now that he was no longer grounded to a planet with all of its novelties and distractions, he looked very much like a man in his element: while everyone else was awkwardly whirling and spinning and leaving themselves at all kinds of orientations, he floated as freely and easily as a fish in water. And he was regarding them all with a knowing smile, like a teacher whose students had all at once understood the point of his lesson.

"The power to cross the universe," he said, "is a sacred thing, as wondrous as it is dangerous... and one of the reasons for my existence is to ensure the knowledge of it remains safe." For once, he was starting to make sense -- maybe being out in space cleared his head, or maybe this was one of those rare subjects he could speak clearly on. It was hard to tell.

"Of course..." and, effortlessly, he slid against the backdrop of endless stars until he'd circled them all and the Earth was behind him, "...sometimes I'm around because that knowledge needs to be shared for some reason, instead of locked away. It seems like now is one of those occasions... and I showed up here to share a little bit of this power with you. Does that sound about right?"

Kurma closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and nodded again, slowly. It hadn't sounded like a rhetorical question, but at the same time it looked like he had already made up his mind. He put a hand up to his chin and for a few moments, didn't say much -- thinking about what to do next and how to go about this, probably. Then the lightbulb must have clicked on over his head, as soon enough his eyes snapped open and he pulled the thin rope of his orb to bring it closer to him, and he lightly swiped it with the tips of his fingers.

Immediately everyone's phones started buzzing in their hands or in their subspace pocket, demanding to be summoned. Kurma grinned.

"Yeah, there we go. If those can tap into this thing, that'll work just fine. Gotta love those cats. You'll be able to show your friends this trick when it's all said and done, too -- now, listen."

Presumably he meant to listen to him, but he hadn't continued on his monologue, and his hands were spread in a loose gesture that regarded their surroundings. The stars winked silently around them, and Kurma looked oddly serene to be in the middle of all of it... almost as if he was entering some sort of trance. Did he mean to invite everyone else to do the same?

His voice crawled out of the silence again, carefully paced.

"Every star," he explained, "every planet... every asteroid and comet... every single light you can see around you, and all the ones beyond... if you listen closely enough, they all have their own voice. No single one is the same to any other -- and yet they all sing together in perfect harmony, across fathomless expanses and eons, forming the neverending, great song of the cosmos."

Kurma waited, and observed, looking for the little changes in expression that would show him who was catching on. Slowly, surely, they would, it was impossible for them not to... eventually they would notice that the Earth, the Moon, and all the stars around them were ringing, humming in a way that was a sound and yet not, the sensation of which was indescribable. The universe around them was not so silent; it was not still or unfeeling at all.

It was alive.

"However... out of all of these voices... one, and only one, calls and answers to you. It's the one you hear when you take on the form connected to it, when you invoke its power... it is yours, and yours alone. Find it," he said.

"Find the light that waits for you."

And then he waited, until they had all found the sound they were searching for.  

[Kaori_luv]

Maia listened intentively as Kurma talked, her eyes sparkling with excitement as the phone she forgot she had in her hand buzz. She looked at him a bit shocked when he said it was meant to be shared. Could they do this again? She really hoped so, to be able to share such a treasure would be beyond amazing.

He was talking again and Maia eyes returned to him in an instant. He was speaking about the guardians cat and she couldn't help but to smile. And then they were told to listen and so Maia did in the silence, looking around slightly distracted by the beauty of it all.

Maia could hear Kurma talking again and ... did he say singing. This made Maia close her eyes and really listen. Sure enough the cosmos was singing to them. She couldn't help but to hum along, the music only added to the beauty of the cosmos.

"Its so very lovely," she breathed out in a whisper swaying slightly. It was obvious the Senshi of Song could hear the cosmos.

It was odd though, one was louder. One seemed to want something from her and it was drawing her focus. At the words find it, she tried to do precisely that. She found it and opened her eyes once more looking to Kurma, waiting for more.  

[LadyNozomi]

Perseus shut up and listened when Kurma was speaking. It was...difficult to process everything that was happening currently, and perhaps his voice would lead to some reason in everything that had been happening. First, she'd been awakened as a magical suited sailor by a talking cat. She'd run into youma, corrupted humans, ancient powers, and future princesses. And now she was shocked once again when she'd been transported into space. Everything she'd ever learned had been defied at some point in the past few months... it was disturbing and wonderful all at the same time. Adira had begun to think that she would make an excellent lawyer just for the fact that nothing would ever catch her off guard.

Well, at least, that had been true until she'd run into a certain man with a shiny magic ball. And once again everything had been flipped into obscurity. Perseus listened carefully to his whole speech, still trying to understand the enormity of it all. The senshi called her phone from its subspace pocket and palmed it quietly. She didn't say anything when he was done, simply closed her eyes (a bit reluctantly, she was still awed by the sight of everything) and listened.

It was hard to hear at first, the subtle hum and resonance of the deep space objects, but after they'd been identified she wondered how she could've ever not heard it. A cacophony of sounds filled her ears, each with a distinct feeling and rhythm. It was like it reverberated through her body, but one particular sound broke through the orchestra.

It was the same sound she never realized she'd heard before, the gentle humming that surrounded her every time she transformed. To her... it sounded almost like ocean waves breaking against a rock, or like a calm breeze rustling through a wind chime. It sounded like a harmony of several different unrelated sounds that probably shouldn't work together at all, but ended up sounding a bit like each; Perseus wasn't sure how it could be all of these things and yet neither at the same time. She couldn't describe it, but she'd found it; it resonated in her soul. The constellation Perseus was singing out to her from space.

She was almost afraid to speak, afraid of losing the noise again. "What happens if we find it?" Thankfully, it didn't disappear. She opened her silver blue eyes and locked them on Kurma, waiting for an answer.  

[LizzyMoo]

In all honesty, Sailor Iris had been hoping for an answer that was just a smidge less gay. It was too heavy a subject for her to take seriously like how she probably should have taken it. So rather than take most of the things the Fantastic Mr. Kurma said to heart, she kinda stared at him like he was doing something even more bizarre than he what he had been doing before. Sprouting a new appendage probably would have been welcome at this point compared to all the cheesy (yet cryptic) things he stated.

She did manage to let out a rather flat "Uhhhhh...?" when he mentioned that he needed to share some power with the senshi. Yes, she was a magical soldier of sorts, but all of this sorcery was getting a bit overwhelming. She even seemed a bit more levelheaded than usual at the mention of those cats again (She still had to complain with a mental Stupid cats).

Sailor Iris blinked every so often, but the things Kurma had been saying were not really processing at full speed. He mentioned stars and planets, asteroids and comets, and... singing? She paused halfway to think over something.

I think ********* mentioned asteroids before? Her fingers were already tangled in her longer strands of blonde hair and they continued to try to make even more of a mess. She might not have been the first one to hear it, but as she stood there, confused, yet contemplating, she heard something. What, she didn't really understand. It somewhat reminded her of the annoying bell collar that the guardian manx wore about her neck.

"...wait... voices now? God, stop talkin' in riddles!" she groaned. Now Sailor Iris was going to hear voices when she had her stupid feather-butt outfit on?! It was enough for her to want to hit her head against a wall.

Something seemed to giggle as she thought about head-to-wall action. Seemed to giggle, but somehow, it really wasn't a giggle. Her eyes glanced to where she had heard this sound, glaring for half a second out to space. God, I must be high or something... Iris didn't do drugs, but there was no other explanation. The Senshi of Rainbows definitely suffered a condition called denial.  

[Krysin]

Nemesis was appropriately shocked. Never before had she found herself quite in this sort of situation, and it completely dissolved her normally cocky attitude. It was surreal, and despite that she found the experience... pleasant. She was at peace, floating above the Earth, with the stars sprinkled around her in the vast darkness. If she ever needed to get away from the troubles of the real world, this wasn't so bad of a place to go to. Nemesis was content to float there, and for once in her life, listen to someone other than herself.

Hell, if Kurma was offering up some trade secrets, she was all ears now.

She could hear the gentle vibration of her phone, tucked neatly away in that personal subspace pocket she had for it. Immediately she grabbed it, holding it securely in the palm of her hand. Nemesis had no clue what the man had done to it, but she was getting to the point where she trusted that he would get around to showing them what had been done to all of their phones. Of course, she'd leave the sharing part of it to the other senshi. Nemesis hardly had the patience for such a thing.

There was some belief in Kurma, there had to be after the magical stunts he had pulled. But Nemesis still found it hard to have faith in this airy bullshit about lights, and finding the voice that called out to her. She couldn't very damn well hear a thing. Suspiciously she glanced to the other senshi around her, trying to see if they had made any sort of great revelation. Because, Nemesis sure as hell hadn't.

"I don't hear a goddamn--"

Oh, ********, she spoke to soon. It was there, that soft, perceptible sound of the cosmos. It wasn't so much noise as it was a vibration, a pulse against her ear. Nemesis had no idea what it was that she had been looking for, but at least she had made it to the first step (if only behind every other good-natured senshi). She lifted a hand to her ear, as if to block out that noise that just didn't seem possible. Now that she heard it, she couldn't quite get rid of the sound. "How the hell do we do that?" she blurted impatiently.

Nemesis still did not have a clue as to what she was searching for, and singling out one tiny ring in this sea of noise was... impossible sounding. Whether Nemesis had opened herself up to that voice, or whether the voice had penetrated that stubborn wall was not clear. Hell, Nemesis did not have a single clue how she had done it. But, she heard that voice, that slightly darker tone that should have made the hair on her arms stand on end, but soothed her from the pit of her stomach to her heart. That light was there, dim, but present, and appealing to her like nothing else before.