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Eternal Sailor Leto

There were no questions that Altea could answer for Leto that weren't strictly along the lines of 'what the ********?' so the Senshi of Camouflage decided to keep her mouth shut as other kinder, more trusting, and infinitely more patient Senshi asked the much smarter questions. Not many of the answers she provided piqued Leto's interest, until the Queen mentioned the Cauldron followed by the Silver Millennium. Both of these things were things she had heard of when she was a White Moon Senshi nearly 7 years ago, but not something that the Dark Mirror Senshi had been familiar with anymore. As far as she understood way, way back then... It all came down to space, homeworlds and their past lives- something she had never truly experienced for herself before she joined Ares. Could this woman travel to space via Mirrors? Because that was something Leto was definitely keen on knowing about.

When the conversation shifted back towards pretty dresses and the strange edible crystals, Leto's attention was conveniently pulled back to the here-and-now. Leto glanced down at the notebook that Acubens slid over to her, read quickly over her note about the MirrorWraith not draining the Queen or her crystalline slave dudes, then looked back at Acubens. Her own brow furrowed and her lips pursed; she didn't like this one bit.

Leto huffed and slid the notebook over to Tantalus so he could read what Acubens had written as well. "Everything about this is wrong," she whispered to the two of them.

“Of course! It sounds delightful,” the Queen replied to Kibirev; she seemed excited in a way that almost seemed to threaten her polished demeanor, but she collected herself quickly and once more donned her usual smile as she looked to Kiuchi and Ptolemaeus. “Your condolences are appreciated. It was a long time ago, but the spot is still sore in my heart.”

She leaned forward a bit, eager for any sort of discussion it seemed.

“The Silver Millennium was an era of great peace, in the Moon Kingdom. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t know of anything about it. I’m surprised that you haven’t heard of it, if you’re from the same galaxy…? Or, perhaps we are thinking of different locations.”

She waved her hand nonchalantly. “I thought if your planet was there, perhaps you’d been able to experience it. But,” she shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

She glanced to Ptolemaeus and said, “I am surprised to hear that you are the smallest. Do you all hail from Earth? That, I find most unusual. I thought it was only one Senshi per world, or…?”

She tilted her head and almost seemed wistful. “What is it that is so special about your planet? I don’t think my world even had a Senshi. Or, if they did…”

Altea deflated just slightly. “Perhaps they simply haven’t been reborn yet. But I suppose there is no way to ask, I can only wait. But, certainly everyone knows about Senshi? I have met a few, but it was so long ago. Sometimes they would travel here, and tell stories of their worlds. Sometimes, even, I was able to travel, and visit their worlds.”

She seemed so peaceful then, as if holding onto some precious memory. It took a few seconds to pry herself from it before she could continue. When she did, she offered Sinope her gaze. “Mirror walking is a precious ability. Not everyone is blessed with it. But there are so many worlds out there, so many different powers. The mirrors have been slow to react. They stay black, most of the time. But I used to use them for many things. Communication, travel, knowledge. What do you use them for?”

She was interested in it, and made sure Sinope knew that she had such a question, but she did not wait for him to answer before she continued addressing him. Her eyes occasionally drifted from his face to the crystal he had presented.

“I have been a Queen since the death of my parents. I was a princess before then. I was born into royalty, if that is what you are asking? But I was never a Senshi. The energy signatures are unique, aren’t they? But I am only myself, I’m afraid, and I cannot explain that any more than I can explain why you feel the way you do. I was told, when I was young, that if you focus enough then you can feel someone’s aura, and sometimes it tells you what type of person they are. But, I have found, that sometimes that is as deceiving as appearances. I’ve always taken it to be a suggestions more than a fact. Sometimes you have to look past appearances to see who someone truly is.”

She smiled, but seemed to tiptoe around a previous question of is. It was difficult to answer; there was some strain on her face, but she managed, “My subjects have always been the people of Solamnia. Our numbers have dwindled since the sickness washed over our world, but at our prime we were glorious. I shall have to show you, sometime, if you are here for it. But yes, my family has ruled over this kingdom for as long as it has existed. But, all who survived the plague are in this castle. It isn’t really very safe to go outside. I don’t know what darkness still creeps beyond the castle walls.”

Finally, she could not contain herself. “Your crystal, may I see it? It is fascinating.”

She gestured for it, and one of her servants moved behind the Senshi to take it. The servant held the crystal with great care and walked over to Altea, placing it in her open palms.

She drew it near to her face and blinked, turning her head curiously. “Your ‘Mirrorspace’ gave this to you…? How strange. What other colors were they? Do they all float like this? I have never seen a crystal do that before.” She was fascinated, clearly, and squinted at the crystal for a long moment.

And then, she drew it close, as if she intended to peer at its every little imperfection. Instead, she held it to her mouth and licked it.

Immediately, her nose wrinkled and she recoiled, holding the crystal as far away from her as she could.

“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. She raised the crystal above her head where a servant collected it and returned it to Sinope. She was still making a face and shaking her head when she said, “That is most certainly not from my world. That is disgusting. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Dark Mirror Eternal Senshi Avior of Walls

Once the other young woman had decided to not sit by him, instead to flee to an.... Oddly familiar senshi, Avior took his own seat once again beside Laverna. As long as Logos felt as if she found a comfortable place to be, he did not mind in the least, though he did wish Crocus was by his side. As much as he appreciated Laverna, she was still unfamiliar to him, and the whispered comments he would normally pass between his friend and himself

The thought bothered him for only a moment before he grinned at the queen's expression, having gone from one who was superiorly elegant compared to most of their court to what seemed to be a child, in the most endearing of ways.

"It seems you are just as curious about us as we are about you, your Majesty.. I do not think these crystals are edible, no, but from what I understand, we all have different ones, some heavy, some light... Some warm and some wet... I would not suggest licking those either, especially since most of them have been kept in our pockets for a while." He almost chuckled, not bothering to hide the amused smile he wore from her antics. Just how hold was this young woman to be so bold to lick a crystal from their pockets? But a question did strike him... One of his home world and it's own mirrored light house, drained and dry from what was the most wicked of attacks.

"You said you can use mirrors to travel... Miss, would you be able to show us... OUR home worlds? While we were born, or reborn on earth, as you would have it, We don't have access to our home worlds. For example... I've been to my world of Avior before, I've walked it's high walls and among it's dry terrain, but now I cannot. It has been lost to me for years after joining this faction. Would it be possible, with your knowledge of mirrors, to find it again? If we were to know it's location on your star charts, or have knowledge of mirrors located on that world?" There was such a hopeful tone in his voice, eager to know if Queen Altea could see that precious landscape, no matter how morbid it was. He missed it greatly, even if the only vivid memories was of dusting the bodies that remained there...

"Perhaps not even travel, but just to see it again... Would you know this to be true?"

Diadem

"...Huh." Ok... was she imagining things... or did that... completely not answer the question. But...politely. But yet more references to a plague. The death of her family... and Diadem was beginning to suspect, the death of -many more-, and she wondered how lonely this strange, polite woman might be after all.

She almost didn't hear Crocus, her distraction as she processed these things obvious on her face, and she nodded slowly, glancing over as Crocus and Avior tried things.

"I know but... I still want to remember. It's important to get the facts." She answered, and then fought a snort of amusement as the Queen licked one of the crystals.

Well... with the way everything else looked, she didn't blame her she supposed. Interesting to know that they were separate though, that at least theoretically put some distance between her and the strange behavior of Mirror Space.

"...Was it just me or did she not answer my question? I mean... it was polite... but did she not answer my question?"

Eyes followed the blue and pink senshi as she walked to Lesath's side. Laverna made sure to catch the young woman's eye to give her a wink. It wasn't flirting but more meant to say she would love to catch up with her another time.

Then her attention turned back to the rest of the group. While most seemed to be chatting with the queen, Laverna caught sight of the two high school gossip girls passing notes. While she couldn't hear what they were saying, Leto and Acubens, Laverna made it clean by putting her arm on the table and leaning into her hand that clearly they were giving off a ticking time bomb feel. It was only a matter of time before they exploded and everyone here paid the price. She wondered if they ever crossed their minds...that their actions and distrust could instead of protecting the court, cause them more harm.

With her free hand, Laverna made a motion of her hand exploding before clearly laughing to herself as she looked away from them and leaned against her chair once more, gazing at the wall behind their host.

She was honestly bored. None of this interested the woman and the antics of other from the court made her feel like she was watching her stepmother and half sister work the woman and laugh at all the horrible jokes.

Those around her at least seemed to be interested in things. Asking questions and comments. But it wasn't until she heard the mention of 'homeworlds' did Laverna's brow raise. Now that was a bit more interesting to hear about.

Leaning forward, Laverna put her chin on Avior's shoulder and mumbled "Homeworlds?"

Logos


With a quick and decisive nod, Logos did as was requested of her. Sitting down next to Lesath, the newest member of the Dark Mirror Court kept her hands to herself, for the most part, folding them in her lap. She dare not sample the crystalline food, not yet. It seemed as those other were, but what if their anatomy didn't agree with this food? The Queen was likely an alien for all Logos knew. Did she even have a stomach?

"Yes, ma'am. I'll do my best to... blend in." Perhaps she could be Lesath's ears on the ground, as it were. There was still so much she didn't know about the Court itself, or magic, or what was even happening. It would take time to get used to things, but time was not something Logos had a great deal of right now.

Keep an eye on people. Learn some names. Blend in. Camouflage was the name of the game.

Maybe making polite conversation was better to blend in. "Ma'am, who are some of the other cadets - senshi, excuse me - that I might train with? I'd like to be in tip-top shape when we return." And we will return.

Sailor Sinope

Sinope could sense the others' agitation from across the table. He hardly dared look at any of them lest he draw the queen's attention to them while he had hers, but on the pretense of investigating Remarque's flicker of movement, he made direct eye contact before returning his hazel eyes to Altea.

Yes, he understood. Yes, he was probably the youngest senshi present. But if Remarque underestimated him to the point of having to give such conspicuous hints, Sinope feared they would be found out regardless of his keeping his mouth shut.

As for Acubens, he almost felt physically burdened by the pressure of her thoughts. While he could understand her deep misgivings, he wasn't some lapdog and it wasn't his goal to please her. That wasn't to say he was acting out to purposely defy her, but as much as he respected her caution, he felt that in this situation, nothing ventured meant nothing gained.

If only he could get her to understand... In his mind, it was easier to understand someone's inner workings by earning their trust and it was easier to earn someone's trust by offering them information about oneself in order to invite the other to do the same. By exposing one's vulnerabilities, the other party felt they had the upper hand and often relaxed enough to share their own.

For the especially astute, though, was more to it than that. Picking and choosing what information to share could allow one to seem as though they were bearing their heart and soul with a multitude of trivial, exposed secrets while in reality they kept the few, important secrets - the ones that really mattered - to themselves. Half-truths, loopholes, subterfuge, misdirection, omission...all were tools that could be used to manipulate and defend them adequately no matter how much or how useful the information that was offered to Altea seemed to be.

Maybe Acubens would have preferred not to have given a shred of information at all if she'd had the choice, but Sinope didn't believe they would have been able to obtain as much information for themselves if they didn't offer any bargaining material in the first place. This method bought them good will in addition to knowledge about this world which was particularly crucial for them now since Altea was completely in her element and thus had the homefield advantage.

With luck and skill, they could trade semi-valuable information for priceless gems - or at least glean said gems by reading between the lines. Like the fact that Altea had neatly stepped around answering Diadem's inquiry regading if there were others like her in Solamnia. After all, there was as much, if not more, to be revealed in what someone didn't say as opposed to what they did say.

"Us?" He adopted a thoughtful demeanor upon being asked what their court used the mirrors for. "Well, I can't speak for the others, but I like using them to make sure I don't have food stuck in my teeth. And that my brooch isn't crooked. And that my hair's how I want it. And to practice speeches." He tapped his chin. "Hmm...and to make sure no one sneaks up on me." Maybe he was being silly, but seeming silly meant seeming like less of a threat. "I don't think our mirrors usually turn black, so...they're pretty much always useful for those things."

Black, huh...? Was it a coincidence that the mirror found in Mirrorspace's throne room, ate civilians, and spat them back out as Dark Mirror Senshi was also known as the Black Mirror? Maybe, maybe not. That one had still allowed people through it even with a black surface.

Sinope nodded slowly as the woman spoke of auras. What he wouldn't have given to have been able to have a neutral one like hers. Maybe those bothersome White Moon Senshi wouldn't have had such a hard time distinguishing them from Corrupt Senshi and other Negaverse beings, then.

When the queen spoke of her people and their prime, he raised a brow. "Show us what?" he asked. "You have a movie reel or photo albums or something?" He gestured to the strange, humanoid servants. "And these guys...were they survivors of your plague, or was it never a danger to them in the first place?"

Ever since he had heard Altea speak of the sweetness and bitterness of her edible crystals, Sinope had been tempted to lick one on his plate, if only to compare it to the taste of the white one in his possession that seemed to defy gravity. He immediately became grateful he hadn't tried to sample either crystal when the self-proclaimed queen ordered her guards to retrieve it for her. Jack wasn't all that sure he wanted it back once the queen had finished with it, however.

Nevertheless, he grudgingly accepted it from a servant and wiped it thoroughly on his fuku. Hmm...how much to tell her? She didn't seem to know any more about them than they did, so what good would it have done them to divulge the colors and features of the other crystals? Perhaps he had been a little too hasty in mentioning that there had been other colors which implied there had been other types. Whoops.

As it had with many of the other senshi who had witnessed it, Queen Altea's reaction and analysis of his crystal surprised and amused Sinope deeply. "...Are you sure?" he prompted, having little success concealing his grin. "Have you, uh...tasted every crystal on your world before? Maybe the one just tastes bad to you because it fermented or curdled or something."