Defeat was a hard word to swallow for Sailor Tsui, even harder given the fact that it wasn’t even a close fight in the end. The trek home was done in silence, but if one could have had an insight into the inner workings of her mind, they would have definitely knew that it was NOT so quiet in there. No, much of the trip back home was spent with mental arguments to herself, unanswered questions, and finding some ways to patch up her bruised ego, though that in itself was a hard task to do. Her ego was enraged that she had walked away from the fight, but her common sense had told her that she did the right thing.

As much as she didn’t want to acknowledge it, Super Sailor Remarque was more experienced, stronger, and in every meaning of the word, better, than her, and of course, this moment of clarity hits her after getting her butt handed to her. She could have been killed tonight, and yet, she was spared, and that was the part that drove the wound even deeper. She was spared, and now, she felt conflicted.

Tsui leaned against the wall of the alleyway she was walking through, taking a moment to relieve some pressure from her ankle as she had injured it in the fight (thanks to her own abrasive assault). Her mind raced, and once the ball got rolling, it kept going.

Apparently there was a schism between the Senshi… the White Moon Court, in which she was a part of, and the Dark Mirror Court, in which Remarque had insisted was the correct side. Tsui was never a fan of politics, even in her civilian life. It was all too heavy, too complicated. People getting emotional over conflicting opinions and neither side wanting to admit they were right or wrong. To think, that would be following her here in her new life as a Senshi of the White Moon Court.

“He says our leader’s abandoned us…” Tsui told herself, continuing her trek back to her apartment complex in solitude, for once hoping that she wouldn’t run into a Youma, a Negaverse lieutenant or another Dark Mirror Senshi along the way. She had exhausted herself already in the last fight and she didn’t think she’d have enough energy or the balance to perform another Tiger Fist Strike. So, she relied on another aspect of her sphere to pull her through, stealthing her way from one shadow to another and waiting until she was closer to her apartment complex before powering down. She didn’t want to get caught by a civilian… “How does he know?”

But he did raise a good point. Where was their leader? Where did she go, and why? Sailor Tsui was certain that there had been a good reason for her absence, but would it have hurt to leave a message for her subjects? Did the White Moon Court just not believe in leaving a note on the fridge or something?

She knew she shouldn’t allow his words to dig too deep; that’s probably what he wanted, and like hell Tsui would give him the satisfaction of allowing him to win in that front. Remarque may have beaten her in a fight, but he’d never truly defeat her by tricking her into switching sides. Tsui had already made a promise to others that she’d fight along side the White Moon Court, and she was never the type to go back on her word.

“Could have used their help though…” Tsui chuckled aloud to herself, thankful to see her apartment complex in sight now and immediately making her way towards the back where the landlord kept the tool shed.

It was far too late at night for there to be others there, and it’d be the perfect place to power down without anyone seeing her, and to her luck it was unlocked (meaning that the landlord was probably drunk… again…). She took one last peek through the windows, before pressing the button on her henshin pen and allowing the changes to take place. Her sickness and injuries remained, but at least she could fib her way out of her sister’s inquiries about her twisted ankle, say that she was goofing around and lost her balance…

Speaking of her sister, Maddy was already standing in the doorway, hands on hip and an angered look on her face. And yet, Gwen had openly welcomed the scorn, breaking past the threshold and giving her sister an uncharacteristic hug, cutting off whatever she had to say within seconds. She’d gladly accept any punishment for breaking curfew, over the possibility of getting killed by a Dark Mirror Senshi or anything else out there. She was determined to get stronger and find out more about the White Moon Court, and what could have possibly happened to their leader. ’She hasn’t abandoned us… she couldn’t have abandoned us… I’ll prove him wrong.’

(World count: 826