What Delilah had seen….What had taken place in front of her eyes...the woman couldn’t believe. General King Benitote was handing over information towards a Knight of the White Moon. Talk about a tide changing event. He was one of the oldest of his ranks, having been around since even before Phact had become a senshi herself. And now, a symbol that had driven fear into many was helping them? She couldn’t believe this.
Yet there on her phone, Delilah was looking at the proof. Video of the General King handing over the folder with the information she had heard.
Standing in her apartment, Delilah glanced out towards the window. She was well aware of the fact Kazenite knew who she was in both forms. A slight blush on her cheek appeared as she moved closer to the balcony window. Yes, very aware.
Slowly she opened the door and stepped out into the night air. Kazenite was not supposed to meet with her this evening but Delilah had to get this too her. Waiting three more days could mean they miss their chance. No, Delilah needed to get to her now.
And she knew just the means to do so.
Closing the door behind her, Delilah, in nothing more than a t-shirt pulled out her pen from behind her back. As she climbed up atop her balcony table, the woman’s appearance began to change. It was the form that jumped off the building and into the night that would draw attention. Eternal Sailor Phact, a senshi dressed in white, jumped into the wind. Using it to push her through the night, she worked to make her senses know as quickly as possible all the while, keeping herself in that breeze. Kazenite favorited the wind.
The senshi of Doves prayed her message would be carried by the wind under her wings.
Xyla peered outside from her perch upon the window sill in silence. Golden rings hugged all too wide pupils as she scanned the streets and rooftops in a quiet meditation. Whatever thoughts she had been pondering were cut short however when she spotted a familiar white figure in the distance. Long white whiskery eyebrows piqued in curiosity, hmmm.
“Either your dove is on a suicide mission or she’s trying to get your attention.” The feline rose then and arched her back in an elegant stretch before jumping onto the plush armrest of the recliner. Kazenite merely lowered her filefolder of new recruits and looked at the guardian cat with a confused expression; either she was too wrapped up in what she was doing and didn’t hear what Xyla had said or she genuinely was confused. “If you don’t believe me, look outside.”
“I never said I didn’t believe you,” Came her quick reply, in which she received a disconcerned ‘hmm’, as she reached over to pull back the curtains to raise the blinds. Sure enough, several buildings away, sood Phact with her pristine white feathers swaying in the breeze.
“So what are you going to do?” It was a simple question, one the feline already knew the answer to even without her Queen’s verbal response.
“I’ll be back,” was all she got in reply as the teal haired woman set the file on the coffee table and stood up. Within seconds her sleeping attire was replaced by her Negaverse given uniform and she was gone.
In her condo one moment and atop a building in the next, Kazenite stood behind the senshi with her arms crossed over her chest, no guardian cat around to dampen her signature; what point would that serve if she already knew the Queen’s carefully kept secret. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Her voice was smooth and even making it hard to tell if she was curious or irritated.
An overwhelming sense of power rushed at Phact’s back while she had been scanning the other buildings around. It was a pure aura of chaos, one stronger than almost any other around. And yet, instead of running from it, Phact turned and smiled at the woman who appeared behind her. ”Only would have happened if you waited three days until our next meeting.”
Phact inhaled and handed over her human phone towards Kazenite. ”Press play. If you are interested after that, I can fill you in on what I heard in a more…” She looked around them as the wind blew her hair back. ”Protected location.”
There was no quick remark or warning of consequences for wasting her time; what would the point be in any case? The senshi already knew what Kazenite was capable of as she had made sure to set a prime example out of Damen when dealing with the traitor. Instead she reached out and took the small device from Phact then pushed play.
What she saw on the screen made her eyebrows raise ever so slowly in growing surprise till they nearly met her hairline; figuratively of course. There was no sound but that was a non issue for the most part; for someone such as she who prided herself on being a keen observer, reading lips wasn’t too difficult though she was only getting parts of the conversation. “Is the microphone on this broken?” She asked, not too enthusiastic about having to rely on the hearsay of someone else rather than her own eyes and ears.
“Disabled.” Phact annoyingly admitted. “For all the openness my boss believes in, he has trust issues. Personal phones are not allowed on work calls and well, neither is recording. I can get around the video part with apps but don’t ask me what he did to the microphone.” Pointing her hand to the bottom of the phone where if one looked hard enough, it appeared someone took a screw driver to. To which Kazenite looked down and simply rolled her eyes likely thinking something along the lines of ‘moron’.
Phact sighed and slightly rolled her eyes. “Man has issues but what man doesn’t. Are you interested though?” The smile that went over her face was toying with with Kazenite like a carrot on a string. She wanted to spill but not here. Not in the open.
To say she was interested, however, would be putting it lightly. The General King in the video was one she had known more intimately than most without having actually gotten into bed with him; that spot had been filled by his devoted Captain several years ago.
“I strongly suggest you power down.” It was more of an order than a suggestion really if Phact sought out a warmer place to converse. “No need to draw any more attention to yourself,” she then added. In that command was an underlying request one she dare not say out loud; one that begged for trust though whether or not she truly deserved such a thing wasn’t for her to say.
Had this been another General Queen, another Senshi, even another time, Phact would have looked at this teal haired woman like she was completely insane. However, the weeks they had spent together taught Phact several lessons and one of them was do not question the woman she was looking at. Kazenite had her reasons and well, Phact didn’t need to guess this one.
Bringing her arms up in front of her chest, Phact felt the power of her senshi form leaving her. A moment passed and she was standing there, holding her henshi pen, in nothing more than a t-shirt that covered to mid-thigh. “And this helps prevent that?” Delilah White now asked with a mocking smile as she felt the window on her bare legs and feet.
A smile lifted the corners of Kazenite’s glossed over lips as if she were pleased to see, or not see, something. She stepped forward then, capturing one of Phacts wrists, and wrapped her other arm securely around the womans’ waist. “Indeed, it would be unwise to announce to my neighbors that I have a senshi in my home.” With that she placed a kiss upon Pha- Delilah’s brow pleased with her unwavering obedience and teleported them out of the cold into warm condo.
She held onto the raven haired woman a bit longer than necessary but after several seconds had passed she did indeed let go and step away. “Make yourself comfortable,” she gestured towards the suede covered couch then walked around the corner into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It would have been polite to ask if her guest would like something to drink however there really was only one option; water.
Teleportation was not something Delilah was used to yet so as she felt the hold of the General Queen, the now human closed her eyes only to reopen them when she felt the floor under her feet. By the time she did, Kazenite had already made her way towards the kitchen and Delilah took her cue to take a place on the couch.
Choosing a place near the arm rest, Delilah crossed her legs and waited a moment, allowing a smile to creep over her face at Xyla’s worry. There was no order aura now that she was in her human form again but still, the cat was a hysterical blessing at times.
Xyla’s presence on the counter didn’t go without notice, nor the look of reproach on that tabby striped face of hers either. “You brought her here?” There was a comment in that tone of hers that Kazenite would have had to of been deaf not to hear ‘are you stupid’.
“Don’t worry.” Kazenite sounded more confident of her reasons than concerned about being found out that they were currently harboring a senshi in their home. She reached over then and stroked the cheshire’s fur and scratched Xyla under her chin which seemed to calm her for the time being. The attention stopped abruptly with the soft closing sound of the refrigerator door and so the guardian cat followed after her Queen as if she were the woman’s shadow. “Water?” Kazenite reached over the coffee table and handed Delila the bottle then took a seat in her recliner.
One leg crossed over the other, the General Queen made herself comfortable then twisted the lid off her own drink at set it down in front of her.
“Thank you.” Reaching up, she took the water from Kazenite’s hands and twisted the top off her own. After downing two large gulps, Delilah recapped it and glanced over at the woman. “The video is what you think. General King Benitoite was handing information over to a Knight about families that the Negaverse is going after. The folder was one that is happening in the next few days. A couple and small children. He is trying to get them relocated to one of the encampments before that happens.”
It would have been easy to call bull s**t on the information Delilah handed to her with ease had it not been for the fact she knew about the attack. Had she’d just stopped her tellings with information regarding the Negaverse well to be frank anyone could have guessed that, what bothered her though is that Delilah knew specifics that she wouldn’t be privy to. “What else was said?” The video was relatively short but surely there was more.
It was hard to read what Kazenite was thinking as she spoke. Would she believe her, Delilah didn’t know until she was asked to continue. Slowly, the woman inhaled before closing her eyes and exhaling. She was using her mind to take her back to the place. Back to hiding from the two others and listening. When she finally opened them, Delilah spoke in a very clear, confident voice.
“The General King called the meeting. To say the least, the knight was less than amused to be there. He didn’t trust the other man. However, Benitoite was pleading with him to do something about the family. He said his normal contact was unavailable so that was why the one you see here. So he was handing over everything he could copy about them and the plan to pick them and the two small children up.” She waved to the phone screen again. “The knight bought it and I know is taking it, or has gotten it to the people who it needs to go to.” Her eyes glanced back up at Kazenite’s. “That part is easy enough. Getting them out, might not be.”
“I do know that the last words Benitoite said stuck with me.” Delilah once more closed her eyes and spoke clearly. “I'll try and up how many I send to your camp for saving….” She quoted before taking another drink of water. “To keep up with the higher numbers being pulled in.”
Delilah stopped at that point and shrugged. “That was all.”
“How cute, he’s trying to even the odds and give the resistance a fighting chance.” Though she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t at least condone his motives for getting the young ones out. The war had already stolen the childhood away from so many kids, there was no need to add more to the mix. The Negaverse should be above employing little children whereas the order senshi se no problem with the deed. Unfortunate fate for the many chibis that had been both willingly and unwillingly recruited among their ranks.
“To say you did good is a vast understatement of your skills. What you have here is something I have desired for quite some time but have not had the means of obtaining it.” Perhaps it was a fluke or some cosmic intervention of dumb luck either way it mattered little. What more than information this was a gift. Something she would find great joy in using to bring down her former mentor. “I will need to keep your phone however. Forwarding the video would only leave room for speculation and invalidate any claim against the General King.” Without the original file, one could claim she had manipulated the footage to frame Benitoite. “You will be duly compensated I can assure you.” Yes with a new phone that holds the same exterior cosmetics as her previous one, where it looks like the microphone had been disabled, however hers will work.
“Thank you Kazenite.” Delilah smiled as she sipped her bottled water again. “But this is the reason I wanted to call you out this evening. I did not want you to miss this chance.” As she leaned back on the couch, Delilah’s body finally relaxed a bit. She had been so worked up trying to get this information to her ‘contact’ that she hadn’t realized how tense her body was.
“It’s amazing how worked up one can get when you don’t expect it.” Delilah half chuckled as she glanced back at the woman. “But I guess I should get out of here now. I did intrude.”
The General Queen hummed then rose to her feet and in two steps she stood before Delilah with an outstretched hand, silently requesting she hand over the phone. “If that is what you wish.” There was an impregnable silence that followed till the raven haired woman leaned forward to give Kazenite the small device and it was in the second before she withdrew her hand that the Queen laced warm fingers through Delilahs’ “However words of gratitude only go so far, perhaps there is another way for me to show my thanks.”
With her other hand Kazenite trailed the tips over her fingers from the base of her neck to the tip of her chin to tilt her head back just enough so they may look at eachother more fully. “After all you have given me it would be my pleasure,” she purred, “to help you relax. Unless you wish to go home.” Teal-blue eyes stared into those of crimson red with a near predatory look not unlike a watchful hawk for she knew what she wanted, all she needed was Delilah’s consent.
Large red eyes slowly moved upward, a sort of hazy glaze had passed over them showing that Delilah was indeed need of more than just sleep. The woman was physically and mentally drained. Not just from all the work she had done for Kazenite but from all the years that had worn on her body.
Like a cresting wave breaching the open shore the General Queen leaned forward capturing Delilah’s lips with her own. There was a tenderness there not previously seen by the teal haired woman for it was not her desire to frighten her Dove away. “Is that yes?” she whispered against Delilah’s temple.
Leaning her head back against the suede couch, Delilah felt the full extent of over five years of tension release from her body. Where had this woman come from that could do for her what others had missed? Kazenite offered her more than Delilah had ever expected that do not so long ago. A purpose and a sense of being needed. What the woman had to wonder now was, what did Kazenite see the end of this being.
But that didn’t matter. Soundlessly, Delilah nodded her head and brought up one hand into the teal hair of the woman before her. She was softly running her fingers through it before she leaned forward again to play her own lips on the General Queen’s.
Xyla was all but forgotten by the raven haired woman.
