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This was definitely not Publix.

Something stiff and dry scratched at her cheek, another on her leg. Sailor Ares opened one eye but kept the other squinted. A rogue blade of grass jutted too close to her lashes for comfort. Slowly, she sat up, rolling the stiffness from her shoulders. It wasn't the only thing that rolled. Every inch of ground under her creaked and groaned and snapped like a geriatric man cracking his back.

Not very tactically-wise. Not at all.

Her mind cracked to focus, assessing her surroundings. There was a tree to her back and one directly in front of her. It was a tree-Ares-tree sandwich, and from the look of the vast stretches of tangled branches surrounding her on either side, that wasn't going to change any time soon. The branches above her were thickly clustered too so she had to be careful when standing, tugging her long green sash free of a particularly gnarled cluster.

What the ********? She was in her fuku?

It hadn't quite registered to the confused teen that she was no longer in the white mandarin collar blouse and knee-length skirt she had left Cora's house wearing. Cora. Ares had been with her to see to the Queen's emotional health (Aphrodite wasn't the only one who could do it, okay?) when her regal superior mentioned wanting some ice cream. Ever the vigilant helper, Ares sprang into action, darting across Destiny City to the nearest Publix.

Which, as had been established, was not here.

Ares spun in a circle and came back with scratches on her arms. She failed to take notice. "Queen? Princess Selene?" If the Queen was here, Ares's personal safety was no longer her major concern. The branches around her were wrapped thick, and she could hardly make out anything, save the filtering light of a faded sun through the canopy above. Her call was met by silence and the far off sound of branches breaking.

"Selene," she murmured.

There was no more careful calm. Ares peeled her sash from her waist, wrapped it thickly around her left hand and forearm, and then began the methodical process of snapping and tearing every branch that stood between her and who she presumed to be her Queen -- no matter they hadn't been together on the way to Publix. If there was even a chance that Selene was in danger, it was Ares's sworn duty to sacrifice her own safety to ensure the Queen's. Every Parallel knew that, but Ares's would have tattooed her oath on her chest if she didn't think it would lead to endless pestering.

Little by little, Sailor Ares made process through the tangled branches, ripping and tugging closer to the sound echoing through the brambles. Her fingers caught on something carved into the trunk of the nearest tree, but Ares didn't stop to think about it. She needed to get to Selene. If she could only break free from the closely crowded trees and make it into a clearing, then she could do some of her own tracking. If Selene was here, Ares would find her, even if she wasn't sure where here was. In the thick of the trees, it was difficult to assess her surroundings.

There was something vaguely familiar about this place, but Ares was too busy worrying about Selene to fixate on that just yet.

Scratch that thought -- what was that she heard? Was that Cora crying? Ares began to tear through the black branches so quickly that her hand smarted with cuts.

When the last handful of branches was torn free, Sailor Ares was met with a much darker face than that of her Queen and darker hair too. She took a step back into the path she cleared. Something about this girl was off. She was abrasive, she was accusatory. Ares was the only one allowed to make accusations. She couldn't make out the energy signature either. Was this a Negaverse agent? Where was her weapon?

Ares scowled darkly. "Tell me where the Queen is." It was not a question.

There was a flash of red in the corner of their vision, they could see it if they turned slightly -- but unlike other flashes they thought they could see, this one was stationary, on the ground, limp, just past the nearest tangle of black trees.

She branches caught her even as she tried to dodge back, she felt more slugish than she normally did in uniform, and it was with watering eyes that watched the other move forward quickly, she knew well the hostility in her eyes, a few steps further and she could have imagined her doing what she herself had done to a few of the bodies she had been forced to dispose of... if you could even call them that after.
Calm...calm, don't lose yourself she told herself and with gritted teeth started to follow, circling wide to stay both out of the stranger's reach, and potentially to surround the red, JUST in case.
But the b***h just laid her cheek open with a handful of branches, it stung her dignity too.

Branches.... there was a thought, maybe she could climb a damned tree and see a direction.
She hung back still curious about the red but looked as well for a tree that might be easier to climb, she could always use her jacket as a sort of 'reverse sling' to help her climb right?

The last tear of branches gave view to something grotesque. It was all parts and ooze, hardly a creature at all. From the cloven hooves, Ares could determine it was some kind of stag, but a larger one than she had ever seen. Its insides were splatter-painted across the ground, and though Ares wanted to stand firm against it, she took a step backward and covered her mouth with her hand.

Tactics. Strategy. Remember. Look for what is wrong. Look for what is missing. Look for what is here but should not be.

Had something burst out of it? Had a hunter struck it from a distance? Had another creature attacked it?

Ares tensed. These woods were not safe. The handful of switches in her hand cracked against each other in her clenched fist. "Did you do this?" She was talking to Moonstone, but also to the air. To the space.

Why did this place feel familiar? Ares stalked toward the center of the small break in trees. She could barely see the sky, but where she could, it was a murky red. A familiar red, eerie red -- but that reaction was not merely from this life. There had been another time when Ares had visited a place with a red sky, but she wasn't in the company of strangers and she wasn't whisked away by chance. She wasn't on the White Earth either. It was a place watched over by one of their own, a place that was tightly bound to the might of one of their Crystals.

Was this? Could this place be? Was it possible that...? The thoughts hung limply in her head, and her hand slackened at her side. It took an unreal beast stripped of its flesh for Ares's to listen to the thoughts in her head and stare up at the burning sky.

"My God..." she murmured, head craning upward.

Calintha had been wandering through the forest, not hearing anything but the loud noises her own footfalls made against the earth. It wasn't long before she heard some kind of commotion to her left. It didn't take long for the girl to come upon quite the seen.

The blonde gasped, first at the stag strewn across the forest floor like someone had been reading fortunes in its intestines. Her eyes eventually moved to the other two figures, neither of which looked familiar to her. One had a similar color hair to Fallon, but Calintha brushed it off as another shade of red. Though, speaking of Fallon a familiar face would have been so nice. Instead, she was confronted with two girls in strange outfits, leaning over a dead animal.

"Whats...whats going on?" Her voice sounded scared and hesitant. Calintha had no clue what was going on and it was completely bothering her. "What happened to him?" The stag had probably been a majestic and gorgeous creature at some point.

Just like the forest itself, it made her sad. Calintha was no vegan, but it seemed that this animal had been butchered violently. Brown eyes looked between the two figures in front of her, trying to figure out what they were doing, and what they were wearing. It seemed more ornate and fancy than her own regular street clothes. She tugged absentmindedly on her red headband, awaiting an answer.

The girl was even more horrified when the indian (?) moved forward and tried to break off its horn. She watched the other girl, mouth agape and eyes disbelieving. "What are you doing?"

The sound the horn made as it broke free was, nauseating perhaps. In movies they always made it sound like snapping carrots or other vegetables, this was not snapping vegetable matter but the grim functional satisfaction reflected in Moonstone's face as she watched, deep brown eyes darting back and forth between the two..

So they knew each other...
She reached her hand towards where her mask should be, where she thought she had seen it, and touched only the soft leather of her pants.

Her heart seemed to stop and her grip on her newly won weapon tightened to white knuckles.
If she didn't have it...

The most ridiculous idea that the Wasgo might be here, now...and watching crept into the back of her mind. It would make sense somehow, those feelings that there was SOMETHING at the edge of her vision. She even went so far as to look down at her own shadow to make sure it was hers...

"If one of you has some idea what's going on... I would love to hear it." she said in her most reasonable tone as she hazarded a glance along the bloodied trail.

Calintha seemed to have no idea who she was, which was a good thing. One of her nightmares was that the people she knew would learn about Sailor Ares and compromise her identity. If Cali was really a nightmare phantom, wouldn't she have answered the question?

Tartaros answered that for her. At her foot, Sailor Ares noticed a single glass marble. It gleamed like crystal even in the hazy light of the setting sun, and it was a gleam that neither Cali or Moonstone could see. Here was a remnant of her own nightmares. She lifted a heeled boot and pushed the marble deep into the crunchy grass.

No more standing around.

There was a task to be accomplished, even if Ares wasn't sure what it was. If she was in Tartaros without the company of Cassandra than... had the Prince done it? Had he called upon his Crystal? If he had -- why was she still living? These were questions whose answers escaped Ares, for now at least. If only the Queen was here... or Hector. Surely they would understand this place better than her.

Magenta eyes fell to Calintha. "I've protected you before, and I caught your name. You just never saw me do it. Call me Ares." That was believable, right? Civilians were constantly being protected without knowing it.

Ares crossed to Cali. "You should stay with me." It wasn't a suggestion. Cali was her friend. This nightmare land could create horrors for people. If Cali was with her, she could at least try to protect her. Ares pointed one of the switches at Moonstone. "You. Negaverse agent, are you? A queen with red hair is not my Queen. Don't waste your energy trying to attack me. Surely you would lose in the real world -- but that is not where we are." A shade crossed Ares's eyes. She didn't have her own powers either, it was an even playing field.

Damnit.

Her eyes fell to the bloody trail. "Staying here will not do us any good. We need to head out of this place." Was this a trick of Tartaros? "Nega, you can go your own way." Ares wanted to tell Calintha about Tartaros, but the senshi inside of her wanted to keep its secrets from the Negaverse agent. What use would a Nega be? Only a distraction, maybe.

Or... a decoy? Hm...