However, her reason for visiting today was not to cause problems, but to think over some issues that had come up recently. Things that could potentially turn into a problem. The moment she found footing in the cold sands of the dark asteroid, the senshi gathered up enough energy to form a Rainbow Ribbon to merely light up the almost black skies. She then began to wander until she found the only familiar sight on the rock. With a sigh, she pointed out "It's afternoon on Earth right now..." Yet on the asteroid of Iris, it was pretty much night. As it was any time she had visited before.
The tall blonde stood there, silent and still as she recalled late night Christmas Eve.
_____________________
It had all been because of those stupid rainbow crystals. And that Snow Princess. All of the insanity of that fight in town square. Energy and magic were bouncing off every inch of the square, and many were caught in the crossfire. Even some of the strongest had experienced the worst.
Sailor Castor had been one of the victims. The yellow-suited eternal senshi hadn't seen what exactly had happened, but she had seen how defensive the usually obnoxiously chipper pervert was acting. ********* had tried her best to comfort him, but all of her feline charms couldn't break the ice. So rather than let the tailless cat remain lingering for endless hours, the Senshi of Rainbows picked ********* up by the scruff of her neck. The pale spotted cat squirmed slightly, but then eventually gave up with what looked like a pout upon her maw.
The senshi's white boots walked. Walked the pair away from town square. Away from the casualties. Away from the wreckage. "Sooo....." Eventually Iris broke the silence between furball and senshi when they were far away from the place of the battlefield. "What was that all about...?"
"Which part? The crystals, the snow princess, or Castor?" The cat had a point. There was a lot to absorb.
"Uh... let's see..." She felt the frozen leaves of a bush brush against her face. Gold eyes glanced around and finding that they were apparently in the park. It was baffling at times how often she found her way to the park. Then Iris remembered that she LIVED near the park, so it was logical she frequented it.
"How 'bout th'crystals I guess?"
The cat was set down, and came to a hault as she sighed, looking up to the sky. "You felt drawn to them too. I could tell."
The senshi stopped and turned to face the cat, which was more respectful than she usually acted. "Yeah... and... is there a reason why I felt like that?"
"...well... I can't give an exact reason, to be completely honest. However... I suspect it has something to do with Serenity..."
"Serenity? That Princess chick?"
The cat almost snorted at the casual manner Iris spoke of the Princess of the Moon. "Yes, that Princess chick..."
Iris remained quiet for a moment, as if giving ********* the time she needed to further explain. Yet, no explanations came. Iris even leaned in, as if trying to say without words "AAAAAAANND?!!!" When the cat remained perfectly silent, the tomboy let out an aggravated sigh and moved on with the conversation.
"...kay... so Princess chick's th'reason why I felt like I wanted a crystal. Weird sh*t is weird... so... 'bout Castor...?"
"All senshi..." The manx's voice disappeared for a moment as she seemed to rethink how she was going to phrase what she was saying. "...what happened to Castor... is perhaps the worst thing that could happen to a senshi. Death is the closest thing I can see to being the equivalent."
"...that's heavy sh*t, Cat..." It was making more sense why Castor wasn't exactly trying to grab her butt again.
"You've seen a starseed before, right? Just think of it like this. Imagine someone taking your starseed, but instead of just ending it quickly, they slowly cause it to decay with darkness. And in the end... you don't die... you instead become something you weren't meant to be."
"Like Tisiphone." There was a pause. "Like Hel...?"
Rather than answer, the cat did something that wasn't typical of her. She ran. It left Sailor Iris there standing quietly...
...just as she was doing at the moment. "What is this... I feel like such a girl right now..."
A pause.
"...suuuuuuuuckssssss..."
She took a huge breath and looked over the relatively barren area. "I guess it's time t'..." Her words were cut short as something strange happened. Within the blink of an eye, the scenery seemed to shift, fading into sight slowly like it was a movie.
The world that seemed to come into sight was still covered in just as much sand. However, it wasn't devoid of life. In fact, it almost looked like a marketplace, bustling with life. It honestly made her want to bust out with the line "ARABIAN NIGHTS," but even now she bit her tongue. Seriously, she was getting visuals of Aladdin without even wanting to. The way the people dressed reminded her of the middle east, just without the obnoxious face veils on the chicks. The only thing that didn't seem to fit this general feel of an Arabian marketplace was the fact that all of the stalls were in carts and giant covered wagons.
"...it's like Oregon trail had a baby with Aladdin..." At first, she simply just stood her ground, just taking in every sight. Her ears certainly weren't even able to concentrate on the words.
Until she heard something.
"Sailor Iris!"
The blonde turned and found a tan face smiling in her direction from the edge of a wagon. It wasn't exactly a familiar face. Iris didn't know any middle aged women that were portly with a mole on their chin. Yet here one was speaking to her.
Cautiously, the girl stepped forward, not certain what to make of this whole ordeal. Her voice was about to escape her mouth when something brought her back to the reality of the whole thing.
"Oh, hi there!"
It was Sailor Iris' voice, but it was not coming from her body in any form. It was almost like a speaker was announcing the words in her voice. The girl wasn't spooked from her path towards the woman, but she couldn't help but remind herself of what ********* had told her before. A memory? Maybe?
As she stepped forward, she noticed several fine woven tapestries and fancy looking knickknacks. They really weren't the senshi's thing, but it was a bit interesting to see such things after becoming adjusted to an empty place.
The woman waved to the girl once more. With a cheery voice, she continued to speak. "I'll be! What brings you back here, Sailor Iris? It's good to see you have enough time to stop by for a visit! It's always good to see you around!" Iris continued to press forward, passing what seemed to be a display of armbands.
"Well, Babba... It's always nice to see familiar faces. And don't they always say home is where the heart is... or something like it?"
The eternal senshi's feet finally brought her up to the cart. Eagerly, she leaned in, just to see if she could get a look at what was inside. Babba, as she was apparently called, actually backed away almost as if she was reacting to the modern senshi. "Ah, some things never change, Sailor Iris!" The woman laughed in a fashion that almost matched a stereotypical witch.
The senshi was curious what Babba meant, and looked in with even more curiosity tickling her brain. What she found to greet her was a bit eerie, yet interesting nonetheless. The inside of the wagon had mirrors, almost from wall to wall, leaving only enough room for the floor and a few old looking trunks. It was interesting enough, but what was really bizarre was what was in the reflection.
The girl she saw in the mirror was Iris. That much was obvious with the hairstyle. However, in the reflection, she didn't have any feathers or wings. The outfit actually looked like what she had started off with. That plain yellow Fuku with minimal decorations in comparison to her Super and Eternal Fukus. Iris couldn't pull her eyes away from the mirrors, almost hypnotized by what she saw. It was like watching a movie. The girl in the mirror spoke, her mouth moving to form the words. "Well, I'm not exactly a fan of seeing my reflection, but it's always interesting seeing an army of myself. I don't think I could ever live in a wagon like yours, Babba! I'd probably scare myself!" The girl in the mirror laughed, as did the one named Babba.
All of the reflections then faded out, much like ghosts, leaving only the sound of the laughter to linger a bit longer. "...what... god damn it, no!" Standing herself up, she attempted to reach to grab for one of the mirrors. Her fingers simply passed through, leaving her with nothing but the sand, the wooden remains, and herself.
...I wanted to know more... It took the senshi a few minutes to register that during that whole time, she had released her hold of her Rainbow Ribbon and the light from it had completely vanished. Even when she realized it, she sighed and remained in place for another few minutes.
Eventually, she summoned her cell phone. It was time to go now. She had come to clear her head, and instead, the Asteroid only supplied her with more things to think about.
The last word she'd say on the rock was "Typical." With the press of a button, she vanished from her past home.
