Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( DISCLAIMER: This RP contains some instances of torture-related violence. Please do not continue reading if this makes you uncomfortable! ))




Ares was not in Tanzanite's cell. That in and of itself existed as a sort of miracle. It was rare for Ares to abandon her target, rarer even more since on one of her ventures out of the compund Alkaid had handed her a** to her -- not that the Senshi of Smoke thought of it that way. It rankled her that she was forced on the run in that battle, but Ares was a battle strategist. She did what she thought was best in the long-run, and she wasn't about to risk dying at the hands of some corrupted senshi when she had only just begun to realize her plan for Destiny City.

The air in the cell stunk of bodies -- live ones, fortunately -- but the musk was unmistakable. There was an uncleanness within the cells, the product of over one week of captivity for six powered individuals. Ares stood beside a mirror, the back of her fuku reflecting outward. She faced the center of the cell, but there was no captive there, no chair laden with chains.

"I never get to hang out with people my age, you know," she said, shifting to the side. There, suspended upside-down from the roof and still attached to her chair, hung Captain Dioptase. "I'm trying banter now. It's never been my choice of weapon -- useless really, I thought, to talk when you could be fighting -- but apparently, it can be a powerful tool of intimidation."

She reached out and pulled Dioptase toward her by a chain. "Am I intimidating?" she whispered, eyes narrowed. Before the Captain could answer, Ares released the chain, and Dioptase went swinging backward, moving like a human pendulum.

They had been at this for three hours now. Somewhere in the second, Dioptase had let something about Tanzanite and Europe slip out. Now Ares would not leave that room until she broke the Captain. They had been beaten and starved and cursed at, but now Dioptase herself had gone from someone else's problem to the only person in the entire compound that Ares wanted to talk to right then. Information was their goal; so what did this girl know? Until this point, nothing had been whispered about Europe.

"Now Captain," Ares said calmly. "I don't want any more lies. And I don't want any more quips. Tell me about the Negaverse plot in Europe, or I will break all the bones in your legs one at a time." She held up a small nail, no bigger than a pencil. "Using only this." Then, for the hundredth time in that session, the Senshi of Smoke fell silent and waited for Dioptase to break.

Ares had to admit that she was a touch impressed with how the higher-level Negas had managed to remain so silent, even under such duress. The lieutenants, of course, had both cracked wide open first. The Blood Moon Court had learned of the three higher-ups from them: Marthozite, Laurelite, Apatite. She knew that Charonite was long gone from Tanzanite. One of the lieutenants, Helicase, had apparently responded, “Charonite who?” when he was first questioned. Apparently he was very new, or perhaps the death of Charonite was not something in the training manual for the new recruits. Primase had confirmed much of what the BMC and other senshi already knew about the structure of the Negaverse, the power break-downs. They organized themselves in little training teams as well, organization under organization. Ares hadn’t talked to any of the lieutenants personally. She let others handle Helicase and Primase, and so far, they had only the best reports of all.

Unfortunately, the lieutenants only knew so much. It was clear to Ares and the rest of the ISS that they had exhausted Primase and Helicase’s usefulness as sources of information. They were now being kept alive solely to be used against the remaining four Negas who had something they wanted. That was a final move though. Ares wasn’t going to spill blood until she was sure it would yield high results.

Dioptase still hadn’t answered the question. Too long of a wait. Unacceptable.

As the Captain swung back, Ares grabbed her roughly by the hair. She yanked the girl’s head to the side to expose the pale slope of her neck. Painted nails tapped hard along the girl’s collarbone, tracing the soft curve of the delicate bone. The senshi lifted the long nail and flipped it so that the blunt end faced Dioptase’s skin. In one swift stroke, Ares struck the bone. It was hard enough to cause a hairline fracture, but nowhere near hard enough to actually break it.

“Captain, I have been patient,” she said coolly. Ares touched the cool head of the nail to Dioptase’s cracked collarbone. Slowly, she began to push, a gradual creeping crawl. The level of pain rose by hairs, by breaths, by drops. Her hand remained steady, the pressure increasing with a painful slowness. “I can wait until for you to find the answer from within – I’m just curious how long you can wait.” Ares continued to press the injured bone. The fracture widened, but did not snap.

In spite of her resolve, Ares took a step back when Dioptase screamed. It was blood-curdling, heart-wrenching -- but the Senshi of Smoke had no capacity for pity, or for mercy, when it came to her enemies. This was perhaps, more than anything, more than her parallel status even, what set her aside from the rest of the White Moon. Ares did not see a human being in pain. She only saw a blur of dark energy -- a single splinter of fingernail hanging from the great beast that was the Negaverse.

So long as they battled against her, so long as they tried to force her to do their bidding, Ares would rail against them. The moment that Dioptase had ceased to be her old human self and had instead picked up the mantle of the Negaverse, whether involuntary or not, she had sacrificed her right to live. Ares had accepted this. If she were ever captured by the Negaverse, the senshi would expect nothing but the same royal treatment she was giving their captives now. This was war. War. These children thought they were worthy of taking life from civilians and senshi?

Well, then Ares would take it right back.

The echo of Dioptase's scream faded slowly, bouncing off the walls until Ares felt as though it might be trapped within her own skull. She stared at the girl wordlessly for a moment and then lifted the nail again. It hovered above the other side of the girl's chest, right on top of the same bone she had just been stressing a moment ago.

"Now," Ares said, touching the cool flat head of the nail to Dioptase's skin. "Tell me about the Negaverse plot in Europe. You know that death is inevitable. I know this. Let's not lie to each other. It can be fast and painless -- or it can be this." She tapped the nail against the fractured bone. It was hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to cause another wave of pain. "Your family within the Negaverse has abandoned you for death, Dioptase. They do not care about you as a person. They have never cared about you as a person. Tell me what I want to know, and I will send you to paradise. This is something that I can do for you. I can give you peace from this world." The words hung in the air, and Ares' cold stare along with them.

There is no paradise for you.

Maybe not, Ares thought coldly. But there was the endless cycle of rebirth, the endless hope that this time, yes, this time she could be better than she was before. Yet this was also the first time Ares had been allowed to stand outside of the bearings of the Parallel Court. In the wake of Aphrodite’s death and that of the Prince and Princess, Ares had risen as a leader. That was something she never gained the opportunity to do back in the Black Kingdom. She would never be happy to fall out of sync with her former court, but in this tiny kernel of prosperity, she had found her hope.

Ares would lead the scattered masses – and she would lead them straight to victory.

She had just begun to press the nail again when Dioptase began to speak. Her words carried such frankness, such an aura of submission, that the Senshi of Smoke immediately knew them to be true. There had been a cluster of senshi in Europe? What did that mean? Until this moment, Ares had thought, just like all the others, that they were a phenomenon centered on Destiny City, for whatever reason. The old guardian cat, Astraea, had said as much, hadn’t she? Ares was not awakened to hear it with her own ears, but it was a bit of information that had been passed down the line since.

If there were senshi springing up in Destiny City… then where else might they be?

It took much concentration for Ares to keep the surprise from her face. There had been a pocket of senshi in Europe, and the Negaverse had killed them before they got the chance to make themselves known. “Don’t be coy, Dioptase. Who was the other assigned to this task with you?” Her breath quickened. “And how did you both receive these orders?” There were more questions, so many more questions, but Ares forced herself to be patient.

Ares pursed her lips. "So Laurelite sent you and Tanzanite to eradicate the senshi presence in Europe. Where in Europe? It's a big place." For a moment, the Senshi of Smoke was sad that she was the only one present in the room with Dioptase. She wanted so much to turn and regard a fellow Blood Moon senshi, to share in this crucial piece of information about the Negaverse. They had learned many important things in this endeavor, but this moment was by far the most significant.

The nail still rested firmly against her bone. "How many senshi did you kill? How many cats?" Her eyes were hard. If there were other senshi across the globe, then perhaps they could all be united to snuff out the Negas once and for all. But were they already too late? Had the Negas already destroyed what chance they had?

Albali. That was who Ares wanted to be here. She took some of the best notes and had no problem accepting criticism if the Captain of the Blood Moon Court disagreed with her. It was not feasible for Ares to continue this line of questioning while recording her own information. She had not expected this particular session to be so productive. The super senshi immediately regretted sending away the cadet who had been assisting her.

One cat. Four senshi.

It was barely a faction, just a blip of something blossoming, much in the same way that the group in Destiny City had once begun. "How many of groups of senshi outside of DC has the Negaverse eliminated in this way?" she asked, voice even.

In her chest, Ares could feel her heart thudding like a drum.

One hand flashed upward, grabbing the girl's jaw so fiercely that the chains rattled. "Dioptase," she spat. The conversation had only just begun. Ares wasn't ready for it to end. Before the girl could pass out, the Senshi of Smoke needed at least one more thing answered. "This is all very interesting, Captain." Her grip tightened, became painful. "Give me proof. Give me one solid, verifiable piece of information or I will shatter your kneecaps and then make you walk." Gray eyes buzzed electric, her heart beating like an errant locomotive.

A name. Dioptase gave a name. Who was it? Was that her civilian identity? Was it Tanzanite's? Was it something that should be of significance to her?

Before Ares could shake the answer out of her, Captain Dioptase collapsed, her body hanging limply against the chains. The senshi punched her, kicked her, tried to command her awake, but none of it worked. For now, they were done talking.

The Captain of the Blood Moon immediately called three Blood Moon senshi to her side. To Gunn, she asked that Dioptase be taken down from the ceiling, her vitals checked, and her chair returned to its normal place in the center of the room. The girl was alive, but only barely. It was imperative that she be taken care of now. Ares asked that she be fed some protein, more than usual, and be allowed to actually take a sip of water, a full one.

Albali was there, and Ares felt relieved. Beside her stood Requiem. Two heads might be better than one. "I need you to find out everything you can about Alicia Landale. There might be a connection in Europe -- maybe France or Switzerland -- last summer. Go," she ordered. Usually, Ares was not so commanding. She tried to phrase orders as requests, as Birhan had once told her might be better for the troop morale, but all was forgotten in this moment.

It took several hours, but before Dioptase woke up, Ares understood the meaning of the name. Her death had been covered extensively be the media, with specific focus on the odd wound to her neck -- was there an animal loose in the city? Well, there had been. And her name was Tanzanite.

Renewed with a sudden sense of purpose, the Captain of the Blood Moon vowed to chase this lead until it bled dry.