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The tingle of mirrorwalking buzzed in the Senshi of Smoke's veins as she stumbled out the other end. Kallichore remained pressed against her chest. She released her quickly and then turned, slipping into a stalking pace from one end of the room to the other. Wherever they were, it was nowhere near downtown DC. The walls of the room where faded yellow. Paint peeled in the corners. Most of the windows were boarded up, but through gaps in the slats, a field of some sort was visible.

It was a foreclosed house at the edge of the city, butting up toward where metropolis petered off into outskirts into rural communities nestled against a sprawling wood. For the past two weeks, this had been Ares' escape. She kept tabs on foreclosed houses. It was a surefire way to ensure herself a cushy escape.

There was a lot of explaining to be done, but Ares was hardly concerned with Kallichore in that moment. It was another night ruined by the Negaverse, another cover blown, another haven disrupted. Rage boiled in Ares' gut. She turned suddenly and slammed her fist into the wall, splintering dry wall and paint. When she tugged her first out, Ares glanced down to scuffed, reddened knuckles. It didn't make her feel any better.

One gray eye peered over her shoulder. Mirrorwalking was a bit of the ******** the first time someone did it. "It takes a minute to adjust," she said to Kallichore, touching lightly at her knuckle.

The anger in her chest still broiled, but Ares tried to focus on the senshi in the room with her. Everything was falling apart. She had to work overtime just to keep it together. Recruitment had begun for the Blood Moon Court again, a sign that they had not given up, nothing close to it. Ares wanted to be a part of that effort, but each time she went out, she found herself face to face with multiple Negas out to punish her. She still did not regret her actions. This was war. Unspeakable things had to be done to ensure victory.

Had the words from Alkaid and Serandite poisoned this green senshi to her?

I owe you.

Maybe not.

Ares crossed slowly toward Kallichore, a cautious glint in her eye. "I'm sure you have questions about what happened, but before any of that, I'd just like to commend you for how you handled yourself. If you hadn't stopped Alkaid in her tracks, we might have gone tumbling off the wrong side of that roof." It was true. Ares might have been able to take out Alkaid on her own, but a general and a corrupted senshi together would be no walk in the park.

A laundry list of questions? Ares didn't know if she had the patience for that. She wished idly that Birhan or Gunn or Laocoon or Gaia were here. Any of them would probably be better at doing this than she was, at least now. Ares had been on the run since Operation Rota came to a crashing end. All of the Blood Moon Court were wanted, but the Captain had made herself Target One. It was better that, she thought. She wouldn't want the others to deal with this. She thought herself better equipped to handle the unique stress of it.

There was a chair a few feet in front of Kallichore. Ares crossed to it and took a seat, crossing her legs primly. "Alkaid was the corrupted super senshi, one of the White Mooners who had her starseed tainted by Chaos. She is now a lapdog of Beryl and her minions, a trained gun wiped clean of her old memories." There was a time when Ares herself was corrupt, but the Black Moon senshi were different. They did not experience memory loss, or a formal starseed corruption. They were tainted based on the alignment of their crystal-holder, which had been Queen Nehelenia prior to her death. Now the remaining parallels floated untethered from their royals.

"The girl with the ridiculous rabbit is Serandite. She doesn't look like much, but she is a General of the Negaverse -- like Zinkenite," she explained, touching at her temple. "They are all too powerful for you to face alone. Better to run and live than to stay and die." It was advice that Ares didn't always follow herself. She had, after all, attempted to face General Tanzanite when she was just a regular senshi. In her defense, she thought the purple-haired Nega was still a Captain. At any rate, she would never advise another senshi to make such an attempt.

Ares remembered Albali mentioning a new senshi she had met. It was offhanded. The Senshi of Smoke was only partially listening. Now fate had thrown that same girl, it would seem, directly into her path. That had to mean something, didn't it? Gray eyes watched the Senshi of Madness for a moment, curious.

After a pause, Ares said, "The Blood Moon Court is a faction of senshi who do not forget that this is a war we are fighting. We must learn to be capable of anything it takes to win -- killing, dying, all of it. In order to win, we have to be honest with ourselves about what that victory might cost." There was plenty to scare a new senshi about the BMC. They were not the hug-filled, coddled faction. They were not for the faint of heart.

For a moment, the Senshi of Smoke considered shielding Kallichore from some of their deeds -- but what was the point? The truth would always come out. "Three weeks ago, there was a massive battle between our faction and the Negaverse. You might have heard about sightings of a dragon in the closed off portion of DC? Massive property damage, several found dead... That was the culmination of a mission designed by our court. I cannot discuss the details with someone who is not in our ranks. Simply put, we took something from the Negaverse, and they fought to get it back. It was the first -- and only, so far -- decisive strike made by any senshi faction against our oppressors, regardless of the outcome." No matter the outcome, this much was true. Operation Rota had been the first of its kind. The Blood Moon Court could at least find comfort in that.

"I, along with others, am part of a faction that refuses to be reactive. We are proactive -- and we would do anything to win the battle for Earth," she said, sitting back in the chair. "So, naturally, we have earned a fair amount of spite from the Negaverse. And... myself, in particular."

The chair was stiff, uncomfortable. Ares leaned to the left and propped her elbow on the arm to try to ease the discomfort. She often forgot how strange she must seem to the newly awakened White Moon senshi. They wouldn't remember Nehelenia, or that b*****d Wiseman. This was a movie already in progress. The newcomers had to hit the ground running.

One hand touched lightly at her earlobe and then fell to her shoulder. There was a lot of questions, she understood that. In the Black Kingdom, they were taught who and what they were from an early age. It was a far more logical solution compared to the disorganized mass of the White Moon.

A lot to answer, yes. So Ares decided to take one question at a time. "I am not originally from the White Kingdom -- but you are. You were born here on the White Earth, and your missing princess, Serenity -- the lunar princess that the Negaverse is trying to keep from gaining power -- is from the White Moon. She is not in Destiny City. She will probably never be here, and it's just as well." A free hand waved slowly in the air. "There is another existence in a dimension that runs parallel to this one. I am from that existence. We are connected to this universe by mirrors, and as you might have noticed, we are able to travel through them. We are called the Black Moon senshi... though many refer to us as the parallels," she said.

Ares sat up, uncrossed her legs. "There used to be more of us, but there was..." She struggled to find the words. This was hard for her to say -- so she stopped. "It doesn't matter. I am one of four Black Kingdom soldiers left. That is all. We are aligned with the White Moon, and I lead the Blood Moon Court to achieve what their leaders have been incapable of." A weary sigh streamed past full lips.

"In the past, thousands of years in the past, Princess Serenity fell in love with the Prince of Earth, Endymion. Their union fused an alliance between the moon, its allies, and the earth. The Negaverse feels like their home was stolen from them, despite the fact that it was their Prince who made this decision. They view Serenity and all the senshi as alien intruders. They plan to kill us all to protect Earth." Ares rested a palm on her knee. "Trouble is that they plan to accomplish this by killing all the civilians and feeding their energy to their bloated ruler, Queen Beryl." And Metallia, Ares thought quietly. She still wasn't sure where this new power sat.

All of this was enough. Ares knew Kallichore had more questions. She expected it -- who wouldn't, in her position? The Senshi of Smoke was just too tired to deal with them all. "I understand that you have questions, Kallichore. I don't blame you. But I cannot stay here very long." She sat toward the edge of her seat. "The Blood Moon Court is a new faction composed of senshi who have no intention to wait around for Princess Serenity to show up and save us all. It is, after all, both her and Endymion's fault that your people are being targeted like this at all. The Court that I represent is the only one that has attempted any proactive action. We are always looking for senshi who want, and who aren't afraid to do what it takes to bring about that change. We are not the kind to be picked off like flies."

She got to her feet, determination set in her brow. It was clear Ares would be leaving shortly.

Ares had begun to cross toward the same mirror the two senshi had tumbled through only a moment earlier. She stood there, feet planted on the worn carpet, and stared at Kallichore. They had only known each other for a short time, and already she felt more akin to this senshi than she did to any of the others outside of the Blood Moon Court, even MuCephei. There was a spark in the girl’s eye that resonated with Ares. She asked questions that Ares would have asked in her shoes. She made choices that Ares thought she would make. This was, for the BMC Captain, a sign of potential – significant potential.

In spite of everything, all the running and the disappointment and the loss, a smile crossed the lips of the Senshi of Smoke. It was not friendly, or loving, or even entirely happy. She merely looked satisfied.

“You continue to impress me,” she said.

Recruitment was back in swing with the Blood Moon Court, but they were not pulling in the numbers that they used to before Operation Rota. Their name had gotten out, that was certain – but it had brought a wave of bad press at the proactive senshi. The fact rankled Ares. She had done something. She had gotten the attention of the Negaverse. What had anyone else done other than react or hide? No, there could be no shame for her. She did what must be done; she always did.

And perhaps, now, Kallichore would too.

“Tomorrow night at 10PM. Go to the statue in the park by Crystal Academy.” Her hand slipped into the mirror, disappeared. “We’ll find you.”

In one fluid moment, Sailor Ares dissolved through the mirror, leaving the Senshi of Madness alone in the foreclosed house.