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 Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:19 pm
Although Calico Lane was always a joy to stroll through, it had been another tiresome, uneventful night for Rosalind. The Soldier of Wealth was patrolling sans Perseus that night, taking it upon herself to secure the well-being of the area out of boredom-- but now? She truly regretted doing so, as there was not even the slightest hint of evil to be found in the area. Technically a good thing, as this meant Vogue had been efficiently completing their duty, but Rosalind just felt so bored.
As her golden pumps clicked and clacked atop the roofs of various stores, Rosalind noted the lights flickering out in each of them one by one. A pity, as she was debating powering down and going shopping, but her hopes had been crushed. It was at that point that she decided to make one last round of the area, even if it was what one would call 'half-assed.'
The auburn-haired soldier dashed along, twirling in the air elegantly (and sometimes not-so-elegantly, as she would land on her rump when jumping too far) as she bathed in the moonlight. And then she felt a strange ting in her head-- a power signature-- that was completely unfamiliar. It wasn't a senshi, nor did it seem to be an agent of evil, but one could never be too certain.
Lo and behold, the source of the energy was a blue-haired young woman, bathing in the moonlight as Rosalind had been. She seemed pensive, sitting on the rim of a marble fountain and staring at nothing in particular. Was she a corrupt sailor scout? She intended to find out.
Sailor Rosalind lunged forward, cascading upon the cobblestone path that lead up to the Calico Theatre. "I'll be blunt," she called out theatrically, "if you have stolen any energy, I will allow you to relinquish it without any infractions. No fighting necessary." She crossed her arms and arched her back, then continued, "and from one lovely young lady in bloom to another? I doubt either of us would like any damage inflicted upon our faces."
At the very least, Rosalind was honest.
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Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:10 pm
Calico Lane was something more suited to Jada Chamberlyn than her frumpy little former friend, yet there was something here that was more for the newly-named Daphne Xanis than almost anyone else. There was something about the sound of running water, even from an elegant fountain such as this one, that soothed her thoughts. Moping around the apartment was tricky. Elzo would either cajole her out of it or probe deeply into what it was making her sad.
Sometimes, the knight simply needed to be alone with her thoughts and feelings. Alone to pick through the shattered remains of her memories so that she could decide where to go from here in life. Things were nowhere near as crystal clear as she wanted them to be, nor as they had been for her when she was sixteen and sure that everything was going to come up roses.
However, things would be coming up Rosalind. Unaware of the senshi's name or sphere there was a quick assessing look and flash of the scouter over one golden eye. Lina knew immediately, without the magical help, that this girl was a super senshi. A fancy one. "I hate to disappoint you but my energy-stealing days are behind me. Thank you for the compliment and don't worry. Even when I was big and bad I never went for a girl's face. That's so cheap." And hard to explain.
Resigned to not being alone she patted the stone next to her with a black-gloved hand. "The black is deceptive. I'm Lina and I work with Castor. Know him?" That was one thing that was unknown to the bluenette. The Negaverse mostly knew the Senshi of Hail, but how popular was he amongst the senshi?
Did she really want to know?
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:10 pm
"When you were big and bad?" Rosalind cocked her head to the side in a somewhat befuddled manner. She may not have been an oasis of knowledge on the inner workings of the Negaverse, but in all her days as a scout, Rosalind had never once heard of an agent turning good. It must have been a trick, so she kept her guard up, but at the same time, Rosalind was just so curious. Clearing her throat and then crossing her arms in disinterest, the Soldier of Wealth inched closer and closer to Lina, her pumps clicking on the pavement with each half-step she took.
The bluenette seemed friendly enough, but she just looked to pretty to be good-- all of the Negaversers that she had met looked like her. Luscious hair, full lips, somewhat gaudy attire... but this could have turned out to be interesting!
"Lina?" she inquired, hesitantly sitting on the designated spot, "not once have I heard of you. I'm Sailor Rosalind, the Soldier of Wealth, and I'm probably the prettiest scout I know. It's an honor for you." And then he was mentioned. Castor. Ugh, blech, gross! She scrunched her face up in disgust and looked at Lina funnily. "Oh, my goodness. What did he do to you? He used to make me fight monsters against my will!! He also seems to say the most obscene things which are harsh on my delicate lady ears."
She threw her hands up as if to say 'but what can we do about it?' Continuing, "although I guess when it gets down to it, he's alright. He means well, I suppose, but he just says the most uncouth things!" Rosalind shrugged, then was quiet for a second. "But why would you be fighting with him? I mean..."
Not wanting to be rude, she tried to be coy and not say anything that mind offend. "weren't you, like, a bad guy? Or something?"
Castor couldn't of had the power to do something such as this. It was impossible!!!
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:07 pm
An honor for her? What was it about incredibly proud senshi that she always ran smack into on chance meetings? That's how the whole mess of the past year and a half started, and though a mess it was, Lina found herself smiling a bit warmly at the Senshi of Wealth. "Nice to meet you, Sailor Rosalind." Sitting and talking to a senshi. The world was ending.
"I'm Lina Knight of Mercury. Castor is my....well my partner's probably the best word for it." It still was hard to run around telling everyone that she was engaged to the Prince of Castor. It was private and while he would tell anyone that would listen meant that she did not have to. Hearing Rosalind's rather on-point assessment of the Senshi of Hail had her laughing.
"Castor doesn't understand how ladies think, though I guess that's one of his...charms?" Fingers tapped against the stone thoughtfully for a moment before she too shrugged somewhat. Guardedly the laughter faded and a cautious nod bobbed the curls of Lina's hair. "I used to be Linarite, a general in the Negaverse. I don't know that we ever met...my memory's a little spotty but if I ever hurt you....well. I'm sorry." That was the hardest part. Apologizing to someone she didn't know if she'd ever met and if she'd met them, what had she done?
"Though that's hopeful for you isn't it? Unless you're one of those that think we're all better off dead, no matter what." Lips twisted a bit in disgust. Yes, they were all evil Negaverse agents with no chance of redemption! Best off dead!
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:00 pm
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet a Knight of Mercury!" Honestly, Rosalind had never even heard of such a thing-- but it sounded important, so she'd fake the amazement. "Any girl who could tame a boy such as Castor must be quite a fine lady, even if she was evil at one point. It truly is nice to make your acquaintance." Rosalind clasped her hands together and placed them in her lap delicately, then added thoughtfully, "and no, you've never harmed me. My memory is completely perfect, especially when it comes to those who wish death upon me. There was Serandite, Scheelite... Fayalite! And this one other girl-- her name escapes me-- oh, yes! Petalite. I didn't like her in the least. But at any rate, no apologies are owed."
Rosalind kind of wanted to ask if there was anyone she previously worked with who she disliked, but felt it rather inappropriate. Gossip was fun, but definitely unbecoming of a lady.
"While I definitely believe that what you used to stand for is completely wrong, I also believe that I-- or anyone else-- am not in a place to dole out death. There are for sure a few cases I have heard about that are so steeped in misery that I think... their only release may be death? But I would rather focus on protecting the city and its people than killing things off. That's just gross and unseemly, and I would prefer not to get dirty!"
She sighed, thinking of the war that had been taking place. "If you don't mind my asking-- what made you turn away from the Negaverse? How did it happen?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:12 pm
Didn't think that she should be killed? Well that made everything so much easier! More at ease, Lina crossed her legs and flopped backwards so that her hair hung mere inches above the water. Eyes looked up at the sky and contemplated for a good long time before even looking over at the senshi again.
It was almost a relief that of everyone this elegant, if somewhat prim senshi hadn't mentioned Tanzanite. It might make this story easier to tell somewhat, though the odds that Rosalind would understand even half of it was a slim chance. "Serandite was my friend. Scheelite one of my lieutenants. Did you kick his butt?" It was a rude question but innate curiosity is something that Lina didn't think she'd ever be rid of.
"Sorry, sorry. You asked a really good question and one that even Castor hasn't. He assumes that a lot of it was him and sure, being madly in love with his idiot self was a great motivator. I tried to kill him you know. Twice? Three times? Something like that, foggy memory." Fingers counted silently before they waved. "But that's not all of it. I lost everything. My birth name, my parents, my family, all my friends. I had a scholarship to DCU. Lost it! They all know who I was and are just waiting for me to slip up so they can find me again." Boy that was cheerful wasn't it? Almost realizing that, Lina uncrossed and re-crossed her legs.
"The real reason? I didn't want to be life and death anymore. You have the Queen standing behind you like the proverbial axe all the time. One toe out of line and she will....take everything. Simply everything." The voice which had been casual and almost jovial while talking about Castor and the things she'd sacrificed for this life had become hushed. The fear never really left you. Even now it was unconscious for the bluenette to check her back before continuing.
"You're a super so you've probably been around the block yeah? You know it wasn't always just energy for us. It used to be much higher stakes and I loved it." There was the loathing, the revulsion for herself that kept the knight up at night with sweating nightmares."And then someone almost took me out. You can say I saw the light or something. I couldn't just quit, but I was determined to have it out once and for all. I'd either kill Castor and be cold forever or he'd kill me and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore." Fingers were knotting in her hair and even though from time to time honey eyes glanced over towards Rosalind, it was clear she wasn't seeing anything.
"He won but wouldn't do it. Was going to kill us both. The idiot. I was given a choice -- I could have died. We both could have died but I didn't want to die. I've seen my friends die. Tanzanite, have you heard of her?" There was the warmth again, warmth and a longing agony for a lost time. "She's died twice now and come back more....I guess you'd say she's become a monster. She's half youma. Now I don't even know what she is but Tanz has always been there for me. My memory is foggy but all I know is that she looked at me and she hurt." Hands scrubbed at eyes that had started to burn with unshed tears. ******** tears again.
"I want to save them. I was saved. I sit here a testament to the fact that we can all are worth saving!" Passion spewed from the pixie-like knight in a savage motion as she leapt up to prowl back and forth. "Scheelite, Petalite, all of them. They were betrayed, lied to, pawns of a woman with a more terrible power than I think any of them understand. I don't think they even know what they're fighting for! Or who they're fighting! Or why!" A breath. "That was the worst part. I woke up one day and realized I had no idea why I had killed so many people."
Eyes were wide and haunted with the lives of so many. She couldn't remember many of the days of her life but Daphne could name every single person she had ever killed. The fires of Barren Pines, those melting bodies, that head she'd carried around the yard while giggling to it about their deaths. "I had no idea why I was this monster. And I couldn't live with it. So I guess I ran away. Stupid huh? Lina the Coward but I don't care what anyone thinks. Any of them." Maybe if she said it enough times she would start to believe it. Maybe she could make it true.
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Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 11:06 am
Never before had anyone opened up with such raw emotions like Lina had before-- atleast to Rosalind (much less Elegancia, for that matter). As such, she was at a loss of words, and would just nod every so often as Lina spoke of things such as people who were once her friends, a Queen with tyrannical powers, and how she herself had killed before. Rosalind truly did feel sympathetic, but she was at a loss of words because she didn't relate. Breathing deeply through her nose, Rosalind patted down a stray curl of hair and then mustered up enough thought to say something.
"I think that maybe some scouts are upset? I mean, we're often made to look like bad guys-- and some of them may be-- but we were charged with the duty to protect. We strive to fend off what you once stood for, yet we're scrutinized. We should be celebrated-- maybe me more than others for being so gorgeous-- for what we do." She brought a foot up in the air and twisted it around a bit, inspecting the little bow on the hem of her pump. "None of them are innately evil. Some are just misguided-- like you once were."
Although she'd have loved to help Lina-- because turning them good would be easier than killing them-- she had no idea what to do about it. "I understand some of the things you are saying. But what could I-- or anyone else, for that matter-- do about it? Why doesn't someone just turn the Queen good, like you were?"
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 10:19 pm
The bit about being gorgeous brought a snort to Lina's lips. It would have taken someone deaf, dumb, and blind to miss the fact that this senshi was more than a little proud of her appearance and if asked, the bluenette would have had her pegged for a Crystal girl -- if not graduate, in a few seconds flat. Some just couldn't hide it!
"They just don't understand. They see the destruction of a youma's rampage and because you're so flashy and so there, it's your fault. That's what we wanted so nobody even bothered to let it be known that we were there. Hard to do nefarious things when the cameras are watching." It was actually rather surprising that Lina hadn't seen her face on the news yet, though she had become skilled by necessity at remaining out of the way.
Questioning why Beryl couldn't be turned good was something a bit more difficult to address. "I'm not sure. The senshi when she helped me mentioned something about a balance and how purifying Beryl would be too much for that. Though I'm personally not sure there's anything worth saving in her. She was a dried up husk that took the life of someone who didn't deserve that punishment. Now she's dead." Or as good as. Had it always been Nealite's 'punishment' that put the bluenette over the edge?
She would have laughed at that. The b***h. Lina missed her desperately. Noting the awkward silence the teen sighed and hunched her dark shoulders a bit before straightening again. "Anyway, thanks for listening. I can't say it's something I ever really expected from a senshi. At least someone else knows the truth now and it's not just people accusing Castor of being all lovesick." Not that anyone had. Within her hearing. Yet.
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