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 Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 1:27 pm
Marcella had taken several days off.
Well. She had actually, at one point, wanted to just give up on the whole senshi thing entirely.
But as usual, she could not quite stand the idea of turning her back on a responsibility like that. And if she had doubts, she decided to go back to the source of all of this trouble in the first place - ********* the talking cat.
And so the girl recovered her henshin pen from where she had thrown it behind her dresser, and powered up into Sailor Asclepius. She half did not even want to leave her room, but decided it would be for the best, especially if she would be able to talk to the cat right away. It was pretty late at night, but there was still the risk of attracting attention at home. So the girl climbed out onto her roof and called Sailor Iris from her senshi phone.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 2:14 pm
The phone rang a few times, and eventually a voice that was not Sailor Iris picked up.
"Eesh! Hi there Asclepius... um... Sailor Iris is away from her phone right now. Is there something I could help you with?"
Leave it to fate to have someone call Sailor Iris while she was in the bathroom. On the other end of the phone, a small round cat lay crouched down next to the phone, ear carefully perked up so she could hear the senshi on the other end of the phone.
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:54 pm
The girl was pleasantly surprised to hear the cat answer the phone, and relieved that she would not have to go through Iris after all.
"Actually-," she started, then licked her lips and started again. "Actually, I want to talk to you, *********. Can you meet me now?" Asclepius gave the location of an elementary school nearby, and suggested the playground there as a meeting spot.
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2011 11:09 am
Asclepius could probably hear a slight jingling of a bell on the other end of the phone as the manx nodded her head. "Always!" was her cheery response. After she got the information and Sailor Iris had finished with whatever it was she needed to do, the cat was on her way. One convenient thing about running about the city every day was the fact that she was very familiar with the various features to the city. She knew all the shortcuts, she knew all of the best places to go during the day, and completely unrelated, she knew who was nice enough to give her a snack on a daily basis.
Mmmm... snacks...
When she made her way to the park, the cat seemed to trot right up to the swing sets. Oh sure, she could have remained there by the swings and sat down like a good cat. However, that was no fun. Instead, the cat hopped up, landing almost clumsily upon the little black flap of a seat. From the mere momentum, the swing began to do its job and move forward and back. ********* couldn't help but let out a content giggle.
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Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 2:08 pm
In spite of how difficult it was to locate cats in the dark on an ordinary basis, purple ones jumping into swings tended to stand out. Asclepius sat atop a row of monkey bars; she dangled her legs down between them, but had pulled her white skirts up to drape across her lap. She waved to ********* when the cat arrived, and then turned to hang her legs carefully off the side of the bars before hopping down.
The Senshi of Medicine walked over to join the cat at the swings, and sat down carefully in the one beside her. Where her skirts promptly picked up mulch chips. They were all made for small children, and so a bit too low for the nineteen-year-old to swing comfortably. There were things the girl wanted to know, for sure, but she realized she was not fully sure how to bring it all up with the talking cat. How to ask the right questions and stuff.
"Did you pick my power?" she asked after a long moment. "When you found me, did you just pick 'Asclepius of Medicine' out of a hat or something?" If the manx had offered any information on it when she had actually 'awakened' Marcella and turned her into a superhero, the girl could not recall.
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Posted: Fri May 27, 2011 4:10 pm
There was a slight creak to the chain as the swing continued to sway back and forth. As the senshi approached, the feline rather easily turned her head to her. Since she was a friendly little thing, she easily gave a simple greeting of "Good evening, Asclepius... good to see you!" She smiled softly as she continued to move along the swing, but kept looking to the girl, causing her eyes to almost sway back and forth as well. It was almost like one of those creepy wall clocks shaped like cats.
The manx had been hoping for a greeting as well, but instead the senshi started things off with a question. Pity, but it didn't mean she had to frown about it. Keeping that easy going smile upon her maw, she gave the girl the truth. "Nope. Didn't pick a thing. I don't choose the powers. If I chose such things, do you think I would have given Sailor Iris something as mismatched as rainbows for her power?" An airy giggle escaped her before she could continue.
"No... I just unlocked your potential that had already been a part of you all along. That is all."
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 12:43 pm
Asclepius returned the greeting with a small grunt of acknowledgement; she could not be angry at *********, should not be, but it was difficult. She was just sort of irked in general, and was at least trying not to take it out on her guardian.
She mulled over the cat's answer for a moment, and frowned. Sort of what the girl had figured, but it was not what she wanted.
"So it's just 'fate' or whatever that a med student ended up with this Medicine power?" Asclepius then asked. "And you just awaken everyone you can find, which makes sense, I suppose, but really, aren't I kind of useless in this whole war?"
Her fingers uncurled from the chains of the swing, and hung beside her as she finally turned to look over to the cat. "I mean, I've been devoting my time and studies to learning to help and heal, but apparently, we don't need that sort of thing in this war." Asclepius' voice took on a pleading tone. "Why not just leave me alone and unawakened? Or are you somehow duty-bound not to?"
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Posted: Sat May 28, 2011 2:37 pm
********* tilted her head slightly as the girl finally looked over, making her smile a bit larger to let the girl know that it was okay to be upset. If the manx got upset everytime someone got angry at her, she'd never be able to get anything done.
"Quite bluntly... yes... it's funny how things work out. I mean, the Senshi of third sight is blind. Fate sometimes has this weird sense of irony that we need to work with."
For the next thing she wanted to say, it could not be said from the swing she was perched on. With a little less grace than most cats seemed to have, she hopped off of the swing, landing in the mulch. She didn't say a word as she padded up to Asclepius, then without warning, attempted to hop up into her lap.
"Whoever convinced you that you are useless in this war does not know what they are talking about." Despite how pleasant her voice was, there was still an underlying firm tone mixed with sincerity. "In all honesty, I believe you would be more of an asset for this war than a burden. Any team would be lucky to have you."
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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 12:21 pm
The girl was focusing angrily on something in the middle distance, and so was not quit expecting the cat to jump into her lap. She did not let ********* fall out, though, reflexively wrapping her arms around the cat for a moment to steady her. And then deciding that it was somehow extra awkward to be doing that with a cat who could talk and who had changed into a person before.
"It's a war of attrition, though," Asclepius insisted. "It's all battles and no victory. And the only way to stop that is to start killing the enemy and I just can't bring myself to do that. Is it fair to ask that of anyone my age? Or any age?"
She chewed her lip, then, hesitantly, added, "I've seen the bodies of the last war on my home asteroid. It didn't end then, so how can we be so sure it's not going to go on for another few hundred years or whatever?"
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Posted: Sun May 29, 2011 8:13 pm
Despite how awkward it might have been for the senshi, the cat did not seem to feel the same way, rather easily rubbing herself up against the girl's body before nestling down in the lap. In an effort to ease the girl's mind, she purred a few times in a warm, loving manner. Laps were always cozy for the small manx, and Asclepius' was no exception.
"It is not fair to ask that of anyone. Period. I do not ask any of my girls to kill the enemy, to be quite honest." A more accurate statement would probably be that ********* was against it with all of her heart. Sailor Iris had killed a lieutenant nearly a year ago. Sailor Parthenope, ********* had witnessed killing a lieutenant, and in all honesty, she could not accurately detail if he had killed any others prior or not. Even as a guardian cat, she didn't have all of the answers, but in her heart she knew that killing did not solve anything.
"I do not have all of the answers. However, killing is not the only way to solve problems... it would seem many senshi are stuck thinking inside of the box for finding a solution to all of this." The cat leaned her head back so she could try to look up towards where the girl's face was at.
"Tell me, Asclepius... what do you want to see happen? Obviously you do not want war. What end result do you want to see? What goals do you have? What do you see as your duties?"
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 7:49 pm
The girl sighed as she listened, but gave in to obligingly rubbing the cat under the chin with one finger. It was nigh impossible to avoid killing the youma, it seemed. They were largely mindless, and there could be no reasoning with them. They only had one job, and the only way to stop them from carrying it out was to destroy them.
It probably helped, emotionally, that they dissolved upon death, instead of leaving behind corpses and gore.
But the human agents of the negaverse. Were they really human? Could they be reasoned with?
She scowled at the cat's question, focusing again on ********* face. "Well, before I met you, I wanted to finish up my pre-med at Sovereign Heights and get into a good medical program and become a doctor. Decide on a specialty, pursue it, figure things out from there." Asclepius' voice wavered. "I'd love to just keep doing that. But now I'm stuck with this whole war thing, and I can't bring myself to just turn my back on that!"
Taking a deep breath and holding it, she curled her fingers into the cat's fur. "Am I just lucky you found me first, then? Before some cat who might have expected me to just be a killing machine got to me instead?" The girl found herself fighting back a few tears of frustration and upset. "Would those cats have even bothered with the doctor whom 'fate' decided is the Senshi of Medicine? Someone who wouldn't torture or kill in the name of victory?"
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2011 11:35 am
Oh, that stray finger under her chin felt so goooood. Gentle purring escaped her for a while as she politely listened to the girl, her green eyes getting a very good view of the space underneath the senshi's chin. This girl had goals. Even back when ********* had awakened the power within her, it was not hard to tell that the brunette was the sort who knew what she wanted to do.
The cat opened her mouth, ready to offer some words when fingers seemed to tighten against her body. It wasn't painful, but it was just a hint that it was not time for the manx to speak quite yet. Her mouth closed, and once more, she listened. She could hear a hint of sniffling from above her. Her voice, her tone, it all sounded as if she was very upset. In an instinctive manner, the cat stood herself up and made her way closer to the girl's torso, rubbing up against her in an effort to comfort and console. Now was the time for the cat to speak.
"A guardian who puts the war before the senshi... is not doing his or her job right." It was indeed difficult to remember the individuals who were the fighting force for good during such trying times. There was a lot riding on the senshi, but many of them were teenagers. All of them were people who had feelings and lives to tend to. It would have been selfish to expect them to give everything up, including their humanity, in the name of a war.
"I cannot speak for other cats." In all honesty, ********* didn't know all of the cats very well. "However, everyone is important. Torture and active killing is not what senshi stand for. I believe the term 'Defenders of Justice' is how you should be looking at this. Defending those who cannot defend themselves. Not actively seeking out to destroy or torture."
It concerned ********* that Asclepius had actually used the term torture. As she rubbed a cheek against the girl's body, she couldn't help but be reminded of what Scheelite had mentioned to her about the Blood Moon Court. Had this senshi been criticized by the Blood Moon?
"I think all of your goals for your future are wonderful. And it is very admirable that you do not want to hightail it out of this conflict. If anybody here is lucky, it should be me for having the chance to meet such an upstanding individual as yourself." The cat smiled as she once more ran her cheek against this girl's body.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:41 pm
"You're just saying that," Asclepius mumbled stubbornly, cheeks coloring slightly at the guardian's praise. That was not why she was working, either at her mundane goals or as a senshi.
The idea of being a defender of justice was one she rather liked, and had thought of before, but on whose justice were they all operating?
"We're all from the stars, though, right? My power is tied to that asteroid full of dead bodies," she went on. "Should we really be here? Why is it that the ones who say they're defending Earth from us invaders are also the ones trying to kill and use the people in Destiny City?"
Worry and upset lined the girl's features as she peered down at the cat. A few tears started to run down her cheeks. "A lot of people died in this war already, a long time ago, on Asclepius. I've seen them. Why is this fight still going? And for how much longer?"
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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:18 pm
"I think... someone is overly modest as well." ********* chuckled as she brushed up against the girl once more after the whole "You're just saying that" comment.
However, the conversation went a little more serious, and though ********* still had a manner of speaking pleasantly, the laughter was stifled for now. "In the past, that is correct. Asteroids, moons, stars, comets, so on and so forth. Those used to be your homes." There was a thoughtful pause, but then she eventually put out a question. "Do tell me though, where were you born? As a regular person. Not a senshi. Where were you born?"
The other questions about the Negaverse and the war could wait for now.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 3:22 pm
Asclepius sighed and stroked her hand down ********* back; her palm slipped off the cat's backside, as, distracted by her thoughts, the senshi momentarily forgot about the guardian's lack of a tail.
"I was born here, but you just said I've had this asteroid power all along," she mumbled. "So yeah, I was born and grew up here, but apparently that still doesn't mean I belong here."
The girl was quiet for a moment, then eyed the cat. "What about you? Were you born here on Earth?" There was no accusation or argument there, just honest curiosity.
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