[REG] A Dying Dream (Kallichore/Birhan) [FIN]

[Lucifer Force]

The meeting with Polaris, while chance, was a fortunate turn of events. The Eternal Senshi had given Kallichore a wealth of information her youth in the war had not afforded her. Everything from Rainbow Crystals to princes and princesses that had nothing to do with the royalty of the moon. But what tilted the axis of her worldview the most was the proof of the moon royalty existing at all - a picture and information about the one called Super Sailor Chibimoon. She was the daughter of the moon princess the senshi were thought to find one day - the messiah to deliver them all from the war and birth peace upon the world as a whole. Kallichore had lived and grown as a senshi without the guiding light of some lunar princess. Without proof, she did not believe in the existence of a messiah at all. She shared that belief with the senshi of the Blood Moon Court and happily offered whatever services she could provide. It was their guidance that led the gray haired senshi to better herself and she proved it through ranking up not too long ago.

But now, she wished to give back to the Court. With Ares gone on leave, Birhan was in charge of the operations and regulation of court members. She would be the best person to speak to about these recent developments. Armed with a pen and paper (things she was never seen without during any of the Blood Moon gatherings), Kallichore had jotted down what information she could take from Polaris - Chibimoon's physical description and her relationship to the moon princess being the top priority. Since Chibimoon was a proven fact and not some metaphorical myth, perhaps the focus of the Blood Moon could be to exterminate the Negaverse in conjunction with the pink senshi? Or even find a way to locate the moon princess with her help? Either way, Kallichore was convinced this information was groundbreaking and needed to be reported with the utmost haste.

After the latest meeting was over, the super senshi requested an audience with the Inner Sanctum member and waited with bated breath to find out whether or not she would be granted some time alone with Birhan. They'd hardly spoken in the past save for Kallichore relaying information like a battered carrier pigeon. In truth, the super senshi adored her position in the court and loved her job, and wished deeply to continue it if at all possible. Standing on the outskirts of the room where Birhan had stopped, she waited with respect for the ISS member to allow her to speak.  

[kalindara]

These days it seemed Birhan spent more time in meetings than she did on patrol. They started to wear after a while, though Birhan reflected that she only had herself to blame for opening her big mouth.

'You wanted more of a say in how things were running,' her brain pointed out, 'and now you have it.'

"Be careful what you wish for, yeah," she muttered to herself. Looking up, she gave Kallichore a tired though honest smile. One hand beckoned the younger senshi over.

"Take a load off," she invited. "I'm not big on the formalities and I don't bite."

Currently, Birhan was perched on one of the boxes that littered the abandoned warehouse they'd been using for the night's big meeting. Even though she hadn't bothered with the red cloak of the ISS while addressing the BMC as a whole, she'd resigned herself to standing and looking attentive and in control. Now that most of the senshi had dispersed, Birhan decided she'd more than earned a bit of a break. One on one meetings, especially, seemed to go better when she could act like herself and not 'Birhan, ISS member and unfortunate 'volunteer' to lead missions'.

"What can I do for you?"  

[Lucifer Force]

Take a load off. I'm not big on the formalities...

The super senshi had to bite her tongue to keep from calling Birhan 'ma'am' or something equally absurd. She wanted to treat higher ranking members with the utmost respect - they had obviously earned their position through loyalty, dedication and proven skill. Still, Kallichore did her best to relax on Birhan's behalf, though it was very difficult for her to do so. Relaxing did not come naturally to the gray haired senshi. She looked around and pulled up a box of her own on which to sit and discuss the matter at hand. Setting the paper on her lap, she began to explain her whole reason for bothering Birhan in the first place.

"It has come to my attention very recently that there is, indeed, a moon princess about Destiny City." There was a worried look on Kallichore's face, like she was confessing a sin to her pastor. There was a look of shame and embarrassment. "I've met with Sailor Polaris completely by accident when out on patrol. She explained to me who this person is, and that they've met." Running through the bullet point list she'd made, Kallichore continued at a brisk pace. "Pink hair, red eyes, moon adornments. She's apparently the daughter of the moon princess and she's very much alive and real."

Looking up from the paper, real worry had replaced the shame that was once on the senshi's face. "This is huge, Birhan, as I'm sure you understand. This means that there is a real, tangible link to the moon princess. Almost the next best thing. I always thought, just like everyone else, that the moon princess was nothing but a myth - a faithbound figment of someone's imagination, but she's real! Maybe we could turn the Court's focus into helping her? We can still annihilate the Negaverse, but if the moon princess is so supposedly powerful, who's to say that having her daughter on our side wouldn't be a tremendous boon? Can you believe this, Birhan?" There was a raw honesty and excitement in her voice that she tried to supress, or at least blunt for the sake of formalities, but it couldn't be helped.  

[kalindara]

Violet eyes widened when Kallichore informed her that the moon princess was in the city. Birhan's mind raced trying to parse the news - since when? why hadn't anyone told them? did everyone except the BMC know, were they being excluded now?

The panic died down as Kallichore continued. The figure she described was vaguely familiar, and by the time the word 'daughter' was dropped, Birhan's panic had settled into a wry smile.

"I keep forgetting we don't have a bulletin board to keep track of everything new senshi need to know," she said. "I know who you mean. Chibimoon has been present at one or two of the last giant, all-senshi meetings."

Birhan didn't want to Kallichore to feel bad. This was perhaps the ISS's fault for not ensuring everyone was up to date as they joined the BMC. "We were all rather excited at first. Well, and a bit disappointed, I suppose, that we got the daughter instead of the mother. Still, we thought it was a sign that we were on the right track..."

And they'd been wrong.

"Unfortunately, when Chibimoon first appeared, it was as a corrupted minion of a creature named Wiseman. They were both from the future. And while Chibimoon has since been purified, she herself has admitted that the past she knew has changed. Her mother may not return. Her father did, and..."

No, Kallichore wouldn't have been here for Elysion. She'd joined after Rota, hadn't she. "You may have heard Rota's name spoken here. Rota was one of our own, killed during the battles for a mystical realm here on Earth named Elysion and for the Golden Crystal guarded there. Our war against the Negaverse for Elysion was cut short when the true owner of the Golden Crystal appeared - the Earth Prince, Endymion. He is - or would have become - Chibimoon's father. Unfortunately, it seemed he was on a side of his own, and he tried to kill one of the senshi Princesses."

Birhan's eyes narrowed in memory. And to think that Ares had kept her from punching out the b*****d when Birhan had had the chance. "Endymion being... either corrupted, or not at all sympathetic to the senshi... makes it even more unlikely that Chibimoon would be properly 'born'. The Chibimoon we have here in Destiny City is a remnant of a future that no longer exists. Unfortunately for us, her presence isn't an indication that Serenity will be returning."

Worse was the fact that Chibimoon had been no more powerful than any other senshi of her rank. Perhaps in time the girl might ascend to Princess status and be of more use, but she had admitted herself in the large large meeting that she was nothing special and people shouldn't follow her just because of who her mother was. Would be. Might have been. And now Birhan was giving herself a headache trying to find a correct tense for the time-slipped senshi.

"Working with Chibimoon sounds all well and good... but I have no doubt that she would disapprove of what we do." She was barely a teenager, still a Chibi Senshi, and sounded like a pacifist on top of that. "Even if that weren't the case, she and Ares have some... bad history, apparently. Something to do with the former Parallel Court."

Ares hadn't been forthcoming with the details. But there had been no denying the anymosity between the leader of the Blood Moon Court and the tiny pink princess when they'd met.

"Normally, I'd say that personal issues wouldn't impact on a leadership decision, but," and here Birhan looked away. She sighed and ran a hand through her messy bangs. "Ares was never that good at seperating her personal feelings from her command decisions. Don't get me wrong, most of the time it wasn't a problem. But when it comes to things regarding the Parallels, especially..."

Birhan had a brief flash of Ares trying to choke the life out of Endymion, unwilling to tolerate a Prince of Earth when her own had died. She shivered.

Still, it seemd such a shame that Kallichore had gathered all of this information and was receiving such a disheartening response. Birhan tugged one leg up to her chest, resting her chin on her knee. She gave Kallichore an encouraging smile.

"Why don't you tell me what else you learned? I don't know much about Chibimoon, myself. And there's no reason we shouldn't eventually learn to work together, even if Ares won't ever agree to work for her."  

[Lucifer Force]

Disappointment ran rampant through her then like a shiver. All this time spent researching, gathering information, leaning as much as she could was wasted. Apparently the Court already knew about Chibimoon in ways far beyond anything Kallichore herself could have discovered. If the super senshi hadn't had the restraint she did, she would have started crying right then and there. Like a lonely child in a sandbox on the playground, Kallichore felt entirely abandoned. "But... why didn't anyone bother to tell us about all this? These are incredibly important events everyone should know. I know everyone is incredibly focused on what they're doing. I understand and appreciate that. I really do." A few moments of silence capitalized what she was trying to say, and Kallichore had to take a few seconds to compose herself. "But you're right - you're very right. There should be some kind of primer for senshi who have awakened in the last few months. I feel completely ignorant. I know you don't know me well, but I hate feeling ignorant."

Birhan had gone to explain more events that Kallichore wasn't present for - Elysion, there was a Christmastime attack Polaris had mentioned, Operation Rota... There was a time when the Court wasn't so fractured, and the super senshi found herself longing for time she would never have. Clutching a hand to her chest, she stood and started to pace in a few feet from where she was originally sitting. "So she's from the future, but now that things have changed, she has no idea whether her mother will return. So her mother isn't here? She's not just hiding somewhere? She's gone. Completely gone?" Apparently her father had shown up too with little or no sympathy for the Senshi. If this Endymion was supposed to be Chibimoon's father, then obviously he was the lover of the moon princess. Wouldn't he have an idea of where she had gone?

But why had he tried to kill one of the senshi princesses? And furthermore, why didn't anyone tell her that princesses existed?! This simply enraged Kallichore and she was ashamed of the fact. A look of utter desperation crossed her face and she pleaded with Birhan, who looked rather relaxed despite everything. "Tell me everything, Birhan. I'm in the dark. All I want to do is help, but leaving out information, be it accidental or otherwise, is unacceptable. How am I supposed to do my job for you, work for you, without knowing all the details?! I'll simply waste my time spinning my wheels when no real work is being done! What am I supposed to do?"

If pulling her hair out was her style, she would have started right there. "I feel abandoned, Birhan. I joined the Blood Moon because of a promise of action, of making a difference. I was initiated and accepted by Albali and Ares herself. I come to every meeting, I take notes, I patrol double time when I'm able, I volunteer information and myself for operations, and yet I get this!" She clenched her fists out in front of her, fighting back frustrated tears.  

[kalindara]

"I apologise," Birhan said, more than a little shamed in the face of Kallichore's frustrated anger. "I am a member of the ISS, and we should have been ensuring that everyone received this sort of information."

Clearly, it was something to address at the next ISS meeting. Whether they worked out a way of using the senshi phones and database to include this information, or came up with their own method to keep BMC information private to the BMC (rotating passwords, in case of a mass exodus like after Rota, Birhan vaguely thought), there needed to be something to make sure whoever was training new senshi wasn't forgetting details they didn't see as important, but others did.

"From what I understand from the all-senshi meetings, the big change was a decade or two ago. Chibimoon 'remembers' her parents and the original senshi surviving the ultimate enemy. But our history says they didn't." Incredibly demoralising, when they'd realised the Moon Princess was dead. Would she be reborn? Who knew.

"But then, her father appeared less than a year ago, not aged the way he would have if he had lived. So perhaps there's hope that the Moon Princess will somehow revive the way he did."

But the Blood Moon Court wasn't counting on it. Half the reason they'd been formed was because they weren't willing to sit around and wait for a saviour - they'd go the goddamn saving (or killing, if necessary) themselves.

"As for Princesses, the only one I know of is the cousin of the Moon Princess, the leader of the Zodiac Court. They tend to hold themselves seperate from the rest of us, though Chronos is friendly enough. But she doesn't see herself as our Princess." The feeling seemed to be mutual. Everyone was grateful enough for Princss-level power, but none of the non-Zodiacs were looking for Chronos for leadership.

Birhan bit her bottom lip. "There are rumours that Castor has made Prince. I'm not sure if I believe them or not. He may be one of the very first senshi, but he's had a bad attitude in some of the big meetings..."

'And Ares didn't?' a small voice prompted.

Touche.

"Well, maybe he's matured since then." Birhan shrugged. "But as far as I know, that's all the royalty we have, and none of it our Moon Princess."

This might be enough to help Kallichore, Birhan belatedly realised. But it did nothing for those who came after. Or others who joined around the same time and had also missed Elysion and Rota. Sitting down one-on-one wasn't a big chore this time, but to have to do that for every new and recent recruit?

"Maybe you can help," she suggested. "Clearly we need a better way of giving the BMC access to this kind of information, to make sure this doesn't keep happening. Maybe you can think of a better way than just word of mouth?"  

[Lucifer Force]

Kallichore turned away from her commanding officer and crossed her arms. Birhan's apology was something the super senshi wasn't necessarily expecting and appreciated it nonetheless. Birhan admitted her own fault, and that of her small group of senshi, which was another thing that surprised Kallichore. She stayed quiet while her commander explained what all she knew - most of which matched up with what Polaris had explained. Chibimoon was indeed the daughter of the moon princess, but everyone was still painfully ignorant about the whereabouts of anyone else in the moon royalty. The gray haired senshi turned to stare a hole in a nearby wall as she processed all the information. No mention of Rainbow Crystals, but with two separate accounts of a Zodiac Court (and now a name to its princess), they were confirmed real in her mind.

Chewing her lower lip, Kallichore began to pace again, but without the ardent fervor she had before. Her frustration and embarrassment had subsided for now in favor of solving the problem. She didn't want any other senshi to waste their time like she had. "A primer. I can make us a primer. Fill it with all the information someone in our organization would need to know. People, places, events, who did what. What came before. Without this context, newer senshi will just repeat what happened here - they'll make decisions without the proper information, and assume things based on flawed context. I can't tell you how frustrating that is." There was a certain venom that dripped from Kallichore's voice in that last statement despite her trying to hold it back. She didn't necessarily blame Birhan herself - Ares could have given out this information just the same.

"We can keep it here, as part of a reference library. Make sure it doesn't leave with someone in case we fill it with things we don't want others to know. But you have to tell me everything, Birhan. Otherwise," She shook her head, feeling as though she shouldn't, or didn't, have the power to say what she would, "if I can't trust that I'll be filled in, I cannot confidently continue to serve you and Ares."

Her last statement was more of a wounded admission than anything else. She wanted desperately to continue to serve the Court, but felt her trust had been slightly fractured. She thought that Ares should have taken into account the number of very newly awakened senshi in their ranks. They were wide-eyed and hopeful, following Ares' promises and direction like lambs. Just like Kallichore did. Had Ares said ahead of time, 'the moon princesses' daughter is alive and well, but is of no use to anyone, so it's up to us' in the beginning, the blow would have been stunted. A sigh escaped the senshi in crimson and she turned to look at Birhan with weary eyes.

"Birhan, what does Ares think of us? Senshi of the White Moon? What does she honestly think?"  

[kalindara]

Birhan nodded. A primer sounded like a good idea - even better in that it would be just one item, always kept with someone trustworthy from the BMC. People had left before, or shared information that they shouldn't have. If that happened again, at least it would be easy to deny access to the shared BMC knowledge base.

"I like it," she said. A decisive nod, Birhan willing to take the risk of not putting it before the ISS before agreeing. "If you're willing to work on this, I believe the ISS would be more easily convinced by a sample than by an explanation."

Was this not what Ares had done, too - seek forgiveness rather than permission? But no one would be hurt by this. It was something they needed, it put no one at risk, and if the rest of the ISS didn't like it, there was no reason it couldn't be something unofficial used by those who did appreciate it. Though really, Birhan didn't think any of the ISS would be turning down free, consolidated information - unless they were the ones with something to hide.

The warning was... well, suffice to say that Birhan didn't feel threatened. But enough people had walked away form the BMC, disillusioned, already. Birhan was willing to agree to Kallichore's demand.

"That's fine. Anything that I know, that hasn't been classified to ISS-only, is yours for the asking." Unfortunately there would always be secrets of some kind, if only details that no one wanted to worry the rest of the Court about, like Ares' disiplinary charges - as far as the Court knew, Ares was off on a solo mission of great importance. But anything that hadn't been agreed to be kept between the leading members of the BMC, Birhan felt everyone had a right to know. Like with Endymion, most of the time it wasn't even malicious, just oversight.

Birhan's sigh echoed Kallichore's as the subject shifted to much greyer territory. "Sometimes, Kallichore, I can very accurately judge Ares' thoughts. And other times, I can't even begin to guess."

It was worrying, at times. Perhaps moreso with the White Moon Royalty, who seemed to hate Ares on principle and vice versa. "I could tell, when she met Endymion, that half of her was already dead set against him - simply for the fact that he was alive and her own Prince of Earth was dead. As for the rest of us... it is more of a guess, but she seems to appreciate us. If we are deemed useful or worthy. Or as long as we follow her rules - I seem to have fallen out of favor the moment I began questioning subjected the cadets to the torture of Operation Rota."

And everyone was well aware of what had happened when Birhan spoke out against the next capture/torture op in a full BMC meeting. To half the Court, Birhan was suddenly persona non grata. The other half... well, they were arranging meetings like this one, as though Birhan's leadership status was somehow more permanent than one mission. Or maybe she was just seen as the most approachable ISS member right now.

"Ares despises the weak-willed and the pacificist, which unfortunately means a large amount of the non-BMC white moon senshi. Yes, I think she will always be biased towards the other surviving Parallels, consciously or unconsciously. They have a stronger bond, more shared experiences than we do. But they doesn't mean we are automatically untrustworthy. Just... new friends, as opposed to the ones you've known since childhood."

And really, it could have been much worse. At least the Parallels had decided to work closely with those they chose to take as allies. The Zodiacs might show up to meetings, but they were still very much their own special senshi club, no new members allowed.  

[Lucifer Force]

When Birhan explained that the ISS would need more than just a write up of ideas or a verbal plan of action, Kallichore nodded and completely agreed. "I'll write up a draft, typed with the basics for review by the Inner Sanctum. I'll present it to you as quickly as possible." Mentally, she set about deciding how much time should be allotted to this project, the deadline and the basic information she'd needed to include - which, as she realized, would be a great deal. The holes in her own knowledge database wouldn't be sufficient for a rough draft, not for the senshi of the Blood Moon.

Taking up her pen and paper, Kallichore began to write down very basic notes of what she'd been told thus far by Birhan and others - the mentioning of the Zodiacs and their separatist Court, Chibimoon and her place (or lack thereof) in the war, the appearance of her father and the golden crystal he apparently carried, Elysion... The problem was, she had no idea what happened in what order. And where did all this begin? Where did the first Negaverse agent come to be awakened, and who was behind it? Was it always just Beryl? And what had happened to Ares and her Parallels that caused them to be destroyed?

"Birhan, can you start from the beginning? If possible, I'd like to keep these events in chronological order. I was awakened a few months ago, so I was aware of a great youma at Prom, but other than that, I haven't witnessed any major events. You'll have to be patient with me, but I am very much willing to work with you." Clicking her pen against the notepad, she made a small smile at Birhan, appreciative of her honesty and apparent integrity. For only being a cadet within the organization, the lowest on the totem pole, being treated like she mattered went a long way with Kallichore.

When Birhan commented about falling out of favor, Kallichore started to wonder if there was something happening behind closed doors. Obviously, if it was, the Inner Sanctum would not want the other members to know about it. Keep the peace and all that. Still, Kallichore couldn't help but start to hypothesize. "Fallen out of favor for questioning a decision? I thought this Court was run like a democracy, not a dictatorship. Unless I'm wrong there too." There wasn't any animosity in her last statement, only slight anxiety over what the possible answer was.  

[kalindara]

"Ah well," Birhan scratched at the back of her head. "Maybe I didn't handle things the best way. And I say 'out of favour' but it means running my own op, so..."

It wasn't exactly a typical punishment. Birhan didn't want to go into detail about her ongoing arguments with Ares, either. She doubted Ares would have been so harsh on any of the other senshi - because Birhan was closer, and had been such an avid follower, no doubt it stung more than if it had come from a cadet or a merc.

"Maybe Ares is actually hoping I'll do well?" Birhan shrugged. For all that Ares said she wanted Birhan to fail, maybe there was still a part of the Captain that believed in Birhan. Maybe proving herself would justify the stance Birhan had taken, prove that she knew what she was talking about.

... Highly doubtful, but Birhan could hope, right?

It took a long time for Birhan to recount all the events that she was aware of. Even so, she hadn't been around for everything. Some of her knowledge was spotty, but that was what the primer and the rest of the BMC was for - to fill in the blanks so that they all had the same information. The more Birhan thought on the idea, the more she liked it. Her memory was slowly getting better (thanks to a ton of daily memory exercises), but even so she still had problems trying to recall dates and names for Kallichore. Birhan would be making use of this primer herself, once more knowledge than her own was added.

Eventually, the moon was high in the sky and Birhan decided that was enough infomation recording for one night. There was no convenient wristwatch in this form, but she was positive it was going on midnight, if not past. As much as Birhan approved of dedication to the BMC, they all still had normal lives to deal with.

"We should leave it there for now," she told Kallichore. "There's no huge rush on this, and we don't want people thinking we're the living dead tomorrow." A quick smile accomanied the joke.

"Is there anything else I can answer for you?"  

[Lucifer Force]

Kallichore honestly hoped Birhan was correct, in that Ares wanted to see if the senshi could hold her own. Perhaps this was some kind of test. It remained to be seen and it wasn't any of Kallichore's business, unfortunately. As much as she wanted to be a fly on the wall during their reunion or review, it simply wasn't meant to be. Instead of obsessing over the condition of the Court as a whole, Kallichore's pen flew into overdrive as she took down a flurry of notes. Names, dates (relative or exact), places, overviews of events. All of these things she herself was not present for was now calling her notepad home and soon enough, there would be a larger draft for the rest of the Court to contribute to. Thankfully, without having school in session, Kallichore could devote a great deal more time to this primer than she would otherwise.

Standing up, the super senshi tucked the notepad, worn and used for all the note taking that night, into her arms. Sleep would be incredibly important, but she wasn't sure her brain would allow her to. It was already heading into overdrive, writing, editing and rewriting a simple draft of the primer in her head. It was arranging and rearranging events and all the information that pertained to them. Setting up something for the entire Court would be easy enough, but communicating it and its purpose would take an announcement. Kallichore was sure she could handle such a thing.

"Birhan, I have to thank you for taking the time to speak with me." she started, features softening now that the rush of putting information to paper had come and gone. The fury of work had passed. "I'll get to work right away on the primer and present it to you before opening it up for editing and revision by the Court. I do hope the ISS approves this. I think it will greatly benefit the Court as a whole." Kallichore truly believed that her work here would carry great weight through the Court in a spectacularly positive way. She loved nothing more than to work towards a goal that actually meant something in the end. A twinkle of satisfaction could be seen in her eyes, if only for a brief second.

The living dead comment made her realize how tired she was. "I think that will do for now. If I need any additional information, I will call on you. I appreciate everything you've done, especially taking the time to see me. I know you all must be very busy."  

[kalindara]

"It wasn't a problem," Birhan said with an honest smile. "I believe in this Court and its members. I still think we're doing the right thing. If I can reassure people about what we're doing, I'm more than happy to do it."

They'd lost enough people. And there had been enough inner skirmishes that people were confused about what the BMC stood for. Birhan was still devoted to the original precepts. Ares' new focus... had been a worry. But hopefully there were now enough checks on their Captain that she would return to her normal self. (A driven leader was one thing; one driving everyone straight to hell was another.)

Despite everything, Birhan was still committed to the Court. Her concerns with Ares had been over the younger and newer members. So looking after them or answering their questions wasn't a hardship for Birhan.

"I look forward to seeing what you come up with," she told Kallichore. "Until the next meeting, then."