Welcome to Gaia! ::

The night was crisp and clean as she stood on the edge of a building allowing the wind to unfurl the long and tattered bits of her fuku. More and more often she'd become comfortable with the way things were going. She was leaving the confines of the things she held dear in the past and, armed with new information, she felt her eyes had been opened for the first time since she'd been awakened. Kallichore was at peace with herself, if not the rest of the world that night. Hands resting on her stomach, she closed her eyes and took in the sounds and the scents of Destiny City as she slept. Her last scan was several minutes ago and it yielded nothing of interest - not even a minor youma to hunt down and dispatch.

It was a time for silence and contemplation. Kallichore wanted to analyze her next move on the chess board, try and figure out where she may end up next. With her alliance with Pasiphae solidified, she wanted to make it known to the other Jovians that destiny seemed to be upon them. Perhaps they would all join forces in a combined effort more effective than any of them individually. Sure they may all have different opinions on what is right and wrong during war, but Kallichore was convinced they could all see past that eventually.

Kneeling into a position she was more comfortable with, the super senshi was busy watching the few straggling civilians far below, wondering why they were out this late at night.

"....!!!"

Kallichore gave a start and nearly fell from her perch, instead hunching over and gripping the stone lip of the building like a clothed gargoyle. Her heart pounded in her ears and she cursed herself for not performing a check at regular intervals like she normally did. She was supposed to be vigilant at all times, but she found herself distracted by the evening air. So much for keeping an eye on things.

The voice that came from behind her was one she was not expecting in the slightest. Sure, she expected pretty much everyone else on her list of known individuals, but it was shocking too to find that it was indeed who she thought it was. Turning slightly at the waist, her eyes confirmed it to be true - Ganymede. Stalking her! Well wasn't that a lovely change of pace? Most people would have been shrieking at their supposed assailant, yelling righteously about how it wasn't nice to sneak up on people and give them heart attacks. Kallichore was not one of those people. Instead, she had a warm smile creeping across her face and as her heart slowed down, she was able to stand up to greet him more formally.

"Well! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a man after my own heart, Ganymede." she explained with a chuckle. Indeed, he was the last person she ever thought would be out in the middle of the night with the intent to startle her. He was quickly rising in the ranks of Kallichore's favorite people with this kind of behavior. "You can tell Valhalla's girlfriend that all hands were off." A bemused eyeroll followed. "I'm not that kind of girl anyway. But what brings you out to my neck of the woods?"

Kallichore stood in rapt attention during his first few opening statements. The formality was not lost on her and for a while, she was under the impression that this wasn't Ganymede at all. Perhaps it was a Negaverse trick? Or even a robot? Such things, while ridiculous, would have made more sense than the real Ganymede himself, one who hated what he was, making these statements. It wasn't until the insults started flying that he revealed himself to be the true Jovian in the flesh. She was beginning to wonder where all his 'manners' had gone, but he'd done well to dash those fears very easily. Shifting her weight, she smiled at him. If only he'd kept up with the good mood, but he definitely got points for coming to the conclusion that effort was necessary to succeed.

"You know, for a moment I thought maybe someone had abducted you and replaced you with a youma designed to look just like you. But then you reminded me that you are, indeed, really you." Tapping her chin with an idle hand, Kallichore pondered her next few phrases. She let the 'butting into other people's business' remark slide. Getting into an argument with Ganymede so soon after he'd managed to impress her would just make things worse. He had enough, err... gumption to seek her help, and who was she to turn away someone looking for information?

Wrapping her arms behind her back, she regarded him curiously. "I like to think I know a great deal for someone of my relative inexperience, time-wise. I'm actually in the process of preparing a document that would bring all new senshi up to speed on what's been going on while they were unaware. What is it you'd like to know, Ganymede?" She stepped back and near the lip of the building, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other. The relative edge wrapped around the perimeter and was raised about three feet from the roof, making an excellent improvised seat.

"Everything? You'd like to know everything I know?" She blinked and tilted her head, pondering how much time he had allotted to this meeting. If she was going to divulge everything she knew about the war and then some, then they would be here for quite a while. She made a gesture for him to sit anywhere he liked. The fact that Valhalla and Ganymede had teamed up was not lost on her. In fact, she thought it was a natural and very positive thing, especially since she and Europa were intent on gathering as many Jovians as possible. Europa did say she wished to speak to both of them on her own, so Kallichore wasn't about to butt in and bring it up. Instead, she wanted to focus on why the Negaverse hated them all so much.

She understood why it seemed to unfounded and sudden, the Negaverse's unfiltered hate towards them. It was all a lie in her eyes - misguidance. "The reason we as senshi are here and not present out in space is because the Negaverse systematically decimated each and every one of our moon, stars, comets... Leveled every civilization, killed every last person or thing they could find. My best guess as to why was simply for power." She stopped there for a moment, formulating the next few sections of information in her mind. The prelude to this whole war was still fuzzy to her, but the bits and pieces she'd managed to gather did fit well together. "We were reborn here because... well, frankly, we had nowhere else to go."

And that was that, really, for why they were here on Earth and not on their respective celestial bodies. Ganymede having been back to his moon helped her along in her explanation. No doubt his moon was as devoid of human life as hers was. "As far as I can tell," she started, fingers curling around the side of her neck in thought. "the Negaverse agents are told from the very beginning that they're trying to save the world somehow from the alien senshi invasion. One such Negaverse agent, a General Zinkenite, told me that the senshi destroyed their own homes. I knew immediately that it made no sense at all. It was another ridiculous lie." If she could have brought Zinkenite here and subdued him, he would have made an excellent punching bag for emphasis. "They're told we're trying to take the Earth for ourselves for the express purpose of enslaving everyone and installing an alien lunar queen to rule over everything. That's the story I've heard most often."

Kallichore shook her head. "Their propaganda machine is well-oiled, I think. I know more, of course, but this will take a while. I hope you're prepared for that?"

Kallichore listened as Ganymede explained his thoughts and doubts. It made sense to her, coming from his position. She'd done a lot of soul searching, interviews and hard research from as many sources as possible, and still felt she didn't know the whole story. Somehow she thought the real players in this drama were out of her reach, like there was someone higher up than even the greatest of eternal senshi, and whoever they were, they weren't up for questions. The super senshi shrugged and looked rather stoic. "I wouldn't necessarily call it brainwashing. I'd say you're more correct with persuasion, and that's something that can happen on both sides. I can't imagine someone being told that the side of pure evil would like them to go kick puppies and then have them agree to it. I mean, sure, someone might, but most people? Most people wouldn't want to side with the bad guys. That's where I believe the propaganda machine kicks in."

Stretching a bit, she also firmly agreed that players on both sides of the war could be misguided. They were all human at the core, after all. "Where they get the alien queen and enslavement idea is anyone's guess - it's just the story I hear most often from the more talkative Negaverse agents. I do know their side possesses a queen named Beryl. Who she is exactly, or what she is... those are questions I'm unable to answer, unfortunately." Perhaps it was Beryl who creates the youma out of pure Chaos. She must harness it somehow, or the Negaverse as a whole does. How youma come about and are unleashed on the city was still a subject she knew nothing about. All she knew was that it had something to do with Chaos.

"There is no doubt in my mind that many Negaverse agents, especially the new ones, are told various lies about the youma and what their purpose is. Why else would they not be disturbed by monsters running around the city, killing people? There has to be powerful persuasion... or perhaps threats, at work. But there is always the chance that both sides are misguided - that you are right about. There are some misguided senshi along with the innocent Negaverse agents who wholeheartedly believe they're doing the right thing. Certainly their actions are forgivable and understandable, to an extent." She tilted her head slightly and thought for a moment, eyes focusing on something in the distance. "I'm more... interested... in the Negas who know the truth and yet serve Beryl anyway."

Kallichore shifted her position and watched Ganymede carefully. The fact that he was questioning things was an excellent sign. Sure he wasn't as bloodthirsty as she was, but that's what would come to make a team even greater. If everyone agreed and had the same ideas, no progress could be made at all. "What I want to know is whether or not this Moon Queen exists in this timeline. It's confirmed she exists in other timelines, but I don't have proof she lives in this one. And to think we believed our timeline was the only one. This whole war stretches farther than even I imagined."

"I'm beginning to like the way you think, Ganymede." she said, leaning back to sit in a similar position he was in. "Finding the weakest of the links and making them question what they were doing... I'm rather fond of that idea. I've been trying to do it myself but... things prevent me from being successful. Finding Negas that seem to be more intent on stabbing me rather than talking is one of them." The other was getting even, or simply wanting to see what her attack would do to certain Negaverse agents. Some seemed to be more susceptible than others, and whatever made that distinction was interesting to say the least. "Inciting a rebellion would be incredibly useful to our side since we seem to be woefully lacking in any kind of hierarchy. If we were more organized, I wonder if the war would have ended by now?"

She looked out to the city below and pondered that thought for a moment. If the senshi were united, queen or princess or whoever else be damned, would they have had the strength to take out the Negaverse? Would their unity and power alone be enough? Or is it now too late? It seemed to her that both sides were fairly even, with more generals popping up as the months passed. She hoped the senshi rose in rank just as quickly to meet them on the battlefield. Nothing less was acceptable.

The moon queen made the conversation take a turn for the interesting. "Personally," Kallichore started, turning the words over in her mind. "it seems like some senshi believe that she'll be the one to end the war. Others, like myself, were curious about whether or not she existed in the first place. I thought of her like some kind of goddess - like we were all supposed to have some kind of blind faith and devotion to her, even though she likely didn't exist. I haven't found any evidence to really support her existence for myself, though others have told me they've seen her ghost or something. I've never seen anything of the sort." Clicking her tongue, she added, "And if this Moon Queen is dead and gone, how could she turn the tide of war anyway?"

The super senshi shrugged. Sure, she believed Polaris when the eternal explained what she had seen, but that didn't make the Moon Queen any more real to Kallichore. Chibimoon was the daughter of this queen, but not the one in this timeline. Perhaps Chibimoon could make a difference somehow in this world, but she wasn't sure how. "I only mentioned other timelines because senshi on our side have somehow... entered into our space from outside. Like Chibimoon and Ares. I know how Ares fits into the war, but I'm not so sure about Chibimoon. She's heralded to be the daughter of the moon queen, but not the one here. That's all I really know about her, confirmed from other sources. Perhaps she's important, perhaps she's not."

What really mattered to her right then was uniting the Jovians on a combined front. The more organized senshi became, the more of a threat they were to the Negaverse. She loved being a threat. "I also heard there was a battle that took place entirely in dreams. I wasn't there for that, but several people have mentioned it. That and something about the Prince of Earth revealing himself at some point."

With a shrug, Kallichore sighed. "You don't really need to know who they are at this point. Other than leading the Blood Moon Court, I'm not sure what other accomplishments of note Ares has made. Chibimoon I know even less. Never met her, but I did manage to meet one of her court. They're all just as confused as anyone else. Likely not useful." At least, not useful yet. It would be unfortunate if Chibimoon turned out to be a senshi like anyone else and the only differences between her and a senshi of this time were a court and some royal blood, then Kallichore would be severely disappointed. She found the idea of being from a parallel universe or a different timeline to be downright fascinating.

But enough about that.

"You were there for this dream battle?" she asked, curiosity piqued. How she'd wished she could have been awakened for that - she wanted to see what a dream battle would have been like! And to see everyone's reaction to the Prince... that would have been amazing. The fact that the tide of war hadn't changed since his revealing himself meant he probably wasn't going to affect anything anytime soon. So what's the point of showing up at all if you're not going to do anything? "I heard there was some kind of crystal that belongs to the Prince. Something like that. Like he only showed up to claim the crystal and didn't show any sympathy towards the senshi. That's all here-say though since I wasn't there to witness it. I have no idea what all these crystals are supposed to accomplish..."

Her thoughts trailed off into unmarked territory for a while before she came back with nothing particularly useful stemming from it. "Anyway, I highly doubt he means much to anyone since he didn't really do anything to begin with. I think we're much better off relying on ourselves than moon royalty of any kind. Obviously if they were meant to have some godlike power to end the war, they would have done so by now, and I don't see anything changing anytime soon." She pulled up one of her legs and wrapped her arms around it, resting her chin on her knee.

"Ah, let's see... what else, what else..." She thought back to her primer, and about what little information she had on other senshi sub-factions: the Zodiacs and their princess in particular. But without any real concrete information on them, it seemed like a moot point to even bring it up.

Kallichore saw the strange and shocked look on Ganymede's face, but paid it no mind. She chalked it up to revelations about the information he'd been given. Part of her wanted to believe in some celestial goddess figure who would one day either descend from the heavens or return from the grave and stop the war with colossal power, but the better part of her knew such a thing wouldn't happen. She believed Polaris when the eternal explained what she saw. She really and truly believed Polaris thought she saw what she saw, but without being there, Kallichore could neither confirm nor deny. She was like an agnostic in this sense - not really caring either way, and without proof, she wouldn't lean one way or another.

Logic and experience dictated they only had each other to rely on, legend of a moon princess be damned. Only they could get things done in a timely manner, and Kallichore hated to wait around for someone or something that may never appear. She nodded to Ganymede's statement about the Prince. Whatever happened during the dream battle weighed heavily on both sides. Perhaps the senshi were seeking an ally and were shocked at his behavior? Who knows.

She tilted her head at the mention of the Blood Moon Court, surprised that their reputation didn't precede them in this case. "The Blood Moon are a group of senshi led by Ares. They stop at nothing to achieve victory. I heard that their biggest operation involved the systematic kidnapping and torturing of several Negaverse officers at an undisclosed location. It ended in failure, or so I heard. I don't know what happened exactly. They're not very willing to talk about it. Either way, it seems to me like they're imploding from within. They're rather... bloodthirsty. Hence the name." Kallichore left out that she used to be a member of their secretive society. That is, until she came to the conclusion that she could not stay under their jurisdiction, not with so many other options out there. She harbored them no ill will, but thought her talents could be used elsewhere.

Like with the Jovians, if such a thing were to ever occur.