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 Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:00 pm
When the new parallels dove through the mirror, they were not alone. Princess Ares trailed their signatures, but she also had a nifty skill that the others did not. She could call travelers of mirrorspace to her location, should she choose.
So she chose.
Mirrorspace was not simply a state of between. It was a place in time and space -- though only accessible to mirrorkind. Princess Ares called her court to the throne room, and so did they all appear.
The throne room was large, almost Spartan in design, but instead of crawling ivy and marble floors, the room was comprised entirely of a white, moving haze. It was as if the entirety of mirrorspace was all shifting smoke. Smoke and mirrors, really -- a little on the nose.
Princess Ares walked ahead of the group toward a chair that rose from the ground. Beside the throne, there was a socket in the floor. Ares shoved her torch into it until something metallic clicked. The golden cage that protected the source of her power slowly pulled open, exposing the floating crystal. Every inch of her walls were covered in mirrors of varying shapes and sizes. All of them were empty -- save one.
A middle aged man in a green coat and gray slacks was on his knees in one of the mirrors closest to the throne. When Ares socketed her torch, his mirror began to glow, and the man inside let out a stretched moan before slumping lower. Black-red energy oozed from the mirror in a high arch, funneling directly into the crystal.
Princess Ares took a seat in her chair and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. "That took more energy than I expected," she said. "I knew I could convert you, but... still, more energy than I expected." Gray eyes peeked open at the other parallels gathered before her. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm so rude. Let me get you all chairs."
As soon as she said it, chairs appeared in a semi-circle in front of the throne. They were made of the same shifting smoke of the rest of mirrorspace. Ares waited quietly for everyone to take a seat, saying nothing. She wanted to let them adjust and then ask their own questions.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:17 pm
Super Sailor Leto stared wide-eyed as she appeared in mirrorspace suddenly. She turned quickly as she took in the white smokey space around her. When her eyes landed on Ares sitting on a throne in the centre of the room, her immediate response was to walk towards her. At this point she was still entirely oblivious to where they were or what they were for that matter. A million questions were running through her head- it was as if she was becoming a Senshi all over again and she didn't have a clue what the hell was going on.
"Where are we?..." she said quietly as she approached the throne. Her eyes went from Ares to the man that was stuck in the mirror next to her.
"What. The. Hell." were the only other words to come out of her mouth, and she took a seat on the chair that suddenly appeared behind her.
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Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:28 pm
Requiem hadn't had the time to fully process the evening's events. In fact, it had been a large evening of not processing things. She didn't process the princess's hand reaching towards her as it tossed her through the mirror, an exhilarating baptism that washed away her misconceptions about the war. She became enlightened, a member of the Dark Mirror Court. But there was much that she had left behind, and the friends who were still allied to the wrong side. But they will learn, they will see, just as she has.
The next submergence into mirror space was just as much of a blur as she did her best to understand. A smokey seat emerged behind her which she sat in matter-of-factly, feeling the need to sit down to fully process this. Who was she now? She felt...different. Would the friends she left behind still remmeber her? As Requiem? As Devi? "Who - or what - are we? What happened to our identities?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 5:27 am
The past few hours had been whirlwind for Ares, but she did not seem particularly troubled by her changes: appearance, power, alignment. It all rolled off her back like beads of water over the feathers of a splashing duck.
The first question came from Leto. Ares sat upright in her chair. "You are home," she said. "You are in mirrorspace, our safe haven from the White Moon, the Negaverse, the civilians, all of it. This is the place we pass through when we travel through mirrors. As a super senshi, you can linger here, but it takes practice. We'll work on it. I can summon you here if I need to, like I did now." Ares pinched the bridge of her nose again.
The theatrics with the Blood Moon Court had taken more out of her than she would have liked. This role was as new for her as it was for Requiem and Leto before her. Still, she had to be strong.
Gray eyes moved next to Requiem. "You are who you always have been -- just better. When you return to your civilian form, you will not appear as the Devorah Gellner that people might remember. You will look like a total stranger to everyone who has ever known you, even your own parents or siblings." One hand draped over the arm of the throne, another fiddled with the skirt of her gown. "So you will need to become someone new. I can help you with that. I can give you money, a new start. You make start new friendships with the ones you care about, but you may never reveal yourself to them. To do so would be to give them a death sentence."
Looking at the beginnings of the new court gathered in front of her, Princess Ares smiled. "You have no idea how long I have missed this," she said.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:29 pm
Sailor Leto looked at Requiem as she took a seat next to her, then back at their Princess on her throne.
"Home..." she murmured quietly to herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the calm and quiet of mirrorspace washing over her. It felt reassuring and natural, as if she belonged here.
Leto's dark eyes snapped open at the mention of traveling through mirrors and her look of confusion transformed into a large, excited grin.
"Travel through mirrors? Seriously? Like you do?" She was giddy with excitement, like a young child who just got a brand new shiney toy. She took a look at the mirrors surrounding them, eager to dive through them and see where she lands.
And then she was brought back to reality when Ares was explaining to Requiem that she would no longer be Devorah- that they would have to abandon everything and everyone they knew and loved. That was intense.
She laughed nervously about the situation, "looks like I'll be needing somewhere to live."
She didn't think her cousin Tallulah would enjoy seeing a complete stranger in their apartment. Besides leaving her cousin behind, she actually didn't mind the idea of a fresh start. She'd miss her parents- but them being in England made the transition a little easier for her.
She slumped back against the chair, trying to take in all of the information they were being given.
"So we serve Chaos now... Does that mean the Negaverse are our allies? Are we really expecting them to welcome us with open arms after what we did in the Blood Moon?" Her excited grin shifted into a look of nervousness about the idea of befriending the people that likely wanted them dead.
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 1:14 pm
A fresh start. In some ways, that was a dream come true. The past year had been rough on her, and there were many nights she'd cry herself to sleep wishing for a restart button - a whole new life to undo her past mistakes. She had become so distant from her friends and family and endured many hardships, a chance to recreate herself was welcomed. But at the same time, she'd miss those she left behind. Friends could come and go, but losing her family would be a tough burden. She'd have to cope with that loss on her own time; there was more important work to be done.
"I'd be surprise if they don't try killing us right off the bat for what we did to them," Requiem said in agreement to Leto. She wasn't quite ready to forgive them for what they had done either. Sure, she saw the motivations behind their actions more clearly now - she understood their goal, but nonetheless she had some personal vendettas against quite a few of them. "And I am certainly not about to take orders from Tanzanite or the rest. I follow you, Ares."
She looked around the space, still trying to absorb the situation and the setting. "So how does this mirrorspace thing work, exactly?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:10 pm
It was so easy to give in to the weariness in her arms and legs. As if moved by the thought, the beam of energy coming out of the mirror containing the man thickened, moved faster. Ares felt it wash over her like water lapping over a shore line, rising higher and higher until her entire body thrummed. "Not like me, Leto -- like us," she said, another smile warming her lips. It was perhaps the happiest that the girl had been in a year.
When the topic turned to the civilians lives the senshi in front of her were leaving behind, Ares merely shrugged. "Your living situation, what we will tell the families you used to have... that can all be sorted out later. The issue of the Negaverse is more pressing." Her eyes bounced to Requiem. "I understand your concerns, and they are well-founded. Let me worry about the Negaverse. We have to do what is in the best interest of our mission. We have to do whatever we need to in order to bring more parallels into this world. This is our mission right now." Ares' mouth hardened, grew serious. They were a family, but she was still a military ruler.
But that, too, could wait.
"Gaia can help me explain these things," Ares said at last. "There is one very important thing we need to go over first."
In a sweep of fabric and ribbon, Ares crossed to the mirror that held the middle aged man. He was pale and breathing heavily. When the princess approached, he couldn't even lift his head. A fist flashed out, shattering the glass prison. The pieces spiraled off, but did not hit the ground. Instead, they hung in the air like pieces of a chandelier whose base was invisible.
The man inside slumped to the floor. Ares stepped over his prone body and selected two shards of glass the size of her palm. Crossing to Leto and Requiem, she passed one to each of them. Should they look at the black mirror piece, they would see the flash of shadows -- something was moving inside the mirror.
"You are looking at the key to our kingdom -- all contained in this mirror shard." Her hands splayed wide to gesture to the mirrors that covered every inch of her throne room. "That shard contains a mirrorwraith -- magical reflection creatures capable of sapping energy from civilians and powered beings alike. Only we may wield them." Princess Ares moved back to the floating shards and plucked another from the air. "To use the wraith, you shatter the shard on the ground in front of your target. The wraith will emerge and begin to pass through the nearest non-parallel, sapping energy. As they gain more energy, they cease to be ghost and take on a physical form. If they are hit once--" Ares clapped for effect. "Then they are destroyed, and the energy is lost. Once the mirrorwraith is full, it will naturally head back to the shard it came from, and in doing so, the shard will become whole once more. It is your job to pick up that shard and bring it safely back to me."
Princess Ares straightened. "Is that understood?" There would be more time to practice with mirrorwraiths. For now, Ares just needed to ensure that the first two members of this new age of the parallels could be trusted to use them.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:28 pm
"Understood," Requiem said in awe, watching the mirrorwraith move within the mirror shard in her hand. The task seemed simple enough, but she was sure there would be complications if anyone were to interfere - but luckily her ability was perfect for taking care of any unwanted company.
She looked up at the man slumped over on the ground. "Does draining their energy until the mirrorwraith is full kill the target, or just drain them of enough energy for them to not get up for a while?" While Requiem wasn't completely opposed to the idea of killing when necessary, she was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of killing the unarmed. "If we drain their energy once, can we drain their energy another time?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:51 pm
Sailor Leto leaned forward in her seat so her elbows were propped on her knees and her chin was resting in the palms of her hands. She stared in silence now as the beam of energy washed over Ares- it was strange to see the other girl so happy looking, considering how miserable she had seemed over the last few months leading up to the recent events.
She nodded slowly, her chin remaining in her palms the entire time, as Ares explained that their civilian lives would be dealt with and felt reassured that she would deal with the Negaverse as well. She watched Ares shatter the mirror, and admired the glimmering shards of glass hanging in the air.
Leto gripped the shard of glass handed to her from Ares in her hand and looked down at her fist clenched around it. "Understood..." she whispered as she unclenched her fist and stared at the piece of glass in her hand.
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Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:19 pm
The shard of mirror in her hand glinted beneath the strange white-gray glow of the room. There were no light fixtures, and yet, light was coming from somewhere. It was just another mystery of the mirrorspace. Standing in that space, it was clear that this ever-changing landscape had no shortage of strangeness, hidden things, and obscurity.
Requiem had a good question, and Ares was immediately pleased. Her selection of the first two recruits had not been entirely arbitrary. There was a part of her that wanted to convert Nemesis first and perhaps Gunn, but Ares was uncertain if she would be able to do it. Watching the two regular senshi go in and come out as supers had been surprising enough. Her knees had shook afterward. Changing Nemesis might have brought her to her knees.
Energy. She needed more energy. There was a great wide utopia on the horizon, and Ares held the crystal that could get them there. For all her love of battles and bloodshed, the Senshi of Smoke was just as much in love with the camaraderie of soldiers, maybe even more so. It had taken her a long time to understand that about herself, but now that she did, she had no intention of ever going back.
"Mirrorwraiths cannot kill, not typically and not the ones you have in those shards. They pass through three times before filling, and on the third, a civilian would be unconscious. I am not sure how it will affect a senshi. We would need to do some field tests on it." A glint twinkled in her eyes. "I suppose using multiple mirrorwraiths on the same person could result in death. But why kill the cow when it still produces milk?"
As if on cue, the middle aged man in the corner groaned. "We'll need to get him out of here. Dump him anywhere. He won't remember anyway, and if he does, well... they cannot stop us." Ares grabbed another shard from the air and crossed back to Leto and Requiem. She handed each girl a second shard.
"I know that we have so much to talk about: training, questions, where we go from here. But there is something very important that we need to worry about first. This is something that you may never, ever reveal to anyone without parallel blood." Her gaze grew serious, deadly, and Ares allowed a silence to pass between them all. "Without this energy, I cannot save the White Moon senshi. I cannot transform them into dark parallels."
Princess Ares straightened, the full length of her hair cascading over one shoulder. Even in a dress, she appeared militantly regal. "Go out and bring back energy. If you capture a civilian, keep them alive and bring them to me too." She turned slowly to face the room. "There are a lot of empty mirrors in this room begging for company."
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