[R] Laughing With (Kaatje/Ariana)

[shibrogane]

Last night had been the meeting, the first one Kaatje had ever missed. And to be honest, she wasn't sorry she'd stayed home. After her incident at the cafe, she'd had a bit of a time getting home, even. How would she be able to make it to some out-of-the-way church? Seemed pretty impossible to her, and she was bullheaded enough to try anything once. Even with that, though, she felt fairly optimistic. She'd gained a new level of power the day before, even if she'd decided not to go to the meeting that had been scheduled for the aftermath of their operation. Even if Ares decided to make issue about Gunn's decision for discipline, now they stood on the same level. It'd be okay.

Even if she still hadn't tried her new attack. She rolled it through her mind, the words echoing in the confines of her head: Gunn Wildfire Power, Blow Up! Oh, that wasn't all--she had to say something else before it, something about raging fires, but she knew she'd be able to manage it if she had to. Just she couldn't use it now. Hard to twirl on just one foot, after all.

She looked into the mirror of her vanity; it stood across from her bed, and she had limped her way across the room to sit on the small stool before it. French braiding, she decided, was quite difficult. Not an experiment she wanted to repeat multiple times, no, but she'd managed to at least braid the choppy bangs out of her face. Today she was not going to be caught unawares in her pajamas by Ariana. She didn't turn when Jeffries opened the door to tell her she had a guest; she nodded. "She can come in," she said, feeling a great deal more generous towards Sailor Birhan Isat today than she had been yesterday.

The moment she saw the other redhead, though, she knew something was wrong. Ariana looked hunted, and haunted. Kaatje sat her hairbrush down, shut the drawer she'd been hunting through with a small squeak and a crack. "What happened," she asked, sharply. Something had to have gone wrong at the meeting. Had a traitor spilled the church location? Damn it, damn it…  

[kalindara]

Ari was not feeling her best as she made her way to Kaatje's house. She hadn't dared return home last night. Despite being positive that she wasn't being followed from the old church, Ari knew how easy it was for the Parallels to move about, unseen. Hell, Gaia had broken into Ari's room only yesterday. Ari knew from Ares that Lyra didn't remember their names after her corruption, and while Ari prayed that the same was true for the newly corrupted Dark Moon Court, she couldn't take the chance.

She felt hunted just making her way to Kaatje's house. Had she been seen coming here yesterday? Ares knew Kaatje's identity - had she also known where Kaatje lived?

It was an effort to hold still and present as normal a front as she could manage for the butler again. Hopefully he just took it as nerves over visiting Kaatje again after the frosty reception yesterday. Soon enough, she was being shown back into the gorgeous cream-and-green room.

The moment Kaatje asked what happened, Ari's composure faltered further. She literally shook in her boots, staring at Kaatje with bloodshot eyes. "We have a big problem. Ares-"

Ari broke off, a hacking cough more suited to a two-pack-a-day smoker wracking her frame. When she had spoken, her voice was raspy. Laryngitis, the butler might have thought. Someone who was familiar with that attacks of the Senshi of Smoke would know better.

"Gaia, actually," Ari corrected herself. It had begun there, after all. "Gaia stole Ares' henshin pen, told her where the meeting was. Ares showed and she was..."

Another quick cough. One hand rubbed absently at sore eyes. Smoke was partially to blame, but the dark smudges underneath also told the tale of a sleepless night. Ari rasped out, "Ares is corrupted. She corrupted herself."

And if that wasn't bad enough... "She's corrupted at least three more of us so far."  

[shibrogane]

A big problem? Kaatje let her hand settle over her cream and brown henshin pen casually, almost as if on accident. If the problem was something she could handle right here, right now, she wanted to know about it. Had something happened at the meeting?… Ares wasn't due her pen for a week yet. It couldn't be anything to do with her, but Ariana had said the name. Well… she stood on a level with the leader of the Blood Moon now. She had her Eternal wings just as the Parallel did, and if she had to… Well, she knew how to perform her attack, even if she hadn't used it just yet. She didn't want to practice on Ares, but she would if she had to.

The signs of Ares's smoke attack caused the blue-eyed redhead to narrow her eyes. What had happened with Ares the night before? Of course their leader might have been angry, but to attack someone… and how would she have gotten her pen--

Her question was answered, and she wished it hadn't been. "Ares is corrupted," she said, her words hollow. She wanted to smash the vanity mirror right then, for safety. Instead, she calmly moved her jewelry box out of the way and shut the doors over the larger center piece. She didn't know if Ares would know, or even remember, about the mirror; but better safe than sorry. Ares corrupt, three more corrupted by her hand. "I suppose Gaia was one of them. Who are the others?" Kaatje was surprised that Birhan Isat hadn't been one of them, but the mere fact that Ariana was standing there warning her said that Ares's grudge had held strong.

"We'll need to come up with new codes and hiding places. No more staying at Scylla's. Do we know if they know our civilian identities?" Her fingers had tightened over her transformation pen, almost protectively. If she had to, she'd act on the lingering thoughts of going to Gunn for a while, even if it meant never informing Ariana of her changed status.  

[kalindara]

Ari's bleary eyes followed Kaatje's movements. She didn't miss the grab for the henshin pen, or the preparations around the mirror. If she felt safe enough to go home, Ari would be smashing any mirrors she could find herself - pointless, seeing as how the maid would have them replaced before her parents could notice, but it would have bought her time.

Kaatje was asking about the others. "Requiem and Leto. Leto willingly... Requiem... not. Forced through one of her 'dark' mirrors." Her heart sped up at the memory. Ares could force anyone she wanted into joining her, just by sending one of those magical mirrors after them.

"Laocoon was missing," the unspoken again was heard even over Ari's coughs, "but chances are he'd be just as willing as Gaia." They couldn't assume it was only the four of them, even now. In Ares' position, Birhan would be recruiting before making another strike against the tatters of the Blood Moon Court, just in case. And unlike before, Ares no longer had to convince anyone to believe in her cause. Loyalty was now hers for the taking.

Ari nodded, completely in agreement with Kaatje's directions. "Lyra couldn't remember," Ari knew. It had been a worry of the ISS - Lyra was part of two teams and knew several secrets. But she'd never told after her corruption, so chances were the process damaged that part of the brain and wiped the memories clean. "We've no way of knowing if it's the same for Ares and her 'Dark Moon Court'."

Even the name was an insult, a slap in the face of the Blood Moon Court. 'You are replacable', Ares was telling them. Too bad for her that it was DMC that was just a pale shade of the true BMC - a warped copy, not a superior evolution as Ares claimed.

"Scylla's still absent," Ari added. So there wasn't any danger of those facilities being used anytime soon. Maybe in time, if attacks weren't made on their civilian selves, it would be safe to use them again. For now, they would have to avoid all their usual fallback locations. All their text codes were useless, too, just as Kaatje pointed out. "Looks like we're passing info face to face until we know if anything if safe."

For now, Ari was assuming that everything was compromised.  

[shibrogane]

Leto and Requiem. Requiem had been a member of Special Forces, one that Kaatje had regarded with some skepticism; of course, she looked at everyone with a jaded eye. Too many people had tried for Special Forces and never panned out, and she'd stopped being so open to the new recruits as she had once been… She sighed over it, and fisted her hands in her skirt. "Leto was already slipping," Kaatje said, forcing her thoughts to be calm. Cold, even if she wanted to rage and break things. That wasn't something she could do with the audience she had. "I wouldn't worry about her. She was only a cadet, so there's nothing for her to reveal." Requiem, though. She'd had some promise. "I'll miss Requiem. Some."

Then Laocoon. Of course he'd be as willing as Gaia; he was a Parallel, and that'd been a clique none of them could break into. No one could mean as much to Ares as her own kind, Gunn supposed. That xenophobia could have been an indicator of the coming downfall. "We don't have a way of remembering. Cover your mirrors at home, don't break them. That way if Laocoon turns out to be other than a traitor, we'll be able to allow him safe haven. What about Zirconia?"

Scylla was still gone, but that didn't mean that Ares wouldn't remember where the safe house was. "I'll find something," she said. "We can make a simple code. It won't be too hard to crack, but until we know exactly what Ares and her--" For a moment, words failed her. Kaatje gritted her teeth, and squeezed the transformation pen in her hands. "--whores know. Once we know that, we can make more plans."

She stood up, the injured leg bent at the knee. "Yesterday I was upgraded to Eternal," she said to Ariana. "I'll prove it if you like. I'm going to go to Gunn when my leg's healed. Until then, we should work on a plan."  

[kalindara]

Ari agreed with Kaatje's assessments. Anyone who had willingly gone to the corrupted Ares, like Leto, was not worth anything but a quick death. Requiem was the real loss - the Senshi of Burial had been fighting against Ares when she was taken by surprise and pulled through one of the dark mirrors. It was a shame that there was realistically very little that could be done to save her, the only person who hadn't signed up for the corruption.

Covering the mirrors made sense. Ares had to be able to see where she was going in order to make the 'connection' from one place to another, hadn't she? Ari would have to ban the maid from her room - again. Hopefully her mother had also learned her lesson about snooping.

"Zirconia was..." Ari trailed off, frowning. It was hard to interpret cat expressions at the best of times, let alone in the middle of all that chaos. "Not with Ares. She seemed very shocked, possibly horrified, by everything," Ari said thoughtfully. "But whether we can expect her to be able to fight against Ares is another matter."

Zirconia might not have been a Parallel Senshi or Knight, but she'd been their advisor for several lifetimes now. It was a strong bond, hard to break. The guardian cat might simply remain apart from the fighting. Ari supposed that was better than Ares having another ally on her side.

Hope flared in Ari's eyes at the news that Gunn had upgraded to Eternal. It died quickly as Kaatje continued that she'd be leaving for her home planet - comet? - the next day. The smile Ari forced was tremulous. "Well, I guess we'd better make a code before you leave. We don't want Ares pretending you're back to lure us into a trap."

Proof wasn't required. Kaatje hadn't ever bothered to lie to Ari - had been brutally honest, at times - and it wasn't the sort of thing senshi tended to exaggerate. Still, if Gunn returned, it was nice to know they'd have another Eternal on their side.  

[shibrogane]

Part of Kaatje's reasoning for not wanting any broken mirrors was her own vanity, but she decided not to mention that in favor of doing what she could for Ariana. They stood as the remainder of the Inner Sanctum, and even if she didn't intend to remain for very long, she saw no reason not to lend a hand. "Another matter entirely," she agreed, rubbing her palms down the tops of her thighs. The pen in her hand comforted her, told her she wasn't completely helpless.

Zirconia couldn't be trusted anymore, she read into this situation. To a point, perhaps. If something walked like a duck, talked like a duck, and quacked like a duck, it probably wasn't a White Moon Guardian. But if it ever came down to supporting the Blood Moon or supporting, through inactivity, the Dark Moon? Kaatje did not have a doubt in her mind as to which the cat would choose. "That makes it dangerous for us to trust her with our secrecy. We'll have to hold off on meetings or find another Guardian to support us in that endeavor."

With that succinct summary, she crossed her arms. "We can do a simple exchange cipher," she said. It had been one of the earliest Blood Moon code styles, but it could easily be altered to serve them again now. In addition, it could be made nearly impossible to duplicate the used grid. She'd done plenty of research into things now. "But as for in case of my return, perhaps I'll text you. No one will be able to possess my phone but me, considering where I'm going. And if you need me, you can most likely call. If you need additional assurance, we can come up with a code phrase to use. Query, answer, response--like the other codes we've organized."

After a moment, she limped over to Ariana and set her hands on the other redhead's shoulders. "Birhan, I will come back," she said. "Even if the conclusion I reach there is that I desire to stay far away from Earth, I'll come back to let you know. And if you need me, that too."

Embarrassed then, she stepped away, gingerly exerting a small amount of weight on one leg. "Is there anything else you know?"  

[kalindara]

Ari nodded. She'd had similar thoughts regarding Zirconia. As much as she wanted to trust the cat, Zirconia had been Ares' cat. A Parallel, in loyalty if not with quite the same bond as senshi-to-Princess. "Maybe she'd still be willing to level us up, but... yes, we couldn't trust her with new codes or meeting locations."

It was a shame. Zirconia had been Ares' advisor, a useful member of the ISS (one of the few). If anyone had a grasp on Ares' mindset and tactics, it was the feline who'd known her for multiple lifetimes. Birhan wished that Zirconia could be trusted, but for all that Zirconia knew Ares, Ares knew Zirconia right back. The fact that Birhan had never seen a weakness in the feline didn't mean there wasn't one, and that Ares wouldn't take adantage of it.

She nodded, throat closing up as Kaatje spoke of possible codes and methods of communicating once she returned. Ari had always run from her problems - emotionally and, in the case of last Christmas' argument with her mother, literally. She couldn't blame Kaatje for leaving. Most of Ari wanted to do the same - Birhan Isat was a strange and unsettling place, but at least it would be safe. But, her conscience pricked at her, if she left, what would happen to those left of the Blood Moon Court? Ari still thought of them as her family - a very unusual, rather estranged and strained family, but still her own. Even if the entire Court agreed to go into hiding, what then about the other senshi left to face Ares and her new group? The civilians, innocent bystanders in the war between Chaos and the White Moon. Hah! Ari had never thought of herself as belonging to the White Moon - it was a title she threw at those waiting and hoping for the Moon Princess, or following the little pink Chibi-Moon. They were the Blood Moon Court. Seperate, self-led, beholden to no one but themselves. It seemed all it took for them to feel a sense of solidarity with the other senshi was for the person who'd organised them to turn to the other side. Ares, who'd recruited them and taught them, suddenly Enemy Number One, worth joining other senshi for.

... But no. Ares was their problem. What was left of the Blood Moon Court would deal with her. There was no running from what they'd created.

So she forced a smile when Kaatje placed her hands on Ari's shoulders. It wavered, but Ari understood and tried to show that she understood. "Thank you," she said quietly. Even if that was all that she could hope for - news that Gunn would leave for good - that was better than never seeing the other redhead again, always wondering. She couldn't imagine not needing Gunn to make this work, but she wasn't selfish enough to say so. Ari bit it back, swallowed the words and the lump in her throat, and tried to look like she could make it on her own.

"Is there anything else you know?" Kaatje asked.

Ari focused on that. "Ares is royalty now. Princess or Queen, I don't know. She looked... less human. More like the reports I've heard of the former Princess, Nehelenia - pointed ears, long claws fingers." She didn't know if any of that was important. Not compared to the other information. But Ares' new power status likely somehow tied into her new abilities, so Ari brought it up, better late than never. "I know Sirius is safe. I saw Nemesis escape safely, and I don't believe she'd fall easily, even if Ares did come after her." So that made at least four of them safe, for now. A memory twinged, and she added, "And Albali. For some reason, Ares didn't take her." Even though Albali had been frozen, had been waiting, wearing her heart on her sleeve. The girl had still told Birhan to flee, had cared enough for that, even while waiting to let herself be corrupted. And then the look on Albali's face when she'd been left with the rest of them...

Violet eyes focused on the wallpaper over Kaatje's shoulder. "She said she's going to kill or corrupt us all. She didn't carry through on it yet," leaving after corrupting only three and killing no one, "but I believe she'll try. We're all targets. I bet there are those who won't answer any meeting summons, if they're sent out, but I don't know if that will make them any less a target to Ares."

Ares knew every member of the BMC. Suddenly leaving likely wouldn't mean anything to their former captain - she'd come after everyone still a member when she'd been punished, hurting everyone that she felt had hurt her first. "God, I'm probably target number one for the killing," Ari groaned, lowering her head to her knees. Queen Ares versus base level Birhan Isat. Yeah, Ari'd last all of ten seconds.  

[shibrogane]

Kaatje nodded, scraping a hand over her orange head, the curls combing through her fingers. The blue collared dress's pleats puckered a little as she took a seat on her bed, her hair a beacon of flame in a room of pale greens and creams. She very much looked the part of the young heiress; not a warrior, not a leader, just an eighteen-year-old girl with a trip to go on.

After rummaging around in her bedside drawer, she took a pad of paper into her hand to write down the information she'd been given. Once it'd been a sketchbook. Maybe on Gunn she'd be able to pick up that habit again. "Send out a notice to all, asking those still interested to reply. Remove those who don't from the mailing list. Ares might know every single mercenary, but I don't think she could be aware of every cadet. Especially not with how often they would come and go... I'd warn anyone with a brand to be careful."

She would warn anyone with a brand to be careful.

"If you feel threatened," said Kaatje, gritting her teeth. She didn't want to offer this, but she would, for the sake of the bond they shared through the Court. "Call me. Page me. Do something, and I'll get there as soon as I can. We might not be able to challenge her, but we might be able to compel her to leave us alone... for the moment."  

[kalindara]

"Thank you," Ari said quietly, both for the sake of her voice and because she could see the effort it took for Kaatje to make the offer. "I'll try not to call unless it's an absolute emergency."

It would be tempting to call Kaatje for less, Ari knew. To try and bring her back into the fold early, to rely on Gunn's power and experience. But she had the sinking feeling that it would only cause Gunn to disappear for good once the supposed crisis was over. Ari was going to have to wait Kaatje out, to see if a smaller, more damaged BMC was really what the other redhead wanted, or if life in space was more to her liking.

Ari accepted the jotted-down information with grave formality. It felt very permanent, a final goodbye. Ari had to be strong, to force a smile even though her lips quivered and wanted to pull down.

"Thank you for everything," she repeated, bowing her head for a moment. Then Ari rose, tremulous smile back in place. "I should let you finish packing. Take care of yourself, Kaatje."  

[shibrogane]

"I trust you," said Kaatje, which should not have needed to be said. Gunn was handing over her contact information, giving Ariana a tangible note as to who she was and where she lived. Written notes could be intercepted, and she knew--hoped--that Ariana would be wise enough to destroy any physical evidence of the link between Kaatje and Gunn.

Hopefully.

She ran her hand over her head, and sighed. "I will. You too, Ariana. If you need me, you can call."

Just not right away. Please, just... not right away.  

[kalindara]

It wasn't that Ari had doubted it - or Kaatje would have thrown Ari out on her ear some time ago - but it was nice to hear. Ari gave a crooked smile. "Yeah, same to you."

She accepted the paper from Kaatje. The other redhead would be glad to know that it would be destroyed as soon as Ari had powered up and entered the data into Birhan Isat's senshi phone - no one was getting a hold of that without her permission, after all.

Kaatje sounded as tired as Ari felt. Possibly just as broken, too. It hadn't been fair, Ari thought, to come here and expect Kaatje to hold Ari together when they were all just as damaged by this course of events. Maybe time would be enough for them both. Ari would give Kaatje that time - or as much as she could.

Turning, Ari made her way out of Kaatje's room. As the doorway, she paused. "Stay safe," she said. Ari walked out and they were both alone, if only for a while.