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 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 8:52 am
Blue skies, gentle breeze; it was a nice day. A very nice day. Pomona had powered into her uniform as soon as she got away from Crystal's campus, deciding to try to find a youma to dust. Her explorations led her to an abandoned, half-developed subdivision, a victim of the recession. The pretty, empty houses and new, empty streets were somewhat eerie, but she figured it was better then trying to sneak around in gang-land.
At first, luck seemed to be on her side when Pomona had felt a weak youma signal nearby. That illusion of luck quickly wore off after she had checked each of the houses and had turned up empty-handed.
" Well, where is it?" She asked the happy blue sky as she plopped herself in the doorway of the last house. She sat there, staring up at the sky for a couple of seconds, before leaping up with a yelp and shaking her hand.
" Ow, ow ow!" A tiny lizard-like man with tiny, razor-sharp teeth had clamped onto her finger. " What the heck? OW! Get. OFF!"
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Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:07 am
While the numbers of her court were still low, Princess Ares would have to hit the pavement running personally to ensure proper energy collection. There was only so much that Requiem, Leto, and Gaia could do, and Ares' ability to gather mass amounts of energy was much greater. Without a civilian life to distract her, Ares had made it her job to prowl the streets almost all day -- morning, afternoon, night, it didn't matter. She captured civilians on a daily basis, drained others more frequently. And it was for this purpose that she was out then, melting through the mirrors of Destiny City like a fish through water.
As luck would have it, the mirror that Ares chose to emerge from just happened to be inside the house whose stoop Pomona was currently occupying. Her aura flared into existence with an explosion of power -- darkly chaotic but distinctly not Nega. The senshi sitting just outside would not have much time to react.
The front door swung open, and Princess Ares stepped over the threshold, standing directly behind Pomona and the lizard. She lifted her great torch high in the air -- and then poked the redheaded senshi in the shoulder with it. "Pest trouble?" she asked.
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Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:01 pm
Pomona had been minding her own business, whacking the lizard-youma on her hand against the wall, when a huge energy signature randomly burst into existence. In a flash she was on her feet, every instinct in her body screaming “Run away!” However, a thread of curiosity caused her to hesitate, and then the choice was taken from her when the door swung open.
Confronted with someone so powerful in such an unexpected situation, Pomona did the only thing she could: blurt out whatever came to mind.
“ What’s going on? Who are you? PleaseDon’tKillMe!”
Senshi and youma alike stared at the winged woman in the door. The small part of Pomona’s brain had realized that there wasn’t much she could do in this situation if the other woman did want to kill her, so it had promptly shut off and taken a vacation to Candy Mountain. That left Pomona firing on less then all cylinders, but she realized that at least two of the previous things she said had some merit.
“ Who are you and are you going to try to kill me?”
Seeming to remember that she still had a youma dangling from her finger, Pomona began to use her other hand to try and pull it off, but the little lizard-man just bit down harder. Pomona had to suppress a wince, trying not to seem weaker then could be helped in front this- this- whatever she was.
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Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 7:30 am
Princess Ares filled the doorway. Her smoky black wings left trails of dark smog wafting up into the air. It licked across the white of the doorframe until it turned black too. "You immediately show fear and weakness to an approaching senshi. How odd," she said crisply. "Tip for the future: don't. A large part of any good battle strategy is confidence. Unless you are feigning this for some reason..." The Princess of Smoke looked her up and down. "But somehow I doubt that."
Perhaps if Pomona had responded more strongly, Ares would have converted her then and there. She did like people who had guts. But this wavering, quivering girl left her wanting more. Perhaps Pomona was not quite ready for the Dark Mirror Court.
"I am Princess Ares, leader of the Dark Mirror Court. Some of you call us parallels," she said. "I am here to help you, Sailor... what is it?"
The name didn't really matter, but Ares was happy to prolong this encounter. At the very least, it was entertaining.
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Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:14 am
And Pomona's arguementative streak was being provoked. The Irish in her blood just loved to argue, even at rather inappropriate times.
" Why does it matter? Does acting confident conceal one's energy signature? Besides, a normal Senshi wouldn't be a threat to me."
The chance to brandy words instead of fists was perking her up, making her less high-strung and flail-y. It was perhaps more foolish then brave, but, well, that was Pomona.
" I've heard of you. Didn't you capture and torture Negas?" The tone was that of someone asking a question to which they already knew the answer. Pomona didn't know if Ares had done anything personally, but she had certainly heard of the BMC and their leader Ares and didn't approve.
The whole princess thing was skipped over in Pomona's mind. Ares wasn't her princess, and while Pomona tried to be nice to most of the royalty she knew, Ares just didn't fit in that category. The last part she said certainly did catch Pomona's attention, and a tendril of apprehension returned.
" How are you going to help me? Going to teach me hand-to-hand techniques?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 2:47 pm
Long before she was a super or an eternal, Ares had never been one for battle banter -- not unless she was bragging about killing more youma to Hector or using it for some sort of stalling technique. She remained poised in the position had been in since the start of the conversation and watched with tired eyes as Pomona vomited words. Then, slowly, she lifted her torch and poked the Senshi of Peppers forcibly in the shoulder.
"You speak far too much," she said. "If I was here to kill you, you'd be dead. If you are the kind of person who values living... work on that."
The mention of torturing Negas was ignored. There had been a leak in the Blood Moon Court, and Ares was fairly certain she had determined the traitor. The time would come for that person, and she didn't want to waste any of her fury on the red-haired senshi in front of her. "And you still haven't given me your name," she said flatly, brushing past the girl with little concern that she might leap to attack.
Ares beat her wings once to hop down to the road in front of the house. "I don't know who you normally work with, or who you go to for training or advice -- but I can tell you, as someone with more experience, that they have done you a disservice." A clawed hand bounced her torch once. "I could teach you how to not just survive... but how to win. Would you be interested Sailor... whoever?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2011 8:01 pm
Pomona huffed and bristled like an angry bird, arms moving jerkily as she aborted whatever gesture she was going to make and forced her arms to remain loose at her sides. Ares’ remarks hit a bit too close to home. For the most part she was a self-trained, having gotten only the occasional odd lessons from other Senshi. Most of what she knew she got from books, YouTube, and her own limited experience. Plus she was hard-pressed to carry out what theories she knew, and to recall them in the heat of battle.
Didn’t mean she’d admit it though. Not in front of this supposed princess. Not when her instincts where screaming at her to be uncooperative, despite the temptation of Ares’ words.
“ Pomona.” She said shortly, finally answering Ares’ question. Not getting a response she liked – rather, getting a response she really didn’t like – had forced Pomona to go into a different mode. A less chatty mode. Her mind had stopped channeling its energy into talking and moved it to something more useful: observing.
The lizard-youma took that moment to remind her of its unwelcome presence. Pomona grimaced, but reached and squeezed the sides of its jaws, forcing it to release her finger.
“ And yes, I’m interested.” The small youma was flung to the side. “ As long as doesn’t require any of… this.”
Pomona’s now free hand gestured to all of Ares. Not very tactful, but she figured it was the easiest way to convey her message: she had no interest in joining Chaos.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 4:15 pm
Gray eyes trailed lazily after the lizard youma as Pomona flung it away. Even with her newfound alliance, Ares did not have an affinity for youma. They were made from an ether different than her own, and she could smell it on them, she thought. The Rift still made her skin crawl. It was a place she could stomach, sure, but the senshi preferred to spend little to no time there.... ever. Princess or not. She'd much rather recline in mirrorspace with a torrent of mirrorwraiths cartwheeling through the air above her head.
"Pomona," she echoed. "All of this..." Her free hand gestured to her body, mimicking the way the redheaded senshi had just done. "All of this is the true identity of the senshi. Here is the truth, sailor: Serenity destroyed this universe, ravaged the earth, and then polluted my universe through the mirror. The fact that you follow a creature of such supreme destruction while raising a banner of peace is... well."
A shrug rolled off her shoulders. "Misguided."
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Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:13 pm
" There is so much wrong with that statement, I don't even..."
Pomona trailed off, shaking her head. She was itching to tear into and disect that statement, but Ares had already accused her of talking too much. But oh, there was so much she wanted to say!
" If Queen Serenity comes back and tries to 'destroy the universe' again, I'll fight her. Until then, I don't know of any cold-blooded murderers or torturers on my side - not any more anyway - so I'm content being 'misguided.' Shall we just agree to disagree?"
That was the shortest comeback Pomona could think of on the spot that adequately conveyed her opinions. In a perfect world, Ares would just agree and go away. Of course in a truly perfect world Ares wouldn't exist at all, so Pomona didn't hold high hopes.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 10:20 am
Ares pressed the point of a clawed finger to her lips. "Funny," she began, one eyebrow arching upward, "the only time I tortured or murdered anyone was when I was on Serenity's side." The Princess cocked her head to one side. "Odd how that worked out, isn't it?" A glimmer bounced in her eyes, but Ares did not smile. These young senshi had no idea of the complexities of the universe and the history of their people. Ares found it her job to educate them, just as she was now doing with Pomona. Clarity would come in time.
Taking another step down off the stoop, Ares turned over her shoulder, lowering a smoking wing to stare at the Senshi of Peppers again. "I'm not asking you to change your entire worldview overnight, Pomona. I'm just giving you some perspective. The White Moon will spill just as much blood as any Nega or Chaos creature... they just do it by claiming it is just and necessary. War is war is war. No one is innocent. We are all murderers. The difference is..." Ares pointed a finger at her. "Your side tries to pretend that they aren't."
A low sigh escaped Ares' lips. "I won't convert you today, if that is what you are concerned about. But in my mind, the perfect world will involve not one single senshi having to die for this misguided cause. In the Dark Mirror, we are not killers. We are unifiers. What is so terrible about not killing people and creating a universe where all senshi live as one, hm?" Gray eyes appraised Pomona one last time. Ares liked her. She wouldn't forget this name, or this face.
"When the time comes, you'll see the truth, and you'll ask me to help you join us. And I, of course, would be happy to." Ares turned fully around. Her smoking wings swelled to twice their size, elongating outward from her dark arms. "Until next time, Sailor Pomona." In a swell of air, Ares popped up into the sky and disappeared.
Until next time.
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