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The Virgo Outpost; Natalia had been here before she made her main camp at the Leo Outpost. She'd healed quickly then moved on. She just happened to be back here now because she was delivering food. Natalia was sure by the end of this ordeal she would be a much more competent cook, if nothing else. Also, it was becoming quite the humbling experience for the spitfire girl.

Natalia was a girl who also loved to learn. She knew many random facts that aided her in Debate Club, and was always eager to learn more. One day she really wanted to be on Jeopardy, or some game show where she could actually show off her smarticles. It was just too bad that she doubted civilizations in space was an unlikely topic to come up unless it related to Star Trek or Star Wars. But still...

Her curiosity was enough to make her settle down on the floor at the Zodiac Captain's feet. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, and rested her chin on her knees. Blue eyes looked up at Virgo curiously, silently urging her to go on...

One of the many things Fritz had started to find the most appealing of the zodiac outposts was the sheer amount of things in each and every one of them.

And not just material things, but emotional and mental things as well. Each place held some sort of memories, some sort of story to them that he was, admittedly, dying to learn about.

What he loved the most was the sheer difference in each one. Virgo's outpost was near Greek-like in appearance, with wide, white marble pillars, sparkling, crystal clear pools of water, and an inexplicable sense of peace and healing that breezed over Fritz like a breath of fresh air. Aquarius - though he had not actually met her - had her simple abode filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, crammed to the breaking point with hundreds upon hundreds of unreadable, yet still fascinating books. And Leo's outpost, with its grand and breathtaking castle, ornate and elaborate in all of the right places, a never ending maze of intricate designs and golden fixtures.

Fritz just found it all fascinating. And it gave him something to do, instead of wishing he were back in his loft with his brother.

It was nearing evening when Fritz found himself back at his "home" outpost, sitting cross-legged on his too-small sleeping bag, unable to sleep. His mind kept wandering, first to his home in the city, then to his cat (that he wasn't ashamed to admit that he missed), then to something else, then something else until his head felt so crammed with mismatched thoughts that he was quite sure it might explode.

So he sat awake, his head resting against his hand, elbow propped up on his knee. Toying with a stray thread on the sleeping bag, he glanced up as Virgo spoke. The zodiac had been quiet for a while, but now she was looking up at a rather large - and somewhat morbid - painting.

Fritz perked up considerably.

"Are you going to tell us a story?" he asked her, smiling, and though his tone was light, with some very mild, good-natured teasing, there was a definite note of eager interest to it.

"Hello," she said, a little uncomfortably. But she shed the laced shoes and greaves, unlaced the leather bracers, and set them aside in order to cross them under her on the cot she'd chosen as her own. The listeners were gathering; she thought it was appropriate that it was nearly time for Persephone's Descent. Perhaps she could organize some kind of story trade or competition? It would be something to think about. Instead of whining about how they didn't understand the sanctity of the Temple, she could beat it into them with a cudgel.

Or, you know, cultural education.

Two boys and two girls had gathered around her feet; the girls, mostly silent, and the first boy to arrive offering a cheeky greeting. It relaxed her a little, she had to admit. She smiled at the small group, and took a deep breath. "We'll start with that one," she said, pointing off towards the woman and her supposed assailant. "Okay. So… Long before this outpost was built, before this place--the Surrounding, where you are now--was formed, there was a ring of constellations out in the very fringes of the Universe known as the Zodiac. As everything expanded, we moved further away from the heart, and deeper into Chaos space--places where Chaos was very prevalent. The stars of our constellations--civilizations of their own, unbeholden to us--were safe, for they were located on one world, in one place. But the Zodiac, we were spread out. Hundreds of tiny asteroids, too many for one senshi alone to protect from the monstrous beings that attacked us at every opportunity. And there were many."

She looked out over the group for a moment, as if to gauge their response. "So many, we had to leave. The Silver Millennium, this solar system, offered us safe harbor for our people if we gave them two things." She held up her hand, two fingers raised--the thumb and the forefinger. "Our Prince, Aeon, and the service of our senshi. That's a Japanese word, by the way; it means 'soldier'. And each of us has a sphere of influence, something that defined our society. Something we must protect. Mine is Innocence; Leo's is Radiance; Aquarius's is Science; the Princess is the Equinox, and the Gemini twins are Duality. That's how it's always been."

The painting loomed. How could a society defined by innocence rely upon… murder? Whatever happened, it was clear the woman with the knife held joy over what she was doing. She didn't regret her actions. The loss of the life of the woman beneath her would bring her no regret. "Virgo-that-was was an agricultural society," she explained. "We believed that the greatest gift you could give was of yourself. Your blood. Your body. Your time. Your Soul--" she pounded a hand against the brooch over her heart "--that was yours. Do with it what you will. But your body was a community resource. And the greatest resource among our populace was the Witches."

Another pause, and this time, she seemed to be waiting for someone to prompt her to continue.

Hesperis should probably have been in her dorm at St-Mags, trying to sleep, but it wasn't like anyone ever checked on them during the night. She wasn't sure why she was spending the night here, but she was, having found her way to Virgo's and taken place on the back.

The paintings were... curious. But when you looked closely, none of the 'victims' looked like they were scared, or apprehensive. Most of them looked perfectly calm. Serene, even.

Which was explained by Virgo as she continued. "So they were all willing sacrifices ?" She asked, curiosity heavy in her tone rather than disgust.

So she'd let her staff fall back into subspace, taken her coat off, and settled for the storytime, curious as of the reason and not quite as creeped out as some of the civilians seemed to be. If Virgo kept close attention, she might recognize features of a knight she'd once known - dark skin and the very same shade of violet eyes, through Allendro's hair had always been snow white, even at the younger age that Aria had known him.

"We do have the others," she told the girl who had just joined them. "We have every Zodiac--although Ophichius, that's not a member of us, she was far too far inside the system to swear to Princess Chronos, and besides she calls herself something else--just, the rest of them have disappeared. They could be dead now. I don't know. It's… it's very sad." She smiled a little sadly over it, resting her hands over her knees. For a long time they hadn't had much leadership. She was going to fix that, as best as she could. "It's no problem," she said, waving a hand.

Then a knight joined them; another Mercury Knight. Maybe another one she knew? Although she held no hope that it would be the same as the one she'd known, so long ago. The thought saddened her. Though, this one looked so much like an old friend… "I'd like to speak to you, later," she said, smiling a little. "But yes. Every single sacrifice of life was willing. You see, a Virgon witch's Craft came from their blood. And if you gave of your blood, plants would bloom. Wounds would heal. Sickly children would begin to heal. It was magic, of the truest kind."

The smile faded. "Of course, such things couldn't last. It seems magic's died out. Well… things you can't help."

Steven got another smile. "No. We all died, a thousand years ago. I don't know how; that memory isn't clear to me… But we're here now. It takes a thousand years to reincarnate a soul. And I'm not a witch, because the witches are all gone now. I'm a senshi, which is close, except our blood is even stronger."

She still hadn't explained the painting.

Virgo had a way of speaking that was quite entrancing. Fritz found himself enthralled in the story, listening to it with rapt attention. Truth be told, he had always been a sucker for a good story - especially as a child, when he had lain in bed, waiting for his mother or father to come up and read to him before bedtime. Perhaps that was where his interest had stemmed from, but whatever the case, he quite enjoyed them.

Especially when said stories had to do with where they were now. It was a little bit mind boggling to imagine everything Virgo said, and Fritz's mind worked to comprehend what she was saying. He felt almost overwhelmed with information, but all he needed to do was compartmentalize, put things into their right places in his mind.

Which he did, slowly but surely.

Senshi means soldiers. They're soldiers; they protect certain things, like innocence and radiance and science. They follow the princess and the prince.

Fritz's expression grew sympathetic at her words, feeling a rush of sadness that Virgo did not know where the other zodiacs were, what had happened to the people she had fought beside, lived beside. It was rather like their situation now, was it not? They were all alone out here, wondering what had happened to their families, their friends, everyone they knew, and vice versa.

"How do you figure out if you're a senshi, then?" Fritz asked, half to himself, half to Virgo. "Do you just sort of wake up one morning and realize it?"

He had more questions, of course, but most of them were half formed in his head, and would not make much sense.